Sam Wyche, may he rest in peace, probably wasn’t a Cleveland baseball fan. Very likely, he didn’t dedicate offseason weekends to trips to Municipal Stadium or keep a Bob Feller card in his wallet. When Sam said to Cincinnati football fans “ya don’t live in Cleveland’’ he had no idea that Cincinnati baseball fans would one day wish they did. Sam was just havin’ a little fun trashing Mistakeville.
Well.
In very short order, the Indians Guardians have become who the Reds want to be. They’ve done it so quickly, efficiently and cheaply, it’s enough to make a Reds fan ponder switching allegiances.
Heresy, you say? Probably. I mean, no dyed-in-the-West Side baseball fan is going to abandon his Reds. Certainly not to embrace the Indians Guardians.
But here’s the inescapable truth: Cleveland has achieved what Cincinnati has not. The Guardians have beaten the Reds at their own rebuild game. Soundly. They’re playing the Yankees in the ALDS with a $68 mil payroll (27th in MLB) with only one player making huge money (Jose Ramirez) and with a group of price-controlled kids that on paper could be very good for several years.
The Guardians, more than any other franchise right now, show what’s possible when brains and a plan are put to good use.
Every key player is either on a rookie deal or under arbitration control. Except Ramirez, the RBI machine and 3rd-best player in the AL behind Judge and Ohtani, who last offseason signed for 7 years and $141 mil.
Their 2nd-best pitcher, Triston McKenzie, has two more years at the minimum salary. Their best, Shane Bieber, has two more arb years. Their closer, Emmanuel Clase, arguably the best in the AL, signed a 5-year-$20 mil deal last offseason. That’s cheap.
And so on.
The Guardians have traded exceptionally well. They dealt P Mike Clevinger for 15-game winner Paul Quantrill, a starting catcher and an everyday OF/1B. Francisco Lindor was too rich for their blood. They dealt him to the Mets for an Instant Middle Infield, SS Andres Gimenez and 2B Amed Rosario.
They’ve drafted well: Bieber, McKenzie, OF Steven Kwan, SP Aaron Civale, all since 2015. They have a very good manager, Terry Francona. They’ve done it all on the fly. The Guardians have had exactly one losing season since 2013, and that was a respectable 80-82 in 2021.
They play Old School, at least by today’s standards. They hit half as many homers as the Yankees (127) but led all MLB in fewest strikeouts. Almost everyone can run. They’re good at going 1st-to-3rd.
They were 25th in attendance, at 1.3 million fans. The Reds were at 1.4 mil.
Unloved underdogs are easy to root for. Unloved underdogs who are smart, overachieve and play pre-21st century baseball? What’s not to love?
We have been beating this Be Smarter/Work Harder drum in This Space since there has been a This Space. Don’t tell us how poor you are. Show us how intelligent and resourceful you can be.
Ya don’t live in Cleveland. Even though, as a Cincinnati baseball fan. you might want to move there.
Now, then. . .
BOB COSTAS gives me hope for the broadcasting business. What a pleasure to listen to him last night call Yanks-Cleveland. No wasted words, no cliches, no telling me what the pitch was AFTER EVERY SINGLE PITCH. Just smooth, anecdotal, smart words.
PUTTING OUT THE CIGAR SIGNAL for my guy Mobster Tim, who laments the near-impossibility now of finding a decent cheap cigar. Who can help Tim?
By cheap, we mean a bundle (20) for $50 or so. My suggestion: Get on every cigar wholesaler’s Internet mailing list. They’ll bombard you with a catalog’s worth of deals every couple days. Cigars International, Holt’s, Cigar King. Find free shipping, explore knock-offs and factory seconds. I just scored a box of Alec Bradley Black Market Esteli robustos, 20 for $49.99, that are delicious and meet the price point.
And there’s always The Party Source, my home away from home, in Bellevue. The guys there will take care of you. They’re very good at directing you to “value’’ cigars.
My favorites lately, for value and taste: Anything from the JFR line. Nica Rusticas. A bundle of Drew Estate’s Factory Smokes, a very nice golf-course cigar.
And speaking of the Source, I have not found a better everyday bourbon than Early Times, 100 proof, bottled in bond. It was $24.99 last I checked, and it comes in a liter bottle.
Also good, also relatively cheap, also on my shelf: Four Roses Small Batch, Glenn’s Crossing Hamilton Dark.
MORE SINNING STUFF. . . From something called cardplayer.com:
MGM announced that it is now an official sports betting partner of the Cincinnati Reds. The new relationship strengthens MGM’s presence in Ohio ahead of the state’s scheduled launch of legalized sports betting on Jan. 1, 2023.
Terms of the marketing deal were not disclosed.
The multi-year agreement includes plans to open a retail BetMGM Sportsbook at Great American Ball Park. The sportsbook will be in the space currently serving as the Machine Room restaurant on the northeast side of Great American Ball Park. It will only be accessible from outside the ticketed areas of the ballpark via the arena plaza level entrance. The new venue will allow fans to watch and wager on games all year long.
In 2018, the American Gaming Association predicted that legal, in-stadium gambling would produce $1.1 billion a year for MLB. That might be true, it might be hyped. Regardless, the Reds are gonna make more money next year than they did last year.
And no matter what MLB owners (and Manfred) tell you, owning a baseball team is a very good deal. And that’s before factoring in the appreciation of the real estate.
BECAUSE TV IS MY LIFE. . . a bit of a wasteland lately. Bad Sisters is the best of a mediocre lot. The Patient started great, but it’s dragging toward the finish line. zI’m surviving on Season 5 of Better Call Saul and hoping for the return of Succession, the best drama on the toob, IMO.
As usual, any and all suggestions welcome.
TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . This guy made one very good record and disappeared. This is the best tune off that one very good record.
You hit the nail on the head with Costas. I won't go so far as to to say analytics are ruining the game, but some of these announcers belabor spin rates, launch angles, exit velocities, etc so much as to make the broadcasts nearly unlistenable. I know when a ball is hit hard, or when a pitcher's breaking stuff is/isn't working. Let the game breathe. Not all dead air-time is bad air-time. The art of broadcasting baseball, whether tv or radio, is one of narration and story-telling, not a constant bombardment of facts and statistics.
Enjoyed Outlaws on Amazon Prime. It has Christopher Walken. British show. What's not to love.
David Letterman interview of Billie Eilish is excellent. Netflix .
Will likely watch or listen to Seattle/Houston tomorrow. Castillo is supposed to pitch.