Good morning, all and Merry Christmas Eve!

Are the New York Yankees on the market? They certainly are acting like a franchise paring payroll to make for an attractive sale. I break it all down in the above video.

Here are some other thoughts as I put out the cookies and hot chocolate for Santa:

* Always good to see people from my neck of the woods do well. The University of Hartford’s Brian Mik fed me the info early Tuesday morning that Hartford alum Sean Newcomb has signed with the Chicago White Sox. Good for Newcomb, who has pitched for several organizations but still has something left in the tank. When he was with the Red Sox organization, Newcomb pitched a game for their AA affiliate Portland against the Hartford Yard Goats. Jeff Dooley, “Voice of the Yard Goats,” and I caught up with Newcomb, during his visit and he could not have been more generous with his time. Here is hoping Newcomb helps the White Sox in their rejuvenation.

* Speaking of good people, the Cliburn twins, who just turned 69, are together again, this time teaming up in independent league baseball with the Chicago Dogs. The Dogs announced on Monday that Stan Cliburn would be the club’s new manager, uniting with his brother Stu, who is the team’s pitching coach. The Cliburns, who both played major league baseball, were once together as manager and pitching coach with the New Britian Rock Cats, when that franchise was the AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. You could not meet two better people. I am fully convinced. Chicago will be their kind of town.

* By the way, good for the Pirates to step up and give their fans some hope and pitcher supreme Paul Skenes some support. The Buccos have been active this off season with player moves and their latest was signing all-star free agent 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year, $29M deal. Last week the Pirates traded for All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe.

* J.J. McCarthy will not be starting for the Vikings against the Lions on Christmas Day. He has a small hairline fracture in his right throwing hand, sustained in Sunday’s win over the Giants.

* Citing family reasons, professional golfer Brooks Koepka is parting ways with LIV golf. Both sides say his departure is amicable.

* Came across this picture of Game 1 of the 1961 World Series between the Yankees and Reds. Note the sign in the lower-right portion of the iconic outfield scoreboard:

* Now, some of this ballparks are planning on installing books. Not only can you bet on games and prop bets, involving games, soon you will be able to place those wagers at the ballpark.

* Incidentally, if you check that Yankees lineup from that historic 1961 season, you will note that part of the remarkable story that year with Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, was not in the lineup. Mantle missed most of the World Series with an abscess in his leg. The abscess was supposedly the result of a concoction of fluids assembled by quack doctor Max Jacobson, the same doctor who treated President John F. Kennedy with a similar concoction for JFK’s chronic back pain. Mantle was feeling ill near the end of the season, and the “Voice of the Yankees,” Mel Allen, recommended he go see Jacobson. The injection made Mantle worse, and the story goes Yankees co-owner Dan Topping never forgave Allen for referring Mantle to Jacobson and was one of the reasons Topping fired Allen, after the 1964 season.

That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for subscribing and enjoy your Christmas Eve.

DAN

Good morning, all! It’s the Friday!!!

Odds are in on the next coach of the New York Giants and you can place a wager too. I break it all down in the above video.

Here are some other thoughts as the sports world mourns:

* Tragedy in North Carolina, as NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, 55, and his family were among seven people who died in a plane crash at a suburban Charlotte, NC airport. Pray for all those who were impacted by this accident. At times like these and what transpired over the weekend, we are reminded of how fragile life is.

* Maybe the Bears build their dream stadium in northwest Indiana, maybe not. Meanwhile, The Athletic is reporting we could know as soon as Monday whether the Kansas City Chiefs are leaving Missouri and building a new domed stadium in Kansas. The Kansas Department of Commerce admitted on Thursday it is in “active discussions” with the Chiefs about such a stadium. A Kansas City sports station also reported the Chiefs move across state lines is imminent. The Chiefs lease at Arrowhead Stadium expires in January of 2031. My hunch? The Chiefs leave for Kansas!

* Get ready for a football weekend. The action starts tonight with the start of the College Football Playoffs. Oklahoma hosts Alabama at 8 EST on ABC and ESPN. The Sooners are 1.5-point favorites. The winner gets to play number one seed Indiana.

* There are Saturday NFL games with the big one in primetime, as the Indiana Bears host the Green Bay Packers. You have the usual compliment of Sunday NFL action and Monday Night Football to wrap up the weekend.

* For as strong as the MLBPA is, we are reminded of the disjointed NFLPA. There have been issues with the leadership of the association and now this: NFLPA lawyer Heather McPhee, the union’s associate counsel, has filed a federal lawsuit against the former executive director of the union and two current executives. She is alleging that the three conspired to prevent her from cooperating with a criminal investigation into the union’s finances. This is a story that will not go away, no matter how much the NFLPA tries to sweep it under the rug. This thing could get ugly. Stay tuned.

