How 'bout them Tigers!! Always proud to be a Tiger but never more so than tonight! Mizzou dominates Ohio State 14-3 to win the Cotton Bowl and New Years Six game.
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The 2023 World Series came to an end earlier this week and apparently a whole lot of people didn't really care or bother to watch any of it. This year's series had two of the least watched games in baseball's Fall Classic. Game Two had the lowest rated game in World Series history with just 9.17 million viewers nationwide watching. As bad as that was for MLB and its TV partner Fox, Game Three was seen by just 8.15 million viewers. What was more embarrassing for baseball is that while it was airing it's championship series, a cable network, ESPN, had more than 15 million US viewers watching a regular season game between the Detroit Lions and Las Vegas Raiders. This should send a strong message to the MLB "leaders" it has a serious problem with its version of the game.
The average time of game in this year's World Series was 3:13. In fairness that includes an 11 inning game. That first game that was won by the Rangers lasted 4:02. Why does it take four hours to play an eleven inning game? It takes that long because managers change pitchers at whim and umpires won't call the strike zone as written. And the games seem longer when batters are swinging for the fences and striking out as if they just don't care. Apparently, they don't care about how many times they whiff. This year's average game time was only 23 minutes shorter than last year despite all of the hype from Major League Baseball about its implementation of a pitch clock. The issue needs to be addressed again with an eye to shortening the time between pitches even more.
MLB also made a big deal out of having larger bases this season. It didn't have much impact on the World Series. There were a total of eight stolen bases in five games. And in two of the games there were no stolen bases. MLB needs to go back to the drawing board on this too. Despite, its efforts the game is still one dimensional. And while, it's reviewing its rule changes, the powers that be, in New York City need to take a look at the defensive alignment rule. Fielders learned quickly they could comply with this year's change to have two fielders on each side of second base, but frequently they were just inches from being on the other side of second base.
I love the game of baseball. Hopefully, MLB will take heed of declining attendance, and declining TV ratings. I could offer more suggestions to MLB leadership but they seem content to let the game die a slow death as long as they get their TV payments from their television partners. I hate to say it but both the TV Networks and MLB are about to get a rude awakening as the amount of money for TV rights starts to decline and ratings continue to fall. I have said this before and I will say it again; this is not your grand-father's or even your father's game. Wake up MLB!
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19 of the game's 54 putouts, or more than a third,
were recorded by strikeout when batters with visions of home runs dancing in
their eyes, failed to put the ball into play.
And top that off with another nine plate appearances where the pitchers
were unable to locate home plate. Then
toss in four pitching changes and the game which should have been exciting, was
a snooze fest.
I didn't watch a minute of this year's World Series
because the games continue to be played at a snail's pace despite MLB's efforts
to speed them up. (In fairness I did listen to a few innings of the series
while in my car, but really didn't care who won.) The game used to be fun but now it's a one
dimensional game with a lot of batters swinging for the fences and striking out
at a record pace or waiting out the pitcher because umpires fail to call the
strike zone as it is written.
Hopefully the powers at Major League
Baseball will wake up before they kill the game.
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The Texas Rangers increased
their World Series game lead to 3-1, with an eleven to seven win over the Phoenix
Diamondbacks in Game Four.
The game was a blowout
with the Rangers up 10-1 after three innings. The D'backs attempted
to rally in the eighth and ninth innings but came up short. The
Rangers could win the World Series this evening.
The game was boring and featured 20 at bats when the hitters failed to put the ball into play. It also featured eleven pitching changes. I listened to Game Four on the radio while I was in my car and turned it off after the third inning.
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The
Texas Rangers went up two games to one in Game Three of the 2023 World
Series. The Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 behind the six hit
pitching of five Texas pitchers.
While
the game was played in less than three hours, it still had a number of
stretches where there was no action. There were 15 strikeouts and five
walks. And there were eight pitching changes where almost 49 thousand
fans in Phoenix had to sit around watching absolutely nothing.
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Game Two of the 2023 World Series came in about an hour
faster than game one. The Arizona Diamondbacks
bounced back to win the game 9-1 over the Texas Rangers in the Fall Classic.
There were "only" seven pitching changes in the
game, with 12 strikeouts and five walks.
The game was lopsided as Merrill Kelly dominated Ranger batters through
the first seven innings of the game striking out nine and walking no one.
