I Just Can't Watch The Yankees

  I established a small moratorium on watching the New York Yankees. Despite playing to a very decent record thus far, this team is increasingly unwatchable. So why torture myself (as if I haven’t done that since the last World Series title in 2009 or when icon Derek Jeter retired; you can excuse the euphoria of watching Aaron Judge clout 62 homers as an aberration)? 

I knew this would be difficult. The team plays seemingly every day and my day is usually calming down enough around seven when I normally fall into the routine of turning on the YES Network (except when it become infuriating with select games on Amazon Prime and Apple TV+, requiring additional steps to locate the broadcast and wait for it to finally appear on the screen). My sense of anticipation for the top of the order—Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto, Judge, Alex Verdugo, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo to inflict damage on enemy pitchers—lured me to watch. 

My disappointment with the strikeouts, weak grounders and routine fly balls, coupled with pitching which gets by, usually allows me to start checking on the outcome on my cell phone. This allows me a layer of insulation from the repetitive failure to produce runs, which seemingly is occurring on a too frequent basis (New York leads all of baseball in the dubious category of GIDP—grounding into a double play—which, if it doesn’t marketedly improve, will set a new MLB record. Also the pitch-by-pitch abuse of the strike zone by umpires—whether it is a pitch well outside, high or low—and the apparent inability of Yankees batters to swing at or to fully connect with that one or two hittable pitches per at bat—is maddening; pitch identification seems to be gone with this group.

Yes, I am aware it is a marathon. What has transpired in the first 35 games will not be dispositive of how the season ends—especially for the Yankees. Right now, the Kansas City Royals are on the heels of the AL central-leading Cleveland Guardians, while the Minnesota Twins, wallowing to begin the season, compiled a ten game winning streak into the weekend. Even Detroit, the Yankees’ opponent this weekend, is playing above .500. 

For that matter, the usually moribund Oakland A’s are hovering near first place in the AL West, while the Houston Astros are in the basement along with Anaheim. The Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves are atop the NL East, while both the New York Mets and Washington Nationals hover around .500. Milwaukee, despite being thrashed twice by the Yankees last weekend, sits in first place in the NL Central, with the Chicago Cubs nearby and both St.Louis and Cincinnati not playing awfully; Pittsburgh did descend to its normal depths after beginning the season well.

Only the talent-rich Los Angeles Dodgers are clearly ahead of their rivals in the NL West. With a record no better than the Yankees, even with Mookie Betts , Shohei Othani and Will Smith carrying lofty averages. But then again, didn’t all the experts pick the Dodgers to flourish?

Those same experts were split on how well the Yankees would rebound from last season’s disastrous 82-80 record. The starting pitching has been sound while reigning Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole is in the midst of his lengthy rehab. While for the most part, the bullpen has been good, reliable reliever Tommy Kahnle is still not back from his injury.

Thus, for now, the team has apparently exceeded expectations of the naysayers. Yet, in the recently concluded series with the AL East-leading Orioles in Baltimore, New York managed very little offense in losing three of four. 

Which is why the prognostications of those who don’t see the Yankees being a threat to win the World Series is still in play. And with the harrowing start to the 2024 campaign, I find myself averting my eyes to Yankees baseball. For now.

On the other hand, the NBA and NHL post-seasons have been riveting. Just in the first round.

Let’s start with the NBA. Indiana defeated a Milwaukee Bucks team without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo playing in any of the games and co-star Damien Lillard playing hurt when he could play. Indiana advances to the next round, while the Bucks, who hoped putting Doc Rivers in charge was the right move at midseason, reel from the defeat and the very bad image of Patrick Beverley hurling a basketball at a Pacers fan after the final loss. 

The Pacers opposition in the second round is the New York Knicks. Without star forward Julius Randle, no one thought that New York had enough to finish second in the Eastern Conference. So, too, did many experts question if the Knicks could get past the Philadelphia ’76’ers once Joel Embiid returned and with the emergence of Tyrese Maxey at guard. 

In what proved to be a riveting six games, New York did enough to get past the Sixers, winning two games at the Wells Fargo Center, including the clincher on Thursday night (Sixers ownership bought a number of tickets to donate to first responders in order to stop a loud contingent of New York fans from being heard. It didn’t work). Because of own player—Jalen Brunson. 

Brunson scored over 40 points in three separate games, including setting a franchise record with 47 points—on the road. Along with his former Villanova teammates Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo, the highly-motivated trio plus another group of contributors off of the bench worked magic in the limelight. As superb as Brunson has been in his one season in New York, please stop comparing him with Walt Frazier and anointing him as possibly the second-best player ever to play for the team from Madison Square Garden. 

