* According to Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, it’s not likely that MLB players will participate in the Summer Olympics even if the IOC reinstates the sport for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Basically, MLB doesn’t like interrupting its schedule–in the middle of summer.
Maybe another point is this: Baseball, not unlike basketball, soccer or tennis, doesn’t belong in the Olympics. The Olympics should represent the ultimate in a sport, which it does for, say, gymnastics, wrestling, swimming and track and field. But the Olympics are not remotely close in stature to the World Series, the NBA Championship, the Davis Cup and the World Cup.
* “What is going on in here? It kind of caught me off guard, but it was super fun.” Those were the words of Kris Bryant, the Chicago Cubs’ highly touted rookie, when he realized the Cubs’ clubhouse had been turned into a post-game, disco-themed victory celebration. No, Joe Maddon hasn’t changed.
* Tropicana Field has been called a lot of things, almost none of them complimentary, but now add “House of Horrors.” But, no, it’s not your basic pejorative. It actually refers to how frequently the Toronto Blue Jays lose to the Rays at the Trop. That HOH reference was part of a Toronto Globe and Mail headline on Monday.
* In last week’s three-game series with the Boston Red Sox, the Rays drew a total of 40,874 fans. That’s less than 14,000 per game against what used to be a rare, good draw here. Apparently even the local Red Sox fans are staying away in droves.
* The latest University of Florida basketball player to leave early for the NBA is sophomore forward Chris Walker. Used to be that those declaring early were college stars. This season Walker averaged 4.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
There was a time when numbers like that would keep a player on the college bench–not prompt him to jump to the next level.
* Bad move, Skipper’s Smokehouse. The North Tampa restaurant, which is co-owned by FSU alum Tom White, announced a crab-leg promotion if the Bucs draft, as expected, controversial FSU quarterback Jameis Winston. Recall that Winston, who was accused of rape, also made headlines when he walked out of a Tallahassee Publix last year with crab legs he hadn’t paid for. He recently said it was a misunderstanding and that he had been “hooked up” with crab legs for free.
Winston can spin this any way he wants because he is a talented, entitled pro football commodity. The Bucs have to weigh his character and quarterbacking. As for Skipper’s, does it need free publicity this badly?