Lee Lowenfish

My take on the now-official trade of Manny Machado to the Dodgers is that I hope he realizes the microscope will now be grinding 24/7. (That's not the best metaphor I know but I never was very good in science classes despite attending Bronx HS of Science.)

Some of his last comments to MASNSports.com reporter Roch Kubatko indicated that the enormity of the change was only now beginning to dawn on him. Players are not robots or simply vessels of stats that can be transferred from one team to another as easily as the click on a computer.

Still, the Dodgers offense will likely get an uptick with him hitting in the middle of the lineup. I am sure Dodgers management will deal with the issue of what happens when incumbent shortstop Corey Seager returns from injury next spring. And what about Justin Turner the incumbent third baseman?

I rarely make predictions since I've always loved the baseball adage - "the farther away from the clubhouse the less you know what you are talking about." (A sanitized version of the adage!)

But I did say that the pre-season injury to Justin Turner would be a big blow to the Dodgers and they indeed got off to an awful start until he returned somewhat to form recently. Turner has been a versatile player in past so they'll find a spot for him.

Whether Machado is shortstop or third baseman of future for LA is an intriguing question. Manny will have many suitors as a free agent come November.

As for my Orioles, it remains to be seen if 21-year-old Cuban-born Double A outfielder Yusniel Diaz, the most heralded of the five minor leaguers received from LA, ultimately becomes a core piece of a rebuilt team. I am also curious to see if homegrown outfielders Cedric Mullins and currently injured Austin Hays can make the grade.

I expect another big trade chip to be sent away shortly when closer Zach Britton finds a new home. I think the Indians want him badly because of health issues and free agency looming for fellow left-handed reliever Andrew Miller. But I also think the Orioles would prefer sending Britton to National League.

I still watch the Orioles out of habit and a love that borders on - who am I kidding? -that actually overflows into addiction. They enter post-All-Star-Game play on a two-game winning streak after a 4-4 home stand that featured splitting four games with the hated Yankees (who trail Boston by 4 1/2 games but only 3 in the A-ILC (All-Important Lost Column).

The lineup without the powerful productive Machado batting third could be even more embarrassing than the one WITH Manny that is 41 games under .500. But call me a cockeyed optimist - I think they will be surpass the Mets 1962 debut of 40-120 and even the Tigers 1999 43-119.

The key always remains in baseball pitching. "Without pitching you got nothin'," Sparky Anderson wisely said. And if they are to become the real Orioles again and not the 2018 version I call sadly Woerioles, the starters must step up and not be Five Jokers and No Aces.

Before I close, I want to say goodbye to someone who left us recently, much too early of a heart attack at age 70. KEN RAVIZZA was a pioneering sports psychologist - born in Connecticut, graduate of the renowned physical education program at Springfield College in Massachusetts. He got his doctorate at USC, studying with among others Howard Slusher, a sports philosophy professor who later became a sports agent.

Ken rose to become both a widely published academic author and an applied sports psychologist in great demand by sports teams like Joe Maddon's Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs and individual competitors like figure skater Gracie Gold.

Some of Ken's aphorisms that are indelibly etched in my mind include:
"Attitude is a decision."
"Never let the pressure of a situation exceed the pleasure you get from it."
"Learning to be comfortable while being uncomfortable" is a big key to success.

That's all for now - always remember: Take it easy but take it!
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On the last Sunday in February I turned on my flat screen HDTV to watch the last home game of Wisconsin’s basketball Badgers. After a woeful start and the abrupt retirement of coach Bo Ryan, my graduate school alma mater Wisconsin had been playing good basketball lately. They rose from a 1-4 league start to winners of 10 out of the last 11.

Though it was a home game, Wisconsin was wearing red uniforms, a Black History Month tribute to the unis worn during the 1970s coaching reign of Bill Cofield, the first black coach in the Big Ten. Clad in white, Michigan started off on defense very vigorously. On my HDTV screen they looked like white amoeba trying to suffocate the home five.

There is a limit to how much aggressive defense can be sustained. The Wolverines did lead by one at the half but Wisconsin took control in the second half and won convincingly. Jordan Smith, the only senior on the Badgers this year, even got into the game at the end and hit two foul shots. He received a standing ovation on the way into the game and another one when interim coach Greg Gard pulled him out to hear more cheers before the game ended.

