On JA last Friday, David Cone said it as a short ending, as if it was a good idea that his breath was barely worth it.
At the bottom of the sixth of a scoreless game, fourth Rays catcher Mike Zunino on the first two pitches, both balls. He then flew out on a 2-0 count.
‘He’s normally a power hitter,’ said Cone, ‘not sure if he’s been asked to hug a lot in his career. But that is now the state of the game. ”
Oh, no. And now back to the current state of the game that has left baseball so bad that leaving foundations – so often the difference between winning and losing – is dismissed with a brief sigh.
The stuff we now have to find both sensational and enlightening came the other day on JA, when Gary Sanchez knocked out one in the second inning, loading bases in a 0-0 game.
A parrot told Michael Kay of Sanchez, ‘Now he’s not hit, but when he hits, he hits the ball very hard. Its average exit speed is 94.5 mph, the eighth highest in MLB. ”
Wow! Does he ever hit that baseball! So what if at the moment he beats .086, with 19 strikeouts in 34 at-bats. Ridlik wins again!
And then, on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded, Sanchez took a Grand Slam swing, wiffing on a field a foot above the stretch zone. The Yankees would not score in what became a final loss.
Friday, the Yanks lost to the Rays, 1-0. So early Saturday in Game 1 of a seven-inning doubleheader, JA threw it to Paul O’Neill for his “Keys To The Game.” Such inserts often produce “No, no crazy” shakes from viewers, and O’Neill, helped by pre-fab show-and-tell graphics, delivered.
Key No. 1: Win Game 1 of the DH.
Key No. 2: Continue the crime.
Key No. 3: Have fun.
Well, okay then!
Sunday on YES, more baseball of the new age – the completely unintended use of the replay rule, which, predictably, is how it is overwhelmingly applied by sports that waste time trying to create populism over appropriate caution.
In the eighth inning of a tie game, the Rays first won a reversal based on nothing more conclusive than second advice on a slide and tag in second place. Minutes later, the Yanks won a reversal at close to coin-flip calls at first.
And then the weekend’s story box scores:
Three fighters struck out three times in Blue Jays-Red Sox, a game with the usual modern action – 27 strikeouts. Angels outfielder Jo Adell went oh-for-four, all strikeouts, against the Rangers. In that 7-3 loss to Texas, 12 pitchers were used in 3 hours, 36 minutes. Against Milwaukee, the lead of Cincinnati, off battery, Shogo Akiyama, K’d three times. Against the Mets, Marlins’ striker Jonathan Villar struck out four times.
Good thing for MLB that it does not have to sell tickets this season, you just have to worry about TV and gambling income. MLB has set its dials on Self-Destruct, full forward. And David Cone said as the only side, “But that’s the state of the game.”
Sterling comes on for Ford
Whatever it is, John Sterling still has it!
Saturday after the Yankees’ Mike Ford hit a homer, Sterling whistled proudly, “For the Yankees, there’s a Ford in their future!” He was not done to be John Sterling. Next came, “Mike is Ford tough!”
As reader Mike McIntee noted, Ford’s home port, first in the game, was sponsored by Kia, and, “The Yankees’ radio network is powered by Jeep.”
Giancarlo Stanton gave it a shot – he tried to take one knee on his other knee but could not hold it for the length of the national anthem, so he went on IL.
First CBS dumped reliable, sensible Dan Fouts as an NFL analyst, now the stable team of Greg Gumbel and Trent Green has split. CBS is “promoting” Green to work with “Hollerin ‘” Kevin Harlan, who sometimes knows what he’s kidding about.
Hard to believe the Knicks passed on to Barry Trotz.
Reader Doug Heimowitz on the Yankees ‘4-3 loss to the Rays on Sunday: “Who knew that after six innings and a 3-0 lead, the Yanks’ chances of winning would be zero percent?”
And reader Greg Gillen asks why not one of the cardboard cuts of fans at MLB games includes those seen on their mobiles? Answer: To prevent teams from billing for roaming charges.
PGA Championship coverage is missing in every honest way
TV has clearly bought the right to do as it pleases at PGA events.
Sunday, late in the PGA Championship, winner Collin Morikawa eyed the short par-4 16th after his ride was seven feet short of the pin.
Soon, bomber Dustin Johnson, still in the hunt, would hit the 16th. He missed, but CBS never showed it – not even on tape.
Also Sunday, Jim Nantz noted that the “leader in the clubhouse” was Matthew Wolff – and that’s how the PGA, USGA, R&A and TV scoreboards for decades reported the leaders. But CBS, probably recognized by Wolff as quite unknown, listed him fourth among those at -10.
It looked like a version of the TV’s transparent Tiger Woods game – when he was first mentioned among those with the same score, or for the first time tied as a 40th.
And we saw more of Woods’ tape in CBS and PGA promos than live or taped coverage of the collapse of Brooks Koepka.
Wise men who have lost their money on slow horses (and often fast women) will tell you that every trip to the track includes something they have never seen before.
Saturday, off the bench as opposed to the track, the MSG feed of live racing from Saratoga delivered such a scene.
The eighth race was won by Imprimis, ridden by Jose Ortiz. But, as the bewildered announcers explain, an annoying rune claim was submitted by the rider of the horse who finished third. That jockey was Irad Ortiz – Jose’s brother!
The claim was approved, so Brother Jose’s horse went from first to third and Irad’s went from third to second. After all, bloodlines count for horses, not riders.
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