"Whose" the Best?

     One of the best things about baseball is that it promotes silly arguments based upon both fact and emotion. Those inane discussions usually surround who is the best at something.

     When I was young, New Yorkers used to get into heated debates about who was the best center fielder in the city. These conversations many times turned into very heated arguments based on one's loyalties.

     Yankees' fans rightfully supported slugger Mickey Mantle, he of the long home runs, the brutish strength and the speed that was left in his damaged legs, along with his Triple Crown year of 1956, where he hit .353, clubbed 52 home runs and drove in 130 runs. The Mick or The Commerce Comet, referring to his hometown of Commerce, Oklahoma, where baseball proved to be the escape from the local zinc and lead mines his father, Mutt, could not orchestrate. Mantle was a switch hitting outfielder with equal power from both sides of the plate, an accurate arm and a boyish enthusiasm for the game. To many youths, including myself, he was Herculean.
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     The Giants' fans raved about Willie Mays. A rookie who almost did not make it , going 0-12 in his first Major League at bats until he hit a home run off of Hall of Fame, lefty Warren Spahn. Mays went on to win the 1951 NL Rookie of the Year award and catapulted the Giants into the World Series. Ironically in the 1951 World Series, Mays hit a ball to right center field which Mantle and another Yankees' legend , Joe DiMaggio went for. While DiMaggio made the play, Mantle went down with a severe right knee injury. Mays hit tons of homers, graced the cavernous center field at the Polo Grounds with flair an panache punctuated by his famed basket catch. He even played stick ball with the local kids on the street of Harlem. Like Mantle, he too was larger than life.

     Not to be outdone, Brooklyn Dodgers' fans had their own star center fielder. Edward Donald " Duke" Snider, a.k.a., The Duke of Flatbush or The Silver Fox. Snider did not have the power statistics that Mays or Mantle put up on a yearly basis nor during his own illustrious career. The Duke led the National League in home runs just once--in 1956; Mantle was a 4 time American League home run leader and Mays correspondingly won 4 N.L. home run titles. He never won the N.L. M.V.P., finishing second in 1955, the year that Brooklyn finally took that elusive World Series against the Yankees. Mays made an incredible 24 All Star teams, Mantle secured 20 trips to the ASG. Snider's 8 All Star appearances is a high number, but paled in comparison to his New York center field compatriots. Mantle and Mays made Baseball's All-Century team and Mays was on M.L.B.'s All-Time Team.  But that meant little to the die hard Brooklyn Dodgers' fan. Duke Snider was the man.

     All three sluggers are in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Both Mantle and Mays were elected by the voters on the first ballot. It took 11 tries before Snider would join them. Many New Yorkers would say that Snider didn't measure up to Mays or Mantle. Others would state that Mays was head and shoulders above Mantle. Some fans even decried that Mantle wasn't even as good as DiMaggio.

     The arguments raged on even after the Dodgers had left for Los Angeles and the Giants had uprooted for San Francisco. I recall being in Yankee Stadium in 1960 and the debate continued--even if Mickey Mantle was the only one of the trio still playing in New York. When Mays returned for a career-closing curtain call with the New York Mets in 1973, the arguments were reignited.

     As I stated, baseball is full of these kinds of fans (and writers) squabbles about who is the best. Mays is thrown into the discussions regarding Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds and Henry Aaron, given their home run prowess. Many questioned if Joe DiMaggio or Boston's feared hitter, Ted Williams, was the better player. There have been debates regarding Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa during their steroid-filled Home Run Derby. Or which pitcher was better--Dodgers' lefty Sandy Koufax, Giants' righty, Juan Marichal or the Cardinals' ace, Bob Gibson. Even now, the debate ensues about pitchers--is the best one Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Chris Sale or Max Scherzer?

     Football has its Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T.) controversies. Is it New England's Tom Brady, Denver's John Elway, Peyton Manning of the Colts and Broncos or 49'ers legend Joe Montana?

     Basketball, too, is embedded with these arguments. Was Michael Jordan better than Larry Bird or Magic Johnson? is Jordan better than LeBrorn James? Is the best center ever Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?

     Which brings me back to baseball and the debate which is in full rage over who is the best player now. The two names which immediately spoken are the Washington Nationals' phenom, Bryce Harper or the Los Angeles Angels' slugger, Mike Trout. In previous years, names like Detroit's Miguel Cabrera might have entered the discussion, but it seems like he is starting to show his age. Aaron Judge, who I extolled just last week, has only this stellar season in his resume, so he is a non-factor for the present. Cody Bellinger, the rookie slugger for the Los Angeles Dodger. may not be the best player on his team despite the whopping numbers he has  put up. David Ortiz, who retired in 2016 after an illustrious career mostly with the Boston Red Sox, was primarily a designated hitter. Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins can enter the debate, but he is not in the exalted air of Harper or Trout. Same with Andrew McCutcheon of Pittsburgh.

