Tommy Davis Was One of Baseball's Greatest "What Ifs?"

Former MLB outfielder and DH Tommy Davis who won back to back NL batting titles with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1962 and 1963 passed away yesterday at the age of 83. No cause of death has been released.

A native of Brooklyn, Davis signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers at the urging of Jackie Robinson prior to the 1956 season. When Davis made his MLB debut in 1959 the team was in Los Angeles and would win its first World Series on the west coast that season. 

Davis had a season for the ages in 1962. Not only did Davis win the NL batting title with a .346 average but he led the NL in RBIs with 153. Those are Ruthian like numbers. Indeed, The Babe drove in 153 runs in a season - twice. Since Davis collected 153 RBI 60 seasons ago, it has been eclipsed twice by Sammy Sosa and one apiece by Juan Gonzalez, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez. But they did this during the Steroids Era. Davis did it in a period when offense was diminishing. 

However, Davis finished 3rd in NL MVP balloting in 1962 behind Willie Mays and Dodgers teammate Maury Wills who set a then MLB record with 104 stolen bases. Although his production would diminish in 1963, he would again lead the NL in batting with a .326 mark and win a World Series ring as the Dodgers swept the New York Yankees.

Davis sustained a serious ankle injury during the 1965 season and ended all chances of superstardom and makes him among baseball's greatest "what ifs?". Between 1966 and 1972, Davis played with the New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros, Oakland A's (twice) and Chicago Cubs (twice) before joining the Baltimore Orioles in 1973. 

With the Orioles, Davis enjoyed something of a renaissance as a DH which was established in the AL during the '73 season. His .306 average was good enough to finish third in the AL batting race although well back of Rod Carew who hit .350 that season. After three good seasons in Baltimore, Davis would finish his MLB playing career in 1976 splitting the season between the California Angels and Kansas City Royals. In 18 big league seasons, Davis played in 1999 games collecting 2121 hits for a lifetime batting average of .294 with 153 HR and 1052 RBI. 

Here he is throwing out the first pitch prior to Game 1 of the 2017 NLCS. R.I.P.

GOP Congresswoman Claims Trump Ordered bin Laden Raid at MAGA Rally in MI

At a MAGA rally last night in Michigan for defeated, former President Trump, Republican Congresswoman Lisa McClain claimed that Trump ordered the raid which killed Osama bin Laden. McClain, who was elected to Michigan's 10th District in 2020, stated:

When President Trump was in office, we didn't have a war, and I think he made three peace treaties, caught Osama, Osama bin Laden and Soleimani and al-Baghdadi.

Now it is true that Trump authorized raided which led to the deaths of Soleimani of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and al-Baghdadi of ISIS. It is also true that the Trump Administration helped Israel enter into four peace treaties with Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. Had McClain confined herself to this then she would have been fine.

But the United States was not only still at war with Afghanistan, it was President Trump who saw fit to negotiate with the Taliban rather than Afghanistan's democratically elected government. 

Needless to say, bin Laden was killed on May 1, 2011. Not only was Barack Obama still in his first term in the White House, but in the weeks leading up to the raid Trump was peddling frivolous claims that Obama wasn't born in the United States. 

But as we well know facts are at best optional in the MAGAverse. As Jordan Klepper has demonstrated, there are Trump supporters who believe Obama was President on 9/11. This is hardly surprising when one considers Trump has told his supporters that he assisted in recovery efforts at Ground Zero. 

Some lies are repeated with greater frequency. On more than 150 occasions, Trump claimed he was responsible for the Veterans Choice Act. The problem is that it was initiated by John McCain and Bernie Sanders and signed into law by Obama in 2014. 

But no matter how often the truth is told, the lies will be told again and again until they are believed as immutable fact. If Congresswoman McClain can claim that Trump ordered the bin Laden raid five and a half years before he became President then how long will it be before we hear another Republican member of Congress claim that Trump ended slavery?

Some Random Observations of The Wizard of Oz

This evening I decided to take in a screening of The Wizard of Oz at the Brattle Theatre. 

