Cleaning out the Inbox

  The inbox isn't quite overflowing, but there are a few interesting items of note and it is always good to stay caught up.

USA Today writes of the late George Carter, who passed away last November with next to nothing to show for a career that saw Carter as one of the best forwards in the ABA.

Carter averaged eighteen points a game in an ABA career that saw him play for seven different teams and Virginia twice but fell on hard times after his basketball career ended, suffering from throat cancer and had difficulties finding work.

The Dropping Dimes Foundation is an organization that helps former ABA players that aren't eligible to receive an NBA pension and yet with the ABA out of business, many of these players are out of luck.

Dropping Dimes has calculated that there are 105 living players that played three seasons or more in the ABA, but do not qualify for an NBA pension and that the NBA could pay each player $400 per month at a total of 1.8 million per year, which will become less each year as players pass away.

The NBA needs to do the right thing here and help these former stars out to live the rest of their life with a decent standard of living.

The Athletic writes of the short-lived Teddi Bears dance troupe' that danced at the Richfield Coliseum during sparsely attended Cleveland Cavaliers games during the Ted Stepien reign of error in the early 80s.

The Teddi Bear team included Stepien's daughter and as the article quotes from the media of the time, they were booed every night by the few fans watching Stepien's folly in Richfield.

I've often thought that the great sports book waiting to be written is about the three years of Cavalier basketball when Ted Stepien owned the team, and the Teddi Bears are just a small part of that.

The Atlantic wrote this article in May 2018 and it has to be read to be believed.

This story makes the film "Slap Shot" look like a documentary as it's the story of the Danbury Trashers of the United Hockey League and their two seasons of existence which had the following items to name a few-

An expansion team purchased by a mobster.

Said mobster names the team after his waste management "business".

Hires his high school senior son as general manager.

Signs players that make the Hanson Brothers look like Mario Lemieux.

Brags about having TEN goons on his roster and watches them brutalize the league.

That's just the basics and for all of that craziness- The Trashers reach the league finals in their second year and never play another game.

Because the owner is indicted by the federal government.

A story that has to be read...

Ten Things I Think

   I had a bunch of random thoughts on my mind and decided to incorporate them into the blog.

I am hoping to make this a regular feature, so I am looking for a name for this- drop me a line through whatever avenue that you read this and if I select something that I like, I'll try to scrape up a prize of some type for the winner...

1) As an avowed mustard lover and one that usually has several in the fridge such as Cleveland's Bertman's, Harrisburg's Miller's, and others that look interesting in the store- a new contender has emerged- Plochman's "The Works".

The Works says it's a Chicago-style mustard with relish already in it and it is definitely a must (pun-intended) for those of you that like relish and/or dill pickles.

The lovely Cherie also swears by this one, and the only one of the local supermarkets that carry it is Weis Markets, so give the Works a try, should you see it available.

2) I try to watch fewer political programs of late mainly because I feel that so few are where I'm at politically and that few are able to play anything other than a game of "What About"?

Is it possible that maybe just maybe, one can believe that wrong is wrong for ills from either side of the fence and not make it only about ideological "friends and enemies"?

3) I suppose this is why I do like the Bulwark because it seems the closest to what I believe.

I'm maybe slightly to their left socially and pretty even up fiscally, but they are closest to my feeling of you can say the Andrew Cuomo's are awful as well as disliking the former president and not be wrong.

4) One final political note- I've also cut back my political podcast listening for a bit and why I haven't added any pay products of late, but I always stop and listen when Amanda Carpenter makes a podcast appearance (Or her CNN spots, but I've got that cut back as well).

I'm a big fan of her writing and I promise (on the word of my financial backer Fred Landucci! Ha Ha!) if the podcast returns, I'll take a shot at trying to get her to do it!

5) I'm not as down as many on Carolina trading for Sam Darnold for a 2021 6th and 2022 2nd and 4th with the Jets.

Matt Rhule and Joe Brady might have luck with Darnold that the Jets never had, but Darnold should have no excuses this time if his career doesn't progress.

6) One thing that I've missed from Covid-19 is a good Chinese food buffet.

Sadly, I'm afraid that few large restaurants will return from Covid.

Insurance will likely be higher and would-be owners will be more reluctant to open an already difficult business to start up.

7) I was really hoping that North Carolina would hire Steve Robinson to replace Roy Williams just so I could once again see Steve Robinson pull a "Steve Robinson".

8) For as much as I love the internet, the information at your fingertips, and all that you can read, it's sad that a generation will go by to not know the excitement of seeing a new sports magazine or comic book in a grocery store or pharmacy and have it be a complete surprise.

