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Bar Chat

10/05/2017

Play Ball!

[Posted Wednesday a.m.]

College Football Quiz: Michigan’s only national championship since 1948 was in 1997.  Name the coach, quarterback and top rusher (who was also the top receiver).  Answer below.

MLB

The four best teams in baseball this season, the Indians, Astros, Dodgers and Nationals, should be the hungriest.

Since Cleveland last won the World Series in 1948, they have lost four times...1954, 1995, 1997 and last year to the Cubs.  Helped by their A.L.-record 22-game winning streak, they finished the season 41-7.

The Astros have never won a World Series and have appeared in just one, 2005, where they were swept by the White Sox.

Shockingly, the Dodgers haven’t been to the Series since 1988, the last time they won, despite all their success, including now five consecutive division titles.

And the Washington Nationals, including the Montreal years, have never been to the Series.

--Is this the year Clayton Kershaw finally has post-season success?

--What a move, thus far, by the Astros in acquiring Justin Verlander for the stretch drive and playoffs. All he did was go 5-0 in five starts, with a 1.06 ERA.  It is going to be Verlander vs. Chris Sale in the division series opener with Boston.

--So on to last night’s first wild card game, Minnesota at New York, and Yankees starter Luis Severino could not have gotten off to a worse start as he gave up a leadoff home run to Brian Dozier, and then a two-run shot to Eddie Rosario, 3-0, and Manager Joe Girardi yanked him after 1/3 of an inning.  It was the right move, especially after the Twins followed Rosario’s shot with runners on second and third.

In came Chad Green to save the day, striking out the next two batters to limit the damage, and in the bottom of the first, budding Yankee superstar Didi Gregorious hit a three-run homer to tie it off Twins starter Ervin Santana.

But the first inning took almost an hour and every casual baseball fan, such as yours truly, on the East Coast was thinking, uh oh, ain’t gonna be staying up to watch the whole game at this pace.

So I lasted through seven innings, the Yankees up 8-4, including a solo homer from Brett Gardner and a two-run jack from Aaron Judge, and that’s how it ended, as Joe Girardi, long-maligned around these parts for his handling of the bullpen, was masterful in his decision making, including allowing David Robertson to go a career high 3 1/3 innings, 52 pitches, the most he has ever thrown.  Tommy Kahnle then threw 2 1/3 of scoreless ball and Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth.

It was an electric crowd in normally quiet Yankee Stadium, whose new version sounds like a mausoleum most of the time.  The fans brought the energy, and it no doubt helped their team.

On to Cleveland for Game One of the Division Series, Thursday.

Cleveland will have a distinct advantage in this first contest because the Yankees will not be able to go with Green (who threw 41 pitches) and Robertson. 

Green’s 41 doesn’t seem like much for a ‘long man,’ but he is far less effective if he doesn’t get more than two days rest after throwing that many.

Robertson, on the other hand, will be spent until Game 3, he having thrown 31 or more just five times this season.

Thus are the further advantages for those winning their division...as it should be.

But history is on the Yankees side. Wild card winners (in the current one-game format) are 5-5 in subsequent Division Series.

--Phillies rookie Rhys Hoskins gained a lot of publicity when he was the fastest player in MLB history to reach 18 home runs, in his first 34 games, 118 at bats.  But then he finished the year without a homer in his final 16 games, 52 at-bats, which is kind of bizarre.

So Hoskins ended up with a still super 18 homers in 170 ABs.

But Bob S., who hails from the Bay Area, pointed out that A’s rookie Matt Olson did pretty darn well himself, Olson with 24 home runs in only 189 ABs. 

--The Mets not only dumped manager Terry Collins, who will be a special assistant to GM Sandy Alderson, but they also reassigned pitching coach Dan Warthan, who had been in the position nine seasons, and got rid of trainer Ray Ramirez after 13 seasons.  Ramirez was a popular target among fans because of all the injuries.

--The Atlanta Braves have what most consider the top farm system in baseball these days (the Cubs having traded off many of their prospects), and Atlanta’s architect, general manager John Coppolella, has been forced to resign amid an investigation into whether the Braves circumvented the international signing rules.  Coppolella was also being investigated for his ill treatment of team employees, as well as domestic draft practices.

