A Respite With The Negativity?

  New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields goes down with a dislocated toe. The headline screamed at me. Not another Aaron Rodgers scenario for the snakebit franchise? 

Hasn’t enough happened this week? First, Ozzy Osbourne then Hulk Hogan died. The New York Yankees are suffering an agonizing death as witnessed in Toronto this week, where their sloppy play, inadequate hitting and poor pitching contributed to their troubles. And President Donald Trump wants the Washington NFL and Cleveland MLB franchises to return to their original nicknames. I won’t even get into the controversy about the sidelined Caitlin Clark not having her WNBA All-Star team present at a meeting to register support to the players’ movement for more pay for the women in the league. 

Yeah, the negativity is great these days. It does not make me feel good, either. Probably not in Detroit, where Tigers fans are aghast how their MLB-leading winning team has gone into a funk, losing ten of the last eleven games. 

However, in Milwaukee and Toronto, the fans are delirious. Because these two franchises, counted out at the beginning if the season due to poor play, are on fire. Suddenly the Brewers and Blue Jays are jockeying for the best record in baseball. Not the Yankees. Nor the the Los Angeles Dodgers, which suffered their own recent tailspin. Not even the Houston Astros. Although, along with the Tigers, New York Mets and Philadelphia, there appears to be a bit of separation thus forming in the top tiers in each league as the number of games played has passed 100. 

None of the aforementioned teams are running away with their divisions. For Milwaukee, the Chicago Cubs remain hot on the Brewers’ heels, one game behind with 60 games left. 

Toronto still is only four games ahead of the Yankees, with the Boston Red Sox in prime Wild Card contention and could easily make a move to the top of the AL East should the Jays or Yanks falter. 

A half game separates the Mets and Phillies. LAD sits 4.5 up on San Diego, thanks to coming back home and starting to win again. While the Padres are currently in the last NL Wild Card slot, San Francisco, Cincinnati and even St. Louis remain in the hunt for a playoff berth. And the Giants and Cardinals have been losing much more than winning. 

The sprint to the finish is going to be fun. So, too, will the looming trade deadline of July 31. Which teams will be buyers and which will decide they are sellers? What will be the prices paid in terms of prospects to garner a real talent?

A number of teams need a third baseman. The best player at that position who might be available is Eugenio Suarez, presently on the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 11 year veteran and 2025 NL All-Star has slugged his way to 36 home runs and 86 R.B.I. thus far. He has struck out 110 times. The 34 year old becomes and Unresricted Free Agent at the end of the season. 

While his stats are good, his age and contract status are big questions. I wonder if Arizona will really think of unloading him—they do have a club option on him. For that matter, will their asking price be too high? Will other teams want to part with coveted minor league prospects for a possible rental? Or, will the Diamondbacks think that they still have a chance for a Wild Card berth and not trade this valuable commodity? 

The Yankees answered part of the puzzle surrounding Suarez when they traded with Colorado for left-handed hitting Ryan Mc Mahon to patrol third base. He’s young. He has a swing tailor-made for the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium. His contract is for the next two years and not at an overwhelming figure, either. For two minor league prospects, this was a win for NYY. 

Questions like this persist with all of the contenders who feel and upgrade in hitting and pitching would secure a playoff berth and possibly propel them to the World Series. Do they bite the bullet and pay an exorbitant fee for a player—look at the Washington Nationals which traded Juan Soto to the Padres but received valuable young compensation who have reached the major leagues and given Nats fans pleasant dreams for the future. 

This is why General Managers and player personnel people are in the hot seat right now. Decisions made now can be far-reaching in their outcomes for both sides. Playing poker demands steel nerves and a some bluffing. The choices made will more than likely be second-guessed by the media and fans. Unless, for the haves, the return is immediate and the results are a winning World Series team. And for the have nots, just remember those Nationals in a few years. That might be you, Colorado, Arizona, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta, Baltimore, Minnesota, Cleveland and the like. 

How am I going to navigate the remainder of the season? Well, that journey began last Sunday with a trip to Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets. My Son-in-law’s brother, a big Cincinnati Reds fan, was in town. Five of us  made it to the ballpark for the final game of the three game series.

