Month: August 2022

Last week, I set out to identify – for myself – the “Greatest Living Baseball Player”.  I came up with Willie Mays in that role and did not get any real opposition.  I did not consider pitchers in that exercise – – or Designated Hitters either – – and said that I might try to identify the greatest living pitcher one of these days.  That statement got several notes of encouragement from family members and readers so I thought I would give it a go – – so to speak.  I fully expect plenty of disagreement with this selection.

As before, I have my own personal “ground rules” for this search; I did not consider any relief pitchers/closers for the title.  That means several excellent members of the Hall of Fame will not be under consideration here including:

• Dennis Eckersley
• Rollie Fingers
• Mariano Rivera
• Lee Smith
• Bruce Suter

I began this exercise the same way I began the previous one; I went to the Hall of Fame website and looked over their listing of the living Hall of Fame members.  That search gave me a list of 9 pitchers that I felt deserved a second look:

1. Steve Carleton
2. Tom Glavine
3. Sandy Koufax
4. Randy Johnson
5. Greg Maddux
6. Juan Marichal
7. Jim Palmer
8. Nolan Ryan
9. John Smoltz

I recognized quickly that this list is too long for close consideration given that I would probably be adding a few names of active players or those not yet eligible for Hall of Fame induction.  Therefore, I did a triage on the list above and dropped Glavine, Marichal, Palmer and Smoltz leaving me with 5 living Hall of Fame members.

Considering the not-yet-inducted members of the Hall of Fame, I made a preliminary list of seven more names:

1. Madison Bumgarner
2. Gerrit Cole
3. Jacob deGrom
4. Clayton Kershaw
5. Shohei Ohtani
6. Max Scherzer
7. Justin Verlander

Just because I like symmetry, I chose to remove Bumgarner and deGrom from this list to have 5 current Hall of Fame members and 5 someday-to-be Hall of Fame members on my consideration list.

Here began the much more difficult winnowing  of the list:

• Carleton:  He must be on this list simply because of his 1972 season.  The Phillies were an awful team in 1972 finishing in last place in the NL with a record of 59-97; but Carleton won 27 games that year by himself – – 46% of the team wins for a season.  He completed 30 games that year and at one point was the winning pitcher in 15 consecutive starts.  He was in the major leagues for all or part of 24 seasons and had a career ERA of 3.22 over more than 5200 innings.
• Cole:  He has been in the major leagues for 10 years now having spent half of his career working for some less-than-competent Pirate teams.  His career record so far is 126-67 with a career ERA of 3.21.
• Johnson:  He was in the major leagues for 22 seasons.  He was selected to the All-Star team 10 times, and he won the Cy Young Award 5 times.  He ranks second to Nolan Ryan in all time strikeouts having registered 4,875 Ks.  He also has a perfect game to his credit.
• Kershaw:  I don’t want to hear about how his playoff record does not match his regular season performance; Clayton Kershaw is a great pitcher.  He has been in the majors for 15 seasons; he led all of MLB in season long ERA 4 times and in another season his ERA was 1.69 but that was not even the best ERA in the National League.  He is a nine-time All Star, a three-time Cy Young winner and was MVP once in 2014.
• Koufax:  He was in the major leagues for 12 seasons.  From 1963 through 1966, his record with the Dodgers was an eye-popping 97-27.  His ERA over those four seasons was 1.85.  He was an All-Star 6 times, the Cy Young winner 3 times and the MVP once.  He threw 4 no-hit games and one perfect game.
• Maddux:  He spent 23 years in the major leagues.  He was an eight-time All-Star, a four-time Cy Young winner and he received a gold glove for fielding in 18 seasons.  He started 740 games and threw just over 5000 innings with a career ERA of 3.16.  His career strikeout to walk ratio was 3.37 and for the 3-year stretch from 1995 to 1997 his strikeout to walk ratio was 7.46.
• Ohtani:  It is way too soon to have him on a list such as this one, but I have him here because he is a baseball unicorn.  He is achieving statistical feats that have not been seen since Babe Ruth and that statement alone allows him to be under consideration here.  He has been in the major leagues for 4 seasons and in that time, he has been rookie of the Year, a two-time All-Star and the league MVP once.
• Ryan:  Let me do this one with a series of numbers.  27 seasons in MLB; 5386 innings pitched; 5714 strikeouts (more than one per inning over 27 years); gave up 6.6 hits per 9 innings – the lowest in MLB history’; started 807 games and completed 222 of them.  In his career, he threw 7 no-hit games.  ‘Nuff said…
• Scherzer:  He has been in the major leagues for 15 seasons and is signed with the Mets for two more.  His record is 198-99 and his career ERA is 3.11.  He has thrown 2 no-hitters in his career.  He has 8 All-Star appearances and 3 Cy Young Awards.
• Verlander:  He has been in the major leagues for 17 seasons, and he missed all of the 2021 season while recovering from elbow surgery.  His career record is 231-142 with an ERA of 3.26.
  Three times, he has led all of MLB in total wins for a season and is currently leading MLB in wins with a record in 2022 of 15-3.  He was Rookie of the Year in 2006; he has been on the All-Star team 9 times; he has 2 Cy Young Awards and an MVP award.

The only “easy” elimination from this list is Shohei Ohtani simply because he has not been in MLB long enough to have accumulated enough stats to match others on this list.  However, remember that he has been compared to Babe Ruth by various stat-folks and that simple comparison means he should be kept in mind when someone down the line compiles a list like this one.

After that “elimination” I took a walk with the list of 9 possibilities in hand and just did a free association with my recollections about these pitchers.  When I came back, I had the list narrowed down to three:

• Sandy Koufax
• Greg Maddux
• Nolan Ryan

            Given another 15 minutes or so to ponder that troika here is my pronouncement:

• The Greatest Living MLB Pitcher is – – – Sandy Koufax.

            As noted above, I do not expect anything resembling unanimity on this choice and there are sound arguments to be made in favor of others on my list and others that never made it onto my list.  Let the discussion begin…

Finally, today’s exercise has been about an evaluation of “greatness” made even more difficult by the time span of the achievements of these pitchers.  So, let me close with an observation by Michael Jordan on that subject:

“I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era.”

