Del Crandall, R.I.P.

Former big league catcher turned manager and broadcaster Del Crandall passed away yesterday. No cause of death has been announced. He was 91.

A native of Southern California, Crandall signed with the Boston Braves out of high school in 1948 and would make his big league debut with the club the following season at the age of 19. Crandall was the last surviving member of the Boston Braves.

Crandall would miss two seasons due to military service. When he returned to the Braves in 1953 the team had moved to Milwaukee. Crandall would have his best seasons in Milwaukee. From 1953 to 1962 when he was arguably the best catcher in the National League, Crandall was named to 11 NL All-Star games and four Gold Gloves and would appear in back to back World Series in 1957 and 1958 earning a ring in '57. He hit 15 or more HRs every year between 1953 and 1960 providing protection for Hank Aaron and Eddie Matthews. Crandall also caught Hall of Famer Warren Spahn for the bulk of his career. The only pitcher-catcher combination with more appearances together in MLB history is Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan with the Detroit Tigers in the 1960's and early 1970's. 

An elbow injury forced Crandall to miss the entire 1961 season. With the emergence of Joe Torre behind the plate, the Braves would trade Crandall to the San Francisco Giants following the 1963 season in a multi-player deal which would see fellow future big league manager Felipe Alou come to Milwaukee. After one season in San Francisco, Crandall would spend 1965 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and 1966 with the Cleveland Indians before hanging up his catcher's mitt. In 1573 big league games, Crandall collected 1276 hits for a lifetime batting average of .254 with 179 HR and 657 RBI. 

After two years out of baseball, Crandall would join the Los Angeles Dodgers' organization in 1969 and managed the Albuquerque Dodgers in the Double-AA Texas League leading the team to a championship in 1970. In 1971, Crandall joined the Milwaukee Brewers and was named manager of the team's Triple-AAA affiliate in Evansville. Crandall would return to Milwaukee in late May of 1972 when he replaced Dave Garcia as the team's manager. The Brewers would never finish better than fifth in the AL East before being let go on the last day of the season in 1975. Crandall's tenure with the Brewers is best remembered for his decision to make 18-year old Robin Yount the team's everyday shortstop.

In 1976, Crandall joined the California Angels as the manager of their Single-A affiliate in Salinas guiding the team to a championship in the California League. Crandall would be promoted to big league team as first base coach under Norm Sherry and later Dave Garcia, the man he replaced in Milwaukee five years earlier.

Crandall rejoined the Dodgers' organization in 1978 and would manage the Albuquerque team once more. By this time they were known as the Dukes and were part of the the Triple-AAA Pacific Coast League. Under Crandall's leadership, the Dukes won four Pacific Coast League championships in five seasons. 

In late June of 1983, Crandall got a second chance to manage at the big league level when he succeeded Rene Lachemann at the helm of the Seattle Mariners. Unfortunately, Crandall's success as a minor league manager never translated on the big league level and he would be replaced by Chuck Cottier late in the 1984 season.

Crandall would turn his attention to the broadcast booth becoming a color commentator for the Chicago White Sox between 1985-1988 and later with the Milwaukee Brewers from 1992-1994. He would return to the Dodgers as a minor league manager in 1995 and retired from baseball in 1997. 

As one of the best catchers in MLB history, Crandall deserved more Cooperstown consideration but could never get above 4% of the vote in his four years on the BBWAA ballot between 1976-1979. I leave you with an interview Crandall did a few years back reflective on his life in baseball. R.I.P.

Ray Miller, R.I.P.

Former big league pitching coach and manager Ray Miller passed away on May 4th. No cause of death was released. He was 76.

Miller was a minor league pitcher in the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles' organizations from 1964 to 1973. In 1974, Miller made the transition to coaching when he was named pitching coach of the Rochester Redwings - the Triple-AAA affiliate of the Orioles - for whom he had pitched from 1971-1973. 

In 1978, Miller was to have finally reached the major leagues when he was named pitching coach of the Texas Rangers. However, when longtime Orioles pitching coach George Bamberger was named manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, Miller was offered the position and the Rangers permitted him to go to Baltimore. 

Miller helped guide Mike Flanagan and Steve Stone to career seasons as they would win the AL Cy Young Award in 1979 and 1980, respectively. The O's would win the AL pennant in 1979 and the World Series in 1983.

Mid-way through the 1985 season, Miller was offered the opportunity to manage the Minnesota Twins succeeding Billy Gardner. However, he would be canned before the end of the 1986 season and replaced by Tom Kelly who would guide the team to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991.

As for Miller he would once again become a pitching coach this time for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Miller would serve under Jim Leyland in this capacity from 1987 to 1996 and was part of the three consecutive NL East division winners from 1990 to 1992. While with the Bucs, Miller would coach his third Cy Young winner - Doug Drabek in 1990.

