Woe Are They

     Woe to the New York Yankees. Just when GM Brian Cashman has been busy securing enough pitching to help shore up both the starting rotation with veteran J.A. Happ and the overworked bullpen with the acquisition of Zach Britton, disaster stuck. In the form of injuries to Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge.

     Sanchez, whose groin injury is more severe than expected and does not bode well for him as a catcher in the future, supposedly reinjured himself when he and ace Luis Severino were crossed up as to which pitch needed to be thrown. The one that Severino threw eluded Sanchez, causing Sanchez to jog after the ball. The problem with that was that the Tampa Bay player saw that Sanchez was only jogging after the ball and he scored from second base, even when Sanchez tried to run after the ball. This prompted a heated discussion in the dugout between pitcher and catcher.

     Instance number two was in the 9th inning. With Judge on 3rd base ready to score if there was a base hit, Sanchez had golden opportunity to atone for his miscue in the first inning. He hit a sharp grounder to the shortstop--it looked like a certain out at second base to end the game. The problem with that was that Aaron Hicks, who was on first, used his speed, hustle and determination to beat the ball to second--he was safe. Except that Sanchez didn't run out the grounder, only accelerating way too late to beat the shortstop's throw to first. 

     Holy hell broke loose about Sanchez's play on Monday night. I went on Facebook and ranted about it. The New York tabloids went after him. Aaron Boone had to field questions after the game which targeted his catcher's actions.

     Speculation was rampant about what would happen to Sanchez. That Boone would bench him for lack of hustle. Or that he might even be sent to the minors. Whatever the case, it would impact upon the team as t how the situation was handled.

     Until we learned that Sanchez had hurt himself. Nobody was told about this in the dugout and Sanchez's play did not seem to be impacted by the injury. Which ultimately cost the Yankees a crucial game in the standings in their valiant attempt to catch the still red hot Boston Red Sox while warding off Seattle and fast-rising Oakland to maintain home field for the AL Wild Card game.

     Gary Sanchez is now out until late August. Had he not thought about himself, he would have asked to be removed from the game after the first inning. Foolish pride and ego overwhelmed the need to put the team first. To me this is a lack of maturity in a young, talented player who has lost this year with a below .200 batting average, unimpressive power in comparison to last season, and whose catching skills still are not as good as the great throwing ability he has. 

     Where the Yankees go with the catching situation when Sanchez returns and in the future is now murky. Unless he has a great transformation when he come off of the DL, this will be a critical piece in the puzzle for New York. Austin Romine, who is a great backup catcher, will once more be thrust into being an everyday player. Romine, who has hit above his lifetime .228 average, had seen his productivity dip with the extra playing time. Kyle Higashioka can catch a very nice game, but his hitting is even worse than Romine. Such is the unexpected problem facing New York.

     Then there is the totally unexpected problem which arose with an overthrown Joe Junis fastball on Thursday night. That wild pitch hit Aaron Judge in this right wrist. While Judge played through the pain in the 7-2 victory over Kansas City and even managed an infield single, he was removed from the game and sent for X-rays and an CT scan. The damage was a chip fracture to the right wrist.

     The prognosis is that Judge will be able to swing a bat in earnest in about 3 weeks. He is not wearing a cast, nor was surgery determined to be necessary. I think that the doctors and perhaps the Yankees are being very optimistic.  No one said that he would be able to throw in 3 weeks, which, to me sounds like he would return as the DH.

     Meanwhile, Giancarlo Stanton appears to be the logical person to take over in right field in Judge's absence. Stanton was in the midst of a real streak of hitting while the Yankees where paying the Rays. Playing the field instead of mainly being the DH might actually help Stanton even more. He is the sole, real power threat in the lineup. Didi Gregorious and Greg Byrd don't put as much fear into pitchers as Stanton does. And poor Clint Frazier--the highly-touted outfield prospect suffered another apparent head injury while playing at Scranton- Wilkes Barre, placing him back in concussion protocol--all the result of a play in spring training which has derailed his rise within the Yankees' organization. 

     New York has a stretch of games against teams who are not contending. They will rely on their pitching to get them throughout this period. Even there, much-maligned Sonny Gray was hit by a ball on Thursday. There was no word on his prognosis.

     The Yankees will miss the 26 home runs bat of Judge and his defensive capabilities. And as badly as Sanchez had been playing, he still has more pop in his swing than his replacements. As Happ and Britton integrate themselves into the pitching, this should help significantly. 

     Will this be enough to ward off the A's and Mariners? Can the Yankees catch Boston? Or will they swoon with these holes in the lineup and the pitching fails? 

     There is a terrible sense of being woe begotten among New York fans. With good reason. But let's put this all in perspective.

     The marvelous run of Serena Williams to the Wimbledon final wasn't diminished by her loss. That she was even there was a testimonial to the hard work she put in after the major complications she suffered with the birth of her daughter.  She could have woefully accepted doctors' evaluations--but Serena knew something was wrong with her. She pressed on and they found the blood clots which threatened her life. Even with that complication, Serena showed the determination of a fighter and a true champion to get back on the court, let alone make to to the finals of a tough tournament replete with upsets in the women's draw. Serena would not get caught up in the depth of her problem.

     I want to return to the ESPY's of a week plus ago. I thought the criticism of Danica Patrick's performance as the host was unfounded. She handled this toughest assignment well--which was something outside her comfort zone as a now-retired race car driver and current girlfriend of Green Bay Packers' QB Aaron Rodgers. She didn't need the grief.

     I also marveled at the courage of former Buffalo Bills QB Jim Kelly as he battled cancer once more. His courageous fight is an inspiration, and his words were an excellent reminder of how to live life with such a terrible impediment. He learned this from his son, Hunter, who managed to live 8+ years with the disabling Krabbe Leukodystorphy disease. 

     Then there were the hundred women who came on stage to show even greater courage, having stood up to the terrible infliction of indignities by Dr. Larry Nasser at the U.S. Gymnastics Association and at Michigan State. No one believed them until a Michigan State Police detective heard their cries. 

     The monster that Larry Nasser was is now securely behind bars. Those women bear the unimaginable scars of a sick and depraved man and and a culture which robbed them of their childhood and dignity.  Hooray to ESPN for giving them a national platform to speak their minds and to acknowledge the heartfelt thoughts of those in the audience and who watched the show.

     For you who think that the Yankees' situation is bad, or that the Washington Nationals stink and the Mets are far worse off with the plights of Yoenis Cespedes' heels and the childhood disease that Noah Syndergaard picked up in another injury-plagued season--those woes are nothing compared to the events I have enumerated. 

     A woe is defined as deep sorrow, self-pity and grief. Enough with the woes already. Given what I have articulated and placed in context, the plural is another four-letter word which I despise when things are trivial. Nobody says to stop rooting for your team, no matter what their woes are (Jets' fans have hope--the contract impasse with Sam Darnold will get ironed out shortly). 

     We saw what happened in Thailand--an incredible scenario if there ever was one. Those boys and their coach somehow managed to remain alive and with the help of an army of supporters and some incredible divers, they are safe and  alive. If anyone believes that this rescue of everyone in the ave with only one diver's death the only tragedy, wasn't a miracle, then tell me. 

     Thus, Yankees' fans, get over the despair aspect. Look at some real life sports-related situations which I dare say trump the Bombers' plight. The season isn't over yet. Not by a long shot.

Passion/Obsession

     Before I begin this blog, I owe my readers an a apology. Last week's edition was a rather lengthy post. I felt time crunched because of the impending All Star Game. As a result, I self-edited rather than relying upon the incisive eyes of my editor, who was just concluding a well-earned 2 week vacation. Not knowing whether or not she could find time to look at my writing.

     Well, that was a mistake. There were plenty of errors. One no more egregious than saying the Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 1994, when I know all too well that they broke Yankees' fans hearts in 2004.

     She is off again, babysitting the grandkids. I promise to do better this time.

     One more thing. While I remembered much of what was published, I did research some events to be sure of the date and players involved to insure accuracy. Otherwise, I could have been subject to the fact-checking of The New York Times or The Washington Post.  Way too much of that going on lately, so I wouldn't want to divert their attention from more important activity.

     In The Harvard Science Review from the Spring 2014, author Carrie Sha defines passion as "an intense desire or enthusiasm for something; the zealous pursuit of an aim." She notes that "obsessive individuals are controlled by very unwanted thoughts," as opposed to "passionate individuals make deliberate decisions on their interests."

     My desire to watch the All Star Game in the past just as I did this past week was the result of my passion for the game. Which I derive as a very good thing. Having stayed up for all 10 innings to see the AL be victorious in DC and to watch a record 10 homers swatted starting with Aaron Judge's blast off of NL starting pitcher Max Scherzer through to the game winner hit by Alex Bergman of the Astros and the NL's last gasp home run by Cincinnati's Joey Votto, I would have believed I was being a bit obsessive. But author Sha indicates that obsessive-compulsive disorder is more complicated and stands in the way of a normal, productive life.

