Lee Lowenfish

I don't have a vote in Baseball Writers Association of America awards, but everyone with a computer has an opinion so why not me? 

 

I can understand why Pirates wunderkind pitcher Paul Skenes won the NL award over everyday outfielders Jackson Chourio of Brewers and Jackson Merrill of Padres. Skenes possesses generational talent and he is out of central casting as a former pitcher at Air Force Academy who is thinking of Air Force career after baseball.  (Not even mentioning his girl friend Olivia "Livvy" Dunne the gymnast who he probably met at LSU where he finished his college pitching career).

 

But the vote should have been much closer. I would have voted for Jackson Merrill because from day one of the season, the converted shortstop had a sensational year in center field for San Diego as well as contributing big time with his bat. Chourio finished strongly after a slow start but I think consistency especially in the young and promising player should be rewarded. 

 

In the much closer AL vote, I would have picked Orioles left fielder Colton Cowser for the same reason of consistency although he endured some droughts at the plate. The winner, Yankee RHP Luis Gil, slumped badly in the latter part of season and was basically a non-factor in the Yankees' surge to the AL East title.  His teammate catcher Austin Wells proved to be a better receiver than advertised though he slumped badly at end of season.

 

There is always room for improvement in the infinitely hard sport of baseball so I hope that Cowser can now concentrate more on striking out less - 172 times is Aaron Judge country and Cowser only hit 24 HRs to Judge's 58 in 2024. 

 

The losers in this year's competitions can take heart that the ROY title doesn't guarantee a great career.  I did some checking and since both leagues started awarding a ROY in 1949 - Jackie Robinson was the first ROY in 1947 and his future NY Giants rival shortstop Alvin Dark won in 1948 as a Boston Brave - here are the names of people who were ROYs but didn't have memorable careers:

 

Starting with P Harry Byrd in 1952, it goes through P Bob Grim, P Don Schwall, OF Curt Blefary, OF Joe Charbonneau, OF Ron Kittle, SS Pat Listach, OF Bob Hamelin, OF Marty Cordova, OF Ben Grieve, SS Angel Berroa, SS Bobby Crosby, P Huston Street, P Neftali Feliz, OF Will Myers (2013), and P Michael Fulmer in 2016. 

 

AL future H of Fers who were ROYs in alphabetical order: Luis Aparicio, Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Derek Jeter, Eddie Murray, Tony Oliva, and Cal Ripken Jr.

I'm pretty sure that the list is shorter in the AL because its teams were late in racially integrating. 

 

Here's the larger list of NL future H of Famers in alphabetical order:  Jeff Bagwell, Johnny Bench, Orlando Cepeda, Andre Dawson, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey,

Frank Robinson, Jackie Robinson, Scott Rolen, Tom Seaver, and Billy Williams.   

 

There was no surprise in rookie Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt winning AL manager of the year in a landslide.  I think that the late season slump of the Royals cost Royals manager Matt Quatraro some votes.  I guess the consistent year of Pat Murphy's Brewers made him the NL choice but I certainly could argue for the Mets' Carlos Mendoza and the Padres' Mike Schildt. 

 

I wonder if it is time for two big awards to be given instead of one MVP.  Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani were unanimous MVPs in AL and NL but I'd call them

Players of the Year for their outstanding performances.  As for MVP, I think Juan Soto was just or more valuable to Yanks than Judge.  Ditto Teoscar Hernandez for the Dodgers.  Interestingly, both of them are free agents. 

 

We'll see how that plays out in this year's installment of the Scott Boras Media Show.  I don't doubt that he cares for his clients very much.  But the less I hear in the off-season about the tens of millions being thrown around at free agents, the better my psyche will be.  I like to believe I'm rooting for people who care about winning as much as I do!     

 

 AND NOW TURNING TO HOOPS . . . 

I always love it when my teams not predicted to do anything in a season surprise the pundits and elate their world-weary fans.  My undergraduate alma mater Columbia's basketball team, under veteran coach Jim Engles, has gotten off to a 5-0 start. 

 

Early in Nov the Lions won convincingly on the road at Villanova, still adjusting to life without stellar coach Jay Wright who left the profession (at least for the time being) not being able to adjust to the new world of NIL (Name Image Likeness) benefits for players and expanded transfer portal rights.

Columbia plays Stony Brook at home on Sa Nov 23 at 7P followed by New Hampshire on M Nov 25 also at 7P. 

 

The Columbia women's team are defending co-Ivy League champion women's team. Plagued by poor foul shooting, they suffered their first loss last Saturday at Villanova but they bounced back at home against the University of Pacific. They play some big teams in the Bahamas this weekend including Indiana. 

 

Then they go to Duke on Dec 1 and return for their last home game in 2024 on Tu Dec 4 at 11A against U of San Francisco. Coach Megan Griffith has done a wonderful job of building a winning culture and this game is the annual game played in memory of coach Kay Yow with hundreds of NYC area school kids filling the stands to near-capacity.  

