Lee Lowenfish

As readers of my blog know, I love sports quotes that have meaning transcending inspiration for athletes. The title for this post comes from Dick Bosman, once a no-hit pitcher for Cleveland, later an esteemed pitching coach for Orioles-Rangers-Rays and author with Ted Leavengood of the informative DICK BOSMAN ON PITCHING (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018):  "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, today is a gift - that's why it's called the present."

 

Like most memorable quotes, Dick doesn't know where it came from. Perhaps from that mysterious multicultural androgynous Anon Ymous?  It doesn't matter - it's the thought that counts as in this observation:   "It's amazing how much good can be done if you don't care who gets the credit."

 

With March winds howling and temps changing violently here in the Northeast, this remains an exciting and hopeful time of year with college basketball playoffs nearing and baseball spring training in full flower.  Yesterday (M Mar 3) during an Oriole-Pirate spring training game in Sarasota, reliever Jose Bautista threw a perfect inning with two strikeouts in his first appearance in a game since August 2023 when he left the mound in Camden Yards soon headed for Tommy John surgery. 

 

Oriole manager Brandon Hyde says he will utilize Bautista conservatively, never pitching him for more than an inning and never on back-to-back days.  Nicknamed The Mountain for his imposing stature of 6' 8" 290 lbs, he needed years deep in the minor leagues and overseas before he developed command, control, and a consistent release point.   It's way too early in spring training to make any predictions about how the long season will play out, but it was a heartwarming sight to see The Mountain back on the mound. Tears of joy poured from his teammates, coaches, fans at Ed Smith Stadium and all over the Oriole universe.   

 

In yesterday game, switch-hitting catcher Adley Rutschman hit his first homer of the spring, another hopeful sign. He is more of a line drive hitter than a power bomber, but  in the last half of 2024, Adley endured the first slump of his storybook career.  He was mum about whether a hand injury affected his swing but if he is healthy again, his

presence in the lineup and behind the plate will be a definite asset for the Birds.  Waiting in the wings for perhaps a mid-season callup is the impressive Dominican backstop Samuel Basallo, barely 20 years old.  I saw him in the minors a couple of times and he is a commanding presence who reminds me of a left-handed hitting Orlando Cepeda. 

 

Another pleasant development was the announcement that the Orioles and Washington Nationals have settled their dispute over coverage of the teams on the MASN

stations (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network).  As it should be, the Nats will soon be on their own promoting the team on the air waves.  Previous Oriole owner, the late Peter Angelos, drove a very hard bargain and didn't accept prior arbitration settlements of the dispute.

 

David Rubenstein can now enter his second year as Oriole owner with this contentious dispute settled. He certainly brings to the table a fascinating background not common to ownership in any sport. Prominent as head of the Carlyle Equity fund, he is also a philanthropist with a genuine interest in history. On recent Mondays at the New York Historical Society on Central Park West, I heard him interview first Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security during President Obama's second term, and then Ken Burns, the indefatigable documentary filmmaker. (These interviews are available on line.)  Rubenstein is also often heard interviewing people on Bloomberg TV.  He was the chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center in Washington until he and others on the board were fired last month by President Trump.  

 

I won't make spring training myself this year but of course, I'll be following Oriole developments closely.  In this turbulent and perilous time of American history, it will be nice to follow one's team with a sense of hope. Maybe more moves should have be made to replace Anthony Santander, their 44 HR, 100+ RBI man and ace pitcher Corbin Burnes.  Santander is now a Blue Jay and Burnes a Diamondback but O's still have a world of young talent waiting to blossom.  Like young second baseman Jackson Holliday, not ready to shine last year after enormous hoopla.  And Heston Kjerstad, who can now even put more distance from his scary heart ailment of a few years ago. He seems to have a good baseball head on his shoulder.  At U of Arkansas, he said that he always makes his goals for any season extremely high knowing that he cannot achieve them.

 

Turning to college basketball, Columbia's women Lions continue to impress.  They have earned for the first time the top seed in the Ivy League tournament this year to be held at the Pizzitola Center on the Brown U campus in Providence.  Penn will be their likely opponent on Fri Mar 14 at 430P with Harvard and Princeton battling it out in

the second game.  The final will be on Sat Mar 15 at 5P televised by ESPNNews.  Over this past weekend, seniors Kitty Henderson and Cece Collins each had a triple double - Kitty in the win over Brown and Cece in the triumph over Yale.  If I were running the PA system, I would have found a recording of Irving Berlin's "Anything you can do, I can do better" from "Annie Get Your Gun".   