     Thus, I want to let you know that the All Star Game is not the only things that I have a compelling need to see or do.  Thanks to my parents and specifically my father's insatiable need to gamble in Las Vegas, I was exceptionally fortunate to travel the country by car numerous times into my 20's.

     Therefore, I accumulated a ton of states that I had been in. Somewhere in my 40's, I decided that I would travel to all 50 states by time I was age 50. Check that off of my list.

     With that traveling out of the way, then there was the need to hit all major league franchises' stadiums by age 70. Twenty-four of them are done. I have Tampa Bay, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee, Kansas City, St. Louis and the dreaded trip to Boston's Fenway Park to finish in the next 27 months.

     But that isn't enough. I have had this fascination to visit all of the major conference campuses. The Atlantic Coast Conference has been completed. I need to go to Washington State in the Pac 12.
what I have seen of the Big 12 leaves me trips to Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State.  I must travel to Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska to finish the Big Ten; my drive by of Lincoln, Nebraska on the I-70 does not count. With the SEC, all I have left is Mississippi and Mississippi State to do. For a finishing touch, I did see each of the Big East football schools.

     For good measure, I have seen all Ivy League and Patriot League campuses. The current Big East is a quandary for me--do I go out of my way to see Creighton, Marquette and Xavier? Probably not.

     I have also been to a number of other campuses that are within the lesser conferences. They include UNLV, Fresno State, San Diego State, San Jose State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Colorado State, BYU, Weber State, Utah State, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, University of Buffalo, Cal State Long Beach, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Northern Arizona, Wyoming, Northern Colorado. Southern Utah, SUNY Binghamton, LIU, Hartford, Oral Roberts, Oklahoma City, Portland State, Sacramento State, Delaware, UMBC, Eastern Michigan, Northern Michigan, Alabama-Birmingham, Georgia State, FIU, UCF, University of Tampa, FAU, UNC-Charlotte, George Mason, William & Mary, ODU, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Towson, James Madison, Radford, Furman, Liberty, Marshall, Western Kentucky, George Washington, all of the service academies and Notre Dame. Name a school and I have probably been there.

     Yet I felt that I needed to do some D-III conferences, given my graduation from Franklin and Marshall.  So  I have traversed the entire Centennial Conference, of which F&M is a member; the NESCAC; the New Jersey Athletic Conference; every UAA school but for Washington-St.Louis; a good portion of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Ditto the Liberty Conference; CUNY ; the Landmark Conference except for Scranton; about half of the Middle Atlantic Conference; much of the NEWMAC; some of the Ohio Athletic Conference; 7 of the 8 SCIAC schools (how did I miss the University of La Verne in all my trips to California?); a good portion of the SUNYAC; plus a lot of smatterings of other D-III conferences throughout the U.S. The completion of some conferences like the UAA is on my very busy bucket list.

     Many traditionally black schools have made the grade: Delaware State, Howard, Hampton, Norfolk State, Florida A&M, Morgan State, Bowie State, Alabama State, Southern, Prairie View A&M, North Carolina A&T, Winston-Salem State, Clark, Fayetteville State, South Carolina State, Xavier of Louisiana and more.

     So I also collect spring training sites, although that is not a great priority. I have seen the Yankees' homes in Fort Lauderdale and Tampa; the Phillies in Clearwater; the Pirates in Bradenton; the Red Sox and the Twins in Fort Myers; the Senators when they were in Pompano Beach; the Cardinals and Marlins in Jupiter; the Brewers when they were in Sun City in Arizona; the Giants in Phoenix; the Indians when they used to be in Yuma; the Tigers in Lakeland; the Red Sox, when they were in Winter Haven; the Dodgers when they lived in Vero Beach; the Mets in Port St. Lucie; the Orioles in Miami and a few more which escape my mind.

     I have been in a myriad of college stadiums and arenas just to see them. We went to Stanford Stadium; Notre Dame Stadium; Wallace Wade Stadium and Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke; Pauley Pavilion, the legendary home of UCLA Basketball; The Dean E. Smith Center and Kenan Memorial Stadium at the University of North Carolina; Tulane Stadium; Notre Dame Stadium; Jordan-Hare Stadium at Auburn; Clemson Stadium; Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia; Grant Field in Atlanta; the Petersen Events Center on the Pitt Campus; Byrd Stadium and Cole Field House at the University of Maryland; the Carrier Dome in Syracuse; Gampel Pavilion, the home of UConn's men's and women's basketball; Memorial Field at Dartmouth; Schoellkopf Field at Cornell; Falcon Stadium, the home of the Air Force Academy; Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin; Reynolds-Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas; Ohio Stadium, the great horseshoe where Ohio State plays. Remember, these are among the places I entered to look at. The number of other arenas and stadiums on campuses I have seen while driving by and from the outside is way too much to enumerate. From 37,00 feet, I even saw Kinnick Stadium, the home of the Iowa Hawkeyes, while flying home from Las Vegas in May.

     On-campus college games I have attended include Rutgers (of course), Princeton, Columbia, UVA, Wisconsin, Miami (FL), Delaware, Cincinnati, Lafayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, Penn, Muhlenberg, Moravian, Juniata, Mc Daniel, Ursinus, Swarthmore & Haverford (when they played football);Yale and Wesleyan. This does not include the baseball fields I have played on.

     Lest you think that I have focused all of my energy on the colleges, I have been to enclosed stadiums for games--the Kingdome in Seattle; the Humphrey Dome in Minneapolis; the Skydome in Toronto; the Georgia Dome and Minute Maid Park. I have been to Chase Field in Phoenix and Marlins Park in Miami with the roof open. I was in the Astrodome, but only on a tour because MLB was on strike in 1994.

     I have been in all of the buildings in which the New York area teams have played in except for the Barclays Center; all of the Philadelphia venues except for Lincoln Financial Field and The Palestra; I have seen Washington teams in 2 of 3 baseball parks; Baltimore baseball in Memorial Stadium and Oriole Park at Camden Yards. I have seen basketball at the Boston Garden; hockey in the Air Canada Centre and 2 sites in Pittsburgh as well as The Fabulous Forum in LA. We saw the Cavs pre-Lebron in Quicken Loans Arena. I even talked my way into the closed Charlotte Coliseum just to see the honeycomb prints on the Hornets' basketball floor. I was in the Baltimore Civic Center to see the Knicks and Bullets the night Earl Monroe was traded to New York. I even was in Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, home of the Steelers, where my daughter and friends filmed a PSA for how to leave the stadium (we wore Steelers garb and were seated prominently next to the actor).

     There is another whole list of pro stadiums and arenas I have driven up to or by such as the old Pontiac Stadium, Cobo Arena the Palace at Auburn Hills, Joe Louis Arena and Tiger Stadium, former homes of the Lions. Pistons, Red Wings and the Tigers; the LA Memorial Coliseum; the Staples Center; Fenway Park; the Mercedes-Benz Superdome; Candlestick Park; Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego; the Miami Orange Bowl; and Broncos Stadium at Mile High in Denver. I have even gone behind Pitt's School of Law to gawk at the wall of Forbes Field that still stands as a monument to the history of the area. and driven to the locale of Connie Mack Stadium in Northeast Philadelphia, now occupied by a church.

     Back to the colleges for a brief moment. I have seen a college football bowl game--the 1996 Peach Bowl between LSU and Clemson. I have attended the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden including UCLA and then Lew Alcindor. I have been to a number of Big East Tournament games, the National Invitation Tournament and many doubleheaders at the Garden. I have gone to numerous D III NCAA tournament basketball games and a Final Four in Salem, Virginia. Plus, while on Maui, I entered the Lahaina Civic Center, the home of the Maui Invitational. as well as the home of the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage. Then there was Talladega International Speedway in Alabama, too. Because I was there.

     By no means am I done with this ongoing search for new colleges, stadiums and arenas. Besides the MLB ballparks, I have discussed going to see New Jersey Devils games in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver as well as in maybe Montreal and Ottawa. I want to see the New York Jets on the road--hopefully this season in Chicago. I regret not having gone to a game at Beaver Stadium while my daughter attended Penn State--that is on my to do list. Along with seeing Rutgers football on the road--unbelievably, I have never done that. I want to attend an SEC football game, preferably at Georgia. I want to see the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry play. And freeze at least an AFC Championship game hosted by the Jets, if not a Super Bowl, should they ever make it again in my lifetime.

