THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Manzardo getting comfortable, and senseless fighting

In the last week or so, Kyle Manzardo has started to look an awful like, well, Kyle Manzardo on the baseball diamond.

Driving the ball, going the other way when necessary, playing with a smile on his face, helping his team win games.

While his numbers are still modest, the former Lake City High and Washington State standout is playing his part in the success of the Cleveland Guardians, who entered the weekend with the second-best record (33-17) in the American League, and the third-best mark in all of baseball.

“It's been fun, It’s really really cool,” Manzardo told the Cleveland media the other night. “It’s a really fortunate situation, I'm just trying to contribute to the team’s success any way I can on any given night.”

Heading into this weekend’s series at the Los Angeles Angels, Manzardo is batting .211 (8 for 38), with five doubles and three runs batted in since being called up to Cleveland from the Triple-A Columbus Clippers on May 6.

But a closer look reveals that he has 4 hits in his last 11 at bats — all doubles — and has raised his average from .130 to .211 in the last week or so.

And of his 11 total strikeouts, five came in his first two major league games — only six Ks since.

The lefty swinging Manzardo attributes his recent success to getting more into a rhythm, and getting more comfortable at the plate.

“The last week or so, everything’s started to slow down a little bit more for me,” Manzardo said. “It’s so difficult not to speed up when you come up, like I did, and the team’s having a lot of success. It’s super easy to have unrealistic expectations for yourself. I’ve taken a step back, and focused on getting back to being myself, I guess.”

How so?

“Just trusting my work in the cage and BP is going to carry over,” he said. “And then in the game, taking deep breaths, super simple things, just taking deep breaths and kind of admiring where you’re at in that present moment; just trying to take advantage of whatever opportunity you get.”

MANZARDO’S STARTS have been as the designated hitter. A few times he has come up to pinch hit, then stayed in the game, either at DH or at first base.

When he lined an RBI double off the center-field wall in Cleveland in a game against the New York Mets on Monday, Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said it was “by far the best swing he’s taken since he’s been up here.”

“For Kyle, it’s going to take him a little while to get settled in, but to see him drive one, and see him hit outfield grass, drive a run in on a barrel, it can really propel him into something special,” Vogt continued. “When you’re trying to get started up here, you can start pressing, and start going down deep, dark rabbit holes, and talk yourself into things that aren’t true. And I don’t know if that’s what Kyle’s doing, but that’s what a lot of players do when they get to the big leagues. For him it’s like, ‘You’re here to help us win ball games. That’s why you’re here. We believe in that. And we believe in you to do that. So for him, it’s ‘Take each bat one at a time. Just take your best at bat.’ So he’s definitely getting a little more settled in. 

“I JUST tune into auto racing to watch the fights,” said no one ever.

Does anybody really enjoy when fights break out in sports?

OK, I get that some fans go to hockey games in hopes of seeing a fight. I went to a hockey game once in Spokane, and saw a fight — in the crowd.

As it turned out, the fight involved some folks I knew from Priest River.

Spartan power! Spartan pride!

If I want to see a good donnybrook in hockey, I'll just plug in "Slap Shot."

The NBA eventually outlawed fighting, after watching some of its stars miss pieces of the season after fighting — though it was fun to watch someone get fed up with Bill Laimbeer and haul off and blast the former “Bad Boy” from the Pistons.

In any event, do we really need to see Bubba and Billy Bob get into a scuffle over a fender bender during a NASCAR race?

Even worse, do we need to see Dad get involved?

Now, one of the drivers is threatening to wreck the other during today’s NASCAR race, if that’s something that would get you to tune in.

Given that these are professional drivers, this could turn out to be as simple as a “subtle” wreck — but what if it evolves into a full-blown road-rage incident, at speeds of up to 200 mph?

If they really wanted to settle their differences without fists, or one or both of them heading to their rig for a shotgun, here’s an idea:

Take them to the racetrack, put one car on the final turn, ready to head down the homestretch. Take the other car to Turn 1, facing back toward the start/finish line.

Let’s see Bubba and Billy Bob in a game of chicken, at speeds of up to 200 mph.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.