Don Coryell Finally Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

The late Don Coryell is one of nine new members inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio yesterday.  Coryell coached both the St. Louis Football Cardinals and the San Diego Chargers during a long and innovative career in the National Football League.  Joining Coryell in the 2023 class are Rondé Barber, Chuck Howley, Joe Klecko, Darrelle Revis, Ken Riley, Joe Thomas, Zach Thomas and DeMarcus Ware.

Prior to coaching in the NFL, Coryell coached in the college ranks for 24 years with his last stop at San Diego State where he coached the Aztecs.  While there he developed and refined what is now known as the Power-I formation.  Coryell also featured the passing game prominently in his later years with the Aztecs and with both the Cardinals and Chargers.

I had the good fortune of watching Coryell pace the sidelines at Cardinal games in the mid 70s when they were known as the "Cardiac Cards", for winning games in the last seconds of the fourth quarter.  In his first year as head coach in St. Louis, 1973, Coryell went 4-9-1.  But, in 1974 he turned the Cardinals fortunes around and won the NFC East championship with a 10-4 record.  It was the first time the Big Red had won a division title since 1948.  The team played Minnesota in the playoffs and lost 30-14 as the Cardinals turned the ball over several times which led to Viking scores.

In 1975 the Cardinals finished 11-3 while again winning the NFC Eastern Division.  I recall seeing three games at Old Busch Stadium that year (Busch Stadium II) and the team continued to live up to its name of "The Cardiac Cardinals".  Coryell and the Big Red snatched victory from defeat in the closing seconds of a number of games including over the Redskins at Busch with Mel Gray's "Immaculate Reception".  Even though the Rams had an 11-3 record the team had to travel to Los Angeles for the first round of playoffs.  The Rams jumped on the Cardinals early intercepting two Jim Hart passes and never looked back.  The Rams ended up winning that game 35-23.

In 1976 Coryell and the Cardiac Cardinals posted a 10-4 record.  But, due to the National Football League's tie breaking provisions the Big Red missed out to the Washington Red Skins.  The Cardinals were riddled with injuries and had problems holding onto the ball on offense.  Despite the setbacks the Cardinals set team records for most first downs and total yards.  I can say this was due to Coryell's offense and the players on that side of the ball.

In 1977 it all came crashing down.  The Cardinals and Coryell had a 7-3 record and were in first place in the NFC East going into a Thanksgiving Day game against the Miami Dolphins.  I had a chance to go to the game but it snowed about six inches the night before the game and it was very cold.  I decided to stay home with family and watch it on TV.  That, and as a college student, I looked forward to loading up on turkey and the trimmings rather than eating hot dogs at Busch Stadium.  The Big Red were blown out by the Dolphins 55-14.  Following that loss the Grid Birds lost their final three games and missed the playoffs.  At the end of the season Coryell talked with San Diego writer Jack Murphy in a conversation, he mistakenly thought was off the record.  Coryell wasn't happy and his remarks, which ended up being published, cost him his job when Cardinal owner Bill Bidwill fired him.  This created a backlash with St. Louis fans who became even more critical of Bidwill than they had been previously.  Coryell ended his years in St. Louis with a win-loss record of 42-27-1.

Coryell landed on his feet in San Diego in 1978 and took the Chargers to the playoffs four times in the next nine years.  While there he compiled a record of 69-56 with a playoff record of 3-4.  If you do the math, his final professional coaching record was 111-83-1.

I loved those days of watching the "Cardiac Cards" and "Air Coryell" win in the final seconds.  With the Cardinal offenses they were never out of a game until the final second had ticked off the clock.  I count myself fortunate to have seen them play in person and see Coryell and his offensive innovations.  Those teams featured some very good players from the entire offensive line that rarely gave up a sack, to Jim Hart, Mel Gray, Terry Metcalf, Roger Wehrli and Jim Bakken.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame's recognition of coach Don Coryell is well deserved and long overdue.

Congratulations to the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2023

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York expanded its list of players by two this past Sunday afternoon.  Inducted into the Hall were Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen.

