Kansas City Royals’ manager Ned Yost became the fifth manager, with four letters in his last name (surname), to win a World Series.
Altogether, 67 different managers have won the World Series, Yost is the 45th different manager with one title to this point in time.
The current K.C. manager joins an interesting group of managers with 4 letters in their last name to win a World Series.
First is one of the most famous, if not most famous baseball managers ever, namely the great Connie Mack.
Managing in an incredible 6 different decades for the then Philadelphia Athletics (it helps one’s longevity as manager when you at least partially own the team), Mr. Mack won 5 World Series. It should be noted that Mr. Mack’s last name was actually Mc Gillicuddy (think Lucy Ricardo).
The other three “four letter” W.S. winning managers were Eddie Dyer (St. Louis Cardinals 1946), Ralph Houk (New York Yankees 1961 and 1962) and Alvin Dark (Oakland A’s 1974).
While Connie Mack won no other World Series when he was not the manager,( he managed in all the possible World Series years of his career), Yost, Dyer, Houk and Dark all won World Series in other roles in other years in addition to their managerial title(s).
Twenty years ago, Yost was a coach on the Atlanta Braves World Series winner, who were managed by Bobby Cox, the only manager with 3 letters or less, in his last name to win a World Series.
Eddie Dyer was a pitcher on the 1926 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, though he did not appear in the World Series.
Ralph Houk played and coached on New York Yankees World Series winners before guiding them to back to back titles in 1961 and 1962. He coached on the 1958 title team and had one at bat in winning World series for the Yankees in 1947 and 1952.
Alvin Dark was the only one in the group to have been a starting player on a World Series winner (shortstop on the 1954 New York Giants, in his life he caught a touchdown pass from Y.A. Tittle at LSU University and hit a home run off Sandy Koufax) before managing the Oakland A’s to a World Series victory twenty years later.
The legendary Connie Mack pictured above.
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WFAN radio host Mike Francesa is (16-6-2) on his predictions thus far in the 2015 NFL season. His record is (5-0-1) the last two weeks.
As promised here are “H”is predictions.
The New York Jets minus 7 points at home vs the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Atlanta Falcons minus 7 points at San Francisco vs the 49ers.
The Pittsburgh Steelers minus 4 plus points at home vs the Oakland Raiders.
Mike Francesa, pictured above, goes into this week with a “Dick Donavan 1957” record of (16-6) on his NFL predictions vs the point spread. Two games were no decision.
It was a not bad, actually good two out of three correct predictions in last night’s games.
Honesty compels me to state that last week Mike Francesa went (2-0-1) on his predictions. That makes him (5-0-1) the last two weeks, and (16-6-2) for the season.
As a bit of a “public service” I will list his predictions as they become available.
I will get out of the house and watch as little, if any football, this Sunday. I am going to the Blue Note in New York City to listen to jazz, which I wish that I knew better.
Some paraphrasing of E.Y. Harburg, who wrote the lyrics to “Over The Rainbow” (Harold Arlen wrote the music) follows.
“Why oh why,” did I not spend the time I wasted watching football listening to jazz?!!! Wake up people and get outside, do something other than watch football
Somewhere Over the Rainbow – The Wizard of Oz (1/8) Movie CLIP (1939) HD
Click above to watch Judy Garland sing this classic song in “The Wizard of Oz”
Last year at just about this point in time, in a Thursday night tilt, the Cleveland Browns went into Cincinnati, won and actually stood atop the AFC North Division.
Of course the Browns faded while the Bengals made it to the playoffs, only to be ousted in the first round for the third straight season.
Tonight the undefeated Bengals are big favorites vs the visiting Browns. My prediction Bengals 22 Browns 14.
Switching to tonight’s college football, two more wins by the favorites, but also wins for underdog backers.
Powerful Baylor 30 Kansas State 20.
Appalachian State, a big favorite to win but by less than “expected.’
Prediction Appalachian State 24 Arkansas State 17.
The Browns at Bengals game is not on CBS but still on NFL Network. Unfortunately the game announcers are still Jim Nantz, Phil Simms and the “garden variety” sideline reporter.
None are offensive as “give me the money,” Fox Network reporter, Erin Andrews.
Surely “Andys,” Rooney and “B” differed on many matters, but was he ever correct regarding sideline reporters, as being useless, offensive and I add in Ms. Andrews’ case, downright greedy.
I blame the copycat, cookie cutter, producers who almost literally have revived “The Stepford Wives” cramming these reporters and their utterly useless banter down our throats. Let me stop the vitriol there, but their presence as well as many other things in sports, sure makes me sick!
Oh for a pastrami sandwich! One overstuffed one is pictured above.
It is not really relevant or perhaps not important that I am so disappointed in all that the political process has become.
Yesterday I took some time to think about the right to vote.
Truly this is a wonderful privilege and at the same time responsibility that people have.
Maybe it will help one of you, hopefully many of you, not exercising this privilege/responsibility to change and do so.
I work at the polls and noticed in the roster books of the registered voters, that much information, likely too much is given.
However, the availability of information yielded a source of pride when I went to vote at a location other than where I was working.
I checked when I first registered to vote and ascertained it was my first possible chance to do so.
At most, I have missed voting one time in all the years that have followed.
Trust me, there were times it was extremely difficult and inconvenient to do so, but if I can do it so can you. So can many of you. Please do so!!
In the recently completed World Series in which the 1969 expansion team, the Kansas City Royals defeated the 1969 World champions and fellow expansion team, New York Mets, some notes manifested.
