Carl Erskine, 1926-2024

I see the boys of summer in their ruin

Lay the gold tithings barren,

Setting no store by harvest, freeze the soils.

Dylan Thomas wrote that. The great Welsh poet died on November 9, 1953, in New York, from the effects of raging alcoholism. Roger Kahn had just completed 2 seasons as the beat reporter for the Brooklyn Dodgers for the New York Herald Tribune. He would later write a book about the Dodger players that he covered in the 1952 and '53 seasons.

The last survivor of the players he looked up while they were in middle age, and profiled in the book The Boys of Summer, was Carl Erskine.

In 1985, with a few of the others still alive, rock and roll legend Don Henley wrote this:

I can tell you

my love for you will still be strong

after the boys of summer have gone.

Henley was from Texas, not a Dodger fan, and wasn't talking about baseball. Nevertheless, the "boys" of whom Kahn wrote -- as is Kahn himself -- are now all gone.

*

Carl Daniel Erskine was born on December 13, 1926 in Anderson, Indiana. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he signed as a pitcher with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He made his major league debut on July 26, 1948, pitching the 7th inning for the Dodgers, against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field. He ended up as the winning pitcher in a 7-6 Dodger win.

The Brooks were in a transition: The men who'd led them to the National League Pennant in 1941 and 1947, and nearly did so in 1942 and 1946, were, or had been, traded away, due to either advancing age or their unwillingness to play with the 1st black player in modern baseball, Jackie Robinson. The men who would help the Dodgers win 5, and nearly 7, out of 8 Pennants were on their way up, and Erskine was one of them.

He was not one of the Dodger players who had a problem with playing with a black man. He recalled a moment from early in his career, meeting Jackie, his wife Rachel, and their son, Jackie Jr.:

In Brooklyn, I came out of the clubhouse one day, and there was an area where wives and family members could wait. When I came out of the clubhouse, Rachel and little Jackie were there. I just walked over, the natural thing to do, and talked with them for a few minutes.

The next day, Jackie said he wanted to thank me for what I did. I said, "I didn't pitch yesterday." He said, "No, you walked over to talk, out in front of the crowd, to talk with Jackie and Rachel." I was almost embarrassed. I said, "Jackie, don't thank me for that. Shake my hand for a well-pitched game." That was a natural thing for me to do. But he was impressed by that.

Soon, Dodger fans would be impressed with the man who, in their Brooklyn accent, called "Oisk." He was used mainly as a reliever in the Pennant season of 1949, and the near-miss seasons of 1950 and '51. In 1951, he went 16-12 with 4 saves. He was in the bullpen, along with Ralph Branca, in the bottom of the 9th inning of the Playoff game between the Dodgers and their arch-rivals, the New York Giants, when manager Charlie Dressen needed a relief pitcher.

Erskine had one of the best curveballs in the game at the time, but, at just the right moment, he threw a bad one. Bullpen coach Clyde Sukeforth saw this, and told Dressen over the phone that Branca looked better. Branca gave up a Pennant-winning home run to Bobby Thomas. Erskine would later call the curveball he bounced in the bullpen dirt the best pitch he ever threw.

Dressen moved Erskine into the starting rotation in 1952. It worked: Erskine went 14-6 with a 2.70 ERA, including a no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs on June 19. He went 20-6 in 1953, leading the NL with a .769 winning percentage. In Game 4 of the World Series, against the New York Yankees, he struck out 14 batters, a World Series record that stood for 10 years, and a record for righthanders that stood for 15 years. Still, the Dodgers lost both Series.

Those seasons, 1952 and '53, were Roger Kahn's years covering the Dodgers for the Herald Tribune. He got to know the players very well. Kahn's father was a Dodger fan, but was also was a book editor, and his mother was a schoolteacher, so he had a healthy respect for good writing. Kahn wrote of how Erskine sat next to him on a team flight, and they recited poetry to each other.

Don Newcombe, the Dodgers' best pitcher in that era, missed the entire '52 and '53 seasons, serving in the Korean War. For that reason, he was not one of the Dodger players that Kahn profiled in The Boys of Summer, as he looked up his former heroes, to see what they were doing in middle age: 2nd baseman Jackie Robinson, catcher Roy Campanella, 1st baseman Gil Hodges, shortstop Harold "Pee Wee" Reese, center fielder Edwin "Duke" Snider (all eventually Hall-of-Famers), 3rd baseman Billy Cox, left fielders George "Shotgun" Shuba and Andy Pafko, right fielder Carl "the Reading Rifle" Furillo; and pitchers Erskine, Elwin "Preacher" Roe, Clem Labine and Joe Black.

In 1954, Erskine went 18-15, and made his only All-Star Game. In 1955, he went 11-8, and the Dodgers finally won the World Series, beating the Yankees, after losing to them in the Series of 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953. (They also lost to the Boston Red Sox in 1916, and the Cleveland Indians in 1920.)

In 1956, he seemed to slow down, only going 13-11. He did, however, pitch a 2nd no-hitter, against the hated Giants, on May 12, 1956. It was the 1st no-hitter broadcast on national television, on the NBC Game of the Week. Given that the Dodgers were still the defending World Champions, and that Robinson was still with the team, this may have been the all-time high-water mark for Brooklyn baseball.

The Dodgers lost the World Series to the Yankees that year. Robinson retired after it. In 1957, the Dodgers were moved to Los Angeles. Erskine lasted until 1959, but was not on the Dodgers' roster when they made that year's World Series. He finished his career with a record of 122-78, an ERA of 4.00, and a WHIP of 1.328.

He went back to Indiana, and coached the baseball team at Anderson College, an NAIA school, winning 4 league titles. He became president of the Star Bank of Anderson. In 1960, already with 3 children, Danny, Gary and Susan, Carl and Betty Erskine became the parents of James. He was born with Down syndrome.

It was a time when many doctors told parents that babies with Down syndrome should be sent to an institution, that they would be a societal hindrance, that they would disrupt family life. Carl and Betty wouldn't do that. Instead, they raised Jimmy just as they did their other three children.

Ted Green, a documentary filmmaker, said in his film The Best We've Got: The Carl Erskine Story, "They let him fly. They took Jimmy out with them wherever they went, to church, to restaurants. It was always Jimmy was there and if he acted up, he acted up." Just like every other kid acts up. The Erskines blazed a trail for other families with children who had special needs. They showed quietly though their actions how to raise a child with intellectual disabilities.

