Assorted falderol as we come up on baseball’s All-Star Game Tuesday night ...
* Listening to Ron Wotus’ insights on Giants pre- and postgame shows makes you think Wotus might make a pretty good Major League manager. Yet he’s never really been given a good shot. Wonder why.
* It is time for baseball to universally retire Willie Mays’ No. 24 in the same fashion as Jackie Robinson’s No. 42.
Whereas April 15 is the day all players wear No. 42 in honor of Robinson, May 6 should be the date all players wear No. 24 in honor of Mays.
That’s the date of Willie’s birth in 1931. *The Oakland Athletics aren’t winning many games, but they have done something this season no other club can claim: On two occasions to date, the A’s have scored 19 runs in a single game, the latest coming against AL East leader Baltimore. * In addition to being one of the greatest shortstops ever, Ozzie Smith represents baseball well as a Hall of Famer and all-around ambassador.
Smith doesn’t like several of the recent rules changes. “Start with a guy on second base in extra innings,” he told the Athletic’s Tyler Kepner. “That’s not baseball.
That’s not how the game is played. He [ghost runner] didn’t earn his way there, he’s given that. “For us baseball purists, that’s blasphemy.
” Could not agree more. * In a change that came in ‘24, a player can be optioned to the minor leagues no more than five times. * In spite of what is being said publicly, the installation of a.