In 1997, Miller would return Baltimore and once again serve as the Orioles pitching coach. The following season Miller would replace Davey Johnson as the O's manager and served in that role for two seasons before being replaced by Mike Hargrove. In parts of four seasons as a big league manager, Miller went 266-297. 

Miller would become the Orioles' pitching coach for the third and final time during the 2004 and 2005 seasons but an aneurysm would end his coaching career.

In 2010, Miller was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame. R.I.P.

John Means Throws First Orioles' No-Hitter in Nearly 30 Years

Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Means threw MLB's third no-hitter of the 2021 season on Tuesday as the Seattle Mariners failed to get a hit off him. Sam Haggerty was the only Mariner who reached base after striking out on a wild pitch.

This is the first Orioles' no-hitter in nearly 30 years. In June 1991, Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson threw a combined no-hitter against the Oakland A's. Means the first Orioles pitcher to throw a complete game no-hitter in more than half a century. In August 1969, Jim Palmer no-hit the Oakland A's. 

As mentioned earlier, Means has the third no-hitter of the 2021 season. In April, Joe Musgrove of the San Diego Padres and Carlos Rodon of the Chicago White Sox spun no-hitters. Some would argue there have been four no-hitters in 2021 as Arizona Diamondbacks ace Madison Bumgarner didn't allow a hit against the Atlanta Braves late last month in the second game of a doubleheader. However, doubleheaders are only 7 innings but MLB does not recognize no hitters fewer than 9 innings.

But there is no question as to Means' achievement. Means, 28, improves to a 4-0 record with a 1.37 ERA in seven starts this season. Not bad considering the Kansas born southpaw was an 11th round draft pick by the Orioles in 2014. In 2019, Means was runner up in AL Rookie of the Year balloting and an All-Star. After a so-so sophomore campaign in 2020, it appears Means will have his way to have a breakthrough season in 2021. 

Could India Overtake U.S. With World's Most COVID-19 Cases By Next Month?

In recent weeks, COVID-19 has reserved its greatest havoc for India. Yesterday, India recorded more than 400,000 new COVID-19 cases. It won't be long before India crosses the 20 million case mark. According to Johns Hopkins University, India has 19,557,457 COVID-19 cases while the U.S. currently has 32,418,583 cases.

When India surpassed Brazil for the second in the world for the most COVID-19 cases in September 2020 the possibility of overtaking the U.S. for the most cases was raised. But the U.S. would have its own third wave from November 2020 to January 2021. However, community spread in the U.S. has receded considerably while COVID in India began to surge in March and accelerated in April. The surge has been attributed to the population not observing masking and social distancing with mass gatherings for malls, sporting events, religious ceremonies and political rallies for various state legislative elections. Vaccine dissemination has also proven inefficient.

Today, the United States recorded 45,303 new COVID-19 cases. If India continues to record 400,000 new cases a day and if the U.S. continues to record 45,000 new cases a day then India could overtake the U.S. in 37 days from now. That would be June 8, 2021.

Of course, it is possible that community spread in India could plateau while we see yet more increases in the U.S. But it would seem that India will supplant the U.S. when it comes to COVID cases sooner rather than later.

Olympia Dukakis, R.I.P.

Actress Olympia Dukakis, best known for her Oscar winning performance in Moonstruck alongside Cher, passed away today at the age of 89. No cause of death had been released but she had been in poor health over the past few months.

After toiling in obscurity for the better part of a quarter century in Off-Broadway stage productions and in regional theater (including Boston's Charles Playhouse), Dukakis was cast in Moonstruck by director Norman Jewison after seeing her perform in Mike Nichols' Broadway production of Social Security. Moonstruck would lead to appearances in movies such as Working Girl, Steel Magnolias, Mr. Holland's Opus and the Look Who's Talking movies. She would also stump on behalf of her cousin Michael Dukakis' 1988 White House bid. My favorite Olympia Dukakis role was her portrayal of Anna Madrigal in Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City and its subsequent sequels. 

In recent years, Dukakis had returned to the stage devoting her time to teaching acting as part of the New York Drama Center and NYU-Tisch's New Studio on Broadway.

I leave you with Dukakis accepting her Academy Award. R.I.P.

Obama Succeeded in Having bin Laden Killed But Failed To Stop The Rise of ISIS

It has been exactly 10 years since U.S. Seal Team Six shot and killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

I remember that weekend well. On April 30, 2011, I was visiting my Dad in New York City and we made a point of going to the WTC site. At that time, 1 WTC Center was still far from complete and the area generally looked decrepit and forlorn and not without just cause.

The following morning I returned to Boston. That evening I was watching ESPN Sunday Night Baseball which featured the Philadelphia Phillies hosting the New York Mets. During the course of the broadcast, it was announced by Dan Shulman that Osama bin Laden had been killed. This would soon bring about chants of "U.S.A.!!! U.S.A!!!"