The series is now tied at one game each. Game three of the World Series will be played
Monday night in Phoenix.
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My interest is the time of the
game and what I will call the boredom
factor. The boredom factor includes
items like walks, strikeouts and pitching changes when there is absolutely
nothing happening on the field. At these
times fans in the stands have to fight sleep and those at home have to fight
the urge to change the channel.
Major League Baseball will try to feed
you some crap about how exciting Game One of the 2023 World Series was. It was played in Arlington, Texas and the Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 in 11
innings. It was somewhat entertaining
but it also seemed to last all night coming in at a whopping four hours and two
minutes. This is in light of MLB's yearlong
"hype-fest" telling the public how much better the game is now that a
clock is put on the pitcher and hitter.
Yeah, right.
Four hours and two minutes is a
joke. Sure, the game lasted 11 innings
but a game played at a snail's pace in which the hitters are dug in like coal
miners swinging for the fences is not interesting despite MLB's fascination
with the long ball and minutia like "exit
velocities". This is not your
father's or grand-fathers sport.
This four hour marathon included eleven pitching changes, eleven walks and 24 strikeouts. 24 strikeouts? Add a hit batsman and this means there were 47 events in the game where absolutely nothing happened and the ball wasn't put into play. MLB is proud of itself for speeding up the game, but a faster game without any action is still like watching paint dry.
There is no solution in sight. Instead of coming up with a permanent fix, congress continues to kick the can down the road when it comes to government funding. And many don't seem to care what their actions do to this nation as long as they remain blindly loyal to their party's leadership.
The woman who represents my family and me in Congress is indicative of the blind loyalty of congressional members. Ann Wagner, who has been elected to represent her Missouri district six times, has done very little in 12 years. She has authored insignificant legislation in the house and added her name to more significant bills when it benefits the Republican party.
Wagner's' claim to fame was to co-chair the Missouri Republican party and serve as Ambassador to Luxembourg after being appointed by former President George Bush. It was the Republican party's way of thanking her for helping it win gains in the early 2000's.
There are too many congress people just like Wagner who are feckless. It's a wonder Congress gets anything accomplished. And the Republicans aren't alone. There are a number of clueless Democrats as well.
What is the solution to this malaise in Congress? Term limits. Apparently the American public thinks congress is ineffectual, but doesn't want to throw out its representatives in the House and Senate. If a constituional ammendment were enacted to limit house members to six two year terms and Senate members to two six year terms, it might help solve the problem. It would also get rid of some of the fossils in both chambers who have been sucking the tit of the public treasury for far too long.
Term limits would get rid of those who have become entrenched in power. As an example Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer from New York would be forced to go home and so would Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. McConnell is 81 years old and the people of Kentucky have sent him back to Washington D.C. through at least 2026. As a reference, McConnell was first elected to the US Senate in 1984. That was the same year Americans elected Ronald Reagan to a second term. McConnell is showing his age of 81 and on at least two recent occasions has seemed to be disoriented while speaking in public.
It's time for these individuals to let someone else have a chance. Maybe there are statesmen in this nation who are actually concerned about the future of the United States and would act to work with their colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
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.
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.
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'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.
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!
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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.
He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Major League Baseball is five days from opening day
and spring training is all but a memory. The rules implemented by MLB over the winter
to speed up games appear to be working...so far. Pitchers and hitters are on the clock and the
overall time of games is reported by MLB to be down 25 minutes per game.
If you read this blog regularly you know I've
lobbied for faster games for years. Up
through last year the games had become
snooze fests with batters stepping out, pitchers stepping off and fans taking a
nap between pitches.
Now that spring training games are almost behind us
let's hope major league umpires enforce the rules once the real season begins
on March 30th.
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-I thought the Chiefs were in trouble when QB
Patrick Mahomes trotted off the field just before half wincing in pain. The Chiefs were down 24 - 14 to talented
Philadelphia Eagle quarterback Jalen Hurts. The KC defense had failed to stop Hurts
on numerous occasions to that point.
But, one thing I know about Mahomes and the Chiefs is never give up on
them. They are talented, fast and
deep. And they came back to score on
every possession in the second half. The Eagles defense was feckless as Mahomes
went on to claim the game's MVP trophy and lead his team to a 38-35 win.
