Whicker: NL batting leader Lopez proving line drives still worth something

“Who is Otto Lopez and why hasn’t anyone told him that you can’t hit .300 anymore?

Researchers for the All-Star Game telecast should be scrambling for those answers.

Lopez is the Miami Marlins’ shortstop. Through June 26, he had 107 hits, 10 more than any other hitter in MLB. His average of .337 was the best in baseball by .001 over Tampa Bay’s Yandy Diaz. Only two players have more doubles than his 21, and he has 16 steals and has struck out only 48 times. Those who watch the Marlins – yes, we’ve contacted all six of them – say that Lopez and second baseman Xavier Edwards, who used to be the shortstop, form the best keystone combination in the game right now. “

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Antonacci: Devo and me, then and now

“I knew the answers. All of them.

I just needed Devo to pick me.

Devon White and Dave Stewart were at my elementary school in Etobicoke about a month after winning the World Series in 1993, and my baseball-mad nine-year-old self could barely believe he was in the same room as two real-life Blue Jays.

Most of what they said has been lost to time, though I recall Stewart giving us tips on how to sneak a peek at our Christmas gifts by carefully peeling off the corners of the wrapping paper.”

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