Andy Boyer

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Baseball and presence

Baseball and Presence

June 29, 2025 /

An old lecture from Father Hobbs:

“Baseball is a metaphor for how to practice restraint.You can’t out-hustle the pitcher. You can’t rush the at-bat. You have to wait for the game to come to you. And in that waiting, everything gets quieter.”

Entrepreneurship, marketing, the tech world – they all teach us how to sprint, to go chase the game. But baseball taught me to stop swinging at bad pitches.

Now I use that same mindset to handle distractions, deadlines, and overthinking.

Stay in the box. Watch the ball. Swing when it matters.

Here We Go Again

April 1, 2025 /

Well its that time of year. Opening Day. Yay?

Man, I used to love Baseball Opening Day. So much hope. If this falls right, and that goes our way, and if that guy has a great year, then we can win it!

But, I’m jaded now. When your team has a publicly stated goal of going 87-75 every year and maintaining a profit, it’s hard to get more excited than they do.

But its a fun time to look at stats anyway. It is baseball after all. So lets open up to a couple of pages.

Read more: Here We Go Again

1) Championships by Team (MLB, NFL, NBA, MHL, MLS)

Overall Stats:

Total Franchises with titles: 74 (out of 160)

  • Baseball: 23 (out of 30)
  • Football: 20 (out of 32)
  • Basketball: 20 (out of 30)
  • NHL: 19 (out of 32)
  • MLS: 15 (out of 29)

Teams

11 Titles

  • Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)

7 Titles

  • New York Yankees (MLB)

6 Titles

  • Chicago Bulls (NBA)
  • LA Galaxy (MLS)
  • New England Patriots (NFL)
  • Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL)

5 Titles

  • Boston Celtics (NBA)
  • Edmonton Oilers (NHL)
  • Golden State Warriors (NBA)
  • New York Islanders (NHL)
  • Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
  • San Antonio Spurs (NBA)
  • San Francisco 49ers (NFL)

4 Titles

  • Boston Red Sox (MLB)
  • D.C. United (MLS)
  • Dallas Cowboys (NFL)
  • Kansas City Chiefs (NFL)
  • Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB)
  • Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
  • New York Giants (NFL)
  • San Francisco Giants (MLB)

3 Titles

  • Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
  • Columbus Crew (MLS)
  • Denver Broncos (NFL)
  • Detroit Pistons (NBA)
  • Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
  • Las Vegas Raiders (NFL)
  • Miami Heat (NBA)
  • New Jersey Devils (NHL)
  • Philadelphia Phillies (MLB)
  • St. Louis Cardinals (MLB)
  • Washington Commanders (NFL)

2 Titles

  • Atlanta Braves (MLB)
  • Baltimore Ravens (NFL)
  • Colorado Avalanche (NHL)
  • Florida Panthers (NHL)
  • Houston Astros (MLB)
  • Houston Dynamo FC (MLS)
  • Houston Rockets (NBA)
  • Los Angeles Rams (NFL)
  • Miami Marlins (MLB)
  • Minnesota Twins (MLB)
  • Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA)
  • Philadelphia Eagles (NFL)
  • San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
  • Seattle Sounders FC (MLS)
  • Sporting Kansas City (MLS)
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL)
  • Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)
  • Toronto Blue Jays (MLB)

1 Title

  • Anaheim Angels (MLB)
  • Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
  • Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB)
  • Boston Bruins (NHL)
  • Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
  • Chicago Bears (NFL)
  • Chicago Cubs (MLB)
  • Chicago White Sox (MLB)
  • Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
  • Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
  • Dallas Stars (NHL)
  • Denver Nuggets (NBA)
  • Detroit Tigers (MLB)
  • Kansas City Royals (MLB)
  • Milwaukee Bucks (NBA)
  • New Orleans Saints (NFL)
  • New York Mets (MLB)
  • Philadelphia 76ers (NBA)
  • Portland Trail Blazers (NBA)
  • Seattle Seahawks (NFL)
  • Texas Rangers (MLB)
  • Toronto Raptors (NBA)
  • Washington Nationals (MLB)
  • Washington Wizards (NBA)


