Lee Lowenfish

Happy International Tango Day, December 11 - get out of your chairs, sedentary dear readers, and move those puppies.  How do I know it is International Tango Day? Because I saw it on the internet so it must be true, right? 

 

Humor must be our constant companion these days and weeks and months ahead.  So let me start with the hilarious Onion headline that popped up the other

day on the internet:  MORE PARENTS SAY ALLOWING CHILD TO PLAY FOOTBALL NOT WORTH RISE OF BEING DRAFTED BY JETS. 

 

New York is going through a truly horrible pro football season with the Jets and Giants simply incapable of playing winning football.  The Giants have an injured and thin roster but the Jets were supposed to be a good team.  Owner Woody Johnson forgot or more likely never understood that relying on aging QB Aaron Rodgers wouldn't lead them to the promised land.  

 

So I don't begrudge the excitement of Mets fans who are celebrating the acquisition of Juan Soto as a free agent with the extraordinary amount of money, a reported $765 million spread out over 15 years. If Soto deems it necessary, he can opt out after 5 years. The blow to the crosstown Yankees no doubt felt like an extra bonus. 

 

But as I was finishing this blog on Tues evening Dec 10, the news came that the Yankees' first return salvo has been signing away from the Atlanta Braves, gifted though somewhat fragile southpaw Max Fried to a eight-year contract for reportedly "only" 27 million a year.  There will likely be more big ticket acquisitions by the Bronx Bombers. 

 

Super-agent Scott Boras and most of the local and national media are applauding the high stakes competition between Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hal Steinbrenner. Smooth-talking Boras even lauds the "goliaths" that we either love or hate so everybody's happy. 

 

I beg to differ. I cannot hail the likelihood of big market domination in MLB. Maybe commissioner Rob Manfred and minions yearn for a Yankee-Dodger or Yankee-Met World Series every year but not me.  I can tolerate a Yankee-Dodger World Series, let's say every 43 years.

 

I am not sure that Blake Snell will become a real ace for the Dodgers, but he is certainly an improvement to their oft-injured starting corps.  At a far lower price versatile middle infielder-outfielder Tommy Edman just re-upped for five years.  It is so hard to project the future of a player, which is why I revere the eyes-and-ears scouting profession. But even I could see in the Cape Cod summer league almost 10 years ago when Edman was still a Stanford collegian that he was a future major leaguer.

 

The common wisdom is that Dodgers are acting within the rules to backload most of their contracts - so, for example, Shohei Ohtani is only being paid $2 million a year to minimize the team's luxury tax penalty.  It is still not good that the smaller markets have little chance to bid for the best players. 

 

I think back to the early 1920s when the Yankees and the Giants squared off in three World Series in a row from 1921 through 1923.  In 1922 Branch Rickey in his fourth full year of running the cash-poor St. Louis Cardinals - multi-tasking in the roles of both field manager and top baseball executive - he had the team in the pennant race until late July.  Then the Yankees picked up third baseman Joe Dugan from the Bosox and the Giants pitcher Hugh McQuillan from the Boston Braves and they went on to win the pennants. 

 

Rickey railed to a St. Louis Rotary Club gathering: "How can those teams without unlimited resources in their deposit boxes have a chance to compete fairly?"

(Source:  my biography BRANCH RICKEY: BASEBALL'S FEROCIOUS GENTLEMAN, P. 135). Newly-installed commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis said that nothing could be done about these acquisitions, but soon thereafter MLB implemented the June 15th deadline - only waiver deals and no trades allowed after that date. A few years after free agency came in after the 1976 season, the deadline was pushed back to late August.  Now it is the end of the July with some of the fat cats wanting the chance to get additions as late as early September.  

  

End of history lesson but more to come in future posts.  On the current Orioles front, I am not sure that Tyler O'Neill is an improvement on homegrown Anthony Santander in right field.  I definitely am a little aghast that they signed defensively challenged Gary Sanchez to be the backup catcher replacing the gritty James McCann who is older but certainly a better receiver.  But I guess the Birds seem to be counting on a revival of Adley Rutschman from his very sub-par second half of the season. 

 

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!   

On the movie front, those film buffs who envy those of us living in the New York area can drool at this news about a Robert Siodmak Festival at the two theaters at Lincoln Center on W 65th Street west of Broadway, W Dec 11 through Th Dec 19.   Siodmak was a German exile from Nazism in the 1930s who became in the 1940s and early 1950s one of the leading if underappreciated directors of Noir Films.   

 

Here is a partial list. Some films are at Bunin Monroe Center 144 W 65th St, others at bigger Walter Reade Theatre across street. 