     Trout has played longer. He joined the Angels in 2011 at age 19. At age 20, Trout was selected the A.L. Rookie of the Year title in his first full season with the Angels. He has won 2 A.L. M.V.P. awards while finishing in second place 3 times, picked up 2 All-Star Game M.V.P. nods and has won 5 Silver Slugger awards for the best at his position. In 7 seasons, the powerfully-built Trout has mashed 187 homers, driven in 541 runs, sports a career .307 batting average and has made so many stellar outfield catches and throws. He has been compared numerous times with Mickey Mantle. Even being limited thus far to 59 games due to a sliding injury to his wrist, Trout has managed to hit 19 homers, drive in 44 runs and has a .325 average.

     Bryce Harper also broke into the major leagues at age 19. He too, was a Rookie of the Year.The mercurial Harper has 1 N.L. M.V.P. trophy and seems to be the leading candidate for the award in 2017. He has hit 148 homers during the 6 seasons he has made the Nationals suddenly relevant, while driving in 413 runs. His batting average is at .286 for his injury-laden career, but this season he is hitting at a .338 clip with 27 home runs and 79 R.B.I. Harper can field very well, making numerous circus catches while patrolling right field for the Nats.

     Career-wise, Trout has distance on Harper. But when they are both healthy, they have comparable statistics. There seems to be no one else in their rarefied air. Or is there?

     This player does not possess the gaudy home run totals that Trout and Harper have accumulated. He does not have any M.V.P. award--yet. But in his 7 seasons, he has a .317 career batting average. He has led the A.L. in batting average in 2 of the last 3 years, has the most hits in the A.L. during those 3 years and is on pace to lead the A.L again in hits and batting average. He has many more doubles than either Trout or Harper. Like Harper, he has appeared in the All-Star Game 5 times, which is one less than Trout's 6 times at the Summer Classic. Trout has 5 Silver Slugger awards and Harper just 1. This player has 3.

     But should he be mentioned in the same breath as Trout and Harper? Trout is 6'2', 235 pounds. Harper has been measured at 6'3" and 215 pounds. The player is question is generously listed at 5'6", 165 pounds. And his statistics do measure up against the two bigger players.

     Who am I talking about? The Houston Astros' star second baseman, Jose Altuve.

     Home run hitters garner greater accolades. Especially outfielders. Not so with second basemen. However, without the stellar play of Altuve, the Astros would not be in first place in the A.L. Central, maintaining a double-digit lead on their next closest pursuer. His achievements certainly measure up in the discussion. He should not be sold short in any debate. With this season, his likely A.l. M.V.P,. award may not be the first one--even if he may be dwarfed in the future by 6'8" Aaron Judge and his barrage of homers.
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     So let's keep Altuve in the discourse about who is the best player in baseball. He is small, but he carries a big stick to home plate. He may be among the greatest to play the game when he is through. He, Harper and Trout can recount stories of their playing days in Cooperstown, where they are all headed to. And maybe the debating will continue even then, about who was the best player of this era.

Judge-ment Days

     I can't stop thinking how lucky I have been in my lifetime to have witnessed some of the greatest New York Yankees playing in the Bronx. As a youngster almost 60 years ago, I began watching WPIX telecasts in black and white on our Philco television, seeing the exploits of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Roger Maris and Whitey Ford--all Hall of Famers or record breakers. Then there was the years of Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter in the mid-to-late 1970's. Followed by the Derek Jeter-led teams bolstered by Mariano Rivera, Roger Clemens and augmented by Wade Boggs.

     Yet in 2017, I am witnessing something unreal in Yankees lore. The emergence of Aaron Judge. What he has accomplished merely 100 games into this, his true rookie year, is the greatest individual feat I have watched by a Yankee or maybe anyone else.

     Aaron Judge. The larger than life person. Largely because he IS that large. He is officially listed at 6'7", 282 pounds. Standing next to Jose Altuve, the diminutive Houston Astros' shortstop, he made Altuve look even shorter than his listed height of 5'6". Aaron Judge looks bigger and he does not seem to have an ounce of fat on him. He doesn't have body builder arms like Reggie did. But can he ever generate power.

     Right now Judge has 32 home runs. That number has already eclipsed the Yankees' rookie record of 29 homers, set by the esteemed Joltin' Joe Di Maggio, the Yankee Clipper, in 1939. That, in itself, is an awesome achievement.

     He has a legitimate shot at 50 homers this season, which would surpass the all-time rookie mark set by the embattled Mark McGwire, who may have used steroids to aid his career. Again, another tremendous accomplishment.

     What sets Aaron Judge apart beyond the even the aforementioned attainments are a number of facets. Which makes the 2017 season he is having even more remarkable.

