The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Thursday, August 28

Heung-min Son may have moved to sunny Sonny Los Angeles, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop hoddling about him.

Sonny recently threw out the first pitch at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds. And of course he threw it straight down the plate, because he does everything perfectly:

This is a hard video to watch for anyone who is a Tottenham Hotspur and Los Angeles Angels supporter. Those of you who follow the baseball might know that Wednesday was Shohei Ohtani night. People even lined up for hours outside Dodger Stadium ahead of the game in the hopes of securing an Ohtani bobblehead.

Of course, Ohtani is the once-in-a-millennium baseball player who is the most exciting player the sport has seen in a very long time.

Ohtani first made his name in Major League Baseball as a player with the Anaheim Angels, where in 2023 he was unanimously voted as the American League’s most valuable player. He lit up the highlight reels with his status as the game’s only two-way player – ace pitcher and major batter.

Then he broke hearts by signing with the Dodgers – the Angels’ closest geographic rival – in 2024. That year he won the World Series and was voted National League MVP.

So you can see how Sonny throwing out the first pitch on Ohtani night be devastating for a Spurs/Angels supporter. It’s a cruel reminder of what we once had.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Castanets, by Alejandro Escovedo

And now for your links:

The Athletic ($$): “Brennan Johnson’s ‘sixth sense’ should make him invaluable to Spurs, regardless of signings”

Standard: “Thomas Frank’s mission to turn Tottenham into title contenders”

BBC: “What next for Man Utd and Amorim after humiliation at Grimsby?”

The Guardian: “Club Brugge pulverise 10-man Rangers to heap misery on Russell Martin”