     So that you don't think that I am totally sports-oriented, I do like to go to state capitals, see Supreme Courts, and I even went into Federal Court in Anchorage, Alaska. I love National Parks, having been to the Grand Canyon 5 times, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Bryce Canyon, Redwood, Crater Lake, the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. I have a picture of the southern terminus of U.S. 1--I don't know if I will be energized enough to go to Fort Kent, Maine to see the northern terminus. Plus we have walked across the Mississippi River right after it formed from Lake Itasca in Minnesota. I will go to some foreign lands--Israel is on our radar. However, it should be noted that I took a long train ride while in London so I could see the courts at Wimbledon (I had already been to Flushing Meadows to see the U.S. Open).

    I cannot leave out the best venue of all--the walk from my house to see all of the rounds of the  1993 U.S. Open at Baltusrol, less than a half mile away. Thus, cumulatively, my resume includes a World Series, 2 MLB All-Star Games, the Canada Cup and Stanley Cup Finals, the NBA Finals, along with the NCAA D III playoffs. I have also seen the ALCS and the NFL playoffs. I have no concerns about not seeing the NCAA Final Four or a New Year's Day college bowl game.

     I root zealously for F&M, Rutgers, Georgia Football, the Devils, the Knicks (I cannot see them going anywhere but up--eventually), my beloved Yankees and my Golden State Warriors (for now)--I used to love the Celtics with Larry Bird. I pull for the New York teams when they are in the playoffs.

     Then there are the New York Jets. Season 42 as a ticket holder upcoming. No Super Bowl appearances since 1969. That is blind loyalty.

     I turn on games to check them out on MLB, FOX, ESPN throughout the various seasons. A KC Royals-St. Louis Cardinals intrastate rivalry game will peak my interest as much as an Orioles-Nats game. I love bonus coverage on NFL Sundays and I am happy with Monday Night Football along with its siblings on Sunday and Thursday. I peek in on NHL games on NBC Sports Network or the NHL Network. Same with the NBA Network. I watch racing's Triple Crown. I will look in on the Masters, PGA and the U.S. Open to see how Tiger and the others are doing. Roland Garros, Australia, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows are must see TV.  UConn women's basketball has been a great saga--one which I watch and root for them to win. I was even intrigued by the World Cup a few years ago and the Sevens Cup in rugby. I look at college lacrosse, soccer and baseball. Every so often, I tune into NASCAR. Softball, volleyball. The Olympics. I am probably by my TV set. It's definitely not Game of Thrones that I am viewing.

     I don't bet on games, notwithstanding that New Jersey has now legalized sports betting. I have a zest for sports that is ingrained in my being. I have always thought that my passion is obsessive--except that I can miss a game of the Yankees, Jets or Rutgers men's basketball and my life will not end. Which apparently falls outside of the definition of OCD which Carrie Sha deciphered.

     I am having lunch in August with a friend of mine who is a well-respected psychologist. I wonder what he thinks about this mania I have--whether I am obsessive or very, very passionate about sports and colleges.

     Then again, I don't know how truly accurate his assessment can be--he is a lifelong Dodgers' fan from Southern California, and still a Raiders fan. His parents are diehard Angels' fans. They have a Rally Monkey doll in their living room, the unofficial mascot of the Angels since 2002, which allegedly helped the Halos to victory in the World Series. The team has done not much else since then.

     That, to me, is the definition of obsessive.

   

   

   

     I love the MLB All-Star Game. There is no other way to express my feelings about one event. It is the game I look forward to, year after year.

     Known as the Mid-Summer Classic, it is usually held on a Tuesday in July, sometime after the teams have reached 81 games played. The American League, the Junior Circuit, is pitted against the National League. While the game itself is nothing more than an exhibition game, memorable moments from prior contests are aplenty.

     I look at the NBA All-Star Game--a lot of showboating, dunking, flinging of 3 pointers, with little defense shown by either the East or the West teams. The game was so devoid of excitement that the NBA decided to make the 2018 affair a pickup game--two stars would select players to fill out a roster. Which failed to create any more excitement, defense or suspense. There are some memories--like Magic Johnson returning to the court in 1992 as All-Star after being diagnosed as HIV-Positive and winning the M.V.P. award comes to mind, a number of overtime games, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant sharing M.V.P. honors in 2009 or the record 108,000+ who attended the 2010 game in Cowboys Stadium.

     The brainchild of NBA Commissioner Walter Podoloff, Boston Celtics owner Walter Brown and PR Haskell Cohen, the 1951 game was intended to generate interest in the league like the MLB game did.  The first game, held in Boston, drew 3,500 interested souls. While now there is certainly a fervor about the NBA All-Star Weekend, which includes a Rising Stars game, a 3 point contest, a slam dunk contest and a skills competition which is way beyond it beginnings, to me, it fails to rise to the level of intensity that the MLB stars play at. The NBA All Star Game is not my cup of tea.

     I am even less enthused about the NFL Pro Bowl Game. A post-season event, when the players are tired, longing for some relaxation to heal their bodies after the grueling season, there are few great recollections of this game. As meaningless as All Star games are, the Pro Bowl is totally meaningless--unless a player succumbs to injury. I liked the format of the College All Stars playing the previous year's champs in Chicago's Soldiers Field which ended in 1976. There was a team to root for--the underdog collegians or the NFL.  In 1958 the College All Stars defeated the Detroit Lions and in 1963 the Green Bay Packers lost to the youngsters. Now too much is at stake for the collegians to beat the pros and no one associated with the league wants to see first round draft choices exposed to too much hitting at the outset of their fledgling careers.

     Hockey has just as much a nonsensical  showcasing of its stars as the NBA All Star Game. There is no checking or hitting, allowing for high scoring affairs. The origins of the NHL All Star games started in the 1930's  as benefits for injured stars like Ace Bailey of Toronto and Howie Morenz of Montreal. In 1946-47 the NHL started the real All Star games with the First and Second Team All-NHL players against the defending Stanley Cup champion. The NHL went through many machinations to its present state of four all star teams competing against each other.

     No NHL All-Star Games were held in Olympic years for good reason--the league shut down when so many players competed for their respective countries. My attendance at the NHL events were two fold--I went to the 1979 Challenge Cup at Madison Square Garden where the Soviet Union Red Army squad dominated the NHL All Stars, winning the three game set 2-1; and I went to an open practice at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, NJ prior to the 36th contest.

     That's it. I have no desire to go to any more of those phony, gimmicky weekends the NFL, NBA and NHL hold. Because it is baseball, and only baseball's greats who I want to see.

     The first MLB All Star Game originated in Chicago in 1933. To date, the 88 games played have resulted in this statistic--each league has won 43 games, with 2 others ending in ties. Either league has had long winning streaks and periods of dominance. The AL won 12 of the first 16 games. Then the NL won 33 of the next 42 games with 1 tie through 1987, which included winning 19 out of 20 from 1963-1982. Since 1988, the AL has been resurgent, winning 23 of 30 with 1 tie. The game was held in alternating years in an AL park then an NL park as host (except that in 2016 the AL was designated as the home team at Petco Park in San Diego because the year before the game was held in Cincinnati, an NL park and then the 2017 edition was awarded to Miami, another NL ballpark).

     My own first memory of the MLB All Star Game came with the 1957 contest at the old Busch Stadium, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals. I can still visualize, on my family's black and white TV screen, the teams lining up on the foul lines, with the packed house of 30,963 showering adoring cheers upon the Cardinals' players as they were introduced--the crowd was especially loud for Stan Musial, the Cards' extraordinary hitter now enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I can remember nothing more, as I was 6+ years old. For the record, the AL won, 6-5.

     But the bug had bitten me and I was smitten with the All Star Game. So I was again seated before my TV in 1958, watching the teams line up in Baltimore, where the host AL won again, this time 4-3. Yankees' announcer Mel Allen did the play-by-play on NBC and the Vice President of the United States, Richard Nixon, threw out the first ball. I recall the Yankees dominated the roster--my hero, Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard, Bill (Moose) Skowron and White Ford--were there. Yankees' manager Casey Stengel piloted the team against Fred Haney of the Milwaukee Braves; that was when I learned that the managers from the previous World Series teams would lead the two squads. I also recalled the Braves' left hander Warren Spahn was the NL starting pitcher, facing another Yankees' favorite, Bullet Bob Turley.

     MLB tinkered a bit with the All Star Game from 1959 through 1962. There were two games held in each year. In 1959, both games were held in NL parks--the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the then home of the Dodgers, and Forbes Field, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates adjacent to the University of Pittsburgh campus (fun fact--part of the left field wall from Forbes Field was retained and sits behind a cluster of buildings which include Pitt's law school). I have no recollection of the games, which the AL won 5-3 in LA, while the NL triumphed 5-4 in Pittsburgh.

