Welcome back to another Sunday edition of everyone's favorite TD topic, the Game Thread!  Today is July 17th, a busy day through the annals of history.  Many of the events that have occurred on this date are less than ideal.  Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed on this date in 1918.  TWA Flight 800 AND Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed on this date.  Of course, Disneyland opened on this date in 1955.  Several notable deaths occurred as well.  John Lewis, of civil rights fame, and Walter Cronkite both died on this date in 2020 and 2009, respectively.

But, perhaps the most significant thing to happen on this date occurred in 1952.  I'm of course referring to the birth of the most watched man on TV (according to the Guinness Book of World Records)...David Hasselhoff.  Who can forget the countless hours in the Barcalounger watching The Hoff on the small screen?  From his rise to prominence in The Young and the Restless (stop denying it, you did...) through the ride given to us by KITT to the slow motion beach scenes of Baywatch.  

I'd also be remiss to exclude his extension, multi-decade spanning musical career.  From his 1977 debute on The Merv Griffin Show performing the theme for The Young and the Restless to his 2020 foray into heavy metal, "Through the Night", I'm sure the record sales are staggering.  A who could ever forget his Christmas album?!?!  Chef's kiss!

What does any of this have to do with baseball, you ask?  Well...um..."A" is the second letter in both the Hoff's first and last name.  "A" is also the second letter in "baseball"!  There, dots connected!

Before I get to the baseball, I feel obligated to leave you with the soundtrack to the writing of today's thread opener...

 

Now, to something far less serious and less near and dear to me...Scotch baseball.  Today marks the traditional halfway point of the baseball season, the last game heading into the All-Star break.  The Twins will finish the first half in first place, it's just a matter of by how much.  Cleveland is just 2.5 games back with today's opponent being 4 back.  With a win today, the Twins will have salvaged a series split heading into the break.  With a loss, the Twins will have dropped a relatively key four game set at their home park with nearly a week to stew about it. 

The South Siders will send Dylan Cease to the hill.  He's been good this season, sporting an 8-4 record with 142 Ks on the year and a 2.30 ERA.  The Twins will counter with Chris Archer and his 2-3 record, 47 K and 3.08 ERA campaign.

Lineup for the White Sox:

Anderson, SS

Moncada, 3B

Vaughn, 1B

Abreu, DH

Sheets, RF

Harrison, 2B

Garcia, LF

Zavala, C

Engel, CF

 

Lineup for the Twins:

Arraez, DH

Correa, SS

Buxton, CF

Kepler, RF

Polcano, 2B

Kirilloff, 1B

Miranda, 3B

Gordon, LF

Sanchez, C

 

Enjoy the game and the thread!

 

38 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Chef's kiss!

Lol ... I read that as 'Chief's Kiss' ... 

And ... I tried to listen to that video you posted to the thread, really tried, tried to keep an open mind, but just couldn't take it and shut it down after 30 seconds. And now I have to eat breakfast again.

Like the lineup ... it's a good lineup to put in just before a break. Hope we get the split because ... well ... more than anything ... I HATE LOSING TO THE CHISOX!

Never caught the Hasselhoff fever myself, but always found tongue-in-cheek societal references to him quite amusing. It's like we (society) can't let go of something that's of uncertain value. Call it a Turtle fascination.

Cronkite now, that's a whole different story. No TV journalist was ever more trusted. But then that was a time when all TV news reporters actually "reported" factual news, not twisted political opinions under the guise of "news".

And That's The Way It Was - sorry Walter.

2 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

Never caught the Hasselhoff fever myself, but always found tongue-in-cheek societal references to him quite amusing. It's like we (society) can't let go of something that's of uncertain value. Call it a Turtle fascination.

Cronkite now, that's a whole different story. No TV journalist was ever more trusted. But then that was a time when all TV news reporters actually "reported" factual news, not twisted political opinions under the guise of "news".

And That's The Way It Was - sorry Walter.

You just have to watch news that is actually billed as news, straight news, and not news entertainment. I still find the national news from ABC, NBC and CBS worthy, although I watch those outlets less and less. I usually listen to NPR. BBC is pretty good, and if you get CBC (in Canada), both of those provide a bit better global perspective. I used to watch PBS MacNeil/Lehrer Hour. That was good. But I tend to go for written word news these days.