 

Meanwhile down in Greenwich Village at the Paulson Center on Mercer Street, NYU, winners of 56 in a row, will open its defense of the Division III title against Gallaudet from Washington DC F Mar 7 at 730P.  At 430p U Mass-Dartmouth faces Trinity from Hartford CT.  The winners meet at 5P on Sat Mar 8.   The NYU men, losers of only one game all season, play Cortland State in York, PA at 730P after Cleveland's John Carroll plays host York at 430P.  Winners meet on Sa Mar 8 at 5P.  On the Big Boy front, St.John's, now ranked #6 in the country, won the Big East regular season and enter the Big East tourney at MSG with high hopes of another big March Madness run under septugenarian coach Rick Pitino. 

 

My Wisconsin Badgers came up short against Big Ten leader Michigan State this past Sunday but it was a hard-fought game.  If they bounce back at lagging but

gritty Minnesota on W Mar 5 830P on Big Ten Network and on Senior Day against Penn State on Sa Mar 8 1P on Peacock, they should enter Big Ten tournament at Indianapolis with some momentum. 

 

I read earlier today online a very moving story by Greg Stiemsma about how retired Badger athletic trainer Henry Perez-Guerra basically saved his life.  Now an Badger assistant coach with a new title of Director of Player Development, Stiemsma endured a tough period as a young Badger frontcourtman from tiny Randolph, Wisconsin.

He was not doing well in school and felt he wasn't playing well either.  He was close to suicidal when an early AM knock on the door from Perez-Guerra essentially saved his life. A long talk began his hard road to recovery.  Greg went on to a NBA and overseas career and now a prominent role on the Badger coaching staff. Kudos to Greg for being courageous to share his story and to Henry for being there to help. 

 

In conclusion, here are some upcoming TCM movies with sports themes: 

Th Mar 6 245P  "Tennessee Champ" (1954)  Keenan Wynn is boxer battling with crooked manager.  Shelley Winters presumably helps him. 

 

F Mar 7 a lot of movies with horse racing themes:

6A "Sporting Blood" (1931) Robert Florey directs Clark Gable/Madge Evans

730A "Glory" (1956) David Butler directs Margaret O'Brien/Walter Brennan/Charlotte Greenwood

915A "The Story of Seabiscuit" (1949)  Butler directs Barry Fitzgerald with some help from Shirley Temple/Rosemary DeCamp

*6P  "A Day At the Races" (1937) Sam Wood directs a Marx Brothers classic 

 

Tu Mar 11 6A  "Three Ages" (1923) a Buster Keaton classic with Wallace Beery. A caveman baseball scene especially notable.

615P "The Cameraman" (1928) even more notable, Keaton's baseball pantomime at an empty Yankee Stadium

 

(Non-sports films to be noted:  Sa Mar 8 12N "Hard Day's Night" (1964) early Beatles that reminds me of a Marx Bros. film at their best

M Mar 10 545A "The Apartment" (1960) probably Billy Wilder's last great film with Jack Lemmon/Shirley MacLaine/Fred MacMurray.)

 

 

Coming up on Sa Mar 22 10P "Angels in the Outfield" (1951) - the underappreciated original with uncredited James Whitmore as the

unseen but powerfully heard Angel Gabriel.  Paul Douglas in the lead as crusty manaager Guffy McGovern domesticated by Household Hints

journalist Janet Leigh with underappreciated Bruce Bennett as veteran pitcher Saul Hellman.  More in the next blog.

 

For now, always remember:  Stay positive, stay healthy, stay sane, and take it easy but take it. 

 

   

 

   

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

   

 

This is an unsettling time for pro baseball as well as the USA as a whole. The Houston Astros, losers to the Washington Nats in a thrilling World Series, are being investigated for systematic sign-stealing over the past and prior years.

 

The Astros also had to fire a rising star in their front office Brandon Taubman for his actions in harassing women reporters who had written about Houston's decision to trade for closer Roberto Asuna while he was serving a suspension for domestic abuse.

 
The powers-that-be in MLB also want to contract 42 minor league teams by 2021, shorten the amateur draft to 20 rounds, and postpone the draft until August. They evidently think that a "Dream League" of undrafted players can be established to serve as a substitute for the terminated farm clubs.

