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The only thing I wish had happened was for [Billy] Butler himself to have come out during the Derby, put his arm around Cano, maybe waved a white flag. That would have been cool. And maybe, with three or four outs to go, Cano would have turned the bat over to Butler. They should really have a lot more fun at these things.
That would have been really hard to pull off, without seeming rehearsed. But if Cano had turned around, at any point (even the gold ball round), and pointed at Butler, and said "y'all win, get up here, dude", that would have been very awesome. Especially if he correctly pronounced "y'all", since I grew up in MO and never really managed to do it until I lived in TN.
You should invite the bride’s parents to the wedding
Not unless mom or dad is at least in double figures in HR at the break.
I find this notion silly. A homer in the celebrity softball game by all means. A Royal on the coaching staff sure. What if the game had been in San Fran, ya gonna invite Posey and his 10 HR? Or SD, is it going to be Headley? (Quentin not a bad choice actually)
What I want to know is where was Trevor Plouffe?
5.boteman posted on July 11, 2012 at 05:55 AM #hit 0 | hit 0
What I want to know is where was Trevor Plouffe?
Getting his nails done. I mean, how can we be expected to take a guy seriously when his name is Trevor Plouffe?
Or what if the Royals got the game? Their best HR hitter is tied for 16th in the league.
Butler has 16 HR at the all-star break this year. Last year, a player was picked for the derby having only 15 HR at the break. That player was Robinson Cano.
I find this notion silly. A homer in the celebrity softball game by all means. A Royal on the coaching staff sure. What if the game had been in San Fran, ya gonna invite Posey and his 10 HR? Or SD, is it going to be Headley? (Quentin not a bad choice actually)
I don't see why not. Its not like the people chosen for this are the top four HR hitters in each league. But maybe Billy Butler doesn't live up to the storied history of HR Derby names like Damion Easley, Brandon Inge and Hee Sop Choi.
2009 was Pujols, a good choice anywhere.
2005 was the world vs. USA year and IRod was a Tigers rep
2004 was Berkman
1992 the Padres had two guys (Sheff and McGriff)
Anyway, it was common to have a homer in the early days and again in the height of the sillyball era (when everybody had a 40 HR guy so that looked good). But, from 2006-2011, the only homer to make it was Pujols and that includes the game at Yankee Stadium. I don't recall Yankees fans booing the AL players ... but then they're well-known for being classy.
Of course it's possible that in some of those years there was a homer on the squad who bowed out due to "injury."
17.BDC posted on July 11, 2012 at 07:47 PM #hit 0 | hit 0
Dirk Plouffe … Butch Plouffe … Rocky Plouffe …? on the whole, if you're a Plouffe to start with, Trevor is probably the way to go: don't try to fight the surname too much.
Hey, at least he's not named Brandon or Josh...we have enough of those guys now to cover two alternate universes of baseball history.
How about...
DRUNGO PLOUFFE??
21.Shock posted on July 11, 2012 at 08:59 PM #hit 0 | hit 0
It's a _derby_, not an athletic contest of any importance. Advertising.
Why not just make the whole thing Royals, then. Let the fans pick which 8 Royals they want to see. It's not like it's important, so therefore let's make it as stupid as possible.
25.gehrig97 posted on July 12, 2012 at 08:20 AM #hit 0 | hit 0
The best approach I've seen to diffusing the boo-birds came from Darryl Strawberry. It was Darryl's first visit back to Shea Stadium as a Dodger, and the fans (I among them) were booing mercilessly.
During the middle innings, the boos and "Daaa-ryyyyllll" chants were raining down on him in waves. In response, Darryl turns to the fans along the rightfield line, and starts waving his arms in time with the chants--like a maestro conducting an orchestra. Thousands of people laugh at the same time, Darryl laughs, and from that point on the boos were delivered with a wink and a nod--it was like booing a pro wrestling heel.
Later in the game, of course, he clangs one off the scoreboard in right center. Ah, Darryl.
I don't recall Yankees fans booing the AL players ... but then they're well-known for being classy.
