Good morning, all! I hope your Friday is off to a terrific start!

In the audio above, I give my weekly NFL picks for Week 2. Per usual, I am offering my predictions for the games, involving the Patriots, Giants, Jets and two bonus games. I was 4-1 in Week 1.

As I explain in the podcast, there will be no newsletter on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, as I head to Richmond, VA to broadcast the final two games of the season for the Hartford Yard Goats with the “Voice of the Yard Goats” Jeff Dooley. Hartford is closing out the season against the Richmond Flying Squirrels in what will be the final two games ever for Richmond in its ballpark, The Diamond. The Flying Squirrels will move into a new park, under construction behind the current one, next season.

I had the honor of broadcasting the first game in The Diamond on April. 17, 1985, when I called Richmond Braves games with the “Voice of the Braves” Bob Black. The Yard Goats have been kind enough to fly me down to Richmond so I can broadcast the last game in The Diamond. MiLB’s weekly podcast interviewed me Thursday to talk about the unique situation of broadcasting the first and last game in a ballpark four decades apart. I will link to that podcast in the next newsletter.

Here are some other thoughts crossing my mind, as I recall those glorious days with the R-Braves:

* So it turns out Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe has been playing since May 3 with a partial labrum tear and has been getting cortisone shots. Manager Aaron Boone had to explain the injury to the media on Thursday, after NY Post reporter Joel Sherman outed the Yankees with the injury news the day before.

* And how does this happen with several entities covering the Baltimore Orioles? We learned through The Athletic on Thursday that the Orioles promoted GM Mike Elias to president of baseball operations before the season started and kept it quiet. Why? And how did the news not leak until now? Anyway, word is Elias is now looking to hire a GM.

* NFL television ratings for Week 1 were strong. Week 2 is expected to be stronger with the 4:25 p.m. game on Sunday, featuring a rematch of last season’s Super Bowl between the Eagles and Kansas City. The Chiefs, the home team, are slight underdogs. I give you my prediction in the podcast.

* Now the NCAA is investigating 13 athletes for allegations of betting. It never ends.

* Dodgers-Giants open a big series tonight in San Francisco. The Giants are making a huge playoff push. Wouldn’t it be something if they pulled it off? And how about the Rangers at Mets? The Rangers are just 1 1/2 games out of an AL playoff spot and the Mets are clinging to a wild card spot, after being swept by the Phillies, with both the Giants and Reds just 1 1/2 games behind New York. Adding to the intrigue for tonight's game will be ex-Met Jacob deGrom pitching for the Rangers against rookie Jonah Tong. Then, of course, there's Yankees-Red Sox. Should be a fun weekend.

That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Enjoy your weekend and see you back here on Tuesday. As always, thank you for being a subscriber!

DAN

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

Former MLB manager Buck Showalter has a realignment plan for baseball. So do I. Let’s compare.

In many cases we are on the same page. In some cases we are not but that’s okay. Commissioner Rob Manfred has started the conversation with his suggestion about adding two expansion teams and realigning the sport. I’ve had my Dan Plan for years and Buck has his own. Let’s have fun.