MLB

Elmira?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As the calendar flips from February to March the madness of March Madness is nearly upon us.  Two weeks from now, or just 13 weeks removed from the college football bowl season, you’ll tune in to watch a college team you’ve barely heard of taking on another that you know no players on.  And, goodness knows you watched a lot of college football.

But, what about college baseball?  Similarly, 13 weeks from now the college baseball World Series will begin.  Prior to that thousands of games will be played.  Will you tune in now? Then?

It’s hard to tune in now because on traditional network TV none are on.  ESPNU carries a few along the way.  Conference channels carry a few more if you pay a few more bucks for your favorite one.

We wonder.  Why the huge interest in college football, the great interest in basketball, and the indifference in baseball?

Is it because as the weather heats up we choose to head outdoors for fun?  Is it acutely because the north does so? The north’s viewership is an important percentage of the potential TV viewership. And is that because the north doesn’t really play baseball nearly as much as year-round climates like California, Texas, and Florida?  It’s hockey season you know?  Eh?

Is it because the game is too slow?  That theory, which applies to MLB as well, has been advanced for years and years.

Or, is it that college baseball doesn’t allow us to establish a viewer relationship with its players?  What does that mean?  It means that very good and/or very likable baseball players, unlike football and basketball, head to the minors not directly to the NFL or NBA.

In the NFL we soon see which team drafts last season’s success stories.  We watch train wrecks like Johnny Manziel (Heisman to who’s man) in a nearly real continuous-time attempt to take their games to the next level.  We hope for and watch intently 36-month transition, great success stories like the build from Texas Tech to a Super Bowl MVP for Patrick Mahomes.

In the NBA the best ‘one and done” college players hit the hardwood for the NBA fame and fortune a mere six months after they cut down the nets in the NCAA tourney.

In baseball, if you even watched to begin with, the best of the best head to places called Round Rock, Appleton, and Elmira for a year, two, three, or more.  Many never dig their cleats in the major league batter’s box dirt.  Never is a long time.

In baseball we hardly knew you, then you left us.  So it’s harder to make the commitment.

When will I see you again?

Elmira?

 

 

Will Hoffa Weigh In?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The court of public opinion continued to pour in yesterday on the crime and the punishment of the Houston Astros and their 2017 and 2018 cheating ways.  Even basketball superstar LeBron James, @KingJames, held court via a tweet.

He started with “Listen I know I don’t play baseball but I am in Sports and I know if someone cheated me out of winning the title and I found out about it I would be F*^king irate! I mean like uncontrollable about what I would/could do! Listen here baseball commissioner listen to your…..”

He continued with  “…..players speaking today about how disgusted, mad, hurt, broken, etc etc about this. Literally the ball(⚾️) is in your court(or should I say field) and you need to fix this for the sake of Sports! 

LeBron has every right to speak his mind.  It’s guaranteed in the first amendment.  Just ask Daryl Morey and all of the folks Daryl empathized with over in Hong Kong.  LeBron said as much back in October.  He also cautioned about speaking before thinking.

Maybe he should also caution about writing without spellcheck or a grammar check app.  Evidently King James is no fan of the King’s English.  But we digress.

Also yesterday Yankee Aaron Judge,

he of the same sport as the Astros, went judge and jury on his opponents.  He says the Astros should be stripped of their 2017 World Series title: “It doesn’t hold any value, it wasn’t earned.”

BBR wondered who hasn’t yet offered their two cents.  So, the staff comprised a list of the very few folks who have not weighed in yet on the circus and hit the phone lines, emails, and streets well into the evening.  Several eye-opening comments follow.

We caught up to Kanye West striding through LAX with his MAGA hat in place and daughter hand in hand.  “MAGA, Make (the) Astros Great Again,” he said.  “It looks like the organization is directionless to me.”  Daughter North West smiled in agreement.

Joe Biden campaigning in South Carolina for the upcoming Nevada primary frowned and commented, “I’ve been there.  I feel for the entire San Antonio Astros organization man!  They all need to support each other through difficult times.”  He concluded with, “Remember the Alamo!”

Elizabeth Warren, she of a campaign fading into the sunset, was asked what a team should do in such difficult times.  “Circle the wagons.”  We asked if she was referring to her campaign staff or the Astros.  “Both!” came the terse retort.

