Lee Lowenfish

"Creating a winning culture" is one of the most popular phrases these days in the world of sports - so easy to say and so hard to achieve. This past Sunday May 18, Columbia won its 6th Ivy League baseball title in the last 10 seasons with a convincing 14-6 victory over surprise finalist Harvard at Yale's George W. Bush Field.

 

I took MetroNorth to New Haven and then a cab to see my Lions roar undefeated through the double elimination tourney.  Wiping away the memories of being winless at home in the first two Ivy post-season tournaments in this format, the Lions won two extra-inning nail-biters - over defending champion Penn and surprise entrant Harvard - and then beat Harvard a second time, leaving no doubt after they built an early 10-0 lead. 

 

Senior southpaw co-captain Jagger Edwards, a reliever last season, pitched into the sixth inning and sophomore Will Harrigan got the 3 2/3 inning save, his fifth of the season.  The Cantabs had eliminated host team Yale earlier on Sunday with a come-from-behind 8-6 victory.  The Lions blasted 7 homers, including two each by senior right fielder Anton Lazits, the MVP of the tourney, and sophomore catcher Owen Estabrook.  

 

Columbia coach Brett Boretti always schedules the toughest pre-Ivy League competition and it pays off in the crunch time of the season. I am not sure how much was learned by a March 1 loss at perennial power Oregon 35-1, but it sure helps to understand how much improvement you need before you become a real contender. Columbia will learn on Memorial Day May 26 what regional they will play in - the news will be broadcast on ESPNU at 12N EDT. The goal as always is to make the 8-team College World Series in Omaha starting in mid-June.

 

When I visited the Oregon campus in Eugene 14 years ago (speaking about my Branch Rickey biography), there was a sign on the stadium outfield wall that read:

Opportunity

Makeup

Attitude

Hustle

Always Put The Team First

 

No Ivy League team has ever made a Super Regional that is played the weekend before the College World Series starts, but Boretti and other Ivy League coaches believe that one year it will happen.   As I've mentioned before in this blog, the topnotch Columbia women's basketball team led by coach Megan Griffith won its first ever March Madness game this season and also its first outright Ivy League regular season title.

 

The last chance to see this very special edition of the Columbia baseball Lions will be this Saturday May 24 when Holy Cross, winners of the Patriot League, comes down from Worcester MA to play a doubleheader at Satow Stadium just north of W 218th Street and Broadway. First game starts at 1230P. 

 

Here's also a shoutout to Howard Endelman's men's tennis team that made the NCAA quarter-finals for the second year in a row.  They lost to eventual national champion Wake Forest in a highly competitive watch in Waco, Texas.  The Lions won three matches in the new Milstein Bubble in the Baker Field complex. Attendance is free at the tennis matches (and at the regular season baseball games), and I've heard that the atmosphere is very lively.  No shushing for "silence!" from judges as in the pro matches. 

 

I am especially glad to spread the good news about Columbia athletics under the direction of AD Peter Pilling because it is hard not to despair about the political polarization on campuses these days. It is part of the Trump administration's crusade to punish Columbia and other Ivy League schools and higher education in general.  Sports can be such a unifying force if we allow it to be. So once again a huge hurrah to the players, the coaches, the parents, and the loyal fans of alma mater who have brought joy and distinction in these troubled times. 

 

And now some concluding thoughts on What Has Happened To The Orioles? At 16-32 with a series at Boston starting tomorrow Fri May 23, it is unlikely that

the 2025 Orioles are a playoff team.  But there is still a lot of baseball left, and if they start playing decent defense and straighten out a woeful starting pitching rotation,

I don't think they will need to start another painful rebuild.  Certainly long-suffering Baltimore fans won't flock to see more non-competitive baseball.

 

In my last blog, I implored new Oriole owner David Rubenstein to try to re-sign Cedric Mullins, the outstanding center fielder who is the longest tenured Oriole and

lived through the difficult 100-loss seasons before the team broke out with the 101-win season in 2023.  Alas, there is no sign that Rubenstein is willing to do this.

It took too long for "President of Baseball Operations" Mike Elias to admit this week that the team had become mediocre and indeed under .500 since the middle of last summer. 

 

The firing of field manager Brandon Hyde who lived through bad times and led through the good times was inevitable. It wasn't that he "lost control of the team," a favorite cliche when a manager is fired, but he seemed stuck in the past, thinking that somehow the good times would magically return. It remains to be seen whether another young baseball lifer, third base coach Tony Mansolino, can lift the Birds at least to respectability. 

 

Despite the woes of the Orioles and the truly hapless franchises - the White Sox, the Rockies, and the Pirates - the season for most teams remains hopeful.  The Yankees and Tigers have leads of at least 5 games before games of May 22 and the double-digit winning streaks of the Twins and the Cardinals have brought both of them into contention.  Because of market size and congenital arrogance, I still hope for anything but another Yankee-Dodger World Series. But I don't always get what I want or

need.  So it goes.  Baseball remains the greatest game despite a century and a half of leadership issues. 