-We didn't go out to a party this year and I fell
asleep watching the game shortly after the opening kickoff. But, I did see all of the highlights after
the game on ESPN. I kept my record for
the year in tact by not watching one NFL game from start to finish. I could go on a long rant why I don't watch
professional games, but leave it to say I could care less about a league of
billionaire owners and felon players that on two occasions moved the teams I
had cheered for to two other cities.
-I think Andy Reid, the Chiefs head coach, is without
a doubt the best coach in the game today.
He has been to Super Bowls in three of the last four years and won two
of them. He will be in the Hall of Fame
five years after he calls it quits.
-I understand the need for diversity and inclusion
but the NFL seems to have gone overboard.
What' s up with needing an all
female fighter squadron to fly over the stadium after the national
anthem? The Air Force doesn't practice
discrimination so why does the NFL?
-Speaking of the national anthem, why can't the
selected artist just sing it by the book like Whitney Houston did at the start
of Operation Desert Storm in 1991? The
country music artist that sang it last night, Christ Stapleton did nothing to
distinguish himself from the rest of the morons who have butchered it over the
years.
-We ate dinner at halftime of the game because Fox told us it would be about a half hour long. I left
the TV on at the start of halftime when this Rhianna woman came out to "sing",
but turned it off pretty fast. Is that
all the better the vaunted National Football League can do? As many on social media put it..."worst
halftime show ever!" And that's a
shame because the game was in my top three Super Bowls of all time. And I've seen every game on TV since the
first one in 1967.
-Someone smarter than me may have already pointed
this out, but the "City of Brotherly Love", has now managed to lose
two of the biggest sporting events in the country in just over three months time. First the Philadelphia Phillies
got beat by the Houston Astros in the 2022 World Series and now the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the
Chiefs. Maybe Philadelphia should rename
itself the "City of Runners Up".
-I thought Fox TV was adequate in its presentation of
the game but there is nothing about last night's telecast that really stands
out in comparison to previous years. The
announcers were OK and the technology was good, but nothing innovative.
-One thing I did find annoying was youtube.tv told
me the game was available in 4K. (It's
something every TV network should be doing, since millions of smart TVs have that
capability). But, no. Youtube.tv wanted me to shell out another ten
bucks if I wanted to see the game in 4K.
Sure, I would love to see it in that definition but not for another ten
dollars a month.
-Why, when there is no competition from other sports leagues does the NFL persist in playing its championship game on a Sunday night? Numerous people over the years have asked why the game isn't played on a Saturday night. That way thousands would have a chance to rest and relax on Sunday (ie, nurse their hangovers). I realize the league plays its regular season games on Sundays, but it schedules playoff games on Saturdays almost every week in January. Why not its ultimate game of the year?
-Finally, if last night's Super Bowl was the
ultimate football game, then why will the NFL play another ultimate game one
year from now in Las Vegas? That should
be interesting as the circus comes to Sin City. And another
"ultimate" championship game is scheduled for two years from now in
New Orleans. More freaks in The Big Easy.
Former St. Louis Cardinal and
Philadelphia Phillie third baseman Scott Rolen has been elected to the
Professional Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of
America. He will join Fred McGriff this summer in induction ceremonies at
the hall in Cooperstown, NY. McGriff was selected to the hall by the Contemporary
Era Committee.
I had the chance to watch Rolen
many times at Busch Stadium II and Busch Stadium III, while he was a member of
the Cardinals between 2002 and 2007. Rolen was a good third baseman offensivly
but I didn't think his production would land him in the hall. However, he
is one of the best defensively I've ever seen play the position. While
with the Cards Rolen played on two world series teams. The Cardinals lost
to the Red Sox in 2004 and then won it all against the Detroit Tigers in
2006. Rolen was an integral part of both teams.
I hope Rolen will go into the
Hall with a Cardinal hat on his induction plaque. He played more years
with the Phillies but put up better numbers with the Cardinals and was selected
to four All-Star teams during his time in St. Louis.
He played a total of 17 years
in the big leagues, seven with the Phillies, six with the Cardinals, parts of four
years with the Reds and a partial season with the Blue Jays. His career
stats included a .281 batting average, 316 home runs and 1287 RBI.
