Category: From My Seat

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From My Seat Sports

Ja Morant’s Shining Star

Ja Morant (photo by Larry Kuzniewski)

Ja Morant has played in 176 regular-season games for the Memphis Grizzlies. He’s appeared in five playoff games, with more — hopefully several more — coming this spring. To say he’s gained star quality in the Mid-South would be a vast understatement. But Sunday night in Cleveland — at the NBA’s All-Star Game — Ja Morant arrived as an international star. Only the second Grizzly to start in the sport’s most glamorous showcase, Morant played just 17 minutes and scored merely six points. (He threw down a pair of dunks that would have won Saturday night’s silly contest.) Consider the 2022 All-Star Game a teaser for the rest of the world, because Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies is here and basketball’s royalty is quite aware.

Sunday’s event was more a celebration of the NBA’s first 75 years than it was a gathering of 24 current stars. The introductions at halftime of 75 all-time greats — most of them right there at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, a few actually playing in the All-Star Game — was an extraordinary salute by a league that relies more than any other on individual star power. George Gervin wears a larger belt today than he did in the Seventies and Eighties . . . but he’s the Iceman. Dominique Wilkins is wearing glasses now . . . but he’s the Human Highlight Film. And those two, among the diamond-anniversary greats, are second-tier celebs. It was a truly astonishing group of basketball icons under a single roof. And Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies was right there.

I’ve interviewed Julius Erving, Bill Walton, and Jerry West. I’ve met Magic Johnson, if briefly. These are sports legends of a different breed, men with star power that will outlive them, players who serve as the basis for comparison for any rising star who hopes to be worthy of a jacket when the league celebrates a century in 2047. We can count Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies among those rising stars.

The greatest basketball player of them all, Michael Jordan, was the last legend introduced Sunday night. (There’s a reason players weren’t presented alphabetically.) The very next player in the spotlight on TV screens around the world was . . . Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies. He was part of a young All-Star quartet (along with Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Luka Doncic) that delivered a scripted-but-poignant tribute to the past legends, while looking forward to “the next 75 seasons” of stars and moments. Many of the men celebrated Sunday night will not be with us 25 years from now for that centennial celebration. But you get the feeling Booker, Towns, and Doncic just might. And it’s starting to feel all but certain that Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies will be there.

NBA championships are won by superstars, by the kind of player honored Sunday night in Cleveland. Since 1980, the NBA has crowned 42 champions. Only the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons suited up a team that didn’t include a two-time 1st-team All-NBA player. I bring this up because Memphis wants an NBA champion and we seem to have in our midst a player who may soon claim 1st-team All-NBA status. There is often a “process” to these things. Jordan won his first championship in his seventh season. It took West 12 years to win his only title. Can a 22-year-old superstar like Ja Morant harbor dreams of winning a crown so soon? His Grizzlies currently boast the third-best record in the entire NBA. The franchise’s first division title appears to be a lock. Why not more? If the 2022 All-Star Game symbolized anything, it’s dreams fulfilled. Ja Morant and Memphis. Superstar and city. One shared dream.

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From My Seat Sports

My Beijing

Frank Murtaugh in China in October 1994

A point of emphasis: I share these sentiments with the same aversion to China’s human-rights atrocities that has the United States boycotting the Beijing Olympics on a government level. A place and its people can be appreciated without endorsing a nation’s restrictive, to say nothing of racist, policies. 

I feel a kinship to the Winter Olympics in Beijing. I feel this connection despite being unable to perform virtually every athletic feat we’ll witness over the next two weeks. The Summer Olympics are easy for imagining a personal place in competition: we can all run, most of us can swim, and lots of us can dribble a basketball (if not guarded by a defender). But luge? Biathlon? Aerial skiing, for crying out loud? Yet I feel closer than usual with these winter Games.

I visited China, you see, in October 1994. Part of a press junket organized by the Wonders Series, I immersed myself in a land, quite literally, “on the other side of the globe,” and it was one of my life’s grand adventures. Sharing stories of the 1995 Wonders exhibition — “Imperial Tombs of China” — was my glorious obligation, but the return on my journalistic investment has been a monumental profit of spirit.

