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Friday, December 28, 2012

Best...defensive...team...ever...

                                 In 2006, the Boston Red Sox posted one of the best fielding percentage in baseball history, and set a record with 17 straight error less games. The team flashed some serious leather, with Jason Varitek behind the plate, and an infield consisting of gold glovers Mike Lowell and 3rd, Alex Gonzalez at short, Mark Loretta at 2nd and Kevin Youklis at first...the outfield  was pretty good too, with Trot Nixon in right, Coco Crisp in center and Manny Ram...uhh, well, 7 out of 8 ain't bad...


                   Well, this week, I'd like to post the all time best defensive team; I'm going to go through different eras, but will mainly stick to players I have either seen, or at least knew a lot about...
So here it is, ( in my opinion ) the greatest fielding team of all time:


Catcher: Johnny Bench

Also my choice for the greatest catcher of all time, Bench, with his powerful throwing arm, ability to call a great game, and knowledge of opposing hitters, was the best defensive backstop as well.  Others may argue that either of the Pudges, Fisk or Rodriguez, deserve this spot, or maybe Roy Campenella; But I'm sticking with Bench.  I mean, hey, he hosted "The baseball bunch" after all...



First Base: Keith Hernandez

It was a close race between "Mex" and Don Mattingley (Mattingley's appearance on the Simpson's almost tipped the scales in his favor), but I ultimately chose Hernandez, citing that he made both infields he was part of better; First the Cardinals, and then the Mets, winning a championship with both teams.  I also wanted to mention George "The Boomer" Scott, who won 8 gold gloves in his career; but unlike the first two, he had the disadvantage of being right handed....It's the one position where being a southpaw is an advantage...well, according to Keith Hernandez, it is (ha)...


Second base: Roberto Alomar


Before he was inducted into the Hall of fame, Alomar may have been best known for spitting at an umpire...which is a shame, because he was one of the greatest second basemen of all time.  The man could hit, but as a defender, he had no equal, in my opinion. Sure, there's the Joe Morgans and Bobby Griches of the world; But, as great as they were, neither could match the sheer athleticism of Robbie...hell, he was almost shortstop-like, especially when briefly teamed up with Omar Vizquel in Cleveland.  Vizquel was almost as great as shortstop as Alomar was at second, though he wasn't as great as the next guy...


Shortstop: Ozzie Smith


This may have been the easiest choice on here.  Although it took Ozzie years to become a good hitter, he came right out of the gate as a superb shortstop, first with San Diego, then with the Cardinals, where he helped St. Louis to 3 pennants and a World Championship. In my lifetime, only Mark Belanger of the Orioles could be considered his peer, but even he would admit that Ozzie was the best...Now if he could only get out of that bottomless pit he fell in during that "Simpson's" episode...


Third base: Brooks Robinson


Mike Schmidt is the greatest third baseman ever, and he's a close 2nd to Brooks, but the name Brooks Robinson is synonymous with fielding excellence, gathering the most gold gloves ever at the position.  If there were any doubt in anyone's mind, his performance in the 1970 World Series against the Reds cemented his legend for good...then he was mentioned a few times in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle" for some reason...and that STILL didn't kill his reputation...


Left field: Carl Yazstremski


It's been said that playing Fenway's Green Monster is one of the toughest things to do as a left fielder, and Yaz mastered it.  It was always fun as a kid watching opposing left fielders befuddled by line drives off the wall, then watch the next inning, as Carl kept batters at first or, even throwing them out at second, trying to stretch a single into a double.  Maybe there were other left fielders that had more speed, like Lou Brock, or more range like Tim Raines, but can either one of them claim to have a song written about them?...I rest my case...



Center field: Willie Mays


Maybe the greatest  player ever, it wasn't to hard to pick the "Say hey kid" as the best centerfielder.  With all apologies to Tris Speaker, who by all accounts was a great fielder on top of being the first centerfielder to play shallow, Mays gets the top spot...every great CF from recent times always seem to be doing a Willie Mays impression; From Jim Edmunds, to Torii Hunter, to the closest to Willie my generation ever had, ( both fielding and hitting-wise) : Ken Griffey JR., who, of course, was in the same Simpson's episode as Ozzie, Mex and Mattingly...oh, and there's a song written about Willie Mays, so there's that too...



Right field: Roberto Clemente


Clemente was well known to have the best arm in baseball; As a right fielder, you're expected to have a big gun...whether it's Dewey Evans, Ellis Valentine or Ichuro Suzuki, throwing men out (or at  least scaring them into staying put ) is usually the right fielder's M.O.  Playing his entire career with a bad back, Clemente had this whirling motion to his throwing style, which involved his entire body in every throw;And because of that, his throws came in fast and furious...I was on the fence about including Carl Furillo of the Brooklyn Dodgers in this conversation, mostly because of his mastery of Ebbets field's right foot wall, which was a mini, tin covered version of Fenway Park... but I'm sticking with Clemente...and when is Jon Sayles gonna make a movie about him, goddammit!



Pitcher: Greg Maddux


How good a fielder was Maddux?  How about winning a gold glove every year from 1990-2008, with the exception of 2003...18 of them in total.  The only competetion was Jim Kaat, who won a GG every year from 1962-1977 (for a total of 16) .  Kaat's also one of the few players to play in parts of four decades (59-83)...But I'm going to have to go with Maddux, who despite looking like someone who should be working the prescription department at CVS, is probably one of the ten best pitchers of all time...and on this list, he's #1 with a bullet. 



Manager: Earl Weaver


Earl's "Pitching, defense, and waiting for the 3 run homer" strategy proved very effective in the late '60s  to early '80s.  His teams were fundamentally sound on defense, with the best left side of the infield in baseball: Brooks Robinson and Mark Belanger.  Also, in centerfield, they had maybe the best centerfielder in the AL in Paul Blair.  This kind of defense helped set the Orioles pitching staff apart from the others, giving them mutiple CY Young awards, and set a record with four 20 game winners in 1971 ( Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally, and Pat Dobson).  A close second would be Bobby Cox, with his superb pitching staff of Maddux, Tom Glavine and Jon Smoltz...the two managers also had one other thing in common;They both got ejected more times than any other skippers...talk about defensive...




Saturday, December 22, 2012

...It's all relative...

                             Back when I was in 7th grade, I sat next to this girl named Isabel who was absolutely hilarious; Really, she'd crack me up on a continuous basis with a wise ass style of joke telling that makes for a great comedian.  One day, her dad decided to come to class and it all made sense.  Her dad was Luis Tiant, who by that point was retired, but it was the first time I had ever met a ballplayer outside of a ballpark.  In 1993, I ran into Clemens twice; Once in the men's room at the Hard Rock cafe in Boston, and second at Bill's bar on Landsdowne street, right across the street from Fenway Park...He was trying to get into the bar, but forgot his I.D., and the hipster kid out front didn't recognize him...so to try and save the day, I went into my car and got his baseball card and showed it to the kid; he was so embarrassed, he let him in.  I also met Brian Daubach at the Comedy Connection...nice guy; He liked my set (ha).  However, there are 2 friends of mine related to Major Leaguers...


                  First, there's Rick Jenkins, owner of the Comedy Studio.  Recently, Rick wed Kirsten Sims, daughter of Duke Sims, a catcher who played about 10 years in the majors,  mostly with the Cleveland Indians; but he is best known for being the last man to homer in the old Yankee stadium in 1973, when he was briefly Thurman Munson's back up in New York.  His best year was probably 1970 with Cleveland when he hit 23 homers and 56 knocked in....runs.  Mostly though, he was a back-up catcher, but again, someone I know was related to a ballplayer, and that fascinates me...now for the final baseball connection, and it's a doozy..........


