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Bar Chat

08/06/2018

Scandal at The Ohio State University

[Posted prior to Yankees-Red Sox, Sunday PM]

Baseball / Phillies Quiz: Since 1960, name the six players to have 200 hits in a season, one doing it twice. Answer below.

MLB

--Wednesday, after I last posted, the Orioles beat New York 7-5 at the Stadium, as Sonny Gray was lit up for 7 earned in just 2 2/3, Gray falling to 8-8, but with a hideous 5.56 ERA.  He was seen smiling as he exited the game to a major chorus of boos, which wasn’t real smart, Sonny.  Needless to say he was excoriated doubly in the press for this display.

Then the Yankees traveled to Boston for a critical 4-game series with the Red Sox, 5 ½ games back.  If New York was looking to send a message in Thursday’s opener, Boston’s Steve Pearce replied with three home runs, six RBIs, to lead the Red Sox to a 15-7 rout.

Friday, the Yankees were one-hit by Rick Porcello (a solo homer by Miguel Andujar) in Boston’s 4-1 win.  For New York, Luis Severino, their ace, had his fifth straight poor start, 5 2/3, 4 earned, now 14-5, his ERA popping from 1.98 to 3.08 over that stretch.  For good reason panic has set in.

As for Porcello, it’s a chance to remind everyone what a classic up-and-down career he has had.

2014...15-13, 3.43
2015...9-15, 4.92
2016...22-4, 3.15
2017...11-17, 4.65
2018...14-4, 3.84

I do have to note the opening to Friday’s game.  Porcello hit Yankee leadoff hitter, Brett Gardner, on an 0-2 pitch.  The bottom of the first, Luis Severino then buzzed Boston’s leadoff man, Mookie Betts, with a fastball up and inside, Betts contorting his body to get out of the way, and immediately warnings were issued to both teams by the umpires, which is beyond bogus.

Gardner, the leadoff hitter in the freakin’ game, is hit with an 0-2 pitch, and Severino buzzes Betts in the bottom of the inning, which is simply baseball, and both teams are suddenly warned?!  C’mon.

Well Red Sox manager Alex Cora felt Severino was trying to get retribution for Gardner, which was also bogus (yeah, there was intent...intent to keep Betts honest and try to set him up for later in the count), but Cora went ballistic and was shouting expletives at the umpires, earning an ejection, his first of the season.   

The Friday game was also costly for Boston (not that it really matters until the playoffs), as newly acquired Ian Kinsler suffered a hamstring injury and was placed on the DL.

One more...thru Friday the Yankees have had an interesting season, taking advantage of two hot streaks, while playing .500 ball the rest of the time, which is how good teams normally build a, say, 96-66 season.

The Yankees split their first 18 games, won 17 of their next 18, then had a 24-12 stretch to get to 50-22, before going 18-18 thru Friday.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox started out 17-2, then went 11-12 to move to 28-14, including their only 3-game losing streak of the entire season, before sprinting to 77-34 thru Friday’s play.  So just one stretch of nearly .500 play; Boston on pace for 112 wins!

Well, Saturday, Boston won again 4-1, the lead now an insurmountable 8 ½...stick a fork in the Yanks.  New York fans need to start worrying about the wild-card...as in making sure they qualify for it.

The Yanks had to call up rookie Chance Adams to make his first major-league start and he responded with five innings of 3-run ball...nothing wrong with that given the circumstances, but Nate Eovaldi, recently acquired from Tampa Bay, threw eight scoreless to run his streak to 15 shutout innings since being picked up by the BoSox.

Friday and Saturday, the vaunted Bronx Bombers, granted, minus Aaron Judge, were held to two runs on six hits.

Mike Vaccaro / New York Post

“Forget the depressing aspects of the weekend to date. Forget the 0-3 start to this four-game series, and the fact that the Red Sox have mostly turned this into an exhibition of the varsity schooling the JV.

“Forget the reality that, but for a brief surge against an elite closer (Craig Kimbrel) who always seems to struggle in non-save situations, the Yankees offense looked bleak and punchless for a second straight game in falling 4-1.

“Forget that the Sox have mostly taken Brian Cashman’s words from last week – about how ‘we do some damage against them’ – and in order 1) laughed at them; 2) scoffed at them; and 3) tossed them in an incinerator.