Gordon Blakely, Coppolella’s assistant, also resigned.

--The average time of a nine-inning game in the majors this season rose 4 ½ minutes to a record 3 hours, 5 minutes, 11 seconds, according to the commissioner’s office.  MLB’s average had dropped to 2:56 in 2015, so up about 9 minutes in two years, despite all the attempts to shorten the game.

The players association didn’t accept three changes last offseason, but now MLB has the right to start them next year without player approval: restricting catchers to one trip to the mound per pitcher each inning, employing a 20-second pitch clock and raising the bottom of the strike zone from just beneath the knee cap to at the top of the kneecap – which had been the pre-1996 level.

I like restricting catcher visits the most. 

But as Brian Costa and Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal report today, what’s really slowing baseball down is its increasing reliance on data analytics, spawned by the “Moneyball” revolution; “A confluence of hitting, pitching and defensive strategies.”

But for now, baseball has little incentive to change, owing to the huge long-term television-rights agreements and taxpayer-funded stadiums.  “League revenues exceeded $10 billion in 2016, a record. Attendance remains strong, with regular-season games drawing around 30,000 fans on average.”

But the median age of a television viewer is now 57, up from 52 in 2006.  Only 7% of baseball viewers are under 17, compared with 11% for the NBA.

Encouragingly, however, is an uptick in youth baseball participation after a long decline.  I noticed this past summer myself in my local area a distinct increase.

But back to the major leagues, the increased use of analytics is most easily seen in the number of pitching changes.  Regular-season games this year saw an average of 8.4 pitchers used between both teams, an all-time high. That’s up from 5.8 pitchers a game 30 years ago, and probably 3.5 a 100 years ago, mused the editor.  When Men were Men...and their mothers didn’t drive them to school in the Model T. 

--ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell reports that Aaron Judge had the best-selling jersey in baseball this year, the best-selling rookie jersey ever, according to Major League Baseball.  The Cubs’ Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo were second and third.  Clayton Kershaw fourth; Bryce Harper fifth.

And this is astounding.  How popular has Aaron Judge already become among collectors?  The price of his autograph on a ball, with an exclusive autograph deal with Fanatics, rose to $350, while Topps sold a record 16,138 cards of Judge in the 24 hours after he broke the home run mark.

And as Darren Rovell adds, Judge’s game-used jerseys are selling for astronomical prices, like the jersey he wore in his major league debut in August 2016 sold in July for $157,366!  Geezuz.  That’s nuts.  I like the guy.  He’s good for the game.  But, c’mon.  Unless you know he is going to hit 50+ home runs the next ten years straight.

NFL

--Monday night, Kansas City stayed undefeated at 4-0 with a 29-20 win over the Redskins (2-2), as the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker kicked a 43-yard field goal with 0.04 left in regulation to take a 23-20 lead.  [K.C. then recovering a fumbled kick return for the final six points.]

Rookie running back Kareem Hunt continued to impress with 101 yards rushing on 21 carries and now has 502 yards in his first four contests, a 7.4 yards per carry average.

Then there is 33-year-old quarterback Alex Smith, who is off to an outstanding start of his own; 76.0% completion percentage, 8 touchdown, 0 interceptions, 124.2 passer rating.

But if you were one who placed a bet Monday night, that last fumbled kick return for a touchdown was one of the crueler (depending on what side of the bet you were on) twists of fate of all time.

The Chiefs were favored by 6 ½-7 points, and there it was, 23-20.  Washington covered.  Until they didn’t. 

Plus, get this...the over/under closing was 47.5!  If you took ‘under,’ you were pumped.  And then you weren’t.

--Oakland quarterback Derek Carr is going to be out at least two weeks with a transverse process fracture in his back, Carr suffering it on a late third quarter sack in Oakland’s 16-10 loss at Denver on Sunday.  His body was twisted awkwardly by Adam Gotsis.

