Today’s Hot Stove post was prompted by a Tom Boswell column headlined…
Tom Boswell spent his entire career as a sportswriter at the Washington Post, joining the paper out of college in 1969 and retiring in 2021. Next month at Cooperstown, he will be honored as the 2025 winner of the BBWAA Career Excellence Award for “meritorious contributions to baseball writing.” This will place him in the “writer’s wing” of the Hall of Fame, joining legendary sportswriters like Ring Lardner, Damon Runyon, Red Smith, Bob Broeg, Joe McGuff, Peter Gammons, Roger Angell and Claire Smith.
Since Boswell primarily covered the Orioles and Nationals, I did not regularly see his columns. But I knew of him by reputation, including through my friend Barbara Reres who worked on Capitol Hill for Senator Tom Eagleton. Although Eagleton was a rabid Cardinals fan, his favorite sportswriter was Tom Boswell. Eagleton’s passion for baseball has been covered in detail in Hot Stove (click here).
Boswell also wrote several books on baseball, the first two shown below (1982 and 1984). He covered every World Series from 1975 to 2019, the last one being especially sweet because his Washington Nationals won the first World Series for the city of Washington in 95 years. He missed the Series in 2020 because of Covid and retired the following year.
Boswell still occasionally writes a column for the Post, and this latest one is a positive look at the current state of the game.
“Baseball as we find it today, is an opportunity to appreciate an imperfect thing and allow it to make us feel happy.”
He sets the stage with two primary issues:
“For years, I have been one of those who have complained about two problems. First, games are too slow. Second, I agreed that the analytics-era focus on ‘three true outcomes’ – home runs, walks and strikeouts, none of which involves defensive plays – subtracted athletic action.”
His first complaint – game time – has happily seen great improvement. Boswell is pleased with the new rules implemented in 2023: the pitch clock, relief pitchers required to face three batters or retire the side, limitation on pickoff attempts, and the ghost runner in extra innings. Game time has dropped dramatically. Boswell (and Lonnie) like that.
But what about the “three true outcomes.” He took a closer look at the facts.
Walks: Boswell knew that MLB’s popularity stagnated from 1946 to 1975, with attendance of about 15,000 a game. But from 1975 to 1994, attendance doubled, and so the aesthetics must have been pleasing to the fans. Here are some numbers that applied to those 20 years, calculated on a 162-game season:
The average team scored about 700 runs and had 121 stolen bases, 529 walks and an OPS of .713. Average game time was 2:43.
In 2024/2025, those number are 709 runs, 122 steals, 506 walks and an OPS of .711. Average game time of 2:39. All numbers, including walks, almost identical to those 20 “good” years.
Home Runs: What about home runs? Since 1993, the average team has hit 175 per season. In 2024, 182. This year, projected at 173. Again, almost identical.
Strike Outs: Here’s the one. From 1975 to 1994, the average team struck out 867 times per 162 games. Over the past two seasons, it’s been 1,365 times per team.
That’s a big difference. And we know why. Pitching has become more effective. Training and technological advances have produced more pitchers throwing fastballs like Nolan Ryan, curve balls like Sandy Koufax and sliders like Roger Clemens.
Although Boswell considers strikeouts to be a problem, he does not think it’s a catastrophe. It means six more strikeouts a game, so six fewer defensive plays. But most such plays are routine, so fans are being denied an average of one or two excellent plays a game.
Conclusion – Imperfect Game: But smell the roses.
“Baseball is always both a sport and a business. The trend of the sport now cheers me. The business side doesn’t. Rich teams have far too big of an edge…Also, owners have a gambling addiction: They’re addicted to tempting us to bet on games for their profit…I’ll hold my nose on this stinky stuff and just sniff the baseball flowers because, right now, there are plenty…MLB has warts. But I’ve never been happier to have an exciting crisp version of the old game for summer company.”
Thank you, Mr. Boswell.
The Other Cost of Strikeouts: Pitchers have an edge today because technology had provided valuable in-depth analysis that teaches them how to achieve more velocity and ball movement – that means more strikeouts.
I’ve seen it described this way: “Velocity in pitching is generated through a combination of lower body power, core stability and upper body mechanics. Spin rate, which affects pitch movement, is largely influenced by grip, wrist strength and arm speed. While both attributes are essential for success on the mound, they also contribute to significant stress on the shoulder, elbow and forearm.”
The most common form of injury from this stress is treated by Tommy John surgery, more formally known as ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction to repair a torn UCL inside the elbow.
How common is the surgery? Epidemic. In 2023, more professional pitchers had Tommy John surgery than in the 1990s combined. This BrooksGate chart lists the 40 starting pitchers who have thrown 100+ pitches over 98 mph since 2020. Of those 40, 25 have had Tommy John surgery (62.5%!).
The chart was as of March this year. Since then, another pitcher is down. Corbin Burnes, 2021 Cy Young winner, will soon be undergoing Tommy John surgery.
