Expansion on front burner

Leagues looking to recoup Covid losses

Good morning, all! It’s Friiiidddayyyy!!!!!

The drum beat is growing louder. Last week, we wrote about the real reason baseball wants to settle the Oakland Athletics’ stadium issue. MLB wants to expand. New franchises would cost $2 billion each. Franchise owners are not in business to lose money and they lost a heap because of Covid-19. One way to recoup the money is to add teams. Now word is the NBA is talking expansion, including everybody’s favorite city, Las Vegas.

There are reports the NBA is looking to expand to 32 teams, the league’s first expansion since 2004. Cities in the running would be Seattle and Las Vegas. No formal plans have been announced but look for expansion to be a main topic in several leagues.

John Daly does it his way

Golf’s second major is underway, and two-time PGA Championship winner John Daly is among those in the field. Anytime the colorful Daly is part of a tournament expect fireworks. On Thursday morning, Daly caused an eruption on Twitter for practicing with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and a Diet Coke in a McDonald’s cup nearby. And then what did the 55-year-old golfer? Chipped in for a birdie on the first hole. Go John Daly.

The winds of Candlestick

In Wednesday’s newsletter I wrote about the great catch, 60 years ago, that Willie Mays made, battling the winds at Candlestick Park. His manager, Alvin Dark, called it better than the one he made in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series at the Polo Grounds, off of Vic Wertz. That led one of our subscribers to write that as he recalled, Candlestick was always windy. And I might add, usually cold and sometimes foggy.

Weather conditions are why, when the Giants moved from New York and were looking for a site for a new stadium in San Francisco, city officials took team officials out to the Candlestick location at mid-morning, when the winds off the ocean are calm and the sun is shining brightly. Giants’ owner Horace Stoneham couldn’t say “no” to such a great location.

The rest is history.

That is it for this week. Have a tremendous weekend, and as always, thank you for your support.

SPORTSCASTER DAN