Lee Lowenfish

The late NBA commissioner David Stern dreamed of his league's championship being decided on the Fourth of July.  Well, they came close yesterday (Su June 22) when the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder outlasted at home the even more upstart Indiana Pacers to win their first title with a 104-91 Game 7 victory. (Technically, the lineal descendant of the Thunder, the Seattle Supersonics, won an NBA title back in 1979).  

 

It is too bad that the Pacers breakout star guard Tyrese Haliburton was injured in the last games of the series, but I want to begin this blog with a salute to Tyrese's backup,

T.J. McConnell, who played valiantly through the playoffs.  McConnell was undrafted out of the University of Arizona after playing two years at Duquesne University near Pittsburgh.  Whatta grass roots story is McConnell!  He played for his father Tim McConnell at Chartiers Valley HS in Bridgeville PA, 10 miles SW of Pittsburgh. Tim was a vocal presence rooting for his son at many Pacer playoffs game.  Before one of them, T.J. entered the arena wearing the uniform top of his sister Megan McConnell who plays for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury. Last but not least, TJ's aunt Susie McConnell captained Penn State's women's cagers and was a member of the Olympic team.  

 

Turning to grinders in baseball, here's a salute to Jake Mangum, the switch-hitting outfielder for the sizzling Tampa Bay Rays who have roared into second place in the AL East only 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees before games of Mon Jun 23.  I don't consider myself a great judge of talent - I paid homage to those unheralded men and women who work at scouting for a living in my most recent book, BASEBALL'S ENDANGERED SPECIES (U of Nebraska Press, 2023).   But in Sept 2019, Mangum caught my eye in what turned out to be the last championship game of the venerable New York-Penn League. 

 

A 4th round draft pick of the Mets from Mississippi State, Mangum singled for the Brooklyn Cyclones driving in the first run of the game against the Lowell Spinners, a Red Sox farm club. Then with his team trailing by one run in the 7th, Mangum singled again to spark a two-run rally that were the deciding runs to bring the Cyclones its only title. 

 

After the game, Mangum explained that all he wanted to do in that 7th inning at-bat was "to play baseball".  He wasn't worried about his hand placement on the bat or the sequence of pitches the analytics crew told him to expect.  He simply was determined to get on base and start a rally which indeed he did.

 

At 29, Mangum is old for a rookie but he has persisted through a lost 2020 covid season that wiped out all of minor league baseball, a back injury, and a trade to the Marlins in 2022.  His big break came after the 2024 season when the astute Rays organization traded for him, giving up RH reliever Calvin Faucher and utilityman Vidal Brujan.  Since returning from rehabbing an injury, Mangum has put up impressive numbers in 148 ABs: 1 HR, 23 RBI, 10 R(uns scored), 10 SBs in 10 attempts.   

 

There are no guarantees in scouting and player development but Jake Mangum's athlete genes are off the charts and they often are significant.  His grandfather John played offensive tackle for the Boston Patriots in the old AFL before they took on the New England name; his father also named John played at the University of Alabama and for 9 years was a defensive back for the Chicago Bears; and his uncle Kris for 10 years played tight end for the Carolina Panthers. 

 

Jake is now opening a baseball branch on the Mangum athletic tree after carving out quite a career at Mississippi State. He was nicknamed The Mayor for His passion for the game and school loyalty. I recently happily learned that as a senior, Mangum mentored freshman infielder Jordan Westburg who has been aptly dubbed by Baltimore's interim manager Tony Mansolino the glue of the Orioles.   

 

Here's one more tip of the cap to another grinder worthy of recognition, Athletics centerfielder Denzel Clarke.  The native of Toronto pulled off two sensational catches earlier this month, one robbing the Orioles' weak hitting utilityman Jorge Mateo of extra bases on a backhanded catch in left center while averting at the last moment a crash into the wall.  The second one at Anaheim against the Angels has to rank as Catch of the Decade if not the Century.   Clarke raced back to the center field fence, leaped high in the air, braced himself on the wall, and stretched over the wall to bring the ball into his glove. 

 

"That fella must be a gymnast!" I said to myself.  Sure enough, his mother, Donna Smellie-Clarke, used to be a gymnast and then became a renowned track and field star at one point holding the Canadian national record in the long jump.  In 1984 she was on the Canadian Olympic heptathalon team. She has since become a highly regarded coach and Denzel gives full props to her coaching and inspiration.  

 

Before it is TCM movie listing time, I want to send best wishes to Ron Washington, 73, for a speedy recovery from the circulatory issues that forced his temporary removal as

Angels manager.   He has kept the LAA near .500 through his intense managing and here's hoping that he is back at the helm real soon.  In the meantime, Ray Montgomery is at the helm, the first Fordham University Ram to manage in the big leagues since Frank Frisch the Fordham Flash skippered he Cardinals, Pirates, and Cubs.. 

