Jordan vs LeBron... A Clear Winner in The Matchup That Really Matters

For years, the debate has been wonderful column fodder for lazy sportswriters looking for a way to kill a few type inches: who is the better player, LeBron James or Michael Jordan. It is an impossible question to answer definitively, as each of the two all time greats present a vast but different set of skills, and have each played with distinctly different caliber of teammates. It is one of the great bar arguments, and it’s a lot of fun.

There is one contest that is becoming easier to decide, and less often the stuff of drunken dispute. With his intense leadership in the nation’s tumultuous racial challenges, LeBron has established himself as the more consequential figure during his era of athletic dominance. Where Jordan steadfastly avoided the glare of politics, LeBron has embraced his celebrity power to the max, leveraging his personal brand to make the difference that he believes in.

When the Milwaukee Bucks chose to boycott their playoff game with the Orlando Magic, there was a critical moment when it could have simply been a home town team reacting to a local tragedy, or something far greater. The sporting press, unsure of what to make of an unprecedented statement, brought their microphones to James’ locker, and left it to him to decide. James was clear — he would lead the players in support of the Buck’s position, and challenge the NBA to follow or not.

The league followed without hesitation, postponing all of the games and in doing so, nationalizing the movement and bringing a different narrative to bear. In so doing, the NBA made its own statement that the shooting of Jacob Blake would not be marginalized as a local story, but added to the litany of national failings in social justice. When the league positioned the cancellations as a postponement driven by sensitivity, LeBron was again sought out for comment, and defiantly responded: this was not a postponement by the league, it was a boycott by the players.

Other teams, then other leagues followed suit almost immediately. Within hours, every major sport league had addressed the issue, with the WNBA first, then MSL, then the NHL and some MLB teams going along. The impact was unmistakable, and the leader — transcending his own sport — was undeniable.

The NBA met with LeBron, and listened as he demanded that the billionaires present take stronger steps to support black communities and interests. The power of LeBron was unquestioned, as reportedly he received assurances that such investments would be made, and the resulting agreements led to the decision to resume the playoffs.

In the matter of addressing racial injustice and inequality, LeBron had already earned the right to stand tall and proclaim his position. Two months earlier, James had led a group of star athletes to form More Than A Vote, an organization dedicated to fighting against voter suppression and for access, particularly among minority communities. LeBron was thoughtful, and fully aware of his growing platform:

“I’m inspired by the likes of Muhammad Ali, I’m inspired by the Bill Russells and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbars, the Oscar Robertsons — those guys who stood when the times were even way worse than they are today,” Mr. James said. “Hopefully, someday down the line, people will recognize me not only for the way I approached the game of basketball, but the way I approached life as an African-American man.”

The tangible results are coming to roost: the NBA has announced that it will convert all of its arenas into polling stations, creating protected access for hundreds of thousands of voters and expanding critical capacities in thirty cities. Other sports will likely follow suit, changing the dynamics of local efforts to close polling areas and constrain certain voters racially and by party. It seems apparent that LeBron James has chosen to make his stand on racism now, and without shrinking from the spotlight.

Michael Jordan was an unquestionably great player, a fitting entrant into the all-time greatest conversation. His movement from sports into a highly successful international businessman offered a strong rebuttal to any perceived limitations of athletes, and in particular Black ones. There is great value to that breaking of prejudice and opening of doors… but when Jordan had a chance to parlay his fame into arguments against inequality, he famously pointed out that conservatives buy shoes too, and demurred from the most incendiary discussions.

LeBron has freedoms that Jordan might have felt were absent in his times, and the money that LeBron makes from basketball beggars what even Jordan could command. That said, both men were presented with the opportunity to take risks with their brand, to leverage their fame for something meaningful in society… and James took that shot. Both players will be forever remembered as athletes, as competitors and as champions. One of the two will also be remembered as a champion for society, for things above and beyond the rims that he rattled.

In the world of consequence, in the contest of contribution, LeBron James is a clear winner.

The Mavericks Not-So-Distance Learn... Thank You, Clippers

There are lessons that can be taught, and lessons that must be learned.

The byproduct of the Maverick’s stunning win in game 4 led to both teams learning critical lessons in game 5, each in their own way necessary for the development of their teams. For the Clippers, the lesson was about what is necessary to step up from being a very good team to a championship one, a team that has extraordinary capabilities that can be unlocked by explosive and shared passion. For the Mavericks, it was a demonstration of what is more important than just skills, and what intensity looks like in a real playoff match.

Dallas came into the game with every possible reason to lose. A decidedly superior opponent had been pushed down, and would either respond with a ferocious pride or go whimpering into the dark. The barking and catcalls from the bench before and during the start of the game had to tell Rick Carlisle which way that was going to go, and it couldn’t have been a good feeling.

Still fatally shorthanded, and in the absence of the adrenaline rush of the prior game, Dallas had to find its own internal animal to harness, and chose… a puppy. Next time, they’ll know that they need to make a different choice, to match that wild intensity with their own roar, but without this game under their belts, they might not have understood it so viscerally. They were meat to carnivores last night, and the final quarter when LA poured it on and on was the necessary lesson of the life and death nature of championship runs.

There were two players for whom that lesson was most needed, and most valuable. For Luka, who at times seemed bewildered by the bodies hurtling around him, it was about the limitations of his own vast skills, and the need for the sort of leadership that only he is in the position to provide. Luka was visible on the bench, looking inward for answers that weren’t there… in time, Luka will look outward, demanding from his team an elevated response that will magnify his own gifts. A few hours of Jordan clips from his championship years, particularly but not exclusively on the bench during time outs, is required viewing now.