     It was the AL's turn to host in 1960. The first contest was held at the Kansas City Memorial Stadium, home of the Athletics. Game 2 was two days later, this time at Yankee Stadium. The AL starters included Mantle, Yogi Berra, making his 14th appearance as the catcher, Roger Maris and Moose Skowron. Bill Momboquette from Boston faced the Pirates' Bob Friend, who had previously started the 1958 game. Musial led the NL, as the Cardinals' star was on his 18th squad; also there was Henry Aaron of the Braves and Willie Mays, then an 8 time All Star.

     The NL won in KC by a 5-3 score, led by a 3 run first inning and homers from perennial All Star catcher Del Crandall of the Braves and Ernie Banks, the Hall of Fame Chicago Cubs' star. In New York, the NL routed the AL 6-0 with 4 homers. This was Willie Mays' first trip back to New York since the Giants had left, which was part of the fanfare surrounding the game. Mays singled off of the Yanks' White Ford in the first inning and then homered in the third inning. Future Hall of Famers Eddie Matthews and Musial also homered. It was Boston's Ted Williams' 19th and final All Star game. A paltry 38,362 attended the midweek day game. Those who came gave rousing cheers to their Yankees and to Mays. Mel Allen handled the play-by-play with the Dodgers' Vin Scully, a New York native and Fordham University graduate; As Mel might have said, "How about that! What a duo!!"

     Game 1 of the 1961 season took place at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, another day game. The affair lasted 10 innings with Stu Miller the winner for the NL and Hall of Fame knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm absorbing the loss. What was memorable was the ovation Willie Mays received from the partisan Giants fans; and home runs into the fierce wind by Hall of Fame slugger Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins and countered by an enormous blast from George Altman of the Cubs. But the game is most known for the wind-aided balk that Miller incurred, when a powerful gust of wind moved him off of the pitching rubber.

     Game 2 in 1961 is famous for being the first tie. Rocky Colavito homered over the Green Monster of Fenway Park in the 1st inning. Red Sox pitcher Don Schwall gave up all 5 NL hits and the lone run.

     The first game of the 1962 duo was held at D.C. Stadium. President John F. Kennedy threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The Arch Ward Trophy was awarded to the M.V.P. of each game; Ward founded the All Star game in Chicago. Dodgers' speedster Maury Wills ran his way to the trophy. Leon "Daddy Wags" Wagner, an outfielder with the expansion Los Angeles Angels helped the AL break a 5 game slide.

     I do not remember the 1963 game in Cleveland, when MLB reverted back to the one game per year rule. I do recall the 1964 game from Shea Stadium in Queens, the home of the New York Mets. I was in Las Vegas with my family and I found a projection screen at the Talley Ho Hotel, the forerunner to the Aladdin Hotel, a venue my family frequented a lot on our trips across the U.S. I remember the colorfully jacketed Lindsay Nelson, the voice of the Mets handled the telecast. Ron Hunt, the second baseman for the Mets, a guy who set records for getting hit by a pitch, was an NL starter and received an enormous reception. However, the show was stolen by Johnny Callison of the Phillies, who hit a walk off homer over the auxiliary scoreboard in right field to win it for the NL, 7-4.

     1965 is noteworthy in that the winning managers from the AL and NL were not with their respective teams. Yogi Berra had been fired by the Yankees. Johnny Keane, who led the Cardinals over New York, was now the Yankees' manager. Thus the second place skippers--Gene Mauch of Philadelphia and Al Lopez of the White Sox were the managers. A further embarrassment was avoided because Fred Hutchinson's Reds tied the Phillies for second place in the NL; Hutchinson had died after the 1964 season, so the NL did not have to choose who would manage the squad. The NL hung on to win the game 6-5, with a save by Hall of Famer Bob Gibosn of St. Louis, who struck out hometown hero Killebrew and the Yankees' Joe Pepitone, he of the longish hair, to end the game.

     I did not see the 1966 game, held at the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis. However, we actually drove by the ballpark on I-44 while it was going on, and I listened Jim Simpson and Tony Kubek describe the action.

     1967 in Anaheim, California was known for the 15 innings that the game took, dominated by pitching off of a higher mound. Dick Allen smashed a home run off of the Angels' Dean Chance in the second inning. Hall of Fame 3B Brooks Robinson of Baltimore matched Allen's homer in the 6th inning. Cincinnati's Tony Perez hit the game-winning homer in the 15th inning off of Jim "Catfish" Hunter--both would later be enshrined in Cooperstown.

     1968 had its share of moments. The NL won, 1-0, with no RBI's in the game. It was the first late afternoon game and the first indoor game, as the Houston Astrodome was the site.

     I remember the downpour which caused the 1969 game in D.C. at re-named R.F.K. Stadium to be postponed to the next afternoon. Larger-than-life "Stretch," Giants' Hall of Fame 1B Willie Mc Covey, hit 2 HR's and Hall of Fame OF Carl Yazstrezemski of Boston made a heroic catch to save the AL from surrendering more 9 runs in the 9-3 beat down. New York Yankees' ace Mel Stottlemyre started the game because the Tigers' Denny Mc Lain was late in arriving back in D.C. on his own plane.

     1970 was special in that it was the first prime time game; that Riverfront Stadium was opened only two weeks prior to the game; and this was the game where the Reds' Pete Rose bowled over Ray Fosse of Cleveland to score the winning run, ruining Fosse's career in the process. The Rose and Fosse families had dined together the previous night

     Reggie Jackson was the highlight of the 1971 game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Pinch hitting for teammate Vida Blue, the Oakland slugger hit a ball off of the light tower on the roof of the right field grandstand, propelling the AL to a rare win. 13 Hall of Famers were on the NL team; 9 were on the AL squad.  Six of the Hall of Famers homered in the game. Both managers (Sparky Anderson and Earl Weaver) and one coach (Walter Alston) were voted into the Hall of Fame.

     Tug Mc Graw, the father of country singer Tim Mc Graw, and a relief pitcher for the Mets, was the winning pitcher when the NL won in extra innings at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium in 1972. Henry Aaron thrilled the home crowd with a homer.

     To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first All Star Game, some surviving stars from the game in Chicago were on hand. It was Willie Mays' 24th and last ASG. 19 Hall of Famers including managers and an umpire, Nestor Chylak, were involved in this game. Catfish Hunter was struck on his hand by a liner from future Hall member Billy Williams of the Cubs, causing Hunter to miss two weeks of the season.

     The big event in 1974 was that Steve Garvey of the Dodgers was elected to the NL squad by virtue of a write-in campaign.

     In 1975, the game was held in Milwaukee County Stadium. Thus County Stadium joined Sportsman's Park in St. Louis and Shibe Park in Philadelphia as the three places where two different franchises were hosts. Honorary Captains were also named for the first time: Mickey Mantle for the AL and Stan Musial for the NL.

     For the country's bicentennial, the 1976 game was in Veterans' Stadium in Philadelphia. Philadelphia also hosted the NBA and NHL All Star games and the NCAA Final Four that year. Of note, Mark "The Byrd" Fidrych, a zany rookie pitcher for the Detroit Tigers started for the AL and Phillies' Hall of Famer Robin Roberts was an Honorary Captain. Former Washington Senators broadcaster then working in New York, Warner Wolf, was in the booth for ABC.

     The Seattle Kingdome was the locale for the 1979 affair. Dave Parker of Pittsburgh won the M.V.P. award for his throwing out toe runners at third base and at home plate. Lee Mazzilli of the Mets hit a pinch homer in the 8th inning to tie the game and in the 9th inning he drew a bases loaded walk off of the Yankees' Ron Guidry to give the NL the lead for good.

     Dodger Stadium introduced the first large screen video scoreboard in the 1980 game. The ABC crew was Keith Jackson, Al Michaels, Don Drysdale and the acerbic Howard Cosell. Only Cosell would be frustrated repeatedly during the broadcast as he did not have enough airtime to suit his pompous yet entertaining ego.

     Due to the players' strike, the 1981 ASG was held in Cleveland in August. The 72,086 who showed up is the largest crowd to attend an All Star contest.

    Montreal hosted the 1982 game, making it the first outside of the US. Four Expos contribute to the NL's 4-1 win. Cosell was back in the booth for ABC. His French was not too good.

     The 50th anniversary game in 1983 returned to its roots at Comiskey Park in Chicago on July 6th, the same date as the first one. Fred Lynn hit the only grand slam in ASG history, leading the AL to a rare victory.

     Back in San Francisco for 1984, the NL won behind clutch hitting from M.V.P. and Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter. Mexico's favorite son, Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers, struck out three Hall members in the fourth inning--Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson and George Brett. One inning later, 19 year old Dwight Gooden also stuck out 3 AL'ers.

     Roger Clemens of the Red Sox started and went 3 scoreless innings in 1986 in his hometown of Houston, throwing 21 strikes and only 3 balls. Valenzuela struck out 5 consecutive batters, tying him with the great Carl Hubbell who, in 1934, struck out legends Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Al Simmons.