Our group spent some time in Hong Kong (then still a British colony), and Xi’an (site of the famed Terracotta Army, buried more than 2,000 years ago to protect the afterlife of emperor Qin Shi Huang). But Beijing and its surroundings are as colorful in my mind’s eye today as they were 28 years ago. Tiananmen Square, where pro-democracy demonstrators were massacred merely five years before my trip. The Forbidden City, home to Chinese royalty in the way Disney likes to dream of palaces and such. Then there was the Great Wall, a short bus ride northwest of Beijing. You spend your youth nodding your head when told how big — how long! — the Great Wall of China is, then one day you find yourself climbing stairs. Lots of stairs. And feeling like this structure just might be visible from the moon.

These memories danced in my head when Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008 (the Michael Phelps Games). But another decade and my life’s first pandemic have a way of refocusing the moments that have truly mattered on my journey. And being part of Beijing — part of China — for two weeks is among those moments for me.

A college friend (who lived in Tokyo at the time) joined me for part of our time in Beijing. A singular experience: dining like princes (if not kings) in a small Beijing restaurant for a total cost of ten American dollars. If you want to measure the difference between “east and west,” start with economics. My buddy told me something wise near the end of his visit: “You’ll never read or hear about China again without feeling like it’s part of you.”

So here we are in 2022. Chloe Kim is primed to dominate her snowboard competition while Mikaela Shiffrin makes the alpine slopes her own. I’ve never been on a snowboard, and the one day I spent on a mountain with skis strapped to my feet can hardly be described as “skiing.” (I scored points with my future wife. Another investment in spirit.) But yes, I feel like Beijing is a part of me. Still. And maybe forever. I’ll enjoy cheering the world’s finest winter athletes, but it will have less to do with gold medals than the gleam — across decades now — of a gorgeous, history-rich place I wish we all could call our own.

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From My Seat Sports

Banner Blunder

I love — I truly love — the Memphis Grizzlies retiring Zach Randolph’s number 50 last month. The more I consider the hallowed “core four” era of Grizzlies history (2010-17), the more I consider Z-Bo the face of that seven-year run of playoff appearances. If Mike Conley was the heart of those teams, Marc Gasol the backbone, and Tony Allen the soul, Randolph was the muscle, the personification of “we don’t bluff.” The first Grizzly to earn All-NBA status (in 2011), Randolph is rightfully the first player in franchise history to have his number retired for posterity. And the night Z-Bo was honored at FedExForum — December 11th — was almost perfect.

Even without current headliner Ja Morant, the Grizzlies made easy work of the Houston Rockets before the ceremony. With Randolph seated in a throne(!) and his family on a makeshift stage behind him, old friends Lionel Hollins and Marc Gasol joined the party to offer personal salutes. So did the man who brought Randolph to Memphis, former general manager Chris Wallace. When the unveiling finally arrived, it came with “Whoop That Trick” filling the arena. It may as well have been 2013, the Griz on their way to the Western Conference finals. It was almost perfect.

But there’s the banner itself. I’ve spent a month trying to love it, to let it grow on me. It’s unconventional as far as retired numbers go, but Memphis specializes in unconventional. There was very little conventional about Zach Randolph, so surely this was the right way to salute him. Surely . . . .

I just can’t come around. Look at it again. A platinum album(?), with the number 50 centered on the disc. “Randolph” below . . . and nothing else. A retired jersey — the banner on which it appears — should not require an explanation, and Zach Randolph’s at FedExForum leaves blanks that must be filled. Most significantly, when did Randolph play for the Grizzlies? A retired number represents not just the athlete honored, but the athlete’s time in uniform: the games, seasons, and achievements memorialized with the number and name. At the very least, “2009-17” needs to be added to Z-Bo’s banner.

But let’s imagine FedExForum in 2042, twenty years from now. In walks a fan who — hold on to your headband — hasn’t heard the legend of Zach Randolph. He looks up at that banner for the first time . . . and wonders if a musical artist has been honored. (This will be a particular problem if similar “records” for Conley, Gasol, and Allen are eventually alongside Randolph’s banner.) Memphis is a music town and lots of concerts have been held at FEF. So who was/is “Randolph” . . . and what’s the significance of “50”?

As painful as it might feel to Grit-and-Grind culture, a conventional banner saluting Zach Randolph is the way to go. A big, bold “50” in Beale Street Blue, on a white banner, with “Randolph” and “2009-17” prominent. Z-Bo was a professional basketball player (who happened to play in a town known for its music). Let’s not blur the impact he made with a platinum record, however shiny it may appear.

