Riff ‘Round The Bases | #KnicksTape Spoilers | It’s For The Kids | I’m On One
Riff ‘Round The Bases
The Rays have scored 141 runs this season - the next closest is the Sox with 116. That counts for both of their mentions. The O’s Cedric Mullins (9) and Jorge Mateo (8) are 1st and 2nd in the MLB in steals. I’m not going to say anything mean about the Blue Jays because I respect the Yankees’ opponents the day of. Anthony Volpe’s jump throw may not be as aesthetically pleasing as The Captain’s but we’re working on that, he’s only in his Rookie Season.
The Twins may have found something in Joey Galo at first base. In 10 games he has 5 homers and is hitting .296. He’ll probably start striking out a ton now that I wrote this. The Indians Guardians are still not a home-run-hitting team even with the additions of Josh Bell and Mike Zunino (who have combined for just 2 so far). The Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera is hitting .189. Thankfully, the White Sox’ Liam Hendricks is cancer free after completing chemotherapy treatments for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The Royals Zack Greinke on a day when the Royals didn’t have a game took his sons to the ballpark to have a catch at Kauffman.
Texas Rangers’ Catcher, Jonah Heim, in his last 9 games has hit over .400 with 2 dingers and 12 RBI. That is great production from the backstop. Houston’s Yordan Alvarez leads the American League in RBIs with 23. The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani has started 5 games and thrown 28 innings to a 0.64 ERA while also hitting 4 homers already this season. The M’s Luis Castillo is 4 starts into the season and is pitching to a 0.73 ERA, he hasn’t hit any homers because he isn’t Ohtani. The A’s have purchased land for a new ballpark in Las Vegas. Earlier this week the Mets’ broadcast team had to switch booths because a possum was in the booth.
The Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. is hitting .369 with an absurd .448 On Base %. Pete Alonso hit his MLB-leading 10th home run, which broke the Mets’ record for him runs before May. Luis Arraez of the Miami Marlins is hitting .438 and leads the MLB in batting average by 58 points. Phil’s Bryce Harper may be set to make a return to the lineup sooner than expected. Harper underwent Tommy John surgery last November with the MLB All-Star Weekend as his original target date, but now it may be sometime in May. The Nationals may have found something in a relief pitcher named Mason Thompson. He could get dealt at the trade deadline but why bother bringing that up because it’s only April?
The Brewers’ rookie, Garrett Mitchell - married to softball star Haley Cruse Mitchell, will need shoulder surgery and will likely be out the rest of the season. The Pirates’ Ke’Bryan Hayes is the best defensive 3rd baseman in baseball. Since ‘21, he’s saved 44 runs and the next closest is Nolan Arenado with 27. I have no idea how they come up with these stats but it’s what the nerds say so they must be true. The Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom has 9 home runs in 19 games. Wisdom has always had some pop but thus far has been hitting for more consistent contact. Somehow the Cardinals lineup filled with 8 regulars all hitting .254 or better are in the middle of the pack in runs scored. Reds’ leadoff hitter, Jonathan India, has reached base safely when leading off a game 10 times this season - 2nd most by a leadoff hitter in the MLB.
The Diamondbacks have cut bait of Madison Bumgarner, who still owed $34 million. In his 4 years with the DBacks, he pitched to a horrific 15-32 record with a 5.23 ERA. Last night, James Outman became the 2nd player in MLB regular season history to hit a 9th-inning grand slam on the road for his 2nd go-ahead homer of the game. The other was Babe Ruth on July 18, 1919. (Source: @OptaSTATS) Fernando Tatis is back from his “hair steroid” suspension and now plays RF. He made a nice catch in his first action out there (below). The Giants’ Thairo Estrada, former Yankee, has really turned himself into a very solid ball player and is hitting .319 18 games into the season. Kris Bryant, of the Rockies since last year, hit his first home run at Coors Field and then followed it up the next day with his 2nd.
