Brian Cashman Is to Blame, Not the Umpires

It would be easy to blame home plate umpire Gabe Morales for last night's loss that completed a 3-game Yankee Stadium II sweep of the Yankees by the hated Boston Red Sox. It would also be easy to blame the extra-inning "ghost runner" rule for it.

Don't blame either one. This is another loss that can be completely charged to Brian Cashman and how he assembled the 2021 New York Yankees.

Two batters into the game, Domingo German gave up a home run to Alex Verdugo to put the Sox ahead. But the Yanks came right back, with the kind of inning that suggested, "This is where the season gets turned around." Three straight singles by Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela loaded the bases with 1 out, and Gary Sanchez, who really needed a hit like this, doubled home 2 runs. The Yankees had the lead.

And that lead may have settled German down, as he was fine through the top of the 5th. In the bottom of the 4th, again with 1 out, the Yankees loaded the bases on a single by Miguel Andujar and back-to-back walks but Brett Gardner and DJ LeMahieu.

This is where they could have broken the game wide open, but didn't: Judge grounded into a force play that scored only Andujar, and then Torres grounded out to end the inning. It was only 3-1.

German got the 1st 2 outs in the 6th, and then walked Xander Bogaerts. This was not the time to panic. This was the time to trust German to get the last out of the inning and strand Bogaerts. But Aaron Boone didn't do that. German had thrown 84 pitches, and Boone panicked. He took German out, and replaced him with Lucas Luetge. Luetge got the last out. But that was still a pitching change that didn't have to be made, and Boone made it.

And that point was emphasized in the top of the 7th. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Luetge walked Hunter Renfroe, and then gave up a game-tying home run to Marwin Gonzalez. Once that happened, pretty much every Yankee Fan knew that the Red Sox were going to win the game. The only question was when, and how -- and, since the game was now tied, extra innings and something to do with the ghost runner seemed likely.

The Yankees got their own leadoff walk in their half of the 7th, by Judge. But they couldn't capitalize, as Torres, Urshela and Sanchez all popped up. To make matters worse, it was against Adam Ottavino, now with the Sox after a horrendous season with the Yankees last year. The Yankees always seem to be able to make a former player of theirs look good.

Boone should have let German pitch through the 7th, and then bring Luetge in to pitch the 8th. Instead, with Luetge already wasted, he brought Wandy Peralta in to pitch the 8th, and he allowed double, groundout, sacrifice fly, groundout. 4-3 Boston. With 1 out in their half, Clint Frazier singled, but Andujar struck out.

Boone had given Giancarlo Stanton the night off, but now sent him up to pinch-hit for Brett Gardner. Of course, he struck out. Trading for Stanton was one of the dumbest moves that general manager Brian Cashman could have made, and I don't care how many home runs he's hit. He's killed more rallies than he's participated in.

Bottom of the 9th. LeMahieu grounded to 2nd. But Judge drew a walk, and Torres doubled him home to tie it. There was hope. The winning run was on 2nd with just 1 out. But Urshela struck out. Giving Gary Sanchez an intentional walk seems like a dumb decision, but the Sox wanted to set up the force play. Torres stole 3rd base, going against the "unwritten rule" that you never make the 1st or last out at 3rd base, but he got there.

The batter was Rougned Odor, pinch-hitting for rookie 1st baseman Chris Gittens. He worked a full count against Sox reliever Matt Barnes. Then, Barnes threw a pitch that was 4 inches outside. It was ball 4, bases loaded, 2 out, with Frazier coming to bat.

Except home plate umpire Gabe Morales called the pitch a strike. Odor was out. Even the ESPN announcers, who love the Red Sox almost as much as they hate the Yankees, said it was a bad call. They showed the instant replay and put up the graphic that proved it.

Boone just sat there, chewing his gum, instead of arguing. 

On to extra innings. Boone brought Luis Cessa in to pitch. Morales wouldn't give him close pitches. Finally, Boone's coaches spoke up. Phil Nevin, who came closer to dying from COVID than any other Yankee employee (that I know of), chewed Morales out hard enough to get thrown out of the game.

Marcus Thames was visibly upset as well. Given his performance for the Yankees, first as a player, now as hitting instructor, this may have been the greatest service he has ever performed for the team. It was, after all, against the Red Sox.

Cessa walked a batter, they were bunted over, and they were singled home. 6-4 Boston.

The Sox brought Phillips Valdez in to pitch the bottom of the 10th. His 1st pitch hit Frazier. Given these teams' shared history, it's hard to imagine a Sox pitcher hitting a Yankee with a pitch and it's not intentional. But this one brought the tying run to the plate, with nobody out.