I know the Grizzlies meant well in their design solution for a seminal moment in Memphis sports history. And for a single night of celebration, sure. Slap that shiny disc on a wall and give it the spotlight treatment. But long-term? For posterity? And the template for future honored Grizzlies? Here’s hoping Z-Bo’s banner is reconsidered. I’ve been in the publishing business long enough to know that some designs are astray and when a concept can be corrected (and/or improved), it should be.

The Memphis Grizzlies are professional sports in this town. They are what make the Bluff City big league. This means the details — large and small — matter more when it comes to the way the Grizzlies conduct business and present their brand. And the way they honor franchise greats. You could say this column is kicking a sleeping grizzly bear. Maybe it is. But as glorious as Zach Randolph’s name and number appear now in FedExForum, the salute can be even better. Some shots are missed. Ask Z-Bo about the value of a strong rebound.

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From My Seat Sports

Redbirds Wrap-Up

Matthew Liberatore (Credit: Memphis Redbirds)

Every baseball season leaves memories. At the Triple-A level, those memories come wrapped with a layer of hope for the future. Here are a few impressions from the 2021 Memphis Redbirds season that may prove lasting.

• A quiet phone. A season’s top highlight for a Triple-A player isn’t a game-winning home run or a complete-game shutout, but “The Call,” a first invitation to the big leagues. There weren’t a lot of these in 2021 here in Memphis. Infielder José Rondón was promoted by the St. Louis Cardinals after only 21 games with the Redbirds, but has seen limited action (primarily as a pinch-hitter) with the big club. Outfielder Lars Nootbaar hit .308 in 35 games for Memphis before his promotion and has become somewhat of a cult hero in St. Louis, chants of “Noooooooot!” rising from Busch Stadium with the rookie’s every appearance. Nootbaar made a sensational catch to prevent a home run in New York against the Mets earlier this month and hit two homers in the Cardinals’ 14th consecutive win last Friday night in Chicago. His impact hasn’t been merely a fun surname.

• Twin prospects. The Cardinals’ top two prospects — pitcher Matthew Liberatore and second-baseman Nolan Gorman — made significant strides toward the majors in 2021. Pitching for the first time above Class A, the 21-year-old Liberatore has posted an 8-9 record with a 4.15 ERA (through Sunday). Not impressive numbers. But Liberatore has hurled 121 innings against Triple-A hitters, many of them with experience in the majors. Expect him to compete for a Cardinals rotation spot next spring, St. Louis having gone through cases of duct tape to keep its starters competitive this season. As for Gorman (also 21 and a childhood pal of Liberatore’s from Arizona), a spot on the Cardinals’ roster in 2022 is all but certain after he hit .276 with 14 home runs in 74 games for Memphis, and after slamming 11 homers in 43 games for Double-A Springfield. With power from the left side and versatility on the infield, Gorman could represent what Matt Carpenter once did on the Cardinals roster.

• Streakers! The Redbirds fell to 21-36 when they lost the first game of a doubleheader at Louisville on July 9th. It would be their last loss for two weeks. After taking the final two games of that series with the Bats, Memphis swept six games against the Norfolk Tides at AutoZone Park, then swept seven games back at Louisville to set a new franchise record with 15 wins in row. The streak shattered the previous mark of 11 set by the 2017 Pacific Coast League champions. “We kept winning ballgames,” reflects Gorman, “so we started saying, ‘Let’s see how far we can take this.’ Every game meant something. We had a lot of fun with it. We’d go down 2-0 or 3-0 in the fifth inning, but we never felt like we were out of it. We knew we’d pull it off in the end. It happened quite a few times. There was a lot of confidence in the clubhouse. It was fun to be a part of.”

• Hidden gem. It’s not all about the prospects. First baseman Juan Yepez was not among the Cardinals’ top 20 prospects at the beginning of the season, but the case could be made he was the 2021 Memphis Redbirds MVP. After a strong start (five homers in 19 games) at Springfield, the Cardinals promoted Yepez to Memphis and he will finish the season as the team’s leader in home runs (currently 21), slugging percentage (.575), and OPS (.790). With Paul Goldschmidt entrenched at first in St. Louis, Yepez may not have a long future with the Cardinals. But the way he’s hit in 2021, the 23-year-old appears to have a future somewhere in the big leagues.

