Sunday, August 26, 2012

Lounge on YouTube: Mini-Episode #173 – Mel Gray


By Rick Morris
As we referenced previously, our pals at Sportsology are hooking us up for live segments that we’re doing with guests and remote FDH Lounge Dignitaries these days.  We’re happy to report that we’ve been able to produce many segments on our own, but we’re thrilled for the help on some of these with guests and the thanks all go to our great friend Russ Cohen.
Mini-Episode #173 features a discussion with legendary NFL return man Mel Gray.

Aluminum bat verdict sends a big message


By Steve Kallas (posted by Rick Morris)

Many of you are familiar with the sad story of Steven Domalewski who, on June 6, 2006 (at the age of 12), was hit in the chest with a ball hit off an aluminum bat.  The resulting commotio cordis condition caused brain damage to the point where Domalewski has had a very limited ability to function and essentially needs care 24/7 (for a more thorough history of the case, see Kallas Remarks, 5/25/08 and 8/2/10).

Earlier this week, in a settlement of a lawsuit against defendants Little League Baseball and Louisville Slugger in Superior Court, Passaic County, New Jersey, it was announced that the Domalewski family will receive $14.5 million dollars from the two defendants (no word on what the split between defendants is; that part of the settlement is, apparently, not public information).

Rick Wolff, on his excellent WFAN radio show, “The Sports Edge,” will discuss this case and its ramifications this Sunday morning at 8:05.

WHY THE SETTLEMENT?

Well, you can imagine that, in any case where you have a sympathetic plaintiff (in this case, a child who simply went out to pitch in a youth baseball game at the age of 12 and had his life significantly changed (for the worse) forever), defendants aren’t anxious to go before a jury.

But there was some very good lawyering done by New Jersey attorney Ernest Fronzuto on behalf of the Domalewski family.  Domalewski was not hurt in a Little League game, but Little League was named as a defendant because they, essentially, claim that these aluminum bats are safe to use.  As we have seen over the years, there are certainly times when they are not.  Plus, the sizeable amount of the settlement ($14.5 million) shows that this was not a case where a few hundred thousand was paid as a “nuisance” value.

Louisville Slugger (official name Hillerich & Bradsby) has made these bats for years and has paid a few judgments over the years after jury trials for damage done to young pitchers and, in one case (Brandon Patch), for the death of a young pitcher.

While the money, obviously, will not give Steven Domalewski his life back as he knew it, it will help to offset the millions in medical bills that he is facing now and in the future.

WHAT IS THE BIGGER MESSAGE?

It is submitted that there is a much bigger message than the settlement of a case where a boy is brain-damaged for life as a result of being hit with a ball hit off an aluminum bat.  For some inexplicable reason, Little League has affirmatively decided NOT to change the power of the aluminum bats used in the Little League Majors Division (9-13 year olds; what you are seeing right now on the ever-present Little League World Series on ESPN) and below.  Little League has, to some degree, introduced BBCOR bats (that is, bats that are weaker in power than the previous aluminum bats that were used) into Junior League Baseball (the age level above LL Majors) and has made BBCOR bats mandatory for the older Senior League and Big League divisions.

But, in a world where kids are growing bigger and bigger (and are stronger and stronger), it defies logic that BBCOR bats would not be mandatory at the 13 and below level, especially given the fact that the pitching rubber remains only 46 feet from home plate (the shortest pitching distance there is) in the Little League Majors Division and below.

Given the fact that Steven Domalewski was 12 when this happened to him, here’s hoping that Little League will (sooner, rather than later) announce that BBCOR bats are mandatory in all Little League divisions with no exceptions.

At some point, there will be a new standard of care in this country where the old “weapons,” as described by many, will simply be viewed as too dangerous to allow our kids to be on a baseball field when those types of bats are being used.  As you probably know, these more powerful bats have been banned by the NCAA in college baseball (in 2011) and by the National High School Federation in high school baseball across the country (in 2012).

Having said that, in the Little League lower divisions and in many other youth sport baseball leagues and various summer travel tournaments throughout the country, it’s still the rule that these powerful, non-BBCOR bats are legal. 

The settlement announced in New Jersey this past week should help move along a complete change to weaker (or “truer,” as described by noted baseball pitcher and announcer Ron Darling, since they are closer to wooden bats) BBCOR bats.  Hopefully, someday, we will simply have a return to only wooden bats.

