July 13, 2006

The Rumor Mill

Let’s call it the wild rumor of the week. I’m hesitant to give it any credence, but it’s certainly worth noting at the least—and worth discussing at the most. According to an internet report, the Cubs and Yankees have talked about a blockbuster centered on Alex Rodriguez. In exchange for A-Rod, who just can’t seem to do enough to please the New York faithful, the Yankees would receive a package that includes unhappy third baseman Aramis Ramirez and left-handed hitting outfielder Jacque Jones. Now that might be just a Windy City starting point, but the Cubs would probably have to surrender Carlos Zambrano in order for the Yankees to even consider trading Rodriguez. And on a team where the pitching futures of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood are exceedingly murky, that’s just not going to happen…

On a more realistic front, the Yankees have begun to shop 2006 disappointment Shawn Chacon. If Chacon were merely struggling on the mound, the Yankees might be willing to exhibit more patience, but the right-hander’s continuing complaints about the way he’s been handled by Joe Torre have him on the road to a Ruben Sierra-like parting of the ways. The Yankees have already talked to the Mariners about a Chacon-for-Joel Pineiro deal, which makes some sense as a change-of-scenery transaction. In the meantime, some scouts wonder whether Chacon might benefit from moving back to the bullpen, where he can emphasize his two best pitches, his change-up and curveball…

As they continue to stumble since the Jason Grimsley revelations, the Diamondbacks remain in contention in the mediocre National League West. There’s some debate within the organization about whether to trade Shawn Green and promote top prospect Carlos Quentin to the right field locale at Chase Field; some feel that the team’s struggles mandate change, while others question the wisdom of counting on a younger player in a pennant race. Well, the point may be moot. Green may be nearly impossible to trade, though, since he has a limited no-trade clause that allows him to veto trades to anyone other than the Angels, Dodgers, and Padres. (Gee, do you think he likes southern California?) Two teams that have interest in Green, the Tigers and Yankees, are not on his preferred list. Given recent history, players with no-trade clauses don’t usually give in to such trades, even if their former teams provide them with financial incentives.

With the trading deadline approaching and the Phillies firmly entrenched as a non-contender, there is plenty of talk that GM Pat Gillick will begin to dismantle his team. As expected, the Phillies will use their outfield depth from which to trade, which means that either Pat Burrell or Bobby Abreu will be dealt by the 31st. The Phillies will also trade either Aaron Rowand or David Dellucci in a continuing quest to get younger and improve the pitching. Speaking of pitchers, former ace Jon Lieber is also on the block, with the Yankees mentioned among his potential destinations…

The Angels’ front office appears to have awakened from its season-long slumber. First, GM Bill Stoneman did the right thing by designating the perennially overrated Jeff Weaver for assignment, thereby making room on the roster for his far more deserving brother, Jered. (Jeff Weaver has now become the problem of the Cardinals, who are desperately hoping that the leaner lineups of the National League will better suit the sidewinding right-hander.) And now the Angels appear to be closing in on at least one major deal that will bring them the much-needed thumper they need to boost their offense and make a charge in a very lackluster American League West. Stoneman has engaged the Orioles in some serious talks regarding Miguel Tejada, whose defensive play has regressed this season and whose attitude is almost certain to make him an ex-Oriole by the start of the 2007 season. As far as Baltimore’s front office is concerned, the last straw has been Tejada’s frequent lateness in arriving to the ballpark on gamedays, which prompted a meeting between Tejada and Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo. Meetings aside, the Orioles don’t seem to think that Tejada will change his attitude—including the chronic lateness and the repeated failures to run out ground balls and pop-ups. So what will the Angels offer for the disenchanted and disinterested Tejada? They will almost certainly have to surrender two young players from a group that includes Casey Kotchman, Dallas McPherson, and Kendry Morales. (The Orioles don’t appear interested in second baseman Howie Kendrick, if only because Brian Roberts has made a wonderful return from the terrifying elbow injury he suffered last year.) The Angels might also like to dump veteran shortstop Orlando Cabrera in the Tejada swap, but could also keep the former postseason hero at shortstop if they feel that Tejada’s defensive decline hasn’t been exaggerated by scouts. In that case, the Angels would keep Cabrera at shortstop and slide Tejada over to third base…

If the Angels fail to pull off a Tejada blockbuster, they might aggressively pursue Washington’s Alfonso Soriano, who could replace the fading Garret Anderson in left field.

