Heading into the off season the Cubs had some glaring holes they needed to fill. They needed a manager, firstbaseman, left handed power, middle relief, but perhaps no bigger hole to fill than the one that opened yesterday when Ron Santo passed away.
The Cubs are now charged with finding a new wingman for Pat Hughes. For twenty-one years Ron groaned, cheered and banged the desk in response to the success and failure happening below him on the field. To say he was the Cubs radio analyst wasn’t truly accurate. He was more the Everyfan that was allowed to enter the broadcast booth. He couldn’t describe a play or analyze a game situation, certainly not in recent years. But the one thing that Santo had like no other was his passion and excitement for his beloved Cubbies.
When the news broke that he died I was surprised even though he had unbelievable health issues to deal with. I am surprised that I am as sad as I am at the news as well. He frustrated me on the radio with his constant comments about Hughes’ tuna stained sweaters or repeating what Hughes said seconds after Hughes said it or trying to analyze a recent play by saying “Let me look at the replay.” But he also captivated me in a way with his expressions while a play was in progress.
I had even mentioned to my cousin Matt that I thought this was going to be Ron’s last season (2010) because his health seemed to be failing, but to his (Ron’s) credit he never complained or made a big deal of his condition.
So now the Cubs need a broadcaster. Given how Ricketts has screwed up the entertainment tax for renovating Wrigley and, depending on your opinion, how he handled the Quade/Sandberg issue, Ricketts will screw up Santo’s replacement. I can only imagine that Ricketts has Dave Otto on speed dial.
There are a lot of candidates out there, some available and some currently under contract with other organizations. Since Bob Dernier is on the coaching staff, I don’t see him moving to the booth, but Dernier’s teammate Keith Moreland would be an excellent choice.
Rick Sutcliffe would be the pinnacle but he may not be available. Bringing back Mark Grace would be a good move also, but in an interview today it sounded like, while he’s open to returning to the Cubs, he’s only interested in the TV side of analysis.
There’s no reason to believe the Cubs will make the right decision, I can only hope they won’t submit us to a season long give and take of Pat offering Dave every palindrome he can think of.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Q Is For Quality
Hey! Look at that! I was right! Can I say that again (it doesn’t happen often.) I was right! The Cubs selected Mike Quade (Monroe Doctrine, “Who Will Bring the Scorecard to Home plate?”, September 20). OK, so maybe I didn’t predict it in as much as I said he was my dark horse favorite. Still I think the Cubs made the right decision.
Considering they are not going out on the free agent market to nail down a front-line starter, first baseman or outfielder, the Cubs needed someone that could work with the youngsters (Castro, Colvin, Cashner, etc). Both Sandberg and Quade had worked with these guys in the minor leagues so it’s obvious they would be the favorites. Eric Wedge worked with young ballplayers in Cleveland and was successful, but Quade and Ryno had worked with THESE guys.
When I first heard ESPN1000 break the news I had mixed feelings. I was happy that Quade was named (certainly over Melvin) but had some residual sadness that Sandberg wasn’t. After further reflection it wasn’t because I wanted Sandberg to manage the Cubs right now, it’s because by not being named means he’s most likely leaving the organization.
At some point I would love Sandberg to be the Cubs manager, but not now. The idiot arguments I’ve seen posted on Cubs.com is that Sandberg should be named because he’s a Hall of Famer and he’s managed in the minors. How did the Hall of Fame credentials work out for Ted Williams? Being a HOFer doesn’t necessarily help. In fact it can hurt. I would imagine most, if not all, HOFers have natural ability and talent. When you have natural ability it’s often difficult to teach someone that ability. Since it comes naturally to the HOFer, most likely what they want to say is “just do it”. Or, “I can’t explain it, here watch.” Someone like Quade (or LaRussa, or Lasorda or Francona) weren’t great players, but they understood the game and knew how to work hard to get the most from their ability.
When I think of Sandberg I keep thinking of two guys, and maybe that’s my hang-up. I think of the guy out at second base that could turn the double play flawlessly and be reluctant to give a post-game interview. And then I think of the guy who went to the minors to do what he was asked, changed his persona, started communicating and even had a penchant for getting thrown out of games. I’m sure Sandberg has a good baseball mind, but I just get the feeling that he had his eye on the seat in the corner of the third base dugout at Clark and Addison and said “How do I get there?”
Somehow four years was determined as the magical number and he felt he knew all he needed to know to be qualified for the job.
From what I’ve heard listening to Quade and others talk about him, he isn’t afraid to make changes and hold players, young and old, accountable for their actions. What? A Cubs manager holding players accountable? Has there ever been such a thing?
I cannot wait for Opening Day 2011. I know the Cubs and Quade will struggle from time to time, maybe a lot depending on the roster. But I think we finally have a guy in charge that focuses on the basics and will demand what he expects from his players.
With all the great attributes Quade brings to the job he also gives us a hell of a trivia question. When was the last time a city had two major sports franchises managed/coached by guys whose last name starts with “Q”?
Considering they are not going out on the free agent market to nail down a front-line starter, first baseman or outfielder, the Cubs needed someone that could work with the youngsters (Castro, Colvin, Cashner, etc). Both Sandberg and Quade had worked with these guys in the minor leagues so it’s obvious they would be the favorites. Eric Wedge worked with young ballplayers in Cleveland and was successful, but Quade and Ryno had worked with THESE guys.
When I first heard ESPN1000 break the news I had mixed feelings. I was happy that Quade was named (certainly over Melvin) but had some residual sadness that Sandberg wasn’t. After further reflection it wasn’t because I wanted Sandberg to manage the Cubs right now, it’s because by not being named means he’s most likely leaving the organization.
At some point I would love Sandberg to be the Cubs manager, but not now. The idiot arguments I’ve seen posted on Cubs.com is that Sandberg should be named because he’s a Hall of Famer and he’s managed in the minors. How did the Hall of Fame credentials work out for Ted Williams? Being a HOFer doesn’t necessarily help. In fact it can hurt. I would imagine most, if not all, HOFers have natural ability and talent. When you have natural ability it’s often difficult to teach someone that ability. Since it comes naturally to the HOFer, most likely what they want to say is “just do it”. Or, “I can’t explain it, here watch.” Someone like Quade (or LaRussa, or Lasorda or Francona) weren’t great players, but they understood the game and knew how to work hard to get the most from their ability.
When I think of Sandberg I keep thinking of two guys, and maybe that’s my hang-up. I think of the guy out at second base that could turn the double play flawlessly and be reluctant to give a post-game interview. And then I think of the guy who went to the minors to do what he was asked, changed his persona, started communicating and even had a penchant for getting thrown out of games. I’m sure Sandberg has a good baseball mind, but I just get the feeling that he had his eye on the seat in the corner of the third base dugout at Clark and Addison and said “How do I get there?”
Somehow four years was determined as the magical number and he felt he knew all he needed to know to be qualified for the job.
From what I’ve heard listening to Quade and others talk about him, he isn’t afraid to make changes and hold players, young and old, accountable for their actions. What? A Cubs manager holding players accountable? Has there ever been such a thing?
I cannot wait for Opening Day 2011. I know the Cubs and Quade will struggle from time to time, maybe a lot depending on the roster. But I think we finally have a guy in charge that focuses on the basics and will demand what he expects from his players.
With all the great attributes Quade brings to the job he also gives us a hell of a trivia question. When was the last time a city had two major sports franchises managed/coached by guys whose last name starts with “Q”?
Monday, October 11, 2010
Mother Mary Comfort Me
Twenty-seven years, more than half the years he’s spent on earth. Eleven CFCL Championships, including a three-peat. Twenty-two money finishes while competing against 39 different owners. Talk about fantasy numbers! The Copperfield Dynasty came to a quiet end with the completion of the 2010 baseball season.
The CFCL (Cub Fan Club League) could easily stand for Championships For Copperfields League. Starting on that fateful day in 1983 standing in Kroc’s and Brentano’s on Lake Street, when David showed Rich the original Rotisserie League Book (and beginning an estimated 9900 day journey to play Fantasy Baseball’s version of The Lone Ranger and Tonto; Sandberg and Dernier; Penn & Teller; no wait, here it is – Holmes and Watson), the CFCL has stood apart from any other fantasy baseball league due to the class, dignity and ethics that David uses in his everyday life.
And it’s that class, dignity and ethics that have caused the Copperfields to shut the doors rather than put things on cruise control. There is always a chance for a return, as with any former owner – aside from the vile, despicable scum from our past - but for now the Copperfields are riding into baseball’s sunset. Pending league approval we are hoping to have David take on the role of Former Owner Emeritus so that he can help maintain the League History and we can come to him and say “When we putin "X" the Constitution, what in the hell were we thinking?”
Let’s take a little stroll down Memory Lane to identify some of the things that make the CFCL stand apart from any other league, shall we?
Video tapes of ENTIRE drafts during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s (these tapes are for sale in the lobby on your way out). Clips of those videos have been sprinkled throughout Weekly Reports, Monroe Doctrines, Message Boards and the League Webpage.
The absolute integrity and objectivity that the Co-Commissioner used to interpret rules, make rulings and deal with the daily strife. Too many times I hear stories from other fantasy owners who complain that their Commissioners are always making rulings that benefit the Commissioners teams/needs. David always looked at the bigger picture and understood the league was bigger than any one team. Many a time I would receive an e-mail wherein he would point out a question that had been brought to his attention. He would not include the owner or team that was involved so as to not cloud my judgment and let emotions take over (“Kenn’s involved? Ah, screw ‘im!”) I was always able to render my opinion without worrying about whom I was ruling for or against. Made my job a lot easier.
As League Secretary, David consistently stayed up late the night before the draft putting together the Draft Sheets, Free Agent List, Reserve List Sheets, bringing the pretzels and licorice and all the video and audio equipment to the detriment of being able to fully prepare for the draft as an owner – not that eleven titles and an 81% In the Money Finish are any evidence that the Copperfields were working at a disadvantage.
Not only was he a world class owner and GM, he was League Secretary, Co-Commissioner, Statistician and Historian beyond compare. He brought the CFCL into the Computer Era. Prior to computerizing things, he would – by hand – enter each team’s stats on a WEEKLY BASIS (!) once the weekly statistics were printed in the USA Today. Then he would add each column of stats, log it and continue on until he had computed the team’s HR, RBI, Runs, BA, ERA, WHIP, Wins and Saves. He would then do that for the other five to seven teams in the league. When the standings were complete he would type (we were using typewriters back then folks) and copy the standings and stats and mail them to each team. Needless to say, women were not a part of the Copperfield way of life before computers came along. (Is it any wonder that he and Michelle found each other only after David started using computers to calculate the standings? I think not.)
Once computers became available, he designed programs to do the calculations more quickly, but he still had to manually enter each player’s statistics each week. Herculean effort doesn’t come close to describing this kind of dedication.
He has assured us that he is not sitting in Hattiesburg, MS waiting to make a decision during Spring Training. The last few years have been hard on the Copperfield front office. The way some owners were conducting themselves was difficult to witness as to the effect it was having on the league he gave birth to. But as always David understood the league was bigger than any one team and that the league would handle things, which it did. Moreover it ended up coming down to time. Time needed to continue running a successful, competitive franchise vs. time needed to invest in his family and their activities. Not surprisingly he rightfully chose his family. When David does anything he does it all out. We’ve seen that in his running the league for 27 years. He does that with his wife and children. Finally the soccer games, scout camping trips, church groups, choir concerts and special time with Michelle won out.
The CFCL will be poorer for the absence of the Copperfield team, but is richer for the strong foundation David has built to allow the league to continue with the solid core of owners that currently comprise the league.
The CFCL (Cub Fan Club League) could easily stand for Championships For Copperfields League. Starting on that fateful day in 1983 standing in Kroc’s and Brentano’s on Lake Street, when David showed Rich the original Rotisserie League Book (and beginning an estimated 9900 day journey to play Fantasy Baseball’s version of The Lone Ranger and Tonto; Sandberg and Dernier; Penn & Teller; no wait, here it is – Holmes and Watson), the CFCL has stood apart from any other fantasy baseball league due to the class, dignity and ethics that David uses in his everyday life.
And it’s that class, dignity and ethics that have caused the Copperfields to shut the doors rather than put things on cruise control. There is always a chance for a return, as with any former owner – aside from the vile, despicable scum from our past - but for now the Copperfields are riding into baseball’s sunset. Pending league approval we are hoping to have David take on the role of Former Owner Emeritus so that he can help maintain the League History and we can come to him and say “When we put
Let’s take a little stroll down Memory Lane to identify some of the things that make the CFCL stand apart from any other league, shall we?
Video tapes of ENTIRE drafts during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s (these tapes are for sale in the lobby on your way out). Clips of those videos have been sprinkled throughout Weekly Reports, Monroe Doctrines, Message Boards and the League Webpage.
The absolute integrity and objectivity that the Co-Commissioner used to interpret rules, make rulings and deal with the daily strife. Too many times I hear stories from other fantasy owners who complain that their Commissioners are always making rulings that benefit the Commissioners teams/needs. David always looked at the bigger picture and understood the league was bigger than any one team. Many a time I would receive an e-mail wherein he would point out a question that had been brought to his attention. He would not include the owner or team that was involved so as to not cloud my judgment and let emotions take over (“Kenn’s involved? Ah, screw ‘im!”) I was always able to render my opinion without worrying about whom I was ruling for or against. Made my job a lot easier.
As League Secretary, David consistently stayed up late the night before the draft putting together the Draft Sheets, Free Agent List, Reserve List Sheets, bringing the pretzels and licorice and all the video and audio equipment to the detriment of being able to fully prepare for the draft as an owner – not that eleven titles and an 81% In the Money Finish are any evidence that the Copperfields were working at a disadvantage.
Not only was he a world class owner and GM, he was League Secretary, Co-Commissioner, Statistician and Historian beyond compare. He brought the CFCL into the Computer Era. Prior to computerizing things, he would – by hand – enter each team’s stats on a WEEKLY BASIS (!) once the weekly statistics were printed in the USA Today. Then he would add each column of stats, log it and continue on until he had computed the team’s HR, RBI, Runs, BA, ERA, WHIP, Wins and Saves. He would then do that for the other five to seven teams in the league. When the standings were complete he would type (we were using typewriters back then folks) and copy the standings and stats and mail them to each team. Needless to say, women were not a part of the Copperfield way of life before computers came along. (Is it any wonder that he and Michelle found each other only after David started using computers to calculate the standings? I think not.)
Once computers became available, he designed programs to do the calculations more quickly, but he still had to manually enter each player’s statistics each week. Herculean effort doesn’t come close to describing this kind of dedication.
He has assured us that he is not sitting in Hattiesburg, MS waiting to make a decision during Spring Training. The last few years have been hard on the Copperfield front office. The way some owners were conducting themselves was difficult to witness as to the effect it was having on the league he gave birth to. But as always David understood the league was bigger than any one team and that the league would handle things, which it did. Moreover it ended up coming down to time. Time needed to continue running a successful, competitive franchise vs. time needed to invest in his family and their activities. Not surprisingly he rightfully chose his family. When David does anything he does it all out. We’ve seen that in his running the league for 27 years. He does that with his wife and children. Finally the soccer games, scout camping trips, church groups, choir concerts and special time with Michelle won out.
The CFCL will be poorer for the absence of the Copperfield team, but is richer for the strong foundation David has built to allow the league to continue with the solid core of owners that currently comprise the league.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
So What Have We Learned?
The 2010 Baseball and Fantasy season is about to end and it would make sense to reflect. OK, so what have we learned?
We’ve learned that you can make seven trades sending out 21 players and run to a title. You can also make one trade, trading one single player and vie for the title before ending up fighting for second place.
We’ve learned that you can manage a baseball team in a major market making statements like “Look, what more can I do? I’ve tried everything.” And keep your job.
We have always known that every team wins 60 and loses 60. We’ve learned that the Cubs have worked hard to go 12-25 with the other 37 (five games left to play).
We’ve learned that if you want to win the CFCL Championship, the trend is it’s best to live out of state (Ruffins ’06, Kenndoza ’07, Kenndoza ’09, Ruffins ’10).
We’ve learned that relocation is not the only thing keeping Dem Rebels from taking home the Copperfield Trophy.
We’ve learned that Alfonso Soriano is capable of being productive outside of the leadoff spot. A lesson learned waaaay too late.
We’ve learned that small payrolls (Minnesota, Cincinnati, San Diego) can win if there is a team concept in place.
We’ve learned that brothers who cheer for different Chicago teams can work together to thoroughly trounce their cousin.
We’ve learned we still don’t know what to expect from Zambrano. He’s still one stupid fielding error away from another meltdown.
We’ve learned that a Non-Big Name, Career Minor League Manager can breathe new life into a sleepwalking franchise.
We’ve learned that the Revenge, by acquiring Mat Latos (.02), Fernando Martinez (.05), Tommy Hanson (.02), Dexter Fowler (.02), Andrew McCutchen (.05), Matt Cain (.10) and Freddie Freeman (.05) have a plan for 2011.
We’ve learned that the Monroe Doctrine has some awesome, loyal readers. Thanks to the Ruffins, Revenge, Fezboy and DoorMatts for consistently tuning in.
We’ve learned that we still have to wait ‘til next year.
We’ve learned that you can make seven trades sending out 21 players and run to a title. You can also make one trade, trading one single player and vie for the title before ending up fighting for second place.
We’ve learned that you can manage a baseball team in a major market making statements like “Look, what more can I do? I’ve tried everything.” And keep your job.
We have always known that every team wins 60 and loses 60. We’ve learned that the Cubs have worked hard to go 12-25 with the other 37 (five games left to play).
We’ve learned that if you want to win the CFCL Championship, the trend is it’s best to live out of state (Ruffins ’06, Kenndoza ’07, Kenndoza ’09, Ruffins ’10).
We’ve learned that relocation is not the only thing keeping Dem Rebels from taking home the Copperfield Trophy.
We’ve learned that Alfonso Soriano is capable of being productive outside of the leadoff spot. A lesson learned waaaay too late.
We’ve learned that small payrolls (Minnesota, Cincinnati, San Diego) can win if there is a team concept in place.
We’ve learned that brothers who cheer for different Chicago teams can work together to thoroughly trounce their cousin.
We’ve learned we still don’t know what to expect from Zambrano. He’s still one stupid fielding error away from another meltdown.
We’ve learned that a Non-Big Name, Career Minor League Manager can breathe new life into a sleepwalking franchise.
We’ve learned that the Revenge, by acquiring Mat Latos (.02), Fernando Martinez (.05), Tommy Hanson (.02), Dexter Fowler (.02), Andrew McCutchen (.05), Matt Cain (.10) and Freddie Freeman (.05) have a plan for 2011.
