Unless you consider bad weather or an early season injury hot stuff, the first few days of a new baseball season rarely generate earth shaking material. It took a piece of wood and the Yankees brand to change all that.
While it appears to be coincidental, the “birth” of the torpedo bat took place last Saturday at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx — only on YES — with Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. using said stick to hit two of the Yankees team-record setting nine homers in a 20-9 rout of Milwaukee.
And during the onslaught, it just so happened Michael Kay, YES’ play-by-play voice, became the first to reveal how the special bat was created. “They moved a lot of the wood into the label so the harder part of the bat is going to strike the ball,” Kay said on YES.
As things would turn out, this had to be MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s dream scenario. During the first week of the season, it was baseball, not some other sporting event or story that was sucking up all the media oxygen. And the story was propelled by baseball’s most storied franchise.
Naturally, on social media, they were immediately jumping to conclusions. Like, this was not a coincidence. The fix was somehow in. After all, it was former Yankees analyst, and MIT physicist, Aaron (Lenny) Leanhardt who had developed a bat that has enough wood, in the right places, to turn a baseball into a jumping bean. It sure sounded like another chapter of The Evil Empire Strikes Again.
Yet, upon further review, it was reported by many outlets that players — like Alec Bohm (Phillies), Oneil Cruz (Pirates), and Junior Caminero (Rays) — were also using the torpedo bat.
And, according to Kay, his bat revelation was a product of his own reporting. He was not in cahoots with the Yankees organization. Kay said as much on the Tuesday edition of his 880-AM radio show.
“It was articulated to me [by someone in touch with Yankees suits] that they wondered ‘Why did he say that [about the bat]?’” Kay said on the air. “… I think it would have been noticed at some point. … They would have preferred to have this fly under the radar until the end of April.”
That would have only delayed the media buzz the torpedo story created. It was all good for MLB. Even ESPN suits, who recently jettisoned their “Sunday Night Baseball” package, had to pay attention to the torpedo bat. “First Take,” which has No Take on baseball, actually did a segment on the bat.
Yes, there have been more than a few occasions, in terms of media, when a player transcended the sport of baseball, but the story of a bat?
BAD FOR THE BRAND
Is this “feud” between LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith still on?
Does anybody care?
Yet, it’s reached a ridiculous point where others are jumping on board — like FS1’s Nick Wright. He’s a big LBJ fan and has been verbally dogging SAS. Wright also, at his own expense, purchased two courtside tickets to Lakers-Grizzlies last Saturday night in Memphis hoping for an “interaction” with King James.
Wright’s wish came true when James stopped by the seats and hugged him after a Lakers win. It probably didn’t hurt that Wright is represented by Klutch Sports, the same agency representing James, founded by his friend Rich Paul.
This stuff his lame. We realize Wright is not a journalist. He sees nothing wrong with fan-boying James. Nonetheless, when “media personalities” or players, play leading roles in off-court stories, they are a detriment to the sport they play or cover.
Nets forward Cam Johnson sees these “side” stories as harmful to the NBA. He called the stories “slightly” entertaining.
“But they should never overtake the spotlight of what’s going on with the actual product we are looking at,” Johnson said on the “Young Man and the Three” podcast.
On the media, Johnson said: “Don’t make yourself the story. It could get messy that way.”
Agreed. Unfortunately, it appears like some of these twisted cats think the messier the story, the better it is for their brand. Sad.
PREZ CREDITS PREZ
There’s another “crisis” President Donald J. Trump can take credit for settling: The YES-Comcast carriage dispute.
In a recent statement, Yankees prez Randy Levine mentioned Trump “and his administration,” first, in a group of office-holders and politicians who “…Worked tirelessly to urge us to stay at the table and reach a deal.”
How soon before Levine presents DJT with a pinstriped torpedo bat?
Meanwhile, one of the more aggressive moves in this carriage dispute was YES CEO Jon Litner commandeering the broadcast booth on Sunday during Yankees-Brewers in an attempt to discredit Comcast suits. Needless to say, Litner went on uninterrupted.
We’ve seen Yankees players get involved in carriage disputes before. Yet none of them stated YES’ case during a full booth/microphone takeover.
EARLY BOOTH REVIEW
It’s too early to pass judgement on Suzyn Waldman and Dave Sims, the new broadcast team on the Yankees Radio Network.
But here’s some stuff:
1) Sims leans towards over-informing (not a bad thing). Unfortunately, it leads to him talking much too fast and being hard to follow. He should find a way to slow things down.
2) Sims doesn’t try to dominate the broadcast, which gives Waldman time to bring her insights to the game. That was not always the case when she worked with John Sterling.
3) Sims says he will be “judicious” with his “Hey, Now” home run call. He says he gets a “feeling” when it’s appropriate to use.
LOW WATT-AGE
No experience? No problem.
CBS Sports mantra is alive and well with its recent decision to move J.J. Watt to its No. 2 NFL broadcast team with Ian (The Bird) Eagle. Watt has a wealth of game-analyst experience — one entire game.
That’s plenty for CBS Sports suits. Remember, they hired Tony Romo as their No. 1 NFL game analyst with no experience. Watt spent the past two seasons as a part-time studio analyst on “The NFL Today.” Let’s just say he didn’t light up the room.
Watt replaces Charles Davis who has flown with The Bird since 2020. Davis will become CBS No. 1 college football analyst in 2026 replacing Gary Danielson who will retire following the 2025 season. CBS says Davis will still be a part of its NFL coverage this season.
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DUDE OF THE WEEK: PETER SCHRAGER
His work on NFLN’s “Good Morning Football,” and in Fox’s NFL studio, wasn’t consumed with hot takes. And now that he is headed to ESPN, where there is plenty of desperate “perspective,” Schrager should be bringing his more balanced approach.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: A’s
Hosting a postgame press conference in a tool shed space seems appropriate for this cockeyed organization. Next, it will be extolling the virtues of the Sacramento heat to their “new” fan base.
DOUBLE TALK
What Tom Thibodeau said: “We’re capable of beating anyone. We’re capable of losing to anyone too.”
What Tom Thibodeau meant to say: “We can’t beat Boston, Cleveland or Oklahoma City.”