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

 

 

Pete Carril died yesterday at the age of 92.  Carril was the head basketball coach at Princeton from 1967 to 1996 and his record over those years at Princeton was a gaudy 514-261.  Carril used what came to be known as the “Princeton Offense” which was deliberate and featured a lot of passing to get close-in/open shots.  Many teams were unfamiliar with that style of play, and it made Princeton a dangerous opponent in the NCAA Tournament.  In the late-80s, Princeton – – seeded 16^th – – took top-seed Georgetown to the wire losing 50-49 when a last second jump shot by the Tigers did not fall.  Then in 1996, Carril’s Princeton team beat the defending NCAA Champion UCLA Bruins in the tournament by the score of 43-41.  Coach Carril is enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame and in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Rest in peace, Pete Carril.

Let me stay with the sport of basketball for the next item for today.  The Kevin Durant Days of Discontent with the Brooklyn Nets continue to bubble up and take new forms.  Recall that Durant demanded a trade about 3 weeks ago, but nothing has materialized because there are not a lot of teams that want to give away the ranch to get a really talented player who also seemingly has difficulty staying happy with whatever team he is playing for this week.  The Nets realize his talent and have made it clear that they will only trade Durant for a huge haul of assets in return – – and Durant has only a minor bit of leverage here because he signed a deal with the Nets that puts him in Brooklyn for the next 4 seasons.

The latest twist in this soap opera is that Durant asked for – – and presumably got – – a meeting with owner Joe Tsai in which Durant said he would be willing to stay with the Nets if they would only fire head coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks.  According to reports, owner Tsai essentially told Durant that owner Tsai would make those sorts of decisions for the team and not Durant.

If Joe Tsai holds the line on these sorts of points, he will vault to the head of the line for “great owners in US major sports in the 2020s.”  Just as it was true that owners and leagues had players under their thumbs for many years in the past, the fact is that “player empowerment” over the past decade-and-a-half has spun out of control.  According to Forbes, Joe Tsai is worth $8.5B; even if he must pay Kevin Durant to play as a disgruntled employee, Joe Tsai and his family will not need to be shopping at Dollar General any time soon.  And Kevin Durant has only the smallest amount of leverage here:

• Durant is 34 years old and is committed to the Nets for the next 4 years.  If he gives even a smidgen about his “basketball legacy” he has to find a way to get on the court and stay there playing at a high level for a few more years.
• Durant could – theoretically – sit out and refuse to play if not traded.  According to spotrac.com, he would either forfeit his $45M salary for the upcoming season and maybe the contract would toll extending his tie to the Nets for another year.
• The Rudy Gobert trade earlier in this NBA offseason set the current market.  Gobert is a very good player but not nearly as good as Durant.  When the Jazz traded him, they got 4 first round picks plus the guy picked in the first round this year by the Timberwolves.  So, Joe Tsai has a benchmark he can use to see if any trade offers “measure up”.

This soap opera is not over by a longshot.  If Joe Tsai stands firm on his current position, this could become VERY interesting in another 6 weeks or so.  Hold that line, Joe Tsai…!!

Last week, Serena Williams announced that she will be “evolving away from tennis” after the US Open event which runs from August 29^th through September 11^th.  She is not “retiring”; her announcement of her new status allows for her to pick and choose tennis events she might “evolve into” as her new status allows.  The US Open was Williams’ first “major” back in 1999 and just that data point tells you something about her greatness as an athlete.  Longevity is an important element in assessing the greatness or near-greatness to a world class athlete; Serena Williams has a longevity factor of more than two decades of outstanding tennis play.  Think about the players who are at or near the top of their sports in the US and ask yourself how many of them have been in that status for 22 years.  The answer is – – not a whole lot of them…

#2 son sent me a text saying that Serena Williams was the best women’s tennis player he ever saw and asked me if I thought she was the greatest tennis player ever.  For sure, she is the best woman I ever saw play tennis – – but I am an old codger who remembers Rod Laver at the top of his game which put him at the top of the tennis game.  I have enjoyed watching Serena Williams dominate on the tennis court for a long time now – – but if pushed to name the greatest player I ever saw, I would have to stick with Rod Laver.

Finally, apropos of nothing, let me close with this observation by Laurence J. Peter – – known for his identification of The Peter Principle:

“A bore is a fellow talking who can change the subject back to his topic of conversation faster than you can change it back to yours.”

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

 

 

Late last week, MLB announced that Fernando Tatis, Jr. would be suspended for 80 games for a violation of the PED policy.  Tatis, Jr. suffered a broken wrist from a bicycle crash in the off-season and has not played at all this season; reports about two weeks ago said he was ”taking live batting practice” and could possibly be back in the Padres’ lineup in September.  Now, that is surely not going to happen because the Padres only have 63 games left in the 2022 season meaning Tatis, Jr. will not be in any playoff games this year and will sit out a bunch of games next April.

Reports say that he tested positive for clostebol which is an anabolic steroid that is banned by MLB and is on the banned list for the Olympics also.  The story here is that Tatis, Jr. used a skin balm containing clostebol to treat a case of ringworm; he has apologized for his error and the Padres’ brass has been supportive in public but has to be very unhappy in private.

In Al Capp’s classic comic strip, L’il Abner, there was a character named Joe Btfsplk; Joe was terminally unlucky; Joe was a jinx to anyone and everyone who was near him; Joe was so unlucky that he did not even have any vowels in his family name.  I am beginning to wonder if Fernando Tatis, Jr. is a real-life Joe Btfsplk or if Tatis, Jr. is simply dumb beyond measure.

Tatis, Jr. came to the Padres in 2019 at the ripe old age of 20.  In three seasons with the Padres, he has a .292 batting average and an OPS of .965.  The Padres recognized that they had a talent on their hands and signed him to a 14-year deal worth $340M.  Since that time, he has had the bicycle accident; he did not seek surgery or corrective measures promptly making a bad situation worse than it had to be; then came the “ringworm” which he treated without consulting the Padres medical staff and now he is suspended for 80 games.  [Aside:  I am certainly not a physician, but why might one treat a case of ringworm with an anabolic steroid?]  Oh, and doctors have told him that he needs shoulder surgery, but he has refused to go under the knife; maybe he can use his suspension time to get that item taken care of.