We’ve learned that the Monroe Doctrine has some awesome, loyal readers. Thanks to the Ruffins, Revenge, Fezboy and DoorMatts for consistently tuning in.
We’ve learned that we still have to wait ‘til next year.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Who Will Bring the Scorecard to Homeplate?
This off-season the Cubs (and by that I mean Jim Hendry and Tom Ricketts) have a big decision to make on whom to put in the thirdbase dugout at Wrigley next year so that Ron Santo can introduce him as "the fine manager of the Chicago Cubs" during the prelude to the Pat & Ron Show. There are plenty of candidates to replace the retired Lou Pinella.
Among the interviewees we have heard are: Eric Wedge, Tony LaRussa, Freddie Gonzalez, Joe Girardi, Bob Melvin, Ryne Sandberg, Mike Quade, Bob Brenly.
Before the interview process really even got out of the blocks, Freddie Gonzalez declined an opportunity to be interviewed, deciding instead to focus his attention on replacing Bobby Cox.
Eric Wedge has already been met with and follow ups with him are expected. When I first heard that Wedge was on the list, I thought “Oh god, why him?” Well, here’s why. In 2005 won 93 games and finished second. In 2007 won 96 games, finished first in the division and won AL Manager of the Year. He brings some cred with him, if the Cubs go in that direction. Not my top choice, but a strong candidate to be considered.
Bob Brenly – Don’t know if I like this option. Won a World Series in his first year with Arizona. Certainly a wonderful accomplishment (something no one on the North Side has been able to do since Frank Chance led the Cubs to a title in 1908, but he had Schilling, Johnson and Luis Gonzalez (all suspects in the great Steroid Era). I have to say that I think Brenly is amazing in the broadcast booth, but in the dugout I’m not so sure. I don’t hear anyone saying that Steve Stone should go down to manage a team because he’s an awesome analyst. Yeah, Brenly had two first place finishes in his first two years with the Diamondbacks, but he’s pretty low on my list.
Ryne Sandberg – The fan favorite and the favorite when using your heart not your head. Here’s my dilemma. I would love Sandberg to manage the Cubs. He’s moved from A to AAA in the minors having success at each level. He’s ready. Is he ready for the Cubs? Don’t know. But with as many as 17 openings, someone’s going to grab him. It would bug me as a Cubs fan to have him manage some other team (I don’t like Mike Singletary coaching the 49ers). But what I really don’t want is for Sandberg to be named, have him struggle for a year or two and then get canned. If he’s here I want it to be a long time, whether we win the division every year or not. Whether we win the World Series or not. I want consistent long-term success from him and for him. But I also don’t want special consideration to be made for him because he’s a Cub Legend and Hall of Famer. He’s near the top of the list.
Tony LaRussa – Great manager. Tons of success, but I don’t think he should be here. He’s 66 at the end of the year. While that’s certainly not old for baseball managers (see Torre, Pinella, Leyland) he’s got fewer managerial years ahead of him than behind him.
Joe Girardi – Here’s an interesting situation. Manager of the Year in 2006 with Florida. World Series title and two Division Titles with the Yankees. Plenty of years ahead of him. Chicago born and bred, played for the Cubs. Good baseball mind. But why would he leave the Yankees? Well, in the past few days there have been reports he’s thinking about it, possibly due to all the stress managing the Yankees brings. The Cubs aren’t a cakewalk in stress free management, but I’ve got to believe it’s not the same pressure cooker New York is. Wouldn’t mind seeing him in Cub pinstripes.
And here’s my darkhorse favorite.
Mike Quade – Sixteen years minor league managing experience. He’s had success in the minors. He’s worked with a lot of the Cubs young players currently in the majors (Soto, Cashner, Colvin). Even with sixteen years in the minors under his belt, he’s still young. He started managing when he was 26. He’s got an energy about him that hopefully would translate to the team. Here’s the problem. The team is currently 17-7 under him. That’s incredible considering what Lou did with the team this year. BUT, the Cubs are mathematically out of any playoff appearance. It really doesn’t matter if they pass the Brewers and Astros. Finishing 3rd or 5th, 25 games out of first is basically the same. So it’s not hard for the team to place loose and for the atmosphere to be positive. What happens in April 2011? What happens if the Cubs are half a game out of first in July facing the Cardinals in an important weekend series and Zambrano and Ramirez are thinking about themselves and not the team? Will Quade’s positive vibe and energy work then?
None of us know. In fact none of us know which manager on the list would be the best fit because it’s a guarantee that each would have some success and each will ultimately have failure. There are no Connie Mack or John McGraw tenures any longer now that Bobby Cox is retiring. Certainly no tenures like that in big city markets like Chicago. We can only hope Hendry/Ricketts select someone that will be given the time to find success.
Among the interviewees we have heard are: Eric Wedge, Tony LaRussa, Freddie Gonzalez, Joe Girardi, Bob Melvin, Ryne Sandberg, Mike Quade, Bob Brenly.
Before the interview process really even got out of the blocks, Freddie Gonzalez declined an opportunity to be interviewed, deciding instead to focus his attention on replacing Bobby Cox.
Eric Wedge has already been met with and follow ups with him are expected. When I first heard that Wedge was on the list, I thought “Oh god, why him?” Well, here’s why. In 2005 won 93 games and finished second. In 2007 won 96 games, finished first in the division and won AL Manager of the Year. He brings some cred with him, if the Cubs go in that direction. Not my top choice, but a strong candidate to be considered.
Bob Brenly – Don’t know if I like this option. Won a World Series in his first year with Arizona. Certainly a wonderful accomplishment (something no one on the North Side has been able to do since Frank Chance led the Cubs to a title in 1908, but he had Schilling, Johnson and Luis Gonzalez (all suspects in the great Steroid Era). I have to say that I think Brenly is amazing in the broadcast booth, but in the dugout I’m not so sure. I don’t hear anyone saying that Steve Stone should go down to manage a team because he’s an awesome analyst. Yeah, Brenly had two first place finishes in his first two years with the Diamondbacks, but he’s pretty low on my list.
Ryne Sandberg – The fan favorite and the favorite when using your heart not your head. Here’s my dilemma. I would love Sandberg to manage the Cubs. He’s moved from A to AAA in the minors having success at each level. He’s ready. Is he ready for the Cubs? Don’t know. But with as many as 17 openings, someone’s going to grab him. It would bug me as a Cubs fan to have him manage some other team (I don’t like Mike Singletary coaching the 49ers). But what I really don’t want is for Sandberg to be named, have him struggle for a year or two and then get canned. If he’s here I want it to be a long time, whether we win the division every year or not. Whether we win the World Series or not. I want consistent long-term success from him and for him. But I also don’t want special consideration to be made for him because he’s a Cub Legend and Hall of Famer. He’s near the top of the list.
Tony LaRussa – Great manager. Tons of success, but I don’t think he should be here. He’s 66 at the end of the year. While that’s certainly not old for baseball managers (see Torre, Pinella, Leyland) he’s got fewer managerial years ahead of him than behind him.
Joe Girardi – Here’s an interesting situation. Manager of the Year in 2006 with Florida. World Series title and two Division Titles with the Yankees. Plenty of years ahead of him. Chicago born and bred, played for the Cubs. Good baseball mind. But why would he leave the Yankees? Well, in the past few days there have been reports he’s thinking about it, possibly due to all the stress managing the Yankees brings. The Cubs aren’t a cakewalk in stress free management, but I’ve got to believe it’s not the same pressure cooker New York is. Wouldn’t mind seeing him in Cub pinstripes.
And here’s my darkhorse favorite.
Mike Quade – Sixteen years minor league managing experience. He’s had success in the minors. He’s worked with a lot of the Cubs young players currently in the majors (Soto, Cashner, Colvin). Even with sixteen years in the minors under his belt, he’s still young. He started managing when he was 26. He’s got an energy about him that hopefully would translate to the team. Here’s the problem. The team is currently 17-7 under him. That’s incredible considering what Lou did with the team this year. BUT, the Cubs are mathematically out of any playoff appearance. It really doesn’t matter if they pass the Brewers and Astros. Finishing 3rd or 5th, 25 games out of first is basically the same. So it’s not hard for the team to place loose and for the atmosphere to be positive. What happens in April 2011? What happens if the Cubs are half a game out of first in July facing the Cardinals in an important weekend series and Zambrano and Ramirez are thinking about themselves and not the team? Will Quade’s positive vibe and energy work then?
None of us know. In fact none of us know which manager on the list would be the best fit because it’s a guarantee that each would have some success and each will ultimately have failure. There are no Connie Mack or John McGraw tenures any longer now that Bobby Cox is retiring. Certainly no tenures like that in big city markets like Chicago. We can only hope Hendry/Ricketts select someone that will be given the time to find success.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Did Thomas Edison Have Anything To Do With This?
There are arguments about what the greatest invention has been. The airplane. The telephone. The seedless watermelon. Ziplock sandwich bags. If I were to cast a vote I would have to say it’s baseball-reference.com. This is by far the most addictive, most amazing thing in the world. Recently I logged in and was stunned at the journey I took.
Always start on the Cubs Franchise page. Click on top player, 1991, Jody Davis (Davis’ stat page opens). Interesting . . . middle name is Richard and he was originally drafted by the Mets. Yep, batted .389 in ’84 NLCS. Click on hyperlink to 1984 NLCS.
Cubs had a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh in Game 5. Ugh. Ooh! Tim Lollar – he was a Rebel! Click on Lollar’s hyperlink.
Hmm, not much here. Five games under .500 for his career, why in the hell did I draft him? Must move on. He pitched for Boston in 1986. Click on Boston’s ’86 hyperlink.
Baylor at 37 was the DH with 31 homers and 94 RBI. Buckner had 102 RBI. Click on his hyperlink.
Twenty-two seasons. Three straight years (’80-’82) he finished in the top 15 in MVP voting. He actually had 31 and 28 steals in seasons early in his career and finished with 183. Wait, go back. 1982 finished 10th in MVP voting. Who finished ahead of him? Click on MVP hyperlink.
Dale Murphy was MVP followed by Lonnie Smith (?), Pedro Guerrero, Oliver, Sutter, Schmidt, Jack Clark, Greg Minton, Carlton and Buckner. Schmidt, huh? Click on hyperlink.
Michael Jack. Hall of Famer. Cub Killer. Best thirdbaseman ever. Wore number 22 as well as 20 for the Phillies. Elected to HOF in 1995 with 96.5% of the vote. 15th in career homeruns (548), thirty-third in RBI (1595) and seventh in strikeouts (1883). Who had more? Click hyperlink.
Reggie Jackson, Jim Thome, Sammy Sosa, Andres Galarraga, Jose Canseco and Willie Stargell. I swear Babe Ruth was near the top of the list. Nope he’s 95th. Hank Aaron? He’s 78th. The two top homerun hitters (I don’t acknowledge Bonds) were also amazing contact hitters. Craig Biggio had more strikeouts than Aaron and Ruth. Mike Cameron is 10th for crying out loud.
And so it goes. Every trip to baseball-reference.com is a different journey. And no matter what I went there for, if there were two things I wanted to look up (say Dawson’s career stats and Lou Gehrig’s numbers) I’ll never get to Gehrig because something on Dawson’s page will take me somewhere else and three hours later I have to face real life and haven’t seen a stitch of Gehrig.
Amazing, amazing collection of baseball numbers.
Always start on the Cubs Franchise page. Click on top player, 1991, Jody Davis (Davis’ stat page opens). Interesting . . . middle name is Richard and he was originally drafted by the Mets. Yep, batted .389 in ’84 NLCS. Click on hyperlink to 1984 NLCS.
Cubs had a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh in Game 5. Ugh. Ooh! Tim Lollar – he was a Rebel! Click on Lollar’s hyperlink.
Hmm, not much here. Five games under .500 for his career, why in the hell did I draft him? Must move on. He pitched for Boston in 1986. Click on Boston’s ’86 hyperlink.
Baylor at 37 was the DH with 31 homers and 94 RBI. Buckner had 102 RBI. Click on his hyperlink.
Twenty-two seasons. Three straight years (’80-’82) he finished in the top 15 in MVP voting. He actually had 31 and 28 steals in seasons early in his career and finished with 183. Wait, go back. 1982 finished 10th in MVP voting. Who finished ahead of him? Click on MVP hyperlink.
Dale Murphy was MVP followed by Lonnie Smith (?), Pedro Guerrero, Oliver, Sutter, Schmidt, Jack Clark, Greg Minton, Carlton and Buckner. Schmidt, huh? Click on hyperlink.
Michael Jack. Hall of Famer. Cub Killer. Best thirdbaseman ever. Wore number 22 as well as 20 for the Phillies. Elected to HOF in 1995 with 96.5% of the vote. 15th in career homeruns (548), thirty-third in RBI (1595) and seventh in strikeouts (1883). Who had more? Click hyperlink.
Reggie Jackson, Jim Thome, Sammy Sosa, Andres Galarraga, Jose Canseco and Willie Stargell. I swear Babe Ruth was near the top of the list. Nope he’s 95th. Hank Aaron? He’s 78th. The two top homerun hitters (I don’t acknowledge Bonds) were also amazing contact hitters. Craig Biggio had more strikeouts than Aaron and Ruth. Mike Cameron is 10th for crying out loud.
And so it goes. Every trip to baseball-reference.com is a different journey. And no matter what I went there for, if there were two things I wanted to look up (say Dawson’s career stats and Lou Gehrig’s numbers) I’ll never get to Gehrig because something on Dawson’s page will take me somewhere else and three hours later I have to face real life and haven’t seen a stitch of Gehrig.
Amazing, amazing collection of baseball numbers.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Why It's The Greatest Game
First of all I will offer this disclaimer, I have not researched or given detailed thought to the parallels of baseball’s beauty with that of football, basketball or the now relevant (thanks to the Hawks) hockey. This is a discourse on why baseball is awesome as a sport and as a thread in the fabric of our life.
On paper it would seem that a team with superstars (i.e. the Cardinals with Pujols, Carpenter and Wainright, not to mention LaRussa in the dugout) should be the run away winners for the Central if not the National League. Yet the best team in the National League is the San Diego Padres with basically one recognizable name – Adrian Gonzalez. Baseball has always demanded excellence as a team.
You can have a conversation with your children or parents about baseball even if you can’t communicate about anything else. Talking about today’s game allows the parent to comment on the game when they were a child. Baseball is one of the few sports that transcends the generations. Someone who saw Ted Williams play can talk to someone who sees Albert Pujols play about essentially the same game. A clutch homerun or a perfect game is meaningful whether it happened in 1940 or 2010.
It reminds you of simpler times. Going to Wrigley and paying $1.50 to get in the bleachers and sit where you want, like in leftfield, fourth row near the catwalk.
You can take a summer or a lifetime to visit every major league ballpark in the country with your kids.
It’s the immediate icebreaker. You can share with complete strangers details of memorable games from your past and they with you.
It provides for an even deeper rivalry if, say, you like the Cubs and your sibling likes the White Sox.
There is always a chance for a team to win no matter how far behind they may be. There’s no clock that can get run out, if you win it means you put down the other team 27 times. During the game the pace allows you to observe and appreciate the game; the positioning of the fielders; the batter standing in the box.
Once the ball is in play you can choose to watch the ball or you can watch the fielders as they position themselves for a relay throw or you can watch the baserunners as they cut the bases perfectly to get ninety feet further.
There is nothing like and no feeling like Opening Day. No other sport is even close. Turning the page from winter to spring with the rebirth of the greatest game in the world.
During the harsh, cold, boring winter, baseball provides a plethora of incredible books to ingest while we wait for pitchers and catchers to report.
And if you’re really lucky, maybe just maybe you can meet a girl while watching the Cubs; then go to a handful of games at Wrigley Field; get engaged while flying over Wrigley during a doubleheader; have children named after Cubs legends and baseball shrines and then wait ever so patiently to share the joy with your family when the Cubs finally get to the World Series.
On paper it would seem that a team with superstars (i.e. the Cardinals with Pujols, Carpenter and Wainright, not to mention LaRussa in the dugout) should be the run away winners for the Central if not the National League. Yet the best team in the National League is the San Diego Padres with basically one recognizable name – Adrian Gonzalez. Baseball has always demanded excellence as a team.
You can have a conversation with your children or parents about baseball even if you can’t communicate about anything else. Talking about today’s game allows the parent to comment on the game when they were a child. Baseball is one of the few sports that transcends the generations. Someone who saw Ted Williams play can talk to someone who sees Albert Pujols play about essentially the same game. A clutch homerun or a perfect game is meaningful whether it happened in 1940 or 2010.
It reminds you of simpler times. Going to Wrigley and paying $1.50 to get in the bleachers and sit where you want, like in leftfield, fourth row near the catwalk.
You can take a summer or a lifetime to visit every major league ballpark in the country with your kids.
It’s the immediate icebreaker. You can share with complete strangers details of memorable games from your past and they with you.
It provides for an even deeper rivalry if, say, you like the Cubs and your sibling likes the White Sox.
There is always a chance for a team to win no matter how far behind they may be. There’s no clock that can get run out, if you win it means you put down the other team 27 times. During the game the pace allows you to observe and appreciate the game; the positioning of the fielders; the batter standing in the box.
Once the ball is in play you can choose to watch the ball or you can watch the fielders as they position themselves for a relay throw or you can watch the baserunners as they cut the bases perfectly to get ninety feet further.
There is nothing like and no feeling like Opening Day. No other sport is even close. Turning the page from winter to spring with the rebirth of the greatest game in the world.
During the harsh, cold, boring winter, baseball provides a plethora of incredible books to ingest while we wait for pitchers and catchers to report.
And if you’re really lucky, maybe just maybe you can meet a girl while watching the Cubs; then go to a handful of games at Wrigley Field; get engaged while flying over Wrigley during a doubleheader; have children named after Cubs legends and baseball shrines and then wait ever so patiently to share the joy with your family when the Cubs finally get to the World Series.
Monday, August 23, 2010
D-Lee
1969. A groundball through Leon Durham’s legs. Greg Maddux signing as a free agent with Atlanta. A lazy flyball down the leftfield line in Game 6 of the NLCS. There have been many dark days in Cubs history and one more took place last week. The rumors of Derrek Lee’s departure finally materialized.
Seven years of gentlemanly excellence ended when the Cubs acquired three pitching prospects for the probably-more-injured-than-reported Lee. (Watching Lee turn on a grooved fastball and see it only land between the left and centerfielder has been painful.) In a heartbeat my Derrek Lee T-Shirt and Authentic Replica Uniform went from fashionable to vintage.
The concern, of course, is can a long distance relationship continue to work? For seven years we have had a wonderful, albeit one-way relationship. Now the 742 miles between Chicago and Atlanta will force us to see if our connection was out of convenience or true affection.