 

Last Friday, my graduate alma mater Wisconsin's cagers knocked over #10-ranked Arizona, 103-88, on the night that former coach Bo Ryan's banner was hoisted to the Kohl Center roof after his induction a few weeks ago into the National Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. 

 

Many of the players on Ryan's 2014-2015 back-to-back Final Four teams attended the game including 7 foot center Frank Kaminsky. Graduate transfer John Tongi threatened Kaminsky's school scoring record of 43, settling for 41 points in another all-around effort.  Picked for the middle of the Big Ten pack this year after the losses of point guard Chucky Hepburn to Louisville and peripatetic AJ Storr to Kansas, the Badgers are undefeated in the early going. 

 

The mosh pit that is the Big Ten regular season has yet to begin so I'm not getting too carried away with optimism.  Wisconsin started well last season too and then folded down the stretch and was knocked out in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  But there is some cautious hope that the current team has a workable mix of veterans and newcomers to make the season exciting. 

 

They need more consistency from the front court. Ah that word again. It was a sport psycholgist that Greg Gard hired to speak to one of his teams a few years ago that famously said:  "If consistency were an island, it would be lightly populated.   

 

In the early going neither Hepburn nor Storr are doing great things for their new teams, Lousiville and Kansas, respectively. When you go back to his high school years, Storr is now playing for his 7th team in the last 7 seasons. 

 

Like stratospheric salaries for pro players, I don't begrudge amateur players taking advantage of the long-delayed freedoms from NCAA control, but many should realize that there is some truth in the old adage: "The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence." 

 

On the distaff side in Madison, I'm happy to report that under former UConn star Marisa Moseley, Wisconsin women's basketball is off to a 4-1 start. It's the early going of course but they beat Georgetown on the road and so far are undefeated at home.

 

I root vigorously for my alma maters but it's nice to report that in a NYC area where the pro football teams are in dire shape, other college hoops programs are off to undefeated starts - Rutgers and St. John's high among them.  And the NYU women are starting the season obviously determined to successfully defend 

the school's first national basketball title.  They play Colby College from Maine on Su Nov 24 at 2P in the heart of Greenwich Village on Mercer Street one block north of Houston Street and one block west of Broadway.

 

AND ABOUT THE GRIDIRON . . . 

Columbia under first-year coach Jon Poppe enters the Sa Nov 23 noon matchup with Cornell with a chance to tie for their first Ivy League title since 1961 when your correspondent was a callow sophomore.  Yale must upset Harvard in The Game for the tie to happen.  Whatever, at 6-3 the Lions are assured of a winning

season.  

 

On Sat night Nov 16 before a national TV audience, Wisconsin Badger football almost pulled the major upset of the season, leading #1 in the country Oregon by 7 points going into the 4th quarter.  But the resourceful Ducks rallied for a tying touchdown not long after the sold-out crowd did the Jump-Around at the beginning of the final quarter.  Dan Lanning's team had prepared in practice by playing an approximation of the noise generated by the longtime Badger tradition. 

 

Once again Luke Fickell's team, especially the offense, proved not ready for prime time.  Firing his hand-picked offensive coordinator Phil Longo after the Oregon loss smacks of desperation.  We'll see how they do in their last games against Nebraska and Minnesota.  Their 22-year consecutive bowl streak is in jeopardy as if a program that dreamt of the college playoff should be satisfied with the sub-runnerup bowls. 

 

A last cultural note.  Went to my first NY Philharmonic concert of the season last week - Young Finnish conductor Matias Rouvali conducted a stirring version of his national hero Sibelius's Fifth Symphony which has opened new doors into my musical consciousness.  I am looking forward to the night before Thanksgiving when the program includes Chopin's Second Piano Concerto and one of my all time favorite pieces, Rachmaninoff's Symphony #2 with the lush and lyrical slow movement that inspired the popular song "I'll Never Love Again".  

 

Here's hoping you do love again, dear readers, and always remember:  Take it easy but take it! And still stay positive, test negative.

 

 

 

I must admit I didn't know what a "libero" was until I got wrapped up in the University of Wisconsin's stirring rise to their first women's volleyball championship last weekend.  I now know that a libero is the rearmost roaming defensive player in both volleyball & soccer. 

 

Undefeated Louisville and perennial contender Nebraska provided stiff competition for my Badgers in the Final Four. But behind a 6' 8" and 6' 9" front line of senior Dana Rettke and first-year Anna Smrek (daughter of a 1980s-backup-LA Laker champion), Wisconsin won the title in a five-set thriller.

 

"We try to practice gratitude," head coach Kelly Sheffield said during the week leading up to the tourney. "And it's really tough when you're in a grind." But he stressed the importance of appreciating the advantages players have -  competing in a sport they love with teammates who may be friends forever for a truly supportive Madison community.