                 My friend Steve Mulcahy, who I've known for almost 25 years is related to not one, but TWO big leaguers;and they couldn't be more different from each other. First, on his father's side, he's distantly related to Hugh "Losing pitcher" Mulcahy, nicknamed that because of the amount of times his name appeared in the loss column.  Actually, Hugh wasn't a bad pitcher, he just happened to play most of his career with some wretched Phillie teams.  One time, he lost over 20 games and STILL made the All Stat team.  My dad always said he was pretty good; He also told me that Hugh was the first ballplayer to be drafted for WWII, which is what he's probably most famous for.


           However, on his mother's side, he is related to none other than Hall of fame pitcher, Don Sutton.  Sutton had a long and storied career, winning over 300 games and pitching in four World series;3 with the Dodgers in the '70s and one with the Brewers in 1982.  But alas, he was always on the losing side of those contests.  I always liked his competitive nature, too; he once said about Bob Gibson: "He hated me and I hated him"...He was also on that '86 Angel that should have won the pennant, but Boston's Dave Henderson had other plans...


           Will other people I know come out and admit they are related to a major leaguer? Will Adam Cooper find out his grandmother had a love affair with Dick Allen?...Will Jon Cullen look in his family tree and see that his 5th cousin twice removed is Wally Joyner?...Probably not, but you never know.  The closest I ever came to playing with a big leaguer was Mike McGwire (No relation to steroid boy), who was a left handed pitcher in the Pirates organization,  but never got above AA (The league, not alcoholics anonymous ).  As for the most famous player from my home town of Milton Ma., I guess it would be Rich Hill, he pitched for the Cubs and Red Sox recently;He pitched for Milton high, the very same team that I played for, and who's uniform I wear in my profile pic...anyway, if any of you have a similar story, I'd love to hear it...

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

You old bastards got a lot of nerve

                                         Back around 1999-2000, I had a job delivering flowers at a place called "Bow street flowers" in Harvard square.  The job had it's good and bad points. One of the better perks was I was able to listen to the radio most of the day, and Boston then, as now, had great radio... Lots of college stations, on top of the already good regular ones on FM...Even the AM stations were good, especially the sports ones; my favorite being WEEI. I used to listen to a show on the weekdays called "The Big Show", hosted by Glenn Ordway, which was always enjoyable, mostly because no one on the show would ever take themselves too seriously.


                         However, I happen to be working on a Saturday, and was listening in to another show called "Rico and the Monster", which was hosted by former Red Sox players Rico Petrocelli and the late Dick "The Monster" Raditz.  Rico was the shortstop for Boston's 1967 "Impossible Dream" team... He was a rarity back then; a power hitting shortstop, who actually held the American league records for homers by a shortstop in 1969 with 40, that held until A-rod broke it in the late '90s.  He switched to third base in the early '70s to make room for Luis Aparicio and then Rick Burelson in 1975; He retired after the next season.


              Raditz was the original "intimidation" closer...a big, hulk of a man, whose giant hands would have fit better on a basketball court than a baseball field.  He pitched for the Sox in the early '60s and, unlike closers today, would pitch 4,5, or more innings for a save.  He was traded before the '67 season, and retired soon after.  Dick was known for his outspoken opinions on the matter of closers today, and would bring it up often on the show.  That particular day, Rico had a sore throat that made him sound like Super Dave Osbourne meets Brenda Vacarro...coupled with the fact that the Monster himself had a booming voice, it made for a strange sounding show that day.  Things were about to get stranger....



                        During one of his anti-closers -today rants, the phone lines were open, and Raditz said, "Dennis in a car, you're on with Rico and the Monster"...what followed next was a voice on the other line saying: "You old bastards got a lot of nerve"...right away, both radio hosts knew who it was...Dick asked knowingly, "Is this Eck"?, meaning former Red Sox pitcher Dennis Eckersley, who identified himself as such and started defending himself. With the Indians Sox,and Cubs he was a starter, but, under Tony Larussa with the A's and Cardinals, he became one of the great short inning relievers of all time (as you all know).  Now my memory is a little cloudy, and I can't find a clip of this exchange, but I remember Eck saying something like "Dick you don't think my 1992 season should have won me the CY Young, do you"? Raditz said  no, he didn't think it should have, and Eck lost his shit, saying something to effect of, "You're outta your league, pal"!..



                           While the heated exchange of words was going on between the two closers, Petrocelli, sore throat and all, finally defended his partner, sounding like Tom Waits doing a Carvel commercial..."Listen Eck, you can't talk to the Monster that way, show some respect" (Again, I'm paraphrasing)...this only made Dennis more upset, as he felt he was being ganged up on.  I can't remember how it ended. All I can recall is that after it was over, and I was wiping the tears of laughter off my face, I get a phone call; It was my brother Sean, who was listening in his car at the time...he didn't say hello...All he said was..."Looks like Eck's off the wagon again...

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Back in my day, we had bullpen cars, dagnabbit!

                                 While reading Dan Epstein's excellent book about '70s baseball: "Big hair and plastic grass", I noticed how much the game has changed since then, yet how much it essentially remains the same.  I grew up in the '70s watching the game;actually, it wasn't until 1977 that I really started following it, but since then I've been hooked.  Now, first off, this is not going to be one of those, crabnibbity, things were better in my day, shake your fist in the air kind of pieces...I'm simply going to recall as many changes as I can, and with hold ( most ) of my opinions on the matter.

             
                  Let's start with the title of the book...Big hair was all the rage in the mid late '70s; you had the Afros of the (mostly, but by no means all )black players like Garry Maddox, Dick Allen and especially Oscar gamble.  Many white players had long hair like Ted Simmons and players of all races sported some sort of fu manchu/ side burn combination.  These looks faded in Reagan's conservative '80s, though...the '90s saw first the unfortunate rise in popularity of the mullet, followed closely by the grunge-inspired goatee/van Dyke's, which some players wore well into the 'oos.  Now it seems like players will do anything; From Brian Wilson's dyed beard, to Coco Crisp's retro Afro, then braids...then there's the matter of plastic grass....


Back then about half the teams played on AstroTurf, which may have ushered in the "stealing" craze of the era; players like Vince Coleman, Willie Wilson and Omar Moreno, seemingly made a career slapping the ball into the fake turf and beating it out...then making the pitcher's life havoc as they stole almost at will.  If these players played most of their games on real grass, they may never have stayed in the majors long (except maybe Wilson, who actually was a good hitter ). Today, with the advent of the olde timey ballpark look, there are only two teams: the Rays and Blue Jays, who still play on AstroTurf.


                 The uniforms changed; the form fitting, non buttoned jerseys of the '70s and '80s, have given way to a more classic look.  One thing I will say that's better today than then; the uniforms aren't nearly as ugly. Bullpen cars are no more.  You say this to anyone under the age of 30, and they look at you like you have three heads....relievers used to be carted in by a vehicle that kind of looked like a golf cart with a giant baseball helmet on top of it.  I remember one of the first pitchers to refuse to use one, and actually ran in from the bullpen was Al "The mad Hungarian" Hrabosky", who also predates a lot of the "crazier" closers of today, with his wild mound antics and intimidation tactics.



                       Since the late '70s there have been two strikes; one in '81 and a more catastrophic one in 1994, which killed the season entirely.  Oddly, those 2 season marked the two best the now defunct Montreal Expos would have...in 1981, they were and inning away from going to the world series...in '94 they had the best record in baseball, only to see the post season cancelled.  The franchise would never see the playoffs as the Expos again.  This past season they finally did as the Washington Nationals;having moved there in 2004.


