Filed under: Uncategorized
At the rate I’m going, this will most likely be my final post of the year. I won’t attempt a year in review, or any major statistical research breakthrough. I will just leave you with this:
I don’t feel the same feelings on the last day of December that I do on the last day of the baseball season. There is no downtime between December 31 and January 1, but there is a chasm between Game 162 and Game 1.
But regardless – I look forward to Day 1 and Game 1, because they are both filled with opportunity and possibility. You never know what will happen when you wake up – just like you never know what will happen when you show up to the ballpark. Maybe a no-hitter, maybe someone hitting four homers in a game. Maybe you’ll meet someone new and exciting, maybe you’ll see a site never seen before.
However – unlike a ballgame where you’re only a spectator (unless you want to get arrested), you have a lot more say and control as to the events of your own life. None of control everything – but when you realize just how much say you have in how you feel, how you act, and how your life plays out, it’s a pretty invigorating thing.
So look forward to 2008 with a fresh set of eyes – and jump on the field with reckless abandon. May you make solid contact with everything you swing at, and may you hit ‘em where they ain’t.
Happy New Year!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bob Costas, Fay Vincent, Gaylord Perry, Hall of Fame, pete rose, steroids
If you haven’t had a chance, take a listen to Bob Costas and Fay Vincent talking about the Mitchell Report:
There’s some interesting discussion – including looking at how people like Pete Rose and Gaylord Perry should be looked at in light of the steroid scandal, and how the Hall of Fame voters should be looking at the situation.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, charity, Chase Field, free tickets, Phoenix baseball, Play Ball Scholarship
The Arizona Diamondbacks recently announced their Play Ball Scholarship Fund, designed to give tickets to fans who have found themselves unable to afford the cost of going to a game.
Great idea, right? I think so — or at least I really want to think so.
So I poked around for some opinions on this – and some feel that the D-Backs’ motivation isn’t totally genuine.
The D-Backs ranked 20th out of 30 teams in 2007 in attendance, at 58.3% of capacity. They didn’t sell out their playoff games in the NLDS – against the Cubs, no less. So is this a move to somehow short the supply of tickets a bit, generate a bit of good will, or a mix of both and other factors?
I really think the motivation is pretty good – and that everyone who wants to see a game should have the opportunity to do so. I’ve said for a while that it’s amazing how much other stuff goes on at a game — and that the game has almost turned into a break from the other stuff for me.
There’s a side of me that really wants to go on a tangent about how shallow most forms of entertainment are — but I won’t. I’ll save that for another day.
So back to the issue – how should the D-Backs new program be looked at? I’ll err on the side of genuine goodwill on this one.
I went shopping for some new clothes – and was reminded how misleading labels can be. Several manufacturers – some things I fit in that were marked as a large, while other things darn near constricted me with their XXL tag.
There’s a touch of similarity in baseball — players are often labeled a certain way by those who look at them, while a different set of eyes will attach a completely different label.
You can’t always judge the label.
And for God’s sake – try it on before you buy it.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2007 World Series, baseball, baseball in Japan, Boston Red Sox, cheating, gambling, Hall of Fame, Matt Damon, Mitchell Report, pete rose, scouts, Sports Weekly, steroids, Tonya Harding, USA Today
I got the latest edition of USA Today’s Sports Weekly – which serves as the jump off point for today’s post.
As you may have heard, Pete Rose made some comments that the steroids scandal makes him seem like an altar boy with regard to his betting on the Reds. He managed to slip in a reminder that if someone who used steroids can get into the Hall of Fame, then he’s got a shot to get in. Subtle.
Now — when I was a kid, I thought Pete Rose was the ultimate bad-ass…he could hit, he played hard, and he seemed to be a pretty OK guy. Granted I was under 12 for most of his career, but that’s beside the point. He was one of the top figures in baseball – and he owns a fairly significant career record.
What bugs me is that is goes back to being about him. It seems as if he’s really degraded himself to Tonya Harding-esque levels – which is painful to watch as a fan. I get the whole paying for autographs thing, and in some ways I wish I could make that kind of dough signing my name. But at the same time – it seems like a form of prostitution — except with clothes on and a pen in hand.
I’m not going to start the Pete Rose Public Image Enhancement Campaign – but I sure wish we could do something to bring him up to a little higher level of public standing. He seems to be riding other people’s coat tails – which is something I don’t think the MLB career hits leader should have to do – gambling or not.
Enough about that.