I had not been to Citi Field in ages—certainly not since the Pandemic. To me, it is a quirky MLB park, full of advertisements and a huge centerfield scoreboard covering the remainder of the outfield where there were not stands. 

I am not a Mets fan. I will root for them because they are New York’s National League team. That was the way I was in 1962, with the hype of the new franchise in town to replace the sting from the Dodgers and Giants alighting for the riches of the West Coast. Those lovable losers morphed into a juggernaut which took down the mighty Baltimore Orioles to win the 1969  World Series.

I was struck by the paucity of banners around the stadium denoting the Mets’ championships. Besides 1969, the Mets improbably won it all when there was a stunning collapse by the Boston Red Sox in 1986. That’s it. The franchise lists the National League pennants won, plus the playoff and Wild Card spots secured. Compare that to Yankee Stadium, where it is prominently noted that the Bronx Bombers are 27-time World Champions. 

While the Reds took the first two games from the Mets, this was a celebratory weekend nonetheless. Retired former team captain David Wright, a fixture at third base for the Mets, had his number 5 retired by the club in an emotional proceeding before Saturday’s game. 

New York needed to salvage the last game with a win. They sent left hander David Peterson to the mound, facing another lefty, Andrew Abbott. A duel between two NL All-Star selections. I knew this would not be a high-scoring affair. Both pitched six innings, with comparable statistical lines. 

New York led 2-1 heading into the eighth inning. Manager Carlos Beltran went to his All-Star closer, Edwin Diaz, the shut the door on the Reds for the final 1.1 innings. The plan seemed fool proof.

Except that Diaz hadn’t pitched in awhile and he looked exceptionally rusty. And he blew his second save of the year, allowing Cincinnati to tie the score. 

That’s when the Mets rallied. That guy, Juan Soto, he of the humongous contract, managed a walk to lead off the inning. He made it to third base on a one out double from Jeff McNeil. 

Catcher Luis Torrens then sent a slow roller to second base. Soto sprinted home. With a headfirst slide, Soto scored ahead of the throw to put the Mets ahead for good. 

Those Mets fans who who remained in the stands went home happy when the Reds were shut down in the ninth inning. It was a joyous group exiting the stadium to their cars and mass transit. Our Reds fan was resigned to the team losing—he said he’s used to that—but he found a silver lining in the two games Cincy won. Besides, he was more than sated at dinner when we went to one of his favorite places—Katz’s Delicatessen. As were the rest of us. 

On Saturday, I head to Yankee Stadium for the Phillies and Yankees in a 1:05 start. I’m going with a sizable group of Philadelphia fans, so I will sport my Yankees jersey and hat. I will bring a Wawa hoagie to sardonically curry favor with the enemy. 

I go there with trepidation over the state of the team. I’m sitting way out in left field for this game. Maybe Giancarlo Stanton can land a prodigious blast where we are. Otherwise, I’m going to be far removed from the action.

But I’m in my team’s home ballpark, watching superstar Aaron Judge and wishing for him to slug a homer. Wondering if the Yankees can collectively get their bats moving against a top pitcher in Ranger Suarez. Without fielding gaffes. So I can take the subway and NJ Transit back home in a gleeful mood—as opposed to being resigned to another crushing loss. At least I still have my return trip ticket from Sunday, as the conductors failed to collect it on a very packed train. 

Then I will return to watching baseball on television. Checking out Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers. Watching the Cubs and kind of rooting for their long-suffering fans to make a playoff run. After all, I am a New York Jets fan and I am too used to losing. 

Which is why the Fields injury hit home too early for me—is this another season of lost hope? Compounded by a potential nosedive by NYY. Yikes. 

Except he showed up and fully practiced the day after. A glimmer of hope?

One more item. It is Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown. This year’s honorees are: Ichiro Suzuki; Billy Wagner; C.C. Sabathia and the late Dick Allen and Dave Parker. I was fortunate to see each one in person. I loved how each one played. With the addition of sportswriter Thomas Boswell, whose prose I read easily in The Washington Post, it is an exceptional group. 