So what are transverse processes?  According to ESPN.com, “they are small projections on the vertebrae where soft tissue attaches, but they have no real role in load-bearing.  In football, fractures to transverse processes are not uncommon when there is a direct hit, like a helmet or knee to the back.”

Last season Carr’s year was ended by a broken right fibula in Week 16, finishing third in the MVP voting.  He then signed a five-year, $125 million contract, but after opening wins against Tennessee and the Jets, Oakland has now lost two straight, to Denver and Washington.

--The best story in football thus far is the Los Angeles Rams, off to a 3-1 start, while scoring an NFL-best 142 points, the fourth-most in NFL history in the first four games for a first-time head coach, 31-year-old Sean McVay, the youngest coach ever in the NFL.

I mean everyone knows the Rams were awful last season, especially on offense, where they ranked last in yardage and points scored; the latter 224 in 16 games.  Aside from McVay, it starts with second-year quarterback Jared Goff, the shock of the year thus far, who has gone from a passer rating of 63.6 last season to 112.2.

By the way, when you see a quarterback like Goff who struggled mightily as a rookie, think back to Terry Bradshaw.  Yes, it was a different game when Bradshaw was winning all his Super Bowls, but he had probably the worst rookie year in history for Pittsburgh in 1970...6 touchdowns, 24 interceptions, 38.1% completion percentage, 30.4 passer rating.  Granted, Bradshaw, in terms of passer ratings, was never at the top, but he won, 107-51-0 in his career when starting.

[That rookie season, Bradshaw shared the quarterbacking duties with Terry Hanratty, who had a 39.3% completion percentage himself.  But John “Frenchy” Fuqua averaged 5.0 yards per carry for 691 yards, making him a most popular player for Strat-O-Matic.]

--I didn’t realize at the time that when Deshaun Watson passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in Houston’s 57-14 rout of Tennessee, he was the first rookie to do so since Fran Tarkenton in 1961.

--What a terrible break for the Vikings, losing rookie running back Dalvin Cook to a torn ACL, out for the season. Cook had gotten off to a great start, 354 yards rushing, 4.8 average per carry, 11 receptions.

--Huge early game for the 2-2 Patriots, Thursday night in Tampa (2-1).  Incredibly, the Patriots’ defense, which yielded 250 points in 2016, a 14-2 season for New England, has yielded 128 points already, second-most in football to the Colts.

This isn’t your father’s Patriots, sports fans...at least thus far.

--And a big contest Sunday at the Meadowlands, the 0-4 Giants hosting the 0-4 Chargers.  Once again the a-holes at the NFL have scheduled the Jets and Giants at the same time, 1:00, the Jets traveling to 0-4 Cleveland, as my boys have a super shot to go 3-2.

--Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger called out receiver Antonio Brown for “having a temper tantrum” and “causing a distraction that none of us really needs.” This wasn’t the first time the Steelers QB criticized Brown.

Brown was pissed after Roethlisberger failed to spot him on a second-quarter play Sunday against the Ravens, the star receiver wide open.  Brown then proceeded to throw a Gatorade cooler on the sideline and yelled at offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is also irked by Brown’s behavior.  There have been issues between Roethlisberger and Brown before, but this time it’s different; Roethlisberger, in the twilight of his career, less tolerant of jerks.

--As long as President Trump doesn’t call NFL players SOBs again, I don’t imagine I’ll be writing anything about the anthem controversy next Sunday.  And that would be good.

--I totally agree with Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, who offered a critical take the other day on how fans are dehumanizing NFL players because of fantasy football, saying players “don’t care about your fantasy team.”

“I think a lot of people, a lot of fans out there, have looked at players even less like people because of fantasy football and things like that,” Sherman said.  “You go and say, ‘Oh man, this guy got hurt.’

“You’re not thinking, ‘Hey man, this guy got hurt – he’s really physically hurt and he’s going to take time to recover and it’s probably going to affect his mental state and his physical state and how he has a long, rigorous rehab.’  You’re thinking, ‘Oh, man, he’s messing up my fantasy team.’”

The topic came up after Seattle lost running back Chris Carson to a significant ankle injury, while left tackle Rees Odhiambo had to be taken to the hospital after experiencing trouble breathing, during the team’s 46-18 win over Indianapolis.

