Tank McNamara by Bill Hinds for November 18, 2023

That might actually get me to watch regular season baseball.

I think a great way to boost ratings is to have fans watching the TV broadcast grade umpire Angel Hernandez’ performance anytime he is behind the plate in a live format. Dude must be the most hated ump in the system. I have heard from some that he is truly bad and others just say it is sour grapes when he sticks it to a big market team that always expects the calls to go their way like the Yankmes and all. IMHO, he just goes after certain players and managers not any team in particular but he does have a long memory…

Another ump who got on people’s nerves was John Shulock, a true egotistical piece of work. On one night out in Anaheim back in 1999, Tampa pitcher Wilson Alvarez got angry when Shulock squeezed him really bad. It was one of those nights when a pitched ball by the Angels bounced off of the plate and Shulock called a strike

but he was definitely squeezing Alvarez. The catcher, Mike DeFelice, called for a fastball down the pike but the catcher lowered his glove and Shulock took a 103 mph fastball high in the chest, near his Adam’s Apple. He, in turn, shoved the catcher DeFelice and the rest of the crew had to restrain him as he yelled that the D’Rays would never get a good call from him ever again. MLB suspended Shulock for a few games (3 or 5) for shoving the Rays’ catcher and probably also for being a sh!t ump to boot.

One could get huge ratings if you set up an egomaniac like Shulock or Angel Hernandez in the right situation and let fans vote on TV about how bad they are calling the game and maybe have an 80% threshold to veto a controversial call at the plate or a called strike 3, or something like that…. Just a thought….. BTW, one other thing about Shulock, he was a scab, he got on the MLB payroll back in ’79 by taking the spot of a real umpire on strike who was demanding honest wages.

Baseball players in heel mode? I might watch that.

The Astros are already villains.

Pete Rose managing the Astros? Houston bookies would love that.

I rarely watch baseball any more. If I want to see world-class cheating, I’ll watch pro football.

Pete’s not villainous enough for the Astros

Get it off of Fox & it would have better ratings instantly!

One man’s Dallas Cowboys (Tom Landry era) is another man’s Oakland Raiders (Tom Flores era</>).

Uh, right. What if Batman and the Joker wrestled at the end of the seventh inning stretch.?

This needs to happen

Pete Rose?Bah,humbug.

Historically, great players have been terrible managers (e.g., Rogers Hornsby, Ted Williams), while fair to marginal players (such as Billy Martin and Tommy Lasorda) were great managers. A couple of exception: Lawrence “Yogi” Berra who was both a Hall-of-Fame player and a successful manager (I contend his firing from the Yankees after the Yanks lost the Series to St Louis in 1964 wasn’t his fault).

Pete Rose is another example of a “great player, not-so-great manager”, though there will always be speculation on whether his gambling had anything to do with the Reds’ record. However, I do think people would tune in to see how he’d fare, especially with a team like Houston, who these days are clearly seen as “villainous”.