     Aaron Judge is an exceptionally interesting phenomenon. Besides his height, there is the mystique behind the giant. He was adopted a day after birth by the only people he calls his parents, Patty and Wayne Judge. The Judges, both teachers and devout Christians, raised Aaron and his adopted brother, John in Linden, California  , with restraint and love. It shows in his humility and discipline.

     Aaron Judge has no interest in finding out who his birth parents are. At age 10, Mr and Mrs Judge informed Aaron that he was adopted. His response was that he knew he didn't look like them. His ethnicity is therefore unknown.

     He was a three sport star in high school, excelling at football, so much so that Notre Dame, Stanford and UCLA recruited him to play tight end. His basketball teams were at the top of those playing in California.

     However, Aaron Judge loved baseball. He was drafted in the 31st round by the Oakland A's out of high school. He rejected that and instead attended Fresno State University, where, of course, he was a star.

     In 2013, at the conclusion of Judge's junior year at Fresno State, the Yankees drafted him in the first round, the 32nd overall selection. He signed with New York and received a $1.8 million bonus.

     He missed his 2013 minor league season due to a quadriceps injury. Judge debuted in 2014, and rose somewhat unspectacularly through the Yankees' farm system, showing brilliance at times, but also experiencing growing pains along the way. He did warrant inclusion in the 2015 All-Star Futures Game, but he missed the 2016 Triple A All-Star Game, once more being injured.

     Aaron Judge made his MLB debut with the Yankees on August 13, 2016. He arrived on the scene with some expectations from his draft status, his rise through the Yankees farm system and his stature. The Yankees were going nowhere and the idea of management was to get the feet wet for a couple of the promising minor leaguers--Judge, Gary Sanchez and Tyler Austin. Sanchez became the star--a catcher with tremendous power and a rocket arm who nearly catapulted the team into the A.L. Wild Card. Austin showed some promise before being injured.

     With Judge, he had 95 plate appearances and struck out 42 times, He did hit 4 home runs and he drove in 10 runs. His batting average was a paltry .179. Judge suffered an oblique injury on a swing against the Los Angeles Dodgers which ended his 2016 season.

     The expectations for 2017 were not high regarding Aaron Judge. Some people opined that maybe he should start the season back at Scranton-Wilkes Barre, the team's minor league AAA affiliate. Yankees' brass disagreed, instead thinking that Judge should start the 2017 campaign in New York.

     In hindsight, it would have been a big mistake to send this huge talent back to the minors. This is said with Judge having amassed 32 home runs, driven in 73 runs, walked 69 times and is hitting at a .310 average. The home runs and walks lead all MLB players. He was the highest vote recipient for the American League All-Star team.

     What separates Aaron Judge from the mere mortals are the things he does--how he does them to be exact. Aaron Judge slugs home runs. With the top speed off of the bat in the MLB. With the greatest distances traveled.

     Aaron Judge draws intentional walks as a rookie because he is feared by other managers.  He has good plate discipline, which creates many 3-2 counts. He has cut down on his strike outs/plate appearances.

     Aaron Judge was supposed to be in the Home Run Derby at the 2017 All-Star Game in Miami. Because he hit so many homers, the speed from which they leave the bat and how far they traveled. Whereupon he calmly tore up his opposition to win the title, making Marlins Park his own small playground, especially with a mammoth homer that went over 500 feet.

     Aaron Judge has a work ethic that is as monstrous as he is. He has the .179 average saved on his phone, to be looked at daily as motivation to succeed. Judge is deferential to the veterans and inspirational to his younger peers. He never argues with the umpires when they frequently call strikes that are clearly not within the strike zone. Nor does he show displays of anger. He wears number 99, a number given to players who are not expected to make the roster.

     Aaron Judge is a well-grounded, humble young man. Who has an inner fire and passion to win and excel.  in a team game, and for the greater good of the team. He appeared undercover on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon in May, asking fans if they could identify Aaron Judge.

     Aaron Judge reminds me, in small part, of Roy Hobbs, the super nova who led the fictional New York Knights to the pennant in the move The Natural. Aaron Judge reminds me of Babe Ruth--so far ahead of his peers. Aaron Judge reminds me of Derek Jeter in how he comports himself.

     Then again, Aaron Judge reminds me of, well, Aaron Judge. A uniquely gifted, strong, quiet leader who can really play the game of baseball. People turn on games or go to the ball park to see him.

     Right now, and maybe for as long as he stays in the game, Aaron Judge is playing head and shoulders above his peers. He is almost certain to win the A.L. Rookie of the Year award. His feats have dwarfed his competition.

     Should the Yankees make the playoffs and move forward with his on the field leadership, Aaron Judge's storybook 2017 season may become immortal. That is no small feat for this giant of a man.

