The Rocket, the Open, and the Summer of Sports

Roger Clemens walked into the room and introduced himself as "the Rocket" to everyone there. That's the kind of presence the seven-time Cy Young winner still carries at 63 years old. On this episode of Pardon My Take, the hosts covered an unusually dense stretch of the sports calendar: the MLB All-Star festivities in Philadelphia, the World Cup semifinals, a preview of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, and a Mount Rushmore of stores or restaurants you could live in for the rest of your life. The throughline is that we're in one of the better sports summers in recent memory—not a dead period at all.

The Home Run Derby Is Saved, the All-Star Game Is Not

The Home Run Derby was the clear winner of All-Star week. The hosts were nearly unanimous: the format change to letting viewers watch the ball land, combined with a hostile Philadelphia crowd booing Jordan Walker as he took pitches, made for compelling television. Walker's comeback—hitting home run after home run with one out left in his final round—was genuinely thrilling. "He put his balls on the table at the end of the home run derby and won that home run derby in a hostile environment," one host said.