Lee Lowenfish

Summer officially began on June 20 and heat waves are arriving real early this summer all over the country. So let's cool off for a moment and reflect on how important grinders are to any winning sports team. 

 

Let's lift a glass to the Indiana Pacers' backup point guard T. J. McConnell, who at the age of 33 kept the Pacers alive throughout their surprise playoff run to Game 7 of the NBA finals, a run that fell just short against the new champion Oklahome City Thunder.  (Late NBA commissioner David Stern dreamed of NBA finals ending on July 4th - this year it came close, Su June 22.) 

 

The undrafted McConnell superlatively backed up All-Star Tyrese Halliburton until Tyrese's injuries finally proved too much for Indiana to overcome.

And how about T.J. wearing his sister Megan's uniform top on his way to one of the early games of the final round. Megan plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA, and their father, Tim, coached his son at Chartiers Valley HS 10 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.  He was a visible presence at most of the games. 

 

Turning now to MLB, here's a toast to some special baseball grinders.  Athletics' centerfielder Denzel Clarke has pulled off this month two of the most remarkable catches I've ever seen. First, at home in the A's temporary base in Sacramento, he sprinted to left center chasing a rare outfield smash by Orioles utilityman Jorge Mateo. Averting the wall at the last moment, Clarke stretched out to make a brilliant backhand catch. 

 

A few days later, on the road in Anaheim against the Angels, Clarke outdid himself with a spectacular catch leaping over the center field wall to bring back a sure home run. 

I said to myself, "He must be a gymnast," and sure enough his mother was a star gymnast in Toronto and later a track star and now a track coach. Afterward, Denzel credited his mother for her coaching and inspiration. 

 

Another tip of the cap to Jake Mangum, the switch-hitting outfielder and 29-year-old rookie for the Tampa Bay Rays who, before games on Mon June 23, is hitting .318 with 1 HR, 23 RBI 15 Runs scored in 148 AB - he has also pilfered 10 SB.  He is a solid defender as well. He was drafted in the 4th round in the 2019 draft by the New York Mets.

I don't consider myself a very good talent evaluator - my most recent book BASEBALL'S ENDANGERED SPECIES (University of Nebraska Press, 2023) is a homage to those unrecognized pros who really know the craft of scouting - but I am proud that I spotted Jake as a comer at the 2019 New York-Penn League championship game. 

 

Mangum's Brooklyn Cyclones were playing the Red Sox' Lowell Spinners for what turned out to be the last New York-Penn League championship game. An early single drove in the game's first run and his leadoff single in the bottom of the 7th started the game-winning rally as the Cyclones came from behind to win the franchise's only championship, 4-3.  After the game, Mangum endeared himself to me when he said with the team down a run late in the game, he forgot about all the information those drunk on analytics feed players day in and day out.  "I just decided to play baseball," meaning he knew that he could beat the pitcher so he said to himself: Just get a hit and start a rally which he did.

 

It has been a long road towards the majors for Mangum who at 29 is old for a rookie.  He lost the 2020 season to the pandemic (as did all minor leaguers), then hurt his back and the Mets traded him to Miami in 2022. The ever-astute Tampa Bay Rays traded for him after the 2024 season (righthanded reliever Calvin Faucher is in the Marlins bullpen as of now so the Rays didn't pull off an outright heist).  

 

Mangum hails from Mississippi and he is part of a third generation of athletic royalty in two sports. His grandfather John was an offensive tackle for the Boston Patriots in the old AFL, his father also named John played 9 years of defensive halfback for the Chicago Bears, and his uncle Kris had a 10-year career as a Carolina Panthers tight end.  Jake played four years for the SEC powerhouse Mississippi State Bulldogs and became known as the Mayor for his school loyalty and passion for the game.