     We fans can withhold judgment on Aaron Judge until the season is concluded. While it is ongoing, enjoy what we are seeing all of the days the Yankees have a game. It is really something else.


   

   



   

Short trip ideations

     This past weekend we traveled to Pittsburgh to visit our daughter who is deeply engrossed in the small but profitable film industry that comes to Western PA. While driving a racing speeds, dashing in and out of downpours on the PA Turnpike and I-81, to get to Pittsburgh and return back home, I managed to see some sports and one hellacious fast car thriller, Baby Driver.

     I admit that I missed the Gentlemen's semi-finals at Wimbledon on Friday. America's new tennis darling, Sam Querry, who had not come close to a major semis before, lost in 4 sets to Marin Cilic. Meanwhile, ageless Roger Federer, he of the record 18 Grand Slam singles titles, kept on going by winning his match in 3 sets.

     On Sunday, Federer flew by Cilic, winning his now record 19th Grand Slam  and record 8th Wimbledon crown. Federer did this by winning all of his matches without losing a set. Now he has won the Australian and British titles in 2017-- a remarkable resurrection from injury and the doubts that even if he returned, Federer would not have enough to win a title at his robust age of 35 (he turns 36 on August 8th). I think that the naysayers have receded. Federer is undoubtedly the greatest player of my lifetime. The chances of his winning the US Open the way he is playing are outstanding. Stay tuned.

     What I did see on Friday night was another meltdown by the Yankees, this time in Fenway Park. The Yanks have been on a downward slump for most of June and into July, which had seen them plummet into 2nd place in the A.L. East behind Boston. They needed to jump start the remainder of the season by going up north and taking a series from the Red Sox.

     New York had a 4-3 lead heading to the bottom of the 9th inning, courtesy of a fine game pitched by relievers Chad Green, Adam Warren and the embattled Dellin Betances, who hopefully has fixed the mechanical flaw in his pitching motion. Ace closer Aroldis Chapman was brought in to finish the deal. Except that he didn't. Walking 2 batters, giving up 2 hits and hurt by a costly fielding error on a routine grounder to second base, Chapman blew his 3rd save of the year in spectacular fashion and lost his 1st game of the year.

     The Yankees somehow managed to win a marathon 16 inning game on Saturday. Boston still claims that an interference call was blown by the umpires in the 11th inning, which would have resulted in a Sox victory.

     On Sunday, the teams faced off in a split doubleheader. New York won the first game. This presented the Yankees an opportunity to win their first series out of the last 9 by taking the Sunday night game. Shut out for 7 innings, New York mounted a mini-threat in the top of the 8th inning. Up to the plate stepped Aaron Judge, the sensational rookie coming off of his first All Star game and a thumping of the competition in the Home Run Derby.

     Judge laced into a pitch and sent it rocketing towards the deepest part of Fenway Park. It sounded like and looked like a sure homer, which would catapult the Yankees back into a game they were losing 3-0.  It was then that Boston center fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. became an instant hero. Racing to the side of the bullpen wall, he leaped up and over the fence and by a railing to snare Judge's drive and, in essence, extinguish the Yanks' hopes for a rally.

     A fine play indeed . A metaphor for how the New York season has been.

     We did attend the St. Louis-Pittsburgh game Saturday night at my favorite ballpark, PNC Park along the shores of the Allegheny River. The two teams were fighting for their seasons, mired below .500 and chasing the Brewers and Cubs in the N.L. Central. A sub-capacity but nonetheless spirited crowd on a T-Shirt Saturday tried to exhort the Pirates to a victory. However, Cardinals starter Lance Lynn and 3 relievers shut out the Pirates on 9 hits, causing the Bucs to strand 8 base runners. No home runs were hit and the game was devoid of really spectacular play. The best things about the game were: 1) delicious mushroom pizza from Slice on Broadway; 2) the great suite seats our daughter's friend bestowed on us; 3) after the game, we walked back to the hotel 15 minutes away on a beautiful night alongside the river; and 4) the Pirates' T-shirt.

     One other thing I briefly watched on TV was Martina Hingis playing in the Mixed Doubles championship match at Wimbledon. The 36 year old holder of 23 overall Grand Slam titles and who is currently ranked 3rd in the world in women's doubles, was a winner yesterday with her male playing partner, Jamie Murray, an accomplished doubles and mixed doubles player as well as the brother of the top-ranked men's singles player, Andy Murray. Hingis is an absolute joy to watch, to see how much she enjoys tennis, free of the pressure of being the number one female tennis player in the world, a spot she held for 203 weeks, as well as the martinet-like presence of her mother during that time. Her checkered love life and ITF suspension for cocaine sediments in her urine along with serious ankle injuries and other aliments which forced her to retire for a time seemingly are in the rear view mirror.

