CD1025 Morning Show host Brian Phillips and Colin Gawel sit down with Big $ from the North Coast Posse to discuss the Cleveland Browns and the entire 2020 NFL Draft.
Yes, One Less is More. MLB Should Eliminate the 6th Inning - by Colin Gawel
MLB should eliminate the 6th inning. Yup, once the 5th inning is complete, two zeros go on the scoreboard in the 6th and the game moves immediately to the 7th inning. Honestly, except for die-hard fans and Pedro Strop, who needs the 6th inning anyway? I bet half the crowd wouldn’t even notice. Personally, I cannot recall of anything memorable that has ever happened in the 6th inning. MLB has been struggling with extended game times, less balls in play and a season that is way too long to hold our attention in the year 2020. So how do they inject some value back into the product? Shorten the games by one inning.
Okay, I can already feel the heat from the Facebook Baseball Discussion & Debate page, but hear me out..
If we can learn to live without the sixth inning the benefits are tangible.
- Let’s start with the most important factor. Revenue stays the same. The schedule remains at 162 games. Beer taps can run until the 8th inning. The owners will never agree to less revenue so this takes that problem off the table.
- Since I started watching the Big Red Machine in 1975, average game times have grown from 2:29 to 3:10 in the year 2019. That increased length combined with decreased balls in play have made the game pace extremely boring to all but the most psychotic and/or unemployed fan. This simple change will address the time problem directly.
- By eliminating one inning, the game gets to the drama zone quicker. Or as music fans say, “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus.“ This is especially important in the postseason when games routinely run 4 hours and end after midnight. Meaningless regular season games do not build your brand for the future. Tense 9th inning action in front of as many eyeballs as possible does. The NFL still plays playoff games in the afternoon and has the Super Bowl kick off at 6:40. I guess MLB just knows better despite what the ratings say.
- And….. no other changes need to be made. Forget the new three batter rule or limited mound trips, both of which DO NOT SHORTEN game length. The game stays the same, we just take out the 6th inning. Even the scoreboards and verbiage stay the same. Nothing needs to change except our mindset. Elevators skip the 13th floor and daylight savings literally moves time. 5pm magically becomes 4pm the next day. We can name the innings whatever we want. The important part is that the 9th inning is the LAST inning.
On a personal note, AAA baseball games play seven inning games when a double header is scheduled. I can tell you from first hand experience, a seven inning game has much more excitement than a nine inning game. Pitches and at-bats have way more value. I am not proposing that solution, but I’m telling you, the game feels way better at that length than the current sloth-like pace of MLB games.
Okay, I can hear you old-timer’s chomping cigars, looking like the banker from Monopoly hitting your fist against the table and sputtering, “BUT WE HAVE TRADITION!!!!”.
Ah yes, the grand old game. The way it used to be. White guys without batting helmets playing World Series games in the afternoon. Back when relief pitchers weren’t forced to face a minimum of three batters. Old school. Yes, we must at all costs protect the integrity and tradition of the game.
As for it’s impact on the historical record books and statistics, that problem has already been solved thanks to Barry Bonds and the 2018 Houston Astros. At this point, the majority of the numbers are subjective anyway.
Yes, one less is more. Goodbye 6th inning. Don’t let the clubhouse door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Colin Gawel founded Pencilstorm and wrote this at Colin’s Coffee. He plays in the band Watershed and his solo song “Dad Can’t Help You Now” is a damn fine baseball tune.
NBA Look-In - by Ben Galli
One More All Star Saturday Night
For perhaps the first time since Magic Johnson’s farewell All Star game, the actual game on Sunday was more entertaining than the festivities leading up to it. The popular vote was throttled again in the Slam Dunk contest but the NBA’s seemingly last minute changes to the format of the actual game, a bold move, Cotton, made for an optimal situation. This year each quarter was its own mini-game with each team competing for children’s charities. Note to NBA: It is not a good look to have hundreds of thousands of dollars for freakin’ little kids’ futures teeter in the balance over a usually lackluster basketball game. I see a change in that format next year. But that 4th quarter? Man, oh man.
