An Early Valentine’s Day

2011-2012 Hot Stove Musings #2

Bobby in disguise

Looks like Bobby Valentine is the guy in Boston, and from what I can gather so far, Red Sox nation loves it. So far, the only really negative shot that I am aware of was tossed by (New York Times baseball writer and Blogger) Murray Chass.  He posted his opinion of Valentine November 27 on his blog at:
http://www.murraychass.com/

It’s probably true that new Red Sox GM Ben Cherington really wanted to hire Dale Sveum as the new manager. The fact that he lost out on that one to his old mentor (Theo Epstein) in Chicago may sting, but there is no doubt in my mind that Valentine can handle the heat from the enormous media spotlights that come with the Boston job. It’s also true that Valentine has been consistently ahead of the curve in using a Sabermetric approach in his player evaluations, so he fits right in with what Boston ownership has signed on for and has had success with.

With David Ortiz likely to sign somewhere other than Boston, it basically leaves Josh Beckett and Kevin Youkilis as the only guys left on the team from the old guard who is still a front line guy. Youkilis, Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek would be the only other players left from the '04 team, if Ortiz departs.

Open for change?

Regarding Bobby V, the guys on WEEI (John Dennis and Gerry Callahan) this morning were referring to a game that ESPN broadcast this summer in which Valentine stated that Carl Crawford couldn't be successful hitting with that exaggerated open stance that he's been using for his entire MLB career. The WEEI guys thought that was a great thing, that Valentine would work with Crawford to change that. Makes me wonder how Crawford was so awful, yet garnered a $142-million contract using it all those years? Toss out the 60 odd games Crawford played as a rookie in 2002, and last season, and he’s a .297 hitter for his career.

We laughed well, and loved poorly

WEEI also had a long phone conversation today with Valentine’s former GM with the Mets, Steve Phillips. Phillips, to his credit, and no doubt do to him taking his 12-step program seriously took a huge part of the blame for the Mets failures after 2000, saying that is was his fault for not giving Valentine better players. He also said he'd hire Valentine again, if he was a GM. (As an aside, I wonder what the odds are of Phillips ever getting a GM job in MLB ever again?)

In other news, one of the teams rumored to be interested in signing Ortiz is Tampa Bay, which sounds odd to me, considering Big Papi wants 3 years, and I have to believe at least 12 million per? This doesn't sound like a move that the Rays I have come to know would be interested in making? According to ESPN, the Rays 2011 payroll came in a little under $42-million, ranking next to the bottom in MLB. The Rays had 16 players whose combined salaries totaled less than $13-million last season, and only Johnny Damon made more than $5-million

Psst, Alfonso, the ball is below you

Another rumor has Oakland interested in signing Alfonso Soriano. Is it just me, or has Oakland become the prime destination for semi-washed up old sluggers the last few years? Soriano would fit right in with Hideki Matsui, Jason Giambi, Frank Thomas, and Mike Piazza, wouldn’t he? After Big Papi plays out this last free agent contract he’ll soon be signing, book him a ticket to the Bay Area in time for the 2015 season, I guess?

330+ pounds of disaster?

In the odd ball signing so far, the Kansas City Royals sign Jonathan Broxton to be the set-up guy for Joakim Soria? I think they are paying about 4 million for one year, which sounds like a lot of money for that guy, on that team? Don't the Royals already have some talented kids in that bullpen that can do the job that they can roster at 10% of the price for Broxton? I thought Tim Collins and especially Aaron Crow did pretty well in set up roles last season? Maybe the thought in KC is to stretch them out this spring, and have them begin to fill slots in the rotation, as Texas is intent on doing with Neftali Feliz?

In news out of Houston, Tampa Bay has given new Astros owner Jim Crane permission to speak with their current General Manager Andrew Friedman, about taking over a similar role with the Astros. All Friedman has done in the last 4 season is help get the Rays to the playoffs 3 times with one of the smallest payrolls in MLB.

Finally, with the tentative move of the Houston Astros to the American League in 2013, it will mean inter-league play will have completely ceased being a novelty, as at least two teams in each league will always be playing a team from the other league throughout the entire MLB season.  And Houston, after easily being the worst team in the National League this past season, will soon have a chance of replicating the feat in the American League.

Go 'Stros!

“The Team that Changed BASEBALL”

The subtitle of the above named book that was written by Bruce Markusen and published in 2006 is

Look inside at Amazon

"Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates."

Markusen works for the Baseball Hall of Fame, and can be found contributing to the http://baseballguru.com web site.  It's not a great book, but a useful one for fans and historians.

Markusen’s book was one I read in late October, while on vacation, and it struck me how baseball had missed a great opportunity to celebrate a significant anniversary.

What was significant?

Well, if you’re old enough, or enough of a baseball historian, or Pittsburgh Pirates historian, the nine players that were written into the line up of the game Pittsburgh played against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 1, 1971 will supply you with the answer.