As an adult, Jimmy lived at home, and held a job nearby, at the Hopewell center, for people with developmental difficulties, assisting those who didn't have parents as strong as his own. Together, the Erskines, parents and children, raised money for the Special Olympics.

Anderson named an elementary school and a hospital after him. Brooklyn named a street after him. In 2010, Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana gave him the State's highest honor, the Sachem Award. In 2023, the Baseball Hall of Fame gave him the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to charity.

That year, Jimmy's health difficulties caught up with him, and he died at the age of 63, which is longer than most Down's patients live. It's not much of a surprise that Carl Erskine died yesterday, April 16, 2024, at the age of 97, less than a year after his son.

Hodges was the 1st of "the Boys of Summer" to die, in 1972. Robinson, due to his health difficulties, told a reporter at Hodges' funeral that he believed he would be the 1st to go. He wasn't off by much, dying later in the year. Cox died in 1978, Furillo in 1989, Campanella in 1993, Reese in 1999, Black in 2002, Labine in 2007, Roe in 2008, Snider in 2011, Pafko in 2013, Shuba in 2014, and Newcombe in 2019. Now, with Erskine, they're all gone.

With his death, that leaves 5 living former Brooklyn Dodgers: Tommy Brown, Jim Gentile, Fred Kipp, Bob Aspromonte and Sandy Koufax. It leaves Koufax as the last surviving member of the 1955 World Champion Brooklyn Dodgers, although Erskine was the last one who played in that World Series. And it leaves 3 surviving players who played in the 1940s: Ed Mickelson, Frank Saucier and Bobby Shantz.

Whitey Herzog, 1931-2024

Prior to World War II, a major league sports team's field boss, its manager, and it's business boss, its general manager, were often the same person. As time went on, this became less common. We still see it every once in a while in the NBA and the NHL.

In the NFL, it usually happens when a Super Bowl-winning coach falls out with his team's owner, and another team's owner wants to hired him, and the coach says not unless I get full control over player decisions, and that usually doesn't work out well.

In Major League Baseball, since World War II, only one man has been a team's manager and its general manager, and still won a Pennant, much less a World Series. That one man was Whitey Herzog.

*

Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog was born on November 9, 1931 in New Athens, Illinois, outside St. Louis. Like Edward Charles Ford, Don Richard Ashburn, and a previous St. Louis Cardinals legend, George John Kurowski, his light blond hair led to the nickname "Whitey." He could have gone by one of his middle names, and the English translation of his German surname: "Norman Duke." In 1953, he married Mary Lou Sinn, and they had 3 children.

"Baseball has been good to me since I quit trying to play it." A lefthanded hitter and a righthanded outfielder, he played for the Washington Senators from 1956 to 1958, making him a teammate of Harmon Killebrew; the Kansas City Athletics from 1958 to 1960, making him a teammate of Roger Maris; the Baltimore Orioles in 1961 and 1962, making him a teammate of Brooks Robinson; and the Detroit Tigers in 1963, making him a teammate of Al Kaline.

Not much rubbed off on him: In 634 major league games, he batted .257 with 25 home runs and 172 RBIs, and never got close to a Pennant. In 1964, the Kansas City Athletics hired him as a scout, and promoted him to a major league coach in 1965.

In 1966, he was hired as the 3rd base coach for the New York Mets. In 1967, the Mets made him director of player development. So he had a role in building the team that won the 1969 World Series and the 1973 National League Pennant.

Just before the start of the 1972 season, Met manager Gil Hodges died. Herzog thought he should be the next manager. Team chairman M. Donald Grant ordered Herzog not to attend Hodges' funeral, to avoid speculation. Grant hired Yogi Berra instead.

Herzog knew Grant was a rotten guy, and decided to get out of the Met organization and take the 1st managing job he was offered. After the 1972 season, Joe Burke, the general manager of the Texas Rangers, hired him. But he didn't get through the 1973 season, as the team's owner, Bob Short, fired him on September 7. In 1974, he became the California Angels' 3rd base coach, and served as interim manager for 4 games after Bobby Winkles was fired and Dick Williams was hired.

That year, Burke became the GM of the Kansas City Royals, and on July 24, 1975, he fired Jack McKeon as manager and hired Herzog. Between Burke's player moves and Herzog's managing, the Royals won the American League Western Division title in 1976, 1977 and 1978.

They were a team that used its ballpark to its advantage: Royals Stadium, now named Kauffman Stadium, had deep power alleys, so it was hard to hit home runs in, but it encouraged doubles and triples. The field was artificial turf. So Burke and Herzog built a team of line-drive hitters and speedsters who were good on defense, and pitchers who were good at inducing ground balls rather than fly balls.

Case in point was George Brett, to this day the greatest player the Royals franchise has ever had: His lifetime batting average was .305, and he collected 3,154 hits, 665 of them doubles and 137 of them triples -- but despite his obvious power, he hit "only" 317 home runs in 20 full seasons.

But, all 3 times, the Royals lost the AL Championship Series to the New York Yankees, despite Brett's tendency to use the "short porch" in right field at Yankee Stadium for home runs. Clearly, something had to change. After falling well short of the Division title in 1979, the Royals fired Herzog, and hired Jim Frey. This, and some other changes, including boosting the bullpen, gave the Royals what they needed to finally beat the Yankees in the ALCS, in 1980.

"The White Rat" was hired by the St. Louis Cardinals, as both manager and GM. It was already a rare thing to be both in MLB. But he knew that Busch Memorial Stadium was also a pitcher's park with artificial turf, and built a new "Whiteyball" team of pitching, contact hitting, speed and defense.

This time, the signature player was shortstop Ozzie Smith. But he also had good hitters and fielders, like 1st baseman Keith Hernandez, 2nd baseman Tommie Herr, right fielder George Hendrick, center fielder Willie McGee (who became that season's National League Rookie of the Year), and his former catcher in Kansas City, Darrell Porter.

With a pitching staff topped by Bruce Sutter, the best reliever in the NL, the Cardinals won the World Series in 1982, beating the Milwaukee Brewers. This made Herzog the 1st manager/GM to win a World Series since Connie Mack of the 1930 Philadelphia Athletics -- and he was also a part-owner.