The cumulative point differential between the teams was one—in favor of NYK. A significantly hobbled Embiid battled his way to the basket or free throw line in each game. The play was indicative of a 2 versus 3 semi-final matchup—until Embiid missed plenty of time in a regular season where he was headed towards a possible league M.V.P. award, thereby derailing the Sixers bid for a higher seed, home court advantage (if any) and relegating the team to the Play-In round. 

The winner of the Indiana-New York series will face the survivor of the Orlando/Cleveland-Boston series. Boston looked dominant versus an overmatched Miami squad. Cleveland and Orlando have battled in almost anonymity, playing very high quality basketball. If the Magic wins Game 7, it just might give the Celtics a more difficult time than the Heat did. 

Out West, Minnesota looked awesome in dismantling the Phoenix Suns and its trio of stars; Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant did not look good against the younger and hungrier T-Wolves.  Minnesota did suffer a bad injury—Head Coach Chris Finch was run into by one of his players, suffering a torn patella tendon, which required surgery. The F&M grad expects to travel with the team when they meet Denver in the next round. 

Denver took it to the Los Angeles Lakers in their series, winning in five games. Denver is good, but they needed two game-winning shots by underrated Jamal Murray to win games and advance. 

The Lakers’ loss started a chain of events. The speculation is that Lebron James will re-up with the team and the Lakers will draft his son, Bronny, to play alongside his father. The scapegoat for the loss was not the players. Instead, Head Coach Darvin Ham and his staff were let go. There is turmoil in Laker Land, sitting squarely on the shoulders of Rob Pelinka to repair. I am not a big fan of his.

Dallas took down the Los Angeles Clippers. Coupled with the Kings loss to the Edmonton Oilers in their hockey series, it is going to be quiet inside of Crypto.com Arena. 

The Mavericks draw the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder for Round 2. It is going to take a monstrous effort by Dallas to make it to the next round. OKC is that good.

Meanwhile, the NHL awaits two Game 7’s to decide the next round opponents. In an old time Original Six series, Boston and Toronto are fighting it out; English-speaking Ontario is holding its breath, rooting for the Cup-starved Leafs. The other series involves Dallas and the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights. The winner gets to face Colorado, winners over Winnipeg. Western Canada will deal with a Vancouver-Edmonton matchup, which ought to be awesome. 

Waiting in the East are the New York Rangers after a dominating win over Washington. Carolina and Florida meet in what will likely be a seven game series. New York, Boston (if they survive against the missing firepower of the Auston Matthews-less Leafs), the Hurricanes and Panthers are all legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. 

TV can be exciting to view at the end of April and into May, outside of local baseball. I just can’t watch the Yankees. 

Happy Passover

  I have been trying to make sense about the nascent baseball season. It is nearing the end of April and I have very little clue about who is doing what and how sustainable that may be. 

Exhibit number one is a very bad baseball team. That would be the 3-22 Chicago White Sox. One of the original teams in the American League, a franchise which won the World Series in 1906, 1917 and then 88 years after, in 2005. The team’s playoff history isn’t too great—seven appearances since 1983, the last two appearances in 2020 and 2021. Except for the outstanding 11-1 mark in the championship year of 2005, the Sox haven’t won a playoff series. 

Understand that I have been a lifetime Yankees fan. The franchise with the most World Championships—by a mile. Rooting for their success is embedded in my rooting DNA. The 17-9 record compiled bytes edition of the Bronx Bombers may end the drought for a title which goes back to 2009. But their star players aren’t coming through and their games have been inconsistent, I am not convinced that another banner will be flying in the Bronx after the season ends. 

Being the fan that I am, with a true appreciation of the history of the big leagues, I am not singling out the Chicago American League franchise. Look at the Cleveland Guardians nee Indians. Two titles since 1896—one in 1920 and the other in 1948. The team by Lake Erie has had considerably more wins recently, with 3 AL pennants since 1995, which included 11 AL Central crowns. Not sterling, but better than the White Sox. 

Take a look at the Baltimore Orioles. When the team was sequestered in St. Louis, it was atrocious—one World Series appearance total. When I was young, the Browns and Orioles were synonymous with mediocrity. That changed in 1966 with the franchise’s first World Series win. Since landing in Baltimore, the O’s have had 3 World Series wins, won 7 AL pennants and 10 AL East titles, including last season. Sure, there have been some very bad Orioles teams, but the 2023-2024 models are looking mighty good. 