The Yankees had to capitalize. But Andujar grounded back to Valdez, and he started a double play. Now, it was ghost runner Odor on 3rd, with 2 out.

Wade singled Odor home, and reached 2nd on the failed play at the plate. LeMahieu was up. Next would have been Judge. The win was there for the taking.

LeMahieu didn't take it. He grounded to 2nd to end the game. Red Sox 6, Yankees 5. WP: Barnes (2-1, getting the win despite blowing the lead in the 9th). SV: Phillips Valdez (1). LP: Cessa (1-1).

Another loss. To that team. Don't blame the umpire. These Yankees, based on pre-2021 reputation, should have scored at least 4 runs in the 1st 8 innings. They didn't.

*

Coming into last week, with 4 games against the Tampa Bay Rays and 3 against the Sox, all at home, I figured that the Yankees would need to win at least 5 out of the 7 to get back into the American League Eastern Division race. Instead, they lost 5 out of 7, and weren't that far away from losing all of them.

They are now 31-29, 6 1/2 games behind the Division-leading Rays, and 5 1/2 behind the Sox.

The poor performance is backed up by the statistics. The pitching, though weakened by injuries, has not been the problem. It's Cashman's philosophy of loading up on righthanded power hitters who aren't hitting. Look at these OPS+'s, keeping in mind that 100 is exactly average: 

Estevan Florial 174 (3 plate appearances)

Aaron Judge 163

Giancarlo Stanton 121 (but he's in a slump)

Gio Urshela 106

Gleyber Torres 104 (and that's way up from where it was)

Gary Sanchez 103 (and that's way up from where it was)

Kyle Higashioka 98 (he's in a big slump)

DJ LeMahieu 88

Tyler Wade 80

Clint Frazier 78

Aaron Hicks 78 (now injured and out for the season)

Rougned Odor 71

Miguel Andujar 64 (injured much of the year)

Brett Gardner 60

Mike Ford 60

Mike Tauchman 57 (now traded)

Luke Voit 53 (injured much of the year)

Jay Bruce 33 (now retired)

Chris Gittens -60 (just got here, 8 plate appearances)

Ryan LaMarre -60 (8 plate appearances)

So that's 8 guys (Florial, Hicks, Andujar, Tauchman, Voit, Bruce, Gittens and LaMarre) without enough appearances to fairly judge; 2 guys (Judge and Stanton, both of whom still strike out too much, especially Stanton) who are, statistically, getting the job done over the course of the season; 4 guys (Urshela, Torres, Sanchez and Higashioka) who are barely doing so; 4 guys (LeMahieu, Wade, Frazier and Odor) who badly need to step up; and 2 guys (Gardner and Ford) who look like it's time to cut bait.

It looks very bad. What's more, it looks like the official field manager, Aaron Boone, and the general manager, Brian Cashman, don't even care enough to do anything about it.

This team needs a shakeup. Some guys need to go down in the order, some need to go down to the minor leagues, and some need to go to the unemployment office -- especially Cashman.

Today is a travel day for the Yankees. Tomorrow, they begin a roadtrip that has 3 games in Minnesota, a rare Friday off, then 2 day games in Philadelphia, and 3 games in Toronto, before returning home to face Oakland and Kansas City. Then they go to Boston to face The Scum again. Would losing badly there lead team owner Hal Steinbrenner to make a change?

No? After that, the Yankees close out the 1st half of the regular season with 4 games home to the Los angeles Angels, 3 home to the Mets including a Sunday night ESPN game on the 4th of July, then 3 games in Seattle, then 3 in Houston. If we are still doing badly at the All-Star Break, will that be enough for Hal to make a move?

No? The 2nd half starts with 4 more against the Sox at home, then 2 at home against the Phillies, then 4 in Boston, then 3 at Tampa Bay, and 3 at Miami, a series which would include the July 31 trading deadline. If we are still doing badly, and Cashman doesn't make the necessary moves, will that be enough for Hal to make the necessary move?

No. What does Hal care? He's making money. He is not his father's son.

Green Implodes, Yanks Lose to Sox Again

Maybe it's just because, this week, the Yankees were chasing the two teams that they're chasing for the lead in the American League Eastern Division. But it seems like every game they lose is more exasperating than the last.

Jameson Taillon started against the Boston Red Sox last night, and most of us figured that the Yankees would lose, because he wouldn't pitch well enough.

For 5 innings, we were wrong. He allowed 3 hits and a walk, and no runs. And Gleyber Torres gave him a boost with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 4th.

Then he proved us right in the top of the 6th. He got the 1st out, and then allowed single, double, 2-RBI single. Aaron Boone pulled him, for Jonathan Loaisiga. And he had nothing, allowing single, RBI double, before getting out of it.