    Oh yeah, there's also four new teams: in 1993, the Colorado Rockies and Florida ( now Miami) Marlins and in 1998 the Arizona Diamond backs and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now just Rays).  All four teams have won the pennant, btw, a feat that used to take most expansion teams decades to achieve.  I used to marvel at the Kansas City Royals feat of making it to the playoffs after 7 years of existence (or of course, the Mets winning it all after the same amount of time).





                  And the way we watch the game has changed; it used to be you'd have your local station; mine being WSBK TV in Boston, that would show most (but by no means all) of the games.  If you missed it, you'd have to wait until the local news or read it in the Boston Globe the next day.  If you wanted to know about other teams (especially National league ones, who you only saw during All Star games and the World series ), you'd have to wait until Saturday, when the show "This week in baseball", narrated by the great Mel Allen, would air.  Then you'd see the Dave Parkers and the Andre' Dawsons and the Rickey Henderson's and the Mike Schmidts; players you knew about mostly through your baseball collection.  Of course now, there's ESPN, Sports center and more recently "Baseball tonight".


     
      Then, a few years ago, a station emerged that I never would have thought possible 10 years ago;MLB network...a station ENTIRELY devoted to baseball.  I love it in the offseason the most, where trades, free agents and such can be discussed.  They also realize that the history of the game is just as important, so the winter months have lots of top 10 lists (actually, top 9;baseball, you know), season reviews, player docs and so on....they also show the Domincan leagues, Arizona fall leagues, and , this year, the World baseball classic, so I'll never need to go without baseball for long...yes, I need help...

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Free agent in the sky...

                       Well, it's been a few weeks, but I'm back. There were several topics I was going to discuss; One was the whole Marlins/Jays fiasco, but I figured that was pretty well covered by now.
I've also written about 95% of another piece, but I'm still researching on that one ( It's a secret ).  Then Marvin Miller died, so I thought maybe I could work with that.  As most of you know, Marvin Miller is famous for being the lawyer that challenged the reserve clause and paved the way for free agency...oh, and he also made Curt Flood a household name, he being the first player to refuse to report to camp because of being traded to Philly from the Cardinals.  Flood was a gold glove All Star, but also was well known for a slip-up in the outfield during the 1968 World series against Detroit, which led to the Tigers comeback and eventually victory.



                Free agency has been both good and bad; that players can make a living at it and not have to supplement their income like players of yesteryear did, you can see the good.  When you see a relatively O.K. player like Jason Werth receive a contract that would make Dave Winfield faint, you think, not so good.  Miller was an enemy to most of the owners back in the '70s as well as Commissioner Bowie Kuhn...but to the players, he was a godsend.  Of course, it's mostly the New Yorks, the Bostons, the Chicagos and L.A. s of the world that are benefiting from the bigger names.
The off season is more interesting with Free agency ( along with trades, that is ).  The biggest free agent out there now is Josh Hamilton, who is a risk because of health issues.  I think if the Red Sox get him, there should be a clause in his contract that he never brings up "Jesus" in an interview...although if he wants to talk about his drug filled past, that'd be O.K.


                   Miller hasn't made it to the Baseball Hall of fame yet, but when he does, some people won't be too happy about it; Bowie Kuhn was already dead, but some of the owners from back in the '70s who are still around are probably still reeling from it.  As for the players, every one of them should get down on their knees and pray to the this guy...when you think of all the mediocre players who make a million dollars, it's astounding;or, as Bob Uecker once said "If I played in this era, I'd be making a million dollars...how scary is that"?

Monday, November 12, 2012

Hey Rookie...

                               This week, both the MVP  and Rookie of the year for both leagues will be chosen; And although Miguel Cabrera will most likely win the AL MVP, there is a slight chance that it will go to the Angel's Mike Trout, which would be only the third time in baseball history that a rookie won the MVP.  The last time it was Ichiro in 2001, although he was in his late twenties when he won it, having played for years in Japan.  The first player to ever win an MVP as a rookie was the Red Sox Fred Lynn in 1975, putting up numbers that he would best four years later.  After he left the Sox, however, he became a sort of poor man's Harold Baines; solid, if unspectacular ( although, to be fair, Lynn was a much better fielder, whereas Baines was mostly a D.H. for his career).  My brother always thought he should have been the next Willie Mays, but what are ya gonna do?


                 As for Trout, he should have a great career ahead of him if he can avoid the injuries that plagued Lyn for most of his career.  It's too bad he didn't play on the Angels 12-15 years ago;that way he could have played next to Tim Salmon.  I myself am more of an ocean fish man, but anyway...
Trout's chances are slim because of Cabrera's triple crown year, so when Cabrera does win it, coupled with Buster Posey winning the NL MVP, we'll have both MVP's that played each other in that years World series.  The last time that happened was 1980, When Mike Schmidt's Phillies beat George Brett's Royals in baseball's first all astroturf series.  It used to be a lot more commonplace for that to happen, but all these divisional series kind of muddy things up a bit.



          I'm always fascinated with rookies who were mostly one year wonders.  A few leap to mind; the Royals Bob Hamelin in 1994, the Red Sox Walt Dropo in 1950, and of course there's Joe Charboneau in 1980.  The Cleveland Indians were their mediocre selves that year, but Charboneau gave the hometown fans something to root for, even inspiring a song called "Go Joe Charboneau" ( couldn't find the name of the band, for some reason).  After his rookie season where he batted .287 with 23 homers and 87 RBI's, he was never the same.  The next season he hurt his back and then went in and out of the minors for the next few years, becoming the only ROY to ever get sent to the minors the year after winning the award.


          Charboneau, like a lot of players from that era, was an eccentric; long before Dennis Rodman would do so, he dyed his hair different colors.  He also opened beer bottles with his eye socket and drank beer with a straw up his nose.  After his career ended, he did appear in the movie "The Natural", playing one of Roy Hobb's "teammates", although that would be his only time on film.  As for now, he's a hitting instructor for a parks and recreation team in Ohio.  Oh how the mighty have fallen...could be worse though;he could be Lenny Dykstra...

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Yeah, I get it, you used to catch Bob Gibson...now SHUT UP ALREADY!...

                       Herb Score was going to be the next Bob Feller; he was young, had amazing stuff and his future looked, as Elvis would say, "bright ahead". Then, during a game against the Yankees, the Cleveland Indians hurler had happen to him what most pitchers fear; a line drive to the face...the blow came off the bat of Gil MacDougal, who, to his credit, said he would retire if Score went blind from it.  Herb actually recovered his vision, but was a little gun shy for a while, and by the time he started to feel better, he hurt his arm.  He would never be the same pitcher and soon retired.
Instead of feeling sorry for himself and quitting the game he loved, he decided to become a broadcaster for the Indians.  It was a job he kept for 33 years. First in T.V., then in radio. After he had called games for a while, a younger athlete/broadcaster asked him for advice, and one of things he said to the young man was something to the effect of, "Don't talk about your playing days...you're an announcer now".  Oh, if only 80% of jocks- turned- broadcasters would take that same advice.


           Listen, I love watching the World series, playoffs, et all...but Joe Buck and Tim McCarver do their best to annoy the ever living shit out of me every time; I actually will go to a bar to watch the game just so I don't have to listen to them talk. 
Firstly, I'll get Joe Buck out of the way; he was not a pro athlete, but he is the son of one of the greatest announcers of all time; longtime Cardinal announcer Jack Buck ("I don't believe what I just saw", "Go crazy folks" and so on...)...Joe's Ken Doll looks and non stop pretentiousness are annoying to be sure, but the worst is when he goads McCarver into talking about his playing days with the Cardinals (there's a theme going on here....the fact the St. Louis has been in the series a lot lately isn't helping), and, more specifically, catching Bob Gibson.