We asked Bernie Sanders if he thought it was crazy to ask the team to give the World Series trophy back.  “Of course it is.  Rather than give it back MLB should give one to every major, and minor league, and Little League team for 2017 and 2018.  Free trophies for all!” He shouted.

Prayerful Nancy Pelosi seemed torn on the subject.  But, she gritted her teeth and lamented, “Commissioner Manfred needs to get a (poly) grip on this 2017 stealing fiasco as we did with Russia in 2016.”

Adam Schiff declined our interview request saying “You just want to out the whistleblower, Mike Fiers.  But we are going to protect his identity at all costs.”

We reached out to Jeffery Epstein but got no answer.  We aren’t sure what the hang-up is there.

We spoke to big baseball fan Stormy Daniels as well.  Daniels has season tickets right behind the foul pole.  She thought that the Astros should be stripped of their crown just as Yankee Judge did.  Her lawyer Michael Avenatti is caught in some bad weather himself.  He thought “the punishment didn’t fit the crime.  Too harsh.  Everyone deserves a second chance, don’t they?” he queried.

He better hope that his judge agrees with him and not with Aaron Judge.

If Jimmy Hoffa weighs in today, BBR will dig up his quotes and dish the dirt tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take out the Trash

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Let us dispell two myths this AM.  One, cheaters never win.  Two, any press is good press.  Both are false.

The Astros won the 2017 World Series and cheated using a player-driven electronic sign-stealing scheme throughout the regular season and straight through the World Series.  MLB warned all 30 clubs early that September that electronic sign stealing was against the rules and that GM’s and managers would be held responsible for any violations.

The press, after the MLB report finding the Astros guilty was released in early January, unleashed their vitriol towards the Astros organization and it has been anything but good for them.  The team has compounded the negative sentiment with one PR blunder after another.  Owner Jim Crane tripped all over himself attempting to set the record straight from the Florida spring training site last week.  Players from multiple teams have taken turns talking, complaining, and even whining about it as well.

But, let’s get some facts straight, offer some opinions, and even make some predictions about the circus that is the Astros organization right now.

  1.  They were guilty and are paying a steep price.  The GM and manager were held accountable, suspended by MLB, and fired by Crane.  MLB fined the team 5 million bucks, the most allowed by the franchise/league agreement.  Additionally, the team forfeits its first and second round amateur draft picks in 2020 and 2021.  If you want more blood you can scream that the team should “give back” its 2017 World Series trophy and renounce its title.  Good luck.  MLB declined to do so.  You can’t undo what is done.  Take the trophy back?  Sure.  It’s a symbol, not an outcome.
  2. A.J. Hinch was suspended for half a year and fired by Crane.  Hinch was against the scheme, busted two monitors to show his displeasure, but never stood up and said: “stop this.”  His reputation, sterling throughout the game otherwise, took a hard hit up the middle.  It says here that he’ll take the year away from the game, rehab his rep through another chance, perhaps as an assistant for another team for a year or two, and will be back managing before 2024.  He’s too good for all 30 owners to pass him by for too long.
  3. GM Jeff Luhnow might be done in MLB.  He’s ahead of the game analytically. He’s tough to work with.  He’s not too popular league-wide.  He might get another chance as a paid employee, but a better guess might be as a third-party consultant in personnel matters.
  4. The scheme stopped very early in 2018 and ceased to exist beyond that per the investigation.  The Astros success (lost 2018 playoffs and 2019 World Series) after 2017 is legit.  Players actually interviewed asked for the process to halt because they “found it to be a distraction while batting, not a help.”  Anyone can rail all they wish about 2017, but the team won over 100 games a year since.  It’s just such a bad look.
  5. Seven of the nine primary position players in the 2017 batting order had better-hitting stats on the road than at home.  The five best players’ regular season splits are below. Maybe they would have hit even worse at home if no one banged on a garbage can.  That we will never know.  It is true that the postseason splits favor the home Astros greatly over the road.  But, the sample size is so much smaller than the regular season.  Postseason pitching in a short series factors greatly in that as well.  Your ace and deuce might pitch all four home games in a seven-game series.
  6. The Yankees lost to the Astros in seven in the 2017 ALCS.  The home team won all seven games.  In Minute Maid the Yankees scored 1,1,1, and 0 in four losses.  In the Bronx they scored 8,6, and 5 in three wins.  The Yanks weren’t banging a trash can at home, they just hit a lot better.  They didn’t hit a lick at Minute Maid regardless of the Astros playing outside of the chalk lines.
  7.  The Boston Red Sox lost to the Astros in the 2017 ALDS.  They worked the Astros in the ALCS while on their way to the 2018 World Series championship.  They are under investigation themselves for the same reasons during their 2018 season.   Pot.  Kettle.  Not good.
  8.   The only thing worse than “did Jose Altuve wear a device to get signals about pitches?” is that Carlos Correa painstakingly defended him.  If Altuve did, is it worse than listening for the beat of the drum anyway?  Maybe he did, and maybe he didn’t.  Audio only uncovers 23 discernable trash can bangs all year for Altuve batting at home.  It’s been said by a few teammates that Altuve asked that it stop while he batted.  Maybe so, maybe not.  He hit .338 in 2016 with no accusations and .346 in 2017 with accusations.  He’s a lifetime .315 hitter and has nearly 1600 hits in 9 MLB seasons.
  9.  The popular theory for 2020 is that Astros batters will get plunked repeatedly for their wayward ways and arrogance since.  Maybe so.  Several sites have even put a betting over/under line on it.  It’s 83.5 four-seamers to the hip on the year.  Last year they were hit 66 times.  Take the under.  MLB has already warned teams that fines and suspensions are available for any intentional beanballs.
  10. The damage to the game and to the Astros organization is done and it’s significant.  They should have apologized profusely from the owner down to the bat boy and moved on.  They didn’t.  Now would be a great time to fire the whole PR team and hire a new one, and have the players shut up and play ball.