For Kris Porzingis, there is a different lesson. It is not for anyone to question his injuries, nor will I do so here. It is to show him that when he can contribute, the playoffs are rarely as pretty as his mid-range jump shot. The playoffs are messy, physical gang wars, and if he really wants a championship in his future, he’ll need to grow beyond where he is as a player, and become more. It’s a lesson that makes coaches crave grizzled vets as the games mean more, players who may plod and grab, but who dull the other teams movements and cause deep breaths late. Porzingis has a perfect game for a contest in December; can he add to his game to make it work in late spring and summer is to be seen.

For the rest of the Mavericks, there were a year’s worth of lessons to be learned as well… but in the end, only some or few of them will be in Dallas when the team reaches its heights, and likely will play different roles then. When the Maverick’s won their one championship, they were populated with the kind of dogs that were more than happy to bark back, even bite once in a while if needed. They surrounded the brilliant play and the misunderstood toughness of Nowitzki, and demanded that he be given space. This group shouldn’t be asked to do the same, but may have begun learning that if they want to hoist a trophy, they’ll have to volunteer.

The Los Angeles Clippers will likely win this first round series against the Dallas Mavericks. That was the story coming in to the playoffs, and it remains intact following their thorough trouncing of a depleted Dallas team last night, 154-111. The Mavericks may find a way to stun the basketball world again, and win two in a row against an extraordinary Clipper team. It’s unlikely, but with what Dallas has shown us already, it’s not nearly as impossible as it sounds. The outcome of the series is not assured, but the contours are becoming visible.

What is clear from last night’s contest is this: school is in for these Mavericks, and there is no distance learning here. The lessons of the real playoffs are delivered in your face, loud and spraying everywhere; they are entirely tactile, and most of the time they hurt like heck. The Clippers did Dallas a huge favor by screaming their way through a record setting trouncing; had they pulled back and won by only a respectably margin, that education might not have stuck. Carlisle is enough of a veteran, enough of a teacher to not coddle the team now, but to help them pick up what’s left of their lunches and straighten out their clothes, then send them back into the playground for another go. Which of the Maverick’s hide in the shadows next game, and which scream back, will be instructive for the future of the team.

Praise to Luka... But Save Some for The Other Guards, Too

In the glare of Luka’s epic performance, there was little light shone on some remarkable performances by the other fellows wearing blue. Luka tried in the post-game interview, but reality is that nobody else really paid that much attention… and that’s a shame.

Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Seth Curry played exceptionally well against perhaps the best perimeter defense in the league. In a game where they had to carry more than their usual share, they stepped up big in the most critical game of the year to date.

The offense is usually there, and was again: combined, the trio chipped in a brisk 61 points on 24 for 41 shooting (59%) including 7 for 14 from the arc, along with 11 boards and 3 steals. What can’t be missed is the hustle and defense that they played against the favored squad, particularly the hounding of Paul George both outside and in the paint. Without PG shut down (9 points on 3 for 14 shooting, 1 for 7 from the 3) Luka’s heroics never matter, and we’re talking about the Clippers road to the finals instead of raising a toast to the Mavs.

Quietly, and at times loudly, the second best player on the winning team was Trey Burke, who had an absolutely brilliant game. Going for 25 points on 10 for 14 shooting (4 for 5 from deep) he grabbed 5 boards and sniffed out a pair of key steals. Very generously listed at 6 feet tall, Burke stuck his nose in the chests of the taller Clipper guards (Paul George a head taller at 6’8” in particular) and worked his tail off. He was everything that the Mavericks had to have, and in any game decided by a bucket, there’s nothing to spare.

There’s something to note here… the farce that followed Rondo’s arrival cast aspersions on Rick Carlisle’s coaching of guards, particularly ones with some attitude. It’s past time to put that into the dumpster. Let’s look at the trio who gave Luka his platform yesterday: Burke, a journeyman who showed flashes but has emerged now; Hardaway, cast out of NY as a throw in during the Porzingis trade; Curry, who has found his value in Dallas. Those three, playing 101 minutes in the playoffs against LA, and more than holding their own.

Sometimes, a player and a coach don’t mesh, and that looks bad on both of them… but that doesn’t mean that either are useless, or even wrong. It’s a reflection on the value of matching a system with a player, and by the time an NBA veteran player or coach has had some success, there usually isn’t wriggle room. If you want proof, look at the Clipper’s Kawhi Leonard mismatching with Pops in San Antonio, for my money the hands down best coach in NBA history. If you can’t wait to get away from the Spur organization, but become a champion elsewhere, that’s all you need to know.

Carlisle has proven himself to be one of the top five coaches in basketball, and the list of players that he’s gotten too much out of is far greater than the list of those that he’s gotten not enough from. Bottom line: there isn’t a coach in the NBA — at this point, not even Pops — that I’d rather see guiding Luka for the next few years, and the surrounding cast seems to fit him well. Let’s keep Carlisle appreciated and happy, and just enjoy the ride.

How are Legends Made? See Doncic, Luka v Clippers...

It was May 16, 1980. The Los Angeles Lakers were playing against Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers in the sixth game of the NBA Finals. Regular season MVP Kareem Abdul Jabbar had led the Lakers to 60 wins during the regular season, on a loaded squad that also featured star forward Jamaal Wilkes, guard Norm Nixon, defense standout Michael Cooper and the first overall pick in that year’s draft, Magic Johnson… but in this game, Jabbar was sidelined with a sprained ankle.