Herzog found out that Hernandez was using cocaine, so he traded him in 1983, to the Mets, for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownby. This trade helped rebuild the Mets, and it worked out badly for the Cards. Prior to the 1985 season, Herzog traded for San Francisco Giants' 1st baseman Jack Clark, one of the top sluggers of the time. In the 1985 NL Championship Series, Herzog outmanaged Tommy Lasorda of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Clark's home run in the top of the 9th inning of Game 6 won the Pennant.

It would be the Royals that the Cards would face, in the 1st (and still only) All-Missouri World Series. The Cardinals led the Royals 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 6, and needed just 3 more outs to win the Series. Jorge Orta hit a ground ball to Clark. Clark flipped to reliever Todd Worrell, who was covering 1st base. Orta was unquestionably out. The instant replay cameras and a now-familiar photograph confirmed this. Except 1st base umpire Don Denkinger blew the call, and called Orta safe.

The next batter, Steve Balboni, popped up, and Clark couldn't handle it, and Balboni singled on his next swing. A passed ball by Porter made it men on 2nd and 3rd, and Hal McRae was intentionally walked. Dane Iorg, another former Cardinal, stepped up, and singled home Orta and Balboni, and the Royals had a 2-1 walkoff win to force a Game 7 at home.

The Cardinals were furious. So were their fans. Understandably so. They all thought Denkinger stole the World Series from them. They still think so, 39 years later. There's just one problem with this theory: There was still 1 game to go. If the Cardinals had won Game 7, Denkinger's blown call would have been just a footnote.

So Herzog should have taken his team into the clubhouse and said, "Men, we got screwed tonight, but there's nothing we can do about it now. So let's win this thing tomorrow, and what happened tonight won't matter." Instead, the White Rat whined about the call to the media, and let it get into his head, and into his team's heads. The shock isn't that the Cards lost Game 7 by a whopping 11-0. The shock is that the Royals won it by only 11 runs.

The Cardinals won another Pennant in 1987, making it 3 in 6 seasons, but lost the World Series to the Minnesota Twins. Herzog remained the Cardinal manager and GM until July 6, 1990, resigning of his own accord, saying, "I came here in last place, and I leave here in last place. I left them right where I started." He never managed again, although he did serve as GM of the California Angels in 1993 and 1994. His career record as a manager was 1,281-1,185, for a .532 winning percentage. He reached 6 postseasons, winning 3 Pennants and 1 World Series.

Whitey Herzog was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans' Committee in 2009. The Cardinals subsequently retired his Number 24. Both the Royals and the Cardinals elected him to their team Halls of Fame, and he was elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. He died this past Monday, April 15, 2024, at the age of 92.

April 17, 1999: The Strangest NFL Draft

April 17, 1999, 25 years ago: The NFL Draft is held in New York, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden -- formerly known as the Felt Forum, and now as the Hulu Theater.

The Draft has had some sour moments. New York Jets fans, especially when the Draft is held in New York, tend to go, and their reactions to their team's 1st round pick is usually vociferous. Like the nursery rhyme about the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead, when it's good, it's very, very good; but when it's bad, it's horrid.

But Jet fans have nothing on fans of the Philadelphia Eagles. As NFL Films co-founder, producer and writer Steve Sabol (a Philadelphia area native) put it, to be read by John Facenda, the local news anchor who was the voice of NFL Films from 1967 until his death in 1984, put it, "In Philadelphia, a fan learns to boo before he can walk."

In 1998, the Heisman Trophy was won by Ricky Williams of the University of Texas, who had broken the NCAA's career record for rushing yardage. That record lasted for just 1 year, broken by Ron Dayne of Wisconsin, who would play for the New York Giants.

Williams seemed to push all the right buttons. He was big. He was strong. He was very fast. He was from one of college football's marquee schools. He had excelled in one of college football's toughest leagues, the Big 12 Conference. He had come through in high-profile games. He seemed nice. He seemed smart. He was respectful of the game's history: When Doak Walker, often regarded as the greatest Texas-born player, was dying, Ricky visited him in the hospital, and, for one game, switched from his usual Number 34 to Walker's legendary 37. And, at the time, there were no red flags.

He should have been the top pick in the NFL Draft. Except that 1999 was the year the restored Cleveland Browns were beginning play, and they had the top pick. They made it known that they would be picking a quarterback. That turned out to be Tim Couch of the University of Kentucky. He turned out to be a bust, partly because he wasn't that good, partly because the Browns handled him badly. But that's a story for another time.

The 2nd pick belonged to the Eagles, 3-13 the season before. Their quarterbacks were Rodney Peete (decent but injury-prone), Bobby Hoying (a reasonable backup, but shouldn't have been a starter) and Koy Detmer (not even the best quarterback in his own family, and his brother Ty wasn't so hot as a pro, either).

Drafting a seemingly good quarterback is not a cure-all, especially for his rookie year. In the previous year's Draft, the Indianapolis Colts had the 1st pick, the San Diego Chargers the 2nd. The top 2 picks were going to be Peyton Manning of Tennessee and Ryan Leaf of Washington State, and pretty much everybody was thinking that you couldn't go wrong with either one. The Colts picked Manning, and he had a rough rookie year, but became a Hall-of-Famer. The Chargers picked Leaf, and it was a disaster even beyond his rookie year.

But the Eagles also needed to boost their running game. Their 2 best running backs were Duce Staley (good, but not great) and Charlie Garner (occasionally good, at best). Furthermore, given that they were 3-13, the Eagles could have gone with the cliché of drafting "the best available athlete." At the time, it wasn't hard to believe that this was Ricky Williams.

Angelo Cataldi, then as now the morning show host for all-sports radio station WIP (then 610 AM, now 94.1 FM), knowing that the Browns were likely drafting Couch, promoted the idea of the Eagles drafting Williams. He arranged for a group of Eagles fans to attend the Draft at The Garden. Some of them even wore Eagle jerseys with Williams' name and Number 34 on them, presumably paid for out of their own pockets, not out of WIP's bank account. (UPDATE: Cataldi retired in 2023.)

At the Draft, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced, "With the 2nd pick, the Philadelphia Eagles select... Donovan McNabb... " The rest of his words could not be heard, as the Eagle fans in attendance overwhelmed it with boos.