• A bobble and bombs. Now and then, the connection between AutoZone Park and Busch Stadium can feel surreal. Such was the case on September 18th, a Friday night. The Redbirds distributed Dylan Carlson bobbleheads to the first 2,000 fans at the game, one in which Memphis came from behind to beat Louisville. Up the river in St. Louis, Dylan Carlson — the Cardinals’ rookie rightfielder — hit a home run from both sides of the plate, the second one a grand slam, in a victory over the San Diego Padres. Coincidence? Probably. A reminder of the happy baseball marriage between Memphis and St. Louis? Absolutely.

The Redbirds (58-67) host the Charlotte Knights (Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox) Wednesday through Sunday at AutoZone Park to conclude their 2021 season.

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“The Other Nolan”

Nolan Gorman (courtesy Memphis Redbirds)

When the calendar turned to 2021, Nolan Gorman knew he would spend the year as one of the St. Louis Cardinals’ top two prospects (along with pitcher Matthew Liberatore, a childhood pal from Arizona and now a teammate with the Memphis Redbirds). What Gorman didn’t know was that by February, he would be merely the second-best third baseman named Nolan in the Cardinals’ system. 

With the acquisition of perennial All-Star Nolan Arenado from the Colorado Rockies, the Cardinals secured what they hope will be their third baseman for the better part of a decade. They also added a twist to “the other Nolan’s” development. Gorman now spends most nights playing second base for the Redbirds. By the looks of his production at the Triple-A level, he may soon join his namesake in that Cardinal infield.

“The biggest difference [at Triple A] has been the pitching,” says the 21-year-old Gorman. “They go out there with a game plan to face me. And they execute better than guys at Double A. A bunch of them have big-league time. It’s a good challenge: learn to adapt as quickly as possible to get to the next level.”

Since his promotion from Double-A Springfield on June 29th, Gorman has hit .278 with 10 home runs and an OPS of .796. (His numbers over 43 games with Springfield: .288 average, 11 homers, .862 OPS.) “I make mechanical adjustments [to my swing] in the offseason,” explains Gorman. “I tinker with stuff, here and there, during the season, but nothing drastic. It’s been more mental. Less is more . . . not trying to do too much. This game will humble you quickly if you think you have it figured out. You have to trust yourself, not try to hit a home run every time.”

The adjustment to a new level of professional baseball has coincided with Gorman’s adjustment to a new position. He’s looked comfortable at second base, even when turning the double play (not an act that always comes naturally to a longtime third baseman). “It’s been fun,” he says. “I had a lot of help during spring training from [Cardinal coaches] Jose Oquendo and Stubby Clapp. Just put in the work. They’ve made it as easy as possible. It’s probably easier for a third baseman to move to second than it is to go from second to third. I’ve enjoyed turning double plays, and being involved in so many plays. On an off day, I’ll be pacing the dugout, not knowing what to do with myself.”

Now a minor league instructor with the Cardinals, Oquendo famously played all nine positions (including pitcher) during the 1988 season with St. Louis. Gorman emphasizes Oquendo’s influence — especially during 2020, when the pandemic shut down the minor leagues — in much the way generations of Cardinals credited their development to the late George Kissell. “He has what you’d call the ‘it’ factor,” says Gorman. “He understands the game at a different level. It’s special. To be able to sit and talk with [Oquendo] about the game, to see how it should be played . . . it’s been really good to hear that at a young age. [Baseball] is changing and evolving, but there’s a right way to play the game. There are a lot of chess pieces to keep an eye on.”

In reflecting on the “lost season” of 2020, Gorman sees a silver lining, one that may actually benefit his development and get him to the major leagues quicker. “I went to the alternate [training] site and I was able to really hone in on things I needed to improve,” he says. “I enjoyed how much work I got in. It put me in a leadership role for younger guys. [Oquendo] did that, I think, to build my leadership skills, to focus on my career and how to get better. [The shutdown] could hurt players or make them better. It’s the mentality, what you did with it. How you spent your time.”

Ten days after he first donned a Memphis Redbirds jersey, Gorman and his teammates embarked on a franchise-record 15-game winning streak. They remain well outside playoff contention (48-54 through Sunday), but nothing teaches an athlete to win like actually winning games. With his big-league debut drawing near (major-league clubs can expand rosters Wednesday), Gorman hopes to find similar growth spurts a few hours north and just across the Mississippi River. “You gotta be consistent at the big-league level,” says Gorman. “You gotta produce to win ballgames, or someone will replace you. Find consistency. Have a game plan every day, and trust it.”