No, I don’t want any more negativity than I see daily. Trust me, on my suburban street in Springfield, New Jersey alone it is omnipresent. 

At least when I go to the gym, I found a second glimmer of hope. Bill Raftery, the long-time CBS basketball analyst, goes there occasionally with his wife. The nicest of people. 

When he was leaving I asked him if I could get Name, Image and Likeness out of the facility. He laughed and said that I should—as long as I stay a month more. Then he shook his head and said isn’t it something about the situation? 

I could write volumes on this subject and college sports overall. Major college sports have their own major problems. Many of which are not easily resolvable. 

However, a minimal N-I-L for this retiree? That’s not a negative whatsoever. Even if it is a dream. 

My 2025 MLB All-Star Game Experience

  For those who know me and have read this blog before, you understand that I love the MLB All-Star Game. I have attended two, once sitting high up in the left field grandstands of Yankee Stadium in 1977 and then in 2009, hobnobbing with Al Roker and Debra Roberts while sitting in the second row behind the American League dugout.  I felt I was up close and personal with Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. 

My history and love affair with the ASG goes back to the 1960’s, when baseball became an obsession for this boy. The announcing of the roster, with the extra loud cheering of the home fans for their representatives, has aways been a big thrill. I try not to miss it every year. 

I learned how great Willie Mays was with his dominance in the Mid-Summers Classic. I remember Johnny Callison’s walk off home run at Shea Stadium; I was in Las Vegas at the time with my family. I recall rain impacting a game in Washington. My list of memories goes on, seemingly forever. 

As a preamble to this year’s edition, baseball conducuted the Home Run Derby. To me, it is baseball’s equivalent of the NBA’s Three-Point Contest. Except it is much harder for the participants to do.

I don’t think I want to go see the Derby live. The majesty of a long blast is captured beautifully on screen.

I watched this year’s Derby and rooted for Cal Raleigh. The Seattle slugger leads MLB in home runs, so it wasn’t a stretch, in my mind, that he would win the contest. Even if he proceeded to the semi-finals by way of a measurement of how far his longest shot went, barely outdistancing another contestant. 

What made his performance compelling was the duo who worked with him. His father, who coached college baseball, had always thrown to Cal as the young man progressed from a youth, to Florida State, and then as a professional. And his 15 year old brother, already a sizable kid, was the catcher, encouraging his older brother along the way. 

Raleigh, who batted from both sides of the plate during the contest, is likely to break records for home runs by a catcher and for the Mariners’ franchise. He even has a shot at Aaron Judge’s American League record of 62 (Judge recorded 350 regular season home runs earlier than anyone in history with his blast last week). And he can top Mickey Mantle’s 56, the record for a switch hitter. 

The fact that he is a catcher doing this is almost unthinkable. It is clearly the most demanding position on the field, with the greatest amount of wear and tear. If he keeps up this torrid homer pace, Raleigh is going to give the Yankees’ Aaron Judge a run for who is the AL M.V.P. 

I found the pre-game festivities to be directed at a younger audience. It just failed to resonate with me. I found it warming how the Atlanta fans enthusiastically greeted two of their former players—Max Fried of the Yankees and Freddie Freeman now with the Los Angeles Dodgers. They deserved the cheers.

Atlanta fans also don’t have it in their hearts to root supportively for players from the National League East, the division the Braves resides in. Francisco Lindor, the New York Mets shortstop, expected a loud chorus of boos. NYM first baseman Pete Alonso saluted the fans for their welcome; he would later receive cheers for his home run in the game. Philadelphia players also received the heartfelt expression of dislike from the ATL faithful, as did the remaining Yankees; they obviously still are angry how the Yanks won the 1996 World Series over their Braves. 

Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes opened the game as the NL pitcher. He handled the AL players and handed the inning over to his hitters. 

Skenes is the real deal. He has a losing record playing for a very underperforming Pirates team, but this season still has been everything else expected from his in terms of E.R.A. and strikeouts. Plus the velocity on his fastball almost makes Skenes unhittable at times. He was the logical choice to start for the NL, his second time after his explosion on the scene last season created a fervor leading to his being placed on the mound for the NL with only 11 games under his belt. 