     I missed the U.S. Women's Open in golf on Sunday at President Trump's course in nearby Bedminster. I didn't watch the Mets win 2 of 3 over Colorado. Nor did I see the Dodgers continue their resurgence against the Marlins, which included rookie Cody Bellinger hitting for the cycle. So be it. Plenty of other sporting events were missed along the way this weekend.

     But I close this edition with the running exploits of Julia Hawkins this Saturday in Baton Rouge, LA in the USA Track & Field masters outdoor championships. Her time of 40.l2 seconds in the 100 meters was exceptional. For Julia "Hurricane" Hawkins is 101 years old.  When asked about her great run, Ms. Hawkins calmly related--"I missed my nap for this."

     That wraps it up. In a nutshell.

Your 2017 New York Yankees

     On July 5th, I made my annual trek to Yankee Stadium for a Senior Citizens' Day afternoon tilt with the Yankees hosting the Toronto Blue Jays. The weather was cooperative--low to mid-80 degree temperatures with a slight breeze. Not bad for a July day in the Bronx.

     My trip involved a ride to Cranford, New Jersey where I met my good friend Bill at the train station. We took the Midtown Direct NJ Transit train into New York Penn Station without too much difficulty given the delicate nature of the tracks in the station which will create a nightmarish set of delays starting July 10th when repairs begin in earnest.

     Other than a slight snafu on where to meet our friend Dave, who came in from Linden, New Jersey via NJ Transit, we made it up to the Stadium over 1 1/2 hours prior to game time. The line was not long for the senior citizens like us waiting to score tickets. We tried to get tickets in and around Section 214, which was down the right field line, but 3 seats together were not available. So we ended up in the last row of Section 217, in right field, where we could not see if the balls cleared or hit the fence below us. That didn't matter anyway, as I could readily tell if the 5 home runs struck that day had cleared the fence. But we were out of the sun, which is always a blessing. Especially for $5.00 per ticket.

     Having learned that the concessions at the Stadium are vastly overpriced, we brought our own food and bottled drinks into the Stadium. Eating lunch and idle baseball chatter, along with the melodious tunes coming over the speakers from the Hammond organ, filled the air until game time. Below us was a camp trip; to our side was a group of seniors who evidently knew each other. Comically, the woman seated next to me spilled her bag of popcorn onto her bag and the floor; she shared the laughs and the remaining popcorn with us.

     The teams came onto the field to stretch and run. Some of the pitchers played long toss; relievers Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman engaged in that exercise. Shortly thereafter, the umpires emerged from along the third base side of the field and convened their meeting with representatives from each team to conduct the formal exchange of line up cards.

     Both the Canadian and American anthems were played since the Blue Jays represented Canada. Prior to those anthems, a moment of silence was taken in the memory of a New York City police office who had been killed earlier that day.

     The Yankees came onto the field and did their perfunctory warm ups and the game began. Before long Toronto was ahead 1-0 thanks to a misplayed ball by Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury. We could tell that big Michael Pineda, the Yankees starting pitcher, was not in top form. His Toronto counterpart, Marco Estrada, looked to be in control, especially over the first three innings, as he yielded no hits to New York.

     Pineda's struggles continued as he gave up home runs in the third inning to Justin Smoak with one runner on base, followed by another homer by the next batter, Kendrys Morales. When Pineda surrendered a lead off home run to Kevin Pillar in the fourth inning, manager Joe Girardi had seen enough and finally replaced Pineda; we agreed that Pineda, with the awful location of his pitches, should never have returned to the mound to start the inning. The bleeding was halted by lefty reliever Chasen Shreve.

     Having soared through three innings virtually unhittable, the Yankees suddenly became energized. Left fielder Brett Gardner drew a walk, bringing up the super natural rookie right fielder Aaron Judge. The very tall Judge has absolutely been a revelation, up to that point slugging 27 home runs, batting .330 and scoring and driving in runs as the American League leader in those categories. His prodigious blasts come off the bat the fastest in MLB and are hit for the longest distances. He has since broken the Yankees rookie record for homers in a season in under 90 games, a record set by the immortal Joe Di Maggio. The MLB rookie record of 49 home runs, set by Mark Mc Gwire, is in jeopardy.

     Judge did not disappoint, launching an Estrada pitch over the right field wall. Suddenly, New York was back in the game. That is the kind of energy Judge brings to the lineup. He is the consensus top candidate for A.L. Rookie of the Year and a bona fide prospect for the A.L. Most Valuable Player Award given his astronomical numbers. Moreover, he garnered the most votes for the upcoming MLB All Star Game in Miami and he is entered in the Home Run Derby the night before based upon his mammoth homers. Judge is the kind of player people stop what they are doing--whether at the game or on television--in order not to miss his at bats. He is the brightest of spots in an up and down season thus far for New York.