Is this scandal the worst in baseball history?  Maybe.  Shoeless Joe Jackson and his White Sox teammates supposedly threw WS games 100 years ago.  Pete Rose bet on baseball while actively managing the Reds.  A host of players took steroids and hit it further and threw it faster than ever before.  Time will sort it all out.

Right now the Astros organization smells bad.  At least they finally took the trash cans out.

 

 

Dear Mr. Crane,

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Dear Mr. Crane,

It’s been a week since MLB confirmed the terrible rumors, handed out the punishment, and you canned Manager A.J. Hinch and General Manager Jeff Luhnow.  They say time heals all wounds.  This writer might need more time however as this wound feels like the proverbial “1000 paper cuts.”

Your ownership in 2012 began with the Houston Astros franchise at a low point and it continued for your first few years.  No local TV contract (good Lord) and 100 loss seasons is no way to endear yourself to a city that loves baseball.  But, by 2015 you started turning things around.  Now on TV again (thank the good Lord) you introduced us to Jose Altuve and a manager that look the part, talked the part, and knew how to manage the game and endeared himself to his players.

Soon your GM’s talent evaluations and trades gave us guys named Springer, Correa, Beltran, Bregman, McCullers, and Morton.  Playoffs in 2015, and a near miss in 2016, and a guy named Justin Verlander paved the way for a World Series win in 2017.  Holy Cow the late Harry Caray would have said!

But whispers that your club denied about electronically stealing signs, aka cheating, grew louder.  And, at the end of 2019 they were exposed by a whistleblower willing to be named- Mike Fiers.  Everyone, not just Adam Schiff, knew the name of this whistleblower.  And, a week ago it all came crashing down, and down.

In the late 90’s baseball was rocked by the steroid era.  This writer had an up and coming offspring baseball player who idolized guys named McGuire, Bonds, and Sosa.  “How can they hit so many home runs daddy?”  Little did we know.

It took years and a leap of faith to buy in again.  But, the passion, strategy, and professionalism exhibited by your Astros, our Astros, Houston’s Astros won us over.  They had “it.”

And, now they don’t.  The fall is so much steeper than the climb.

The Astros won it all in 2017, and went deep into the playoffs in 2018.  Your marketing department had a catchy slogan for 2019.  “Take it Back!”  And, it came so close to doing so, losing in game seven of the World Series.  Perhaps the slogan should have been “Steal It Back!,” instead.

For 2020 and beyond the fans might have their own slogan.  “Win us Back!” This time you have local TV, but will we turn it on?  For the climb back is so much steeper than the fall.

