Is this really my last radio hit for 2019? I wish I’d been more aware of that while recording, though I did make sure to wish Pat Ryan and the WISE Guys crew a Happy New Year.
Catching up on some baseball news after Christmas week, Pat and I cover former Asheville Tourists star Corey Dickerson signing with the Miami Marlins, and the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox taking big steps toward building playoff contenders for 2020. Oh, and some Star Wars!
Going into an exciting Week 16 on the NFL schedule, the Jacksonville Jaguars got a head start on their offseason by firing Tom Coughlin, the team’s vice president of football operations. Coughlin is a legendary coach in Jacksonville and may be a Hall of Famer for two Super Bowl championships with the New York Giants, but he was a terrible executive in his second tour with the Jags.
For Thursday’s WISE Sports Radio NFL segment, Pat Ryan, Mike Gore, and I also discuss Josh Gordon being suspended yet again for violating the league’s drug policy, Odell Beckham Jr. saying he wants to stay with the Cleveland Browns, and a very important Cowboys-Eagles game that could determine a playoff bid.
For Wednesday’s WISE Sports Radio baseball segment, Pat Ryan and I focused largely on Major League Baseball’s new rule that mandates pitchers must face at least three batters (or pitch to the end of an inning) when they’re brought into a game.
How that could affect game strategy and roster construction were part of our conversation, in addition to trades that could still be made, Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona getting back some treasured keepsakes, and the Detroit Tigers finally deciding to retire Lou Whitaker’s No. 1 jersey next year.
Unlike last year, MLB’s offseason is humming along in 2019. Maybe most of the big names will have been signed or traded before Christmas!
Anyway, the teams who didn’t want to pay for Gerrit Cole or Stephen Strasburg got less expensive aces for their starting rotation as Madison Bumgarner signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers traded for Corey Kluber.
Also on Monday’s WISE Sports Radio baseball segment, Pat Ryan and I talk about MLB taking marijuana off its list of banned drugs.
Any time “New England Patriots” and “videotaping” are in a story, the team’s ugly past with the “Spygate” scandal is going to be revived. A video crew hired by the Patriots to film an advance scout for their “Do Your Job” series was seen filming the Cincinnati Bengals on the field and sideline, dredging up this stuff all over again.
On Thursday’s WISE Sports Radio segment, Pat Ryan, Mike Gore, and I talk about that, Le’Veon Bell and the New York Jets, two Heisman Trophy-winning Oklahoma quarterbacks facing each other, and the Thursday Night Football game between the Jets and Baltimore Ravens.
Ian Casselberry 