Looking for the latest boxing magazine, Street and Smith's sports preview, issue of Green Lantern, or a pack of Topps at a Sheetz or 7-11 was a thrill for a kid that loved to collect and read, and losing that is an underrated factor in why kids are losing interest in so many things that kids loved in previous eras.

9) The mail still is the main avenue that this country uses for getting packages and their needs.

No matter what the internet has improved on billing and purchasing, there still is a need to move those items from the start to your home or business.

The USPS has flaws, but they have been bloated out of control since Louis DeJoy was installed to "fix" it- His latest idea is to charge more, slow their service, and have fewer open hours for the various offices around the country.

The answer is plain- this is not how normal businesses are "fixed". 

It's time for him to go.

10) If I could change one thing to streamline healthcare, it would be to make a universal insurance/payment card that all companies would need to provide.

A friend's wife works at a local doctor's office and she reports that is the biggest hassle with multiple companies doing their cards in different formats, making them harder to decipher, slowing the process down, which can result in mistakes to squeeze between the cracks.

Is it asking too much for one format?

Hope you like this post, I haven't felt like writing about baseball with the Indians' gumball-like bats of late, so thought I would do something different.

Back later, with a turkey in the backyard and I was glad Fred Landucci wasn't driving in the area at the time!

Boxing Challenge: Herring retires Frampton in six

    In the preview for Jamel Herring's WBO junior lightweight title defense against former junior feather and featherweight champion Carl Frampton, I wrote that this was one of those rare championship fights that brought to mind the pro wrestling stipulation of "Loser Leaves Town" with both fighters reaching the time where they have plenty of questions regarding their future in the sport.

Jamel Herring retained the title via sixth-round knockout and Carl Frampton in the ring following the defeat announced his retirement to "leave town".

Entering the fight, Herring had the size advantage from the tale of the tape, but once the bell rang the size difference was glaring and it made sense.

Herring had started his career as a lightweight and Frampton had begun his at junior featherweight, so the boxer, Herring, was physically the larger and stronger man.

Herring started strong, establishing himself as willing to stand his ground, and Frampton, who was unable to move to the inside and do the work needed for him to thrive for the first two rounds.

However, Frampton began to win some exchanges in round three, which was a close round that could have been given to either fighter and Frampton clearly won the fourth round along with cutting Herring over his left eye with a cut bad enough that Herring could have concerns about the fight being stopped as the fight continued.

With the tide starting to roll towards Frampton in the fifth round, Frampton began to pick up the pace even more but was dropped by a straight left from Herring that he was never able to truly recover from.

Frampton wouldn't survive a second time, as Herring landed a crushing uppercut that sent Frampton down early in the sixth round.

Frampton rose but was met by a volley of punches from Herring that sent a groggy Frampton into the ropes and when Herring landed another strong left that hurt Frampton, the corner leaped to the ropes to signal surrender for their man.

Frampton would announce his retirement in the ring with an emotional statement and I think he means it.

Frampton will be remembered for splitting his series with Leo Santa Cruz and his win over Scott Quigg in one of the bigger fights of the last decade in the U.K.

As for Herring, he will have two choices, he could face Shakur Stevenson in another fight that he will be the underdog in a WBO mandatory defense, but Herring could ask for a waiver in order to unify his title with that of WBC champion Oscar Valdez.

The other option could be for Herring to vacate the WBO title, which would likely be filled by Stevenson's June fight against unknown Jeremiah Nakathila, fight Valdez, and the winner would then unify against Stevenson.

I'd place Herring as a solid underdog against either Valdez or Stevenson, especially with his recent problems with cuts, but I wouldn't rule him out completely as he seems to fight his best when the least is expected of him.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica scored a point for the Herring victory to cut my lead back to two points at 38-36.

Boxing Challenge: Akhmadaliev stops Iwasa in five

    In his home country of  Uzbekistan, M.J.Akhmadaliev easily defended his WBA and IBF junior featherweight titles for the first time with a dominating fifth-round stoppage of former IBF champion Ryosuke Iwasa.

Akhmadaliev won every round and did stun Iwasa in the fifth sending him backward around the ring, but the stoppage seemed premature as Iwasa wasn't in serious trouble when the fight was stopped.

The ending was a bit deflating, but Iwasa seemed to be in need of a miracle to get back into the fight, which he had shown no signs of having any hope of providing.

For Akhmadaliev, who stated that he wants to unify his two titles with those of WBC champion Luis Nery and WBO beltholder Stephen Fulton, he may in a position to be arguably the best fighter in a division that is controlled by another promoter- in this case, PBC.