2) Championships by City

Los Angeles – 26 Titles
Dodgers (MLB) – 6
Lakers (NBA) – 11
Rams (NFL) – 2
Kings (NHL) – 2
Galaxy (MLS) – 5

Boston – 20 Titles
Red Sox (MLB) – 4
Patriots (NFL) – 6
Celtics (NBA) – 8
Bruins (NHL) – 2
Revolution (MLS) – 0

New York – 15 Titles
Yankees (MLB) – 5
Giants (NFL) – 3
Mets (MLB) – 1
Rangers (NHL) – 1
Islanders (NHL) – 4
Knicks (NBA) – 0
NYCFC (MLS) – 1

Chicago – 13 Titles
Bears (NFL) – 1
Bulls (NBA) – 6
Blackhawks (NHL) – 3
White Sox (MLB) – 1
Cubs (MLB) – 1
Fire (MLS) – 1

San Francisco – 12 Titles
49ers (NFL) – 5
Giants (MLB) – 3
Warriors (NBA) – 4

Pittsburgh – 10 Titles
Steelers (NFL) – 4
Penguins (NHL) – 5
Pirates (MLB) – 1

Detroit – 8 Titles
Pistons (NBA) – 3
Red Wings (NHL) – 4
Tigers (MLB) – 1
Lions (NFL) – 0

Washington, D.C. – 8 Titles
Commanders (NFL) – 3
Capitals (NHL) – 1
Nationals (MLB) – 1
D.C. United (MLS) – 3

Denver – 7 Titles
Broncos (NFL) – 3
Avalanche (NHL) – 3
Nuggets (NBA) – 1
Rockies (MLB) – 0

Dallas – 6 Titles
Cowboys (NFL) – 3
Stars (NHL) – 1
Mavericks (NBA) – 1
FC Dallas (MLS) – 0
Rangers (MLB) – 1

Houston – 6 Titles
Astros (MLB) – 2
Rockets (NBA) – 2
Dynamo (MLS) – 2

Kansas City – 5 Titles
Chiefs (NFL) – 3
Royals (MLB) – 2

Miami – 5 Titles
Heat (NBA) – 3
Marlins (MLB) – 2
Dolphins (NFL) – 0
Inter Miami (MLS) – 0

San Antonio – 5 Titles
Spurs (NBA) – 5

Tampa Bay – 5 Titles
Buccaneers (NFL) – 2
Lightning (NHL) – 3

Philadelphia – 4 Titles
Eagles (NFL) – 1
Phillies (MLB) – 2
76ers (NBA) – 1
Flyers (NHL) – 0
Union (MLS) – 0

Seattle – 4 Titles
Seahawks (NFL) – 1
Sounders (MLS) – 2
Supersonics (NBA) – 1

St. Louis – 4 Titles
Cardinals (MLB) – 2
Blues (NHL) – 1
Rams (NFL) – 1

Toronto – 4 Titles
Blue Jays (MLB) – 2
Raptors (NBA) – 1
Toronto FC (MLS) – 1

Atlanta – 3 Titles
Braves (MLB) – 2
United (MLS) – 1

Baltimore – 3 Titles
Ravens (NFL) – 2
Orioles (MLB) – 1

Columbus – 3 Titles
Crew (MLS) – 3

Milwaukee – 2 Titles
Bucks (NBA) – 2

Minneapolis – 2 Titles
Twins (MLB) – 2

Portland – 2 Titles
Timbers (MLS) – 2

Cincinnati – 1 Title
Reds (MLB) – 1

Cleveland – 1 Title
Cavaliers (NBA) – 1

Las Vegas – 1 Title
Golden Knights (NHL) – 1

New Orleans – 1 Title
Saints (NFL) – 1

Oklahoma City – 1 Title
Thunder (NBA) – 1

Phoenix – 1 Title
Diamondbacks (MLB) – 1

Salt Lake City – 1 Title
Real Salt Lake (MLS) – 1

A Radical Idea for the MLB All-Star Game

July 10, 2021 /

All-Star Games are notoriously boring from a competitive level. In football, there’s no real tackling or hitting. In basketball, no one plays defense. And in baseball, you have the oddity of having the least known players pitching and batting in the most important innings of the game while the stars sit in the dugout (if they haven’t already headed to the airport.)

