Choices Aplenty

I have been watching too much baseball so early in the season. For every team which I now follow is playing lousy. 

Last week I covered Rutgers and Franklin and Marshall’s difficulties. Which seemed to be many.

For RU, they salvaged a loss at home versus Marist, a team pounded by legitimate opposition like Vanderbilt, St.John’s and Purdue en route to a 14-20 overall record yet 13-5 in the MAAC, with a road win by a score of 11-1 in 7 innings over St.Joseph’s in Pennsylvania. St.Joseph’s sports a 23-12 record and is 14-1 atop the Atlantic-10. Go figure. 

The Scarlet Knights are in State College for a three game series against Big Ten co-cellar dweller Penn State (the bottom of the the conference standings has 11 schools separated by 3 games). Rutgers has a RPI ranking at 126 in the nation; PSU is at 195. RU won Game 1, a 13-11 slugfest. 

Meanwhile, F&M was unable to bounce back from its doubleheader loss to Mc Daniel. A trip to Chestertown, Maryland, a quaint hamlet on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, resulted in an excruciating 13-12 loss to the Shoremen.  Friday’s return game in Lancaster proved to be no better for F&M, losing 6-5 in another aborted comeback. 

Up next is a trip to Carlisle to meet Dickinson. The Red Devils split games with conference leader Johns Hopkins this week. They are formidable. 

Home and home games against #18 Gettysburg with a home contest against Lancaster Bible are on tap before a regular season-ending twin bill in Allentown against Muhlenberg. Unless this young team rights itself, puts itself in position for a playoff berth and if the weather stays more early April-like than the heat of this week, I might think twice about hiking up Route 78 to watch the two teams play. 

Last week, I thought UCLA would roll over UC-Santa Barbara on their triumphant return to the West Coast after sweeping Rutgers. Well, nobody told the Gauchos they weren’t a match for the top-ranked Bruins. UCSB must have had a joyous ride back home after engineering a 4-0 shutout over UCLA. UCSB survived multiple jams against the Bruins, who didn’t want their 27 game winning streak to end. But when the dust cleared, UCSB has its firs win over a #1 team since 2020—when they defeated UCLA. 

This UCSB team has beaten USC, Oregon, Southern Mississippi,Utah and Hawaii among others while compiling a 23-11 record, 10-5 in the Big West. The win catapulted the Gauchos to #25 in the country. A game at UC Irvine (RPI # 121) will be telecast on ESPN 2 on April 19. UCLA comes to town seeking revenge on April 28th. 

I want to circle back to Division III for a moment. Leading the pack is Denison University with a 24-1 record. Lynchburg, Salve Regina, Shenandoah and Johns Hopkins round out the Top 5 as the smaller schools head towards the end of the season. 

Within a few hours on the same weekend in March, the Ohio school won both the women’s basketball title and defended its crown in men’s swimming and diving. Now the Big Red seeks to capture the DIII baseball championship. The women’s lacrosse team is currently ranked at # 9; women’s fencing finished third; women’s golf is #18; women’s squash was #20; women’s swimming and diving ended up at #4; and women’s tennis sits currently at #22. In men’s sports, DU had a decent football season;  they were competitive in many other sports and finished ranked in soccer and squash. Men’s tennis is currently #4 and lacrosse is leading the conference. 

The private, selective liberal arts college located in Granville, Ohio is suddenly a focal point for DIII athletics.  Denison has 2,400 students taking some 65 academic programs. Notable graduates include Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner. Hal Holbrook, Richard G. Lugar, former Disney head Michael Eisner, former Ohio State head football coach, the late Woody Hayes and race car driver Bobby Rahal. 

Denison is adding men’s fencing and women’s water polo in 2026-27. Sports seem to be thriving in central Ohio. While ranked #26 in the Learfield Cup standings after the Winter sports ended, a win in baseball could catapult the Big Red into the Top 20. Very impressive for a non-NESCAC, non-UAA school. A sound investment in the college’s future through athletics.

Major league baseball in New York City isn’t exactly red hot right now.  The Yankees may have split a four game set with the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim, but they were very close to being swept. 

While reigning M.V.P. Aaron Judge slugged four home runs this week, he wasn’t the star of the series. That belonged to another three-time M.V.P.—Mike Trout. The Millville, New Jersey native clobbered five home runs in a four game series at Yankee Stadium. That’s the most be a visiting player—ever!!

I am certainly taking no credit away from Trout for his performance. Instead, it showed the weakness of NYY pitching. LAA swatted 14 homers in the series—that’s one heck of a lot of dingers. Even NYY castoff Oswald Peraza, once thought to be the likely NYY shortstop of the future but who hit lightly for the Bombers while in pinstripes, put two into the seats. 

But for a fielding miscue and the meltdown of the Angels’ closer, NYY should feel fortunate that they won two games. Without some clutch hitting from Trent Grisham, along with continued stellar performances from Ben Rice, Giancarlo Stanton and a walk off double by Jose Caballero which barely scored catcher Austin Wells, the hitting has been atrocious. 

I realize that 11-9 isn’t horrible for March and April thus far. While Tampa Bay leads the AL East courtesy of last weekend’s sweep of New York, it is only by 1.5 games. Everyone else is sitting below .500. 

Reinforcements are on the way. Ace pitcher Gerrit Cole has begun a rehab assignment. His timetable is uncertain but could be fast-tracked if he performs well. Fellow star pitcher Carlos Rodon feels no pain in his surgically-repaired elbow and could be on the heels of Cole to be playing soon the Bronx. And Anthony Volpe is working his way back to reclaim the starting shortstop role. 

