Good morning, all! Happy Tuesday!
MLB adopts the Automated Ball & Strike system (ABS), beginning this season, and it will impact how you watch a baseball game. I break it down in the commentary (above).
Here are some other thoughts on a Tuesday in February:
All day long, the New York Yankees were promoting the fact manager Aaron Boone and captain Aaron Judge would appear at a news conference, following the Yankees practice and you could follow it all on the Yankees YES (Gotham Sports) app. Perhaps they wish they hadn’t made such a big deal, because Judge’s comments certainly stirred up a hornet’s nest. When Judge was asked about the Yankees off season, he did not hold back:
With the labor situation between the WNBA and its players association at a standstill, former UConn WBB star Breanna Stewart has signed a deal to play in Turkey. The two-time WNBA MVP intends to play in the league in April. The WNBA is slated to begin its season on May 8; that is if they can strike a deal with the players association.
The New York Mets have signed Mike Tauchman to a minor league deal. Tauchman came up through the Colorado Rockies system and played for the New Britain Rock Cats in 2015. I can say, having watched him while broadcasting Rock Cats games, he was the hardest working player I have ever seen. He was always working to get better, always willing to take advice. Yankees fans may recall that Tauchman played for them with considerable success. He is a positive addition to any team.
The empty seats at the UConn men’s basketball game against Georgetown at Gampel Pavillion on Saturday certainly caught the attention of UConn coach Dan Hurley:
We’ve given our fans two national championships out of the last three years. We’re 24-2. We’ve been ranked at the top of the rankings the whole year. We’re the basketball capital of the world. There shouldn’t be criticisms of the crowds at our games.
-Dan Hurley
By “criticisms,” Hurley was alluding to a comment made by Georgetown coach Ed Cooley, during the postgame handshakes, when Cooley mentioned to Hurley how he was surprised at the number of empty seats.
There were just a lot of empty seats. The section behind our basket was empty. It should be a madhouse when we play. We need our fans in the games from the tip, when we’re playing defense, to get loud and obviously when we score or hit a three or dunk the ball it’s pretty easy…Fans can criticize me all you want. I’ve got some f—-ing equity.”
Dan Hurley
It will be interesting to see how big the crowd at PeoplesBank Arena will be for the Feb. 25 rematch between UConn and St. John’s. The first matchup, won by the Red Storm, 68-62, was a sellout at Madison Square Garden. I am predicting the game will be a sellout too. If you are a UConn fan and have passion, the sight of St. John’s coach Rick Pitino walking off the MSG floor with a wide smile, right fist pumping in the air, should be enough inspiration to put fannies in the seats in downtown Hartford.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for subscribing and have a terrific Tuesday!
DAN