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The Right Track

Ed Murphey (courtesy Eddie Murphey)

This being an Olympics year (due to the pandemic postponing the 2020 Games), track and field is a front-of-mind sport, even here in football-crazed America. Merely a week after the last medals were placed around winners’ necks in Tokyo, Memphis will host a feature event on the American Track League (ATL) schedule: the Ed Murphey Classic at Christian Brothers High School (August 14-15). The two-day meet — first held in 2017 — will be packed with familiar races for those craving sprints (100 meters, 200, 400) or middle-distance (800, 1,500, 3,000), along with three classic field events (shot put, long jump, pole vault) for both men and women. Sunday’s finals will be broadcast live nationally on ESPN2.

Who, you might ask, was Ed Murphey? Put simply, Murphey — a native of Brownsville, Tennessee — was a miler when milers were very, very cool. (England’s Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile in 1954, a feat for which Bannister was named the first Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated.) He lettered in track and field at the University of Tennessee from 1954 to 1957 and was the SEC’s mile champion each of the last three years, setting a conference record as a senior with a time of 4:14.8. Murphey finished sixth in the 1956 NCAA 1,500 meters (the “metric mile”), and competed in the Olympic Trials that year (finishing seventh with a time of 3:52.6). Though he missed out on the Melbourne Games, Murphey’s legacy includes the Ed Murphey Award, given annually since 1965 to the most outstanding men’s track and field athlete at UT. Murphey moved to Memphis after graduating from college and worked in the insurance business. He died in 2014 at age 78.

“We need to educate Americans about track and field” says Murphey’s son, Eddie, president of the Ed Murphey Classic and son of the event’s namesake. Murphey credits a pair of prominent local runners — Paul Sax and attorney Mike Cody — with firing the starter’s gun on the Ed Murphey Classic, a 2017 meeting at the University Club leading to what’s become a meet with national impact.  “They asked me if I wanted to be involved with a race they were putting on in Dad’s honor,” says Murphey, who ran the mile at Memphis University School and, like his father, attended the University of Tennessee. “It sounded phenomenal. Nobody had ever broken the four-minute [mile] barrier in Memphis. We brought in a few athletes . . . and we broke it.” (Three runners actually broke it. In order of finish, they were Craig Engels, Eric Avila, and Travis Mahoney.) A concept originated by Nick Dwyer and Max Paquette (to this day the meet coordinator) had crossed its first finish line, both in the literal and metaphorical sense.

Memphis is one of 10 American cities hosting events under the nascent ATL umbrella. Murphey points out that only one American Race — the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon, also in August — has attained silver-label status (one tier below Olympic-level competition). Noting a fund-raising goal of $125,000 (for prize money) this year with the aim of doubling that in the near future, Murphey can see the day when Memphis achieves that silver-label status. As with tennis or golf, a purse draws track stars, and American cities are playing catch-up with Europe when it comes to achieving mainstream status. More than 30 Olympians — from London (2012), Rio (2016), and/or Tokyo — will compete at this year’s event. Among the confirmed headliners on their way to Memphis are LaShawn Merritt (400 meters), Raven Saunders (silver medalist in the Tokyo shot put), and Sam Kendricks (bronze medalist in the Rio Olympics pole vault).

There’s a larger cause to the Ed Murphey Classic and its partnership with Memphis Youth Athletics. Murphey describes the mission with a mantra: Let’s keep our kids on the right track. “In 2017,” reflects Murphey, “one of the milers saw me at the airport and said, ‘There are no races in America for us.’ He was headed to Ireland to compete. ‘Could you put on a race for us?’ Timing is everything. I looked into it and felt like we could do this. We’re filling a need.”

For more information and tickets, visit edmurpheyclassic.com.

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Q&A: Harris English

Harris English (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

Harris English will be a familiar face when fans return to TPC Southwind this week for the World Golf Championships — FedEx St. Jude Invitational. The 32-year-old PGA veteran has risen to 14th in the World Golf Rankings and finished third in this year’s U.S. Open. His very first Tour win came in Memphis (in 2013).

Memphis Flyer: Welcome back. What do you recall about your first visit to TPC Southwind eight years ago? 

