Opening Day has arrived
Pitino in rare company
Good morning, all! It’s hump day!
It is Opening Day of the MLB season, and although it is too early for the season to begin in my neck of the woods - which happens to be most of the country - it is what it is, as the saying goes.
One of the storied rivalries in all of sports is Giants vs. Dodgers, except back in the day, Brooklynites would tell you it was Dodgers vs. Giants. I read an interesting stat yesterday about this rivalry, which began in New York and transferred to the west coast in 1958.
Entering the 2026 season, here is the record between these two rivals:
Now as the Ol’ Professor, Casey Stengel, would say, “you could look it up.” Those are the numbers, pure and simple; a tie at every end.
In 1979, I interviewed the former “Voice of the Brooklyn Dodgers,” Red Barber. Remember, Barber broadcast for the Dodgers and later the Yankees. I asked him to compare the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry with the Dodgers-Giants rivalry. The Yankees-Red Sox were coming off that historic 1978 season. By that time, Barber had been out of the Yankees booth for 12 years.
Red said there was no comparison. There was nothing like the Dodgers vs. Giants. And he was right to say that. When Barber broadcast the Yankees games from 1954-66, Yankees-Red Sox was not what it is today. Back then, rare was the occasion Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium was sold out, when those two clubs met. During most of Barber’s Yankees broadcast career, the Yankees were on top and the Red Sox were on or near the bottom. So when Barber says nothing compared to Dodgers vs. Giants, he is speaking with some authority, because that is what he lived through, as a broadcaster.
Something else about Opening Day. It was unheard of to open the season in late March. Usually the season began the second week in April. Weather was the big issue. But the powers that be must have felt, it could easily be 40 degrees on April 12, as it could be on March 26. Start the season and bring in the dough. So what if the season starts 15 or 20 days earlier than back in the old days. Besides, clubs would barnstorm north and play exhibition games in late March and early April in the northeast. Why not just begin the regular season?
It was also a given that you could watch your team play on local television on Opening Day. No more. Tonight’s Yankees-Giants game is on Netflix, which requires a subscription. Netflix is a streaming service. So if you want to watch the game, you have to take out a Netflix subscription. Besides, Yankees-Giants? There was no interleague play, when I was growing up. The times, they are a changing.
Give me the good old days of, in the case of being a Yankees fan, Yankees season opener on WPIX-11, with Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer and Bill White on the call. That said, I recognize nothing lasts forever. So enjoy Opening Day, no matter how you choose to observe it.
A coaches ring of honor
Rick Pitino is taking his St. John’s team to the Sweet 16 this week, putting him in rarified air. He is one of the few coaches to lead his team to the Sweet 16 in five decades. Check out his company.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
Tush-push survives
Word is at the next NFL owners meeting, there will be no discussion about banning the tush-push. Per usual, there is a lot of talk, during the season, of putting the tush-push on the scrap heap, but when tush comes to push, nothing ever happens.
Looking forward to the ABS system being employed in MLB games this season. Each club gets to challenge two ball-strike calls per game. But those on social media, suggesting every pitch will be subjected to the ABS system in two years? I do not see it, regardless of how advanced the technology.
The baseball media landscape is changing faster than challenged balls or strike calls, but per the website Sports Media Watch, here is the link how to follow your local club.
Back in the day, The Sporting News would provide a listing with pictures of each club’s lead broadcaster:
Oh, yes! Those were the days!
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. As always, thank you for subscribing and have a wonderful Wednesday!
DAN