A Grip on Sports: A Grand Slam chance is thrown away and 2020 claims another of baseball’s great players

A GRIP ON SPORTS • A Monday morning to end a holiday weekend. What does one write about? It’s a conundrum all right. So why not a little of this and a little of that? Yep, that’s the plan.

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• If today’s intro reminds you of something, it should. It’s a rerun of yesterday’s. Only the names (of the days) were changed. Protecting the innocent? Nope. Just saving some time. After all, today is the last (unofficial) day of the summer, and after the crappy summer we’ve just been through, it seemed right to try to use as many of its minutes as possible.

Besides, it’s Labor Day and who wants to labor on Labor Day?

I guess we should put Novak Djokovic in that category. Though I’m pretty sure he would rather be working than doing whatever the heck he is doing today. Not playing competitive tennis, that’s for sure.

For some reason – because Djokovic is leading the charge to change the men’s tennis union, maybe? – the USTA disqualified the world’s No. 1 player for doing something hundreds, maybe even thousands, of players have done before him: hitting a ball in annoyance.

You’ve probably seen the video. If you haven’t, it’s available here. Yes, Djokovic wasn’t happy and he hit the ball with his racket in what seems to be a bit of a snit. Hard. Too hard. It hit a linesperson in the throat. And, no matter what the USTA says, the fact it made contact with an official is why he is not going to have a chance to win his 18th Grand Slam event. 

Here’s what the USTA said Sunday about his disqualification: “In accordance with the Grand Slam rule book, following his actions of intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences, the U.S. Open tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 U.S. Open.”

Really? So how come every time a player does what Djokovic did, hitting a ball in anger after screwing up, do they not get ejected? If you watch professional tennis at all, you see it all the time. They may earn a warning, maybe even lose a point, but they aren’t ejected. But the ball Djokovic hit happened to strike a linesperson in the neck, and that person went down to the court.

It was bad optics. A linesperson lying on a court, needing attention. That’s the shot. And the difference. Six inches either left or right and Djokovic would have been docked a point or a game. That’s it.

So in reality he was defaulted for the result of his action not the action itself, even if the USTA’s rule book, as the organization pointed out, is concerned with the action. If you watch the rest of the tournament, take note of how many times other players do something similar to what Djokovic did – without hitting anyone. It may be “reckless.” And there may be “negligent disregard,” sure, but there won’t be an ejection.

• I have to admit something. I admired Lou Brock. Thought he was absolutely exceptional as the Cardinals’ leadoff hitter in the 1960s. But he wasn’t one of my heroes.

The reason is simple. Brock, who died yesterday at age 81, was a leadoff hitter. A base stealer. The best of his time. Almost impossible to catch. And I was a catcher. It was, and is, part of the catcher’s code to dislike base stealers. And to really not like those who were, you know, great at it. Hall of Fame great. The best of his generation. Thus Lou Brock had a top spot on my no-like list.

I guess, in a convoluted way, it shows how much I respected Brock. He was the last guy any Dodger fan – or any catcher – wanted to see on first base in the ninth inning of a tie game. You knew he was going to be on second in one or two pitches – and there was nothing the Dodgers – or catcher – could do about it.

And then Curt Flood or Roger Maris would drive him in.

But damn it, 2020 is getting to be a little too much.

Brock. Al Kaline. Tom Seaver. Cubs’ second baseman Glenn Beckert. Don Larsen. Pirate outfielder Bob Oliver. Mike Ryan. Claudell Washington. Bob Watson. Jimmy Wynn. Matt Keough. Damaso Garcia. Biff Pocoroba. Heck, even Horace Clarke, the Yankees second baseman throughout the year when they weren’t the Yankees of our memories.

All of them were baseball players of my youth and/or peers. And they have all left us during the pandemic. Not because of it, maybe, but it sure seems like more than usual are leaving this mortal coil.

Now Brock. A quiet, stately man with the uncanny ability to rise to an occasion. His World Series statistics are nuts. In 21 Series games he had 34 hits and had an on-base percentage of .424. He hit four home runs, drove in 13 and stole seven bases. He scored 16 runs and had an OPS of 1.079. And, remember, he was a leadoff hitter.

One of those Series came against the Red Sox, the team I liked in 1967. Another came against the Tigers, my 1968 team. He was seemingly impossible to get out.

Yes, I admired him. Deeply. 

• Hey, this is something I can get my arms around. It is time to expand in some sports.

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WSU: Not sure I’ve seen the “why” behind this, but another outside receiver has decided to leave Washington State. This one, Mike Pettiway, is actually a recruit from Nick Rolovich’s staff, not Mike Leach’s. Theo Lawson has more in this story. … After Saturday’s cuts, many of the local players hoping to make NFL rosters were able to earn a practice squad spot. Not Anthony Gordon, though. The Seahawks went in a different direction. Theo has more on the signees in this story. … Around the Pac-12, those who earned practice squad spots are highlighted in most every place, including Oregon State and Colorado. … Stadiums throughout the conference were empty this weekend, including at Oregon. … Arizona had some false-positive tests.

Gonzaga: Johnathan Williams will be playing in Turkey next year, not the NBA. At least at this point. Jim Meehan has all the information in this story.

Preps: We wrote about Drew Rasmussen’s major league debut a couple weeks ago, as the Mt. Spokane product earned a big league chance. But there’s a lot more to the story and Ryan Collingwood found it for this piece in today’s paper.

Mariners: Kyle Seager has quietly built a productive career for himself. The longtime M’s third baseman moved up the franchise’s career hits list yesterday and also led Seattle to a 4-3 win over the Rangers. … The M’s have improved in many ways this season.

Seahawks: Even though he’s headed to Tennessee, Jadeveon Clowney’s presence still hovers over the Hawks. … The Hawks signed a bunch of folks to their practice squad and added players dropped by others.

Sounders: If there was one thing that seemed obvious going into last night’s home match with Portland, it was Seattle would score goals. Multiple goals. Except it didn’t. The Timbers were not sieve-like on defense as they have been, winning 2-1 on a late goal.

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• It’s supposed to get cooler today as the hours roll by. That’s not the usual pattern, of course, but some cool arctic air seems to be leaking down the middle of the country. Thus, the 68 we have right now is supposed to be the day’s high temp. And there is some wind headed our way according to those who know these things. Tune in tomorrow to see if I wore sweats instead of shorts. Until later …