Harris English: A lot of good memories there. I rented a house off the first tee with some good friends. We had a fun week. One of my best friends from high school in Chattanooga was in med school there. It felt like I had a big crowd cheering me on. Closing it out with a birdie on 17 and a solid par on 18 will always make special memories. You never want to have a tournament given to you, and I felt like I had to earn it. It makes you believe in yourself, and it couldn’t have happened at a better place than Memphis.

You have found a groove in 2021, doubling your career victories (now four). What’s been the difference in your game?

I’ve found more consistency. I don’t like missing putts. My putting and short game have always been the backbone of my game. And tee to green, I’ve gotten better, given myself more chances to win golf tournaments.

You finished third in the U.S. Open (at Torrey Pines in San Diego), the closest you’ve come to winning your first major. What was that final round like, knowing you were in the mix for that trophy?

That’s why you put all the hours in, both in the gym and on the course. I love how the U.S. Open is set up. You have to play smart and be good, all-around, and disciplined. It’s nice to showcase that. I really enjoyed it. I’m getting closer and closer.

Memphis is getting used to World Golf Championships status (third year for the FedEx St. Jude Invitational). Could you share some perspective on the significance of the WGC events?

I’m really happy for Memphis. FedEx has been the biggest sponsor on the PGA Tour for years. It’s great that they have a tournament where they’re guaranteed many of the biggest names in the sport, right in their backyard. [The WGC status] has given me even more of spark to get back there. I love the people that run the tournament. It made it even sweeter. You have to earn your spot there. It’s not easy to make the field.

Crowds are back. They’ll be cheering a familiar face when you arrive. Did the lack of fans in 2020 impact your game at all?

You get used to crowds lining the fairway, and lining the greens. You feel their energy, especially on Saturday and Sunday. It was weird [without fans]. Almost like you’re playing a practice round. You had to really psyche yourself up, have your caddy pump you up. A lot of people struggled with it. I don’t usually have a ton of people following me, not like Tiger [Woods]. It had to be really weird for him. We love having fans on the course.

When you plan a round at Southwind, are there certain holes you give extra focus?

Southwind is sneaky. Holes can seem pretty benign, but they can get you. It’s one of the more underrated courses we play. Number three can be an eagle hole, or it can be a bogey hole if you don’t put the ball in the fairway. Same for number nine. Fifteen, that short par four. You’ve got to put the ball in the fairway.

The PGA Tour is entering what amounts to a post-Tiger era. Do you feel like the sport is in good hands with new headliners, including yourself?

There are so many good young golfers. It shows where college programs have been the last twenty years. Players are ready for action on the PGA Tour. They have experience and they’re not scared. They can play under pressure. In our sport, you can have a 22-year-old win a tournament or a 52-year-old win a tournament. It’s unique to our sport. The game’s in great hands. Like everyone else, I want Tiger to come back healthy and win more tournaments. But we have some other big names playing well, and carrying what Tiger and Phil Mickelson are leaving behind.

The tournament remains deeply connected to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Any thoughts on this relationship?

It’s incredible. It puts things in perspective. Here I am, playing golf, doing what I love to do. And a few miles away, there are kids struggling with something they didn’t deserve. As much money as we can raise, it’s amazing. I donate to St. Jude every year. It’s one of the charities I hold dear to my heart. I love helping kids get healthy, so they can grow up and be whatever they want to be. It’s cool how the Tour gets behind the cause.

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Baffling ’Birds

Nolan Gorman (Courtesy Memphis Redbirds)

Baseball will baffle you. On July 20th at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, the Cardinals took the field for the bottom of the ninth inning with a 6-1 lead over the Chicago Cubs. The visitors won the game with a six-run rally. The very next day, the Cards faced a pitcher (Kyle Hendricks) who owns a career record of 12-3 against them. And St. Louis won (in extra innings).

On a larger scale, the 2021 Memphis Redbirds are playing baffling baseball. On July 9th, after a loss to the Louisville Bats in the first game of a doubleheader, the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate sported a record of 21-36, dead last in Triple-A’s Southeast Division. They won the second game that night in Kentucky and have proceeded to win their next 14 games, establishing a new franchise record for winning streaks and evening their record at 36-36. The Redbirds have passed two teams (Charlotte and Norfolk) in their seven-team division with two more (Gwinnett and Jacksonville) now firmly in their sights. (As of Monday they remain 14 games behind the first-place Durham Bulls.)

Making the record-breaking streak all the more baffling is the fact that the previous standard of 11 straight wins was established by the 2017 Redbirds, a team that won 91 games — the most by a Memphis pro team since 1948 — and the Pacific Coast League championship. The current Redbirds are, for now, still outside any contenders’ circle for postseason hardware.

How, you might ask, did the Redbirds turn things around so dramatically, and for such a sustained stretch of baseball? You’d have to tour the entire clubhouse at AutoZone Park for your answers. No fewer than 10 pitchers have earned wins during the winning streak (Connor Thomas, Connor Jones, and Angel Rondon each posted two and Austin Warner notched three). Eight different hitters have homered during the streak, with Juan Yepez, Conner Capel, and the recently promoted Nolan Gorman each drilling four.  Memphis has won six games by a single run during the streak and six times held their opponent to fewer than two runs. Since the sport was invented, pitching and timely home runs have been contributing factors to lengthy winning streaks. Nothing different here.

And there’s this: The Redbirds have beaten up on a pair of Triple-A baseball’s weak sisters. All 15 wins have come against the Louisville Bats (an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) and Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles), cellar-dwellers in the Midwest and Southeast divisions, respectively. But that’s hardly to diminish the streak. Good teams beat the clubs they should. Few championships have been won losing to bottom-feeders. The Redbirds found themselves blessed with a soft stretch on their schedule and they made the most of it. (Gwinnett visits AutoZone Park this week aiming to end the Redbirds’ streak. The Stripers are one game ahead of Memphis in the standings and have won eight of 12 meetings this season.)

We’ve seen this kind of about-face before, as recently as 2019, Ben Johnson’s first season as Redbirds manager. On July 17, 2019, Memphis found itself near the bottom of the PCL standings with a record of 38-59. The Redbirds proceeded to win 30 of their next 39 games to reach the .500 mark (68-68). They had a chance to win their division but dropped three of their final four games to the Iowa Cubs. The current roster would be wise to listen to Johnson as the “dog days” of August approach. 

Ten series remain for the 2021 Redbirds, five at AutoZone Park and five on the road. How far can a history-making streak be extended? Sixteen games? Twenty? Even when it’s over, fun baseball awaits, perhaps with more history — even of the baffling variety — to be made. How a team plays at the end of a season, after all, has long been more memorable than how it plays at the beginning.

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Birds and Buds

Last Saturday, I took a buddy of 38 years(!) to Busch Stadium for his first visit to the nest of the St. Louis Cardinals. Had the opportunity to introduce a long-distance traveler to several former Memphis Redbirds, in my happy place. Audie Artero didn’t grow up a Cardinals fan as I did (third generation), but he grew up a teammate of mine (basketball and soccer, in addition to baseball). We were small-town partners, and not just in the outfield for Northfield (VT) High School. We tended to travel as a tandem, at least when not on a date or scouting foreign turf (perhaps a party “way up” in Montpelier).

Ours is a cosmic friendship, of a sort, as the odds of the two of us ever crossing paths were astronomical. I was born in Tennessee and found my way to a small hamlet in central Vermont via California (among other family stops). Audie was born in North Carolina and found his way to Northfield via Texas (among other family stops). Our connective thread: Our fathers were hired, a year apart, by Norwich University.

Audie is now a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, and has called Guam home for more than two decades. This makes the days we actually share a room — or baseball stadium — a little more significant than visits across a time zone or two. We tend to make the most of them, and we’ve managed to get together the old-fashioned way every odd year since 2009. (I trail Audie by a few ocean-widths of air travel.)

Qualities in a friend you keep on the other side of the globe? It starts, of course, with our high school experience. We “shared our morning days,” as Oliver Wendell Holmes put it. But I’ll note a couple of Audie’s shining traits. I’ve never witnessed him act cruel, in the slightest, to another person. (Except on a basketball court. He introduced himself in a pickup game and swatted my first shot with malice beyond the reach of most 14-year-olds.) This is a guy who excuses himself when someone takes his place in line. And Audie has virtually no ego, despite an abundance of smarts and talent. (There was no Mutombo finger-wag after that block. He took possession of the ball, and scored.)