Then, baseball will again be played the way it was meant to be by children of all ages.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Lounge on YouTube: Mini-Episode #172 – 2012 fantasy football mock draft


By Rick Morris
Here is the 172nd mini-episode of THE FDH LOUNGE with THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER.  In this one, we review our 9th annual FDH fantasy football mock draft, serialized from our FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2012 guide.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Lounge on YouTube: Mini-Episode #171 – Bobby Kimball


By Rick Morris
As we referenced previously, our pals at Sportsology are hooking us up for live segments that we’re doing with guests and remote FDH Lounge Dignitaries these days.  We’re happy to report that we’ve been able to produce many segments on our own, but we’re thrilled for the help on some of these with guests and the thanks all go to our great friend Russ Cohen.
Mini-Episode #171 features a discussion with longtime Toto lead singer, solo artist and great storyteller Bobby Kimball.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

History Intrigue for August


By Rick Morris
Welcome to our second version of this new feature in The FDH Lounge, entitled History Intrigue.  We’re going to be flagging interesting-looking tidbits of a historical level.  While part of this is just going to come from general web surfing, many links each time are courtesy of Real Clear History, who does a great job aggregating for this topic just like all the others in the Real Clear brand.
We always work to be class acts in our own aggregation, so we’ll always give a mention of the site involved in the link.

August FDH Lounge News Nuggets


By Rick Morris
We’re adapting a segment that we have used on our show repeatedly in order to try to highlight some of the more intriguing news headlines going today.  We have also posted links here for geopolitical headlines in the past and we’ll work this into this theme.  Much like The FDH Lounge itself, we’ll try to keep it broad-based as far as what is catching our eye.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

MLB power rankings for mid-August


By Rick Morris

NOTE: Start of August rankings are in parentheses.

TOP TIER
1 Washington (1)
2 Cincinnati (2)
3 NY Yankees (3)
4 Texas (4)
5 Atlanta (6)
6 Tampa Bay (14)
7 LA Dodgers (7)
8 Pittsburgh (5)
9 San Francisco (12)
10 Baltimore (15)
11 St. Louis (11)
12 Chicago White Sox (8)
13 Oakland (9)
14 Detroit (13)
15 LA Angels (10)
SECOND TIER
16 Boston (17)
17 Arizona (18)
18 Toronto (16)
19 NY Mets (19)
20 San Diego (26)
21 Philadelphia (23)
22 Miami (22)
23 Seattle (21)
24 Milwaukee (24)
25 Cleveland (20)
THIRD TIER
26 Minnesota (25)
27 Kansas City (28)
FOURTH TIER
28 Chicago Cubs (27)
FIFTH TIER
29 Colorado (29)
SIXTH TIER
30 Houston (30)

BIGGEST RISERS: Tampa Bay (8 spots), San Diego (6 spots), Baltimore (5 spots), San Francisco (3 spots)
BIGGEST FALLERS: Cleveland and LA Angels (5 spots), Chicago White Sox and Oakland (4 spots), Pittsburgh (3 spots)
RANKINGS BY DIVISION – AVERAGE PER TEAM OF 1 POINT PER RANKING SPOT, LOWEST SCORE IS BEST
1 AL EAST 10.6
2 NL EAST 13.6
3 AL WEST 13.75
4 NL WEST 16.2
5 NL CENTRAL 17.17
6 AL CENTRAL 20.8
RANKINGS PER LEAGUE
1 AL 45.15
2 NL 46.97

Lounge on YouTube: SummerSlam History Part 3C


By Rick Morris
Here is Mini-Episode #170 of THE FDH LOUNGE, Part 3C of our History of SummerSlam anthology with FDH Lounge Dignitary Kyle Ross.  This installment covers SummerSlam 2002.

Lounge on YouTube: SummerSlam History Part 3B


By Rick Morris
Here is Mini-Episode #169 of THE FDH LOUNGE, Part 3B of our History of SummerSlam anthology with FDH Lounge Dignitary Kyle Ross.  This installment covers SummerSlam 2000-01.

Lounge on YouTube: SummerSlam History Part 3A


By Rick Morris
Here is Mini-Episode #168 of THE FDH LOUNGE, Part 3A of our History of SummerSlam anthology with FDH Lounge Dignitary Kyle Ross.  This installment covers SummerSlam 1998-99.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

The FDH NYC Sessions


By Rick Morris
For the first time ever, The FDH Lounge took its show outside of our Greater Cleveland base of operations.  Our Senior Producer, The FDH New York Bureau Steve Cirvello, lined up a series of conversations for the program during a swing through NYC.
Befitting the show where “nothing is off-topic,” we hit a wide variety of topics in Mini-Episodes #162-167, as you can see from the descriptions below.  We thank all of the participants in these sessions and those who helped make the logistics possible.  Together, these Mini-Episodes form an unforgettable chapter in the history of The FDH Lounge.

Lounge on YouTube: 2012 TV midyear roundtable


By Rick Morris
Here is Mini-Episode #167 of THE FDH LOUNGE, an examination of the 2012 TV landscape at midyear with three of our favorite media-oriented FDH Lounge Dignitaries: Adam Buckman, Simon Applebaum and Lloyd Carroll.

