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Bar Chat

07/26/2018

The Loafer

[Posted Wed. a.m.]

Baseball Quiz: Name the six with at least 13 seasons of 30+ homers in a career. Answer below.

MLB

--The Yankees are more than struggling.  Playing down in St. Pete, New York lost Monday 7-6 to the Rays and there were two culprits.  Starter Luis Severino went only five innings for the third consecutive appearance, giving up six earned on 11 hits to fall to 14-3.  Over this stretch he has allowed 13 earned in the 15 innings, his ERA rising from 1.98 to 2.63.  This is the ace come postseason. And with the Yanks falling six back of Boston, which won on Monday, panic is setting in on the streets of Gotham.

Yankee catcher Gary Sanchez is going to be blistered next time he comes home to the Stadium.  He loafed on a passed ball in the first inning, costing the Yanks a run, and then in the top of the ninth, on a ground ball that could have tied the score, he inexplicably didn’t run hard to first.

The bases were loaded with two outs and Sanchez, hitting .188, ripped a ground ball up the middle, but hustling Aaron Hicks beat the flip to second.  However, Sanchez, loafing down the line, was thrown out at first to end the game.

Sanchez said after: “I should have run harder...You learn a lot in this game and this is one of those instances where you learn from it.  You put it behind and you look forward to tomorrow.”

Oh brother.  Sanchez also said the passed ball was “another instance...if I would have done a better job being quicker...maybe we have a chance to get him out at home. That’s my fault.”

Manager Aaron Boone was noncommittal, saying he needed to review the replay to see how hard Sanchez was running before taking any disciplinary action.

As for the passed ball in the first inning, the 10th of the season for Sanchez, the Rays’ Jake Bauers was on second as the catcher didn’t hustle when the ball rolled up the third-base line and then Sanchez hit Bauers in the back when flipping a throw to Severino covering at the plate.

It also needs to be noted that in the top of the ninth, with runners on first and second and no outs for New York, Boone had shortstop Didi Gregorius sacrifice, which was successful, but that left first base open, thus taking the bat out of Giancarlo Stanton’s hands, Stanton 4-for-4 on the night (9-for-9 his last nine at-bats at Tropicana Field), and of course he was then walked to load the bases.  Highly questionable move by Boone.

So what did the Yankees do with Sanchez on Tuesday?  They put him on the disabled list with a right groin strain – the same injury that sidelined him last month.

Sanchez said he felt some tightness on Monday during the first inning when he jogged after the passed ball, and then he jogged halfway down the first base line in the ninth.

Tuesday, through his interpreter, Sanchez said, “An injury is never an excuse.  If I’m on the field, I’m good to play. I should have done a better job.”

Whatever.

Sanchez will spend a minimum of 10 days on the DL.  Aaron Boone said the team needed to see better effort from him.  He added he was prepared to discipline the catcher had he not landed on the disabled list.

New York then played the Rays again on Tuesday and Masahiro Tanaka twirled a complete game, 3-hit shutout, the Yanks winning 4-0, Tanaka improving to 8-2, 4.09.  Coupled with Boston’s 7-6 loss to Baltimore, New York is now five back.

Meanwhile, the Yankees apparently have decided that the price for a top-line starter such as Jacob deGrom is far too steep, and that the lesser alternatives aren’t any better than what they can cobble together themselves, so they went out and strengthened an already top-notch bullpen in acquiring Baltimore’s Zach Britton for three minor-league hurlers.

Britton has only thrown 15 innings this year as he was out recovering from a rupture Achilles tendon, but from 2014-16, he was as good as any in baseball.  In 2016 he was a perfect 47-for-47 in save opportunities.  Thus if Aroldis Chapman has more stumbles like he did the other day against the Mets, New York will be fine.

--The Mets lost another start with Jacob deGrom on the mound Monday night, 3-2 to the Padres at Citi Field.  DeGrom went 8 innings, allowing two earned, 10 strikeouts, and fell to 5-5 with a 1.71 ERA.  It was his 20th start of the season and according to Elias, since at least 1912, he is the first pitcher in baseball history to win fewer than seven games in the first 20 starts of a season with an ERA under 2.00.  DeGrom is also just 2-3, 1.66 at home.  Truly astounding.  And sickening how the offense fails time and time  again with him on the mound.

[Jake also has 17 consecutive starts giving up three or fewer runs.]