The Wizard of Oz is among the first movies I ever remembering seeing on TV when I was a wee lad in the 1970's. The problem was that we didn't have a color TV so Oz looked just like Kansas. Of course, I remember Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion, The Good Witch, The Wicked Witch of the West and The Wizard, himself. Color TV or no color TV, this is a movie which must be seen on the big screen. Until tonight, I did not truly have an appreciation of the juxtaposition between the Kansas dust bowl and the bright colors over the rainbow in Oz.

Margaret Hamilton scared the bejesus out of generations of children as the Wicked Witch of The West. Yet I also remember her as Cora, the kindly storekeeper who only sold Maxwell House coffee. 

Many of its phrases remain part of the common lexicon such as "We're not in Kansas anymore,", "Come out, come out...wherever you are," "I'll get you, my pretty", "Lions, tigers and bears, oh my" and "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." Yet the line which most resonated with the audience was when Dorothy asked Scarecrow how he could talk if he didn't have a brain. When Scarecrow said, "I don't know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking....don't they?," prompted both laughter and much agreement myself included. I suspect the first person who came to mind for most of in the audience was defeated former President Trump. If nothing else, I think I could understand why Dorothy would miss Scarecrow most of all.

"Somewhere Over The Rainbow" is an essential chapter in the Great American Songbook. How many works of art have been inspired by The Wizard of Oz? Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, "Tin Man" by America, the band Toto, the movie The Wiz. Now I don't buy the idea you can sync The Wizard of Oz with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and agree with David Gilmour's argument that the idea was from someone with too much time on his hands. Yet whatever its merits, it does demonstrate the enduring impact of The Wizard of Oz. 

At the risk of committing heresy, I found much of Judy Garland's performance to be way over the top and annoying. She was at her best when she was singing. Then again her character was supposed to be over the top and annoying to the people around her. So how else was Garland supposed to portray Dorothy Gale? Then again, viewed in a different context, Dorothy pulled a Will Smith on the Cowardly Lion was one witch short of being a serial killer while Toto was a fugitive from justice.

Sarah Palin: How My Views Have Changed While Some Remain The Same

Nearly 13 years after resigning as Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin is re-entering the political arena by announcing she is running for Congress. Alaska's lone Congressional seat was held by Don Young for nearly 50 years before he passed away last month at the age of 88. 

Palin joins a list of more than 40 candidates, Democrat, Republican and Independent, who will compete in a primary which takes place on June 11th. The top four vote getters will proceed to a special election to take place on August 16th, the winner of which will serve the remainder of Young's term. The new incumbent would then have to seek re-election in the November mid-terms.

In 2008, I voted for the McCain-Palin ticket. If I were a resident of Alaska in 2022 there is no way in hell I would vote for Palin now. Of course, this is true of virtually any Republican outside of Liz Cheney and Charlie Baker (had he seen fit to seek a third term for Governor of Massachusetts). Like most Republicans, Palin embraced Trump and Trumpism and I just could not then nor can I now. Nor can I abide someone who willfully and repeatedly refuses to wear a mask in public when they have COVID.

With that said, I do think she was treated unfairly especially when she was blamed for the 2011 mass shooting in Tucson which killed six people while critically injuring former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. Most of my writings for The American Spectator have been expunged, but I came across this snippet which I wrote at the time:

If (Keith) Olbermann and other liberals are somehow successful in expunging Palin from public life as a result of this horrific tragedy, it will embolden them to dismiss the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, the whole Tea Party Movement and anybody else they deem to be undesirable. But if liberals succeed in ridding themselves of the riff-raff and still cannot bring about hope and change, then who will be left to blame? Liberals get no satisfaction in taking responsibility for their own actions.  

Needless to say, my esteem of the late Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the Tea Party movement has diminished considerably. Yet the fact remains that Palin nor any other Republican politician was responsible for the actions of Jared Lee Loughner. 

Nor was Palin expunged from public life. Palin did see fit to sue The New York Times after it erroneously connected her to the Giffords shooting in a 2017 editorial following the shooting of Republican Congressman Steve Scalise by a Bernie Sanders supporter during a practice for the upcoming Congressional baseball game. However, observers stated that Palin could not prove the NYT acted maliciously much less prove it had done her any personal or financial harm. A federal district court judge dismissed Palin's suit in February although she has filed an appeal with the 2nd Circuit Court.

