When people look back on the career of Manny Ramirez, what will they remember? Is it the lifetime .312 batting average, 555 home runs and 1831 RBI? Is it the 12 All-Star selections? Is it the 21 grand slams, second only to Lou Gehrig at 23? Is it his 28 post-season HRs, the most in MLB history, and playoff heroics that lead him winning the World Series MVP in the magical 2004 Red Sox run, as well as helping another victory in 2007?
Sadly, what he'll be most remembered for is being the first player busted twice for PED violations in 2009 and again this month, the threat of an 100 game suspension inspiring his sudden retirement. (He allegedly also failed a test in 2003.) Or perhaps they'll remember his often destructive behavior. That's a shame, because at his best, whether helping Boston defeat the curse of Babe Ruth or briefly bringing Mannytown to Los Angeles, Manny was one of the most talented sports oddballs this side of Dennis Rodman...
Showing posts with label World Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Series. Show all posts
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Free-agent prize Lee rejects Yanks, Rangers to return to Phillies
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/baseball/mlb/12/14/lee.to.phillies/
Tuesday December 14, 2010
Free-agent prize Lee rejects Yanks, Rangers to return to Phillies
Story Highlights
Cliff Lee is returning to the team he helped pitch into the 2009 World Series
Lee probably took less money from the Phils than the Yanks or Rangers offered
He's said to be intrigued by joining the Phillies' already stellar rotation
Jon Heyman, SI.com
Almost a year after they traded him, Cliff Lee is headed back to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Lee, the most highly sought pitcher on this winter's free-agent market, turned down more lucrative offers from the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers to return to the team he helped pitch into the World Series in 2009.
Lee reached a preliminary agreement on a $120 million, five-year contract, plus a vesting option for a sixth year. The deal is subject to the 32-year-old left-hander passing a physical.
The Yankees had offered Lee six years at $22 million each, plus an option year for $16 million, for a total of $148 million over seven years. The Rangers' offer was for $120 million over six years, plus an option.
The 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner apparently could not bypass the chance to join the Phillies' already stellar pitching staff of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. With Lee, it becomes the most formidable rotation in either league.
The Phillies are now in serious talks with the Red Sox about trading pitcher Joe Blanton to clear payroll space for the Lee deal.
The Phillies weren't even known to be in the hunt for Lee until earlier Monday, when they were revealed to be the "mystery team" that was pursuing him along with the Yankees and Rangers.
But just hours later the Yankees and Rangers both received telephone calls telling them they were out of the running.
Lee is said to have absolutely loved his brief time with the Phillies in 2009, when he won two World Series games against the Yankees. People close to Lee say he envisions himself as No. 2 in a rotation with Halladay at the top, Oswalt pitching third and Hamels fourth. Now they may well have the best No. 1 pitcher in baseball, the best No. 2, the best No. 3 and the best No. 4.
Philadelphia offered him a three-year deal for about $54 million after the 2009 season. When he turned it down, the Phillies dealt him to the Seattle Mariners on Dec. 16 as part of a four-team, nine-player swap while simultaneously acquiring Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays and signing him to a new contract that added $60 million over three seasons.
Lee is 102-62 with a 3.85 earned run average over nine seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Phillies, Mariners and Rangers.
A fourth-round draft pick in 2000, Lee is has excelled in the postseason, going 7-2 with a 2.13 ERA for Philadelphia and Texas in the past two years, including 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA against the Yankees.
Lee won 18 games for Cleveland in 2005, then got hurt in spring training in 2007 and was demoted to the minors. He returned to the big leagues, finished 5-8 with a 6.29 ERA and was left off Cleveland's postseason roster. He rebounded to go 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA in 2008 and was voted the AL Cy Young Award.
He was 14-13 for the Indians and Phillies in 2009, and 12-9 for the Seattle Mariners and Rangers this year.
With Lee's departure, the Rangers could move closer Neftali Feliz from the bullpen to the rotation and may attempt to acquire 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke in a trade from the Kansas City Royals.
Tuesday December 14, 2010
Free-agent prize Lee rejects Yanks, Rangers to return to Phillies
Story Highlights
Cliff Lee is returning to the team he helped pitch into the 2009 World Series
Lee probably took less money from the Phils than the Yanks or Rangers offered
He's said to be intrigued by joining the Phillies' already stellar rotation
Jon Heyman, SI.com
Almost a year after they traded him, Cliff Lee is headed back to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Lee, the most highly sought pitcher on this winter's free-agent market, turned down more lucrative offers from the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers to return to the team he helped pitch into the World Series in 2009.
Lee reached a preliminary agreement on a $120 million, five-year contract, plus a vesting option for a sixth year. The deal is subject to the 32-year-old left-hander passing a physical.
The Yankees had offered Lee six years at $22 million each, plus an option year for $16 million, for a total of $148 million over seven years. The Rangers' offer was for $120 million over six years, plus an option.
The 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner apparently could not bypass the chance to join the Phillies' already stellar pitching staff of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. With Lee, it becomes the most formidable rotation in either league.
