Not a baseball item, but I think some people here might have a couple of choice thoughts. It is amazing how much the ardor for prosecution waned after Barry Bonds was sentenced to only four months of home confinement.
The sound you just heard was Lance Armstrong and Nike both thanking Judge Illston.
Evidence that Popeye’s spinach-abuse was rampant and gave him an unfair advantage:
• The drug is on an open shelf in his locker for all to see.
• Popeye brings the substance onto the playing field without reservations.
• Upon seeing it fall to the ground, Bluto immediately realizes his good fortune and takes a hit of it.
• Bluto’s performance while on the green stuff is remarkable, throwing lightning pitches and burning holes in bats, not to mention launching grand slams.
• Popeye is terrible on the mound without his dose and immediately tries to remedy that by shooting up. The placebo spinach does not work.
• When Popeye finally manages to grow another batch (showing remarkable skill at cultivating the herb, I might add), his performance becomes ungodly, racing between the mound and the plate, pushing the grandstands back, hitting 21 home runs with 21 swings… He also lashes out at Bluto, assaulting him and knocking him out of the stadium.
One of the big knocks against Brock was that he didn’t walk very much. This really hurt his on-base percentage and makes his career .293 batting average fairly soft. Over his career, he averaged 14.76 plate appearances for every walk. Of the 34 Hall of Famers who had at least 2000 plate appearances from 1960-1979, only a handful walked less frequently than Brock. For the record, those were Ernie Banks (14.77), Luis Aparicio (15.51), Nellie Fox (16.11), Bill Mazeroski (18.36), Robin Yount (19.10), and Andre Dawson (20.85), and these numbers are all limited to the portions of careers in just the period 1960-1979. Most of those guys, however, also struck out a lot less often than Brock, who had a 2.27 K/BB ratio in his career. Banks (1.84), Aparicio (0.97), Fox (0.35), Mazeroski (1.46), and Yount (1.96) had more balanced attacks, while Dawson (3.64) was just getting going with his own (HOF-questionable) career.
Brock also took over the lead in career caught stealings in 1974 and kept that lead until 1999, when Rickey Henderson passed Brock, 8 years after he passed him in stolen bases. In fact, looking at the top 10 guys in all-time stolen bases, Brock has the worst success rate of all (ignoring Hamilton and Arlie Latham, for whom caught stealing data doesn’t exist.) Brock’s rate was 75.3%. By comparison, Henderson was at 80.8%, Ty Cobb at 80.9%, and Tim Raines at 84.7%.
For his career, Brock ranks 35th in games played and 19th in at bats, but only 45th in runs scored, 63rd in total bases, 67th in doubles, 63rd in triples, and 58th in times on base, while 21st in strikeouts and 17th in outs made.
So what’s all the fuss? Brock was a really good player, but should he really be in the Hall of Fame?
In his continuing battle against brain cancer, Gary Carter made a rare public appearance Thursday, visiting the Palm Beach Atlantic college baseball team he coaches near his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Carter, 57, has spent nearly his entire time confined to his house in recent days as his condition has worsened.
However, according to family sources, he was determined to make it to Palm Beach Atlantic’s opening game of the season and was driven to the game by family members — whereupon he arrived at the field riding in the back of a golf cart shortly before the playing of the national anthem.
“He wanted to be here for his guys, here for opening day,” Carter’s daughter, Kimmy Bloemers, was quoted as saying by the Palm Beach Post.
Carter spent only a few minutes with the team, shaking hands with the players and grinning broadly, while repeating: “Let’s get a win tonight.”
He then spent about three innings watching the game from a private booth in the press box, accompanied by former Montreal Expo teammates Tommy Hutton and Jeff Reardon, both of whom live in the Palm Beach Gardens area.
On Jan. 21, Carter was honored with the Milton and Arthur Richman “Ya Gotta Have Heart” award at the New York Baseball Writers dinner but was too ill to attend. Instead, the award was accepted by his son, D.J., and his two daughters, Kimmy and Christy, who asked the audience to pray for their dad.
