While I was on hiatus here, Fernando Valenzuela died at the age of 63. Fernandomania was a social phenomenon that transcended sports in the early 1980s once he reached the majors with the Dodgers at the ripe old age of 19. The season after his debut, he won the Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young award in 1981; he was also a 6-time All Star in the 80s. Valenzuela had an unorthodox delivery where his eyes were cast heavenward as he was in the middle of his wind-up.
With his passing, Heaven now has a 4-man starting rotation of pitchers with unusual deliveries:
- Mark “The Bird” Fidrych
- Satchel Paige
- Luis Tiant
- Fernando Valenzuela
Rest in peace, Fernando Valenzuela.
Speaking obliquely of the LA Dodgers, the Dodgers are in command of the World Series leading the Yankees three games to none behind the other-worldly performance(s) of Freddie Freeman so far. Obviously, Dodgers’ fans are bordering on euphoria this morning and Yankees’ fans need to have sharp objects removed from their presence. But there was a sidebar story from last weekend that deserves comment.
The Yankees’ Juan Soto will be a free agent once the World Series is over. Last week there was a story at CBSSports.com saying that the Dodgers planned to pursue signing Soto. As demonstrated last winter with the Dodgers signing both Ohtani and Yamomoto, the Dodgers’ owners have very deep pockets and are more than willing to dig down into those pockets to come up with “the cheese”. And then, there was this quote from Soto in the report:
“Definitely every player wants to be happy where they’re at. And at the end of the day, whenever you win, you’re going to be really happy. So wherever you are that you have a chance to win a championship, you’re going to be excited to play for them. I think that’s the biggest thing. That’s the biggest mindset right now. See where’s the best chance for that and go from there.”
So, maybe that means Soto is not looking for a record setting contract? Here is why I do not think so.
- Juan Soto is represented by Scott Boras.
- I am not confident that Boras would give his mother a “hometown discount”.
Moving on … Several weeks ago, the NY Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh because the Jets were not achieving to the level of expectation by ownership. At the time, I said that it was not clear to me that Robert Saleh was the reason for “underperformance” in NY and I suggest that the two games the Jets have played since their BYE Week (both losses to be sure) show that to be the case.
The biggest “underperformance of expectations” is Aaron Rodgers. The Jets and the Jets’ fans “expect” Rodgers to play the way he did in the past – – say 5 years ago. He has not and maybe he cannot. Here is an interesting twist of fate:
- In 2023 with Rodgers sidelined by injury and Zack Wilson leading a parade of mediocre QBs as Jets’ starters, the team was 4-4 after 8 games.
- In 2024 with Rodgers nominally healthy and playing every game, the team is 2-6 after 8 games.
As a franchise, the Jets have made some seriously bad choices when it comes to hiring head coaches. Robert Saleh was not one of those seriously bad choices as compared to:
- Lou Holtz (1976) – – did not finish out his first year and famously decided that what the Jets needed was a fight song.
- Richie Kotite (1994/95) – – an unmitigated disaster and I am not sure he could follow a recipe on how to make ice cubes.
- Adam Gase (2019/20) – – did the best imitation of a “deer-in-the headlights look” in NFL history.
When this year’s NFL season is coming to an end, there will be a ton of speculation about who will be the Jets’ head coach starting in 2025. The team’s fanboys will generate lots of heat – – but little light – – as the situation evolves but those fanboys need to recognize a serious trend:
- The best predictor of future human actions/performances is past performance.
The same insightful and probing minds that made past team personnel decisions are going to be the ones making the next ones. Rather than assuming future glory in the decision-making process, Jets’ fans would be well advised to remind themselves about the blind squirrel and the acorn.
Finally, I’ll close today with an important truism:
“Wine improves with age. The older I get, the more I like it.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
You had to bring up poor Richie Kotite. You have had a thing about him that dates back to the last century. Next, you will write a rant comparing some current coach to Jerry Tarkanian, another bete noire of yours.