The Phillies are now in serious talks with the Red Sox about trading pitcher Joe Blanton to clear payroll space for the Lee deal.
The Phillies weren't even known to be in the hunt for Lee until earlier Monday, when they were revealed to be the "mystery team" that was pursuing him along with the Yankees and Rangers.
But just hours later the Yankees and Rangers both received telephone calls telling them they were out of the running.
Lee is said to have absolutely loved his brief time with the Phillies in 2009, when he won two World Series games against the Yankees. People close to Lee say he envisions himself as No. 2 in a rotation with Halladay at the top, Oswalt pitching third and Hamels fourth. Now they may well have the best No. 1 pitcher in baseball, the best No. 2, the best No. 3 and the best No. 4.
Philadelphia offered him a three-year deal for about $54 million after the 2009 season. When he turned it down, the Phillies dealt him to the Seattle Mariners on Dec. 16 as part of a four-team, nine-player swap while simultaneously acquiring Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays and signing him to a new contract that added $60 million over three seasons.
Lee is 102-62 with a 3.85 earned run average over nine seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Phillies, Mariners and Rangers.
A fourth-round draft pick in 2000, Lee is has excelled in the postseason, going 7-2 with a 2.13 ERA for Philadelphia and Texas in the past two years, including 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA against the Yankees.
Lee won 18 games for Cleveland in 2005, then got hurt in spring training in 2007 and was demoted to the minors. He returned to the big leagues, finished 5-8 with a 6.29 ERA and was left off Cleveland's postseason roster. He rebounded to go 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA in 2008 and was voted the AL Cy Young Award.
He was 14-13 for the Indians and Phillies in 2009, and 12-9 for the Seattle Mariners and Rangers this year.
With Lee's departure, the Rangers could move closer Neftali Feliz from the bullpen to the rotation and may attempt to acquire 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke in a trade from the Kansas City Royals.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Reviewing 'OUT: The Glenn Burke Story'
http://www.thenation.com/blog/155946/reviewing-out-glenn-burke-story
Reviewing 'OUT: The Glenn Burke Story'
Dave Zirin | November 9, 2010
He’s the answer to multiple trivia questions. Who was the only rookie to start in the 1977 World Series? Who invented the high-five? And who was the first Gay Major League Baseball player—to our knowledge—to be out of the closet in the presence of his teammates, if not the fans? The answer to all these questions in Glenn Burke, the subject of a brilliant new documentary, OUT: The Glenn Burke Story [1] (debuting November 10 on Comcast Bay Area, DirecTV’s sports pack channel 696 and Dish Network’s multi-sports package channel 419). In a year of stellar sports documentaries—thanks largely to ESPN’s consistently strong thirty-for-thirty series—OUT is the best I’ve seen. What sets it apart is that it does more than explore an athletic hidden history. It speaks to today’s sports world about the stubborn endurance of the closet in the men’s locker room over the last thirty years.When thinking about LGBT athletes and what they’ve faced, people are very familiar with female jocks like tennis legend Martina Navratilova and basketball star Sheryl Swoopes. Maybe they also know male athletes who in recent years have come out after retirement like NFL player Esera Tuaolo and NBA center John Amaechi. But in Burke we have a story that hasn’t been told, and demands an audience. In the able hands of producer Doug Harris, we learn about an athlete who was more than just a two-sport Oakland Area legend, playing both baseball and hoops with pro potential. He was also a young man, growing up in the Bay, and confident about his sexuality. That confidence, for anyone, was rare back then, but to find it in a male star athlete is remarkable.
As OUT tells us, Glenn’s confidence was put to the test when he made the big leagues. Dodgers teammates like Dusty Baker, Davey Lopes, Reggie Smith, Rick Monday and Manny Mota, tell the story of a player whose sexuality was noticed, recognized and even accepted by some teammates but looked on with horror by management. After all, when you wear a red jockstrap in the locker room, people start to talk. The story where the Dodgers organization offered Glenn $75,000 to get married is particularly gob-smacking. Later when Glenn was traded to Oakland, the pressures intensified. Former Burke teammate Claudell Washington tells this anecdote in OUT: “[A’s Manager Billy Martin] was introducing all the [new] players and then he got to Glenn and said, ‘Oh, by the way, this is Glenn Burke and he’s a faggot.’” By 1980, Glenn was out of the game but the story doesn’t end there. OUT then tells the story of Glenn’s life after baseball: triumphantly coming out to Sport magazine, and Bryant Gumbel on The Today Show; participating in the first Gay Games in 1982, and being a public figure in the San Francisco. scene But then Glenn’s life took a tragic turn as drugs, petty crime and the AIDS epidemic claimed his life. He died in 1995 at the too-young age of 42.
