This could be Rob Manfred’s decade. No, check that: it very much needs to be Rob Manfred’s decade.
The recent passing of NBA commissioner David Stern gave all of us pause to reflect on the evolution of North American professional sports; to reflect on how the NFL has become a monolith that will only be knocked off its perch as the biggest league on the continent if it caves in on itself; how the NBA has become an international brand rivalled only by soccer’s Premier League and, perhaps, FC Barcelona; how the NHL – led by someone who came out of the NBA head office, Gary Bettman – has pretty much buried its financial concerns; and how Major League Baseball has… well, what, exactly?
Stern is rightfully credited with creating an environment that allowed his players and owners to flourish. Certainly, he was helped along by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and then Michael Jordan and the rest of them but it was Stern who by force of personality midwifed a kind of peace between hip-hop, urban culture and a suburban fan-base that allowed each side to find enough breathing space. The NBA is a players’ league and the owners don’t seem to mind, which when you think about it is a helluva thing.
Manfred sort of, kind of, has labour peace, more so after an off-season in which teams spent enough money to lay waste to whispers of collusion, and the entire economic lay of the land has been muddled by mixed messages from traditional big spenders such as the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers.
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This hasn’t been your father’s off-season, has it? That doesn’t mean there won’t be flashpoints in the next round of collective bargaining, but given the windfall possible from active partnerships with legalized sports wagering and advanced media, the vagaries of in-game attendance and television contracts seem to be of little concern these days. Even getting new ballparks built is no longer that big a deal, it seems. There’s money to go around.
No, the stuff that will test Manfred is more worrisome than simply making the financial numbers add up.
He is faced with the very real possibility of publicly admitting that both the 2017 and 2018 World Series champions circumvented rules governing in-game technology in what amounts to an institutional campaign of cheating. Then, he must mete out punishment (Editor’s note: MLB suspended the Astros’ manager and general manager for the 2020 season, among other measures), in the form of multi-million dollar fines, loss of draft picks or suspensions for executives and – who knows? – uniformed personnel.
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This at a time when baseball seems at a point of no-return when it comes to electronic strike zones and such. The excellent Hannah Keyser of Yahoo! Sports reported last week that experimentation will begin on in-game catcher-to-pitcher or coach-to-pitcher audio linkups (think on-field receivers used by quarterbacks, which allow them to hear play calls from a coach and which are then cut off after a certain period of time before play commences). That’s a reaction to sign-stealing but it might also have the added benefit of speeding up play, doing away with the flashing of and shaking off of signs from catcher to pitcher.
Manfred might have more on his plate than Stern ever did, when it comes to the actual playing of the game.
Offence is the currency of sports these days more than ever due to Fantasy Leagues, gambling and social media. There is no three-point shot waiting out there for Major League Baseball, like some magic bullet; in fact, baseball’s biggest problem is that its biggest offensive play, the home run, has become cheapened.
There is a feast or famine element to the game, now, that has diminished the fact that baseball, like soccer, is best when it’s about the build-up, not just the payoff. Bad enough it’s the only sport where the defence has possession of the ball and the first act of the game is an inherently penurious one: I, the pitcher, will start things by an action designed to ensure that nothing happens.
And when I do initiate the action? Well… have you seen this defensive shift before? And there is no clock to dicker around with, not really, although the game, at least now, enforces time between pitches and the number of mound trips. This season, relief pitchers will be required to face a minimum of three batters in an appearance to the end of an inning. Pace of play? Pace of game?
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Buckle up. No sport in the world will look more different than baseball after these next 10 years. No sport needs to. Stern made his bones by turning over to the players a sport that was an afterthought, the ugly duckling of TV. He bet on athleticism, skill and coolness, and won. The times won’t allow Manfred to do that. He needs to freshen up something that is viewed by many as an anachronism. The stoppages and pace would suggest baseball is tailor-made for in-game wagering, but that might not be enough.
QUIBBLES AND BITS
One thing that will happen before 2029: by hook or by crook, MLB will be back in Montreal, with a re-located Tampa Bay Rays franchise. Done deal.
• Friend Ray Ratto, Legendary Bay Area Sportswriter, made an interesting point this week when he suggested that one of the reasons the San Francisco 49ers have become successful was that head coach Kyle Shanahan, a well-regarded offensive mind, “thought like a general manager,” in pushing for improvements to the team’s defence by drafting Nick Bosa, trading for Dee Ford and signing Kwon Alexander.
