Dan PearsonJd’s Weekly Musings
By  J. Daniel Pearson
For Positively Osceola


ESPN’s Jeff Passan made an absolute brilliant observation on the state of baseball the other day. He said if you replaced the top 1200 baseball players in Major League Baseball with the next 1200 best players, there would be a significant decline in the product’s quality. He then said you could replace the 30 MLB owners with just about any 30 random successful business people and you would not notice any change at all…

It took about three weeks but I am starting to be convinced that the Orlando Magic’s seemingly tenth rebuild in the last 15 years is starting to work. Orlando hit on both their first round draft picks last year in rookies Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner, as two are combining for 28 points per game. When healthy Markelle Fultz is a terrific player and second year player Cole Anthony is leading the team in both scoring and assists. Even Mo Bamba, who many were considering a bust 18 months ago, is giving the Magic 10 points and eight rebounds a game. Orlando has hit home runs on their last three first round draft picks and if you toss Terrence Ross out of the equation (he’s 31 and will most likely be playing elsewhere next year), the average age of Orlando’s top eight players is 23. With another year of experience under their belts, another high draft pick this summer (Orlando currently has the 2nd worst record in the league) and hopefully if defensive whiz Jonathan Isaac can get and stay healthy, I believe Orlando is back in the playoffs as early as next year…

After doing some yard work yesterday I have come to one conclusion. If anyone throws me out of an airplane and tells me you can take one thing with you but it can’t be a parachute, I am going to ask for a 100-ft. extension cord or a garden hose. Based on my experiences, I am pretty sure one of those things would get tangled up on something on the way down…

In last 30 years, the Tampa Bay Lightning (2020-21) has joined the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016-17 and 1991-92) and Detroit Red Wings (1997-98) as the only teams to win back-to-back Stanley Cups. If the Bolts win this year, they will be the first team in almost 40 years (joining the NY Islanders who won four straight from 1980-83) to win three consecutive league championships. Should that happen, I beginning to think the word dynasty would not be inappropriate…

Not sure which side proposed it, but baseball may be getting the universal designated hitter and are also considering banning the defensive shift. Definitely in favor of the DH change. Replacing a competent major league hitter with a guy who bats .111 is going to make the game better. Old fogies can spare me “it takes strategy out of the game” argument. Seriously, when was the last time you heard one of those guys standing around the water cooler saying, “How thrilling was that double switch Joe Girardi pulled off in the seventh inning last night?” But more importantly, it brings all of major league baseball under one set of rules. It has always been ridiculous to me that one half the league played with one set of rules and the other played by a different set. It is sort of like the NBA telling the Eastern Conference they can have six players on offense, but the Western Conference can only use five. I have definite mixed feeling about the shift. Since the beginning of time, defenses have shifted to the left or to the right against certain hitters. Former MLB second baseman Hal Lanier, who played in the 1960s, tells me it was not uncommon for him to move to 10 feet back in the grass when a slow, left-handed, dead pull hitter came to the plate. Still, the idea of having four or five outfielders or having only one player on the left side of the infield has changed the game. And while the argument can be made that hitters don’t know or are unwilling to make adjustments at the plate holds some validity, it is sort frustrating to see what should be clean single in the hole between first and second snatched up by a short stop playing shallow right field and throwing the guy out a first. If it is adopted, it will be interesting to see what they actually allow in terms of defensive alignments…

I know the wind and hard greens played a major factor in the relatively high scores at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week (something that cannot be controlled) but so did hard pin placements and brutally punishing rough (something that can be controlled). It’s a personal preference thing but the Tour can limit those type setups to the once a year (US Open) as far as I am concerned. I much rather watch a tournament where guys can shoot a 64 or 65 on the final day and come from behind to win or watch the leaders drop birdies on top of each other dueling down the stretch than watch what I saw in the final two hours at Bay Hill where the best players in the world have were having a hard time advancing the ball 50 yards out of the rough and had little chance to birdie the last two holes to force a playoff. It’s just my opinion, but although five of six players where within a shot of the lead yesterday, I found the telecast more excruciating than compelling.

Y’all Have A Good Week.

By:  J. Daniel Pearson
For Positively Osceola


Dan PearsonJ. Daniel Pearson, a long-time resident of Osceola County, has joined Positively Osceola as a freelance contributor. His JD’s Monday Morning Musings column is a regular feature and he will be covering events for us throughout the year. Dan is a former Public Relations Specialist for Florida State University, Boardwalk and Baseball, the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, the Orlando Predators, and other professional sports teams and has been a freelance reporter to many newspapers in the state.