The grand unanswered question that hangs over the documentary is how good could Glenn Burke have been without the relentless pressures of homophobia? To hear Dusty Baker tell it, he could have been truly great. OUT is a must see for anyone who cares about LGBT rights and finally conquering what is in many ways the final frontier of homophobia in our society: the men’s locker room. If anything, by the documentary’s end I felt a sense of deep regret. I regretted that I wasn’t more familiar with Glenn Burke’s story. I regretted that I didn’t have an entire section on his life in my book A People’s History of Sports in the United States. I regretted that this hidden history has been shunted back so deeply in the athletic closet, it’s largely unknown. We owe Doug Harris and the entire team that produced, directed, wrote and researched OUT a tremendous debt. This is the kind of special documentary filmmaking that has the power to change lives. Every high school sports team in the country should watch this remarkable work so the next generation’s Glenn Burke can exist out of the closet and not out of the game.[Dave Zirin is the author of “Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love” (Scribner) Receive his column every week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com.
Reviewing 'OUT: The Glenn Burke Story'
Dave Zirin | November 9, 2010
He’s the answer to multiple trivia questions. Who was the only rookie to start in the 1977 World Series? Who invented the high-five? And who was the first Gay Major League Baseball player—to our knowledge—to be out of the closet in the presence of his teammates, if not the fans? The answer to all these questions in Glenn Burke, the subject of a brilliant new documentary, OUT: The Glenn Burke Story [1] (debuting November 10 on Comcast Bay Area, DirecTV’s sports pack channel 696 and Dish Network’s multi-sports package channel 419). In a year of stellar sports documentaries—thanks largely to ESPN’s consistently strong thirty-for-thirty series—OUT is the best I’ve seen. What sets it apart is that it does more than explore an athletic hidden history. It speaks to today’s sports world about the stubborn endurance of the closet in the men’s locker room over the last thirty years.When thinking about LGBT athletes and what they’ve faced, people are very familiar with female jocks like tennis legend Martina Navratilova and basketball star Sheryl Swoopes. Maybe they also know male athletes who in recent years have come out after retirement like NFL player Esera Tuaolo and NBA center John Amaechi. But in Burke we have a story that hasn’t been told, and demands an audience. In the able hands of producer Doug Harris, we learn about an athlete who was more than just a two-sport Oakland Area legend, playing both baseball and hoops with pro potential. He was also a young man, growing up in the Bay, and confident about his sexuality. That confidence, for anyone, was rare back then, but to find it in a male star athlete is remarkable.
As OUT tells us, Glenn’s confidence was put to the test when he made the big leagues. Dodgers teammates like Dusty Baker, Davey Lopes, Reggie Smith, Rick Monday and Manny Mota, tell the story of a player whose sexuality was noticed, recognized and even accepted by some teammates but looked on with horror by management. After all, when you wear a red jockstrap in the locker room, people start to talk. The story where the Dodgers organization offered Glenn $75,000 to get married is particularly gob-smacking. Later when Glenn was traded to Oakland, the pressures intensified. Former Burke teammate Claudell Washington tells this anecdote in OUT: “[A’s Manager Billy Martin] was introducing all the [new] players and then he got to Glenn and said, ‘Oh, by the way, this is Glenn Burke and he’s a faggot.’” By 1980, Glenn was out of the game but the story doesn’t end there. OUT then tells the story of Glenn’s life after baseball: triumphantly coming out to Sport magazine, and Bryant Gumbel on The Today Show; participating in the first Gay Games in 1982, and being a public figure in the San Francisco. scene But then Glenn’s life took a tragic turn as drugs, petty crime and the AIDS epidemic claimed his life. He died in 1995 at the too-young age of 42.
The grand unanswered question that hangs over the documentary is how good could Glenn Burke have been without the relentless pressures of homophobia? To hear Dusty Baker tell it, he could have been truly great. OUT is a must see for anyone who cares about LGBT rights and finally conquering what is in many ways the final frontier of homophobia in our society: the men’s locker room. If anything, by the documentary’s end I felt a sense of deep regret. I regretted that I wasn’t more familiar with Glenn Burke’s story. I regretted that I didn’t have an entire section on his life in my book A People’s History of Sports in the United States. I regretted that this hidden history has been shunted back so deeply in the athletic closet, it’s largely unknown. We owe Doug Harris and the entire team that produced, directed, wrote and researched OUT a tremendous debt. This is the kind of special documentary filmmaking that has the power to change lives. Every high school sports team in the country should watch this remarkable work so the next generation’s Glenn Burke can exist out of the closet and not out of the game.[Dave Zirin is the author of “Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love” (Scribner) Receive his column every week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson dead at 76
http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/feed/2010-11/sparky-anderson-dies/story/hall-of-fame-manager-sparky-anderson-dead-at-76
Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson dead at 76
Sporting News
11-4-10
Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson died Thursday at the age of 76.
Anderson's family announced Wednesday that Anderson had been placed in the care of hospice at his home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., for complications resulting from dementia.
A statement released by Anderson's family Wednesday said: "The Anderson family -- wife Carol, sons Lee and Albert, and daughter Shirley Englebrecht -- wishes to express appreciation to all friends and fans for the support and kindness they have shown throughout Sparky's career and retirement. The family is particularly grateful for the respect for privacy the national and local media have demonstrated during this trying period."
