A LO-FUN CUP

 

               When I’m asked about the best events I covered in my 20-plus years as an active sports writer, I have a ready answer. It’s a two-way tie, I say. Number 1 was the 1994 soccer World Cup in the United States.  Number 1A was the 1998 edition of that tournament in France.

               The 1994 event was a revelation to me. Before it I had no great background in soccer and was stunned by the athleticism of the participants and the zest and color generated by the polyglot crowds. The Cup was a month-long carnival that far outdid any such fest I’d witnessed, Olympics included. The ’98 event was equally memorable, made especially so by the five-week stay in France it afforded me and wife Susie, who was along for the ride. The food alone would have sufficed to put the trip atop my list.

               It’s World Cup time again, starting this Sunday, November 20, and running through December 18, but I’m afraid it won’t be much of a treat for all concerned. That’s because it’s in Qatar, a tiny, dusty kingdom on the Arabian Gulf with no history in the sport whose award took “sportswashing” to a new high, as a result of an international bribe-o-rama for the ages. That’s saying quite a bit, because the previous record was held by the 2018 World Cup in Russia, although there most of the widely reported graft stayed home among Putin’s pals.

This Cup has been attended by criminal proceedings in the U.S., Switzerland and Brazil, among other lands. Those charged with bribe taking included Sepp Blatter, the longtime top man at FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, and Michel Platini, the No. 2.  Both were acquitted in a Swiss trial but the prosecution is appealing the verdict, and both still are banned from the sport by the organization that nurtured them.  A dozen cases in the U.S. resulted in guilty findings against corporate and soccer officials and some $40 million in fines and forfeitures.

Some criminal trials still pend, including one scheduled for January against two executives of Fox TV charged with bribing soccer officials to grease the network’s successful bid to televise the proceedings in the U.S.  Like a good little partner, Fox has said it will air Cup games without reference to the offenses that surround them. Maybe its own involvement in them had something to do with that, huh?  

A less likely place for the world’s most-inclusive sporting event (some 200 national teams competed at one stage or another) would be hard to find. Oil-rich Qatar is more a company than a country, the property of the Thani family, a hereditary monarchy whose head appoints the prime minister and his cabinet and all members of the judiciary. Of a total population of about three million people only about 300,000 are citizens, the rest being ex-pats and migrant workers. Stoning and flogging are legal punishments; homosexual acts are punishable by death.

When Qatar was awarded the Cup in 2010 it had just one suitable soccer stadium. It’s dotted the desert around Doha, its only city worth the name, with seven more since, their construction accounting for the bulk of the reported $220 billion it’s spending to stage the event. The grunt work on those was performed by workers imported from Asia who labored, and died, under near-slavery conditions until international condemnation forced some reforms a few years ago.

 Tourist accommodations have been slapped together similarly, with cruise ships and a tent city enlisted to help serve the expected influx. Alcohol use is prohibited in most of Qatar but for the nonce the country is creating “fan zones” around stadiums where visitors can indulge. Those who overindulge will be carted off to sober-up zones, there to stay under threat of arrest.  I’m not making this up.

The World Cup usually takes place in June while the world’s top club leagues are on break. It’s too hot for soccer in Qatar in or around that month so FIFA honchos, their pockets stuffed to overflowing, switched the thing to its November start. Among other things that will mean that players will be joining their national teams hot off competitive regimens, with a larger number than usual nursing injuries.  

The good news for us Yanks is that the U.S. team is in the field. It missed the 2018 fest in ignominious fashion after losing a final qualifying match to a team from little Trinidad & Tobago (pop. 1.3 million) when a tie would have sufficed to advance. A thorough shakeup of team management resulted.

The bad news is that U.S. prospects aren’t brilliant. The team goes to Qatar ranked 16^th internationally, but that may be higher than justified. It qualified for the Cup by finishing third in its regional group, behind Mexico and newly potent Canada, was shut out by lower-ranked Japan and Saudi Arabia in its two most-recent practice outings and has been beset by a number of injuries large by any standard. Its best players aren’t among the international elite, and it lacks the standout goaltending of previous U.S. elevens.

 The team opens on Monday, November 21, against Wales, meets England on Friday, November 25, and finishes group play on Tuesday, November 29, against Iran.  Traditional-power England, fifth in the world rankings, is the group favorite, and Wales and Iran rank just behind the U.S. in 19^th and 20^th places, respectively. It probably will take at least a win and a tie in the three matches to advance to the single-elimination round of 16, and that’ll take some doing.

The saving grace may be a team’s youth—it’s the youngest in the field by one recent measure. That means—who knows?-- it could outperform expectations. It also could bode well for 2026, when the U.S. will co-host the Cup with Canada and Mexico. Meantime, most of us can be glad we’ll be watching at home, out of range of Qatari beer patrols. Have another, if you want.

 

              

FALL BALL '22

 

               If you’ve been following this space for a while you know that my favorite time of year in Arizona, my home for 25 years now, is October and November. The weather is warm but, usually, not hot, the skies are deep blue and the snowbirds have yet to arrive in force and clog the roads. Best, it’s when the Arizona Fall League, baseball’s minor-league finishing school, convenes.

               It’s baseball at its purest, without most of the commercial clutter that attends the rest of the professional game. Six teams with 35 players each, mostly between ages 20 and 24 who’ve just completed Class A or AA seasons, are playing a six week, 36-game schedule ending November 12 in six of the wonderful spring-training ballparks in the Phoenix area. Admission is cheap, parking is free and easy and the local news media ignore it so crowds are small and you can sit where you want.