No matter how you spin it, elite pitching can be harmful to your health.
The French Open: Hot Stove does not have much tennis news, but in 2019, I made this brief comment about that year’s Wimbledon tournament:
“This morning, my new favorite player ended her magical run with a loss in the fourth round. That would be 15-year-old Cori “Coco” Gauff. I think we will be hearing more about her.”
We certainly have. She won the U.S. Open in 2023. And this month, at the age of 21, she won the French Open over #1 Aryna Sabalenka. Gauff is the first American to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015.
Coco is still my favorite, just no longer “new.” Next up, Wimbledon on June 30.
The men’s final at the French Open was maybe the best ever. Joe Posnanski writes mostly about baseball, but he is also eloquent on tennis. Click here for his coverage of the Sinner/Alcaraz classic.
Old Wimbledon Story: In 1989, Rita and I were in London and found that our trip overlapped the Wimbledon tournament. The Saturday women’s final had been rained out, and so both finals were set for Sunday. We had no tickets but took the train to Wimbledon and purchased some standing room tickets from a scalper. We just wanted to feel the vibes of the tournament, so standing room was fine.
Then we found out that we were close to the action. As described by Sports Illustrated:
“Standing room…was actually a pair of concrete holding pens…six rows back from the lush green lawn…Standees needed only a daily pass to enter and peer over the shoulders and under the armpits for as long as their rations held out…once you’re in and the canteen goes dry, no one drinks. Or eats. Or visits the bathroom, for that matter…you don’t leave the area unless you want to queue up again in a line that runs halfway to Big Ben.”
Rita and I were in the second row of standees and watched Steffi Graf beat Martina Navratilova and Boris Becker beat Stefan Edberg. We stayed in place for both matches. We were much younger then. Our time in the area was the last because the standing room pens were converted the next year to high priced court-side seats.
On Broadway: Rita and I have been regular visitors to New York for the last 30 years. It helped that my primary client, Gary Barnett, was based in New York. While in the city this month, we had a nice lunch with Gary and got a review of his current projects. Rita and I then took a long walk around Manhattan to view the construction sites. It’s exciting stuff, but I’m sticking with retirement.
We noted two big improvements in New York since our last trip. LaGuardia Airport has been transformed into a beautiful facility (the dingy days are over). And the complicated process for ticketing on the subway (especially the vending machines) has been scrapped. All you do now is just “tap” your credit card at the turnstile and go through. Worked like a charm.
We usually fit in a few Broadway shows, and this time we saw four:
Just in Time – This is a jukebox musical based on the career of Bobby Darin, played by Jonathan Groff who we saw as King George in the original cast of Hamilton. It was a hard ticket to get, especially because the venue is only about 600 seats. We went to the box office just to be sure, knowing we would likely have to go to the secondary market. After telling us that all shows during our five-day trip were sold out, the ticket guy casually said he had a few same day “rush” tickets. Standing room – $40! Yes! And it was great. In the small venue, there was not a bad seat, nor a bad place to stand (and dance to the music). We felt like we had the luck of our Wimbledon standing room adventure from 1989.
Gypsy – We love Audra McDonald and have seen her in all six of her Tony-winning roles going back to Carousel 30 years ago. It was good to see her again, and she was of course excellent, but this was not high on our list for choice of roles for Audra.
Oh, Mary! – Before our trip, I checked in with Claire McCaskill. Our former senator now spends a lot of time in New York with her on-air duties at MSNBC. She is a Broadway fan, and I was looking for recommendations. I liked her description of this play. “It’s a hoot.” And it was indeed a hoot. Rita and I laughed and laughed. The play was written by Cole Escola who also stars as the title character, Mary Todd Lincoln (who wants to be a cabaret singer; Abe objects).
Maybe Happy Ending – Two robots fall in love in this English version of a South Korean musical. Premise does not sound inviting, but it turned out to be excellent and was enhanced by creative staging.
We saw Maybe Happy Ending on Sunday afternoon and then headed over to Radio City Music Hall to get a look at the well-dressed crowd gathering for the Tony Awards that night.
Just hours after we saw Maybe Happy Ending, it was awarded six Tonys, including best musical and best leading actor in a musical (Darren Criss). We thought Darren Criss was fine, but our vote for leading actor in a musical would have gone to Jonathan Groff for his showmanship as Bobby Darin. The show we saw the day before (Claire McCaskill’s “It’s a hoot” Oh, Mary!) won leading actor (Cole Escola) and best director of a play (Sam Pinkleton).
Museums: We usually hit a museum or two, and our plan was to go to the recently restored Frick. But it was sold out and reportedly very crowded. So, we put that off for the next trip and instead took a walk down the High Line to the Whitney Museum to see the Amy Sherald exhibition. There are many striking pieces (2-minute exhibition trailer here), highlighted by her portrait of Michelle Obama.