 

As a senior, Mangum mentored freshman Jordan Westburg who when healthy for the Orioles - which unfortunately like most of the 2025 team he has not been - should be a core player in Baltimore for years to come.  Like virtually everyone who has played with Mangum, Westburg is thrilled about his fellow Bulldog's belated arrival on the MLB scene.  His lack of power kept him pigeon-holed for too long so here's hoping he continues his fine play because Jake Mangum is a grinder of the first order.

  

And now for some TCM tips - the baseball movie list is short but here are some worthy mentions:

Tu June 24 145P "Alibi Ike" (1935), the final film in Joe E Brown's baseball trilogy inspired by Ring Lardner's story. Footage from the 1932 World Series is used, Olivia

  DeHavilland is Joe E's love interest, William Frawley is Brown's manager and the underappreciated Ruth Donnelly smooths out some of the issues in the Brown-Olivia 

  romance.  Earlier in 1935 DeHavilland and Joe E Brown were also in Hollywood's lavish "Midsummer Night's Dream" but "Alibi Ike" made the screens first.  

Sa June 28 6P "Field of Dreams" (1989) with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones, a film that has been called the first male tearjerker. I think the biggest fantasy in the film

  is Costner and Jones go for concessions at Fenway Park and three people wait on them and there is no line. 

Fri Fourth of July:  4P "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" (1949) Busby Berkeley directs female baseball owner Esther Williams and Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra

   8P "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1943) Michael Curtiz puts Casablanca out of mind and directs James Cagney as George M. Cohan with Walter Huston/Joan Leslie

There are also great Noirs at end of June, many of them on one day.

Sa June 28 145P "The Killers" (1946) the one Hywd film based on his work that Hemingway liked with Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner

    8P "Double Indemnity" (1944) Billy Wilder directs Stanwyck/Fred MacMurray/Edward G. Robinson

    10P "Chinatown" (1974) Roman Polanski directs Jack Nicholson/Faye Dunaway who didn't get along off set but it probably aided the final product

Su June 29 1230A, repeated at 10A  "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948) A classic scary Noir Alley with Barbara Stanwyck  

 

GET WELL SOON WISHES to Angels manager Ron Washington, 73, who is out indefinitely with some circulatory issues.  His intensity and unabashed old school beliefs

   have made the Angels watchable though they obviously have holes in the lineup and on the mound.  Sure hope he is back in uniform soon.

 

Always remember - Take It Easy But Take It, and Stay Positive, Test Negative.  

 

           

 

 

It's been a while since I posted a blog.  I'm in the home stretch of my book on baseball scouting that if all goes well will be out next spring and entitled BASEBALL'S ENDANGERED SPECIES: INSIDE THE CRAFT OF SCOUTING BY THOSE WHO LIVED IT. 

 

I have the deepest respect for scouts who are tasked with not only finding and signing talent but also using their experience and intuition to project what the youngster in front of them will become. In a sport as difficult as baseball, the challenges of the job are immense.

 

During my 10-day celebration of my June 27th 80th birthday - and my special friend Maria Patterson's 65th on July 1st -  I was able to see three games of Oriole farm teams. 

 

The first one was in Salisbury Maryland where the Delmarva Shorebirds in the Low A Carolina League are not having a good season, but perhaps there are possible prospects, especially from Latin America.  

 

The longtime GM of the Shorebirds is Chris Bitters and the assistant GM is Jim Sweet. Can there be a better tandem for the world of baseball in which someone must lose every day?

 

The Shorebirds had a chance to win the June 26th game against the Lynchburg Hillcats, but down two runs with one out and two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, the next two batters forgot about situational hitting.  They swung for the fences instead of shortening their swings and going up the middle or into the gaps.

 

I was impressed with Shorebirds starting pitcher Ryan Long, a 6' 5" righthander from Seattle who played college ball for Division III Pomona-Pitzer in southern California.  A 17th round draft choice, he worked quickly, evidently aware of the time limits between pitches. It is an innovation that may make the major leagues as early as 2023 and I have no problem with it.

