The Win Column: I, a talking baseball, am glad Tech lost
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Don’t get mad at me.
The anthropomorphic baseball wrote all that.
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THE ANTHROPOMORPHIC BASEBALL EXPLAINS HIMSELF
By the anthropomorphic baseball that Georgia’s Tre Phelps hit into the trees before being ejected
Listen.
Nobody asked for my side of things (they never do). And I’m really not a bad guy (am I even a guy? I guess I’m a guy).
But I’m not sad those baseball-bashing bullies from Georgia Tech lost. Nor am I upset by the suspension imposed on the barbarous “Bulldog” who sent my face (we have faces, you know) careening into an evergreen.
Frankly, I’ve watched too many of my spherical siblings suffer to care all that much.
You know what really hurts?
Being 100% sensate while one man pulls you out of a leathery holding cell and hurls you at 90-something mph in one direction, only to have some other wackadoo smash a not-inconsiderable chunk of YOUR ENTIRE BODY with an aluminum club and send you sailing even faster and farther in the opposite direction, where god-knows-what awaits on impact.
The heathens from that beloved Institute of Technology did more of the latter than anyone over the past few months — a feat, I’ll point out, you humans should appreciate even in the face of another excruciating failure.
Even as a baseball, I’ve always found such tournaments — and especially their briefer subtournaments — an odd way of determining supremacy. And if it makes you feel any better, your Yellow Jackets are hardly the first regional host to crash out early.
Regardless, I won’t miss their seemingly ceaseless capacity for savagery.
And as for Mr. Tre Phelps?
His ejection was a tad questionable and definitely ill-explained (my own pain aside, momentous occasions should be celebrated as vigorously as possible). And his suspension for one game of the forthcoming super regional feels excessive, if by the book.
Any assaulter of mine spending less time on the field is A-OK, though. Especially if it means a cousin or three enjoying a little more time in the relative utopia of an umpire’s ball bag.
Of course, we all know, there is no escaping the ultimate fate (just ask my Uncle Sal, who was jettisoned into neighboring trees by Phelps’ replacement). The humans use and abuse, like, 60 of us during an average NCAA game — and the horrors basically double for MLB.
Which reminds me: If you see Ronald Acuña Jr., tell him I’d like a word.
That guy’s really starting to rub my seams the wrong way again.
ANYWAY … HERE’S SOME CALENDAR-TYPE STUFF.
⚾ Acuña and the Braves continue their series with the visiting Blue Jays after an opening 4-3 win. Grant Holmes gets the start tonight before Chris Sale rounds things out Thursday.
- First 15,000 folks through Truist Park gates tonight get a Drake Baldwin Braves hockey jersey.
👑 The NBA Finals start at 8:30 tonight on ABC. The Win Column’s heart (and the betting odds) are with Wemby and the San Antonio Spurs … but rest and experience lie with the Knicks. New York in seven, unfortunately.
- Also: This short New York Post piece on former Tech star Jose Alvarado is nice.
🏀 The Dream won their Commissioner’s Cup opener against the Sun on Tuesday. Two of their next three games in the in-season tournament are nationally televised: Thursday at Indiana (Amazon Prime) and Tuesday at Chicago (ESPN).
🏆 Georgia baseball’s best-of-three super regional with Mississippi State starts at 11 a.m. Saturday and continues at noon Sunday (AD Josh Brooks ain’t happy with those start times, even if they’re on ESPN). If necessary, Game 3 would be sometime Monday.
- Related: In last week’s Win Column, I overlooked the Bulldogs’ 1990 College World Series title. Color me embarrassed.
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BEEN REJECTED BY THE MASTERS?
It’s a tradition unlike any other: You fill out the online form for Masters tickets, hope for the best and … end up watching at home like the rest of us.
With the window to enter 2027’s lottery currently open, I’m on a quest — a quest to find the person who has entered the most times without landing a single, solitary badge.
Or has won, but entered a whole lot of time before striking gold. Or has any kind of lottery-related anecdote that will make me laugh, really.
📬 Email the deets to tyler.estep@ajc.com. And find more details on submitting this year’s wish list here.
MATTY ICE? FEELS NICE
Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa are vibing. Drake London’s got a new four-year deal that includes the NFL’s third-highest-paid receiver money.
But the Matt Ryan love fest in Flowery Branch is what’s been on my mind.
There seems to be a wave of warm fuzzies wafting around just knowing the man’s in the building (and, you know, the president of football).
A few quotes from beat writer Daniel Flick’s recent exploration of the topic:
- Offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom: “The competitor, energy, that he is, is awesome. So, I’m super fortunate — I think we all are — to have Matt around.”
- Tight end Kyle Pitts: “I feel like he’s wrapping me tighter under his wing from a different perspective as a front office guy now.”
- London: “Dude, for our president to be down here and throwing a ball and doing all that stuff, I think that’s the dopest thing in the world.”
We’ll see if and how it translates on the field. The vibes are high, though.
🗓️ No more OTAs until next week. Then buckle up for mandatory minicamp June 16-18.
VIDEO GAME DAYDREAMING
It’s football video game cover reveal season … and Atlanta got ignored again.
- The primary cover for EA Sports College Football 27 will feature Miami’s Malachi Toney, Ole Miss’ Kewan Lacey and Oregon’s Dante Moore, with Indiana coach Curt Cignetti featured prominently on the deluxe edition.
- And Madden 27? That’s got Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams all over it.
Is it childish to care about such things? Perhaps. But a little recognition feels good, and we rarely get it.
Although Kirby Smart and mascot Hairy Dawg made the rather crowded deluxe cover of the college football game in 2026, no Georgia or Georgia Tech player has ever received such an honor. (The Boston College version of Matt Ryan did front a 2009 regional edition, for what that’s worth.)
Madden-wise, Michael Vick is the only cover boy in Falcons history.
🎮 On the bright side: It feels like only a matter of time before Bijan Robinson gets his due, right? Maybe even next year, after he breaks the single-season record for scrimmage yards.
Needs only 211 more than last season.
RECENTLY, ON THE INTERNET …
A few random things I enjoyed online this week …
📍 Speaking of games, a couple of enjoyable little time-sucks popped up on the interwebs lately.
- There’s GeoSports, where you have to know the answer to the geography-oriented sports questions and then pinpoint them on a map (turns out your boy has little grasp of where most cities are.)
- Then there’s 82-0, which involves trying to build an unbeatable NBA super squad by choosing players from randomly assigned teams and decades.
🦁 The Athletic tracked down former Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons — who recently resurfaced in the Mexican League after more or less dropping of the face of the Earth following a 2022 shoulder injury. “I don’t regret it,” Simmons said.
🤷 Chopper, the Gwinnett Stripers’ groundhog mascot, recently went to Hooters.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Awful moment, poignant image.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of the Win Column. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
