“Terry Francona measures his years by waking moments. No anesthesia? No problem..

He just got through a year without surgery. The fact that he wasn’t around baseball for that year doesn’t seem to have gotten through. At his first opportunity, Francona jumped back into the manager’s chair. He is the new boss of the Cincinnati Reds, an organization that needs to wake up.”

“The Mets improved their roster by signing Juan Soto this week, but their upgrades weren’t the biggest.

The Cooperstown Plaques did even better. They picked up two Most Valuable Players. They got faster, more powerful and definitely more flamboyant. They improved their box office and they scared a lot of pitchers. They didn’t lose anything, at least not compared to the players themselves, who won’t ever replace the years they’ve spent waiting.

Dick Allen and Dave Parker were both punished by the Baseball Writers Association of America for behavior. Neither of them came close to the 75 percent of the vote required for induction. That meant they had to slog through the anonymous muck of the Veterans Committee, in which 16 former players, executives and media members meet in chambers. Allen had been through six of those rituals without success. Parker had gone through three. But on Sunday, Parker got 14 votes and Allen 13, and they will be inducted next summer.”