By Pete Thompson
I was so sure I was going to have happy “sports” news to start this column off this week. Baseball was back, the NBA and the NHL are not far behind, it was shaping up to be a glorious column. And then the Marlins played the Phillies last Sunday at Citizens Bank Park missing players because of COVID-19. That changes the entire tone of this week’s piece.
Since I last wrote, the Phillies have played three actual games and lost two of them. That’s not the big story though, as COVID-19 has hamstrung the Miami Marlins and potentially the Phillies as well. The Flyers have left for Toronto and are about to embark on their return to hockey. The Sixers have played a few exhibition games “inside the bubble” in Orlando and seem to be safe and healthy so far. On the same day the Marlins-Phillies news broke, the Eagles were right down the street getting ready to welcome the veterans back for training camp. A guy named Thompson won on the PGA Tour…no relation…and the Philadelphia Union continue to be a source of enjoyment for me. Finally, on the local level, I’ve had the opportunity to watch three games in-person so far in the Atlantic County Baseball League and what a joy that has been to sit outside, social distancing, and enjoy wood-bat baseball!
From the entertainment world, “Sunday Game Night” on ABC continues to be a hit in my household. Plus, we sure are enjoying a show that highlights people who get their hands dirty for a living. As always though, we begin with sports, and my thoughts:
In a normal situation, I’d be complaining that the Phillies only beat the Marlins once in the three games they faced them, but as we know, this is not a normal situation. Since beating the Phils 11-6 on Sunday at CBP, the Marlins have 11 of 33 players and two coaches testing positive for COVID-19. The Marlins are staying quarantined in a Center City hotel, and the outbreak has affected both teams. The Phillies had to postpone their game with the Yankees on Monday, while the Marlins couldn’t play their home opener against the Orioles. As I write this, the situation is the same for both teams for Tuesday games.
According to reports, the Marlins conducted a team text message and decided to go ahead and play on Sunday, despite knowing that 3-4 of their teammates were positive for COVID-19. This has a lot of folks up in arms, as they are wondering where Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is during all this. Where is his leadership? Some folks want him fired. I simply think that the baseball model clearly has more risks than say hockey or basketball, which are using the “bubble” method to make things work.
One positive note is that none of the Phillies players or coaches have tested positive so far. Bryce Harper wore a mask when on the bases in Sunday’s game. Rhys Hoskins wore a mask any time that someone got on first base and he had to hold them on. I’m hoping the Marlins outbreak won’t cause the end of the 60-game season, but I also think that masks need to be worn as much as possible. The home plate umpire wore a mask under his….mask, for example.
One last item on the Phillies and that’s the product on the field. I was pretty optimistic about their chances in a short 60-game stretch, but as I write this, I don’t think they’ll win a lot of ballgames with the bullpen as currently constructed. I hope I’m wrong, but Cole Irvin came into Sunday’s game and was awful. Irvin gave up four runs on five hits and now has an ERA of 36.00! Reggie McClain wasn’t much better in the one inning that he pitched. And remember Nick Pivetta? Supposed to be a solid arm that would be a rising star? The only thing rising is his ERA as well as he gave up two hits and two runs in three and a third.
Don’t even get me started on the starter, Vince Velasquez. Perhaps the most frustrating player on the Phillies for me the last couple of years. He comes into a ballgame with electric stuff and all of a sudden, he starts leaving pitches in the fat part of the plate. His first inning against the Marlins was outstanding. Unfortunately, he had to go back out there for the Top of the 2nd, where they tied it up at 4-4, and by the 3rd, after 60 pitches, he was done. Word is, the Phillies are thinking of bringing up minor-league phenom Spencer Howard to give him a try at the 5th spot in the rotation. I’m all for that, as clearly “Vinny Velo” is NOT getting it done!
Let’s turn to hockey now as the Flyers are in Toronto and “inside the bubble” that the NHL has set up. Granted, it’s a smaller sample size, but check out these numbers. Zero positive virus cases reported in the NHL last week. The league administered a total of 4,256 tests to more than 800 players from July 18-25 and there were zero positive virus cases reported. Now, that’s an example of how a bubble works, and works effectively!