Anderson managed the legendary Big Red Machine-era Reds to World Series titles in 1975 and 1976, and guided the Tigers to the 1984 World Series championship. He was the first manager to win the World Series with a National League team and an American League team.
In all, he managed five pennant winners and seven division winners during his career, which began in 1970 with the Reds, when he was just 36. Anderson won manager of the year honors in 1984 and 1987, and was named Sporting News' AL manager of the year in 1987.
In his 26 seasons as a major league manager, he was 2,194-1,834. He ranks sixth on the all-time wins list and last managed in 1995 with Detroit.
George Lee Anderson was born in 1934 in South Dakota and attended high school in Los Angeles. He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers out of high school in 1953. His major-league playing career consisted of two games for the 1959 Phillies.
A light-hitting middle infielder, Anderson played in the minors for 10 years before beginning his minor-league managerial career in 1964.
"Sparky's like Ernie Banks--you finally realize it's no act, it's who he is, and it's all good," Tom Callahan, a Cincinnati columnist during the Reds' glory years, told Sporting News in 2000, the year he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson dead at 76
Sporting News
11-4-10
Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson died Thursday at the age of 76.
Anderson's family announced Wednesday that Anderson had been placed in the care of hospice at his home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., for complications resulting from dementia.
A statement released by Anderson's family Wednesday said: "The Anderson family -- wife Carol, sons Lee and Albert, and daughter Shirley Englebrecht -- wishes to express appreciation to all friends and fans for the support and kindness they have shown throughout Sparky's career and retirement. The family is particularly grateful for the respect for privacy the national and local media have demonstrated during this trying period."
Anderson managed the legendary Big Red Machine-era Reds to World Series titles in 1975 and 1976, and guided the Tigers to the 1984 World Series championship. He was the first manager to win the World Series with a National League team and an American League team.
In all, he managed five pennant winners and seven division winners during his career, which began in 1970 with the Reds, when he was just 36. Anderson won manager of the year honors in 1984 and 1987, and was named Sporting News' AL manager of the year in 1987.
In his 26 seasons as a major league manager, he was 2,194-1,834. He ranks sixth on the all-time wins list and last managed in 1995 with Detroit.
George Lee Anderson was born in 1934 in South Dakota and attended high school in Los Angeles. He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers out of high school in 1953. His major-league playing career consisted of two games for the 1959 Phillies.
A light-hitting middle infielder, Anderson played in the minors for 10 years before beginning his minor-league managerial career in 1964.
"Sparky's like Ernie Banks--you finally realize it's no act, it's who he is, and it's all good," Tom Callahan, a Cincinnati columnist during the Reds' glory years, told Sporting News in 2000, the year he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
SF Giants on top of the world with 1st Series win
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/01/MN7S1G5BQ6.DTL
SF Giants on top of the world with 1st Series win
Henry Schulman, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Arlington, Texas -- There stood pitcher Matt Cain, at 26 the longest-tenured player on the 2010 Giants, raising the circle-of-flags trophy above his head on the field so hundreds of San Francisco fans who refused to leave the Rangers' ballpark could see it.
"Wow, this is sick," Cain said. "We're the World Series champions of 2010."
How long the faithful have waited to hear those words - not years, but generations. The Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958 and had not touched that trophy until Monday night, when they beat the Texas Rangers 3-1.
The Giants needed only five games to win the franchise's sixth World Series, its first since 1954. They dominated Texas in ways they could not have imagined during a 162-game regular season and two rounds of playoffs that lived up to the team's unofficial motto of "Giants baseball: Torture."
The unlikely Most Valuable Player for an unlikely World Series winner was Edgar Renteria, an injury-plagued shortstop from Colombia who might retire after the season and whose two-year, $18.5 million contract was ridiculed because the Giants gave it to a player thought to be washed up.
Renteria already belonged in the pantheon of World Series heroes. In 1997, then 22 and a big-leaguer for less than two seasons, he won Game 7 for Florida with an 11th-inning single. On Monday, Renteria secured a seat at the head table when he supplied all of the Giants' runs with a three-run homer in the seventh inning that broke a 0-0 tie.
Renteria called his shot against Cliff Lee, twice telling center fielder Andres Torres before the game he was going to go deep.
"He told Andres he was going to hit one and he did it," outfielder Aaron Rowand said. "He Babe Ruth-ed it, I guess."
Tim Lincecum, the two-time Cy Young Award winner, allowed three hits and struck out 10 in eight innings in the most important win of his 26-year-old life.
On a team with so much youth, it was fitting that Buster Posey, a 23-year-old rookie catcher, did the keenest job summarizing what this championship means to an organization and a city that was starved for it.
"It's crazy to think with all the great baseball players who have come through San Francisco, there hasn't been a World Series championship," Posey said.
"The beautiful thing about the organization is, you've got guys like Will Clark here. You've got J.T. Snow here. You've got Shawon Dunston here. When we get back to San Francisco, we'll have Willie Mays and Willie McCovey and Gaylord Perry. The list goes on and on. It's so humbling to have won the first World Series in San Francisco. It's unbelievable."