Listening to the fallout of the trade brought some interesting observations. On the radio, there were those that said that Lee was nothing more than Mark Grace with a little more power. Couldn’t be, could it? But on inspection, it’s not far off – at least numerically.
Lee averaged for seven seasons: 25.5 Homeruns, 82 RBI, 82 R, .298 BA, .378 OPA with three Gold Gloves.
Grace averaged for thirteen years: 11 Homeruns, 77 RBI, 81 R, .303 BA, .386 OPA with four Gold Gloves.
Very similar seasonal averages. There were some differences of course. Grace was glib and was an outspoken team leader, Lee more the quiet voice of reason; Grace was more party, Lee more parent. And of course the biggest difference of all. Grace came up through the Cubs minor league system while Lee joined the Cubs . . . in a trade for a young power hitting, minor league system produced firstbaseman . . .in November 2003 . . .just 42 days after Lee’s former team had defeated the Cubs in one of the most painful playoff games in baseball history. A game in which Lee had a two run double in that fateful 8th inning that knocked Mark Prior out of the game.
Yet Lee joined the Cubs in 2004 and immediately became a fan favorite. Even with his slow start that season, he handled the criticism with professionalism and finished the year with 32 homeruns, 98 RBI and a .356 OBP.
Would any other Cub killer have been as embraced? Could Steve Garvey have joined the Cubs in November 1984 and become a fan favorite? Not likely.
Lee was special. He was strong, professional and when Scott Eyre threw that off-balance throw in Los Angeles forcing Lee to stretch into the path of the batter, fracturing his wrist, Lee never once blamed his wrist for lower power numbers the following two years. He just went about his business and admitted it was his responsibility to produce and drive in runs.
You’ll be missed, Derrek. Here’s to a healthy 2011, hopefully – miraculously – in Cubby Pinstripes. It would make our relationship so much easier.
Seven years of gentlemanly excellence ended when the Cubs acquired three pitching prospects for the probably-more-injured-than-reported Lee. (Watching Lee turn on a grooved fastball and see it only land between the left and centerfielder has been painful.) In a heartbeat my Derrek Lee T-Shirt and Authentic Replica Uniform went from fashionable to vintage.
The concern, of course, is can a long distance relationship continue to work? For seven years we have had a wonderful, albeit one-way relationship. Now the 742 miles between Chicago and Atlanta will force us to see if our connection was out of convenience or true affection.
Listening to the fallout of the trade brought some interesting observations. On the radio, there were those that said that Lee was nothing more than Mark Grace with a little more power. Couldn’t be, could it? But on inspection, it’s not far off – at least numerically.
Lee averaged for seven seasons: 25.5 Homeruns, 82 RBI, 82 R, .298 BA, .378 OPA with three Gold Gloves.
Grace averaged for thirteen years: 11 Homeruns, 77 RBI, 81 R, .303 BA, .386 OPA with four Gold Gloves.
Very similar seasonal averages. There were some differences of course. Grace was glib and was an outspoken team leader, Lee more the quiet voice of reason; Grace was more party, Lee more parent. And of course the biggest difference of all. Grace came up through the Cubs minor league system while Lee joined the Cubs . . . in a trade for a young power hitting, minor league system produced firstbaseman . . .in November 2003 . . .just 42 days after Lee’s former team had defeated the Cubs in one of the most painful playoff games in baseball history. A game in which Lee had a two run double in that fateful 8th inning that knocked Mark Prior out of the game.
Yet Lee joined the Cubs in 2004 and immediately became a fan favorite. Even with his slow start that season, he handled the criticism with professionalism and finished the year with 32 homeruns, 98 RBI and a .356 OBP.
Would any other Cub killer have been as embraced? Could Steve Garvey have joined the Cubs in November 1984 and become a fan favorite? Not likely.
Lee was special. He was strong, professional and when Scott Eyre threw that off-balance throw in Los Angeles forcing Lee to stretch into the path of the batter, fracturing his wrist, Lee never once blamed his wrist for lower power numbers the following two years. He just went about his business and admitted it was his responsibility to produce and drive in runs.
You’ll be missed, Derrek. Here’s to a healthy 2011, hopefully – miraculously – in Cubby Pinstripes. It would make our relationship so much easier.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Get Your Pencils And Scorecards Ready!
Whenever (usually) a guy reaches his mid-40’s to early 50’s there is a threat that he could have a Mid Life Crisis. I don’t think this is it. I think this is more of Making a Contribution To Society.
Listening to Cubs games on the radio has become a HUGE chore. Ron Santo can’t explain his way to the corner and when he’s ailing or unable to travel we have the equally inept Dave Otto (or Oh-tto as Pat Hughes says). Not to be morbid but it’s not certain how much longer Ron is going to last, maybe a couple of seasons.
Pat Hughes just signed a contract extension with WGN recently so he’s got a few years left as well. That gives me two to three years to get prepared and I need your help. I fully realize that I cannot simply walk into WGN’s offices and declare my candidacy for Cubs Radio Play-by-Play guy with no practical experience. So I’m ready to head off to Pawtucket to play-by-play the Red Sox games. Or Durham to describe the Bulls. Shoot, maybe the Oaks in Visalia need someone to give verbal representation to their loyal fans. I’m on it – ready to cut my teeth. I just need an opening. If any of you loyal readers have any connection to a baseball team in need of an announcer, let me know.
I cannot promise that I will be the next Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell or even Vince Lloyd. But what I will promise you is that I will love what I do, will broadcast a full nine innings (extra if necessary) and will not talk about my tuna sandwich.
Here is a smattering of what Hughes has related to us recently. The Cubs are playing 21 straight games and that is a long time without a day off. The Cubs played in San Francisco where it was cool in the evening, but they were headed to St. Louis for the weekend where it was unbearable hot, over 100 degrees.
In recent years Hughes has negotiated to (originally) take the top of the fifth inning off and then (most recently) added the bottom of the fifth inning to his time off. He doesn’t do Cubs pre-game (that’s handled by Santo Valet, Judd Sirott) or post-game (that’s done in ‘GNs studio by Dave Kaplan, Jim Memolo or George Ofman). If the game runs over three hours his tone makes it sound like he’s working overtime without getting paid.
When the game heads into extra innings Pat very deliberately says “we’re headed into the 10th” as in “oh my god, could this get any worse?”
I’m actually torn by this because purely as a baseball announcer I think Pat is one of the best. When he doesn’t try to play footsie with Santo (sorry, probably not the best phrase to choose) and he stays on the game, he’s really very good.
But ever since I heard that he negotiated the fifth inning off and had actually complained that it was getting to be too much and needed some time off during the season, all I hear is him whining about having to do more work, or work in less than perfect conditions. It’s kind of like being told not to think about space aliens - - that’s all you’re going to think about.
Give me two years to get the cadence to “line drive – up the middle!” A few seasons to perfect the homerun call. When I hop in the chair you will get a guy relating about what a great day it is at the ballpark and if we go to extra innings SWEET! More baseball, what could be better than that?
Chattanooga Lookout! Here I come!
Listening to Cubs games on the radio has become a HUGE chore. Ron Santo can’t explain his way to the corner and when he’s ailing or unable to travel we have the equally inept Dave Otto (or Oh-tto as Pat Hughes says). Not to be morbid but it’s not certain how much longer Ron is going to last, maybe a couple of seasons.
Pat Hughes just signed a contract extension with WGN recently so he’s got a few years left as well. That gives me two to three years to get prepared and I need your help. I fully realize that I cannot simply walk into WGN’s offices and declare my candidacy for Cubs Radio Play-by-Play guy with no practical experience. So I’m ready to head off to Pawtucket to play-by-play the Red Sox games. Or Durham to describe the Bulls. Shoot, maybe the Oaks in Visalia need someone to give verbal representation to their loyal fans. I’m on it – ready to cut my teeth. I just need an opening. If any of you loyal readers have any connection to a baseball team in need of an announcer, let me know.
I cannot promise that I will be the next Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell or even Vince Lloyd. But what I will promise you is that I will love what I do, will broadcast a full nine innings (extra if necessary) and will not talk about my tuna sandwich.
Here is a smattering of what Hughes has related to us recently. The Cubs are playing 21 straight games and that is a long time without a day off. The Cubs played in San Francisco where it was cool in the evening, but they were headed to St. Louis for the weekend where it was unbearable hot, over 100 degrees.
In recent years Hughes has negotiated to (originally) take the top of the fifth inning off and then (most recently) added the bottom of the fifth inning to his time off. He doesn’t do Cubs pre-game (that’s handled by Santo Valet, Judd Sirott) or post-game (that’s done in ‘GNs studio by Dave Kaplan, Jim Memolo or George Ofman). If the game runs over three hours his tone makes it sound like he’s working overtime without getting paid.
When the game heads into extra innings Pat very deliberately says “we’re headed into the 10th” as in “oh my god, could this get any worse?”
I’m actually torn by this because purely as a baseball announcer I think Pat is one of the best. When he doesn’t try to play footsie with Santo (sorry, probably not the best phrase to choose) and he stays on the game, he’s really very good.
But ever since I heard that he negotiated the fifth inning off and had actually complained that it was getting to be too much and needed some time off during the season, all I hear is him whining about having to do more work, or work in less than perfect conditions. It’s kind of like being told not to think about space aliens - - that’s all you’re going to think about.
Give me two years to get the cadence to “line drive – up the middle!” A few seasons to perfect the homerun call. When I hop in the chair you will get a guy relating about what a great day it is at the ballpark and if we go to extra innings SWEET! More baseball, what could be better than that?
Chattanooga Lookout! Here I come!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
A Man and A Milestone
As of today I’ve finally reached the point in my life where I have something in common with Barack Obama and Hank Aaron. Obama – 44th President of the United States; Aaron – Uniform number 44; me – 44 years. Whenever we reach a milestone or simply hit another cycle on the calendar it often causes us to reflect back on simpler times.
Since my only foray into politics was a failed run at Vice-President in sixth grade, most of my reflections incorporate baseball. I was reading an article in Sports Illustrated by Phil Taylor wherein he waxed nostalgic for his youth and recreating the batting stance of his childhood idol Tommy Agee. That threw me back to my adolescence out in the front yard as I grabbed a whiffle bat and ball and proceeded to have the Cubs take on the Pirates, Dodgers, all comers. I would hunch over the plate and do my best windmill swing for Dave Kingman. I would stand in the lefthanded batter’s box with my feet shoulder width apart, bat parallel to the ground, knees flexed and try to nail my best Bill Buckner double to the gap.
With the pitchback set up, I could be Rick Reuschel or Bruce Sutter (without the amazing splitter) and when the ball nestled into the ribbon square I would whip my arm around, creating a wild umpire call, not really reminiscent of Satch Davidson or Doug Harvey or Eric Gregg.
Without cable, PS3, laptops and cellphones, we were forced to use our imagination, listen to the radio and create images in our mind. It was more fun to go outside and physically be responsible for the Cubs winning 24 in a row than sitting on the couch letting our thumbs hit homerun after homerun.
As a marginal little league pitcher, the one thing I was blessed with was accuracy. I can directly attribute that to the hours upon hours I spent throwing the ball at the square on the pitchback, throwing at the first stair of our house in playing makeshift ballgames or hitting the same spot on the garage to get the proper rebound to complete the much needed 6-4-3 doubleplay.
Birthdays, anniversaries and specific times of the season do a wonderful job of throwing us into the time warp of magical days when life was easy (though it may not have seemed so at the time).
A beautiful cool summer day. A whiffle bat and ball. Is it going to be Bill Buckner or new favorite Derrek Lee with the open stance and vertically stretched approach? Maybe a swing from both sides of the plate is necessary today.
Since my only foray into politics was a failed run at Vice-President in sixth grade, most of my reflections incorporate baseball. I was reading an article in Sports Illustrated by Phil Taylor wherein he waxed nostalgic for his youth and recreating the batting stance of his childhood idol Tommy Agee. That threw me back to my adolescence out in the front yard as I grabbed a whiffle bat and ball and proceeded to have the Cubs take on the Pirates, Dodgers, all comers. I would hunch over the plate and do my best windmill swing for Dave Kingman. I would stand in the lefthanded batter’s box with my feet shoulder width apart, bat parallel to the ground, knees flexed and try to nail my best Bill Buckner double to the gap.
With the pitchback set up, I could be Rick Reuschel or Bruce Sutter (without the amazing splitter) and when the ball nestled into the ribbon square I would whip my arm around, creating a wild umpire call, not really reminiscent of Satch Davidson or Doug Harvey or Eric Gregg.
Without cable, PS3, laptops and cellphones, we were forced to use our imagination, listen to the radio and create images in our mind. It was more fun to go outside and physically be responsible for the Cubs winning 24 in a row than sitting on the couch letting our thumbs hit homerun after homerun.
As a marginal little league pitcher, the one thing I was blessed with was accuracy. I can directly attribute that to the hours upon hours I spent throwing the ball at the square on the pitchback, throwing at the first stair of our house in playing makeshift ballgames or hitting the same spot on the garage to get the proper rebound to complete the much needed 6-4-3 doubleplay.
Birthdays, anniversaries and specific times of the season do a wonderful job of throwing us into the time warp of magical days when life was easy (though it may not have seemed so at the time).
A beautiful cool summer day. A whiffle bat and ball. Is it going to be Bill Buckner or new favorite Derrek Lee with the open stance and vertically stretched approach? Maybe a swing from both sides of the plate is necessary today.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Home Is Never Far Away
Even when you plan a family vacation to get some rest and relaxation (if that’s possible with a family of six) sport, and baseball in particular, still has a way of being omnipresent.
The Lady Rebel and I took the crew down to Disney last week. As we were walking through the various parks, everywhere I turned I had sports thrust before me. First we have the Florida weather. It felt like St. Louis on a 4th of July doubleheader when they still had Astroturf. Each day was 98 degrees, 105 heat index and humidity making you feel like you were walking through the ocean.
As people were making their way around the parks there was more allegiance to various sports teams than there was to the host mouse. Since Disney attracts people from across the globe, it wasn’t surprising to see a bunch of soccer jerseys walking around, especially in light of the recent World Cup. A handful of Miami Heat, Dwayne Wade jerseys made their appearance.
By far and away baseball was the leader in jersey/t-shirt/hat representation. Among the entries were the LA Dodgers, a few Yankees, obviously a bunch of Rays and a lot of Chicago Cubs. But the winner going away was the Boston Red Sox.
Perhaps the most dedicated fan though, belonged to the Dallas Cowboys with his Cowboy star tattooed to his upper right arm. Didn’t see any Prowling Bears or Dodger Dogs inked in any visible places.
Even being 1190 miles away from home didn’t allow me to get away from Pat and Ron and the Cubs. Given the massive underachievement of the Cubs, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to leave Chicago and theoretically be out of touch with their antics. But the Cubs are still a National Team. Sunday night while surfing the channels, there they were on ESPN for the Sunday Game of the Week. Sure they lost 4-3, but it concluded a successful weekend series against the Cardinals and they went toe to toe with Chris Carpenter and didn’t blink.
Then WGN-Channel 9 brought us a game or two against the Astros. Even while I was driving around I stumbled across the Ft. Meyers affiliate for WGN-Radio so I continued to hear Pat and Ron do their schtick. But as the vacation was winding down, reality set back in. Friday evening we got back to the room after watching a cool laser/fireworks display at Epcot. After packing our bags for the early flight the next morning the family tucked in and I surfed for something to watch. There they were on the ‘GN superstation playing the Rockies. And then the 8th inning rolled around and after six runs scored, making the tally 11-2 Colorado, I decided “I’ve got to get up in four hours. I’m not watching this garbage.” The next day I found that the Rockies were only halfway through their barrage of 12 eighth inning runs.
Perfect way to end the magic of vacation and get back to the cold reality of everyday life
The Lady Rebel and I took the crew down to Disney last week. As we were walking through the various parks, everywhere I turned I had sports thrust before me. First we have the Florida weather. It felt like St. Louis on a 4th of July doubleheader when they still had Astroturf. Each day was 98 degrees, 105 heat index and humidity making you feel like you were walking through the ocean.
As people were making their way around the parks there was more allegiance to various sports teams than there was to the host mouse. Since Disney attracts people from across the globe, it wasn’t surprising to see a bunch of soccer jerseys walking around, especially in light of the recent World Cup. A handful of Miami Heat, Dwayne Wade jerseys made their appearance.
By far and away baseball was the leader in jersey/t-shirt/hat representation. Among the entries were the LA Dodgers, a few Yankees, obviously a bunch of Rays and a lot of Chicago Cubs. But the winner going away was the Boston Red Sox.
Perhaps the most dedicated fan though, belonged to the Dallas Cowboys with his Cowboy star tattooed to his upper right arm. Didn’t see any Prowling Bears or Dodger Dogs inked in any visible places.
Even being 1190 miles away from home didn’t allow me to get away from Pat and Ron and the Cubs. Given the massive underachievement of the Cubs, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to leave Chicago and theoretically be out of touch with their antics. But the Cubs are still a National Team. Sunday night while surfing the channels, there they were on ESPN for the Sunday Game of the Week. Sure they lost 4-3, but it concluded a successful weekend series against the Cardinals and they went toe to toe with Chris Carpenter and didn’t blink.
Then WGN-Channel 9 brought us a game or two against the Astros. Even while I was driving around I stumbled across the Ft. Meyers affiliate for WGN-Radio so I continued to hear Pat and Ron do their schtick. But as the vacation was winding down, reality set back in. Friday evening we got back to the room after watching a cool laser/fireworks display at Epcot. After packing our bags for the early flight the next morning the family tucked in and I surfed for something to watch. There they were on the ‘GN superstation playing the Rockies. And then the 8th inning rolled around and after six runs scored, making the tally 11-2 Colorado, I decided “I’ve got to get up in four hours. I’m not watching this garbage.” The next day I found that the Rockies were only halfway through their barrage of 12 eighth inning runs.
Perfect way to end the magic of vacation and get back to the cold reality of everyday life
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
In This Horserace It's Too Close To Call
Well this is turning into quite the horserace. What started out with the DoorMatts using the first half of the season like Secretariat at the Belmont Stakes (quick sidenote – Secretariat the movie is coming out this summer with my all-time fantasy girlfriend, Diane Lane. Yeah she plays an old woman in the movie, but it’s Diane Lane!!) has turned into a neck and neck (and neck) Affirmed/Alydar classic, not to mention another neck, the Red Hots moving up on the outside!
First of all, BIG TIME MONROE DOCTRINE KUDOS to all four leaders for making deals that involved major leaguers for major leaguers (with minor leaguers and picks thrown in). Certainly there could have been opportunities to make lopsided Major Leaguers for A Ball minor leaguers and/or rotation picks, but none of that crap has happened.
The Red Hots have been busiest making five trades this season. The Ruffins and Clowns each have made four deals (the Clowns turning over 25 percent of their roster in those four deals).
