Category: Opinion

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

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.

 

 

 

 

by AspiDimitrov

THE PHLOP

The Phlop

 

It’s appears that the Yankess and Mets are switching roles. The Yankess have always been the traditional big spenders, eschewing their farm system to sign high priced free agents.  The Mets have been known to show fiscal restraint, and have opted to build their club through their farm system.

 

The tide is turning, and the roles have reversed.  The Mets are now signing the high priced free agents, including Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez and Billy Wagner.  They gave up four highly regarded prospects to get Johan Santana.  What did the Yankees do in the off season?  Not much.  Their lineup is essentially intact, and they were relieved that Santana went to the NL and was kept away from the AL East, particularly the Red Sox.

 

The Mets will have to convince both themselves and their fans that there are no residual scars from last seasons September collapse.  They lost a 7 game lead in 17 days and ultimately the division title to the Philadelphia Phillies.  The collapse brought the inevitable comparisons between them and the 1964 Phillies, who lost a 6 ½ lead in 7 days and blew the pennant to the St Louis Cardinals.

 

Gene Mauch was the manager of the Phillies, and is known as the manager with the most career wins without a pennant.  His 1,902 career victories are the 8th most all time, but he never won a pennant.  He came close on two other occasions (1982 and 1986 with the Angels), but unfortunately he will be best remembered for the Phillies collapse.

 

Between September 21 and 30, the Phillies lost 10 straight games.  Mauch essentially went with a 3 man rotation, but relied primarily on two pitchers (Jim Bunning and Chris Short) during this losing streak.  Bunning had three starts, Short and three, and two other pitchers (Art Mahaffey and Dennis Bennett) started twice.  Ray Culp, a highly regarded 23 year old, who was part of the rotation throughout the year, was not used at all.

 

The official version told to the press was that Mahaffey and Culp had sore arms, and that Mauch had lost faith in Bennett.

 

This writer has inside information which I would like to share with you.  I knew one of the players on the 1964 Phillies.  He confided in me that Mauch hated Ray Culp, and refused to pitch him because there was personal animosity between the two.  Culp was healthy, and could have contributed.  History may have been a lot different if Culp was utilized during this stretch.

 

The Phillies did win the division in 2007, but fell short against the Colorado Rockies in the playoffs.  They should be contenders for the NL East in 2008, along with Atlanta and the Mets.

 

Jimmy Rollins has laid down the gauntlet by stating that the Phillies and the Mets don’t like each other and there may be some “headhunting” going on.  Pedro Martinez, never one to shy away from chin music, was quoted as saying although he likes Rollins; he won’t back down from any potential altercations.

 

Two teams that are both very talented and are separated by 95 miles on the New Jersey Turnpike now both share a monumental collapse.  They are headed for a collision course.

 

I can’t wait.

 

by AspiDimitrov

THE ROCKET’S RED GLARE

The Rocket’s Red Glare

 

I misremember the specifics, but during Roger Clemens time in Boston there was one specific incident where he committed quite a public gaffe.  Kevin McHale, the Hall of Fame NBA forward, said it best when he commented, “They call him the Rocket Man, not the Rocket Scientist”.

 

It’s now much deeper, and much more troublesome.  Either Clemens was unwilling or unable to listen to his advisors, or perhaps his advisors were a group of psychophants who were only interested in telling him what he wanted to hear.

 

Clemens spent his entire career either intimidating others, or looking for confrontations.  He never shaved on the days he would pitch, so that he would appear more menacing.  There was the Mike Piazza bat throwing incident, and the Terry Cooney 1990 ALCS argument, and countless other times when Clemens, the biggest bully on the block, added to the mystique of his Texas gunslinger image.

 

Given that, perhaps an  act of contrition was an impossibility.  The bully can never back down.  It is part of the image, the aura.  Once the bully shows any sign of vulnerability, the game is over.  Pride cometh before the fall.

 

Baseball fans are quite forgiving, and have a very short memory.  Who remembers the principal participants involved in baseball’s cocaine scandal of the 1980’s?  One All Star player was quoted as saying the reason he slid head first was so that the cocaine vials in his back pocket would not explode.  Another All-Star was given a standing ovation after returning from exile.  A more recent example is the strike of 1994.  There were countless fans who vowed they would never come back to the ballpark.  Almost all of them did.

 

The truth shall set you free.  Confession is good for the soul.  Jason Giambi was the first prominent player to confess to steroid use.  He was initially excorciated  in the press.  Over time, all has either been forgotten or forgiven.

 

Andy Pettite, by showing remorse, wound up with much dignity and grace.  His conscience is probably clear.  The Yankees have welcomed him back with open arms.