“I think that’s why you see the frustration from a lot of players saying they don’t care about your fantasy team,” said Sherman.  “This is real life and this is their real job and that’s affecting their well-being.”

College Football

--Not a lot of games of interest coming up this week.  11 Washington State at Oregon is an important one, ditto Michigan State at 7 Michigan.

Wake Forest plays at Clemson and is getting 22 points.  I wouldn’t touch this one, as loyal as I am.  One thing us Deacon fans will learn is just how good a coach Dave Clawson is.  Can he get his kids to give us a premium effort after last Saturday’s crushing loss to Florida State, this coming battle in a hostile environment?  I’m not confident.

In the Michigan-MSU game, John O’Korn is starting at QB for the Wolverines, as starter Wilton Speight remains out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury.

In the Washington State-Oregon contest, the Cougars are catching a big break as Ducks QB Justin Herbert is out with a fractured collarbone, and his backup, Taylor Alie, left the last game with an injury.

--Meanwhile, this was the consensus list of quarterbacks to follow before the season started.

Sam Darnold (USC), Josh Rosen (UCLA), Josh Allen (Wyoming), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), J.T. Barrett (Ohio State), Lamar Jackson (Louisville), Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State) and Luke Falk (Washington State).  Four others in the conversation were Nick Fitzgerald (Miss. State), Riley Ferguson (Memphis), Jake Browning (Washington) and Matt Linehan (Idaho).

To me, Mayfield, Barrett and Falk are the top three thus far, but if I had the top pick in the NFL Draft, after the first five weeks, it would be a total crapshoot selecting any of these guys.

Which is why I have to repeat that as a Jets fan, I’m now all in.  No more tank, tank, tank.  I want to be entertained the rest of the season.  If Sam Darnold, or Rosen, or one of the others was a sure-fire All-Pro by his second season, I’d be thinking differently.  But not as things stand today.

[I have to add, I just read an analysis of the QBs and one guy says Josh Rosen is clearly No. 1.  I’ve seen him over six quarters thus far and I beg to differ.  He is not ready for the pro game today.  Down the road?  Sure.  But he’s not stepping in somewhere next season in the NFL and turning a franchise around right away.  As for Darnold, some are now wondering if he’ll opt to come back next fall rather than go pro.]

Golf Balls

--I didn’t see the post-tournament press conference with the U.S. team following their romp in the Presidents Cup Sunday, but the star of the show was Matt Kuchar, who was needling everyone, while Dustin Johnson made fun, playfully, of Jordan Spieth’s inexplicable 0-5 record in Presidents Cup/Ryder Cup singles.

“Golden Child here needs a little jab once in a while,” said DJ.

But Kuchar held his own presser, until PGA Tour officials stepped in before it got totally out of hand. 

Kuchar: “This team was just an amazing bunch of guys, amazing performance.  Everybody was on great form.  For us to have – we had 11 guys in the Tour Championship; everybody except Phil Mickelson was at East Lake (laughter).    

“It was like, how many times does it happen that you get 11 out of 12. If it was only for Phil, we would have had 12 of 12, but Phil was not there. So if we just – we were one guy short of having an entire team there (laughter) and if Phil was there, that would have been the whole team.  Like how many times does a team ever have that many guys play that well to make the tour championship?”

Mickelson: “Gave me a chance to go home and work on my game in case it did come down to my singles match, you know.”

Kuchar: “Justin, tell him how great East Lake was (laughter).”

Yes, some alcohol had been imbibed beforehand...and then after.

Other thoughts on the Presidents Cup:

Does captain Steve Stricker get to captain the 2020 Ryder Cup team, or will he get another Presidents Cup?  Phil Mickelson is going to be in line for either, before you know it.  And then there’s Tiger.

Mickelson, by the way, is 8-1-3 in team competitions following his calling out of captain Tom Watson at the 2014 Ryder Cup in the most awkward press conference in golf history.