Interestingly the Clowns have traded with both the Ruffins and Hots, proving that deals can be made with anyone, not just the cellar dwellers, as long as the trade helps both teams.
With eleven shopping days left until the Trade Deadline, it will be interesting to see what magic any or all four can produce, especially the DoorMatts who held a 12-14 point lead for much of the first half on the heels of a pennant race last year that literally came down to the final minutes of the 2009 season. It’s not often a CFCL team has a chance to win it two years in a row and the DoorMatts came thisclose to pulling it off last year. A couple of shrewd deals could allow the Matts to pull away once again.
With no egregious dump trades taking place and so little time left in the Trading Season, we have an opportunity to see an amazing race take place. Four teams are within eight points of each other for the title.
Thank you gentlemen, for your aggressiveness in seeking out trades and your integrity in making the trades equitable for both teams. This is what the CFCL has been about for 27 years. Now we just have to see who reaches the barn first.
**** Monroe Doctrine Disclaimer - This entry (specifically paragraph #2) was written before the trades of 7/21/10 *****
First of all, BIG TIME MONROE DOCTRINE KUDOS to all four leaders for making deals that involved major leaguers for major leaguers (with minor leaguers and picks thrown in). Certainly there could have been opportunities to make lopsided Major Leaguers for A Ball minor leaguers and/or rotation picks, but none of that crap has happened.
The Red Hots have been busiest making five trades this season. The Ruffins and Clowns each have made four deals (the Clowns turning over 25 percent of their roster in those four deals).
Interestingly the Clowns have traded with both the Ruffins and Hots, proving that deals can be made with anyone, not just the cellar dwellers, as long as the trade helps both teams.
With eleven shopping days left until the Trade Deadline, it will be interesting to see what magic any or all four can produce, especially the DoorMatts who held a 12-14 point lead for much of the first half on the heels of a pennant race last year that literally came down to the final minutes of the 2009 season. It’s not often a CFCL team has a chance to win it two years in a row and the DoorMatts came thisclose to pulling it off last year. A couple of shrewd deals could allow the Matts to pull away once again.
With no egregious dump trades taking place and so little time left in the Trading Season, we have an opportunity to see an amazing race take place. Four teams are within eight points of each other for the title.
Thank you gentlemen, for your aggressiveness in seeking out trades and your integrity in making the trades equitable for both teams. This is what the CFCL has been about for 27 years. Now we just have to see who reaches the barn first.
**** Monroe Doctrine Disclaimer - This entry (specifically paragraph #2) was written before the trades of 7/21/10 *****
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
All-Star Thoughts
Baseball’s All-Star Game just doesn’t do it for a lot of us anymore. There was a time when it was exciting to anticipate the Mid-Summer Classic. Watching Schmidt, Parker, Rose, Rice, Jackson and their contemporaries run out for introductions was exhilarating. Now watching Ramirez, Jeter, A-Rod, Pujols, and the cast of 2000’s doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal. I’ve identified a couple possibilities why.
Deity Loss: Growing up watching Carlton, Hunter, Palmer, and local do-gooders Reuschel, Sutter and Swisher was exciting because these guys were Baseball Gods. The public didn’t know anything about them besides what was written in the national papers and what you saw on the Game of the Week. These guys were perfect. They weren’t twittering, they weren’t being suspended, they weren’t on TV EVERY DAY thanks to ESPN, MLB Channel, MLB Extra Inning Package where you can watch them strikeout, ground out weakly and give up four runs in one inning. What we knew of the All-Stars from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s were that they were invincible.
Familiarity: Up until the ‘90s the only time you saw a National League pitcher face an American League hitter and vice versa was in Spring Training (when nothing matters) or in the World Series (when the stakes are at the highest). How would Bench do against Fidrych? Don’t know unless we watch the All-Star game. Now the NL pitching greats have made their way through the AL for the last 13 years. Maddux vs. Mauer? Been there, done that.
NL Sucks: As a devout Cub and National League fan, it is rather disheartening to suffer through fourteen years without a win. We’ve been blown out, we’ve blown saves, we’ve thrown the ball away. Not a major factor since as Cub fans we’ve seen the same exact thing for the last 102 years, but still it’s there.
Price of Getting Older: With age come more responsibilities. Between the ages of 8 and 22 there wasn’t much to focus on other than baseball. Oh, sure there was school, but not during the summer. Middling jobs, but nothing that required things to be brought home. Certainly there were no girls to pull us away from memorizing the hitting and pitching statistics of every National League batter and pitcher. Now there are careers and children (soccer, basketball, little league) and wives. We catch a few innings if we’re fortunate. The fifth outfielder for Pittsburgh? I don’t know, is Doug Frobel still playing?
Perceived Importance: Here is where Bud Selig needs to crawl in a hole in embarrassment. For all the good that Selig has brought to the game (quick! someone please tell me something that Selig has done that’s good for the game) he has screwed up the All-Star Game more than it already was. Because of the tie in 2002, Bud felt compelled to “correct” the game. So he decides that home field advantage for the CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE SEASON should be decided by a bunch of guys who a) were selected by the fans and b) are getting playing time not based on their talent compared to their peers, but based on the fact that the manager wants to make sure everyone gets into the game, and c) in some cases, were selected simply because someone from their team HAD to be present.
If this is an Exhibition Game, then nothing but pride should be on the line. Here’s a novel thought. How about allowing the team with the best regular season record to have home field advantage? They do it in every other sport, why not baseball?
Here’s another fix. Don’t have an All-Star from every team if every team doesn’t have an All-Star. Robert Fick was never an All-Star based on performance. But in 2002 Detroit sucked so bad, they had to send a .270 hitter that year to represent the team. If the game is to have meaning, then the best players should be on the team and the best of the best should play the whole game. Aaron, Mays, Musial and Williams used to play all nine innings. Their careers didn’t seem to suffer by playing an extra game. If the point is to win the game, then play to win. If it’s a Summer Break Victory Lap, then acknowledge it as such and don’t have the World Series be involved in the outcome.
Game time tonight 7:00pm. I’ll be there a little after 9pm when Spongebob Squarepants goes to bed.
Deity Loss: Growing up watching Carlton, Hunter, Palmer, and local do-gooders Reuschel, Sutter and Swisher was exciting because these guys were Baseball Gods. The public didn’t know anything about them besides what was written in the national papers and what you saw on the Game of the Week. These guys were perfect. They weren’t twittering, they weren’t being suspended, they weren’t on TV EVERY DAY thanks to ESPN, MLB Channel, MLB Extra Inning Package where you can watch them strikeout, ground out weakly and give up four runs in one inning. What we knew of the All-Stars from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s were that they were invincible.
Familiarity: Up until the ‘90s the only time you saw a National League pitcher face an American League hitter and vice versa was in Spring Training (when nothing matters) or in the World Series (when the stakes are at the highest). How would Bench do against Fidrych? Don’t know unless we watch the All-Star game. Now the NL pitching greats have made their way through the AL for the last 13 years. Maddux vs. Mauer? Been there, done that.
NL Sucks: As a devout Cub and National League fan, it is rather disheartening to suffer through fourteen years without a win. We’ve been blown out, we’ve blown saves, we’ve thrown the ball away. Not a major factor since as Cub fans we’ve seen the same exact thing for the last 102 years, but still it’s there.
Price of Getting Older: With age come more responsibilities. Between the ages of 8 and 22 there wasn’t much to focus on other than baseball. Oh, sure there was school, but not during the summer. Middling jobs, but nothing that required things to be brought home. Certainly there were no girls to pull us away from memorizing the hitting and pitching statistics of every National League batter and pitcher. Now there are careers and children (soccer, basketball, little league) and wives. We catch a few innings if we’re fortunate. The fifth outfielder for Pittsburgh? I don’t know, is Doug Frobel still playing?
Perceived Importance: Here is where Bud Selig needs to crawl in a hole in embarrassment. For all the good that Selig has brought to the game (quick! someone please tell me something that Selig has done that’s good for the game) he has screwed up the All-Star Game more than it already was. Because of the tie in 2002, Bud felt compelled to “correct” the game. So he decides that home field advantage for the CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE SEASON should be decided by a bunch of guys who a) were selected by the fans and b) are getting playing time not based on their talent compared to their peers, but based on the fact that the manager wants to make sure everyone gets into the game, and c) in some cases, were selected simply because someone from their team HAD to be present.
If this is an Exhibition Game, then nothing but pride should be on the line. Here’s a novel thought. How about allowing the team with the best regular season record to have home field advantage? They do it in every other sport, why not baseball?
Here’s another fix. Don’t have an All-Star from every team if every team doesn’t have an All-Star. Robert Fick was never an All-Star based on performance. But in 2002 Detroit sucked so bad, they had to send a .270 hitter that year to represent the team. If the game is to have meaning, then the best players should be on the team and the best of the best should play the whole game. Aaron, Mays, Musial and Williams used to play all nine innings. Their careers didn’t seem to suffer by playing an extra game. If the point is to win the game, then play to win. If it’s a Summer Break Victory Lap, then acknowledge it as such and don’t have the World Series be involved in the outcome.
Game time tonight 7:00pm. I’ll be there a little after 9pm when Spongebob Squarepants goes to bed.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Fourth-coming Disappointment
As we celebrate the accomplishments of our forefathers and at least three of our mothers, I’m reminded about how confusing the 4th of July holiday is. It has always provided me with a sense of sadness because I’ve taken to heart that the 4th represents the “Unofficial Middle of Summer”. I’m saddened to think that we’re halfway through and are now closer to the colder weather. The reality is that summer is only 11 days old according to meteorological tables. My mindset probably has a lot to do with my children’s school schedule, since next month they are back at it.
Baseball has always been more accurate. This year at the close of games on the 4th, teams will be anywhere from 81 to 84 games into the season, basically one half; as a Cub fan the end can’t come fast enough. Since baseball is synonymous with Apple Pie, Mom, America and summer, it does bring a sense of being closer to the end of the season than the beginning.
Couple that with the fact that as of June 23rd (26th anniversary of the Sandberg Game) the days are getting shorter - you can almost hear the leaves getting ready to fall. Weed the garden? What’s the point? The first overnight frost is only weeks away.
Time to go to the beach? Forget the sunscreen, it’s time to check the wind chill factor. I don’t have time to cut the watermelon, I’ve got to place an order for the turkey and stuffing. Take the kids to their swimming lessons? Please, I’ve got to sharpen their ice skates.
With only 174 shopping days left until Christmas the stress of scheduling family get-togethers is breathing down our necks. It’s time to make our New Year’s Eve reservations as well.
Getting lost in all my whining is the fact that we are supposed to be celebrating that the founders of this nation suffered through 100+ degree temperatures to forge out a document declaring our independence from Britain. They believed in their freedom enough to put their lives on the line and fight for what they wanted. They succeeded and provided a way of life generations since have enjoyed and today take for granted.
Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go find the Christmas Tree.
Baseball has always been more accurate. This year at the close of games on the 4th, teams will be anywhere from 81 to 84 games into the season, basically one half; as a Cub fan the end can’t come fast enough. Since baseball is synonymous with Apple Pie, Mom, America and summer, it does bring a sense of being closer to the end of the season than the beginning.
Couple that with the fact that as of June 23rd (26th anniversary of the Sandberg Game) the days are getting shorter - you can almost hear the leaves getting ready to fall. Weed the garden? What’s the point? The first overnight frost is only weeks away.
Time to go to the beach? Forget the sunscreen, it’s time to check the wind chill factor. I don’t have time to cut the watermelon, I’ve got to place an order for the turkey and stuffing. Take the kids to their swimming lessons? Please, I’ve got to sharpen their ice skates.
With only 174 shopping days left until Christmas the stress of scheduling family get-togethers is breathing down our necks. It’s time to make our New Year’s Eve reservations as well.
Getting lost in all my whining is the fact that we are supposed to be celebrating that the founders of this nation suffered through 100+ degree temperatures to forge out a document declaring our independence from Britain. They believed in their freedom enough to put their lives on the line and fight for what they wanted. They succeeded and provided a way of life generations since have enjoyed and today take for granted.
Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go find the Christmas Tree.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
I've Had Z-nough
Get out and stay out. The Cubs have an opportunity to purge themselves of their second largest embarrassment this decade and start fresh.
In looking over the history of the Cubs, they’ve always had a penchant for grabbing petulant, semi-talented ballplayers (Kingman, Prior, Hawkins) but never have they been embarrassed this long by one guy. Oh sure, they had the problems with Bradley last year, but Hendry was able to turn that around in one year.
We as Cub fans and the organization have been burdened with Zambrano’s crap since the Baker administration. When he and Barrett went at it, we all thought it was Barrett’s fault since he (Barrett) sucker punched Pierzinski. But now we see a lot of it had to do with Zambrano’s attitude and personality.
Here is an opportunity for the New Cubs Regime to make a statement and get rid of Zambrano. Since they were able to find a taker for Bradley, I’m sure there’s a team out there that’s dumb enough to take on this headache. But even if there isn’t, Ricketts should send Zambrano off.
Perhaps the most disgusting thing in sports is the guaranteed contract. Every major sport has the massively overpaid “star” who ends up tanking his performance because he’s too comfortable. So the part of my proposal that I hate is that I’m willing to have Zambrano never pitch another game in his life and still collect the remainder of his $95 million dollar contract. But as a wise relative of mine that you know once said “What do I care how they spend the money? It’s not my money.”
Additionally there has to be a “Respectability Clause” in every contract issued from here one out. Anyone (player, coach, manager) not performing in a respectable manner on or off the field will have their contract voided and will be shown the door. Now of course the player’s union would never approve of such of thing, but this is my article not theirs.
The Cubs could be known from here on out as a Class and Respectable Organization much like the ‘70’s A’s were know for facial hair and the Cardinals of the ‘80s were known for Astroturf extrabases.
As we went to press the Cubs were planning to put Zambrano on the Restricted List. The plan is that Zambrano won’t be back until at least after the All-Star Break. Well that’s a start so let’s finish it. While he’s Restricted and supposedly learning how to act, not even like a ballplayer, but like a human adult, let’s find a taker and if none are out there, let’s book a ticket for July 20th on a non-stop flight to Venezuela and move on.
In looking over the history of the Cubs, they’ve always had a penchant for grabbing petulant, semi-talented ballplayers (Kingman, Prior, Hawkins) but never have they been embarrassed this long by one guy. Oh sure, they had the problems with Bradley last year, but Hendry was able to turn that around in one year.
We as Cub fans and the organization have been burdened with Zambrano’s crap since the Baker administration. When he and Barrett went at it, we all thought it was Barrett’s fault since he (Barrett) sucker punched Pierzinski. But now we see a lot of it had to do with Zambrano’s attitude and personality.
Here is an opportunity for the New Cubs Regime to make a statement and get rid of Zambrano. Since they were able to find a taker for Bradley, I’m sure there’s a team out there that’s dumb enough to take on this headache. But even if there isn’t, Ricketts should send Zambrano off.
Perhaps the most disgusting thing in sports is the guaranteed contract. Every major sport has the massively overpaid “star” who ends up tanking his performance because he’s too comfortable. So the part of my proposal that I hate is that I’m willing to have Zambrano never pitch another game in his life and still collect the remainder of his $95 million dollar contract. But as a wise relative of mine that you know once said “What do I care how they spend the money? It’s not my money.”
Additionally there has to be a “Respectability Clause” in every contract issued from here one out. Anyone (player, coach, manager) not performing in a respectable manner on or off the field will have their contract voided and will be shown the door. Now of course the player’s union would never approve of such of thing, but this is my article not theirs.
The Cubs could be known from here on out as a Class and Respectable Organization much like the ‘70’s A’s were know for facial hair and the Cardinals of the ‘80s were known for Astroturf extrabases.
As we went to press the Cubs were planning to put Zambrano on the Restricted List. The plan is that Zambrano won’t be back until at least after the All-Star Break. Well that’s a start so let’s finish it. While he’s Restricted and supposedly learning how to act, not even like a ballplayer, but like a human adult, let’s find a taker and if none are out there, let’s book a ticket for July 20th on a non-stop flight to Venezuela and move on.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Numerically Speaking
In baseball, and other sports, the number on one’s uniform is handled in certain ways. Some numbers, after stellar careers, are retired. Most are reused. Depending on the career and the circumstances surrounding the player leaving the team, a number will either be reused immediately or after a while. But there should be a third category. Eliminated due to embarrassment or bad feelings. Sometimes you just want to forget a player was ever on your favorite team.
The Cubs have honored a few of their All-Time Greats by retiring the numbers of Santo, Williams, Sandberg, Banks, Maddux and Jenkins. Reusing number 17 is probably right, but it still feels awkward to see Mike Fontenot wearing it. As great as Mark Grace was for the Cubs, he probably doesn’t warrant it being retired.
But this season it’s a little disconcerting to see Cub phee-nom Tyler Colvin running around in number 21 and Xavier Nady wearing number 22. When I see the number 21, part of me thinks of Sosa and would rather that Colvin not be burdened with that. When I see 22 I think of stirrups pulled to the kneecaps and towel drills for the petulant Mark Prior. Nady should have a different number.
So here’s what I propose in handling uniform numbers. There should be a four tier system.
1) Retire the number for the franchise Hall of Famer (Ripken, Gwynn, Puckett)
2) Put the number in mothballs for a little while out of respect for an awesome player or fan favorite not quite worthy of retiring (Mark Grace, Rick Sutcliffe, Shawon Dunston)
3) Reuse the number immediately when needed (Mark Bellhorn, Henry Blanco)
4) Destroy the number never to be used again due to shame (Sosa, Bradley)
Or possibly a team could designate a certain number to be assigned to the player they want to forget. Unwittingly the Cubs did that by having both Sosa and Bradley wear 21. Although I guess if you knew in advance that player was getting the “Embarrassment Number” you wouldn’t sign him to begin with. Scratch that idea.
Some of this is subjective. I think most of Chicago would agree that Bradley was horrible in many, many ways. But there are still those people out there that think Sosa was great for the Cubs. “Look at the number he put up,” they’ll say. Don’t get me started on the fact that the reason he put up those big numbers is . . . HE TOOK DRUGS!!!!
Since some of the cases are more opinion than fact, each team could have an Official Uniform Number Handler (ok, the title is a little cumbersome, we’ll need to work on that). This person would make the determination whether a number gets reused right away, stored in moth balls or burned. We also have to be careful not to retire too many numbers. There are only so many to work with so retiring numbers can’t be done on a whim. Decisions would have to be immediate lest you have the Billy Williams Issue. Williams is a Hall of Famer and his number should have been retired before he landed in Oakland in the trade that brought us Manny Trillo. But his number was reissued. So the number 26 will always be attributed to Williams and, to a lesser extent, the comedy of losing a baseball in a baseball cap (Larry Biittner).