They had been betrayed by team management, and not for the 1st time. Or so they believed. And they booed their lungs out. Why?

Well, from previous bad drafts and bad free agent signings, to the financial difficulties of former owner Leonard Tose and the cheapness of former owner Norman Braman, Eagle fans were used to the organization not doing right by them. New owner Jeffrey Lurie had promised better. So far, he hadn't delivered. Drafting McNabb instead of Williams seemed like another crack in the promise.

The team that can run the ball the best controls the clock. The team that controls the clock usually wins the game. And, as former Eagle cornerback Herman Edwards, then an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, would later say as head coach of the New York Jets, "You play to win the game!"

And, as I said, the Eagles needed to boost their running game, possibly more than they needed a good quarterback. This was largely due to the fact that, from 1995 to 1997, they had put their faith in a different Ricky W: Ricky Watters had helped the San Francisco 49ers win a Super Bowl, and the Eagles signed him as a free agent, but he didn't work out for them, appearing to take a nonchalant attitude, which is anathema to Philadelphia fans. And, as I also said, Williams seemed like "the best available athlete."

McNabb came out of Syracuse University. In 1997, he got them to 9-4. Their wins included these over opponents that were then nationally ranked in the Top 25: The Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands against Number 24 Wisconsin, and home to Number 17 West Virginia. But he also lost at home to North Carolina State, and away to Oklahoma and Number 22 Virginia Tech.

In 1998, he got them to 8-4. They won away to Number 13 Michigan, and home to Number 16 Virginia Tech (with Michael Vick as a senior). However, they again lost to North Carolina State and West Virginia, this time away in both cases; and lost at home to Number 10 Tennessee.

In both seasons, he led the Orangemen to the Championship of the Big East Conference. But the Big East was never seen as an elite football league. In basketball, yes; in football, no. In both seasons, he got them to a major bowl game: The 1997 Fiesta Bowl against Number 10 Kansas State (actually played on New Year's Eve that season) and the 1999 Orange Bowl against Number 7 Florida (played on New Year's Day). However, they lost both games. In both seasons, he got them to a Top 25 ranking: 20th in 1997 and 24th in 1998.

In other words, he looked like a good college quarterback. And there were other choices, aside from the already-drafted Couch. With the 3rd pick, the Cincinnati Bengals drafted Akili Smith, who had led Oregon to an 8-4 season. With the 11th pick, the Minnesota Vikings drafted Dante Culpeper, who had led Central Florida to 9-2. With the 12th pick, the Chicago Bears drafted Cade McNown, who had led UCLA to 10-2, the Pac-10 title, and victory in the Rose Bowl. In the 2nd round, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted Shaun King, who had led Tulane to an undefeated 12-0 season and the Number 7 ranking in the country (albeit against, at best, what college basketball fans would call a mid-major schedule).

In other words, McNabb had a good college football career, but was he clearly the best quarterback in that Draft? The best, maybe. Clearly the best, no.

And, as I said, Williams seemed to have all the prerequisites: Good guy, great player, filled a need for the Eagles. And he was available. But they didn't take him. And their fans booed.

They shouldn't have. The Eagles needed a quarterback. When the Detroit Lions chose Rodney Peete in the 6th round out of USC in 1989, there was nothing wrong with wanting a healthy eete on your team. But he got hurt in his 1st preseason, and this began a string of injuries. By the time the Eagles got him in 1995, having a healthy Peete was pretty much a lost cause. And, as I said, neither Bobby Hoying nor Koy Detmer was going to be the answer.

The best college running backs often turn out to be pro busts -- figuratively or, through injury, literally. Eagles fans found that out when they won 2 games late in the 1968 season, costing them the chance to draft the eventually felonious O.J. Simpson, and instead got Leroy Keyes, who fell well short of expectations.

The Eagles had won their last NFL Championship in 1960. Just between then and 1998, and just among Heisman Trophy winners: Ernie Davis never played a pro down due to a fatal illness, Steve Owens lasted just 5 seasons and rushed for less than 2,500 yards, John Cappelletti lasted 10 years and rushed for less than 3,000, Archie Griffin lasted 7 years and rushed for less than 3,000, Charles White lasted 9 years and rushed for just over 3,000, and Rashaan Salaam lasted 4 years and rushed for less than 1,800. Since then, the aforementioned Ron Dayne lasted for 8 years and rushed for less than 4,000.

In addition to those, Billy Sims and Bo Jackson, both Heisman winners, looked like they were headed for the Hall of Fame. But Sims wrecked his knee in his 5th season, and Jackson hurt his hip in his 4th, and neither ever played again. Ki-Jana Carter was the 1st pick in the 1995 NFL Draft, but wrecked his knee in a preseason game in his rookie year. played in just 59 games over a span of 10 seasons, and rushed for just 1,144 yards.

So drafting a running back in the 1st round, even a great college running back like Ricky Williams, wasn't necessarily a great idea.

And what about other teams? They made this Draft even stranger. The Browns didn't draft Williams, either. Once they drafted Couch, and the Eagles drafted McNabb, the Bengals could have drafted Williams. Here's where it gets really strange: The New Orleans Saints offered the Bengals 9 draft picks for their pick, so they could draft Williams. Nine of them. The Bengals turned them down, and drafted Akili Smith.

The 4th pick belonged to the Indianapolis Colts. The Saints tried to make a deal with them, too, but they wouldn't budge. But they also didn't pick Williams. They drafted a different running back, Edgerrin James of the University of Miami. And while Couch and Smith were both busts, James was not: He went to the Hall of Fame.

Finally, the Saints got the Washington Redskins to agree to a deal: The 5th pick in that Draft, in exchange for the Saints' entire 1999 Draft except for the 2nd round, and their 1st and 3rd round picks for 2000. The Saints drafted Williams. The Redskins did some more maneuvering, and packaged 3 of the picks they got from the Saints to send to the Bears for a pick they ended up using on University of Georgia cornerback Champ Bailey, who made the Hall of Fame.

Incidentally, the Saints' general manager at the time was Bill Kuharich, son of Joe Kuharich, who, as Eagles head coach and general manager in 1964, made what is generally regarded as the worst trade in Eagles history: Sending Sonny Jurgensen to the Washington Redskins for Norm Snead.

