Thursday’s Hot Clicks: Tony Kemp Makes Clutch Play to Save Justin Verlander

Tony Kemp to the rescue
Do you notice anything unusual about the celebration at home plate here after Tyler White’s walk-off homer for the Astros yesterday afternoon against the A’s.
Tony Kemp threw a plastic bucket of gum high in the air during the mayhem but soon realized it was a bad idea, so he sprung into action.
.@tonykemp saved @JustinVerlander's dome today.
— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 30, 2018
We decided to take a closer look 🔍
https://t.co/cFtfB0V5St pic.twitter.com/HnNHopRPBS
Kemp tweeted later that he was specifically trying to save the team’s ace, Justin Verlander.
Life flashed before my eyes when I saw the container heading for @JustinVerlander’s head #SwatTeam https://t.co/SvDP0MzwP0
— Tony Kemp (@tonykemp) August 29, 2018
😂😂 Mutombo blocked your own shot. ☝️no☝️no☝️no https://t.co/sgK6Vmyjfp
— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) August 29, 2018
At 5' 6" and 165 pounds, Kemp is one of the smallest players in baseball, so he must have been glad to get a chance to show off his hops.
Phil Hughes scoffs at your “baseball cathedrals”
Ok here’s mine. You ready? Beyond the history, Wrigley and Fenway suck https://t.co/5lNGBBJdDo
— Phil Hughes (@PJHughes45) August 29, 2018
Phil Hughes, recently released by the Padres, made a whole lot of enemies in Boston and Chicago yesterday by thumbing his nose at Fenway and Wrigley.
It sounds like Hughes wasn’t taking into account the experience of fan watching the game, he’s just upset that those parks don’t have nice amenities for visiting players.
Spend 9 hours in their visiting clubhouses and let me know if you can hear those soundtracks
— Phil Hughes (@PJHughes45) August 29, 2018
He spent much of his Wednesday replying to people on Twitter who disagreed with him before closing the debate with this:
I’d like to apologize for this tweet. I thought it would be an unpopular opinion but it turns out 90% of people agree with me. I’m sorry
— Phil Hughes (@PJHughes45) August 30, 2018
College football is back!
RUNNING TO COLLEGE FOOTBALL LIKE @D_hest23 #MOOD pic.twitter.com/LJWhZyzvvU
— Dyme Lyfe (@Dyme_Lyfe) August 30, 2018
The biggest game of the night is, uhhh, UCF vs. UConn, but college football season begins in earnest tonight with a slate of 12 games. You can find all of SI’s Week 1 picks right here.
Bits & Pieces
The Browns actually cut Mychal Kendricks after he was indicted on insider trading charges. ... A Mexican lagoon was sucked dry by a bunch of sinkholes. ... An American Olympic swimmer hired a dogsitter and walked in on two guys in a compromising sexual situation. ... A Florida restaurant will no longer allow customers to bring their monkeys after one bit a child. ... Metallica is lauching its own brand of whiskey because everyone sells out. .
Pay the man
Yet he still aint paid me my $20 I let em borrow in ‘16 https://t.co/j6eZDBwTR7
— Davante Adams (@tae15adams) August 29, 2018
Where NFL fans live
SeatGeek put together an interactive map of where people search for tickets to NFL games to approximate where fans of all 32 teams live.
Sorry, buddy. You gotta buy a ticket.
Our recent visitor has been escorted out of the ballpark, unharmed. Though we may bring her back if the score doesn’t change soon… pic.twitter.com/iSP66pSqLd
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 30, 2018
How newspapers around the world marked Manu Ginobili’s retirement
What Netflix looked like 19 years ago
On this day in 1997: Netflix founded
— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) August 29, 2018
Netflix website in 1999: pic.twitter.com/4GafjdqCLt
Now that’s useful information
Noticed while doing game prep that Northwestern State’s game notes have an ENTIRE PAGE dedicated to player’s nicknames. I love this.
— Sam Khan Jr. (@skhanjr) August 29, 2018
They're listed alphabetically by player name or by nickname if you prefer.
By my count: 75 nicknames for 69 players (some have multiple). pic.twitter.com/gwUIp1RdPm
Keep your head in the game
Fan gets drilled with a deep foul ball from Adrianza, tells the woman in front of him "I thought you had it" pic.twitter.com/VlcshexioL
— Superdrunkmark69 (@cjzer0) August 30, 2018
Tommy Hilfiger vs. French Montana in a high-stakes game of ping pong
#https://instagram.com/p/BnAsrTIDAT2/
Shaq’s favorite book
As good a soccer goal as you’ll ever see
And that’s how you make escargot
Next year’s Oscar bait movie
Ryan Gosling stars as Neil Armstrong in First Man.
A good song
Thanks to reader Jeremy for passing this along.
Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or ping me on Twitter. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.
Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).
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