* The Chicago Cubs announced Thursday they had signed Tyler Austin to a contract. Austin, 34, had been playing baseball in Japan. He has not played in the majors, since 2019 with Milwaukee. Playing for the New York Yankees, Austin homered in his first MLB at bat on Aug. 13, 2016. His home run came with two outs in the last of the second inning against Tampa Bay. The next batter, Aaron Judge, homered in his first MLB at bat. Both home runs came off of Matt Andriese. Austin has 33 career homers in MLB. Judge, who turns 34 on April. 26, has 368.

* Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins and Liverpool FC, is selling the NHL’s Penguins to a family-run Chicago-based investment firm. No sale price has been announced, but Forbes has valued the Penguins at $1.75B. Now the Sox will have enough money to sign free agent third baseman Alex Bregman.

* I thought this would be a busy week on the MLB free agent front, but I was wrong. There are still many big names on the board, including Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger, Ryan O’Hearn, Bo Bichette, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez and J.T. Realmuto.

* In case you’re wondering, each Los Angeles Dodger earned $485K for winning the World Series. Back in the day, when the perennial champion New York Yankees would acquire a new player, a veteran would approach that player and tell him, “Don’t mess with our money.” In other words, play hard to help the Yankees win another World Series. The players winning share back then might be $5,000. That’s when most players were making $25,000 per year.

That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for being a subscriber and have a fantastic Friday!

DAN

Good morning, all and welcome to Thursday!

I am releasing my Picks for Kicks segment early this week, because of tonight’s big game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks. I break it all down in the above video.

Here are some other thoughts, as I contemplate the upcoming CFP:

* Is the NFL ready for the Indiana Bears? Stalled in their efforts to build a new stadium, the Chicago Bears just might look to northwest Indiana to construct their Taj Mahal. The Bears do not want to stay at Solder Field and apparently efforts to build a stadium in suburban Arlington Heights have also stalled. Bears president Kevin Warren sent a letter to season ticket holders, explaining the lack of cooperation the franchise is getting from state leaders and that building over the state line might be the alternative. Why not? Don’t the New York Giants and New York Jets play in New Jersey?

* What in the name of Casey Stengel are the New York Mets up to? They snagged another former New York Yankee on Wednesday, inking free agent reliever Luke Weaver. Supposedly the Yankees never made Weaver an offer.

* Brian Mik, who I wrote about last week for correctly predicting Pete Alonso would go to the Orioles, makes a great point. The Yankees were forced to trade for three relievers at the trade deadline last year, because (Devin) Williams and Weaver were not doing the job. Now both are Mets. In his words: “So the NY Mets spent $73M on the back end of the NY Yankees bullpen that GM Brian Cashman had to trade for three relievers for at the end of the trade deadline this past season.” Well put.

* The New York Knicks, playing in the mecca of basketball, have not won a world title since the 1972-73 season. So you can forgive them for not hanging the banner they just won for capturing the NBA Cup. Commissioner Adam Silver might not like this, but the NBA Cup is a contrived in-season tournament manufactured to create interest in a much-too-long regular season. Good for the Knicks to keep their eye on the real ball: the league championship. Something tells me, though, we have not heard the end of this and the commissioner will force them to place the banner along side their two World Championship flags.

* Speaking of the NBA, the commissioner says it is now time to start thinking about adding two more teams. The league will start discussions on expansion early in the new year.

* The Heisman Trophy award ceremony was a television hit on Saturday. 4.3M viewers tuned in to ABC to watch QB Fernando Mendoza of Indiana win the award. That is the highest rated Heisman rating since 2012.

* I frequently write about sports switching from legacy television to streaming. How about this one? Starting in 2029, the Academy Awards are moving from broadcast TV to You Tube. YT will have exclusive rights to the event. The times continue to change.

* Speaking of which, it would not surprise me to hear that before the year is out, more daily newspapers will drop their print editions to go strictly digital or at the very least reduce the number of days per week they publish a hardcopy edition. Many newspapers have done so already. Expect others to follow suit.

* I’m thinking QB Tua Tagovailoa’s days as a Miami Dolphin are numbered now that coach Mike McDaniel announced he is benching him for the season’s remaining three games in favor of seventh-round draft pick Quinn Ewers. Then again, you wonder if it will be Tagovailoa or McDaniel who is shown the door first.

That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for being a subscriber and have a terrific day.

DAN