Good morning, all. I hope your week is off to a terrific start.
It is the heart of the baseball season. Football camps in the NFL and college are about to open. So why all the basketball talk? Well, as I wrote in a newsletter last year, the seasons never stop, and the NBA is doing its part to stay in the conversation year round. There is no more off season.
The champagne was still flowing, after the Denver Nuggets won their first NBA title, and already the talk was about the draft. Then, when Victor Wembanyama was drafted first by the San Antonio Spurs, attention focused on him and the NBA’s Summer League. That’s right, Summer League. When Wembanyama debuted in that league - all games being held in Las Vegas - tickets were selling at record prices. Ratings for summer league games on ESPN approached record highs, topped only by Zion Williamson’s pre-covid debut.
Lebron James announces his return and a uniform number change and suddenly, Shohei Ohtani news is pushed to the back pages. Stephen Curry shoots a hole-in-one at the American Century Championship celebrity tournament and it’s headline news. Then he makes an eagle the next day to win the event. More headline news.
I used to think the NFL had it figured out, when it came to keeping its brand in the news 24/7, 365 days a year, but the NBA is gaining ground. The league has realized their fans are consumed with the product and want to enjoy it, even when the official season ends.
Newsletters about the NBA abound, including on this Substack platform. May I recommend two of them:
and Tom Ziller.
As the NBA’s head of event strategy and development Joey Graziano told Doug Greenberg of Front Office Sports: “As we think about this larger experiential moment, it’s with the thought of the fan always being put first. Is this something that the fan is willing to be able to get off the couch and go to? And if the answer is yes then I think it opens up a number of business drivers for us.”
Business is booming for the NBA. And it might just be the opening tip.
Ohtani and batting practice
As I wrote in my last newsletter, Shohei Ohtani is going to command at or over a half-billion dollars, when he becomes a free agent at season’s end. I also wrote that rumors would abound about the Angels trading him, before the end of the season. Well, with Ohtani’s appearance at last week’s All-Star game came the expected stories about Ohtani being traded.
I would be surprised if he is traded but nothing seems to surprise me about Ohtani these days, like the story about his batting practice habits. Did you know Ohtani has taken BP outdoors only three times this season? He went outdoors at Angels Stadium to hit before a Red Sox game, took BP at Yankee Stadium once and one time at Dodgers Stadium. The rumor mills’ big stories have baseball’s biggest star going to the Dodgers, Yankees or Red Sox, although I suspect the Mets might have something to say about that. Anyway, it seems Ohtani prefers to take his practice swings indoors. And when you produce like he does, you can take BP anywhere you want,
Gary Sanchez and Blake Snell
Remember when Gary Sanchez could not catch? That was always the criticism of him, when he was with the Yankees. His defense was weak and he couldn’t call pitches no matter how hard the Yankees worked with him. Well these days, Sanchez, who has since counted Minnesota, San Francisco, the Mets and San Diego among his teams, is getting it done with Padres’ ace Blake Snell.
The San Diego southpaw had an ERA over 5, until Sanchez arrived. In his last nine starts, with Sanchez as his catcher, his ERA is 0.51. Not bad for a guy who supposedly cannot handle pitchers.
Classic Vin Scully
And I leave you with this: Vin Scully may have been the GOAT of baseball broadcasters, although fans are very subjective when it comes to their announcers. Nevertheless, enjoy this Scully gem, courtesy of Baseball Nostalgist’s Twitter feed…
Well that is it for this week’s newsletter. As always thank you for your support and have a terrific week.
SPORTSCASTER DAN