     Just as Girardi had left Pineda in too long, so did Toronto manager John Gibbons leave Estrada in when it was clear that Estrada was fading. Ellsbury led off the bottom of the 5th inning with a walk. The next batter, Ji-Man Choi, called up that day from Scranton-Wilkes Barre to play first base, smacked a 450 foot blast into the right field bleachers. Gibbons elected to keep Estrada in. Bad decision, as he walked catcher Austin Romine and left fielder Brett Gardner. Judge then singled to right, loading the bases. Although Estrada had struck out the anemic hitting Tyler Wade and retired slumping first time All Star Gary Sanchez on a foul pop, shortstop Didi Gregorious came through  with a clutch, two run double, giving New York the lead at 6-5.

     Chad Green pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 6th. Toronto lefty Aaron Loup did the same against the Yankees.

     In another mistake, which hurt pretty badly, Girardi sent Green out for a second inning. Former Yankees catcher Russell Martin, on this day playing third base for Toronto, clubbed a home run to tie the score at 6.

     Loup ran into a jam in the bottom of the 7th inning. He walked Wade; Gardner sacrificed Wade to second base with a nice bunt; then Judge was intentionally walked. Gibbons replaced Loup with righthander Danny Barnes, who shut down New York and ended the rally.

     Girardi went to his struggling set up man, Betances, for the top of the 8th inning. Betances, named to the All Star team for his tremendous April-June stretch, had suddenly developed a mechanical flaw in his delivery to home plate, which caused his reliable 99 m.p.h. fast ball to tail away or sail, and his superior curve ball to miss the strike zone. Which was clearly evident in this game, whereupon Betances walked 4 of the 5 batters he faced, returning the lead to the Jays. When Betances had inexplicably walked the first 3 batters, Girardi should have changed pitchers. Because Betances was so dominant and needed a boost to get back on track, Girardi's loyalty cost the Yankees the game. I would say that Girardi, a normally good and sound decision-maker, made some emotional choices which cost the Yankees a victory.

     In the bottom of the 9th, with 2 outs, Gardner hit a single to right field. up strode Judge with a chance to tie or win the game. Alas, against dominating Toronto closer Roberto Osuna, Judge struck out to end the game. The alleged 38,691 there in a virtually half-filled Yankee Stadium went home with a bottle half-filled--disheartened by another loss but buoyed with an Aaron Judge home run to remember.

     This contest was symptomatic, in a lot of ways, of the Yankees' ills. They are near the bottom of MLB in one run losses. Their vaunted bullpen duo of Betances and Chapman have been erratic if not spectacular. Last week in Houston, Betances blew a lead and Chapman had a 100 m.p.h. fast ball get tattooed for a game winner by the top team in the A.L. In one run situations where they are behind, the other team's closer shuts them down; Saturday's walk off homer by red-haired rookie outfielder Clint Frazier, off of the Brewers' All Star closer, Corey Knebel, is now the exception.

     The starting pitching has been inconsistent at best. Although Luis Severino has been named to the A.L. All Star team, his E.R.A. hovers around 3.50 and he is only 5-4 despite his 100 m.p.h. heater and over 100 strikeouts. Mashahiro Tanaka, the ace of the staff, has struggled with the command of his pitches and is either brilliant or very hittable. The venerable and resurrected C.C. Sabathia has battled leg issues but nonetheless recorded a 7-3 record thus far; Pineda has a 4.39 E.R.A. even with an 8-4 mark. Rookie lefty Jeff Montgomery has been surprising, showing tremendous poise in reaching a 6-4 record and posting a respectable 3.65 E.R.A. And relievers Green and Adam Warren have been very effective, sporting superlative 2.03 and 2.10 E.R.A., respectively. Shreve also has pitched like Green and Warren.

     Hitting for the Yankees has been good overall, even if there is a team funk right now. Injuries have dogged, Ellsbury, Sanchez, reborn Aaron Hicks, DH Matt Holliday and All Star second baseman Starlin Castro; the latter trio are three of the Yankees' most productive hitters when healthy. First base has been a travesty--presumtive starter Greg Bird fouled a ball off of his ankle in the last spring training game and ended up hitting .100 before going on the DL. None of the replacements have adequately filled the void so far.

     Sanchez has been the biggest enigma. While he was a star at the end of last season, almost projecting the Yankees into the playoffs, he has suffered injuries, his catching and throwing are not up to last season's standards and he is now in an elongated slump where he looks over matched at the plate. Prior to the slump, he was batting .300 and was again crushing the ball.

     Gardner and Ellsbury continue to bat below their career numbers in average; at least Gardner has hit 15 homers and driven in 40 runners. Romine hits about .235; in his favor is that he is a superior defensive catcher and handles the pitching staff fairly well. Then there is Chase Headley, who fills third base for New York until minor league sensation Gleybar Torres can move up to the big team. Except that Torres suffered a season-ending injury a couple of weeks ago. Thus the Yankees are stuck with his anemic hitting and inconsistent fielding. Utility player Ronald Torreyes has been a pleasantly productive player when called upon.

