No Mention Of The Kardashians Here

Our family watches this reality show on Bravo titled Below Deck. It is an Andy Cohen production, centered around charters on yachts and observing the crew and the guests. Roy Oberson, Jr. was just on and Johnny Damon was on in an earlier season. 

It is trashy. It is inane. Boorish behavior abounds. Things go awry. Yet somehow each trip, Captain Sandy or Captain Lee navigates the waters and the crew performs despite the obstacles which beset them. 

Watching the New York Yankees resembles this kind of TV. Andy Cohen is the Brian Cashman of the show, assembling the parties for the high seas. Aaron Boone is the skipper whose job it is to make the trip happen and end satisfactorily. And the crew are the ballplayers who are out there, day after day, trying to perform to the best of their abilities, with some clearly better than others. 

My wife and I spent Friday afternoon into evening in Astoria, visiting our son and his partner. Our plans changed (and our son graciously changed his plans) when the traffic to return to New Jersey was so horrendous that we decided to wait until the clogged arteries opened before heading home. 

When we did leave Queens, our route took us onto the Major Deegan Expressway. Historical fact: William Francis Deegan was a Major in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the command of George Goethals, as well as a Democratic figure of some renown in the 1920’s. My mind wanders so much—I wondered if Goethals played bridge. Oy.

Anyway, I digress. While in the Bronx, the roadway takes drivers right past the vista of the new Yankee Stadium. It was all lit up, as the Bombers were hosting the Seattle Mariners in Game 2 of a fairly important four game series. 

I smiled and hoped for a quick trip across the George Washington Bridge, so I could see the end of the game. Why? Because suddenly, after being morose for so long, the Yankees have awakened from the coma they were in and are winning games. Watching Yankees baseball is once again fun and must see TV. 

In the last 27 games, the Yankees have the best record in MLB. Since the Boston debacle two weekends ago, the Yankees have played AL East leading Tampa Bay evenly, swept the Marlins, took 2 out of 3 from the woeful Baltimore Orioles, and won the first three games against the Mariners before suffering a shutout on Sunday.

While the Yankees have that new infusion of talent in Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo, there has been a series of events which would have throttled other teams but instead has worked to the Yankees advantage. In the past week plus, top starting pitcher Gerrit Cole and Joran Montgomery and starting catcher Gary Sanchez all have tested positive for COVID-19. Then a bombshell exploded on Sunday—Rizzo tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Plus All-Star reliever Aroldis Chapman, after a very shaky save on Thursday night, is suddenly on the 10 day IL with elbow tendonitis. Ditto starting pitcher Domingo German, who has rotator cuff soreness and is shut down. Starting third baseman Gio Urshela has a hamstring issue which landed him on the IL. Luke Voit, last year’s AL home run king, is back to replace Rizzo after rehabbing at Triple A. 

That’s a veritable who’s who of the Yankees. And remember this—Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Roghned Odor, DJ LeMahieu are now playing but they were either injured or contracted COVID. 

Yet the youngsters brought up each and every time have performed more than admirably. This week, the Yankees set a franchise record using pitchers in one game who were making their MLB debuts. One of them, Steven Ridings, had been a pitcher at Haverford College, a Centennial Conference rival of my alma mater, Franklin and Marshall College. In my day, the Haverford pitchers were hardly MLB caliber. Then again, they weren’t 6’6” at Haverford in my day, with a fastball that reached 100 m.p.h. (We didn’t use radar guns to clock pitches back then).

It was also apropos that injured and out of the year CF Aaron Hicks was on the bench during the homestead. He is the poster boy for all that went wrong with the team and why there is no recognizable every day centerfielder on the squad. 

I have said it before, and it bears repeating—this is a flawed squad. Chapman is not the same as he was at the beginning of the season. Same applies to Chad Green. Zach Britton is getting better, but he is not close to his previous form. Only Jonathan Loiasiga appears to be the real deal in the bullpen, and I believe he is the closer of the future—if not now.  

Judge and Stanton are streaky. Gallo may have hit a winning home run and he has some key hits, but he is a low average hitter. Rizzo had begun to tail off from his incredible start; he still brings so much to the game when he plays. His untimely loss will add even more frustration to a team that seemed on an upward arc. LeMahieu is showing signs of coming to life. Odor has performed very well filling in at third base and he smashed a home run on Saturday. Even Brett Gardner, in what must be the last year of his career—one which links him as the only remaining player from the 2009 World Champion team—hung in on Friday night to deliver the 11th inning game winner. 