Since then, family sources said doctors elected to cease a lot of the medication — chemotherapy and radiation — Carter was receiving as it was no longer containing the tumors and making him feel worse.
He was said to be spending most of his time at home in a weakened state, and the family website has not had an entry since Jan. 19, when Bloemers reported, “This past week has been one of the hardest weeks for my dad. Every day is exhausting and every move takes great effort.”
Thursday, at least, was a better day, as Carter fulfilled his vow to his players to be there for them on their opening day of the season.
Good news, sports fans. The glory days of baseball broadcasting—when a commentator could be forgiven for a bit of misbehavin’—are alive and well.
Why’s that? Because this week Fox Sports Midwest announced it will retain Cardinals play-by-play broadcaster Dan McLaughlin for the 2012 season. Last fall, Daily RFT opined that McLaughlin’s career in St. Louis was finito after he was charged for his second DWI in just over a year’s time.
We felt even more confident about that prediction when the embarrassing details of McLaughlin’s arrests came out a few weeks later. When pulled over in August 2010 for the first DUI, McLaughlin was allegedly so shitfaced he’d wet his pants. When he crashed his car in the second DWI in September 2011, McLaughlin was apparently too drunk to unlock the car door and lied to the officer that he lived just a few blocks away and could safely drive home if she let him go.
...FSM general manager told the Post-Dispatch today that he is standing by the 37-year-old whose worked for the cable channel for 14 years. Since the second DUI charge, McLaughlin has confessed to being an alcoholic and is said to attend as many as two or three AA meetings a day now.
“It’s perceived as an illness,” Donovan said of McLaughlin’s alcoholism. “We’re trying to support him.”
The source disclosed to us that in the early 1980s Barry Halper was questioned by a family member of the source as to what the origins were of some rare items Halper had shown him. Said the source, “Barry bragged to (my relative) that a lot of his collection came from that (the New York Public Library).” The source continued, “Barry said it was there for the taking and Barry was quite proud of it. (My relative) absolutely could not tolerate it.” We asked the source to confirm that the thefts were from the NYPL and the source stated, “Yes, the New York Public Library, he used to talk about how he did it.” When asked to delve further into details the source stated, “These were conversations he and (my relative) had, and obviously, (my relative) and I talked about it, but I can’t remember that Barry himself, but he also hired other people to do it and told them and how to go do this, so it was just something that once we knew, that was the end of the relationship (with Halper). It always amazes me because he was trading on he was always bigger than life, and people just let him get away with it and I just couldn’t believe it.”
Pam Guzzi, the great-great granddaughter of the original owner of the Sutton contract, Hall of Famer Harry Wright, was shocked when she got the news that the contract had not yet been returned to the library and was again being sold. Said Guzzi, “It appears painfully obvious that the contract between Ezra Sutton and my great-great grandfather, Harry Wright, was among the articles belonging to, and subsequently stolen from, the New York Public Library. It is incredulous to me, that this document now appears on the auction block and I hope and pray and plead with the “powers that be” that the document be removed and returned to the NYPL.
According to the report, Time-Warner and Comcast—the Mets’ business partners with SNY—authorized the purchase of 16 percent of the ballclub to prop up the Mets, which in turn should help ratings. The $80 million infusion should allow the Mets to meet this year’s debt obligations.
Makes some sense, to the extent their fortunes are already intertwined.
When it comes to the Phillies, chief operating officer Andy Feffer wants Nationals fans to fill up Nationals Park—and for a good reason.
In the last few seasons, whenever the Nationals played their National League East rival in D.C., almost nothing but Phillies fans flocked to the stadium.
...“For several years now, our fans, everybody, have been screaming about the number of Phillies fans that invade our park when we have a series here at Nationals Park,” Feffer said. “Frankly, I’m tired of seeing the Phillies fans in our ballpark in Washington more than anything. We sat down as a group and we said, ‘You know what? It’s time to take our park back in Washington and get our fans in this park.’
