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.   

         

 

 

Summer officially began on June 20 and heat waves are arriving real early this summer all over the country. So let's cool off for a moment and reflect on how important grinders are to any winning sports team. 

 

Let's lift a glass to the Indiana Pacers' backup point guard T. J. McConnell, who at the age of 33 kept the Pacers alive throughout their surprise playoff run to Game 7 of the NBA finals, a run that fell just short against the new champion Oklahome City Thunder.  (Late NBA commissioner David Stern dreamed of NBA finals ending on July 4th - this year it came close, Su June 22.) 

 

The undrafted McConnell superlatively backed up All-Star Tyrese Halliburton until Tyrese's injuries finally proved too much for Indiana to overcome.

And how about T.J. wearing his sister Megan's uniform top on his way to one of the early games of the final round. Megan plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA, and their father, Tim, coached his son at Chartiers Valley HS 10 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.  He was a visible presence at most of the games. 

 

Turning now to MLB, here's a toast to some special baseball grinders.  Athletics' centerfielder Denzel Clarke has pulled off this month two of the most remarkable catches I've ever seen. First, at home in the A's temporary base in Sacramento, he sprinted to left center chasing a rare outfield smash by Orioles utilityman Jorge Mateo. Averting the wall at the last moment, Clarke stretched out to make a brilliant backhand catch. 

 

A few days later, on the road in Anaheim against the Angels, Clarke outdid himself with a spectacular catch leaping over the center field wall to bring back a sure home run. 

I said to myself, "He must be a gymnast," and sure enough his mother was a star gymnast in Toronto and later a track star and now a track coach. Afterward, Denzel credited his mother for her coaching and inspiration. 

 

Another tip of the cap to Jake Mangum, the switch-hitting outfielder and 29-year-old rookie for the Tampa Bay Rays who, before games on Mon June 23, is hitting .318 with 1 HR, 23 RBI 15 Runs scored in 148 AB - he has also pilfered 10 SB.  He is a solid defender as well. He was drafted in the 4th round in the 2019 draft by the New York Mets.

I don't consider myself a very good talent evaluator - my most recent book BASEBALL'S ENDANGERED SPECIES (University of Nebraska Press, 2023) is a homage to those unrecognized pros who really know the craft of scouting - but I am proud that I spotted Jake as a comer at the 2019 New York-Penn League championship game. 

 

Mangum's Brooklyn Cyclones were playing the Red Sox' Lowell Spinners for what turned out to be the last New York-Penn League championship game. An early single drove in the game's first run and his leadoff single in the bottom of the 7th started the game-winning rally as the Cyclones came from behind to win the franchise's only championship, 4-3.  After the game, Mangum endeared himself to me when he said with the team down a run late in the game, he forgot about all the information those drunk on analytics feed players day in and day out.  "I just decided to play baseball," meaning he knew that he could beat the pitcher so he said to himself: Just get a hit and start a rally which he did.

 

It has been a long road towards the majors for Mangum who at 29 is old for a rookie.  He lost the 2020 season to the pandemic (as did all minor leaguers), then hurt his back and the Mets traded him to Miami in 2022. The ever-astute Tampa Bay Rays traded for him after the 2024 season (righthanded reliever Calvin Faucher is in the Marlins bullpen as of now so the Rays didn't pull off an outright heist).  

 

Mangum hails from Mississippi and he is part of a third generation of athletic royalty in two sports. His grandfather John was an offensive tackle for the Boston Patriots in the old AFL, his father also named John played 9 years of defensive halfback for the Chicago Bears, and his uncle Kris had a 10-year career as a Carolina Panthers tight end.  Jake played four years for the SEC powerhouse Mississippi State Bulldogs and became known as the Mayor for his school loyalty and passion for the game.

 

As a senior, Mangum mentored freshman Jordan Westburg who when healthy for the Orioles - which unfortunately like most of the 2025 team he has not been - should be a core player in Baltimore for years to come.  Like virtually everyone who has played with Mangum, Westburg is thrilled about his fellow Bulldog's belated arrival on the MLB scene.  His lack of power kept him pigeon-holed for too long so here's hoping he continues his fine play because Jake Mangum is a grinder of the first order.

  

And now for some TCM tips - the baseball movie list is short but here are some worthy mentions:

Tu June 24 145P "Alibi Ike" (1935), the final film in Joe E Brown's baseball trilogy inspired by Ring Lardner's story. Footage from the 1932 World Series is used, Olivia

  DeHavilland is Joe E's love interest, William Frawley is Brown's manager and the underappreciated Ruth Donnelly smooths out some of the issues in the Brown-Olivia 

  romance.  Earlier in 1935 DeHavilland and Joe E Brown were also in Hollywood's lavish "Midsummer Night's Dream" but "Alibi Ike" made the screens first.  

Sa June 28 6P "Field of Dreams" (1989) with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones, a film that has been called the first male tearjerker. I think the biggest fantasy in the film

  is Costner and Jones go for concessions at Fenway Park and three people wait on them and there is no line. 

Fri Fourth of July:  4P "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" (1949) Busby Berkeley directs female baseball owner Esther Williams and Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra

   8P "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1943) Michael Curtiz puts Casablanca out of mind and directs James Cagney as George M. Cohan with Walter Huston/Joan Leslie

There are also great Noirs at end of June, many of them on one day.

Sa June 28 145P "The Killers" (1946) the one Hywd film based on his work that Hemingway liked with Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner

    8P "Double Indemnity" (1944) Billy Wilder directs Stanwyck/Fred MacMurray/Edward G. Robinson

    10P "Chinatown" (1974) Roman Polanski directs Jack Nicholson/Faye Dunaway who didn't get along off set but it probably aided the final product

Su June 29 1230A, repeated at 10A  "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948) A classic scary Noir Alley with Barbara Stanwyck  

 

GET WELL SOON WISHES to Angels manager Ron Washington, 73, who is out indefinitely with some circulatory issues.  His intensity and unabashed old school beliefs

   have made the Angels watchable though they obviously have holes in the lineup and on the mound.  Sure hope he is back in uniform soon.

 

Always remember - Take It Easy But Take It, and Stay Positive, Test Negative.