It was 3-2 Scum, and, the way the Yankees have been hitting, it felt like the game was already over. In the end, though, Taillon would not truly be responsible for the result.

The bottom of the 6th saw the Yankees get hit with some bad luck. Aaron Judge drew a walk, and Gio Urshela hit a drive down the right-field line. Had it stayed in the field, Judge would have scored, and Urshela might have ended up on 3rd with only 1 out. Instead, it bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double, and Judge had to stop at 3rd. Torres hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game, when that should have made it 4-3 Yankees.

Loaisiga pitched a scoreless 7th, and then, just when (presuming you have watched the Yankees this season and last) you began to wonder just how they were going to lose this game in extra innings, but Boone brought Chad Green in to pitch the top of the 8th. This was a decision on a par with making a romantic comedy and casting Meg Ryan and Bobcat Goldthwait as the leads.

And that's just what Green gave the Sox: The lead. He gave up a single, then got a strikeout and a popup, to give us all hope. Then he allowed a double, another double, and a home run. Wandy Peralta got the last out, but the damage was irreversible. As C.J. Cregg (played by Allison Janney) would have said after her infamous root canal on The West Wing, Chad Gween compwetewy impwoded. (Completely imploded.)

The Yankees got a pair of walks in the bottom of the 9th, but couldn't do anything with them. Red Sox 7, Yankees 3. WP: Garrett Whitlock (1-1). SV: Matt Barnes (14). LP: Green (0-4)

The Yankees needed to take at least 5 out of 7 this week to get themselves back in the race. Instead, they have dropped 4 of the 1st 6. They are now 31-28, 5 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, and 4 1/2 games behind the Red Sox.

The series concludes tonight, on ESPN. Domingo German starts against Garrett Richards.

Rotten Answer for Yankees

Last night, coming off a series split with the Tampa Bay Rays that felt more like getting swept (and was a couple of key hits away from being just that), the Yankees began their 1st series of the year with the Boston Red Sox. The Auld Enemy. The Scum.

The Yankees had won their last 11 home games against them. In those games, they averaged 6.9 runs, including 2.2 home runs; batted .298, and had an ERA of 2.82.

But, last night, the Sox were starting Nathan Eovaldi, whom Yankee general manager Brian Cashman gave up on way too soon, and pitched the clinching game of the 2018 American League Division Series that knocked us out of the Playoffs.

The starting pitcher for the Yankees against him? It couldn't be Corey Kluber or Luis Severino, both still injured. So it was Michael King. As Gene Rayburn used to say when he was hosting Match Game, that's a rotten answer.

How rotten was it? To begin the game, King allowed 2 singles and a 3-run home run by Rafael Devers. 3-0. The game was essentially over before the Yankees even came to bat.

Not that they didn't try. DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton led off the Yankee half of the 1st with back-to-back-singles. But Aaron Judge grounded into a double play, killing the rally. The Yankees didn't get another baserunner until the 4th, when Judge singled with 1 out and Gleyber Torres singled with 2 out, but Rougned Odor popped up.

The Red Sox scored 2 more runs in the top of the 6th. LeMahieu led off the bottom of that inning with a single, but Stanton grounded into a double play. Then Judge hit a home run. If Stanton had struck out, or beaten out the throw to 1st, that would have been 2 runs instead of 1. Judge's homer was followed by back-to-back singles by Gio Urshela and Torres, and Odor reached on an error, scoring Urshela. That left 1st and 3rd with 2 out, but Clint Frazier just got under it, and flew out to center.

That was it. Over the last 3 innings, the Yankees got a walk by Stanton, a popup, and 8 strikeouts. They fanned 15 times over the course of the game. That's 15 strikeouts and 2 double plays. The Yankees lead MLB in grounding into double plays.

Red Sox 5, Yankees 2. WP: Eovaldi (7-2). SV: Matt Barnes (13). LP: King (0-3).

This game gave "disgraceful" a bad name. This whole game was a rotten answer.

The series continues tonight. Jameson Taillon starts for the Yankees, so don't get your hopes up. Eduardo Rodriguez starts for The Scum.

Umpires Beat Yankees for Rays, Here Come Red Sox

Today would have been my grandmother's birthday. She was from Queens, and a Brooklyn Dodger fan until they moved, and a Mets fan from their arrival until her death. She hated technology. Aside from cable TV, she didn't like it, and couldn't handle it.

The Luddites were a secret oath-based organization of English textile workers in the 19th Century, a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery as a form of protest. They may taken their name from Ned Ludd, a weaver from Anstey, near Leicester. The term came to mean "someone opposed to advancing technology." When Grandma found out what a Luddite was, she embraced the term. "That's what I am," she said.

