Happy Wednesday,
Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson here. This week's questions will be answered below. Thanks, and please don't be shy about sending in any questions or comments you want to see tackled. Have a great rest of your week!Â
Got a question? Email me here (bfrederickson@post-dispatch.com) or find me on X (formerly known as Twitter) at and hashtag your question with #BF5.
Rest in peace, Bill Walton.
People who got the chance to know, encounter or even just interview the basketball great one time can tell you how, on top of being incredible at basketball and broadcasting, he had a magical way of making anyone he encountered feel special.
People are also reading…
I got to experience it during his last trip to ºüÀêÊÓƵ, before he thrilled his audience at the college basketball writers' awards dinner.
Walton mastered something many with his kind of accomplishments fail to do. He never got bitter or jaded about the modern state of the game he loved. He often sounded ³¾´Ç°ù±ðÌýexcited about modern basketball than the version he dominated before injuries ended his career too soon.
“I love young people trying to build their lives and create their dreams,†he told me when I asked about that. “Use basketball to make a better life for themselves, their families, and to make the world a better place. Today’s players are just remarkable. The skill level. The physical fitness and all of the advantages they have. We had the best that was available. Things have changed.â€
We should all try to be a little more like Walton. We would be happier. The world would be a better place. And more people would listen to the Grateful Dead. All good things.
I'm typing this before Andre Pallante starts against the Reds on Wednesday. I wish him well. That said, this feels rushed. He was not sent down to Class-AAA Memphis to retool as a starter with this sudden of a return in mind. Ideally, he would have had some more time in the minors. Instead he's thrown into the fire as a starter following just three starts for Memphis. The front office can fix this fifth-starter problem. Wrote about that here.
Good riddance, Angel Hernandez. Sorry, there will be no fond farewells here. Good umpires, and there are a lot of them, were dragged down by the look-at-me Hernandez, who finally retired. Not soon enough.
Has anyone checked on old friend Jack Flaherty? He's got a 3.84 ERA and has more quality starts (8) for the Tigers than any Cardinals pitcher. Flaherty's 81 strikeouts rank seventh in baseball. I'm not saying the Cardinals should have kept Jack. It was time for both sides to make a change. But once again, another team is getting more out of a former Cardinal than the Cardinals did very often. Part of it, I'm convinced, is pressure. It's real here. More than most realize. The Tigers are 26-27 and no one cares.
I love that Negro League stats have been added to MLB records. Anything that gets people talking about baseball greats who are too often overlooked is a good thing. If you are a baseball fan who has not been to the museum in Kansas City, I strongly encourage you to take a trip this summer. You will learn a lot and have a great time.
Now to your questions . . .Â
Got a question or comment for me? Let me know and I'll answer it here.
This week's spotlight goes to ... Richard, via email . . .Â
Q: Why isn't pitch framing considered cheating or unsportsmanlike conduct? It's an obvious attempt to deceive an umpire to get balls called strikes. We don't celebrate flopping in basketball and soccer.
µþ±ð²Ô¹ó°ù±ð»å:ÌýI played catcher (poorly) growing up, so I have a fondness for it. There's a real art to knowing the strike zone and growing it little by little throughout a game, knowing which umpires have different zones, etc. To me it's part of the human element that remains. It will probably be stamped out eventually by automated zones and robot umpires, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts. And while we don't celebrate the flopping in other sports, it doesn't stop athletes from trying to draw fouls both ways. If there's an advantage to be gained, go get it. I feel the same way about teams being sloppy with their signs and teams picking up on them -- as long as there's not foul play technology involved. Sorry, Astros.