Senior year in high school, I entered an essay contest in which we were tasked with writing about three people we admired, past or present. I wrote about Thomas Jefferson, Mohandas Gandhi, and Audie Artero. Took second place. Good friends, it turns out, make for inspired writing and good reading.

Audie and I have each been blessed with happy marriages for more than a quarter century. We’ve each raised a pair of daughters. (Like mine, Audie’s got his mother’s good looks.) Our friendship would make a decent Hallmark movie were it not for a few minor laws broken along the way. (In a small town, you can often answer the blue lights with a sincere apology.) The long distance component — Memphis is 7,500 miles from Guam — would be the tear-jerker, but our story has been packed with so much laughter, audiences would be too exhausted from the happy to waste any energy on the sad.

We followed our night at the ballpark with a Sunday tour of Anheuser-Busch. Audie and I have contributed to the company’s profit margin over the years, so a view of the Budweiser barrels, you might say, was overdue. It was one of those experiences, we often agreed, we’d enjoy someday. No need to write such plans down, or create a list, not even with 7,500 miles part of the equation. It’s funny. When “someday” arrives with a special friend, no matter how long it takes, it feels right on time.

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From My Seat Sports

Penny Saved

Penny Hardaway (Brandon Dill)

Exhale, Memphis.

It appears there will be a Year Four of the Penny Hardaway Era 2.0 at the University of Memphis. After exchanging winks with the NBA’s Orlando Magic last month, the living face of Tiger basketball retains his office at the Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center on Getwell. As a statue of Larry Finch is literally rising outside that facility, Hardaway continues his quest to return a long-proud program to a place where far more than an NIT championship will be celebrated.

How close did Hardaway come to leaving? When an interview is part of the equation, that’s close enough for Tiger fans, boosters, and sponsors. Enough to raise blood pressure, even as the Mid-South summer seems to slow movement of any kind to a lazy crawl. Hardaway had some very special seasons as a player with Orlando — he was twice named first-team All-NBA and helped the Magic to the 1995 Finals — so a fit exists, even if it crosses a couple of basketball generations. Having never coached a game in the NCAA tournament, Hardaway’s credentials for an NBA job — on paper — may seem thin. But he would sell tickets and sponsorships in Florida just as he has here in Memphis.

Some have insisted Tiger basketball would be fine had Hardaway left. It’s an institution, larger than any individual, larger even than The Guy. Finch himself received a pink slip (after 11 seasons as head coach) on the concourse of The Pyramid. Legends expire, particularly in a time where patience is nonexistent, where popularity is today’s Twitter trend, where a game-changing recruiting class spends no more than a season together. Had Hardaway left, well, next man up.

I’m not sure that would be the scenario here in Memphis, not with a premature farewell from Penny Hardaway. Think about how much Hardaway loves University of Memphis basketball, how much he adores his hometown. He could live anywhere in the world he chooses, but has kept a home in the Bluff City. When he was named head coach in 2018, there was a “finally!” feeling at the Laurie-Walton press conference but, more generally, throughout the city. We had Our Guy, and Our Guy had embraced us. If he had left after only three seasons, and with nothing to show but that NIT hardware? Over the course of a lifetime, you’ll have people give up on you, or seek greener pastures. And you move on. But when that perfect match — you know it’s perfect — proclaims things aren’t right? That kind of cut leaves a scar.

So exhale, Memphis. And back to work for Penny Hardaway. Instead of trying to rebuild the Magic (Orlando finished 14th among 15 Eastern Conference teams last season), Hardaway will study his own revamped roster — bye-bye Boogie Ellis and D.J. Jeffries, hello Johnathan and Chandler Lawson — and plot a course toward the Tiger program’s first Big Dance since, gulp, 2014. Instead of chasing the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, and Philadelphis 76ers, Hardaway must close the gap with the University of Houston. (The Cougars reached the 2021 Final Four, remember.) That’s Penny’s challenge, really, in summation. Do for Memphis what Kelvin Sampson has done in east Texas. And frankly, it’s a lower hurdle to leap than the one (the many) he’d face in the NBA.

Penny Hardaway is still Our Guy. As he reaches a life milestone — Hardaway turns 50 on July 18th — the “kid” from Binghampton remains the personification of all that is wonderful about Tiger basketball. Temptations are part of the mix for a man with Hardaway’s profile. But making the right relationship work brings rewards of a rare and distinctive kind. There’s reason to believe University of Memphis basketball is getting closer to such a prize.