'The Terminator,' baseball, and Evan Parker reps Dixie
Two weeks after Sparky Anderson's 100-win Detroit Tigers beat the San Diego Padres four games to one in the 1984 World Series, "The Terminator" hit the big screen, featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the greatest movie role of all time.
OK, pardon the melodrama.
It's 31 years later and there's a new Terminator movie, which was awesome, by the way. Go see it. "Terminator Genisys" didn't even need CGI Schwarzenegger vs. 68-year-old Schwarzenegger to be a cool movie, but it had it anyway, and it will give you all the chills and feels.
Much like the Schwarzenegger vs. Schwarzenegger fight in the new movie, there's no reason to be this excited about baseball season at the beginning of July. As Utah Jazz columnist Garrett Faylor wrote to me on Twitter, "Playoffs now is like talking about the closeness of the Kentucky Derby right out of the gates."
But look at how close the Wild Card standings are. Eleven of the 15 American League teams are still legitimate fighters for the playoffs at the halfway point of the season, and another two are extended winning streaks away from getting back into the conversation.
On the National League side, the Chicago Cubs have a winning record after July 1, which alone should pique some kind of interest, if not put baseball fans at the edge of their seats like when I watched "Terminator Genisys."
Another Storm pitcher rides the bus
Evan Parker, Dixie State's closer last season, signed a free agent deal with the Milwaukee Brewers last week and is now in Arizona preparing for a rookie campaign in the farm system.
Though not officially on a roster just yet, Parker is expected to play with the Brewers in the Arizona Rookie League, which started two weeks ago.
For Dixie State in 2015, Parker had 13 saves in 24 appearances, recording a 2.45 ERA with 25 strikeouts.
Salt Lake's best player doesn't play for them anymore
As is the case with Minor League Baseball, once a player is good enough he moves on to the big club.
Pitcher Andrew Heaney picked up his first career Major League win Tuesday in a 2-1 victory for the Los Angeles Angels over the New York Yankees.
In seven innings pitched, Heaney gave up a solo home run to Mark Teixeira, but then he shut down the Yankees the rest of the way. Heaney struck out seven batters and gave up just two hits in the winning effort. Albert Pujols and Erick Aybar hit back-to-back solo home runs in the sixth inning to ensure Heaney could walk out of the stadium with his first win.
In 14 appearances for triple-A Salt Lake Bees this season, Heaney went 6-2 with a 4.71 ERA and 74 strikeouts.
Follow Richard Briggs on Twitter, @BriggsRich. Call him at 435-674-6233.
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