Mickelson could make history

Golfer poised to enter record books

Good morning, all! Hope you had a tremendous weekend!

Hall of Fame golfer Phil Mickelson is on the cusp of making golf history. All he has to do is win this week’s Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Ariz., the second event of 2021 on the PGA Tour Champions. If he does, he would become the first player to win all of his first three tour events. Whether it is the PGA Tour Champions, the PGA Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour, no player has ever won every tournament in his first three career tour starts.

Word is Mickelson is also angling for a broadcaster’s job, once his playing career winds down. He would be excellent. He already has Instagram and Twitter accounts, which include his “PhiresidewithPhil” videos. (His Instagram channel has more than 1 million followers.) The videos are also posted on YouTube. First things first, however. Mickelson has a date with history this week. Enjoy.

Pendleton debuts big

It is hard to believe, as most of the USA suffers in cold weather and snow, but the college baseball season has started. For Caleb Pendleton, a freshman for Florida Atlantic, it has started in a huge way. In his first two collegiate at bats, Pendleton belted grand slams. And, by the way, both bases loaded home runs came in the same inning. UCF batted around in the second inning, and Pendleton cashed in on history.

If the 1b/3b/c was not on the scouts’ radar screen, he is now.

Nine hours between goals

At 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights faced off in an outdoor NHL game at Lake Tahoe. Colorado led 1-0, when the the game was suspended in the first period at 3:20 p.m., thanks to a strong sun creating poor ice conditions. The game did not resume, until midnight ET. Exactly nine hours after the Avalanche scored the game’s first goal, the Golden Knights tied it, at 12:20 a.m.

The NHL scheduled the game outdoors on the 18th hole of a golf course, to generate history. Talk about two goals-in-one.

No more Miller Park

The signs and logo have been removed. New signs and logo erected. When the Milwaukee Brewers open their 2021 season at home against the Minnesota Twins, it will no longer be at the field known as Miller Park, named after Miller Beer. Thanks to a change in sponsorship, the park will be dubbed American Family Field. American Family Insurance has headquarters in Wisconsin. In this sponsorship-saturated era of baseball broadcasts, I can hear Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker now. “The Brewers need an American Family insurance run here in the ninth.”

Meanwhile, the makers of Miller High Life and Lite Beer merged with Coors Beer in 2002, rebranded as MillerCoors, and moved to Chicago.

Oh for the days of County Stadium. In 1976, my buddies and I took a baseball trip to several major league ballparks, including Milwaukee, where we saw the Brewers lose to the A’s, 5-4. Among the memories of the ballpark was the aroma, wafting from the nearby Miller breweries. Ah, yes. I may have to toss one back this afternoon to rekindle the memories of a golden era.

Have a great day and, as always, thank you for subscribing to the newsletter! And if you would be so kind as to ask others to subscribe, I would be most appreciate!

SPORTSCASTER DAN