Good morning, all and happy Friday!
We keep hearing talk about how much better the National League is than the American League in MLB. But how accurate a statement is that? The AL shutout the NL in the All-Star game, 4-0, and in interleague play the NL holds the edge, 286-244. The 42-game discrepancy, however, is due in large part to both the Angels and Athletics being a combined 20-games under .500 against NL opponents. I break it down in the commentary and I also take issue with the analysis the Yankees were failures at the trade deadline.
Some other stories of note on the first Friday in August:
Last night’s NFL Hall of Fame exhibition clash between the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals will draw more eyeballs to TV sets for a game that does not count than most MLB playoff games.
That said, the omnipotent NFL does not always get its way. The league’s contracts with the networks do not expire until the 2033-34 season, although there is an opt out for both sides come 2029-2030. That did not stop NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell from wanting to reopen negotiations with the networks now. The greedy commissioner believes, even though the league is raking in billions of dollars from those TV contracts, the networks got a bargain, as television ratings are skyrocketing. Well, two networks told the commish to go pound sand this week. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch has informed the NFL it will wait to the opt out year before deciding whether to proceed. And CBS is doing the same, now that its parent company, Paramount, is facing a multi-state lawsuit over its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
IMHO, the two best team radio broadcasts for MLB are the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates. Many a night, as I drive home, following a Hartford Yard Goats broadcast, I tune to the Giants radio team of the legendary Jon Miller, Dave Fleming and ex-big leaguers Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper. Krukow and Kuiper are ex-players. After 36 years at the mic for the Giants, Krukow or “Kruk” announced yesterday he will retire at season’s end. He will turn 75 in January. Here was the announcement Krukow posted on social media:
We wish him well in retirement.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. As always, thank you for subscribing and have a fantastic Friday!
DAN