If my calculations are correct, the Padres are still on the hook for more than $300M for a guy who does not seem to be able to get out of his own way.  The situation is even more confusing given that Tatis, Jr. is the son of a former major leaguer meaning that he should be in sync with concepts such as team responsibility and working with doctors to keep his body in good condition.  Tatis, Jr. is an excellent player who could be a face-of-the-franchise guy.  At the moment, he is looking like a waste of talent.

Moving on …  Another story from last week that made me wonder was the announcement by the Washington Commanders that they had fired defensive line coach, Sam Mills III.  Teams normally do not fire assistant coaches in the middle of training camp and of all the parts of the Washington Commanders’ roster, it sure seemed to me that the defensive line was a bright spot.

The Commanders’ coach, Ron Rivera, is a stand-up guy, so I paid attention to his explanation for this move:

“Just a difference in philosophy for the most part and we’ll go from there.”

So, just move along … nothing to see here.  Except maybe there is something to see.  Sam Mills III began his coaching career with the Carolina Panthers in 2005.  He had been with the team for 6 seasons in a variety of positions when Ron Rivera took over the head coaching position there in 2011.  Rivera kept Mills III on his staff from 2011 until 2019 when the two parted company because Rivera was fired.  Mills III stayed on with the Panthers until Rivera took over the Commanders in 2020 whereupon Rivera hired Mills III.

So, let me review the bidding here.  These two guys worked together for most of a decade and Rivera specifically hired Mills III when Rivera got a new position in the league – – and now suddenly in the middle of training camp, there is a “difference in philosophy”?  Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…

One more interesting note from last week …  People say that a good reason to go to a baseball game is that you may see something happen there that you have never seen before.  Well, that surely happened for the folks who went to see the Springfield Cardinals play the Amarillo Sod Poodles in a AA minor league game in the Texas League last week.  The Cardinals’ Tyler Chandler did something that no player in the history of MLB has ever done.  He hit for “The Home Run Cycle” meaning that he hit a solo home run, a two-run home run, a three-run home run and a grand slam home run in the same game.

Finally, since a “difference in philosophy” was part of an item here, let me close with some views of philosophy:

“Philosophy is an unusually ingenious attempt to think fallaciously.”  [Bertrand Russell]

And …

“Philosophy, n.:  A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing.”  [Ambrose Bierce]

And …

“I think I think; therefore, I think I am.”  [Ambrose Bierce]

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

 

 

The NFL’s Exhibition Season begins this weekend and for most of the players selected in April’s NFL Draft, this will be their first “live action” in an NFL uniform.  Fanboys around the country will be watching these rookies closely and projecting future greatness on each and every one of them.  That is why fanboys do not make good coaches of GMs in the NFL.

The reality is that about 250 players were selected in the Draft about 3 months ago and about half of them will never see the field in an official NFL game.  In fact, there will be players taken in the first round of this year’s Draft who will prove to be “less than was expected” even though first round picks get more intense scrutiny from scouts and coaches than others.

The 2022 season will be the 5^th season in the league for players taken in the 2018 Draft.  For players taken in the first round, the standard contract for draftees at that level would mean that the team that drafted them would have exercised the team option for the player to be on the squad this year.  So, let us look at the players taken in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft – – in the order they were taken – – and see what happened to those good folks.