     Anaheim in 1989 was where football/baseball player Bo Jackson smashed a monstrous home and made a great fielding play en route to the game M.V.P. award. Doc Severinson and the Tonight Show Band performed both anthems and Disney characters were present. An addition to the TV booth was former sportscaster turned President, Ronald Reagan, who assisted Vin Scully during the first inning.  Philadelphia 3B Michael Jack Schmidt, as Harry Kalas, the famous Phillies' broadcaster used to call him, was voted into the NL starting lineup but retired a few weeks before the game was played. He participated in the opening ceremonies in uniform, to tremendous adulation.

     Ernie Banks threw out the 1990 first ball at Wrigley Field, which now had lights. There were two Greg Olsons in the game--pitcher Gregg from Baltimore and catcher Greg representing the Braves.

     The AL defeated the NL 4-2 in Toronto in 1991. The winning pitcher was from the Blue Jays and the losing pitcher was from Montreal. Such irony.

     Beloved Phillies Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt, Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, Steve Carlton and Jim Bunning tossed out the 1996 ceremonial first pitches at the Vet. World Series M.V.P. Joe Carter, whose hit defeated the Phillies in the 1993 World Series was soundly booed, a time honored Philadelphia tradition. Ironman Cal Ripken, Jr., in the midst of his consecutive game streak, broke his nose in the pre-game warmups and still played SS for the AL.

     Cleveland's Sandy Alomar, Jr. became the first player in ASG history to win the ASG M.V.P. award in his own ballpark in the 1997 game. Larry Walker and Randy Johnson, both former Expos' teammates, faced each other in an at bat. Johnson, who had hit the 100 m.p.h. mark with his fastball and had a nasty slider, threw over Walker's head for fun. Walker responded by turning his batting helmet around then entering the opposite batter's box, facing the lefty Johnson as right-handed hitter. Ultimately, Walker walked.  This was not the first time Johnson fired a pitch over an ASG player's head; in 1993 hr did it to the Phils' Jon Kruk, who meekly struck out.

     With a starting lineup featuring 5 Hall of Famers and Alex Rodriguez, whose status was jeopardized by his steroid use, the AL used homers by A-Rod and and Roberto Alomar along with 19 hits in hitter friendly Coors Field in Denver to overwhelm the NL in 1998; the NL also offered 5 Hall of Famers as starters. This is the highest scoring game in All Star history. The AL winning pitcher was Bartolo Colon who, incredibly, is still active today as a pitcher with the Texas Rangers.

     Maybe the most emotional game in ASG history took place in 1999 at Fenway Park. The nominees for the All-Century Team and all time great Ted Williams were there. Williams threw out the first pitch after being announced to the Fenway partisans that he was the greatest hitter of all time. Every great in attendance mobbed the frail, aged Williams, surrounding the mound. Additionally, Boston's Hall of Famer, Pedro Martinez, became the only pitcher in ASG history to strike out the side in the top of the first inning. His NL counterpart on the mound, and losing pitcher, was Curt Schilling. Schilling and Martinez were the 1-2 punch on Boston's 1994 World Championship team.

     At Safeco Field in Seattle in 2001, A-Rod, the starting AL shortstop, pushed Cal Ripken, Jr. over from 3B to play short in Ripken's 19th and final All Star appearance. The players and fans gave Ripken a standing ovation. Ripken singled off former Mariner Randy Johnson and stole second base in the bottom of the 1st inning. In the 3rd inning, the Orioles' number 8 launched a home run over the left field fence, garnering another standing ovation and his second M.V.P. award.

     A 7-7 tie in 2002 led to the games from 2003-16 being played determine home field advantage for the AL or NL representative in the upcoming World Series. All-Star Fan Vote was inaugurated with this game; Johnny Damon of Boston and Andrew Jones of Atlanta were chosen by the fans to participate in the game.

     The 70th anniversary game in 2003 came back to Chicago. U.S. Cellular Field had been constructed next to the original site of Comiskey Park. Garret Anderson of the Angels won the Home Run Derby on the previous night then collected the M.V.P. award for a 2 for 4 performance which included a double, a homer and 2 R.B.I. to lead the AL to a win.
   
     Game number 75 in 2004 saw Roger Clemens give up 6 runs in one inning for the first time in his career--no less than in his home town of Houston. With the AL hitting for the cycle in the first inning against Clemens,  the AL thrashed the NL. An oddity occurred with Carlos Beltran. He had been selected to start in the outfield for the AL while a member of the Royals. Kansas City traded him to Houston weeks before the game and Beltran made the NL roster as an injury replacement.

     NL starting pitcher Brad Penny of Miami struck out the trio of Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Jeter and David Ortiz in the top of the first inning at beautiful PNC Park in Pittsburgh. With the two top closers in MLB history pitching, the AL stung Trevor Hoffman of San Diego to take a 3-2 lead in 2006. Maraino Rivera, the all-time saves leader and a certain Hall of Famer, shut down the NL to preserve the win.

     With Suzuki more than redeeming himself and hitting the only inside-the-park home run in ASG history, the AL triumphed in 2007 at AT&T Park, San Francisco's replacement for Candlestick Park.

      President Barack Obama was present to throw out the first pitch at the newest incarnation of Busch Stadium in St. Louis. He joined Joe Buck and Tim Mc Carver on the FOX Network's coverage for the 2nd inning. This was the fastest ASG, lasting 2 hours and 31 minutes in a 4-3 AL victory, giving the New York Yankees home field advantage in the 2009 World Series.

      On July 13, 2010, a moment of silence was held for George Steinbrenner, the mercurial owner of the New York Yankees, who had died earlier that day. The NL won the game in Anaheim, giving the NL the home field for the first time since 2001. AL manager Joe Girardi created a bit of controversy by not pinch hitting A-Rod in the last gasp for the AL. This followed Girardi not removing the slower David Ortiz for a pinch runner earlier in the ninth inning--Ortiz was thrown out attempting to advance after a base hit.

     A 5 run outburst off of Justin Verlander, then the Tigers' ace, led to an NL 8-0 victory in 2012 in Kansas City. San Francisco's Melky Cabrera was named M.V.P.; later in his career, Cabrera would be suspended for a substance abuse violation.

     2013 featured Mariano Rivera's last appearance in an All Star Game. When he jogged towards the mound in the 8th inning at Citi Field, home to the crosstown rival Mets, Rivera received a long and loud standing ovation from the crowd and from the players on both teams. He was named M.V.P.

     At Target Field in Minneapolis, the AL took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st on the strength of  a Derek Jeter double, a triple by 2014 game M.V.P. Mike Trout and a home run by Miguel Cabrera. All three will head to the Hall of Fame, Jeter soon and Trout and Cabrera upon retirement.

     Pete Rose, a cherished member of the Cincinnati Reds' World Champions in the 1970's and the all-time MLB hits leader as well a 13 time All Star with the Reds, and who had been banned from baseball for gambling, was permitted to participate in the Cincinnati festivities in 2015. Alongside former teammates Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Barry Larkin, Rose received a standing ovation from his hometown fans. In the game, Mike Trout again was named theM.V.P., having led off the 2015 game with a homer and scoring two 2 runs while reaching base 3 times.

     Another standing ovation was given in 2016, this time to "Big Papi," David Ortiz, the Red Sox slugger. The AL won the contest 4-2, with Eric Hosmer of Kansas City garnering M.V.P. honors.

     In case you forgot it, Seattle's Robinson Cano hit a 10th inning homer to win last year's game in Miami. Cano is now suspended by MLB for using a banned substance.

     So that is the lengthy recollection of the All Star games I have any memory of.  Except for two: 1997 and 2008.

     In 1977, I was in the upper left field stands at the refurbished Yankee Stadium. Having watched the NL batting practice prior to the game and seeing Greg Luzinski of Philadelphia nearly hit a ball over the wall behind the left field bleachers, I was in a festive mood. The pageantry on the field along with the introductions of the players was everything I enjoyed watching on TV, yet even better. Rachel Robinson, the widow of Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier, threw out the first pitch. I cheered Yankees' Willie Randolph, Thurman Munson, Greg Nettles, Rich (Goose) Gossage, Sparky Lyle and Reggie Jackson and booed former Met Tom Seaver as loudly as the din inside the Stadium would allow. The AL had 6 Hall of Famers in the starting lineup. Yet it was another Hall of Famer, the NL's Joe Morgan, who swatted Jim Palmer's sixth pitch into the short right field stands. Palmer surrendered two more homers, a 2 run shot to Luzinski and a solo homer from the Dodgers' Steve Garvey. Seaver was roughed up by the AL, to the delight of Yankees fans. Although the NL won 7-5, it was a thrill of lifetime.