“We have a great team this year—one of the best pitching staffs in the National League, if not the best with the addition of Edwin Jackson and Gonzalez. You have [Stephen] Strasburg and Zimmerman healthy. We sat down and said, ‘Let’s do something we’ve never done before. Let’s go out prior to single-game tickets going on sale in March and open it up early starting Friday.
...“Someone asked me, ‘What do you think of Philly and Phillies fans and the series?’” said Feffer. “I couldn’t be more direct. I said, ‘Forget you, Philly. It’s our fans, our time, our park and we are going to fill it with Nationals fans.’ We are going to do everything we can to ensure our fans here in Washington that first opportunity to make that happen.”
The team agreed to terms Thursday night on a one-year, $3 million contract with Kotchman, a free agent, two people familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal is not expected to be announced until Friday. Kotchman can make an additional $1.75 million in performance bonuses, one of the persons said.
Kotchman batted a career-best .306 with 10 homers and 48 RBI in a career-high 146 games for Tampa Bay last season. It was a breakout year for the 28-year-old, who signed a minor league contract with the Rays last January. Kotchman was one of only three AL first basemen — Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera and Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez were the others — to finish in the top 10 in both batting average and on-base percentage while appearing in at least 40 games at the position.
Kotchman is expected to compete for the Indians’ starting job at first during training camp with Matt LaPorta and Russ Canzler, who signed with the club earlier this week.
And that is the last time Casey Kotchman will ever be used in the same sentence as Miguel Cabrera and Adrian Gonzalez.
Ian Rotten vs The Great White! (batting cage match)
Actor/ comedian/ cultural icon Cheech Marin and I were talking baseball and I just had to get the camera out, as he really knows and loves the sport. Here is part one of our conversation at his pad in Malibu.
...In the video here he talks about playing shortstop in little league, growing up near L.A.‘s Wrigley Field (home of the PCL Angels) and why the Dodgers had a national presence on early television broadcasts even before they moved to the West Coast. A unique and informed perspective by a funny, intelligent and hospitable guy.
juicepress.com? I thought The NY Daily News Sports Investigative Team owned the rights to that.
Teixeira, a two-time All-Star, and investing partner Kenny Dichter are teaming up on a Juice Press store in Greenwich, Conn., where Teixeira lives. They are also putting an undisclosed amount of money in the entire company. The Juice Press has three stores and a soon-to-open fourth in Manhattan, according to its website. They feature cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juices for refreshment and for the juice-only fasts called cleanses. The stores have also gained a following among raw-food devotees. The Connecticut outlet is expected to open in the spring.
In addition to Teixeira’s heavy-hitting profile, The Juice Press apparently got a determined entrepreneur. The first baseman said he was looking for a worthwhile investment to help manage, not a celebrity endorsement gig. “It’s not like I’m getting free juice for life to like it,” he said. “I am much more interested in long-term partnerships.”
Teixeira paid $25,000 for a new company domain name, juicepress.com, because it was easier to remember, store officials said. The address will become active soon.
On to baseball. I asked the most successful manager in Astros history (four division titles in five years), are you OK with the Astros’ move to the American League?
“I know a lot of people don’t like it, but it’s going to be fine. I’m a National League guy, obviously, but the last couple of years I’ve been rooting for the American League because of Nolan (Texas Rangers owner Nolan Ryan). I like the National League because of the strategic implications. Decisions are easier for managers in the American League. The leagues used to be a lot more different, with different umpires and even different baseballs. But the boundaries have been blurred by interleague play.
“Now the American League has almost the same appeal as the National League. The move doesn’t bother me,” he said.
“Plus, having the Yankees and Red Sox and other American League teams here every year will offer something we haven’t had before. Those big crowds will mean more money to buy more free agents.”
Vean Gregg, Nap twirler, who is holding out for a $5,000 salary, declared Saturday he was about ready to close negotiations to play with an eastern outlaw league.
It is easy to see that Vean Gregg has been in the majors only one season. Now his argument to force the Cleveland club into paying him more money, has taken the form of a threat to sign an outlaw contract. O, peanut butter.
Speaking for the first time this offseason publicly, Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett touched on his view of the team’s September collapse, as well as his New Year’s Day meeting with new manager Bobby Valentine, while appearing on the MLB Network’s “Intentional Talk” show.
