Stumblin' Along 9/22 '24
Hound Dog
Hound Dog
- WNBA Playoff Bracket
- NY Baseball Report Week 26
- YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is Elvis Presley’s Hound Dog. I heard it while re-watching the scene in Forrest Gump earlier in the week and figured it’d be pretty cool to do a bit on The King of Rock & Roll.
Big Mama Thorton originally recorded Hound Dog in 1953. Her version peaked at #1 on the R&B Charts and it would be her most successful song. Elvis Presley’s version was made in 1956, would go on to be the most known, and was the #1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Elvis and Big Mama’s versions differed with the line…
“Well, they said you was high-classed, but that was just a lie." (Elvis)
vs
"You told me you was high class, but I can see through that." (Big Mama)
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were the writers of the song. Both men claim to have liked Big Mama’s record more. Leiber stated, “(Elvis)was nervous sounding. It didn't have that insinuation that Big Mama's record had.” While Stroller said, "It's something that really is sort of an imitation that never really turned out well." Despite their preference for Hound Dog, the two songwriters worked with Elvis on a few more of his hits such as Jailhouse Rock.
(Source: Songfacts)
Leiber and Stroller also wrote Ben E. King’s Stand By Me.
I’ve never thought too much about the rabbit line but I guess hound dogs do chase rabbits.
The women of the 1950s were so hot and bothered moved by the aur of Elvis, you could hear it from the shrieking in today’s YouTube Rabbithole of his live performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Usually, Sunday Stumblin’ Alongs are focused on just a piece or two about history, but with the WNBA Playoffs set to begin and MLB season entering its last week, we’re sticking with sports…
The opening round of the WNBA playoffs is a best-of-3 series, followed by a best-of-5 semis and finals. All 4 matchups start today and finish up by next weekend. Here is a bit about each of them…
The #8 seed Atlanta Dream went 15-25 this regular season. For the Dream to make the playoffs, they needed to go on a 3 game-winning streak to beat out the Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky. The Sky lost out on the last spot as they lost their last 5 in a row. Atlanta scored the least amount of points this season but was decent enough defensively to sneak into the playoffs. They are led by their backcourt of Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray, who combine to average 32.9 points per game.
The New York Liberty are the top seed after going 32-8 in the regular season. The Liberty lost in the WNBA Finals last season and are on the pursuit of happiness a mission to get back there. New York has reached the Finals 5 times in their history but has never won a championship. Their top 2 scorers are C Breanna Stewart (20.4 ppg & 8.5 rpg) and PG Sabrina Ionescu (18.2 ppg & 6.2 apg). Stewart is a former UConn Husky great who an NCAA title in all 4 years she was there. She also won 2 WNBA Titles with the Seattle Storm before signing with New York in ‘23. Sabrina Ionescu is one of the top 3-point shooters in the WNBA and participated in the NBA’s All-Star festivities with Steph Curry this past February. The heavily favored Liberty will look to sweep the series in two games at the Barclay Center.
The Seattle Storm finished 25-15 in the regular season, earning them the #5 seed. They have won 4 WNBA Championships, their most recent in ‘20. While as a team they may shoot the 2nd-worst in the league from beyond the arc, F Nneka Owgumike hits at a 40.5% rate to go with 7.6 boards per game. They’ll need her on the glass in Game 1 as the Storm’s top rebounder, C Ezi Magbegor, is out with a concussion. Aside from Owgumike, the Storm is also led by PG Skylar Diggins-Smith. The former Notre Dame averaged a career-high 6.4 assists this season while chipping in with 15.1 points per game.
The #4 seed Las Vegas Aces went 27-13 this regular season, but are playoff battle-tested and seeking their 3rd WNBA Championship in a row. No WNBA franchise has ever won back-to-back-to-back titles since the Houston Comets won 4 in a row when the league first formed in 1997. The Aces led the WNBA in scoring this past season with C A'ja Wilson also taking home the scoring title at 26.9 points per game. Wilson and Angel Reese were the only players this season to average double-doubles as she grabbed 11.9 rebounds per game. Aside from their center, Las Vegas also relies on their backcourt of guards Kelsey Plum (17.8 ppg) and Jackie Young (15.8 ppg). The trifecta of Wilson-Plum-Young averaged 58.8 points last postseason and will be a tough out given their championship pedigree.