For info, contact email.ticketing@filmlc.org or 212/875-5825

W Dec 11 630P & Sa Dec 14 230P  "Phantom Lady" (1944) with Franchot Tone/Ella Raines/Elisha Cook Jr./Thomas Gomez

W Dec 11 845P & Sa Dec 14 830P  "Criss Cross" (1949) perhaps his best Noir with Burt Lancaster/Yvonne DeCarlo/Dan Duryea

Th Dec 12 630P & F Dec 13 830P "The Killers" (1946) based on Hemingway story with Burt Lancaster/Ava Gardner

Th Dec 12 845P & F Dec 13 630P "The Suspect" (1944) Set in 1902 England with Charles Laughton as mousy gent pining for Ella Raines

Sa Dec 14 430P & W Dec 18 645P "The Spiral Staircase" (1946) with Dorothy McGuire/Ethel Barrymore/George Brent/Kent Smith

Su Dec 15 230P "People On Sunday" (1930) filmed in Berlin with directors R. Siodmak, Edgar Ulmer, young Billy Wilder

Su Dec 15 430P & W Dec 18 830P  "Son of Dracula" (1943) with Lon Chaney Jr. in New Orleans trying to act like Dad 

Su Dec 15 630P & Th Dec 19 2P "Strange Affair of Uncle Harry" (1946) with George Sanders pining for Ella Raines    

Su Dec 16 1P & Dec 19 630P (not in 4-K restoration) "File on Thelma Jordan" (1950) with Barbara Stanwyck/Wendell Corey

Tu Dec 18 6P & Dec 19 845P "The Cry of The City" (1948) with Victor Mature trying to go straight and Richard Conte going the other way

 

On TCM, Mickey Rooney Thursdays this month has the following films of interest for boxing and car and horse racing fans:

All on Th Dec 12 2P "Killer McCoy" (1946) with Brian Donlevy/Ann Blyth in presumably less malicious role than as Joan Crawford's daughter in "Mildred Pierce" 

6P "The Big Wheel" (1949) with Thomas Mitchell/Mary Hatcher 

8P "National Velvet" (1945) with Elizabeth Taylor/Donald Crisp, directed by Clarence Brown

 

And here's a music documentary note: 

Wed Dec 11 at 8P on Netflix - "The Only Girl In the Orchestra" 33-minute documentary on Orrin O'Brien,

recently-retired outstanding bassist in the NY Philharmonic and the first woman hired by the orchestra. 

 

That's all for now - stay positive, test negative remains my mantra & as always, Take It Easy But Take It! 

It's never easy when a team you've poured your marrow into it ends its season abruptly.  It's not that Oriole fans weren't prepared for the sudden exit of the Orioles from the post-season. Anyone who witnessed their decline to mediocrity since mid-June had to worry when the Kansas City Royals, or any good team, came to Baltimore. 

 

Sure enough, after surviving two late season seven-game losing streaks, the Royals did knock us out. They won two low-scoring games, 1-0 and 2-1, to extend Baltimore's post-season losing streak to 10 games (stretched over 10 seasons). The offensive drought was so palpable that after tying the last game in the 5th inning but failing to score again with bases loaded and no out, the Birds did not mount another threat. 

 

So I am reduced to being a relatively unemotional spectator of what promises to be four exciting best-of-five divisional series.   It is definitely a less fulfilling feeling, but on the morning that the second round of playoffs begin, Sat Oct 5, here are some thoughts on the upcoming games. 

 

Although MLB officials are almost brazen in hoping for a Dodger-Yankee World Series, I am happy for the amazing transition of the AL Central, once the doormat of baseball, into three playoff teams.  Two of them, perennial contender Cleveland and upstart Detroit, will meet head on in what could be a Rust Belt classic.

In the other ALDS, Kansas City resumes its playoff rivalry with the Yankees that made for exciting baseball in the late 1970s and 1980.

 

One of the most happy memories in my life as a Yankee hater is watching on television George Brett's 9th inning homer off Goose Gossage in the final game of the Royals' sweep of the Yankees in the 1980 ALCS. Silencing a raucous home crowd has to be a thrill of a lifetime for any competitor. Brett is now 71 and he is very happy that the only team he ever played for and now advises has another shot at the Bronx Bombers.

 

In shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City has a budding superstar who plays the game with exceptional talent and evident joy. As I watched Witt on field and in the dugout, I kept thinking of Branch Rickey's description of Willie Mays:  "The secret to his success is the frivolity in his blood stream." 

 

Witt was drafted second in the first round of the 2019 draft behind Orioles switch-hitting catcher Adley Rutschman whose production nearly vanished in the second half of this season. The Royals play solid defense up the middle with Witt, Kyle Isbel in center, and second baseman Michael Massey who made a sensational play in Kansas City's series-clinching win over the Orioles. 

 

Veteran catcher Salvador Perez, the one holdover from their 2015 World Series conquerors of the Mets, has been the leader that every young team needs.

He has an able backup in Felix Fermin but Perez probably can't DH this series because first baseman Vinny Pasquantino has rushed back from a hand

injury and cannot yet play in the field. 

