Paulo Orlando waited eight years to reach the major leagues. The Kansas City Royals outfielder wasted little time making his mark on the game once he got there.
The 29-year-old Orlando broke camp with the Royals and made his debut April 9 by hitting a triple for his first major league hit. Orlando didn't get a chance for at-bats for three more days, when he hit two more triples, becoming the first player since at least 1900 to record triples as his first three hits.
Orlando wasn't done, though. He tripled again April 17 and again April 20. Before Wednesday night's games, he was hitting .276 and five of his eight hits were triples.
Not bad for the native Brazilian who broke into baseball in 2006 with the Chicago White Sox organization. Orlando said he's been getting a hard time from his teammates for the hot start.
"They'll say to me, 'You're never hitting singles, all you hit is triples,' " Orlando said. "They are very funny. I'm just trying to use my speed to help the team."
That's not to say his teammates aren't recognizing his contributions. Pitcher Danny Duffy called Orlando the "fastest man alive."
Orlando had 63 minor-league triples. He spent parts of three seasons with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, combining for 18 triples, including 10 in 2011.
Finder's keepers
Nassau Coliseum, the home of the New York Islanders, is closing after more than four decades when the Islanders' run in the NHL playoffs is over. Some fans aren't waiting to snag a few souvenirs.
According to Newsday, arena officials discovered several seats missing after the Islanders' Game 3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday. In one section, a few cushioned portions of the folding seats were taken by fans, "possibly with hand tools," the newspaper reported.
Arena officials have made a few adjustments for the rest of the series. Newsday reported a folding chair was in place of one seat Tuesday morning, and some cushioned seats were replaced -- but they were green instead of the familiar blue.
David Colucci, a fan from Huntington, N.Y., said he understood why fans, upset over the team's move next year to Brooklyn, would take the seats.
"This is our home," he told the newspaper. "If you came here every game and that was your seat? Then it's your right. It's your property."
You're not helping
The Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics played one of the more intriguing baseball games of the season Sunday, when five players were ejected because pitchers kept hitting players with pitches.
A's third baseman Jed Lawrie was right in the middle of it. It was his slide Friday night in which he spiked Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar that started the conflicts. Then Lawrie was hit by a pitch Saturday and thrown behind on Sunday. He felt like the fans at Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium instigated the course of events.
"The way their fans were antagonizing everything, you know, I got a first-pitch missed curveball up in my head and everyone leaps up in their seat like Bruce Buffer is about to come out," Lawrie told MLB.com. "... Shame on their fans for antagonizing everything that went on there, because that had a lot to do with it."
Sports quiz
Q. Who holds the Major League record for most triples in a season?
A. Chief Wilson hit 36 triples for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1912.
Sports on 04/23/2015