Those 9 names in the lineup were:

Rennie Stennett, 2B
Gene Clines, CF
Roberto Clemente, RF
Willie Stargell, LF
Manny Sanguillen, C
Dave Cash, 3B
Al Oliver, 1B
Jackie Hernandez, SS
Dock Ellis, P

Do you have the answer now?

I promise that if you read long enough (or just scan down) the answer will be revealed.

In fairness and in the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t know, nor did I grasp the significance in the title of the book when I first looked at the title on Amazon. I was looking for books on baseball, and leaning towards histories of National League teams in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Those old Pirate teams with Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell was one of my favorite clubs for many years. I still find myself rooting for them now, though I was not a fan of the team during the Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla years.

Clemente won 4 NL batting titles

Just as Bonds will go down in history as one of the most polarizing ball players of all time, Clemente has gone down as one of it’s most revered. I pretty much agree with that, especially with what I know about Clemente. Based on the many accounts I have heard and read, he was a great human being, and maybe a better man than ball player – and he was a fantastic ball player.  Clemente was one of the best hitters in baseball, hitting .291 or better for 14 straight years, and had the best outfield throwing arm I have ever seen.

Clemente was a very intelligent, thoughtful, and proud man, and felt (justifiably) insulted and marginalized by the media during most of his career. He wanted to be called Roberto, but was generally called Bob or Bobby for many years, and was often quoted by the press in that phonetically-geeky (and insulting) way old beat writers had when jotting down the words of Latin-American player with limited English. Call it the "Beisbol been bery bery goo to me syndrome." Few wrote about all the good things he did when back home in Puerto Rico, and what a great teammate he was. It took Clemente’s tragic death for most of us to learn about what a great man he’d been to the end.

When Clemente died, Willie Stargell was thrust into the role of being a leader of the team.  He soon adapted his "Pops" persona, and did an excellent job. He was smart, quotable, and funny with the media. He was a well-liked teammate and the primary judge in the Pirate locker room's kangaroo court on a consistently winning team for the rest of the ‘70’s. Pops was named co-MVP (with Keith Hernandez) of the National League in ’79. Willie was an elder (38) statesman by then, and sentiment combined with a hot-hitting September to carry him to share in an award he really didn’t deserve.

He did, however, absolutely deserve the two MVP’s he received in the NLCS and World Series that year. In 10 games that post-season, Stargell hit .414, with 9-runs, 5-homers, and 13-RBI. Multiply those last 3 numbers by 16 (to project a full season of play), and you’d have a season of 90 homers and 208 RBI.

The ump says play ball, not work ball.

Not too shabby. Looking at those numbers I can’t help but wonder why (Baltimore manager) Earl Weaver never ordered any of his pitchers to walk Willie intentionally?  He drew zero walks in the series.

In a further aside, Willie Stargell did the most intentionally funny things I have ever seen happen during a MLB game.

Sometime during a game in the 1970’s, Willie was running to second base when he realized that the ball was going to badly beat him to the bag. Willie decided to pre-emptively slide into second base, and then perform a 'pop-up' a few feet from the bag and signal the ump for a time out! I saw this sequence replayed on TV many times over a number of years, and it never fails to crack me up, especially when Willie smiles as he’s tagged out.

But what about those 1971 Pirates, The Team that Changed BASEBALL?

Once I checked the book out a bit before buying it, I did recall that on September 1, 1971, the Pittsburgh Pirates fielded the very first lineup in Major League Baseball history will all black and/or Latin players. More than 24 years after Jackie Robinson’s MLB debut, a ball club finally broke that last, unofficial barrier, and fielded a team without a white face.

What can’t be overlooked in this story is that Pittsburgh was a very good team that season, winning the pennant and beating a great Baltimore Oriole’s club that won it’s second AL pennant in a row, and would win again in 1972.

Did it have to be a very good team that could be allowed to not field a white team for Pittsburgh?

The story is that for years there was an informal quota system in MLB, that teams were "allowed" to have only so many non-white ball players, and this was the case for a long period of time after Robinson broke in. Gradually, as it became apparent in the late 1950’s that most of the superb black baseball talent was signing with or being traded to National League teams such as the Giants, Pirates, Braves, Reds, Dodgers and Cardinals, and that those teams were winning championships, things began to change.  The National League began to win almost every All Star game, and this was when the game was a matter of league honor to most players -- they played the game to win every year.

When Frank Robinson was traded from the Reds in the NL to Baltimore prior to the 1966 season, few could have predicted that the Orioles would become a dynasty, with Robby winning the Triple Crown, and leading Baltimore to a World Series Championship. All told, Robinson was a member of four Baltimore pennant winners and two World Series winners. (Imagine Frank Robinson playing on those superb Reds teams of the late 1960's and 1970's with Morgan, Bench, Rose, and Perez?)  Robby played a National League style of ball his entire career – fast, hard and aggressive baseball that was only to ramp up once all the new stadiums were built with fast-track artificial turf. Speed had once again become a premium and a needed ability in ball players.

The significance of what happened on September 1, 1971 was not lost on the Pirate players, and to a man they were happy and proud for themselves, and their club.