Jurgensen was a carouser, and the moralistic Joe Kuharich hated that. Snead was a straight arrow. With the Redskins, Jurgensen continued his Hall of Fame career, throwing the most touchdown passes of any quarterback in the 1960s. The quarterback with the most interceptions in that decade? You may have guessed: Snead.

Anyway, what all this means is that 5 teams passed on drafting Ricky Williams: First the Browns, then the Eagles, then the Bengals, then the Colts, and lastly the Redskins. As we will soon see, the Browns and Bengals might have been better off if they'd taken him. Between what we will soon see, and what we have already seen, the Eagles and Colts might not have been.

Bears legend Mike Ditka was the Saints' head coach at the time, and they went just 3-13 in 1999. Williams rushed for 884 yards. Ditka was fired, and replaced with Jim Haslett. It was a huge improvement, as they went 10-6, and, each for the 1st time in franchise history, won their Division (the NFC West) and won a Playoff game. Williams rushed for 1,000 yards even, despite missing half the season due to injury. And then they slid back down to 7-9 in 2001, despite Williams rushing for 1,245 yards. He was getting personal success, but not much team success.

He didn't fit in. His Saints teammate Joe Horn said, "Ricky's just a different guy. People he wanted to deal with, he did. And people he wanted to have nothing to do with, he didn't. No one could understand that. I don't think guys in the locker room could grasp that he wanted to be himself. You know, quiet."

He was traded to the Miami Dolphins for 4 draft picks, and 2002 turned out to be his best NFL season. He rushed for a League-leading 1,853 yards. He rushed for another 1,372 yards in 2003. In those seasons, they went 9-7 and 10-6, but didn't make the Playoffs either time. Still, it looked like the Saints had blown it, both in getting him and in getting rid of him.

And then, in the run-up to the 2004 season, he was suspended for testing positive for marijuana. On August 2, he announced his retirement.

It's become a meme in the years since: ESPN's Stephen A. Smith telling NFL players to "Stay off the weed!" Or, as he pronounces it, "the weeeeeeee-duh!" Physically speaking, Ricky Williams was as gifted as any running back in NFL history. Emotionally speaking, he was at the other extreme, eventually being diagnosed with clinical depression and social anxiety disorder. He chose smoking pot over playing football.

The Dolphins seemed to prove his point, that they needed him more than he needed them, going 4-12 in 2004. Williams patched things up with them, served his mandatory 4-game drug-test suspension, and rushed for 743 yards in 12 games. The Dolphins went 9-7 in 2005, and just missed the Playoffs again. And then, in early 2006, Williams was suspended for the entire upcoming season, for violating the NFL's drug policy for a 2nd time.

The Canadian Football League had a less stringent drug policy, and Williams signed with the Toronto Argonauts. But his season with the Argos was stricken with injuries: A broken bone in his arm and a damaged Achilles tendon limited him to 11 games and 526 yards. The CFL instituted what's become known as "The Ricky Williams Rule": No longer would a player under suspension by the NFL be eligible to be signed by a CFL team, although a "grandfather clause" meant that Williams himself could stay.

He didn't: After claiming that yoga had helped him to stop using marijuana, he entered into negotiations with Commissioner Tagliabue, and was granted reinstatement. He returned on November 26, 2007, playing for the Dolphins against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. But it would be the only game he played that season, as he suffered a shoulder injury.

He played all 16 games of the 2008 season, rushing for 659 yards, and helping the Dolphins win the AFC East. He played all 16 games of the 2009 season, rushing for 1,121 yards, making him only the 7th player in NFL history to rush for at least 1,000 at age 32 or later, but the Dolphins only went 7-9. In 2010, he rushed for 673 yards, and the Dolphins went 10-6, but missed the Playoffs.

His contract with the Dolphins had run out, and he signed with the Baltimore Ravens for 2011. He played in every game, rushed for 444 yards, and on January 1, 2012, he joined the 10,000 Yards Club. The Ravens went 12-4, won the AFC North, and advanced to the AFC Championship Game.

But, a month later, Williams announced his retirement, for good this time. He was not quite 35, with 10,009 rushing yards, 342 receptions for 2,606 yards, and 74 touchdowns.

He has since become a certified yoga instructor, and an advocate for medical marijuana. Apparently, the former hasn't actually turned him off from the latter; but, together, they have helped him deal with his mental health difficulties.

He is in the College Football Hall of Fame, but not the Pro Football Hall of Fame, for which he has been eligible since 2017. There are 31 players with at least 10,000 rushing yards. The only ones eligible but not yet in are Fred Taylor, Steven Jackson, Corey Dillon, Warrick Dunn, Ricky Watters, Jamal Lewis, Thomas Jones, Tiki Barber, Eddie George, Ottis Anderson... and Ricky Williams.

Two of those players, Williams and Lewis, have had drug issues. The rest haven't. Based on statistics, it appears that 12,000 yards -- or, more precisely, 12,074 -- is the actual threshold: Every player with at least that many is in, except for the not-yet-eligible Gore and Peterson. So maybe it's not the drug issue that's holding Williams back, since there are never-suspended players with more rushing yards who aren't in Canton.

Nevertheless, Williams was a headache for 2 different NFL franchises, New Orleans and Miami. Neither team has elected him to their team hall of fame. If you ask the average Dolphin fan to name his all-time team, his running backs are going to be those on the 1972-73 Super Bowl teams, Larry Csonka and either Jim Kiick or Mercury Morris. (A little ironic, since Morris had to overcome a more severe drug problem than Williams, and did.)

Even in the 22 years since Williams arrived in the NFL, or in the 17 years since he was first suspended, America's understanding of mental health issues has improved. It is entirely possible that the same issues would have reared their heads had he been drafted by the Eagles instead of the Saints.

And that would have been very bad for his mental health. Can you imagine Eagle fans reacting to Ricky Williams' drug and psych issues? They would have tried to destroy him. And, away from the more laid-back atmospheres in Louisiana and South Florida, it would have been much worse for him. Instead of accepting him, Eagle fans would have compounded the problem.