“Forget all of that. It’s all background music at this point. It’s all white noise. There are only two solid realities to take away from this weekend, no matter how Sunday night’s finale turns out, and more importantly a third reality still to be determined.

“1) The Yankees aren’t catching the Red Sox....

“”2) The Yankees aren’t going to collapse out of the wild-card game....*

“Which leads us to...

“3) Between now and the first week of October, the Yankees have to figure a few things out about themselves, and specifically about how they perform when they’re on the same field as the Red Sox.... The only thing that matters is winning three out of five when it counts.”

*Mr. Vaccaro couldn’t be more wrong....the A.L. wild-card standings prior to Yankees-Red Sox tonight, Oakland and Seattle both winning earlier.

New York 68-41... +3
Oakland 67-46... --- [winners of six in a row]
Seattle 64-48... 2.5

--As I’ve said, there is zero reason to even mention the Mets these days, except for their amazing futility when Jacob deGrom takes the mound.  The Mets lost to the Braves on Friday at Citi Field, 2-1, deGrom again going eight innings, 2 earned, his ERA rising to 1.85 as a result (still major-league leading), but his W-L record is an unfathomable 5-7.

19 straight starts of 3 runs or less, 14 straight quality starts, over which time he is 2-7!  Five straight 7+ innings, but he hasn’t won in his last seven starts.  In his last five games against the Braves, deGrom has given up just four runs in 33 innings, but the Mets lost all five.

Oh, and he drove in the only run for the Metropolitans Friday.

I also have to say that if I’m a Braves fan, I’m super pumped over the future with the likes of young studs Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies at the top of the order.

--I have to note on Thursday that Max Scherzer moved to 15-5, 2.33, as the Nationals beat the Reds 10-4, Scherzer allowing 2 runs in six.

--It has been another disappointing season for the Angels, but at least Shohei Ohtani blasted two home runs (one going 443 feet) in a Friday night win over the Indians in Cleveland, 7-4, Ohtani also singling and stealing a base to spark a tie-breaking rally in the eighth.  The Angels had lost ten straight at Progressive Field over almost four years.

But Saturday Ohtani was 0-for-4 and the Angels went meekly to Corey Kluber and the Indians 3-0, Kluber going all the way to improve to 14-6, 2.63.

The story after the game, though, was a report from Ken Rosenthal that Mike Scioscia, baseball’s longest-tenured manager, is stepping down at the end of the season, when his 10-year, $50-million contract expires.  Rosenthal said that Scioscia, who turns 60 in November, has a Hall of Fame resume with a World Series title (2002), six division titles and two ALCS series (2005 and 2009), plus he’s 18th on the all-time managerial win list at 1,625 (1,625 – 1,403, .537).

But the Angels have only made the postseason once in eight years, including 2018.

Former Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, highly respected, is an assistant to Angels GM Billy Eppler and no doubt would be a strong candidate to replace Scioscia.

Scioscia said today that the reports of his retirement are “poppycock.”

--As pointed out by Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal, in the divisional era, which dates back to 1969, there has never been a year where the divisions in one league were as close as the National League ones were at the end of July, all three divisions July 31 separated by half a game or less.

--Lastly, my first authentic baseball memory (outside of hazy Mets clips) was the 1965 Twins-Dodgers World Series.  But in 1966, as I was beginning to devour the sports pages and follow  the Mets closely, my second real memory is reading of Braves pitcher Tony Cloninger hitting two grand slams in a game against the Giants at Candlestick Park, first- and fourth-inning blasts off Bob Priddy and Ray Sadecki, Cloninger driving in nine runs in all that day, getting three hits as the Braves walloped the Giants 17-3.

Cloninger had a solid career, 1961-72, going 113-97, 4.07 ERA, including a 24-11 mark in 1965, but he had that one big game at the plate and for this he is forever remembered.  Cloninger remains the only pitcher to hit two grand slams in a game.  [He hit 11 home runs in his career, 5 in 1966.]

Cloninger, who died the other day at the age of 77, would go on to earn four World Series rings in New York, as he served as bullpen coach for eight seasons and pitching coach one under Manager Joe Torre.  He was let go after the Yankees lost a seven-game World Series to Arizona in 2001.  Cloninger then served as Boston’s coach for a year, and as a player development consultant for 14 more seasons for the Red Sox, who announced his death on Saturday.