Many years prior, during the period of time when the Negro Leagues were going strong, Pittsburgh often had two Major (Negro) League teams – the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays. The city had a history of being able to watch the excellent style exhibited by all the great black players of the time – and thousands of folks did so, the Grays and Crawfords often outdrawing the MLB Pirates.

By the early 1950’s, the Pirates were arguably the worst team in the National League. After Branch Rickey took over the GM duties in 1951, the team began to acquire some talented players, and it was Ricky that drafted Clemente when he was left off the Dodgers roster after the 1954 season.

The Pirates still finished last or next-to-last for 7 of the next 8 years, but managed a second place finish in 1958, and won the World Series when Mazeroski left Yogi watching his shot leave the yard in 1960.

Of course, Rickey was long gone by then, and the Pirates could never manage more than a couple of third-place finishes in the 1960’s, even though they had some good hitting teams in the decade.
Then, starting with a (NL East) division win in 1970, the Pirates won a total of 6 divisions, 2 pennants, and two World Series in the 1970’s, ending a great run with the "We are family" 1979 team, where they once again beat Baltimore.

Pittsburgh managed just two 2^nd place division finishes in the 1980’s, before Bonds and the boys ran off three straight division titles from 1990 to 1992, and ’92 is the last year the club finished with a record better than .500.

It looks like the current Pirates are making some progress, and had a nice start to the 2011 season, only to crumble badly in the second half. The have some very nice young hitters, and I am hoping that just as the good-hitting Pittsburgh team of the ‘60’s eventually found enough pitching to win, so will this group.

It would be nice to see, as I imagine we’d get to hear more about the team that changed baseball, a little more than 40 years ago, and maybe get to see Willie signal for a time out, one more time?

The 1971 Pittsburgh Piartes

Dan Lozano, Pimp to the Stars

As baseball free agent singings began to gather momentum, a hefty manila envelope containing a package of information was anonymously delivered to every major sports media outfit in the country a few days ago. Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Fox Sports, and other media outlets were all given an enormous amount papers, photos, and extremely lurid details about a baseball agent named Dan Lozano.

Pimp to, or pimp for?

Who is Dan Lozano?

Lozano is the agent currently trying to negotiate Albert Pujols's new contract.

Deadspin also received the package and it was Deadspin that "broke" the story’. Be assured that there will be more than a little bit of ongoing conversation about Lozano, who also currently represents a number of other top MLB players. Some of the players (aside from Pujols) that have or have had Lozano represent them are Jimmy Rollins, Mike Piazza, and Carlos Beltran. Of course, no sleazy baseball agent could last long without some kind of relationship with A-Rod, so he wanders through this story too.

When confronted with the story, Pujols indicated he was sticking with his guy, but one has to wonder if Albert really knows any of this stuff, some of which has hard evidence backing it up.

Sports agency is a fast and loose profession at all times, with mega-millions of dollars to be made by athletes and agents alike, and it’s my guess that some other agents in the biz compiled all that was contained in those big manila envelopes. No doubt put together by an agent or agents who’ve crossed paths with Lozano over time.

There are dozens of stories out there right now on all of this, but few will cover it like Deadspin. Who ever said that baseball was boring?

http://deadspin.com/5861982/dan-lozano-albert-pujolss-superagent-king-of-sleaze-mountain

September Swoon – a baseball book review

A recently completed two week Cape Cod vacation that Susan and I take most every year gave us both an opportunity to do a lot of reading. This year, among other books, I read 4 books on baseball history.

First up:

September Swoon: Richie Allen, the ’64 Phillies, and Racial Integration, by William F. Kashatus, published in 2004.

This book was the only one to arrive sealed in plastic, which I took to mean that it has not been a big seller. In checking the publication date, I found it interesting that the Pennsylvania State University Press is the publisher.

The 1964 Phillies (of course) were the team that claimed the dubious distinction of having the worst meltdown in a pennant race of all time, when they lost a 6.5 game lead, with 12 games left in the season. I still think this one is the 2^nd best of the worst ever, as recent collapses by Boston this season, and the Mets and Angels of more recent vintage were not choke-jobs that cost a pennant, and the best of the worst is still the Brooklyn Dodgers of 1951.

The author (Kashatus) was 5 years old when his hometown Phils folded down the stretch. The Cardinals got hot and slipped past the Giants and Reds, along with Philadelphia to win it. The author was able to enlist the help of many players from the ’64 team in his telling of the story. He also did some excellent research, and spoke with some of the writers that had covered the team.

The racial element is discussed throughout, and it is very important to note that Dick Allen was the first super-star African-American ballplayer the Phils signed. He received a very large ($70,000) bonus for the time, and was one of the best hitters in all of MLB immediately. Certainly, in 1964, he was a hero, and the NL Rookie of the Year, but the team’s failure that season in many ways made Allen the focal point of Phillies fans ire in later years, when the team continued to fail.