--As for all the talk that the Presidents Cup should be shelved, that’s stupid.  Two years ago it was 15 ½-14 ½.  The Internationals will continue to develop stars just as the U.S. is doing.  The Internationals also waxed the U.S. in the singles on Sunday, 7 ½-4 ½.

As Jaime Diaz of Golfworld points out: “(If) South Korean domination of the LPGA is any indication, the International side is better positioned for the future than the European Ryder Cup side.  Jack Nicklaus, by the way, happens to agree.”

Diaz points to a statement made by Tiger Woods, who called the U.S. squad “the best putting team I’ve ever seen.”

As Diaz notes: “Before Anirban Lahiri’s dramatic birdie on the 17th hole saved the Cup from being clinched on Saturday, it seems as if the Internationals missed, often badly, every makeable putt at crunch time.”

And as every casual golfer knows, putting comes and goes.  Ian Poulter is far from one of the best players in the world, but come Ryder Cup time, there is no better putter.  It’s largely inside.

It’s just that the Internationals at Liberty National didn’t play well...end of story.  

Heck, Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher on the planet for years now, but look what he’s done in the postseason, mused your editor. 

Diaz also had a terrific point that after Great Britain and Ireland added continental Europe for the Ryder Cup, “the American players could no longer rely on having miles more talent, they had to face the idea that what Johnny Miller calls the ‘lone-wolf mentality’ (personified by Woods in his prime, and which Mickelson on Sunday acknowledged that he’d shared) created chemistry problems against the more unified Europeans in the Ryder Cup.”

But now the U.S. team, spurred by its millennial generation of stars who genuinely like each other, has bonded, a la the Europeans.  [An issue with the Internationals, admittedly, is the language difference.]

Diaz writes that one simple solution could be the Internationals “committing to play practice rounds or have dinner together at the big tournaments where they all play, notably the World Golf Championships and the majors.  Maybe the younger ones can come up with their own version of the Rickie Fowler-orchestrated Spring Break.”

But it does still come down to talent....and putting.

Stuff

--Men’s Division I Soccer Poll (Oct. 2)

1. Michigan State
2. North Carolina
3. Columbia
4. Virginia
5. Wake Forest 10-1-0...play UNC this Friday
6. Louisville
7. Notre Dame
8. Butler
9. Indiana
10. Clemson

I’d say the ACC is pretty strong in this sport.

--No Premier League action this week as there is World Cup Qualifying play, with the United States hosting Panama on Friday in Orlando, an incredibly critical match for Team USA.

--Rick Pitino, in his first interview since being put on unpaid leave last Wednesday, said he is selling his house in Louisville and “laying low,” though he vowed he would be vindicated of allegations in the fraud and corruption case brought by the Feds.

Pitino told the Courier-Journal he has “zero to do with any of it,” even as it has been reported he is the “Coach-2” alleged to have had a role in funneling $100,000 to a recruit identified as Brian Bowen, who has been placed on indefinite suspension by Louisville, though he remains at the school and has vowed he would play.

Pitino, by contract, had to be given 10 days’ notice before any dismissal, thus the school’s announcement it was “unpaid leave” for both him and athletic director Tom Jurich.

--We note the passing of actor Chuck Low, 89.  He was born in New York City in 1928 and after serving in the military, he became a prominent real estate developer in New York City in the 1970s. Low actually pioneered the development of modern-day Tribeca by “converting industrial buildings into his vision of ‘lofts’ for living.” [NJ.com]

Coincidentally, actor Robert De Niro was one of Low’s tenants.  They became friends and this led to Low’s second career as an actor, including a role that is the reason why we’re writing of him now.  Low was Morris “Morrie” Kesseler, the whig shop owner in “Goodfellas.”

Low passed away at a New Jersey nursing home and the New York Post reported last year that De Niro showed up one day to visit him with a few guys and the nurses said there were a lot of laughs.  Liam Neeson, who appeared with Low in Roland Joffe’s “The Mission,” also reportedly visited.

--Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tom Petty died suddenly on Monday night in Malibu.  He was found unconscious, not breathing and in full cardiac arrest at his home there early on Monday, and could not be revived at the hospital.