Ratto believes Shanahan reasoned that defence is the quickest way to credibility in the NFL. The 49ers managed just 37 sacks last regular season; they had six against the Minnesota Vikings – one fewer than the number of first downs conjured up by Vikings offensive co-ordinator Kevin Stefanski, the next guy to be fired as Cleveland Browns head coach (come to think of it: can he take Kirk Cousins with him?).
If the 49ers go on to win this thing – and I make them the favourites – that first-round bye they received will have played a large role in getting those defenders healthy.
• The Tennessee Titans pulled off the biggest upset of the NFL post-season Sunday. They used to be the Houston Oilers until moving in 1997 – the Oilers, of course, the same team that blew a 32-point lead to Frank Reich and the Buffalo Bills to lose 41-38 in overtime in a playoff game on Jan. 3, 1993.
Tell me you didn’t think of that for at least a second Sunday when the team that replaced the Oilers in Houston – the Texans – torched a 24-0 lead.
• Sergio Aguero’s hat-trick in Man City’s 6-1 romp over Aston Villa gave him 177 goals and moved him past Thierry Henry for the title of the highest-scoring overseas player in Premier League history.
Of his goals, 21 have been assisted by Spanish-born teammate David Silva. That’s the most assists to a non-English teammate by a non-English player. It’s the second-highest assist total to one player in history, behind only Frank Lampard’s 24 assist on goals by Didier Drogba and ahead of Darren (Sicknote) Anderton to Teddy Sheringham (20); Steve McManaman to Robbie Fowler (20); Christian Eriksen to Harry Kane (19); Kevin DeBruyne to Aguero (18); Robert Pires to Henry (17); Dele Alli to Kane (16); Nobby Solano to Alan Shearer (16); and Henry to Freddie Ljungberg (15). Silva assisted on one of Aguero’s goals Sunday. DeBruyne had two assists.
• Perhaps it’s the result of being spoiled by the Toronto Raptors’ run to the title in 2018-19 but for all the kudos sent to the club’s reserve players for the significant role they’ve played in this team keeping body and soul together through all these injuries, there are times when an over-reliance on catching lightning in a bottle catches up to you.
There have been several times this season when the Raptors have rushed their offence, eschewing one more pass for a less-than-makable shot or – as was the case against Portland Trail Blazers’ Hassan Whiteside – trying to find space where none exists. Small point, but a reminder that there are reasons some players are starters and others are reserves.
• I still expect the Toronto Blue Jays to add an outfielder, and I’m hoping Nick Castellanos and Marcell Ozuna still being on the free-agent market is the reason we haven’t seen movement.
I don’t expect the Blue Jays to sign Castellanos (although this off-season has surprised us) and, while there has been some talk in the past about Ozuna, his addition alone, while adding a needed middle of the order, authoritative bat, wouldn’t shore up the team’s outfield defence.
I’m fine with Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. in left field and my sense is neither the Blue Jays or Randal Grichuk want him in centre field. I wonder if we’ll see a scenario where the Blue Jays move one of their incumbent outfielders – Teoscar Hernandez? – and one of their non-pitching prospects in the minors to bring in someone who can be a game-changer offensively and/or defensively.
Do that, then we’re talking a possible wild-card spot.
THE END-GAME
We had the great Peter King on Writers Bloc on Friday to discuss the shambolic lack of visible minorities being hired to be head coaches in the NFL, and in upper-management positions in general, and King suggested that the league essentially mandate the hiring of a certain number of visible minorities by each team on their coaching staffs.
Since the ‘Rooney Rule,’ designed to ensure that visible minority candidates receive consideration for jobs, has been shown to be ineffective, King’s idea has loads of merit. This is a problem of NFL ownership – not the league office – but the league office needs to step in now and create the kind of framework that does more than cajole or suggest. Ultimately, the answer is more visible minorities in ownership and, most importantly, filling the general managers offices.
But until then, having as many visible minorities as possible on coaching staffs adds to the pressure from underneath that can expedite change. It makes it easier to ask tough questions. Otherwise, why on Earth would someone with an eye on advancing their career want to be an assistant coach knowing they faced an institutional bias and roadblock?
Jeff Blair hosts Writers Bloc with Stephen Brunt and Richard Deitsch from 2-5 p.m. ET on Sportsnet 590/The Fan. He probably dislikes your favourite team.
