Author: AspiDimitrov

by AspiDimitrov

HAWKS IMPRESSIVE IN FIRST SPRING TRAINING GAME

The Herts Hawks ended the 2007 season with a disappointing 7-12 record, but after this first spring training game it already looks like they will be taking the scalps of many Division 1 teams this season.  Their opponents were the Cityslick Sidewinders who last year played in the Premier League which is one division above the Hawks in the British Baseball League pyramid.  The Hawks won convincingly 12-3.

 

Starting on the mound was Darrin Ward, a familiar face to every British baseball fan.  He has signed up with Herts Baseball Club from the Milton Keynes Hurricanes and it already looks like he will be playing a key role for the club this year.  A combination of speed, control and movement kept the Sidewinders off-balance.  Statistics are only available for the first 5 innings of the game.  Over those innings Ward allowed only 1 hit with 0.00 ERA and 4 strike-outs (53 strikes, 27 balls, 3 walks). 

 

Another great addition to the club will be the double punch of Luis and Humberto Goncalves who played at short stop and first base, respectively.  Luis Goncalves’ smooth fielding mechanics will certainly make teams stand up and take notice.  His father Humberto came in with the power, causing havoc with every one of his at bats including a towering Home Run deep to left centerfield almost hitting the Falcons players who were warming up on the adjacent football field.

 

After a year’s absence on paternity leave, it was a pleasure to see Ross Asquith back in a Herts shirt.  He certainly has not lost any of his lightning speed and worked well alongside centerfielder, Paul Auchterlounie.

 

Several players in the Hawks roster were unavailable so Hunter Devine and Jonathon Lewys received a last minute call-up to the Hawks.  It would not be a surprise to see them again with the Hawks this season if they continue their fantastic progress.

 

See Hawks Photos section for more photos from this game

by AspiDimitrov

FALCONS LOSE FIRST SPRING TRAINING GAME TO NOTTINGHAM THIEVES

After weeks of training it was time for the Falcons to put on the Falcons jersey for their first Spring Training game in preparation for the 2008 season.  The Nottingham Thieves were the visitors and they certainly came out to play.  They took an early lead and the Falcons found it hard to catch up all day.  It may have been a friendly exhibition game but there was tension in the air from start to finish.  Nottingham’s two hard throwing pitchers appeared to have good control and yet managed to hit 6 batters.  This was the first time the two teams meet so there certainly couldn’t have been any previous history between the players.  Maybe it was just the excitement of baseball coming back after the long winter break.  Whatever the reason, the Falcons were clearly unhappy to lose the game.  Before the start of the game Falcons manager, Jason Greenberg, underlined that the final score is not the main objective but rather wanted to focus players’ minds on baseball fundamentals and teamwork, but the loss was too painful to accept nonetheless.

 

The game certainly revealed weaknesses which the Falcons will no doubt be addressing in the coming weeks ahead of the 2008 Opening Day. 

 

A big concern is the condition of last season’s joint Home Run Champion, Andy Cornish, who appeared to have dislocated his shoulder in a spectacular diving play at short stop.  Early reports indicate that there is no fracture which will come as great relief for all connected with the club.  No doubt everyone is holding their breath awaiting further news.

 

Regardless of the fact that the visitors from Nottingham played with aluminium bats, this loss has certainly left a bad taste in the mouth and the team will be keen to get back on the field to put the record straight. 

 

Despite the loss there were positives to take out of the game.  Pete Kikel had a very good outing on the mound showing good control and velocity, while Kimiyoshi Saionji, Lee Manning and Marty Cullen were swinging the bat well.

 

See Falcons Photos section for more photos from this game

by AspiDimitrov

STALE OWNERSHIP

Stale Ownership

 

Who’s your favourite owner?  Do you have one?  Can you name more than three?  George Steinbrenner immediately comes to mind, but he’s reportedly in ill health and has essentially relinquished day to day control to his son.  John Henry?  He looks, acts, and is BORING.  Peter Angelos?  If you ask Baltimoreans, the consensus would be that he is Public Enemy No. 1.