Another team the Yankees beat up on was the Washington Senators. While the franchise has won 3 titles, two of them came once the team was in Minnesota. The last one was in 1991. Stuck in the same division as Chicago and Cleveland, the Twins have amassed 9 AL Central titles since 2002 (the team won 4 AL West titles from 1969 to 1991). 

If you are thinking that the Detroit Tigers are any better, think again. In the team’s existence, they garnered 4 World Series wins, 11 AL pennants, 3 AL East crowns and ruled the AL Central from 2011-2014 in a mini dynasty—even if the team failed to win the big one. 

The A’s are in reverse. In Philadelphia and Oakland combined, the franchise won 9 World Series, 15 AL pennants and 17 AL West titles. Plummeting down the standings and abandoning Oakland for Sacramento before ending up in Las Vegas (they believe), the team has not been to the Series since 1990 after winning in 1989, the year of the earthquake. 

Oh yeah, the Red Sox. Not too shabby with 9 World Series wins, the last in 2018, along with 14 pennants and 10 AL East titles. Still, the Sox are still looking for another chance at the big prize, the last one was in 2018. 

Look at the Angels. Another mediocre year with the departure of Shohei Ohtani to the Dodgers. Even with Mike Trout rebounding from some disappointing seasons, the Halos once more are not making the World Series, let alone the playoffs. 2002 was the breakthrough year in Anaheim, when Manager Mike Scioscia’s squad won it all. Nine AL West titles, none since 2014. 

The team which entered baseball as the replacement in D.C. when the first Senators team left for Minnesota, which lasted 11 seasons in the District, won its first title last season in Arlington. 

Two expansion teams from 1961 have won exactly 2 titles over 63 years. Heck, the Kansas City Royals have won as many World Series as the Angels and Rangers. In the AL, Houston and Toronto have won the Series twice. Seattle has yet to appear in a World Series. 

Not that the American League has every bad team to itself. Phillies fans are liking their team now after years of losing. Yet Philadelphia can only boast of two crowns—1980 and 2008. 

The Braves were very bad while in Boston. While winning in 1914, the team had losing records in 26 of 38 seasons in Beantown. The three other titles came in Milwaukee in 1957; one with the great teams in the 1990’s; and in 2021. Atlanta has won 5 out of the past 6 NL East titles—the franchise is in good standing this year too.  

Pittsburgh may have won 5 Series, but nothing since 1979, which was the last time the team won a pennant. The Pirates have no NL Central titles. None. And the team is plummeting towards another mediocre year. 

The Reds aren’t much better. Also with 5 Series crowns, nothing since 1990. The days of The Big Red Machine are long gone.

While the Dodgers have won 7 World Series, they were moribund for much of the time while in Brooklyn. West Coast rival San Francisco may have won 8 Series, but not much has happened by The Bay since 2014.

St. Louis has the second most World Series titles, going 11-8 all-time in the Fall Classic.  Cardinals haters must be enjoying the recent run of non-winning teams. 

That is especially the case on the North Side of the Windy City. Another historically woeful franchise, the Cubbies have won 3 Series, the latest breaking the curse of The Bambino in 2016. Hope is always fervent for their fans. Those fans can identify with the losing going on on the South Side. 

With the White Sox horrific start, we can look at other teams which began the season badly. The 2022 Reds went 3-22, ending the season at 62-100.Detroit had the same opening record in 2003 and ended at 43-119. Other teams with bad starts in their first 25 contests included the 2023 A’s; 2018 Reds; 2018 & 2006 Royals; 1995 Marlins; and the all-time leaders, the 1988 Orioles. The Birds went 2-23 en route to a 54-107 record. Those teams made the 1962 expansion New York Mets look good—New York finished at 62-100.

It’s not that the White Sox and Cubs have losing to themselves. The NFL Cardinals were bad before leaving; the Bears hope that QB Caleb Williams is the savior from repeated bad teams; and the Blackhawks have only 6 Stanley Cup titles in 98 years. Michael Jordan gave Chicago prosperity when he led the Bulls to 6 NBA titles. 

This is a time of renewed beliefs by fans across the country that their team will win it all. Whether it is from great selections in the recent NFL Draft, or continued good fortune in the NBA and NHL Playoffs, so many teams are looking to improve their lowly standing. 

Not every team has had long periods of success—the Yankees, New England Patriots, Boston Celtics and Montreal Canadiens are the front runners in that department, and the Canadiens and Patriots have been losing lately. Toronto fans are literally starving for a Stanley Cup win—the team last won in 1967. New York Rangers and Boston Bruins denizens are crossing their fingers that this is the year for them. Many NBA playoff teams haven’t smelled the roses in a long time—the series between the Knicks and 76’ers exemplifies how little both franchises have won—and neither will likely win it all this season. 