Paul Westhead — a replacement for Head Coach Jack McKinney after a bicycle accident — pulled the 6’9” rookie over and gave him an interesting assignment. Johnson would play in the middle, replacing the legend, against the Sixers that night. Magic went out and scored 42 points, pulled down 15 boards and still found time to hand off 7 assists in an epic performance that began the Laker’s run as “Showtime”, one of the great offensive basketball teams of all time.

June 13, 1997, in the United Center in Chicago. Buzz in the locker room is that Michael Jordan was sick, and had thrown up. Facing the strong Utah team of Stockton and Malone, Jordan was seen hunched over, a towel over his head, looking all the world like a man searching for a place to lay down. Game starts, and Jordan gets off to a slow start, seemingly out of sorts as the Jazz take a 23-17 point lead in the first. By halftime, Jordan seemed to improve some, but Utah was grinding it out, and held a 43-36 point lead in the locker room.

The second half, Jordan came fully to life. The Bulls pulled off a 90-86 victory, and Jordan ended up with 39 points, 11 boards and 4 assists as Chicago won the series 4 games to 2. The legend of Jordan was secured, at least until Netflix entered the picture and gave everyone more to consider…

Both of those games were the concluding games of the NBA season, and as such deserve special places in NBA lore. Those two performances are often discussed among the great individual playoff games of all time, and the players became two of the best ever. For the Lakers, that championship spawned a golden era in basketball, as the two coasts — LA and Boston — set the tone for classic confrontations and drama. For the Bulls, that was their second of six championships, establishing Jordan and his team as one of the great dynasties of sports.

On August 23, 2020, in a weirdly artificial setting at Disneyland, the Mavericks lined up against the LA Clippers down two games to one. Their star player, Luka Doncic, had rolled his ankle in the previous game and been unable to return; replays of the injury were the usual gruesome visage of an ankle bent in ways that it’s not able to bend. Reports were mixed on whether or not he would be able to go, and with the Clippers heavy favorites, the first round looked like a nice experience for the young team, and a chance to gain a little bit of playoff edge.

When it was announced that Luka’s running mate, Kris Porzingis, would be unable to go because of a sore knee, the writing was on the wall. Luka came out to start the game with the knowledge that an uphill climb was more than a little steeper. The Mavericks fell behind by 21 early, and the sportswriters were finishing off their stories early.

Then, Luka Doncic, sore ankle and all, had one of those games. The stat line was something out of a video game — 43 points, 17 boards, 13 assists for only the third 40 point, 15 rebound, 10 assist triple double in playoff history — but in a lot of ways, the game was better than even those gaudy numbers. Consider that Doncic’s defense, the one area where a bum ankle would be unforgiving, was better than I’ve seen it in any game this year. A pair of steals and a block were nice, but his focus, his footwork and his effort were extraordinary.

Consider, too, that Luka played 45 of the game’s 53 minutes, and was at his best in the overtime period when he should have been shot. Pictures of trainers working feverishly on his ankle early in the fourth quarter seemed a harbinger of limitations, but adrenaline is a heck of a medicine, and Luka was pumping. In the game’s last 50 seconds Luka scored the last 7 Maverick points; hitting a floating jumper, a diving layup and then, of course, the shot that you’ll be seeing for the next decade from deep to win the game as the clock expired.

Take out your thesaurus, and pick out your own adjectives… mine are used up.

Here are some more impressive pieces. Unlike Jordan, who played up his illness some, Doncic gave an interview in the aftermath where he spoke over again about how much he loves his team, how great they all were. When pushed about his ankle, Doncic raved about the trainers. No excuse, no pause for effect, no false limp afterwards.

Doncic was nails, and the rest of the league knows not only his talent, but that it comes with a gamer’s heart. Rick Carlisle, asked about Luka and his ankle, referred to his prodigy as a “bad man”, in affection and with a bit of awe. The false meme about European players lacking toughness was already DOA when Dirk lost his front teeth against San Antonio, and came back out of the locker room like a tiger, but if there were any out there that hadn’t gotten the news, Luka stamped it on their forehead.

The weaknesses in Luka’s game — his free throws and before tonight, his defense on the perimeter — are going to be addressed. The softness that appears in his body will be gone soon, replaced with a power that is already evident inside, and will grow with maturity. His shooting the occasional air ball (he floated two horrific ones today) is an occupational hazard; I remember Magic tossing the ball into the front row more than a few times, and Jordan clanking his share. What will not go backwards is the head, the heart and the soul of a basketball player, one that was absolutely born to play this game, and one that — if we’re very lucky — will keep healthy and hungry for many, many more years.

This was a game for the ages, offered by a just 21 year old freak, and like the other great games there is every chance that it is the beginning of a decade of special hoop dreams for Dallas and for fans of the sport. Remember this: Dallas was, by many different metrics, the best offensive basketball team in NBA history this year. Imagine if / when they grow up; imagine when they realize what they are, and what they might become.

Sweet dreams are made of this.

He Sees Without Eyes… The Still Head of Luka Doncic

Let me get this straight… when we speak of court vision, we suggest something that relates to physical sight, an ability to see where everyone is and make the right decision based on their movements. This is the opposite of reality, and when we watch the head of Luka Doncic instead of the eyes, we understand.

