Lee Lowenfish

I must admit that I was one of those Knicks fans that gave up on the NBA Final Game 4 (W Jun 10) when they trailed the youthful Spurs by 27 at the half.  Even when the rally started in the second half, I was switching to baseball games.  Lucked into seeing Pirates outfielder Tyler Callihan in his first MLB game hit the game-changing 3-run HR in bottom of 8th against the Dodgers. I missed his first HR against none other than Shohei Ohtani.  Quite a debut for a Cincinnati Reds castoff. Just hope that Buccos brilliant rookie shortstop Conner Griffin recovers quickly from injury because Pirates are hovering too close to .500 line right now. 

I have to also admit that I even fell asleep in the fourth quarter of the Knicks' stirring comeback but was awake for the miraculous tipin by OG Anunody of Jalen Brunson's desperation shot that gave the New Yorkers a 107-106 victory and a 3-1 lead in games.  Kudos to Brunson who used a baseball analogy after

the game to explain the comeback. He said they needed "a lot of singles" to get back into the game.  The modest Anunoby - born in London but grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri and played college ball at Indiana U - said that he was just trying to help the team win.

Like Charles Barkley and I think many others, I'm having a hard time mastering OG's last name.  It is "an-uh-NOH-bee". As a baseball fanatic, I kept putting in a "d" near the end to make it resemble Larry Doby, the American League's Jackie Robinson, the future Hall of Famer that broke the color line in mid-1947 and didn't flourish until 1948, Cleveland's last World Series-winning season. Happily, there is a clear baseball connection on the Knicks.  Josh Hart, one of the three Villanova Wildcats on the team with Brunson and Mikal Bridges, is the grand-nephew of Elston Howard, who broke the color line for the Yankees in 1955. Howard died in 1980 so Hart never him but he is very proud of the family connection.

Before the series began, I hoped for Knicks in 6 so we could clinch at home.  Now I believe it is time to strike when the iron is hot.  Let's finish it off in San Antonio this Sat June 13 at 835P on ABC, channel 7 in NYC area.   If not, then Game 6 at MSG Tu Jun 16 and Game 7 in San Antonio F Jun 19. It won't be easy but getting off to a good start certainly will help.  Have not watched the finals closely in recent years. One oddity to me is that Knicks are wearing white unis and Spurs dark ones in every game. 

Turning to baseball, the Orioles continue to confound with their inconsistency. I tried to tell myself that I won't get emotionally involved with the team until they are at .500 and showing signs of staying above it.  I didn't succeed LOL.  As I post Fri morning Jun 12, they are still 4 under .500. Just when you think that their starting rotation is serviceable, would-be ace Kyle Bradish comes up with two straight clunkers of only 4 innings each. Then I have to read that he thought he pitched well mentally (if not physically). You don't know what you are getting from either Shane Baz - bestowed a 5-year contract before even throwing a pitch for Orioles - or Trevor Rogers from game to game.  Had to read Rogers saying after he gave up a game-losing 3-run HR that it was a good pitch but the batter was sitting on it (how can you call that a "good pitch"?!). Thank God for unheralded Brandon Young, who was the organization's Pitcher of Year in 2024 but was shaky last season. On the position player front, Gunnar Henderson remains in the worst offensive funk of his career and as a shortstop he often makes the great play but his overall mechanics and defensive game awareness are not elite. 

Every team has problems I know so enough of my whining.  It has been a weird MLB year in general with only a handful of teams with double-digit records over .500 - the Rays and the Yankees in the AL East, Atlanta in the NL East, Milwaukee in the NL Central, and of course the Dodgers in the NL West (even they have some eyebrow-raising issues with Mookie Betts hitting well below .200). The best news for fans of genuine competitive balance are the surprise St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central, the currently first-place White Sox in the AL Central, and a little less impressively the Washington Nationals in the NL East.   

The College World Series begins today at 2P EDT in Omaha with an entirely different group of eight teams from last season. Good for collegiate competitive balance.   Format is double-elimination in two four-team brackets winding up with best-of-3 series ending on June 21 or 22.   Today June 12 is Troy v West Virginia followed at 7P by Ole Miss vs UNC-Chapel Hill.  Sat matchups are highest seed standing Georgia vs Texas & Alabama vs Oklahoma.

Congrats to the PSAL NYC high school champions Tottenville from Staten Island that beat John Jay HS from Brooklyn, 4-2 in last weekend's title game. 

And program note for Su Jun 14 at 1P on MLB Network -  "Grass Routes" visits the storied minor league franchise, Rochester Red Wings.

That's all for now but always remember - Stay Positive, Test Negative, and Take It Easy But Take It.  

Greetings from a NYC where I'm posting just moments from the start of two days of quadruple MLB Wild Card games.  Although I have long been an advocate for a shorter regular season, September baseball in 2025 was very dramatic.  Cleveland set a MLB record when its starting pitchers gave up less than 2 runs in 19 straight games.  Even when the collapsing Tigers temporarily broke its slide by winning against the Guardians, 4-2 in the last game of a road series on Th Sep 25, Cleveland pitching stayed competitive.  Kudos to the veteran pitching coach Carl Willis.

It's been a remarkable turnaround for a team that trailed Detroit by 11 1/2 games on Sep 4 and over 15 in July.  In late May, they lost two key pitchers, starter Luis Leandro Ortiz and acclaimed closer Emmanuel Clase, to indefinite suspension for their gambling activities. Before the trade deadline of July 31, rumors were also flying that Steven Kwan, the leadoff engine of their offense and a wonderful left fielder, might be traded.  Fortunately, the astute Guardian front office held on to Kwan but they did trade star pitcher Shane Bieber to the Blue Jays where, recovered from Tommy John surgery, he should help Toronto in the playoffs.  Switch-hitting third baseman Jose Ramirez remains the Guardians' anchor and leader.  A couple of years ago, the team was wise enough to sign Jose to a long-term contract knowing that he was comfortable with the only organization he has known since signing as a youngster in the Dominican Republic.