 

More on Frisch and his undying passion for the game in future blogs. Actually, there is a nice tie-in to TCM's Fourth of July programming with Frisch.

At 8P "Yankeee Doodle Dandy" (1943) airs with James Cagney as George M. Cohan who once flirted with buying the NY Giants shortly before Frisch joined John McGraw's

powerful team.  Frisch was once asked how he relaxed before a big moment at the plate.  "I just whistle 'Yankee Doodle Dandy'," he said.

Also on July 4 at 4p is the musical "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" with Esther Williams as a turn-of-20th-century owner and Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra as two of her players.

 

For those who read this blog straight through immediately, Tu Jun 24 145P brings you "Alibi Ike" (1935), the final film in Joe E Brown's baseball trilogy.  The story is based on Ring Lardner's story of the same name.  It features actual footage from the 1932 World Series between the Yankees and Cubs, Bill Frawley the huge baseball fan (and later immortalized as Lucy/Desi's neighbor Fred Mertz) as Joe E's manager, and young Olivia DeHavilland as Joe E's love interest.

 

Sa June 28 4P "Field of Dreams" (1989) the modern classic based on WP Kinsella's novel "Shoeless Joe" with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones.  To me the biggest fantasy in the film is Costner & Jones go to the concession stand at Fenway Park, three people wait on them, and there is no line. 

Also on June 28 are an impressive array of Noir classics:

145P "The Killers" (1946) the one film based on a Hemingway story that the writer liked with Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner emerging as stars

8P "Double Indemnity" (1944) Billy Wilder directs Barbara Stanwyck out of her comfort zone and Fred MacMurray "helps" with Edward G Robinson figuring it out

10P "Chinatown" (1974) Director Roman Polanski gets memorable performances from Jack Nicholson & Faye Dunaway despite off-screen drama 

 

And Su June 29 1230A repeated 10A the last Noir Alley of June is a classic:  "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948) Stanwyck playing a memorable victim.

 

That's all for now - always remember:  Take it easy but take it, and as long as we can, Stay Positive Test Negative.   

         

 

 

Nobody can predict how a schedule made up in the summer of 2023 can create high drama in Sept 2024.  It turns out that the final two weeks of the baseball regular season will feature tremendous matchups that will affect not only next month's playoffs but could even lead to curtains for the losing teams.  

 

I'm sad to report that there is fear and trembling among the Oriole faithful that thought playoff participation was a lock and even advancement deep into October was a possibility. I must say that I never drank the Kool-Aid that we had the "best farm system in baseball."  I just hope that the failures of highly touted Jackson Holliday - ballyhooed as the "best prospect in baseball" whatever that meant - and almost-as-highly-touted Coby Mayo will not lead to permanent damage to their careers.

 

I'm not forgetting that injuries have crippled the Oriole offense: the HBP that broke the throwing hand of feisty 2b-3bman Jordan Westburg (he could be back next week); speedy savvy fellow infielder Jorge Mateo, gone for the season with an elbow injury caused by a freak collision with shortstop Gunnar Henderson (the only regular producing with the bat despite erratic shortstop play); and more recently the sprained ankle of versatile infielder Ramon Urias and sprained wrist of first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. 

 

Yet other teams have bounced back from even bigger injuries as we'll see below. Mediocre trades by top baseball ops man Mike Elias have not fortified the bench and the Birds' "deep depth" - that wonderful Earl Weaver/Yogi Berra phrase - has vanished. It's painful to watch the inexperienced Holliday and Mayo used as pinch-hitters late in games.  

 

There will thus be less drama for the much-anticipated Oriole visit to Yankee Stadium on Sep 24-26. Before games of tonight Sep 16 the Yanks held a 3-game lead on Baltimore and will play in Seattle with the Mariners only three lost games out of the third wild card currently held by Minnesota.

 

The Twins are in the most precarious wild card situation and face the Guardians in Cleveland for 4 big games starting tonight Sep 16 through Th Sep 19.  They then spend the weekend at the out-of-contention Red Sox and then return home for the final week, a series with the NL expansion Marlins and then one with the Orioles.  At least Minnesota and Baltimore have a deep history in the American League.  It could be a meeting of two teams desperately hanging on to a playoff dream.  