#KnicksTape Spoilers
99-79 Knicks over the Cavs. Bing Bong. Jalen Brunson led the Knickerbockers in scoring with 21 points. Seeing Brunson dap up John Starks after his And-1 felt special. The Garden crowd was absolutely electric. I had to turn down my TV volume because my neighbors from across the hall complained. Nah I’m kidding that didn’t happen. The Knicks’ defense was stellar, allowing only 79 points - it was reminiscent of the Knicks’ playoff days when John Starks was on the court. The Cavs were the only team in the NBA to not have a single 20-point loss and no team had been held to under 80 points during the ‘22-’23 season so this game saw some firsts thanks to the Knicks’ atmosphere & D.
It’s For The Kids (Baseball Locals)
Yanks
Trey Sweeney has been raking at Double AA in Somerset. The SS and 3rd baseman is hitting .318 with a .404 OBP and 5 steals in 11 games. His lefty bat could be something the Yankees call up next year or deal in a trade.
Mets
The Mets are moving Ronny Mauricio around. He played a position outside of SS for the first time in his career last night. Buck Showalter has said their plan is to move him all over the diamond indicating that he will see time at first, third, and in the outfield as well. This is in an effort so that Mauricio can be more versatile and maybe get called up to the Bigs sooner rather than later.
This song came out in May ‘11. It ran NYC Hip-Hop radio airwaves throughout the spring and summer. It was the #1 song when my friends and I started getting our permits & junior licenses. The Auxes were starting to get passed but it was still a time when radio was king.
Drake here is implying that new rappers, or young people in general, believe that cracking any industry comes easy. He tells his peers don’t take moments when people will listen to their music for granted and enjoy the moment but be ready to evolve because you never know what can happen this time next year.
My Industry Role Models Are My Rivals.
In real life, I was blessed to have a ton of real role models. From my grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, coaches, and of course my parents. For all intents and purposes of what I’m trying to do now, I’ve tried to model Week to Week Notes off the founders of The Ringer and Barstool Sports. Those men are Bill Simmons and Dave Portnoy who started their companies in Boston. I have nothing against either of them. I spent my teenage years reading Simmons’ columns on ESPN, my college years laughing at Barstool blogs, and my 20s listening to both companies’ Podcasts. I just love to play up the New York vs. Boston rivalry aspect because competition is what drives us all.
I know how ridiculous it sounds for me to try and compare Week to Week Notes, a start-up side hustle sports publication on Substack, with two of the Titans of Sports companies, but here are some reasons why I do so…
Bill Simmons didn’t just land a job on ESPN. He worked various jobs outside of grad school, bartending being one of them. In 1997, at 28 years old, Simmons “badgered” his way into working for Digital City Boston of AOL - America Online for the kids. (Source: Wayback Machine) AOL email was his means of getting his written columns out to the public, he called himself the “Sports Guy” and bartended & waited by night. For his 1st 18 months, Simmons was sending his columns out to 100 people, until his website BostonSportsGuy.com became available to the public in November 1998. Simmons was 29 then. His website started building up a reputation as many of Simmons’ friends from high school and college were e-mailing it to each other. He didn’t land a gig at ESPN until he was 32 in ‘01. He didn’t start his own thing at ESPN, Grantland, until ‘11 when he was 41 and The Ringer as an offshoot from ESPN until ‘16 when he was 46.
Dave Portnoy loves talking about Barstool Sports’ rise to prominence and for good reason. It all started as a 4-page sports newspaper that Young Dave handed out on subway platforms and street corners in Boston in ‘03. “Dave Portnoy was 26 when he started Barstool Sports and the beginning was a shit show. Don’t feel like you need to have it all figured out in your 20s” - Erika Nardini, the CEO of Barstool Sports on her podcast, @tokenCEO. One of his first advertisers in the newspaper was offshore betting websites that were illegal in the U.S. It is pretty hilarious to read about that now, but it all makes sense. Portnoy at the start was originally the only writer for Barstool Sports until some freelancers, including Todd McShay, joined the paper for a brief spell before competing with Mel Kiper Jr. Barstool Sports struggled as a newspaper before becoming a blog in ‘07. Over the course of time, Dave cultivated his persona as “El Presidente”, the blunt and candid character that’s everybody’s favorite Dave today.