 

All of the Royals I've mentioned are home-grown. Somewhere in the great beyond, Art Stewart, the Royals late scouting director, must be smiling.  I was

so pleased to build a chapter around Stewart in my book about scouts, BASEBALL'S ENDANGERED SPECIES.  

 

The Yankees with their potent duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto will obviously be favored.  They might have the starting pitching in Gerrit Cole and 

southpaw Carlos Rodon and either of their home grown Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt to contain Witt Jr and the rest of a lineup that has not been deep or potent.

They've added veterans Yuli Gurriel and Tommy Pham and they will have to step up.  

 

The Tigers-Guardians series should be equally interesting.  As a sentimentalist, I'd like to see Cleveland win its World Series since 1948.

Switch-hitting third baseman Jose Ramirez has been a tremendously productive regular season player who has yet to shine in playoffs but his re-signing with

Cleveland when a free agent was a big boost to that franchise.  They also feature the most lights-out closer in all the playoffs, Emmanuel Clase.

 

Yet it's hard not to pull for the Tigers who have roared into contention since August. They won two series from the Orioles in this period and I must apologize to  RHP Beau Brieskie, who I dissed as "immortal" in a prior blog when he shot down the Birds in a key moment. Manager A.J. Hinch, who led the tainted 2017 Astros to the World Series title and then accepted a one-year suspension for not stopping the sign-stealing escapade, has deftly led this young and fearless team. 

 

They seem to produce a new hero every game and the likely AL Cy Young award-winner in southpaw Tarik Skubal.  They swept the Astros in Houston with a stirring come-from-behind 8th inning rally.  How the Guardians handle Skubal in game two should be a harbinger of how this series plays out. [Update: The Guardians shut out the Tigers, 7-0, in game one making Skubal's start in Game 2 vital for Detroit before they head home for the middle two games.] 

 

I rarely make public predictions but what is a blog for anyway!  I go for the home field advantage in picking the Tigers, who play the 3rd and 4th games at raucous Comerica Park, in 4.  But I fear that the Yankees might win in 4 at Kansas City. But don't go to any of the betting web sites and blame me.

 

Speaking of come-from-behind rallies, the Mets have cornered the market in the NL.  If not for DH Shohei Ohtani breaking all kinds of offensive records for the Dodgers, shortstop Francisco Lindor should be the hands-down MVP.  He still might win it if we voted on what valuable really means.  To me it is how much a

team relies on not just his statistics but his leadership. And how the team does what you are out of the lineup.

 

I never was a big fan of Lindor's fancy clothes and changing hairstyles.  Production on the field and impact in the clubhouse outside of public view have always been what matters to me.  In these areas Lindor this year has been sensational.  The Mets floundered in mid-September when he missed some games because of a bad back.  When he returned they soared again. 

 

After his huge home run in Atlanta that clinched a spot in the playoffs, he provided a memorable answer to the inevitable question about how he felt after he hit it:  "My back is aching and I am tired."  

 

The drama continued for the Mets when first baseman Pete Alonso hit another dramatic 9th inning HR to eliminate the scrappy young Milwaukee Brewers. 

Now the Mets go into the lair of their arch-rival Phillies who have dominant starting pitching.  Can they slay another dragon?  Going only by intuition,

I say yes in 5 games. Again don't go to the betting site.

 

In the final division series, we have another arch-rivalry with the San Diego Padres going into Dodger Stadium. The Friars just lost a key starting pitcher Joe

Musgrove who will need Tommy John surgery and that is a big blow.  The Dodgters are not deep in starting pitching but they have a formidable lineup

starting with Ohtani and then Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.  And a lot of grinders in newcomer Tommy Edman, Kike Hernandez, Max Muncy, even slumping Chris Taylor if he is on the roster. If closer Michael Kopech continues his resurgence, Dodgers look very tough to me.  Could be a sweep but I hope not. 

 

 

In closing, I want to remember Pete Rose who died on Sep 30 at age 83 at his home in Las Vegas. He had just spent a weekend with some of his Big Red Machine teammates in Cincinnati.  He was in failing health with high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries.

 

I never really talked with Rose. I did have him sign one of the many books written for him as a gift for my nephew then a teenager. He did not make

eye contact with me but shifted his eyes constantly as if on the lookout for creditors. I have no doubt he loved baseball to the marrow and like maybe most retired players could never adjust to life after the game. 

 

I don't want the public to ignore another death that occurred on the same day, basketball great Dikembe Mutombo of brain cancer in Atlanta at the age of 58.

Many times an NBA All-Star and member of the All-Defensive team, Mutombo went on to become a genuine philanthropist and humanitarian.  He helped build hospitals in his native Republic of the Congo and he possessed an engaging personality. His wagging index finger at both rivals and in TV commercials will

always elicit a smile. 

 

That's all for now. Always remember:  Take it easy but take it and Stay Positive Test Negative.