We watched the greatest basketball players in the world actually competing hard against each other and playing defense (Defense!?) in a game that really seemed to matter. It was riveting stuff and reminded you how incredible basketball can be. This improvement in the game can be attributed to pride and the Elam Ending where the clock is taken out at a certain point of the 4th quarter and replaced with a target score. My only gripe is how GM Giannis let GM LeBron pick so many of the best players. Almost vice-versa of when they’re playing GM for their own teams, at least in LBJ’s case.
The Road to Zion
Zion Williamson is dominating the NBA more than college. I don’t know if that’s because he has better talent supporting him, that it’s just that much better (and faster) a brand of basketball, or his college coach was just really bad at his job. Dude is 19 years old, averaging 29 ppg his last 5 games, and if he scores at least 20 his next game, will surpass Carmelo Anthony for having the most 20 point games in a row for a teenager. Pelicans are 8-6 in those games with 5 of those losses coming against the top 8 teams record-wise in the NBA. They’re 3.5 games out of the 8th playoff spot currently held by the Grizzlies and the supposed shoe-in for Rookie of the Year, Ja Morant. The road to Zion was well worth the wait.
Cleveland Crocks
Well that was short-lived. Newly hired coach John Beilein made a beeline for the exits, resigning his position over the all star break after just 9 months on the job and tied for the 3rd worst record in the league (hello Knicks!). That’s half the average life expectancy of slugs! He’ll be replaced by former head coach candidate J.B. Bickerstaff. Old heads might remember his dad Bernie, the Seattle SuperSonics coach back in the day (‘85-’90). Maybe that was Beilein’s play all along. Pulling strings to get that cushy “special assistant to the president” gig. The Cavs have some young talent like the blossoming Kevin Porter Jr. but they’re going to have to find someone or something to fix a culture that ails without LeBron.
The Lakers and Clippers and Bucks, Oh My!
These teams have emerged as the strongest contenders for the chip. The Clippers still have the most depth but.. the least amount of opportunities to build a team with their two superstars. The Lakers have the best duo in the league and have surrounded them with an annoyingly lovable rag tag bunch of Mad TV characters that genuinely look like they love each other and never give up. However, the best record in the league belongs to a team on pace to win 70 games with the frontrunner for MVP having another ridiculously, incredibly, fantastical, very good season.
Still the question for the Milwaukee Bucks remains: Can one superstar beat two? Enter Khris Middleton. Middleton might “just” be averaging 21 points per game but he’s got 50-40-90 shooting splits (50% from the field, 40% from three, and 90% from the foul line or better). He’d be the 9th player in NBA history (shoutout Mark Price!) to hit those marks for a season and if he can play even better in the playoffs, Milwaukee might be too much for anyone to behold. But winning in June will depend on Giannis taking the steps that have eluded him and defeating two of the other best players in the world who’ve all won it before multiple times. We can only wait and see and I for one, can’t wait.
follow on twitter @bengalli33
This One's for Kobe - by Ben Galli
Ahhh. Kobe. An icon of his time now enmeshed in popular culture forever. For all the celebrity worship in society, Kobe reached heights of fame few ever do. He’ll be remembered like Jordan, Prince, Madonna, Herve Villechaize. For decades and decades to come, people all over the world will say his name in tribute as they throw their rolled up balls of paper away. Now, I can’t offer any profound insight into Kobe that you couldn’t read somewhere else. I didn’t know the man. But I can try to offer some sense of measurement of the impact he’s made.
I was not yet even 16 when Kobe started making his first waves. Heard there was another high school kid that was gonna follow KG and might be better. His dad played in the league. Brandy’s his prom date. Back then, I didn’t enjoy my current elite nba insider status so it was a surprise to me when the Lakers traded Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA Draft to select Kobe Bryant with the 13th pick. Vlade was the lovable goof that never lived up to expectations but you happily rooted for him. He was athlete Balki. But I had already drank the Kobe Bomb. I was thrilled that we got this ceiling defying talent. Like drafting Griffey Jr.
*Quick note on why Kobe fell to 13th. It was pure agent-player power plays. John Calipari had just become the Nets new head coach and wanted to draft Bryant with the 8th pick. Apparently Arn Tellem, Kobe’s agent and current vice chairman for the Pistons and Sonny Vaccaro, famed Adidas honcho (and Youngstown State grad) spread the rumor that Kobe would go play in Italy instead of “your team” to many franchises. He also refused to work out for many teams. From the beginning, Kobe didn’t care what you thought.