College Football...the mess at Ohio State

--After I went to post Wednesday, a story exploded out of Columbus, Ohio, that Buckeyes football coach Urban Meyer was placed on paid administrative leave as the school announced it is investigating Courtney Smith’s claims that several people close to the coach knew of a 2015 allegation of domestic violence against her ex-husband, former Ohio State assistant football coach Zach Smith, who was fired in July. 

Offensive coordinator Ryan Day will be the team’s acting head coach during the investigation.

Courtney Smith told college football reporter Brett McMurphy her allegations in a story posted on his Facebook page earlier Wednesday.

“All the [coaches’] wives knew,” Smith told McMurphy.  “They all did. Every single one.”

Smith told Stadium, a multi-platform sports network, that she believes that Meyer also knew at the time.

Friday, Meyer then put out a statement in which he said he misspoke at Big Ten Media Day last week when he said he had no knowledge of the 2015 accusations.

“My intention was not to say anything inaccurate or misleading,” Meyer said. “However, I was not adequately prepared to discuss these sensitive personnel issues with the media and I apologize for the way I handled those questions.”

Meyer added that he routed the allegations surrounding the 2015 incident “to the proper channels.”  Meyer did the same in 2009 when Smith, then a graduate assistant under him at the University of Florida, was arrested in Gainesville, Fla., on suspicion of domestic violence.  The prosecutors didn’t pursue the two felony charges Smith faced.

“Here is the truth,” Meyer’s statement on Twitter read.  “While at the University of Florida, and now at The Ohio State University, I have always followed proper reporting protocols and procedures when I have learned of an incident involving a student-athlete, coach or member of our staff by elevating the issues to proper channels.  And I did so regarding the Zach Smith incident in 2015.  I take that responsibility very seriously and any suggestions to the contrary are false.”

Meyer added that he “will cooperate fully” with the school’s investigation, and that he is “confident I took the appropriate action.”

Zach Smith then spoke up Friday in a radio interview and he denied ever abusing his then-wife, allegations he said athletic director Gene Smith was aware of  in the immediate aftermath of the supposed 2015 incident.

Courtney Smith alleged in interviews this week and in police and court records obtained by USA TODAY Sports that Zach Smith had abused her on multiple occasions.

But after Zach spoke publicly for the first time since getting fired, former ESPN reporter McMurphy posted an apparent text exchange between Zach and Courtney Smith in which Zach appears to acknowledge and apologize for two physical altercations in 2015.

Zach Smith said that Gene Smith pulled him off the road during a recruiting trip after the allegations – which did not result in criminal charges – were brought to his attention in 2015.

Smith said in the radio interview that Meyer threatened to fire him both in 2009 and 2015 if he found out that he struck Courtney Smith.

Smith said Friday that he was terminated because of the “media uproar.”

“It’s a move they had to make,” Smith added.  “I don’t think that I deserved it, but it wasn’t wrong.”

Ohio State said that football coaches and student-athletes will not be available for interviews until further notice and all practices will be closed.

Marc Tracy / New York Times

“Until this week, Ohio State’s Urban Meyer was among the most valuable coaches in college football.

“He has shepherded Heisman Trophy winners and top draft picks, like Tim Tebow and Alex Smith, and has won relentlessly, guiding his teams at Florida and then Ohio State to three national championships since 2006.  In his six seasons in Columbus, Meyer’s Buckeyes have gone 73-8, giving him a higher winning percentage than Nick Saban has in 11 seasons at Alabama.

“Then, in a matter of hours Wednesday, he became arguably the most radioactive coach in the game.  Ohio State placed Meyer, 54, on paid administrative leave while it investigates whether he knew about domestic violence allegations against a longtime assistant. The move signaled that Meyer’s immaculate on-field performance – and the $7.6 million salary he is slated to receive this year after signing an extension – may not be enough to save his job....

“That Meyer’s job hangs in the balance despite superlative coaching and no known risk of NCAA sanctions is the latest example of an unmistakable shift in big-time college sports.

“In earlier years, teams stomached just about anything from the head coach so long as he kept the victories coming.  Losing was the only sin. Not anymore.