The #7 Phoneix Mercury went 19-21 in the regular season. Their leading scorer is G Kahleah Copper. The Rutgers alum joined the Mercury via an offseason trade that sent the Chicago Sky the #3 pick this past draft. Copper averaged a career-high 21.1 points per game with her new team. Her most notable teammates are C Britney Griner and SG Diana Taurasi. For Taurasi, this will likely be her last run at a 4th WNBA championship. The 11-time WNBA All-Star has played 20 seasons with the Mercury and holds the WNBA scoring record of 10,646 points. No other WNBA player has ever scored more than 8,000 career points.
The Minnesota Lynx are the #2 seed with a 30-10 record. Since July 17, the Lynx have won 14 of 16 games. Minnesota’s top player is F Napheesa Collier, who led the Lynx in scoring (20.4 ppg) and rebounding (9.7 rbg). The Lynx shot a WNBA-best 38% from beyond the arc this season. They surround Collier with top shooters like Kayla McBride (40.7% from 3), Alanna Smith (39.8% from 3), and Bridget Carleton (44.4% from 3). The Lynx have already won the ‘24 Commissioner’s Cup over the Liberty and are seeking their 5th WNBA title.
The Indiana Fever finished their regular season 20-20, earning the #6 seed. The .500 record is quite an accomplishment considering the Fever haven’t made the playoffs since ‘16 and haven’t had a winning record since ‘15. Headlined by the game’s biggest star, Caitlin Clark, the Fever are 19-12 after starting the season 1-8. Clark is the clear favorite to win the Rookie of the Year as she averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game. The NCAA all-time leading scorer now holds a plethora of WNBA records like most points by a rookie and most assists by anyone in a season. While Clark is the star, her teammates have also stepped up down the regular season stretch as well. SG Kelsey Mitchell averaged a career-high 19.2 points per game and 2nd-year C Aliyah Boston scored 14 points with 8.9 rebounds. The fact that Clark and all the top Fever players weren’t included in the Olympics may have been a blessing in disguise as Indiana was effectively able to have a mini-mid-season training camp.
The #3 seed Connecticut Sun went 28-12 this regular season. The Suns are a defensive-minded ballclub as they allow a WNBA-least 73.6 points per game. Connecticut in their 4 matchups against Clark this season held her to just 16.5 points and 3.8 assists per game as she shot only 39% from the floor. 3 of those matchups were before the Olympic break and right after she had just finished her March Madness run, but still noteworthy. The Connecticut Sun is a very balanced team with 6 players who average double-digit points. While the franchise has never won a WNBA Championship, they’ve been a perennial playoff team, getting past the 1st Round of the Playoffs in every year since ‘17. The Fever and Sun play Game 1 at 3:30 PM ET on ESPN, smack dab in the middle of an NFL Sunday, but plenty of sports fans will be keeping tabs.
The New York Mets enter Sunday 86-69 and with a 2-game lead over the Atlanta Braves for the final Wild Card spot. Their Magic Number to clinch the postseason is 5 (Met wins or Brave losses). After losing 2 straight in Philadelphia last weekend, New York swept the Nationals and have thus far won 2 of 3 against the Phillies at home. Tonight they will face off against a familiar foe in Zack Wheeler. In 14 starts against his former team, Wheeler is 5-4 with a 3.64 ERA, but he has yet to face this year’s squad.
Rookie SS Luisangel Acuña has had one helluva beginning to his MLB career. In 26 at-bats, Ronald Acuña’s little brother has already doubled twice, tripled once, and gone yard 3 times. After getting called up as Francisco Lindor’s replacement at SS, you can’t ask for a better start. That’s the good news, the no-so-good news is the questions about Lindor’s back injury remain. The team’s MVP hasn’t started a game since Friday the 13th and earlier in the week, Lindor received a cortisone injection for his back discomfort. Lindor told reporters, “I’m trying to do whatever it takes to come back as soon as I can. Without it, it didn’t feel like I could get back sooner rather than later.” The Mets manager Carlos Mendoza updated reporters, “Lindor is going to go out there and do more baseball activities. Hopefully a little bit more than what he did yesterday. He’s going to try to play catch and run some sprints, take BP, maybe some ground balls. He is day by day and Tuesday night is the most likely scenario” of his return. After their Sunday Night Game with the Phillies, the Mets will go head-to-head with the Braves in Atlanta and then head to Milwaukee to close out their regular season.
Game 150 (9/15)
- Rubber match in New York’s last game and series with Boston. Yankee Captain #99 is wearing #21 in honor of Roberto Clemente Day. The Yankees strike first in the bottom of the 2nd when Mike Stanton doubles home Jazz Chisholm after the Thirdbaseman reached on an infield single. In the 3rd inning, Gleyber Torres puts the Yanks up 2-0 on a solo shot to the Short Porch. Juan Soto then singles and Aaron Judge hits his 53rd homer of the season for a distance of 445 feet. SP Carlos Rodon picks up the win as he goes 5.1 innings while allowing just 2 runs. The Yankees bullpen of Ian Hamilton, Tim Hill, Clay Holmes, Jake Cousins, and Tommy Kahnle gets 11 outs as Kahnle produces a double play to end it. Yanks win 5-2.
