We recap two AEW Dynamite shows and a Game Changer Wrestling show featuring Maki Itoh that reinvigorated Anthony’s love of pro wrestling, talk about daily fantasy baseball, why softball is the next big women’s pro sport, and why the Twins can’t solve their strikeout problem.

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AEW Dynamite Teases Forbidden Door

• AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, the best opening act in wrestling, defends his title against Swerve Strickland
  • No one receives a DDT quite like Swerve Strickland except maybe Rey Fenix
    • He took three of them
    • Swerve makes everybody look good, and made Orange look like the superstar he is
    • But Orange has new friends in Sting and Darby Allin, and a hella popular tag team in what I’ve dubbed The Jean Team; speaking of fun tag teams
• Jungle Hook takes on Preston Vance and Dralistico in a Tornado Tag Match
  • Holy hell, did Preston bleed for the first time since ditching the mask
    • It’s a good look for him
  • These no DQ matches make the shows, boys. I saw one in Vegas put on by Game Changer Wrestling that reinvigorated my love of wrestling a day after maybe the worst attended AEW Dynamite taping ever
    • I saw THE FUCKING CUTEST IN THE WORLD, MAKI ITOH!
    • And 18-year-old phenom Billie Starkz, and Zach Sabre, Jr., and Kommander, and Vikingo! 
    • They were doing aerials off the top rope onto the concrete floor with no padding! Speaking of collisions….

• AEW Collision debuts on TNT, June 17th, with a main event of FTR and CM Punk versus Juice Robinson, Jay White, and Ring of Honor Television Champion Samoa Joe
  • I’ll watch that, but it seems AEW is struggling to sell tickets for events outside of Chicago cuz no one likes CM Punk outside of Chicago, and for good reason
    • I was there when Hangman Adam Page carried him to the AEW Championship; it was sad, but there’s nothing sad about…
• AEW finally having a worthy TBS Champion in Kris Statlander, which was the best moment of Double or Nothing
  • “Mama’s home,” and she’s “more than a woman,” and already a better champion than Jade
  • Loved Taz dropping the “gameswomanaship” to correct Tony during the match against Anna Jay
• And in the main event, RICKY gets screwed, as his endless feud with Jay White and Juice Robinson continues because of how Juice screams Ricky’s name and the crazy eyes with which he says it

Is It Time to Waive Max Kepler? Will Buck Ever Play Center? Will the Twins Set the Strikeout Record?

• Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner are crushing the ball, and Kepler has been worse than MLB average for a long time
  • We on this show have wanted Kepler gone for at least four years, and this is why…
    • “Kepler’s career batting average is just .231 despite a low strikeout rate because his .246 batting average on balls in play ranks dead last among all MLB hitters since 1990,” per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic. 
• Buxton likely to DH all season given knee problems, and now ribs
  • All-Star break could provide enough rest to start playing the outfield, maybe
  • Still worth every penny
    • “Generally speaking, each Win Above Replacement is worth about $8 million on the free-agent market. To be worth his $15 million salary, Buxton needs to produce two WAR. He certainly hasn’t been at his best this season, posting a 113 OPS+ that’s 23 points worse than his combined mark in the previous four years, yet he’s still on pace for 2.4 WAR, valued at just shy of $20 million,” per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic.
• Twins’ biggest issue is strikeouts, which makes them unwatchable
  • On pace to crush the 2021 Cubs’ record for strikeouts in a season (1,596) 
  • But the Twins are simply struggling to make contact, even with the good pitches they’re seeing. The team’s 79.4 percent contact rate in the zone is the second-lowest total in the majors. Only Atlanta, which makes contact on 78.5 percent of the pitches in the zone, is worse,” per Dan Hayes of The Athletic.

Women’s Softball is a Better Television Product than Baseball

• Oklahoma three-peats (sixth championship in a decade) and enters next season on an NCAA record 53-game win streak
  • They beat Florida State and everyone else any which way required
  • They are the Tampa Bay Rays of college softball…maybe better, but definitely better watch
• In their extra-innings win over Stanford to reach the final versus Florida State, center fielder Jayda Coleman took an intentional walk, for which they actually have to throw the pitches, as they should
  • She flipped her bat and screamed, “Come on” like she had just won the game; then they won the game on a double by Tiare (TEE-are-EE) Jennings, who set the postseason record for RBI (15)
  • In the first game of the three-game World Series against Florida State, the same energy was displayed by Haley Lee, who was hit by a pitch that wasn’t called, was quickly reviewed, and called correctly, resulting in an eruption of energy from Lee and the Sooners
    • The starting pitcher, Jordy Bahl, pinch ran and scored the first run in the bottom of the fourth on a double by Kinzie Hansen
      • She pitched impeccably; they won 5-0
  • They got back-to-back dingers in the top of the fifth to take a 2-1 lead in Game 2 and score their 500th run on the season for the third straight year
    • They’re the only team to do that

Tanking for Paige Bueckers Continues, and Why She’s Better for the Lynx than Caitlin Clark

• The Lynx (1-6) finally got their first win of the season in Washington, Saturday
  • The Lynx didn’t deserve to win and got bailed out by bad officiating, especially in the final minutes of regulation
  • Still in last place after Seattle recovered from a 23-4 first-quarter deficit to beat Los Angeles for its first win
• Wednesday’s Lynx game at New York was postponed due to air quality issues as a result of Canadian wildfires started by big oil’s contribution to climate change
  • Big oil now funds the PGA Tour as well
  • Did I mention they murdered a journalist
• Now, why Paige Bueckers is better for the Lynx than Caitlin Clark
  • In women’s sports, if you’re not winning championships, you need a novelty to fill the stands…even on Opening Night
    • Bueckers went to Hopkins High, she’s from round here, and will pack the lower bowl on most nights with family, friends, and those who watched her in high school, even when the team isn’t winning
    • Clark is from West Des Moines, Iowa, a four-hour drive from downtown Minneapolis
      • She’s a bonafide superstar that’ll fill the stands at first, but if the team doesn’t win championships, that stardom will fade