Every team needs a Jordan Smith who plays far more in practice than in games. He usually serves the vital function of captaining the scout team that impersonates the next opponent. He gets no ink in the paper or cybermedia but by playing hard he prepares the team for the next opponent.

The Badgers’ potential seeding in the NCAA tournament did take a hit when one week later on the first Sunday in March, Senior Night at Purdue, the Boilermakers spanked the Badgers thoroughly. Purdue thus gets the double-bye in the Big Ten tournament and Wisconsin only a single-bye.

A bigger hit to the Badgers’ reputation came the day before with the revelation that retired coach Ryan had been engaged in a six-year extra-marital affair. Deadspin, that dogged on-line publication exploring the underside of sports, wrote a story that was confirmed by Wisconsin officials.

The university announced that Ryan had not used any university funds in the pursuit of his liaison and had cleared him over a year ago of any wrongdoing after his jilted lover sent a letter to top school officials. Speculation is rife that the affair was a factor in Ryan’s decision to retire. But it was denied by both sides.

We are all human which means we are not perfect. The temptations to dalliance in the public limelight must be overwhelming. I hope it won't be a blemish that tarnishes
Ryan’s great reputation as a coach and teacher. And that his hand-picked successor and longtime assistant Greg Gard gets the permanent job for his great work in salvaging the season. Gard's promotion might happen any day now.


More was expected of my undergraduate alma mater Columbia this season with four experienced seniors getting a last chance at bringing the first Ivy League title to Morningside Heights since 1968. It was not to be because Yale was too powerful and experienced.

Columbia finished third in the Ivy League with an excellent 10-4 record, but its four losses were two each to perennial challenger Princeton and new champion Yale.
The Lions suffered the indignity of watching Yale clinch the title with a 71-55 win on Columbia’s home court in the last game of the regular season.

The Elis will go to the Big Dance for the first time since 1962. They have two powerful senior forwards Justin Sears from Plainfield NJ, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year and a favorite to win it again, and Brandon Sherrod from Bridgeport, CT.
Sophomore guard Makai Mason is also vital member of Yale’s starting five and he led the Elis in scoring and court presence in the clinching game.

Sherrod has a wonderful backstory. He took last season off to tour with Yale’s famous singing group the Whiffenpoofs. But he returned refreshed in 2015-16 and in mid-season set a NCAA record of 30 straight shots without a miss.

I love the stories of players who are true renaissance men. Wisconsin’s junior forward Vitto Brown sings with his family in a choir called Shades of Brown. They are in the regular rotation of National Anthem singers at the Kohl Center in Madison.

I have not heard them sing but sure hope they bring it in under 1:30. I have little patience with Anthem singers who think the song is about them and not about fellow citizens of the United States. To me it is a symbol of what has gone glaringly wrong in our country.

The real world of scandal impacted Yale's visit to Columbia. Senior team captain Jack Montague missed the last four weekends of the Ivy League season. Yale officials will only say that he has “withdrawn” from school and has not been expelled.

Before Yale's last home game, the team wore warmup uniforms with Montague's number 4 on the back along with his nickname "Gucci". Justin Sears said it was in solidarity with their "brother" who remains in their thoughts.

I find that emotion understandable given that sports teams bond together for weeks and months and years and develop a foxhole mentality. But the charge against Montague is very serious, involving sexual misconduct. Demonstrations against him have started
at Yale and filtered somewhat to Columbia.

The New York Post wrote on Saturday that Montague has hired a prominent law firm. His father told the New Haven Register that his son was indeed expelled but the charge against him is “ridiculous.” He said that reporters will learn the full story once lawyers have cleared him to speak publicly. It is certainly a story that needs explanation.

That's all for now in my last post before I head to spring training for a few days in Arizona. Glad my New York friends will have balmy weather while I'm gone.

I will not obsess yet about the Orioles’ woeful winless start to the exhibition season. No games in spring training count for anything except getting players ready for the real season.

But it does seem that my team with its great tradition of pitching will be scuffling to find a workable starting rotation. As the late great Sparky Anderson once said, “You aint got nothing if you don’t have pitching.”

Always remember: Take it easy but take it.
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