Regarding the controversy that surrounded the Red Sox’ demise in September, during which the team’s starters went 4-13 with a 7.08 ERA, Beckett explained that the bottom line was that the Sox didn’t perform and everything else should have been kept in-house.
“I think the biggest key is what [Jon] Lester said to the end that, we stunk on the field and that was the bottom line,” he told the show. “If we would have pitched better, none of that stuff would have even been an issue. And it shouldn’t be an issue anyway because what goes on in the clubhouse should stay in the clubhouse. I don’t care who says that or whatever, I’m not saying we don’t make mistakes in the clubhouse [show host and former Red Sox player Kevin Millar] will definitely respond to that because, hell, they were drinking Jack Daniels and they won the World Series [in 2004]. It’s just what goes on in the clubhouse, it’s supposed to stay in the clubhouse.”
...As for the pitcher’s well-publicized meeting with Valentine—who had insinuated that Beckett was “pissed” regarding comments the former ESPN analyst made regarding the righty’s deliberate pace—Beckett said the get-together went off without a hitch.
[Louise] Neathway — who has a history of arrests on similar charges, prosecutors said — sometimes called and texted Cashman more than 10 times a night and threatened to harm someone he knew, prosecutors said.
After he told her last April that he didn’t want to talk to her anymore and even changed his contact information to avoid her, she asked him to pay for a $15,000-plus medical procedure and threatened to contact the press and his family with claims that would hurt his personal relationships and professional standing, according to a court complaint.
In response, he put $6,000 into two of her bank accounts Jan. 18 and tried again to extricate himself, but she instead demanded more money for operations, the complaint said.
I estimate that there may be more than 10-12 Primates who want to talk about the inevitable dominance of the Philadelphia 76ers, and with our own thread, we won’t detract from what this site is really about: the pharmaceutical industry, allergies, and obscure movies.
Hop on your Lambretta and get the #### out of town! (dirty jobs)
Mike Quade, fired with a year left on his contract after his first full year on the job with the Cubs in 2011, has some words of advice for Robin Ventura, who walks into a similar situation as a rookie manager in Chicago in 2012. It’s the same thing Lou Piniella told him when he replaced Piniella.
“When Lou left, he came into the office, and said, ‘The media, Mike.” Chicago isn’t known as a cut-throat media town, but its media muscle comes in numbers.
...“It’s a grind and it consumes you,’’ Quade said. “ As prepared as I was, it still surprised me how much time [the job] consumed, not just time with people but stuff you mull over — whether it’s criticism or obligations with this beat writer or that beat writer or TV station, charity events … it’s on your mind a lot.”
...Ventura is smart enough and baseball savvy enough to know when to hit-and-run, but there will learning on the job.
“They say baseball is a slow game,’’ Quade said. “It sure doesn’t seem that way when you’re in the dugout. You think you have it figured out, but things come up quick. But he knows the game cold. That said, his bench coach becomes huge, and his staff in general.’’
according to chatter, Rex Hudler is favored to fill Frank White‘s color commentary role. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star suggests the same, though the other finalist is George Frazier, currently of the Rockies broadcast team.
Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, recovering from alcohol and drug addictions, had a relapse this week in his quest to remain sober.
According to individuals familiar with the episode, Hamilton drank alcohol on Monday night in an area bar. The circumstances that led to Hamilton’s use of alcohol could not be determined.
In a statement, the Rangers said they were ``aware of a situation, but we don’t have further comment at this time.’‘
...Hamilton, the American League Most Valuable Player in 2010, can become a free agent after this season and has said he will stop negotiations on an extension when he reports to spring training. It was not known how this incident will affect the Rangers’ desire to work out a long-term extension with Hamilton.
Woo-hoo! Next stop, the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame!
Tino Martinez only met Ted Williams once, a chance passing at Fenway Park in the early 1990s when Martinez was first establishing himself as a major-leaguer. Martinez, the quiet kid from Tampa, stumbled through a forgettable version of hello; Williams, the game’s pre-eminent expert on hitting, replied with words as memorable now as that afternoon:
‘‘You’ve got a great swing.”