54 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Welcome back to another Sunday edition of everyone's favorite TD topic, the Game Thread!  Today is July 17th, a busy day through the annals of history.  Many of the events that have occurred on this date are less than ideal.  Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed on this date in 1918.  TWA Flight 800 AND Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed on this date.  Of course, Disneyland opened on this date in 1955.  Several notable deaths occurred as well.  John Lewis, of civil rights fame, and Walter Cronkite both died on this date in 2020 and 2009, respectively.

But, perhaps the most significant thing to happen on this date occurred in 1952.  I'm of course referring to the birth of the most watched man on TV (according to the Guinness Book of World Records)...David Hasselhoff.  Who can forget the countless hours in the Barcalounger watching The Hoff on the small screen?  From his rise to prominence in The Young and the Restless (stop denying it, you did...) through the ride given to us by KITT to the slow motion beach scenes of Baywatch.  

I'd also be remiss to exclude his extension, multi-decade spanning musical career.  From his 1977 debute on The Merv Griffin Show performing the theme for The Young and the Restless to his 2020 foray into heavy metal, "Through the Night", I'm sure the record sales are staggering.  A who could ever forget his Christmas album?!?!  Chef's kiss!

What does any of this have to do with baseball, you ask?  Well...um..."A" is the second letter in both the Hoff's first and last name.  "A" is also the second letter in "baseball"!  There, dots connected!

Before I get to the baseball, I feel obligated to leave you with the soundtrack to the writing of today's thread opener...

 

Now, to something far less serious and less near and dear to me...Scotch baseball.  Today marks the traditional halfway point of the baseball season, the last game heading into the All-Star break.  The Twins will finish the first half in first place, it's just a matter of by how much.  Cleveland is just 2.5 games back with today's opponent being 4 back.  With a win today, the Twins will have salvaged a series split heading into the break.  With a loss, the Twins will have dropped a relatively key four game set at their home park with nearly a week to stew about it. 

The South Siders will send Dylan Cease to the hill.  He's been good this season, sporting an 8-4 record with 142 Ks on the year and a 2.30 ERA.  The Twins will counter with Chris Archer and his 2-3 record, 47 K and 3.08 ERA campaign.

Lineup for the White Sox:

Anderson, SS

Moncada, 3B

Vaughn, 1B

Abreu, DH

Sheets, RF

Harrison, 2B

Garcia, LF

Zavala, C

Engel, CF

 

Lineup for the Twins:

Arraez, DH

Correa, SS

Buxton, CF

Kepler, RF

Polcano, 2B

Kirilloff, 1B

Miranda, 3B

Gordon, LF

Sanchez, C

 

Enjoy the game and the thread!

 

We may have to lock the thread but keep this pinned to the top of the forums!

this deserves to be Scotch-taped to the fridge!

great work!

21 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

Lol ... I read that as 'Chief's Kiss' ... 

And ... I tried to listen to that video you posted to the thread, really tried, tried to keep an open mind, but just couldn't take it and shut it down after 30 seconds. And now I have to eat breakfast again.

Like the lineup ... it's a good lineup to put in just before a break. Hope we get the split because ... well ... more than anything ... I HATE LOSING TO THE CHISOX!

I've spent an inordinate amount of time on @USAFChief's lawn, but he has yet to offer a kiss.  And I'm perfectly fine with that.

I've found that it's more fun to do things all of the way, so I couldn't have referenced any music without actually including some!  Just be thankful it wasn't any from the Christmas album!

25 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

Never caught the Hasselhoff fever myself, but always found tongue-in-cheek societal references to him quite amusing. It's like we (society) can't let go of something that's of uncertain value. Call it a Turtle fascination.

Cronkite now, that's a whole different story. No TV journalist was ever more trusted. But then that was a time when all TV news reporters actually "reported" factual news, not twisted political opinions under the guise of "news".

And That's The Way It Was - sorry Walter.

I actually had no idea what I was going to do for this thread opener until I found out it was Hasselhoff's birthday.  It was like finding gold!

57 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

I've spent an inordinate amount of time on @USAFChief's lawn, but he has yet to offer a kiss.  And I'm perfectly fine with that.

 

Concur.