And yet, I think she would have said, "I, for one, welcome our new robot umpire overlords." Every now and then, she would say, "The umpires are getting too big for their britches." And she didn't mean they were fat, although many of them were, and are. She meant they were trying to make the game all about themselves. She would have agreed with the saying, "Nobody ever bought a ticket to see an umpire."

The umpires have been squeezing the the Yankees for years. But in this 4-game home series with the Tampa Bay Rays that just ended, it was especially egregious.

In yesterday's matinee finale, the plate umpire was named Chad Whitson. Those of us old enough to remember the 1980s, when the Yankees had Ed Whitson on the mound, got it nasty flashback upon seeing the name. (As far as I can tell, they're not related.)

Gerrit Cole started for the Yankees. Brett Gardner gave him a 1-0 lead with a home run in the bottom of the 3rd. But he gave up a home run to Austin Meadows in the top of the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th, Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough threw Clint Frazier five pitches, none of them in the strike zone, none of which were swamped, but three of them were called strikes, and he was out.

Ordinarily, I would write the numbers as numbers. This time, for emphasis, I'm writing them out as words. Someone at MLB.com made a chart showing that Yarbrough got eight pitches outside the strike zone called strikes, Cole none (possibly one). No question about it: There was bias here. A two-to-nothing count could be a couple of mistakes. An eight-to-nothing, or eight-to-one, count is corruption. Whitson is corrupt enough to referee a Premier League match against Arsenal. (And I do mean "against" Arsenal.)

Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you. But so can bad calls by the umpire. Cole began the top of the 5th by walking Mike Zunino, on a 3-2 pitch. He got no benefit of the doubt from Whitson. He struck Taylor Walls out. Then Kevin Kiermaier grounded to 1st, and ran out of the baseline, and DJ LeMahieu couldn't tag him.

The 1st base umpire was Alan Porter. He called Kiermaier safe. The correct call would have been to call Kiermaier out, and send Zunino back to 1st: Man on 1st, 2 out. Instead, it was 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Instead, the umpires screwed the Yankees.

The dominoes fell. Cole struck Randy Arozarena out, but Brandon Lowe singled home Zunino, and advanced to 2nd on the throw home. Then Yandy Diaz singled home Kiermaier and Lowe. It was 5-1 Rays, the game effectively over.

Certainly, it was over for Cole. Manager Aaron Boone brought Nick Nelson in to relieve. This was a very stupid thing to do, as Nelson gave up 4 runs in less than 2 innings. Luis Cessa and Brooks Kriske pitched very well after that. As Phil Rizzuto would have said, "But the damage is done. I tell ya, Murcer, it's unbelievable."

The umpires had been bad all through this series, all four games. But yesterday afternoon was a new low. It got so bad that even Aaron Boone, not known for his outbursts -- the famous 2019 "savages in that box" incident to the contrary -- finally had enough. In the top of the 7th, when he came to take Nelson out, he yelled at Whitson, calling him out for his bias, and got tossed for his trouble.

Boone has been criticized by Yankee Fans for not showing enough passion. This time, he did, but it was more than a day late, and far more than a dollar short.

Rays 9, Yankees 2. WP: Yarbrough (3-3, with a complete game). No save. LP: Cole (6-3).

So the Yankees, really needing to win 3 out of 4, only got a split -- and were maybe 1 key hit on Tuesday and another on Wednesday away from getting swept.

And now, we have to face the Boston Red Sox, in 3 night games, including the ESPN Sunday broadcast. Anybody think the umps will call a series between the Yankees and The Scum fairly? If you do, I'd like to sell you the Macombs Dam Bridge.

Mike Marshall, 1943-2021

The baseball establishment doesn't like guys who think differently. They'll put up with such guys if they can win because of it. But when the winning stops, goodbye.

Mike Marshall thought differently. And, on occasion, it worked superbly for both him and his team.

Michael Grant Marshall was born on January 15, 1943 in Adrian, Michigan, outside Detroit. At the age of 11, he was in a car driven by his uncle, who tried to cross railroad tracks ahead of a train, and didn't make it. The uncle was killed, and Mike was left with a severe back injury. His long hospital stay and treatment led him to develop an interest in the mechanics of the human body.

He graduated from Adrian High School, which had previously produced Dorne Dibble, a receiver with the Detroit Lions' NFL Championship teams of the 1950s. Later, in the same class, 2003, it would produce tight end Kellen Davis of the Chicago Bears and New York Jets, and defensive end Marcus Benard of the Cleveland Browns and the Arizona Cardinals.