               Bob Gibson was one of the most feared, intimidating and clutch pitchers of his era and McCarver was his catcher for a lot of his years with the Cardinals.  I never count, but I think McCarver brings his name up at least once a broadcast, even when the Cardinals AREN'T playing; when they are, forget about it.  Tim also tries to be clever with people's names and will say stuff like ..."to quote Willy Shakespeare, now is the hour of our discontent"...maybe trying to be as pretentious as Buck, but good ole boy it up a little.  Funny, because Bob Gibson was about as no nonsense as they come; McCarver was a good catcher to be sure, but it's his post playing days that I'm on a rant about...however...



           Believe it or not, McCarver is not the worst athlete-turned broadcaster. That honor goes to a man so bad, that when he was working for ESPN a few years ago (he has since retired from the booth, thank God), there was a website dedicated to his incompetence as an announcer.  The site was "firejoemorgan.com"...Yes, hall of famer Joe Morgan was maybe the worst baseball announcer ever; boring, arrogant, condescending...maybe these traits helped him become one of the greatest second basemen ever, who knows.  What I do know is that the man was torture to listen to.  For all of McCarver's hucksterisms, at least he seems to enjoy himself.  Joe Morgan looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world.  Actually, where he wanted to be is on the playing field circa 1976; the man was a fierce competitor who used his diminutive size to his advantage, winning back to back MVP in '75 and '76 for the fearsome "Big red machine" of Cincinnati...


           Morgan had a long, successful career as player; he didn't need to become a broadcaster, I don't think...Score had to, at least if he wanted to stay in the game in some capacity. I'm not saying that "little Joe" should have been hit in the face with a line drive to become a better announcer, but it wouldn't hurt...actually, it would actually REALLY hurt, physically, but you know what I mean.  With the salaries players make these days, I'm amazed anyone would do anything after their playing days.  I myself could retire on the money some of these players make in a year.   It's like that old Steve Martin joke about charging people 500 dollars a ticket so he'd make over a million dollars; "One show....goooodddbbyyee..."

Monday, October 29, 2012

Well, THAT was anti-climactic...

                               Well, it's over; another baseball season in the books.  Shame it had to end like it did, with a World series sweep.  The playoffs were something else (I know the Yankees got swept, but I enjoyed that).  I really thought the Tigers were gonna do it.  It's almost as if you can't win a series too early; 'cause if you do, the team you're going to face will have the adrenaline, which the Giants clearly had.  I always love watching the World Series, but Fox is making it harder and harder to enjoy...Tim McCarver and Joe Buck are like a couple of gnats at a campfire; relentlessly annoying.  Then there was that bizarre Taco Bell promotion called "steal a taco" ( I wouldn't give people who eat at Taco Bell any ideas, ha) where people can get a free taco because of that Angel Pagan steal in game one.  Great idea; remember when Oprah did the same with KFC a few years back?  That didn't end in riots at all...


                      The year had some big chokes as well; the Rangers running out of steam and then losing the one game playoff to the Orioles. The Yankees forgetting how to hit against Detroit, with some of their best players setting records for hitting futility.  The Cardinals had a similar problem against the Giants, but that didn't kick in until game 5. As for my team, the Red Sox, the less said about them, the better...


               I could guess about the awards this year; NL MVP should be Buster Posey and AL should be Miguel Cabrera.  If that happens, it'll be the first time the two league MVP's met in the World Series since 1980, when Mike Schmidt's Phillies beat George Brett's Royals.  Cy Young in the NL will hopefully be R.A. Dickey, 'cause it's a great story to boot.  AL should be Jared Weaver.  What ever happened to his brother, Jeff Weaver, anyway...sorry, off topic. Rookie in the AL will be Mike Trout, who could also win MVP; NL should be Bryce Harper, but there's more competition there.  Manager of the year in the AL should be Buck Showalter, although Bob Melvin should get some votes for what he did w/ the A's...NL MOTY should be Davey Johnson.


            The offseason in many ways is more interesting; all the trades, free agent signings, hirings, firings...but it's also sad.  I like football, but I don't start getting into it until December, really.  Basketball is now being played down the street from me (Barclays center...I'd need a free ticket to go see the Celtics) and Hockey's on strike, although no one seems to notice much.  I guess I have to give Selig a little bit of credit for avoiding a lockout; I get on him for a lot, but there hasn't been a work stoppage of any significance since 1994.  I'll keep writing the blog, of course; there's much to discuss, and remember, I started this in the off season in March, and I had no season to talk about yet.  This is the time when I will REALLY get esoteric...so, you know, stay tuned for that...

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

A (very brief) history lesson...

                                    Well, we finally know who is going to be in the World Series; The Detroit Tigers and the San Fransisco Giants.  It seems like 400 years ago, but the Tigers swept the Yankees in four games, although three of those were close.  Meanwhile, the Giants/ Cardinals series went the full seven in a series not as close as it would seem; the last two were major blowouts, and a couple other games weren't exactly nail biters.  So, in all, I think it will be a good series, although there is a problem: There is no history between the two teams.


                      Trust me, I didn't want to see St. Louis win the pennant any more than the casual fan, but at least I could have written about the 1934 match-up between Detroit and St. Louis' "Gashouse" gang, or their 1968 meeting with Bob Gibson striking out almost every one who came to the plate in game one.  The series that featured a great throw by Willie Horton (the ballplayer, not the murderer endorsed by Mike Dukakis), a stumble in the outfield by Curt Flood, and Detroit winning it all that year in the shadow of their city burning down just a year before.



                   No, I won't be able to talk about 2006, when a totally non deserving Cardinal team,( who barely got by the Mets, who had 2/5th of their starting rotation out for the NLCS ;if only Endy Chavez were 12 feet tall... he could have caught Yadier Molina's shot as well) met the Tigers for the series.  The Cards pretty much put Detroit away easily in 5...ANYWAY, suffice to say, the Tigers and Giants have never met in the World Series.  Not in New York, not in San Fransisco.  In fact, since the Giants made their move in 1958, they've only been in it five times (this being the 5th) and three of those are within the last ten years.  In that time span, Detroit has been in it four times, including now.


        
              There will be one thing that should be of note though; Both teams most likely have their leagues MVP (Cabrera for Detroit and Posey for the Giants), so no matter who wins, there will probably be an MVP on the team that wins it all...significant, because that hasn't happened in 24 years, when Kirk Gibson (undeservedly) won it for the World Champion Dodgers.  Cabrera won the triple crown this year, so he's a shoo-in; Posey should win it, but you never know.  It may not matter, because I think Detroit is going to win this series in six.  Verlander will set the tone in game one tomorrow...although, I've been known to be wrong...

Monday, October 15, 2012

It never happened before...

                                Wow, what a week. I never thought the whole Wild Card series this year would be so competitive. As you may know, this is the first time in the history of the Division series that all four series went the full five games. The A's took the Tigers to game five, thanks to Detroit's Jose Valverde doing his Calvin Schiraldi impression in game four.  Luckily for the Tigers, Verlander did his Verlander impression in game five, and that was the end of that. I was convinced that the Reds would meet the Tigers in the World Series, but alas, Cincinnati blew a 2-0 games lead against San Fransisco, which means that at least one out of the last three World Champions will be in the Series this year.


