On Saturday night, Bryce Harper got hit on his left hand by a 97 mph fastball! This wild pitch broke his left thumb and he will now be out until at least September. He's already had the surgery, so now we will see how the recovery goes. This could be devastating for the Phillies’ chances of making the playoffs since he has had quite a successful season up until this nasty injury. Bryce was going to be the Phillies’ representative in the All-Star game in 10 days or so, but that sure isn't happening, so I don’t know who is going to replace him. My guess is maybe Zack Wheeler or Kyle Schwarber. Wheeler has been the ace of their pitching staff and Schwarber has had a great month of June and now has more than 20 home runs for the season so far.
Yesterday, I listened to a good portion of an interview with the Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. He talked about two things that grabbed my interest. First was the strong possibility of having a pitch clock to try and make the game go faster. I am in favor of this so that the fans can watch all the games without them taking forever. That could actually be implemented next year. Secondly, is the possibility of having some sort of computer system to call balls and strikes. I am not in favor of this one, until they can really show how it will work. This one won’t happen until at least 2024, which actually gives them time to fine tune the process and have fans adjust to the idea. This might go for the players and the umpires as well. Baseball needs to still be "baseball."
Wimbledon is in full swing, but it started with a big disappointment for most fans. Serena Williams came back but lost in a very long match to Harmony Tan. Serena was clearly rusty in the first set, but then came back with her usual ferocity in the second and third set, but she just couldn't pull it off. I think she will want to come back one more time to Wimbledon and at least hope to advance past the first round. She's had such a great winning record in her grass court career and it would be a lot sweeter to go out further into the tournament. The next grand slam event is the U.S. Open in late August and her performance there will be a good marker for what she will decide to do next. I always wish her the best.
And not to diminish Harmony Tan's efforts in beating someone like Serena, you have to give her a ton of credit for the fact that she was virtually an unknown player to start but has now already continued her momentum and has made it to the third round. She definitely bears watching and rooting for at this point.
On the men’s side, there are eight Americans in the third round for the first time since 1996. They are all very young except for John Isner. This guy is more like a basketball player in that he is 6-foot-10 and has a huge serve. He has had a lot of potential for his whole career but hasn't won a lot of the big tournaments, so I hope he steps up and has a great tournament. I will be rooting for him for sure.
Can't believe it's already the Fourth of July weekend. Enjoy it. Fall will be here all too soon.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