Many clubs are now following the trend of building a statue for special players. I think this is a great idea. Only the true “Hall of Fame” franchise players could have their numbers retired. The other big contributors (Grace, Hundley, Pafko) could be immortalized in bronze around the ballpark. I think most fans would enjoy walking among three-dimensional figures to relive the glory days of the players. And perhaps you have a Tier of Importance where a true Cub All-Star and Fan Favorite like Grace gets a full statue and someone of lesser stature gets a bust or a “facial plaque” like they have in Cooperstown.
The Cincinnati Reds have a couple of statues in front of the Great American Ballpark. Since both are in “action” poses it gives you a sense of the game.
It’s up to us fans to try and purge certain occurrences from our memories like Alou and Bartman or the 2004 September Collapse. But teams could help us purge the memories of Sosa, Bradley and the ilk by getting rid of the numbers and not having that memory trigger fire when we’re trying to watch our new batch of saviors take the field.
Which numbers would you have purged in baseball if this system were in place?
The Cubs have honored a few of their All-Time Greats by retiring the numbers of Santo, Williams, Sandberg, Banks, Maddux and Jenkins. Reusing number 17 is probably right, but it still feels awkward to see Mike Fontenot wearing it. As great as Mark Grace was for the Cubs, he probably doesn’t warrant it being retired.
But this season it’s a little disconcerting to see Cub phee-nom Tyler Colvin running around in number 21 and Xavier Nady wearing number 22. When I see the number 21, part of me thinks of Sosa and would rather that Colvin not be burdened with that. When I see 22 I think of stirrups pulled to the kneecaps and towel drills for the petulant Mark Prior. Nady should have a different number.
So here’s what I propose in handling uniform numbers. There should be a four tier system.
1) Retire the number for the franchise Hall of Famer (Ripken, Gwynn, Puckett)
2) Put the number in mothballs for a little while out of respect for an awesome player or fan favorite not quite worthy of retiring (Mark Grace, Rick Sutcliffe, Shawon Dunston)
3) Reuse the number immediately when needed (Mark Bellhorn, Henry Blanco)
4) Destroy the number never to be used again due to shame (Sosa, Bradley)
Or possibly a team could designate a certain number to be assigned to the player they want to forget. Unwittingly the Cubs did that by having both Sosa and Bradley wear 21. Although I guess if you knew in advance that player was getting the “Embarrassment Number” you wouldn’t sign him to begin with. Scratch that idea.
Some of this is subjective. I think most of Chicago would agree that Bradley was horrible in many, many ways. But there are still those people out there that think Sosa was great for the Cubs. “Look at the number he put up,” they’ll say. Don’t get me started on the fact that the reason he put up those big numbers is . . . HE TOOK DRUGS!!!!
Since some of the cases are more opinion than fact, each team could have an Official Uniform Number Handler (ok, the title is a little cumbersome, we’ll need to work on that). This person would make the determination whether a number gets reused right away, stored in moth balls or burned. We also have to be careful not to retire too many numbers. There are only so many to work with so retiring numbers can’t be done on a whim. Decisions would have to be immediate lest you have the Billy Williams Issue. Williams is a Hall of Famer and his number should have been retired before he landed in Oakland in the trade that brought us Manny Trillo. But his number was reissued. So the number 26 will always be attributed to Williams and, to a lesser extent, the comedy of losing a baseball in a baseball cap (Larry Biittner).
Many clubs are now following the trend of building a statue for special players. I think this is a great idea. Only the true “Hall of Fame” franchise players could have their numbers retired. The other big contributors (Grace, Hundley, Pafko) could be immortalized in bronze around the ballpark. I think most fans would enjoy walking among three-dimensional figures to relive the glory days of the players. And perhaps you have a Tier of Importance where a true Cub All-Star and Fan Favorite like Grace gets a full statue and someone of lesser stature gets a bust or a “facial plaque” like they have in Cooperstown.
The Cincinnati Reds have a couple of statues in front of the Great American Ballpark. Since both are in “action” poses it gives you a sense of the game.
It’s up to us fans to try and purge certain occurrences from our memories like Alou and Bartman or the 2004 September Collapse. But teams could help us purge the memories of Sosa, Bradley and the ilk by getting rid of the numbers and not having that memory trigger fire when we’re trying to watch our new batch of saviors take the field.
Which numbers would you have purged in baseball if this system were in place?
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
We're Getting No Where
Randy Johnson won his 300th game last year. Was it legit?
From Sports Illustrated – “Johnson says in those years [the Mitchell Report] he hired a professor from Canada to educate him on nutrition and training. He says that he used a hyperbaric chamber to improve recovery time and ‘dabbled in all kinds of powders and tried to put weight on.’ When asked what would have stopped him from using steroids at a time when baseball did not specifically ban them, Johnson pauses, then says, ‘Because I wasn’t searching for anything other than to have the ability to throw the ball over the plate. You can do your homework. I’ve always thrown as hard as anybody in the game. There’s no deying that. I’ve [also] always been skinny. I’m not denying that I went to GNC and all that stuff. I took a lot of different things that, you know, maybe at that time, maybe early enough, if I would have been tested, who knows? I could have been taking stuff had they tested me back then. Maybe I would have tested [positive for a banned supplement]. I don’t know.
Johnson is asked if he could assure his fans that his achievements have been legitimate, because even clean players can be wrongly suspected. ‘You’ve got to [ask] what you’ve got to [ask], I guess,’ Johnson says, before adding, ‘How long have we been doing drug tests now?’
Told testing began with anonymous survey tests in 2003, he replies, ‘Okay, what’s that? Six years now? I’m 45 . . . 39 to the present and I’ve passed every test and I’ve still had some pretty good years.’”
Boy this sounds like a complete non-denial denial. Typically offensive players have been eyed more often than pitchers when it comes to HGH or steroids. Sure Clemens is at the top of the list and you had your JC Romero suspended for 50 games. But pitchers usually get a pass when the talk of PEDs comes up.
When the article was published in SI last year I didn’t hear one sportscaster locally, on ESPN, MLB Channel or anywhere talk about it. But if you read the words, Johnson is talking his way around the truth.
We haven’t come any further than 1998. Other than high profile players being shunned (Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, Bonds) no one is looking for problems currently.
This season (at least in the NL) a lot of a-typical batters are leading categories. Corey Hart, Scott Rolen and Troy Glaus are among the leaders in home runs. Kelly Johnson had nine homeruns in April. Perhaps there was a joking “What’s he taking?” but otherwise it’s the dewy “My goodness he’s off to a good start” or “good to see (Glaus, Rolen) is having a rebound year.” Announcers and reporters alike seem to have fallen back into that blind-eyed mode of assuming an abnormal year or an incredible rebound year is just one of those things.
From Sports Illustrated – “Johnson says in those years [the Mitchell Report] he hired a professor from Canada to educate him on nutrition and training. He says that he used a hyperbaric chamber to improve recovery time and ‘dabbled in all kinds of powders and tried to put weight on.’ When asked what would have stopped him from using steroids at a time when baseball did not specifically ban them, Johnson pauses, then says, ‘Because I wasn’t searching for anything other than to have the ability to throw the ball over the plate. You can do your homework. I’ve always thrown as hard as anybody in the game. There’s no deying that. I’ve [also] always been skinny. I’m not denying that I went to GNC and all that stuff. I took a lot of different things that, you know, maybe at that time, maybe early enough, if I would have been tested, who knows? I could have been taking stuff had they tested me back then. Maybe I would have tested [positive for a banned supplement]. I don’t know.
Johnson is asked if he could assure his fans that his achievements have been legitimate, because even clean players can be wrongly suspected. ‘You’ve got to [ask] what you’ve got to [ask], I guess,’ Johnson says, before adding, ‘How long have we been doing drug tests now?’
Told testing began with anonymous survey tests in 2003, he replies, ‘Okay, what’s that? Six years now? I’m 45 . . . 39 to the present and I’ve passed every test and I’ve still had some pretty good years.’”
Boy this sounds like a complete non-denial denial. Typically offensive players have been eyed more often than pitchers when it comes to HGH or steroids. Sure Clemens is at the top of the list and you had your JC Romero suspended for 50 games. But pitchers usually get a pass when the talk of PEDs comes up.
When the article was published in SI last year I didn’t hear one sportscaster locally, on ESPN, MLB Channel or anywhere talk about it. But if you read the words, Johnson is talking his way around the truth.
We haven’t come any further than 1998. Other than high profile players being shunned (Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, Bonds) no one is looking for problems currently.
This season (at least in the NL) a lot of a-typical batters are leading categories. Corey Hart, Scott Rolen and Troy Glaus are among the leaders in home runs. Kelly Johnson had nine homeruns in April. Perhaps there was a joking “What’s he taking?” but otherwise it’s the dewy “My goodness he’s off to a good start” or “good to see (Glaus, Rolen) is having a rebound year.” Announcers and reporters alike seem to have fallen back into that blind-eyed mode of assuming an abnormal year or an incredible rebound year is just one of those things.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
What Goes Up
A few installments ago I had mentioned that there are many, many parallels between fantasy baseball and life. Here’s an example.
A number of years ago I had assembled a talented but pricey team led by Jeff Bagwell. Walking out of the draft I really felt this could be the year that a championship flag would be flying high over Confederate Park. By late May Dem Rebels were dead last in large part because the pricey stars were underperforming in a big way. Bagwell was having a horrible year batting in the low .200s with only a few home runs. Panic set in coupled with multiple phone calls from various vultures, I mean teams, asking if I was ready to play for next year. Rather than patiently realize the season still had four long months to go, I caved and traded the core stars for future potential. By the end of the year Dem Rebels were safely tucked in last place and Bagwell finished with a .336 batting average and 38 homeruns. The rest of the players jettisoned from the Rebel roster had their typical years as well.
Fast forward to 2010. Derrek Lee, long-time favorite of Dem Rebels is having a less than stellar season. Finally in frustration he was reserved from Monday-Thursday a few weeks back. Turns out those were the exact four days not to sit him. Here are the stats he’s produced for Dem Rebels (having been reserved for three games:
OBP: .3158 TB: 64 R: 24 RBI: 20 SB: 1
Here are the stats he’s produced overall:
OBP: .3417 TB: 76 R: 27 RBI: 23 SB: 1
By getting frustrated (and forgetting the lesson from the Bagwell Years) the Rebels lost .0259 in OBP, 12 Total Bases, 3 Runs and 3 RBI by sitting Lee for THREE GAMES!
In order to capture a player’s statistics, we have to struggle through the bad games to get the good games. None of us know when a player is going to have a great game or week or when they will struggle. We can look at logic and say “This pitcher is in Colorado this week so I should sit him since he’ll get hammered.” Inevitably if that pitcher is reserved, he’ll throw seven innings of three hit ball. But let him start against Pittsburgh for “that easy win” and he’ll get lit up like the 4th of July.
The parallels in real life:
The stock market (represented in this example by the S&P 500) has had an average rate of return of 5.9% from 1997-2007. That includes all the great days and all the horrible days that make the news. Now if you happened to be invested during that ten year period, but missed the best ten days (ten days out of the 2517 total trading days) your return would drop to 1.1%. And of course, just like with Lee, we don’t know when those ten best or worst days are going to occur. Emotion gets us into dangerous positions. Since having his blistering three game set, Lee has been 5 for 31 (.193). Usually with investing when things go bad, people jump for the sidelines until they see a recovery and once they see it (i.e. once the market has ALREADY gone up) they hop back in, having missed the spurt of growth. Having seen the spurt of growth, Dem Rebels activated Lee just in time to capture another correction while completely missing the spurt.
Patience is the name of the game. As long as you have good stuff (players, stocks, investments, even relationships) you will be successful in the long run. Now how do you know if you have good stuff? Oy, that’s another Monroe Doctrine.
A number of years ago I had assembled a talented but pricey team led by Jeff Bagwell. Walking out of the draft I really felt this could be the year that a championship flag would be flying high over Confederate Park. By late May Dem Rebels were dead last in large part because the pricey stars were underperforming in a big way. Bagwell was having a horrible year batting in the low .200s with only a few home runs. Panic set in coupled with multiple phone calls from various vultures, I mean teams, asking if I was ready to play for next year. Rather than patiently realize the season still had four long months to go, I caved and traded the core stars for future potential. By the end of the year Dem Rebels were safely tucked in last place and Bagwell finished with a .336 batting average and 38 homeruns. The rest of the players jettisoned from the Rebel roster had their typical years as well.
Fast forward to 2010. Derrek Lee, long-time favorite of Dem Rebels is having a less than stellar season. Finally in frustration he was reserved from Monday-Thursday a few weeks back. Turns out those were the exact four days not to sit him. Here are the stats he’s produced for Dem Rebels (having been reserved for three games:
OBP: .3158 TB: 64 R: 24 RBI: 20 SB: 1
Here are the stats he’s produced overall:
OBP: .3417 TB: 76 R: 27 RBI: 23 SB: 1
By getting frustrated (and forgetting the lesson from the Bagwell Years) the Rebels lost .0259 in OBP, 12 Total Bases, 3 Runs and 3 RBI by sitting Lee for THREE GAMES!
In order to capture a player’s statistics, we have to struggle through the bad games to get the good games. None of us know when a player is going to have a great game or week or when they will struggle. We can look at logic and say “This pitcher is in Colorado this week so I should sit him since he’ll get hammered.” Inevitably if that pitcher is reserved, he’ll throw seven innings of three hit ball. But let him start against Pittsburgh for “that easy win” and he’ll get lit up like the 4th of July.
The parallels in real life:
The stock market (represented in this example by the S&P 500) has had an average rate of return of 5.9% from 1997-2007. That includes all the great days and all the horrible days that make the news. Now if you happened to be invested during that ten year period, but missed the best ten days (ten days out of the 2517 total trading days) your return would drop to 1.1%. And of course, just like with Lee, we don’t know when those ten best or worst days are going to occur. Emotion gets us into dangerous positions. Since having his blistering three game set, Lee has been 5 for 31 (.193). Usually with investing when things go bad, people jump for the sidelines until they see a recovery and once they see it (i.e. once the market has ALREADY gone up) they hop back in, having missed the spurt of growth. Having seen the spurt of growth, Dem Rebels activated Lee just in time to capture another correction while completely missing the spurt.
Patience is the name of the game. As long as you have good stuff (players, stocks, investments, even relationships) you will be successful in the long run. Now how do you know if you have good stuff? Oy, that’s another Monroe Doctrine.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Two Months In, How's Everyone Doing?
News from Around the League
The Monroe Doctrine paid a visit to each team to see what’s happening in the lives of the owners two months into the season. Here are some snippets.
Twin Killers:
MD: What’s happening with the Killers?
TK: When last we spoke our main plan for the year was to finish ahead of Dem Rebels. That’s pretty much going to happen no matter what. The Rebels are going to pass us, actually, so our new mission this year is to win the Dallas Green Award. Starting out at 28 points gives us a pretty good shot.
DoorMatts:
MD: Matt, you’ve been in first for the last six weeks. Nicely done.
DM: Thanks, but let’s not kid ourselves. The only week that matters is the 26th. I’m a nervous wreck already. I don’t see how I’ll be able to hold up for the next four months. Take that however you like.
Candy Colored Clowns:
MD: Mike, what’s on your To-Do List?
CCC: I’m trying to come up with another put down for the Kenndoza Line. I just can’t find anything better than ‘Gentlemen .. . and Kenn’ See? It works for everything! Maybe I could find an angle with that Bert and Ernie thing he brings to the draft.
Kenndoza Line:
MD: Kenn, what’s your focus as we head into June?
KL: I’m trying to find a come back to the Clowns. “Oh yeah?” “Sez you!” Oh why can’t I be as clever as Mike?!
David’s Ruffins:
MD: Usually each summer after the students head home, the Ruffins front office heads for an amazing locale. This year any different?
DR: I’m packing for my summer sabbatical in Quebec, Norway and Japan. It’s going to be a whirlwind. The university thinks I’m going to learn something, and I am. Just not politically science related. I’m headed to learn the history of Francoeur, Pence and Fukudome.
MD: I didn’t know Pence was from Norway.
DR: I’m not sure he does either, but we’ve always wanted to go and Madam Ruffin was able to convince her higher-ups that there’s art worth studying there.
David’s Copperfields:
MD: Have things slowed down in the Copperfield household?
DC: With three boys? Are you kidding? We have three different little leagues going, plus boy scouts. I’m organizing the bake sale and have to crank out about a thousand raspberry clotschkes. Excuse me, I need to find my apron.
Dem Rebels:
MD: This year hasn’t quite turned out the way you anticipated, has it?
DR: To quote the DoorMatts “May is a busy month for the Rebels. Two kid’s birthdays, a wedding anniversary and falling out of the race all in one month.”
MD: That’s pretty harsh.
DR: You know, I’d disown him at the next family reunion, but he’s not wrong.
Morkertzuma’s Revenge:
MD: It’s June. What’s going on in the life of a Tim Morkert?
MR: School’s out and I’m on ‘Island Time’. No papers to grade, no bathroom passes to issue. I’ve finally got some “Me Time”. Eighth place will be a memory.
Red Hots:
MD: Bob, what does the summer mean to you?
RH: Kid’s are home from school so there are water gun fights to instigate, but it’s all about Vegas baby! World Series of Poker is coming and I’m gonna get me one of them bracelets.
Granging Bulls:
MD: Matt, the Bulls are hanging tight in 3rd. What’s on the agenda?
GB: Busy times, busy times. Did you see me in Row Three at Wrigley sticking pins in all my Non-Bull voodoo dolls? No? That’s because I was trying to think of a way to get rid of Lou Pinella. I’ve been at Wrigley so much this year Security is getting suspicious. Plus I’ve got to decide if the pennant is within my reach. If not I’ve got some work to do to snag 4th place. There’s a hot hitting secondbaseman from Vanderbilt I want to make sure I position myself for.
The Monroe Doctrine paid a visit to each team to see what’s happening in the lives of the owners two months into the season. Here are some snippets.
Twin Killers:
MD: What’s happening with the Killers?
TK: When last we spoke our main plan for the year was to finish ahead of Dem Rebels. That’s pretty much going to happen no matter what. The Rebels are going to pass us, actually, so our new mission this year is to win the Dallas Green Award. Starting out at 28 points gives us a pretty good shot.
DoorMatts:
MD: Matt, you’ve been in first for the last six weeks. Nicely done.
DM: Thanks, but let’s not kid ourselves. The only week that matters is the 26th. I’m a nervous wreck already. I don’t see how I’ll be able to hold up for the next four months. Take that however you like.
Candy Colored Clowns:
MD: Mike, what’s on your To-Do List?
CCC: I’m trying to come up with another put down for the Kenndoza Line. I just can’t find anything better than ‘Gentlemen .. . and Kenn’ See? It works for everything! Maybe I could find an angle with that Bert and Ernie thing he brings to the draft.