Over the years, Kobe had his moments and they were in the thick of the limelight. The 4 airballs in an elimination playoff game against the Jazz his rookie year. It showed even as a rookie he wanted to take the big shot, but could he make it? His next year he was voted in as an All Star, the youngest in history on the strength of a 15-3-2? Veterans were riled at this young diva who hadn’t earned anything. This was probably true then but I don’t think anyone today would dare suggest Kobe didn’t earn what he has now. There were the triumphs with Shaq and the troubles with Shaq which ended with Kobe outlasting him at the top of the Lakers player hierarchy.
And there was Colorado in 2003. That year indelibly affected Kobe and his legacy. He made a mistake (the extremeness of which is where the rub lies) and for the first time his villainy on the basketball court became his reputation off of it. It was one of those trespasses that muddled with rumor, many can never recover from. Kobe had his 81 point game and 2 more titles after that, yet for many, he could no longer be great.
But when Kobe’s life was tragically taken on January 26th, 2020, the nation and the world got to see how far he had come. He had become a champion for women’s basketball and teaching young athletes with the Mamba Sports Academy launched in 2018. He coached his daughter’s basketball team and his multimedia production company produced videos and series aimed at educating children even starting the creation of his own vision of “if the Olympics and Harry Potter had a baby.” - a sports fantasy universe.
It was Kobe as he ever was. Always pushing the limits, proving that a person could do whatever they set their mind to. Kobe’s was a life well lived but cut short. A reminder, whether we wanted it or not, that you have a short time to live on this earth so make every moment count and be that person you always dreamed of being. .
Spring Training Is Almost Here! Reflections on the 2019 World Series and Why It Meant So Much To Me - by JCE
(editor’s note: This blog is our THIRD baseball upload of the past week from various Pencil Storm contributors. Obviously nobody could WAIT for the Super Bowl to be over so they could indulge their Boys of Summer proclivities. Cabin fever RULES!)
Well, the NFL season has been put to bed and now it’s time for March Madness and then baseball. With that in mind, I wanted to reflect just a little bit on the 2019 MLB season. I was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in the suburb of Alexandria, Virginia. When I was about 6 or 7 years old my cousin Eric introduced me to baseball card collecting. I remember whenever my cousin was visiting from his home outside Philadelphia, we would spend time at my grandmother’s apartment, which was really close to a 7-11 store. She would buy us gobs of Topps baseball cards at ten cents a pack. We would spend hours trading our “doubles” and building our collections. I remember the first goal was for me to get all the Washington Senators, and Eric was collecting the Philadelphia Phillies. Most of these memories were 1970-71, which I know because I still have all those baseball cards---the 1970 cards have a gray border and the 71’s are black. The black ones look great with the red in Senators’ uniforms.
1970 Topps Frank Howard
1971 Topps Ted Williams (manager)
It was about that time that the Senators packed up and moved to Texas to become the Texas Rangers. I was heartbroken. My Dad (RIP) took me to RFK Stadium to see the Senators a number of times. My best friend John who lived down the street once caught a Frank Howard home run ball. I loved that team, even though they lost most of the time. With my team gone, I vowed not to root for the Rangers, and due to the fact that my favorite player in baseball was Carl Yastremski of the Boston Red Sox, I declared that the Red Sox would be my team from that point forward. The San Diego Padres threatened to relocate to D.C. only a season or two later, and I have a Topps baseball card that reflects that, but it never happened. If it had, I would have abandoned the Sox and rooted for my hometown team again.
an interesting card… $6.85 on ebay if you want one
I faithfully rooted for yet another losing team for the next 33 years until Boston finally broke through in 2004, winning the fall classic after winning the American League in a miracle comeback against the hated Yankees. I watched every playoff and World Series game in 2004 and it was worth the loss of sleep. I was elated over my Sox finally winning. I was 41 years old and it was the only time my team had ever won in baseball. My sister (RIP) went to school in Boston and got me to Fenway park once. That is a special memory, like my Dad and RFK Stadium. Since then the Sox have taken the title three more times, in 2007, 2013 and 2018. But those next three Red Sox wins were not as sweet for me. Why? Well because even though I still pull for Boston to win the American League pennant every year, in 2005 Washington, D.C. got baseball back. Naturally, I had to declare my true allegiance to my hometown Washington Nationals. They may have taken a couple of seasons to win me over, but they did.
