The idea that DeMarcus Cousins suffered an ACL tear this week in a pickup game in Las Vegas saddened me but did not surprise me. I am sad for all of the rehab work and effort he gave to come back from his Achilles tendon tear, just to have the opportunity to play in the regular season with the Golden State Warriors. Then in the playoffs, he went down in the first series with a left quadriceps injury but somehow made it back to play some meaningful minutes for the Warriors. Clearly, Cousins was not back to form, but his desire to play was strong.
Only to have a devastating non-contact injury to his knee. He is star-crossed. Cousins had another shot at redemption, with a Los Angeles Lakers team which some believe could win the NBA title. Now he sits on the sidelines, once more going through the drudgery of physical therapy. And not playing the game he loves and he was so good at.
Some players are injury-prone. Evidently Cousins is one of them. So skilled, yet with a body that cannot withstand the rigors of professional basketball which is now fast-paced and demands quickness and agility from big bodies like him. Except that his body could not adapt to that kind of game and has cost him money, fame and success along with happiness.
I wish him well, like I do Kevin Durant, who is rehabbing from his Achilles tendon surgery earlier this year. I do send this word of caution to KD—see what happened to you when you came back too early in the NBA Finals and see what price Cousins has paid with the plethora of nasty injuries he has suffered. Take your time, KD. Get yourself to a place where you, your doctor, your physical therapist and the head trainer for the Nets all are in agreement that you can return to the court without causing a related injury to occur. Otherwise, you will become another disheartening story, like that of DeMarcus Cousins, who once was a star.
I have been bombarded by ticket reps from the New Jersey Devils over the summer. Phone calls, emails, over and over again. I emailed a response to one rep that I attend Devils away games and that I had his info. Only to now be harassed by a woman rep from the Devils. This blitz coincides with a marketing campaign of the youth of the Devils.
I wish the Devils management good luck. Devils fans tend not to come to game until football season ends in New York/New Jersey. Which could be sooner than later, despite the promising prognostications emanating from East Rutherford and Florham Park.
The story in the media centered around the QB controversy fans and the media have created regarding Eli Manning and his drafted successor, Daniel Jones. Team owner John Mara tried to squelch the noise about playing Jones. He said this is Eli’s team and he expects that Manning will play all 16 games. Tell that to the Giants faithful who want to win now, or at least endure the newness of Jones enough to give them hope—which of course could easily be false hope.
This story will not die unless Manning takes the team on an unexpected trip to the Super Bowl. Anything less, and the jackals will be howling for change. Be careful for what you ask for, Giants fans. Not all of the first year QB’s are successful—especially when they are surrounded by a teams with missing pieces. Be patient. Let management put together a better team for next season.
In the meantime, savor what you have had with Eli Manning. He has been the best Giants QB I have seen in my lifetime. Eli deserves accolades, not boos. If he struggles, then accept that this will be the last he plays in Giants blue. It has been one heck of a run. A lot better than what has been for the co-tenants in Met Life Stadium.
Pressure is great for second year QB Sam Darnold to move way beyond his uneven rookie performance. Jets fans have been full of frustration for years. One trip to the Super Bowl in a season which was 50 years ago. Serviceable QB’s since then, none of which have come close to team icon, Joe Willie Namath. Those who bleed Green and White hate another season of losing, only partially salvaged by the Giants doing as bad, if not worse.
New York beat Atlanta on the road on Thursday night in their only travel-to road exhibition game. The 22-10 final score was the result of the second and third teams of the Jets performing better than the lower tier players of the Falcons. At the half, Atlanta was ahead 10-6.