Tarik Skrubal, the Detroit lefty who won the AL Cy Young Award and is among the leaders for this season, started for the Americans. He wasn’t so lucky, as the NL plated two runs in the first inning. 

Before long, the NL had built a 6-0 lead. The game’s outcome had seemed to be a foregone conclusion. 

That’s when I made my mistake. I stopped watching. I wanted to get up early to walk before the overwhelming temperatures and humidity of the morning’s Heat Advisory wilted me. So I began my evening protocol. 

When I returned to the TV, it was the eighth inning. In that short time, the American League had come back to be within reach of the home team, down only by a 6-4 score. 

I continued to watch the inning. It was uneventful. I figured that the stable of closers on the NL pitching staff would end the game easily. So I grabbed the remote and said good night to the game just around 11:00. 

Bad decision. The American League mounted a two run rally in the ninth inning, then shut the NL down in the bottom half of the frame. Tie score after nine innings. 

That’s when the gimmick installed for only this game came into play. There would be a home run hitting contest to determine which team would be the winner, rather than play it out with ghost runners on second base like in the regular season. A swing off, it was called.

Remember that this is an exhibition game. So doing things differently was acceptable. For instance, players could challenge ball/strike calls by an umpire by tapping their caps. I loved it when the review system corrected the call. You know that a system like this is only a year away from being a welcome part of the games going forward. 

The rules in place required the managers to designate a day before in advance of the game which hitters would participate. Sounds good. Except that the big stars like Judge and Shohei Ohtani from the Dodgers were long showered and unavailable. Raleigh remained in the dugout, but he hadn’t played in a very long times and the risk of injury would have been great if he tried to warm up and hit. 

Thus, fans were left with reserves from each team facing coaches from each squad throwing to them. Each batter would receive three swings, then go onto the next hitter, alternating between the leagues. 

That’s when Philadelphia DH Kyle Schwarber won the game. His three shots propelled the National League to victory at nearly midnight on the East Coast, while I was fast asleep. 

Schwarber was named the game’s M.V.P. for his heroics—the first Phillies player to win it since Callison in 1964. And it started a debate whether this format should end regular season extra inning games rather than the present one. To which I say the shootout works much better in hockey—and that comes only after a four on four, five minute overtime session when both teams failed to score. A note to the NBA, college basketball and the NFL: keep your tie game endings. Even if I do like the alternating possessions for overtime in college football. 

The FOX coverage of the game was a snooze fest. The fact that LAD manager Dave Roberts removed Freeman and certain Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw to standing ovations was wonderful. Miking up players was interesting, even if some of the players should not have been interacting with the broadcast crew—like Raleigh when he was catching Skrubal in the first inning. Moreover, I thought the Henry Aaron tribute using AI was too sci fi-like for me. 

Yeah, I blew it this year. I will try to make amends next year when the leagues face off again. I hope the heat cooperates—when the World Series is played in October and early November, I don’t have that concern and can go to bed later. 

For the record, I had a great walk. Even if I was covered with sweat after three miles. I still feel like I am hydrating to replenish the liquids I lost. 

This was my 2025 MLB All-Star Game experience. 

A Tale Of Two (Half) Seasons?

  It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Such a phrase has definitely applied lately to the New York Yankees.

It looked like the Bronx Bombers were not going to be stopped in June, heading to another AL East title without much of a problem. The team had a solid lead over its division rivals. 

Aaron Judge was hitting near .400 and pummeling the ball. Max Fried and Carlos Rodon were a dynamic left-handed pitching duo. The bullpen seemed impenetrable. 

Until all of a sudden the wheels came off the bus. And the Yankees started a long losing skein which resulted in a fall from first place. 

Which got the fans and the media in a real frenzy. Manager Aaron Boone and General Manager Brain Cashman were on the proverbial hot seat. 

Going back to the days of owner George Steinbrenner, the expectations remained the same year after year—winning it all. Making the World Series in 2024 was nice. But it wasn’t enough. 