--How dysfunctional and luckless are the Metsies?  Even minor leaguer Tim Tebow is now out for  the season with a broken hand, the hamate bone in his right hand which he injured swinging the bat over the weekend.

There is no doubt he would have been a September call-up, just for the hell of it, especially since his batting average was up to .273, though with only six home runs, but not now.

--Tuesday night, the Dodgers hooked up with the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park and for L.A. it was a true nightmare, a 7-4 defeat in 16 innings, a game ending after 5 hours 55 minutes on a three-run walkoff homer to Trevor Plouffe.

The thing is, manager Dave Roberts opted to use utility man Enrique Hernandez in the bottom of the 16th, rather than starter Rich Hill who was preparing to come into the game when Roberts decided on Hernandez, and it backfired.

Hernandez was the ninth pitcher for the Dodgers, the Phillies also using nine, but they used starter Vince Velasquez in the top of the 16th, Velasquez earning the win.

--The Cardinals’ Austin Gomber was making his first big league start on Tuesday night in Cincinnati and after six innings he had a no-hitter.  But as he prepared to start the bottom of the seventh, the fire alarm at Great American Ball Park malfunctioned, giving Gomber an unexpected 7-minute, 30-second break.

Gomber then lost his no-hitter and the shutout, but the Cardinals won on a Dexter Fowler two-run homer in the 11th, 4-2.

What made this all the more unusual was that it was the second straight night a St. Louis pitcher making his major league debut as a starter went deep into the game with a no-no.

Monday, Daniel Poncedeleon threw no-hit ball for seven innings, but he was removed after throwing 116 pitches.

--The Pirates shockingly won their 11th in a row, beating the Indians 9-4 on Tuesday in Cleveland, the longest streak for Pittsburgh since 1996.

--Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal had a piece on the increasing talk for a “universal DH,” meaning adoption of it by the National League.

“The players certainly would support it and have for decades, no doubt in part because it would create 15 additional well-paying jobs and extend the careers for defensively challenged veterans.  That sentiment now extends beyond union leadership and down to the rank and file.  MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said Tuesday that the universal DH is ‘gaining momentum’ among players, adding that they ‘are talking about it more than they have in the past.’

“Commissioner Rob Manfred’s recent public comments have reflected the sensitivity of the issue.  In June, he called the universal DH ‘a continuing source of conversation’ and said that ‘the dialogue actually probably moved a little bit’ at the quarterly owners meetings.  On Tuesday, after Clark expressed support for standardizing the DH, Manfred walked those comments back somewhat, saying ‘The most likely outcome remains the status quo,’ citing a hesitation to eliminate the NL game forever. Any change would likely happen as part of collective bargaining between the owners and union.

“Either way, this much seems clear: Pitchers can’t hit. At all.  They entered this week’s All-Star break with a combined batting average of .113, the lowest on record and down from .139 a decade ago. They strike out in nearly 42% of their plate appearances, the most ever, and walk just 3% of the time, compared to about 4% in 2008.”

Personally, I have long been against the DH, being an NL guy, but on this topic I surrender.  Bring it on.  But in actuality, it’s still a number of years away.

--If you missed it, make sure you find PBS’ “American Masters” program on Ted Williams, which aired on Monday.  Outstanding.

The Open Championship...wrapping it up...       

--No doubt 35-year-old Italian Francesco Molinari is a humble Open champion.

“It’s amazing to stand here with the claret jug,” he said Sunday evening, still appearing dazed. “I knew I was coming in with some good golf. But my record around here was terrible.”

Yeah, but how hot has he been?  Three wins and two seconds in his last five events, around the globe.

--I wrote when I posted Sunday night that it was kind of touching seeing Tiger Woods embrace his kids after his disappointing finish.  Sunday night, he commented to Golf Channel.

“I told them I tried and I said, ‘Hopefully you’re proud of your pops for trying as hard as I did,’” Woods said.  “It’s pretty emotional because they gave me some pretty significant hugs there and squeezed. I know that they know how much this championship means to me and how much it feels good to be back playing again.”

Think about it. Tiger last won a major in 2008, the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, when Sam was a year old and Charlie was not yet born.

“The only thing they’ve seen is my struggles and the pain I was going through,” Tiger said.  “Now they just want to go play soccer with me. Man, it’s just such a great feeling.”