Lonnie’s Jukebox – Bobby Darin Edition: From the summer of 1958 to the spring of 1959, Bobby Darin had five top 40 hits. I was a senior in high school and buying 45-rpm rock ‘n’ roll records. I still have my collection, and when I checked, it turned out I have all five of these first hits. Here they are:
Bobby had some earlier releases that did not do well. He worked with Connie Francis who was also trying to get a hit song. She succeeded first with “Who’s Sorry Now” debuting in February of 1958. Bobby followed four months later with…
“Splish Splash” (1958, peaked at #3). Bobby was immediately popular and began appearing regularly on both of Dick Clarks’ shows – American Bandstand (dancing show) and the Saturday Night Beechnut Show (with an audience in theater seating). I specifically remember his Beechnut appearance for this record because of the visual of him singing in a bathtub (and that’s what you will see when you click on this song). The bathtub scene was also part of the Broadway show.
In addition to helping each other with their music careers, Connie and Bobby began dating, but it was not to be because her father objected (reportedly pulling a gun on Bobby).
“Early in the Morning” (1958, #24). Bobby was under contract with Atlantic Records and recorded on their Atco label. For some reason, he secretly recorded this song with Brunswick Records, with artist credit going to the “Ding Dongs.” Atlantic found out and successfully got the master recording and put the song out on Atco as being sung by the “Rinky Dinks” (later pressings showed Bobby Darin, but since I bought my 45 early, mine shows Rinky Dinks). The song peaked at #24.
More trivia on this one. Brunswick was the record company for Buddy Holly, using its Coral label. After losing Bobby’s version, they had Buddy quickly cover “Early in the Morning,” and his version peaked at # 32 (play it here). Not only did Buddy cover the hit side, but he also used the same “B” side as Bobby (“Now We’re One”). Bobby had songwriting credit on both songs, so collected songwriting royalties for both sides of both versions. As a big Buddy Holly fan, I also have Buddy’s version in my collection.
“Queen of the Hop” (1958, #9). Very popular dance song at teen town in my senior year.
“Plain Jane” (1959, #38).
“Dream Lover” (1959, #2).
After five straight top 40 hits, Bobby told Atlantic he did not want to be just a “teen idol.” He wanted to be the next Frank Sinatra and eventually persuaded them to release Bobby’s version of…
“Mack the Knife” (1959, #1). As you will see in the video of this song, Dick Clark also originally thought Bobby should not change genres. But Atlantic and Clark both understood when “Mack the Knife” went to #1 (Bobby’s only #1).
“Beyond the Sea” (1960, #6). His next song in his new style. Bobby soon began performing at the Copacabana night club, another step in becoming the next Sinatra.
He also began appearing in movies, and I remember seeing him in Come September when I was in college. Bobby and Sandra Dee were the young stars in a movie led by Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida.
“Multiplication” (1961, #30). This song is from Come September, and the video includes film clips from the movie. Bobby and Sandra married soon after production of the film but divorced after seven years.
“Start of Something Big” and “Just in Time” (1962, on the Ed Sullivan Show). Two samples of his big band performances. “Just in Time” became the title tune for the 2025 Broadway show…
“Beyond the Sea” by Jonathan Groff (2025, on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert). The venue for Colbert’s show is the Ed Sullivan Theater, so Groff was performing in the same venue where Bobby Darin sang in the 1960s. This video will give you a good feel for the showmanship of Jonathan Groff performing as Bobby Darin in Just in Time.
The story of Bobby Darin ends way too early. As a child, Bobby suffered rheumatic fever which weakened his heart. He knew he might not live a long life, and that’s why he pushed so hard on his career. He died in 1973 at the age of 37.
Walk-Off Photos: While in New York, Rita and I celebrated our 44th anniversary with dinner at the River Café in Brooklyn. We have been to the restaurant many times over the years with dear friends (Brewers, Ellisons, Overtons and Blonds).
The view of Manhattan across the East River is always a treat, especially as the sun goes down and the lights of Manhattan begin to sparkle.
On the right side of the photo, the Brooklyn Bridge. On the Manhattan waterfront, the docks are bathed in rainbow colors for Pride Month. In the middle, the Freedom Tower rises to 1,776 feet, and its antenna is sporting rainbow colors.
During the Pride Month of June, each MLB team (other than the Rangers) has a Pride Night. The Seattle Mariners have released a cool video titled “Baseball is for everyone: Mariners Celebrate Pride Month,” in recognition of the ways baseball brings communities together. Click here (1:39).
The Royals held theirs last week.
Rita and I attended the “No Kings” rally at Mill Creek Park this past Saturday. A large peaceful crowd enjoyed a festive afternoon. Ran into my fellow retired law partner Jeb Bayer.
Many fun signs at the rally, including a few referring to the “Royals” on “No Kings” day. For example…
The only Royals I want to see are on our baseball team.