I won't swear to having perfect recall of the Home Run Derby, but I think the team captain aspect of things may be new. So there may not have been a particular person at whom Yankee fans could direct any ire they may have had.
Speaking of Posnanski boo boos, hows about that Joe Paterno! Great call, Joe!
According to the Freeh report, Paterno was in on the cover-up from as far back as 1998. Had full knowledge of Sandusky's behavior, and went to major lengths in multiple instances for multiple incidents to keep Sandusky's actions away from the police and the press and to allow Sandusky to continue to rape and molest young boys. A towering paragon of morality, that Joe Paterno.
That Posnanski book on the greatness of Joe Paterno (set for a symbolically appropriate Father's Day release!) is going to be so f**king tasteful.
Seriously, Poz can never actually write this book, can he?
EDIT: Dear god, reading the Key Findings of the Freeh Report...it's devastating. I'm remembering all my anger at Posnanski for defending Paterno all over again. (Needless to say I recognize that the real monsters here were Sandusky and Paterno, as well as the PSU leadership, and not Poz...but ugh, he defended actual honest-to-goodness Evil, and still hasn't given an accounting for it.)
29.Lassus posted on July 12, 2012 at 10:38 AM #hit 0 | hit 0
It's going to be interesting to see if Poz comes out with some kind of statement/article about the whole thing.
30.TomH posted on July 12, 2012 at 10:39 AM #hit 0 | hit 0
This site has always been so classy at never bringing up other foibles of the person featured in the topic du jour.....
It's going to be interesting to see if Poz can ever really be taken seriously as a judge of, well, anything more weighty than the All-Star Home Run Derby.
Posnanski did a big thing badly in the aftermath of the story.
He has an opportunity to get it right, and to be the first to get it really right, with a story of Joe Paterno and the institutions of Penn State football, how they tried to do a number of good things and in time rotted awfully from the inside. An April story in the Times about Posnanski and Paterno had the most recent statement from Poz that I've seen:
In an interview last week with Dave Kindred of the National Sports Journalism Center, Posnanski said he hoped to finish the book by the end of April. He said the biography had become a “very, very different book,” in light of the startling final chapters of Paterno’s life.
“But in many ways, it’s still the same,” Posnanski said. “It’s still about his life — a life that changed dramatically at the end.”
To get this book right will require Posnanski to do a sort of reporting and writing that in his career he's usually shied away from. I'm worried he's going to get it wrong again. But since he has the opportunity to get it right, I'm willing to wait. (Apparently the book drops August 21st, so I don't have to wait that long in reserve of full judgment.)
33.Der_K posted on July 12, 2012 at 11:25 AM #hit 0 | hit 0
Why not just make the whole thing Royals, then.
'Cause it's nationally televised. Include a local to juice up the crowd that the people on TV hear.
34.Lassus posted on July 12, 2012 at 11:31 AM #hit 0 | hit 0
It's going to be interesting to see if Poz can ever really be taken seriously as a judge of, well, anything more weighty than the All-Star Home Run Derby.
Well, I'll take the non-grump version Matt puts forward.
According to the Freeh report, Paterno was in on the cover-up from as far back as 1998. Had full knowledge of Sandusky's behavior, and went to major lengths in multiple instances for multiple incidents to keep Sandusky's actions away from the police and the press and to allow Sandusky to continue to rape and molest young boys.
Is this true? I've never heard this before. People jumped down Poz's throat for basically saying, "let's wait until the facts are in". Is that worthy of tarring-and-feathering?
"Curley emails Spanier and Schultz, discussing Sandusky's retirement options: "Joe did give him the option to continue to coach as long as he was the coach."
At the press conference, Freeh reiterates again and again that top Penn State officials showed no concern for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s victims. They didn’t even talk to Sandusky about it. “In short, nothing was done and Sandusky was allowed to continue with impunity,” Freeh said.
Freeh said that Paterno received a report from a younger coach that Sandusky had behaved inappropriately with a young boy in a locker room shower, but delayed passing along the information because he did not “want to interfere” with people’s weekend plans. At no time did the officials try to identify the boy, Freeh said.
