For Christmas, one of the things I received was a book called “For Cub Fans Only”. It’s a compilation of many Cubs fans stories of how, why, how long they are fans. Mostly the fans are everyday people with just a few celebrities (if you can call Tom Dressen a celebrity).
I can’t tell if it’s a good book or not. For the most part I enjoyed the tour through Cub history because while I was reading all of these stories and recollections, my mind drifted to my own experiences at Wrigley; growing up and racing home from school to catch the last three innings of a game; etc. But there are some glaring issues.
One interesting one is that the author, Rich Wolfe, apparently interviewed people using a tape recorder and then just transcribed the material into the appropriate chapters. The book reads the way the people talk, which is cool until you read someone’s contribution who sounds like a regular caller to the SCORE. Additionally Wolfe makes no attempt to correct the mistakes people make in their stories. One fan claims to have been at Wrigley the day that Ernie Banks hit his 513th homerun. From what I remember about Cub history, the NEXT homerun Ernie hits will be 513.
There are some cool nuggets of information scattered throughout the book. Here are a few:
Brent Musberger was the home plate umpire when Tim McCarver made his pro-baseball debut for Keokuk in 1959
In 1977, the first year of existence for the Seattle Mariners, the distance to the fences was measured in fathoms rather than feet
More NFL games have been played at Wrigley Field than any other stadium in the country. Mile High Stadium was second until it was demolished
Sadly, Ernie Banks and O.J. Simpson are cousins. Their grandfathers were twins
In 1916, the Giants had a 26-game winning streak. When they started the streak they were in fourth place and when the streak ended they were in . . .fourth place
And even though the pain is still strong from 2003 (and actually even stronger after reading the book, since it was written during the off-season between the 2003-2004 seasons and the Championship series is something almost everyone comments on), this partial list of Letterman’s “Top10 messages left on Steve Bartman’s answering machine” is pretty hilarious:
“You owe me $7.50 for the beer I threw at you.”
“I’m with Century 21 – heard you might be moving.”
“Hey I just got back in the country – how was the game?”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll get another shot at the World Series in 2098.”
“Hey, it’s Don Zimmer. Thanks for taking the heat off me.”
“Hi, this is Mike from Hasbro. I’m calling to verify some information for your Trivial Pursuit question.”
“Hey, it’s Bill Buckner. Want to hang out?”
Monday, January 29, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Wild Card Comparison
A conversation with Matt Bentel of the DoorMatts sparked this observation. Matt was listening to some sports talk show (Sportscentral on WGN, I believe) and the hosts were massively massaging Bud Selig’s hindquarters and telling him what a great idea introducing the Wild Card was. So many teams now had a chance to make the playoffs. Well the numbers don’t prove that true. The one thing the Wild Card does (aside from watering down the value of the regular season) is that it keeps more teams in the playoff chase. But it hasn’t let more teams in the playoffs.
Matt looked at how many teams have made the playoffs in the 12 years the Wild Card has been in existence (1995-2006). Twenty-three of the thirty teams have made it to the playoffs during this time frame, or 76.7% of the league. Now for comparison sake, if you look at the last twelve years PRIOR to the Wild Card (1982-1993 with 1994 being sent to the penalty box because Major League Baseball wanted to kill itself) what you find is that 88.5% of the teams (23/26) made a playoff appearance. Twenty three of twenty-six, vying for four playoff spots vs. twenty-three of thirty vying for eight playoff spots.
For the sake of this comparison, I did not include the Rockies, D-Rays, Diamondbacks or Marlins in the Pre-Wild Card Era since the Diamondbacks and D-Rays didn’t exist until there was a Wild Card and the Rockies and Marlins only played for one year in Pre-Wild Card days.
The answer to solving baseball’s woes is not to dilute the playoffs. It’s revenue sharing (with a salary cap and bottom) so that every team has a legitimate chance at vying for the World Series title.
Here’s a couple of interesting facts:
The Pittsburgh Pirates made it to the playoffs 3 times in the 12 years prior to the Wild Card. They haven’t been to the playoffs since the Wild Card started.
The Kansas City Royals made it to the playoffs twice in the Pre-Wild Card timeframe, zero after.
Milwaukee Brewers made it once before, zero after.
Chicago Cubs are equally inept, twice before, twice after.
The New York Yankees DID NOT make the playoffs in the 12 years prior to the Wild Card! They have not missed the playoffs since the Wild Card was instituted.
If Bud wants to leave a worthwhile legacy, what he needs to do, instead of trying to turn the MLB into the NBA, NHL or NFL, is fix the problem. Fix the broken window, Bud! Stop adding more curtains.
Matt looked at how many teams have made the playoffs in the 12 years the Wild Card has been in existence (1995-2006). Twenty-three of the thirty teams have made it to the playoffs during this time frame, or 76.7% of the league. Now for comparison sake, if you look at the last twelve years PRIOR to the Wild Card (1982-1993 with 1994 being sent to the penalty box because Major League Baseball wanted to kill itself) what you find is that 88.5% of the teams (23/26) made a playoff appearance. Twenty three of twenty-six, vying for four playoff spots vs. twenty-three of thirty vying for eight playoff spots.
For the sake of this comparison, I did not include the Rockies, D-Rays, Diamondbacks or Marlins in the Pre-Wild Card Era since the Diamondbacks and D-Rays didn’t exist until there was a Wild Card and the Rockies and Marlins only played for one year in Pre-Wild Card days.