     New York was torrid in the beginning of the season. Now they have fallen to second place in the A.l East, 3 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox. Yet they remain firmly in the Wild Card hunt as the All Star break comes and a little less than half of the season is to be played.

     Even if Judge continues to put up incredible numbers, he alone cannot carry the Yankees. Sanchez must regain his form that lifted his batting average to .300 and he needs to hit for power. Holliday and Castro have to return soon and produce in big numbers similar to the ones they had before their stints on the DL. Hicks can come back and take over center field if he hits well. New rookie sensation Clint Frazier, the center piece of the Andrew Miller trade to Cleveland last season, looks to be a budding star with a great upside; if he continues to play well, Gardner and /or Ellsbury might become expendable for a starting pitcher in a late July trade. Or another proven reliever to supplant the suddenly terrible Tyler Clippard. Much more productivity has to emerge from the first basemen.

     Betances needs to straighten himself out. On Saturday he pitched like fans have come to expect. Chapman has to continue to dominate as the closer, so the Yankees can win more one run battles. The starters have to considerably improve on their numbers, thereby keeping the Yankees more in games so that the potent offense, when healthy, can deliver timely hits.

     Above all, manager Girardi has to keep the team on an even keel. He must utilize his pitchers well, keeping them fresh and rested without giving in to too much temptation and overusing his prized relievers when the starters only last into the 5th or 6th innings. He must find ways to accommodate his hitters--giving the hot ones stretches to perform and resting them via rotating them into the DH role or just plain giving the older ones and the struggling youngsters time to refresh and regroup. This is not his first rodeo, so clearly Girardi knows how to use talented players.

     First place in the division is not out of the question if all of the players stay healthy and perform reasonably well. Boston, while ahead right now, is not as formidable as projected in the off season. The two Wild Card spots will envelop the Yankees, proven winners Kansas City and  Cleveland, along with wannabees Tampa Bay, Minnesota and the Los Angeles of Anaheim.

     66 games are left for the Yankees to make their move. With the players on the roster and reinforcements from the strong minor league system, this team has the ability to make its mark in the A.L.

     Here are your 2017 New York Yankees. A contender not a pretender?

   
   


   

Not A Time To Split Hairs

Bill Veeck, the showman owner of the White Sox, brought circus elephants to Comiskey Park to entertain fans between games of a doubleheader against the Yankees on June 28, 1959. CreditAssociated Press

     This blog contains two parts--a rant about the lack of doubleheaders in Major League Baseball and the decision Saturday night in the Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn WBO Super Welterweight title fight.Both rankled me, but for different reasons.

     July 4th approaches. Memorial Day is a distant memory. Mother's and Father's Day are long gone.  Labor Day looms in the future. And today is a Sunday.

     What is the significance of all of these dates and Sundays? In my childhood, MLB used to routinely hold single admission doubleheaders on Sundays and holidays. Twi-night doubleheaders were reserved for make up games added onto an existing night contest involving the same team. Separate admission doubleheaders were only reserved for the Boston Red Sox when Fenway Park, as the Red Sox home stadium only held about 33,000 fans and the Sox needed to recoup the money lost on the postponed game.

     Two games for the price of one. The New York Yankees used to regularly hold these kind of doubleheaders in my youth. I used to hate Sundays when the Detroit Tigers came in for a twin bill. A dose of righthander Frank Lary, who owned the Yanks, and outfielder Charlie Maxwell, who played average ball against anyone but New York, where he would invariably hit 1-2 homers to beat the Yankees, much to the chagrin of ex-Yankee then broadcaster Phil Rizzuto.

     I went to a sunny, warm Memorial Day double dip in 1968, when the expansion Washington Senators, led by 6'7" first baseman Frank Howard, played the Yankees.  I recall the Yankees, by then en route to another losing season in the late 1960's, splitting the two games with the Nats. The games were actually held on a Thursday, which was May 30th and back then, Memorial Day. My childhood idol, Mickey Mantle, blasted 2 homers and went 5 for 5 in Game 1; I recall  right handed pitchers Stan Bahnsen of New York and Joe Coleman for Washington facing each other. I do not have any recollection about Game 2 other than New York lost and Cuban righthander Camilo Pascual, he of the great curve ball, pitched and won . By way of the Baseball Almanac, the Yankees won 13-4 and Washington took the second game 6-2. A crowd of 28, 197 came to Yankee Stadium, including my crew of Bob, Don and Eric, who joined me in box seats down the third base line. A great memory indeed.

     Look at today's schedule and this coming Tuesday's July 4th schedule. Not one doubleheader. Moreover, looking back at this past Memorial Day, there were no doubleheaders and some teams actually had the day off.