“ ‘Twenty years ago, there would not have been the sensitivities that there are today,’ said Bill Carr, a former Florida athletic director who advises on coaching searches.  ‘In my opinion, that has dramatically changed.’”

Yes, as Marc Tracy points out, in the past few years look no further than the cases of Art Briles (Baylor football), Rick Pitino (Kentucky basketball)  and Hugh Freeze (Mississippi football) as examples of coaches who led winning programs, only to fall spectacularly.

And as George Schroeder of USA TODAY noted, Urban Meyer described the Florida football program as “broken” at the end of the 2010 regular season – shortly before he resigned, citing health issues.

“Considering all of the success during Meyer’s tenure, it was a startling admission.

“But the success of two national titles in three seasons, only 15 losses in six seasons and dozens of NFL draft picks was counterbalanced by several dozen arrests and multiple reports of failed drug tests and other misdeeds by players.

“As Ohio State investigates what its coach knew and did – or didn’t do – in response to past domestic violence allegations against an assistant coach, it’s difficult to see how the university can evaluate whatever it finds without considering Meyer’s tenure at Florida.

“The final tally in Gainesville included more than 30 player arrests in Meyer’s six seasons.  It included running back Chris Rainey, who was charged with aggravated stalking of a girlfriend (he texted her: ‘Time to die’).  Jamar Hornsby, who stole and charged up almost $3,000 on the credit card of the deceased girlfriend of a Gators teammate. Ronnie Wilson, who was charged with aggravated assault after an altercation in which he fired a rifle (he was kicked off the team for a year and then reinstated).

“Meanwhile, if Tim Tebow was the poster child for Florida football, his opposite was Aaron Hernandez, the talented but troubled tight end who was later convicted of murder after playing for the NFL’s New England Patriots.  While at Florida, Hernandez was a suspect in a 2007 shooting in Gainesville which remains unsolved. He was investigated but not charged for felony battery.

“In addition to the incidents that became public, later accounts included allegations that Meyer had separate rules for stars – or that those core values could be occasionally overlooked.

“When he resigned on December 9, 2010, Meyer appeared to be broken, too. He was gaunt. He had coached in the 2010 season after first resigning for health reasons in December 2009, then changing his mind and returning a day later; the aborted exit came a few weeks after Meyer had been rushed to the hospital with chest pains....

“It’s hard to know what Ohio State’s investigation will uncover. It might be impossible to prove what Meyer knew and did or did not do. But his actions – or inaction – will likely be viewed through the prism of the ‘broken’ Florida program he left behind.”

Back to Meyer’s contract, which was amended earlier this year with clauses that outline the ways the school can fire him for cause (without paying a buyout that currently sits at $38.1 million), as detailed by USA TODAY, Meyer can be fired for failing to report incidents of abuse to the school, including “violations during employment of Coach at Ohio State or any other institution of higher learning.” So that seems to cover his days at Florida, and thus the incident between Courtney Smith and her husband when Zach was an intern on the Gators staff.

Ohio State has had no problem firing coaches in the past...think Woody Hayes and Jim Tressel.

--Meanwhile, the first preseason college poll that matters, the Coaches Poll, is out.

1. Alabama (61 first-place votes)
2. Clemson (3)
3. Ohio State (1)
4. Georgia
5. Oklahoma
6. Washington
7. Wisconsin
8. Miami
9. Penn State
10. Auburn
11. Notre Dame

--Johnny Manziel has a new moniker after his debut with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League...Johnny Interception.  Four of his six first-half series ended in interceptions as Montreal lost to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night, 50-11.  Manziel finished 11 of 20 for 104 yards.

Golf Balls

--Justin Thomas won the last WGC-Bridgestone event to be played at historic Firestone, a 4-shot winner over Kyle Stanley, Thomas’ third win of the season, ninth of his career in just three years.  It really was awesome Justin’s grandfather was in attendance, he having played in the 1960 PGA Championship at Firestone.

Thomas thus joins Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson as the only 3-time winners this 2017-2018 wraparound season.

On to the PGA at Bellerive.  It should be good.  [Today’s final round was disappointing in terms of lack of drama, given a leaderboard that included golf’s elite.  We hope for better next Sunday.]

--Kenny Perry won the Champions Tour event at Blaine, Minn., the 3M Championship, by three over Wes Short, Jr.