Kashatus writes at length of the blame Allen took in subsequent years for the team’s failures, but the fact is that in 1964 it was Manager Gene Mauch’s fault that the Phils lost, as anything else. Mauch’s use of his two top starting pitchers (Jim Bunning and Chris Short) almost exclusively in the last two weeks proved to be a fiasco, and the team couldn’t hit enough to grab a win in 10 straight games. Mauch "just wore the pitching out" in his own words, but remained manager for a few more years, and instrumental in trading young players for veterans that were never as good as they’d been. The team got worse as Dick Allen got better.

Allen was a Pennsylvania kid, from a single parent family. His mom raised Dick and his two brothers as many moms did back then – with love, discipline, hard work, and the church. Both of Dick’s brothers ended up playing in the majors, but Dick was the star. The Phillies signed Allen and sent him to Little Rock, Arkansas to play his first year of pro ball, where he was the first and the only black player to play for the team. This was in 1960, and Allen went through all the horrible abuse and death threats others before him had experienced, yet he still managed to lead the league in total bases. He couldn’t understand why Philadelphia would send him to Arkansas.

Of course at this same time, Philadelphia was a very oppressive and racist city, in part due to the policies of the police force. It was also true that there had been a large in-migration of Southern Blacks for a number of years. The reaction of a large segment of the white population was all too typical for the 1960’s, when racial equality was something people were fighting and dying for in this country, and the white folks didn’t like all those black folks – at least not so close. The difference was the hatred was often more subtle up north, but in Philadelphia, it became palpable.

Early in 1965, the year after Philly’s collapse, Allen and (teammate) Frank Thomas (a veteran white MLB player) had a small scrum on the field before a game. It became huge news because it was precipitated by a racist remark Thomas had made to Allen. Allen stated he was tired of Thomas’s BS, and his harassing of young black players on the team. Allen was mentoring the younger guys and standing up for them, remembering how tough he’d had it in Little Rock. Thomas was a notorious jerk, and most of the players Kashatus spoke with speak to all of this to some degree. Fact was that Thomas wasn’t called "Donkey," because he was a genius. Thomas was soon shipped off, and the spot light shined on Dick Allen, who took the blame for everything that went wrong in Philadelphia from that point forward.

Philly fans pelting Santa

It was then that Dick Allen became a marked man in Philadelphia, and this is a city whose sports fans have been known for cheering when opposing players get seriously hurt, and for throwing chunks of ice at Santa Claus.

Dick Allen was an amazingly talented hitter and athlete. He was extremely powerful, and often swung a 40-ounce bat, maybe the last man to have used a bat that heavy. I was a huge Met fan back then, and was always terrified when Allen came up to bat against my team. All that talent didn’t matter anymore, Allen was a problem, and would be booed, blamed, and harassed.

Not long after the Thomas incident, life got too heavy for Allen, and he grew to hate Philadelphia. He wanted to be traded away, and he started to drink too much at times. Injuries came along, with most everyone in the media skeptical regarding their severity or even their existence?

Allen was miserable, and even allowing for the errors in judgment and action that he admits to having made, it was sad ending to what should have been a long and great career in the City of Brotherly Love. Allen went on to play a number of years with other teams, and won the AL MVP with the White Sox in 1972. He actually came back to Philadelphia to play in 1975-76, and made it to the post-season that last year in Philly, then ended his career in Oakland, after the 1977 season. He has never received much support for the Hall of Fame, but I can say with absolute confidence that he was as good a hitter as anyone I have ever seen in baseball, for about 5 or 6 years.

Kashatus is not a great writer, but he is a pretty fair one, and he covers his subject matter well. His is not an easily flowing narrative, but his book has historical value of a time, a place, a team, and a man (Allen). It is a story well worth knowing for any baseball fan.

2011-12 Hot Stove Musings #1

"50 million, yeah!"

Papelbon signing with the Phillies?
$12.5 million for 4-years is reportedly enough for Jonathan Papelbon to sign with the team that right now has to again be the presumptive favorite to win the National League.

After what was a mediocre 2010 season by Papelbon’s earlier standard, he had perhaps his best year as Boston’s closer, a disappointing September aside.

I can’t help but wonder if the Phillies will have enough hitting to make up for aging, fading, and injury prone stars such as Utley, Ibanez, Howard, and Polanco?

This deal, if it is made, clinches Roy Oswalt finding a new team, and presents Boston with probably handing their closer gig to Daniel Bard.

With Jimmy Rollins a free agent for the Phils, will they make an offer to Jose Reyes?

Pujols taking his talents to South Beach?
A new stadium and a new name has the Miami Marlins apparently ready to spend some dollars in free agency, as they’ve reportedly made an offer not only to Pujols, but the Mets Reyes, and the White Sox Mark Buerhle as well.

Marlins owners Jeffrey Loria has been notoriously tight-fisted with money during his ownership of the team, but thinks his club can average 30,000 in attendance, and take advantage of the enormous Latin-American population in the area – hence the signing of Ozzie Guillen as manager.

I am not sure what signing Reyes means in respect to Hanley Ramirez, the incumbent (and All Star) shortstop, other than finally moving him to the outfield, something that’s been talked about for some time.

If it does happen the Miami signs all three of these guys, will they have a TV Special and call themselves the Dream Team? It would certainly create a lot more interest in the NL East, which with Atlanta sure to be stronger in 2012, may challenge the AL East for best division in MLB?