There’s a total fluff piece with Matt Damon – who is the narrator of the 2007 World Series DVD. You have to think this will sell well in Boston, but not many other places, as the article alludes to. As big a fan of baseball as I am, I wouldn’t buy it. I would keep a free copy though.
The big article this issue talks about the value of top scouts — and while it’s not an amazing article – it is a good intro into the importance of scouting. People want to talk about the scouts vs. stats war that’s raging in MLB teams’ front offices. I don’t buy it. I think we’re on the cusp of a new era of scouts who will understand and be able to synthesize both sides of the argument.
A brief piece about the effects of the Mitchell Report in Japan is worth reading — while it won’t grab attention over here as much, it’s interesting to see how other countries deal with the issue.
More to come -
Filed under: Uncategorized
Sometimes topics come to me. Sometimes I have to scour around for topics to write about. Today’s one of those days.
It’s dreary weather here in Seattle – yet another reason I hate winter in these parts. Someday I’ll just bite the bullet and move to Phoenix and be done with it.
Anyway – here’s what has popped up on my radar today.
Dick Heller of the Washington Post’s article entitled “Who can we believe in now?” jumped out to me today. I’ve been accused of being pessimistic when it comes to ethics in sports every so often, particularly in light of the Mitchell Report. But for some reason Mr. Heller’s column really put me in a funk — but not because his piece is doom-and-gloom, but simply because it lays out an expectation that athletes are supposed to be role models.
Are they? My sweeping generalization is no – they’re not. At least not role models for how to be a great human being. Hopefully for training and mechanics of the sport – as well as the mental side of the game, but beyond that, it’s a crap shoot.
Somedays I think we’d be better off with Role Model Certification. Or Role Model Training. You’d get a title after your name that indicates that you’re a Certified Role Model (TM). Pat Lagreid, C.R.M. Or maybe just Pat Lagreid, R.M.
Charles Barkley said it best: I’m not a role model. I don’t get paid to be a role model.
I think there are some pretty good guys playing baseball — Mark Loretta, Raul Ibanez, Jamie Moyer, and so on. I also think there are some bums. But to think that ballplayers should be role models is an excuse for lazy parenting. Not to draw parallels to the Jamie Lynn Spears mess, but just because someone’s on Nickelodeon means they’re a role model. Same for sports.
All right – enough of that. What else?
Mark Prior signed with the Padres. Good for him – low risk deal for the Padres. I don’t know all the specifics about his career – but it certainly stinks to see a guy with so much promise and potential as he seemed to have never really realize all of it.
I’m convinced that the Royals are going to compile a team of former Mariners and they’ll end up winning the World Series because of it. Isn’t it ironic? Don’t ya think?
The whole Mitchell Report continues to stay in the news. I know it won’t be fast, but I look forward to seeing conclusive evidence that Roger Clemens either did or didn’t do steroids/HGH/Yoo-Hoo/whatever. I was pretty disappointed with his staged video response last week. It was effectively meaningless — if he was committed to clearing his name, he should get out the lie detector, call out every attorney he knows, and get to work. Don’t be fooled by a “video statement.” I feel bad for the guy if the report was wrong – and I hope it is. But if someone calls you out, be ready to turn the fires of hell on them to refute their claims.
I also have to say how much the Dan Haren trade makes Arizona pretty dangerous next year. I’m glad to have him out of the AL West.
That’s it for the moment –
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: autograph hounds, autographs, baseball, broken bats, game used, memorabilia
Baseball generates a lot of stuff.
Broken bats. Foul balls. Game used this-and-that. Heck, a can of bug spray used during the ALCS brought in over $600 at auction a while back. MLB makes oodles of money through their auction site. I’ve contributed to that oodlage, I won’t lie.
But as I’m getting a bit older, I find myself accepting that catching a foul ball or getting a broken bat after a game won’t make me happy or significantly add to my life.
Yet in a lot of ways I still want those things.
I’m not sure what it is — which is partially why I’m writing it down so that I can work through it – but the whole thing about collecting autographs, balls, bats, and other baseball stuff is starting to wear on me.
Going to a lot of baseball games has afforded me the opportunity to rub elbows with some pretty serious autograph hounds. I’m not talking about kids here — although there is a share of them as well. I’m talking about anyone of voting age or above.
In Seattle we have a few guys who show up religiously, always with a duffel bag full of balls, cards, or other stuff they hope to get signed. I’ve asked them a few times why they pursue this quest — and both seem to shy away from any financial aspect and steer towards the “these are my memories” angle.