               The Majors use the league in part to test or preview rules changes.  In the preview category this year have been the bigger bases (18-inches square versus the previous 15 inches) that will be used beginning in 2023, enforced pitch clocks (15 seconds with the bases empty, 20 seconds with runners on) and—most notably—a requirement that each pitch begins with two infielders on each side of second base, eliminating the radical shifts that have helped throttle offenses in recent annums.  S’all good, I think.

               A wrinkle that’s being tested is a ball-strike challenge, giving each team three TV-replay looks a game at home-plate umpires’ calls if a pitcher, catcher or batter requests them. Glad to report, it’s been sparingly used here, and when it has the umps’ calls mostly have been upheld. I’d like to see all electronic second-guessing of umps’ decisions junked, but I know that ain’t gonna happen, and one day robots or somesuch will take over all officiating. I’m glad that isn’t here yet.

               The best thing about the Fall League is that it gives fans like me a license to pretend to be scouts, a role I embrace. Through my blogs I’ve tipped off my readers to the likes of Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, Francisco Lindor and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., flaming talents who as youngsters lit up the AZ circuit. Nobody this year has stood out like those guys did, but as usual some good-looking kids have strutted their stuff.

                  The two best I’ve seen are Jordan Lawlar, a shortstop in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ chain, and Zac Veen, an outfielder property of the Colorado Rockies. Both are 20 years old, meaning they probably won’t see the Bigs in earnest for a couple of years, but it might be hard for their hard-up teams to keep them down that long.

               Lawlar, from Texas, was the D’backs’ top pick in the 2021 draft, the sixth player chosen. He’s got a live bat and arm and good speed afoot. In one game I saw he had a single, home run, two walks and two stolen bases. In another he went 3-for-4 with a triple, and had another steal. The D’backs drafted another shortstop, Dansby Swanson, first in 2015, but in a typical dumb move traded him (to Atlanta, where he’s starred) before he reached the Majors. Let’s hope they hang on to this kid.

               Veen, from Florida, was the ninth player picked in the 2020 draft. He’s skinny-strong at 6-foot-4 and a listed 190 pounds. He takes his at-bats seriously, swinging lustily from a coiled stance, and once on base itches to steal. He’s batted around .400 for most of the season here and through four weeks led the league with 13 stolen bases in as many games. He’ll probably fill out as he ages, and slow down, but should do well with the bat in the light air of the Mile High City.

               The biggest celebrities among the players here are catcher Henry Davis and right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker, and while both will see the Majors as a result of their lofty draft status they’ll need more seasoning before they ascend.  Davis, the first pick overall in the 2021 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of the U. of Louisville, has a solid build and latent power at age 23, but hasn’t impressed in the minors, batting .207 at AA last season. He hasn’t distinguished himself here.

 The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Rocker, 22, wowed ‘em at Vanderbilt U., leading the Commodores to an NCAA title, but has been injury-plagued since and missed all but a few games of the just-concluded regular season following shoulder surgery. The third pick overall in the ’22 draft by the Texas Rangers, and awarded a reported $5.2 million signing bonus, he’s been on a strict innings diet here, logging just 10 2/3 in five outings. He went three innings on Monday , showing an effective variety of pitches while giving up no runs and one hit and striking out five, and while patience will be required to allow him to show at his best it’s apparent that his upside is high.

Good catchers always are at a premium and one who can hit is Drew Millas, a seventh-round draftee (2019) from the Washington Nats. Switch-hitting from a widespread stance, he regularly makes strong contact, and has been employed as a DH when he’s not behind the plate. He went 3-for-4 in each of two games I watched, with a homer and 9 runs batted in, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t clue you into him.

 Jordan Walker, 20, a St. Louis Cardinals outfield prospect, looks like a young Jason Heyward at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, but would be advised to run out ground balls. Middle-infielder Ronny Simon , 22, with the Tampa Bay Rays via the Dominican Republic, is a genuine “pocket rocket”  at a listed 5-9 and 150. He hit 22 home runs at A and AA last season, but also strikes out a lot.

Pitchers appear only a few innings every four or five games, and therefore are tough to scout, but even in a few innings it’s been clear that Alek Jacob is my kind of hurler. His fastball tops out in the mid-80s but he mixes it with effective slow stuff and a variety of deliveries that keep batters off balance. At age 24 he’s a bit elderly for the AFL, but his sub-3.00 minor league ERAs, with 17 walks to 106 strikeouts last season, marks him as a keeper for the San Diego Padres despite his 16^th round draft slot.

My team, the Chicago Cubs, sent two touted position players. One is Brennen Davis, a rangy outfielder who missed most of the 2022 regular season with a back injury. He was injured again here and bowed out after five games, not a good sign. First-baseman Matt Mervis is a sleeper, an undrafted player who was a pitcher for much of his college career at Duke U. At a husky 6-4 and 230, he smoked minor-league pitching in rising from Class A to AAA in the regular season, hitting a total of 36 home runs in 137 games. He’s kept it up here, tying for the league lead with five homers in 11 games through week four.

 Minor-league power doesn’t always transfer to the Bigs but, fingers crossed, it could with him. The Cubs could use help at first base, among other places.