Monday’s Hot Clicks: 99-Year-Old Pirates Fan Attends First Game Ever

The attendance of 16 of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren was part of the surprise.

Erin Kozy (via CNN)

It’s never too late

Despite living just six miles from their home stadium, 99-year-old Pirates fan Catherine Kyle had never seen her favorite team play live. That is, until Saturday, when her family surprised her with a trip to the ballpark for her upcoming birthday. 

Nearly Kyle’s entire family (16 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren) went out to Saturday night’s game against the Reds at PNC Park.

“I was really surprised,” Kyle told CNN. “They like to surprise me.”

The surprise also included an autographed baseball from Francisco Cervelli, Kyle’s favorite Pirate (who unfortunately was released earlier in the week). 

“This was a collective effort between many of her grandkids and great-grandkids, and I just feel lucky to be a part of it,” grandchild Erin Kozy told local CBS affiliate KDKA. “But they really made this come together. It was a lot of moving parts.”

But all their planning couldn’t have guaranteed the best part: the Pirates crushed the Reds 14–0. 

Aaron Judge is a man of his word

Here’s a clip of Aaron Judge’s interaction with an elderly fan before the Yankees’ game against the Dodgers last night. 

And here’s what Judge did in his second at-bat of the night. 

The man, we later learned, was the father of Yankees catching coach Jason Brown, John. 

“I’ve seen [John Brown] all over the place, and I missed seeing him when we played in Anaheim this year, so I went over there and just said hello to him and said I’d get one for him, and I was able to do that today,” Judge told reporters after the game. “Wind was blowing out, though, so that helped.”

The best of SI

Andrew Luck remained true to himself by walking away from the NFL. ... The coaching staff of the worst Redskins team in 25 years was loaded with future head coaches. ... Dwight Howard’s return to the Lakers could be his final shot to stick in the NBA. 

Who wants free stuff?

Four Peaks Brewery

The contest is now closed. Thanks for entering!

We’ve got a pretty exciting giveaway today: beer! 

Tempe brewery Four Peaks is releasing a special Cardinals-themed beer in honor of the NFL’s 100th anniversary. It’s an amber lager called Red Bird Lager that will be available on a limited basis throughout Arizona this season. But you have a chance to win a whole 12-pack of pint-sized aluminum bottles for yourself, no matter where you live (as long as you’re at least 21, of course). 

All you have to do to enter is follow these very specific instructions. Go back to Friday’s Hot Clicks and find the name of the Red Sox player who had the walk-off hit against the Royals. Send me an email (dan.gartland@simail.com) using the subject line beer giveaway (all lower case, “giveaway” one word) and include the correct answer in the body. The 25th, 50th, 100th and 150th persons to follow those directions will win.

Around the sports world

Spero Dedes had an unfortunate slip of the tongue during the Chargers-Seahawks game. ... The New York Times profiled Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s grandmother, who has now cooked for two generations of baseball players. ... Everybody hated MLB’s Players Weekend jerseys, even the players themselves. 

We’re losing the most entertaining mic’d-up player in the NFL

Sideline reporters down under need to wise up

Who says you need to see the ball to catch it?

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Throwbacks are very in this season

Watch your mouth

Maybe you shouldn’t have hit it the way you wanted

This is a really cool view

Absolute banger

Big man has a sweet stroke!

Never gonna...

SO GOOD, SO GOOD, SO GOOD! 🤣 https://t.co/RatAEIaWlL

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 25, 2019

Not sports

An American astronaut is the first person to be accused of committing a crime in space. ... A famous Mahattan jewelry store got robbed in broad daylight. ... A South Carolina coroner confirmed that Dairy Queen’s hamburgers are not made with human meat. 

The Breaking Bad movie has a release date

Disney is bringing a new Star Wars movie to its streaming service

Now they’re doing Fyre Fest-inspired fiction?

A good song

Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. 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.