4/8/21

SAVAGE VIEWS – So It Begins

 

April 8, 2021

Finally, the wait is over and a new season has begun.  April 1st turned out to be a rather nasty day in Coastal North Carolina. No golf for me this day and Friday was too cold to play.

I opted to watch the Yankees play the Blue Jays on YES.  Michael Kay announced that they were celebrating 20 years on the YES network.  How about that! Twenty years of mediocre broadcasting.  Watching Yankee broadcasts is best with the sound on mute.  Coney, Paulie and that Kay man are really difficult to listen to.  There is no camaraderie there.  According to them, every close call tends to go against the Yankees. 

How lucky Mets fans are to have Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez in the booth.  I’ve always felt that even when the team was bad, we had a superior group broadcasting the games ranging from Lindsay Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner to the current crew.  Count our blessings.

Next I tuned in to watch the Dodgers play the Rockies on ESPN.  Jessica Mendoza was in mid-season form as she informed us that Clayton Kershaw should be pleased with his outing.  He only gave up six runs (5 earned) in 5 2/3 innings.  Actually, one reason for listening is Matt Vasgersian.  There seems to be a paucity of Armenians in Baseball and no one seems to addressing this issue.  Steve Bedrosian where did you go?  I confess to being married to an Armenian lady for over 58 years, so I am somewhat biased.

The decision by MLB to move the all-star game from Atlanta should have us all a bit disturbed regardless of political affiliation.  I will not debate the merits of the Georgia voting rights law recently passed – I’m sure there are valid arguments to be made pro and con.  What is unsettling is political pressure being made by advocates to force MLB’s hand.  What next – disenfranchising professional sports teams in Georgia? 

I am and have always been a sports nut.  In my 80th year, I live and die with the Mets, Giants and Rangers.  I watch sports to relax and forget about the outside world to some degree.  Clearly, politics has taken a more prominent role in today’s environment.  I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

As I write this, two games are in the books and the Rojas critics are out in full swing.  In game one starting Kevin Pillar in CF was the right move.  I thought when Pillar starts against a lefty Nimmo sits.  Clearly that is not what happened and Nimmo continues to be on-base machine. Regardless I think Dom Smith should have been in the game instead of Nimmo. I thought letting Pillar hit in the fourth was the right move although we did not get the desired results.    

In two games the bullpen has allowed eight runs – five earned.  So far our pre-season concerns are being validated.  Don’t understand why Castro and May would be trotted out again after poor opening day outings.  Castro simply does not look like major league material.  May will probably turn out ok but we need to wait and see.  Even though Familia allowed two runs, his stuff is nasty.  Two cheap hits that came around to score makes his line look worse that he actually pitched.

I’m getting ready to tune in the Wednesday afternoon game. It’s about time for Lindor and McNeil to make their presence felt.  Aaron Nola is a worthy opponent. Go Mets.

Ray

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