dead heat. No hero, no villain, no rooting interest. Just a struggle between the heads of the well-established joints.
Josh Donaldsona provocateur who enjoys being whipped regardless of his color, versus Tim Anderson, a self-inflating, attention-hungry showboat — watch last season’s “Field of Dreams” Yanks-White Sox — who’s already been penalized by MLB for making bad situations worse.
If only Rob Manfred’s system of corrupt decisions was able to read this bickering among the initiators clearly and let it pass as an argument unused among the recurring tremors of criminality.
Instead, it appeared that the MLB decided the tie was to be broken by race, calling a mockery of the fair-played who watched foul versus right become a black or white matter.
Donaldson He was a good teammate wherever he played. Exacerbates both groups simultaneously. He seems to enjoy making enemies and does well to satisfy his own pursuit of happiness.
Anderson, who paid a $10,000 fine last season and had a two-game suspension for colliding with a referee while exacerbating seat-vacation squabbles with the Tigers, was keen to push the boundaries of suffering.
He was fined and suspended for one game in 2019 when, during a squabble from the White Sox-Royals on the field, KC pitcher Brad Keeler, who is white, called out, “Poor ass!” Charming fellow, this is Anderson.
But this week MLB chose to make something very ugly out of something that it could have handled calmly, soberly and logically.
So now, with the help of MLB, if not prodding, Donaldson is the latest social and political victim to be punished for exercising his right to free speech by calling Anderson “Jackie,” a reference to Anderson’s forgotten, historically ignorant, and even obnoxious claim that he is the last day of Jackie Robinson.
But Donaldson’s insistence on provoking Anderson about it is telling.
This does not prove that Anderson is another victim, real or wish, of racist white America, however, the MLB drew unwanted, unnecessary and unjustified racial lines.
MLB lost, perhaps on purpose, that both men are equals — equally fools, equally to blame for repeated misconduct.
MLB does not learn. She can’t sponsor a baseball game, but she pretends to know what’s best for the country.
Her decision to move the All-Star Game last season from Atlanta to Denver to support unspecified political claims that Georgia’s new voting legislation is racist, and disproportionately targeting black voters, was an unnecessarily grave mistake by Manfred.
For starters, Atlanta, whose population is 50 percent black, has been deprived of the revenue rewards such a game brings. MLB moved the game to predominantly white Denver. Pure genius.
Second, nothing in this legislation implied that it was discriminatory. On the contrary, it seemed to make voting in Georgia easier for everyone. This week, the initial vote in Georgia between Democrats and Republicans showed massive gains in turnout from pre-pandemic numbers.
After Atlanta denied us the All-Star Game last year, we’ve yet to hear back from Manfred about it. The MLB’s socio-political, pandering, and bad-business decision-making has been relegated to a file remember to forget.
Back to Anderson vs. Donaldson: Manfred had a choice of his own making, one that had the same therapeutic meaning: just have each player start the 10th inning like the auto runner at second base. That’s how the MLB gets things done now.
Tierney made the right call in refusing to meet O’Neill
This is Brandon Tierney Paul O’Neill WFAN Stormy Interview – O’Neill wanted to sell his new book, and not answering any questions about the Josh Donaldson affair – Tim Anderson – reminds me of those famous professional journalists on CBS’ “60 Minutes” and their surrender to Tiger Woods.
In 2006, just prior to CBS’s Masters program and coinciding with the release of Tiger Woods’ father’s book from CBS’ publishing arm, he promoted “60 Minutes” for an exclusive two-part interview by the late Ed Bradley with Tiger Woods. Quoted as “Tiger, Like You’ve Never Seen It Before,” the conversations were just as we’ve always seen and heard them.
They looked, smiling, candy-coated sessions. On top of masters and bookselling, it’s all as nasty as a tank job, and I wrote exactly that.
I got word afterwards from attendees of an ESPN seminar in which the famous “60 Minutes” principal investigator, the late Mike Wallace, spoke for a fee. When asked specifically about Woods’ exclusive, Wallace admitted that CBS did a dive to land it. I also wrote that.
Wallace called me angry and cursing, angry that a “little whistle like you” should write such a lie about him. But I had a copy of his ESPN session. Wallace told his audience that “there was an understanding” that some of Woods’ questions were forbidden. Oh.
Suddenly Wallace had to go. He commented on this little cry.
Tierney did the right thing. Imagine having O’Neill right after the “Jackie” episode and not asking him about it. For O’Neill, the best way to sell a book is to buy an ad.
ESPN graphic desecration of the NHL
I know, it’s ESPN, where anything worth doing is worth overdoing. But as for Gump Worsley’s love, does common sense apply to game streaming software?
The fourth game of the Hurricane Rangers, Tuesday, close match, direct, intense play. However, ESPN constantly posts unnecessary and distracting graphics along the top.
Why would ESPN want us to turn our attention to reading something – anything – instead of watching live action at the nearby Stanley Cup playoffs? At 0-0 and the puck in play, why would we choose to read Jordan Stahl’s “Canes” confrontation stats?
Never mind, it’s ESPN. He would have been in split screen when the Hindenburg exploded.
Good show and listing on Mets-Rockies on Saturday. SNY surfer Steve Gilps noted that Mets bowler Adam Ottino was training on the field before the game in bare feet, adding that Ottavino told him he did so long ago.
Proud practitioner of the good life, Keith Hernandez, said afterwards that the only place anyone would ever find barefoot is on the beach “in Turks and Caicos.”
Joe Benignano, the Brooklyn big-league catcher who found fame and fertilizer as a Mets coach in the 1960s, passed away this week at the age of 92. ‘Piggy’ was a gentle, uncomplicated spirit fondly remembered for growing tomatoes at Shea’s Playground. I suspect many of us have an uncle just like him.
Continued Unintended Replay Madness: Panthers-Lightning was shut down Monday, coldly, for about 10 minutes to try to determine if a puck disc was out of play. The power supply was unnecessarily disconnected from the motion sport. what’s new?
Question for CBS’ Dottie Pepper and Ian Baker-Finch: Who on the PGA Tour isn’t a “good golf ball striker”?
Reader/author Doug Branch suggests that there is no more aptly named player than Giants Catcher Joy Bart. In San Francisco, the Bay Area Rapid Transit is known as BART.
I still prefer John Flaherty’s alert but a simple, no word tricks, easy approach to stats for the other 75 Yankee broadcasters heard now on YES. Flaherty wears more than three hours. But given YES’s assignments, that would probably make him an expendable one.
I still can’t believe Tiger Woods quit after three rounds of Raid. He has said there wouldn’t be “if I didn’t think I could win”. Heck, by the time he pulled it off, CBS listed him #1 among those 21 times!
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”