But that’s fine, because the purpose of these games is that they are EXHIBITIONS that are designed to show off the players’ skills, not games that matter. So if we are willing to consider the Major League Baseball All-Star game a true exhibition, here’s a radical idea to make it more interesting.

In a nutshell: Don’t have a lineup.

Now what does that mean?

  1. Each manager will have their roster of 23 field players. In this proposal, we would keep the tradition that the 9 starters are the players the fans chose, and let them have the grand introduction in the beginning. But after those first 9 batters and one inning in the field, anything goes (almost).
  2. The purpose of this proposal is to set up the highest number of the most interesting matchups between pitcher and hitter. So once the 1st 9 guys have batted, Managers get to look down their bench and send up anyone they want.
  3. We would set some limitations, such as: (a) No batter would hit twice in the same inning. (b) No batter can have a 3rd at bat until every field player on the team has batted once.
  4. Defensively, anything goes. Let’s put together really fun defensive alignments for an inning, such as old teammates playing together, the oldest group possible, the youngest group possible, players from all the 1st place teams, all the 1st timers, everyone with a gold glove, or whatever other combination you can think of.
  5. You could also make it interactive, by allowing fans to use the MLB mobile app to choose the next hitters one inning.
  6. Basically, the idea is to have the most interesting combinations of pitchers, batters and fielders for 9 innings, and make it the most fun for the fans to watch.

So all the stuffy old dudes will read this and say, “No I like it how it is.” And that’s fine. But this seems like an easy way to add some fun to the game.

A Proposal: The May 32nd NFL Trade Day

May 27, 2021 /

WARNING: Crazy dumb sports idea ahead. Hit the back button if that’s not your thing.

We all love NFL football. At least the stats and ratings say so.

But here we are in late May with no football to talk about. The draft is over. Training camp is still 2 months away. It’s a content desert. Well, I have a dumb idea to fix that.

On the NFL calendar, let’s change June 1 into May 32. And on that day we will have the Annual NFL 32 Team Trade. A made-for-TV, one-hour event. Here’s how it works:

  • On May 31, every team submits 3 names into the Trade Pot. These players must be under contract and not Draft Pick or Undrafted Free Agent from that year’s draft.
  • The draft begins on May 32 (June 1). The last-place team from the season before gets the first choice of the players in the pot.
  • Whichever team has their player chosen pulls the rest of their players off the board and gets the next pick.
  • And so on until every team has lost one player and gained one player. A true 32 team trade.

Yes, I know it doesn’t work. But this is my reminder to everyone to keep thinking creatively. Keep coming up with dumb ideas. You never know where a dumb idea might lead.

Happy NFL 2020!

September 10, 2020 /

This is why I don’t bet on sports.

If someone had been willing to wager me on whether the NFL would kick off the season on time, I’d have felt very comfortable taking the side that there would be a significant delay.

In fact, I predicted that the day the NFL has to suspend the season is the day the stock market will finally tank from its summer of love.

But here we are – the season begins on time, and the market still kind of tanked. Go figure.

But remember one thing for this unique 2020 NFL season – Even though we can’t go to games, watch at bars with friends, or talk Seahawks at the office, no matter how bad you feel like you need to talk about it, your spouse/partner still DOES NOT want to hear about your Fantasy team.

R.I.P. Lute

August 29, 2020 /

It’s crazy to think how a person you never met could have a huge influence on your life.