Marshall graduated from Michigan State University in 1965, at a time when their football team was one of the best in the country, coached by Duffy Daugherty and known as "Duffy's Toughies." His degree was in kinesiology (Kin-EE-see-OL-oh-jee), the scientific study of human or non-human body movement.

According to Wikipedia, "Applications of kinesiology to human health include biomechanics and orthopedics; strength and conditioning; sport psychology; motor control; skill acquisition and motor learning; methods of rehabilitation, such as physical and occupational therapy; and sport and exercise physiology."

He was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies, then sold to his almost-hometown Detroit Tigers. He made his major league debut on May 31, 1967. It didn't go so well for the Tigers: They lost at home, 9-0 to the Cleveland Indians. Luis Tiant pitched a 6-hit shutout, striking out 13. Mickey Lolich started for the Tigers, and didn't get past the 3rd inning. Leon Wagner hit a home run off Pat Dobson. Wearing the Number 28 he would wear for most of his career, Marshall pitched the top of the 9th inning, resulting in double, groundout, strikeout, RBI single, strikeout.

Marshall appeared in 37 games that season, all in relief, going 1-3 with 10 saves. The Tigers overcame the Detroit Race Riot in July, and came within 1 game of the American League Pennant. They won the World Series the next season, but Marshall spent it entirely in the minor leagues, as mainly a starter, with the Tigers' top farm team. Ironically, it was the Toledo Mud Hens, who, despite being across a State Line (Ohio), were half as close to his hometown of Adrian as Tiger Stadium was.

Marshall was left unprotected in the expansion draft, and was chosen by the Seattle Pilots. He shared a bullpen with, among others, former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton, who had switched to a knuckleball after wrecking his elbow in 1965.

The Pilot staff, including manager Joe Schultz and pitching coach Sal Maglie, a former All-Star pitcher for the New York Giants with a great curveball, didn't trust the knuckler. They considered it an oddball pitch, favored by oddball pitchers, and pretty much froze Bouton out. Marshall, too, had an oddball pitch: The screwball, a "reverse curveball." It was considered such an oddball pitch, the word "screwball" came to mean a strange person.

Whereas the other Pilots, less intellectual, mocked Marshall, calling him "Brains," Bouton saw in him a kindred spirit, a man who thought well about many things, not just baseball. In his journal of that season, published the next year as the book Ball Four, "Mike Marshall is probably the most articulate guy on the club, so I asked him if he had as much trouble communicating as I've had and he said, 'Of course. The minute I approach a coach or a manager, I can see the terror in his eyes.'"

Marshall appeared in 20 games, starting 16, going 3-10 with a 5.14 ERA. Late in the season, the Pilots traded Bouton to the Houston Astros. In the off-season, the Pilots, desperate for cash, sold Marshall to Houston as well, but moved during 1970's Spring Training, becoming the Milwaukee Brewers.

The reunion didn't last long: By late June, Bouton had been sent down to the minors, never to return (or so everyone thought, but he made a comeback with the Atlanta Braves in 1978), and Marshall had been traded to the Montreal Expos. Now, he was with a team that knew what to do with him: In 1971, he had 23 saves. In 1972, he made 65 appearances, all in relief, a huge number for the time, going 14-8 with 18 saves and a 1.78 ERA.

Against conventional wisdom, Marshall didn't ice his arm after games and he pitched in short sleeves even in the coldest of weather. He believed that pitchers should throw more often, not less; and more pitches, not less.

Jim Fanning, the Expos' general manager at the time, would later said, "Marshall had fantastic stuff,  the best screwball I've ever seen in my life. You would see him on a cold night at Jarry Park and no sweatshirt, just a short-sleeved uniform top."

In 1973, he practiced what he preached, setting a new major league record with 92 pitching appearances, going 14-11, a 2.66 ERA and a National League-leading 31 saves. He broke the record for pitching appearances set in 1969, 90, by Wayne Granger, then with the Cincinnati Reds. In postseason award voting, he finished 2nd for the Cy Young Award and 5th for the Most Valuable Player.

That got the attention of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who traded Willie Davis to the Expos for Marshall on December 5, 1973. On a franchise that had Dazzy Vance, Don Newcombe (those 2, in Brooklyn), Sandy Koufax, Don Dyrsdale, and, currently, Don Sutton and Tommy John, and would eventually have Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Pedro Martinez, Eric Gagne * and Clayton Kershaw, the 1974 season of Mike Marshall may be the most remarkable in Dodger pitching history.

He made 106 appearances, finishing 83 games, both new major league records. It remains the only 100+ pitching appearance season in history. From June 18 to July 3, he pitched in 13 games in a row, a record that still stands.

"I had a deal with (manager) Walter Alston," Marshall said in a 2003 interview. "If I warmed up, I was getting into the game."