 

After their West Coast trip to Seattle, hanging on to the hope of catching Minnesota for the third wild card, and a final visit to Oakland, the Yankees wind up the season at home with the Orioles and then the Pirates.  This last series with Pittsburgh is one of the preposterous inter-league matchups that have marred the September schedule for too long. When the Orioles return home for their final week of regular season series, they will first face the SF Giants from Tu through Th Sep 17-19.  It says here that this crucial time of season is not the time for a matchup of teams unfamiliar with each other. 

 

The fast-charging Tigers come to Baltimore this weekend Sep 20-22.  Detroit just took two out of three from the Orioles at home and have the best record in MLB since early August. I wasn't thrilled that in the first two games of the series, the Tigers used an opener in the first inning, the same pitcher too, the immortal Beau Brieske. It's not against the rules to use an opener, of course, but it reveals to me the abject failure of most major league organizations to develop pitchers that can throw six innings or more. 

 

Commissioner Rob Manfred wants to decree a six-inning minimum for starters but you can't meaningfully change pitching routines by fiat - it requires a change in philosophy that downplays raw velocity and humongous spin rate and stresses pitchability, i.e. the ability to change speeds and pitch to contact and rely on your defense.  There will have to be significant internal pressures to force these changes. Speaking truth to power is never easy, but there will be more thoughts on this important subject in off-season posts. 

 

Before their visit to Charm City, the Tigers have a huge 3-game series at Kansas City starting tonight M Sep 16. To give you a sense of how the Tigers are coalescing at the right time, in yesterday's (Sun Sept 15) 4-2 win over Baltimore, outfielder Riley Greene hit his first two home runs off a lefthander all season if not in his career.

 

The Royals are one of 2024's best feel-good stories, a team eagerly awaiting their first playoff experience since winning the World Series in 2015. They are only two games behind my Birds for the first wild card and a home field advantage in playoffs. 

 

The Royals have an MVP candidate in shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (although it would be hard to vote against Aaron Judge of the Yankees). KC also features a revived veteran catcher-occasional first baseman-leader in Salvador Perez.  The former Met Seth Lugo has had an excellent year on the mound. I find it hard not to root for someone who almost uses a full windup! 

 

After the Royals finish with the Tigers, they might catch a break with two inter-league series: the Giants at home this weekend and then the Nats in Washington.  But they end up with three at Atlanta, another inter-league series that sticks out like a sore thumb and yet could provide high drama. 

 

The Braves and Mets are currently tied for the third wild card in the National League.  Despite the early season loss of pitcher Spencer Strider and MVP outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr and more recently offensive producers, third baseman Austin Riley and second baseman Ozzie Albies, Atlanta has hung in there as a contender.  Rookie Spencer Schwellenbach has stepped up on the mound, and after many injuries center fielder Michael Harris II is back and has again shown his abilities as a game-changer.

 

Three cheers to Braves utilityman Whit Merrifield who has somehow bounced back from a serious finger injury from a HBP plus a batted foul ball off his leg to provide spark.  He also has had the courage to call for an investigation of the rushing of rookie pitchers from the minor leagues who may throw 100 mph but don't know where the ball is going.  Merrifield is on a joint player-management committee that discusses such issues. He has vowed to do something about the situation in off-season meetings.

 

Atlanta has one more game tonight - M Sep 16 - against the Dodgers at home and then play this coming week at Cincinnati, long out of the race but with enough offense and occasioinal good pitching to make trouble. For the weekend they go to Minnesota in another preposterous inter-league matchup but with great import for both teams.

The Twins are the third wild card as of this writing but they are wildly inconsistent in large part because three offensive stars, Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, and Bryan Buxton, are regularly injured, especially the later two. 

 

The Braves return home for the final week to face the arch-rival Mets with whom they're tied before games of Sep 16.  And then they wind up with the Royals.

They are playoff experienced and their big three on the mound, Chris Sale, Max Fried, and Spencer Schwellenbach, would be a tough matchup in the playoffs.  But of course they have to get there first.  

 

The one NL wild card contender that has impressively improved its record recently is San Diego, 85-65 as of this writing.  They host AL Central leader Houston, a scary team in any playoff because of their vast post-season experience, and then the White Sox come in this weekend.  San Diego spends the last week on the road at the Dodgers and then the Diamondbacks, the second wild card leader as of now.  Lots of drama likely ahead for the Padres.  

 

One of the more perceptive points I've read recently on Oriole blogs is given the troubles of Holliday and Mayo, what a player young Manny Machado must have been to come up in August 2012 at the age of 19 under the guidance of manager Buck Showalter, playing a new position third base, and give Baltimore a boost into the playoffs after 15 years of non-participation.  Now at age 32 Machado is spearheading a revived Padres under former Cardinals manager Mike Schildt. In some ways, what Jazz Chisholm has done for the Yankees playing a new position, also third base, is comparable. 

