Passed Ball Show

11-7-2020 Passed Ball Show. John opens up this program by talking about the reasons some (including himself) have had against the idea of a universal designated hitter in MLB. It is time to have the DH in the National League because pitchers are not given the chance to hit anymore, they do not try to learn how to hit, and few NL pitchers even take regular batting practice anymore. If baseball does not want them to try to be competitive hitters, the game should not allow it. And they should come to a decision soon so the NL teams can best address the rule change when it comes to the composition of their roster. John then talks about the importance of fans when it comes to sports. Without fans, there is no sports. Without fans, there is no sports talk. During what has been a trying year, it has become evident that sports miss fans in attendance more than they just feel in their wallets. In MLB, the NBA, NHL, and now the NFL, it is obvious how fans attendance can impact a game. Teams play full seasons not just for the opportunity to make the sport’s respective postseason, but for seeding purposes and home field/ court/ ice advantage. John cannot wait until more arenas, ballpark, fields, and courts are open for fans to attend games. John then talks about cheating in baseball and why cheating is always in the eyes of the beholder. Many have tunnel vision when it comes to their particular form of cheating they are against. John questions catcher framing and the deception it creates to fool an umpire into calling a Ball a strike. What about a fielder pushing a runner’s hand or leg off a base? Is that ethical? Cheating has been in baseball since it inception and John talks about what the early baseball players were and why they were deviants. Finally, John talks about which MLB players YOU wished played 20 seasons in MLB.

10-29-2020 Passed Ball Show. John starts this show by reminding the viewers that MLB managers do not make decisions. He then talks about the Moneyball Tampa Bay Rays and how they will never win a World Series with solely that type of mentality. Neither will the Oakland Athletics. The rest of MLB is catching up with the use of analytics and while other teams are going to use actual money to obtain/ retain players, the Rays/ Athletics or Rathletics will once again be left behind. John pleads for people to stop saying Kevin Cash took out Blake Snell in the sixth inning of Game Six of the World Series. While that is literally what we saw, Cash was taking orders from the Tampa Bay analytics department which stated he was to do what he did. Kevin Cash did not decide this. The Tampa Bay Rays analytics department, or Johnny Sprinklersmeller did. Sprinklersmeller represents the name of the computer savvy technician in the Rays front office that dictated what the team was going to do. Can you reasonably blame your waiter for poorly cooked food? No, but people still do even though they know the waiter did not cook their food. The same can be said about Kevin Cash. He was the waiter. His name tag said Kevin Cash. Those watching the game know his name, they do not know Johnny Sprinklersmeller’s. Stop blaming MLB managers for decisions they do not have the autonomy to make. John then explains why MLB screwed up the Justin Turner coronavirus fiasco. While MLB Commissioner Manfred is patting himself on the back for getting through the MLB season, Turner is on the field celebrating with his teammates. Turner should have been kept from the game and at the very least, should have been removed from the stadium when it was determined he tested positive. He was not and I blame MLB for that. They could have had him leave with the threat that if he did not, the game would be suspended. And it would have been up to him. Finally, John gets in to what seems like a “too good to be true” scenario with the New York Mets and the change of ownership. John is not confident Steve Cohen will become the next NY Mets owner.

10/20/2020 Passed Ball Show. John opens up this program by continuing to blame MLB for its enabling its players’ use of steroids/ PED’s, then blaming the players who used. This all after profiting off of the 1998 home run chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. John reminds the listeners that baseball is the only sport that has the equivalent to its all time hits leader, all time home run leader, the players with the 3rd and 4th highest batting average in the history of the sport, the four players with the highest single season home run totals, the player with the most MVP Awards, and the player with the most Cy Young Awards NOT IN ITS HALL OF FAME! John then talks about the collusion that must have been going on to keep Barry Bonds off a MLB roster in 2008. (*John mistakenly refers to 2006 as Bonds’ last MLB seasons, it was 2007.) Bonds stats in 2007 deserved a contract offer and it was criminal MLB prohibited any team from signing him. John then talks about the oldest MLB players to play in a game. The list is deceiving because it includes players who were inactive for years at a time and made an appearance. It is as if they never left. John gives a list of the top five continuous MLB players to play to the oldest age. He finishes off the program by giving his favorite lineups in the history of baseball and asks for yours.

10-14-2020 Passed Ball Show. John opens up this show by talking about a go to topic- the role of a Major League Baseball Manager in the current game. It seems as if the playoffs bring out those that seem to bitch and complain about their favorite team’s manager. It is as if they are saying it with a disclaimer, “I don’t understand anything about baseball now!” There is nothing else to say outside the fact that fans and worse off, actually baseball “writers” have no shame embarrassing themselves by showing how little they understand how the game works. John explains (once again) the role and responsibilities of a baseball manager in the present game. John then talks about the New York Jets and how the release of Le’Veon Bell may be a sign the team is sticking with Head Coach for the long term. Finally, John talks about the amount of baseball Hall of Famers who have passed away during this calendar year. He mentions that the number six (amount of baseball Hall of Fame players who have passed away- Al Kaline, Tom Seaver, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, Joe Morgan) is the most in a calendar year since 1972 (Roberto Clemente, Jackie Robinson, Gabby Hartnett, Pie Traynor, Zack Wheat, George Weiss). He also adds a couple other tidbits about baseball Hall of Famer deaths.