Martinez swung that way for most of 16 seasons, piling up strong numbers (a .271 average, 339 homers, 1,271 RBIs) and, most impressively, four World Series championships. And Friday, in a ceremony at Tropicana Field, Martinez will be inducted into the Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame.
“Obviously I’m not going to the major-league baseball Hall of Fame, but to be considered and have the criteria to get into the Ted Williams Hall is quite an honor,” Martinez said. “I can’t think of anything better, (other) than the major-league baseball Hall of Fame, than the Ted Williams Hall.”
...And there was talk of catching on somewhere to get to 2,000 hits — he finished with 1,925, plus 83 in the postseason — but decided, “You don’t stick around for the numbers.”
Edwin Jackson is entering his 10th major-league season, and he’ll do so with his seventh team. He is an agreement with the Washington Nationals, CBSSports.com insider Jon Heyman has learned. The deal is pending a physical.
...
Jackson has been unable to find a permanent home in his career, but he’s always been a productive pitcher. He doesn’t profile as a frontline starter, but Washington doesn’t need him to be one.
One day when I was young and stupid, my brother and I walked down the road together. It was a summer day. I wore a green cap with a white felt M on it, the cap from our little league team. We walked toward the general store, as usual, but that day we walked past it, over a short bridge above the river. Just past the bridge, a road split off from our road and climbed up out of the valley. The house at the intersection of the two roads had spilled things onto the lawn, and they were for sale. We found a box with some baseball cards. The cards were all beaten up and featured players we’d never heard of. This 1970 Luke Walker card was among them. I didn’t recognize the name. He was gone from the major leagues by then, and his brief moment in the national spotlight had occurred years earlier, when I’d been too young to notice. The obscurity of his name and of his worn-away face made the card seem strange and ancient, as if it had traveled through centuries to reach me. All the cards were like this. My brother and I thought we had found mysterious, valuable relics selling for pennies a piece. We thought we’d struck it rich.
That was over 30 years ago. Now I wake up early every day while it’s still dark so I can write a little before everything resumes its unstoppable forgettable forward lurch. I usually have about an hour. Sometimes I waste most or all of it. Sometimes I cast around the internet for pieces of the past. Two mornings ago instead of writing I found a newspaper article on Luke Walker from 1971. He’d won 15 games in 1970, and in spring training before the 1971 season he brushed aside a reporter’s suggestion that he was primed to win 20 in the coming year by rhetorically wondering why the reporter was limiting him to that benchmark. Why not 25? This is how you feel when you’re young and stupid. You hold cardboard in your hands and it feels like great riches. You hold a ball in your hands and it feels alive. Luke Walker didn’t remotely approach 25 wins in 1971. He didn’t even reach double figures in wins after 1971, and by 1974 he had thrown his last pitch in the big leagues.
Will a worldwide draft do to baseball in the Dominican Republic what it did to Puerto Rico?
Many buscones accuse MLB of selling out Latinos to protect American players’ jobs. They note there is just one Latino on MLB’s international-talent committee—who, as the son of an MLB player, mostly grew up in America. “I feel like we’re being invaded, like it’s 1965 all over again,” says Astin Jacobo, a buscón, referring to America’s occupation of the DR. “We’re only number one in one thing, and that’s baseball. We can’t give that away.”
A group of Dominican buscones has already held anti-draft protests. They might convince MLB to set up a separate draft for foreigners with an eligibility age of 16, which would be less disruptive than extending America’s draft abroad. But stopping the draft entirely will be hard.
Many buscones talk of a strike. But they have not formed a union. Even if they do, they could not stop their players from opting to sign with MLB teams.
That leaves the government. Felipe Payano, the sports minister, has already written a letter to Bud Selig, MLB’s commissioner, expressing his opposition to a draft. He says his office is investigating whether it might violate the DR’s free-trade agreement with America. Another option would be to sue MLB for collusion under Dominican antitrust law.