• Baker Mayfield – – He had an up and down relationship with the Browns that ended less than harmoniously.  Mayfield is now in Carolina competing for the starting job there.  Mayfield is certainly not a bust, but the Browns got little value from the overall #1 pick here
• Saquon Barkley – – He was the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018 but was injured and missed most of the 2020 season.  Last year his numbers were down from what they were prior to the injury.  As with Mayfield above, Barkley is not a bust – – but he has not been a value pick either.
• Sam Darnold – – The Jets took him and gave up on him.  Darnold is now in Carolina competing with Baker Mayfield for the starting job there.  In 4 seasons, Darnold’s completion percentage is below 60%.  Personally, I keep waiting for Darnold to ‘break out”; maybe I am waiting for Godot?
• Denzel Ward – – The Browns got a better return with the 4^th pick than they did with the 1^st pick.  Ward has been in the league 4 years and has been selected to the Pro Bowl twice; he is a mainstay of the defense.  Excellent pick…
• Bradley Chubb – – He has been injured in two of the four seasons he has been with the Broncos.  In his two “healthy years” he recorded 12 sacks as a rookie and 7.5 sacks in 2020.  He is a good player when he avoids the injury bug.  Good pick…
• Quenton Nelson – – Offensive guards do not get much “celebrity attention”; so, you may be surprised to see that Nelson has been selected to the Pro Bowl in all four of his seasons with the Colts and he has been a first team All-Pro 3 times and a second team All-Pro 1 time.  The Colts got an excellent value with this pick.
•  Josh Allen – – No need to comment here.  Josh Allen is an excellent NFL QB.
• Roquan Smith – – As a linebacker for the Bears, he has averaged 3.5 sacks per year and 131 tackles per year.  He has been named as a second team All-Pro twice.  The problem here is that contract talks have not enhanced the player/team relationship and Smith has now requested a trade.  Excellent pick – – but lousy aftermath…
• Mike McGlinchey – – Has started every game at OTwhen he has been healthy.  Missed half of last season with injuries.  Good pick…
• Josh Rosen – –  He lasted 1 year in Arizona then was sent to Miami and then to Atlanta.  This year he is with the Browns hoping to be an understudy there.  That is not what was envisioned by the Cardinals when they took him 10^th in this Draft.  Clearly, this is the worst pick so far on this list by a mile…
• Minkah Fitzpatrick – – He was taken by the Dolphins in this Draft and then traded to the Steelers in 2019.  He has been selected for the Pro Bowl twice and was named first team All-Pro twice.  An excellent pick and I am still not sure why the Dolphins decided to trade him…
• Vita Vea – – He missed most of the 2020 season with an injury but in his other three years he has been an excellent run-stopper in the middle of the Bucs’ defense and has recorded a total of 11.5 sacks from that position.  He was selected to the Pro Bowl last year.  Excellent pick…
• Daron Payne – – A solid performer at DT he has recorded a total of 14.5 sacks for the Skins/WTFs/Commanders over 4 seasons.  He was hoping for a contract extension this year but that has not happened yet.  Good pick
• Marcus Davenport – – As a pass-rusher he has averaged 5.25 sacks per year but as a defensive end he has only recorded an average of 28 combined tackles per year.  Meh!
• Kolton Miller – – He has started 63 games out of 65 possible games on the OL for the Raiders in the last 4 seasons.  He has no awards to his credit, but he has been a reliable offensive tackle from day one.  Good pick…
• Tremaine Edmunds – – He plays inside linebacker and still has recorded 4 INTs in his career; also, he averages 116 combined tackles per season.  He has been to the Pro Bowl twice in four years.  Excellent pick…
• Derwin James – – He missed most of the 2019 season and all the 2020 season.  He has been to the Pro Bowl twice and was a first team All-Pro once.  He just needs to stay healthy…
• Jaire Alexander – – He missed most of the 2021 season with an injury but was available for most of his first three seasons.  He was named to the Pro Bowl and was as a second team All-Pro in 2020.  Good pick …
• Leighton Vander Esch – – He has missed 13 games in his career due to injuries.  He was selected for the Pro Bowl and as a second team All-Pro in his rookie year.  Good pick…
• Frank Ragnow – – Offensive lineman are often the most overlooked players on a team; offensive linemen for a team as bad as the Lions are in the NFL’s version of the Witness Protection Program.  He missed most of last season with injuries but was named to the Pro Bowl and as a second team All-Pro in 2020.  Excellent pick…
• Billy Price – – He played his first three seasons with the Bengals and then was traded to the Giants where he appeared in 15 games last  year.  Meh!
• Rashaan Evans – – From the inside-linebacker position, he has recorded 3 sacks in 4 seasons and only averaged 79 combined tackles per season.  Meh!
• Isaiah Wynn – – He missed all his rookie year; he has only been in 34 of a possible 65 games for the pats since the Draft.  Meh.
• DJ Moore – – He has played in 63 of the 65 regular season games for the Panthers since they took him in this Draft. His numbers are OK but nothing stands out.  Meh!
• Hayden Hurst – – He played two seasons with the Ravens who then traded him to the Falcons where he played the next two seasons.  The Falcons did not exercise his fifth-year option, so he was a free agent in the last offseason; he signed a 1-year contract with the Bengals in the Spring and is competing for a job there.  Meh!
• Calvin Ridley – – His first two seasons with the Falcons were good-not-great but he had a very good year in 2020 being named second team All-Pro.  Last year he was injured and only saw the field in 5 games; and while he was injured, he placed at least one bet on the Falcons in a legal sportsbook and that has him indefinitely suspended by the NFL with that suspension extending to all the 2022 season at a minimum.  Ouch!
• Rashaad Penny – – He has only carried the ball 280 times in 4 seasons with the Seahawks, so you cannot say he has been a mainstay of their offense.  Last year, he led the NFL in yards per carry by a running back averaging 6.3 yards per carry.  Meh!
• Terrell Edmunds – – He has missed only 1 game in 4 years with the Steelers.  Meh!
• Taven Bryan – – He appeared in 63 games for the Jaguars registering 5.5 sacks as a defensive tackle but only 86 combined tackles in those 63 games.  The Jaguars did not exercise their fifth-year option, so he was a free agent in the last offseason.  He signed a 1-year contract with the Browns and is competing for a job there.  Meh!
• Mike Hughes – – He had 3 ordinary seasons with the Vikings who traded him to the Chiefs for a 6^th round pick in for the 2021 season.  As a free agent last winter, he signed a 1-year contract with the Lions and is competing for a job there.  Meh!
• Sony Michel – – His first three seasons with the Pats had injury issues and he was traded to the Rams for the 2021 season.  The fifth-year option was not exercised making him a free agent after the 2021 season and he signed a 1-year deal with the Dolphins.  Meh!
• Lamar Jackson – – In his 4 years with the Ravens, he has been named to the Pro Bowl twice; he was the MVP of the league in 2019 and was also named as a first team All Pro that year.  Obviously, the Ravens exercised their fifth-year option and Jackson is scheduled to make $23M this season and is in negotiations with the Ravens for a long-term contract.  Excellent pick.

So as a message to all the fanboys who will be salivating over the real and imagined skill sets on display this weekend by rookies and draft picks, they don’t all live up to expectations.  Having said that, I know for sure that my advice here will fall mainly on deaf ears.

Finally, since I just mentioned “advice”, let me close with the definition of advice from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Advice:  the only thing in the world more unwelcome than a baby in a movie theater.”

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

 

 

I ran across a reference to the fact that Joe DiMaggio used to be introduced at Yankees’ Old-Timer games/events as the “greatest living baseball player.”  And that got me to thinking about who would be anointed as such in 2022.  Obviously, I began my search by going to the Hal of Fame website and looking at the members there; fortunately, they have a listing of the living Hall of Fame members.  There are 75 living members of the baseball Hall of Fame, and they are not listed alphabetically; in fact, if there is an order to the listing, it is not obvious to me.

However, the first player on the listing there is Willie Mays.  So, I went through the listing simply asking myself, is this guy better than Willie Mays or not.  The answer was “No” for the 74 other member of the hall of Fame who are still alive.

So, then I had to think about the best player who is not  yet in the Hall of Fame with the idea of comparing him to Willie Mays.  Quickly, I adopted three sorting rules for my search:

1. I was not going to include any pitchers on my list.  I told myself that maybe I would try sometime in the future to identify the “greatest living baseball pitcher” but not today.
2. Points would be deducted if a significant part of a player’s accomplishments were the result of him being a Designated Hitter.  I think the “greatest living baseball player” also had to demonstrate fielding and baserunning skills.
3. I was not going to consider young players who are still in the prime of their career because this sorting will be hard enough without rosy projections of possible future accomplishments.  So, there is an unfilled list of players as “Not Yet” including folks such as Bryce Harper, Fernando Tatis, Jr., Ronald Acuna, Jr. – – you get the idea.

So, I began making a list because I was not able to keep all of this in my mind without notes and save for alphabetizing, here is my list along with  some notes:

• Barry Bonds – – Nope, chemical enhancement
• Miguel Cabrera – – Sure to be in the Hall but not greatest player
• Albert Pujols – – Strong candidate
• A-Rod – – No
• Pete Rose – – Great baseball player; miserable human being
• Mike Trout – – Very good at everything

Fortunately, I did not have to worry about any rank ordering of that list for a very simple reason.  No one on that list is comparable with Willie Mays as an all-around baseball player.  So, my conclusion is that as of August 10, 2022, Willie Mays is the “greatest living baseball player.”