Despite its shocking decline, Detroit managed to limp into a rematch with Cleveland in the best-of-3 wild card round: Tu Sept 30, W Oct 1, and if necessary Th Oct 2 - all on ESPN game time 1:08P EDT. The national networks always give the Midwest the short stick in game times which is why yours truly, a perpetual rooter for underdogs and grinders, hopes the winner of this matchup goes deep into October and even November. They met last October in a memorable 5-game series won by Cleveland.  How Tarik Skubal, Detroit's ace southpaw, fares in Game 1 will be a big factor but ass I noted, Cleveland has a deep and largely home-grown pitching staff. 

The winner will face the AL West champ Seattle Mariners who dethroned perpetual playoff participant Houston, starting on Sa Oct 4 in a Best-of-5 series.  The Mariners, established in 1977 along with the Blue Jays, are the only MLB team that has never been to a World Series and fans and players are hungry for a better outcome. With the trade deadline additions of corner infielders Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor, the Mariners now have a deep lineup and solid, mainly youthful starting pitching. The enhanced offense has taken some pressure off the wunderkind center fielder Julio Rodriguez who might be ready to explode into the national baseball consciousness.

The Yankees and Red Sox will resume their intense rivalry in the other ALWC series, also on ESPN, with games starting on Tu Sept 30 at 608P.  The winner will face the Blue Jays starting on Sat Oct 5 in a best-of-five.  The Yankees finished the season with 8 wins in a row and looked impressive against the truly woeful White Sox and the disappointing Orioles - (I'm restraining myself on my adjectives to describe what happened to my team this year.) The Birds played like Woerioles in the first two games of the Yankee series - then fought nobly in the Sunday game, losing 3-2 as Yankees first baseman-catcher Ben Rice, a 12th round draft pick from Dartmouth, hit a first inning and decisive eighth solo home runs.  

The Red Sox have an ace in southpaw Garrett Crochet and a lot of feisty speedy young players even without rookies Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer.  Former Yankee Aroldis Chapman is the closer who had a record-setting regular season for consistency. But can he erase the memory of some of his post-season failures in pinstripes?    

Toronto will be a formidabale opponent in the ALDS.  Hard not to root for George Springer, 36, who has oodles of post-season experience with Houston and healthy again sparks the lineup.  Will never forget many seasons ago George's father accepting the Herb Stein Future Star award at the NY Pro Scouts annual January dinner. A lawyer who spoke like a preacher, George's dad assured us that his son will always put out 120% effort on the field.  In another nice touch.you can often see Springer, a Connecticut native, use batting gloves in the color of the dearly departed Hartford Whalers NHL team. 

The NLWC series look equally intriguing.  At 3:08P EDT on ABC, the Padres, runner up to the Dodgers in the NL West, meet the Cubs who finished second to the Milwaukee Brewers, lhe team with the best overall record this year so have earned home field advantage in every post-season series. But they carry the burden of a poor 2-10 record in recent post-seasons.  The Cubs seem to have a nice mix of veterans and youngsters - eg. shortstop Dansby Swanson is coming off a so-so year and might be ready to shine in playoffs, and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, a former Met farmhand who was traded for Javy Baez who BTW is now bringing his erratic magic act to the Tigers, will look to erase his late season slump.  Alas, San Diego will miss outfiielder Ramon Laureano who during an at-bat suffered a broken finger on a foul ball.  A matchup with Brewers looms starting on Oct 4.  If Chicago advances, the NLDS will pit Cubs manager Craig Counsell against Brewers skipper Pat Murphy, who coached Craig at Notre Dame and then served as Counsell's bench coach in Milwaukee. 

The final series, starting tonight Sep 30 at 908P on ESPN, pits the upstart Cincinnati Reds against the powerhouse Dodgers who like the Yankees finished the season on a roll.

Talented Reds RHP Hunter Greene has to come up big against one of the Dodgers' many big free agent acquisitions LHP Blake Snell. I have faith that veteran Reds manager Terry "Tito" Francona in his first year in Cincinnati will have Greene and his young team primsed to compete and not overcome by the moment.  Waiting in the wings are the Phillies with an older team that might be looking at these playoffs as a last hurrah.  

There is no substitute for experience under October's bright lights. I am not surprised that Francona led the young Reds to the playoffs.  They won two out of three from Brewers on last week of season while Mets lost 2 of 3 at Miami, completing a three-month slide from 21 games over .500 ln June to 18 under .500 for the rest of season. In Scott Miller's wonderful new book SKIPPER: WHY BASEBALL MANAGERS MATTER (AND ALWAYS WILL), he might have provided a clue to Mets' issues when he quoted Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor about what he learned from Francona on his first day as a Cleveland rookie:  "Just understand that somebody lost a job today by you getting called up. Respect your peers and show them that you are here to help us win."  The Mets' stars statistically all had successful seasons, but the essence of team was obviously missing.

I will write more in future posts about Scott Miller's achievement in SKIPPER but with a sad heart because though Miller lived to see the book published, he died of cancer in June at the age of 62.  How poignant that one of the best chroniclers of the managerial profession left us just a few weeks before managerial greats Davey Johnson, Bobby Cox, and hockey's Ken Dryden (who loved baseball as much as hockey) left us.  

That's all for now.  Stay Positive Test Negative and Take It Easy But Take It.