Francona to manage the Cardinals?
I am thinking this won’t happen, but if it did, it would immediately make me wonder who Tito would bring on as his pitching coach? I am not making a beer and take-out chicken joke. Fact is that Dave Duncan is 66-years old, and his wife is battling cancer. Beyond that potential roadblock, if Duncan does not return, how good is that Cardinal pitching staff? Getting Adam Wainwright back and fully healthy has to be a huge priority in addition to keeping Pujols, or trying to fill that huge void if he leaves.

Isn’t Prince Fielder the top free agent signing?

A Prince and a King

No offense to Pujols, but Fielder is 4 years younger than Albert, and entering what should be his prime seasons, whereas Pujols is soon to be exiting his. I think the biggest signing this winter will be Theo Epstein wrapping up Fielder for 6-7 years, then finding the lucky manager that will be inking him into the #4 spot in the line up 160 or so times a season.

Some time back I advanced the idea of Epstein bringing in Francona to manage the Cubs? While I still think it’s possible for that to happen, wouldn’t it be fun to see the Cubs signing Pujols, and the Cards signing Francona and Prince?

Won’t happen, but it’s fun to think about.

No Yu!

Not you, Yu, as in Yu Darvish, the latest in an apparently long line of Japanese starting pitchers readyand willing to play in America for the millions someone will give him.

In many ways, Darvish is a lot different than those that have preceded him, not the least of which is his weight of 220 pounds that is spread nicely across a height of 6’5". Those are the kinds of numbers scout love to see in addition to a fastball in the upper 90’s, fabulous command, and an age of only 25.

Many teams will not be able to afford to sign him, and the few that do have the dollars are well aware of the generally spotty history Japanese starting pitchers have had, based on the contracts they have received in the U.S.

Maybe we can finally answer the question of whether you can ever have enough pitching by saying Yu is enough pitching?

Wilson Ramos rescued from kidnappers in Venezuela

Ramos reunited with his wife

The National’s catcher was rescued from his ordeal the other day, and it’s further evidence that you just may not ever be able to go home again? This type of occurrence will happen more and more, making it likely that even moderately successful ballplayers will be moving many folks in their families to the U.S.

Venezuela has been haunted in recent years by the kidnapping of rich and famous people. The mother of former major league pitcher Victor Zambrano was kidnapped in 2009, as was the son of Rangers catcher Yorvit Torrealba, and his uncle. Going back farther we had former Angels infielder Gus Polidor being killed in April, 1995 while trying to prevent the kidnapping of his infant son via a carjacking.  It was very nice to see Ramos escape a nasty situation.

Penn State's Children

In the past week, a leading news story has focused on the child sexual abuse connected with Penn State, and day-by-day the story has gotten worse. We are hearing about a horrible situation that has led many to believe that there was the worst kind of abuse of power, by Penn State coach Joe Paterno, and many other people on his staff, and in the administration at the University.

The only story in my lifetime that I can reasonably compare this story to is the systematic cover-up of child sexual abuse perpetrated by the Catholic Church for many, many years.

The Penn State story is a lot different in that it’s centered in one spot (for now), and that to many of us that follow sports, having Penn State and Joe Paterno involved shines a enormous light on a problem that is endemic in this country, and throughout the world.

Two days ago, I read that it’s estimated that 1 out of every 4 girls, and 1 of every 5 boys in this country has been a victim of sexual abuse.

In my job as a manager of public housing, I have seen and heard about things that I have reported to the police and to child protective service over the years that are awful for me to recall. I have spoken with mothers whose children were sexually abused, who are now "acting out," and becoming abusers themselves. In some cases these mothers are being evicted from their homes because an adult victimized their child, and now that same child is victimizing someone younger and more vulnerable. I don’t know why this seems to happen so often, but it does.

Similarly, I have assisted individuals that served long prison terms for sex crimes. At these times, I am simply doing my job, because there is a legal imperative with what I do – to treat everyone fairly. I have to admit there have been moments in which I have forgotten what someone has done in the past. I have found myself treating an individual with kindness or empathy that in retrospect I would otherwise find myself wanting to spit on and stomp.

As the story at Penn State continues to evolve, we may find that these crimes involve the disappearance (over 6-years ago) of a District Attorney named Ray Gricar. He had an opportunity to prosecute Jerry Sandusky 13 years ago regarding alleged child molestation. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/sports/ncaafootball/questions-on-sandusky-wrapped-in-2005-gricar-mystery.html?_r=1

Gricar just vanished. Could it have something to do with a story like this?
http://www.nesn.com/2011/11/jerry-sandusky-rumored-to-have-been-pimping-out-young-boys-to-rich-donors-says-mark-madden.html

Another statistic I have heard this week is that the average male pedophile sexually abuses 109 children in his lifetime, and Jerry Sandusky is almost 68 years old. Is it possible that there are people my age (59), or a bit younger that are living with the memory of Sandusky sexually abusing them?

