12/30/2020 Passed Ball Show. John recaps his strongest sports takes for the year of 2020. He starts by questioning the excuse of a “market” for baseball teams like Tampa Bay, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh when they have teams that play other professional sports in the same place. John reminds the viewer that there are eight NFL teams (there were nine coming into this season before the Houston Texans hired Romeo Crennel as interim head coach) that have not hired a black head coach. There are ten MLB teams that have not hired a black manager and eleven MLB teams that have not hired a Latin American manager. John has constantly stated that managers in Major League Baseball do not have the ability to influence a game and maybe even their own players. This point was not more evident when the Houston Astros implemented a plan to steal pitchers signs using technology, mainly manipulating the replay monitors. Manager AJ Hinch knew about the system, but could not do anything about it. Proof that a manager has no say in what a team is doing on the field. John has a hard time understanding why racism was ever okay, especially as it relates to professional sports. God created all living beings; what gave mankind the right to determine any of God’s children were any better than other of his same creation? The Detroit Pistons of the late 1980’s have been dubbed the “Bad Boys.” Perhaps it was more about the way the NBA was played at that time- there is no need for them to apologize. Isiah Thomas should have been on the 1992 Dream Team. It is insane that New York Yankees fans can mention the “Core Four” and intentionally leave out Bernie Williams. Lou Brock’s trade from the Chicago Cubs to the St. Louis Cardinals had a little bit to do with race- owner Phillip Wrigley felt the team was over their self imposed (or MLB imposed) quota of black players. John still has a hard time understanding why the Atlanta Braves were penalized for signing Tom Seaver, a player they selected in the draft. Obviously Mets fans everywhere are glad they were. How can you call yourself a sports fan and actually root for your team to lose? John would not consider a fan that rooted for his favorite team to lose an equal, would you? John also feels that a lot of New York Mets fans celebrate mediocrity as opposed to really wanting to see their team win. Some fans would rather have their players win awards than see the best team be assembled to win a World Series. Finally, John talks about the reputations of coaches and players and how it is directly tied to their winning and losing. Sometimes their knowledge or skill set may remain the same, the only thing that separates their legacy is whether they won or lost. See Casey Stengel.