Sure, the Yankees suffered a great loss when they couldn’t re-sign Juan Soto. Playing with Judge, they formed a mighty pair which troubled pitchers greatly. 

Yet when he decided to take his bats and glove to Queens and play for the New York Mets, Cashman pivoted and signed former NL Rookie of the Year and a one-time NL M.V.P. in Cody Bellinger. Smart move replacing the popular Anthony Rizzo at first base with another former NL M.V.P., Paul Goldschmidt. 

Those two veterans know how to win and play the game. They are among the leading hitters on the club and excel in the field. Bellinger and Goldschmidt made two marvelous defensive plays on Sunday to preserve a much-needed win over the Mets at Citi Field. 

Plenty of people point to how flawed the Yankees are. I agree. Then again, what team isn’t flawed this season in baseball? The Mets, even with Soto, have struggled. The reigning World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers just were whupped by the Brewers in Milwaukee. Houston, which swept LAD at Dodger Stadium, were promptly swept by Cleveland, which had been playing mediocre baseball in June. Only Detroit seems to continue to roll on—and I wonder how long that might last?

The Yankees really don’t have a solid player at third base. Oswaldo Cabrera was playing the hot corner adequately until he suffered a gruesome ankle fracture in Seattle, putting him out for the season. That clearly is a hole. 

Returning Jazz Chisholm, Jr. there was not a good move—the guy is such a spectacular second baseman that he made the AL All Star team at that position. D.J. Le Mahieu, once a force as a hitter—he was a two-time batting champion and a Gold Glove fielder—was not the answer at second base while Chisholm toiled at third. Injuries and age robbed Le Mahieu of his formidable talents. So much so that the team cut ties with Le Mahieu this week, putting Chisholm back at second base—even if New York may remain on the hook for the $22 million owed to Le Mahieu for 2024 and 2025 should no team trade for him. 

New York certainly has suffered its share of injuries. Starting with ace Gerrit Cole going down and requiring Tommy John surgery on his elbow. 2024 Rookie of the Year Luis Gil still hasn’t made his 2025 debut as he recovers from the same surgery. This were two big losses before the season even began. 

Add in the loss of starter Marcus Stroman for much of the first half of the season; fill in starter Ryan Yarborough lost for an undetermined time as he was pitching well; and this week learning that emerging pitcher Clarke Schmidt, who seemed like he was the number 3 or 4 starter, is out as he awaits Tommy John surgery. Those are heavy blows to any team. 

Cam Schittler, a very promising pitching prospect, made his major league debut against a potent Seattle lineup on Wednesday night and came away with the win. Showing hitters a 100 mph fastball and some good off speed stuff, this kid has some potential. 

His character is good, too. Schittler is the son of the Needham, Massachusetts police chief, so he understands discipline and hard work. It showed in his amateur career, which included a Spring Training start versus the top stars of the Boston Red Sox while he was at Northeastern University. He retired them in order. 

Whether Schittler is the missing piece to the puzzle remains to be seen. Nobody knows how Gil will return, nor is Gil guaranteed a spot in the rotation. Stroman, the odd man out at the beginning of the season, seems to be good for five fairly strong innings in his starts, which then taxes the already overworked bullpen even more. These are all unsettled questions which loom large for the Yankees hierarchy to sort out. 

Speaking of the bullpen, that is a quagmire at this time. Closer Devin Williams began the season in atrocious fashion, with his E.R.A. skyrocketing and being demoted to a secondary role. Suddenly, Williams has pitched like the elite pitcher the Yankees thought they acquired, having not allowed a run in 11 of his last 14 appearances, which included a lights out performance versus Seattle on Thursday night. 

As bad as he had pitched, Williams was thrust back into the closer role when last year’s phenom closer Luke Weaver, a power pitcher, went down with a hamstring issue. Now that he’s back, Weaver is once more a set up man to Williams. However, Weaver has been hit hard, as his fastball is down a tick in speed, allowing good major league hitters to catch up to it and rocket the ball over the fence. 