Kenndoza Line:
MD: Kenn, what’s your focus as we head into June?
KL: I’m trying to find a come back to the Clowns. “Oh yeah?” “Sez you!” Oh why can’t I be as clever as Mike?!
David’s Ruffins:
MD: Usually each summer after the students head home, the Ruffins front office heads for an amazing locale. This year any different?
DR: I’m packing for my summer sabbatical in Quebec, Norway and Japan. It’s going to be a whirlwind. The university thinks I’m going to learn something, and I am. Just not politically science related. I’m headed to learn the history of Francoeur, Pence and Fukudome.
MD: I didn’t know Pence was from Norway.
DR: I’m not sure he does either, but we’ve always wanted to go and Madam Ruffin was able to convince her higher-ups that there’s art worth studying there.
David’s Copperfields:
MD: Have things slowed down in the Copperfield household?
DC: With three boys? Are you kidding? We have three different little leagues going, plus boy scouts. I’m organizing the bake sale and have to crank out about a thousand raspberry clotschkes. Excuse me, I need to find my apron.
Dem Rebels:
MD: This year hasn’t quite turned out the way you anticipated, has it?
DR: To quote the DoorMatts “May is a busy month for the Rebels. Two kid’s birthdays, a wedding anniversary and falling out of the race all in one month.”
MD: That’s pretty harsh.
DR: You know, I’d disown him at the next family reunion, but he’s not wrong.
Morkertzuma’s Revenge:
MD: It’s June. What’s going on in the life of a Tim Morkert?
MR: School’s out and I’m on ‘Island Time’. No papers to grade, no bathroom passes to issue. I’ve finally got some “Me Time”. Eighth place will be a memory.
Red Hots:
MD: Bob, what does the summer mean to you?
RH: Kid’s are home from school so there are water gun fights to instigate, but it’s all about Vegas baby! World Series of Poker is coming and I’m gonna get me one of them bracelets.
Granging Bulls:
MD: Matt, the Bulls are hanging tight in 3rd. What’s on the agenda?
GB: Busy times, busy times. Did you see me in Row Three at Wrigley sticking pins in all my Non-Bull voodoo dolls? No? That’s because I was trying to think of a way to get rid of Lou Pinella. I’ve been at Wrigley so much this year Security is getting suspicious. Plus I’ve got to decide if the pennant is within my reach. If not I’ve got some work to do to snag 4th place. There’s a hot hitting secondbaseman from Vanderbilt I want to make sure I position myself for.
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Running of the Wolves
Sunday morning my daughter Ally and I completed a 5K Run/Walk that was organized and sponsored by her grade school. Really they didn’t name it right. It’s not a 5K Run/Walk. It’s a 5K Run/Walk/Crawl/Bend-over-at-the-waist-to-desperately-catch-your-breath/Dry Heave-at-the-side-of-the-road. Not sure they measured it right, either. I swear it was a full marathon length. At least that’s what my knees were telling me.
Ally faired better than I did, or at least seemed to. I didn’t notice any profuse sweating, knee popping or lung wheezing for her.
It got me to thinking about the physical requirements of being an everyday adult vs. an athlete. As adults mostly we’re charged with walking up and down stairs at work and home and perhaps engaging with our kids in sports for a few minutes each weekend. Running out a lazy groundball to short would cause most of our legs to seize up and make us walk funny for the next few days. There is an amazing amount of athleticism involved for Aramis Ramirez to (sort of) run out that lazy groundball to short that allows him to do that four times a game.
MLB Channel has the Pre-Game Look In where they show batting practice and players warming up playing catch. Watching them throw just to warm up made me realize that if that was me, my arm would be in traction before the game even started.
Adorned with lucky number 1526 (a shout out to my home boys Steve Dillard and Larry Biittner yo!) off we went. The course wound throughout the housing communities surrounding the school and within the first half mile Ally was off to a four house lead.
Disappointingly there was a water station along the way but not the important stuff like crash carts and portable defibrillators.
Halfway through, we started passing the early sprinters. One look in their eyes and you could tell they were done. And here's where I had plenty of time to contemplate life, the CFCL and my crackling lungs. As I passed a few runners I thought "Cool, I'm really advancing!" Then my pace would slow and those same runners I passed, moved ahead of me and it got me to thinking of the CFCL standings. If the Rebels (or any team really) have a good day (ok, let's imagine the Rebels having a good day) and pass a team or two in Total Bases, I start to think "OK, we're making progress." But then those teams that were passed have their good days later in the week and regain their position, pushing the Rebels back down in points. To gain position and maintain it, you need a prolonged surge of productivity, not a short burst, unless you're near the finish line. There are many, many, many parallels between the CFCL, or fantasy baseball, and life.
At the end there was a lot of cheering of support and the official time clock clicked 33:58 slotting me in as the Aramis Ramirez of the racing set.
While waiting for the official results there were bagels and bananas to snack on, massage tents to collapse into, good music to listen to and teachers, neighbors and classmates to chat with and compare notes. For the Inaugural Running of the Wolves, it was a really well organized and sponsored event. Best of all it was a great way to spend time with Ally on a Sunday morning.
Oh, Ally’s time? 32:00 – 8th in her age group and 113th in a field of 379. Did I mention she's ten year's old? Kicked my butt.
Ally faired better than I did, or at least seemed to. I didn’t notice any profuse sweating, knee popping or lung wheezing for her.
It got me to thinking about the physical requirements of being an everyday adult vs. an athlete. As adults mostly we’re charged with walking up and down stairs at work and home and perhaps engaging with our kids in sports for a few minutes each weekend. Running out a lazy groundball to short would cause most of our legs to seize up and make us walk funny for the next few days. There is an amazing amount of athleticism involved for Aramis Ramirez to (sort of) run out that lazy groundball to short that allows him to do that four times a game.
MLB Channel has the Pre-Game Look In where they show batting practice and players warming up playing catch. Watching them throw just to warm up made me realize that if that was me, my arm would be in traction before the game even started.
Adorned with lucky number 1526 (a shout out to my home boys Steve Dillard and Larry Biittner yo!) off we went. The course wound throughout the housing communities surrounding the school and within the first half mile Ally was off to a four house lead.
Disappointingly there was a water station along the way but not the important stuff like crash carts and portable defibrillators.
Halfway through, we started passing the early sprinters. One look in their eyes and you could tell they were done. And here's where I had plenty of time to contemplate life, the CFCL and my crackling lungs. As I passed a few runners I thought "Cool, I'm really advancing!" Then my pace would slow and those same runners I passed, moved ahead of me and it got me to thinking of the CFCL standings. If the Rebels (or any team really) have a good day (ok, let's imagine the Rebels having a good day) and pass a team or two in Total Bases, I start to think "OK, we're making progress." But then those teams that were passed have their good days later in the week and regain their position, pushing the Rebels back down in points. To gain position and maintain it, you need a prolonged surge of productivity, not a short burst, unless you're near the finish line. There are many, many, many parallels between the CFCL, or fantasy baseball, and life.
At the end there was a lot of cheering of support and the official time clock clicked 33:58 slotting me in as the Aramis Ramirez of the racing set.
While waiting for the official results there were bagels and bananas to snack on, massage tents to collapse into, good music to listen to and teachers, neighbors and classmates to chat with and compare notes. For the Inaugural Running of the Wolves, it was a really well organized and sponsored event. Best of all it was a great way to spend time with Ally on a Sunday morning.
Oh, Ally’s time? 32:00 – 8th in her age group and 113th in a field of 379. Did I mention she's ten year's old? Kicked my butt.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
For It's One, Two, Three Snacks To Eat At The Old Ballgame
Friday was our annual trip to Elfstrom Stadium wherein our grade schoolers are rewarded for reading throughout the winter. Katelyn (7th grade) didn’t have the opportunity to participate in the Ozzie Reading Club. Apparently once you hit middle school you’ve read all you need to.
When we first arrived, Ally and Kristi grabbed a hot dog and drink while I snagged Geneva’s greatest underrated snack – the Super Rope. Two feet of red licorice goodness.
It was a packed house with tons of school groups. The thing I noticed is that with so many kids and school groups in attendance there didn’t seem to be all that much baseball watching going on. Most of the kids want to run around and find each other and a lot of the parents decided a seating section at a baseball game was the perfect place to stand and talk and hug and get reacquainted.
But what I will admit it is that what the kids lacked in baseball attentiveness, they made up for in volume. When one of the Cougars got a basehit, the kids would react with maniacal screaming and clapping, even if they weren’t quite sure what impact the hit had on the game.
A monster homerun to deep centerfield by Cougar Leonardo Gil, number 24 in your scorecard and number one in your heart, sent the noise level exploding even higher.
The Cougars hung up crooked numbers in the third and fifth innings to send 8800 fans home happy.
Throughout the game the P.A. Announcer kept promoting their first fireworks show of the year. “Stay with us after the game for fireworks set to Disney music!” I was expecting a little Hakuna Matata from the Lion King, maybe something from Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Toy Story, so I set my alarm clock for “Fun” around 9:30.
In between innings I perused the Grand Slam Gazette (the Cougars magazine) and had a few CFCL flashbacks. I noticed that Todd Benzinger and Sal Fasano are managers in the Midwest League. A far cry from being owned by the Copperfields and Rebels, but they have a dream to follow.
My youngest daughter, Kristi, started showing interest in the game this year. After a River Bandit basehit she wondered why there were two “red guys” on first base. I pointed out it was the batter and the firstbase coach talking. Throughout the game she would comment “that ball looked foul” or “he was safe”. Not exactly Steve Stone, but a few inches ahead of Ron Santo.
As the game wore on, the temperature dropped and it became fun to just huddle up, arms wrapped around each other and cheer each successive out that led to a Cougars victory.
A quick trip to the concourse for some Dippin’ Dots and it was time to settle in for the Disney Fireworks Show. Instead of the rockets being accompanied by the scores of animated movies, it was Hannah Montana, Selena Gomez and the Jonas Brothers, et. al. from the other side of Disney’s empire. Being the father of three young girls I was able to nail the first three artists in the set and even though it wasn’t Woody and Buzz singing, the display was awesome. After fifteen minutes of colorful explosions, we collected our program, jackets and left over three foot bag of popcorn and headed home.
Since this week’s Monroe Doctrine has been about family, I would like to cap it off by honoring the Lady Rebel as we celebrate our Mark Grace Anniversary.
When we first arrived, Ally and Kristi grabbed a hot dog and drink while I snagged Geneva’s greatest underrated snack – the Super Rope. Two feet of red licorice goodness.
It was a packed house with tons of school groups. The thing I noticed is that with so many kids and school groups in attendance there didn’t seem to be all that much baseball watching going on. Most of the kids want to run around and find each other and a lot of the parents decided a seating section at a baseball game was the perfect place to stand and talk and hug and get reacquainted.
But what I will admit it is that what the kids lacked in baseball attentiveness, they made up for in volume. When one of the Cougars got a basehit, the kids would react with maniacal screaming and clapping, even if they weren’t quite sure what impact the hit had on the game.
A monster homerun to deep centerfield by Cougar Leonardo Gil, number 24 in your scorecard and number one in your heart, sent the noise level exploding even higher.
The Cougars hung up crooked numbers in the third and fifth innings to send 8800 fans home happy.
Throughout the game the P.A. Announcer kept promoting their first fireworks show of the year. “Stay with us after the game for fireworks set to Disney music!” I was expecting a little Hakuna Matata from the Lion King, maybe something from Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Toy Story, so I set my alarm clock for “Fun” around 9:30.
In between innings I perused the Grand Slam Gazette (the Cougars magazine) and had a few CFCL flashbacks. I noticed that Todd Benzinger and Sal Fasano are managers in the Midwest League. A far cry from being owned by the Copperfields and Rebels, but they have a dream to follow.
My youngest daughter, Kristi, started showing interest in the game this year. After a River Bandit basehit she wondered why there were two “red guys” on first base. I pointed out it was the batter and the firstbase coach talking. Throughout the game she would comment “that ball looked foul” or “he was safe”. Not exactly Steve Stone, but a few inches ahead of Ron Santo.
As the game wore on, the temperature dropped and it became fun to just huddle up, arms wrapped around each other and cheer each successive out that led to a Cougars victory.
A quick trip to the concourse for some Dippin’ Dots and it was time to settle in for the Disney Fireworks Show. Instead of the rockets being accompanied by the scores of animated movies, it was Hannah Montana, Selena Gomez and the Jonas Brothers, et. al. from the other side of Disney’s empire. Being the father of three young girls I was able to nail the first three artists in the set and even though it wasn’t Woody and Buzz singing, the display was awesome. After fifteen minutes of colorful explosions, we collected our program, jackets and left over three foot bag of popcorn and headed home.
Since this week’s Monroe Doctrine has been about family, I would like to cap it off by honoring the Lady Rebel as we celebrate our Mark Grace Anniversary.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Who Would It Be?
What if you had a 4.0 GPA in high school? Would that have changed your life? What if you didn’t meet that special someone in your life? Where would you be right now? What if you were six foot four? Would you be able to reach the Cheerios on the top shelf without using a chair?
What if there were no Chicago Cubs? Blasphemy, I know. But what if? Let’s assume I’m still a baseball fan without having grown up with Jack, Vince and Lou. Let’s also assume that I want to be a fan of baseball and not a beer league so I’m still a National League fan. What team would be my favorite?
Being in Chicago I have options. If I want to be a fan of geography I still have three choices. St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers. While I like the rivalry and some of the history of the Brewers, I have to throw them out for being an original American League team. During my formative years, the Brewers were fighting the losers from the South Side, not the Cubs.
St. Louis has strong consideration. Plenty of history, second most success in baseball after the Yankees, new ballpark to enjoy, rabid fans that know the game.
Cincinnati isn’t bad either. Tons of success while I was growing up, Big Red Machine with Bench, Morgan, Foster and Sparky. More success in 1990 with the Bad Boys and Uncle Lou. New ballpark with a view of the river. I probably would have been turned off of the Reds with Schott owning them, however.
Atlanta Braves would be the easy choice since growing up I saw a ton of Braves games on WTBS. But I don’t know that I would have been captured by the Ken Oberkfells, Glen Hubbards and Rick Camps. Although it’s hard not to like a team with Dale Murphy or a guy named Roland Office.
Growing up in the ‘70s the Dodgers and Phillies were consistently winning and had great players to follow (Schmidt, Carlton, Garvey, Lopes) but they just didn’t capture me.
In thinking back to growing up and considering the teams now, I would have to be a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. As a kid I loved the uniforms from the ‘70s with the multiple combinations. Loved Willie Stargell and The Hammer (player’s name anyone?). Wasn’t crazy about the Bonds era, but every team has that (the Cubs had Sosa and I was still a fan of the team, Cardinals had McGwire, Reds had Rose). As futile as the Pirates are right now (tapping into my inner Cubby) they have enjoyed more success since 1970 than the Cubs have (nine playoff appearances vs. six appearances and two World Series Championships vs. of course, zero).
An original team with a history going back to 1882 that included Honus Wagner, The Waners, Bill Mazeroski’s shot, Clemente, Parker and a personal favorite, Omar Moreno.
While I’ve never been to a game in Pittsburgh, their ballpark looks phenomenal. The view over the outfield wall of Clemente Bridge crossing the Allegheny is awesome. Back in the ‘70s I would have loved the tie-in of the Pirate colors with my favorite football team, the Steelers.
Plus even though there has been limited success, especially recently, they have had only seven managers since 1977. The Cubs have had 22 managers since 1977.
And tying in the CFCL, having Andrew McCutchen on the club sure makes it an easier choice as well to enjoy them now.
Who would you cheer for if you didn’t have the Cubs (or Reds or White Sox)?
P.S. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s in our lives. Mr. Mahlan if you would do your thing please.
What if there were no Chicago Cubs? Blasphemy, I know. But what if? Let’s assume I’m still a baseball fan without having grown up with Jack, Vince and Lou. Let’s also assume that I want to be a fan of baseball and not a beer league so I’m still a National League fan. What team would be my favorite?
Being in Chicago I have options. If I want to be a fan of geography I still have three choices. St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers. While I like the rivalry and some of the history of the Brewers, I have to throw them out for being an original American League team. During my formative years, the Brewers were fighting the losers from the South Side, not the Cubs.
St. Louis has strong consideration. Plenty of history, second most success in baseball after the Yankees, new ballpark to enjoy, rabid fans that know the game.
Cincinnati isn’t bad either. Tons of success while I was growing up, Big Red Machine with Bench, Morgan, Foster and Sparky. More success in 1990 with the Bad Boys and Uncle Lou. New ballpark with a view of the river. I probably would have been turned off of the Reds with Schott owning them, however.
Atlanta Braves would be the easy choice since growing up I saw a ton of Braves games on WTBS. But I don’t know that I would have been captured by the Ken Oberkfells, Glen Hubbards and Rick Camps. Although it’s hard not to like a team with Dale Murphy or a guy named Roland Office.
Growing up in the ‘70s the Dodgers and Phillies were consistently winning and had great players to follow (Schmidt, Carlton, Garvey, Lopes) but they just didn’t capture me.
In thinking back to growing up and considering the teams now, I would have to be a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. As a kid I loved the uniforms from the ‘70s with the multiple combinations. Loved Willie Stargell and The Hammer (player’s name anyone?). Wasn’t crazy about the Bonds era, but every team has that (the Cubs had Sosa and I was still a fan of the team, Cardinals had McGwire, Reds had Rose). As futile as the Pirates are right now (tapping into my inner Cubby) they have enjoyed more success since 1970 than the Cubs have (nine playoff appearances vs. six appearances and two World Series Championships vs. of course, zero).
An original team with a history going back to 1882 that included Honus Wagner, The Waners, Bill Mazeroski’s shot, Clemente, Parker and a personal favorite, Omar Moreno.
While I’ve never been to a game in Pittsburgh, their ballpark looks phenomenal. The view over the outfield wall of Clemente Bridge crossing the Allegheny is awesome. Back in the ‘70s I would have loved the tie-in of the Pirate colors with my favorite football team, the Steelers.
Plus even though there has been limited success, especially recently, they have had only seven managers since 1977. The Cubs have had 22 managers since 1977.
And tying in the CFCL, having Andrew McCutchen on the club sure makes it an easier choice as well to enjoy them now.
Who would you cheer for if you didn’t have the Cubs (or Reds or White Sox)?
P.S. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s in our lives. Mr. Mahlan if you would do your thing please.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Meet the Twin Killers
2010 found a new team in the CFCL. We here at the Monroe Doctrine always like to introduce the new owners, but first our disclaimer:
Due to scheduling conflicts and time constraints we didn’t bother ourselves with the formality of actually interviewing the new owners. I’m sure what follows will be news to them as well as you.