Rolen and McGriff, who played
for the Blue Jays, Braves and Rays, will be inducted into the baseball hall on
Sunday July 23rd.
There
is an AM radio station in Saint Louis, Missouri that refers to itself as the
"Sports Voice of America". It's not.
KMOX Radio which
for years has marketed itself as the Sports Voice of America has slipped badly
since its heyday. Currently the outlet has the broadcast rights for St.
Louis' MLB franchise, the rights for a local college team in a mid-major
basketball conference and is one of numerous stations carrying the Kansas City
Chiefs of the NFL.
My point is this radio station continues to promote itself in this fashion. But, bottom line is while most St. Louisans were watching the NFL playoffs on TV, this so called sports voice was being paid to broadcast an investment information program for retirees. But, that is probably appropriate since the stations market demographic is comprised of a large number of senior citizens.
After 15 tries the US House of Representatives
finally has a speaker. The house
selected Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, California as its top dog after
McCarthy made a number of concessions to opponents.
The speaker was elected just after midnight
Washington D.C time. I was able to watch
the 14th and 15th votes and also watched a bully from Alabama come after one of
his colleagues from Florida. Mike Rogers
of Alabama walked over to conservative holdout Matt Gaetz of Florida, yelling
in support of McCarthy and was physically restrained by another member of
congress from North Carolina Richard Hudson.
It was great theatre, but is also showed the emotion underlying the
proceedings for those involved. It also
showed that there are idiots in the US house.
My thought is most Americans could care less who the Speaker of the House is. They just want the government to function and make sure Social Security checks arrive on time and that services we've come to rely on continue to function.
In the process McCarthy is reported to have made
concessions to Gaetz and other members of the Republican conservative
caucus. One of those is that just one
person my call for the speaker's removal at any time. Gee, I wonder how long that will take and how
many times that will play out during McCarthy's tenure as boss?
The US House tried again and has
failed again to elect a new speaker of its chamber. Wannabe speaker Kevin
McCarthy told reporters earlier this evening he had the support to be elected
speaker.
Looks like McCarthy and his
buddies can't count. McCarthy missed being elected by one representative
who could have voted present, rather than voting for a different Freedom Caucus
candidate.
As one of my friends put it, if
you went 0-14 they would send you back to the minors.
Earlier I wrote of insanity in D.C. For the first time tonight I watched CNN's coverage from
Atlanta. The inane comments and editorializing by CNN's so called experts
is unacceptable. I ended up turning off this liberal media outlet in
favor of C-Span. I should have watched C-Span from the start. This
outlet hasn't editorialized or speculated. And the camera angles on TV in
the House are also much better.
The insanity is also alive and
well in Atlanta.
The United States House of
Representatives did it again three more times today and each time the result
was the same as it had been the previous three days. Kevin McCarthy of
California wants to be the top dog in the chamber, but he still doesn't have
all of the votes he needs. I explained why the house continues its act of
insanity in
this post yesterday.
Thirteen tries and thirteen
failures by McCarthy and his Republican cronies.
The lower chamber is scheduled
to meet again in several minutes and McCarthy says he now has the votes.
For the sake of the citizens of the United States I hope he is right, but I
also hope he hasn't given away the store to get the last of the holdouts in his
party to vote for him.
The United States House
is deadlocked and it hasn't seated any of its new members yet. The House
of Representatives still hasn't picked a leader.
Representative Kevin
McCarthy of Bakersfield, California wants to be the Speaker of the House but he
doesn't have the support of the entire Republican party. There are
about 20 holdouts who identify as conservative that oppose McCarthy. Since
Tuesday when the speaker was supposed to be elected by the Republicans, who
control the house, McCarthy's support has dwindled.
Meanwhile, the
Democratic party is in lock step and has voted for its party's leader Hakeem
Jeffries of Brooklyn, New York to lead the house. Just one problem, Jeffries
and his party don't have enough votes to win the job without help from the
Republicans. And that won't happen in this house
where bi-partisanship is little more than a concept. Apparently, there are no statesmen in the lower
chamber.
So, after three days and
10 tries, there is no Speaker of the House. Ten times McCarthy has
been nominated and ten times he has failed. Reporters claim McCarthy
has made concessions to the conservatives in his party, but they aren't
budging.
Albert Einstein once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different end result. You could logically conclude the members of the US House are insane.