The answer to solving baseball’s woes is not to dilute the playoffs. It’s revenue sharing (with a salary cap and bottom) so that every team has a legitimate chance at vying for the World Series title.
Here’s a couple of interesting facts:
The Pittsburgh Pirates made it to the playoffs 3 times in the 12 years prior to the Wild Card. They haven’t been to the playoffs since the Wild Card started.
The Kansas City Royals made it to the playoffs twice in the Pre-Wild Card timeframe, zero after.
Milwaukee Brewers made it once before, zero after.
Chicago Cubs are equally inept, twice before, twice after.
The New York Yankees DID NOT make the playoffs in the 12 years prior to the Wild Card! They have not missed the playoffs since the Wild Card was instituted.
If Bud wants to leave a worthwhile legacy, what he needs to do, instead of trying to turn the MLB into the NBA, NHL or NFL, is fix the problem. Fix the broken window, Bud! Stop adding more curtains.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Back and better than ever!
After a brief 16 year hiatus the Monroe Doctrine is back and better than ever!
The 2007 Hall of Fame voting is going to be revealed and ESPN.com allowed the general public to voice their opinion. As of this writing there were a little over 45,000 votes cast and one thing is incredibly clear. Anyone who says the fans should have a say in ANY election (and we can talk about the All-Star game at a later time) is absolutely nuts.
The way the ESPN voting is allowed is that you can vote a couple of times a day, so I understand that 45,190 different people didn’t vote, but the point is still the same. Here’s a brief recap on some of the voting.
316 fans voted for Bobby Witt. Bobby Witt! 316 times! As far as I can tell this isn’t a “Please cast one vote for me” Jim DeShaies thing. Supposed baseball fans thought that Bobby Witt did enough to earn a prestigious vote to the Hall of Fame.
542 knuckleheads felt Dante Bichette deserved enshrinement. If not for Coors Field (and Mile High Stadium to start with) Bichette wouldn’t be remembered for anything but a bad haircut and really tired looking eyes.
587 felt that Wally Joyner should get in. Joyner was a fun story as a rookie, but so was Jerome Walton and Joe Charboneau.
1038 voted for Tony Fernandez. Solid career, better shortstop than most, but certainly note worthy of receiving votes.
On the flip side, Tony Gwynn only received 88% of the votes. Now that’s enough to get him in, but what about Gwynn isn’t Hall of Fame worthy?
Cal Ripken Jr. only received 86%. Again that lets him in, and the only thought I have is that he’s hurt by being famous (in part) for going to work everyday and some people don’t think that’s a big deal.
The steroid era has begun in Cooperstown with the eligibility of Mark McGwire. Receiving only 29% of the vote, fans seem to be taking a clear stance on what they think of players who cheat. And I know there’s an argument out there that says “It wasn’t illegal before X date”. Something doesn’t have to be illegal to be wrong. McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Palmeiro, Sheffield, Giambi, Caminiti and many others were playing at an improper advantage over the rest of the league and none of them deserve to have their image hanging on the wall.
Personally I voted for Gwynn, Ripken, Andre Dawson, Jack Morris and Goose Gossage.
The 2007 Hall of Fame voting is going to be revealed and ESPN.com allowed the general public to voice their opinion. As of this writing there were a little over 45,000 votes cast and one thing is incredibly clear. Anyone who says the fans should have a say in ANY election (and we can talk about the All-Star game at a later time) is absolutely nuts.
The way the ESPN voting is allowed is that you can vote a couple of times a day, so I understand that 45,190 different people didn’t vote, but the point is still the same. Here’s a brief recap on some of the voting.
316 fans voted for Bobby Witt. Bobby Witt! 316 times! As far as I can tell this isn’t a “Please cast one vote for me” Jim DeShaies thing. Supposed baseball fans thought that Bobby Witt did enough to earn a prestigious vote to the Hall of Fame.
542 knuckleheads felt Dante Bichette deserved enshrinement. If not for Coors Field (and Mile High Stadium to start with) Bichette wouldn’t be remembered for anything but a bad haircut and really tired looking eyes.
587 felt that Wally Joyner should get in. Joyner was a fun story as a rookie, but so was Jerome Walton and Joe Charboneau.
1038 voted for Tony Fernandez. Solid career, better shortstop than most, but certainly note worthy of receiving votes.
On the flip side, Tony Gwynn only received 88% of the votes. Now that’s enough to get him in, but what about Gwynn isn’t Hall of Fame worthy?
Cal Ripken Jr. only received 86%. Again that lets him in, and the only thought I have is that he’s hurt by being famous (in part) for going to work everyday and some people don’t think that’s a big deal.
The steroid era has begun in Cooperstown with the eligibility of Mark McGwire. Receiving only 29% of the vote, fans seem to be taking a clear stance on what they think of players who cheat. And I know there’s an argument out there that says “It wasn’t illegal before X date”. Something doesn’t have to be illegal to be wrong. McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Palmeiro, Sheffield, Giambi, Caminiti and many others were playing at an improper advantage over the rest of the league and none of them deserve to have their image hanging on the wall.
Personally I voted for Gwynn, Ripken, Andre Dawson, Jack Morris and Goose Gossage.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)