OBSERVATIONS: Baseball down as if hit by a Bob Gibson fastball

By HAL McCOY

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave while remembering what Rodney King said: “Why can’t we just all get along?”

Major League Baseball? RIPC — rest in perpetual controversy.

As expected, the players gave an emphatic no to MLB’s latest proposal, 60 games with full pro-rated salary.

It is as obvious as the scowl on Rob Manfred’s face that the players are not interested in balls and strikes this year. Well, maybe they might be interest in a strike, but it has nothing to do with baseball.

The next move, which is in his purvey, is for commissioner Rob Manfred to implement a call-to-order season, with as many games as he deems. That would be 45 to 50.

That also means the players could go on strike. And even if that doesn’t happen, a lot of players could say, “We’re not playing. It isn’t safe.”

With none of the issues settled, all the animosity and stubbornness on both sides will carry over to next year because the current contract expires after the 2021 season.

If you believe the current ‘negotiations’ were ugly and worthless, if there is no season and all this carries over to next year, they’ll have to find a new definition of ugly for the dictionary.

—QUOTE: From Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “You can only end a negotiation for peace if you begin it.” (Were both sides in baseball really negotiating? It was mostly posturing and there is no peace.)

—MLB.com put together a list of the all-time best switch-hitters at each position. Pete Rose did not make the first team nor was he listed as a back-up. He made honorable mention.

Rose played five different positions and could have made first team at any of them. Leaving Rose off this list is like leaving Secretariat out of the all-time best thoroughbreds or leaving Muhammad Ali off a list of all-time best heavyweights or leaving Jim Murray off a list of all-time best sports writers.

QUOTE: From sports columnist Jim Murray after a stop in Cincinnati: “They still haven’t finished construction on the freeway. It is Kentucky’s turn to use the cement mixer.”

—From Pat Rini, the best copy editor I ever had: “Greg Maddux got a dog when he retired. He still hasn’t walked it yet.”

—Greg Maddux beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1, a complete game, on July 22. 1997. He threw 76 pitches and the game took 2:07.

The Cubs, knowing Maddux always threw first-pitch strikes to get ahead, decided to swing early in the count. They made outs on the first pitch 11 times and made outs on the second pitch four times.

After the game, Cubs first baseman Mark Grace said, “I guess that was a bad idea.”

Nobody had a good idea against Maddux, except to take the day off.

—MLB’s latest contract proposal included a right to put advertising on the players’ uniforms for 2020 and 2021.

Hello NASCAR. Hello soccer. Have you seen the uniforms worn by Korean Baseball Organization players? They resemble human billboards.

Just imagine seeing ‘Liberty Biberty’ on the back on Eugenio Suarez’s uniform or ‘Imodium’ on Joey Votto’s butt?

—They should keep that noose that somebody placed in black NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace’s garage in Talladega, Alabama. Then when they catch the guy they should hang him with it. As they used to say in cowboy movies, “Hang ‘em high.”

—QUOTE: From former NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr.: “Years ago, you used to jump out of your car and fight, run around and chase each other with jackhammers and stuff like that. Those were the good ol’ days. (Who held their beer while they were chasing each other?)

—A UFC fight Saturday night in Las Vegas is drawing national attention because a beat-up and beaten fighter wanted to quit after two
rounds, but his trainer kept insisting he continue.

Fighter Max Rohskopf, slumped in his chair, head down and bleeding, wanted to quit. He told his trainer, Robert Drysdale, nine times that he wanted to toss in the towel.

But Drysdale kept telling him, “You’re a champ, you can win this, go back out there and be aggressive.” Max, though, kept saying, “No.’ Nine times.

The fight was stopped only because the referee came to the corner and asked Rohskopf if he wanted to fight. He said no, for the 10th time, and the fight was stopped.

Judges had Rohskopf losing the first two rounds by large margins to Austin Hubbard in the scheduled three-round bout.

What Rohskopf should have done is taken off his gloves, handed them to Drysdale, and said, “Here, you go back out there.”

—QUOTE: From former UFC middleweight champion Anderson da Silva: “You need a dragon hidden inside you when you need it you let the dragon out.” (Unfortunately for Rohskopf, opponent Austin Hubbard already had slain his dragon.)