                Game five in the Bronx was fairly anti-climactic; Though the O's gave the Yanks a run for their money in the first four games, 290 lb C.C. Sabathia pretty much shut them down in the final game.  For my money, though, the most heartbreaking game five of all the division series was the Nationals/Cardinals.  Up by 6 runs early on, it looked like Washington was getting closer to their first pennant since the Washington Senators did it in 1933.  But then, Davey Johnson decided to do his Grady Little impersonation by leaving Gio Gonzalez in the game a little too long.  To be fair though, the bullpen couldn't hold the lead anyway...So as I sat there in Cherry Tavern in the East Village of New York ( of course with my Expos shirt on), watching the same franchise choke away the lead (while hanging out with some Montreal folk, to boot), I though to myself..."Not the Wild Card Cardinals...AGAIN...


        As of this writing, we are in the Championship series; Detroit won game one over the Yankees 6-4, despite blowing a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth , as Valverde (of course) let up 2 run homers to Ichiro, and Raul Ibanez (of course). And everyone will remember where they were the inning(12th) when Jeter fractured his ankle, and was out for the rest of the postseason.  I was in the other room, but thanks to 7,029 replays of the injury, I'm all too familiar with it.  Tigers won game 2, thanks to a truly terrible call involving Omar Infante straying a little too far off of 2nd, and Nick Swisher gunning him down;But was called safe, as the Tigers took advantage off the situation and won game two.  Verlander goes game three in Detroit up 2-0, so it might be the end for New York, but you never know.


             First game of the NLCS saw the Cardinals jump all over Madison Bumgarner, plating six runs and knocking him out in the fourth inning.  Lincecum came on in relief, and the Giants came back, but it wasn't enough; the Cardinals took game one 6-4.  Not sure using Lincecum in relief is the best idea, but he doesn't seem to mind, so why should we. Game two is tonight, but if  St. Louis continues it's hot hitting, and Detroit just, you know, continues;We're gonna have a Tigers /Cardinals World Series, just like 2006...and 1968...and 1934...and we know how THOSE turned out...well, I do at least...

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Now that this one game Wild Card nonsense is over...

                         Well, now that this one game wild card nonsense is over and done with, we can get on with the playoffs as they were intended; three division winners and a wild card...well, actually, that's only been since 1995.  Before then, it was two division winners in each league; that was from 1969-1993 (no World series in 1994, because of overall douche-iness...killed the Montreal franchise..), and before that...well, let's just say, if you won a playoff round, you won the whole thing.  That's how it was since like the World series started in 1903, when the Boston Americans (Red Sox) beat the Pittsburgh Pirates.  There was no series in 1904, because John Mcgraw was being a crybaby, but starting again in 1905 and going til 1968, that's the way it was.


                I know why Selig (last name only) does this; more revenue, of course, but it still reeked of the kind of desperation that only he can muster...  .  Now the games themselves weren't bad; the Braves/Cardinals game was close, and had that controversial infield fly rule play that actually happened in shallow left field, but anyway...then the Rangers continued their late season swoon by losing to the Orioles 5-1, showing to the world once again, that Joe Nathan is one of the best relievers in baseball...until the playoffs start. It was odd that both away teams one, I guess, but it's happened before, I'm sure...oh wait, this is the first one of these...never mind...


                 So, as for the match-ups for the post season and their history together, we have in the AL the Tigers v.s the A's, who played each other in the ALCS in 1972. Oakland won in 5 games and Reggie Jackson pulling a hammy sliding home, making him ineligible for the series, which Oakland won in 7 over the Reds.  Fast forward 34 years to 2006, when the Detroit swept Oakland in 4 games, which ended with Magglio Ordonez hitting a walk off homer to seal the deal.



             Then there's the Yankees v.s Baltimore.  They faced each other in the post season once, in the  1996 ALCS.  That was the series with the bullshit Jeter homer that a fan (who I believe played in the minors recently for someone) caught clearly in fair play...although, in the kid's defense, it WAS a good catch.  The series was won by New York 4-1.


        In the NL, it's the Nationals v.s the Cardinals.  Now, since this is the Nationals first year making the playoffs, other than 1981, when they were the Montreal Expos (who lost to the Dodgers in a heartbreaking 5 game NLCS), there is no playoff history here...although, I will say for the record, I am sick of the Cardinals, and want them to lose.  No bad blood, just sick of 'em...which leads us to...


        The Reds v.s the Giants: Also two teams who have never faced each other in the post season, mostly because when division playoffs started, they were always together in the N.L. West.  Closest they came was in 2010, when the Reds got no hit by the Phillies Roy Halladay, and eventually lost to Philly, who then lost to San Fransisco.  Now, as far as World series scenarios go, here's the deal:


              Well, the Nationals are out.  They, along with the Seattle Mariners are the only two teams left to have never won a pennant.  And since they have played in the World series a million times (actually, 40), we can start with the New York Yankees, who are 5-2 against the Giants (4-2 against the New York Giants, and 1-0 against San Fran), 2-3 against the Cardinals ( the only NL team that has a winning record against them in world series play, not counting teams they've only played once), and 2-1 against the Reds.

        Keeping in the AL for now, the A's are 2-2 against the Giants (all but one a Philly-New York match-up),1-1 against the Cardinals, and 1-1 against the Reds. The Tigers are 1-2 against the Cards and 0-1 against the Reds.  Then the Orioles are 0-1 against the Cardinals (back when Baltimore was the St. Louis Browns) and 1-0 against the Reds.

      And although I'm repeating myself, I might as well finish...the NL goes like this: The Giants are 2-5 against the Yanks, 1-2 against the A's, the Reds are 1-2 against the Yanks, 1-1 against the A's, and 1-0 against the Tigers. And finally, the Cards are 3-2 against the Yanks, 1-1 against the A's (both when they were in Philly), 1-2 against Detroit, and 1-0 against the St Louis Browns, who, as I mentioned, used to be the Orioles.


     So there...I promise not to be so numbery next time...just was fascinated by it, especially The Cards series record against the Yanks...actually, I withdraw my objection to them not making the series; hey, if it means beating the Yankees, I'm all for it.  Just another part of being a disgruntled Red Sox fan coming off their worst season in my lifetime...anyway, I hope the match-ups are good, and there are no sweeps.  I guess that's all someone like me can root for at this point...  

    
            

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Miggy chases Yaz

                          O.K. everyone, I'm going to delay the rest of my series on managers as players for now so we can focus on Miguel Cabrera  and his pursuit of the triple crown.  As it stands now, he is tied for homers with Josh Hamilton (44), and has a safe lead in both average (.329) and RBI's (137). The Tigers have clinched their division, so the pressure's off in that regard, so now all he has to do is keep pace with Hamilton, and we'll have the first triple crown winner in my life...which brings me to Yaz...


                 As pretty much every baseball fan knows, Carl Yazstremski was the last player to win the batting triple crown (not to be confused with the pitching version, which has been done more recently...like, last year, with Cabrera's teammate, Justin Verlander).  But , unlike Miguel, Yaz did it during a pennant race between four teams (one of them being the Tigers, ironically...or maybe just a coincidence), and also unlike Cabrera, Yaz basically carried the Red Sox on his shoulders.


           Of course, as I mentioned before, I wasn't alive when Yaz did this; I got to see him play later...mostly because he played for like 40 years...but hearing what he did from my dad and brothers, it was like the messiah had come back from the dead.  We had a cat named Yaz.  There was "Yaz" bread...there was a record that I still have somewhere called "The impossible dream",( featuring the local hit, "Carl Yazstremski", by Jess Cain) which chronicled the 1967 Red Sox season, and how they took the St Louis Cardinals, a team they had no business being competitive with, to 7 games. 


