All I want from golf on TV
The Amazing Mantle
Good morning, all and happy Saturday!
Here’s all I want, when watching golf on television, especially a major like the U.S. Open. Can you show a golfer taking his practice swings head-on once in a while? It doesn’t matter the network. CBS, NBC, ABC, they briefly show a golfer head-on then switch to the rear for the practice swings, before the actual shot. I’m not saying do it for every shot; just occasionally. I know you can watch the head-on shots repeatedly on You Tube but hackers like me can learn a lot by watching golfers in the heat of competition, taking their practice swings head-on.
That said, it is shaping up to be an interesting third round today at the U.S. Open.
The Amazing Mickey Mantle
Mickey Mantle will have been dead 31 years come August. He retired before the start of the 1969 season, yet you still hear or read a reference about the Yankees great on occasion. I recently came across an interesting stat about the Mick. In 9,910 plate appearances, covering his career between 1951 to 1968, Mantle was hit-by-a-pitch only 13 times. Think about that for a moment; just 13 times.
Upon more research, I learned that pitchers had so much respect for Mantle - how hard he played the game on two gimpy legs - that they were afraid to pitch him inside for fear of hitting him on those legs.
Below is how Mantle compared to players past and present on plate appearances vs. HBP:
Mantle posted great numbers. It makes you wonder what he would have done on two healthy legs.
In the next couple of weeks we will be approaching the 60th anniversary of one of Mantle’s greatest weeks. On the downside of his career, his once proud Yankees team sliding into oblivion, Mantle recaptured the fountain of youth for one glorious week, as he and his Yankees once again became the talk of baseball in the summer of ‘66. I will write about it in the newsletter.
Just finished reading
I’ve written before how much of a fan I am of the website Retrosheet. If you are a consumer of baseball numbers, research, etc. then I wholeheartedly recommend the book written by Jay Wigley on how Retrosheet came to be.
The book details the effort to find scoresheets of every game ever played in the American and National Leagues. It delves into the lives of passionate fans and how their love for baseball helped preserve the National Pastime’s history. You won’t be disappointed.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. As always, thank you for subscribing and to all you dads on Sunday have a happy Father’s Day. I know I will remember my dad for instilling in me the love I have for sports today.
DAN