The Yankees are doing what is needed to become part of the conversation. As we head through the dog days of August—apologies to those dogs that might be reading this blog—and into the stretch run, the Yankees are peaking as Boston and Oakland are sliding. Should this keep up, next week the New York Yankees might be leading the Wild Card standings.

How long that will last is a guess. Will Cole and Montgomery come back strong? And when? What about Rizzo and Urshela? How long might Gleyber Torres be out after leaving Sunday’s game? Can the bats keep it up? Are the rookies going to play like minor leaguers? How will the bullpen fare? Are Rays, Red Sox, A’s, Mariners, Angels and Blue Jays going to fold? 

So many questions. No answers to this puzzle right now. But it sure is exciting to watch. Which I did, from the time I was settled in after coming home from 

Queens until Gardener’s hit which led him being mobbed by his teammates. 

After the Mariners series ends, the Yankees head to KC for three. Then they bus to Dyersville, Iowa fr the Field of Dreams game versus the AL Central leaders, the Chicago White Sox, before finishing the series on Saturday and Sunday in Chicago. 

I think it is great that MLB came up with this novelty. A field with 10,000 capacity and lights has been constructed on the edge of a whole lot of corn stalks. The weather looks to be hot and clear for Thursday. The teams are going to wear throwback jerseys specially designed for the game. FOX will cover the spectacle. Roads are going to be closed (except to those who live nearby) and a whole array of events at the move set site and in town are on tap. And the game counts. Gotta love it. 

I switched from the YES Network to NBC for the Men’s Basketball Gold Medal game. I joined the telecast in time for the beginning of the third quarter. The US was leading France 54-49 at the half behind 21 points from Kevin Durant; Durant became the highest scoring American in Olympic history this week. 

Greg Popvich’s squad out performed the French team overall, but they had to sweat it out at the end of the contest to win 87-82. Who sunk his clutch free throws when the game was on the line? Kevin Durant, that’s who. 

Durant has collected three gold medals. He has been said to be the best American Olympic player ever. 

Would he have fit in on the 1992 Dream Team? Yes. But you are talking about Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippin, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, John Stockton, Chris Mullin and amateur Christian Laettner. 

Who exactly would he have replaced? Barkley was the leading scorer. Malone and Ewing were the top rebounders. Pippen led the team in assists. 

Did I mention the names Jordan, Bird and Johnson? Nope. He certainly would not have supplanted them. 

No, I see him taking playing time from David Robinson and Chris Mullin. That’s how talented the 1992 team was, stocked with all future Hall of Fame players. 

I am not diminishing Durant’s accomplishments as an Olympian. He probably is the best player in the world right now. If you wanted to ride the back of a player. For one game, it might be Durant. I would say that Giannis Antetokoumpo and Steph Curry are his rivals for that honor. 

Let’s be fair. This was not the top team the US could have fielded. Had Lebron James and Curry decided to play, Durant’s role in leading the team might have differed. Same thing if Kawhi Leonard had been healthy. Or if Brooklyn teammates Kyrie Irving and James Harden were on the roster. The dynamic of the team would have been completely different.

With the team that Popovich had constructed, minus the defections of Kevin Love and Bradley Beal, this was Durant’s team. They lost in exhibition games because Durant wasn’t in top form and he needed to assess and learn to play with his teammates. 

The opening loss to France wasn’t a fluke. That is a very talented team. If the two teams played best-of-seven series, it might have taken seven games to crown a winner. 

Durant did exactly what he needed to do to will his team to the gold medal. Taking the JV team to win the top honors is no small feat. 

He has been called a patriot. I agree. He wrapped himself in an American flag after the victory. It was meaningful to him—despite the titles he won at Golden State and despite the prior two gold medals he had earned. Bravo, KD.

Thus, it has been a week full of good TV viewing—at least for me. There was Ted Lasso, Episode 2 in Season 2. Reality TV mirroring sports on TV. Sports looking like reality TV. 

No mention of the Kardashians here.