                  And like the Tigers with Verlander, the Sox had a Cy Young worthy ace in Jim Longborg, who enjoyed by far his best season, winning 23 games.  The Sox also had a lot of young talent in George Scott, Reggie Smith and Rico Petrocelli...good players, but maybe not quite so fearsome at the plate as say, Prince Fielder, Austin Jackson or Delmon Young (well, not yet, anyway...Rico's best year was 1969, when he hit 40 homers as a shortstop and both Scott and Smith went on to have solid careers...and George could outfield Prince at first any day...)


                So, I hope Cabrera does get the triple crown.  One thing I would also like to see, however,  is Miggy and Hamilton tied for homers at the end of the season with 44, just like Yaz and Harmon Killebrew were in 1967.  I also hope the Tigers go far this year; with the confusing-as-hell playoff format this year, it's good to know at least ONE team that's in it and knows where they'll be this weekend...yeah, more on this Wild Card nonsense in a few day....for now, ciao... ( btw, as we all know now, he did get the triple crown...congrats!)

Monday, September 24, 2012

Sure, they can manage, but were they players?...Part Three: The AL West.

              Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
 
 
 
 
            Scioscia spent his entire 13 year playing career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. A two time All Star, Scioscia was known as a consistent catcher who called a good game and was trusted by his pitchers.  He caught Fernando Valenzuela's no hitter in 1990 and was behind the plate when Orel Hershiser broke Don Drysdale's consecutive scoreless innings record. If you asked him, he would probably say his greatest achievement was winning the World series in 1981 and 1988. However, if you ask me, his greatest achievement was actually being the only Major leaguer to appear on "The Simpson's" twice, in 1992 and 2011 (The only other player turned manager to be on the show was Don Mattingly).
 
 
 
Eric Wedge, Seattle Mariners
 
 
 
            Wedge came up in the Red Sox system as a catcher and played very little for Boston in the early '90s. Then he played one year for the Colorado Rockies and ended up back in Boston. Absolutely an undistinguished playing career.  However, he did become a good manager, winning the AL manager of the year award in 2007 for the job he did for the Cleveland Indians. I mention this mostly because it's almost the same as the next manager on the list...
 
 
 
 
Bob Melvin, Oakland Athletics
 
 
 
 
                    While Wedge was winning the AL Manager of the year award in 2007, Melvin was winning the NL manager of the year award for the Arizona Diamondbacks the same year. As a player, Melvin was mostly a back up catcher (again, another catcher) who did hit 11 homers in 1987 for the Giants.  He was the back-up for Bob Brenly ...although, it should be noted, he only hit .199 that year. It turns out being a mediocre catcher for mostly sub par teams is an excellent pedigree for being a good future manger.
 
 
 
Ron Washington, Texas Rangers
 
 
 
 
              The catcher streak is broken with Ron Washington, who was mostly a back up second baseman and shortstop in the '80s, mostly for the Twins. In 1982, he had 451 at bats, hit 5 homers and drove in 39.  That would be his peak. His playing time decreased over the years, until he was traded in 1986, just in time for the Twins to start their World series run the next year. Oh well, he's managed the past two AL pennant winners, and unlike the previous two mangers, I actually remember owning his baseball card...that's something, right?
 
    
 
 
 


Saturday, September 15, 2012

Sure, they can manage, but were they players?...Part Two: The AL Central

                       So, now on to the AL Central, an eclectic bunch to say the least...well, as far as baseball managers go, that is.  We have the first appearance of a legitimately good player...hell, let's start off with him then, shall we? 
 
 
 
Robin Ventura, Chicago White Sox
 
 
 
                   Ventura, a three time gold glove first baseman and two time All Star, put up some pretty impressive numbers in his career, which was spent mostly with the WhiteSox and the Mets.  Other than his steady fielding and dependable hitting, he's known for two things; for  a walk-off, would be Grand slam in a 1999 NLCS playoff game against the Diamondbacks.  I say "would be", because because the Mets only needed one run for the win, and his teammates tackled him before he got to second, so it was ruled a single.  The other was several years earlier as a member of the White Sox, when he was plunked by a Nolan Ryan pitch, and decided to charge the mound.  Big Mistake, and Ventura knew it about two steps in . The next 30 seconds featured a middle aged Ryan punching the top of Robin's head. 
 
 
 
Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers
 
 
 
                    Although he has led two separate teams to pennants; the 1997 Marlins ( World Championship) and the 2006 Tigers, Leyland never actually played in the Majors, although he does get extra points for looking like Captain Beefheart's younger brother...
 
 
 
 
Ron Gardenhire, Minnesota Twins
 
 
                 Gardenhire  was an infielder for the New York Mets for the years previous to their would-be dynasty of 85-88.  He was decent enough for those early '80s teams, but, alas, he was let go before the  good times started.  As for his Twins, they've gone back and forth between good and bad, lately...maybe he can be a delayed Buck Showalter, and leave the team just before they win it all for the first time since 1991...just kidding, Ron...you're great...
 
 
 
 
Manny Acta, Cleveland Indians
 
 
                     Another manager who never made it to the bigs, lingering in the Astros farm system for a half dozen years.  He was managing the Washington Nationals for a few years 'til he was fired and then hired by the Indians.  The Nationals are headed to the playoffs, while the Indians...well let's hope they keep their high draft picks, and hey, at least they're not the Royals.
 
 
 
            Ned Yost, Kansas City Royals
 
 
               When I was doing research, I was assuming New Yost was somehow a relative to "Eddie Yost", who played mostly for the Senators in the '40s and '50s , and was nicknamed "the walking man", because he led the AL in walks six times.  I knew him mostly as the third base coach for the Red Sox in the late '70s, early '80s.  Turns out, Ned's not related.  He was just a nondescript catcher who played for the Brewers, Expos and Rangers in the '80s...I have his Brewers card somewhere...oh well... 
 
 
 
            So that's the AL central.  Next post will be, of course, The AL West...see you then...

                 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Sure, they can manage...but were they players?...Part One: The AL East

                         When you see a manager get tossed out of a game, or go to the mound to talk to his pitcher, do you ever wonder "how good was this guy as a player"...or moreover, "did he ever play in the bigs at all?...Now some of them are obvious to anyone who has watched baseball for at least 20 years or so.  Others?...well ...that's what I'm here to write about.  I'm trying to do this as quickly as possible, as this is the time of year that managers get canned (Don't worry, Bobby V, you're safe for now). I 'm going to put this into six parts; one for each division, that way I don't have to cram all the information into one blog entry.  I'll also put them out every other day, so as to make sure, as I said before, these guys are still managing. So anyway, here it is, the list of managers as players Part one; The AL East:



Bobby Valentine, Boston Red Sox
 
 
 
                   Bobby V was actually a pretty decent player, coming up with the Dodgers in the early '70s, starting in the infield for almost a full season in 1972.  In 1973, he was batting .302, before suffering an injury that would make him a part time player for the rest of his career.  Truth be told, as a player, he was most famous for being part of that 3 team deal, later dubbed the "Saturday night massacre", that sent him to the Mets, Dave Kingman to the Padres and Tom Seaver to the Reds.  Hang in there Bobby, at least until I publish this in the morning.
 
 
Joe Girardi, New York Yankees
 
 
                Chicago native Joe Girardi came up with the hometown team in the late '80s, but it wasn't until he was traded by the Rockies to the Yankees in the mid '90s where he made his mark.  As the starting catcher for the 1996 and 1998 championship squads (eventually losing his job to the better hitting Jorge Posada), Joe also caught Dwight Gooden's no hitter in 1996, and David Cone's perfect game in 1999.  After getting his third ring that year, he went back to the Cubs and earned his one All Star appearance in 2000.  Lord knows where his midwest accent went...
 