 

Baseball ownership is becoming either very corporate, evidenced by the Cubs (Tribune Co.) or run by individuals who prefer to remain behind the scenes and maintain their anonymity.  In the past, there have been some real characters that interjected their personalities and also introduced some popular enhancements and eccentricities to the game.

 

Before Ted Turner turned to more noble issues and decided to save the world, he was the proclaimed “Mouth of the South” and was known as “Captain Outrageous” when he was the skipper of the boat Courageous that won America’s cup in 1977.  He purchased the Braves in 1976, and during the 77 season he decided to manage the team, stating that “Managing isn’t that difficult.  All you have to do is score more runs than the other guy”.  The trial only lasted one day.  After signing free agent pitcher Andy Messersmith to a contract, Turner, who owned Channel 17, tried to convince Messersmith, who wore number 17, to change the name on the back of his jersey to, you guessed it “Channel”.

 

Bill Veeck had a long history as a baseball owner, and introduced many innovations during his era.  He introduced a movable fence to the cavernous Cleveland Municipal Stadium, depending on the circumstances and how it would benefit his team.  He hired a dwarf (Eddie Gaedel) to bat and try and draw a walk.  This particular publicity stunt lasted one game.  There was also the exploding scoreboard, the “disco demolition night”, and the time where the fans in the bleachers were allowed to make joint managerial decisions by holding up placards.  During the heat of the summer, he also designed short pants for the White Sox (which looked hideous) and hired ancient (at the time) 67 year old Paul Richards to manage.  When Harry Caray broadcast games for the White Sox, he did so from the bleachers and began the tradition in the seventh inning stretch of singing “Take me out to the Ballgame”.

 

Charley Finley, the owner of the Kansas City/Oakland A’s, was reviled by his players, but was also quite a maverick.  He introduced white shoes, and paid his players $300 each to grow moustaches.  He also tried to introduce orange baseballs, and wanted to quicken the game by changing the rules to a 3 ball 2 strike limit.  He also brought in a sprinter by the name of Herb Washington to be his designated runner.  During his tenure of running the Athletics, his team mascot was a mule that was paraded around the field, into hotel lobbies, and into the press room to annoy reporters.  There was a lot of animosity between Finley and the players.  There was a near mutiny in the 1973 World Series, when Mike Andrews, after committing a crucial error that cost the team a game, was forced to sign a false affidavit stating that he was injured.  The team threatened to boycott the rest of the Series, and he was then reinstated.

 

 

These owners were innovative, entertaining, controversial, and brought a lot of pizzazz to the ballpark.  You don’t see that during the present day era.   You may not have agreed with their antics, but it was fun wondering what was going to happen next.  Now that all the players all multimillionaires, and the sport is dominated by the players union, all of the owners eccentricities have dissipated.  Perhaps there is a correlation.  Maybe profit and greed have taken a lot of the fun out of the game, and the suits who own the club are primarily concerned with the bottom line.  It also seems that the eccentric players are also a dying breed, which is unfortunate.

 

by AspiDimitrov

THE FINAL THREE

The Final Three

 

In baseball, hope springs eternal, especially in spring.  The fans of three franchises have exhibited remarkable patience waiting for a championship for their teams.  Now that the Red Sox and White Sox have recently reached the Promised Land, the Cubs, Giants, and Indians are the three clubs that have gone the longest without a World Series title.

 

The Cubs are known as the lovable losers, and it is very understandable why.  They have not been to a World Series since 1945, and their last World Championship was way back in 1908.  Popular legend is that after a Billy Goat was ejected from Wrigley Field during game 7 of the 45 series, the owner placed a curse on the franchise, and they have yet to return to the Fall Classic.

 

The Cubs have been close on other occasions, but have never made it.  In 1969 a black cat walked in front of their dugout during a crucial September series with the Mets.  They then collapsed.  In the 84 best of 5 NLCS, they won the first two games against the Padres and then proceeded to lose the next three games.  Then there was the memorable Steve Bartman Moises Alou bungled play in 2002 when the Cubs were 5 outs from the Series.  Once again, the inevitable collapse then occurred.

