Our “Boots in Brooklyn” sent us back the hottest takes from Michael Porter Jr during his pre-draft press conference.  I listened to the whole 20-minute session.  What I noticed right away was his brutal honesty on his talent, his health and his so-called “friends.”  14:30 on the podcast

Also, Michael Wacha discusses when he noticed the oblique injury that is going to sideline him. 3:24 on the podcast

Visions of Sluggerrr and hot dogs…three years later in Philadelphia with the Phanatic.  Which sport is more boring to watch?  World Cup Soccer or the College World Series?  You may say soccer, but some fan at the CWS fell asleep.

Cardinals fans critical of Mike Matheny intentionally putting the winning on base in the 10th inning.  They’re upset with Marcell Ozuna for diving for a ball.  I have no issues with those decisions…my issue with Mike Matheny was how he handled the bullpen in the ninth inning.

Matheny brought in Bud Norris to face the bottom of the order in a tie game, then they didn’t have his closer for the tenth.

Ned Yost was brought to tears when he found one of the Royals best homegrown pitchers was getting shipped off to Washington.  Hear from Yost.

Michael Porter Jr says the reports of a hip strain and back spasms completely blew up…he’s 100% healthy.

Fox Sports caught two spectators engaged in a conversation about an ex-girlfriend during the U.S. Open.  It happens when microphones get too close to the action.

Thanks for listening to my daily look at sports and life here in Missouri.

Listener Joey, who won my NCAA bracket challenge will finally be getting his Bobblehead trophy as it was explained to me, “in the coming weeks.”  I’ll update you on the never-ending saga of “Todd The Schmuck”

Listener Steve and Listener Uncle Frank (not my uncle Frank) are getting Mama Deanne’s cookies shipped today!

My rant on instant replay.  If you watched out Cardinals or Royals, you and I both know Harrison Bader was safe at second and Mike Moustakas was safe at home…so why do we even bother with instant replay?

My rant on the Cardinals.  I thought bringing back Jose Oquendo was going to correct the mental errors?  Six errors, baserunning blunders, pitchers failing at pick-off attempts…a frustrating weekend in St. Louis.

My rant on the World Cup.  A full day of soccer yielded eight…a total of eight goals.  Good gravy.

Major League Baseball umpire Tom Hallion and Mets manager Terry Collins have brought more attention to the game with a two-minute conversation and showed how the league could make itself relevant with fans again…mic up umpires and managers.

This brief exchange between umpire and manager shows the inner workings of baseball…something that had been brewing between two teams for seven months. While the everyday schmuck out there will only laugh and giggle at the cuss words, (which I did too), this brief exchange has a deeper story behind it. I’ll examine more of the game within the game.  It’s really fascinating.

Michael Porter Jr originally postponed his second workout for NBA lottery teams because of a hip strain and back spasms. Then he took an MRI and his agents told teams he will, in fact, work out for them today to show he is worthy of a top-ten pick in next week’s draft. I wouldn’t touch him.

Tre Williams, the redshirt sophomore from Rock Bridge High School in Columbia as matured in his time at Mizzou.

He’s had a love-hate relationship with his position coach Brick Haley.  Williams teases Coach Haley about his height now, bu there was a time he couldn’t take much of Haley constantly getting on him and yelling at every minor detail.  Then something amazing happened…Williams grew up, matured and against conventional wisdom put himself into a game.  Now Williams is ready to be a leader for Mizzou.

When Dexter Fowler signed his five-year deal with the Cardinals, I said on December 9, 2016, it would be a good deal for the first couple of years, but by year three of the deal, fans would be complaining.  I knew it would happen but I’m even surprised it happened this fast.

Eroding skills and an eroding relationship between Cardinals Nation and Fowler leaves Mike Matheny with his hands tied.

The Cardinals tried to catch some of that Cubs magic in a bottle and now may have buyer’s remorse.

Our podcast baseball expert Jeff Wilder and I debate Nick Elam’s radical ideas for changing the game of baseball. He’s a former baseball coach who is Professor at Ball State and is a Mensa member. Go into this with an open mind. Some ideas are far out there, (dynamic strikezone) but others have strong merit (three-batter minimum for relief pitchers) that could change the way we watch America’s Pastime.

There was an interesting article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the franchises with the longest droughts without a championship.  Of course, the Chicago Cubs held that distinction until 2016, but the new slump is 70 years.  I’ll go through the list, but you’ll be surprised how many slumps involved franchises that have passed through St. Louis or Kansas City or how teams from our cities helped keep slumps alive.

Plus, my day at the races!

Thanks for checking out the podcast.

I’m sitting at my desk watching the video again, for the third or fourth time.  It doesn’t take long to get through it, only 18 seconds. The violence is even less than that…a matter of seconds.  Sam Shewmaker’s right-hand catches Eric Prindle squarely in the cheek sending the Season Five Bellator MMA tournament winner to the ground.  It was swift and impressive. It’s the return of bare-knuckle boxing.

The sport was outlawed in the late 1880’s but is making it’s revival thanks in-part to Missourian Sam Shewmaker. On June 2nd, Sam competed in one of the first state-sanctioned fights in U.S. history in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

My phone receives a text from Sam.  “We’re here.”

I take a deep breath and think “We’re here?  Did Sam bring a couple of his buddies, an entourage of muscle in case this podcast goes south?  I thought this was just going to be a one-on-one conversation? What’s up with this intimidation tactic?”

I mean I’m going to ask him what in the world possesses someone to want to punch another guy…in the face…with his bare hands?  What if I offend Sam or one of his henchmen?

I walk to the front door of our studios and there he is.  Sam Shewmaker did indeed bring his posse with him from Versailles.  His wife Lauren and their three sons Dalton, Jaxson and Mason, ages 7-9.  I let out a sigh of relief…this won’t be as bad as I feared.

Throw out all your preconceived notions of what you may think about the sport of bare-knuckle boxing and the competitors themselves.  Many argue bare-knuckle is safer than MMA or traditional boxing.  There is strategy and surprisingly an enormous amount of mutual respect between the competitors.

You’ll learn about Sam and his family. They are God-loving, down to earth, patriotic people with a plan.   Sam found his calling and he is on the verge of becoming the sport’s pioneer.

Follow Sam on Twitter  His next match will be with gloves when he boxes in Jefferson City at Capitol Plaza Hotel on June 29th.

Guys getting doubled off, running through stop signs, getting picked off third base.  I don’t have a problem with any of the baserunning issues in last night’s 7-4 loss to the Marlins.  What I have an issue with is Tommy Pham not taking responsibility for killing a threat.  Is the chip on his shoulder routine, starting to get old for Cardinals fans?

Things were just as bad for the Royals.  A little league play in their game last night against the Angels was the difference and Ned Yost got a little testy.