How fitting that the Series ended with closer Brian Wilson blowing a strike-three fastball past Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, setting off a celebration sure to rock the Bay Area for a long time. After all, everyone had generations to plan it.
52 title-free years
With the first toast, revelers could bid good riddance to the ghosts of failures past.
McCovey's line drive to Bobby Richardson in 1962, the earthquake sweep in 1989 and the Game 6 collapse in 2002 - their power to spook the faithful is gone, defused by a championship year led by four homegrown pitchers, including Lincecum, who came up huge in the clinching game.
Former managing general partner Peter Magowan, a Giants fan since 1951 who could not guide the franchise to a title during 16 years at the helm, said this title makes up for everything.
"It does. It erases it," Magowan said. "I don't think a day goes by that I don't think about the '02 World Series. I still think a lot about '62, to say nothing about all the other near-misses. This does knock it all away."
Nailing it down
With two outs in the seventh inning of a 0-0 game, and Cody Ross and Juan Uribe on base after singling, Renteria knocked a 2-0 cut fastball from Cliff Lee over the wall in left-center field for a three-run homer that helped secure the trophy.
First baseman Aubrey Huff, who broke into tears as the World Series win truly dawned on him, said he was happier for Renteria than anyone.
Renteria was derided by fans for not living up to his contract. In 2010, he spent four tours on the disabled list with four different injuries. He was injured in late September when the Giants, who were not hitting, held a pregame meeting inside the batting cage at Wrigley Field.
In one of the season's most emotional moments, according to those who attended, Renteria rose to speak. He was in tears.
"I had a feeling this was going to be my last year," Renteria recounted Monday. "I told my teammates, 'Let's go. Let's play hard. I know we can do it. I believe in you guys. If you guys have a chance to put us in the playoffs, I'll help you once we get there.'
"The Giants organization gave me a two-year contract and I was not able to help them. But they always had my back. I just wanted to do something big for them."
The Giants still had to get nine outs after Renteria's homer. Lincecum got six. Though he allowed a seventh-inning homer by Cruz, he also struck out three hitters in the inning and one more in the eighth.
Lincecum was lights-out
Lincecum was not sharp during the Giants' Game 1 win. In Game 5 he was lights-out and became the 15th pitcher in history to win four games in one postseason.
Posey said he knew it would be OK before the game when he saw Lincecum's demeanor.
"It's called being a gamer," Posey said. "Walk into the clubhouse today and the guy's as loose as he can be, joking around, same old Timmy. He had no idea he had an opportunity to go out and win Game 5 of the World Series and win us a championship."
Afterward, it still had not sunk in.
"It'll take over later on tonight," Lincecum said, "when we get to be by ourselves and really think about everything."
E-mail Henry Schulman at hschulman@sfschronicle.com.
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
SF Giants on top of the world with 1st Series win
Henry Schulman, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Arlington, Texas -- There stood pitcher Matt Cain, at 26 the longest-tenured player on the 2010 Giants, raising the circle-of-flags trophy above his head on the field so hundreds of San Francisco fans who refused to leave the Rangers' ballpark could see it.
"Wow, this is sick," Cain said. "We're the World Series champions of 2010."
How long the faithful have waited to hear those words - not years, but generations. The Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958 and had not touched that trophy until Monday night, when they beat the Texas Rangers 3-1.
The Giants needed only five games to win the franchise's sixth World Series, its first since 1954. They dominated Texas in ways they could not have imagined during a 162-game regular season and two rounds of playoffs that lived up to the team's unofficial motto of "Giants baseball: Torture."
The unlikely Most Valuable Player for an unlikely World Series winner was Edgar Renteria, an injury-plagued shortstop from Colombia who might retire after the season and whose two-year, $18.5 million contract was ridiculed because the Giants gave it to a player thought to be washed up.
Renteria already belonged in the pantheon of World Series heroes. In 1997, then 22 and a big-leaguer for less than two seasons, he won Game 7 for Florida with an 11th-inning single. On Monday, Renteria secured a seat at the head table when he supplied all of the Giants' runs with a three-run homer in the seventh inning that broke a 0-0 tie.
Renteria called his shot against Cliff Lee, twice telling center fielder Andres Torres before the game he was going to go deep.
"He told Andres he was going to hit one and he did it," outfielder Aaron Rowand said. "He Babe Ruth-ed it, I guess."
Tim Lincecum, the two-time Cy Young Award winner, allowed three hits and struck out 10 in eight innings in the most important win of his 26-year-old life.
On a team with so much youth, it was fitting that Buster Posey, a 23-year-old rookie catcher, did the keenest job summarizing what this championship means to an organization and a city that was starved for it.
"It's crazy to think with all the great baseball players who have come through San Francisco, there hasn't been a World Series championship," Posey said.