 

I'm happy too for the resurgence of Jurickson Profar from Curacao, once a Baseball America cover boy as that Best Prospect in Baseball, who has found success as a solid run-producing left fielder after a long journey of mediocrity.  The Padres also feature young center fielder Jackson Merrill who to me should be a lock as Rookie of the Year of the National League. 

 

I don't really believe in jinxes, but I hope Mets fans forgive me if I went a bit overboard in singing their praises in my last post. This past weekend, they lost two close games in Philadelphia. The Phillies now have a two game lead over the Dodgers for home field advantage throughout the playoffs.  The Mets play the improved pesky Nats and Phillies this week at home and then wind up with the big series at Atlanta and then at Milwaukee. 

 

The Brewers long ago clinched the NL Central and unless there is a good chance that they could have the best record in NL, they might just be playing the last series to stay in shape and set up their pitching rotation for the playoffs.  The Mets have to hope that the back discomfort of MVP candidate Francisco Lindor is minor and he can contribute mightily down the stretch. 

 

The loss of Jeff McNeil to another HBP is not helping their depth even if he is having an off-season. As I said last post, closer Edwin Diaz has to regain consistency. Of course, except for Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians, there has been no great closer in 2024 which is a major reason why there is no clear favorite in the playoffs. 

 

I've rarely tried my hand on prognostications. An exception: During my next-to-last year in graduate school at U of Wisconsin-Madison, I did predict in the mid-summer of 1967 that the Red Sox would overtake the Twins for the AL pennant.  I was right on with that one because I thought Boston playing Minnesota at home would have the pitching and the Fenway advantage to contain the power-happy Twins.

 

I haven't made any predictions since then. It was 20 teams in 1967 and two bulky 10-team leagues and then one World Series.  Now there are 30 teams and six divisions and 12 teams eligible for four rounds of playoffs. If the owners had their way in the last Basic Agreement, they would have pushed for 14 and of course higher-priced playoff tickets for every participant.

 

If this system remains in place indefinitely, some time in the lives of the younger readers of this blog, the regular season will have to be shortened.  For now, I don't want to begrudge the hopeful feelings for fans of those teams still in the wild card hunt.  Yet I cannot help thinking of how Russ Hodges, if he had lived into the Wild Card era, would have called the famous Bobby Thomson home run on Oct 3, 1951: 

"THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT, THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT, THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT, THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT, . . . AND THE DODGERS

WIN THE WILD CARD!!" 

 

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT . . . 

Don't have any major sports-related movies on TCM to share but here are some films of interest, some of which have a sports moment:

Tu Sep 17 945A - the Marx Brothers in "A Night At The Opera" (1935) with a crucial version of "Take Me Out To Ball Game" near the end

 

W Sep 18  715A Frank Sinatra debuts the song "Time After Time" in "It Happened In Brooklyn" (1947)

9a "The Story of Seabiscuit" (1949) fictionalized version of the underdog horse's story with Shirley Temple and Barry Fitzgerald

     and three classics back-to-back:

6p "White Heat" (1949) with Cagney in perhaps his last great role 

8p "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946) John Garfield & Lana Turner can't resist passion for each other in story by James M. Cain

10p "Born To Kill" (1947) brutal but absorbing drama with Lawrence Tierney and Claire Trevor (a year before she is forced to sing in "Key Largo"

   and then plays a sanitized Mrs. Babe Ruth in "Babe Ruth Story")

 

Th Sep 19 10P "Modern Times" (1936) - Chaplin's last silent movie with his then-amour Paulette Goddard

 

F Sep 20 9A "Strangers On A Train" (1951) Farley Granger as a besieged tennis player in a Hitchcock classic; nice scenes at Forest Hills tennis club

 

and talk about a couple of timely films:

2p "Berlin Express" (1948) A search for post-WW II Nazi operatives, with Robert Ryan/Merle Oberon/director Jacques Tourneur 

330p "The Tall Target" (1951) foiling of an attempted train assassination of Abe Lincoln with Dick Powell/Adolph Menjou/Paula Raymond/dir. Anthony Mann

 

8p "Dr Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb" (1964)  Peter Sellers in 3 roles/also George C. Scott/Sterling Hayden/Keenan Wynn

945p "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" (1940) Jimmy Stewart gets disillusioned in DC and tries to fight back - not my favorite Capra film

  but always worth seeing 

 

ERRATUM from last post:  It was Jessica Pegula who was runner-up at US Tennis Open earlier this month, not Jennifer.

 

That's all for now - always remember: Stay positive, test negative, and Take it easy but take it.