Lee Lowenfish

As major league baseball passes the quarter-pole in the 2022 season, both the Yankees and the Mets have solid leads in their eastern divisions.  Neither success is that much of a surprise, but certainly a pleasant experience for fans of New York pro sports who have suffered greatly in recent years with the constant failures of the football Giants and Jets and the Knicks and the Nets.  

 

Expectation was high for the Nets but the Celtics wiped them out in four straight. I must say I almost enjoyed it because I don't like teams built from the top down with expensive free agents, especially one like self-absorbed Kyrie Irving who refused to get vaccinated and missed most of the season.   

 

Another positive development in Gotham this spring has been the emergence of a young and likable New York Rangers hockey team.  They knocked out the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round in a gripping seven-game series.  They have rallied to tie at two games apiece the Carolina Hurricanes with the pivotal fith game scheduled for tomorrow (Th night May 26).

 

I never learned to ice skate but as a fan of many sports, I say that there is nothing like the intensity of Stanley Cup hockey where there is no doubt that players are going all out to inscribe their name in undoubtedly sports' most captivating trophy.

 

I have never liked the term "warriors" to describe athletes who usually will have another season to try again, unlike real soldiers who may never come home.  But when you see the bloody faces of hockey players and their near-exhaustion, maybe warrior does fit them.

 

I saw my first major league game of the season at New Shea last Thursday afternoon May 19.  It was a dramatic encounter, won in the bottom of the 10th on a long Pete Alonso home run.  

It was very comforting to be in a crowd again - although with Covid-19 still a constant danger, I don't blame anyone for staying away. 

 

It was tonic for my soul to gaze upon the wonderful variety of fan affection for their heroes.  

I saw two Met fans sitting near the home dugout wearing Javier Baez jerseys, a homage to last season's rental who was only here for two months before signing a big free agent contract with the Tigers. (It is one of the season's early disappointments that the Tigers and their rival in the AL Central, Kansas City, are dong so poorly after signs of growth in 2021.)

 

I also saw a Cardinal fan wearing an Allen Craig jersey - a hero of many years ago who flamed out quickly.  An older woman sporting a gray ponytail and carrying a cane honored a more durable Cardinal hero with her jersey, Stan Musial.

 

I have not made a journey to Yankee Stadium yet but on the first Sunday in June, I will see them against the Tigers.  But I've been alerted that the game will start at 1135A as part of MLB's exclusive arrangement with NBC's Peacock streaming service. 

 

How many shekels baseball's moguls are receiving from its deals with "advanced media" is a highly-guarded secret.  It is obvious, though, that the inconvenience of early times to both fans and players was not a concern when MLB made this decision.

 

I mentioned Four Cheers in the title line for this blog so it is time to salute Columbia and Rutgers, two outstanding local baseball teams whose seasons are continuing.  My Lions pulled off a doubleheader sweep at Penn on Sunday May 22 to win their sixth Ivy League title

in the last fifteen years under the steady hand of coach Brett Boretti.  

 

I was a bit uneasy when they ran off 19 games in a row after losing their first series of the season to Penn at home. Baseball gods exist and you don't tempt with long streaks.  Sure enough, Dartmouth broke Columbia's streak in Hanover on the last weekend of the regular season. 

 

Then in the rubber match, the Big Green erased a 10-4 deficit in the eighth inning to win in the tenth inning.   It cost Columbia home field advantage against Penn for the best-of-three Ivy League Playoff.

 

After losing the first game at Penn, 13-4, this past Saturday May 21, the Lions shut down the powerful Quaker offense in the Sunday twinbill by the scores of 4-2 and 9-1. 

 

Nothing exemplifed the balance in their lineup than the 9-1 victory in which leadoff man Cole Hage drove in four runs and number nine hitter Austin Mowrey also drove in four. Coach Boretti's team now have an impressive 18-6 record in elimination games.

 

Down in New Brunswick, Rutgers set a school record with forty-one wins this season and they will have a number 2 seed in the upcoming Big Ten tournament in Omaha. Rain has delayed the opening of the tourney until Th May 26.  

 

Maryland will be the top seed in the 8-team tourney with the winner getting an automatic bid to the competition leading up to the College World Series also in Omaha starting on June 17.  Who said that northeastern baseball can't hold its own against any region of the country? 

 

The sad one note in this blog is the loss of Roger Angell at the age of 101 on Friday May 20.  Beginning in the early 1960s, Angell's thoughtful and beautiful essays on baseball in "The New Yorker" were must-readings for baseball fans who appreciated good writing.   

 

He occasionally guested on my WBAI-Pacifica "Seventh Inning Stretch" baseball shows in the 1980s.  I will never forget his inviting me to the memorial for baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti at Carnegie Hall in November 1989.  Harvard man Angell shared a profound love for the game along with the former Yale classics professor and university president. 

 

That's all for now.  Don't forget Noir Alley on TCM Sat after midnight and repeated at 10A on Sunday.  May 28-29's offering is "Bad Day At Black Rock" (1955) with Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, and Spencer Tracy.  

 

The film is usually labeled a Western but I'm sure host Eddie Muller will inform us about its Noir attributes. Coming up on June 4-5 is a truly classic Noir, "Out of the Past" (1947) with Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer.

 

Always remember: Take it easy but take it! 

I wasn’t rooting for Lebron James and his remarkable young sidekick Kyrie Irving. But I am glad that Cleveland’s long drought without a major sports championship since 1964 is at last over. And who knows? The Indians are definitely a contender in a mediocre AL Central.

Of course, as a confirmed Orioles addict, the AL East has been the race I’m following the most closely. The Birds’ lead is only one game as summer begins but Baltimore just finished a week in which they won three-game series at Boston and at home against Toronto, their two biggest rivals so far in 2016.

The Orioles are winning without any semblance of a consistent starting rotation.
There have been remarkable performances like Chris Tillman’s and rookie Tyler Wilson’s victories in Boston, but there is no assurance that either one will continue
to provide consistent deep-inning performances.

Tillman did improve his record to an impressive 10-1 in winning the rubber match against Toronto, but he only worked five innings, giving up four runs in second inning. All came on on two-run homers to the Blue Jays potent double play combination of Troy Tulowitzki and Devon Travis, both back from stints on the disabled list.

The Blue Jays starting pitching is not exactly overwhelming, but the Birds were fortunate that Toronto’s best starter this season, Marco Estrada, did not work in the recently concluded series.

One thing I’ll say about the 2016 Orioles – they are resilient, the offense can be explosive, and the defense is often extraordinary. The latest example: Reliever Mychal Givens, a converted shortstop, made a remarkable sliding grab and accurate throw on an infield dribbler to preserve the lead in Saturday's 4-2 victory over Toronto.

The loss of Manny Machado to a four-game suspension will hurt, but the return from injury of JJ Hardy to shortstop will definitely help.

The decisions from MLB justice are certainly strange. Machado was bound to be suspended for charging Yordano Ventura after being plunked by a 99 mph fastball. But Ventura in effect was suspended for only one start - he was the instigator and not for the first time.

One thing about baseball - there is always something new and something controversial. Looks like an exciting summer ahead and as always my hope remains that the Orioles will be “playing meaningful games in September” and beyond.

That’s all for now. Always remember: Take it easy but take it!

YIBF (Yours In Baseball Forever), Teny Ymota (The Earl of NY, Your Man On The Aisle)
 Read More