--Smylie Kaufman likes to consider himself a member of golf’s Rat Pack, with Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, and Rickie Fowler...but after a win in the 2015 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas on the Fall Tour, just his fifth career start, shooting a final-round 61, the guy has had little success, save for entering the final round of the 2016 Masters a stroke back of leader Jordan Spieth.  Kaufman then had an 81 and finished T-29.

But because of his social media campaign and being known as one of the young elite, folks kept waiting for Smylie Kaufman to win again and then take the next step up.

Since the 2016 Masters, though, he has missed 38 of 60 cuts in worldwide starts.  In the 2017-18 PGA Tour season he has made three cuts in 22 events, just one in calendar 2018.

I bring this up because I saw where the 26-year-old is taking a medical exemption due to an elbow injury. Eight times this year he has shot in the 80s.

The injuries are legit....he also had forearm and wrist issues this season...but he also realized the flipside of social media.

“That place sucks. It was so great for me for so long, but it was never anything good the last six months. When I go to Twitter, it’s like reading the newspaper for me.  Well, I don’t wanna see Tom or Joe telling me how bad I suck when I read the newspaper.” 

We’ll see if he’s able to come back down the road.  For now, it’s as if the rocket ship crashed shortly after takeoff...and there’s just a lot of debris.

--Bubba Watson added to his status as a philanthropist, bidding $30,000 for a pair of shoes that LeBron James wore in Game 3 of the 2017 NBA Finals in Cleveland, a game that Watson attended.  Watson said he planned to display the shoe (the winner gets one shoe and the other is displayed at LeBron’s new school for at-risk kids in Akron, the I Promise School...the funds going for same) in a new golf facility he’s built, before transferring it to his trophy room.

Watson said of James, “It’s cool. He’s doing a lot for his hometown. You know, I’ve won three times this year, but this was way better in my book.  I feel like I’m known as a golfer and not a real person sometimes, and I just want to do other things that are far more important than playing golf.”   Watson’s name will be printed on the lobby wall of the school as an auction winner.

I am saving comments President Trump made on Friday night about LeBron for that other column I do.

--This is scary. Troy Merritt won the Barbasol Championship, the PGA Tour event held opposite The Open Championship, and then following last week’s RBC Canadian Open, the two-time tour winner flew home to his native Idaho. While there he received an ultrasound test for arm pain he had been experiencing, and the test disclosed a blood clot that ran from his chest to his bicep.

Merritt had surgery, which was deemed a success, according to Golf Channel, and Merritt, amazingly, is still currently slated to play in this week’s PGA Championship.

Merritt told Golf Channel he may need another surgery to remove a rib to prevent further clotting.

--Finally, the one-on-one showdown between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will take place over the Thanksgiving weekend – either Nov. 23 or 24 (Fri. or Sat.) – at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas.  Mickelson confirmed the match on Thursday, but didn’t offer any further details, such as what the format would be, though Golf.com is reporting it would be a $10 million “winner-take-all” payout.

Woods said nothing’s confirmed and “We haven’t signed anything.”  The two previously said they’re open to wearing microphones during the competition.

NASCAR

I caught a lot of this week’s Cup Series race at Watkins Glen, N.Y., which I went to as a mere tyke for a Can-Am race (man, it is a hike from where I live), and the last few laps were super dramatic as Chase Elliott, son of Bill, finally captured his first Cup race in his 99th start after so many near misses, holding off Martin Truex Jr., who ran out of fuel on the last lap.  Great stuff...and a shot in the arm for Watkins Glen, one of the two road courses NASCAR runs on (the other Sonoma).

[There was a ton of late action I could describe, but I recognize only like three of you watch... though I do have to add that after Elliott ran out of gas himself on his victory lap, Jimmie Johnson pushed him in...a very cool moment.]

Stuff

--This is a great story...from Jeff Goldman of the Star-Ledger:

“A New Jersey woman who decided to gamble on her smartphone while on a conference call for her job won an online slots jackpot of $287,945 on Thursday afternoon.

“The resident of Sewell in Gloucester County hit the progressive Mega Jackpot game Divine Fortune with a $2 bet on playsugarhouse.com, the site’s operator Rush Street Interactive said.

“I was actually on a work conference call and almost screamed out loud,” said the woman, who has been using the website since January. She declined to be identified publicly....for obvious reasons.