 

I only wish that Long had been allowed to pitch out of a third-inning jam.  Was glad to see he recently worked into the sixth inning in a recent game.  

 

We got to see right fielder Heston Kjerstad, the top draft pick from two years ago whose career has been delayed because of a serious heart condition. He looked confident at the plate but shaky in the field.  He has since moved up to Aberdeen, Maryland, the Orioles High A team.

 

Later in my trip, we were able to see the Norfolk Tides twice against the Braves' Triple-A Gwinnett (Ga.) Stripers. We traveled both times by ferry from our base at the Renaissance Hotel across the river in Portsmouth.

 

Harbor Park is an underappreciated ballpark.  Built in 1993, you walk up a ramp to the main concourse, a journey that brought back memories of the New York stadia of my youth.  Most of the seats are below the wide concourse, but the infield upper decks brought back memories of Ebbets and Wrigley Fields and blessed Baltimore Memorial Stadium. 

 

The Tides were no match for Gwinnett in the June 30th day game, but on Fireworks Fourth of July Eve, the Tides rallied from an early 3-run deficit and brought their bats out.

 

Outfielder Kyle Stowers already has had a taste of the majors. He's been playing center and not too impressively from my brief views, but it looks like he can hit. He responded to the crowd cheering his name during a late AB by belting a home run.

 

There may be a good future too for infield prospects Jordan Westburg from Mississippi State and the 21-year-old Gunnar Henderson who does seem to have a great feel for the game and the talent to go with the makeup. Possibly second baseman Terrin Vavra, obtained from Colorado in a trade for Mychal Givens (now with the Cubs), will be part of the new wave, too.

 

I'm happy that the Orioles ran off a ten-game winning streak to bring them to .500.  I hope I don't have to use the term Woerioles again, but the AL East remains a very tough division to move up in.

 

I hope that staying above .500 remains an achievable goal for the rest of 2022.  I can still hear Earl Weaver moaning, "Whadya mean play .500 ball? You think we're gonna lose half our games?!"  Maybe it's fortunate that Earl did not live to see these recent years of bad baseball.

 

As someone who tends to root for underdogs, I just hope that there are successful challenges to both the Yankees and the Dodgers before the 2022 season is etched into the history books.

 

And speaking of history, did I learn some fascinating things on my trip.  Although Portsmouth, Virginia, was occupied by the Union early in the Civil War, it was never burned down.  

 

The town had a significant role in the American Revolution.  We even ate at a "coffee shoppe" housed in a buildlng that once served as Benedict Arnold's headquarters.  But, no, it wasn't called Traitor Ben's.  

 

We ate a couple of times at Roger Brown's Sports Bar & Restaurant. The food was truly delicious and the family of the late NFL defensive lineman still runs the place. It has a gallery of memorabilia in the back of the spacious enterprise.

 

The restored Commodore Theatre also in downtown Portsmouth was showing "Elvis" with Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker.  The line of the older citizens of Portsmouth was stretching around the block.  

 

We took a day trip to Kitty Hawk NC where the Wright Brothers museum is well worth visiting.  I learned that the Wright brothers once published a literary magazine in Dayton, Ohio, called the Tattler.  

 

One of their colleagues was future poet Paul Laurence Dunbar (1892-1906) before he moved to Baltimore.  They gifted him with one of the bicycles they built. I'm proud to share June 27th with Dunbar.  

 

On our way back to Virginia, we drove over the Catfish Hunter Memorial Bridge near his home town of Hereford, NC.  There is a small museum in his honor, but it was too late in the day to visit.

 

So wraps up this installment of my first travels as an octogenarian.  Next time, I will be reporting on my upcoming week teaching "Reel Baseball and Real Baseball: Myth and Reality" to the wonderful students at Chautauqua in southwestern NY State near Jamestown NY and not far from Erie PA.

 

In the meantime, always remember to take it easy but take it, and more than ever, stay positive and test negative.