The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Jury is still out on ‘The Judge’s Chambers’
Columnist Chip Malafronte says the renovated section of the outfield bleachers to look like a courtroom dubbed “The Judge’s Chambers” may be a bit much for someone who’s played roughly 70 games.
As you’ve surely heard by now, fidget spinners are the latest craze with the elementary school set. We have three at our house. They spin on your finger forever and are fairly mesmerizing.
By my count, since the school year started we’ve cycled from dabbing to Pokémon Go to bottle flipping to fidget spinners. These trends move fast. You snooze, you lose.
At least all of this stuff comes on the cheap. Although I get the feeling it’s only a matter of time before the kids are clamoring for something a tad more lavish, like Faberge eggs or something.
Until then, we’re happy to sit and spin.
• So the Yankees renovated a section of the outfield bleachers to look like a courtroom, are providing black robes and wigs to ticket holders in an area they’ve christened “The Judge’s Chambers.”
Aaron Judge, by all accounts, is level-headed, committed and extraordinary talented. But he’s got roughly 70 major league games under his belt, and, though it seems unlikely at this point, could easily see his production fall off a cliff.
This seems like a bit much, doesn’t it? Maybe ease the kid into stardom?
If the first two months have proven anything, Judge appears to have the demeanor to handle Yankee management cranking up the heat in their natural pressure cooker. Like the fact that he still hasn’t purchased his own place in New York just yet, instead choosing to reside in a Times Square hotel.
“I don’t want to put all my cards that I’m going to be in New York and then I go to Triple A,” Judge told Sports Illustrated. “Maybe next year, if everything goes well.”
That’s sage advice for the Steinbrenner’s, too.
• The Celtics may not be in the same class as the Cavaliers or the Warriors, but it was a benchmark season just the same. With Isaiah Thomas, the No. 1 pick in the draft and one or two moves, they’ll give both a real run for their money.
• LeBron James is playing in his seventh straight NBA finals, a feat accomplished by only six other players in history, and they were all Celtics. Oh, yeah. LeBron is still only 32 years old.
• The Yale baseball team learns its NCAA tournament destination today at noon when the field of 64 is announced on ESPNU. There are 16 regionals consisting of four teams each, and the Bulldogs have an outside shot at being a three seed. All that means is avoiding a top seed in the opening round, though it’s certainly a nice honor for an Ivy League team.
This week the website DIbaseball.com projected Yale as the third seed in the Stanford regional. Baseball America had Yale playing at the Long Beach (Calif.) Regional as a four seed.
• In this space last week we praised the inherent excitement of college baseball compared to the minor leagues. John Stuper, a former major leaguer in his 25th season coaching Yale, took it a step farther.
“I think college teams are more fundamentally sound than major league teams,” Stuper said. “You may shake your head at that. I watch major league baseball and I see pitchers make bad throws to second base all the time. I see the pitcher and the first baseman miscommunicate and allow a guy to get on. The reason that happens is because they practice those things in spring training and then they never do it again. We do it every day.”
Long ago, major league teams eliminated pregame infield practice. Few position players even bother to shag balls during batting practice, leaving it mostly to the pitchers and reserves. It’s a long season and teams want to conserve energy for the long haul. There’s logic in that, especially during the dog days of summer.
Stuper, a teammate of Ozzie Smith in St. Louis, runs infield every day at practice and before games. He believes major leaguers can do more to avoid costly defensive lapses.
“I watched the greatest shortstop of all time take ground ball after ground ball at shortstop every day during batting practice and take infield all the time,” Stuper said. “If I was a big league pitching coach I would bring my staff out once every 10 days to go over little things. Pitchers (poor) fielding cost a team two or three games a year. That may not seem like much, but if you miss a wild card or playoff by one game ...”
• Did you see replays of this bizarre strikeout from the Hartford Yard Goats game on Friday night? Binghamton’s pitcher caught a spike in his wind up and wound up rolling a two-strike pitch in the general vicinity of home plate. Hartford batter Josh Fuentes took a mock swing just before the ball came to a halt some 10 feet away. He was called out to end the eighth inning. Hartford lost the game 5-4.
• The NFL decided it will allow touchdown celebrations this season. The rule change is expected to have no effect on the Jets.
• It’s fitting that the NBA playoffs come to head during the allergy season, because watching the first three rounds was the rough equivalent of taking a double dose of Benadryl. Now that the Cleveland-Golden State rematch everyone’s anticipated since last June is finally set, we have to wait a full week until it begins. Way to seize on that “momentum.”
• On the flip side, the NHL playoffs have been fairly fantastic, as always. And there’s no needless wait. Pittsburgh won Game 7 on Thursday; the Stanley Cup finals start Monday. Quite a compelling matchup, too: the decorated Penguins against a dangerous newcomer in Nashville. Should be well worth our time.