Of course it’s likely. It’s extremely likely that we have victims from age 8 to age 58.

A big part of the disgust associated with this story is what can only be described as the enabling that Joe Paterno and other employees at Penn State were a part of. It’s seemingly impossible to understand how anyone could not do more, to do something over all this time (13 years), to end this horror.

How many more children were abused in those 13 years? How many of those children are now adults, and acting out, and abusing a new generation of children?

How many lives has one man ruined? How many other lives have been ruined by Joe Paterno and all of his men failing to do the right thing?

Penn State indicates that they have 80,000 students, statewide. About half of those are at school in State College, Pennsylvania.

When about 2000 students gathered to protest Paterno’s firing a couple of nights ago, I am guessing that reasonable people thought it was one of the sorriest excuses for a protest imaginable? In fairness, some stated that they thought Paterno should go, and I do think that there were many students out there that night just to be a part of what was happening.

I wondered how many of those 2000 kids have been abused, and how many may already be, or may become absuers?

Similarly, when Penn State’s football team released a statement that they would give the Game Ball to Joe Paterno if they won their game Saturday versus Nebraska, I felt a bit angry, and a bit sad. Of those 100 or so football players, how many of them voted to give Paterno the game ball because they felt pressured to be part of the team – to go along with something they knew was wrong? How many wanted to stand up and shout, "No, Paterno was a fraud, he didn’t do what he should have done to protect kids when he had the chance!"

How many of those young men have been abused, are abusing now…or will abuse?

I am certain that one reason behind these misguided actions is what is called the "fog of war." This is defined as being in the middle of a fight, and not knowing or recognizing the difference between left and right, night and day, friend or foe, let alone right and wrong. It’s difficult to do anything more than fight for survival sometimes, and when the battle is done, and if one survives, then maybe it’s time to go back and begin to figure out what was right, and what was wrong.

The "fog" is lifting, and I think most of these kids will come around to a different way of thinking, and part of that was displayed Friday night in State College, when an estimated 10,000 students held a vigil for the victims of the abuse. I believe what happened was that many of those young people found perspective. In a very short time many of them gained enough life experience to behave reasonably, and make the correct decision based on evidence, without emotion.

Experience is worthless without the proper perspective, and the willingness and courage to express it.

So how could it be that with too many adults at Penn State that none of that mattered enough for at least 13 years?

I honestly believe that in years to come, because of this horrible story that we will see more being done to stop the sexual abuse of children, and for finding ways for people to come forward with their stories of abuse, and get the help many desperately need. Maybe a bit of good can come out of something so bad, as the fog lifts, and time passes?

The adults failed, but we should not use the same brush on the students. We need to give them a bit of time to adjust, and do the correct thing. It’s very sad that it often takes something bad to be able to do something good, but it is an opportunity to do just that – to use something awful as a wake up call to do something good. To use this story as a way of reaching out to any child who currently suffers, or anyone who has suffered from the worst kind of abuse. I expect that current students at Penn State will be among the leaders in bringing resources and passion to the cause of working to end the abuse.

I think we will ultimately see that happen with many of these young people in State College, and that this will be a defining period in the lives of these students. I believe that in years to come, because of this horrible story that we will get a lot more great things than we would otherwise have expected from Penn State’s children.

Bill Simmons, and “The Book of Basketball”

"Oh, I wonder, wonder who, mmbadoo-ooh, who, who wrote the Book Of Hoop."

With apologies to The Montones.

A review of Simmons book, with zero footnotes, but many comments.

My son Matt and daughter-in-law Shannon sent me a copy of Simmons book for my birthday about a month ago, which I finished yesterday. I didn’t take it with me to Cape Cod for the two weeks Susan I spent out there, which is one reason why it took about a month to read. The other reason is it’s 704 pages long.

The Sports Guy

Simmons claims to have written the most comprehensive book on the pro game ever, and I have to give him that, considering he spent three years writing it in what I have to believe was his spare time. I mean, aside from the fact that Simmons writes for a living, and has a wife and two small children, he had to have spent a few hundred hours reading a few dozen books on pro hoops, but must have watched thousands of hours of NBA game films. Simmons has written an outstanding book, and even though I have some arguments with a number of his ranking of players, they are mostly too small to mention. Beyond the enormously useful volume of information and data, the book is constantly entertaining, easy to read in small or large chunks, and very, very (very!) funny.

It’s been quite a long time since I have cared much for the NBA. Unlike a huge number of folks that began to watch (a lot) more of the game, I lost interest during the Jordan Era.

Why?

Well, it was a combination of things for me, not the least of which was that during the 1990’s my favorite team was the New York Knicks, and they played this ugly and nasty-assed playground style of ball. That mode of play became the signature style in the league for many teams after the Detroit "Bad Boy" Pistons perfected it starting in the late 1980’s, and later won 2 NBA titles. In retrospect I think Pat Riley (NY Knicks coach) looked at what he had for players, and knew he had zero chance of winning otherwise, so a huge number of games turned into street fights.  He carried this philosophy to Miami too.  It nearly ruined the game for me, especially after those Knick teams, the '77 Trailblazers, the Showtime Lakers, and the great Celtic teams of the '50's, '60's, and '80's

Another aspect that made me turn the dial away from the game was I figured the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan were just going to win anyway, and I got bored with it, the same way I became bored watching Tiger Woods winning all those golf tournaments for 10+ years.