Winning is hard to do. Winning it all is harder to do. I can’t say that any of the teams trying to reach the promised land will do just that. Especially in Chicago, where losing is too regular (Add in historically bad college teams like De Paul and Northwestern).

Nothing looks promising for the White Sox in 2024. The only question will be if this is a record-breaking performance—in a negative way. 

Personally, I am glad I saw the Sox a few years ago when they were decent. For me, I will be seeing the Cardinals, Royals and maybe the Red Sox this year. All likely to have losing records. 

I am joining the White Sox fans in solidarity. I understand bad, having played on a college team which won 4 games. I cheer for Rutgers, which has won 1 college football National Championship, triumphing over Princeton in the inaugural game. Not exactly Alabama on the gridiron, nor UCLA or Kentucky in basketball. 

Then there is my NFL team, the New York Jets. A team which constantly redefines how to lose terribly. Awful describes a level above the way the Jets have played. Despite my allegiance to the Yankees, the best franchise in the history of sports, I know losing. 

I think back to the Go Go Sox of 1959. The team was good that year. I saw them beat the Yankees one Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Chicago may have lost to the Dodgers, but they forever were enshrined in the hearts of their fans. Ditto the champs of 2005. 

Unfortunately, so will this team be negatively ingrained in the minds of Chicagoans. No Pale Hose hysteria this year. No exodus from Egypt.

Happy Passover. 

Nostalgia

  My daughter thinks I am nostalgic. Too much so for her. She wonders how much I live in the present. 

While the present and the future both scare and excite me, I do have a soft spot for what took place in the past. This is especially true with sports.

She and I went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania this past Saturday to see my college baseball team play. I have a fond place in my heart for Franklin and Marshall baseball, having played on both the freshman and varsity teams. 

I follow all Diplomats sports teams—some closer than others. That is largely due to my having known a plethora of student-athletes on the teams (all male, until the advent of co-education in 1970) from 1969 to 1972.

I know that F&M has won 5 National titles—a lot for a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania Dutch country, but pales in comparison with so many others on Division I, II and III levels. Walking through the gym and seeing the banners for the five trips to the Division III Final Four in basketball is a source of honor.  I watched those teams from afar, mostly by news releases, with visits to a variety of arenas which included a trip to Salem, Virginia to see Glenn Robinson’s team in the 1996 Final Four. 

Do I wish the Dips were reaching heights like they used to? Am I hopeful they can win a Centennial Conference title and play in the NCAA’s? Yes, Yes. And Yes. Which is why I will check out the schedule for 2024-25 when it is available, looking for dates I might head back to campus, when the team plays at Muhlenberg, the closest CC school to New Jersey, or it they make trip to the Garden State. I know I can watch the games on the computer, too. 

I was loyal and faithful when I would sneak away from my studies after dinner to watch the basketball team play. They were usually overmatched. Which is why when they win, like in the glory years under Robinson or this past season when the team went 20-7, I am joyful—even if I agonize during the videos. 

This is part of my heritage. I guess I bleed blue and white (even with the onset of black in the uniforms). I like wearing my F&M hat, courtesy of the current baseball coach and a game-worn jersey bearing my college number 25 when I see the baseball team play. 

It is why I gave a small donation in honor of the late Robert Curtis, who was the football coach who led the school back to respectability after a disastrous 1-8 season during my sophomore year. I contributed to naming the press box in his honor—a beautiful gesture for a great man. Every time I go on campus, I must enter Shadek Stadium, named for the great benefactor, football quarterback, baseball teammate and classmate, to see the plaque for those who contributed, and which includes my wife’s and my name. 

I never thought I would see a beautiful stadium on campus, in an area that which didn’t exist in my years there. The former football field sits vacant, used for the track which still encircles the field where so many Diplomat teams toiled. Heck, the baseball field I played on, part of the main campus when I patrolled right field, is long gone, with the present team playing on the Baker Campus, a decent car ride away. 

When I enter Mayser Gymnasium, besides reading the banners on the walls, I have such a sense of remembrance. All the times I slid on the wooden floor to practice my slide. Basketball games aplenty, including some NCAA contests. Wrestling, F&M’s sole DI sport, used to be sold out and noisy due to riotous nature of our students. 

And I remember all the musical acts which graced the stage—Linda Ronstadt; James Taylor together with Carol King; Santana; the Grateful Dead were among the great acts brought to Lancaster by the Student Union Board. Maybe that’s why my wife and I are seeing Gary Puckett and the Union Gap along with the Grassroots, the Brooklyn Bridge and Gary Lewis and the Playboys at the State Theater in New Brunswick. F&M gave me the impetus to see rock in smaller venues. I digress.