Now, imagine that the Eagles drafted the top quarterback available the next year. Because they still would have needed one. Who would that have been? There were 12 quarterbacks drafted. The 1st was Chad Pennington, who had a decent career with Miami and the Jets. Of the 11 after him, the best was... Tom Brady, taken in the 6th round by the New England Patriots. And we'll never know for sure if he would have won even one single solitary NFL game without being the perpetrator, or at least the beneficiary, of cheating.

And, given how close the Eagles were to winning the Super Bowl with McNabb but without Williams, would they have been any better the other way around? With Pennington as quarterback and Williams in the backfield? It's unlikely.

Because the quarterback they did draft turned out to be pretty good. Suppose you rooted for a struggling NFL team. And suppose I told you that they were going to draft a quarterback who gave his college back-to-back seasons of a Conference Championship and a bid to a New Year's Day bowl game. And that he would lead your team to the Playoffs in only his 2nd season, and that this would be the 1st of 8 trips to the Playoffs -- without any guarantee as to how any of those berths would turn out. Would you like your chances? Would you take this? I think most fans would.

Certainly, McNabb's pro career could have been better. He was 10-8 in Playoff games, 1-4 in NFC Championship Games including 2 losses at home, and 0-1 in Super Bowls. And, so far, voters for the Pro Football Hall of Fame have not seen fit to elect him.

But Donovan McNabb turned out to be, if not the greatest, then the most statistically successful quarterback in Eagles history. He joined Fran Tarkenton, John Elway and Steve Young as only the 4th quarterback in NFL history to have 30,000 passing yards, 200 touchdown passes, 3,000 rushing yards and 20 touchdown runs. He made 6 Pro Bowls. He won 5 NFC East titles.

In 2004, he set a record (since broken) with 24 consecutive pass attempts completed. That same year, he became the 1st quarterback ever to finish a season with at least 30 touchdown passes and fewer than 10 interceptions.

As I said, he went 10-8 in Playoff games with the Eagles. But look at it another way: In 11 seasons with Donovan McNabb as their starting quarterback, the Eagles won 10 postseason games; in 78 seasons with all other starting quarterbacks (1933 to 1998, and 2010 to 2021), they have won just 13. In fact, until Nick Foles came along, it was 9 postseason wins in 73 years without McNabb.

The Eagles reached 5 NFC Championship Games with him. They only reached 1 Super Bowl, and lost it -- but that was to the Patriots, so how do we know it was on the up-and-up? We don't. With the Pats, we presume they're guilty until they're proven innocent.

You can say that other Eagles quarterbacks -- Norm Van Brocklin, Sonny Jurgensen, Ron Jaworski, Randall Cunningham, Nick Foles and Carson Wentz -- were better than Donovan McNabb. Certainly, some of those were more talented. But results matter. Van Brocklin was only in Philadelphia for 3 seasons; Foles, 2. Long-term, McNabb is the Eagles' best quarterback ever.

So the people booing his selection at the 1999 NFL Draft owe him an apology. Yes, Ricky Williams looked like the better pick at the time. But he wasn't. McNabb was. 

April 17, 1964: Shea Stadium Opens & Ford Introduces the Mustang

April 17, 1964, 60 years ago: The 1st game is played at the William A. Shea Municipal Stadium in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

The 55,601-seat stadium, the replacement for the Polo Grounds as home of baseball's New York Mets and football's New York Jets, was supposed to open for the 1963 season. Construction delays pushed that opening back to mid-1963. Then, to Opening Day 1964.

And even then, they were still painting the outfield fence an hour before first pitch. Also, due to a labor union dispute, the press box was not wired for telephones and telegraphs, meaning the sportswriters couldn't call in their stories, or contact the wire services. After the game, they would have to cross Roosevelt Avenue, and use the press office of the New York World's Fair, which opened 5 days later.

William Alfred Shea was a lawyer who helped negotiate New York's return to the National League after the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, and the New York Giants moved to San Francisco, after the 1957 season. Their 1st owner was Joan Whitney Payson. As a member of the Whitney family, she was one of the richest women in America even before she married the wealthy Charles Payson. She had been on the board of directors of the Giants before their move.

So -- and I'm not implying that there was any relationship between them, other than a shared love of baseball -- Bill Shea was the father of the Mets, and Joan Payson was their mother.

Every year, on Opening Day, Shea would take the field at the stadium that was named for him, and present a floral wreath in the shape of a horseshoe to the Mets' manager. A horseshoe is known as a symbol of good luck, as the luck can fall into the shoe.

But Shea's wreath would always have the shoe pointing down, so that the luck runs out. Shea did this every year from the opening of the stadium in 1964 until his death in 1991, 28 times -- and only 3 times would the Mets win a Pennant. Being Irish, Shea should have known a thing or two about luck.

The opposing team for the 1st game was the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates had also been the opponents for the last Dodger game at Ebbets Field in 1957, and for the last Giant game at the Polo Grounds 5 days later, and for the 1st Met home game, at the Polo Grounds on April 13, 1962.

Jack Fisher started for the Mets, and began the stadium's history by getting Pirate shortstop Dick "Ducky" Schofield to pop up to Met 2nd baseman Larry Burright. Willie Stargell led off the top of the 2nd with the stadium's 1st home run.

The Mets took the lead in the bottom of the 4th, with a double by Ron Hunt, a single by Jesse Gonder, a single by Frank Thomas (not the later Chicago White Sox Hall-of-Famer), Jim Hickman being hit with a pitch (something at which Hunt would specialize), and a double by Amado Samuel. Mets 3, Pirates 1.

With 2 out in the top of the 5th, Roberto Clemente singled, and Stargell doubled him home to make it 3-2. With 2 out in the top of the 7th, Clemente, Stargell and Donn Clendenon singled to tie the game. (In 1969, Clendenon would be part of a much bigger chapter in Met history.)

And with 1 out in the 9th, Stargell and Clendenon singled. Following a lineout by Bob Bailey, Bill Mazeroski singled to center, scoring Stargell with the winning run. Pirates 4, Mets 3. There would be times when Shea Stadium would be a tremendous home-field advantage for the Mets, but the 1st game would not be one of them.

In 1974, due to the renovation of Yankee Stadium, the Yankees played at Shea. In 1975, after playing a season and a half at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, the New York Giants football team moved into Shea, making it the 1st, and still the only, sports facility to host 4 major league teams in a single calendar year. In 1976, the Yankees moved back into a renovated Yankee Stadium, while the Giants moved into Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands.

