Constantly we change in our life. Our routine, our job, our diet, etc,etc.  Change constantly takes place in sports too. Sometime, you have to TAKE THE JUMP INTO THE CHANGE!

….the MLB has NEVER had a DH win MVP award. Maybe this year, the MLB will JUMP INTO CHANGE?   The actual description reads, on the first ballot in 1931, the BBWAA stats “Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.” Sooo…. to this point a Designated Hitter” has never been considered for the MVP award. However, the BBWAA’s instructions, however, make clear that pitchers and designated hitters are eligible. They also state, “There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means.”

…Soooo this year,  Shohei Ohtani’s work as a DH due to injury makes him the first real candidate for the MVP that doesn’t play offense & defense. At this moment, in the NL, Ohtani is #1 in Wins Above Replacement; #5 in Batting Average; #4 on On-Base %; #1 in Slugging%; #1 in OPS (on base + slugging); #1 in Runs Scored; #3 in HITS; #1 in Total Bases; Tied for #5 in Triples; #1 in Home Runs; #2 in RBI’s; #2 in Stolen Bases. If these stats don’t earn him the MVP for the NL, what will? JUMP INTO CHANGE make Ohtani the NL MVP for 2024. Btw… Ohtani, is recovering from major elbow surgery, hence no pitching for him this year

….maybe some of you missed it…it was over in a blink…actually, it was over in under 10 seconds! The 100m dash, always one of the highlights of the Olympics, was unbelievable! The United Stats sprinter, Noah Lyles, won gold in a dramatic photo finish, beating Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by just 0.005 seconds. ( That’s 5/ 1000 of a second!!) All eight runners finished the race in under 10 seconds, which had never happened before in legal wind conditions. JUMPING INTO CHANGE to use advanced timing machines, the Olympic committee made a very wise choice.  Can you imagine going back home as the last place finisher with a time under 10 seconds? WOW!

….I don’t get it!  NCAA Football teams clamor for high pre-season rankings, yet they MUST JUMP INTO CHANGE and demonstrate their high skill level. When the season begins they open up, many teams look for the easiest cupcakes that they can find and they do it for 2,3 or 4 weeks. Yet…with only that 1 or 2 or 3 wins over vastly overmatched teams, team A still holds onto their ranking. Why?  Please vote on performance .. not expectations…not their recruiting year, not the Coaches name, etc. Sooo—vote only on their performance AND the quality of the opponent.… How does Mizzou get away with playing a Div 2 school in their opening game?? There are 134 division 1 football teams and Mizzou plays a D-2 school (now called FCS schools so as to “make them” sounder better. Mizzou slaughtered Murray State! Was it a true indication that Mizzou is a Top 10 team by spanking a D-II team?

…Other Top 10 teams (Mizzou’s goal) played quality 1st games.  For example, Georgia #1 booked Clemson(last year was 9-4, 6-1 in conference). In 2023 Georgia was #4, Clemson #20 at the end of the season. Other top games: LSU vs So Cal; ND vs Texas; Miami v Florida; Boston Col vs Florida St; Penn St vs W. Virginia; Georgia Tech vs Florida State. Soooo….Mizzou could have found a quality opponent if they had wanted to do so.

… I wish the voters would JUMP INTO CHANGE in their voting. Instead of  voting on the “expectations & pre-conceived ideas about the team, recruiting classes & the coaches name”. I would like them to vote strictly on what each school has actually done on the field. With a lopsided win over a D-2 school, I would never vote for that team in the top 20 of the D-1 division. Stop voting on expectations! It wasn’t always that way. Check out the 1964 MU schedule,—  https://mutigers.com/sports/football/schedule/1964 

….The NCAA-Football World has really JUMPED INTO CHANGES, the shake-up of conferences is really incredible. The Pac-12  no longer exists!! Only 4 teams didn’t transfer out of the conference—Arizona, Arizona St, Utah & Colorado remain. That once strong west-coast conference has disappeared! Meanwhile, other conferences have stretched their boundaries. The SEC takes in two of the most prestigious college football “names” in Oklahoma & Texas!  The Big 10 adds 4 “big names” in UCLA, USC, Washington, and Oregon. The Big 12’s newest members are Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. The Big 12 had been more of a Midwestern conference previously. These new additions add a much stronger Western flavor to the mix. The ACC conference will now go from coast to coast as they add Cal, SMU, and Stanford for the 2024–2025 season. The ACC now has 17 schools. To no one’s surprise….this is all about money.  Which conference can get the best “TV” package seems to be the primary impetus is moving to the new conference.

