Bits And Pieces Anew

There isn’t much on the sports landscape for me to dig my teeth into this week. So I will offer some comments as I see fit about a flurry of subjects.

Rafael Nadal. How could you not be rooting for the guy? It’s either him or Roger Federer that the real tennis fan can relate to. Not that Novak Djokovic isn’t pretty darn good. It’s simply that Rafa and Roger are gentlemen. Djokovic is more in line with the modern day, self-centered athlete who plays, let’s say, pro basketball or soccer in Europe. 

This isn’t like rooting for Tiger Woods. Even with the plethora of injuries Nadal has suffered more recently. What befell Tiger and his demons which has created a sympathetic maelstrom for him is a nice media story. Notwithstanding the  bad things that he has done, Tiger still generates so much positive for what he could do on a golf course. 

That kind of cheering extends to Serena Williams.  Her Wimbledon comeback was shattered in the first round. For all of Serena’s excellence, returning to form from injury and childbirth has been onerous and almost impossible. Yet the media and Americans root for their star based on her image, embellished by commercials and other events. We want to will her to the all-time record.

So when Rafa had to pull out of the Wimbledon semi-finals after sustaining an abdominal injury, much of the tennis world was crestfallen. Nadal and Djokovic were on a collision course for this year’s Gentlemen’s Singles title. 

It is more that that, however. The difference between Nadal and Djokovic is the difference between good and bad. It is  kind of like the good Christians on one side (the Nadal supporters) and the Antichrist on the other side (those who deign to root for Novak). It is the difference between openly cheering for a really good guy and holding you nose when Djokovic wins. Cheers versus a cacophony of boos. 

Will I be watching Wimbledon anymore? Nope. You can easily guess whose side I am on. And if that isn’t enough, Djokovic goes against Australian Nick Kyrgios, the Enfant terrible of men’s tennis, whose game is superb and his boorish behavior is not. I bet ESPN is relishing this. 

The debate has become more heated about who should be the AL M.V.P. as baseball has reached the halfway point of the season and is nearing the All-Star break. Is it Aaron Judge, who now has hit 30 home runs and driven in 64 runs—that 30 home runs before the All-Star Game has only been done by one other player—Ken Griffey, Jr. A pretty fair Hall of Fame player. 

Where would the Yankees be without Judge’s performance and leadership? Not with a record of 58-23 at the midway mark. Not leading the rest of the AL East by 14 games. 

But Judge does not do the pitching for New York. Gerrit Cole does. Luis Severino does. Nestor Cortes does. And Clint Holmes sports a fantastic E.R.A. in closing out games for the Yanks. 

Yes, you can look at the lowly Angels, as I hope to on Saturday, when I travel to Baltimore. You might ask why see the Angels this year? Because Fan X and I want to see two phenoms on the Halos—Mike Trout and Ohtani. 

Trout has the massive build and a couple of M.V.P. awards on his resume. A certain Hall of Fame inductee—even if he plays his entire career in Southern California and never sniffs the World Series. Trout is not having a Mike Trout-type of season, falling into prolonged slumps and not bashing homers like Judge or other lethal sluggers.

Then there is Ohtani. Yes, he is hitting a pedestrian .259. When he won his M.V.P. last season, he batted .257 for the year. 

What he does have is 18 home runs and 53 R.B.I. thus far in 301 plate appearances. He has drawn 37 walks and stolen 10 bases. Ohtani’s OPS is at .839. Very good stats. Not quite Judge stats, but very nice nonetheless. 

Remember this, Ohtani is a pitcher in the Angels regular rotation. In 14 games, he is 8-4 on a bad team, pitching to a 2.44 E.R.A. He has struck out 111 batters in 81 innings pitched, while walking only 20. He does lead in wild pitches with 10. 

Yet Ohtani is on a tear. He has pitched to an E.R.A. near 0.25 in his last 5 starts. On Wednesday he stuck out 10 Miami Marlins in 7 innings of 2 hit ball, while driving in the go-ahead run in a 5-2 road win for Los Angeles. 

These theoretical arguments are just that—theoretical. There is a whole half of a season to be played. A lot can happen—Judge is sitting out the first game of the Red Sox series in Boston because of a lower body injury. Will that be something marring his wonderful year—as injuries have previously kept his incredible talent off the field? Could Ohtani suddenly slump in the pitching department and his batting statistics not reach last year’s numbers?

Judge seems to have to hit at least 60 steroid-free home runs and lead the Yankees into the playoffs as the top seed to be assured of the M.V.P. award for 2022. Because of Ohtani. Is that fair? 

Baker Mayfield has been freed from purgatory. The Cleveland Browns sent him to Carolina for a fifth round draft pick. He should be so glad he is gone from that disaster of a franchise—they can compete with Daniel Snyder’s Washington Commodore for the dubious title of most badly run organization. 

Mayfield has talent. I think that he has been undervalued because of his terrible times in Ohio, under a system destined to fail. Now he get to compete with Sam Darnold, the former Jets QB, who is the incumbent in Carolina. 

As much as I root for Darnold, who was in his own purgatory in Florham Park and at Met Life Stadium, I can’t help but hope that Mayfield wins the starting job and has success. His commercials inside of the Cleveland stadium he called “home” were iconic. I wish some ad genius taps him for more in Charlotte. So we can see more Baker on the airwaves. 

As I stated before, Fan X will hightail it down Interstate 95 or I-295 if traffic in New Jersey is bad, to get us down to Oriole Park at Camden Yards in time for the 4:10 first pitch. We haven’t missed a first at bat yet. 

As much as it is tradition for us, I am reminded that this is the 30th anniversary of the opening of this majestic ballpark. The first of its kind, taking into account the surroundings (i.e. the B&O Warehouse past the right field bleachers, a link the the rail yards which once stood on the spot where the stadium resides) and the location, near the heart of downtown Baltimore. 

The stadium has weathered time very well. The Orioles did move the fences back in left field to reduce the home runs from the opposition—I will miss that part of intimacy which the stadium presented. 

Oriole Park is one of my favorites. I was reminded of another of my faves this week when the Yankees visited PNC Park to play the Pirates. I still think that the view from the stands into the downtown area of Pittsburgh is the most breathtaking scene in baseball. And I love the pizza from Broadway Pizza beyond the left field stands. So Pittsburgh.

The O’s are giving away orange Hawaiian shirts on Saturday. This would be our second one. Our problems is this—the weather forecast calls for 100% chance of rain. We can only cross our fingers and toes that the showers end by 4:00 and the field isn’t too soggy. Which might mean that Ohtani and Trout might not even play so as not to risk injury. Ugh. 

I leave you with this. The Pirates come calling for an inter league scrum to begin the first week in August. Box seat ticket prices will be rolled back to 1992 prices—$18.00. Wow. Even I was intrigued by that. Never in New York.

There you have it, loyal readers. Some bits and pieces anew.