 

Oh yes that reminds me - what do I think of Pete Rose between taken off the ineligible list?  Yawn!  He was his own worst enemy though a great Hall of Fame worthy player.

But selling memorabilia in Cooperstown on Hall of Fame induction weekend and living the life of a gambler in Las Vegas didn't help his cause.  It remains for the writers to

decide his eligibility and there is plenty of doubt that he will ever get in. 

 

As for commissioner Rob Manfred caving in to Donald Trump's express wish in behalf of Pete Rose, Manfred is not the first executive in the USA to be very wary of what Trump wants to do. Baseball has been admirably in the forefront of the DEI programs which the new administration wants curtailed.  Manfred and the owners that pay him 

are hoping for a bonanza in streaming services.  They are not sure what policies the government will espouse in this area.  So Manfred played it cautiously.  I'm not going to get on a high horse to decry this.

 

That's all for now.  I'm heading to Cooperstown next week to talk on Frank Frisch the Fordham Flash at the Hall of Fame's annual Symposium on Baseball and American

Culture.  I'm calling my talk "Urbane Roughneck" because although Frisch was a fierce competitor on the field - known in his early years as "John McGraw's Boy" - he

was a genuine lover of classical music and good books and a devoted gardener.  His thoughts on baseball were mostly Old Guard but always delivered with intelligent passion.  

 

I have not run across any sports films on TCM but here is a list of some especially good ones being shown as part of Memorial Day programming:

Sat May 24 630P "The Steel Helmet" (1951) Director Sam Fuller's hard-hitting film set during the Korean War

Sun May 25 12M and 10A - Eddie Muller's Noir Alley presents "Cornered" (1945) Dick Powell, shedding again his bobby-soxer persona, searches for the Nazi killers of his wife

Sun May 25 8P "Bridge On the River Kwai" (1957) - the "Colonel Bogey March" will stay with you after seeing David Lean's direction of Allied prisoners of war in Japan

    during World War II with Alec Guinness/Jack Hawkins/William Holden

 

Tues May 27 1015P "Duel in the Sun" (1947) - Gregory Peck sheds his halo in a rare bad guy role with Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones

W May 28 215P "The Man Who Came To Dinner" (1942) - this film may be broadcast more often than any on TCM but it is hilarious with great performances by

Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, and Monty Woolley in the title role based on the writer Alexander Woollcott.  Jimmy Durante plays Banjo a role based on Harpo Marx.

 

That's all for now.  Always remember: Take It Easy But Take It, and even with RFK Jr raising havoc with our health systems, Stay Positive Test Negative!

 

 

 

   

     

It really helps to remember baseball cliches as the marathon of a baseball season turns into the upcoming September sprint. One of my favorite adages remains "Tomorrow is your best friend."  Especially when there are still 30 games left to play. 

 

Of course, being a fan means you can't be rational about your team because you can do absolutely nothing about influencing the outcome.  If you start thinking in macro terms about how the fates will do your team in, you wind up a total emotional mess. 

 

You have to remember that you signed up for this by becoming a fan. Think George C. Scott as Patton and Patton himself before D-Day:  "It beats shoveling shit in Louisiana." 

 

Saying all this, let me try to answer my question:  "What has happened to the Orioles?"  Injuries are clearly a factor for a team that is playing under .500 ball since late June. Here are some of the key ones to players that were leaders as well as statistical contributors: 

 

**Starter Kyle Bradish, gone until deep into next year with Tommy John surgery.

 

**Reliever Danny Coulombe, who might return in late September to provide steady bullpen work.  I'm pretty sure manager Brandon Hyde rues

having him pitch a second inning in his last appearance before the bone chips had to be removed from his left pitching elbow. But then again, winning the game at hand is the manager's first duty.  

 

**Second and third baseman Jordan Westburg whose broken throwing hand from an HBP may not heal until late in September.  Hard to put into words and certainly statistics what his scrappiness and will to win means to the Birds. 

 

**Second baseman Jorge Mateo out with a serious elbow ligament injury after a freak collision up the middle with shortstop Gunnar Henderson.  He may well need surgery that could end his career with the Orioles.  Originally signed as a 16-year-old by the Yankees out of the Dominican Republic, it took Mateo more than 10 years and a stint with the Padres organization to finally get a nearly-regular chance to play - his speed and baseball sense are sorely missed. 

 

Yet every team has injuries. For a variety of reasons, obvious and less obvious, the 101-win team of 2023 has not re-emerged. The macro view - "Every season is different," another favorite cliche - reminds us that the 2023 Orioles were swept in three games by the eventual World Series-winning Texas Rangers.  (The Rangers will not make the playoffs this season, another lesson in how hard it is to repeat in this age of free agent baseball and 24/7/365 media coverage that adds to the noise that can overwhelm struggling players and teams.) 

 

On the micro level, I don't what has happened to Adley Rutschman.  He hit only .132 in July and while his BA has doubled in August, he is not consistently driving the ball.   The George Steinbrenner in me - my Hobbesian view of human nature insists that we all have the angry boss in us somewhere - wonders why he is doing shoe commercials instead of finding his stroke! 