PBC promotes both Nery and Fulton, WBA minor titleist Brandon Figueroa, top contender Raeese Aleem, and former champion Daniel Roman, who Akhmadaliev won his titles from in 2020 via split decision that could have just as easily tipped towards Roman as Akhmadaliev, as none of those fights seem likely anytime soon, despite any of those matchups appearing to be terrific matchups.

Unless the WBA steps in and mandates an Akhmadaliev-Figueroa or Akhmadaliev-Aleem fight, his best fight that could be made may be against another WBA minor beltholder in Ronny Rios, who is promoted by Golden Boy, but I'd peg Akhmadaliev as a strong favorite against Rios.

Akhmadaliev may very well be in a position that has been so well known in boxing in recent years- a very talented fighter that may be the best in his division, but cannot find any of the top boxers in his weight class willing to agree to fight him.

In the boxing challenge, I added two points to Ramon Malpica's one to move my lead to 38-35.

Boxing Challenge

      The boxing challenge will have two title fights on two platforms and both are outside of North America in locations that rarely will feature world championship boxing.

ESPN+ and Top Rank will broadcast a world championship pairing from the United Arab Emirates, which is essentially a "loser leaves town" crossroads battle with the winner defending the WBO junior lightweight title against maturing superstar Shakur Stevenson for a sizable paycheck and the loser perhaps considering retirement.

Champion Jamel Herring kept his title by disqualification when Jonathan Oquendo continued to smash his head into Herring's all throughout the bout and was finally disqualified in the eighth round when Herring's cut was ruled too bad to continue.

The ending was deserved, but Herring seemed a bit relieved at the fight's ending as, despite Herring being far ahead on the cards, Oquendo was beginning a rally that likely would have fallen short, Herring avoided a rough final few rounds by the ending.

Carl Frampton has won his last two fights since losing a decision to featherweight champion (at the time) Josh Warrington and could be hitting his highest weight wall at 130 pounds after winning championships at 122 and 126 pounds.

Herring's a boxer that is good enough to win a title but isn't quite elite, while Frampton was elite at lower weights when he fought up to his nickname "The Jackal", but hasn't been quite to that level since his decision win over Nonito Donaire.

If that version of Frampton enters the ring, I think Frampton breaks Herring down to win a lopsided decision, but if not, Herring outboxes Frampton on his way to a close but clear decision.

The card from Dubai starts at 2:00 EST.

Meanwhile, over on DAZN from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, WBA, and IBF junior featherweight titleist M.J. Akhmadaliev will defend the pair of belts for the first time against Ryosuke Iwasa of Japan.

Akhmadaliev won a split decision over Danny Roman last January in a terrific fight and looks to be on his way to bigger things, should he dispose of mandatory challenger Iwasa, who once held the IBF championship in 2017-18 and defended it once before losing it to T.J. Doheny by a controversial decision.

Iwasa could give Akhmadaliev some trouble, but I think the naturally bigger Akhmadaliev will hurt Iwasa in the middle rounds and has a chance for a late-round stoppage.

Akhmadaliev could have future defenses from the WBA against PBC fighters and minor WBA champions Brandon Figueroa and Ronny Rios or another PBC fighter in number one contender Raeese Aleem, but the question is that why Danny Roman isn't higher in line considering the closeness of his loss to Akhmadaliev.

I scored that fight a draw and Roman deserves a rematch before anyone gets further consideration.

The card starts at 10 AM EST on Saturday

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 36-34.

WBO Junior Lightweight Title. 12 Rds 

Jamel Herring vs Carl Frampton

R.L; Herring Unanimous Decision

TRS; Frampton Unanimous Decision

WBA and IBF Junior Featherweight Titles. 12 Rds

Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs Ryosuke Iwasa.

R.L: Akhmadaliev Unanimous Decision

TRS: Akhmadaliev KO 10 

Baseball Openers!

    I wrote yesterday about Opening Day and what was taking the joy away from baseball from me, so I decided to spend the day watching the Indians in the afternoon in Detroit against the Tigers in the snow and then the Giants from the road office with their opener in Seattle in an (ahem) interleague matchup.

The avenues may have been different, but the destination ended in the same manner for each team= an L.

And the worst part? Both teams' losses may have played out as many eventual defeats could as the season moves by.

In Detroit, a day filled with snow showers along with lots of wind, saw the Tigers drop the Indians 3-2, but the game played out as many could for the Wahoo's-they fell behind and didn't have the offense to catch up.