"The beautiful thing about the organization is, you've got guys like Will Clark here. You've got J.T. Snow here. You've got Shawon Dunston here. When we get back to San Francisco, we'll have Willie Mays and Willie McCovey and Gaylord Perry. The list goes on and on. It's so humbling to have won the first World Series in San Francisco. It's unbelievable."
How fitting that the Series ended with closer Brian Wilson blowing a strike-three fastball past Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, setting off a celebration sure to rock the Bay Area for a long time. After all, everyone had generations to plan it.
52 title-free years
With the first toast, revelers could bid good riddance to the ghosts of failures past.
McCovey's line drive to Bobby Richardson in 1962, the earthquake sweep in 1989 and the Game 6 collapse in 2002 - their power to spook the faithful is gone, defused by a championship year led by four homegrown pitchers, including Lincecum, who came up huge in the clinching game.
Former managing general partner Peter Magowan, a Giants fan since 1951 who could not guide the franchise to a title during 16 years at the helm, said this title makes up for everything.
"It does. It erases it," Magowan said. "I don't think a day goes by that I don't think about the '02 World Series. I still think a lot about '62, to say nothing about all the other near-misses. This does knock it all away."
Nailing it down
With two outs in the seventh inning of a 0-0 game, and Cody Ross and Juan Uribe on base after singling, Renteria knocked a 2-0 cut fastball from Cliff Lee over the wall in left-center field for a three-run homer that helped secure the trophy.
First baseman Aubrey Huff, who broke into tears as the World Series win truly dawned on him, said he was happier for Renteria than anyone.
Renteria was derided by fans for not living up to his contract. In 2010, he spent four tours on the disabled list with four different injuries. He was injured in late September when the Giants, who were not hitting, held a pregame meeting inside the batting cage at Wrigley Field.
In one of the season's most emotional moments, according to those who attended, Renteria rose to speak. He was in tears.
"I had a feeling this was going to be my last year," Renteria recounted Monday. "I told my teammates, 'Let's go. Let's play hard. I know we can do it. I believe in you guys. If you guys have a chance to put us in the playoffs, I'll help you once we get there.'
"The Giants organization gave me a two-year contract and I was not able to help them. But they always had my back. I just wanted to do something big for them."
The Giants still had to get nine outs after Renteria's homer. Lincecum got six. Though he allowed a seventh-inning homer by Cruz, he also struck out three hitters in the inning and one more in the eighth.
Lincecum was lights-out
Lincecum was not sharp during the Giants' Game 1 win. In Game 5 he was lights-out and became the 15th pitcher in history to win four games in one postseason.
Posey said he knew it would be OK before the game when he saw Lincecum's demeanor.
"It's called being a gamer," Posey said. "Walk into the clubhouse today and the guy's as loose as he can be, joking around, same old Timmy. He had no idea he had an opportunity to go out and win Game 5 of the World Series and win us a championship."
Afterward, it still had not sunk in.
"It'll take over later on tonight," Lincecum said, "when we get to be by ourselves and really think about everything."
E-mail Henry Schulman at hschulman@sfschronicle.com.
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Using technology to cheat at baseball: a history
http://dvice.com/archives/2010/10/say-it-aint-so-1.php
Leslie Shapiro
Oct 27, 2010
Using technology to cheat at baseball: a history
ShareIt's autumn in America, and that can mean only one thing: the World Series! But you know what they say about baseball: "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't trying." And although the game has remained largely unchanged over the years, it hasn't been immune to the technology that has evolved around it… which can sometimes used for nefarious purposes.
Every angle of a modern stadium might be covered by HD cameras that are uplinked to satellites and all the fans have smartphones, but on the field of play, technology is pretty much prohibited. For example, MLB rules don't disallow the stealing of signals, if done "naturally." A runner on second base can spot the signals, but he can't use any type of electronics to read or convey them.
Tricks of the Past
Still, technology and cheating are certainly not mutually exclusive in baseball. In fact, cheating has been around almost as long as the game itself. In 1898, Cincinnati Reds player Tommy Corcoran caught his cleat on a mysterious wire buried in the dirt. It turned out to be a telegraph cable running between the bases, used to tip off the third base coach to the catcher's signals. The concept of "home field advantage" was well established, and apparently had already gone high-tech.
The Bossards, a family of groundskeepers in the 1920s, seemed to take great pride in low-tech cheating. They were known to move the fences in the Cleveland Indians' stadium and change the density of the baseline to make it harder for runners to steal bases. They would even freeze baseballs in a humidifier before the game to make them heavier and denser than usual, so they wouldn't travel as far as a legal ball.
Later on, Bobby Thomson's bottom of the ninth "shot heard round the world" in the classic Giants/Dodger's playoff series in 1951 perhaps wasn't as miraculous as previously thought. It turns out that the Giants had an elaborate series of bells and buzzers running from their clubhouse, which had a straight-on view of the catcher, down to the bullpen. With the aid of a telescope, a signal was sent from the clubhouse to the bullpen and then out to the batter telling him what pitch was heading his way.