 
With all the uncertainly in baseball at a time of declining attendance and interminably long games, I find it always stimulating to be in the company of scouts.  So on November 16th I traveled to Baltimore for the 49th annual dinner of MASA, the Mid-Atlantic Scouts Association. 

The event was held at [Rick] Dempsey's restaurant in Camden Yards and I'm happy to report that it was no "rubber chicken" affair.  Kudos to the Delaware North catering group for an exceptionally fine buffet dinner that preceded the evening's award presentations.

 
MASA's president is veteran Blue Jays scout Tom Burns, a former high school coach at Bishop McDevitt in Harrisburg, Pa. In his opening remarks, Burns noted that four players from the Mid-Atlantic region will receive 2019 World Series championship rings from the Nats.   Their triumph has been widely hailed by veteran baseball people because the Nats are led by GM Mike Rizzo, himself a former scout and son of former scout Phil Rizzo.

 
** 1. First baseman Ryan Zimmerman is from Virginia Beach, VA and University of Virginia. Zimmerman is the longest tenured Nat, playing on its first team in 2005 after the Expos moved from Montreal. He was signed by MASA's secretary Alex Smith, now scouting for Brewers.

 
(BTW One of my all-time favorite player development stories is that Zimmerman, Mark Reynolds, David Wright and the Upton brothers, BJ and Justin, all played for the same youth team, and all started as high school shortstops.)   

 
** 2. Lefty reliever Sean Doolittle - one of the baseball players most concerned about issues of social justice - went to high school in Medford, NJ, then played at the U. of Virginia a little after Zimmerman.  The son of an Air Force veteran and distantly related to the heroic World War II flyer Jimmy Doolittle, Sean's return from injury solidified the Nats' previously maligned bullpen.

 
**3. Daniel Hudson, who closed Game 7 of the Series for the victorious Nats, is also from Virginia Beach and went to Old Dominion in Norfolk VA, alma mater of Game 7 loser Justin Verlander.  His return to effectiveness after TWO Tommy John operations was another heart-warming aspect of the Nats' nearly-miraculous come-from-behind victories in FIVE post-season games.

 
** 4. Reserve first baseman Matt Adams went to high school in Philipsburg, PA, and was a 23rd round draft pick of the Cardinals out of Slippery Rock U. north of Pittsburgh. 

Though none of these players attended the dinner, two other active players were given awards and came to receive them. Lou Trivino was cited for "Outstanding Achievement". The Oakland A's reliever went to Upper Bucks [County] Christian HS and Slippery Rock.

 

Pitcher Jack Kochanowitz won the Amateur Player of the Year award.  The third round pick of the California Angels went to Hamilton HS in Bryn Mawr, Pa. and started his pro career this past summer.

 
The award is given in memory of Nick Adenhart, the Angels pitcher who went to Williamsport HS in Maryland and turned down a baseball scholarship to the University of North Carolina to turn pro.  On the night that Nick won his first game in the majors in Anaheim in early April 2009, he was killed by a drunk driver.

 
Veteran DC broadcaster Phil Wood, the dinner's witty MC, recalled some wise advice he received from Dick Bosman, who he introduced to receive a "Career Achievement" award.
"Get out of the press box and sit with the scouts and you'll learn something," said Bosman.

 

Bosman is the former pitcher with the second Washington Senators/Texas Rangers, Indians, and A's and the recently-retired minor league coordinator for the Tampa Bay Rays. In 1974 he threw a no-hitter for Cleveland against Oakland.  The following year he replaced Catfish Hunter in the A's rotation (as Hunter on a techicality became a free agent and signed with the Yankees). 

 

He went 11-4 in 1975 and 4-2 in part of 1976.  But unfortunately, Bosman's work as a player rep in the pivotal first decade of the Players Association curtailed his active career.  More on Bosman's life and career can be found in his informative book DICK BOSMAN ON PITCHING with Ted Leavengood, published by Rowman and Littlefield.

 
MASA awards also went to Stuart Smothers, back with the Yankees though he won the honor "Crosschecker of the Year" for work for the Phillies.  Smothers provided the vivid detail that growing up in south central LA he would rush home from school to catch Dale Murphy's at-bats on the Braves' superstation TBS.

 
Scout of the Year was Paul Murphy now with the Dodgers after stints with the Orioles and Phillies. MASA also welcomed into its Hall of Fame Shawn Pender and Paul Faulk, both of whom have served the Reds.

 
Well, in this time of uncertainly and unease, it is time to wish one and all a Happy Thanksgiving.  Andas always, please remember to "Take it easy but take it!"