Of course the Yankees need Weaver to get back in sync to form with Williams an awesome tandem closing out games. The additional problem is the fifth through seventh innings to bridge holding a lead until Weaver and Williams take over. 

One of the answers was Mark Leiter, Jr. I am not a big fan of this guy. He is too inconsistent. But Boone likes him and used him as much as he could. 

Therein lied the issue. I felt that Leiter was overweight. Maybe that’s true. And if so, coupled with his overuse by the manager, it could be the reason that Leiter is on the IL with a stress fracture to his left leg—his plant leg when throwing. His availability is uncertain going forward. 

Previous stalwart Jonathan Loaisiga also had a late start to the season due to injury. Now that he’s back, just like Weaver, he is prone to giving up home runs in high leverage situations.

How much can Boone rely on Ian Hamilton, another pitcher who has been injured; Scott 

Effross, a side arm pitcher with an injury history; or lankly lefty Tim Hill is in serious question. Because the other stop gap relievers promoted from Scranton-Wilkes Barre have not pitched like major leaguers. 

Cashman will have his work cut out for him as the trade deadline approaches at the end of July. Will he have to part with much minor league or even major league capital to get what he thinks the team needs for pitching and at third base? If he is as successful as when he acquired Chisholm last season, then this might work out favorably for NYY. 

One thing is for sure—the offense is there. Sure, in June the team failed to repeatedly capitalize when men were in scoring position, which led to too many losses. Yankees fans should take heart that the offense is still the third most productive in all of MLB. 

That was demonstrated on Thursday night when Seattle All Star pitcher Bryan Woo no hit the Bombers for seven innings. The offense began to awaken when Chisholm singled, to break up the no hitter. Four batters later it was 5-3 in favor of Seattle, as notoriously bad pinch hitter Giancarlo Stanton clobbered a pitch into the Yankees bullpen to draw New York within striking range. 

Facing All Star closer Andres Munoz, the Yankees patiently took pitches until catcher Austin Wells delivered a tying single with two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Williams did his job and then Aaron Judge hit a medium range fly ball to center field where All Star outfielder Julio Rodriguez uncorked a great throw to home plate. Ghost runner Anthony Volpe slid, eluding the tag of All Star and Platinum Glove-winning catcher Cal Raleigh to clinch an improbable win for the Yankees over a talent-laden Seattle squad. (NYY went 5-1 in 2025 versus the Mariners, losing only a 2-1 game that went 11 innings in Seattle)

If Volpe, who is struggling mightily at the plate and in the field, and Stanton, who had seemed lost at bat for a long while, get back into form, then this lineup will become even more potent. It’s not Murderer’s Row, but guys like Trent Grisham, Jason Dominguez, Bellinger, Judge, Goldschmidt, Ben Rice, Chisholm and Wells are all very capable to deliver big blows. 

Toronto has been on a tear, which included a sweep of the Yankees at home last week. Boston has matched the Blue Jays, going 9-1 in the last 10 games. Even Baltimore has gone 7-3. Only Tampa Bay has struggled worse than NYY, going 3-7 in the last 10 games. 

Sitting two games behind the Blue Jays in the standings isn’t where the team could have been. The combination of injuries, bad pitching and untimely hitting got the team to this place. 

New York ends the first part of the season at home with the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs. Then the team starts the final portion of the marathon with road games in Atlanta and Toronto. The remaining games after the aforementioned ones are a mixed bag of AL East teams; the leaders of the NL East (Philadelphia home); AL Central (Detroit home); & AL West (Houston home and home); plus Wild Card hopefuls; and some teams out of it. NYY will have to stay more than above water to have a realistic chance to win the division, let alone secure a Wild Card slot. 

While fans will be watching Judge continue his quest for the Triple Crown, there is more at stake. Come August 1, who can predict what the dynamic of the team might be. Or how the team weathered the storm which began in June. 

It is not quite Charles Dickens here. The dichotomy of the French Revolution was much different. This is baseball and it is a long season with much drama seemingly in every game. 

For the New York Yankees, it is an ongoing tale of two (half) seasons. The best and worst of times. Just stay away from anybody named Defarge. Especially if they know how to knit.