Issues in the Present
Today, most discussions about cheating in baseball concern steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Clearly, those are banned, but what about other medical enhancements?
Mark McGwire was busted for taking gym candy, but his performance was also legally enhanced — McGwire wore custom contact lenses that gave him 20/10 vision, so he sees things that are 20 feet away as clearly as others see 10 feet away. Imagine how that improves his batting and fielding.
Contacts lenses can be removed, of course, but what if that performance enhancement is permanent? LASIK surgery has helped many people with impaired vision see clearly again. That's not illegal, though professional athletes take the technology one step further. A long list of players in many sports have gone under the laser knife to improve their vision to 20/15 or better, including Tiger Woods. If they're not happy with the perfectly good numbers after their initial LASIK procedures, some players go in for enhancements to bump up the numbers even higher.
Radar guns have long used to record the speed of pitches. As radar technology improves, so does the accuracy of radar guns, but only if used properly. Less than forthright teams might supply uncalibrated guns to the opposing team to give them bad data. These days, most teams bring their own (calibrated) radar guns to ensure the accuracy of the readings, wisely not trusting the other team's technology.
Possible Future Subterfuge
Unfortunately, with the ongoing evolution of technology, the future of techo-cheating is wide open. In particular, thanks to the war on terror and homeland security, there are all kinds of stealthy ways to look at details and spot behavior from a distance — just what a win-at-all-costs team manager needs. Let's consider some of the technically feasible ways that a ball club could use to gain a competitive advantage.
As discussed, It's illegal to use electronics to read or convey a catcher's signals, but, of course, cheating is only cheating if you get caught. So how about shelling out some of that big baseball cash for an aerial drone? It could fly over the stadium and capture the catcher's signals, and no one would be the wiser. You could probably spot some platinum credit-card numbers, too.
Speaking of no-fly zones, you know those small airplanes with banners that are always flying around the stadium? Let's equip them with face-detection cameras. There must be a stress factor or some facial "tell" that you could read to determine when a runner is about to steal a base.
You know those idiots who shine laser beams at aircraft? You could equip a small aircraft with a "dazzle rifle" that emits a laser beam that would blind a batter just as the 3-2 pitch arrives. For a more low-tech solution, people in the stands could use their iPads as reflectors to flash sunlight into the batter's eyes.
Sonic weapons are used to blast Somalian pirates, so why not Pittsburgh Pirates? A long-range acoustic device (LRAD) could be aimed at an outfielder just as he's going for a catch, and instantly, he'll double over in pain. For a less severe result, a focused audio beam could confuse and disorient players by making them think sounds are coming from right beside them, while no one else hears a thing.
On the upside, technology can also be used to help prevent cheating too. Umpires are the ones enforcing the rules, but even umps have been known to get creative about where they call the strike zone. Advanced cameras can be used to keep the strike zone consistent.
As long as there are sports, there will be people finding ways to cheat at them. Technology can be used to give unfair advantage, or advance the sport. Like most endeavors, one should hope for the best, but expect the worst. Especially when you trip over a wire buried in the dirt.
Leslie Shapiro
Oct 27, 2010
Using technology to cheat at baseball: a history
ShareIt's autumn in America, and that can mean only one thing: the World Series! But you know what they say about baseball: "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't trying." And although the game has remained largely unchanged over the years, it hasn't been immune to the technology that has evolved around it… which can sometimes used for nefarious purposes.
Every angle of a modern stadium might be covered by HD cameras that are uplinked to satellites and all the fans have smartphones, but on the field of play, technology is pretty much prohibited. For example, MLB rules don't disallow the stealing of signals, if done "naturally." A runner on second base can spot the signals, but he can't use any type of electronics to read or convey them.
Tricks of the Past
Still, technology and cheating are certainly not mutually exclusive in baseball. In fact, cheating has been around almost as long as the game itself. In 1898, Cincinnati Reds player Tommy Corcoran caught his cleat on a mysterious wire buried in the dirt. It turned out to be a telegraph cable running between the bases, used to tip off the third base coach to the catcher's signals. The concept of "home field advantage" was well established, and apparently had already gone high-tech.
The Bossards, a family of groundskeepers in the 1920s, seemed to take great pride in low-tech cheating. They were known to move the fences in the Cleveland Indians' stadium and change the density of the baseline to make it harder for runners to steal bases. They would even freeze baseballs in a humidifier before the game to make them heavier and denser than usual, so they wouldn't travel as far as a legal ball.
Later on, Bobby Thomson's bottom of the ninth "shot heard round the world" in the classic Giants/Dodger's playoff series in 1951 perhaps wasn't as miraculous as previously thought. It turns out that the Giants had an elaborate series of bells and buzzers running from their clubhouse, which had a straight-on view of the catcher, down to the bullpen. With the aid of a telescope, a signal was sent from the clubhouse to the bullpen and then out to the batter telling him what pitch was heading his way.
Issues in the Present
Today, most discussions about cheating in baseball concern steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Clearly, those are banned, but what about other medical enhancements?