The irony is that I grew up during the 1950’s and ‘60’s, which was the time when the Boston Celtics were winning every year, but looking back now I realize what attracted me to the game was the way it was played by that team. The teamwork that those teams displayed was a beautiful thing, and when my Knicks won titles in 1970 and 1973, I had never seen such perfect passing, excellent shooting, and team defense and rebounding. I have still yet to see any team approach the beautiful way those guys played the game. Back in the day, I watched a lot of NBA hoop at my friend Scott’s house, with a variety of other friends.  It was the year of the Knicks.

There was a John Mayall ("The Turning Point") album out in late 1969 that was all jazz blues fusion, without drums. Lots of harmonica, bass and guitar, and a limited amount of vocals on most tunes. Try a listen on this one, with a basketball game playing, sound off.  It's called "California." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqcqZlFMUYQ&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL33219CEE3D0D5FCA

The music flowed freely while we turned the sound off on the game, and we marveled at how the game and the music meshed to near perfection. If the pace of the game gets frenetic, try "Room to Move." Take 5 minutes and click on the link below.  There isn’t a true music fan alive that doesn’t recognize the genius in this song. 1969-70 was the Knicks and Mayall’s year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htt2Kcxuwfk

I was very pleased to read that Simmons’ dad (who has had Boston Celtic’s season tickets forever) considers Walt Frazier the other guard (with Jordan) that he’d put on his all time team. (Full disclosure – I’d have MJ and Jerry West)

King Bernard

Similarly, it was nice to see Simmons recognize the brilliance of Bernard King, another Knick that I still consider the most unstoppable scorer I have ever seen, albeit for only a couple of years (1983-85). I guess it’s the way I feel Bill Walton in 1977 had the absolute best season I have ever seen a basketball center have, and I have see them all.

Simmons captures Rick Barry perfectly. Has there ever been a better athlete who was such a complete dick as Barry? Certainly not in basketball, unless Simmons is missing someone, and I’d bet everything I have that Simmons missed nothing. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Ty Cobb is Barry’s great-uncle.

Great baller, Rick the Dick

So the book was a great journey back in time for me, and if had any trepidation when I began to read it, that feeling quickly went away.

The last lines that Simmons wrote before his epilogue:

"I am a basketball fan. I am always waiting for the next surprise. You never know when true greatness is lurking around the corner. Just make sure you don’t forget the ones who already lurked."

Frazier shoots over West

A copy of "The Book of Basketball" and a pro basketball encyclopedia would be a great cornerstone to any library.  In addition, grab a copy of Simmons favorite basketball book was (the late) David Halberstam's, "The Breaks of the Game," which remains my favorite as well.

You have to love the old lurkers.

Tony La Russa folds his cards

The "genius"

Another one of my baseball wishes came true the other day, when Tony La Russa decided "retire" as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. If Tony had been hanging around in the hope of winning one more World Series, his wish was granted. I am also guessing that he thinks Albert Pujols will leave St. Louis via free agency, and Tony doesn’t want to face a season without the best hitter in baseball. Maybe he is just feeling old and tired after managing for 33 years?

The fact that La Russa needed a second wild card (the first was in 2006) to get into the post-season this year is just the way things happen in MLB now – just get in, and anything can happen. We’ve all seen that movie a few times, and soon we’ll have another wild card team added in each league. What’s the over/under on when we get the first World Series Champ from behind Door #5? Three years? Four? Two?

A Wild Card team has now won the World Series 5 times, out of 10 appearances, in 17 seasons, which is pretty impressive, in my opinion.

What wasn’t impressive was watching Nelson "Groin Pull" Cruz struggling and failing to snag  David Freese’s fly ball to right field in the bottom of the 9^th inning in game six. That’s a ball most MLB outfielders catch with little problem, in my opinion, but that’s almost like saying Ron Washington pulled a John McNamara, and should have slipped a healthier guy in right, just as McNamara should’ve subbed for Billy Buckner in ’86.

If Cruz had made that catch, maybe we’d be hearing a bit more about that garbled phone call to the bull pen and resulting screw up, but winning erases many mistakes, just as losing gains you nothing but cold beer and fried chicken jokes.

I don’t want to go into all the reasons why I haven’t liked Tony La Russa for close to 30 years, but I will give you all a few:

Basically, I resented the way La Russa presented himself as this genius who was all-knowing about things baseball, but could never adequately explain to us (apparent) dullards why hitting his pitcher in the 8 hole was so genius? Tony wouldn’t answer some reporter’s questions if they called him on strategy moves, implying that it was too complicated for most folks to understand. The public wasn’t smart enough to grasp his genius – that kind of thing.

