Big Story – World Series: The $130 million payroll Brewers gave the Players Association fresh ammo in advance of the coming labor fight over whether a salary cap is needed or not by sweeping the $430 million L.A. Dodgers to win the NLCS. In the AL it was undecided at deadline with Tampa Bay up 3-2.
The prospect of a series with Milwaukee vs. Cleveland or TB does not have TV executives dancing in the aisles, as it offers no big names and no dastardly team like those Dodgers to root against for an upset. Just resilient, gritty teams who play small ball and know how to win. And we’ll see if that’s enough to draw big attention or just those who like watching baseball played like it ought to be played.
Sports 101: Who was the first Black player to hit a home run in the World Series?
News Item – Pats Down Jets 26-19: A lackluster effort that made this one live up to the definition of a trap game.
• Good – Situational Football: It was so solid it let them make enough plays in big moments to hold off the better than expected Jets. Plus the kick coverage was the best it’s been all year.
• Bad – Injuries to the OL: Three starters going down in the same game. Yikes. But they somehow survived as the depth helped them do what they wanted: grind down the clock on the ground in the fourth quarter to ice it.
• Ugly – A.J. Brown: Either he needs to knock off the rust or he has hands of concrete, which included letting the Jets crucial onside kick go right through his hands.
• Grade – C: They did enough to win, which is what counts most, but it wasn’t pretty.
News Item – Bad Day at Black Rock for Top 10: It was a rough day for the Top 10 in college football on Saturday as Georgia, Notre Dame, Alabama and last week’s No. 1 Texas all lost. As did fifth-ranked Indiana, taken down by local lad Ryan Day’s now top-ranked Ohio State in the clash of the day.
The Numbers:
237 – yards allowed per game by the Seattle Seahawks, who gave up 277 to the Pats in Week 1.
127.3–NFL-leading QB rating for Seattle backup Drew Lock in his two games filling in for starter Sam Darnold.
… Of the Week Awards
Thumbs Up – Tampa Bay: For actually managing a game to let the players win it, rather than having a shut-in stat geek with a laptop decide who does what, by letting excellent pitching starter Drew Rasmussen go seven innings and 95 pitches as he gave up one run and six hits in TB’s 3-1 Game 5 win over Cleveland.
In Case You’re Interested – Alumni News:
• In his first six games with Houston Kayshon Boutte has 14 catches on 21 targets for 169 yards and no TDs.
• Keion White has three sacks for the 5-0 49ers.
Sports 101 Answer: Larry Doby was the first when he hit one in the 1948 Series.
A Little History – Larry Doby: A guy pretty much forgotten by time despite being brought to the majors by Indians owner Bill Veeck (as in wreck) just a few months after Jackie Robinson in 1947. He played from 1947 to 1959, during which time the career numbers were .288, 273 homers and 1,093 RBI. Good enough to be elected to Cooperstown, though it took them 39 years to do it.
Final Thought – Five Things I’m Most Interested in as the NBA Season Opens:
• Knicks vs. 76ers vs. Celtics: All three haven’t really competed for the division crown together in the same season since 1967-68.
• Victor Wembanyama: I thought he was a chippy punk in the NBA Finals and I’m hoping he grows up beyond that. Because I’m most eager to see what this young Frenchman adds to his game to help him be the dominant player he has the package to become.
• The Philadelphia Experiment: The NBA’s most ultimate talent-vs.-chemistry situation since Wilt joined West and Baylor in L.A. in 1968-69. Most interesting is not Jaylen Brown. It’s how Lebron morphs his game to fit in at 42, which I think he’ll do.
• Cooper Flagg: In the final six games of his rookie year he scored 51, 45 and 33 in three of them. And while this is probably an unfair comparison, here’s how this rookie stacks up to Larry Bird’s. CF, then LB: points 21.0 – 21.3, assists 4.5 – 4.5, rebounds 6.7 – 10.4. FG 46.8 – 47.4. Pretty close, but remember LB was 23 when he was a rookie and Flagg 19. All of which will have Dallas fans asking, “Luka who?”
• Mitchell Robinson: I love offensive rebounders and he’s great at it. Plus he plays rim protecting D and is going to be the best pick-and-roll-for-the-lob-to-dunk Celtic since lob it to Rob Williams was traded to Portland.
Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.