While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
An idea for umpire/player relations- “Both sides have their points. Players are too short with umpires. Baseball is not just the only sport that allows players to talk back to its impartial arbiters without recourse; its history practically encourages them to embrace belligerence. It is well within a player’s right to inch himself up to within a whisker of an umpire so long as they don’t bump. That millimeter is the difference between a suspendable offense and just another argument, and it invites a culture in which the millionaires can belittle the plebeians.” [Passan/Yahoo]
—-
“Santana’s walk-off single will steal the ledes, headlines and photos, but it was the work of Cabrera and Lopez that really fueled the offense in this one. Cabrera delivered RBI singles in both the seventh (off reliever Lucas Luetge) and 11th (off League) innings for the Tribe. His seventh-inning single snapped Cleveland out of the early nap it took against Mariners righty Hector Noesi (6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R)
“That got us going,” Acta said. “I think the energy level kind of rose up there.”
Down 4-1 in the eighth inning, and with two runners on base, Lopez crushed a 2-0 pitch from Steve Delabar to left field, where it barely cleared the 19-foot wall. Lopez was not sure if it was a home run at first, so much so that he missed first base while on the run. “I knew for sure it was a double,” Lopez said. “I didn’t hit it very good, but I was sure it was a double. I knew we’d get two runs. I didn’t know how far it would go. It was close. I didn’t even touch first base, because I was looking at the ball.” [Bastian/MLB]
—-
Ranking MLB announcing crews- “4. Cleveland Indians, Broadcasters: Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus, Ratings (Charisma/Analysis/Overall): 4.5, 3.8, 4.5. Notes: There’s a decided minority of comments regarding Hamilton that fail to note, at some level, his capacity for enthusiasm and/or the volume of his voice. More than most any other broadcaster, too, he receives praise for a specific broadcasting skill — namely, the quality of his home run calls.” [Fan Graphs]
—-
“So why was his change of style in the clutch the beginning of the end? It wasn’t, directly. To me, the change is indicative of his awareness. I don’t think that Lebron has stopped taking last second shots because he has better options now, or that he is scared of the moment. I think, and this is obviously a guess, that Lebron was at his best while in the protective cocoon of Cleveland and the Cavaliers’ organization. I honestly think that Lebron is a sensitive guy (not soft, this isn’t an attack) and that adopting the “King” nickname and rolling with the biblical allegories were a defense mechanism. Being beloved and undoubted was vital to his confidence in those moments when overcoming the extreme stress that one’s body undergoes in those final seconds. The not-so-secret to confidence is faking it until you believe it yourself. I think Lebron needed to be protected from himself. Perhaps instead of criticizing him for being sheltered, we should look at it as necessary to bolster his self esteem. Perhaps the Cavaliers organization shouldn’t be mocked for being the ones to shelter him, as I believe this may have been the best strategy to maximize his potential.” [Boosh/I Go Hard Now]
—-
“With the USFL heading for self-implosion, the NFL scheduled a supplemental draft of USFL players in June of 1984, ostensibly to avoid a bidding war among its own teams for the many quality players soon to be available. At the time, the Browns had a personnel assistant, Chip Falivene, scout the USFL profusely. The regular NFL draft was 12 rounds then, and Browns VP of player personnel, Bill Davis, felt there were better players in the USFL than available in the late rounds of the college draft. So he instructed his scouts to scour their contacts for teams that would be interested in trading picks in the upcoming USFL supplemental draft in exchange for regular draft picks.
“We wanted as many USFL picks as we could get because we wanted to get into the Reggie White, Steve Young part of the (USFL) draft,” recalled Davis, who is the father of Browns linebacker coach Billy Davis. “The highest we could get was 11th in the first round.” The Browns found a sucker in Bill Tobin, who was working for the Chicago Bears. Davis peddled four Browns’ picks in the ninth through 12th rounds of the regular draft for the Bears’ three picks in the USFL draft. The Browns used the Bears’ USFL selections on running back Kevin Mack, return specialist Gerald McNeil and linebacker Doug West (who never panned out). The Browns used their own first USFL pick on linebacker Mike Johnson.” [Grossi/ESPN Cleveland]