MD: Welcome gentlemen. It’s a pleasure having you here. Let’s start at the beginning. What’s with the name? Are you guys referring to being twins that are Lady Killers?
Mike: No, dude, we’re way more creative than that. There are so many levels here. The Twins are a baseball team. We’re twins. A twin-killing is a double play in baseball.
MD: So Mike, you’re in charge, right? Main owner since you were at the draft, Matt is just a support person?
Matt: Now hold on. We decided to approach this as a team, but since we both couldn’t be at the draft we decided that the one without a girlfriend would have more time to sit in a room all day with a bunch of dudes. The ladies are warm for my form, so I’m not at the draft.
Mike: You’re just jealous that Dad always liked me better and wanted me at the draft with him. If you were at the draft we would have ended up with Esmalian Caridad in our bullpen.
MD: Uh, Mike, you do have Cardidad in your bullpen. . . at .15.
Mike: You know what I mean!! Next question.
MD: If we have this right, Mike you’re the Sox fan and Matt you’re the Cubs fan?
Mike: I prefer to think of it as I’m Enlightened and he’s a Neanderthal.
MD: How about the rest of your family?
Mike: My Dad is a Cubs fan, through and through. Not sure why. Our sister Lauren says she’s a Cubs fan but she just wants to borrow Dad’s car every weekend. My mom loves me for who I am and because I eat all my veggies.
MD: At the draft, during breaks many owners will call their support person to reaffirm strategy and give updates. Did you have to do that, or since you’re twins do you have that ESP thing working?
Matt: That’s a bunch of hocus pocus. There’s no twin ESP. I have no idea what’s rolling around that extra large cranium of his, aside from the fact that he wants to own every player that used to play for the White Sox.
Mike: All I’m going to say is “2005”, Mr. 1908.
Matt: Can we not do that here? We’re being interviewed by a national publication. Show some class, peanut head.
MD: You’re a month into the season, how are things going?
Matt: We’re in tenth place, that says it all. But at least the DoorMatts are rockin’ it.
Mike: Now who needs to borrow Dad’s car, suck up.
Matt: I’ve got my ladies to drive me around, I don’t need Dad’s car.
MD: Most teams in the MLB, NFL, etc. start with new ownership/management and say they have a Five Year Plan. What’s the vision for the Twin Killers?
Mike: Obviously we want to win the championship RIGHT NOW! But we understand that we are 27 years behind the curve starting out. So our initial plan each year is to finish ahead of Dem Rebels.
MD: So you’re joining the Clowns and the now defunct Picts in targeting Dem Rebels?
Matt: It’s not personal. Well, it is, but not for baseball reasons. We just want to be the best team owned by guys born on August 8th.
MD: Interesting. Say, what did you do to celebrate the Cubs first night game on 8/8/88?
Mike: How old do you think we are? We’re not ancient! We weren’t even born when lights went on at Wrigley.
MD: Alright young men, let’s move to your future. What are your career aspirations?
Mike: Career aspirations? We’re focused on running the best CFCL team ever! We’re off to a slow start, but this is a marathon, not a sprint. My career is GM. Don’t print that though, Mom and Dad are spending a boatload of money sending me to college. They think I’m going to be an engineer.
MD: No problem, this is off the record.
Matt: Co-GM brother. That’s where my head is at. That and being the biggest fan of the World Champion Chicago Cubs, baby!
Mike: Man, you talk about a marathon. Good luck with that.
MD: In closing, is there anything else you would like to share with your fellow owners?
Mike: You mean like Matt sucked his thumb until high school? Or is that too personal? All these “ladies” he talks about? They don’t arrive at our house in their cars; they show up wrapped in unmarked, plain brown boxes if you get my drift.
Matt: Really? Maybe the CFCL would like to know about your obsession with Dora the Explorer. Every morning before class this knucklehead yells at the TV “Dora, you’re magnifico!” That and he still makes our mom blow kisses on his Lucky Charms when she pours them into his Calvin & Hobbes breakfast bowl.
MD: Thank you, gentlemen. This has really been a pleasure.
Due to scheduling conflicts and time constraints we didn’t bother ourselves with the formality of actually interviewing the new owners. I’m sure what follows will be news to them as well as you.
MD: Welcome gentlemen. It’s a pleasure having you here. Let’s start at the beginning. What’s with the name? Are you guys referring to being twins that are Lady Killers?
Mike: No, dude, we’re way more creative than that. There are so many levels here. The Twins are a baseball team. We’re twins. A twin-killing is a double play in baseball.
MD: So Mike, you’re in charge, right? Main owner since you were at the draft, Matt is just a support person?
Matt: Now hold on. We decided to approach this as a team, but since we both couldn’t be at the draft we decided that the one without a girlfriend would have more time to sit in a room all day with a bunch of dudes. The ladies are warm for my form, so I’m not at the draft.
Mike: You’re just jealous that Dad always liked me better and wanted me at the draft with him. If you were at the draft we would have ended up with Esmalian Caridad in our bullpen.
MD: Uh, Mike, you do have Cardidad in your bullpen. . . at .15.
Mike: You know what I mean!! Next question.
MD: If we have this right, Mike you’re the Sox fan and Matt you’re the Cubs fan?
Mike: I prefer to think of it as I’m Enlightened and he’s a Neanderthal.
MD: How about the rest of your family?
Mike: My Dad is a Cubs fan, through and through. Not sure why. Our sister Lauren says she’s a Cubs fan but she just wants to borrow Dad’s car every weekend. My mom loves me for who I am and because I eat all my veggies.
MD: At the draft, during breaks many owners will call their support person to reaffirm strategy and give updates. Did you have to do that, or since you’re twins do you have that ESP thing working?
Matt: That’s a bunch of hocus pocus. There’s no twin ESP. I have no idea what’s rolling around that extra large cranium of his, aside from the fact that he wants to own every player that used to play for the White Sox.
Mike: All I’m going to say is “2005”, Mr. 1908.
Matt: Can we not do that here? We’re being interviewed by a national publication. Show some class, peanut head.
MD: You’re a month into the season, how are things going?
Matt: We’re in tenth place, that says it all. But at least the DoorMatts are rockin’ it.
Mike: Now who needs to borrow Dad’s car, suck up.
Matt: I’ve got my ladies to drive me around, I don’t need Dad’s car.
MD: Most teams in the MLB, NFL, etc. start with new ownership/management and say they have a Five Year Plan. What’s the vision for the Twin Killers?
Mike: Obviously we want to win the championship RIGHT NOW! But we understand that we are 27 years behind the curve starting out. So our initial plan each year is to finish ahead of Dem Rebels.
MD: So you’re joining the Clowns and the now defunct Picts in targeting Dem Rebels?
Matt: It’s not personal. Well, it is, but not for baseball reasons. We just want to be the best team owned by guys born on August 8th.
MD: Interesting. Say, what did you do to celebrate the Cubs first night game on 8/8/88?
Mike: How old do you think we are? We’re not ancient! We weren’t even born when lights went on at Wrigley.
MD: Alright young men, let’s move to your future. What are your career aspirations?
Mike: Career aspirations? We’re focused on running the best CFCL team ever! We’re off to a slow start, but this is a marathon, not a sprint. My career is GM. Don’t print that though, Mom and Dad are spending a boatload of money sending me to college. They think I’m going to be an engineer.
MD: No problem, this is off the record.
Matt: Co-GM brother. That’s where my head is at. That and being the biggest fan of the World Champion Chicago Cubs, baby!
Mike: Man, you talk about a marathon. Good luck with that.
MD: In closing, is there anything else you would like to share with your fellow owners?
Mike: You mean like Matt sucked his thumb until high school? Or is that too personal? All these “ladies” he talks about? They don’t arrive at our house in their cars; they show up wrapped in unmarked, plain brown boxes if you get my drift.
Matt: Really? Maybe the CFCL would like to know about your obsession with Dora the Explorer. Every morning before class this knucklehead yells at the TV “Dora, you’re magnifico!” That and he still makes our mom blow kisses on his Lucky Charms when she pours them into his Calvin & Hobbes breakfast bowl.
MD: Thank you, gentlemen. This has really been a pleasure.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Call Me!
The Chicago Cubs are getting harder to watch and listen to and not just for their play on the field. Trying to locate them on T.V. is almost impossible. Are they on Channel 9? No? What about WCIU? No? What about Chicago SportsNet? Now listening to them on the radio is getting challenging but in a different way. You can always find the Cubs on WGN-720AM (at least for now) but who are you going to hear?
We need to set up a phone tree. For those of you unfamiliar with phone trees, a group of people agree to call each other when a significant event happens - school closings, massive wave off the North Shore, big sale at Filene’s. We, as Cub fans, need to set up a phone tree for WGN Radio broadcasts of Cub games. We could even have secret codes!
If Ron Santo is on the air, we could call each other and say Code “Believe” as in “Be-lieve me” which is Ron’s favorite phrase that actually is a complete thought, although it usually starts the beginning of a run-on, incomplete sentence as in “Be-lieve (phonetically BUH-leeev) me Patrick and when I say hard throwing, you know, it’s so easy to see them throw hard but to hit and the ball, it comes in . . .”
Pat: Line drive! Down the leftfield line!
So Code “Believe” is “Ron’s on the air today.” I do have to admit, at least the Cubs have Ron doing “color”. He’s not really good at it, but they aren’t making the same mistake they made when Harry was waaaaay past his prime. Everyone kept saying that Harry was a great ambassador for the game. Yes he was, at any age. But he wasn’t a great play-by-play guy towards the end. They should have had him at the gate shaking hands and walking through the bleachers buying beer. With The Pat and Ron Show, at least you still know what’s happening on the field, even if you also know how much of the tuna sandwich Pat spilled on his sweater at lunch.
Dave Otto – Code “Steak”. Steak is Otto’s favorite saying, as in “Derrek Lee needs to get a couple of steaks here.” (Otto’s voice in his head “Okay, pause here so Pat will ask me what a steak is and I can show how clever and ‘inside’ the game I am”)
Pat: Gee, Dave, what do you mean by steak?
Dave: Some steaks are rib-eyes (RBIs) so when a guy has men on base we would say “Get a couple of steaks here!”
Pat: Well, that’s very insightful Dave.
Or stake as in Whenever I Hear Dave Otto On The Radio I Want To Drive A Couple Of Stakes Into My Ears!
Keith Moreland – Code “Pardner”. As in Keith’s a good ol’ boy from Texas where they call each other Pardner. Also as in Pat finally has a decent Radio Pardner.
Bob Dernier – Code “Silk”. As in the way Dernier played centerfield, smooth as Silk. Also the way he delivers in the broadcast booth.
If we call and say Code “Pocketbook” that means the Cubs finally decided that if they can spend $18,750,000 on a set up guy and $19,000,000 on an outfielder to play six innings, they could pay and get the best in the business. Code “Pocketbook” means Steve Stone is back.
Code “Baron” means they couldn’t afford Stone and got the next best guy. Code “Baron” says Rick Sutcliffe is back at Wrigley.
About 140 times this year Ron will be manning the microphone, so maybe we don’t have to call each other and report “Believe”. But for the other 20 games or so, we need to help each other out. We could be missing a really good broadcast, or we could be walking into a train wreck.
We need to set up a phone tree. For those of you unfamiliar with phone trees, a group of people agree to call each other when a significant event happens - school closings, massive wave off the North Shore, big sale at Filene’s. We, as Cub fans, need to set up a phone tree for WGN Radio broadcasts of Cub games. We could even have secret codes!
If Ron Santo is on the air, we could call each other and say Code “Believe” as in “Be-lieve me” which is Ron’s favorite phrase that actually is a complete thought, although it usually starts the beginning of a run-on, incomplete sentence as in “Be-lieve (phonetically BUH-leeev) me Patrick and when I say hard throwing, you know, it’s so easy to see them throw hard but to hit and the ball, it comes in . . .”
Pat: Line drive! Down the leftfield line!
So Code “Believe” is “Ron’s on the air today.” I do have to admit, at least the Cubs have Ron doing “color”. He’s not really good at it, but they aren’t making the same mistake they made when Harry was waaaaay past his prime. Everyone kept saying that Harry was a great ambassador for the game. Yes he was, at any age. But he wasn’t a great play-by-play guy towards the end. They should have had him at the gate shaking hands and walking through the bleachers buying beer. With The Pat and Ron Show, at least you still know what’s happening on the field, even if you also know how much of the tuna sandwich Pat spilled on his sweater at lunch.
Dave Otto – Code “Steak”. Steak is Otto’s favorite saying, as in “Derrek Lee needs to get a couple of steaks here.” (Otto’s voice in his head “Okay, pause here so Pat will ask me what a steak is and I can show how clever and ‘inside’ the game I am”)
Pat: Gee, Dave, what do you mean by steak?
Dave: Some steaks are rib-eyes (RBIs) so when a guy has men on base we would say “Get a couple of steaks here!”
Pat: Well, that’s very insightful Dave.
Or stake as in Whenever I Hear Dave Otto On The Radio I Want To Drive A Couple Of Stakes Into My Ears!
Keith Moreland – Code “Pardner”. As in Keith’s a good ol’ boy from Texas where they call each other Pardner. Also as in Pat finally has a decent Radio Pardner.
Bob Dernier – Code “Silk”. As in the way Dernier played centerfield, smooth as Silk. Also the way he delivers in the broadcast booth.
If we call and say Code “Pocketbook” that means the Cubs finally decided that if they can spend $18,750,000 on a set up guy and $19,000,000 on an outfielder to play six innings, they could pay and get the best in the business. Code “Pocketbook” means Steve Stone is back.
Code “Baron” means they couldn’t afford Stone and got the next best guy. Code “Baron” says Rick Sutcliffe is back at Wrigley.
About 140 times this year Ron will be manning the microphone, so maybe we don’t have to call each other and report “Believe”. But for the other 20 games or so, we need to help each other out. We could be missing a really good broadcast, or we could be walking into a train wreck.
Monday, April 19, 2010
It's All in the Cards
I finally got around to organizing all the baseball cards I’ve amassed over the years. It’s not like I’ve been actively collecting cards. For the most part my “collection” method is to attend the CFCL banquet each year for the past 10 years or so and receive the cards from the excessively generous David Mahlan. Each year as an added perk to coming to the banquet, David would pass out a couple of packets of cards to each attendee. The cards typically were from ten to twenty years ago, things that David would snag as he was out buying other things. We would then tear into the packs to walk down memory lane. We all enjoyed the thrill of seeing who we would get and if our name was Paul Zeledon we would enjoy eating 10-20 year old gum.
So I finally got the card sleeve protectors, pulled all the cards together from the various drawers where I had them stashed and put the beauties in first, team order, then alphabetical order. I didn’t remember having all that impressive of a collection considering the random way the cards came to be. But as I was putting the cards in their protective homes I started to see some interesting themes.
HALL OF FAMERS: Tony Gwynn, Ricky Henderson, Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith (and his trade counterpart – Garry Templeton), Eddie Murray, Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda, Gary Carter, Whitey Herzog
FORMER BELOVED REBELS: Tim Wallach, Lance Parrish, Roger McDowell
FORMER HATED COPPERFIELDS: Kevin Bass, Glenn Davis, Kevin McReynolds, Andy Van Slyke
CFCL LEGENDS: Pedro Guerrero, Dale Murphy (all I need now is a Lenny Dykstra card), Vince Coleman
FATHERS: Cecil Fielder
WORLD SERIES HEROS: Kirk Gibson, Orel Hershiser, Jermaine Dye, Billy Hatcher, Graig Nettles
FALLEN IDOLS: Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Pete Rose, Roger Clemens
OLD-TIME GREATS: Maury Wills, Tony Oliva, Reggie Jackson, Orlando Cepeda
BALLPLAYERS TURNED BROADCASTERS: Mitch Williams, Joe Magrane, Mike Krukow, Billy Sample, John Kruk
TRAGIC PAIRS: Steve Olin, Bob Ojeda, Tim Crews
FUTURE HALL OF FAMERS: Tony LaRussa, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Jim Thome, Bert Blyleven, Randy Johnson, Omar Vizquel
GUYS BEFORE THEY WERE WHO THEY ARE: Terry Francona, John Hart, Billy Beane
PLAYERS THAT ALMOST PLAYED FOR EVERY TEAM AND/OR FOREVER: Mike Morgan, Julio Franco
FUTURE STARS THAT NEVER STARRED: Ben McDonald, Drew Hall, Rick Ankiel
I even have a Washington National (Jason Bergman ).
And so I found yet another fantastic aspect about baseball. The average person walking down the street could look at these cards, roll their eyes and think “what a waste of cardboard.” But I look at the names and see years of memories as a child watching baseball games in my living room and years of memories with friends in our fantasy league. Baseball has the unbelievable ability to grab you in numerous ways, comfort you, take you down memory lane and build even more for the future.
So I finally got the card sleeve protectors, pulled all the cards together from the various drawers where I had them stashed and put the beauties in first, team order, then alphabetical order. I didn’t remember having all that impressive of a collection considering the random way the cards came to be. But as I was putting the cards in their protective homes I started to see some interesting themes.
HALL OF FAMERS: Tony Gwynn, Ricky Henderson, Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith (and his trade counterpart – Garry Templeton), Eddie Murray, Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda, Gary Carter, Whitey Herzog
FORMER BELOVED REBELS: Tim Wallach, Lance Parrish, Roger McDowell
FORMER HATED COPPERFIELDS: Kevin Bass, Glenn Davis, Kevin McReynolds, Andy Van Slyke
CFCL LEGENDS: Pedro Guerrero, Dale Murphy (all I need now is a Lenny Dykstra card), Vince Coleman
FATHERS: Cecil Fielder
WORLD SERIES HEROS: Kirk Gibson, Orel Hershiser, Jermaine Dye, Billy Hatcher, Graig Nettles
FALLEN IDOLS: Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Pete Rose, Roger Clemens
OLD-TIME GREATS: Maury Wills, Tony Oliva, Reggie Jackson, Orlando Cepeda
BALLPLAYERS TURNED BROADCASTERS: Mitch Williams, Joe Magrane, Mike Krukow, Billy Sample, John Kruk
TRAGIC PAIRS: Steve Olin, Bob Ojeda, Tim Crews
FUTURE HALL OF FAMERS: Tony LaRussa, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Jim Thome, Bert Blyleven, Randy Johnson, Omar Vizquel
GUYS BEFORE THEY WERE WHO THEY ARE: Terry Francona, John Hart, Billy Beane
PLAYERS THAT ALMOST PLAYED FOR EVERY TEAM AND/OR FOREVER: Mike Morgan, Julio Franco
FUTURE STARS THAT NEVER STARRED: Ben McDonald, Drew Hall, Rick Ankiel
I even have a Washington National (Jason Bergman ).