When you watch Luka play for the first few times, focus on only him in closeup, you think that you’re seeing a selfish player. He gets the ball, and all of his attention is on the basket and the defender between him and it. When he flips the ball to a cutter, or rifles it to a teammate in the corner, you might believe that it was a last resort, a second choice because he couldn’t get off a shot. You believe that because his focus never wavered, he never looked around at his teammates and the defense, only at the basket.

Then you watch some more, and suddenly you realize. Luka doesn’t look simply because he doesn’t need to. He already sees, or more to the point, he has already seen.

The tip-off for a player with truly great court vision, a generational player such as Doncic, is that they “see” the court with their minds, not their eyes. Their heads are still, and their focus on the one thing that they need to control — their defender. They have already computed the locations of their teammates; they already feel the coming presence of the other defenders. To actually look at any of them, to gain the security of that confirmation, would defeat their purpose through disclosure of their intent.

As a great player matures, his mind recognizes more and more scenarios, anticipates more alternatives, and recognizes more opportunities to create or define the responses by the defense before them. Luka, at barely 21 years of age, has the ability to interpret and predict that very good player a decade older never attain. His coach, Larry Carlisle, has seen this before, and labels it appropriately, calling Luka a “savant”, a reference to a transcendent mental ability.

“He knows where everybody is, not only on offense but for defense (too),” Carlisle said. “That’s the sign of a savant type guy. I mean, I’ve played with Larry Bird, he could see everything like that. I had the privilege of coaching Jason Kidd, he could see everything like that. Luka’s in that same mold.”

So, when we look at Luka, we see that still head… the same lack of a tell that the defenders must cope with. Luka is looking at the defender between him and the basket only because that is the remaining variable to calculate, the random aspect that will refine his almost infinite choices. Defender balanced to his left hand; an attack that forward lean, but also know that his arm is moving down, providing an opening for the pass. Defender cheating, preparing for the double; know the timing of the coming support and the opening channel to the corner for the ball. He already knows that Curry is in that corner, he already knows that Porzingas is drifting to the foul line. He has no need to see them, just the ones that are in his way.

Luka never seems to rush, always seems to be gliding into position, easing across the perimeter before barreling into the paint. He has no need to rush. In many ways, he already knows where he is going, and what he wants the defender to do… he is simply getting there at the right time, the time of his choosing, rather than the fastest time. It’s already in motion, and the defender can’t play at maximum speed or intensity because that won’t match Doncic’s pace. The defender can’t cheat, because he can’t read Doncic’s mind. It’s about control, and Luka is already calling the shots.

Luka was playing a man’s game in Europe when he was barely a teen. That surely plays a part in his mind’s ability to process… but thousands of players have seen more games than he has, without ever approaching his vision. There is special wiring in his brain, a slow-motion camera that is always on, always showing the picture of the coming seconds, not the past. It is the one thing in the world that a player cannot work his way into having, that a player cannot train up to, and Luka has been blessed with it.

What will follow in his career is up to him. He needs more work, particularly on his defense (although he is notably improving there), and his consistency in shooting from the arc. He must improve his free throws because as he becomes an even more unstoppable force, he’ll be spending far more of the late minutes in a game there. He can improve, even substantially in some ways, and that isn’t good news for the rest of the league.

But watch his head and the way that it doesn’t swivel around searching for his teammates, for the coming defenders. Watch his stillness, his pace, his timing, and appreciate this: Luka is in control, not the other guys, not the clock, and not the game. It has always been this way for the greats, their ability to exert control, to make irrelevant everything and everyone, and the 21-year-old Luka has that rare and precious gift.

We’re just lucky enough to have him.

Luka Shows an Old Dog a New Trick...

I have been a basketball player, coach and fan for over 50 years now. I've covered the sport at court side, I've sat in the nosebleed seats and I've watched games with my wife since before we were married 42 years ago. I've sat in the Garden when the Knicks were the embodiment of team in the late 60's; I've bounced when Reunion rocked a couple of decades ago.

I've never seen a player do what Luka did last night. Never.

You probably saw it, if you have watched the highlights of the game. About 1:10 left in overtime, Mavs up on Milwaukee by 2, 130-128. The team has been miserable in close games, the usual price of youth and having not been there before, but last time out they salvaged a close win, helping the mood.

Milwaukee, one of the NBA's best defensive teams, has seen enough of Luka for one night. 36 points, 14 boards, 18 dimes... a 25th triple double with points for emphasis. They give up balance and send two at Doncic, knowing that he's the most likely one on the floor to determine a win or loss tonight.

Luka works the perimeter, taking a short toss from Kleber at the top of the key. Maxi sets a brush pick for Luka, and shoots for the basket. Doncic flows to the elbow -- no rush, in full control -- as the double team forms around him, then in stride bounces a pass sideways between his legs, hitting the cutting forward in his hands and leading to a key basket. It is Luka's 19th assist, and as he backpedals to defend, his expression reminds me of someone who just got tossed a beer.

Four point lead. Thumbs up.

To most of you, that was a fun moment in a regular season game. To me, who's worked films for years, it's a revelation, a statement of the kid's ability that makes me openly wonder what's to come, what will he show me that I've never seen before... again.

I've broken down that pass a dozen times since last night. First of all, I cannot get past him thinking of making that pass at that angle to split a double on a video game, let alone with time ticking down in overtime. The mental agility required to see that evolve astounds me. There haven't been more that a couple of dozen players that I've studied who could have even imagined trying that pass, let alone made it.

Then there's the actual execution. Smooth, in rhythm, no pause or push... just getting the ball where it needs to be, when it needs to be there. That his legs crossed open just in time was part of his internal body clock. Kleber dunks without being contested.

