Andy B Sports

Recently I saw the great singer Gordon Lightfoot perform in Peekskill, New York.

Mr. Lightfoot was battling “walking pneumonia” yet “soldiered” through, entertaining the audience with a full show which included songs and his personal insights.

As he sang “If You Could Read My Mind” my thoughts extended in many different directions with fond memories of many of the different times the song was played in the far more random days of listening to one’s favorite music station.

He gave us insight into why he wrote and recorded “The wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” as he heard about the wreck involving the ship and the subsequent decrease in news coverage regarding the event.

Gordon Lightfoot wanted those so adversely affected by the tragedy to be remembered.

On a lighter note if you will, Gordon Lightfoot will certainly be long remembered and seeing him perform live was a great experience, also to be long remembered by me.

Enduring Michael Kay, Ken Singleton and David Cone over the past weekend on the YES Network, with some of the “lowlights” cited below.

Kay, who entered major league broadcasting with no experience, (contrast that with Gary Cohen, the Mets’ fine television announcer, who toiled in the minor leagues), never has and likely never will show the proper inflection in his play by play.

Yesterday on an obvious home run blast by the Jays’ Jose Bautista, Kay’s voice remained down on impact, something I noticed years back and while he has rarely been praised for his play by play, he is still there, albeit far less offensive on television than radio.

Later, Kay stated the AL East race would be “between” 3 teams, not using among, but alas, among the weekend English/grammar horrors, that paled compared to David Cone’s “not no more.”

On Friday night, Singleton, who spent the weekend agreeing with all that emanated from Cone, stated the Blue Jays would not have won the 1992 World Series without David Cone, at best an arguable point.

Worse he talked of three regular season games in which Cone got but two runs of support as the reason. Why was that a/the reason the Jays could not have won the World Series without him?!!

I distinctly remember a preseason promo run by ESPN, the “worldwide leader” in hype, talking about the Washington Nationals, being the favorite to win it all in baseball 2015. Smart listeners (are there any because almost by definition if you listen to ESPN…..) would have known it was not to be for Washington in 2015 after hearing that.

I was one who thought that way, but also am aware that despite a mere (58-58) record, a pace requiring “Wash” to go (36-10) to exceed their projected win total of 93 and a half, that the Nationals are only 4 and a half games behind the New York Mets in the N.L. East.

Thus the only “taps” right now in Washington are at Arlington Cemetery, if there.

However, to this point the Nationals have been one of the great disappointments in not only this baseball season, but in any baseball season for a long period of time.

Let’s see, the Seattle Seahawks, denied in such excruciating fashion of a second straight Super Bowl triumph last season, when they lost to the New England Patriots, despite having a second and goal situation on the New England one yard line in the waning seconds, own a Super Bowl and regular season victory over the Denver Broncos.

In turn, the Broncos can point to two preseason wins in a row vs the Seahawks. Those are not exactly equal terms.

Denver has won 4 straight AFC West crowns, three with Peyton Manning at quarterback and one with Tim Tebow at the helm.

The Broncos made one Super Bowl in that span, as stated above losing to Seattle. The other three years, the Broncos were denied in the divisional round of the playoffs.

The Seahawks have made the playoffs in  three straight seasons, splitting two Super Bowls and performing well as underdogs in a divisional round playoff loss.

I firmly believe that Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia of the internet is an overall very useful tool. However, any factual mistake ought to be pointed out.

Reader Ethan Reichberg, pointed one out to me, concerning the New York baseball Giants’ history.

As shown below, at the end of this post, from the Wikipedia site concerning the New York (baseball) Giants, now the San Francisco Giants, it reads that the Giants were SWEPT in the World Series by the New York Yankees in both 1936 and 1937.

In fact, while those great Yankees’ teams did defeat the Giants in both the 1936 and 1937 World Series, neither  victory was a sweep.

The Yankees won a tough 6 game series in 1936 and going up (3-0,) won in 5 games in 1937.

The Yankees from (1936-1939) were arguably baseball’s best team ever, a discussion for another day.

However, it should be pointed out that the next two years, 1938 and 1939, the Yankees did record World Series 4 game sweeps vs the Chicago Cubs in 1938 and Cincinnati Reds in 1939. The fact they did not sweep the Giants in either 1936 nor 1937 is significant.

In conclusion, a good job by reader Reichberg and despite this mistake, a usual good job by Wikipedia.

Below is the factual mistake text and a link to the page on which it was printed.

McGraw handed over the team to Bill Terry after the 1932 season, and Terry played for and managed the Giants for ten years, winning three pennants, defeating the Senators in the 1933 World Series but swept by the Yankees in consecutive fall classics, 1936 and 1937.

History of the New York Giants (NL) – Wikipedia,… (Read the history from 1930-1957 to see the factual mistake noted above).

Yesterday for the first time in history, all 15 games in one major league baseball day were won by the home team.

While watching “Baseball Central” on the MLB Network  I cringed when hearing the so called tribute to Mickey Mantle, who died 20 years ago tomorrow. Comments such as “the lack of too much footage caused his legend to grow” and questions for an obscure former big league player, Dave Valle to comment on Mickey Mantle did that rather rapidly.