Game 151 (9/17)
- The Yankees take on the Mariners in Seattle so back-to-back late-night starts. Right off the bat, the Yankees score 2 runs in the Top of the 1st as Gleyber Torres reaches on an infield hit, Juan Soto doubles, and then Judge doubles to drive both runners in. In the 2nd inning, Judge once again drives in two more runs on a single. Up 4-1 in the 4th, Juan Soto hits a 2-run dinger to Left-Center. It’s his 40th home run of the season and at 25 years old, he’s now at least one home run in every MLB ballpark. Judge and Soto are the first Yankee teammates to hit 40+ home runs in a season since Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961. Before the M&M Boys, the Babe & Lou did it in 1927, 1930 and 1931. The Yankees continue to tack on more runs as Jasson Dominguez hits his first home run of the season and Austin Wells clears the loaded bases on a 6th-inning double. The Yanks win 11-2 as Luis Gil goes 5 innings with Marcus Stroman coming out of the bullpen to piggyback for 3 innings of 1-run ball.
Game 152 (9/18)
- Nestor Cortes is on the mound as the Yanks get on the board first in the Top of the 2nd when Jasson Dominguez walks, steals 2nd, reaches 3rd on a throwing error, and scores on an Anthony Rizzo single. Nestor is nasty as he goes 6 strong scoreless innings with 6 Ks before Clay Holmes gives up a homer in the 8th. The game goes to extras tied up at 1-1. In the 10th inning with Dominguez on 2nd base, Rizzo again scores the rookie but this time on an RBI double. During the bottom half of the 10th, Ian Hamilton has runners on the corners with no outs. He strikes out Randy Arozarena, who lets go of his bat and it nearly hits Julio Rodriguez who was standing on 3rd base. Rodriguez has to dodge the bat and then gets tagged out for veering too far off the base. The Yankees win 2-1 and clinch a spot in the postseason.
Game 153 (9/19)
- Thursday afternoon game and the Yankees are hungover after popping champagne for making the playoffs the night before. The Martian drops a bases-loaded can of corn as the Mariners score 3 runs in the 1st inning. Jazz Chisholm gets 2 runs back in the 3rd inning with a home run that scores Judge. The biggest news of this game was Juan Soto crashing into the Seattle wall in Right Field Foul Territory to make a great play. Clarke Schmidt went 5 innings while allowing just 1 earned run to go with 7 strikeouts, but the hungover Yankees lost 3-2.
Game 154 (9/20)
- The Yankees head to Oakland to take on the A’s for the last time at the Oakland Coliseum. With all the foul territory it’s a hitter's nightmare. The A’s always playing the Yankees tough there. Plus by all accounts, the Coliseum is an outdated dump, but that still kind of stinks because it’s kind of a classic ballpark. Michael Kay is joined by Jeff Nelson in the booth. With it being his last series to call this year, the former 90s relief pitcher is a good addition to the YES Network. Juan Soto is out of the lineup but tests have come back negative of a serious injury. After getting pinch-hit for in Seattle, Anthony Volpe hits a clutch 2-out RBI single to put New York on the scoreboard in the 5th. Gerrit Cole making his first start since the Red Sox and Rafael Devers debacle, goes 9 innings, throwing 99 pitches and only allows of 1 run. The game goes into extra innings, so Cole doesn’t get a complete game, but he picks up the win as the Yankees rally in the 10th. Jasson Dominguez scores on a passed ball as Soto pinch hits and goes to left field on a double. He looks healthy. Volpe also added another run with an RBI single to RF, his 3rd hit of the night. The Yanks win 4-2.
Game 155 (9/21)
- The Yankees open up the 1st inning scoring 2 runs after Stanton grounds into bases loaded no-out double play and Dominguez singles home Soto. In the 2nd inning, Anthony Volpe hits his 1st homer since August 3rd. Then in the 3rd inning, Mike Stanton comes up with Soto and Judge on base, except this time he launches a 3-run bomb, his 26th of the year. Carlos Rodon goes six scoreless innings, while Aaron Judge hits his 54th homer in the 7th. Even Mark Leiter Jr. goes 2 innings without allowing a run as the Yankees win 10-0.
