From “Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force” to victory…
Team News
Kelly finds potential fix to cramping issues in longest start of ‘25
“I tried not to shut down,” Kelly said. “Tried not to cool off too much. I felt like I was maybe trying to down-regulate a little too much between innings and then expecting the nervous system to go out and fire.” Kelly said his between-innings routine was nothing particularly rigorous, not like “I was doing burpees or running sprints in the cage.” At the same time, he did not use a dugout fan to cool down between innings.
https://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/merrill-kelly-strikes-out-six-in-d-backs-loss-to-mets
Three Takeaways from the D-backs’ Frustrating Series Loss to the Mets
Arizona Diamondbacks’ Merrill Kelly fires up but the offense stays cold in loss to Mets
Arizona Diamondbacks must treat Los Angeles Dodgers series like it’s huge — because it is
Diamondbacks Face Tough Series Against MLB-Best Dodgers
Demetrio Crisantes Headlines Diamondbacks Minor League Roundup
Other Baseball
Kavan Markwood says he hasn’t seen video of fall at PNC Park
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/45046249/kavan-markwood-says-seen-video-fall-pnc-park
‘Like a broken record’: Mariners rally again for 9th straight series win
https://www.mlb.com/news/mariners-rally-to-beat-a-s-in-series-finale
Bregman smacks career HR No. 200; Abreu has 3rd multihomer game — all vs. Texas
https://www.mlb.com/news/alex-bregman-200th-career-home-run
Soler clears the bases to hand Halos a come-from-behind walk-off
https://www.mlb.com/angels/news/jorge-soler-hits-walk-off-double-to-lift-angels
Daily Statcast leaders for Day 43 (May 6) of the MLB season:
Exit velocity
Distance
Pitch velocity
Swings & misses— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 7, 2025
List they are bidding to join:
players to be in 90th percentile or better in batting, baserunning AND fielding run value for a season (1st tracked in 2016):
2024 Bobby Witt Jr.
2023 Julio Rodríguez
2022 Kyle Tucker
2020 Mookie Betts
2019 Trevor Story
2018 Mookie Betts
2016… https://t.co/3tcGxfaOrQ— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 7, 2025
VE DAY
My Grandfather, who was in the Royal Air Force during the European war, had volunteered for service in the Pacific after VE Day and was training for it. (I think he was going from AF to Navy).
He was a mechanic for long range bombers such as the Lancasters and Wellingtons. He would eventually emmigrate to Canada and work on the Avro Arrow project and some of the first computers.
From a post from my Uncle:
My father’s air base where he spent most of his 6 years in the RAF. His base had the distinction of sinking the German battleship Tirpitz. It was a family affair because one of my dad’s cousins was stationioned on one of the Royal Navy ships that sank the Bismarck. Those two “sister ships” were super battleships, new and largest in the world at the time. The “dam busters” were also based at Lossiemouth and the base also flew the mighty Lancaster bombers. Dad also told me that at his base they were doing some of the first testing of Britain’s first “jet fighter”.
Gaelic phrase translated, “pay attention”.
The world marks the 80th anniversary of V-E Day with parades and memorials. Here’s what to know
“Everybody knows there’s a big show left and the big show is going to be gigantic and it’s going to be bloody … ,’’ Citino said. “And I bet you every single Allied soldier in Europe, after toasting victory in Europe, they sat down and said, ‘I’m going to Japan. This isn’t over yet.’”
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/world-marks-80th-anniversary-v-053523180.html
Poppy display for VE Day moves visitors to tears
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2309rmgj7lo
Anything Goes
So they stole the name from the Colorado Mammoth?
— THE Redcast Rob®️ (@RedcastRob) May 7, 2025
Utah’s NHL Franchise Officially Named the Utah Mammoth
https://www.nhl.com/utah/news/utah-s-nhl-franchise-officially-named-the-utah-mammoth-release-5-7-25
This day in history:
Well…
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-8
This day in baseball:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/May_8
An astonishing number of soldiers died during pilot training
WWII was one of the first major conflicts to make use of aviation. There was a massive rush to train new pilots so many of the aviation programs weren’t thought out correctly or had enough safety measures in place.
As a result, over 15,000 deaths occurred during pilot training. These were mostly due to pilot error or mechanical failure. It was such a problem that the B-24 bomber was known as the most dangerous plane in the war, receiving the nickname ‘the flying coffin’.
To put this into perspective, around 52,000 American flight crew members died in WWII, meaning almost 30% of pilot deaths occurred outside of conflict.
Poland had a bear that served in the military
In 1942, a company of Polish troops was evacuated from the Soviet Union and found their way to Iran. Along the way, they befriended a Syrian brown bear that they named Wojtek. They officially enlisted him as a private in the unit. The men ended up in Italy from 1943-4, bringing the bear along with them. It helped to carry heavy ammunition and quickly became a celebrity among the troops.
Wojtek was eventually discharged after the war and lived peacefully in Edinburgh Zoo until he passed away in 1963.
These facts came from the following link, there are 10 more.
https://www.history.co.uk/articles/little-known-facts-about-wwii