The Freeh Report concluded that, as many had assumed, Paterno (as well as other administrators) was aware of a 1998 criminal investigation on allegations that Sandusky abused a boy in Penn State locker room showers. While the local district attorney did not prosecute, the Freeh Group condemned Paterno and the others for not setting up further precautions against Sandusky's behavior.
It concluded that Spanier, vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley also knew and did nothing.
"The evidence shows that Mr. Paterno was made aware of the 1998 investigation of Sandusky, followed it closely, but failed to take any action, even though Sandusky had been a key member of his coaching staff for almost 30 years, and had an office just steps away from Mr. Paterno's," the report's conclusion reads.
"At the very least, Mr. Paterno could have alerted the entire football staff, in order to prevent Sandusky from bringing another child into the Lasch Building. Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley also failed to alert the Board of Trustees about the 1998 investigation or take any further action against Mr. Sandusky. None of them even spoke to Sandusky about his conduct.
"In short, nothing was done and Sandusky was allowed to continue with impunity."
Further, the report finds that the Penn St administration had determined, after hearing McQueary's story about the rape he witnessed, to take the information to the police. The Freeh report believes that Paterno himself talked them out of it:
"Based on the evidence, the only known, intervening factor between the decision made on February 25, 2001 by Messrs. Spanier, Curley and Schulz to report the incident to the Department of Public Welfare, and then agreeing not to do so on February 27th, was Mr. Paterno's February 26th conversation with Mr. Curley," the report wrote.
The Freeh Group believes the interest of avoiding bad publicity allowed Sandusky to remain free, where he would go on to abuse additional boys and maintain near full access to Penn State facilities and the inner workings of the football program.
"It is more reasonable to conclude that, in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at Penn State University – Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley – repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky's child abuse from the authorities, the Board of Trustees, Penn State community, and the public at large. Although concern to treat the child abuser humanely was expressly stated, no such sentiments were ever expressed by them for Sandusky's victims."
I can't believe Joe Posnanski said nothing while Joe Paterno molested all those kids under his watch.
Remember, Pos didn't "say nothing". He actively defended Paterno and PSU. If Posnanski had written something to the effect of, "Obviously, this story has an enormous effect on me personally and professionally. If true, it's horrifying. Like everyone else, I want to know the truth." and then ended discussion, he wouldn't be lampooned like this.
The problem with Posnanski's book is that, even if he handles the revelations gracefully, it will almost become a book about Posnanski rather than a book about Paterno - because clearly Posnanski was charmed and fooled too and the book will have to be about how Paterno created and maintained this illusion for all these years.
People jumped down Poz's throat for basically saying, "let's wait until the facts are in". Is that worthy of tarring-and-feathering?
He was live-tweeted as telling a Perv State University class the following after the scandal first broke:
“I think [Paterno] is a scapegoat. I definitely think that…I think he tried to do the right thing, and the right thing didn’t happen.”
“A lot of people came here to bury Joe. As a writer, I’m mad with that, as someone who’s come to know the Paternos, I’m heartbroken”
Just out of curiosity, which of those statements do you read as "basically saying, 'let's wait until the facts are in'"?
Sounds more like he was saying "I drank Joe Paterno's Kool-Aid (probably made using the senile old goat's bathwater), & let me tell you, it tasated goooooooooood."
43.Lassus posted on July 12, 2012 at 11:56 AM #hit 0 | hit 0
I think Poz was wrong, but I don't think refusing to believe at first blush the most terrible things you've ever heard about a person is exactly an unforgivable offense, even with those tweets.
If you're the president of Penn St (if you're the new president after the dust begins to settle)--assuming the version of events posted here is basically true, doesn't football just have to go away?
Chronicle of Higher Ed cites report as indicting a "culture of reverence for the football program that is ingrained at all levels of the campus community". At this point, who could disagree?
Doesn't Penn State football have to go the #### away for a generation?
Can't the NCAA just shut the program down for a decade?
I think Poz was wrong, but I don't think refusing to believe at first blush the most terrible things you've ever heard about a person is exactly an unforgivable offense, even with those tweets.