Meanwhile, in New York City, thousands crowded on the very ground my Dad and I walked on only a day earlier.

President Obama authorizing bin Laden's execution was a good thing. But killing Osama bin Laden didn't stop Ansar al-Sharia, an al Qaeda affiliate, from launching a terrorist attack at the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks killing four Americans. Nor did it stop a terrorist attack near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in April 2013. Nor did it stop the rise of ISIS which beheaded Americans on video in the summer of 2014 and took over much of Iraq and Syria. Mind you, it was President Obama who deemed ISIS "the JV team."  I can only hope that President Biden has learned from Obama's mistakes.

Obama may have saw fit to kill bin Laden, but he did not kill radical Islamic terrorism let alone recognize it. Islamic terrorism against the West has largely retreated in recent years. But it is merely biding its time.

The death of Osama bin Laden did produce a short term catharsis and a small measure of satisfaction. Simply put Obama helped win a battle, but he did not win the war.

MLB Notes for April: Giants Inch Above Dodgers in NL West

Although I am not watching a lot of MLB on TV I am keeping my eye on the standings. With this in mind, for the first time since the 2019 season I am going to write a monthly update on the current happenings in MLB.

The defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers have won 8 consecutive NL West titles and few had any doubt they would win a 9th consecutive division title myself included. To the extent the Dodgers would face any challenge in the NL West most (again myself included) thought it would come from the San Diego Padres. But the San Francisco Giants have interjected themselves into the conversation and end the month of April atop the NL West by a half game over the Dodgers.

The Dodgers began the season picking up where they left off beginning the season with a 13-2 record with a 4.5 game lead in the division. But over the past two weeks the Dodgers have lost 9 of their last 12 games. For their part, the Giants have simply been playing steady ball under the leadership of Gabe Kapler. The biggest difference for the Giants in 2021 has been the return of Buster Posey who opted out of the 2020 MLB season who is hitting .361 playing the way he did when the Giants won World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014. They have also been bolstered by a deep rotation anchored by Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeScalfini, Aaron Sanchez, Alex Wood and veteran Johnny Cueto with Jake McGee getting an opportunity to close games.

I suspect however the NL West will be more competitive than in past years. The Padres are out only 1.5 games back of the Giants while the Arizona Diamondbacks are two games out. The NL West will likely be decided by which team beats up the most on the last place Colorado Rockies who own the worst record in the National League.

In the NL Central, the Milwaukee Brewers enjoy a two game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds both 3.5 games back. Although the Reds and Pirates have identical records I think the moods on those teams are quite different. Few expected the Pirates not to be in last place. The Reds, fresh off a post-season appearance in 2020, began the year 9-5 but have lost 8 of their last 11 games. Alas the depleted Cubs find themselves in last place - an unfamiliar position for them in recent years. 

The NL East can be properly characterized as the NL Least. The Philadelphia Phillies lead the division with a .500 record. The Phillies have a one game lead over the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals and New York Mets while the last place Miami Marlins are only 1.5 games back. The Marlins could easily be atop the division in a matter of days.

Now let's go from west to east in the American League.

The Oakland A's began the season 1-7 but then went on a 13 game winning streak. However, the A's only have a one game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the AL West. The Mariners are seek their first post-season appearance in 20 years. The hated Houston Astros are 1.5 games back while the Los Angeles Angels are treading water at .500. Only the Texas Rangers have a losing record in the division.

The most surprising division in the junior league is the AL Central. The Kansas City Royals have a 1.5 game lead over the Chicago White Sox with the Cleveland Indians at the .500 mark. Although the Royals are only six years removed from a World Series title they had back to back 100 plus loss seasons in 2018 and 2019 along with an undistinguished COVID shortened 2020 season. Equally surprising are the Minnesota Twins who have winning back to back AL Central titles went 9-15 in April and are barely ahead of the last place Detroit Tigers who own MLB's worst record. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch isn't finding it so easy to win when his team doesn't have Alex Cora around to electronically steal signs.

Speaking of Alex Cora, he is having far more success in his return to the dugout with the Boston Red Sox. After being swept by the Baltimore Orioles on opening weekend, the Red Sox own MLB's best overall record at 17-10 with a 3.5 game lead over the Toronto Blue Jays who sit at .500. The Bosox are doing remarkably well considering Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley, Jr. are no longer patrolling the outfield at Fenway Park. The defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays are a game under .500 while the New York Yankees find themselves in the unfamiliar position of being tied for last place with the O's. 

So where will be in a month's time? Can the Giants hold off the Dodgers? Will the real Cincinnati Reds stand up? Does anyone want to win the NL East? Will the Astros disappoint the A's and Mariners' post-season dreams? Will the Royals be rendered common? And are the Yankees truly a last place team? We shall find out after Memorial Day.