As for Palin's electoral prospects, she resides in a Red state and she certainly has the most name recognition though that could work against her. I suspect she will make the final four but can foresee an "Anybody But Palin" movement among Democrats, Independents and even a few Republicans particularly supporters of Senator Lisa Murkowski. There has never been any love lost between Palin and Murkowski. The question remains if there is any love lost between Palin and Alaska voters.

Could Jacob deGrom Become This Generation's John Smoltz?

One could make the argument that the New York Mets' Jacob deGrom has been the best pitcher in MLB since 2018. He won back to back NL Cy Young Awards in 2018-2019, finished third in NL Cy Young balloting in the COVID shortened 2020 season.

Last season, deGrom went 7-2 with a sterling 1.08 ERA in 15 starts striking out 146 in only 92 innings pitched. But the reason deGrom only made 15 starts was because after the All-Star Break he went on the IL after experiencing forearm tightness and subsequently had elbow inflammation. He did not pitch for the rest of the 2021 season.

And now he is likely to miss much of the 2022 season with shoulder trouble after an MRI revealed a stress reaction on his right scalpula. 

Entering his 9th big league season with the Mets, deGrom is 33 and his body might not be able to hold up to the rigors of pitching in the major leagues even if he does it better than anyone else. 

In which case, I wonder if the Mets might have to do with deGrom what the Atlanta Braves did with John Smoltz two decades ago. After missing the 2000 season due to Tommy John surgery, the Braves brought Smoltz back as a reliever and he was one of the game's best closers for several seasons in his mid-30's. Smoltz then resumed his career as a starting pitcher in 2005 and pitched into his early 40's before being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.

The prospect of having to face a fresh deGrom in the 9th inning could make him even more invincible to big league hitters than he is now. He certainly strikes more fear into hitters than Edwin Diaz does. Diaz is a free agent at the end of this season and if deGrom cannot muster more than 90 innings as a starter it might be best to pitch those 90 innings out of the bullpen come 2023.

Thoughts on Will Smith Resigning From Motion Picture Academy

Facing a possible suspension or expulsion of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences after slapping Chris Rock at last Sunday's Academy Award, Will Smith announced his resignation from the organization this afternoon.

The Academy could still levy further discipline when it meets later this month. But I suspect they will accept Smith's resignation and let him keep his Oscar and part on amicable terms. Because if the Academy was to rescind Smith's Oscar there would be great demand for them to rescind the Oscars from the likes of Woody Allen, Roman Polanski and Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and others who have committed or have been accused of committing graver transgressions- not that there isn't now. 

Had Smith opted not to resign, I would venture to guess that the Academy would have let him keep his Oscar and serve a one year suspension. I believe that punishment would have fit the crime. But now Smith has turned himself into a martyr for Twitter mobs who believe this discipline is motivated by racism even though the victim is also an African-American male. Alas some black lives matter more than others. 

Now Mary Hart Can Impersonate Craig Kimbrel at Every Dodger Home Game

The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired veteran closer Craig Kimbrel from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for outfielder AJ Pollock. 

Kimbrel, 33, split 2021 with the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. After struggling with the Cubs in 2019 and 2020, Kimbrel regained his form and earned a NL All-Star selection. However, the Cubs went into sell mode after the All-Star Break and Kimbrel was sent crosstown to be the set up man for Liam Hendriks. That didn't go so well. 

In Chavez Ravine, Kimbrel will go back to a more familiar role succeeding Kenley Jansen who is now pitching in Kimbrel's old stomping grounds in Atlanta. He enters the 2022 season with 372 saves which makes him the all-time leader among active pitchers and 9th on MLB's overall list. Kimbrel needs only 6 saves to pass Joe Nathan and 19 to pass Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley.  

But the most interesting aspect of this trade is that now Mary Hart can impersonate Kimbrel at every Dodger home game or at least every home game where L.A. has a lead in the 9th. During Game 3 of the 2018 World Series between the Dodgers and Boston Red Sox, in the midst of the infamous 18 inning game, the somewhat lubricated former host of Entertainment Tonight impersonated Kimbrel distinctive pitching style. 

Under the circumstances, I am surprised no one in the sports media has taken note of it. Although with everything that has happened since 2018, four years ago might as well be in the Middle Ages. I can only hope Mary Hart will remind us once more.