--Tiger’s presence on the leaderboard certainly didn’t hurt when it came to television ratings.  According to NBC Sports and Golf Channel, this year’s tournament drew a 5.0 overnight figure, the highest since the 2006 Open (won by Woods at Royal Liverpool, which also drew a 5.0), and only topped by the 2000 Open at St. Andrews, where Woods won his first claret jug to complete the career Grand Slam.

It also didn’t hurt to have the likes of Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy up there.

But it’s Tiger who still moves the needle more than anyone else.

By the way, the Masters, a tradition unlike any other, on CBS, still leads the ratings game, with a 7.6 rating this year, even without Tiger in contention.

--Meanwhile, the Ryder Cup is fast approaching, Sept. 28-30 in Paris, so it’s time to look at the points list.  The top eight qualify for the U.S., with captain Jim Furyk then having four captain’s picks.

Currently, with just a few tournaments (three) left before selection time (points accumulated through the PGA), the roster would be:

1. Brooks Koepka
2. Dustin Johnson
3. Patrick Reed
4. Justin Thomas
5. Bubba Watson
6. Jordan Spieth
7. Rickie Fowler
8. Webb Simpson

The four captain’s picks are then selected by the conclusion of the BMW Championship, Sept. 9, during the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

9. Bryson DeChambeau
10. Phil Mickelson
11. Xander Schauffele
12. Matt Kuchar
13. Kevin Kisner
14. Tony Finau
20. Tiger Woods

Now while the standings will change thru the PGA, there would be zero reason not to take the current 9-12 as the captain’s picks.  If DeChambeau was No. 11 or 12 after the PGA, however, then we have an issue for Furyk.

Of course with his solid play at The Open Championship, Tiger becomes the elephant in the room.  He has just the WGC-Bridgestone and the PGA to impress Furyk further, the captain saying Monday, “I’m going to handle him the way I do everyone else.  I’ll ask my top eight guys. The way he’s playing, he might be one of them. I’ll ask the vice captains, collectively, and I think we’ll do the best we can to round out the team. We want the guys playing the best.”

Woods has already been appointed an assistant captain, just as he was at Hazeltine two years ago.

I’m fired up for the Ryder Cup, mainly to see the course outside Paris.  The U.S. players, like Mickelson, say it’s a spectacular venue, but you know the euro crowd will be vicious.

As for the Euro squad, their points system is complicated, but among the 12 will undoubtedly be Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Alex Noren, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and Tyrrell Hatton.

Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia are currently just 15 and 22 on the Euro points list but they would be obvious captain’s picks with any kind of play the next few weeks.

--Troy Merritt won the rain-delayed Barbasol Championship in Kentucky on Monday, his second Tour win.

Stuff

--Adam Nossiter of the New York Times had a piece on the bears of the Pyrenees mountains in France and the problems they are creating, as in they are haunting shepherds who drive their flocks of sheep across the high slopes...the same sheep supplying France with “savory cheeses and tender lamb.”

But lurking in the shadows are the bears.

“I’ve seen the carcasses,” said Christian Marrot, a sheep-raiser who was leading a flock through the streets of St.-Girons. “Now, I’m keeping mine below.”

The battle pits officials in Paris, “guided by the stiff hand of the European Union, and one of France’s myriad microcultures,” writes Nossiter.

“The conflict is elemental: The French government is trying to restore the centuries-old brown bear population, which dwindled nearly to extinction by the 1990s, the victim of encroaching humanity and hunting.

“The shepherds are not interested in the bear as ‘an element of the natural heritage in the Pyrenees,’ as a government brochure puts it. They see their sheep being eaten, in sizable numbers.”

Bear attacks on sheep increased 46% from 2016 to 2017.  The government, meanwhile, is increasing the total number of bears from 43 to 45, as part of a European Union mandate on biodiversity.   The bears are trucked in from Slovenia and then tracked by various French agencies.

--From the South China Morning Post: “Four Chinese tourists who threw rocks at a giant panda trying to make it move last week have been blacklisted from a nature reserve in northwest China, according to local media.

“Footage of the incident posted on social media on Monday shows a man lobbing stones from behind a fence at a panda resting under a tree in its enclosure at the reserve in Foping county.”

Yup, ‘Man’ will never again sniff the Top 100 on the “All-Species List”....currently No. 424.

--There has been a major scare in Westchester County, New York, which has seen its share of coyote issues.  Now it is a rabid fox that as of today still hasn’t been caught after attacking three people.  One victim said she saw the fox in her yard and tried to shoo it away, only to have it charge her, she told NBC 4 on Monday.