10-1-2020 Passed Ball Show. John opens up this show by reminding his listeners that his last show sucked. He then talks about the value of a Head Coach in the National Football League and how it contrasts with a Major League Baseball manager. He then gives three reasons a NFL Head Coach could reasonably be fired in season. He then talks about the Detroit Tigers decision to promote coach Lloyd McClendon to interim manager after the retirement of Ron Gardenhire. McClendon is the first black manager in the history of the Tigers franchise, which leaves ten MLB teams who have yet to hire. John advocates for McClendon getting the full time title starting next season. He finishes off the program talking about prejudices and how it is assumed that blacks live in poverty and how it is prejudice to use that as a reason there are less in professional baseball. John then mentions fans that would not give up their rooting interests for their sports teams because they have a black player on the team. Yet these are the same people who have decided not to watch their favorite sports team because of the sport(s) support to Black Lives Matter. At this point, John’s show immediately ends after his camera is attacked by a flying Chicken Cow.

9-19-2020 Passed Ball Show. John opens this program by talking about how Trevor Bauer has not only performed to a point where he is the favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award, he has become the prime to be sought after prize when it comes to free agency after the 2020 season. The media and general public shame players for saying their next home will be the team that pays them the most money. They are shamed to a point where they are considered selfish if they talk about it. That is why players like Bauer give the answers he gave when asked about impending free agency. Bauer says his perspective new employer will have a great medical staff and will be have a sound analytical staff. While individually both could be a tie-breaker when it comes to the team he signs with, the number one factor will unequivocally be money. It may be a choice between highest annual value and total dollar amount, but the final decision will come down to money. Jacob deGrom will never have more value at any other point of his MLB career than this upcoming offseason. Because of that, the Mets should at least entertain the possibility of trading him for an overwhelming return. John proposed ten different trade scenarios, all centered around four top pitching prospects and one top position player, preferably a catcher. John finishes off this show by talking about the voting process when it comes to the NBA regular season awards. LeBron James points out its inconsistency and how the voting is not set upon the same criteria each season. While Giannis Antetokounmpo deserved the award almost hands down, LeBron expressed his disappointment over receiving only 16 of the 105 votes. While that seems a little sore, his issue with the voting process over the past twenty years is legit.

9-12-2020 Passed Ball Show. John opens up this show talking about the underrated baseball career of the late Hall of Famer Lou Brock. Besides being the one time all time stolen base leader, two time World Series Champion, and member of the 3,000 hit club, Brock is known for being on the right end of one of the most one-sided trades in the history of the sport. Sadly, the main reason that trade was made has not been discussed enough. Owner Phillip K. Wrigley received several letters from season ticket holders claiming the Cubs had become “too black.” They threatened to not renew their ticket plans unless something was done about it. The result was Brock’s trade from the Cubs to the Cardinals for pitcher Ernie Broglio. Hiram Bithorn made his MLB debut in 1942, becoming the first Puerto Rican born player in MLB history. Unfortunately he never accomplished anything near what Roberto Clemente would over the course of his career. And because of this, John says, Bithorn never gets the credit he deserves for overcoming the racial barrier. While Clemente will be forever known as an all time great, he has mistakenly been given the title of the first PR born MLB player, leading many to believe his number 21 should be retired throughout the sport. While John does not have a problem is that becomes the case, he feels more credit should be given to Bithorn for what he had to endure. John then reminds his viewers that every NBA Basketball team has hired a black head coach. He then asks why eleven MLB teams have never hired a black manager and nine NFL teams have never hired a black head coach. John finishes off the program talking about FCC regulation, Sirius XM, and Cable TV and why the “F” word and other profanities have become desensitized.

9-5-2020 Passed Ball Show. John spends this show talking about the great career of the legendary Tom Seaver, who passed away this past week. Seaver will always be synonymous with the New York Mets, as his nickname describes. John tells about how the Braves did not do anything wrong by signing him after he was taken with the 20th overall pick of the June 1966 MLB draft. The Mets had a chance to take him at 18, instead going with Dalllas, TX outfielder James Taylor, not to be confused with the singer. The Mets rode their gift (by winning a lottery of being among the three teams willing to match the Braves offer) to a World Series champion and another National League pennant before making the decision to trade him in 1977. Seaver had demanded to be traded, likely because of a story published by New York Daily News columnist Dick Young talking about Seaver’s wife Nancy. The Mets were later given another gift with the Reds, the team Seaver was traded to, falling on some hard times and who traded Seaver back to the Mets for the 1983 season. This should have been the signal for Seaver to finish his career with the Mets. But the Mets screwed it up. First, by leaving him unprotected in the free agent compensation draft to be selected by the Chicago White Sox because they lost Dennis Lamp to the Toronto Blue Jays. Second, by not opting out to signing type- A free agents that offseason. They did not sign a type- A free agent anyways, and they could have kept themselves from having to protect any players. Seaver winning his 300th game at Yankee Stadium not wearing a Mets Jersey was a travesty, one that could have been averted. Perhaps he could have been in the Mets dugout for the final out of the 1986 World Series and not wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform. He also asks why the Atlanta Braves were not allowed to be part of the Seaver lottery in 1966. Finally, John breaks down his top ten starting pitchers of all time and makes a case for why Seaver could be on the list.

8-30-2020 Passed Ball Show. John spends this version of the program talking about issues that need to be spoken about when it comes to the police treatment of people of color. John brings up shoot to kill, the possibility of a hate crime, and the police union backing every single officer. John then brings up the importance of establishing what the law is and how one is to act within the confines of an average police encounter. John then talks about the changes to the current MLB baseball season and how some of the rules changes could become permanent. Analytics have ruined the starting pitcher, and this could lead to seven inning games becoming a real possibility. Lance Lynn isn’t having a problem pitching the third time through a batting order. Why isn’t any team doing what the Texas Rangers did in 2009-2011? The lack of individuality may lead to more permanent changes to the rules of the game.

8-22-2020 Passed Ball Show. In this abbreviated version of the PBS, John discusses NBC Hockey analyst Mike Milbury’s “distraction” comment and states whether it was inappropriate or another example of the general public trying to cancel a person in the spotlight by exaggerating a comment thrown under the microscope.