Petty was best known as the lead singer of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, cranking out hits like “Breakdown,” “American Girl,” “Free Fallin,” “I Won’t Back Down” and “Refugee.”

Petty was also a co-founder of the Traveling Wilburys group in the late 1980s, touring with Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne and George Harrison.  Dylan told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s shocking, crushing news.”  The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson tweeted he was “heartbroken.”

Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida, October 20, 1950.  It was a rough childhood, living in poverty with an alcoholic, abusive father, but his life changed when he met Elvis Presley and shook his hand.

“That was the end of doing anything other than music with my life,” he said.

After joining a few bands in school, Petty and several of the members of Mudcrutch formed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, releasing their debut album in 1976.

Petty’s career was slow to take off, but heavy touring eventually pushed them onto the charts.

Over the next four decades, Petty’s group became one of rock’s most reliable live acts.  Petty also took advantage of exposure on MTV, with some of his videos in constant rotation on the station in its hey-day. 

His songs were about relationships and life choices, stories about middle-class America. He stuck to his rock ‘n’ roll roots, refusing to join the disco and high-concept rock eras.  He also refused to allow his music in advertisements and political campaigns, and in 1981 clashed with his record label over its decision to hike the price of his latest album.  Offstage Petty shunned the spotlight.

Just a week ago, Petty performed his last live shows at the sold-out Hollywood Bowl as part of a 40th anniversary tour.

Petty said in an interview with USA TODAY three years ago, “I do feel as I get older that there’s a finite amount of time left.  It’s made me more interested in making records.  They last longer than me, and they don’t go away.”

Following is a link to his Super Bowl XLII performance in 2008 (Giants-Pats).  It’s terrific.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/10/03/watch-tom-petty-gave-a-classic-halftime-show-in-the-classic-super-bowl-xlii/?utm_term=.af13fcc030da&wpisrc=nl_break&wpmm=1

--Finally, I had no idea how great a three-day event Country Music had in Vegas, with many heavyweight headliners, including Eric Church, Sam Hunt, Jake Owen, Maren Morris, and Jason Aldean. The Route 91 Harvest Festival has been held in the same spot the past four years.

Michael Phelps and his wife attended on Friday night.

One of the heroes of the tragedy that then ensued was the son of Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven, Todd Blyleven, who drove to Vegas from Dallas to attend the concert with about 15 friends and family members.

When the shooting started, Todd and his brother-in-law guided their group out of the venue, as shots struck around them, then he headed back to attempt to get more people out.  Blyleven saw a police officer who had been shot through the neck, and carried out the lifeless body of a young woman.

“Young girls and guys, older folks. Just people walking out of a country concert with bullet holes,” he recalled.  “Everybody was just trying to do whatever they could to get these poor people out of the gun fire.”

Jason Aldean canceled a number of upcoming concerts.

Top 3 songs for the week 10/2/65: #1 “Hang On Sloopy” (The McCoys)  #2 “Eve Of Destruction” (Barry McGuire)  #3 “Yesterday” (The Beatles)...and...#4 “Catch Us If You Can” (The Dave Clark Five...the one and only...Dave Clark being a business genius as well...)  #5 “You Were On My Mind” (We Five)  #6 “The ‘In’ Crowd” (Ramsey Lewis Trio)  #7 “Treat Her Right” (Roy Head)  #8 “You’ve Got Your Troubles” (The Fortunes...good one....)  #9 “Baby Don’t Go” (Sonny and Cher...love this tune...)  #10 “Laugh At Me” (Sonny)

College Football Quiz Answer: The national champion 1997 Michigan Wolverines were coached by Lloyd Carr.  Brian Griese was the quarterback (backed up by Tom Brady, who was 12 of 15 that year), with Chris Howard the leading rusher (868 yards) and receiver (35 receptions).

Yes, Bo Schembechler, for all his success, never won a national title, though his first ten seasons, 1969-78, his team finished AP Top Ten each year. He had six other Top Ten finishes before retiring after the 1989 season.

The big blemish on Schembechler’s record was his 5-12 record in bowl games, including losing his first seven when he had most of his best teams.

Next Bar Chat, Monday.

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