“It proves people can win life-changing amounts online at any time and any place,” said Rush Street Interactive president Richard Schwarz in a statement.

--An Oregon man caught on video harassing a bison in Yellowstone National Park the other day, was arrested in Glacier National Park in the third disturbance in less than a week at a national park, officials said Friday.

Rangers looking for Raymond Reinke of Pendleton, Oregon, found him causing a disturbance Thursday evening at the historic Many Glacier Hotel in the popular park, the National Park Service said.

He is in jail pending a hearing next week.

Reinke, 55, had been cited for drunken and disorderly conduct in a third national park, Grand Teton, last Saturday and was released on $500 bond that required him to follow the law and avoid alcohol.

Yellowstone rangers then cited the amazing asshole three days later for not wearing a seat belt and noted he appeared intoxicated.  Park officials there didn’t know of his bail conditions at the time.

Then Reinke was later cited after a Yellowstone visitor took the now famous video of him walking up to a bison in a roadway congested with stopped cars and waving his arms.  The animal charged him a couple of times, but unfortunately, Reinke wasn’t plastered on the road, as he deserved to be.

Because of the video, though, Yellowstone rangers learned of Reinke’s charges in Grand Teton, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.  He had told rangers he planned to travel to Glacier National Park, so rangers there were on the look for his vehicle.

So Raymond Reinke goes in the December file for yearend awards consideration.  He could be taking home multiple hardware.

--From Jon Herskovitz of Reuters:

“A group of South American lizards that can grow up to four feet  long has established a home in the Florida wild after being brought to the United States as pets, and the reptiles could begin a voracious march across the U.S. South, according to a new study.

“Tegu lizards, which currently live in two large colonies in Florida, could expand into an area from the Carolinas to Central Texas, according to a report published on the website of the journal Nature.

“ ‘They are voracious, omnivorous predatory lizards that can live in a variety of habitats, but we can’t know what is going to happen or how intense this invasion is going to become until the effects are upon us,’ said Lee Fitzgerald, a professor at Texas A&M and curator of its Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections.”

Of course this nightmare wouldn’t be happening if ‘Man’ wasn’t such an idiot and took these beasts as pets, only to later dump them in the wild.  [Or the tegu escape, after slaughtering their human owners, thus gaining the keys to the Ford Explorer...or so the crack staff at Bar Chat theorizes.]

So far tegu lizards are found in at least two counties, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough (Tampa). The lizards devour everything, especially eggs of alligators and birds.

Top 3 songs for the week 8/6/77:  #1 “I Just Want To Be Your Everything” (Andy Gibb)  #2 “I’m In You” (Peter Frampton)  #3 “Best Of My Love” (Emotions)...and...#4 “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher” (Rita Coolidge) #5 “Do You Wanna Make Love” (Peter McCann)  #6 “My Heart Belongs To Me” (Barbra Streisand)  #7 “Easy” (Commodores)  #8 “Whatcha Gonna Do?” (Pablo Cruise) #9 “You And Me” (Alice Cooper)  #10 “You Made Me Believe In Magic” (Bay City Rollers...I was soon to be entering my sophomore year at Wake Forest...it would prove to be one of the worst in the history of academia...but I had fun!!!...)

Baseball / Phillies Quiz: Six players with 200 hits in a season since 1960.  Dave Cash (213, 1975; 206, 1974); Jimmy Rollins (212, 2007); Pete Rose (208, 1979); Doug Glanville (204, 1999); Chase Utley (203, 2006); Dick Allen (201, 1964).*

*I just have to note that Allen, one of my favorite players (cuz he loved the ponies!), was Rookie of the Year in ’64, batting .318, scoring 125 runs, 13 triples, 29 homers, 91 ribbies.

As for Dave Cash, it’s easy to forget how great he was from 1974-76, a 3-time All-Star for the Phillies in that stretch after five years as a largely part-timer in Pittsburgh.  In 1976, Cash had 666 official at-bats and struck out just 13 times!  You’re reading that right.  Joe Sewell-like (and Joe D. in 1941).

Hall of Famer Sewell fanned just 114 times in his career...in 7,132 ABs!  Go ahead, look it up on baseballreference.com.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.  Getting ready for the new Premier League season...whether you like it or not!

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