I Consider myself fortunate to have seen Rolen play for the Cardinals at Busch II and the new St. Louis stadium that opened in 2006.  He was a key to the Cards National League title in 2004 and the Birds run to the World Series championship in 2006.

Rolen played for four major league teams during his 19 year career but note he's wearing a Cardinal cap on his HOF plaque.

The Baseball Writers Association of American selected McGriff, who was a unanimous choice of the Hall's Contemporary Baseball Players Era Committee, in December.  I saw McGriff play  in person on many occasions during his career when he would come to St. Louis as a member of the Padres, Braves, Cubs and later the Dodgers.

I particularly remember the 1996 NLCS series in which McGriff played a key role in the Braves win and return to the World Series.  It seemed as if McGriff was at the plate whenever runners were in scoring position.  He homered twice in the seven game series and drove in seven runs with an .858 OPS.  McGriff also destroyed the Cardinals in the last three games of the NLCS that year in which Atlanta outscored St. Louis 32-1.

Images courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame

Chicago Cubs announcer Pat Hughes was also inducted into the Hall of Fame Broadcasters wing as the 2023 Ford C. Frick Award winner.  He was joined in the Hall's Writer's Wing at the Cooperstown festivities by John Lowe who received the Baseball Writers Association of America's Career Excellence Award.

Eleven Days in Europe

I'm home after eleven days in Europe. Nine of us decided to go watch the Cardinals and the Cubs at London's Olympic Stadium but the vacation was much more than that. We spent the time in London but also had day trips to Liverpool and to Paris. It was cold at times in England and hotter than blazes in Paris. Coming back from Liverpool to London there was no heat on the train on a cold rainy night. I like to froze that night before the first day of summer.

I learned you can get around quite easily in Europe using public transportation. This included trains, the London Underground and Paris Metro as well as double decker buses and taxis.

Londoners were friendly and it was easy to start a conversation in a pub with the people who live there. Parisians were a bit less outgoing but for the most part helpful as I tried to communicate with the French I learned 50 years ago.

It was a once in a lifetime vacation with friends, I will never forget. It was great to be there but it's also nice to be back home and sleep in my own bed.

(All images are © rch 2023).

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 247th Birthday United States of America! Thank you to everyone who secured our liberty with their lives, blood, sweat and toil. May the USA always be free. God Bless America!

Thoughts on MLB's Pitch Clock

Photo by si.com

We're two months into the 2023 Major League Baseball Season and the "new" rules seem to be helping the game that used to be America's pastime.

MLB claims games are roughly a half hour shorter than they were last year. I did a quick check yesterday and of the 16 games played, four were over three hours, three more were within five minutes of three hours and the other nine were less than 2:55 in length.

As a fan I am happy the games are shorter.  No one liked watching pitchers step off of the rubber and batters step out of the box on what seemed like almost every pitch. The 15/20 second pitch clock has made a big difference but there are still some issues needing to be addressed.

Many MLB umpires, for whatever reason, are unwilling to call the strike zone as it is written.  Many pitches near the bottom of the zone are being called balls resulting in hitters taking what should legitimately be called strikes.  This results in more pitches and batters waiting out pitchers for walks.  Walks slow down the game and add to the time needed to play the game not to mention the lack of action on the field.  MLB needs to address this immediately and force the umpires to call the strike zone correctly.  This issue can be resolved with technology that's currently being tested in the minor leagues.  The robot umpire doesn't miss any pitches in the strike zone.

Both hitters and pitchers are lobbying to increase the length of the time clock. Currently hitters are allowed to call one time out per at bat as are pitchers.  But, both sides are wanting the play clock to be longer.  I have heard some inane arguments from both sides saying the games are too fast and fans don't have a chance to go to the concession stand without missing a chunk of the game.  I call baloney.  MLB must keep the existing play clock times in effect.  If anything they can probably be shortened a few seconds with runners on base.

Time will tell if the players end up getting their way or the fans can expect reasonably played games at a relatively snappy pace.  If the games go back to their old length of over three hours and 15 minutes fans will stay away in droves and both attendance and TV ratings will continue to fall.