 
 
Buck Showalter, Baltimore Orioles
 
              Buck never made it to the majors, mostly because he was a first baseman in the Yankees system during the Don Mattingly years.  In the minors, he got the nickname "Buck", because apparently,  he like to walk around the locker room buck naked. Good luck getting that visual out of your head...
 
 
 
 
Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay Rays
 
 
                 Maddon also never played in the majors, and, unlike Showalter, who at least made it to AAA, never made it past "A" ball as a catcher.  People are willing to overlook this for a guy who keeps his team in contention, despite having a payroll that is smaller than the left side of the Yankees infield (A-Rod and Jeter, though I am exaggerating but only a little).  Plus, he's a pitchman for something on T.V.  Must not be that effective...can't remember what for...
 
 
 
John Farrel, Toronto Blue Jays
 
 
              Farrell was a pitcher for the Indians and later the Angels, who had a rather mediocre 36-46 lifetime record.  However, he did go 14-10 with a 4.24 ERA in 1988, and 9-14 with a 3.63 ERA in 1989.  Those don't sound like impressive numbers, until you realize how bad those Cleveland teams were.  Trust me, the Albert Belle, Omar Visquel and Manny Ramirez years were waaaayyy far in the future...as was Jacobs field.  Must of sucked being on those bad Indian teams in the '80s, AND have to play in the "mistake by the lake" known as Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
 
 
           So there you have it, the AL East.Coming Wednesday, the AL central...see ya then...
 
 
 


 


Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Billy Martin's brownshirts meet the St. Louis Browns...

                                              The Baltimore Orioles, who begat the New York Highlanders, who begat the New York Yankees...wait, what? That's right, the franchise that we now know as the Yankees, actually started life as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901, then moved to New York the following season.  As for the franchise that is NOW known as the Baltimore Orioles, well, they of course also started in 1901...as the Milwaukee Brewers, who are not to be confused with the current Brewers, who started life in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots...baseball is confusing...but before the original Brewers became the Orioles, they spent 50 years as the St. Louis Browns, and that's where our story begins...sort of...


                                   In their 52 year existence, The St. Louis Browns produced only 8 winning seasons.  The most notable player they had by far was Hall of Famer, George Sisler, who had set the major league records for hits in a season in 1920 with 257; a record that stood for 84 years, before being broken by the Seattle Mainers' Ichiro Suzuki. Sisler still however holds the record for highest batting average with more than 600 bats in a season that year (.407), and had an even better year in 1922, when he hit .420, while leading the league in 4 other categories.  That year also marked one of the Browns best, as they were barely beaten out by the Yankees (of course) for the AL pennant. In fact, the only pennant the Browns ever won, was in 1944, a year people called a fluke because of all the players in the majors still fighting in the war. In the series they would lose in 6 games to the team they shared Sportsman park with, the St. Louis Cardinals.


                     The next year, 1945, would be their last winning one, and was memorable mostly because of Pete Gray, a one armed outfielder that played half a season for them.  After that, it was pretty much downhill.  The country was expanding, and the need for 2 teams in St. Louis was becoming more and more superfluous.  Bill Veeck bought the team in 1950, after he had helped the Cleveland Indians be the first AL team to break the color barrier in 1947 with first Larry Doby and then a 42 year old rookie named Satchel Paige the next year.  Cleveland won it all that year, so Veeck decided to go to to less greener pastures in 1950, becoming the owner of the Browns.  The most significant moment during the Veeck Brown years is when he hired a midget named Eddie Gaedel to pinch hit in a game against the Tigers.


                  By 1953, the jig was up, and the Browns moved to Baltimore.  Success eluded the Orioles for the first ten years or so...meanwhile, the original Orioles, AKA, the Yankees, became the greatest team of all time, winning pennant after pennant, until the mid '60's, that is.  Then the Orioles started to make their mark; first with a World championship in 1966, then 3 straight pennants from 69-71.  The manager for the latter three was the legendary Earl Weaver.  Of course, there were Hall of famers on these squads, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson ( no relation) and Jim Palmer. Weaver fielded strong teams throughout the '70s, never finishing below 3rd place during the decade, as his "pitching, defense , and the 3 run homer" strategy proved most effective.  As for the Yankees, it wouldn't be until 1976 before they won another pennant.  That team, managed by Billy Martin was called
'Billy Martin's brownshirts", by the Red Sox Bill Lee, in reference to the attire that certain employees of Adolf Hitler used to don.


               After the Yankees won pennants in 76, 77 and 78, the Orioles then captured it in 1979, and won it all in 1983.  This was near the beginning of the Bronx Bombers biggest playoff drought, which lasted from 82-94 (not counting the years before they won their first pennant in 1921).  Baltimore also slid into mediocrity soon after 83, ...both teams, however would actually meet in the playoffs for the first time in 1996, thanks to the new Wild card format.  The evil empire would go on to success for the next decade and a half, while the Orioles were lucky most years to stay out of last place.  That is , until now.  As of this writing, the Orioles are only 2 games behind the Yankees in the standings for the AL east...hell, even if they can't catch New York, they'll probably qualify for the playoffs anyway.  It'll be just like 1970's all over again, but instead of  Billy Martin and Earl Weaver, it's Joe Girardi and Buck Showalter...which is good news for the Orioles;  the last 2  of the last 3 teams Showalter managed won everything the year after the team fired him ( the aforementioned 96 Yankees, and the 2001 Diamondabacks), so no matter how far the O's make it this year, one thing is certain; Buck better watch his back...


                  

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Gimme some skin, my brother

                                                  Late in the 1977 season, the Dodger's Dusty Baker hit his 30th home run of the season. When he  returned to the dugout, he was greeted by part-time outfielder Glenn Burke, who, instead of extending his right hand to shake, as was tradition, decided to turn both his hands upward. Baker then responded  by simply slapping them.  This my friends, was the first ever "high five", a gesture that is so commonplace in sports today, that no one even notices it anymore.  That it was a relatively unknown player like Burke who invented this trend is not that noteworthy.  The fact that Burke was gay, however, is...

                    
                       Of course, back then, no one knew he was gay;  he didn't come out until  two years after his playing days were over.  During his brief career, a few players knew of his lifestyle choice, as did members of the Dodger's front office. The fans, however, remained blissfully ignorant.  Although, if Glenn's lover, sportswriter Michael J.Smith had his way, it would have been public knowledge.  Smith had pleaded with Burke to come out during the 1977 World Series against the Yankees.  Something tells me that if he had, Reggie's three home run performance in game 6 wouldn't have been the only thing people were talking about.  Glenn thought better of it and kept his secret, even when the Dodger higher ups decided to trade him the next year to Oakland ( basically for not keeping things on the "down low" ), for an older player with almost identical stats, Billy North.



                    Only one other Major League baseball player has come out since, that being journeyman  outfielder Billy Bean ( not to be confused with the current A's GM), but since then, nothing.  Only one NBA player, John Amaechi, has come out, also well after his playing days were over, and wrote a book about the experience entitled "Man in the middle".  Surprisingly, there are three NFL players who have later admitted to being gay; Esae Tualo, Roy Simmons and Dave Kopay. Although Burke is seen in hindsight as a pioneer of sorts, his life was a sad one.  After baseball, he slipped into drug addiction and eventually died of AIDS in 1995, the same year his autobiography "Out at home" was published.