     Until 2008, when the All Stars came to the old Yankee Stadium for the last time. Through a friend, my son and I secured 2 precious seats in the second row behind the AL dugout, directly behind Al Roker of NBC and his wife, Deborah Roberts, of ABC. I literally could reach out to the field and touch someone. Jeter, A-Rod entered the field and returned to the dugout right in front of me. I could hear some of the comments that the AL players were making. Al and Deborah asked some questions about strategy which I answered. The first pitch was thrown simultaneously by Yankees Hall of Famers Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson and Goose Gossage. Starters for the AL took their positions flanked by the 49 living Hall of Fame members, each lined up at their positions, with a Stealth Bomber fly over. Sheryl Crow performed the Star-Spangled Banner. There was Chipper Jones from the Atlanta Braves; Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, Chase Utley of the Phillies and David Wright of the Mets on the NL squad. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Mark Texieira and A-Rod were my Yankees; Joe Maurer of the Twins; David Ortiz, Kevin Youklis, Jonathan Paplebon, Manny Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia from Boston (all booed vociferously). Josh Hamilton, who put on a great performance in the Home Run Derby with a round of 28 homers only to peter out and lose the title to Justin Morneau of the Twins; and Ichiro (that's how good he was--he only needed a first name reference) added to the luster of the AL team.

     The game was dubbed maybe the best ASG ever. It lasted 4 hours and 45 minutes, prompting Derek Jeter to remark that ..."the Stadium didn't want it to end." Because of work and train schedules, we left at nearly 12:30 a.m. on July 15th. The AL won in the 15th inning as I was on a train in New Jersey, heading home from the game of my life. I may have been a zombie in court on so little sleep, but I had an ear-to-ear grin on my face and floated through the day--as well I should.

     I know that I wrote a tome about the MLB All-Star Game. Know that I couldn't help myself. I am still a child inside an adult's body when it comes to the Mid-Summer Classic. I could recount even more highlights which happened before I became enthralled with this event, but it is truly unnecessary.

     Hopefully, you started out with the Home Run Derby on Monday. It was a great prelude to the next day's action. Kudos to Kyle Schwarber, Rhys Hopkins, Max Muncy and Bryce Harper. Harper won 19-18 over the Cubs' Schwarber in an epic battle. Bryce's dad pitched to him; the Nationals' fans exuberantly cheered him to the victory.

     If this was a portend of things go come, then don't miss the pomp and circumstance involved with the game itself. Especially in our Nation's Capital. After all, it is the MLB All-Star Game. Unlike any others.

Baseball at mid-season

     Baseball has passed the midpoint for its 2018 campaign. All 30 of the teams have played more than 81 games. So it is a good time to review what has happened thus far.

     In the American League, the Division leaders are Boston, Cleveland and Houston. New York has been in and out of first place, fighting with the Red Sox for A.L. East supremacy. Cleveland has the lead to itself in the A.L. Central, the only team surpassing .500. In the West, it is a dogfight between the defending World Champion Astros and the surprising Seattle Mariners.  No other teams are really close to contesting for a Division crown at this juncture.

     The National League leaders are the very talented Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies in the East, two young and hungry teams; Milwaukee and Chicago are neck and neck in the Central with St. Louis looming in the distance; and the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers have both survived cold snaps and have run up winning streaks in the West, as they are being pursued by the Colorado Rockies (3.5 Games Behind) and the San Francisco Giants (4.5 GB) in MLB's most competitive Division.

     Dominating other teams with hitting and pitching, it is no wonder that the Red Sox have charged to a 61-29 record. Of their two M.V.P. candidates, Mookie Betts is having an exceptional year. Betts has a .343 batting average, smacking 22 homers, accumulating 44 R.B.I.'s with an O.B.P. (on base percentage) of .433, a slugging percentage of .679, and an O.P.S. (on base plus slugging) of 1.112. Pretty awesome.

     Yet I believe that DH J.D. Martinez is more valuable to Boston. Martinez is batting .329, has hit 27 homers, driven in 74 runners with a slugging percentage of .646, and his O.P.S. is at 1.000. Betts gets on base, but its is those HR and R.B.I. totals which make Martinez, in my eyes, a slight bit more valuable.

     Boston's pitching is underrated in comparison to the Houston Astros staff. Their 4 starters all have at least 9 wins. Rick Porcello is 10-3 as is Eduardo Rodriguez. Chris Sale is 9-4 and David Price is still trying to find himself, as evidenced by his hitting 3 Kansas City batters in an inning last night.

     I look at Rodriguez's statistics and see that in 93.2 innings he has struck out 100, walked only 29. Very nice stats. But I look at Chris Sale, the lanky lefty who has fanned 176 in 122.0 innings, given up 30 walks and has a 2.39 E.R.A. As always, he is one of the top A.L. pitchers.

     Two relievers stand out for Boston. Closer Craig Kimbrel has 26 saves, has struck out 52 and owns a 2.02 E.R.A. Bespectacled set up man Joe Kelly, with the high 90's fastball and a mean streak on the mound, has 17 holds. Impressive.

     New York's starting staff does not match the numbers that Boston's staff possesses. The Yankees do, however, have the best pitcher not named Justin Verlander or Corey Kluber. Luis Severino is 14-2 with 142 K's and a dazzling 2.12 E.R.A. C.C. Sabathia, while only 6-3 with a 3.02 E.R.A., has contributed mightily for the Bombers. With the return of Masahiro Tanaka on Tuesday in Baltimore, the Yankees top 3 will be back. Questions loom as to the enigmatic Sonny Gray (5-7, 5.85 E.R.A.) and a pair of rookies filling out the starting five.

     What is indisputable is the relief corps for New York. Led by closer Aroldis Chapman, with his 100+ m.p.h. fastballs and a devastating slider, he has 24 saves, 66 punch outs in 38.0 innings along with a 1.42 E.R.A. He also has L knee tendinitis, which flared up yesterday in Toronto, bringing his durability into question.

     Dellin Betances appears to be back to his rookie year form. He has more strikeouts than Chapman (68), has reduced his walks (17), has 13 holds and is pitching to a 2.56 E.R.A. Chad Green has 11 holds and a 1.96 E.R.A. Even if David Robertson is a bit inconsistent and Chasen Shreve is giving up too many homers, the Yankees pen has Jonathan Holder and Adam Warren helping out as needed, making the Yankees very formidable for the post-season.

     We know that the Bronx Bombers have lived up to their nickname by swatting 147 home runs thus far. While Aaron Judge has hit 25 homers and driven in 58 runs along with a .277 BA, 62 walks and a .970 O.P.S., he has struck out 119 times, Fellow slugger Giancarlo Stanton has walloped 21 homer to go with 51 R.B.I., a .265 BA, and like Judge, 119 strikeouts.

     It is two rookies and a centerfielder who make the engine run for New York. Miguel Andujar, the third baseman, has hit .280 with 25 doubles and 12 homers. Gleyber Torres, now on the 10 day DL with right hip problems, merely has a .294 BA with 15 homers, 42 R.B.I., a .555 SLG and .905 O.P.S., making him a very viable Rookie of the Year candidate. Plus switch hitting centerfielder Aaron Hicks is having a career year with his 16 homers.

     If New York can get first baseman Greg Byrd rolling beyond his .200 BA, if injured catcher Gary Sanchez can regain his hitting prowess as one of the top MLB catchers and Sonny Gray can straighten himself out, the Yankees will be right there at the end of the season, primed for the playoffs.

     So let's talk about the Houston Astros. There is only one place to begin--with the diminutive hitting machine playing second base--Jose Altuve. He is merely hitting .339 in 357 AB, while striking out only 49 times. Up there with Altuve is Yuli Guriel, batting .336. Third baseman Alex Bregman is solid at .284, with 17 homers and 57 R.B.I. The Astros team batting average is .265, compared to their opponents hitting merely .209.  And this is without shortstop Carlos Correa performing at his usually stellar level.

     The vaunted Astros' staff is led by Justin Verlander.  Verlander has cooled from his torrid start, but still has a 9-4 record, a 2.15 E.R.A. with 154 K's and allowing only 24 walks in 125.1 innings. Gerrit Cole is 9-2 with a 2.70 E.R.A. plus 158 K. Charlie Morton is 11-2, as he sports a 2.85 E.R.A. with 144 strikeouts. Lance Mc Cullers is 10-3 with a 3.41 E.R.A. and 118 K's.  They are scary good.

     Chris Devenski has a 1.78 E.R.A. with 17 holds. Collin Mc Hugh has pitched to a minuscule 0.88 E.R.A. in 28 games while Hector Rondon clocks in with a 1.44 E.R.A. in 34 appearances. No wonder opponents are only batting .209.

     Seattle still is only 3.5 GB, prominently led by Jean Segura with a .333 BA, Dee Gordon at .282 with 22 stolen bases, Nelson Cruz with 22 homers and 53 R.B.I. as the DH, and Kyle Seager adding 16 homers and 53 R.B.I.