Shane Bieber struck out twelve Tigers in six innings and allowed only five hits, but the game was decided in the first inning when Miguel Cabrera drove a Bieber serve to the opposite field through the falling snowflakes and barely over the right-field wall for a two-run homer.

The snow shower caused visibility that was bad enough that Cabrera didn't know the ball carried into the seats and slid into second base.

Cabrera, who is attempting to reach career goals of 500 homers and 3,000 hits, both of which are likely should he stay healthy this season, looks to have lost twenty pounds and looks in better shape than he has been in recent years.

The Indians would not score until a two-run homer by Roberto Perez with one out in the ninth inning cut the lead to 3-2, but Cleveland would score no more.

This game was exactly what I (and every Cleveland fan likely) worried about entering the season- receiving a good pitching performance and not being able to stay in the game due to a weak offense.

Three runs allowed is respectable, but it could reach the point that the staff cannot allow more than two to have a chance to win and that is called a very narrow needle to thread.

One thing that I did notice about this game was from myself.

I noticed that I was counting a large number of Tigers that I had met/seen as they moved through the minors and the number of them that hadn't started in the Detroit system.

Of the nine starting position players (Including the DH, but not starting pitcher Matthew Boyd), I had met/seen eight of them (only Miguel Cabrera missed the cut) and of the eight, only one had been with the Tigers when I saw him, (Shortstop Willy Castro with AA Erie after he had been acquired from Cleveland that year).

It'll be interesting to see how many players that I can count this season under that scenario because as each season goes by, those numbers are going to dwindle.

Nine hours after the start in Detroit, the San Francisco Giants started their season in Seattle.

I would imagine that there are few readers here that don't know how much I dislike interleague play, so it was an extra sting that the Giants started their season not only in interleague but on the road as well.

Still, I kinda like Safeco Field of the retractable dome stadiums, so it could have been worse- it could have been Anaheim.

The Farhan Zaidi-led Giants have been frustrating, not because they are rebuilding, but due to the revolving door of players that can make it hard to follow and enjoy the team.

I don't have a problem with trying to find a gold nugget from a prospect pool with players that might need a break, and it worked out very well with Mike Yastremzski and to a lesser extent with Alex Dickerson.

However, the batting average is never going to be great and how could it be, if they didn't have questions the player wouldn't be available, still it doesn't make it easy.

The Giants jumped out early with a second-inning two-run shot from the returning Buster Posey, would add another homer from Austin Slater in the fifth to build a 5-0 lead after six innings and a 5-1 advantage after seven to combine with a terrific start from Kevin Gausman, who allowed only two hits and a seventh-inning run to seem to be cruising to a win.

And then, the wheels came flying off.

Gausman was replaced for one out by Caleb Baragar to finish the seventh and so far so good.

That worked, but Gausman had thrown ninety pitches and while the "analytics" swear by their pitch counts, I'm a believer that if a guy is pitching well then ride the horse.

I'm not saying throw 180 pitches and I can give a pass on this one because it was the opener, but it sure seemed like Gausman had another inning in him.

Matt Wisler starts the eighth, doesn't retire a batter on two hits and a walk, and leaves the bases loaded for Jarlin Garcia, who manages to strike out one, but walks in two runs.

Here comes Tyler Rogers and he does get the two outs to finish the inning- after allowing the Mariners to wind up with a 7-6 lead after a double, a hit batsman, and a fielders choice on a Jose Marmelejos (Former Hagerstown Suns) grounder to Brandon Belt that could have ended the inning with a double play, but Belt's throw to Brandon Crawford was low and away from the bag to allow the leading run to score rather than an inning-ending twin killing.

Rogers would retire the next two batters, but a five-run lead had melted into a one-run deficit in one Seattle at-bat.

Seattle calls for closer Rafael Montero, so Gabe Kapler calls for lefthanded hitting Alex Dickerson to face the righthanded Montero rather than righthanded hitting Austin Slater.

Dickerson takes Romero downtown and suddenly as I watch this game, Fred Landucci informs me that MLB is using the runner starts on second in the extra-inning rule that was used in the exhibition that was 2020's season.

I didn't know that they had kept that silliness, but apparently when the players refused a certain offer for the season, the league was allowed to make certain decisions and some genius decided to stick with this mess.

As I rooted to avoid the tenth, the next three Giants were retired, new Giant closer Jake McGee did the same to the Mariners and here we go.

You can cut the tension with a paper-knife as Evan Longoria trots to second for this farce, but does not score after two ground outs and a Buster Posey flyout.

The new pitcher for the Giants is Jose Alvarez and it's Seattle rookie Taylor Trammell starting at second as Alvarez tries to work through this fake crisis.