At one point during the recent World Series, Tony went to some length to denigrate the "Moneyball" concept of trying to create a winning team. He never touched upon the crux of the concept that Billy Beane used in Oakland, which was finding inefficiencies in the market to form a ball club that could complete with little payroll. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that Tony couldn’t get out of Oakland fast enough when new ownership arrived, and he found out he’d have to manage a team with one of the lowest payrolls in MLB?

Yeah, Tony took the Cardinal job, which was offered in no small part because of his managing 3 AL pennant winners in Oakland. This is the team with the "bruise brothers," you know, with those heroes McGwire and Canseco, the one that could only win one World Series, despite being favored all 3 years. Have you ever wondered why La Russa didn’t bring in Canseco as a coach, after bring Big Mac back? It wasn’t because Jose told folks that Tony knew what he and Mac were doing with those syringes, was it? Does anyone really believe Tony didn’t know about the steroids? Hasn’t Tony more-or-less told us he knows everything, so how could he have not known that?

Tony also gets a large amount of credit for creating the "one inning only for a closer" philosophy, that he began with his use of Dennis Eckersley. Considering how phenomenal Eck was, and the fact that Oakland won 3 pennants, every other team in MLB shortly followed suit. I am not going to argue the merit of using one of your best pitchers in that way, but I will say that there is considerable evidence supporting a radically different way to use that kind of talent. One way that had been in vogue in MLB for many years in different incarnations was bringing your stud relief pitcher in when the game was on the line, pretty much any time after the 6^th inning or so, and letting them finish the game. Guys like Lyle, McGraw, Fingers, Gossage, Sutter, and Mike Marshall had some great seasons being used like that. Few managers in recent years have done it that way, though Joe Torre used Rivera early and for multiple innings for many years. Granted, it’s an arguable point, but if it were my team, wasting my stud closer in the bottom of the 9^th in a game I am winning by 3 runs seems a poor use of resources. When I am up by a run in the 7^th, and the bases are loaded with one out, that’s when I want my best guy on the mound to save the game right then, when it needs saving.

The idea of batting a pitcher 7^th or 8^th, or wherever (instead of 9^th) has been around forever. Its all just so much BS, as enormous Sabermetric studies of game records have shown that batting order has very little to do with winning or losing. Basically, what we have now makes sense for the most part -- you want your best hitters to bat the most times, but I’ll save that topic for another rant.

I will give Tony credit for one thing, and that was getting his old teammate Dave Duncan to be his pitching coach for all these years. I don’t know Duncan’s method of turning mediocre starting pitchers into good ones, but the evidence is undeniable that he’s very, very good at it. I wonder if Duncan will stay in the game? Is he a candidate to be a manager? If he isn’t a jerk like his buddy, I’d give him a shot, wouldn’t you?

There are other things I have heard and read about La Russa, some of them baseball related, and other stuff on his personal life. The latter stuff made him a pretty unlikable guy to me, but I don’t want to smear him on things I am not certain of, or that are not baseball related in any event. He didn’t handle the Hancock drunk driving death well, and Tony had his own bout with a DWI. He had a chance to say and do the right thing at that time, but went into a defensive (and angry) shell whenever his "code" was challenged, so he fought back. Having had a DWI myself I know that it’s huge reach to not think that Tony had a drinking problem, but winning may solve many problems, especially when Budweiser is paying your salary?

I know Tony got his law degree after a few years of study when (I believe) he was in his 40’s. That’s nice, but I could never figure out why he did it, unless he was trying to create further evidence on how "smart" he is? I guess he used it to his advantage with reporters at times, not that I can blame him for a lot of that, but other managers can parry the media and not be smarmy about it.

So, is Tony gone for good?

No freakin’ way! He’ll be on ESPN before you know it, making John Kruk look even dumber than he does now (sorry, that’s wrong, Kruk can’t be made to look any more dumb than he already looks), and reciting the baseball gospel, according to the Genius. I have this awful visage of seeing and hearing La Russa and Rick Sutcliffe on TV at the same time. With Joe Morgan being fired a year ago, I can only imagine Tony and Joe going at it…a couple of ex-second basemen that can tell us every freaking thing we’ll ever need to know about baseball.

So, of course there will be the Hall of Fame for Tony five years from now, assuming he doesn’t come back to the game in a couple of years.

Bill James wrote a great book a few years ago, in which he tried to determine the best managers of all time with a formula that was basically based on how much teams improved (year-to-year) under the helm of a certain manager. I can tell you that the theory/formula works, as most of the guys you’d expect to find near the top are there, though not all of them. It takes into account a guy being handed the 1962 Mets, versus the guy who got to manager the Yankees to five straight World Series Championships. (What? Oh yeah, same guy.) Kidding aside, it’s an excellent and insightful book. I can’t tell you where La Russa would rank in a Bill James baseball history ranking, but he won’t be voted in based on that kind of thing anyway.

La Russa managed 33 years and his teams won a lot of ball games, but for the most part, almost all those Oakland and Cardinal teams were supposed to win a lot of ballgames. I don’t really care if he makes the Hall (he will) or not, I am just very happy that he’s gone.

Still, I really wish Cruz had just caught that ball.