When it comes to this it is time to say “abandon hope all yee who” (watch this inane stuff)! Additionally, Valle, that striking .237 lifetime hitter, got the facts wrong concerning one of Mantle’s famous home runs.

He seemed stuck on the distance 565 feet which was the supposed distance of a home run Mantle hit in Washington, not as Valle said the home run off the facade at Yankee Stadium, which nearly was the only fair ball hit out of Yankee Stadium.

The New York Yankees have won 27 World Series and 5 since the New York Mets last won one in 1986. They had a 7 game division lead on July 27th and at that point the Mets trailed by 3 games in their divisional race. Now after last night’s results, the Mets with a two and a half game lead, have a bigger division lead than the Yankees, whose lead has shrunk to a measly half game.

Twenty years after fellow 1956 MVP and champion, Mickey Mantle, with whom he shared a locker at Yankee Stadium and many other things, not the least of which great player status, Frank Gifford also died on the second Sunday in August. Gifford was one week shy of his 85th birthday on August 16th, the same date Babe Ruth and Elvis Presley died.

Gifford had “it,” that certain quality of charisma and good looks that made a star. He also could play and was a versatile, at one time two way player, for the New York football Giants, playing on 6 Eastern Conference winners and one NFL champion, that in 1956.

“Fearless Frank” went on to fame and fortune, an early beneficiary of “jocks” in ads, and broadcasting. His tenure and ascent to play by play, while nowhere near indicative of the miserable standards now (think so called “pretty boy” Chris Fowler, a man devoid of play by play skills, yet the lead announcer on college football) did represent a ‘warning,’ as he replaced Keith Jackson on the Monday Night Football package for its second season in 1971.

Yet “Giff,” who yields almost “Mantle like” admiration in so many my age and older, was an excellent analyst, and though challenged by play by play and mistake prone (just ask Howard Cosell, but that is a “long distance phone call” as Mr. Cosell, like Mantle also died in 1995) was professional and hard working enough to make the broadcasts/telecasts more than adequate.

He loved the NFL and the players. Frank Gifford knew the game and appreciated greatness in it whether citing old Giants’ team rival, the Cleveland Browns’ great running back, Jim Brown or praising Pittsburgh Steelers’ Hall of Fame receiver John Stallworth “holding on” to make a fine pass reception, despite a big hit on him during a game.

I worked with Mr.Gifford a few times and while a bit distant, he did communicate. At a function, I found myself next to him, each of us taking a rather large “Bullwinkle” doll. Mine represented the closest my parents got to a grandchild, while Frank was so excited thinking how much one of his children was going to like it.

In a conversation that followed Gifford talked of how his 1956 Giants’ (47-7) victory in the title tilt vs the Bears was the biggest margin in Giants’ title winning annals and how he told Wellington Mara, the team owner and good friend/father figure just that.

Sadly 1963 is a terrible link to the late, charismatic President, a time before his assassination, distant and hopeful, a far cry from now. It is December of that year and I am 8 so it is not the “groundbreaking” personal event recalled in “The Four Seasons” song “December 1963,” but a meaningful one.

I am allowed to break away from my family’s visit to my grandmother in the hospital and go to the lobby and tune in the radio broadcast of the Eastern Conference showdown between the Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers. (No home television in those days, 10 years removed from the eventual lifting of the blackout).

During that brief period that I was in the lobby, Frank Gifford made a one handed catch that helped the Giants win and even though I was not a Giants’ fan, that memory is the most pleasant of many such memories I have of the truly accomplished Frank Gifford.

My thoughts and there are so many about what this versatile player and man represents to me, that I will write more in the near future.

Both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs swept weekend series against good opponents (the L.A. Dodgers and S.F. Giants respectively) and they rank one/two, by a decent margin in the bogus wild card race.

It may be bogus, but sadly the wild card is here and teams that gain the wild card have legitimate shots at winning the title, as the wild card Giants did last season.

If the standings hold up and there is such a long way to go, the Pirates and Cubs would meet in the one game, so called “play in” game.

Should the two teams meet, it would be their first ever in post season. The teams won their first titles in three consecutive years from (1907-1909.)

The Pirates won their first World Series in 1909 and have won four after that, none since 1979.

The Cubs won their only two titles in 1907 and 1908.

Since any won/loss record in baseball does not afford the team any real advantage, I have not given enough credit to the two Missouri teams, the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals, each team with the best record in its league.

Both teams have played tremendous baseball this season, thirty years after the two met in what was known as the I 70 World Series in 1985.

Then there were 4 divisions in baseball and no bogus wild card team presence.

The Cards and Royals won their divisions, overcame (2-0) deficits in the LCS and then met in a memorable World Series, which was won by K.C. in 7 games.

Last year, both the Royals and Cards lost to the World champion San Francisco Giants in post season play.

This year, with both K.C. and St Louis as likely top seeds in their leagues, perhaps they will meet in the World Series thirty years later. However, each is at best one of 8 playoff teams, far too little a reward for their stellar play thus far in baseball 2015.