     The Mariners top pitcher is James Paxton at 8-3 with a 154 K's and only 33 BB issued. Relievers James Pazos has 14 holds with a 1.74 E.R.A. and Edwin Diaz has 34 saves with a 2.35 E.R.A.

     Running away with the A.L. Central is Cleveland. Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber is 12-4 with 156 strikeouts and a 2.49 E.R.A. And this is without Andrew Miller in the bullpen to blow away hitters.

     Indians' hitters are the big deal with this team. Michael Brantley leads with a .310 average along with 11 homers and 49 R.B.I. Francisco Lindor is at .301, with 23 homers and 56 R.B.I. Jose Ramirez is batting .293, with 24 homers, 59 R.B.I., a .595 SLG and a .991 O.P.S. Edwin Encarnacion contributes as the DH with 20 homers and 62 R.B.I., even with a paltry .227 average. The Tribe will be a tough series for whomever they draw in the playoffs.

     Arizona is ahead in the N.L. West by one game over the Dodgers. The D-backs go as far as Paul Goldschmidt takes them. He started off in a slump but has righted himself with a .277 average, 20 homers, 51 R.B.I. and a .923 O.P.S. David Peralta has a .292 BA with 15 homers and 49 R.B.I. in support of Goldschmidt.

     Patrick Corbin is 6-3 on the mound for Arizona with a 3.05 E.R.A. and 140 strikeouts. Zack Greinke is 9-5 with a 3.36 E.R.A. and is batting .281 with 3 walks, 4 R.B.I. and only 8 strikeouts in his plate appearances. Relievers Archie Bradley (23 holds, 1.93 E.R.A.), Andrew Chafin (10 holds, 1.72 E.R.A. and T,J, Mc Farland  (1.95 E.R.A. in 32 games) make Arizona quite strong.

     The Dodgers' pitching is not their strength this season. Future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw has been injured, pitching to a 2-4 record, with a 2.86 E.R.A. but only 65 K's in 63.0 innings. Ross Stripling is 7-2 with a 2.22 E.R.A., with 103 K's while issuing only 13 walks. Closer Kenley Jansen has 24 saves and a 2.34 E.R.A.

     Two Dodgers' sluggers lead this team. Retread Matt Kemp, discarded by Atlanta, is hitting .317 with 15 home runs and 57 R.B.I. along with a .905 O.P.S. Max Muncy, who came out of nowhere, is hitting .270, with 20 homers and only 38 R.B.I. However, he has a .617 slugging percentage and an amazing 1.027 O.P.S.

     Neither team is impressive. Colorado and San Francisco can make runs at both in the second half if they pick up their level of play just slightly. Colorado is led by third baseman Nolan Arenado with a .306 BA, 22 homers and 63 R.B.I., augmented by Gerardo Parra, who is hitting at .303. Relievers Wade Davis with 25 saves and Adam Ottavino with 17 holds and a 1.73 E.R.A. are the top Rockies' pitchers in Coors Field, where, surprisingly, Colorado is only 18-22.

     The Giants offense is superb even if perennial All Stars Andrew Mc Cutcheon and Evan Longoria are having down seasons. Brandon Belt hits at a .296 clip with 13 homers and 41 R.B.I. Brandon Crawford is squarely at .300. And Buster Posey is solid at .290. If they can get some other hitters untracked and Madison Bumgarner regains his unhittable form. San Francisco will have a say as to who emerges from the N.L. West.
   
     Milwaukee has Lorenzo Cain at .291, Christian Yelich at .282 and Jesus Aguilar leading the way with his .303 average along with 29 homers and 59 R.B.I.

     Brewers' pitching is not really that good. Reliever Jeremy Jeffries has 12 holds and a 1.05 E.R.A. Fellow bullpen mate Josh Hader has 14 holds and a 1.21 E.R.A.

     The Cubs forte is hitting. Alberto Almora, Jr. is hitting .324. Ben Zobrist has a .296 average. At .294 with 17 hoers and 63 R.B.I. is Javier Baez. Wilson Contreras is batting .287 and Addison Russell is at .282. Oft injured Kris Bryant has hit .280 with only 9 homers and 36 R.B.I. Fellow sluggers Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber have .248 batting averages with Rizzo striking 12 homers and driving in 59 runs and Schwarber adding 17 homers but only 39 R.B.I.

     Lefty Jon Lester stars at 11-2 with a 2.25 E.R.A. Brandon Morrow has saved 20 games with a 1.35 E.R.A.

     The question is whether the Cubs can overtake the Brewers, and does either squad have what it takes to get past the first round or the Wild Card?

     Atlanta and Philadelphia are the two surprise co-leaders in the N.L East. Washington is only a .500 team. Max Scherzer may lead the staff with an 11-5 record, 2.33 E.R.A., 177 K's and only 32 walks.  Unfortunately, Bryce Harper is mired at a .221 average, despite his 21 homers and 59 R.B.I. being enough to secure a starting berth on the N.L. All-Star  team in next week's game in D.C. The Mets are atrocious, losing outfielder Yonis Cespedes and pitcher Noah Sydergaard to injury and having bad seasons from Jay Bruce, Michael Conforto and Todd Frazier.

     Meanwhile, the Braves are a real threat in the National League. Nick Markakis shines with a .324 BA, 59 R.B.I. and 40 K's in 346 plate appearances to go along with his rocket arm. Freddie Freeman is a .310 masher with 16 homers, 58 R.B.I. and a .938 O.P.S. Ozzie Albies adds a .281 average, 18 homers and 50 R.B.I. and catcher Kurt Suzuki has been invaluable with his .281 BA. Add 18 year old rookie phenom Ronald Acuna, Jr. to that potent lineup and it  clear why the Braves have vaulted to the top of the N.L. East.

     Aaron Nola leads the Phillies with an 11-2 mark, 2.41 E.R.A. and has struck out 116 batters. Seranthony Dominguez has 10 holds and a 1.82 E.R.A. and Edubray Ramos has been very effective in 34 games, with a 1.21 E.R.A.

     Philadelphia batters are led by Obdubel Herrera with 15 homers and 51 R.B.I., Makiel Franco and Rhys Hopkins.

     It will be a matter of which team can withstand the pressure in the second half of the season and whose younger players rise to the occasion. Both are exciting teams to watch.

     In researching this piece, I had to do due diligence and look up Mike Trout's numbers. Hitting .312 with 25 homers and 50 R.B.I., he has accumulated a.455 O.B.P., .630. SLG and a whopping 1.085 O.P.S.. Which once more establishes Trout as the premier player in the game. He might win the M.V.P. on a mediocre Angels team that is .500 right now.

     Also excelling on a bad team is Manny Machado. Now playing shortstop, Machado has put up a .310 batting average, 21 homers. 60 R.B.I., a .557 SLG and a .936 O.P.S. Wonderful superstar numbers destined to get him traded this year as the woeful 24-64 Orioles seek to rebuild...again.

     For all you Bartolo Colon fans, he weighs in at 5-6 with a 4.65 E.R.A., 59 strikeouts and only 15 walks issued in 100.2 innings. Somebody should sign this guy up for another season! He may play longer than Tom Brady wants to!!

     I found the Cincinnati Reds to be interesting. The Reds have Scooter Gennett, who paces the N.L with a .329 average and 14 homers with 58 R.B.I. This guy is really intense. Against the Cubs on Friday afternoon, with the wind blowing steadily in from left field, he was angry when he hit a ball hard towards the left field stands which was caught on the warning track. He wants to win.

     The Reds have offense. In addition to Scooter, Eugenio Suarez is hitting .312 with 18 home runs and 66 R.B.I. plus a .982 O.P.S. Their star, Joey Votto, is at .296, but only with 8 homers and 44 R.B.I. The team batting average is .257; the opponents are hitting at .263. This is why Cincinnati has a 39-50 record.

     Managerial kudos for the National League go to rookie Gabe Kapler in Philadelphia; Brian Snitker in Atlanta; Torey Lovullo for keeping the D-backs from falling apart; ditto for Joe Madden with the Cubs; Bud Black has Colorado playing solid baseball; Dave Roberts, who righted the ship in LA; perennial Bruce Bochy thrives in San Francisco; Craig Counsell is doing well in Milwaukee; and Mike Matheny is keeping an average Cardinals team in the hunt.

     American League nods go to managers Alex Cora in Boston; Aaron Boone of the Yankees for the way he has handled his team's injuries (albeit he does have Giancarlo Stanton added to his lineup, a luxury which Joe Girardi did not have); Kevin Cash of Tampa Bay for being so innovative with his relievers as starters and getting the Rays to .500; Terry Francona of Cleveland because he is just so good; A.J Hinch in Houston; Bob Melvin of Oakland, who has the A's 9 games above .500; and Scott Servais of Seattle who is helping the undermanned Mariners win.