It’s spring of 1988 and I’m a high school sophomore. It’s just about that time for me to begin thinking of where I might want to apply to college.

I knew I really didn’t want to go to UW (ironic since I ended up teaching there later), and WSU seemed really really really cold. Since I had grown up in New Orleans, schools in the south seemed like a reasonable option.

Somehow I got tickets to the NCAA Sweet 16 weekend in the Kingdome. My friends and I went to the games, and this school I had never really heard of was clearly the class of the group. Steve Kerr was lighting up threes. Sean Elliott was doing whatever he felt like doing. And leading the whole charge was this older gentleman with white hair named Lute Olson.

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I don’t know what it was about that Arizona basketball team that made me look into the school as an option. Why would a New Orleans kid living in the Pacific Northwest want to move to the desert? But something took Arizona from obscurity to a front runner, and it all started with that basketball team. And years and years later, the friends I made there are people I still talk to almost daily.

So RIP Lute Olson. You personally had nothing to do with my life decisions, yet somehow the success of your team got me interested in the school I ended up attending and resulted in me meeting people I ended up having lifelong relationships with. Thank you.

Can Legalized Sports Gambling Save Baseball

May 15, 2018 /

On one hand, you could say baseball is thriving.  Revenues are over Gross revenues are $10 billion, National TV ratings are up, and many teams have lucrative local or regional TV deals that help pay the bills and then some. Plus, every time an NBA or NFL team gets sold for a new record, each team sees its valuation go up as well.

But then there’s that pesky issue of attendance and fan interest. From Forbes, “The 2017 regular season saw a total of 72,670,423 in paid attendance across the league. This was the first time since 2010 that attendance dipped below the 73 million mark, which was surprising.”

People will argue why attendance is down, but most ideas fall around a central theme. The games are too long for today’s environment, often too boring, and the reliance on stats and analysis to make the smartest decisions possible takes the fun and unpredictability out of the game. Heck, even former players think the game is boring now. Jim Kaat says they should only play seven innings.

I made a comment earlier this week that I thought baseball was at its “Kodak Moment.” By that I meant, there was a time in the 1990’s when Kodak was making heaps of cash with a near monopoly on film and film development. Digital cameras kind of existed, but Kodak didn’t want to believe that people would prefer digital over film, so they just to keep looking at their stacks of cash, half-heartedly built some bad digital cameras, and ignored the direction the market was going. It’s easy to forget that in the mid-90’s, Eastman Kodak was a $90 stock. Today it’s barely above $5.00.

Compare that to Major League Baseball today. Heaps of cash, a storied history and a plethora of purists who want to make sure the game never changes. And the new entrants to their market are eSports and a growth in soccer, where people can get in and out of a match in a guaranteed 105 minutes. The market is shifting, and 10 years from now, you might be able to make an argument that the 2017 World Series may have been baseball’s apex.

But a savior has arrived, and its name is Legalized Gambling.

Today betting on a baseball game is dumb. Choose odds on a game or a point spread and hope for the best. It’s unpredictable at best, a monkey throwing darts at worst. Plus, why watch the game? All you need to do is check the score in the morning.

But the 2020 version of Legalized Sports Betting is intriguing. Be in the park or on your couch. Open your mobile phone app. Bet a tiny micro amount on each inning or each at bat. 2.5 to 1 he gets a hit. 2 to 1 they score a run. 10 to 1 there’s a home run in the inning. 1 to 1 there’s a strikeout. You could make 50-100 bets at $.25 to $2.00 per bet and the game would be awesome every pitch. And realistically, you’re probably only going to win or lose $10 to $20 per game unless you are exceedingly good or bad. A small price to pay for three hours of entertainment.

Baseball needs to get behind this. Having people actively involved on a batter by batter basis is akin to Fantasy Football players watching the 4th quarter of a 34-7 blowout to see if their receiver can pick up 60 cheap yards in garbage time. It would be great for the game, and engage a whole new set of fans who need instantaneous entertainment on their mobile devices. This generation of fans wouldn’t even need to watch the whole game – they could log in for an hour, play 20-30 bets, and then move on with their day.

