Mack's Apple's -10-25-17 - Ron Darling, Owen White, Dusty Baker, Potland Baseball, Syracuse Buyout

Good morning.

 Ron Darling

This is the essence of Darling the ex-player. He has never had to search for his voice because -- unlike so many TV analysts in baseball -- Darling is able to quickly and clearly explain what is happening on or off the field, assisted by an erudite approach befitting a Yale all-American.

With an old-school mentality, yet unafraid of and willing to embrace today's metrics, Darling's commentary comes off as easy and smooth.

Maybe that's because Darling is fearless, more concerned with delivering for the fans than couching his opinions to protect players, managers or MLB execs.

                      
                     What’s not to love here?

My problem is I just don’t get enough of this guy in South Carolina during the regular season.

Owen White -

The top pitcher committed to South Carolina in the 2018 recruiting class, right-hander Owen White (Mt. Ulla, N.C./Jesse Carson), is turning heads this fall. White’s most recent top-notch outing came at the PG World Championships in Jupiter, Fla. on Thursday, which earned him a glowing write-up from Baseball America.

White was up to 93 mph on his fastball pitching seven shutout innings allowing only one hit with no walks and 13 strikeouts.

       
    

Dusty Baker -

It’s the worst job in baseball. You win, but you always lose. They hire you, only to fire you. The Nationals managerial gig opened up Friday, as Washington's baseball club was up to its old, stupid tricks. They fired Dusty Baker. Really.

The same manager who won 95 games a year ago, captured the National League East title and lost in Game 5 of the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The same manager who won 97 games this year, won the NL East title for the first time in successive years in franchise history and lost Game 5 of the NL Division Series against the Chicago Cubs.

Baker stayed in Washington for nine days after the final playoff game, getting ready to sign a new two-year extension for at least $6 million, a press conference that would keep him in Washington, where he won his 2,000th career game, and perhaps a World Series title to go with it.

He waited. And waited. And waited. He finally went home to California on Thursday and was awakened with a phone call Friday morning in Sacramento.

You’re fired.

They didn’t have the guts to fire him to his face, so they waited for him to leave town.

I was fired on the phone once. By a close friend. He also wouldn’t allow me to return to the office to get my personal stuff. Said the Board of Directors voted on that one.

It hurt. A lot.

I don’t know how bad a manager Mr. Baker was. His record speaks for itself. GM Mike Rizzo doesn’t seem to have anything on Harvey Weinstein.

No one should be fired this way.

Portland Baseball -

           

What is it about Portland that may appeal to MLB?

"No. 1 so much of the revenue now is television rights, media rights... there are multiple regional sports networks that exist in the Pacific Northwest. There's the bandwidth or the capacity to find a home for 162 games on a network... No. 2 (Portland is a) young city. Baseball wants to go where the crowds are young. Portland is a phenomenal city and that becomes an appealing option for MLB... when you add up the corporate base, the young population, the market size and media base... when they think about what they want MLB to represent, Portland is right in the sweet spot of that."

I determine whether or not a city is a good place for a major league i8baseball team based on how it has been successful (or not) for other major league franchises. Are the Trailblazers a success? What about football and hockey?

Syracuse Buyout -

In a notice sent to shareholders, the Syracuse Chiefs says the New York Mets are offering $18 million to buy the team.

The notice was sent to shareholders Thursday and asks them to return their proxies before November 17 and vote in support of a merger agreement that makes the purchase possible. The meeting will be held at NBT Bank Stadium, but is not open to the public.

For the transaction to be approved, two-thirds of the shareholders must vote in support of it. If the $18 million total is approved, the return would amount to about $1,400 per share, according to the notice.

This is a win situation for the city of Syracuse, the fans, the Mets, and the shareholders. That’s a 4-win situation. Sort of like an intentional walk in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded.