Good morning!
There are two kinds of hate, real hate and sports hate. The former is unhealthy and destructive, but the latter merely blows off steam. In the 1970s, Red Sox fans hated Earl Weaver and his Baltimore Orioles. 

The Red Sox were frontrunners those years, racing out to a big leads and wilting in the summer heat like a cheap claimer at the Hamp Fair.

When the Orioles came to town in August each year the Boston press would gather around him and he’d tell them, “We will gain a game a week, and pass you by Labor Day.” He was right of course, and everyone knew it. The O’s won over 100 games five times between 1969-80, and over 90 games five other times.

Weaver was blessed to have four 20-game winners on his staff, Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson and Dave McNally, whom Jim Bouton mockingly referred to in Ball Four as “Dave McLucky.”

I not only hated the Orioles, I was bitter that they were able to cruise past Boston in the standings. One night during yet another O’s romp I was near the O’s dugout watching Cal Ripken Sr. in the third base coaches’ box casually clapping his hands — so damn cocky, I thought.

Once when Wayne Bedell and I were en route to a game he said, “I’m trying to think of something to yell at Weaver.”

Wayne lived in Boylston which I remember because his uncle owned a standardbred named Boylston Belle. He was like any other Red Sox fan, passionate and frustrated. I’d read that Weaver had been a loan officer for a real estate agency in the offseason. “Tell him to take a loan out on his team,” I said.

When we got to the park, Wayne went behind the backstop and waited for Weaver to come out of the dugout with the lineup card. On his way back he was smiling. “What’d he say?” I asked.

“Nothing,” said Wayne. “He gave me the peace sign.”

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India is hosting the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and the final will be in Ahmedabad at 120,000-seat Narendra Modi Stadium. The countries competing include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan, England, Afghanistan and five-time champion Australia. 

The game is hard to understand but from what I can tell, the pitcher tries to toss the ball past the hitter who’s holding a big mallet. The fielders’ roles appear to be insignificant, but if a player swings and misses and the ball hits the blue post behind him, it’s a big deal.

It reminds me of Andy Griffith’s famous routine, What It Was Was Football. Griffith plays a hayseed from farm country who stumbles upon his first football game. He stops and watches and concludes it’s a bunch of men running around a cow pasture “with a funny little pumpkin and trying not to step in something.”

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Carlos Rodon’s last start on Sept. 29 underscored the Yankees’ miserable season. Pitching against the mighty Kansas City Royals who’d lost 105 games, Rodon faced eight batters and was unable to record an out. The scorecard read, single-walk-double-homerun-single-single-single-walk. Rodon was lifted for Matt Bowman, who went double-single-sacrifice fly-single-ground out-strike out. “If that’s not the worst first inning ever for the Yankees, it’s gotta be in the conversation,” said TV broadcaster Michael Kay, who didn’t mention Rodon’s $162 million contract.

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The UMass hockey team begins the long season tonight when it hosts AIC at the Mullins Center. Promotions coordinator Jeff Smith said giveaways will include magnet schedules and rally towels together with post-game ice skating and between-period Zamboni rides but still no bobbleheads.

How well UMass fares on the ice depends on 18-year-old goaltender Michael Hrabal, who was the 38th overall pick in this year’s NHL draft. This will be a defensive-oriented team, and in the words of UMass coach Greg Carvel: “There’s an old joke, they shouldn’t call it hockey, they should call it goaltending.”

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The UMass football team is a 19 1/2-point underdog today at home against the Toledo Rockets. Their only win in eight games against Toledo was on Sept. 11, 1976, when the Minutemen prevailed 28-14 under coach Dick MacPherson and co-captains Brian McNally and John Toner.

UMass needs to shore up the secondary. It was beaten in the final minute by a 50-yard touchdown pass against Eastern Michigan three weeks ago and has regularly given up the deep ball.

The Minutemen haven’t been able to overcome losing cornerback Josh Wallace who transferred to Michigan and has six tackles and no interceptions in five games for the Wolverines.

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WWLP was the first media outlet to report that Virginia Tech freshman quarterback Pop Watson was suspended by coach Brent Pry for an unspecified violation of team rules. Watson was named the 2022 Gatorade Player of the Year at Springfield Central and had his pick of FBS teams. “I made a poor decision and for that the game I love has been taken away,” Watson said on — what else? — social media.

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PTI’s Michael Wilbon correctly observed that the baseball world did not appreciate Miguel Cabrera’s greatness: “Not only was he the most underrated player of all time, he’s so smart and funny. He wasn’t interviewed enough. Why didn’t we interview him enough? That’s our loss, not his.”

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The Arizona Diamondbacks left East Longmeadow High School’s Nick Ahmed at the proverbial bus stop. Ahmed was released on Sept. 9 after 10 years on the roster. The teary-eyed Ahmed stood near his locker and said, “Ten years and ripping the bandaid off in 10 minutes. They needed a better hitter against left-handed pitching.”

The Diamondbacks called up shortstop Jordan Lawlar who had four hits in 31 at-bats (.129) and wasn’t in the lineup for either of the two playoff wins against the Brewers.

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Shortly after the gates opened at Citizens Bank Park, Phillies owner John Middleton opened a batting practice bag filled with dozens of baseballs and threw them to the fans. “John is Amherst College Class of ’77,” writes reader Jim Still. “He sold his family’s seventh generation private label cigar business for $2.9 billion about 10 years ago.”

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SQUIBBERS: The AIC hockey team hosts defending national champion Quinnipiac at the MassMutual Center on Friday and tickets are $10. UMass hosts Michigan which lost to Quinnipiac in the Frozen Four semifinals and tickets are $40. …  Royals righthander Jordan Lyles went 6-6 after his 0-11 start and led the majors with three complete games. …     The Powertown’s George F. Bush will be celebrating his 97th birthday Sunday accompanied by Pinky Bernard at the Patriots game against New Orleans at Gillette Stadium. Bush has been a Patriots season ticket holder for 52 years. … Montague’s Brock Hines will be broadcasting the first of a dozen Merrimack women’s hockey games on Friday when the Warriors host Northeastern, the six-time Hockey East tournament champions. … Seven teams drew over 40,000 fans for their regular season finale, topped by the Cardinals which drew 44,614 at Busch Stadium despite their disappointing season. … Today’s UMass football opponent Toledo made news in 2005 when running back Quinton Broussard admitted to taking a $500 bribe to intentionally fumble during Toledo’s 45-13 win against UTEP in the 2005 GMAC Bowl. … Army is favored by three points against BC today. The problem with BC is they make the players go to class. … In the wacky world of baseball, Josh Donaldson went from batting under .200 for the Yankees to being the Brewers’ starting third baseman in the playoffs. … Colorado coach Deion Sanders is becoming the John Calipari of college football. “He can get a new football team every year,” said NFL beat writer Peter King. Lookalikes: Congressman Matt Gaetz and Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning colum nist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com