Baseball need to embrace this.  Don’t listen to the people who want to make fancier film. Go where the market wants to go.

 

 

9 Reasons the Mariners Will Make the Playoffs

March 31, 2018 /

It’s Opening Day! Yay Baseball! Is this the year the Mariners break their playoff drought? Here are 9 reasons why we shouldn’t be worried. We’re playoff bound.

1. James Paxton
You say he’s a guy who’s never been able to stay healthy, I say that with all those days on the DL, he has a 29 year old brain with a 26 year old’s arm. He could have 140 games started under his belt, but instead he’s just at 75. His stuff makes grown men cry and he’s ready for a huge year. Let’s write him in at 19-6.

2. Felix Hernandez
He’s spent the last 10 years playing with (and for) a bunch of chumps. It’s human nature – why work your hardest when the rest of your co-workers are drunk by lunch? Now he finally has a team around him that actually inspires – no, forces – him to be good. Big comeback year. Maybe not 2014 good, but let’s mark him for 17-8.

3. Mike Leake
He’s going to be a great #3 starter. Just wind him up, go watch a movie for 2 hours and come grab him in the 7th. If he can pitch to his career 3.98 ERA with THIS lineup, he’ll be 16-9.

4. The other pitchers, minus Edwin Diaz
At this point, the Big 3 have the team at 52-23, 29 games over .500. The rest of the crew with Iwakuma, Ramirez, Gonzales and whoever else we can bring up should be able to grind out at least 22-28. That gets the starters to 74-51 for their 125 decisions. Assuming the bullpen can go about .500 (say 18-19) in their 37 decisions, that gets the team to 92-70. That’s Wild Card worthy. Probably.

5. Edwin Diaz
So why do I think the bullpen can go .500? Because Edwin Diaz is almost un-hittable in the 9th inning, so they won’t have to play Reliever Roulette out there. Guys will settle into their roles and while they may struggle at times, most of the time they’ll have about 3 to 4 arms to get the team through the 7th and 8th. Diaz will blow a couple, but for the most part he’ll make sure the rest of the guys don’t have to work outside of their comfort zone.

6. Mitch Haniger
Remember the beginning of 2017, before he got hurt? He came out strong. He can bat 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th. He’s an All-Star. And he was the guy no one had ever heard of in the Segura for Walker and Marte trade.

7. Dee Gordon
In his last 3 healthy years, he’s hit .289, .333 and .308 with 64, 58 and 60 stolen bases. Now put him in front of Jean Segura and Robinson Cano. He’s going to drive pitchers batty.

8. Jean Segura
.319 and .300 in his last 2 seasons for bad teams. Now he hits with a stolen base threat (Gordon) on 1st and Robinson Cano on deck. The guy may not see a curveball all year. Just swing away Senor.

9. Robinson Cano
Maybe by the end of the year he’ll be down at the #6 hole because Haniger is batting .340. But you can still count on him this year for .280 and 20 HR. Either way, he’s still one of the best 2B in baseball.

Conclusion:
This team is going to hit the ball. They have 3 starters who can throw the ball, a closer who will give batters nightmares, and a cadre of supporting arms that won’t kill them. Keep it simple, stay healthy, and have a few other guys hit near the stats on their baseball card (Cruz, Seager, Zunino, Gamel), and it’s a 92 win team. Not enough to win the West, but enough to earn a one game wildcard playoff game with James Paxton on the hill. From there, who knows what happens?

NCAA: Don’t Pay the Players – But Let the Players Get Paid

March 1, 2018 /

Full disclosure, I love Arizona Basketball. In fact, I think I actually ended up at Arizona because I went to the 1988 Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games at the Kingdome, and Steve Kerr became my favorite college basketball player.

And now the Arizona basketball program is in – shall we say – some turmoil. So I’d be remiss if I didn’t say SOMETHING. But since I know NOTHING, what can I really say?