Sincerely,

A Disillusioned Fan All Over Again.

 

 

 

 

Splendid Splinters, Yankee Clippers, and Yordans.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

College football heated up last weekend and some interesting story lines are developing.  We’ll explore them tomorrow in our Ten Piece Nuggets.  But today we want to explore a story in MLB that heated up just as summer heated up.

It was June 9th actually when Yordan Rubin Alvarez got a call from Houston and the Astros promoted him to the big show.  He made his major league debut that afternoon, at the tender age of 21, versus the Baltimore Orioles.  He went 1-3 with a two-run home run in his debut.  And, he hasn’t looked back.

Alvarez, despite missing the first eight days of the month, was named AL Rookie of the Month for June.  He garnered the award again in July.  And, why not, he was given the honor again in August.  He’ll be named AL Rookie of the Year when all is said and done, but it seems like he still has much to say and do in 2019.

Statistical comparisons with such a small sample size (he’s been active for only 70 major league games) are fun.  But often they don’t exactly play out in the future as the recent past would lead you to believe.  Undeterred, we’ll do it anyway.

Alvarez went 4-6 last evening in an Astros 21-1 romp of the hapless Seattle Mariners.  He drove in six runs.  That gives him 70 rbi’s in 70 games!  Ted Williams was only 20 years old in 1939 in his rookie year.  He drove in 145 runs in 149 games.  That’s the MLB rookie record standing tall for 80 years and counting.  Only four other rookies have ever had over 100 rbi’s in their rookie season, Joe DiMaggio among them at 125.

The Astros only have 18 games left, so Alvarez very likely won’t get to the century mark.  But, how many will he get in a total of 88 games?

His OBP is .409.  His slugging percentage is .655.  And, his OPS is 1.064.  Williams  put up .436, .609, and 1.045 respectively in his rookie year.  DiMaggio’s BEST year was  .448, .671, and 1.119.  Baseball is a numbers game.  These numbers put Alvarez, again after only 70 games, in some thin air.

Allow us for a moment to add Alvarez’s stats from Triple A in 56 games to the 70 major league games that he has played.  So in 136 professional games this year he has hit 45 home runs, driven in 141 runs, and hit for a melded .323 average.  His OPS would rise to 1.123.

We aren’t suggesting that Alvarez is the next Splendid Splinter nor the next Yankee Clipper.  His start suggests that he could be the next Yordan Alvarez.  And, that might be very good unto itself.

He defected from Cuba, then established residence in Haiti in 2016.  He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent in June 2016.  In August 2016, Álvarez was traded from the Dodgers to the Astros for middle reliever Josh Fields.  Cuba and the Dodgers loss is America and the Astros gain.

If you haven’t seen his strong, smooth, balanced, left side swing, you should.  And, you will.  Alvarez will be right in the middle of a stacked Astros lineup when October playoff baseball takes center stage.  The ball just sounds different jumping off of his bat.

May the comparisons never end.

 

 

 

 

Rickey Being Rickey

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

One of the wonderful things about sports is that the perceived correct strategic formula to winning is ever evolving.  Sometimes the change is subtle, sometimes not so subtle.

No one would dispute that the 3 point line has changed how basketball is coached for better or worse.  But maybe the biggest change has taken place in the last 10 years in baseball.  Analytics, formerly known as sabermetrics, have taken hold.

When these changes go from fad to trend to expectations, records of past year’s accomplishments are increasingly harder to compare to current.  And records may also be easier to be broken (for example three point shots attempted/made in a season), or harder to be broken.

What follows is what we wrote in an article about Joe Dimaggio’s consecutive game hit steak a few weeks back.  It was titled “56” a few weeks back.

The record stands at 56 games, and has now stood that way for 78 years and counting.  We aren’t here to debate if its the greatest baseball record ever for it’s hard to compare pitching feats to hitting feats much less one game to one streak to one season to one career records.  But we are here to say that holding a record for any stat for 78 years is a long, long time and that makes it a great, great accomplishment.

So all of the above makes us wonder about another baseball record.  This one is a career accomplishment.  Analytics has made this one chosen far less as a tool to victory.  The math today says stealing a base is far less statistically appealing today than in years gone by.