It is said that true genius is making the impossible look natural, almost as it was always intended to be that way. You probably saw the pass, and were excited that the team was finally looking solid late... a nice pass, but a better basket.

Nope.

Take it from an old hand at this; you saw something astounding, something that given the situation, the play and the team's needs in the season, was simply unbelievable. In the context of an important game, against a top opponent, Luka showed everything he has... and nobody swooned, no one suggested that it was a career game. It was just Luka being Luka.

Doncic has the capacity to spoil Mav fans forever, the way that Dirk spoiled us when he backed onto one foot and floated a three, but even more spectacularly, more completely. We are close to calling any game that he doesn't ring up a triple as a bad game, something less than we expect.

But in that bounce pass late in overtime, Luka showed me something that I could not take for granted. After fifty years of watching the game, he showed me something... new.

Amazing.

The Future Of Baseball Seems Crystal Clear | Major League Baseball Latest News

In the abject mess that is 2020, our sports are as compromised as any other part of our universe, and baseball perhaps the most of them all. A season that sort of began was stopped, then subjected to an ugly battle between billionaire owners and millionaire players over decimal points. The two sides are visibly preparing for war after the 2021 season while dancing around the virus in their camps and hotel rooms. But these are momentary crises, temporary intrusions… the real damage to the sport is occurring more privately, in board rooms and zoom chats between the powers that be.

In the shadow of the coming Collective Bargaining Agreement is the expiration of the contract between Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball, the governing agreement that ties the teams that we all know and watches to the 160 existing affiliated clubs, spread across the country and over several levels of play. That contract expires a year earlier, this September. In an opening salvo, MLB has dictated a reduction of 42 of the 160 teams, gutting the lower levels. Even with that concession, there is no guarantee that MLB will renew its agreement, and it is possible, even likely, that they don’t intend to.

Sigh.

Consider this Possible Outcome

MLB disbands the existing Minor League Baseball, electing instead to allow each team to manage its own player development program. Major League teams then determine to carry only two levels, one at AAA and one at AA, with the AAA roster stocked with 25 players, and the AA rosters carrying 30 players. The remainder of their player development could be captured inside of their rookie or camp facilities. This would reduce the “minors” to only 60 teams, saving the major league teams millions and limiting the annual amateur draft to 10 rounds, or enough players to round out their two lower rosters.

The bulk of early player development would be pushed down to the collegiate level, whether through the four-year programs or JUCO ranks. Players not eligible for — or particularly interested in — those schools would have to scramble for opportunities overseas or with Independent League teams domestically; such leagues might well proliferate, taking over a few of the newly abandoned stadiums in minor league towns. When the AA teams needed more bodies, they could raid those leagues for players.

It is entirely likely that MLB teams would consider a 55 player pool to draw from more than sufficient for their needs, and manage accordingly. The reduced payroll and bonus pool for drafting would be attractive, and any diminished preparation or quality would be invisible to the public so long as all of the teams followed the same restrictions.

And let’s be clear: the quality would diminish.

Scouts are consistent in their belief that it takes at least 2,000 minor leagues at-bats to properly prepare a hitter for the majors. Consider these numbers: Mike Trout: 2,200+; Christian Yellich: 2,100+; Cody Bellinger: 2,300+; Mookie Betts: 2,300+. Hitting a round baseball with a round bat is widely considered one of the most challenging basic sports skills, and one requires extensive experience to practice at the highest levels. The elimination of the lower minor leagues would likely cut the available development by half or more, leading to bringing players up to the bigs with 1,000 at-bats or much less.

Drawing from a tangibly smaller talent pool, baseball would miss out on good players who, for one reason or another, develop at a slower or later pace. By definition, taking the best players from a reduced pool means less total talent as well. Inevitably, the reduction in available jobs will change the considerations for athletes who play multiple sports, particularly in northern and urban markets where playing baseball requires a more aggressive commitment. Finally, the movement of young players up to the majors earlier in their development, while expanding the competitive advantage for veterans means that careers will be likely longer, reducing turnover and opportunities for new players.

Should they choose that path, baseball owners will be a little bit richer, and the sport a little bit poorer. Over 100 cities across America will lose their own field of dreams, and millions will no longer wander over to a park to watch a kid who might someday be on their TV sets. Thousands of players every year will lose their own dreams, and the chance to say that they were one of the relative few to get paid to play a game. Fans will see a product that has been constantly watered down and disrespected by its guardians, one that will likely feature perfect balls and strikes (thanks to a computer), a clock telling the pitcher to hurry, and players who — in more human times — would have still been learning their craft, roaming the field.

I guess us old-timers will still boo the umpires, or whatever robot replaces them. We’ll ignore the clock as best we can, basking in the sunlight of the remaining day games. We’ll cluck about the greenness of the rooks, and note that they couldn’t carry the jocks of our childhood heroes (and be a little more righteous about it).

And for those of us who can, we’ll wander over to the local high school, sit up in the rickety stands and wonder whether the big-armed lefty has what it takes… but it won’t be the same, not nearly.

It won’t be the pros.

Baseball Mows Down the Field of Dreams

Minor League Baseball has announced that it is abandoning the 2020 season entirely, marking the first time since its founding in 1901 that ballfields in rural towns across America will go dark. While the announced cause is the pandemic, there are serious undertows at work that could mean that most, if not all of the affected teams will not return.