“It jumped up on me and was scratching at me and trying to bite my arm and my leg,” said Kathy C.

Goodness gracious.  If that happened to me I’d die of a heart attack right there, only to be devoured by turkey vultures, which would be a crappy way to go...and probably prevent my ashes from being buried at Lahinch Golf Club in County Clare, Ireland, as I currently prefer.

Note to Brad K. Yes, get Leah to stop leaving food outside for all of God’s creatures.  You’ve done enough bear wrestling in your life.

--Finally, I caught this op-ed from Christian Schneider in USA TODAY on stuffing one’s face with food.

“Americans appear to be fond of gathering in front of large stages and watching human beings endure caloric Armageddon while thrusting encased meats down their gullets. This typically happens on the Fourth of July, where America’s independence from England has become intertwined with the nation’s dependence on heart disease.

“Yet the popularity of eating contests continues to spread like sauerkraut over a bratwurst. At fairs all across America, audiences delight in watching sweaty contestants jam their cheeks with regional delicacies, many of which remain regional for a reason.  Soon, undisputed hot dog champion Joey Chestnut will appear at the Wisconsin State Fair to ingest cheese curds, an appearance for which he is being feted in local media as if he were the ghost of Abraham Lincoln.

“There are many fronts on which to wage this war against stomach sports. First, let us quickly dispense with the complaints of animal rights groups, who object to the morality of so many animals being eaten in so little time. Suppose our culinary tastes are, indeed, being judged by some sort of supreme being – clearly the best evidence for the existence of God is bacon.

“Others argue competitive eating is an affront to people who don’t have any food to eat. There is merit in this claim, although the evidence suggest America’s poorest residents are actually more prone to obesity than those on the upper-income scale. Taken to its logical conclusion, this argument would pre-empt anyone from purchasing anything nice because someone else can’t afford it.

“On a world stage, however, competitive eating is truly a stick in the eye to nations who suffer from a lack of food.  If citizens in 90 percent of the countries of the world watched a hot dog eating competition, they’d automatically assume the winner was the wealthiest man or woman in America.

“Yet the primary arguments against competitive eating are the twin prongs of decency and propriety. Somehow, loading one’s mouth with food has become symbolic of freedom and self-determination, a bold defiance of rules laid down by society and the government.  (Who can forget Patrick Henry’s declaration to ‘give me liberty or give me 25 pounds of jalapeno poppers?’)

“But freedom from needless regulation (eating contests have now become the antidote to Obamacare) doesn’t grant one a license to engage in grotesque excess. Freedom demands responsibility, not deep-fried vulgarity. Subjecting one’s self to an arterial Gettysburg only proves one’s independence from fear of diabetes.”

Well, I nonetheless honor America’s great eaters and here are some current records, as posted on the Major League Eating web site.

Apple Pie: 4.375 three-pound pies in 8 minutes...Joey Chestnut

Asparagus: 12 lbs. 8.75 oz. deep fried spears in 10 minutes...Joey Chestnut

Bacon: 182 strips / Smithfield Bacon in 5 minutes...Matt Stonie

Cannoli: 34 large cannolis in 6 minutes...Marcos Owens

Chicken nuggets: 80 in 5 minutes...Sonya Thomas

Glazed donuts: 55 in 8 minutes...Joey Chestnut

I have a lot of respect for this last one, your editor recently changing his long-time daily donut with large black coffee regimen to the glazed variety.

Top 3 songs for the week 7/27/74:  #1 “Annie’s Song” (John Denver)  #2 “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” (Elton John)  #3 “Rock And Roll Heaven” (The Righteous Brothers)... and...#4 “Rock Your Baby” (George McCrae)  #5 “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” (Steely Dan)  #6 “Feel Like Makin’ Love” (Roberta Flack)  #7 “The Air That I Breathe” (The Hollies)  #8 “Rock The Boat” (The Hues Corporation)  #9 “Please Come To Boston” (Dave Loggins)  #10 “Call On Me” (Chicago)

Baseball Quiz Answer: The six with at least 13 seasons of 30+ home runs: Hank Aaron, 15; Alex Rodriguez, 15; Barry Bonds, 14; Albert Pujols, 14; Babe Ruth, 13; Mike Schmidt, 13.  [Jimmie Foxx, Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome had 12.]

Next Bar Chat, Monday.

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