Good morning, all and happy Friday before the 4th of July!
Stunned is the word to best describe the reaction in New England to the Boston Celtics trade of forward Jaylen Brown to the division rival Philadelphia 76ers. The Boston media is in an uproar. I break it all down in the video/audio commentary.
Mickey Mantle discovered the fountain of youth 60 years ago
Sixty years ago the once, proud New York Yankees had hit rock bottom. Two years removed from their last World Series, the Yankees were floundering. After winning 10 World Series and 15 pennants in 18 seasons, the Yankees suffered through their first losing season in 40 years in 1965. But many, including Yankee management, thought it was an aberration and that the club would bounce back in 1966. They did not.
Manager Johnny Keane, who took over for the fired Yogi Berra in 1965, was himself dismissed, after the club got off to a 4-16 start. But the Yankees rallied under Ralph Houk, who returned to the dugout - Houk had managed the Yankees to three straight pennants and two World Championships between 1961-63, before becoming general manager - to win 14 of their next 20. Soon, however, the team resorted to its losing ways, except for one fleeting week.
Everyone knew the best years of Mickey Mantle’s career were over. Playing on two aching legs, Mantle struggled through each game. In all honesty, the Yankees were using him as a gate attraction.
Then on June 28, 1966, in a 5-3 loss to the Red Sox before 14,922 at Fenway Park - Yankees-Red Sox did not sellout back then - Mantle slugged two home runs off of Jose Santiago. They were his eighth and ninth of the season. Mantle struck again the next night at Fenway in New York’s 6-5 win over Boston in front of 14,614. He hit two more home runs, both off of ex-Yankee teammate and UConn alum Rollie Sheldon. Four home runs in two games. The baseball world was beginning to take notice.
Mantle did not homer in the final game of the series, but in Washington on July 1, he belted his fifth home run in four games and 12th of the season in the Yankees 8-6 win over the Senators. The home run came off of Phil Ortega. The next day, a Saturday, the Yankees were trounced by the Senators, 10-4, but Mantle slugged two more home runs, both off of Mike McCormick. Mantle concluded his assault the next day in New York’s 6-5, 11-inning win over Washington, with a first inning homer off of Pete Richert.
(You can listen to the July 3 game in its entirety via this link. For aficionados of baseball broadcasters, I urge you to fast forward to the seventh inning. Legendary Yankees broadcaster Red Barber called the last five innings. It is a lesson on how to broadcast a game for a poor club. The Yankees were 32-40, but without disguising the Yankees ills, Red brought as much enthusiasm and preparation to the mic, as if the pennant was hanging in the balance. I am still upset, lo these many years later, that Yankees president Michael Burke fired him - for no cause - at the end of the season.)
Mantle had slugged eight home runs in six games. He and his Yankees were once again the talk of the baseball world. Dick Young of the New York Daily News, captured the magic of the moment.
The baseball world was abuzz! Were the Yankees back? Had Mantle discovered the fountain of youth? Alas, Mantle slumped and so did the Yankees, sinking into a last place finish. For one brief shining moment, however, Mantle was once again Mantle and the Yankees were once again the Yankees, 60 years ago.
Travelers Championship a ratings hit
No one knows what will happen to the Travelers Championship, when the PGA Tour launches its revised schedule in 2028. The Travelers is a signature event, which would seem to be in the tournament’s favor, but the PGA Tour is going to do what it wants to do, and if that means adding tournaments in Boston and New York at the expense of Connecticut, it does not matter what we think.
A signature event, by the way, is a tournament where total prize money is $20M and there are no cuts after 36 holes. Of the eight signature events held so far, the Travelers had the second highest final round television viewership at 4.2M viewers last Sunday. That is a 19.3% increase from the season before. Only the RBC Heritage did better at 4.35M on CBS and that was a decrease of -0.2%.
One would think these numbers will work in the Travelers favor, but one never knows. We shall see.
That will do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for subscribing and have a fabulous Friday!
DAN