And so I found yet another fantastic aspect about baseball. The average person walking down the street could look at these cards, roll their eyes and think “what a waste of cardboard.” But I look at the names and see years of memories as a child watching baseball games in my living room and years of memories with friends in our fantasy league. Baseball has the unbelievable ability to grab you in numerous ways, comfort you, take you down memory lane and build even more for the future.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Bring Me Your Torch
This season on “Survivor” they have former contestants matched up against each other in what they call “Heroes” vs. “Villians”. Right after watching an episode I turned on the MLB Channel and saw a highlight involving Reed Johnson. It got me to thinking about Former Cubs, Heroes and Villians.
Heroes – these are the guys when you see them doing well for another team you say “Man that’s great! I hope he doesn’t come back and kill the Cubs, but I’m happy for him.”
We’ll start the list with the aforementioned Johnson. All this guy did was bust his tail. He’ll always be remembered for his catch in Washington.
Mark DeRosa – Fan favorite and it turns out his biggest shortcoming while with the Cubs was that he didn’t hit lefthanded.
Jacque Jones – Struggled early in his first year then crashed and burned in his second year. But he handled the boos and criticism with class. Plus he provided a memorable CFCL Draft Day Moment. When Dem Rebels acquired Jones, Nick Hansen of Nick’s Picts suggested Bentel pronounce Jones' first name as “Jac-Que” (phonetically Ja-KAY) with arms extended above the head and hands swishing back and forth on each syllable.
David Aardsma – Never reached his potential with the Cubs but his 39 saves with Seattle last year sure would look good on the northside.
Jaime Moyer – OK he last played for the Cubs 21 years ago after only spending three seasons with the Cubs and now people may cheer for him more for his age (47) than for his former Cub status. A true gentleman and ambassador for the game.
Kerry Wood – Fought like hell to come back from injuries. Stood up to take the blame (undeservedly) for losing game 7 of the NLCS.
Juan Pierre - I've always been frustrated that he was here for only one year. But that wasn't his fault. He played 162 games, stole 58 bases, collected 204 hits and didn't commit an error. If anyone wants to put him on the villian list it would be for his .330 OBP and that it took three top pitching prospects (Ricky Nolasco anyone?) to get him. But again, that wasn't his fault. And not having Dontrelle Willis and Reynel Pinto on the Cubs right now isn't the worst thing in the world.
Now moving to the Dark Side. These are the guys when you see them doing poorly you say “Man that’s great!”
Milton Bradley – Number One Villian. Could have learned a lesson from Jacque Jones on how to handle a slow start. Makes Russell Hantz look like a pussycat.
Mark Prior – How truly injured he was we’ll never know but what an arrogant ass.
Alfonso Soriano – Perhaps the worst signing ever. Unfortunately he has the damn Immunity Idol for another four years.
Dusty Baker – Managed the pitching staff like Tiger Woods handles a marriage commitment. Never took responsibility for running the team the way it needed to be run. Wouldn't bench or drop Sosa in the order until Sosa said it was ok. Huh?
Kyle Farnsworth – Was more interested in partying with the fans at 3am than he was in throwing strikes at 1:20pm.
There are a few guys that could fall into either camp. LaTroy Hawkins, Corey Patterson, Felix Pie. None of them were “bad” guys, they just didn’t perform up to expectations. And of course there a dozens more, but I kept this to current players only.
Come October we’ll see if Tribal Council sends another Cubbie packing with his torch extinguished.
Heroes – these are the guys when you see them doing well for another team you say “Man that’s great! I hope he doesn’t come back and kill the Cubs, but I’m happy for him.”
We’ll start the list with the aforementioned Johnson. All this guy did was bust his tail. He’ll always be remembered for his catch in Washington.
Mark DeRosa – Fan favorite and it turns out his biggest shortcoming while with the Cubs was that he didn’t hit lefthanded.
Jacque Jones – Struggled early in his first year then crashed and burned in his second year. But he handled the boos and criticism with class. Plus he provided a memorable CFCL Draft Day Moment. When Dem Rebels acquired Jones, Nick Hansen of Nick’s Picts suggested Bentel pronounce Jones' first name as “Jac-Que” (phonetically Ja-KAY) with arms extended above the head and hands swishing back and forth on each syllable.
David Aardsma – Never reached his potential with the Cubs but his 39 saves with Seattle last year sure would look good on the northside.
Jaime Moyer – OK he last played for the Cubs 21 years ago after only spending three seasons with the Cubs and now people may cheer for him more for his age (47) than for his former Cub status. A true gentleman and ambassador for the game.
Kerry Wood – Fought like hell to come back from injuries. Stood up to take the blame (undeservedly) for losing game 7 of the NLCS.
Juan Pierre - I've always been frustrated that he was here for only one year. But that wasn't his fault. He played 162 games, stole 58 bases, collected 204 hits and didn't commit an error. If anyone wants to put him on the villian list it would be for his .330 OBP and that it took three top pitching prospects (Ricky Nolasco anyone?) to get him. But again, that wasn't his fault. And not having Dontrelle Willis and Reynel Pinto on the Cubs right now isn't the worst thing in the world.
Now moving to the Dark Side. These are the guys when you see them doing poorly you say “Man that’s great!”
Milton Bradley – Number One Villian. Could have learned a lesson from Jacque Jones on how to handle a slow start. Makes Russell Hantz look like a pussycat.
Mark Prior – How truly injured he was we’ll never know but what an arrogant ass.
Alfonso Soriano – Perhaps the worst signing ever. Unfortunately he has the damn Immunity Idol for another four years.
Dusty Baker – Managed the pitching staff like Tiger Woods handles a marriage commitment. Never took responsibility for running the team the way it needed to be run. Wouldn't bench or drop Sosa in the order until Sosa said it was ok. Huh?
Kyle Farnsworth – Was more interested in partying with the fans at 3am than he was in throwing strikes at 1:20pm.
There are a few guys that could fall into either camp. LaTroy Hawkins, Corey Patterson, Felix Pie. None of them were “bad” guys, they just didn’t perform up to expectations. And of course there a dozens more, but I kept this to current players only.
Come October we’ll see if Tribal Council sends another Cubbie packing with his torch extinguished.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Fancy a Miracle?
It’s Springtime when a young man’s fancy turns to . . . Baseball! Opening Day, baby, when every baseball fan believes that this year their team has a chance to win it all. I remember growing up thinking “If Bill Bonham and Ray Burris have awesome years like Reuschel did last year and Tarzan Joe Wallis hits 20 dingers and Davey Rosello steals 30 we could easily get past the Phillies and Dodgers, and the Yankees would be putty in our hands!”
There is something magical about Opening Day. Even though we’ve been watching Spring Training games, the minute the calendar turns and the games count it takes on a different feel. Your favorite player going 0-4 or 2-3 with a double signals the tone for the upcoming season.
Back when baseball honored tradition and Cincinnati still hosted the first game of the season (much like the CFCL honors tradition with the Ruffin Privilege) it was extra special when the Cubs opened against the Reds.
I take you back to 1982, exactly 28 years ago today, when Bump Wills led off the season against Mario Soto and took him deep. Who of us didn’t think this was the first of at least 18 wins for Doug Bird? (He finished with 9.) With a starting lineup of Wills, Durham, Buckner, Davis, Bowa, Steve Henderson, Gary Woods and that new kid Sandberg, how could we not win the division going away?
The beauty of Opening Day is you can be 1-0 and believe the pennant is within reach instead of facing reality that even though you beat a premier pitcher in Soto you’re still going to finish 73-89 in fifth place.
Each year it’s a chance to create new experiences and relive past ones with your children. My son, Cooper Wrigley (named for the Hall of Fame and Chicago’s Baseball Cathedral), turns three this year. Even though Spongebob, The Wonder Pets and Bob the Builder are of greater interest, my hope is that he will snuggle up next to me a few times this season to watch the Boys in Blue.
The past 20 years the Cubs are a level 10 and 10 on Opening Day. Among those memories: opening in Japan against the Mets; Greg Maddux coming back after joining the Braves the previous winter (he shut us out 1-0 that day); and Tuffy Rhodes hitting three homers off Doc Gooden in an 12-8 loss.
The first pitch in Atlanta, at 3:10pm can’t get here fast enough today. I’m predicting 81 or 82 wins for the Cubbies this year, but on April 5th our minds can soar and anything is possible.
There is something magical about Opening Day. Even though we’ve been watching Spring Training games, the minute the calendar turns and the games count it takes on a different feel. Your favorite player going 0-4 or 2-3 with a double signals the tone for the upcoming season.
Back when baseball honored tradition and Cincinnati still hosted the first game of the season (much like the CFCL honors tradition with the Ruffin Privilege) it was extra special when the Cubs opened against the Reds.
I take you back to 1982, exactly 28 years ago today, when Bump Wills led off the season against Mario Soto and took him deep. Who of us didn’t think this was the first of at least 18 wins for Doug Bird? (He finished with 9.) With a starting lineup of Wills, Durham, Buckner, Davis, Bowa, Steve Henderson, Gary Woods and that new kid Sandberg, how could we not win the division going away?
The beauty of Opening Day is you can be 1-0 and believe the pennant is within reach instead of facing reality that even though you beat a premier pitcher in Soto you’re still going to finish 73-89 in fifth place.
Each year it’s a chance to create new experiences and relive past ones with your children. My son, Cooper Wrigley (named for the Hall of Fame and Chicago’s Baseball Cathedral), turns three this year. Even though Spongebob, The Wonder Pets and Bob the Builder are of greater interest, my hope is that he will snuggle up next to me a few times this season to watch the Boys in Blue.
The past 20 years the Cubs are a level 10 and 10 on Opening Day. Among those memories: opening in Japan against the Mets; Greg Maddux coming back after joining the Braves the previous winter (he shut us out 1-0 that day); and Tuffy Rhodes hitting three homers off Doc Gooden in an 12-8 loss.
The first pitch in Atlanta, at 3:10pm can’t get here fast enough today. I’m predicting 81 or 82 wins for the Cubbies this year, but on April 5th our minds can soar and anything is possible.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Kicking Off 2010
The 27th Season of the CFCL began (League Motto: “We’re Not Even Halfway There!”) on Saturday, March 27, 2010.
For the first time in over ten years the draft was not held at the corporate office of Dem Rebels. This year the Red Hots hosted at Plainfield North High School. Immediately that caused issues since the Copperfields showed up early, but at Plainfield Central. Since the schools are all laid out the same and have the same room numbers, it took a while before the Copperfields realized that they had the wrong location.
Before the business of 2010 could take place, the books on the 2009 season had to close. The inaugural Copperfield Trophy was presented to Champion Kenndoza Line. Kenn then signed the 2010 trophy ball in the Champion’s Space right below the Cubs logo.
Election for the Executive Committee took place next wherein Rich, David M. and Mike C. were resoundingly re-elected to drive the CFCL semi for the next year to look out for potholes and avoid construction.
After a few more housekeeping measures, (one of which was presenting the Revenge with a poster of Carlos Zambrano [Tim selected Z in the Winter Waivers]. Why give the poster to the Revenge? Because the Rebels wanted the poster the hell off their basement wall!!!), the Ruffin Privilege was invoked by Dave Holian. At 1:14pm Dave bid .10 on Roy Halladay and we were off to the races. The DoorMatts finished the bidding on Halladay; acquiring him for an extremely affordable .37.
By the end of the draft the highest paid pitcher was Tim Lincecum (.40 to Kenndoza) and the highest paid offensive player was Matt Kemp (.46 to the Red Hots). A lot of money walked into the draft, and for the first time in recent memory, a lot of money walked out of the draft. Eight of the ten owners had money left over from their salary cap – four of them in double digits.
Idle useless stat - $5.67 (28.35 per player) was spent in the first two rounds in 2010 compared with $5.86 (29.30 per player) in 2009.
Home Team Discounts proved to be very popular once again. Eleven players were eligible and seven were reacquired by their former team by using the discount. For the first time ever, the Ruffins used their discount and liked it so much, they exercised their HTD on successive players (David Wright .33 and Jimmy Rollins .30) with the 4th and 5th picks of the first round.
Some interesting things materialized throughout the draft. The Red Hots committed to stay up late each night this season to watch his team as the first five players they drafted were Dodgers. The Candy Colored Clowns did their level best to acquire as many Cincinnati Reds as possible both in the Auction and Reserve Rounds. Showing undying love, they bid .17 on the soon to be demoted Aroldis Chapman, .13 on Johnny Cueto and reserved the injured Edison Volquez at .07 not to mention using their HTD on Brandon Phillips.
In what seems to be an annual occurrence the Clowns and Rebels squared off though this time Derrek Lee was not involved. Matt Holliday landed on the Clowns roster when the Rebels blinked at the .44 bid.
The first penny player arrived rather early this year. Halfway through the sixth round Dem Rebels completed their pitching staff with, appropriately, Brad Penny. Last year the first penny player was taken in the 8th round (Pedro Feliz).
At some point during the draft (claiming to try and throw the Kenndoza Line off their game) the Clowns offered to kick the Line in the scrotum. Had the Line asked one more time what the final bid was, the Clowns may have had company.
Round seven began with the Ruffins getting Jeff Francouer for .06. Ruffins proudly proclaimed that they now have incentive to spell Francouer correctly. Just remember Dave, it’s “u” before “e”, but the “e” is silent.
The draft lasted 12 rounds, but when the Red Hots spent .18 on Felipe Lopez to end Round 5, they only had .03 to spend on 3 players over the course of the remaining seven rounds.
The first team to complete their roster was Dem Rebels at 5:24pm with the acquisition of Eugenio Velez for .01 and an embarrassing .12 left in their pocket. Getting Penny for a penny threw everything out of whack.
An hour and half later the draft concluded at 6:49pm when the Copperfields selected Kevin Correia for .01.
This year was interesting in that there didn’t seem to be that one player that owners were sitting back waiting to grab late in the draft. Last year Yunel Escobar went for .22 in Round Nine (to the Copperfields). This year Akinori Iwamura (.12) and Chris Dickerson (.11) were taken consecutively to finish Round 7, but I think that was more a statement on the talent available after that than owners lying in wait.
The entire Draft and Rotation Draft lasted seven hours and seven minutes. During the draft comments were made that it felt like a slow draft. Had the draft started at last year’s 7:30 start time, owners would have been heading home around 2:37pm, which certainly would have been a world record for CFCL drafts. Starting the draft at 1:00pm and ending it in the evening may have made it feel like a long draft (starting during the day and ending at night), but certainly the pace was strong overall.
For the first time in over ten years the draft was not held at the corporate office of Dem Rebels. This year the Red Hots hosted at Plainfield North High School. Immediately that caused issues since the Copperfields showed up early, but at Plainfield Central. Since the schools are all laid out the same and have the same room numbers, it took a while before the Copperfields realized that they had the wrong location.
Before the business of 2010 could take place, the books on the 2009 season had to close. The inaugural Copperfield Trophy was presented to Champion Kenndoza Line. Kenn then signed the 2010 trophy ball in the Champion’s Space right below the Cubs logo.
Election for the Executive Committee took place next wherein Rich, David M. and Mike C. were resoundingly re-elected to drive the CFCL semi for the next year to look out for potholes and avoid construction.
After a few more housekeeping measures, (one of which was presenting the Revenge with a poster of Carlos Zambrano [Tim selected Z in the Winter Waivers]. Why give the poster to the Revenge? Because the Rebels wanted the poster the hell off their basement wall!!!), the Ruffin Privilege was invoked by Dave Holian. At 1:14pm Dave bid .10 on Roy Halladay and we were off to the races. The DoorMatts finished the bidding on Halladay; acquiring him for an extremely affordable .37.
By the end of the draft the highest paid pitcher was Tim Lincecum (.40 to Kenndoza) and the highest paid offensive player was Matt Kemp (.46 to the Red Hots). A lot of money walked into the draft, and for the first time in recent memory, a lot of money walked out of the draft. Eight of the ten owners had money left over from their salary cap – four of them in double digits.
Idle useless stat - $5.67 (28.35 per player) was spent in the first two rounds in 2010 compared with $5.86 (29.30 per player) in 2009.
Home Team Discounts proved to be very popular once again. Eleven players were eligible and seven were reacquired by their former team by using the discount. For the first time ever, the Ruffins used their discount and liked it so much, they exercised their HTD on successive players (David Wright .33 and Jimmy Rollins .30) with the 4th and 5th picks of the first round.
Some interesting things materialized throughout the draft. The Red Hots committed to stay up late each night this season to watch his team as the first five players they drafted were Dodgers. The Candy Colored Clowns did their level best to acquire as many Cincinnati Reds as possible both in the Auction and Reserve Rounds. Showing undying love, they bid .17 on the soon to be demoted Aroldis Chapman, .13 on Johnny Cueto and reserved the injured Edison Volquez at .07 not to mention using their HTD on Brandon Phillips.
In what seems to be an annual occurrence the Clowns and Rebels squared off though this time Derrek Lee was not involved. Matt Holliday landed on the Clowns roster when the Rebels blinked at the .44 bid.
The first penny player arrived rather early this year. Halfway through the sixth round Dem Rebels completed their pitching staff with, appropriately, Brad Penny. Last year the first penny player was taken in the 8th round (Pedro Feliz).
At some point during the draft (claiming to try and throw the Kenndoza Line off their game) the Clowns offered to kick the Line in the scrotum. Had the Line asked one more time what the final bid was, the Clowns may have had company.
Round seven began with the Ruffins getting Jeff Francouer for .06. Ruffins proudly proclaimed that they now have incentive to spell Francouer correctly. Just remember Dave, it’s “u” before “e”, but the “e” is silent.
The draft lasted 12 rounds, but when the Red Hots spent .18 on Felipe Lopez to end Round 5, they only had .03 to spend on 3 players over the course of the remaining seven rounds.
The first team to complete their roster was Dem Rebels at 5:24pm with the acquisition of Eugenio Velez for .01 and an embarrassing .12 left in their pocket. Getting Penny for a penny threw everything out of whack.
An hour and half later the draft concluded at 6:49pm when the Copperfields selected Kevin Correia for .01.
This year was interesting in that there didn’t seem to be that one player that owners were sitting back waiting to grab late in the draft. Last year Yunel Escobar went for .22 in Round Nine (to the Copperfields). This year Akinori Iwamura (.12) and Chris Dickerson (.11) were taken consecutively to finish Round 7, but I think that was more a statement on the talent available after that than owners lying in wait.
The entire Draft and Rotation Draft lasted seven hours and seven minutes. During the draft comments were made that it felt like a slow draft. Had the draft started at last year’s 7:30 start time, owners would have been heading home around 2:37pm, which certainly would have been a world record for CFCL drafts. Starting the draft at 1:00pm and ending it in the evening may have made it feel like a long draft (starting during the day and ending at night), but certainly the pace was strong overall.
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