News & notes

A shade more than a week before being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, former Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was the guest of honor at Saratoga Race Course on Friday. The New York Racing Association (NYRA) needed something to boost attendance for opening weekend, and hyped this to the moon for weeks.

What I'm wondering, though, is if they queued up Metallica's "Enter Sandman" at the track on Friday.....
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The Tri-City Valleycats dropped their second straight on Saturday night, falling 9-6 to the Connecticut Tigers. Today's game will start at 4:05 pm, an hour earlier than most Sunday games in the NY-Penn League. While the 'Cats don't have the resources to have announcer Joe Mixie call road games online, fans can still catch the game by picking up the Tigers' online feed through MiLB.com.
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Due to what I am assuming is a scheduling conflict, the Albany Empire's road game at Columbus takes place today, with kickoff around 3:05. I honestly thought the game was set for yesterday at the same time, and WROW morning host Ben Patton made the same mistake. Live & learn, folks.
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The Albany Dutchmen swept a double-header from Saugerties on Saturday at Siena, after losing to the Stallions on Friday night on the road. The Dutchmen won the resumption of last Sunday's suspended game, 10-9, then took the regularly scheduled game, 7-1, to open some distance between them & Saugerties. Amsterdam's in town today for a 3 pm game at Siena.
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Since 2006, ESPN has partnered with the Make-a-Wish Foundation for a short, summer docuseries, My Wish, which airs during SportsCenter and its spin-off series, SC Featured. This year's series opener, airing today, has a connection to the 518.

15 year old George Taylor of Cohoes will be profiled today, as he meets NY Giants running back Saquon Barkley. This is getting played up big in the local press, with feature pieces in today's newspapers. Former MTV personality Chris Connelly, who came to ESPN from MTV some 20-odd years ago, narrates the piece.

My Wish airs through Thursday, July 18.