[16] Good to see you too! I was attending school in DC in the early 90s when both the Mark Rypien-era (Washington Football Team) and the Baltimore Orioles were the talk of the town (other readers should look at their roster from 90-93, you’d be surprised) while the Bullets were… well, they had Bernard King finishing out his career with them (which is still a tragedy, he should have been a Knick 4 Life), Harvey Grant (Horace’s twin brother) and Pervis Ellison whom everyone remembers for no good reason. The Knicks meanwhile were ramping up to become the toast of their own town in that time as our beloved Yankees slogged through some really bad baseball for a few years (little did the baseball world know what was coming for them, huh). Interesting times…

A change in the broadcast talent? Not exactly, but there will be a couple of special ST games in March where Sterling and Kay team up again on the radio broadcast. John Sterling is 82 years old! Michael Kay just turned 60… where has the time gone? I don’t mind saying that those two were my favorite radio tandem with the Yanks, even before the Dynasty years officially kicked off, so I just might tune in for their sake. From what Kay has said, it seems like it was a long time coming, but the usual corporate BS kept them from doing anything on the radio together.

Looks obvious that Brett’s not coming back, either. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if he landed either in Philly or Miami in that order on a decent deal to close out his career; doesn’t seem like he’s ready to hang it up, but if he doesn’t get any takers, I do see him returning in some field operations role with this team (and ghosting as a quick pick-up mid-season if need be). Of course I could be all wrong and I have no problem with that…

How bad would having Stanton be right now if the Yanks won one or two championships at this point? Would they have overpaid to get Cole or even left DJ twisting in the wind as long as they did? Much of Cashman’s bargain hunting can be questioned, but the fact that he’s doing it is not because he doesn’t know what he’s doing; rather the smart gambles he made didn’t turn out the way anyone would have thought. The 2019 is a testament to how fickle fate is even with the best-laid plans.

And maybe, just maybe… with all the moves Cashman has made, particularly over the last few years that have produced more than anyone could have expected, maybe that’s why Houston and Boston felt like they needed to cheat in order to win?

Let’s not forget his assistants, though; Mike Woodson was the last coach to lead them to the playoffs and also to their first playoff win since what, 2000? I think they let him go too soon, and what followed was an unmitigated disaster of course. The others I have to look more closely into, but it might be fair to say Leon Rose and Co. are trying to wlak back some of the mistakes of the previous regimes.

DO NOT BE SURPRISED if ol’boy Carmelo is sitting on the bench as a reserve at some point, though I would be shocked if it was this season.

Also, Mr. Turtleneck voluntarily banished himself from baseball after doing something really stupid; regardless of his motives for volunteering, he couldn’t interfere anymore while he was away. Out of sight, out of mind seems to work best for almost all team-owners; Mets fans have to hope they won’t have to go through that life-cycle with theirs.

And now that that other sport, whatever it is, is done with its season, how many days until pitchers and catchers?