The reason I included today’s date in the paragraph above is that Willie Mays is also the oldest living member of the Hall of Fame; Willie Mays celebrated his 91^st birthday back in May.  And that got me to thinking about current living members of the Hall of Fame who might inherit Mays’ status down the line.  Again, save for alphabetizing, here is my list of candidates with notes:

• Rod Carew – – Career batting average of .328.  In MLB for 19 seasons and was an All-Star in 18 of those seasons.
• Orlando Cepeda – – Did everything well except baserunning. Overshadowed by teammate Willie Mays early in his career.
• Ken Griffey, Jr. – – Excelled at every phase of the game
• Reggie Jackson – – Great player with one ignominious stat.  He struck out 2597 times in 21 seasons; no player ever struck out more times.
• Mike Schmidt – – Best third baseman ever notwithstanding Orioles’ fans thinking Brooks Robinson was better.
• Frank Thomas – – Had a 19-year career with career batting average of .301 and career OPS of .974.
• Yaz – – Was an All-Star 18 times in a 23-year career.

Choosing from that list is not easy; if there were an “Elite Members Only Wing” of the Baseball Hall of Fame, all these folks would have keys to the amenities in that wing.  If I had to pick one player from the list, it would be Ken Griffey Jr. because he was great in the field, on the bases and at the plate.

Obviously, I do not expect unanimous agreement here.  As they used to say in the car commercials, “Your mileage may vary…”

Up above, I said that I was not going to include young players in my thinking for “greatest living baseball player” but as I was ruminating, I did keep a separate list of “Current active players who should make it to the Hall of Fame”.  Just for giggles, here is my list:

• Acuna, Jr. – – only needs to stay healthy
• Altuve – – forget the sign-stealing business, he is a great player
• Arenado – – good at the plate and excellent in the field
• Betts – – ???
• Cabrera – – Shoo-in
• Guerrero, Jr. – – can join his father in the hall…
• Harper – – must avoid injuries
• Machado – – Shoo-in
• Molina – – ??? longevity as a catcher is a plus
• Pujols – – Shoo-in
• Soto – – ???
• Tatis, Jr. – – ???
• Trout – – Shoo-in
• Votto – – great player on some awful teams

Finally, let me close today with this description of the movie, Star Wars taken from The Illustrated Dictionary of Snark:

“Star Wars:  Let’s see; A woman with two sticky buns on her head, a shag carpet, a vacuum cleaner, and a gay robot save the universe.  Could happen.”

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

 

 

When it comes to hosting the FIFA World Cup, a current trend seems to be for neighboring countries to submit joint bids for the tournament.  In 2026, the US along with Canada and Mexico will be the joint hosts; several other country pairings appear to be interested bidders for the 2030 Tournament.  FIFA is beginning to explore options for 2030 and here is the state of play for now:

• Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay will submit a joint bid.
• Spain and Portugal have already submitted a joint “Iberian bid”.
• Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Serbia are in talks to put together a joint bid.
• Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia are considering a joint bid.
• Cameroon is exploring potential partners for a joint “Sub-Saharan bid”.
• England, China and Egypt are all considering “lone wolf” bids to be the 2030 host.

Joint bids make sense for smaller countries with smaller economies.  Just about every country has a futbol pitch or two that is “satisfactory for FIFA World Cup play” but few would have enough venues to host a World Cup tournament without lots of construction.  When Brazil hosted in 2016, it had to build lots of facilities, and they are now giant white elephants in a country with plenty of poverty and marginal housing.  Joint hosting could allow these smaller countries to bring pieces of the tournament home to its fans without spending a ton of money on things that might not be at the top of the spending priority list for that smaller country.

Hosting the 2030 games will probably be a plum for the country that is selected because it will be the 100-year anniversary of the World Cup Tournament.  The first one back in 1930 was held in Uruguay which might give that Latin American consortium a small leg up in the approval process.  Back then, only 13 teams entered the tournament; Uruguay was the first World Cup champion when it defeated neighboring Argentina in the 1930 final game.

For the 2030 tournament, the field will consist of 48 teams meaning that the idea of trying to shoehorn that many games into a small set of venues becomes impractical.  England and China probably have the facilities to be the host country all by themselves; it is not clear to me that is the case in Egypt without a massive construction effort.

The timeline for a decision for 2030 is that it should be voted on and announced at the FIFA Congress at the end of 2023 to be held in Kigali, Rwanda.

Several weeks ago, Michigan football coach, Jim Harbaugh, was the keynote speaker at a Right-to-Life event that intended to raise money for pro-life non-profits in Michigan.  In his remarks, he said:

“In God’s plan, each unborn human truly has a future filled with potential, talent, dreams and love.  I have living proof in my family, my children, and the many thousands that I’ve coached that the unborn are amazing gifts from God to make this world a better place. To me, the right choice is to have the courage to let the unborn be born.”

It should not be a surprise that such statements drew attention and criticism Harbaugh’s way.  I have no interest in a Pro-Life/Pro-Choice debate here, but I will note that Harbaugh’s critics in this situation were by and large the same people who thought he took a righteous and courageous position when he spoke in support of Colin Kaepernick or when he expressed his personal disgust at the death of George Floyd.  And indeed, folks who criticized him then largely praise him for his speech at that fundraising event.

• Memo to Coach Harbaugh:  You can’t please all the people all the time.

In a discussion with someone from ESPN, Harbaugh also said that if one of his family members or one of his players had a baby that they could not care for, Harbaugh would step up and care for the child.  That is heady stuff even when you recognize that the Harbaugh family has ample resources at its disposal.  That pronouncement got him a lot of positive reaction.

As you might expect, I did not see that second line of oratory quite as positively as others may have.  I acknowledge that it can be heard as a huge commitment to charity and a statement of Harbaugh’s resolve in his convictions that produced the remarks at the fund-raising event.  However, it may not necessarily be “read that way” by everyone.

Young males who are collegiate athletes at top-shelf athletic schools like Michigan are also testosterone driven beings.  Please do not try to square the circle defined by “Top 50 Football Teams” and “Celibacy”; it just ain’t gonna happen.  And because that ain’t gonna happen, I think his declaration of support for a child in need can be interpreted as being akin to a “hall pass” for players who might engage in non-safe sex.  And if any of his players take that message in that way, then Harbaugh’s declaration runs counter to what a coach and leader should be telling young men is a smart approach to the rest of their adult lives.