               So the next time you see an athlete congratulate another with a high five, remember where it came from.  Maybe it will enlighten some of the more homophobic sports fans.  You know, the same people who don't see the irony of singing along to Queen's "We will rock you/We are the champions" every time their team wins.  Freddy Mercury's anthem of triumph has been used for years to celebrate victories in almost every sport, and Freddy couldn't have been more gay if he tried.  So, the moral here is, don't judge a, uhhhhh....don't be like....ummmm...well, don't judge, I guess.  That person next to you at work or competing against you  may be gay, but that fact won't keep him or her from achieving greatness or from being an innovator who comes up  with something that people use everyday...like say  the "high five"...

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Your favorite player...

                                      Who was your favorite player growing up?  It's kind of a strange question, because first of all, we need to define what exactly the "growing up" years are.  So to make it easier, let's just say from the ages of 6 to 12.  You may have liked baseball before 6, but you probably didn't understand it enough to make an informed decision. And after the age of 12, you're a teenager and therefore subject to being kind of a cynical douchebag from time to time (although I know a lot of pre and post -teen douchebags as well, but I digress...).  Also, you may remember your favorite player from those days as being someone who actually wasn't your favorite at the time, but you tell everyone that they were just to be cool.  For example, when Dan Epstein, author of the amazing book "Big hair and plastic grass" autographed his book for me a few months ago, he asked me that very question, and I said "Bill Lee".  Now he's my favorite player from the late 70's Red Sox teams, but he wasn't when I was actually watching them then.  He was a pitcher, and I liked hitting...especially guys who hit "taters".  Therefore my fave was first baseman George "the boomer" Scott.


                    Scott started his career actually a few years before I was born, debuting in 1966 and was a part of the 1967 "impossible dream" team that saw them get to within one game of winning it all (Damn you Bob Gibson!).  After 2 solid years with the bat, he had an atrocious year hitting in 1968.  He bounced back slightly in the next few years only to be traded to the Brewers in 1972, where he ( of course) had his best offensive seasons, leading the league in homers and RBI's in 1975.  One thing he never slumped at, though, was his fielding. For a big man, he was quite agile, winning 8 gold gloves in his career.  He returned to the Sox in 1977 and his 33 homers , or "taters", as he liked to call them, were part of the teams 213 that year.  At the time, getting the boomer back to Beantown seemed like a good move.After all, they only had to trade under performing Cecil Cooper to get him.  Needless to say, Cooper went on to a borderline Hall of fame career...oh well. 


               I think the thing I dug about the Boomer the most was his wild batting swing;  He would take a ferocious cut every time, pulling his right hand off the bat after he swung.  I emulated that style in little league, and first time up, I hit a home run ( I'm sorry, a tater)...the last one I ever hit in little league.  He also wore a batting helmet at first base and regularly sported a necklace that he claimed was made of "second baseman's teeth".  Growing up dirt poor in Mississippi with only a third grade education, George was as unpretentious as they come. Before a spring training game against the Orioles in the early '70s, the boomer was taking batting practice.  Around the cage watching him were Frank Robinson, Elrod Hendricks and Paul Blair who were discussing the current events of the day, specifically, the plight of Biafra.  When one of them asked, "hey George, what do you think of Biafra"? he replied, "I never faced the muddafucka, but third time up, I'll hit a tater off him".  The fact that he just assumed Biafra was a pitcher is hilarious, and pretty awesome.  The man breathed, ate and slept baseball..Unfortunately, he also ate a lot of other things.


                 Weight was always a problem for him, even at a young age.  Dick Williams, manager from the '67 season always got on his case for it, and he would try all sorts of crash diets.  By the time he returned in 1977, he was pretty heavy, but because he had an All Star season that year, nobody griped.  In 1978, however, he was noticeably out of shape.  He later lamented about not switching to a lighter bat like  Sox manager Don Zimmer told him to.  Alas, the boomer was traded to the Kansas city Royals midway through the 1979 season for something called a "Tom Poquette".  He played for them for only a month or so and  then was  picked up by the Yankees to finish off his final season in baseball.  That topps 1980 card with the boomer wearing a Yankees cap is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen.  Imagine Donnie baseball wearing a Sox cap, Yankees fans...yes, that bad.  In later years, he managed  Boston's A ball team, the Lowell Spinners for a bit, and his grandson plays for the Pacific coast league, so he's still involved in the game in one way or another...anyway, that's was my favorite player "growing up"...who was yours...?

Monday, August 13, 2012

Coincidence? Probably...

                                      No one loves a pointless conspiracy theory more than me, so I've decided to create one, though it's hardly a conspiracy and barely a theory...It's just that I've noticed a lot of clapping at ball games over the past ten years or so.  I don't mean like regular, "Oh he made a good play" or "yeah, my team scored" type clapping.  I'm speaking specifically of the two clap, pause, three quicker clap variety, or clap-clap, clapclapclap, which usually follows the words "Let's go Red Sox" or "Let's go Yankees".  But of course I would hear these;  I grew up in Boston and now live in New York.  There are other times I'd hear the simple three word chant , "Let's go Mets!", in  which the claps came on each word.  However, I do watch a lot of games from different teams, so I tried to make a list of these "two syllable" teams and how successful  they've been in recent years...the results are a little mind blowing.


                     Take the 2011 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.  Now technically, they're a three syllable team, but their name can easily fit into a two syllable context, therefore they can fit into a "five clap" chant, ie: "Let's go Cardinals", (Clap, clap, clapclapclap ). Let's call them a 2 and 1/2 syllable team.  And going back through the years, it looks like this:

Let's Go....

2011- Card-inals (Clap, clap, clapclapclap)
2010- Gi-ants
2009- Yank-ees
2008- Phil-lies
2007- Red -Sox
2006- Card-inals
2005- White-Sox
2004- Red- Sox
2003- Mar-lins
2002- Ang-els
2001- D'Backs (I cheated a little here, but most people call
them the D'Backs anyway...)
2000-Yank-ees
1999-Yank-ees
1998-Yank-ees
1997-Mar-lins
1996-Yank-ees

...and then the 1995 Braves break the string...a string of sixteen years of 2 syllable teams.  The longest such streak ever.  Before then, there's a little bit of back and forth;  1994 was a strike year, the Blue-Jays winning back to back titles in 92 and 93, which was preceded by three 1 syllable teams in a row ( It would have been six, but the A' lost to the Dodgers in a series they should have won blindfolded in 1988 ), the 1991 Twins, the 1990 Reds and the 1989 A's.  Before the Dodgers' surprise series title in '88, there were the mono syllabic '87 Twins and '86 Mets, which broke up a nine year run by dual syllable teams; 85 Royals, 84 Tigers, 83 Orioles (another one of those 2 /12 syllable teams...maybe it's a bird thing) 82 Cardinals(ditto), '81 Dodgers, 80 Phillies, 79 Pirates, 77- 78  Yankees.  The longest streak by one syllable teams came right before that run...75-76 Reds and the 72-74 A's.

            Every championship team in the '60s had 5 clap names except the '69 Mets.  In fact, the second longest streak by the dual sylls run from 1958-1968...of course the team who predated this streak was the '57 Braves (then in Milwaukee), who broke up an 8 year dual syll run that started in 1949.  The team that preceded that run is one of the only legitimate three syllable teams, the Indians.  Sure, I could go back even further, but I've made my point...whatever the hell THAT point was is up for debate.  I think I was just taken aback by the most recent run of  5 clap-worthy teams.  As for this year, the Rangers are looking good, as are a few other teams.  But of course, now that I've written this, the three syllable Nationals have the best record in baseball, and will probably mess the current streak up and win it all, just like a certain other team from Washington named the Senators had their only championship in 1924 land smack dab in the middle of an almost decade long run of 2 syllable dominance.  Somewhere, the Mariners are saying "what about us"?...