Under the existing system, the minor league teams are affiliated with major league squads, tasked with developing the players who one day appear in their lineups and on their mounds. Baseball is unique in all the professional sports in that it provides a drawn-out apprenticeship, carefully crafting skills until a special few rise to the top of the pyramid. For almost all players, that development curve is steep and long: scouts and GMs understand that hitting a round baseball with a round bat is one of the hardest challenges in sports. Stars like Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Christian Yelich, and Cody Bellinger all required over 2,000 minor leagues at-bats before they broke into the majors; for many players, it takes much longer than that.

Last Season

The timing of the Coronavirus could not have been worse for Minor League Baseball. Last season was one of the best in its recent history; almost all affiliated teams were profitable, never a guarantee in the difficult world of small-town baseball. The contract between MLB and MiLB expires this September, and negotiations for a new contract were contentious. In preparation for the coming fight, MLB had already announced that 42 of the 161 minor league teams would be axed, a decision that was considered a shot across the bow. The future for an additional 80 or so rookie league teams are similarly up for grabs.

Season’s Cancellation

With the announcement of the season’s cancellation, those 161 teams are on their own in terms of survival, and MLB has little or no incentive to intervene. One outcome being bandied about is for baseball to consolidate its minor leagues to only the two uppermost levels, AA and AAA, and allow the remaining teams to drift away. That would mean that some 100 stadiums in 100 small cities and towns will go empty; 100 municipalities that built and supported those facilities will be left to… well, it’s unclear what they will do.

About 3,500 - 4,000 players will suddenly be without a job, as well as tens of thousands of workers, from the staff and organizational professionals to the seasonal workers at those ballparks. Vendors and local bars and restaurants will take their own hits, with the normal trickle-down effects in those locations. Congress — if it finds the room inside the massive efforts already in front of it — will likely have a cow, justified because of the favorable exemptions given to MLB regarding labor and tax treatments in recognition of the sports economic value and cultural stature.

Lesser Degree Basketball

If it pursues that outcome, baseball will take a page from football and, to a lesser degree basketball, looking to the colleges to take over the initial stages of development. With the smaller minor league footprint, MLB will likely reduce its draft from the previous multi-day stocking up blitz to 10 or fewer rounds, restricting their picks to the cream of the crop. Late bloomers or specialists will have to find alternate routes to show their wares, and to break into the system; international players will suddenly be at a strong disadvantage, as teams will no longer have the depth to carry them from their teens.

And one beautiful, historically rich part of Americana will fade away. Baseball will be smaller, less romantic, and infinitely the poorer for it, as will we all.

Last year, 40 million fans attended minor league baseball games. For the vast majority, a seat in a minor league stadium was the closest that they would ever come to watching a hero swing a bat or throw a pitch, a dream factory for the millions of kids chomping hot dogs out of their baseball gloves, and one of the more affordable family outings in the current day. The National Pastime is as much derived from these 161 plus fields of dreams as from the mega stadium skyboxes; as we lose that romantic vision, baseball will become smaller and more intense, the opposite of its historic place in our summer culture.

Domino Effects on the Game

Past articles have already covered the domino effects on the game that are as predictable as they are numerically inevitable. Sage sportswriters will opine on how baseball has always been a business, and that MLB has every right to make as much money as it can, however, it wants to. Pro scouts will point out that the vast majority of the kids who no longer have a team to play on would have never made the majors, never signed a meaningful contract… and they’ll all have their points.

Personally, I’ll be rooting for Congress to find the time to acknowledge that baseball is, in fact, just another business, and to remove the exemptions that have stood to its great benefit. I have no insight into the financials of MLB teams — they’ve always been secretive — but I’ll wonder if the millions that MLB spends on its lobbyists will be less or more than what it would have cost to keep that minor league system intact.

For the millions of little kids who just lost their chance to marvel at the greenness of a professional baseball diamond under night lights, for the thousands of bigger kids who oiled their gloves and asked why not me? as a real announcer called out their names as they walked to the plate in one of those 100 now dark parks… for all of them, this day is more than a simple business decision. It is a loss of something meaningful, a worsening of a world that seems to take something new away every day.

The national pastime just abandoned too much of the nation, just lost too much of its past times. Like way too much of this 2020, it just sucks.

An Open Letter to Lords of Baseball, And A Warning

Dear Lords of Baseball,

You need to listen carefully now, to understand the nation that supports you, the communities that have sacrificed for your stadiums, the youth that has fed your success.

When we speak of the past with nostalgia, we choose to ignore a great many things that were not as good as they are now, not what they should have been. The culture, the law and the collective awareness have progressed to a point where few of us would be comfortable navigating the 1950’s, and many of us would be appalled. Nostalgia is a foggy window through which the snow outside isn’t cold and wet, just pretty.

What we do miss about the past is the sense — however naive, however misplaced — that the world was a simpler, more civil place. There is a perception that once upon a time, we all rooted for the same things, all trusted and admired the same people, and that we all looked up to our major institutions. In the rearview mirrors of our hearts, red and blue were just two of the three colours of the American flag, not the tribal markings of a divided people.

One by one, we have lost most of those beliefs.

The ’60s cost us our faith in government and our trust in what they told us. During that era, we painfully forgot that our soldiers have always been heroes; thankfully, we’ve begun to remember, but too late for too many. In resisting the overdue recognition of inequity in our culture and our laws, we lost some parts of generational respect and civility, finding confrontation the more effective tool than debate and conversion.

