Good morning, all! It’s hump day!
This might be the weirdest I have ever seen the MLB standings at this stage of the season. I explain in the video/podcast and also look into the possibility the Yankees might entertain trade talk for Anthony Volpe.
Here are some other thoughts on this first Thursday in May:
Current New York Yankees fans believe their favorite team always plays in the postseason, in a clean, beautiful stadium and never has a losing record. Such was not the case on this date sixty years ago. The once, proud Yankees, whose home games were being played in a dilapidated Yankee Stadium, fired manager Johnny Keane on May 7, 1966 and replaced him with GM Ralph Houk, who had managed the Yankees to three straight pennants and two World Series championships from 1961-63. The night before, New York lost to the California Angels, 7-4, tumbling into last place with a 4-16 record. The once mighty Yankees had become baseball’s laughingstock. When the Yankees won that night’s game, Cardinals announcer Harry Caray turned to his partner Jack Buck and stated: “The Yankees won today,” to which the witty Buck replied, “Break up the Yankees!”
Ratings for the NBA and NHL playoffs are up. In some cases they are way up. Could it be the lousy weather in the northeast and midwest has kept people inside? Could it be the country’s appetite for live programming? Could it be the gambling now permitted on these sports? Who cares? The ratings are up. Period. What we can learn from this, however, is other than diehard fans, people start paying attention to sports - other than the NFL - when the playoffs start. The games are intense, there is no tanking and everything is on the line. We have become a nation where the regular season is relegated to second tier status.
Disney, the parent company of ESPN, states it has not moved to engage the NFL in reopening negotiations for a new TV contract. Even though its current deals with the TV networks do not expire until later in the decade, the NFL believes its product has become so popular it undersold the rights to its last contract and wants to renegotiate. Disney is claiming, despite increased revenue for ESPN, its sports profits have slipped. Remember, when the NFL succeeds in getting the networks to pony up more money, and it will, those costs will be passed along to us.
Do not look now, but in beating the AL champion Toronto Blue Jays yesterday, 3-0, the Tampa Bay Rays completed their fifth series sweep of the young season and improved to 24-12. They play the Red Sox tonight in the start of a four-game series at Fenway Park.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. As always, thank you so much for being a subscriber!
DAN
