Among the for-better-or-worse elements of the internet is that anyone can become a syndicated columnist, and in my case, for not even a penny more in pay. But thats OK as I no longer feel alone in my laments that big league, big-ticket baseball has been sensele sly denuded of fundamental winning skills as theyre no longer taught or demanded. Not a day pa ses without reading the woeful tales of MLB games from devotees throughout the continent and beyond of games risked or lost to the inability or unwillingne s to do the least in service to winning. Other than replying that The Game is suffering from a sustained epidemic of illogically diminished standards, Ive nothing better. Here, where there are two teams, were able to double our wonder as to why multimillionaire players and their managers do whatever it takes to lose games and disable pitchers. The Guardians Josh Naylor, right, scores a run after avoiding a tag by New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells in the 10th inning on April 14. AP Still cant get over Yanks-Guardians, Sunday, won, 8-7, by Cleveland in 10. Josh Naylor scored the tying run on a bobbled infield grounder to Gleyber Torres but its not as if Naylor didnt try to be tagged out by a throw caught chest-high by the catcher. While the sweep tag was mi sed, it was a close play only because Naylor didnt perform the obvious fundamental. He didnt slide home beneath the tag. He made an easy run the tying run in the 10th, for crying out loud into a close play. Astonishing! Or, at least, such used to be. More From Phil Mushnick On YES, where the fundamental sight of whether the on-deck batter signaled the runner from third to slide or remain upright did not appear, John Flaherty, former MLB catcher, simply said, Im a little surprised Naylor didnt slide. A little surprised? A week later, it remains flabbergasting! Its highest rung profe sional baseball! Naylor, at $6.5 million per, isnt paid enough to slide? The Mets, last week, swept the Pirates, mostly thanks to the Pirates. In the second of three games, a 3-1 final, the Bucs should have led, 1-0, but lazy, presumptive baserunning interceded to end the half-inning before that run scored. The Bucs starter, Jared Jones, was untouchable, allowing one hit and striking out seven before he was removed after the fifth, having thrown just 59 pitches. The Mets SNY booth of Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez immediately concluded that no one could have been more pleased to see Jones yanked than the Mets. Pirates stud young pitcher Jared Jones. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports But Jones was on an arm-saving pitch count. Or was he? Was the idea to save his arm or have him throw as hard as he could for five innings knowing hed be done after five? It appeared to be the latter Jesperi Kotkaniemi Jersey . How many big-price-tag pitchers are now lost for months, the season or forever because they knew they had no chance to throw beyond the fifth or sixth, as per new-age, find-a-way-to-lose preordained strategies, so they tried to throw 100 mph on every pitch? Regardle s, Tuesday the Mets didnt beat the Pirates, the Pirates beat the Pirates another common modern result, April through October. Early last week the , among the best starters in the majors, for the rest of the season. To his ulnar ligament in his right elbow surgeons attached an internal brace. He had twice pitched this season, neither time for more than five innings, striking out a total of 12. Hes 25 and in 2022 signed a seven-year deal worth up to $92 million. Did a five-inning limit hurt him? It certainly didnt help. Spencer Strider Getty Images The Braves No. 1 starter will now be lefty Max Fried, a sensational whip-bodied pitcher and strikeout specialist until last season when, at 29, he was placed on the 60-day injured list with a strained left arm. The Dodgers last week placed 25-year-old right-handed starter and first-round draft pick Bobby Miller on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. In just 11 / innings this season, hed struck out 18. The crafty pitcher is trending extinct. Heck, ESPN now applies speed guns to Little League pitchers. Every MLB team now does it the same: five, six innings at the most from starters, leave the rest to a transient phalanx of half-inning-only relievers even if they were signed as starters. Winning fundamentals from bunting to base running abandoned. Its parity based on foolish fad. The survivor the top of the flesh heap wins it all. Prime no saint to worship If you claimed to be in direct touch with God as often as Deion Sanders, youd be institutionalized except in New York. Wonder if God told Sanders to rip off all those kids, teachers and vendors who were abandoned after the notorious collapse of his scandal-scarred charter school he modestly named Prime Prep Academy. Perhaps CBSs hard-hitting 60 Minutes can bring that up during its third installment of Ki sing Coach Primes Fanny. Deion Sanders Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports Simply no end to the highly paid TV and radio sports baloney grinders, those who rely on their bo ses ignorance for sustained employment. As can be seen and heard on @Backafttathis (on X), FS1s self-promoting, rotten-gue swork artist and fact-fabricator Colin Cowherd claimed, I covered [future Villanova coach] Jay Wright when he was an a sistant coach at UNLV, and I knew hed be great, but he just wasnt ready at the time. Fascinating! Especially because Wright was at UNLV from 1992-94 while Cowherds bio reads that he was in Tampa in 1993 and 1994, thus he couldnt have had much time to recognize Wrights rising greatne s at UNLV. Unle s, of course, Cowherd, as usual, was full of it. NBA gimmicks have diminishing returns Seems everything attached to the NBA this season, from its early in-season tournament to its play-in playoffs, is predicated on some gimmick to fuel TV value, almost as if gambling on NBA players and games still isnt enough. Howd you like to be a CBS News-Tokyo employee, recently laid off in order to cut costs while CBS pays Tony Romo $180 million to call half-a-years NFL games? Tony Romo Getty Images Ive tried, but I just dont get it. Two of the most ubiquitous commercial comedy acts on TV have been Kevin Hart, who will sell anything, and that winged creature in the Buffalo Wild Wings ads. While both are designed to be funny, theres a nothing funny about redundantly loud and annoying. Harvey Greene, a Gotham sports media go-to-guy until he bolted to Miami to become PR bo s for the Dolphins, has been chosen for the Pro Football Hall of Fames 2024 Award of Excellence. Hes one of those throw-back types everyone knows him, everyone leans on him. How was world championship tennis played for over 100 years before players began to fist-pump after points? Natural enthusiasm or TV taught? Rod Laver lacked demonstrable drive? Well, it has reached this point: If Shohei Ohtani had nothing to do with it, why didnt he? He allowed his pal to pull $16 million from his pot yet he and his surprise, again! newly revealed wife had no idea? Joakim Ryan Jersey