He went 15-12, with a 2.42 ERA and a 1.186 WHIP. He led he NL with 21 saves. Not since Dizzy Dean in 1934 (30-7, 7 saves) had a pitcher had a combined total of more wins and saves. He struck out 143, and walked 56. He made his 1st All-Star Game, finished 3rd in the MVP voting, and became the 1st relief pitcher ever to win the Cy Young Award, in either League.

The Dodgers won the Pennant, their 1st in 8 years. Marshall pitched in all 5 games of the World Series, facing 32 batters, striking out 10 and walking only 1. He saved Game 2 for Sutton, including the famous pickoff of Charlie Finley's "designated runner" Herb Washington. But that would be the only game the Dodgers would win. He allowed just 1 run in the Series, but it was a home run by Joe Rudi in the 7th inning of Game 5, and that made the difference, as the Oakland Athletics on, 3-2 to take the Series.

Also that year, through his acquaintance with Dr. Frank Jobe, he recommended to Tommy John that he get the career-saving surgery that now bears John's name. So that's another piece of baseball history connected to Mike Marshall.

But the trouble with being the smartest guy in the room is that you tend to start acting like everybody else around you is dumb. Although named to the All-Star Team again in 1975, he wasn't nearly as good, as Dodger management trusted him less. He made 58 appearances (a little over half as many as the year before, but still a big number compared to pre-Marshall pitchers), but only went 9-14 with 13 saves.

And he wasn't especially friendly -- not to his teammates, not to the media, and not to fans. Once, when a boy asked Marshall for his autograph, he told the kid, "Go get your math teacher's autograph. He's the hero you should be seeking out." (University of Alabama football coach Bear Bryant once famously said, "Nobody ever cheered a math department.)

Marshall's iconoclasm finally ticked off the conservative Dodgers to the point where they traded him to the Atlanta Braves in 1976, getting Lee Lacy and Elias Sosa in the deal, both of whom would help the Dodgers win Pennants in 1977 and '78.

The Braves gave up on him early in the 1977 season, and sold him to the Texas Rangers. Between the 2 teams, he made only 16 appearances that season. After it, the Rangers gave up on him. He wasn't signed for 1978 until May 15, by the Minnesota Twins, and they trusted him enough to make 54 appearances, going 10-12 with a 2.45 ERA and 21 saves. That same year, he got his Ph.D. in exercise physiology from Michigan State, making him Dr. Mike Marshall.

In 1979, he struck again. He went 10-15 for a weak Twins team, but led the AL with 32 saves. He pitched in 90 games, so he holds the record for most games pitched in a season in each League. He finished 84 games, a major league record that still stands.

But he was 37 years old before the next season started, and all his pitching may have finally caught up with him. In 1980, he pitched in 18 games for the Twins, going 1-3 with 1 save and a 6.12 ERA. He was released on June 6, and did not return to the major leagues until August 19, 1981, when the Mets signed hi as a free agent. He appeared in 20 games, going 3-2 with a 2.61 ERA, but no saves. He was released after the season. That was it, except for 1 game with the Edmonton Trappers, the Class AAA farm team of the California Angels in 1983, in which he was terribly ineffective.

His career record is an unflattering 97-112, but he had 188 saves at a time when that was a big number. His ERA was 3.14, his WHIP was 1.294, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio was 1.71.

Aside from Marshall, 4 pitchers have appeared in at least 90 games in a season. One was the aforementioned Wayne Granger. Kent Tekulve of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched in 91 in 1978 and 94 in their World Championship season of 1979, and reached 90 again with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1987. Salomón Torres appeared in 94 for the 2006 Pirates. And Pedro Feliciano appeared in 92 for the 2010 Mets. The Yankee record is 86, by Paul Quantrill in 2004.

*

Officially, Mike Marshall was never banned from baseball. But he was blackballed, because he knew more about pitching motions than anybody, and wasn't afraid to say so. Never publicly say that you know more than the establishment does: If you do, they will consider it an embarrassment. You can do almost anything in sports, as long as you don't embarrass the establishment. It's why Tim Tebow keeps getting new chances in football, but (for different reasons) Colin Kaepernick and Johnny Manziel do not.

"I know the injurious flaws in the 'traditional' baseball pitching motion that injure baseball pitchers and how to eliminate all pitching injuries," he said on his website, drmikemarshall.com. "I also know the mechanical flaws in the 'traditional' baseball pitching motion that decrease release velocity, release consistency and the variety and quality of pitches pitchers can throw and how to correct these mechanical flaws."

And so, he was never again hired by "organized baseball." But he coached in college. In 1984, he was an assistant coach at the University of Tampa, an NCAA Division II school. From 1984 until 1988, he was head coach at St. Leo College, also a Division II school in the Tampa Bay area.