I have no problem with Coach Harbaugh saying what he did and using his stature to raise money for causes he believes in, and I have no problem with his commitment to care for young children once they have been born.  I only hope that his message is not misinterpreted as stated above because I sincerely believe that is NOT what Coach Harbaugh meant to convey as his message.

Finally, apropos of nothing, let me close today with this entry from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Boxing:  One day, somebody mentioned that it might be interesting to let two men pummel each other about the face and body, preferably to the point of inflicting cerebral hemorrhage, while a bunch of people watched.  And then, somebody else said that sounded like a pretty good idea.  Sometimes, life is pretty uncomplicated.”

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

 

 

As I was checking MLB results from the weekend, I noticed that the Yankees had lost 5 games in a row and that they were swept in a series by the Cards in St. Louis.  I went browsing into Yankee stats to see if anything jumped out at me to explain how or why this was happening and found nothing obvious.  But I did do a bit of math on one player stat that I think is interesting.

• The Yankees have played 109 games so far in 2022.
• Aaron Judge has hit 43 home runs in those 109 games.
• A linear extrapolation here says Aaron Judge will hit 64 home runs in 2022.

Let me go on record now and say:

• If Aaron Judge hits 64 home runs this season, then I will consider him to be the “Home Run King” for MLB.

Roger Maris’ record has stood for more than 60 years.  The folks who hit home runs in the 60s and 70s during the Steroid Era have no claim on that record as far as I m concerned.  I am not denying that three players all hit more than 61 home runs in a season; they most certainly did.  However, I believe they accomplished those feats in a biochemically-enhanced condition and that belief allows me to ignore those numbers and focus on the number 61.

Surely, someone in the audience will ask how I know that Aaron Judge is not “on the sauce”.  And the answer to that is – – of course – – that I do not know.  But even if I acknowledge that “cheaters” are always a step ahead of the “police” in the world of PEDs, I still do not believe that Judge fits the pattern of a “user”.  Aaron Judge did not bulk up between 2021 and 2022 – – or between any previous seasons.  He is simply a very large human being; baseball-reference.com lists him as 6’7” and 282 lbs and he has been that way for several years.  My assessment is that he is having a storybook season and if he continues on this pace, I will consider his home run record for 2022 as THE MLB record.  Please feel free to disagree…

Dwight Perry found a headline in The Onion that is pertinent here:

“Slumping Aaron Judge fails to hit home fun for entire at-bat.”

Aaron Judge also leads MLB in RBIs so far in 2022; he has driven in 97 runs to date.  So, how might he stack up in a race for the season record for RBIs?  The answer is that he is not even close to threatening that record:

• A linear extrapolation here says Aaron Judge will have 144 RBIs in 2022.
• The MLB record is 191 RBIs in a season held by Hack Wilson in 1930.  That record is in no danger in 2022.

[Aside:  After Wilson had 159 RBIs in 1929 and then 191 RBIs in 1930, he played 4 more seasons in MLB.  In those 4 years combined he had only 298 RBIs – – an average of only 73 per season.]

Speaking of people named Aaron, we had an announcement from Aaron Rodgers late last week that he and his former girlfriend had taken a trip to Peru and had taken some psychedelic substances on that journey.  Rodgers attributes his two recent MVP seasons to those psychedelic experiences.  According to Rodgers, taking a dose of ayahuasca “helped me see how to unconditionally love myself.”  As you digest that snippet let me give you what followed in Rodgers’ “testimony”:

“It’s only in that unconditional self-love that I’m truly able to unconditionally love others. What better way to work on my mental health than to have an experience like that? The greatest gift I can give my teammates is to show up and be someone who can model unconditional love to them. Obviously, it’s important I play well and show up and lead all that stuff. But they won’t care about what you say until they know how much you care.”

Please note here that Rodgers can now unconditionally love others and combine that thought with the fact that he had this experience with his former girlfriend…

Moving on …  In the world of “bad optics” you can debate which organization is the gold standard.  Big Tobacco, various Teachers’ Unions and the Congress of the United States would all be part of a list that I might construct here and news over the weekend reminds me to add the Washington Commanders to that list.  The Commanders announced late last week that there will be a Commanders’ Fan Cruise in the Caribbean next March.  It will be a 7-day event where fans can meet and party with “Commanders’ Legends” and that it will be a time of:

“ … meet-and-greets, Q&A’s and photo opportunities, trivia, karaoke, dancing and more, all while enjoying the company of up to 30 Washington Legends.”

So, what makes this “bad optics”?

1. It was a photo shoot in Central America – – near the Caribbean – – where cheerleaders were ogled as they were dressing for a calendar photo shoot.
2. Danny Boy Snyder took to his super yacht to stay in international waters so that he could not be served with a subpoena by the posers on a committee of the US Congress.
3. One of the potential “Legends” that could be invited would be Fred Smoot. He qualifies as a “Legend” in these parts; if you wonder why he would be “bad optics” please Google “fred smoot party boat”.

Finally, let me close with another offering from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times:

“Dr. Anthony Fauci will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Tuesday’s Mariners-Yankees game in Seattle.

“In keeping with the theme, the catcher will be wearing an extra mask.”

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

 

 

 

 

There is a need for the NFL to modify one of its policies.  It took me a while to understand how the NFL could penalize the Miami Dolphins and the team owner, Stephen Ross, for tampering without punishing someone else.  Here is the source of my problem:

• In order for there to be a “discussion” or a “conversation” that might run afoul of the league’s tampering rules, there must be at least two parties involved.  If what Stephen Ross had done was to say aloud in the shower that he would really like to have Tom Brady on his team with Sean Payton as his coach, I doubt that would count as “tampering”.

If the facts of this case are as have been reported, Ross and one of his associates had rather extensive and repeated contacts with the agents for Sean Payton and Tom Brady between 2019 and 2022.  That is tampering; the Dolphins deserve to lose those draft picks as punishment – a first-round pick in 2023 and a third-round pick in 2024.  However, the agents are equally culpable here.  Even if I grant that they did not know beforehand what the “first discussions” were going to be about, they surely knew the improper nature of those “repeated discussions”.  So, why stop the punishments with the team and the owner here?

