RIP Gino Marchetti

Gino Marchetti passed away earlier this week at the age of 93.  Marchetti was a Hall of Fame defensive end who was on those Baltimore Colts teams in the 1950s that won two consecutive NFL championships – including the sudden death game in 1958.  Marchetti was a dominant “edge rusher” before that term was coined.

In addition, Marchetti and his teammate Alan Ameche founded a chain of fast food hamburger drive up restaurants called Gino’s.  Back then, you went to Gino’s to get this new-fangled dish known as Kentucky Fried Chicken – – before the Colonel found ways to open his own restaurants.  Gino’s was eventually bought out by Roy Rogers who in turn was bought out by McDonald’s.

Rest in peace, Gino Marchetti…

Last year, as the Miami Marlins were in the process of stripping its roster down to its bare bones, they traded Christian Yelich to the Milwaukee Brewers.  Yelich merely won the NL MVP last year leading the league with a .326 batting average and an OPS of 1.000.  In return the Marlins got Lewis Brinson and three other living beings.  It was always going to be difficult for the Marlins to come out even in this trade given Yelich’s MVP status last year, but things took a turn for the worse this week when Brinson was sent down to the minor leagues.  It was not a quick hook…

Like Yelich, Brinson played the outfield in the National League all last year.  Unlike Yelich, Brinson’s numbers were bad no matter how you look at them:

• In 109 games last year, Brinson hit .199 and posted an OPS of .577.
• He had 76 base hits and struck out 120 times in 2018.

The month of April 2019 was not a good one for Lewis Brinson.  Here are some of his numbers as he goes down to AAA New Orleans:

• In 27 games this year, Brinson hit .197 and posted an OPS of .510.
• He had 15 base hits and struck out 28 times in 2019.

Back when the trade was struck, some of the Marlins’ commentary compared Brinson to Ronald Acuña, Jr.  It surely looks as if Brinson is not going to live up to anything resembling the stature of Acuña or Yelich and this trade certainly is not a great launching point for the career of Derek Jeter as a baseball executive…

Ever since Peyton Manning retired after winning the Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos in February 2016, the Broncos’ QB situation has been stranded at the intersection of chaos and mayhem.  Here are the people that have started at QB for the Broncos in the last 3 seasons:

• Case Keenum – 16 games
• Paxton Lynch – 4 games
• Brock Osweiler – 4 games
• Trevor Siemian – 24 games

The Broncos have also had guys on their roster for the last 3 seasons who never started a game; so, it is not as if there has not been a parade of potential replacements for Manning at the position.  As of today, it seems that John Elway is taking the shotgun approach to finding a competent starting QB; the so-called “quarterback room” in the Broncos’ training camp will need to house a throng.

• The Broncos signed free agent, Joe Flacco.  Barring some sort of accident that results in dismemberment, Flacco will be the starter for the Broncos in September.
• In the second round of the draft, the Broncos took Drew Lock (Mizzou)
• Holdover QBs from 2018 on the roster are Kevin Hogan and Garrett Grayson.
• Then, this week, the Broncos signed undrafted free agent QB, Brett Rypien (Boise St.) – the nephew of former Skins’ QB, Mark Rypien.

Speaking of QB prospects, I like the fact that the NY Giants took Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick in the draft last week.  It is not because I think Jones is a sure-fire franchise QB who will be a star in the NFL for more than a decade, nor is it because #2 son went to Duke and Jones is a “Dookie”.  I like that pick because it is very likely to adjudicate the chasm of opinion that exists about Jones’ fitness for having been selected that high in the draft.

Giants’ GM Dave Gettleman has taken a lot of heat – enough to melt steel, don’t you know – over the pick.  Myriads of commentators and draftniks have put his football IQ somewhere on the scale between stumblebum and village idiot.  Gettleman has doubled down saying that he loves the pick and that his vision will be “vindicated” in 5 years.  And that is why this pick is such a good one for people like me who are happy, willing and able to sit back and see how things manifest themselves over time – – unlike fans of the NY Giants who want certainty and instant positive results.

The spectrum for the righteousness of Gettleman’s decision to take Daniel Jones at #6 seems to be bounded on one end by “Stroke of Genius” and  by “The Greatest Football Cataclysm Since Art Schlichter” on the other end.  Grab yourself a cold one; put your feet up; sit back, and watch…

Finally, speaking of making difficult decisions, here is an observation from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times:

“Alabama publicists’ biggest concern this spring: Is Nick Saban’s hip-replacement surgery considered an upper- or lower-body injury?”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………