…..Instantly, we (or maybe just me) think of the changes in Football & Basketball schedules. But, think of all the other sports. It appears that a school will send its baseball, softball, tennis, golf, lacrosse, cross-country, track and field, rowing, swimming and diving teams across the entire USA to play sports games. Outside of just a couple (football, M-W Basketball), the interest and the “gate” in the games is very, very limited. The transportation cost will continue to elevate with these cross-country trips over the USA.

…. The NCAA MUST JUMP INTO CHANGE  & reinstitute some restrictions on transfers. Maybe consider the following criteria—-1)  no graduate students may participate 2) A player may not play more than 4 years total in their career 3) a student must have completed successfully a minimum of 15 hours the previous semester to compete the following semester (transfer or non-transfer) 4) a player may only play for a Maximum of 2 different schools in their career.  5) maybe, the biggest issue is the involvement by Graduates in financial incentives to the player if the transfers.  The Greed of booster clubs, graduates, players, their agents and simply individuals is making Major College sports a quagmire with the multiple transfers of schools. The greed of these agents, some players, and boosters has elevated to the point that the mountain of trust that once existed from the rest of society is getting chipped …maybe… chopped, away each year.

….I realize that the Cardinals are using this month of September to evaluate personnel for 2025. Realizing that the Cards MUST JUMP INTO CHANGE,  I’m puzzled by the handling of Shawn Armstrong. The Cards traded  a former #1 draft pick, Dylan Carlson, for Armstrong. Not a HOF’er, nonetheless, Armstrong performed well in his brief stint with St. Louis–11 games while permitting 4 earned runs with 12 strikeouts over his 12 2/3 innings. Now, he’s released by the Cardinals. Nothing in return. While Carlson never lived up to the high draft selection, he had to have SOME value. Why give him away for a pitcher who throws 12 innings for us and is then he’s “thrown away” for nothing? Maybe, the Cards just didn’t want to cut Carlson themselves due to fan reaction. Carlson’s  5 year career numbers are Anemic. They are: .238 average, 353 hits, 385 strikeouts. He was a 1^st round pick, the #33 overall in the 2016 draft.

….Carlson’s transaction demonstrates that the Cards MUST JUMP INTO CHANGE in “hitting” good draft choices, especially in the 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd rounds. Since 2010, the 1^st round picks for the Cardinals were: 2010-Zack Cox, Seth Blair, Tyrell Jenkins; 2011-Kolton Wong! 2012-Michael Wacha, James Ramsey, Stephen Piscotty ; Patrick Wisdom, Steve Bean 2013-Rob Kaminsky; 2014-Luke Weaver  2015-Jake Woodford; 2016-Dakota Hudson; 2017-none  2018-Nolan Gorman 2019-Zack Thompson; 2020-Jordan Walker; 2021-Micahel McGreevy; 2022-Cooper Hjerpe; 2023-Chase Davis 2024-JJ Wetherholt. There’s way TOO many names that I’ve ever hear with their #1 draft choice. The highlighted players are the ones that I remember making the MLB for the Cards.  But, I don’t’ think any of these #1’s have played in an All-Star game—ugh!!!

…Things are so bad, Tommy Pham is JUMPING INTO A CHANGE . He’s is asking to leave after a stay of 3 weeks or so. He wants to get on a contender that needs a Right handed bat to pinch hit or start vs lefties. Good Luck Tommy!

…Comparing the Cardinals to the rest of the MLB by using the  total WAR (wins above replacement) of all of the MLB teams in their 1st round picks through the last 10 years. The Cardinals are 10^th in the MLB with a TOTAL WAR of 25.4 Houston is #1 with a WAR of 59.5. At #2 is San Diego-47.8; #3 Phillies—40.1; #4Cubs 39.2; #5 Dodgers 36.5

…Well, I’m JUMPING INTO A CHANGE as I head for the Exit Door. As always, Thanks so much for taking your time to read the Buzz. Please respond to any part of the Buzz. Either by email rjryansr@charter.net or on my Facebook page-Bob Ryan (right underneath this week’s article). If you enjoy it, please pass the word.  Bob