Lounge on YouTube: John Basedow


By Rick Morris
Here is Mini-Episode #166 of THE FDH LOUNGE, a conversation with fitness expert and New Media Stew star John Basedow.

Lounge on YouTube: Alex Cone


By Rick Morris
Here is Mini-Episode #165 of THE FDH LOUNGE, a conversation with technology expert and CodeFab CEO Alex Cone.

Lounge on YouTube: Matt Pinfield


By Rick Morris
Here is Mini-Episode #164 of THE FDH LOUNGE, a conversation with legendary MTV/MTV2 personality and music expert Matt Pinfield.  Many thanks also to him for hosting this segment at his Times Square MTV2 office.

Lounge on YouTube: Jason Saltzman


By Rick Morris
Here is Mini-Episode #163 of THE FDH LOUNGE, a conversation with Alley NYC executive Jason Saltzman about the New York tech scene and his company’s role in it.  Many thanks also to him for hosting this segment at his facility, as well as others conducted during our recent New York swing.

Lounge on YouTube: Ellis Henican


By Rick Morris
Here is Mini-Episode #162 of THE FDH LOUNGE, a conversation with author, voiceover artist and Fox News & Newsday contributor Ellis Henican.  Many thanks also to him for hosting this segment in his home in New York City.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Lounge on YouTube: Mini-Episode #161 – 2012 fantasy football top rookies/breakthroughs


By Rick Morris
Here is the 161st mini-episode of THE FDH LOUNGE with THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER.  In this one, we take a look at the top rookies and breakthroughs of fantasy football 2012, serialized from our FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2012 guide.
 

Lounge on YouTube: SummerSlam History Part 2B


By Rick Morris
Here is Mini-Episode #160 of THE FDH LOUNGE, Part 2B of our History of SummerSlam anthology with FDH Lounge Dignitary Kyle Ross.  This installment covers SummerSlam 1996-97.

Lounge on YouTube: SummerSlam History Part 2A


By Rick Morris
Here is Mini-Episode #159 of THE FDH LOUNGE, Part 2A of our History of SummerSlam anthology with FDH Lounge Dignitary Kyle Ross.  This installment covers SummerSlam 1993-95.




Thursday, August 2, 2012

2012 MLB Top 25-Man Roster


By Rick Morris

We just posted our annual FDH Top 30 rankings for MLB (averaging one player per team).  This year, we are adding our ideal 25-man roster.

We’re taking the players from that list and others who just barely missed making the cut but who are needed to fill out all of the positions needed.

Player rankings from the Top 30 are listed in parentheses.  Those who weren’t in the Top 30 are represented with (NOT).

STARTING LINEUP
SS Troy Tulowitzki (15)
DH Carlos Gonzalez (8)
OF Ryan Braun (6)
OF Josh Hamilton (1)
OF Matt Kemp (2)
1B Joey Votto (4)
3B Miguel Cabrera (11)
C Buster Posey (NOT)
2B Robinson Cano (27)
SP Justin Verlander (3)

BENCH PLAYERS
C Carlos Ruiz (NOT)
1B Albert Pujols (14)
2B Ian Kinsler (NOT)
SS Ian Desmond (SS)
3B Adrian Beltre (20)
OF Andrew McCutchen (10)

PITCHERS
Clayton Kershaw (5)
Jered Weaver (7)
Matt Cain (9)
Stephen Strasburg (12)
Craig Kimbrel (13)
Chris Sale (16)
Johnny Cueto (17)
RA Dickey (19)
Cole Hamels (22)

Here are the players who were in the Top 30 who did not make this list:
Carlos Beltran (20)
Cliff Lee (23)
Gio Gonzalez (24)
Jose Bautista (25)
Paul Konerko (26)
Roy Halladay (28)
Adrian Gonzalez (29)
Mike Trout (30)

The FDH Lounge July 2012 Mega-Episode


By Rick Morris



Having packaged together our fifth anniversary mini-episodes as one coherent whole, as we did previously with our mini-episodes leading up to our 500th hour of programming this past November, we’re now organizing all of our mini-episodes per month into one big mega-episode.

This installment covers July, with Mini-Episodes 146-158.  Fittingly, for the show where “nothing is off-topic,” we’ve got a mind-blowing array: conversations with longtime Journey bass player Ross Valory, star actor Dan Lauria and Pro Football Hall of Fame President/CEO George Veras, Parts 1A, 1B and 1C of our Kyle Ross History of SummerSlam anthology, our 2012 NBA Draft recap, an MLB midseason review, our Breaking Bad Season 5 preview and our 150th Mini-Episode Spectacular – culling our Top 15 guest moments from the Mini-Episode era of the program.