* Congrats to the University of Florida. The Gators won the College World Series with a two-game sweep of LSU. It’s the ultimate for a program that has been around for more than 100 years. It also means that UF becomes the first SEC school to win national championships in baseball, football and men’s basketball–and the fourth program nationally to do it.
* Speaking of the College World Series, too bad the logistics don’t allow for the best pitchers to necessarily pitch in the finals. Teams have to get through the double-elimination prelims first where they throw their best arms in an all-out effort to advance. That meant, in this case, that UF star pitcher Alex Faedo, a first-round MLB draft pick who led the nation in strikeouts and won the CWS Most Outstanding Player award, didn’t pitch in the finals. It also meant that the Gators pitching depth was incredibly impressive.
* Taking one for the team: That had to be Joe Maddon last week, as he and some members of the Chicago Cubs paid an “unofficial” visit to the Trump White House while in D.C. to play the Nationals. They had all been there five months earlier for a World Series celebration with President Barack Obama.
Maddon said it was out of respect for the Cubs-owning Ricketts family that donated to Trump’s presidential campaign. Indeed, Ameritrade-founder Joe and Marlene Ricketts donated $1 million to a Trump Super PAC, and their son Todd was initially named deputy commerce secretary before stepping aside over financial entanglements. Another member of the family, Todd’s sibling Pete, is the governor of Nebraska and a vocal supporter of Trump.
Just a guess, but I’ll bet Maddon’s Hazelton Integration Project never came up in presidential small talk.