The quirky and insanely talented Rickey Henderson was drafted in the 4th round in 1976 by the Oakland Athletics.  He played for them four separate times over an amazing 25 year career when he changed uniforms 13 times in all.  A first ballot Hall of Famer and 10 time All Star.  He leads the majors in career leadoff homeruns with 81.  Second place is not close at 53.  Amazing indeed.

But most amazing of all is how well, and how often he stole a base.  He stole 1406 in all.  Second place alltime is Lou Brock.  His total?  938.  Henderson’s total is exactly 50 % better than second all time.  50%!   Believe it or not, he even stole 66 bases when he was 39 years old.

Statistics can be shaped one way or the other to prove a point.  But, one way to look at this is to compare this feat to Pete Rose’s 44 game hit streak, second to Dimaggio’s 56.  Dimaggio’s record has stood for 78 years and counting.  But Dimaggio would have had to hit in 66 straight games to be 50% better than Rose.  How long would 66 games with at least one hit hold the record if 56 has held it for 78 years and counting?

Never ever say never.  But, given where the game is today, combined with Henderson’s exceptionally long career, put this record on a very short list of the very hardest to even be approached, much less broken.

 

56

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

With so much attention being paid earlier this week to the epic Roger Federer v. Novak Djokovic Wimbedon final and the The Squad v. Trump Twitter war, a 78th sports anniversary slid by.   Do you know what happened on July 16th, 1941?  Joltin Joe Dimaggio singled to extend his hit streak to 56 games.  On July 17th he was hitless which ended the longest consecutive games hitting steak ever.  And “ever” then still means “ever” today.

The record stands at 56 games, and has now stood that way for 78 years and counting.  We aren’t here to debate if its the greatest baseball record ever for it’s hard to compare pitching feats to hitting feats much less one game to one streak to one season to one career records.  But we are here to say that holding a record for any stat for 78 years is a long, long time and that makes it a great, great accomplishment.

Many, many excellent “hit for average” and “contact hitters” and “line drive hitters” have come and gone in 78 years.  And no one, we repeat, no one has come close to The Yankee Clipper’s run.  Second best you ask?  Peter Edward Rose, aka Pete Rose, aka Charlie Hustle got a hit in 44 straight games in 1978.  That tied Willie Keeler who strung together 44 as well way, way back in 1897.

Ty Cobb had 40 and 35 games with at least one hit streaks.  George Sisler had 41 and 35.  Joe’s brother Dom Dimaggio hit in 34 consecutive games himself.  Paul Molitor reached 39.  Think of players like Ichiro Suzuki, Ken Griffey, Jr., Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew, George Brett,  Rogers Hornsby, and Stan Musial just to name a few.  None of them, in long and distinguished careers passed 30.

Rose’s 44 is 78% of Dimaggio’s 56 games 78 years later.  Suzuki had 262 hits in 2004.  That’s 14 years and counting for the most ever in a season.  He has just 64 years to go for the record to stand as long as Dimaggio’s.  Or, stated a different way, imagine in the year 2075 the closest someone has come to Suzuki’s record is 204 hits.

It’s such a feat that he caught Marilyn Monroe’s eye, and had a song written about him that is  big band, old school fun, and three minutes long here.   

Baseball is a game of numbers.  There are a lot of them above.  But, no matter which ones you are counting, there aren’t a lot that rise above 56.

62 Down, 100 to Go, and 30 Nets to Put Up?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s cool inside of Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors.  But, it will heat up tonight during the NBA Finals game three v. the Toronto Raptors as one team looks to take control of the one game apiece, tied series.  It’s cold inside of the TD Garden, home of the Boston Bruins.  But, it will heat up tonight during  the NHL Finals game five v. the St Louis Blues as one team looks to take control of the two games apiece, tied series.

Meanwhile, it’s either cool inside of a few indoor MLB stadiums, or hot as Hades outside in many outdoor MLB stadiums as the baseball season heads head long into the dog days of summer.  Most teams are about 62 games deep into a 162 game schedule.  If you sweat a lot, you’re thinking, “cool, just 100 hot ones to go.”

But something has heated up in the last week in baseball stadiums coast to coast, and it isn’t just the weather.  It’s a debate as to whether or not stadiums coast to coast need to add protective netting beyond the current span of 70 or so feet of the first and third base lines as each team is currently mandated to do so by MLB.