@YouTheReader All I’m trying to say is, everybody, starts somewhere. Both of these men were brilliant and innovative in sports media. Simmons and Portnoy figured out how the Sports Internet worked at the right time. They were able to get eyeballs and ears from people who grew up only watching ESPN SportsCenter. When they started their ventures, nobody would’ve dared think they could go toe to toe with the World Wide Leader In Sports. It is very easy to look at both The Ringer & Barstool Sports today and think nobody will ever compete with them. Their companies for sure are innovative and talented. Each of them has hundreds of extremely talented personalities and writers that I don’t want to slight, but Bill Simmons & Dave Portnoy are irreplaceable. I don’t want to sound like an ageist but Bill Simmons is 53 and Dave Portnoy is 46. While they are aging like fine Italian wine, they also keep collecting quite the dime. These two American pioneers have net worths combining over $200 million+ and counting.
My writing will never be as funny or talented as either Bill or Dave, but at this point, I might be more relatable… While these guys are flying all over to sporting events on private jets, I’m taking the NYC subways to drink my next pint of Guinness. While these two have earned the money and right to roll out of bed with production assistants feeding them topics, I’m running to catch the 126 Bus Route so I can scribble down what Sports Topics & Picks are before I head to work. Don’t read that as “woe is me”, I’m living out my dreams.
That probably makes me sound a bit smug or a bit like an arsehole, but am I wrong to Note this?
@YouThReader you’re probably thinking, “Well he’s leaving out how in ‘23 the internet is a much different animal from the competition.” Yes, today is obviously a much different world than when Boston’s best took up Sports Media. Millions of Americans want to be the next them and have a real shot at doing so with the click of a finger. The competition in Sports Media today is insane, you’d have to be a Fringe Lunatic to think you have a shot. There are millions of young Americans with insightful sources on social media, especially Twitter and TikTok. I don’t Tweet and I’ll never download TikTok. To me, it’s a blessing that Twitter has taken a whole generation of talented writers my age and TikTok has seduced many people my age or younger who are much more creative. While you may think that puts me at a disadvantage, I’m stubborn enough to think going against the grain might be an asset…
SubStack Sports Leaderboard
SubStack is this media platform that you’re reading from now. The best way to put it, it is almost like a “Create a Newsletter or Blog For Dummies.” It is extremely user-friendly and a massive part of why I can write Week to Week Notes and not have to worry about all the IT work behind it. Anybody can start a Substack on anything they want to write about - it’s free. The list above is the Top 7 Sports Writers on Substack. It’s probably foolish of me to show you the competition, but my advantage with Week to Week Notes is that my link doesn't and will never have a paywall for @YouTheReaders.
Joe Posnanski is 56 and used to work for Sports Illustrated. Ethan Strauss is in his late 30s, wrote for ESPN, and now reports for the Athletic. Yes, it is surreal to think that Tom Davis, the guy you used to ask for gum in 4th period English has technically been in a competition with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but that has technically been a thing for almost a year now (he’s kicked my ass but still). John Canzano is in his 40s and has worked for 6 newspaper companies. Craig Calcaterra is in his 40s with 57k Twitter followers. Marc Stein is 20+ years of experience at the NY Times and ESPN. Tyler Dunne has been a beat writer for the Bills and Packers, plus worked for Bleacher Report.
All of these guys at the top get paid by their readers through subscriptions. They are probably more detailed, refined from their years of experience working for big-time companies, and stick to only sports. That said I doubt any of them have any idea of how to work Instagram (& maybe one day their advertising) the way @You_The_Reader does…
In conclusion…
… I have no idea if any of the writing will work and I for sure have a long ways to go but hopefully, this at least makes you think outside the box. I’m still clinging on by a thread to my last 20s and I want Week to Week Notes to be next, even if writing about sports is seen as outdated. Who knows if Week to Week Notes will ever take the throne from any of these guys in sports, but why shouldn't I try for it while I still can? Honestly, if you love sports and have ever thought about growing your own platform, hopefully, this ending piece compels you to give it a try. If writing is your thing, one new feature to Substack is that you can set it to Private, and only people who subscribe to your Substack can read the link. It’s something that I have contemplated time and time again, but I think having people being able to go back to the start of Week to Week Notes could be used for more good than bad. It shows how this whole niche started and hopefully, you’ve learned a thing or two from Week to Week Notes along the way.