The Toronto Blue Jays have signed veteran reliever Francisco Cordero to a $4.5-million, one-year contract.
The 36-year-old right-hander was 5-3 with 37 saves last season for the Cincinnati Reds. He posted a 2.45 earned-run average and held opponents to a .198 batting average.
Yea, and relief wins skew career win totals! Start thinking about even moore asterisks!
No question, baseball’s home run records are tarnished by those who spent part of their careers with artificially enhanced bodies, or have been suspected of it.
That said, why don’t folks talk much—if at all—about that other great evil in this regard called the designated hitter?
In other words, may the baseball gods help us purists if Alex Rodriguez really does spend a lot of time this season and beyond as a DH for the New York Yankees. At 36 and sitting just 134 home runs shy of passing Barry Bonds’ record for career homers of 762, Rodriguez could get a mighty boost toward history with more than a few DH homers.
...As a DH, Rodriguez could play well past 40, while putting the career homer record nearly out of reach. He could catch Bonds by averaging about 44 homers over the next three years, or about 33 over the next four years.
Rodriguez could do much of this as a DH, and then baseball officials could do something they don’t like to do.
According to La Prensa newspaper in Nicaragua, pitcher Vicente Padilla—who signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox earlier this month—had an arrest warrant issued for his failure to show up in court for a child support hearing, only to have the arrest order revoked later. That second article suggests that Padilla is facing an order not to leave Nicaragua for spring training until the matter is resolved. According to the reports, Padilla owes approximately US$4,200 in child support.
The Red Sox signed Padilla to a minor league deal that includes a $1.5 million salary if he is added to the major league roster. The 13-year veteran has a career record of 104-90 with a 4.31 ERA.
I guess even Bill Rasmussen is turned off by the constant flow of live Super Bowl tailgating food injury updates.
Bill Rasmussen is a baseball fan.
So naturally, when he met USC President Harris Pastides, there was one main topic he wanted to discuss.
“Baseball,” Rasmussen said. “He, as all of you are, is incredibly proud of the back-to-back national championships. What I mentioned to him was, because of my interest in baseball, prior to ESPN, the College World Series had no coverage. I wanted to include it, and that was part of our contract with the NCAA — that we get to do the College World Series.”
Rasmussen, the founder of ESPN, is not only a baseball fan, but a sports fan in general, which pointed him towards a 24-hour network devoted only to sports.
Thirty-two years later, Rasmussen doesn’t even watch his brainchild every day.
“I’m not a big television fan,” Rasmussen said. “I’d rather be doing things.”
...His favorite part of ESPN is the “Baseball Tonight” program, mostly because of his love of the sport. Though he doesn’t watch the channel every day, he still takes immense pride in how it has grown.
Oliva isn’t the only former Twin feeling a bit frustrated these days about Hall of Fame voting.
There’s Jack Morris, baseball’s winningest pitcher of the 1980s and author of arguably the greatest Game 7 pitching performance in World Series history… “He go next year,” Oliva predicted. “They give him a big push this year.”
There’s Jim Kaat, a 283-game winner who fell two votes short in the most recent balloting by the Golden Era Committee. “There’s a lot of guys — Jim Kaat, Luis Tiant,” Oliva said. “I don’t know what the Veteran’s Committee wants.”
And, there’s Oliva. He’ll have to wait until 2014 for another chance with the Golden Era Committee, which meets every three years.
He’s 73 now. With any luck, he’ll be 76 the next time he comes up for election — but nobody has that guarantee.
“We no have too much time, you know?” Oliva said of himself, Kaat and others. “We don’t live forever. We only have one life. “I mention to them, the guy who no make it now, he have to wait three years. A lot of those guys (being considered) will be 90 — why they have to wait three more years? “Why it not like the young players? They (are eligible for election) every year. I no care what group they consider.”
Big league magnates almost universally cry out against the idea of having their players numbered with numerals on their shirt sleeves. This is considered good form in some minor leagues but the better players resent being placarded like a bunch of horses.
Yeah, I don’t see how this whole “numbers on the uniforms” thing will ever fly.