The Jets won the American Football League Championship Game at Shea in 1968, and went on to win Super Bowl III. They left Shea in 1983, and joined the Giants at the Meadowlands.

The Mets hosted the All-Star Game at Shea in its 1st season, 1964; won the World Series in 1969 and 1986; and won the Pennant but lost the World Series in 1973.

Notable concerts at Shea included The Beatles in 1965 and 1966, The Who with The Clash opening for them in 1982, Elton John and Eric Clapton in 1992, and Billy Joel playing its last concert in 2008.

After the 2008 season, Shea was demolished, and the Mets moved into the next-door Citi Field.  

Let's be honest: Even when it was brand-new, Shea was never a better place to watch a baseball game than Yankee Stadium. It was a multipurpose facility, not so good for football, worse for baseball, with an upper deck even steeper than that of the big ballyard in The Bronx. And the planes, taking off from nearby LaGuardia Airport! Oy vey, the planes! The noise! (Landing, they were on a different flight path, and weren't nearly as bad.)

Shea had a lot more parking than Yankee Stadium, sure. But while Met fans liked to say that Shea was in a better neighborhood, it wasn't true: It wasn't in any neighborhood. It was an island in a sea of parking. You had to get in your car and drive to get a postgame meal. And across 126th Street, just beyond the outfield, was a junkyard, little better than the ghetto that stood beyond the elevated tracks beyond the bleachers at Yankee Stadium.

No.

Then again, at least it was open-ended, and not a concrete "ashtray" or "donut" as some fully-enclosed stadiums of the 1960s and '70s were called. And it had real grass. And the food was good. And, occasionally, the atmosphere was electric. Yankee fans, noting that it was in Flushing Meadow, liked to call Shea "The Flushing Toilet." But it was never as bad as its critics said, or as good as its promoters said.

It served its purpose, and now, it's gone.

April 17, 1964 was also the day that the Ford Motor Company introduced the Ford Mustang, which began as a little sports car. By the end of the decade, it was bigger, a "muscle car." It is still produced today, and is an American automotive legend.

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April 16, 1954: The Tony Leswick Goal

April 16, 1954, 70 years ago: Only twice in the history of the Stanley Cup Finals has a Game 7 gone to overtime. They happened within 4 years of each other, and both were won by the Detroit Red Wings.

The Wings had won the Cup in 1950, when Pete Babando scored in double overtime of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. They won it again in 1952, becoming the 1st team ever to sweep the 2 rounds of the Playoffs in 8 straight. They still had enough talent to start a future Hall-of-Famer at every position: The Production Line of right wing Gordie Howe and left wing Ted Lindsay had a new center, with Alex Delvecchio replacing the retired Sid Abel; Jack Stewart had retired, but Red Kelly and Marcel Pronovost were on defense; and Terry Sawchuk had succeeded Harry Lumley in goal.

In the Finals, they would face the Montreal Canadiens. Les Habitantes (or the Habs, for short) had lost the Finals to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1951 and the Wings in '52, but had won the Cup in '53, so they went in as the defending Champions.

Like the Wings, the Canadiens could start a Hall-of-Famer at every position. Right wing Maurice "the Rocket" Richard and center Elmer Lach were left over from the Punch Line of the 1940s, with the now-retired Hector "Toe" Blake on the left. There was also right wing Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion, left wing Bert Olmstead, and 3 future HOF defensemen: Émile "Butch" Bouchard, Doug Harvey and Tom Johnson. And, finishing their 1st full seasons in Montreal, center Jean Béliveau and goaltender Jacques Plante. However, it was Gerry McNeil, last season's Cup-winning goalie, who would be in the net for Montreal. Both of these teams were loaded.

The 1st 2 games, at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, were split: The Red Wings won Game 1, 3-1; and the Canadiens won Game 2, by the same score. The action moved to the Montreal Forum, and the Wings won, 5-2 and 2-0. All they had to do was win Game 5 at home, but Ken Mosdell scored at 5:45 of overtime, and the Canadiens stayed alive, 1-0. Back in Montreal, the Habs held home ice, winning 4-1.

Game 7 was set for the Olympia on April 16. Hockey writers tend not to use the expression "Game of the Century" -- though they would do so for a later game at the Montreal Forum, the December 31, 1975 3-3 exhibition-game tie with the Soviet Union's Central Red Army team -- but, given the talent on the ice, and what happened in the game, it would have been justified.

Floyd Curry opened the scoring at 9:17 of the 1st period, giving the Canadiens the lead. At 1:17 of the 2nd, Kelly tied it. There was no scoring in the 3rd period, and the game went to overtime.

Boston Bruin fans won't like reading this, but Doug Harvey was doing the kind of things that Bobby Orr would do a generation later, becoming the 1st truly offensive defenseman. The difference was, Harvey was doing it in Canada, and on radio; while Orr did it in America, and on American television, and that's the main reason Orr is considered a contender for the title of the greatest player ever, along with Howe and Wayne Gretzky, and Harvey is not.

Orr won 8 Norris Trophies as the NHL's top defensemen, and 2 Stanley Cups. The Norris wasn't given out for the 1st time until 1954, and Kelly won it, but Harvey won 7 of the next 8, with Johnson winning the other; and won 6 Stanley Cups. Red Storey, an NHL referee at the height of Harvey's career, called him the smartest player in the game: "If he'd been a general, he'd have won every war." (Harvey was not related to the umpire of the same name who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.)

So it was with some irony that Harvey "scored" the most famous "own goal" in hockey history: At 4:29 of the 1st overtime, Tony Leswick launched a slap shot, and it deflected off Harvey, and past McNeill. There was nothing that either Harvey or McNeil could do, and the Wings were 2-1 winners, and Stanley Cup Champions.

Leswick, 31, was 1 of 3 brothers to play in the NHL, and an uncle of later baseball star Lenny Dykstra. He was just 5-foot-6, but was so tough, he was known as "Tough Tony" and "Mighty Mouse." He played in 6 All-Star Games, was with the Wings when they won the 1952 Cup, and would be with them in 1955, when they won the Cup again. He later coached in the minor leagues, and lived until 2001.