What caused this sudden, additional call for fan safety?  It was a screaming line drive foul ball hit just last week in Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, during their game versus the Chicago Cubs.  The foul ball struck a little girl at the game.  Hard.  The events at last night’s game were extremely upsetting,” MLB said in a statement.

“Events?”  It was one event and we wouldn’t call it an event.  We might call it an unfortunate incident.  We might call it an accident.  Heaven forbid, if she died from the “event” we might call it a tragedy.

The girl, who has not been identified, was hit by a ball off the bat of Cubs center fielder Albert Almora Jr. during Chicago’s game with the Astros.  At Wednesday’s game, Almora Jr. was visibly distraught after he hit the ball foul, falling to his knees at home plate in pure anguish.

“We send our best wishes to the child and family involved,” the MLB statement said.  That sounds so heartfelt, doesn’t it?  You need to say something nice, but legally it stops there.  Speaking of there, it’s plainly written right there, on the back of every single ticket,  that MLB assumes no liability for injuries to fans attending.   It further states that it’s the fans responsibility to stay very alert for balls leaving the field of play.

This “event” got a bit more attention than the normal “event” of a fan getting hit by a foul ball.  It was a cute (can you still say that?) little girl injured, and it was a very sympathetic Almora who broke down emotionally in front of a national TV audience while inquiring about the girl’s well being.

“Clubs have significantly expanded netting and their inventory of protected seats in recent years. With last night’s event in mind, we will continue our efforts on this important issue,” the league said in its statement.  All clubs complied with the above 70 foot mandate by 2018.

So, where do safety needs/nets end?  Where do legal needs end?  And, where does common sense begin?  And, when did we realize that foul balls can hurt (and in rare instances kill) if you don’t somehow protect yourself?  Who knows where all of the answers to these questions connect into one sensible one?  Recency bias aside please.

Smoking went from ok, to designated areas, to arrest for smoking in non designated areas, to no designated areas.  Good idea?  For sure.   Drinking went from as many as you want, to limit of two per customer per transaction, to no alcohol served after the seventh inning.  Good idea?  Mostly.

Nets went from none, to directly behind home plate, to down first and third.  Do you need them around the entire field?  Do you need taller walls around the base of each level of stands to stop people from falling down to the next level?  National sentiment is that the more big brother can help us the better.

In short, where do you stop helping people who should be able to help themselves?  And, ask them to help themselves?

We like a clear view of the game in front of us.  If you cannot protect yourself and your loved ones we suggest that you sit where Bob Uecker used to.  Just be careful not to sit close to the “front row” and fall to the next one.

Uecker could see just fine from way up there.   “Hey, he missed the tag.  He missed the tag.”  Of course there was no net back then.

 

 

Judging Baseball’s Approach

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Last night the injured, but still proud, New York Yankees beat the uninjured, but not so proud anymore, Boston Red Sox.  The 5-3 final completed a three game sweep over the listing 2018 World Series Champions.  “Get out da broomz and swept out da trash” in a heavy “New Yawk” accent could be heard from coast to coast.  You could have watched it from coast to coast too, if you chose.

But did you?  Did you watch?  Or did you watch an NHL or NBA playoff game last night?  ESPN (the worldwide leader in hype and chasing ratings) chose the Yanks v. Sox for their national broadcast last evening.  And they will again and again this year.  The combined win percentage last night entering the game of the two teams was 38%.

Many, many seasons ago, when there were but three TV channels and one game only shown in a week every Saturday that contest would not have seen the light of the afternoon day.  Tony Kubek is shaking his head, and Curt Gowdy would be if he were still alive today.

So, why then this game?  Simple.  Always follow the money.  The only way to sell Anhueser Busch on advertising Bud Light is to grab the best ratings that you can so as to have as many fans watch as you can so as to charge as much as you can for the spot.

But is it the best route for MLB?  Local money drives TV and radio which is why all MLB teams show and tell via that route throughout the season.  So, for ESPN, the best route is to get a blackout in the combined two biggest markets that evening to sell more beer.  So, why then this way? Simple.  Always follow the money.

