A GRIP ON SPORTS • There was one constant at bedtime throughout my childhood years. It wasn’t a Teddy bear or a blanket. It was a dream. A dream that someday I would play in the major leagues. It was a dream. For me. For others, including a few with Spokane connections, it is a dream-turned-into reality this abbreviated baseball season.

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• Drew Rasmussen was a legend in these parts when he was mowing down hitters for Mt. Spokane High. Not huge by any stretch of the imagination as a major league pitcher, Rasmussen was a giant on a high school mound. And he was dominant, helping the Wildcats control the Greater Spokane League for three years.

His college career at Oregon State, however, wasn’t as free of stress. Oh, there were highlights, including a 2015 perfect game against Washington State, a game that took 104 minutes and forced Rasmussen to throw just 103 pitches. But the lowlights included Tommy John surgery on his right arm and, after the Tampa Bay Rays drafted but refused to sign him in in 2017 (he was the 31st pick in that draft), another Tommy John procedure.

Rasmussen’s arm problems meant he fell to the sixth round in the 2018 draft, taken by the Milwaukee Brewers. It was a blessing in every way except financial. And led to the fulfillment of his major league dream this week.

Rasmussen flew through the Brewers’ minor league system last season and made their 60-man roster for this weird one. He was recalled last week and inserted in his first major league game last night.

He was good. In two innings, Rasmussen threw 39 pitches. Twenty seven of them were strikes. The Twins, a potent offense, managed just two hits and struck out three times as Rasmussen hit 99 miles per hour on the gun more than once.

It was an auspicious debut. And certainly fulfilled a dream or two.

• We wrote about former Gonzaga first baseman Taylor Jones when he made his major league debut earlier this season against the Mariners. Well, the two at-bats he had in that Sunday game were his only ones. Until last night.

Jones had been returned to the Astros’ training site – this year’s equivalent of being sent to the minors – and wasn’t recalled until last year’s rookie of the year, Yordan Alvarez, was forced to the injured list by a balky knee. The injury will cost Alvarez the rest of this season and opened a door for the 6-foot-7 Jones.

Last night he walked through it and announced his presence with authority.

OK, it was just a couple singles, but they were RBI singles and they were his first big-league hits. Batting eighth as the designated hitter, Jones was 2-for-5 and helped the Astros to a 13-6 win over Colorado.

If there was a sour note, however, it came over the weekend when Jones’ Gonzaga teammate, Brandon Bailey, was sent back to Houston’s training site. The move came despite Bailey having pitched well in his first major league opportunity. The right-hander had made five appearances out of the bullpen and posted a respectable 2.45 earned run average.

When other relievers became healthy, however, the rookie became expendable. For now.

• Politics isn’t what it once was. I’m pretty sure no one would argue with that statement, but you never know in this climate when everything, it seems, is up for debate.

There is no debate, however, about the importance of one man on the Mariners’ history. Slade Gorton died yesterday at age 92. Our Jim Camden has an obituary in today’s paper.

M’s fans of a certain age might not know it, but if it weren’t for Gorton’s efforts, there would not be major league baseball in Seattle.

Gorton furiously fought major league baseball in the early 1970s, after the Pilots were sold to a Milwaukee car dealer – Bud Selig – and moved to the Midwest. His efforts then resulted in the Mariners coming into being as an expansion franchise.

And when the M’s were in danger of being moved to Tampa a couple decades later, Gorton, now a senator, stepped in and found a new owner, one with the desire to see Seattle keep its major league franchise.

Make no mistake about it. If Gorton had failed at either time, the Northwest would not have a major league team today. Say what you will about the M’s failing franchise, at least it’s the Northwest’s franchise. And we owe that to a bespectacled man who spent his adult life in the service of the citizens of this state.

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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and college sports, the Cougars are not the only Pac-12 school hit with football transfers. Arizona is losing two brothers who want to play this fall. But will the NCAA allow it and is there room at schools trying to play this fall for all the kids who might want to transfer? … The NCAA Division I Council has recommended something that seems appropriate but also comes with a bunch of issues. Wednesday afternoon the group told the Board of Governors, which has the final decision, it should not count 2020 fall sports competitions against anyone’s eligibility. No matter the sport, no matter how many games are played. A simple fix to a complex problem. And one that opens up a whole bunch of questions about roster size, scholarship limits and financial issues. … Is anyone in charge of football? … We have another story on the newest Oregon State player. And a former one. … A Colorado player has been reinstated. … USC’s Jay Tufele has decided not to play if there is a football season in the spring. … A ranking of Arizona State’s Jayden Daniels is way too low. … In basketball news, an Arizona State transfer from Portland State was deemed immediately eligible.

Gonzaga: Zach Collin’s season has been interrupted on occasion by injury. The latest came at the worst time, as the Trail Blazers are in the midst of a playoff run. Jim Meehan has more on Collin’s health issues. … Want to listen to more GU basketball talk? Larry Weir takes care of that. He had a conversation yesterday with The Slipper Still Fits’ Steven Karr about the Zags. It is part of the latest Press Box podcast.

Golf: Joel Dahmen earned some TV time at the recent PGA Championship, when he finished in a tie for 10th. He should earn some more this week as he plays in the Northern Trust, the first leg of the FedEx playoffs. Jim has more in this story. 

Mariners: The long losing streak is over, as the M’s pounded Dodger pitching last night for a 6-4 victory. … Maybe we buried the lead here, but Daniel Vogelbach’s Mariner career has been buried. The portly designated hitter was designated for assignment yesterday.

Seahawks: No one expected anything different, I’m sure, but the Hawks announced yesterday their first three home games would not include fans. … K.J. Wright won’t be giving up his starting spot without a fight.

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• No, I don’t dream about playing in the major leagues anymore. Though it wasn’t too long ago I dreamt I had developed a nearly unhittable knuckleball and helped the Mariners win the World Series. When I dream, I dream big. … I get to fulfill a dream again today when I’ll talk with Larry for the Press Box pod. My dream, his nightmare. Until later …