Which brings me to 2019. After 14 years in town, and after some big playoff failures, the Washington Nationals brought a World Series title to D.C. for the first time since the 1924 Senators. Again, I stayed up late, watching my team pull off miracle after miracle to win the Series. When it was done, I had a feeling that exceeded even the 2004 Red Sox title.
I count myself lucky that without being a bandwagon jumper, I was able to root with all my heart and soul for two of the most improbable World Series champions—the 2004 Boston Red Sox and the 2019 Washington Nationals. I don’t expect to win another one in my lifetime, but that’s fine. I got this one, and it means a lot to me.
Now it’s time for pitchers and catchers to report!
Stats Prove Jobu Took Fear From the Astros Bats - by Colin Gawel
author’s note: The following story is my attempt to summarize/plagiarize the story: “Does electronic sign stealing work? The Astros’ numbers are eye-popping” by Jayson Stark and Eno Sarris, which was recently published at The Athletic.com. I am going to justify this by suggesting that you should subscribe and read the whole story. It’s my favorite sports website by a long shot. (Click here to visit)
A brief refresher, the 2017 Houston Astros won the World Series. Turns out they were illegally stealing signs with a combination of a closed-circuit TV, trash can bangs and electronic buzzers.
So you ask, “What is the big deal about stealing signs?”
Two quotes to explain that:
“Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing.” - Warren Spahn
“Straight ball, I hit it very much. Curve ball, bats are afraid. I ask Jobu to come take fear from bats. I offer him cigar and rum.” - Pedro Cerrano
Now imagine if Jobu could have told Cerrano in advance when a breaking pitch was coming? Pedro could simply take the pitch and wait for a fastball. And avoid striking out. It’s not always what you swing at, it’s what you DON’T swing at.
A couple highlights from The Athletic story….
In 2016, Astros hitters struck out 1,452 times. That’s the 8th highest total in the history of baseball.
In 2017, Astros hitters struck out 1,087 times.
In one year they went from striking out at one of the highest rates in history to a team that struck out less than any other team that season. Is this normal? According to the friendly nerds at Stats Inc., this sort of thing has happened exactly……never. At least since the live ball era started in 1920. In fact, no other team in history has come within 80 strikeouts of doing it.
Stats also found the 2016-17 Astros were the only team in 100 seasons to cut their strikeout rates by more than two strikeouts per game in one year. 8.96 to 6.71. Home strikeouts dropped from 744 to 502. The Astros reduced their strikeouts at home by 83, more K’s than the next-closest team in the last 100 years.
OK, we get it, Jobu was helping bats very much. How does this affect my fantasy baseball team?
Who suddenly stopped swinging and missing at breaking balls from 2016-2017?
Marwin Gonzalez, incredibly, went from a 40 percent swing rate to just 10 percent.
Carlos Correa 27 - 15;
Jake Marisnick 30 - 13;
George Springer 18 - 12;
AND according to Tony Adams at signstealingscandal.com, these four players combined for the highest percentage of trash-can bangs with Gonzalez leading the way with 147 bangs during his at bats.
Evan Gattis has a career strikeout percentage of 22.5. In 2016 it jumped to 25.5. In 2017, it dropped to just 15.4. Only five players in the history of baseball have had that kind of turnaround.
Some good news, despite the fact Jose Altuve inexplicably moved UP in the box against Aroldis Chapman before crushing an off-speed pitch for the series winning-home run. And even more inexplicably was completely obsessed with keeping his jersey on during the post game celebration, there is little evidence he benefited much from Jobu during the regular season. His bats weren’t afraid.
His numbers are pretty normal unless you count that trash can thumping can only be heard during 2.8% of his at-bats. That would be an outlier for the 2017 “champion” Astros.
You get the idea and I’ve got to get back to serving coffee. Why not subscribe to The Athletic and read the whole thing? It’s worth your time.
Colin Gawel founded Pencilstorm and clearly has WAY too much time on his hands at Colin’s Coffee.