 

The Indians have managed to get to the World Series more recently, but their last World Championship was in 1948 when they defeated the Boston Braves in six games.   In 1954 they cruised to the AL pennant with 111 victories, and were heavily favored in the Series, but were swept by the NY Giants in 4 games.  They waited 41 years to get back, but were defeated by the Atlanta Braves in 1995 and the Florida Marlins in 1997.

 

The Giants last World Championship was in 54 against the Indians.  They lost a very exciting 7 game series to the Yankees in 1962.  They then waited 27 years, and were swept in 4 games by the Oakland A’s in the 1989 earthquake series.  In 2002 against the Angels, they have a 5-0 lead in the sixth inning of game six.  Dusty Baker took Russ Ortiz out of the game and prematurely gave him the game ball, thinking the championship was theirs.  It was a big mistake.  The Angels stormed back, winning game six 6-5 and taking the title the next evening.   

 

The Indians probably have the best chance of getting to the Series this season.  Their pitching is excellent, anchored by Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona.   Their bullpen is solid and they will have a potent offense, led by Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez, and Travis Hafner.  Look for them to battle the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central title.

 

With Lou Piniella at the helm, the Cubs will contend and look to improve on their 85-77 record.  They have a very strong rotation, with Carlos Sambrano, Ted Lilly, Rich Hill, and Jon Lieber.  The fifth spot is up for grabs.  With Alfonso Soriano, Derek Lee, and Japanese import Kosuke Fukodome in the lineup, they will have no trouble scoring runs.  They will just have to battle the jinxes that have befallen on the franchise since 1945 so that they finally can overcome their lovable losers tag.

 

The Giants will not contend, and are in a rebuilding mode.  They did not resign Barry Bonds, Omar Vizquel is on the disabled list, and they lost Pedro Feliz.  The only acquisition was Aaron Rowand.  There are question marks in the field and holes in the bullpen.  Their strength is in their rotation, with future star Tim Lincecum and young lefthander Noah Lowry.  They will need a much better performance from Barry Zito, who was a major disappointment in 2007.

 

There you have it.  The final three.  The fans have waited a long time, and the Indians probably have the best shot this year, but you can’t count out the Cubs.  You can count out the Giants.

by AspiDimitrov

CULLEN TAPPED AS FALCONS BENCH COACH

Infielder and slugger Marty Cullen was officially named as the Herts Falcons Bench Coach, amid many rumours and much speculation as to who Manager Jason Greenberg would appoint for the important leadership role.

Cullen – also the Herts Baseball Club VP in charge of Little League operations – came out of retirement last season and earned his place on the first team.  His stellar performance at the plate in 2007 was much rejoiced by Herts fans, who were skeptical about how Cullen would play after injuring his lower back early in Spring Training.  Despite the setback, Cullen hit .457 with 5 doubles and 13 RBI in 35 official at bats.  His on base percentage (.583) led the entire Herts Club among regular starting players.

But it's not Cullen's performance on the field that earned him this coveted role.  Rather, it's the work he puts in off the diamond, helping rookies to the game develop proper swings and fielding fundamentals.  He is a tireless champion of youth baseball and the development of the great game in the United Kingdom.  He is also well respected by his teammates and has developed a Clubhouse charm that will only aid him in the role of Bench Coach, where Cullen will need to walk the line between management and 'bat brother'.

Greenberg had only the highest praise for Cullen.  “I trust him implicitly.  He is the kind of guy that will lift up those around him, and the bottom line is that Marty shares my determination and optimism for what's developing on and off the field this year for the Club.   There's a very special sense of activity and growth… and Marty is a big part of that.  He's right in the middle of it.  I couldn't ask for a better partner.”