Except this.

Any NCAA athlete should be allowed to profit from their likeness.

We don’t need schools to pay athletes. We should just allow people who want to pay athletes out of their own pockets to pay them. If that means the guy who runs Tuscaloosa Ford and Chevy wants to give an 18 year old kid $250,000 to be a spokesperson, who cares? If John L Scott in Seattle decides a good use of funds is paying $80k to a UW QB to be their official face of Instagram, why not?

What does it hurt to let 18-22 year olds get paid for the notoriety that 90% of them will never have again?

You could argue that we can’t let high school kids be corrupted by agents who want to take advantage of them. But that is a solvable problem. There are ways to create a licensing program where only people who properly qualify – and stay qualified – can gain access and negotiate on the behalf of a minor. It would actually lend legitimacy to an already existing corrupt system.

Now should the NCAA be paying the players? Thats a thornier question that begets a ton of problems. But in the meantime, let’s just let players get paid by people who want to pay them.

What I Learned – Scott Servais on the 2018 Baseball Season

January 24, 2018 /

My baseball season officially kicked off Tuesday night. I was able to join about 50 other fans as Art Thiel of SportsPressNW interviewed Mariners skipper Scott Servais.

So what did I learn/infer from listening to Scott’s answers to 45 minutes of questions from Art, and 45 more from the audience?

  1. Kyle Seager is on the trade block – One of two things will be true on July 31. Seager will have gotten off to a hot start, leading the Mariners to a respectable record and as the trading deadline approaches, The Mariners will be in a position to make a run. Or…… Seager will have gotten off to his customary slow start, and as the only real trade chip the team has, he’ll be dealt for prospects.
  2. This is the last year of the Cruz, Cano, Felix window – It was made clear that witht he amount of money tied up in the Big 3, there was no way to rip the team down to the studs, a la Houston and Chicago. But this is the last year of Cruz’ deal, and if Felix wants to be regarded in the same breath as Glavine, Maddux, Pedro, etc… he needs to pitch another 6-8 years. If 2018 goes poorly, I suspect you’d see Cruz dealt at the deadline and Felix redo his contract to be part of an overhaul so he can get another 150 career starts.
  3. You’re going to see a lot of Zunino, Segura, Haniger, and Paxton in the Mariners marketing materials –If you’re gong to trade any of the Big 4, you need some new guys to make bobbleheads for. The Mariners seem ready to phase out some of the old guard and put their promotional arms behind some new guys. I suppose this is meant to lessen the blow when our favorite guys disappear.
  4. “Performance” is going to mean something different – With the hiring of Dr. Lorena Martin as Director of High Performance, the Manager is going to have a few lineup decisions “strongly suggested” to him. Players will be evaluated constantly on aspects such as fatigue, conditioning, strength, mentality, etc… So while a 5 for 5 day may have previously earned you a week in the starting lineup, if you tired yourself out running all those bases, it may be highly suggested that you be given the day off.
  5. The Mariners decided not to look for new pitching, and are going to try to simply outscore teams – To their credit, they realized there weren’t going to be a lot of great pitching options to pick up this off-season. So as I wrote about last year, they built their 2018 starting rotation under the guise of competing for a 2017 playoff spot. They have accumulated average to above average throwers who they expect can give them 150+ innings. If those guys can get them through the 5th and only give up 3 runs, they will hand the ball off to the bullpen in hopes it gives up just 1-2 more runs. Meanwhile, they’ll try to bang out 5-6 runs a game on offense. Do that enough times and you make it to the playoffs. Now the downside is that if you try to do that in the playoffs, you’ll lose each game 8-3. But the team isn’t shooting for a World Series. It just needs to make the playoffs.

So those were my takeaways. I’m sure other people heard different things. But pay attention to the interviews Servais is doing all week on sports radio. Were his comments Tuesday off the cuff, or do they fall into some pattern of talking points?

 

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