There was a brief scare last week when the Flyers reconvened in Voorhees for “summer camp” and goalie Carter Hart left practice with what was reported as a lower back injury. Thankfully, he returned in a day or two and appears to be okay. If the Flyers are going to make a run in this “return to hockey”, they’re going to need their 21-year-old goalie to be in tip-top shape.
My last Flyers item is on Oskar Linblom as he was officially added to the active roster as one of the 17 forwards the Flyers can use during the playoffs. What a great story as Linblom finished his chemotherapy treatments on July 2nd, and is fit enough to rejoin the team less than seven months after being diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma. He’ll turn 24 on August 15th and his being on the playoff roster has to be a boost to all his teammates for sure.
The Flyers play an exhibition game against Pittsburgh today as I write this (7/28) and then begin a round-robin playoff seeding format of games on August 2nd against the Boston Bruins. The Flyers play the Washington Capitals on August 6th and the Tampa Bay Lightning on August 9th to determine which of the top 4 seeds they will lock in. (they are currently 4th and can only improve).
Moving on to basketball now where the Sixers have stayed healthy for the most part “inside the bubble” in Orlando. They have played two exhibition games so far, and won the first, but lost the second. The Sixers beat Memphis 90-83, but lost 102-97 to Oklahoma City, but even so, those scores are a bit deceiving. In both games, the Sixers starters outplayed their opponents. Memphis’ five starters had a combined plus-17 rating, while the Sixers starters were plus-43. The Sixers led by as many as 29 points. Against OKC, the Sixers led by as many as 24 points. The Sixers starters were a combined plus-69 while OKC’s five starters were a combined minus-68. Bottom line? The Sixers starters look pretty darn good!
Key story lines from Orlando have been the domination of Ben Simmons at the power forward position and the emergence of Shake Milton as a true NBA point guard who can direct the ebb and flow of a game.
On Saturday August 1st, the 76ers will open with the first of their remaining eight regular-season “seed” games when they take on the Indiana Pacers. The games, which are taking place in a “bubble” in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, actually look pretty good on television and that might get better when virtual crowds are added during the seed games. Clap your hands…Sixers basketball is back!
Which brings us to the Eagles as on the same morning the Phillies were dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak within the Miami Marlins, the Eagles were right up the street at the NovaCare Complex getting ready to welcome the veterans and rest of the team back for training camp. Head coach Doug Pederson says he feels “extremely safe” with the way things are being handled, but it is going to be really interesting to see how the NFL overall does in keeping players, coaches & team personnel safe while trying to still hold a “normal” season.
See, here’s the thing, roster size, the physical nature of the game, and the inability to create a “bubble” make the NFL’s return trickier than that of baseball, basketball or hockey. According to Eagles running back Boston Scott, he will need to test negative twice before he really does anything. “Test the first day, take a day off, completely away from the building, test again, take another day off away from the building, and then, based on two negative tests, we’ll be able to proceed from there,” he said. Once camp actually starts, players are to be tested every day for at least the first two weeks. They won’t be practicing the way they normally would during that period, given that the full 2020 squad will be gathering for the first time and has no base of spring work to draw upon.
Teams can start with as many as 90 players, though they must be down to 80 by Aug. 16. With no preseason games this year, a lot of the roster padding isn’t necessary; having huge rosters only makes it tougher to keep everyone safe. There are three tiers of access for people interacting with the players, and everyone involved will be carefully monitored. But unlike the NBA and the NHL, which are dealing with much smaller rosters and a shorter time period before concluding their seasons, NFL teams won’t be in any sort of 24-hour bubble. Everyone goes home at night, though there is a hotel option. Will this work? Only time will tell.