     Candidates for being fired include Jim Riggleman in Cincinnati; Don Mattingly for woeful Miami; first year manager Mickey Callaway of the Mets; Clint Hurdle of the Pirates; Andy Green in San Diego; Dave Martinez of the Nationals; Buck Showalter in Baltimore (I cannot fathom how he must feel with such pervasive losing); Rick Renteria of the White Sox; Ron Gardenhire in Detroit (who is helpless without Miguel Cabrera); Ned Yost of the KC Royals, who won the World Series in 2015; Paul Molitor in Minnesota (they made the playoffs last season); Jeff Bannister in Texas; and John Gibbons in Toronto.

     Special consideration must be given to Mike Scioscia in Anaheim, in his 18th season. Even with Mike Trout having an unbelievable year, the 2X AL Manager of the Year and World Series champion way back in 2002, 59 year old former Dodgers' catcher needs to move on. Scioscia's 1628-1404 overall record is very credible. His lack of steering Angels' teams into the post-season and his 21-27 record there isn't sufficient for him to stay, especially with this being his last season under contract with the Halos. I think he would make an excellent addition to any TV booth.

     My final point is this--with so many really good teams like Houston, Boston and the Yankees, there are some pretty bad teams in this MLB season. Miami, Kansas City, Baltimore. Chicago White Sox, the Mets and San Diego all could lose 100 games.

     Rhetorically, where is the competitive balance? Will there be enough excitement throughout MLB this season to keep people's attention in more than maybe 10 cities? Or will those 10 or maybe one or two more teams be sufficient to keep the nation tuned into baseball instead of waiting for the NFL pre-season to begin?

     A good time to revisit these issues will be in September. Right in the midst of pro football and college football.

Happy July 4th, America

     This weekend is HOT!! It is the beginning of July and the water in swimming pools might become acceptable, now that temperatures have soared. The Atlantic Ocean water temperature is near or above 70 degrees in many locales. July 4 is approaching--our nation's 228th birthday celebration.

     There will be fireworks. Whether it is local towns or galas like in New York courtesy of Macy's or at the Capitol in D.C., the significance is the same. We Americans love to commemorate our country's birth with a blast and barbecues. One thing for sure, we know how to hold a grand party when the time is right for one. Or even when it isn't.

     There will be sports galore. Wimbledon starts this week. Rafael Nadal, fresh off his vanquishing the field at the French Open, will have his sights set on a second straight major title in 2018. Roger Federer, top seed in the tournament and second in the ATP rankings, will try to stop the Nadal machine if he, or anyone else, is capable of such a feat.

     Federer is rested, having skipped the two weeks in Paris. Will he be showing any rust from his layoff? And will his age be a factor--when will Roger Federer start acting like he is nearer to retirement than his 25th birthday?

     What about Andy Murray? The British favourite, a champion of the London fortnight, will have heavy pressure on him to win the men's crown again. But Murray still is not right from a hip injury which ultimately reared surgery. I doubted that he would be a factor, and late on Sunday, Murray withdrew from the tournament.

     Novak Djokovic is another former no. 1 ranked player who is trying to regain his form (and swagger). Although Djokovic has shown flashes of his prior brilliance, he, like Murray, is older and not a threat to win Wimbledon. His no. 12 seed is an absolute gift.

     The winner may ultimately come from the remainder of the field. Marin Cilic, Juan Martin del Potro and Dominic Thiem all seem poised to make a splash on grass. Unless Nadal and Federer demonstrate why they are among the all-time greats and win the trophy one more time.

     On the women's side, is it time for Sloane Stephens, the no. 4 seed, or Madison Keys, the no. 10 seed, to win it all? Is no. 1 seed Simona Halep at the top of her game? Why does the All England Club have Caroline Wozniacki as the no. 2 seed when she isn't of championship mettle?

     Let's also give a shout out to sentimentality with the no. 10 ranking to Venus Williams, who will be lucky to survive the first week; her sister, Serena, still recovering from a pectoral muscle issue which forced her to the sidelines in France, is at no. 23; and Maria Sharapova, who comes in at no. 24 when she has shown us very little to be positive about.

     The 2018 Wimbledon showdown will be rife with upsets on both the men's and women's draws. There will be rain, but at least Centre Court will be covered. And for the British aristocracy and wannabes, there will be strawberries and cream. Plus some royalty sightings.

     Speaking of royalty, Lebron James has opted out of his contract with Cleveland. His market was believed to be with the Lakers, the Sixers, maybe Boston and a return to Cleveland. Houston and Oklahoma City became  non-players for his services when they exceeded the luxury tax significantly.

     A lot supposedly depended on the Kawhai Leonard situation as far as James' next stop is.  As much as San Antonio has attempted to repair the damage from comment by management and players like Tony Parker about playing with the quad injury that Leonard suffered, pundits swore that he was destined to arrive in Los Angeles with the Lakers, and if not there, then with Boston or Philadelphia.

     I liked the speculation that James was headed to speak with the Lakers when he arrived at Van Nuys Airport on a private jet after his Caribbean vacation. Coupled with his son enrolling in a California school to play basketball, these are supposed hints as to his being headed straight to Magic Johnson and the Lakers. Except that Lebron lives in LA in the off season.

     At least it was believed that James did not want his free agency to linger too long. Which could be why many experts thought he would take a 1 year deal in Cleveland and start the process over again next off season. Unless the lure of the palm trees and the warm California breezes sprinkled with a lot of bucks is what James is about...to the tune of 4 years and $154 million.

     Meanwhile, the Bay Area, the Warriors are signing Coach Steve Kerr to a very sweet deal and have found a way to retain free agent Kevin Durant on a 1 year deal with a player option for a second season. Plus they may find a big man and another shooting guard to augment their championship core. It is nice to be in their shoes...again...even with a new challenge lurking in Southern California.

     One hockey note--Islanders center John Tavares inked a free agent contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs for 5 years and $55 million. New Islanders Head Coach must be wondering if he really made the right choice abandoning the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals for the money that New York waived at him.

     The World Cup is in its knockout phase. Argentina went home on Saturday. Portugal too. Germany didn't even make it that far. Brazil is still alive. France, Croatia, Sweden, Spain and upstart Uruguay seemed to be pretty potent. Denmark, Colombia and Belgium all can make it to the finals. It is a wide open World Cup. Until Vladimir Putin has his hackers get Russia into the championship game. Unlikely, but then again, who knows? After Sunday, Russia defeated Spain on penalty kicks and Denmark was sent packing.

     The Yankees and Red Sox finished their series in New York on Sunday night. Both have put up lopsided wins thus far. The only certainty from this weekend is that one team will emerge with a 2-1 advantage. Should Boston win, the 1 1/2 game lead is far from insurmountable. Should the Yankees prevail, then a 1/2 game lead is nothing. It appears that the Yankees home run machine and Luis Severino will make the series end in favor of the Bombers.

     Both teams end the season in Fenway Park. Those games will determine who wins the AL East and who has the one game knockout in the Wild Card. New York needs some more pitching and has plenty of prospects to trade for it; Sonny Gray was putrid on Saturday night. Boston has some injured players who might make an impact later in the season.

     The Yankees reach the halfway mark tonight with at least 53 wins. Two teams threatening to rack up 105 regular season wins. Is this good for baseball, or are the rivals going to wear themselves out and the Astros, with their vaunted pitching, will repeat as champs? Plenty to think about on July 1.

     Returning to July 4th, there will be 15 MLB games on tap. There are some good inter league matchups with the Red Sox hosted by the Nationals and the NL East front-running Atlanta Braves visiting the Yankees. San Diego plays at Oakland. Houston is in Arlington to play the Rangers in an AL Central pairing.

     It is what is not happening on July 4th which has become the norm on this holiday as well as Memorial Day and Labor Day. No doubleheaders. Huge crowds were always the case when there was  a July 4th twin bill. I thought it was a great way to traditionally celebrate major dates in our calendar.

     Too much money can be made on one game to warrant losing that revenue if there was a doubleheader. Call it greed or simply escalating salaries (today is the annual payout by the New York Mets to former slugger Bobby Bonilla of $1,193,248.20 in deferred money--which will continue through 2035--an incredible contract only a team like the Mets could so bungle) or maybe that the teams don't travel by train anymore, but there is no outcry to restore what was inexorably sacred. Such a shame.

     So enjoy the 4th and he fireworks. have a second hamburger, another helping of potato salad and a healthy slice of apple pie. Watch the games of our choice on local TV, ESPN or MLB Network. And shed a tear for the demise of an American tradition on this July 4th holiday with the loss of the doubleheader.

     I wonder what Connie Mack, Casey Stengel and the Babe would think?