The team opening the World Series at home is now (24-6) starting with the advent of the best of 7 LCS in each league in 1985.
The Royals won the first of those titles in 1985, the Mets followed winning in 1986. The 1969 Mets were the first expansion team to both make and win the World Series. The 1985 Royals were the next expansion team to do so.
The team opening the World Series at home with a win is now (19-1) since 1981 with the Minnesota Twins in 1987 being the first, the 1992 Atlanta Braves, who won the World Series opener but lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, being the lone exception.
The obscure, “only me” note is the team with the better record in the Saturday game(s) in the World Series is now (25-2) in World Series from (1983-2015).
The two exceptions were recent ones, the St. Louis Cardinals winning the Saturday game but losing to the Boston Red Sox in 2013, ditto the Texas Rangers, who lost the 2010 World Series to the S.F. Giants despite winning the lone Saturday game.
During that time the World Series opponents split two Saturday games five times while the eventual World Series winner also swept the two Saturday games seven times. With the Saturday night loss in the recently completed World Series, the Mets fell to (1-6) in Saturday World Series games.
Denied by one run, leaving the tying run at third in the seventh game of the World Series last year, the Kansas City Royals won it all this year.
Kansas City clinched their second world title, with a (7-2), 12 inning win over the Mets in game 5.
The Royals join the Pittsburgh Pirates, who 90 years ago in the seventh game of the World Series trailed (4-0) after one inning, as the only teams in baseball history to overcome as much as a 4 run deficit in a game in which they faced elimination, and go on to win the World Series.
On a Monday, three weeks ago (it seems like 3 months ago) K.C. trailed the Houston Astros (6-2) entering the top of the eighth inning in Houston, facing elimination.
They rallied for 5 runs in that eighth inning and won. In the just completed World Series, twice they trailed entering the ninth inning, but tied each game and eventually won in extra innings.
Eric Hosmer had a big go ahead two run single in game two and had a key double and great, daring base running to get the Royals two runs to tie last night’s clincher in the 9th inning. He, not Salvador Perez, should have been Series MVP.
My record is pretty bad, while WFAN radio host, Mike Francesa is clicking at a tremendous seventy percent, (14-6-1) through 7 weeks of NFL predictions.
HIS PICKS, (and mine), for this week follow:
The “chalk” pick that he has lost so much more often than not, is the St. Louis Rams minus 9 points vs the San Francisco 49ers.
I predict Rams 23, 49ers 20
Mr. (at 70 percent, he has earned being called Mister) Francesa picks the New Orleans Saints minus 3 vs the New York Giants. I am not crazy about going against this, as each team is coming off a cover/win, the Saints as underdogs, vs the Colts.
Primarily because I think Mr. Francesa has to start to lose (warning people have gone broke thinking like that. More important, please take this lightly and certainly do not bet any significant amounts, if you have to bet at all), Saints 28, Giants 26.
PS– If Sam Rosen is the Fox broadcaster and I hope he is, as he is actually good, (more likely it is Kenny Albert, and at best he is mediocre, even his dad the great Marv Albert, did not excel at football. However, why oh why, is Marv, still so much better than just about any network football announcer out there, no longer on football telecasts?!) the Giants will win outright.
Last the WFAN host Mike Francesa picked the Minnesota Vikings minus one at Chicago vs the Bears. I believe the Vikings are better and could, even should, be a playoff team.
Yet again mainly to go vs Mr. Francesa, but also because the Bears, though they covered the spread, essentially were robbed of victory at Detroit vs the Lions in their last game two weeks ago, and that “Minne” is on a roll–Bears 17 Vikings 16.
After the New York Mets (9-3) victory in game 3 of a World Series the K.C. Royals now lead two games to one, some notes, as usual not found in too many, if any other outlets.
Maybe someone noted it, but incredibly, after the Mets’ second batter in game 3, David Wright hit a two run home run, the Mets have now hit a home run before making an out in four of their 5 games three of a World Series.
Tom Agee (1969), Wayne Garrett (1973) and Len Dykstra (1986) all hit lead off home runs in game three, Dykstra’s homer leading off the game on the road.
The Mets are now (4-1) in game three of the World Series while the Royals whose Friday night post-season record dropped to (8-2), lost for the first time in four games three of the World Series.
Among the 16 (more or less) original major league teams/franchises and the first four expansion teams that started play in 1961 and 1962, only the Mets have never been swept in a post season series.
David Wright pictured above.
In a great and visionary speech at Rice University in 1962, United States president John F. Kennedy talked of reaching higher and of giving a great effort. One of his goals was the space program and to get to the moon.
Yet the speech resonates on a far greater level, evoking past discovery and urging us to try harder and take on challenging goals.
Toward that end, he asked “why does Rice, (a vast underdog at that time and most every time),? play Texas?”
From the ashes of all that went wrong, culminating in tragedy in the same state of Texas when President Kennedy was tragically killed and all the horror since—on an exponentially lighter note, I ask why does Rice play Louisiana Tech tonight.
One reason is revenue, as in money not the people who stop alcohol production from stills, the other as part of another vice, is that the Rice Owls will cover the spread as ten and a half point underdogs tonight.
Nobody can know for sure but I believe fervently that the vast macro and micro slides relevant to me, began when the visionary John F. Kennedy was killed.
Click below for President Kennedy’s Speech at Rice University in 1962
JFK – We choose to go to the Moon, full length
Andy B Sports 