 

What is so preposterous is that the Clemens team brought this entirely on themselves.  Congress didn’t ask him to come and testify.  His (or their) very public posturing and denials left them no choice.   It has been an utter PR fiasco.  One of the greatest pitchers of all time,  will probably face perjury charges and quite likely face jail time.  All because the bully wouldn’t back down, and decided to throw everyone close to him under the bus.

 

Clemens does have 118 complete games, but if he ever did need a closer to come in and take him off the hook, now is the time. 

 

The only thing that will save him is a presidential pardon.

 

by AspiDimitrov

REVENGE OF THE NERDS

Revenge of the Nerds

 

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have recently concluded that Derek Jeter is the worst fielding shortstop in the Major Leagues.  Using a method called Spatial Aggregate Fielding Evaluation, or SAFE, they have come up with this earth shattering conclusion.

 

Who funded this grant, the Boston Red Sox??

 

Stop the madness!  There is no way that Derek Jeter is the worst fielding shortstop in baseball.  You could put a gun at my head and I still wouldn’t say it.

 

And I’m not even a Yankee fan.

 

 The nerds are running the asylum.  Don’t they have anything better to do in Universities these days?  Apparently not.  Have you ever tried to have a conversation with a computer scientist?  I rest my case.

 

The premise is so absurd it’s laughable.  I didn’t even want to write a column about it, but they have really gotten to me.  Count me amongst the conspiracy theorists.  Bill James, the godfather of sabermetrics, tried valiantly to get a job in Major League Baseball for 26 years.  After knocking on many doors, the Red Sox finally hired him in 2003.  All his minions have to be Yankee haters.

 

Baseball research has no business being conducted in universities.  I mistakenly thought they spent their time on more noble issues, like the theory of relativity.  And these U of Pennsylanvia guys came from Wharton.  Wharton!!  Isn’t that a business school?

 

I can see it now.  The head of hedge funds at JP Morgan is interviewing candidates who have graduated from Wharton to join his firm on Wall St. If I was the guy from JP Morgan, presumably I’d be a Yankee fan.  I’d also probably read both the sports and business pages.  Then why, I’d be asking myself, would they be conducting this nonsense at the most prestigious business school in America.  Talk about a great opening question that could put the candidate on the defensive.

 

I was going to do lots of research on baseball-reference.com to defend my position, but I’m not going down to the nerds level.  I do now that Jeter has three gold gloves.  I vividly remember the play he made to win the ALCS against Oakland.  There are many other special plays that I recall he made from years of watching him on TV.

 

Nerds go home!

 

Does he need to improve?  Yes.  He will turn 33 this year, and he has worked hard in the off season in an effort to improve his agility.  There are questions that he may have lost some range going to his left.  That I can accept.  I cannot and will not accept the conclusion that he is the worst fielder in Major League Baseball.

 

Now I know why there may be a subprime crisis on Wall St……

 

by AspiDimitrov

THAT ELUSIVE CLUB

That Elusive Club

 

Only 5 players in MLB history have at least a .300 batting average, .400 on base percentage, .500 slugging percentage, 2,000 hits, 300 home runs, 500 doubles, and 1,000 walks.

 

Four of them are Hall Famers.  The fifth may never get in.

 

They are Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig, and Edgar Martinez.

 

Edgar Martinez!  You’ve got to be kidding me.

 

It’s true.  Being the stat geek that I am, I found this on the internet.  I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it.  Then, I started digging, and realized it was the truth.

 

There are the usual suspects that immediately came to mind.  None of them made the grade.

 

Barry Bonds?  He’s close, but his .298 average disqualifies him.

 

ARod?  He fails in three categories, with 395 doubles, 915 walks, and a .389 OBP. 

 

Willie Mays?   The .384 OBP knocks him out.

 

Several players will get there, including Manny Ramirez (29 more doubles), Albert Pujols (assuming he stays healthy), and Frank Thomas (12 doubles)

 

It’s a fascinating stat, because it’s a true measure of power, patience, speed, average, and longevity.

 

A lot of players come close, but the primary killer was the OBP.  Now that the sabermetric and MoneyBall geeks are in vogue, you’ll see a higher OBP in the future.  The old timers didn’t think too highly of a free pass.

 

This brings up a big question.  Does Edgar belong in the Hall of Fame?

 

The purists will say no.  As a hitter, he certainly merits consideration.  The naysayer’s will say that he was surrounded by good hitters throughout his career, including Junior, A-Rod, Ichiro, Tino, and John Olerud, so he saw a lot of good pitches to hit.

 

But so did Murderer’s Row and the Gas House Gang.

 

Before I found this stat, I would have been in the naysayer’s group.  I’m still against his induction, because I consider myself a purist, but I’m more willing to listen to the opposition.  Whatever happens, Edgar deserves recognition as one of the best hitters of all time.

 

But I wished he put a glove on more often….