Remembering John

BY KEVIN KERNAN

On December 30th, the call came in from John Sterling and went directly to my voice mail.

“Kevin, it is about 2:25 on Tuesday afternoon. I do a talk show in New York at WABC on Saturday from 4 to 5 and I want you on as a guest. So, when you have a chance please give me a call. Talk to you soon.’’

That was John, polite as usual. He left his number, that was John, too, old school, and, of course, I called back as soon as I got the message, and we set up the interview for an upcoming Saturday. When I used to do the Fifth Inning report with John and Suzyn Waldman during Yankee games, we always had fun and it was informative because most of all, John loved to talk baseball and old friends — and Suzyn looked out for John both on and off the air. I always joked with Suzyn that when it was to be her time to stand in front of the Pearly Gates, Saint Peter would just pass her right through because of the care that she showed working with John on a daily basis.

I go all the way back to the early 1980s with John when I covered the Knicks and he was the announcer for the Atlanta Hawks; we would pal around the press room with his good friend Hawks beat reporter Jeff Denberg of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who was like John, a great storyteller. John always respected sportswriters and was crushed when Denberg passed away at the age of 62 in 2004 from complications from a brain tumor.

John loved all sports and was always super invested in his team. That was the magic of John Sterling. He cared about his team as much as a fan cares about his team. I always had a soft spot for John partly because he would tell me in his theatrical way I was “the best, THE BEST,’’ Fifth Inning guest he and Suzyn ever had on amongst all the reporters that showed up through the years in that spot. That may have been John just buttering me up, but hey, that’s a great compliment from the Voice of the Yankees and he said it with such sincerity. I’ll take it.

Plus, there was this. John Sterling and I both celebrated July 4th birthdays – like the Boss George Steinbrenner – and we would often be together that day in a visiting press box or at Yankee Stadium and I would hear that booming voice: “Happy Birthday KK!’’

Unfortunately, we never did do that interview on his WABC Show and I was surprised that John did not call me back, but then as his good friend Rickie Ricardo would report, John had that first heart attack and the subsequent health problems. John passed away on May 4th, exactly two months shy of his 88th birthday. John Sterling lived the life — the life of Broadway and the life the Yankees. There were many wonderful tributes to John this week, and I urge you to read Dom Amore’s beautiful words in the Hartford Courant.

John Sterling, indeed, was one of one, The Voice, and he belongs forever to all Yankee fans.

“Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeee Yankees win!”

This is what is wrong with baseball and the reason there are so many bad teams, terrible fundamentals, injuries galore while just doing baseball things, lack of pitching command and sub .220 batting averages.

This came from a longtime baseball man.

Take it to heart. This is not me standing on a soap box. That will come later.

“The people that are running the game have never played it,’’ the baseball man told BallNine this week. “So, they have absolutely no bleeping clue on what they are doing.’’

And to be clear, we are not just talking about what is happening in the major leagues with the notable exceptions of a few teams. Yes, there are some teams who know what they are doing and that is why they are lapping the field, but if you dig deeper, if you see what is going on at the minor league level, it is even more atrocious.

Here is one small example. Talked to one scout this week who just saw six minor league games over the past week. Guess how many wild pitches there were over those six games?

Fifty-four. Yes, 54 wild pitches in a week of six games. Car 54, Where are You?

Minor league players are off on Mondays, so there are six games in a week. And get this, he said most of those wild pitches were close to being strikes but because of the new ways they promote and endorse, having the catchers sweeping up with the glove, the baseball did not find leather.

These teams have 18 pitchers on the roster, too. How are you going to find meaningful innings for 18 pitchers?

The greatest thing about baseball has always been The Scoreboard. It is not the Expected Scoreboard, it is The Scoreboard.

And you wonder why when young pitchers come up, they can’t go deep into games or have trouble adjusting to a five-man rotation. The Yankees, he noted, have taken the leash off their young pitchers, which is a good thing. So that is interesting, especially if you are a Yankees fan.

Kudos to the Yankees for not only drafting and signing talented young pitchers they can develop but they seem to be challenging them in that development. The Yankees lead the majors in overall ERA with a 3.04 mark. As for starters’ ERA they are tied with the Dodgers for the lead at 2.97. Isn’t it also interesting that the Rays, the only team in the AL East keeping pace with the Yankees are No. 3 in that category with a 3.10 ERA?

None of this, none of these numbers I am lobbing out, may I add, are Expected ERAs. Pro tip: If front office gurus and writers are tossing out Expected ERAs or expected batting averages, take it with a grain of salt. They’re clueless.

The greatest thing about baseball has always been The Scoreboard. It is not the Expected Scoreboard, it is The Scoreboard. Deal in reality: ERA and batting average.

All those expected numbers, according to one baseball man I talked with this week, are front office types simply “moving the goal posts’’ once again.

He noted, “That’s what they are really good at, changing the language of baseball to make themselves sound smart.’’

The reality of baseball often proves them to be dumb.

But they sure have the owners fooled. By the way, the Mets dropped to 14-23 with a 6-2 loss to the 15-23 Rockies on Thursday. The Mets own a .378 winning percentage. That is not expected winning percentage, that is reality and it is dead last in baseball.

As one former super successful manager noted recently to a friend, and this is a brilliant comment: “Data is there to supplement … Feel is the gift. Data promotes presenters and does not develop teachers.’’

I love that: “Data promotes presenters.’’

Man, is that true. Just think about some of these presidents of baseball operations who are constantly promoting data. And unfortunately, in the minors, especially at the lower levels, data presenters have replaced true coaches who could solve problems players were having with technique over data. Data presenters are all over the front office and on the field, Where are the teachers of baseball?

The other problem, something that we have addressed here at BallNine for years, is that there is this new crazy seven-year rebuild belief that the major leagues are the place to develop players. No, you develop players in the minor leagues and then you refine their skills at the major league level. And thank goodness for Orioles Hall of Famer Mike Bordick speaking out this week to Glenn Clark. The shortstop set records for most consecutive errorless games (110) and chances (543).

Bordick said what baseball men have been telling me for years and I have been passing along to you here at Baseball or Bust.

He addressed all the swings and misses by Gunnar Henderson (53 Ks in 154 at-bats with a .201 average) because it’s all about home runs, not about baseball. “It’s just not working,’’ Bordick said. “Make your adjustments and be the good hitter that you are and when mistakes present themselves go ahead and flip them deep. I think the offensive philosophy of giving three chances to swing as hard as you can is as absurd in the game of Major League Baseball as anything I’ve heard. Is this not a team sport? … Learn how to put the ball in play. Give your team a chance.’’

Then there was this from Bordick, something else I have harped on for years: “They think everybody is Johnny Versatile. It’s like they flip over a Strat-O-Matic card … A lot of things have to be relearned, re-developed. It bothers me every day when these coaches say, ‘Oh, we are developing at the Major League level, and it takes time. How about developing in the minor leagues where players are supposed to be developed and then you bring them up when you feel like they know how to play a better brand of baseball. Are you kidding me!’’

That’s why our baseball man totally nailed it with his comment to me: “The people that are running the game have never played it. So, they have absolutely no bleeping clue on what they are doing.’’

No bleeping clue.

Again, credit Glenn Clark for the Bordick interview. More media members need to give a platform to former players and coaches instead of kissing up to the Nerds and their BS. This is a media failure as much as anything else.

Scoreboard.