And the thrilling conclusion?

Alvarez walked Dylan Moore.

Alvarez walked Evan White.

Alvarez walked Jake Fraley.

Ball game. Whoo Hoo.

Manfred baseball, everybody!

A Giants loss and an excellent outing from Kevin Gausman wasted for nothing.

It was fun to watch baseball again, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a frustrating season with both of these teams for two very different reasons.

Opening Day and Baseball Talk

   Opening Day! or opening day.

Jim Bouton wrote that phrase in Ball Four before the 1969 opener as he played for the Seattle Pilots and it has never been more true for me than this opener.

With a new item to feed my disenchantment with baseball every day for months it seems, it's now time for the game to take the field for what may be a full regular season.

I'm not going to do season previews, because honestly, I just don't feel like doing them, but because I've paid so little attention to the Cactus League (where both the Indians and Giants train), I'm not even sure I'd be satisfied with them.

I've written often of the litany of decisions and changes due to Rob Manfred and his reign of terror, but there's more than Manfred to disappoint me.

The Indians continuing to develop pitchers at a surprisingly stunning rate and their ineptness of doing so with outfielders ( the decision to keep Bradley Zimmer rather than Clint Frazier in the 2016 Andrew Miller with the Yankees could haunt this team), the unwillingness or inability (depending on whom you ask) of the Dolan family to spend any type of money on what could be a contender with a few roster moves, the state of the game that allows a home-grown superstar in Francisco Lindor to walk away because you cannot afford to keep them and if you actually tried you would handicap yourself to put a team around that player, and a stadium lease that expires after 2023 all add up to a storm around the Indians for me that makes it very difficult for baseball enthusiasm.

Add the continual rebuilding of the Giants in a division with the National League version of the "Evil Empire" and the suddenly cash-flush San Diego Padres with has-been's, faded prospects, and never were players has made the proverbial "need of a scorecard to tell the players" often for the Giants.

Even the networks that televise the games have cut their budget as the Giants, who won me over as a fan with late-night games with the best broadcast bunch in the game with Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow, and Amy Gutierrez, won't have one-third of their unit doing the games as NBC Bay Area decided not to renew Gutierrez's contract and the team will not be using anyone in the reporter role this season.

Fortunately for Giants fans, Gutierrez was quickly hired by the team and will be doing all the types of features for the team website and social media that she had been doing for NBC Bay Area.

That's a smart move to keep someone that is very popular with the fan base in the organization by the team, but it shows the stress that the financial losses from last season aren't limited to the franchises.

Cleveland's broadcast team returns on the newly re-branded Bally Sports Ohio with Matt Underwood, Rick Manning, and Andre Knott.

The Indians bunch isn't awful, but it's not outstanding either.

They aren't top of the line as Kuiper and Krukow are, but they are decent enough and certainly aren't enough to make you reach for the remote button or your bottle of choice as can be the case with Pittsburgh's Greg Brown or Washington's F.P. Santangelo to name two.

I nearly did not order the MLB plan this season with my current feelings, but Cherie thought that I should in order to give me something to do with so little live baseball in store for me this season.

I know I've written often about having a summer without baseball in Hagerstown or Frederick, but for someone that was consumed by going to games for the last decade and a half, the summer looks very bland.

Assuming that things progress to anything close to normal, my season looks like a July visit to Harrisburg to see the Akron Rubber Ducks (Cleveland AA), one visit to Altoona in August for the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco AA), the usual trip to Eastlake, Ohio for the Lake County Captains (Now Cleveland's High A team) for their annual Cleveland Sports Night, and maybe a late-season trip to Lynchburg, Virginia for the Lynchburg Hillcats (Now Cleveland's Low A team), and that's likely the ballgame, no pun intended.

As far as autographing goes, I'm not sure many players will even sign at all and I'm not sure that I even care all that much.

I have decided that I still want to do the Indians minor league teams that I can and Richmond, as long as they stay with the Giants as Richmond is now the only Giants farm club on the East Coast, but otherwise unless a team has a coach or manager from the "old days" that I may need for a set, I don't think I'll be bothering with more than that.

The netting all over the field now and Covid have created an environment that has melted the hobby and without a team close by, I think I'm finished for the most part and that's saddening.

I've met so many great people during my collecting time, both on the field and in the stands, so I'll miss that, but I see no other choice.

It's a crazy time in baseball as a man and his minions seem bent on twisting a game away from the people that love it most to favor others that aren't likely to care no matter what they change.

Hopefully, I can find something that I can continue to care about as the marketing majors and bean counters take a game I love and pass me by...