I don’t limit my nostalgia to just F&M. It can be Rutgers—I have watched and continue to follow a whole slew of sports, most importantly football, men’s basketball and baseball. How many times have I been at SHI Stadium (formerly just plain old Rutgers Stadium before the expansion) since my teens? I’ve seen Rutgers basketball as the home team in three venues—the College Avenue Gymnasium, Jersey Mike’s Arena a.k.a. the RAC, and Madison Square Garden, plus a few road games at Delaware, Cincinnati and Seton Hall. And I practiced catching fly balls on the old baseball field which had been swallowed up for football practice fields before migrating to the present location.

Then there’s the New York Yankees. The first team I rooted for was the team from the Bronx. I haven’t looked back. 

You always remember your first love. Baseball—particularly New York Yankees baseball. As a boy growing up in Highland Park, the games were freely available on WPIX, Channel 11 in New York—The Daily News station. Plus there was tremendous newspaper coverage from the beat writers and columnists who populated the numerous NYC publications and the local New Brunswick newspaper, The Home News.

I would watch numerous games in our bottom floor den, the coolest room in a mostly un-air conditioned house, with a huge industrial fan cooling us down on hot Summer days and nights. It didn’t matter if the Yankees were home or in Detroit, Cleveland, Boston or Baltimore. My attention was focused on the heroes of my youth. I patterned my batting after them, learning to switch hit like Mickey Mantle or Tom Tresh. And I wanted to play outfield like Mantle because it looked so cool. 

My faith never wavered—through the lean years, the renaissance of the 1970’s and then the time of the Core Four starring Derek Jeter. I trekked to Shea Stadium when the old Stadium was deemed unsafe. I have sat everywhere except the bleachers—perhaps out of fear of the rabid nature of the fans. Lol. 

Now there is a new group of stars—Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Gerrit Cole, Anthony Volpe. I still am transfixed watching the Yankees on YES or the myriad other outlets which alternately carry the games. I shudder when Clay Holmes comes in to close the game out—as good as he is, Holmes is simply not Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer ever. 

Yankees games make April to October must see TV. Which coincides with my obsession with the New York Jets. It will be 48 years this fall when my sister and I began our odyssey of having season tickets to a New York pro football team. Because you have to be committed to watch the Jets, winners of only one Super Bowl, which happened in 1970 for the 1969 season.

The agony of watching the Jets blunders was more than Lady, our beloved Shetland Sheepdog, could take. When I would have that regular outburst over the team screwing up once more, she would join with full-throated barking either in support of my emotional trauma or letting me know how berserk I was. 

Yet I am readying for another season, even after the terrible disappointment of the injury to our QB with the distorted views still fresh in my mind. It is my fervent hope Aaron Rodgers will rock my TV set and my seats inside Met Life Stadium this fall leading the Jets to the promised land. Perhaps my dog did have it right as to how delusional I am.

To a lesser extent, hockey has a hold on me. I have had shares of tickets to see the Rangers and Devils, and I have travelled to Canada and a few U.S arenas to see the players “shoot that puck, score that goal.”

Let me not forget the NBA—I have optimistically followed the Knicks and Nets since my childhood and early teens. I became enthralled with the Golden State Warriors led by Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. It was predictable that the dynasty would end ignominiously in the NBA backwater of Sacramento, where a revenge-seeking younger and stronger team eliminated the Warriors. I have seen the same things happen to the Lakers, Celtics and Bulls dynasties. 

And I have a soft spot for the Philadelphia 76’ers. I saw my only NBA Championship game in 1967 at Convention Hall. I have been to the Spectrum and Wells Fargo Center. I even pulled for the Sixers to down Miami in the play-in round, albeit letting them face my beloved Knicks who I will be rooting hard for. 

I have seen a lot of sports in my time. A ton on TV and a good number of games in person. While I long for a rebirth by some of my favorite teams, based largely on past performances which I cherished, I look forward to the time when they are winners in the present so I can exalt in my joy. 

So forgive me if, with the cold, gusty and persistent wind in Lancaster when the Diplomats hosted Muhlenberg, I thought of my catch versus York in April, 1969, when the chilly wind blew in so much that I caught the ball sprawled by the infield grass after sprinting in from left field. Or how a Yankees win on a Saturday afternoon was like many a game I attended at the Stadium and the radiant feeling of sharing in the victory in my own way, or how downcast I was after a loss. 

For me, nostalgia has its place in the present and in the future.