From golf, I have to admit that I did not watch a lot of the 3M Open from Blaine, Minnesota last week. That said, I did see that Michael Thompson (no relation) won for the first time in seven years by shooting a 4-under par 67 and posting a two-stroke victory over Adam Long. With no gallery or fans around the 18th green, it was still nice to see Thompson get a little choked up as he realized all the benefits that come with a PGA Tour win. He secures his playing status for two years. He gets into the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, the Masters and more. He rocked up the FedEx Cup standings from 151st to 39th and is now on the way to Tennessee for this week’s World Golf Championship event. Way to go Michael! (And I’m not just saying that because he’s a Thompson)
One last item from golf and that’s about Tiger Woods. Tiger has announced that he will not play in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Classic this week in Memphis. That’s huge news, as Tiger has only played in four tournament rounds since February and the PGA starts the following week at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. Woods did make the cut at the Memorial, but shot 76 twice out of four rounds, and finished tied for 40th. Tiger had some back tightness in the second round, and I fear that we just won’t see much of the “old Tiger” anymore. Who knows, I write that sentence and maybe he’ll go out and shine at Augusta for the Masters in the fall.
Now, I didn’t watch the entire match, but I turned on the Philadelphia Union against the New England Revolution the other night just in time to see the only goal scored in the match. Fortunately it was for the Union, and they are now through to the Round of 8 in Florida for the MLS return. I think it’s great to see, and I will definitely tune in for at least some of their quarterfinal match against Sporting Kansas City on Thursday night (7/30).
My last sports item is about the locally run ACBL, or Atlantic County Baseball League. There was some doubt that the league would be able to start its 135th season of wood-bat only baseball, because of COVID-19. However, league president & Margate Hurricanes manager Yogi Hiltner was able to create a 12-game regular season schedule and a round-robin playoff format. The eight teams in the league are the defending champion Margate Hurricanes, 2019 runner-up Northfield, the Margate Green Wave, Hammonton, Absecon, Ventnor, Ocean City and Egg Harbor City.
My girlfriend’s son, Michael and I have now been to three games as of the writing of this column and for my money, there’s nothing better than watching live baseball with wood bats. We watched a classic between Margate and Hammonton the other night at the Jerome Avenue Complex and it had everything you wanted. Home runs, lead changes, drama, and great camaraderie too. According to Hiltner, the league has been held every year except the years of World War I and World War II. Now that’s some history! Get out and watch your local team play a game. Most games start at 7p (weather permitting) and are absolutely free to attend. Bring your chair, bring your mask, and some great baseball.
As usual, I’ll close with a few items from entertainment as we can’t get enough of the “Sunday Game Night” block that they’ve been running on 6abc. Although we love Family Feud, we’re not in love with what they call “celebrities” these days, so we haven’t watched a lot of that, but “Press Your Luck” and “Match Game” are must-see in our household. Especially “Match Game”. I think Alec Baldwin was born to be the host of this show. His banter with the contestants and celebrities, along with the ability to poke fun at himself makes this a perfect 10 pm watch on a Sunday night.
Finally, allow me to plug “Tough as Nails” one more time as Michael pointed out to me that drywall and sheetrock are basically the same thing I wrote about it last time. The show is on CBS on Wednesday nights and there have only been four episodes, so you have time to catch up. Inspired by executive producer and host Phil Keoghan’s working-class family, “Tough as Nails” is about competitors who consider the calluses on their hands a badge of honor. They are tested for their strength, endurance, agility and mental toughness in challenges that take place in the real world. One by one, they are eliminated until the winner is named. The series proves that toughness comes in all shapes and sizes, and it celebrates Americans who don’t think twice about working long hard hours and getting their hands dirty to keep their country running. We just love it!
As always, please stay safe and healthy as we now have our peak population swell with the summer residents here too. Please try and be kind. Nothing bad ever happened to someone who led with kindness, right? Oh, and wear your mask! Let’s all knock down this COVID-19 together.
Pete has been the local “sports guy” at the Jersey Shore since 2004. After a decade with TV 40, he joined 97.3 ESPN radio to talk Eagles, Phillies, Sixers & Flyers with Mike Gill on “The SportsBash” each day from 2-6 p.m.
Pete is proud to be a “voice” for the annual ShopRite LPGA Classic each June, and does emcee work for groups like the National Football Foundation, The Old Grad Awards, and The 200 Club of Atlantic County. You can hear Pete each Tuesday on 97.3 ESPN at 5:30p, and if you see him out & about in the community, he requests that you please say “Hi”. Send comments to PBrooksT@aol.com