 

Adley did recently miss a couple of games with a bad back, perhaps from too much weight lifting. My guess - and it is just a guess - is that the serious injury to Bradish and to pitcher Grayson Rodriguez - still on the IL at this crucial time of season -  may have come from excessive lifting. 

 

When Adley is on, a switch-hitter with good gap power, the whole lineup seems better. Maybe he has a hidden injury not disclosed or the pressure of a pennant race and never failing at anything he has ever done in his heralded career has gotten to him.  He remains an easy player to root for. 

 

Meanwhile, backup James McCann has been invaluable for his courage exemplified by his unbelievable refusal a few weeks ago to leave the first inning of the first game of a doubleheader after being hit in the face with an errant pitch from a Blue Jay pitcher.  He suffered several nose fractures but after changing his bloody uniform top, he returned to the game to keep Rutschman from having to catch the whole doubleheader. 

 

The Orioles' remaining schedule is not particularly onerous although they must face the Dodgers in LA Tues thru Thurday Aug 27-29 and then go to tailend Colorado Aug 30-Sep 1.  I wrote down the September schedule eagerly not long ago, but now my anticipation has faded for the three games in New York against the Yankees Tu-Th Sep 24-26 for the AL East title. 

 

If we manage somehow to stay in the wild card race, those final three games at Minnesota Sep 27-29 may be even more important. Minnesota and Kansas City are very alive in the wild card race and both have a chance to knock Cleveland out of first place.  As a congenital supporter of the underdog, I hope the Royals and Guardians have a chance at October baseball. 

 

I haven't even gone into Oriole pitching woes - other injuries to starters and bullpen meltdowns. It is not all demoted closer Criag Kimbrel's fault either.  But enough of my whining! We still have a chance if the players believe. And forget the unexpected triumph of last year and maybe more important, forget the end of the streak earlier this season where they had not been swept in a series for over a year and a half.  

 

They did have two dramatic victories against Houston this past weekend:  An 8th inning grand slam by Anthony Santander and a pinch-hit bases-clearing double by 20-year-old Jackson Holliday (but his only hit in his last 24 ABs.)

 

Holliday's hit came after the Orioles honored the three new members of the Orioles Hall of Fame.  So here's the good news from the stories of the new inductees.   

 

**Scout Dick Bowie who signed outfielder Al Bumbry, future major league pitchers Ken Dixon and Jesse Jefferson, and was the only scout in the

organization (and a rare one throughout baseball) that saw Cal Ripken Jr's future as an infielder not a pitcher.  Bowie's son accepted the honor.

 

**Terry Crowley, outfielder and pinch-hitter extraordinaire who became an outstanding hitting coach for Orioles and other teams.  I am proud to

mention Crowley was excelled at Staten Island's Curtis High School.   

 

**Right fielder Nick Markakis, one of Crowley's star pupils who collected 2388 hits with .288 BA, .780 OBP in a career mainly with the Orioles. He was another player that many scouts projected as a pitcher but Tony DeMacio, Orioles scouting director at the time, insisted that (a) Nick was a definite number one draft pick with the kind of swing that would make him an everyday player (and also the talent to become a fine defender), and (b) he held off the critics who claimed Nick was only being signed because then-owner Peter Angelos was also of Greek descent. 

 

BTW I added Markakis's OBP above, but I can do without the high-tech scoreboards like the one I saw at the NY Mets' CitiField during the recent Oriole series.  It lists first OBP (On-Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage) and BA is hard to find.  This is a rant for another time.

 

And I do want to thank the Mets for replaying a great defensive play that Gunnar Henderson made against the Mets in last

week's series. It is so rare for a home team to credit visitors with great plays!  

 

Here's a sad closing note that needs mention  - In today's NY Times (M Aug 26) I read Emily Schmall's story about the late night fire on Th Aug 22 at Jay Littleton Ball Park in Ontario, California, that destroyed the old wooden ballpark where "A League of Their Own" was filmed over 30 years ago.  Earlier John Goodman as the "Babe" and John Sayles' "Eight Men Out" had also been filmed there.  

 

For a commercial film, "A League of Their Own' has always rested in a special place in my heart for its love of baseball.  Many years ago I met Jon Lovitz at the US Open not far from the Mets ballpark (then Shea Stadium, now CitiField).  I told him I liked his portrayal of the scout and he was humble, saying it was a well-written part - I must add that in re-seeing the film recently I found the role a bit too stereotyped. 

 

In the lively recent book by Erin Carlson, "No Crying In Baseball," about the making of Penny Marshall's film, Tom Hanks, who played the team manager loosely based on Jimmy Foxx, said:  "Football is war.  Basketball is struggle.  Baseball is life." 

BTW Another tidbit in Carlson's book is that someone who tried out for the film and didn't get cast but did OK in her tryout was Marla Maples. 

 

RIP, Jay Littleton Ball Park, that according to Schmall's story was named after a former semi-pro ballplayer who became an MLB scout and passed on in 2003.  Am always glad to remember any scout devoted to the game.  

 

That's all for now - Stay Positive Test Negative and Take It Easy But Take It, still my mantras.