SNY's The Warm-Up: Today, tomorrow, for the next nine years

Also: Cole vs. deGrom, who ya got? Get Today’s New York Sports Here Tweet of the Day --------------------------------------------------------------- Happy Thursday! 👋 and welcome to The Warm-Up. Here's to hoping there was a sign-holding baseball prodigy at the 2019 ALCS... Today's viewing guide... - Nets at Spurs, 8:30 p.m. 🏀 - Islanders at Bruins, 7 p.m. 🏒 Today's word count: 609 words (about five minutes) --------------------------------------------------------------- The New York Minute - Cashman, Steinbrenner explain why Gerrit Cole [was a must-have](. - Adam Gase, [on Pro Bowler]( Jamal Adams: "He's played as well as anyone I've been around consistently -- week in, week out. You never see a dip." - Anthony Davis, [on the Knicks:]( "I feel like playing for an organization like that, especially New York, it'd be something that I was always interested in." - [Here's what we know]( about the Mets' offer to Dellin Betances. - David Blatt has [joined the Knicks]( as a basketball operations consultant. - [A look]( at who might replace Dave Gettleman, should he be fired. But here's why [he shouldn't]( be, according to SNY's Ralph Vacchiano. --------------------------------------------------------------- 1. He kept the sign! Clean-shaven and nostalgic, Gerrit Cole was introduced yesterday at Yankee Stadium a week after agreeing to a nine-year, $324 million contract. Cole and Aaron Boone both spoke candidly about their mutual respect and excitement, but what stole the show was the now-famous fan sign that Cole, as an 11-year-old, brought to Game 6 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona. Why is the lettering in [the original photo]( purple, while the one from yesterday is gold, you ask? Have you never heard of oxidation? Have you always been this pessimistic? On SNY.tv: [Five takeaways from Gerrit Cole's news conference]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Who's the best pitcher in New York? Now that Cole has clipped the beard and flashed the sign, an interesting question beckons: - Who will be the better pitcher in 2020, Cole or Jacob deGrom? We'll have to wait and see, but comparing each of their 2019 seasons is an exercise in demonstrating how fun this season could be, and how close this debate might get: bWAR - DeGrom: 7.3 (4th overall) - Cole: 6.9 (5th overall) ERA - DeGrom: 2.43 (2nd) - Cole: 2.50 (3rd) ERA+ (Adjusted ERA based on pitcher's ballpark and league.) - Cole: 185 (1st) - DeGrom: 167 (5th) WHIP - Cole: .895 (2nd) - DeGrom: .971 (4th) Strikeouts - Cole: 326 (1st) - DeGrom: 255 (4th) Strikeouts per nine innings - Cole: 13.8 (1st) - DeGrom: 11.25 (8th) FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching, according to Baseball Reference, measures a pitcher's effectiveness at preventing home runs, walks and hit batters and causing strikeouts.) - Cole: 2.64 (2nd) - DeGrom: 2.67 (3rd) --------------------------------------------------------------- DAILY TRIVIA In the 1970s, one Mets pitcher won two Cy Young awards while two Yankees pitchers won one Cy Young award each. Name the three of them. 3. Tom Coughlin's firing, explained On Wednesday, Tom Coughlin -- two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Giants -- was fired from his job as Jacksonville’s executive vice president of football operations. Coughlin, who coached the Giants from 2004 to 2015, had been in his role with the Jaguars since 2017. Why now? The NFLPA won [two grievances]( this week filed against the Jaguars, one to do with Leonard Fournette and the other to do with Dante Fowler, who was fined $700,000 for missing a voluntary medical treatment in 2018, which the team tried to pass off as mandatory. (Fowler [tweeted]( a passionate response to getting his money back). This has been a trend, says the NFLPA According to the NFLPA, 25 percent of its filed grievances in the last two years have come against the Jaguars, a heavily disproportionate number considering the 31 other teams in the league. Included in [a statement]( from the NFLPA: - “You as players may want to consider this when you have a chance to select your next club.” --------------------------------------------------------------- 4. 12/19/1986: The parachute man faces the music On this day 33 years ago, Michael Sergio, the man who parachuted into Shea Stadium during Game 6 of the 1986 World Series with a flag that said "GO METS," received his sentence. Truth be told, he got off pretty easy: 100 hours of community service and a $500 fine, though the real damage came later, when he was sentenced to six months in prison for not giving up the name of the pilot who flew him over Shea. [To this day]( Sergio, now in his late-60s, hasn't outed the pilot. [The whole clip]( is worth watching, if only for the announcer's call: - "Well, he took the expression, why don't you drop by, literally and figuratively!" --------------------------------------------------------------- TRIVIA ANSWER For the Mets, Tom Seaver won in '73 and '75. For the Yankees, Sparky Lyle won in '77 and Ron Guidry won in '78. --------------------------------------------------------------- That's the buzzer, folks. Enjoy your Thursday! [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( This email was sent by: SportsNet New York (SNY) 150 Greenwich st 50th floor New York, NY 10007 US [Unsubscribe](