The important issue is whether the book gets it right or wrong, to what degree and in what ways. Since it all comes down to the book, I don't see a lot of value in hashing out exactly how wrong Poz was to defend Paterno as he did in that class. There's no question he was wrong, but the interesting question is whether he can get it right now, and he's got as good an opportunity as anyone will get.
EDITed to make clear I was responding to Lassus and gef. To nick, I mean, I think the evidence is pretty clear that big time college football is profoundly destructive of whatever service goals a university might have. I'll be very impressed if a university puts its service mission before the money the football program brings in, but I'm not expecting it even if this extreme situation.
I can't believe Joe Posnanski said nothing while Joe Paterno molested all those kids under his watch.
Remember, Pos didn't "say nothing". He actively defended Paterno and PSU. If Posnanski had written something to the effect of, "Obviously, this story has an enormous effect on me personally and professionally. If true, it's horrifying. Like everyone else, I want to know the truth." and then ended discussion, he wouldn't be lampooned like this.
I know, I was just kidding. I don't know how this scandal is about JoPo. He's like a wart on the rear end of this elephant. I can forgive him for being a bit star-struck, so long as he has some sort of mea culpa about it now or writes the book we all hope he will write, and not a glossed over hagiography.
Football didn't cause children to get molested so I'm don't see why football has to go away. Does organized religion have to go away for a generation or so?
Unless there are any NCAA infractions (I haven't heard of any, although I haven't been following that closely), I don't see why the NCAA should get involved.
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1 2 3 4 >Since the home run derby has been around for a million years and this has never been the case, no.
If I ever find myself in a bar with Posnanski, I'm buying his next drink.
Not unless mom or dad is at least in double figures in HR at the break.
I find this notion silly. A homer in the celebrity softball game by all means. A Royal on the coaching staff sure. What if the game had been in San Fran, ya gonna invite Posey and his 10 HR? Or SD, is it going to be Headley? (Quentin not a bad choice actually)
What I want to know is where was Trevor Plouffe?
Getting his nails done. I mean, how can we be expected to take a guy seriously when his name is Trevor Plouffe?
Chauncey?
Jesus?
Tyronne?
Emerson?
Or what if the Royals got the game? Their best HR hitter is tied for 16th in the league.
Just ahead of the guy who won the HRD!
I don't see why not. Its not like the people chosen for this are the top four HR hitters in each league. But maybe Billy Butler doesn't live up to the storied history of HR Derby names like Damion Easley, Brandon Inge and Hee Sop Choi.
(That was a thing, right?)
Of course you should invite a local...
Beavis.
I didn't mean to suggest that Butler wasn't qualified just that a hard and fast "rule" is going to lead to a really odd pick at some point.
Now, amazingly, the b-r bullpen has all the HR derby results. There was not a local batter on the team in:
2011, 2010, 2008 (at Yankee Stadium!), 2007, 2006, 2003, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1989, 1986.
2009 was Pujols, a good choice anywhere.
2005 was the world vs. USA year and IRod was a Tigers rep
2004 was Berkman
1992 the Padres had two guys (Sheff and McGriff)
Anyway, it was common to have a homer in the early days and again in the height of the sillyball era (when everybody had a 40 HR guy so that looked good). But, from 2006-2011, the only homer to make it was Pujols and that includes the game at Yankee Stadium. I don't recall Yankees fans booing the AL players ... but then they're well-known for being classy.
Of course it's possible that in some of those years there was a homer on the squad who bowed out due to "injury."
If lesbian porn stars have porn names, that's gotta be a great one.
Biff Plouffe
How about...
DRUNGO PLOUFFE??
Why not just make the whole thing Royals, then. Let the fans pick which 8 Royals they want to see. It's not like it's important, so therefore let's make it as stupid as possible.
I say it's Cholmondeley & I say the hell with it.
Or a certain former Giants prospect could enter a civil union with Mr. Plouffe, take his name and be Boof Plouffe.
(I know, too far to go)
During the middle innings, the boos and "Daaa-ryyyyllll" chants were raining down on him in waves. In response, Darryl turns to the fans along the rightfield line, and starts waving his arms in time with the chants--like a maestro conducting an orchestra. Thousands of people laugh at the same time, Darryl laughs, and from that point on the boos were delivered with a wink and a nod--it was like booing a pro wrestling heel.