After practice on Sunday the Falcons held a private strategy session, at which Cullen was reintroduced to the team in his new post.  In his first words as Bench Coach, Cullen emphasized a 2008 gameplan which included revamped coaching signals, greater use of the designated hitter, and a commitment to 'small ball'.  Timely bunting, stealing, 
the hit-and-run, and effective 1st-and-3rd offense will  factor greatly in the Falcons' tactical playbook this season, and Cullen will be at the helm, no doubt, helping to push runners around the bases.

by AspiDimitrov

THE LITIGIOUS SOCIETY

The Litigious Society

 

I must confess that I haven’t read the Mitchell Report, so I can’t condemn Bud Selig for admitting the same thing.  Actually, I gained a modicum of respect for him for this admission.

 

Apparently, its 409 pages.  I’m sure it contains a great deal of legalize jargon, with lots of big words to impress the masses. 

 

I’m reminded of a classic quote in The Godfather, when Don Corleone is counselling his consigliore, a lawyer by the name of Tom Hayden.  Hayden decides to go to law school and avert becoming a made man after the Don tells him that lawyers with briefcases steal lots more money than do men with pistols.

 

What was Mitchell & co’s bill to MLB?  $40 million.  Wow.  Nice work if you can get it.  What did he provide?  Well, there were about 90 names of ballplayers that used performance enhancing drugs.  Hmm, either that works out to $444K per name, or $98K per page.  I think I’ll factor that in the next time I send the Falcons my bill for this column.

 

And what did these 90 names accomplish?  The average fan already knew the sport was riddled with drugs.  Both the bodies and numbers were vastly over inflated.  When Sammy Sosa hit his 66HR’s and Mark McGwire his 70 and they had that big love fest at home plate, what was the point?  To win the fans affection back after the 94 strike?  They would have come crawling back anyway.  The tide started to turn when Bonds, the arch enemy, hit his 73rd.  That’s when it was no longer acceptable.  The hypocrisy is so deep that it would overflow the Green Monster.

 

If MLB was going to spend $40 million on a 409 page report and get 90 names from it, they should have approached me first.  I guarantee I would have charged quite a bit less and gotten a lot of the same names for them.  I could’ve hired Detective Sipowicz from NYPD Blue, and had him shake down the two primary clubhouse rats who got pressured by the Feds.  We could’ve split the bill, and then it would have been easy street.

 

If you’re starting to detect a little bit of cynicism, I’ll tell you why.   It is my belief that all the major league teams are just as complicit and culpable as the players in this steroid fiasco.  The owners and teams should have been called out in the report, but weren’t.  And why, pray tell, is that??    Along with being a Director of the Boston Red Sox, Senator George Mitchell is also the Chairman of the Board of Walt Disney Corporation.  Why is that pertinent?  Well, Disney owns ESPN and ABC, which pay major league baseball a substantial amount of money for television rights.  Couldn’t that be construed as a conflict of interest?

 

Since I did admit that I haven’t read the report, maybe the MLB teams and owners have been criticized, in which case I stand corrected.  However, it appears to me that the players union is taking the blunt of the blame when both parties deserve equal culpability.  It should be blatantly obvious that the front offices across the sport both condoned this and turned a blind eye to it.  It just would have been nice if they had been called out on it.  It also would have been a good idea to hire someone who didn’t have direct ties to either party so that the report could have been a tad more objective.

 

To be honest, I couldn’t care less if these millionaire athletes decide to threaten their health for a little bit of glory.  What is bothersome to me are all the kids who emulate these guys and decide to take the same hazardous risks.  In that respect, maybe the end result is positive.  In the long run, the sport will be cleared up and the drug usage will ultimately cease and desist.

 

One ballplayer who deserve praise is Mark Grace, the former Cub and DiamondBack how played a power position (1B) in the height of the era and didn’t succumb to the temptations.  One year Grace hit 9HR’s playing full time in Wrigley Field, which is a hitter’s paradise.  Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez are two others, two future Hall of Famers who maintained their integrity.  You could always tell, just by looking at them.  It is nice to know that there are some honourable people in MLB.

 

The sport will survive this latest scandal, as it has in the past.  The game has always been bigger than those who run it, or those who decide that the end justifies the means.  Cheating has been a part of the lure of the game, whether it be the spitball era, or the stealing of signs, or corked bats etc.

 

However, the health of the players and the kids who idolize them never has.