You may argue that agents speak with teams all the time and do not necessarily keep their clients abreast of every detail that arises in those exchanges.  You are going to have to do a lot of hypothesizing to get me to believe that nothing about discussions of that sensitivity ever slipped from agent to client over a 2-year period.  So, where is the punishment for Brady and/or Payton?

It took a while to dig up the NFL rule that governs punishment for “tampering”

“If a club is contacted by a player (or his representative) who is under contract to or whose negotiating rights are held by another club, and such player has not been given permission to negotiate with other clubs, or such player is not in a permissible negotiating period under the terms of an operative collective bargaining agreement, then the contacted club is prohibited from:

(i) negotiating with the player or his agent;

(ii) discussing even in general terms the player’s possible employment with the contacted club; or

(iii) discussing the player’s contract or his potential or ongoing contract negotiations with his current club.”

The rule only pertains to the situation where the player or his agent makes the initial overture that leads to tampering.  Since the Dolphins initiated the discussion, the rule here simply does not pertain.  And even if a player, a coach or an agent for one of them did the initial outreach, it is not clear how the rule would be used to levy punishment because in such a circumstance the onus is on the club to comply with the itemized conditions of the rule.  If the team does not do that, then it is the team that runs afoul of this rule.  Got that?

Strange as that outcome may seem, there was no real surprise that the NFL investigation into Brian Flores’ charges that owner Ross offered him $100K per game to lose games so the Dolphins could get a higher draft pick found nothing nefarious.  That had to be the outcome save for “indisputable video evidence” to the contrary because had there been a finding that it did happen, the league would have to have forced a sale of the team to preserve the integrity of the games.  The NFL – and all major pro sports – always trumpet the importance of game integrity, but now that legalized gambling represents a huge new revenue stream for the NFL, that stance is not just a philosophical nicety; that stance is now a core value of the league and a load-bearing member of its foundation.

Switching sports – but staying with rules and policies and punishments – Phil Mickelson and 11 other golfers who have signed on with the LIV Golf Tour have filed suit against the PGA alleging anti-trust violations.  The complexities of the assertions here by both sides make my teeth itch; so, this is one of those situations where I would prefer for both sides to lose.

• Of course, the PGA is a monopoly in the professional golf “industry”; and it uses exclusionary rules and tactics to keep competitors out and it forces players to abide by the rules that it makes.  Any assertion by the PGA to the contrary is bullsh*t.

[Aside:  The PGA assertion of the primacy of its rules extended all the way to the Supreme Court of the US when the PGA asserted that its rule against golfers using a cart had higher standing than the Americans With Disabilities Act.  SCOTUS set them straight on that issue.]

• The LIV golfers were warned that they would be suspended by the PGA if they played in an LIV event.  They made a choice to play; that choice should have consequences because every one of those golfers is an adult.

If you want to take a deeper dive into some of the issues involved, here is a link to a report at ESPN.com that might help.

Next up …  In all the hullabaloo about the Juan Soto trade earlier this week, I neglected to mention that the Orioles traded Trey Mancini to the Astros for 2 prospects.  That deal was clearly under the radar amongst all the player movement at the trade deadline; Mancini is a nice player but if anyone is beating a drum for him to go to the Hall of Fame someday, I have not heard that sound.  But that trade is interesting for a couple of reasons:

1. The Orioles were at .500 when they made the deal and were only 3 games out of the final playoff slot in the AL.  No one has them penciled in as a playoff team or as a serious threat if they manage to get in, but for a team that has lost more than 100 games frequently in recent history, this is a “magical season”.
2. Trey Mancini is a fan favorite and one of the better players on the team.  Oh, and did I mention that he is a cancer survivor too having missed an entire season fighting the malignancy?

In a world of “bad optics” this one holds a special place…

Finally, since today began with punishment meted out and punishment avoided, let me close with this adage:

“Capital punishment really means that those without capital get the punishment.”

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

 

 

I think there are a few more points to make about the Padres’ acquisition of Juan Soto and Josh Bell.  Yesterday, I looked at the exchange from the perspective of the Nationals’ team; today I want to look at this from the Padres’ perspective.  Obviously, the Padres know that negotiating with Scott Boras for Soto’s services once Soto reaches free agency after the 2024 season will be “pricey”.  Soto makes $17M this year and will make more than that in each of his next two years which will involve arbitration; so, what is the payroll situation in San Diego?

Thanks here to spotrac.com for this data:

• Counting players on the IL at the moment and counting players who are being paid by the Padres but are not on the team the total payroll for 2022 is $232,628,899.
• The first tier of MLB’s “luxury tax” for this year is $230M.
• If Soto gets only a minimal raise to $20M next year, the Padres will have 6 players making $16M or more apiece with a total salary of $124M in 2023 for those 6 players alone.

From my perspective, it appears that Padres’ owner, Peter Seidler, has decided to go all out for a World Series shot.  What could make this an interesting story is that Seidler is the grandson of Walter O’Malley who is the MLB owner who took the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles in the 1950s.  The Dodgers have been the “big dog” in southern California for MLB over the last 75 years, but it looks to me as if Seidler has set his sights on taking down the “big dog”.  Those 6 players who will earn $16M or more next year form an excellent core:

1. Starting Pitcher, Blake Snell
2. Starting Pitcher, Yu Darvish
3. Outfielder, Wil Myers
4. Starting Pitcher, Joe Musgrove
5. Outfielder, Juan Soto
6. Third Baseman, Manny Machado

Please note that Fernando Tatis, Jr. and Josh Hader are not on that list.  Their absence is not a lack of comparable talent; their absence is because neither is going to earn $16M next year.  If everyone stays healthy – a caveat that must be added to every team projection into the future – the Padres look to be loaded for 2023.

Tatis suffered a wrist injury this year and has been on the 60-day IL.  Recent reports say he has rehabbed to the point that he can take “live batting practice”.  Can he return this year and play anywhere near his potential?  The big question for the Padres is can he fully recover for 2023 because Tatis is a prodigy similar in stature to Juan Soto.

My sense of the Padres committing to “big spending” with an eye on the NL West crown in 2023 – – it is too late for the Padres to make up 11 games on the Dodgers this year – – points to the bimodal status of MLB franchises.  There are big spending teams and there are small spending teams.  Those clusters often align with the size of the markets for the franchises – – but not always.  See Chicago for example…  And if you look at the projected roster for the Padres in 2023 against the projected roster for the Nationals for 2023, it would take an intervention from the gods of Greek mythology for the Nationals to be competitive with the Padres.