From 1989 to 1991, he was head coach at Henderson State University, another Division II school, in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. When Jim Bouton tried to contact his former teammates for a 20th Anniversary update of Ball Four in 1989, Marshall told him of his new word, and Jim said, "Arkadelphia! Sounds like a happening place!"

This was the time of the brief Senior Professional Baseball Association based in Tampa Bay, which attracted several former MLB players, including Hall of Fame pitchers Rollie Fingers and Fergie Jenkins. Mike told Jim -- this is how the quote appeared in the book -- "And I personally am throwing the dog doo-doo out of the ball." (He was 46, and hadn't thrown a professional pitch in 6 years, but there have been plenty of pitchers that age and older who have pitched effectively in the majors. Given his conditioning, Mike could have become one of them.)

Jim asked Mike if he was going to try out for the senior league, and he said, "I just might, if they can get their act together." They didn't, and he didn't.

Jim and Mike are linked in another way, a considerably less flattering one. Each man's 1st wife, Bobbie Bouton and Nancy Marshall, came from small towns in Michigan, married pitchers with unusual pitches and unusual outlooks, and saw their husbands cheat on them on the road. In 1983, they collaborated on a book, Home Games. Mike Marshall made no public comment about the book. Jim Bouton wished Bobbie well, and suggested that everything she wrote was true.

Mike's last coaching job was in 1993 and 1994, at West Texas A&M University, in Canyon, Texas, in the Panhandle, near Amarillo. Affiliated with the regular Texas A&M in College Station, it, like the other schools he coached at, is in NCAA Division II.

He should not be confused with Michael Allen Marshall, an outfielder from the Chicago area. This Mike Marshall also played for the Dodgers, making his debut for them during their 1981 World Championship season. While he was on the postseason roster, he only played in 1 game, in the Division Series against the Houston Astros.

He later helped the Dodgers win the NL West in 1983, '85 and '88, and with them, he won the 1988 World Series, a feat denied to the pitcher Mike Marshall. He was named to the NL All-Star Team in 1984. In 1990, he was traded to the Mets, but only played 53 games for them before being traded to the Boston Red Sox, helping them win the AL East that year.

He retired after the 1991 season, with a .270 batting average and 148 home runs. He is now 61 years old, has since worked in the front offices of various teams in "independent leagues," and has also coached in college baseball. The pitcher's last season, 1981, was the outfielder's first, and I don't know if they ever met.

If not, it will never happen now. Mike Marshall the pitcher settled in the Tampa suburb of Zephyrhills, Florida, with his 2nd wife Erica. With Nancy, who died this past April 30, he had daughters Deborah, Rebekah and Kerry. Mike fell ill, and was taken to hospice care, and died on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, at age 78.

Yankees Beat Rays On MLB's 1st Annual Lou Gehrig Day

Major League Baseball has a 162-game season, and games are played nearly every day from early April to late September. The character of a team is defined in stretches like the one the New York Yankees are in now: 7 games in 7 days, at home; 4 against the Tampa Bay Rays, who have been their functional rivals in the American League Eastern Division in the last 3 seasons, including this one; and then 3 against the Boston Red Sox, who not only are their historical rivals, but have been their functional rivals in the AL East for about 25 years.

And after entering this week with a terrible slump, especially with hitting, and an injury crisis, it looked like the Yankees would need to take at least 5 out of the 7 to look like serious contenders again. And they lost the 1st game in ignominious fashion. But they won the 2nd game in dramatic fashion.

Last night was the 3rd game. It was the 80th Anniversary of the death of Lou Gehrig, and Major League Baseball celebrated its 1st annual Lou Gehrig Day, raising money for the research into the disease that killed him and now bears his name, and for other charitable causes.

Patch worn by all MLB teams yesterday

They couldn't do it on the anniversary of the original Lou Gehrig Day, at the old Yankee Stadium, in 1939, because that's the 4th of July, which already has planned celebrations. And they couldn't do it on the anniversary of his birth, because that's June 19. Some years, that's Father's Day, for which MLB has planned celebrations. It's also Juneteenth, a holiday for Black Americans. (I'm never sure: Is "Black" supposed to be capitalized here?)

Jordan Montgomery started for the Pinstripes, and gave the Yankees just what they needed: 6 1/3rd innings, 3 runs, only 1 of them earned, 5 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts. "Gumby" may have gotten a big boost when the Yankees gave him a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning, with a home run by Gio Urshela, driving in Giancarlo Stanton, who had singled.