The Angels have also talked trade in other areas, including a possible swap with the White Sox involving Chone Figgins. Dissatisfied with their center field options, the Sox have set their sights on Figgins as target No. 1. The switch-hitting speedster, who has split his time between the outfield and third base in Southern California, would become the White Sox’ everyday center fielder and No. 2 hitter behind Scott Podsednik, giving Chicago a throwback “Go Go” appearance (think Luis Aparicio and Jim Landis, who combined for 76 steals in 1959) and providing aggressive manager Ozzie Guillen with two of the AL’s best basestealers at the top of his lineup. Although Figgins has become one of Mike Scioscia’s most valuable players, Stoneman might be willing to deal him for a package that includes Brandon McCarthy and/or 2006 disappointment Brian Anderson.

Red In The Face Over Redman

The inane selection of Mark Redman to the American League All-Star team may have sounded the death knell for one of baseball’s most outdated rules. Ozzie Guillen’s decision to include Redman—and his 5.56 ERA—on the AL roster has become such an embarrassment that Major League Baseball may do away with the stipulation that each team has to be represented in the All-Star Game.

The choice of Redman has put the journeyman pitcher in the sheepish position of having to defend his dubious presence at the All-Star break, while also bringing into question the reasoning of Guillen. (The most rational theory has Guillen picking Redman because he used to be a coach with the Marlins at the same time that the veteran left-hander was pitching for Florida. If that’s the case, Guillen’s criteria for the All-Star Game deserve further ridicule.) At the same time, Redman becomes a kind of laughingstock, held up in stark contrast to talented pitchers like Mike Mussina and rookie Francisco Liriano, two All-Star Game rejects who have posted far better numbers than the Royals’ southpaw.

MLB has used this rule for years, so that every team’s fans would have special incentive to watch their hometown players on the nationally televised All-Star Game. But are there really a significant number of Royals fans who will watch the game only because of the motivation to see Redman pitch? This much is certain: hardly anyone attending the game at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park will care whether Redman, a former member of the Pirates’ rotation, makes an appearance in the Midsummer Classic.

In a different time, the rule made far some sense. Prior to the expansion era, both the American and National leagues featured eight teams apiece. In most cases, a star player could legitimately be found from each of the teams, making it sensible for the major leagues to want each of the 16 clubs represented on a 25-man or 28-man roster in the mid-season showcase. Now, with 14 teams in the American League and 16 in the National League, it becomes more difficult to find representative players from all 30 teams—including the worst clubs—that can easily fit onto the current 32-man All-Star roster. Furthermore, when a team has played as poorly as the Royals have in 2006, it may be that they simply have no individual player deserving of the honor. And that is certainly the case with the last-place Royals, the latest team to give the 1962 Mets a run for their ineptitude and a club that doesn’t have either an established veteran star or even a first-half flash-in-the-pan anywhere in sight.

That said, I do think an exception should be made for the team that is hosting the All-Star Game. If this year’s game were being played in Kansas City, fans of the Royals should have the opportunity to cheer for one of their own. Still, if that were the case, a far better argument could have been made for Royals center fielder David DeJesus, who has played very well despite missing considerable time with injury. (A batter hitting in the .320s over 38 games is more helpful than a durable pitcher who gets browbeat every fifth day.) At the very least, DeJesus would have been a far more sensible choice than Redman, who probably wishes he could have three days off instead of having to answer questions about why he doesn’t belong at the All-Star Game.

As poorly as the choice of Redman resonates, he is not the first embarrassing selection to an All-Star Game. Here are five previous All-Stars who made it to the Midsummer Classic in part because their teams simply had to be represented.

(2003, Mike Williams, Pittsburgh Pirates): This obscure right-hander was chosen to represent the proud Pirates franchise, despite posting a 6.44 ERA prior to the All-Star break that year. Williams’ defenders might point to the 28 saves that he finished with that season, but that only underscores the gross misrepresentation created by one of the game’s most overrated statistical categories. Simply put, Williams ranks as one of the worst closers in Bucs history, at the other end of the spectrum from ElRoy Face, Dave Giusti, and Kent Tekulve. 

(1974, Johnny Grubb, San Diego Padres): As youngsters growing up in Westchester County, we used to call him “Grubb the Scrubb.” In spite of our insensitivity, Grubb was actually a better player than everyone else on this list of All-Star shams. Heck, he led all Padres regulars in OPS in 1974. Still, Grubb was not deserving of an All-Star berth, given his status as a singles-hitting corner outfielder who lacked both speed and power. From those 1974 Padres, who almost became the Washington Nationals that spring, Dave Winfield or Willie McCovey would have been better choices.

(1969, Chris Cannizzaro, San Diego Padres): A first-year expansion team in 1969, the lowly Padres had to be represented on the National League squad, with Cannizzaro becoming the unlikely choice. A career second and third-string catcher, Cannizzaro finished the first half of 1969 with a .245 batting average. He would finish the season at .220 with a grand sum of four home runs. Think of him as a poor man’s version of Brad Ausmus.