The ’80s saw the media morph from “the most trusted man in the world” to a weaponized, partisan driven noisemaker, hell-bent on maximizing profits and promoting agendas at the expense of reporting on the news. Our faith in faith began to waver, as money became the new religion, its values replacing our houses of worship, celebrated and embraced. The rise of the televangelist merged the two, and a coarsening of what was once seen as pastoral took shape.

The 00 begins with a moment of hope in the fires of tragedy, as we grabbed onto our institutions once more. Sadly, that flicker gave way to the birth of the extremes of partisanship in media, in culture and political gamesmanship. Unspeakable revelations have rocked the cloth, ripping millions from their ability to believe in the church as a sanctuary. A rolling series of economic crises, from the dot com bubble to the economic crisis of ‘08, to the current pandemic driven to collapse, have destroyed what was left of our faith in our financial institutions, and in some ways, the institutions of science and education.

Through it all, in ways large and small, there has been baseball.

We have always had baseball.

In the ’60s, we chewed powdery gum while trading Topp’s cards of Koufax and Mays, of Clemente and Aaron. Our heroes were multi-coloured, our teams island in a stormy sea. The impossible Mets, with birds flying from Stengel’s cap and Stone Hands boxing baseballs at first base amazingly won the championship, and we all rooted for the underdogs with gusto.

In the ’80s, we found a refuge from the money madness in the lunch pail work ethic of Cal Ripken, Jr. showing up every day, and doing it with a quiet brilliance that brought honour to our daily efforts. Our counterpoint to the growing isolation of video games was a patch of bright green and 30,000 new friends reaching for the same foul ball. We skipped the front page and flipped to the box scores with a sigh of relief.

At the start of the ’00s, in the shadows of a smouldering Manhattan, President George Bush threw out the first pitch in Yankee Stadium, and a nation began the long road to healing. No moment in sports, other than perhaps Gehrig’s speech on the very same field, has been as unifying or as poignant.

We have had baseball throughout everything, through the wars and strife, through prosperity and hard times. We have found our heroes there, multi-coloured, flawed, native and adopted. We have had the generational continuity and collective memories that have become almost unfindable elsewhere. Some of us have hated everything, protested everything, found blame in everything… but all of us, in some way or on some level, have always loved baseball.

You, the Lords of Baseball, have done your darnedest to test that love. The finances of baseball have been thrust into the front pages even as box scores have disappeared. Your public focus of marketing has been to rush the game, proclaiming that the heartbeat of baseball no longer fits the current times. The costly competitiveness of youth baseball threatens to exclude a generation of kids from their dreams of the Show.

In your axing of a quarter of the minor league teams, you have tipped a domino that will end with the shrinking of the game. A hundred thousand of the game’s most real fans will no longer have a place to see their future heroes develop, to grab an autograph on a baseball that is held on hope in a plastic bag, waiting for that 18-year-old’s signature to become an all-star.

Now, amid yet another national calamity, baseball has yet another chance to be relevant to the nation. There are perhaps no brighter signs of a move towards normalcy, the beginning of our American recovery than an umpire yelling “Play Ball!” on that brilliant patch of green. That day will be a celebration and a blessed pause, regardless of how many are in the stands to start with.

Do not ruin this.

Do not make us hate you for making it dirty.

In a time of unparalleled economic distress, do not allow this to become a test of wills between your billionaire’s owners and your millionaire players. This is just one valuable part of one season; do not make your short term profit more important than our national healing.

Do not remind us one more time that this is “just a business” to you. Make it your public trust again, and do what you need to. Sacrifice a few dollars for the safety of your patrons, and do what is necessary to find the best (not the most profitable) answers. Open the airwaves, and find the way to broadcast games everywhere, and worry about the contracts next year.

We have built your stadiums. We have bought your merchandise, made your television contracts ridiculously profitable. We have come back from strikes and scandals, and always in higher numbers than before. Do not test us one more time, not this time.

Bring us baseball back, as pure (or as seemingly so) as you can make it. Bring us back our heroes and don’t force us to see them as greedy, to know them by their contracts and not their uniforms. Be the patriots that your wealth and authority empower you to be, and give us baseball to help us heal, to bring us together, as only it can.

Do not ruin this.

We will not forgive and forget if you do.

When Baseball Becomes Polo, the Shrinking of Our National Pastime

Let me get this straight… under the cloak of the coronavirus, Major League Baseball is moving ahead with a controversial plan to cut 42 minor league teams from its ranks, a reduction of some 25%. The move, suggested last winter, had been broadly objected to by players, fans and Congress. Congress even formed a task force to study the decision’s economic impact, with the stated objective of saving those threatened teams.

As the economy reeled from the effects of the pandemic, attention shifted to more vital interests and Minor League Baseball, seeing its leverage vanish, reluctantly agreed to the cuts. The loss of those teams, and the vacancy in the small cities and towns that they occupied, maybe temporarily moderated by some form of independent league or association, but without an affiliation with Major League Baseball, their futures are unquestionably dim.

In a separate but related move, MLB shortened its amateur draft from 40 rounds to 5 rounds in 2020 and 20 rounds in 2021. While the reductions are sunset in 2022, there is little reason to believe that some form of abbreviation won’t be made permanent. The stated intention of both of these moves was to save the MLB money, this year and in the future, and to prepare for the coming negotiations with the MLB Player’s Association over the terms of their new contract in 2022.

The cuts in minor league teams will reduce the number of jobs in professional baseball by some 1,000 players, and put another 300+ coaches, administrators and executives on the shelf. That number doesn’t count the hundreds of workers at the stadiums, or the local businesses that will be affected. In an economic crisis where almost 40 million Americans are unemployed, those numbers are a tiny fraction, but their meaning might well be greater culturally than we understand.