In 1998, The Hockey News ranked Harvey 6th on their list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. Sadly, he had died in 1989. McNeill wasn't exactly blamed for letting the winning goal in, but Plante, who would rank 13th on The Hockey News' list, was ready, and, with stars like him, Richard, Harvey, Béliveau and Geoffrion, the Canadiens would win 5 straight Stanley Cups from 1956 to 1960. McNeill lived until 2004.

Ken Holtzman, 1945-2024

I don't need reminders of my advancing age. My bones, muscles and joints do that for me, just fine, even after two hip replacements.

I certainly don't need news that another member of the first team I ever loved has died, even though I know they're all old now.

Kenneth Dale Holtzman was born on November 3, 1945 in St. Louis. Debuting with the Chicago Cubs in 1965, this Jewish lefthander was called "the new Sandy Koufax." In Koufax's 3rd-from-last regular-season appearance, on September 25, 1966, Ken Holtzman's Cubs beat Koufax's Dodgers, 2-1.

He didn't become the new Koufax, but he did go 174-150 in his career -- more wins than Koufax, although Koufax's career ended early due to elbow trouble. Included were 2 no-hitters, half as many as Koufax: On August 19, 1969, against the Atlanta Braves; and on June 3, 1971, against the Cincinnati Reds. He still holds the record for most games won by a Jewish pitcher.

He was a 2-time All-Star, in 1972 and '73. With the Oakland Athletics, he won the World Series in 1972, '73 and '74. In the 1974 Series, he hit a home run, something only 1 pitcher has done in Series play since (Joe Blanton of the 2008 Phillies). He also won a Pennant with the Yankees in 1976 and another World Series with them in 1977.

The Yankees traded him back to the Cubs in 1978, and he retired with them after the 1979 season. The Cubs have elected him to their team Hall of Fame. He was also elected to the University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame, the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.

He returned to his hometown of St. Louis, became an insurance salesman, and died yesterday, April 14, 2024. He was 78 years old, and had been battling heart trouble. He was survived by his ex-wife, Michelle; 3 daughters, Roby, Stay and Lauren; and 4 grandchildren.

Of the 1977 Yankees, Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash in 1979, Catfish Hunter died from Lou Gehrig's disease in 1999, Elrod Hendricks (only 10 games, none in the postseason) in 2005, Dock Ellis (traded in April) in 2008, Paul Blair in 2013, Dave Bergman in 2015, Jimmy Wynn in 2020 (not from COVID), Dick Tidrow in 2021, and Don Gullett earlier this year.

Still alive, in descending order of age, are: Lou Piniella, 80; Roy White, 80; Graig Nettles, 79; Sparky Lyle, 79; Marty Perez, 1 game before being traded in April, 78; Reggie Jackson, 77; Frank Healy, 77; Mike Torrez, 77; Cliff Johnson, 76; Fred Stanley, 76; Carlos May, 75; Mickey Rivers, 75; Dave Kingman, who played all of 8 games, all of them in the regular season, 75; Ed Figueroa, 75; Chris Chambliss, 75; Gene Locklear, only the last game of the regular season, and it was the last major league game he ever played, 74; Stan Thomas, 3 games as a September call-up, and never appeared again, 74; Ron Guidry, 73; George Zeber, 73; Bucky Dent, 72; Larry McCall, 2 games as a September call-up, 71; Dell Alston, 71; Ken Clay, 70; Willie Randolph, 69; Mickey Klutts, 5 games as a September call-up, 69; Gil Patterson, 68.

Yanks Stay On Top of MLB with 2 of 3 vs. Guardians

When I was a kid, the Yankees never, ever lost to the Cleveland Guardians.

Of course, when I was a kid, the Yankees never, ever beat the Cleveland Guardians, either. They were known as the Cleveland Indians from 1915 to 2021.

The Yankees and the Guardians were supposed to start a 3-game series at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Friday night, but it rained, resulting in a doubleheader on Saturday. Clarke Schmidt started the opener, and allowed 2 runs, 1 of them earned, over 5 innings and change. It was a little worrying that he walked 5 batters, along with allowing 3 hits, but he struck out 7. The bullpen kept the "Guards" off the scoreboard the rest of the way. A 2-run home run from Oswaldo Cabrera in the 6th made the difference, and the Yankees won, 3-2.

Cody Poteet, 29 years old and with 19 previous major league appearances to his credit, all with the Miami Marlins, made his Yankee debut as the starting pitcher in the nightcap. He went 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits, and no walks, striking out 4. Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe each had 2 hits, and Juan Soto hit a home run, and the Yankees won, 8-2. That's 12 out of 15 to start the season.

The Sunday game didn't go so well. Nestor Cortés for the Yankees, and allowed 4 runs in 4 innings. Aaron Judge and Jose Trevino hit home runs. The Guardians took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the 8th. A double by Volpe tied the game in the 9th, and it went to extra innings -- meaning, the damn ghost runner came into play.

At first, it helped. In the top of the 10th, Soto was the ghost runner. Judge was intentionally walked to set up a double play. Giancarlo Stanton singled, but Soto couldn't score. Bases loaded, nobody out. The Yankees could have put the game away. Rizzo singled Soto and Judge home. It was 7-5. Gleyber Torres bunted the runners over.

But Alex Verdugo grounded into a double play. To start the bottom of the 10th, Caleb Ferguson was the Yankee reliever. Ferguson had nothing: He allowed a single, and RBI groundout, a double, a game-tying fielder's choice, and a game-losing sacrifice fly. Guardians 8, Yankees 7.

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So, as things stand, the Yankees are 12-4, despite Gerrit Cole, D.J. LeMahieu and Jonathan Loáisiga being unavailable, our catchers batting a combined .157, Torres batting only .203, Judge batting only .207, Verdugo batting only .218, and no would-be closer better than Clay Holmes.

That 12-4 record is the best in Major League Baseball. They lead the American League Eastern Division by 2 1/2 games over the Baltimore Orioles, 3 over the Tampa Bay Rays, 3 1/2 over the Boston Red Sox, and 4 over the Toronto Blue Jays. Given the nature of the early season, when postponements are more common, and teams tend not to have played the same number of games, in the all-important loss column, the Yanks lead the O's by 2, the Rays by 3, and the Sox and Jays by 4 each.

The Yankees' roadtrip continues tonight, in Toronto. Luis Gil starts for the Yankees, against Chris Bassitt.