(1957, Joe DeMaestri, Kansas City A’s): Otherwise best known as Tony Kubek’s backup shortstop on the 1961 Yankees, the good-field, no-hit DeMaestri finished the ’57 season with a .245 batting average and a .285 on-base percentage, while grounding into 14 double plays. Not surprisingly, DeMaestri didn’t play in that year’s All-Star Game.

(1951, Bruce “Bull” Edwards, Chicago Cubs): There’s a theme developing here. Like Cannizzaro, Edwards was a light-hitting catcher. Unlike Cannizzaro, who served as the Padres’ starting catcher in 1969, Edwards hardly played. Splitting the year between Brooklyn and Chicago, he would appear in only 68 games the entire season, batting .237 with four home runs. Think of him as a poor man’s version of Todd Pratt.

Card Corner

This 1976 Topps card of Cesar Cedeno showcases two unique traits of the Houston Astros’ uniform in the mid-seventies. The first and most obvious characteristic is the rainbow-style jersey, which fans either loved or hated (and most hated).

The Astros first adopted the rainbow uniforms in 1975, introducing a jersey that had a section of white at the top followed by horizontal bands of red, orange, and yellow. As if the color scheme on the front of the jersey wasn’t gaudy enough, the rainbow pattern continued onto the sleeves of the uniforms. (If you gazed too closely at the red rainbow, you risked experiencing the same burning sensation that is created when one stares at the sun for several seconds.) For five straight seasons, the Astros used this monstrosity as both their home and away uniform, giving fans in other National League cities equal opportunities to witness the horrific display. Thankfully, the Astros reduced the glare in 1980, introducing a far more simple and tasteful road uniform. By 1987, they completely discarded the rainbow, only bringing it back for “Turn Back The Clock” nights in Houston.

On a far more serious note, Cedeno’s card also shows the No. 40 patch that the team wore in memory of star pitcher Don Wilson, who committed suicide at the age of 29 after the 1975 season. As a nine-year-old at the time, I remember hearing Wilson’s death reported initially as an accident, only to learn later that he had purposely filled his car with carbon monoxide fumes. The story, one of the game’s saddest stories given Wilson’s youthful age and prodigious talent—think of him as an earlier and smaller version of the intimidating J.R. Richard—took on a greater level of calamity when the fumes filled the garage and seeped into the adjoining house, causing the unintended death of Wilson’s son. The fumes from the car also resulted in Wilson’s wife and daughter being hospitalized, but both survived the horrible incident. 

Tragedy also affected Cedeno, but in a different way. As a young player with the Astros, Cedeno once stirred comparisons to Willie Mays, but an involuntary manslaughter conviction haunted Cedeno for years. In December of 1973, Cedeno and his 19-year-old girlfriend checked into a room in a Dominican motel. Cedeno, who had been drinking that evening, was carrying a .38 caliber gun. His girlfriend attempted to take a look at it, grabbing it from his hand. As Cedeno tried to take the gun back, the gun went off accidentally, killing the teenaged girl. Although paraffin tests indicated the girl had actually fired the revolver, the tragic incident left Cedeno stigmatized, with fans sometimes taunting him as a killer.

The effects of the Astrodome didn’t help Cedeno either, compressing his 40-home run potential to the 25-and-under range. Still, he enjoyed a solid career, which he capped off with a spree of clutch hitting for the Cardinals during their pennant-winning season of 1985. After coming over in a late-season trade, Cedeno hit .434 in 28 late-season games, helping the Cardinals seal another National League East title.

Pastime Passings

Billy “Bull” Johnson (Died on June 20 in Augusta, Georgia; age 87): A participant in four World Series, Johnson played nine seasons in the major leagues. Playing for the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals, the third baseman hit .271 with 61 home runs and 487 RBIs. After debuting for the Yankees in 1943, Johnson missed the next two seasons while serving in the U.S. military during World War II. Johnson’s best season came in 1947, when he earned selection to the American League’s All-Star team and finished the season with a career-high of 95 RBIs. In May of 1951, the Yankees traded Johnson to the Cardinals for first baseman Don Bollweg and cash considerations.

Bruce Markusen is the author of the new book, The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates, just released by Westholme Publishing and now available at most major bookstores. The book tells the story of the team that featured major league baseball’s first all-black lineup. A freelance writer and broadcaster, Bruce Markusen serves as an advisor and consultant to museums that feature exhibits about baseball and other sports. To contact him about exhibit consultation, send an e-mail to bmark@telenet.net.