But, we ask again.  Is it the best route for baseball and its national branding?  Perhaps.  Its 162 game schedule and summertime slot might dictate selling the local team story to locals and hope that the playoff matchups and teams whet the appetite to a greater audience.  But, would MLB have a greater audience if it told you and sold to you the upstart teams and their starts and year-long stories?

We wonder.  Tampa, Cleveland, and Houston lead the American League three weeks in.  Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Los Angeles (Dodgers) lead the National League.  Throw out Houston (who won the WS in 2017) and Los Angeles (who won the NL pennant in 2017 and 2018).  Can the casual fan name two names off of the four remaining teams?

If you asked the same three weeks into the NFL season we bet you could name five or six Buccaneers, Browns, Eagles, or Packers per team.  The NFL released its schedule just last night.  The Browns drew four prime time national spotlight games.  Their record in the last ten years combined is the 2nd worst in the league.  But suddenly, due to an improving defense, and a strong off-season free agent acquisition plan they are a coming national story.  Oh, and there is OBJ too.

The NFL sells what might be, not what was.  The NFL sells teams, their players, their coaches, and their strategies.  They sell the thought that parity gives non contenders a real good chance to contend. The NFL is making A LOT of money. It made $13.8 billion in 2017.

MLB sells beer to the two biggest markets on a given week night.  MLB is making a lot of money too.  It’s revenue, with way more games played, was $10.1 in 2017 in comparison.  It’s expenses are far greater to get there as well.

NFL regular season games, when pitted against MLB playoff games, amazingly out draw them in the most important game; the ratings game.

We fully understand that the two business models have their own benefits and challenges.  We just think one could learn A LOT from the other.

Crush is No Longer a Hit in Baltimore

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As we wrote Wednesday, the Washington Generals are off to a rough start with a won/loss record of 1-17,000.  It’s a winning percentage of roughly 0.0001 or one one hundredth of one percent.  But there is a certain 2019 major league baseball player who is actually off to a worse start.  Chris Davis, of the Baltimore Orioles is ohhh for his last 53 at bats.

Davis is nicknamed “Crush” Davis.  His 0-53 has now crushed the previous record for ineptness.  Earlier this week, Davis passed Eugenio Velez’s record of 46 straight hitless at bats, which had stood since 2011.  Dave Campbell, who parlayed his slump and playing career into a broadcasting career, went 0-45 many moons ago for three separate teams all in one season.   He and Craig Counsell are now tied for third in streaks you want no part of.  Counsell, who parlayed his slump and playing career into a managerial career (currently managing the Brewers) equaled that 0-45 in 2011.

Davis’ bat seems hopelessly broken.

If only 0-53 was the worst of his problems.  Davis set the record last year for the lowest average ever by a qualified hitter, crushing(not) it at .168. That’s one hit for every six at bats.    Under current rules, a player must have 3.1 plate appearances per team game for a total of 502 over a 162-game season to “qualify.”  One hit every three at bats, or twice as good, usually is at or near the league lead.  Davis hardly seems qualified to be called a qualified hitter.

In three-plus seasons since signing a seven-year, $161 million contract with the Orioles in 2016, his .199 average is the worst in baseball among players with at least 1,000 at-bats. His strikeout rate is a quite high 36%.  It all might be overlooked if he had game-changing power.  Davis doesn’t seem to have that anymore either.  His homer totals the last four years are a precipitously declining 47, 38, 26 and 16.

Shouldn’t this utter ineptness earn Crush a pink slip?  Yes.  There is but one problem.  Davis is still owed $23 million a year for the four years that remain. Every penny is guaranteed.

Perhaps he could be sent to the minors to work out the kinks?  He could be claimed him on the way down there.  If only the O’s could be so lucky. The percentage that anyone would claim him likely equals his 2019 average to date though.  That’s zero point zero zero zero.

Maybe he could be put in timeout?  He was iced down last year for 10 straight games.  How did that work out?

Crush says that he is open to anything to help him or his team.  One option is his outright release.  As crazy as that seems, it’s not unprecedented in today’s baseball.

However, in any day’s baseball, eating a $92 million Oriole contract is still a lot of crow.  Daily, the boo birds were feasting.  Even they have stopped picking at the carcass.  Encouraging standing ovations have replaced the howling.  Witchcraft anyone?

Poor Crush.