The Chicago Cubs head out west almost certain to at least be a playoff entrant in baseball 2015.
It is a horror to me that there is a wild card presence, no less two in each league.
As it happens, the three top teams in the NL Central (Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs) have the three best records in the league, at this point by a fairly significant margin.
Wild card supporters, with some justification, will point out how “unfair” it would be to have the teams with the second and third best records in the league fail to qualify for the ‘offs.
However, in my opinion that is more than offset by the realistic possibility that the first place Cardinals could win the division easily and be beaten by a team it beat out from its own division.
This has happened before and will happen again, maybe this year involving the NL Central. It diminishes the importance of the 162 game regular season and to me that is a great “baseball sin.”
Of course the fact different teams beat some teams and lose to others teams is inherent in sports, especially baseball. This year, one big reason the New York Mets have a 5 game lead over the Washington Nationals in the NL East is the play of the Colorado Rockies against both teams.
On one hand, the Rockies split 6 games with the Nationals, first winning 2 of 3 games in Washington before losing two of three games at home vs Washington last week.
Conversely, the Rockies have been awful vs the Mets as they are (0-7), first being swept in 4 games in New York and then in 3 games at home this past weekend.
It adds up to three and a half games in the Mets’ favor, certainly a big fraction of their lead in the NL East.
Both teams have finished play vs the Rockies this season, with the Mets gaining those aforementioned three and a half games.
Here are some thoughts after watching the fabulous movie, “Witness For The Prosecution” on TCM last night.
First off, continued kudos to hosts Robert Osborne and Sally Field in setting up the movies in “The Essentials” series on Saturday nights.
Field, whose mother studied with the fabulous Charles Laughton, cited Mr. Laughton as the best of all English speaking actors. In my opinion, if Mr. Laughton is not the best, it does not take much time to call his name.
In the film, actor John Williams is involved in a case involving a woman named “French” and years later played the other “Mr. French” on the television show, “Family Affair,” after Sebastian Cabot, the first “Mr.French” departed the show.
A stretch but here goes: Tyrone Power’s character in “Witness for the Prosecution,” remembers September 3rd as the day he was wed. Years later, “The Third of September” is a day “remembered” in “The Temptations” classic hit “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone.”
Last night Houston Astros’ pitcher Mike Fiers pitched a no hit game vs the LA Dodgers in an inter league battle between the leaders in each league’s Western Division. The no hit game adds to Astros vs Dodgers history.
The Astros, in the National League for 51 seasons from (1962-2012), and now in the American League, engaged the Dodgers in a “one game for the NL West title” situation in both 1980 and 1981.
In 1980, the two teams met in the final three regular season games at Dodger Stadium in LA. with the Dodgers needing to win all three games to force a one game playoff and that is what happened.
In the playoff, Houston prevailed with Joe Niekro on the mound and first baseman, Dave Bergman, whom sadly we lost recently, recording the final putout.
The Astros lost a heartbreaking NLCS to the Philadelphia Phillies, who went on to win their first World Series.
In the strike affected 1981 season, the Dodgers defeated the Astros in a best of 5 extra series caused by the strike. LA came home down (0-2) in the series and again had to and did win all three games. That time it meant the NL West title.
The Dodgers went on to win their first World Series in 16 years.
Mike Fiers
The masochism in me often exacerbates the horror of sitting in traffic by tuning into the sports talk shows. My fault for listening, but in a vain attempt to stop the madness, let me cite two factual mistakes apiece made by Mike Francesa and Michael Kay yesterday.
Kay on ESPN New York stated that Joe Torre as Yankees manager lost in the first round of the playoffs in 4 straight years. It was in fact, three straight years from (2005-2007.)
Later he said “Vegas” projected 78 and a half wins for the Yankees when it was 81 or so.
Francesa on WFAN radio, stated the Mets came from 8 and a half games back to win the NL East in 1969 when it was nine and a half.
The team won 38 of 49 not 39 of 48 as Francesa thought. At a million dollars a year (an obscene amount) to do what so many wish they could and I know that I could, at least get your facts straight and/or look them up.
Why is it that I can not “let it go,” regarding current Chicago Cubs’ manager Joe Maddon’s horrible decision as Tampa Rays manager in game 5 of the ALCS vs the Boston Red Sox in 2008?
In review, Maddon left his right handed pitcher in to pitch to David Ortiz and eventually lost the game.
Maddon is considered a fine manager and certainly is a media darling.
It takes one to know one and as a non winner myself, albeit one not really given the chance, I said Maddon would not win.
He did not in Tampa and despite many wanting him and the Cubs to end their title drought, I say the non winner manager (some would say some non winner Maddon is, with his hefty salary) and the epitome of non winner franchise (the Cubs), will not win.
Who knows me saying it may reverse the “goat curse” some blame for the Cubs failure to make the World Series in 70 years. (and counting)? That’s why they play the games, to find out.
“To Dance-The Musical” which premiered last night and is playing at The Theater at the 14th Street Y as part of the International Fringe Festival, is a riveting musical play featuring wonderful acting, exquisite dancing and telling the true story of the Russian Jewish dancer,Valery Panov.
Each wonderful, Kathryn Morgan and Jesse Carrey are featured as respectively “Galina,” the gifted Soviet ballet dancer with whom Carrey as Panov falls in love.
The play is set in the USSR during the Cold war and details the struggles for freedom and expression evident in the country at the time and which the Panovs fought to overcome.
The dancing is superb; Morgan, once an award winning member of New York City Ballet has returned to dancing after an illness and Kyra Robinov, who wrote “To Dance” “making her dream come true,” is thrilled Ms.Morgan is part of the project.
Carrey gives a very direct, succinct performance in which I felt some of what the courageous, standout Panov experienced and felt inside. Both Morgan and Carrey are terrific with a tremendous cast including Rick Roemer as the KGB villain, “Rachinsky.”
I highly recommend seeing “To Dance” which has 4 remaining performances all at “The Theater at the 14th Street Y at 344 east 14th Street.
Performance times and dates: Fri. 8/21 at 8:45 PM, Sun. 8/23 @5;45 PM, Thurs. 8/27 @ 9:00 PM and Sun 8/30 @ 1:45 PM. Tickets are $18 (well worth it!) and are available along with more information at
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.
