Manfred, Rose and baseball’s future
Answering a few reader’s questions from Friday’s mailbag.
From Peter
Jay,
OMG, did you see the baseball change proposals? Holy (bleep) !!!!
Oh yeah, love your work but man you’re opinionated as (bleep)!!!
Be cool bruh!!!
Peter —
You be cool too. Bruh. Strike the bruh; I’m pretty sure I’m too old to pull off ‘bruh.’
But the cool thing is universal
I believe.
I did see Commissioner Rob Manfred’s pitch for radical changes in the game.
A lot of these have been discussed before, but Manfred sounded more focused and even gave projected dates on a few in a sit down with ESPN.
Thankfully robot umps — Manfred said they are shooting to introduce automated strike zones by 2024 — was in the conversation.
Also in the discussion is expansion, and you have to believe that Nashville would be on the short list of cities to lure a new club.
Also of note in that interview, Manfred says he’s open to listening to a third appeal from Pete Rose and his attorneys to have the all-time hit leader reinstated.
Side note: I have always believed that Rose should be elected into the Hall on the very first ballot that is held after he dies and his lifetime ban is fulfilled. But with the legalizations of gambling, the game embracing gambling and, as Rose’s petition notes, the way the Astros were slapped on the wrist for that whole cheating/fixing deal, Rose has a better argument now than ever. I still say no, not until he croaks, but who knows.
And big picture, I think Manfred is willing to discuss change, Rose and almost anything else because he certainly does not want to discuss the stagnant and top-heavy nature of today’s game.
From J-Mac
News about USC and UCLA wanting to go to the Big 10 is surprising to me. It will be a lot harder for either of them to get in the playoffs, even if the playoffs are expanded. However, it does make for a super conference. How does this fit in the overall look for the future of college football? Is it going to end up being the SEC, Big 10, and ACC and then all the others?
JMac —
How about that shocker right? And nothing screams good-old-fashioned, college football rivalry like the border war that is UCLA-Rutgers, right?
I too was surprised by the move, at least on the surface. But it makes sense. And reports are out there that Oregon has its head on a swivel too.
And you are correct, it just got more difficult for USC and UCLA to get to the playoff, but the checks will be huge. And the allure of the L.A. area and the California exposure in terms of recruits and TV subscribers to the Big Ten Network make this a home run move for the Big Ten, which is named for 10 but will now have 16 teams.
It certainly is a Super Conference, and the ACC better act quickly and do whatever it can to add Notre Dame in football too to remain in the same breath as the SEC and the Big Ten.
This move actually hurts the Pac-12 more than Texas and Oklahoma leaving hurt the Big 12 in my view because the Pac12 was just about to enter into negotiations for TV deals, and now their two brightest stars across almost every sport are headed out.
As for the future of the college football world, maybe in the next phase of this, moving to a Super Conference will not make it more difficult to make the playoff.
Especially when the playoff expands.
To that end, the SEC — and now the Big Ten, too (hey, whatever happened with that ‘alliance’ those leagues discussed to keep the big bad SEC at bay?) — will not want a move from four to eight. Because there would be a lot of pressure for the eight to be the champs of the Power 5, a Group of 5 and two at-larges, one of which would almost assuredly be the SEC runner-up and/or a Notre Dame bunch with no more than one loss.
Well, by adding more firepower the Big Ten and the SEC are positioning themselves not just to have two contenders for the playoff, but potentially three after expansion. That’s one of the reasons the SEC has been adamant about expanding to at least 12.
Now is the time for the caveat, I don’t want expansion in college football. But I know we’re eventually going to get an expanded playoff in college football.
When that expansion happens, it’s going to be a very intriguing question of whether the third-best team in the SEC or the Big Ten is more playoff-worthy than the champ of a UCLA-and-USC-less Pac-12 or the winner of a Texas-and-Oklahoma-less Big 12.
From JTC
Will the PGA become the NFC of golf with LIV the AFC? When does the Super-bowl of PGA vs. LIV look like in 2024? Or will the LIV eventually absorb the PGA tour, Asian tour, European tour, etc?
JTC —
Interesting comparison, but I don’t see it. There simply is too much bad blood in this at this point.
And as you noted in a separate question, there are real questions coming from folks like Freddie Couples, who came out and said that he does not think the LIV will be around in three years.
And that could happen. Not because of a lack of money as much as because a) a lack of return on the billions spent, and b) a crown prince bazillionaire finding something else to blow his family fortune on.
(Side note: Funny how Couples is blasting this, when he and Mickelson are so very similar. Both were overwhelming fan favorites despite not being anywhere close to as good of a dude as their reputations suggested. Both were great but still somehow felt like they underachieved. And I could also have seen Couples back in the day weighing a move like this.)
Plus, for the PGA Tour to embrace any part of this now would anger their current players, their sponsors and their fans.
The only way LIV becomes a viable long-term competitor in my view is it has to find a TV deal to offset costs. Period.
If they do that, the PGA Tour could be in trouble. But a merger would never happen.
I would love to see a PGA Tour vs. LIV match-up Ryder Cup style though.
Could you imagine the Rory vs. Patrick Reed smack chatter? Tiger vs. Phil? DJ and Brooks vs. JT and Jordan?
Wow, how much fun would that be?
From Pat
So the New England Patriots tweeted out that this day in 1986, John Hannah announced his retirement from football. He’s now enjoying the retired life on his Alabama cattle farm.
So where does he rank in the pantheon of great Baylor athletes? Him, then swimming and tennis sensation Paschall (I kid, I kid)?
Seriously, where would he rank among Baylor alums?
Pat —
Hmmmmmm, so Paschall is off the board, huh? Got it.
And my list is not on what they did at Baylor School mind you, as much as it’s what they accomplished on grander stages. Deal? Deal.
Hannah has to be 1. Dude was on the cover of SI with the headline “The Greatest Offensive Lineman Ever” and would likely be a starting guard on the all-time All-NFL team. That’s stout.
Roscoe Tanner is in the team picture too. Dude won a tennis major after all. No, I don’t want him watching my kids, but a major is a major.
Third, I’d likely go with Harris English, a multiple-time PGA Tour winner who has played in a history-making Ryder Cup.
From Konrad
Jay,
I enjoy following along with the craziness.. always interesting…
Today’s question…. Are you a “Happy 4th of July” or a “Happy Independence Day” guy? Or something else?
I ask because we don’t say “Happy 1st of January”. Enjoy the holiday weekend. Happy Independence Day.
Konrad —
Great question, and I admit I have always been a July 4th guy.
But your point is well made, and we also never say “Merry Dec. 25” either.
So that’s it. As Uncle Buck would say, it’s in the books.
We are switching to Team Independence Day.
So enjoy the holiday weekend friends and Happy Independence Day everyone.
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