 

Wisconsin has been blessed with a lot of inspirational leaders and well-chosen psychologists. "If consistency were an island, it would be lightly populated," current basketball coach Greg Gard cited one such thinker last year.

 

Nearly ten years ago, Gard's predecessor Bo Ryan explained how the Badgers overcame a late game deficit to win in Columbus:  "You measure people by what it takes to discourage them."

 

BTW So far this season, the Badgers are a pleasant surprise with a 9-2 overall record and 1-1 in the Big Ten.  How Covid affects the rest of the season is still an unknown but I'm looking forward to more great play from sophomore sensation Johnny Davis.  He has to shine for the team to have a chance at contention in the maelstrom/moshpit known as  B1G basketball.

 

A shoutout is also in order for Badger backup center Chris Vogt from Mayfield, Kentucky.

He not only contributed to two recent wins including the erasure of a 22-point deficit

against Indiana.  But more importantly he has spearheaded relief work in his home town that was devastated by the recent tornados.  His GoFundMe page reportedly raised nearly

$200,000. 

 

Today's last word on Badger exploits goes to National Women's Volleyball Player of Year Dana Rettke who explained the team's success this way:  They have learned to live "in the precious present . . . taking one point at a time and being where our feet are."  Reminds me of the old baseball scout who said that 87% of baseball was played beneath the waist. 

 

IN REMEMBRANCE:

ROLAND HEMOND, 92, who passed away in Arizona on Dec 12. From the age of 10 he was steadily employed in baseball and ultimately won three executive of the year awards. Yet Roland never forgot his roots as a hot dog and soda vendor.

 

His first front office job was as a typist for the Boston Braves.  "I always call him Henry Louis Aaron because that is the name I typed on his form," he once quipped.

 

In this age of impersonal uber-analytics, his kind will never be replicated.  But he must be remembered for his kindness and understanding that the human touch is vital in a sport where someone must lose every day.

 

KENNETH MOFFETT, 90, in Alexandria, Virginia, on Nov 19.  He was the federal mediator in baseball's 1981 strike. After that season, he briefly replaced retiring MLB players union leader Marvin Miller but he was considered too accommodating to owners' interests. 

 

In his less than a year of heading the MLBPA, Moffett and Lee MacPhail, his labor relations counterpart on the management side, hoped to work out a joint drug abuse program. It was not to be.   

 

Moffett moved on to work for the NABET union (of broadcast employees and technicians) and stayed with them when they merged with CWA, the Communication Workers of America.)  I'm glad he was remembered well in Wash Post and NY Times obits.

 

He loved the game of baseball and once coached in youth ball former Oriole Baby Bird southpaw Steve Barber.  He was an avid runner. 

 

   

Maybe early in the new year, there will be a breakthrough to end baseball's latest exercise in labor relations brinksmanship.  All the field managerial positions have been filled now that  Buck Showalter, 65, is taking over the Mets, and former MLB outfielder Mark Kotsay, 46, will lead the Oakland Athletics.

 

Being media savvy is essential for high positions in today's sports so I am sure both men will impress in their introduction to the public. 

 

Whether they can lead the players to the playoffs is another question.  The A's might be headed to Las Vegas in the relatively near future and they could be on the verge of a fire

sale.  

 

As the Yankees manager pre-Joe Torre, Showalter, of course, is a known commodity to the New York market. He has been a TV commentator so he will obviously be more fluent than the previous Mets rookie managers Mickey Callaway and Luis Rojas.  (Carlos Beltran never got to manage even one game because of his role as a player in the Houston sign-stealing scandal).

 

It will be very interesting to see who Buck names as his coaches.  He inherits the former Mets journeyman pitcher Jeremy Hefner as his pitching coach.  

 

Sure hope Jeremy and Buck are on the same page. The trend in baseball, however, is for pitching coaches to be hired by front offices not the manager.  

 

And people wonder why games are so long? "See the ball, hit the ball" has been replaced by pumping the latest analytics into pitchers while batters are gearing up for the proper hand position for maximum launch angle and exit velocity.   

 

More Mets questions:  Can the two horses at the top of the rotation, $43 million a year man Max Scherzer and oft-injured Jacob DeGrom, deliver full-seasons? What kind of year will erratic closer Edwin Diaz provide?  Which Francisco Lindor will show up - the Cleveland star or last year's washout?

 

Very interesting questions all and many more. As a fan of the Woerioles, who just before the lockout lavished $7 million a year on Jordan Lyles, one of the most ineffective pitchers in recent history who is penciled in as a number 2 starter, I guess I'd like to have the Mets' problems.

 

That's all for now!  There is reason to believe that if we don't panic, the latest Covid variant, amicron, might not be life-threatening and maybe even short-lived. So again stay positive, test negative, and take it easy but take it! l