All good signs. But Yankees’ fans couldn’t help think of Jasson Dominguez being in the lineup or Oswaldo Cabrera taking grounders at third base on his healed ankle, instead of disappointing Ryan Mc Mahon. For the desperate NYY faithful, it was a welcome sign for NYY that Mc Mahon, inserted late in the game for his defense, deposited a pitch over the left field wall for an opposite field home run which catapulted the Yankees to a victory before a full house on Friday night.  

It’s too early to panic. Unless Kansas City, in for the weekend, puts a hurting on this team prior to heading to Boston for a three game set. Lose both series and the howling will be that much more intense at GM Brian Cashman and Manager Aaron Boone. 

Yet as badly as the Yankees are playing, the Mets are much worse. Owners of a nine game losing streak after being spanked in Los Angeles by the defending champions and then humiliated in Wrigley Field by a score of 12-4, the ever-emotional Mets fans are apoplectic right now. 

Yes, the Mets miss the injured Juan Soto. He’ll be back soon. Do they miss slugger Pete Alonso—yes. NYM suffers from the same illness as their Bronx rivals: hitting woes. Top starters Nolan Mc Lean, Clay Holmes and Freddy Peralta are doing their jobs. Former Yankees’ closers Luke Weaver and Devin Williams aren’t doing it. I am not as confident that they will turn things around so quickly. 

In a first look at the National League, the Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks are playing well. Atlanta is the sole NL East team above.500, while all the NL Central is playing over .500 ball, led by Pittsburgh—for the moment. 

No one is really excelling in the American League. The Athletics are at .500 while the Angels are 11-10 after returning home and shutting out a very potent San Diego lineup. In a week or two, this configuration easily could change.

Some players worth mentioning in the early days of a long season. Shohei Ohtani gave up his first earned run of the season when LAD beat the Mets on Wednesday night. In 18 innings, the Japanese slugger/pitcher has an E.R.A. of 0.50. San Diego closer Mason Miller has pitched in 9.1 innings thus far. He has six saves. His E.R.A. is 0.00. He has struck out 23 of the 30 batters he has faced, allowing one hit and one walk. 

Jose Soriano of LAA is 5-0 with a 0.28 E.R.A. He also leads MLB in strikeouts with 39, followed closely by New York Yankees phenom Cam Schlittler with 36. Cleveland’s Parker Messing, who nearly threw a no hitter this week is 3-0 with a 1.05 E.R.A.

Houston’s big lefty hitter Yordan Alvarez has 8 home runs, tying for the MLB lead with Judge and Jordan Walker of St. Louis. Andy Pages of the Dodgers continues his torrid start to the season with a MLB-best .412 batting average. Pages leads the majors with 21 R.B.I. 

The post-season has started for the NBA with play-in games. Golden State surprised the Clippers with a Steph Curry and Draymond Green-led comeback to win on Tuesday. Portland also stunned Phoenix to set up a first round Trail Blazers-San Antonio matchup. 

When Lamelo Ball grabbed Miami Heat player Ben Adabayo on his way to the ground, the subsequent injury to the Heat offensive juggernaut played big in Miami’s defeat to the Hornets in OT. The fine and a change to a Flagrant 2 Foul  was little consolation for Miami coach Eric Spoelstra. Ball has done this before to Adabayo. The officials blew the call. Period. 

Without Joel Embiid, Philadelphia outlasted Orlando to gain a 2-7 matchup with Boston. There is no timetable for Embiid to return from his appendectomy. 

Orlando received the gift of a home game to determine whether they or Charlotte gets to play the Detroit Pistons, the Eastern Conference’s top seed, in the first round. The Magic emphatically sent Charlotte packing. 

Alas, playing from behind on the road became too much of a burden for the Warriors. Phoenix outshot a flawed Golden State team to set up an opening round date with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Los Angeles star LeBron James has hinted at retirement. He will have to carry the offense for the Lakers against Houston, as Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are both out. Could this be it for the King? 

New York and Atlanta will be a war. There is no clear favorite here. To the chagrin of Knicks fans. 

Toronto and Cleveland round out the Eastern Conference playoffs. Denver and Minnesota meet once more to determine who goes forward to likely play OKC. Whenever those two teams get together, it is a battle. 

What do I see happening? It is more like what I hope for. Detroit and Boston surviving in the East, although New York might have something to say about that. In the West, the dream scenario is OKC and San Antonio. Navigating the West for any of the eight teams left is going to be difficult. 

Hockey opens the run to the Stanley Cup this weekend. Colorado and Buffalo are sentimental favorites. Don’t count out a run by a lot of other teams. It is a wide open playoffs this Spring. Each series is no easy one for any team. 

Of note is the intra-state rivalry between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Montreal and Tampa Bay is an intriguing series—how many Canadiens fans will be in the stands in Florida?

Buffalo drew a difficult opening round opponent in Boston. Ottawa will test Carolina. Can NHL points leader Connor McDavid, perhaps the best player on the planet, lead his Edmonton team past Anaheim and even further? 

If you are a hockey aficionado (like me), you will be controlling the remote, sending your spouse to an alternate set to watch what she wants. Or for that matter, there also is baseball and basketball to watch. Plus two days in Pittsburgh for the wheeling and dealing of the NFL Draft are upcoming. 

Lucky for me that my daughter isn’t home or I would have to find time for the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Final Four. While favorites LSU, Florida and Oklahoma, all SEC schools, made it to Fort Worth, a very lucky and unlikely Minnesota squad will join them, courtesy of a UCLA meltdown in the previous round. 

There are choices aplenty. Choose at your peril.