Colin Cowherd often argues that dynasties are good for sports; dynasties give fans someone to root for and someone to hate on.  In either situation, the dynasty brings attention to the team/sport thereby creating interest.  I agree with him to a point; dynasties do serve the purpose that he postulates but if there is never any fluidity to the dynasties and its potential cluster of teams, things can get boring.  I believe that what dynasties bring to sport is challenge; dynasties get themselves to an exalted status in a sport and then rival teams plot to become their equals or even superiors.  It is that ebb and flow that makes dynasties valuable; without that ebb and flow, things can get tiresome.

The Padres appear to be aiming to “take on the Dodgers” in the NL West; if they can make a race of it next year, that would be great.  But the arrival of the Padres on the scene as a potential “big dog” only accentuates the futility that must be part of the fanbase in at least 15 of the MLB cities where the locals have precisely zero chance of playing any games in October save for the spillover regular season games.  Moreover, when it became painfully obvious that the Nationals were going to have to trade Soto this summer or over the next winter, the fanbases in only about a half dozen cities experienced any real excitement; not a single fan in Miami or Oakland even dreamed of Juan Soto coming to their town.

The fact that there is a permanent “underclass” in MLB does not enhance its stature and does not bring attention to the games.  MLB puts on 2,430 regular season games per year; far too many of those games have exactly no bearing on anything that resembles a “chase to a championship”; a series between the Pirates and the Rockies is as meaningful as serenading a corpse.  Oh well, at least the Padres will be interesting to watch now…

Finally, since much of today has been about money and wealth, let me close with these observations:

“Nothing makes a man more intolerable than his consciousness of having enough money for a good lawyer.”  [Anonymous]

And …

“The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated.” [H. L. Mencken]

And …

“Money is not important. But a lot of money is something else.” [George Bernard Shaw]

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

 

 

Vin Scully died yesterday; he was the broadcast voice of the Brooklyn Dodgers – – and then the LA Dodgers – – from 1950 to 2016.  At the start of his career, he was part of a troika of broadcasters hired by the Dodgers for their games; the lead announcer was Red Barber; the two “junior guys” were Scully and Ernie Harwell.  All three men are in Cooperstown.  Scully had a distinctive voice and a distinctive style for broadcasting.  He was equally adept at radio and television which is not often characteristic of play-by-play guys.  When he was at his best – in the 1980s and 1990s –  I believe he was THE best baseball broadcaster ever.

Rest in peace, Vin Scully…

Staying with baseball, yesterday also saw the Washington Nationals trade Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres for 5 prospects and first baseman, Luke Voit.  Oh yeah, the Nats also sent Josh Bell to the Padres in this exchange.  Everyone takes it for granted that Soto will be a star player in MLB for the next 10-15 years and some commentators have already begun to pave his way to the Hall of Fame.  Juan Soto is a prodigy; he arrived in MLB at the ripe young age of 19 and in that rookie season he hit .292.  At age 23, he has already been an All-Star twice.  So, what did the Nats get in exchange?

• SS CJ Abrams:  Overall #3 pick in 2019 MLB Draft; has not been in an MLB game.
• LHP Mackensie Gore:  Overall #6 pick in the 2017 MLB Draft.  Has made 13 starts this year for Padres with a 4.50 ERA.  He recently suffered a sore elbow, but MRI did not reveal damage.
• OF Robert Hassell III:  Overall #8 pick in 2020 MLB Draft; has not yet been in an MLB game.
• RHP Jarlin Susana:  He is 18 years old from the Dominican Republic.  He is now playing at the Rookie Level of minor league baseball.  [Aside:  If he ever makes it to MLB, the broadcasting call for his strikeouts should obviously be, “Oh, Susana!”  Now you know why I was never asked to join Vin Scully in a broadcasting booth…]
• OF James Wood:  Overall #62 pick in 2nd round of 2021 MLB Draft; has not yet been in an MLB game.

It must be pointed out that the MLB Draft is not nearly as predictable as are the NFL and NBA Drafts – – and even those two drafts involve a bit of a crap shoot.  What the Nationals are banking on here is that their scouting reports from 2017-2021 plus the observations of Padres’ scouts over that same period have produced at least a couple of players with star potential.  Moreover, the Nationals must hope that if one of those players becomes a star, that player should also be someone who could be a “face of the franchise” because Juan Soto was precisely that.

This makes two consecutive seasons where the Nationals have given away the store in exchange for prospects.  The team is a full “tear-down/rebuild” mode and that is a bit dangerous in Washington which is a town of front-runners because given the political presence here the fact is that losers leave town.  With the team for sale, I wonder how the prospective buyers will take yesterday’s news and factor it into their price offers for the team.

• Scenario 1:  This allows the new owner to come in and start afresh with a new management team and a new team on the field.  Success will make the new owner a “good guy” in a town that does not have an overabundance of “good guys”.  In addition, it starts the new owner out with a very manageable salary outlay for the first year or so.
• Scenario 2:  The current owners have stripped the franchise of its assets.  What the new owner is buying is a AAA team along with two burdensome contracts for two pitchers – – Strasburg who cannot stay healthy and Corbin who cannot get out of a fourth inning unscathed anymore.  If they wanted to increase the value of the franchise, they should have jettisoned those two guys also.
• Scenario 3:  None of this nonsense matters because the new owner is a really rich guy who wants to buy an MLB team as a toy and as a way of flexing on other rich guys who could own an MLB team but do not.

You make the call – – but I have a definite lean toward Scenario 3 above…

There is an adage:

“It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good.”

Well, jettisoning Soto is surely an ill wind for Nats fans but there is a small glimmer of good that came from it.  Thomas Boswell came out of retirement to write a column in today’s Washington Post about the trade and the franchise.  Boswell has been retired for about a year now but there is little or no rust on his writing skills.  When Boswell speaks on the subject ot baseball, the best thing to do is to listen and learn.  Do yourself a favor and follow this link to read his perspective today.

Finally, let me close today with a baseball observation by Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times:

“San Francisco rookie righty Sean Hjelle, who made his major league debut May 6, stands 6 feet 11.

“Well, they are the Giants.”

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