Why Baseball Matters…

As a sport, baseball has been referred to as our national pastime for good reason. Some 15 million children across the country play organized the ball, an increase of 3 million over the past five years. Overseas, baseball is the most popular sport in a number of countries, an American export that has been an unmitigated positive for decades. In the Caribbean and South American countries, the idea of their best playing in a major league stadium is as inspiring as any part of the American story, and star players from other nations are both heroes, and notoriously generous in the sharing of their rewards back home.

Domestically, the picture of a small, green patch of baseball in a minor league city is a beloved piece of Americana, a Norman Rockwell painting come to life. It is also something more than that: a broad economic participant, as noted by that congressional report:

“Whereas 40 million-plus fans have attended Minor League Baseball games each season for 15 consecutive years;

Whereas Minor League Baseball provides wholesome affordable entertainment in 160 communities throughout the country;

Whereas, in 2018, Minor League Baseball clubs donated over $45 million in cash and in-kind gifts to their local communities and completed over 15,000 volunteer hours;”

All of this, while important, is secondary. It is the place that baseball occupies in the nation’s psyche, the generational image that it brings immediately to mind, that makes the sport an essential part of our culture. It is as much a boy with a broomstick, swinging at a folded up sock as it is a millionaire pitching to another millionaire. It is, in a country constantly struggling with the meaning of our recreations, our least violent and most historically resonant of our major sports. It is all that, and more… it is, in important ways, dying.

How Can a Growing Sport be Dying?

Parents of young athletes across the country are moving their children away from football, concerned over the growing awareness of potential brain damage. Baseball has been the primary beneficiary of that movement, growing by almost the same amount that football has reduced.

With the expansion of youth and scholastic baseball has also come an increase in the competition for slots on high school teams and college scholarships. This competition has led to an explosion of costly forms of additional training, from private instruction to travelling teams, where families often spend thousands of dollars in pursuit of competitive advantage. Other enhancements, such as pricey equipment, backyard rigs and specialized training tools, are exploding in what has become a multi-billion dollar marketplace.

With the coming reduction in opportunities, the concentration of MLB will focus more on college players, transferring the emphasis from all but the most developed high school stars. This will increase the emphasis on those expensive competitive advantages, as ambitious players (and their parents) look for every edge. Already, there are some high school coaches requiring that their players play on a travel team in the off-season, and encourage private coaches and camps, creating a financial burden on those families between $2,500 and $5,000 per year, or more if the families want to go full bore.

Adding together the ever-increasing costs for bats, gloves and other equipment to the seeming requirements for high-end instruction and exposure, supporting an ambitious youth player might cost well over $25-$30,000 before he is even eligible for a college scholarship. Baseball risks becoming a sport for the elite, where a majority of kids either are excluded from success or don’t try because of the perception of the costs. As the sport splits between the haves and the have nots, the dreams of millions of little league shortstops and pitchers will change, and a sports fantasy uniquely available to every size of the kid will become more remote.

The Shrinking Of Baseball is Accelerating.

The drastic reduction in entry-level positions — what MLB refers to as “internships” when they get before Congress and ask for more relief from labour laws and antitrust regulations — will have a disproportionate effect on foreign players. Already, decisions made to reduce the bonuses paid to non-American prospects have curtailed the presence of academies and support systems across the hemisphere, limiting opportunities for exposure (and sometimes, good nutrition and education) for thousands of young players.

Consider that foreign-born player, often lacking an opportunity to play in American colleges, are customarily selected as teenagers, the absence of the lower rung slots are critical to teams open to giving them a shot at developing under quality coaching. Knowing that a foreign-born player will be more difficult and costly to develop now, the shift in scouting resources and bonus allocations is predictable.

A smaller percentage of the best athletes entering into baseball’s pathways. A diminishing hold of baseball on the shared experiences of millions of Americans, young and old, in small towns. A growing perception of baseball as an elite sport, with the cultural obstacles that portends. The drastic reduction of baseball as even a possible dream for so many young athletes in so many countries. Baseball is pointing to a smaller, less important future, an outcome that it is hastening by its every move.

What Might Come Next for the Sport?

There is a theory in economics that supply creates opportunity. One possible outcome of MLB’s moves might well be the creation of legitimate competition, another league or leagues that are finally able to make and keep a public attachment. Imagine that the number of players, deeply invested in their craft but without an outlet, are offered a chance to play in a new league. It might be a newly well-financed independent league, one that overnight doubles its teams and inhabits dozens of now-vacant minor league stadia. It might be from whole hog, an association of detached minor league teams across the country.

Another possibility would be the expansion and again, the increase in financial support for an international league. There are presences in both Mexico and Canada that could be the foundation of substantial promotions, and if MLB experiences a work stoppage in 2022 — not an unlikely outcome — the door could open to wider awareness and support. There is a strong existing following for baseball around the world; America’s hold on the top of the sport has been taken for granted, and might not be permanent.

Sadly, perhaps the most likely outcome for the coming years is the simplest one. Baseball will continue its present momentum, consolidating its presence and diminishing its relevancy in ways that will be damaging and long-lasting. As a generation of young sees pursuing the sport as an athletic dead end, or worse, out of reach because of their finances… as millions of adults forget the experience of sitting in stands and chomping on a hot dog while booing an umpire… baseball will lose some of its hold on the American imagination, it's a unique place in the culture. It will become a smaller thing, and the country will be a little poorer as a result.