It utilized to beryllium that Todd Blyleven was champion known for being the lad of Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven. As the bat lad during the Pittsburgh Pirates’ “We Are Family” years, helium would instrumentality adhesive golden stars from Willie Stargell’s locker and administer them to different Pirates to instrumentality connected their flat-top caps.
That changed connected Oct. 1, 2017, astatine the deadly Route 91 Harvest festival diagonally crossed the thoroughfare from Mandalay Bay. When shots rang out, Blyleven sprung into action. He attended to the fallen and led others to information by putting his beingness connected the line.
He didn’t inquire for a golden star. He surely deserves one.
The MLB Network connected Monday volition debut a abbreviated movie called “Todd Blyleven: A Life Changed” that recalls his heroic actions. It begins with Blyleven alluding to his nonaccomplishment to travel successful his father’s footsteps — helium made it lone arsenic acold arsenic Double-A successful the insignificant leagues — and the shot credo that “you conflict done things, you get implicit things.”
Of that fateful night, “I said ‘Dad, this isn’t thing you conscionable get over.’”
The movie shows 48-year-old Blyleven dancing with his niece astatine the festival. “My wife’s determination and it was conscionable axenic joyousness and happiness …”
Until it wasn’t.
“We started to perceive immoderate crackling noises …”
After shepherding his wife, Cathie, and their radical to a harmless spot, Blyleven ran backmost into the carnage. He led the frantic successful the crosshairs of the shooter to a gross down vending trucks that led to sanctuary. He came upon respective of the victims, felt for pulses. He threw 1 implicit his shoulder, carried her to a taxi.
“She didn’t marque it …”
Rachael Parker died the adjacent time astatine the hospital. She was 33.
Blyleven sought counseling aft the harrowing experience. But helium said it brought him and Cathie, whose matrimony had been struggling, person together. Same for helium and his celebrated father.
As the narrator successful the movie says, connected the shot field, Todd Blyleven had failed to conscionable expectations that came with his past name. But connected a sidesplitting tract successful Las Vegas, helium had been a hero.
Thank you to Todd Blyleven for being the courageous idiosyncratic you are. https://t.co/Rgl6Pjom2c
— Darrell Yates (@dyatesjr1973) October 4, 2017
Around the horn
— Dan Kalish, a Seattle employment lawyer who specializes successful assemblage shot coaching contracts, ranks UNLV shot manager Marcus Arroyo’s 97th among the 130 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision coaches based connected magnitude of contract, yearly compensation, bonus opportunities, buyout and aureate parachute provisions, perks, world show and off-the-field responsibilities.
Arroyo’s yearly wage is $340,000 — third-richest successful the Mountain West Conference astatine the clip helium was hired. Clemson’s Dabo Sweeney, No. 1 connected Kalish’s list, makes lone $245,000 successful yearly mean wage but has lucrative bonuses built into his declaration that would marque Bill Gates blush.
Marcus Arroyo's declaration is tied for the 3rd highest successful the Mountain West. https://t.co/pWC5DYlMsv
— Las Vegas Review-Journal (@reviewjournal) December 14, 2019
— In different list, UNLV’s 1990 hoops squad was ranked No. 28 among the 81 NCAA men’s hoops champions by Stadium Talk which said: “If you blinked, the Rebels mightiness person scored 4 points already. They reached triple figures nary less than 16 times.”
The website pegged the undefeated 1971-72 UCLA Bruins arsenic its top NCAA rubric team.
One-liners
Chris Bassitt, the A’s pitcher who was struck successful the look with a enactment thrust against the White Sox Tuesday and suffered a fractured feature bony that volition necessitate surgery, concisely pitched for the Aviators successful 2019. … Bryce Young, this season’s Alabama starting quarterback, threw 4 touchdown passes successful California Mater Dei’s 42-0 triumph implicit Bishop Gorman successful 2018. … Since being traded, Bonanza High’s Kris Bryant is batting .277 with 3 homers and 8 RBIs successful 65 at-bats for the Giants and Gorman’s Joey Gallo .152 with 4 homers and 8 RBIs successful 79 at-bats for the Yankees.
Prayers 🙏 for Oakland pitcher Chris Bassitt
This video is not casual to watch. Hope helium is OK.
— Frankie Fanta$y (@Frankie_Fantasy) August 18, 2021
Our thoughts are with A's pitcher Chris Bassitt who near today's crippled connected a cart aft taking a enactment thrust to the caput portion pitching. pic.twitter.com/fh3NxCdxVR
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 18, 2021
0:01
Last week successful commenting connected Joe Buck’s show arsenic impermanent host, “Jeopardy!” phenom James Holzhauer of Las Vegas wrote connected Twitter that “Jeopardy says whoever hosts afloat clip volition person to discontinue their different job, truthful I’m crossing my fingers it’s Joe Buck.”
This week, the ubiquitous Fox sports broadcaster fired backmost connected a Sports Illustrated podcast: “I don’t cognize who helium roots for. I don’t cognize wherever he’s from. So … moved connected to the adjacent 3-year-old’s diaper I had to change.”
Contact Ron Kantowski astatine rkantowski@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski connected Twitter.