EL BARRIO, EL FALLS – Happy Monday. Another beautiful day in unbearable heat. I definitely need to get the AC fixed in the car. Don’t judge me, these kids are exhausting. Anyway, here is what I will be covering today: Mets Hanging On, Baseball HoF 2022 Class, and NBA Rings for Sale.
Mets Hanging On
I remember reading the article about how with a quarter of the season gone and the Mets up by 10+ games, the experts were saying by all metrics, the season was over. All metrics and history mean very little to us Mets fans. We are always breathless and nervous. Coming out of the All-Star break, the Mets were only 2.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves. The Mets traded for Daniel Vogelbach of the Pittsburgh Pirates to bolster their DH soft spot. Mets fans are screaming for bolder movers but I am not sure. This team still waiting for two aces to be in the rotation together, so I am not sure you want to give up a lot for a big bat when you are certain for playoffs. They will have two of the best arms in the game, fresh and ready to go. The Mets came out the weekend 1.5 games ahead in the East and second in the NL overall. They can’t miss playoffs but should still strive to win the East.
Baseball HoF 2022 Class
The Hall of Fame Class of 2022 is touted as the most diverse class in hsitory. It covers the 150 years of baseball history, going back to the first Black player, to Cubans, to Dominicans and white players. The Class of 2022 has Golden Days and Early Baseball Era committee inductees Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat, and the late Bud Fowler, Gil Hodges, Minnie Miñoso and Buck O’Neil. The modern inductee was none other than David “Big Papi” Ortiz. One of MLB’s best pinch-hitters, Minnie Minoso – unbeknown to me – was the Afro-Latin Jackie Robinson. The first dark skin Latino to make the league after playing in the Negro leagues, he was from Cuba. As a Mets fan, of course I am aware of who Hodges is. I just thought he had been inducted already. I am not a stats junkie but I never knew Ortiz was dominate at the plate enough to be inducted, not to mention my built-in bias against DHs. So, all in all, this was a huge step forward for baseball… and me.
NBA Rings for Sale
Former Los Angeles Lakers player Slava Medvedenko is selling his two NBA championship rings to raise money for his native Ukraine. He has a sports foundation he runs in the Ukraine and he hopes to take the money and help rebuild gyms for kids. I mean, we value the championship rings but you really can’t blame him for this. Medvedenko said after looking down on the destruction from one of Kyiv’s tall buildings he said “I can die anytime and these rings are doing no good in a safe.” Sad but true, so lets hope he gets a great value for them.
Thanks for reading, feel free to comment below. Come back tomorrow for our Ben Whitney, who is probably on vacation somewhere exotic and likely mail it in. #OhSnap
