5-9-2020 Passed Ball Show. John talks about the Yankees’ Core Four and how criminal is the neglect of Bernie Williams. Outside of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, there was no more impactful Yankees player from 1996-2000. Any mention of Core Four without Bernie disrespects the player who traced back the team to the Stump Merrill days. In fact, before the significance of Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada can be brought up, Paul O’Neill and Timo Martinez need to be mentioned. John then talks about the upcoming MLB Draft and the decision to reduce the 40 rounder to just five rounds. That means that around 1050 players will not get selected this year. Perhaps the draft needed to be reduced, but five rounds will likely ruin lives, but also sets in place the reduction of minor league baseball teams and leagues. A wise team would load up on minor league free agents that missed out on being selected during the five round draft. The goal should be to sign those players before the ones that were drafted. John then talks about Craig Hodges and his decision to make a statement to the President during the Chicago Bulls’ visit to the White House after their second straight NBA Championship in 1992. Hodges did not make a statement that was out of line, however, as the 12th man on the Bulls team, it took attention away from the team and most importantly, those that were the reason the team won the Championship. While a debate is warranted over whether Michael Jordan could have used his fame to better race relations, Hodges’ timing was off. He was Collin Kaepernick before his time, but it became more of a disruption than constructive. Hodges then shows sour grapes complaining about the All Star Game’s Three Point Shootout, as if anybody even knows about the change to the rules and the addition of the “money ball.” John finishes off the show by questioning the Hall of Fame resumes of Bill Walton and Tony Perez.