There’s a side of me that worries that I’m taking a turn onto Hypocrite Drive — so understand that I’m already aware of it. I’ve got boxes of baseball cards and a room dedicated to my baseball stuff. No lie. The question is do I want more of it – and if so, why?
It’s exciting as hell to have a player flip you a ball or even a broken bat. Some lucky folks have even gotten a player’s glove once he’s convinced it’s no longer field-worthy. Some folks buy stuff – stadium seats, on deck circles, and so on. Baseball has so much history that it is nice to be able to connect with it through tangible items.
But is that really connecting? I’m not sure. I keep a scorebook – mainly to keep myself focused on the game and look for little trends developing that I wouldn’t see otherwise. It definitely connects me to the game at hand, but I don’t look back on old score sheets to reminisce. Maybe I’m the crazy one – but I’m honest.
At this point, the personal resolution is still a work in progress. Share your thoughts and help me work through this…and stay tuned for more updates.
Filed under: Uncategorized
My friend and colleague Shannon Drayer has a great post on her blog — she got a letter from a 15-year-old with his take on the Mitchell Report.
Enjoy.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: baseball, Bonds, Brian Roberts, HGH, McGwire, Mitchell Report, Palmeiro, Paul Lo Duca, PEDs, steroids
My uncle e-mailed me last night and asked me to opine on the Mitchell Report. I’ve been spending a fair amount of time with it – this is my reply to him.
I equate the day-of-release experience to that of going to a national monument. You travel there, wait in line, get to the ticket booth, pay a fair amount of money, wait in more lines with people you don’t really care to be around, and when you finally get to the front of the line, the emotion is “hmm — so this is it? Really? This is it? OK. I’ll be at the snack bar.”
The report is interesting – but as many have pointed out, there are flaws to it. A lot of it is hearsay and a lot of people who should have cooperated didn’t. That’s not to dismiss it – but it’s certainly not gospel.
It’s not accurate to say “I’m not surprised” by the report — I think that’s a catchphrase used by people when they can’t formulate an opinion on something. A lot of it was already known — Bonds, McGwire, Palmeiro, et al. Certainly the Clemens and Pettitte part of it was a bit surprising. There were some guys I had some respect for that I was disappointed to learn were in the report – such as Paul Lo Duca and Brian Roberts – but overall it was a fairly big letdown – mainly because I don’t think anyone knew how they would process their emotions once the report came out. Who would have been meaningful enough to the baseball community to elicit a collective gasp? Rickey Henderson? Tony Gwynn? Cal Ripken, Jr.? Instead we got F.P. Santangelo and Marvin Benard. Want anything from the snack bar?
I found more interest in the how of the report than the who — paying clubbies and bullpen catchers to take padlocked duffle bags of marijuana on planes, overnighting steroids to team hotels, sneaking vials of the juice around in Oakley sunglasses bags, and my favorite, the guy knocking a towel off some bench and having a whole bunch of syringes scatter about the clubhouse and no one saying anything.
This leaves me to be resolved to say that while I want to assume every player on the field is innocent and above reproach, I also know that with billions of dollars floating around, every baseball player (and pro athlete, for that matter) will have some cloud of question hanging around them. Even if a player isn’t doing steroids, HGH, or other substance, they’re still benefiting from the other guys doing it — let’s say I’m an outfielder who is in the upper 30% of the talent pool. Another outfielder is on the juice, and is in the upper 30% as well. When his contract comes up after this season and he gets some big free agent deal, it helps me get a fat deal when my contract comes up next year. So all of a sudden – I’m benefiting from the juice without taking the juice. What desire do I have to speak out against that?
I don’t think we’ll ever really know who did what — it’ll be like trying to track who gave you a cold. There’s just too many moving parts and the links aren’t always clear. So the baseball fan community will have to resolve it in their own heads and hearts as to how they view the 80s, 90s, and the first decade of 2000. Steroids, HGH, and PEDs were an environmental influence that had an effect on the game – and will have to be remembered in the same way gambling, the deadball era, the slap hitting ’70s and ’80s and other time periods were. Baseball will weather this storm – but it will certainly not be the last one.
Filed under: Uncategorized
They may have figured it out, but they have decided to wait on how/when to implement it.
Phone rings. “Hello, Baseball Writers Association of America, how may I help you?”
“Shelve the award thing or else!”
“Who is this?!?”
“None of your damn business.”
(Overheard in the background…”Curt, dinner’s ready!”)
Hmmm…