57 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

I actually had no idea what I was going to do for this thread opener until I found out it was Hasselhoff's birthday.  It was like finding gold!

People have no idea how taxing it is to write these game thread openers....it's like being a full time writer on a weekly comedy show. I'll take inspiration from anyone or anything.

Go Twins!

9 minutes ago, twinssporto said:

People have no idea how taxing it is to write these game thread openers....it's like being a full time writer on a weekly comedy show. I'll take inspiration from anyone or anything.

Go Twins!

Well said, though I've found a couple snorts of Irish whiskey often helps in the "inspiration" department when serendipity fails.

1 hour ago, wsnydes said:

Just be thankful it wasn't any from the Christmas album!

I mean ... this implies that you've actually listened to it. I question you, a lot, for that ...  

56 minutes ago, twinssporto said:

People have no idea how taxing it is to write these game thread openers....it's like being a full time writer on a weekly comedy show. I'll take inspiration from anyone or anything.

Go Twins!

It is tough.  Especially when you have writers block or can't come up with anything to even build on.  And you do far more of these than I do!

43 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

Well said, though I've found a couple snorts of Irish whiskey often helps in the "inspiration" department when serendipity fails.

Rye is usually a pretty good inspiration for me.  Unfortunately, Sunday morning is a bit early for that.  

11 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

I mean ... this implies that you've actually listened to it. I question you, a lot, for that ...  

I haven't.  I have my standards as well.  Plus, a Christmas album almost by definition, must be semi-obnoxious.

I also wasn't going to torture myself to find the right song to include.

12 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

I haven't.  I have my standards as well.  Plus, a Christmas album almost by definition, must be semi-obnoxious.

I also wasn't going to torture myself to find the right song to include.

Yeah, the one you posted was torture enough ... 

I won't revisit because I'm about to eat lunch

2 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

Yeah, the one you posted was torture enough ... 

I won't revisit because I'm about to eat lunch

I knew what I was doing! ?

Det-Cle postponed.

Lead at ASG break 2 or 3.

I vote for 3.

3 hours ago, wsnydes said:

I'd also be remiss to exclude his extension, multi-decade spanning musical career.  From his 1977 debute on The Merv Griffin Show performing the theme for The Young and the Restless to his 2020 foray into heavy metal, "Through the Night", I'm sure the record sales are staggering.  A who could ever forget his Christmas album?!?!  Chef's kiss!

No.  Just no.  Especially when one can hear William Shatner and Bootsy Collins cover "She Blinded Me With Science."

1 minute ago, BH67 said:

No.  Just no.  Especially when one can hear William Shatner and Bootsy Collins cover "She Blinded Me With Science."

Or basically anything by Don Johnson.

Two cows were standing in a pasture, contentedly discussing world events. 

"Say," said one, "have you heard about the mad cow disease making the rounds?"

"Yeah," said the other. "Scary stuff. Makes me glad I'm a penguin."

1 hour ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

Well said, though I've found a couple snorts of Irish whiskey often helps in the "inspiration" department when serendipity fails.

I did a “whiskey sampler” last night and my inspiration is ………impaired this morning. 

Hasselhoff's sister is the mother of two of my children's friends, and while she appears never to have gone all-in as a professional she has an unusually good singing voice.

This is about as close to rubbing elbows with the celebrity world as I get!

Just now, stringer bell said:

I did a “whiskey sampler” last night and my inspiration is ………impaired this morning. 

I wrote that comment about an hour and a half ago. I guess I was too impaired to push “Submit Reply”. 

5 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Or basically anything by Don Johnson.

I'm partial to Mrs. Miller.

Twins looking like they in a hurry for the Break,  Little more Patience at the plate from here on maybe ??

34 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Rye is usually a pretty good inspiration for me.  Unfortunately, Sunday morning is a bit early for that.  

 

Cease ceases A-C-B on ten pitches.  Pitch well, Chris.

I remember George Mitterwald.

4 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I wrote that comment about an hour and a half ago. I guess I was too impaired to push “Submit Reply”. 

Better have another sampler! ?

Just now, wsnydes said:

Better have another sampler! ?

My son-in-law’s idea. We’re on our way home and none of that stuff is at our house. 
 

Just drove by the White Sox home park about 15 minutes ago.