The Rays took a run back in the top of the 4th. But the Yankees made them pay for it in the bottom of the 4th, with a leadoff double by Gleyber Torres, and single by Rougned Odor, a bases-loading walk by Gary Sanchez (yes, Sanchez drew a walk in a key situation), and a 2-run single by the previous night's 11th inning walkoff hero, Clint Frazier. 4-1 Yankees.

The Rays scored a run in the 5th, and another in the 7th. But the bullpen was very effective again: Between them, Jonathan Loaisiga, Chad Green and Aroldis Chapman went 2 2/3rds innings, allowing no runs on 1 hit, albeit with 3 walks.

Yankees 4, Rays 3. WP: Montgomery (3-1). SV: Chapman (12). LP: Shane McLachlan (2-1).

With the Red Sox losing to the Houston Astros in a Battle of the Exposed Cheats, the AL East is now led by the Rays by 2 games over the Red Sox, 3 1/2 over the Yankees, and 4 1/2 over the Toronto Blue Jays. In the all-important loss column, the Rays are 1 ahead of the Sox, and 3 ahead of the Yanks and Jays.

The series concludes this afternoon. Gerrit Cole starts against Ryan Yarbrough. Having Gerrit Cole available to possibly give you 3 out of 4 against the team you need to beat, giving you serious momentum going into a series against the team you really want to beat, with potential for a great season to come, reminds me of the close of Lou Gehrig's speech on his Day: "I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for."

Has Frazier Snapped the Yanks Out of It?

Cher turned 75 on May 20. She shared her exact date of birth with the late Yankee Legend Bobby Murcer. Both were born 2 days after another Yankee Legend, Reggie Jackson.

Cher is famous for many things, including the scene in the film Moonstruck where she slaps Nicolas Cage and yells, "Snap out of it!"

The Yankees have needed to snap out of a slump full of losing and weak hitting for a while. The 2nd game of their 4-game home series with the Tampa Bay Rays was the right time to do so.

Domingo German started for the Yankees. He allowed a 2-run home run in the 1st inning. For the next 4 innings, he was mostly fine. Overall, he went 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits, with no walks, and 5 strikeouts.

Cliche Alert: But the Yankees needed to hit. They didn't get their 1st baserunner until 2 were out in the bottom of the 3rd. Tyler Glasnow was pitching perfectly for the Rays. But then...

Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you. Clint Frazier drew one. DJ LeMahieu and Rougned Odor singled to load the bases. The batter was Aaron Judge, and if you were thinking, "Inning-ending strikeout," you weren't alone. Except he drew a walk, forcing home a run. Then, with Gio Urshela up, Glasnow threw a wild pitch, scoring LeMahieu and tying the game. It could have been more, but Urshela flew out.

Miguel Andujar gave the Yankees the lead with a home run in the bottom of the 4th. But the Rays came back with their own round-tripper to tie it back up in the top of the 5th.

And 3-3 it remained, with great bullpen work by Wandy Peralta, Jonathan Loaisiga, Chad Green, Aroldis Chapman, Lucas Luetge and Luis Cessa. Between them, they pitched 6 innings, allowing no runs and no hits, albeit 6 walks.

The Yankees had a chance to win it in the bottom of the 9th. With 2 out, Brett Gardner drew a walk and stole 2nd. Frazier drew another walk. But LeMahieu hit a line shot to 2nd base to end the inning.

Extra innings. Ghost runner. In this case, LeMahieu. Odor grounded out, sending LeMahieu to 3rd. Judge up. Hopes rising. The Rays did the smart thing, and walked him intentionally. Urshela struck out. Gleyber Torres came up. Judge took 2nd base on defensive indifference. Torres drew a walk. Bases loaded.

The batter was Gary Sanchez. He had doubled earlier in the game, but had also made a baserunner blunder. Still, the crowd was behind him, chanting, "Let's go, Ga-ry!" But he struck out, and the crowd booed like crazy.

The Yankees had survived the ghost runner situation in the top of the 10th, and survived it again in the top of the 11th. They led off the bottom of the 11th with the much-maligned Sanchez on 2nd. Against Andrew Kittredge, Andujar grounded to short. It was not enough to get Sanchez to 3rd. Gardner grounded to 1st. That was enough to get Sanchez to 3rd.

Frazier came up. For most of the season thus far, he'd been hitting and fielding better. But his hitting took a nosedive. So had everybody else's, it seemed. This time, he drilled one to left field, for a walkoff home run.

Yankees 5, Rays 3. WP: Cessa (1-0). No save. LP: Kittredge (5-1).

Has Frazier's walkoff homer snapped the Yanks out of it? I sure hope so.

The series continues tonight. Jordan Montgomery starts against Shane McClanahan. Come on you Pinstripes!