Later in the game, of course, he clangs one off the scoreboard in right center. Ah, Darryl.
I won't swear to having perfect recall of the Home Run Derby, but I think the team captain aspect of things may be new. So there may not have been a particular person at whom Yankee fans could direct any ire they may have had.
According to the Freeh report, Paterno was in on the cover-up from as far back as 1998. Had full knowledge of Sandusky's behavior, and went to major lengths in multiple instances for multiple incidents to keep Sandusky's actions away from the police and the press and to allow Sandusky to continue to rape and molest young boys. A towering paragon of morality, that Joe Paterno.
That Posnanski book on the greatness of Joe Paterno (set for a symbolically appropriate Father's Day release!) is going to be so f**king tasteful.
Seriously, Poz can never actually write this book, can he?
EDIT: Dear god, reading the Key Findings of the Freeh Report...it's devastating. I'm remembering all my anger at Posnanski for defending Paterno all over again. (Needless to say I recognize that the real monsters here were Sandusky and Paterno, as well as the PSU leadership, and not Poz...but ugh, he defended actual honest-to-goodness Evil, and still hasn't given an accounting for it.)
He has an opportunity to get it right, and to be the first to get it really right, with a story of Joe Paterno and the institutions of Penn State football, how they tried to do a number of good things and in time rotted awfully from the inside. An April story in the Times about Posnanski and Paterno had the most recent statement from Poz that I've seen:To get this book right will require Posnanski to do a sort of reporting and writing that in his career he's usually shied away from. I'm worried he's going to get it wrong again. But since he has the opportunity to get it right, I'm willing to wait. (Apparently the book drops August 21st, so I don't have to wait that long in reserve of full judgment.)
'Cause it's nationally televised. Include a local to juice up the crowd that the people on TV hear.
Well, I'll take the non-grump version Matt puts forward.
Is this true? I've never heard this before. People jumped down Poz's throat for basically saying, "let's wait until the facts are in". Is that worthy of tarring-and-feathering?
Freeh Report
Live Blog: Washington Post
Dan Wetzel: Freeh Report assigns blame to Joe Paterno, other Penn State officials for Jerry Sandusky's crimes
Remember, Pos didn't "say nothing". He actively defended Paterno and PSU. If Posnanski had written something to the effect of, "Obviously, this story has an enormous effect on me personally and professionally. If true, it's horrifying. Like everyone else, I want to know the truth." and then ended discussion, he wouldn't be lampooned like this.
The problem with Posnanski's book is that, even if he handles the revelations gracefully, it will almost become a book about Posnanski rather than a book about Paterno - because clearly Posnanski was charmed and fooled too and the book will have to be about how Paterno created and maintained this illusion for all these years.
He was live-tweeted as telling a Perv State University class the following after the scandal first broke:
Just out of curiosity, which of those statements do you read as "basically saying, 'let's wait until the facts are in'"?
Sounds more like he was saying "I drank Joe Paterno's Kool-Aid (probably made using the senile old goat's bathwater), & let me tell you, it tasated goooooooooood."
Chronicle of Higher Ed cites report as indicting a "culture of reverence for the football program that is ingrained at all levels of the campus community". At this point, who could disagree?
Doesn't Penn State football have to go the #### away for a generation?
Can't the NCAA just shut the program down for a decade?
EDITed to make clear I was responding to Lassus and gef. To nick, I mean, I think the evidence is pretty clear that big time college football is profoundly destructive of whatever service goals a university might have. I'll be very impressed if a university puts its service mission before the money the football program brings in, but I'm not expecting it even if this extreme situation.
I know, I was just kidding. I don't know how this scandal is about JoPo. He's like a wart on the rear end of this elephant. I can forgive him for being a bit star-struck, so long as he has some sort of mea culpa about it now or writes the book we all hope he will write, and not a glossed over hagiography.
Black Shoe Diaries is beyond sickening right now.
Well, the Catholic churches, schools, and seminaries here in Boston have been closing and/or emptying over the past decade. So....maybe.
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