     Baseball began scaling back doubleheaders as early as 1959 according to a June 9, 2017 story in The New York Times. That article gives a great chronology of  how baseball weaned itself of doubleheaders, starting in Milwaukee, Los Angeles and San Francisco because the revenue from two single games exceeded the take from a one admission doubleheader.  The Times noted that only three "conventional" doubleheaders have been scheduled since 2000--in Minnesota, Philadelphia and the last one, in 2011 in Oakland.

     Which is why Tampa Bay went retro by regularly scheduling a doubleheader this season. The Rays have the worst attendance in Major League Baseball. Their owner grew up in Brooklyn and in his youth attended many New York Mets twin bills at Shea Stadium. The Mets even played a 23 inning second game versus the visiting San Francisco Giants on May 31, 1964--the longest doubleheader ever. Thus he went back to his roots by having his Rays team play two in June.

     Players hated two games with only a 20 minute intermission. In college, I tired greatly in Game 2 for lack of food and enough water--and we only played 7 innings. Rays star third baseman Eva Longoria, said he could be wrong, but he didn't think traditional doubleheaders was something fans wanted.

     While he may be right given that the millennials have decried the slow pace for MLB games, doubleheaders can be a viable option for those franchises who are struggling. To boost weeknight attendance at the old Madison Square Garden and to lure college basketball fans used to doubleheaders,  the NBA and the Knicks held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday twin bills. Moving into the present Garden stopped that; college basketball doubleheaders are still common in the New York area. Even the NFL used a doubleheader in the old 80, 000 seat Cleveland Municipal Stadium for pre-season football. The Browns would host the second game after two other teams met. In one of those doubleheaders,  Joe Namath of the New York Jets tore up his knee vainly trying to chase a defensive back who had intercepted one of Namath's passes.

     Rutgers uses doubleheaders too. At MSG, in conjunction with the Big 10 Conference, they have been involved in the now annual January Big 10 basketball/hockey extravaganza--an afternoon hoops match up with an evening hockey contest. Plus, this coming November, there will be a football/wrestling doubleheader between Rutgers and Maryland at Yankee Stadium.

     So when it behooves the administrators to squeeze some revenue out of the patrons, then a doubleheader becomes a delicious offering. I believe that there are enough venues in MLB that regularly scheduling a doubleheader on a Sunday or a holiday would enhance fan interest and get the youth and even the millennials more interested in baseball; the Commissioner can continue to independently work on ways to speed up the games.

     Give it a try, MLB. Market the two games/one admission concept smartly. You have nothing to lose and a lot more fans to gain.

     Speaking of losses, I stayed up very late Saturday night into Sunday morning to watch the Pacquiao-Horn fight. ESPN was televising this from the rugby pitch in Brisbane, Australia, the hometown of Horn. Of course, the draw was Pacquiao, the legendary holder of titles in 8 weight classes, fighting on almost-free TV. The fight package was marketed to enhance Pacquiao under the guise of his "giving" back something to boxing fans. Which he did by losing an unanimous decision to Horn.

     ESPN's announcing trio had Pacquiao comfortably ahead on their scorecard. They hyped Horn as "Rocky' by lasting 12 rounds with the champ. The 55,000 present (it did not look full at all to me) according to the announcers, were seeing a real treat. Except that the judges did not see it that way.

     Curiously, as the fight progressed and Horn came dangerously close to a TKO from a deep cut at the corner of his right eye, one of the announces, ex-boxer Timothy Bradley, who actually had handed Pacquiao one of his 9 defeats, started to harp on a belief that the fight was closer than the others (and the audience) thought. It seemed that Pacquiao had lost his mojo just enough in the last 3 rounds, but I didn't think he had lost the fight. At least that is what I thought.

     ESPN in conjunction with Top Rank Boxing has invested a lot of money into upcoming lighter weight title fights this summer. What better way to promote the next series of fight cards by having an upset? I find the judges in boxing to be questionable--I see it in the Olympics and I see it professionally. Nothing surprises me in terms of an outcome when it is boxing, no matter how clearly I thought I saw the fight.

     Fights have been fixed before--not like a fake WWE battle--but for a variety of reasons. I am not saying that is the case here. The result was bizarre. Immediately there were calls for Pacquiao to retire at age 38 and go back to being a beloved Senator in his home land of the Philippines. But as the lead announcer for ESPN noted, there was a clause inserted in the contract that gave Pacquaio a rematch as Horn's first title defense. Assuredly, the moguls at ESPN and Top Rank Boxing must be mulling in the color of green,, thinking of the ratings and money to be generated on the next Pacquiao-Horn fight...

     There it is. My take on 2 events. I didn't think I was splitting hairs for my opinions on this twin bill.