Again, the performances and outcomes of exhibition games are mostly meaningless unless there is a competition for a spot on the roster, a starting player suffers a season-ending injury or to decide who starts at a certain position. I don’t care how Darnold or the regulars did against the Falcons, nor will I particularly be concerned how the Jets and the core players do versus New Orleans and Philadelphia in the final two pre-season affairs. The best thing is that the team does not have to travel any further than from team headquarters in Florham Park to the Meadowlands. As long as no more essential players gets hurt, I want the team to be focused and ready when the bell rings on September 8 when AFC East rival Buffalo comes to Met Life Stadium.
Aaron Judge. Oh, Aaron Judge. Where have you gone? There is this guy wearing number 99 in Yankees pinstripes who looks a lot like you. He bats right-handed, has a great throwing arm, swings hard and faces some 3-2 counts.
However, this guy in the Yankees uniform does not hit homers. He swings and misses or fouls off balls that he used to hit for monster shots. Or he takes strikes which are hittable and is fooled too many times by very average pitchers—pitchers which his teammates club repeatedly.
This guy in the uniform must be an imposter. He looks more like Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles. Davis hit a ton of home runs and was rewarded by Baltimore management with a mega contract.
Davis then went into a tailspin, hitting some homers, striking out a lot, being benched or pinch hit for, with a batting average well below .200.This season he set a MLB record for most consecutive at bats without a hit. It got so bad that Davis and his first year manager, Brandon Hyde, had an altercation inside of the dugout during a game this week at Yankee Stadium, which the cameras covered. This has been as near to a total collapse of a player and the Orioles cannot do anything to unload Davis and be rid of this problem.
Which brings me back to this purported version of Aaron Judge patrolling right field and at times being the DH. His throwing arm is intact, but has become a bit erratic, which never was the case. He is no longer making catches to rob opponents.
His at bats used to be a must see event. Now they are tragic, difficult to watch him go through the pitches and come up with nothing.
Is it physical? Perhaps his eyesight is off and no one has checked that. With the speeds that the baseballs travel and the breaking balls which are tantalizing if they seem near the strike zone, he isn’t sharp enough to hold off from swinging or not swinging at the right pitches.
Is it mechanical? Probably the way he is holding his hands is slowing down his bat speed and creating an uppercut swing which results in foul balls straight back because he is underneath the pitch by a fraction.
Or is it mental, the result of too much frustration from trying to be another individual or a tinkering with his style which has thrown off his confidence just enough. He seems to be muttering to himself during at bats, getting harder on himself for miscues in the field and even arguing a slight bit with the ball and strike calls from the umpires, who can be maddeningly inconsistent.
Whether it is mental, physical or mechanical, the fact is that Aaron Judge is not hitting and has dropped his average over 50 points during this very prolonged slump. With all of the injuries that New York has endured, it is problematic how the team will fare the rest of the way when the competition becomes steeper—like this weekend with Cleveland and then with the 9 game West Coast swing on the near horizon.
What is certain is that the Aaron Judge of 2017-18 must return to the Yankees lineup if the team is to have any legitimate chance of making the playoffs and going far into them. The way things look like right now, I believe it would be adding a lot with a resurgence of his power and leadership on the field. Without the likes of Luke Voit, Giancarlo Stanton and Edwin Encarnacion in the vaunted Yankees lineup, the absence of powerful bats in the Bronx is glaring. As good as Gary Sanchez has been this season when not hurt, he is still batting only .230. Didi Gregorius, D.J. LeMahieu and Gio Urshela cannot be the power hitters in the lineup without reinforcements.
The first and most critical reinforcement would be Aaron Judge. A return to his prior self would end all the speculation and make this team a legitimate championship contender.
However, if this is not a mirage and we are seeing the real Aaron Judge, it would be a shock to Yankees fans and a joy to fans around baseball who despise the New York Yankees. Certain future Hall of Fame status has been reduced to what if?
How tragic, because the kid really seems to be likable. Should this free fall continue, his status with the Yankees would be more problematic and he would be another flash in the pan. So sad, and it is a horrible sidelight to a terrific season for the team, despite the injuries.
Here’s rooting for you, Aaron Judge. Yankees fans are in your corner, at least for now.
Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox has become the fastest pitcher to attain 2,000 strikeouts for his career. Chris Sale has a 109-73 career record with a 3.03 E.R.A. He was 12-4 with the 2018 Boston Red Sox, sporting a 2.11 E.R.A. Only in 2013, when he was with a poor Chicago White Sox club, did Sale have a losing record. He was regarded as one of the best pitchers in the American League if not in all of baseball.
This season Chris Sale is 6-11 and has pitched to a 4.40 E.R.A. He is not pitching like Chris Sale. The 24 home runs Sale has allowed thus far equals his total in 2017 with Boston, having pitched 214.1 innings as opposed to his 147.1 innings pitched in 2019. He is only 3 homers away from his all-time high attained in 2016 while with the White Sox, with over 226 innings pitched that season.
The down year Sale is having at age 30 is attributable to his innings pitched and his velocity. He has spent time on the IL for shoulder inflammation and back problems related to the stress he puts on himself when throwing at 97-98 m.p.h. Consequently, his velocity dipped below 90 m.p.h., making Sale very hittable.
Sale’s decline along with the below par seasons experienced by Rick Porcello, a Cy Young Award winner, David Price and the absence of Nathan Eovaldi in the rotation is a key factor as to why the Red Sox, who have a powerful hitting lineup, have faltered in 2019, making it more unlikely that they might even make the playoffs as a Wild Card. While Sale has pitched better of late, the question remains—how effective will he be this year and into the future?
Boston can go only so far with its superior hitting. Without significant contributions from the starting staff, the Red Sox are not going to contend. A lot of money has been committed to those starters and the expectations are for them to be the pitchers they were in prior years.
Thus the question remains—has Sale seen better days at age 30, and will he have to accept a different role as he continues what was a promising career? Or can he recapture the magic and pitch in dominating fashion as he had been doing up to this season?
Two other big names are showing major signs that the grind that placed them at the top is now taking its toll. Those two are Serena Williams and Tiger Woods. Two of the greatest, who are in the twilight of their careers.
Serena is dealing with nagging back injuries which have forced her to retire from two tournaments. Always gutsy, she is determined to get better in two weeks, in time for the U.S. Open.
Williams is nearing 38 year of age, and she has amassed one of the greatest if not the greatest career that women’s tennis has seen. The chase to catch one more elusive Grand Slam title drives her through the injuries, a return from a near-fatal episode in child birth and has made it a Holy Grail for her.
Tiger Woods has had surgeries for neck and back problems. He has had substance abuse and infidelity issues. Tiger Woods is 43 years old, and his ability to chase down the relative youngsters playing the pro tour is nearly impossible.
Which is why his win in April at The Masters defied logic. Because since then, Tiger Woods can hardly play golf, leaving a tournament or not making the cuts in the remaining majors this year. His tie for 31st after three rounds in this week’s tour event is extraordinary for someone with his handicaps. Unfortunately, it is merely average now. For Tiger Woods, who captivated the golfing world and beyond with his play from years ago, it portends reality that age and injuries have denied him the chance to become the greatest golfer, exceeding the legendary Jack Nicklaus in Slam wins.
What we are seeing from Tiger and Serena are mirages, ghosts of the past, struggling to find the groove one more time, to make one more signature statement as they near the end of incredible careers. With DeMarcus Cousins, Aaron Judge and Chris Sale, we are seeing careers falling apart due to injuries and durability. The latter three have had noteworthy careers, just not at the sustained levels of Williams and Woods.
It is the dimming of some shining stars which we are witnessing. This is the truth about sports—the unpredictability of success and the unpredictability of decline except when it is related to age. As with the Perseid Meteor Shower which has thrilled many this week, objects streak through the sky and, like that, they are gone. We root for the successes of those who shine, but we are saddened when the inevitable deterioration begins.
Such is the fragility of sports.
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