Judge is winning the bet

There is football and then everybody else

Good morning, all. I hope your week is off to a great start.

If you have been following the season Aaron Judge has put together for the New York Yankees, then you are witnessing one of the greatest seasons by any player, ever. With his two home run game against Milwaukee on Sunday, Judge now has 59 home runs. There are 16 games remaining in the season and Judge needs three home runs to break the American League single-season home run mark of 61, set by another Yankee, Roger Maris in 1961.

Unlike Maris, Judge is enjoying the chase, focused on carrying his club across the finish line to win the American League East in an effort to lead the Yankees to their first World Series title in 13 years. Maris was battling the legacy of Babe Ruth’s then-record 60 home run season, a commissioner who wrote Ruth’s biography, and a media following his every move. Unlike the controlled setting of today, the media would swarm around him, after every game, asking stupid questions such as, “do you play around on your wife, while on the road,” etc. The Yankees also hung him out to dry, letting him fend for himself.

Throw in that teammate Mickey Mantle, who came up through the Yankees’ system, was also in the home run chase, until he was sidelined by a hip infection, and people, including Yankees’ co-owner Dan Topping were rooting for Mantle over Maris, and it is no wonder Maris was losing clumps of hair and a nervous wreck.

What makes Judge’s season more amazing is his quest for a triple crown title (leading the league in batting average, home runs and RBI). If he succeeds, he would become the first Yankee to accomplish this remarkable feat since Mantle did it in 1956.

Remember, Judge - who will become a free agent at season’s end - bet on himself, turning down a hefty contract extension from the Yankees on the eve of the new season. Whatever the remaining 16 games bring, he will more than likely receive a record-contract, from either the Yankees or another deep-pocket club, like the Dodgers or Mets. He is holding out for a 10-year deal.

Most clubs will be hesitant to make such a massive financial commitment to the 31-year-old Judge, fearing the expected physical breakdown of an aging player is not worth the investment. But some owner will give him what he wants, using the St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols as an example. After a career that flagged in the middle of a 10-year deal from the LA Angels, Pujols, 42, has found new life with his old club. The Cards’ slugger is on the verge of hitting his 700th career home run and St. Louis is running away with the National League Central Division in no small part to his contribution.

So enjoy the remaining weeks of the regular season, watching Judge in a race with history will make for a great story.

Fascinated with 1964

As one who loves all forms of history (I have been captivated with the passing of Queen Elizabeth, watching hours of coverage), I always enjoy reading about the 1964 baseball season. Many things happened that season, including two great pennant races - before divisional play - highlighted by the collapse of the Philadelphia Phillies. Below are the standings, entering play on Sep. 19 of that season. Notice the Phillies big lead with 15 games left.

Incidentally, renowned New York Daily News sports columnist Dick Young predicted during this portion of the 1964 season, that the defending World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers would fire manager Walter Alston, that Casey Stengel would be the leading candidate to replace him (Young wrote the Mets owners wanted to part ways with Stengel after three years), and that the Cleveland Indians would move to Seattle. None of those predictions came true, but just like today, the sports media was always rife with speculation.

America loves football

Week two of the NFL season is in the books and week four of the college football season has also been put to bed. Here is what we know; in this country there is football and then there is every other sport.

As an example, ratings for the first week of the NFL season were staggering. Yvonne Abraham of the Boston Globe writes more than 121 million people watched NFL games in the first weekend. The average viewership for a game was 18.5 million, more than most World Series games attract. Nearly 25 million viewers took in the Tampa Bay (Tom Brady)-Dallas Cowboys game. Even the pregame shows attracted millions.

It is no wonder networks bid billions to cover the NFL and college football. Yes, college football outpaces most other sports on TV too. Eyeballs translate into viewers for the television networks and advertisers. Throw in the legalized betting on games and you have football and everybody else.

That is it for this week’s newsletter. As always, thank you for subscribing and have a terrific week.

SPORTSCASTER DAN