Mark McGwire was busted for taking gym candy, but his performance was also legally enhanced — McGwire wore custom contact lenses that gave him 20/10 vision, so he sees things that are 20 feet away as clearly as others see 10 feet away. Imagine how that improves his batting and fielding.
Contacts lenses can be removed, of course, but what if that performance enhancement is permanent? LASIK surgery has helped many people with impaired vision see clearly again. That's not illegal, though professional athletes take the technology one step further. A long list of players in many sports have gone under the laser knife to improve their vision to 20/15 or better, including Tiger Woods. If they're not happy with the perfectly good numbers after their initial LASIK procedures, some players go in for enhancements to bump up the numbers even higher.
Radar guns have long used to record the speed of pitches. As radar technology improves, so does the accuracy of radar guns, but only if used properly. Less than forthright teams might supply uncalibrated guns to the opposing team to give them bad data. These days, most teams bring their own (calibrated) radar guns to ensure the accuracy of the readings, wisely not trusting the other team's technology.
Possible Future Subterfuge
Unfortunately, with the ongoing evolution of technology, the future of techo-cheating is wide open. In particular, thanks to the war on terror and homeland security, there are all kinds of stealthy ways to look at details and spot behavior from a distance — just what a win-at-all-costs team manager needs. Let's consider some of the technically feasible ways that a ball club could use to gain a competitive advantage.
As discussed, It's illegal to use electronics to read or convey a catcher's signals, but, of course, cheating is only cheating if you get caught. So how about shelling out some of that big baseball cash for an aerial drone? It could fly over the stadium and capture the catcher's signals, and no one would be the wiser. You could probably spot some platinum credit-card numbers, too.
Speaking of no-fly zones, you know those small airplanes with banners that are always flying around the stadium? Let's equip them with face-detection cameras. There must be a stress factor or some facial "tell" that you could read to determine when a runner is about to steal a base.
You know those idiots who shine laser beams at aircraft? You could equip a small aircraft with a "dazzle rifle" that emits a laser beam that would blind a batter just as the 3-2 pitch arrives. For a more low-tech solution, people in the stands could use their iPads as reflectors to flash sunlight into the batter's eyes.
Sonic weapons are used to blast Somalian pirates, so why not Pittsburgh Pirates? A long-range acoustic device (LRAD) could be aimed at an outfielder just as he's going for a catch, and instantly, he'll double over in pain. For a less severe result, a focused audio beam could confuse and disorient players by making them think sounds are coming from right beside them, while no one else hears a thing.
On the upside, technology can also be used to help prevent cheating too. Umpires are the ones enforcing the rules, but even umps have been known to get creative about where they call the strike zone. Advanced cameras can be used to keep the strike zone consistent.
As long as there are sports, there will be people finding ways to cheat at them. Technology can be used to give unfair advantage, or advance the sport. Like most endeavors, one should hope for the best, but expect the worst. Especially when you trip over a wire buried in the dirt.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Ortiz and Ramirez Said to Be on 2003 Doping List
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/sports/baseball/31doping.htmlOrtiz and Ramirez Said to Be on 2003 Doping List
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
July 30, 2009
Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the sluggers who propelled the Boston Red Sox to end an 86-year World Series championship drought and to capture another title three years later, were among the roughly 100 Major League Baseball players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the results.
Some of baseball’s most cherished storylines of the past decade have been tainted by performance-enhancing drugs, including the accomplishments of record-setting home run hitters and dominating pitchers. Now, players with Boston’s championship teams of 2004 and 2007 have also been linked to doping.
Baseball first tested for steroids in 2003, and the results from that season were supposed to remain anonymous. But for reasons that have never been made clear, the results were never destroyed and the first batch of positives has come to be known among fans and people in baseball as “the list.” The information was later seized by federal agents investigating the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes, and the test results remain the subject of litigation between the baseball players union and the government.
Five others have been tied to positive tests from that year: Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Jason Grimsley and David Segui. Bonds, baseball’s career home runs leader, was not on the original list, although federal agents seized his 2003 sample and had it retested. Those results showed the presence of steroids, according to court documents.
The information about Ramirez and Ortiz emerged through interviews with multiple lawyers and others connected to the pending litigation. The lawyers spoke anonymously because the testing information is under seal by a court order. The lawyers did not identify which drugs were detected.
Unlike Ramirez, who recently served a 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy, Ortiz had not previously been linked to performance-enhancing substances.
Scott Boras, the agent for Ramirez, would not comment Thursday.
Asked about the 2003 drug test on Thursday in Boston, Ortiz shrugged. “I’m not talking about that anymore,” he said. “I have no comment.”
The union has argued that the government illegally seized the 2003 test results, and judges at various levels of the federal court system have weighed whether the government can keep them. The government hopes to question every player on the list to determine where the drugs came from. An appeals court is deliberating the matter, and the losing side is likely to appeal to the United States Supreme Court.
A spokesman for the United States attorney’s office for the Northern District of California, which seized the tests, declined to comment on Thursday. Michael Weiner, the general counsel for the players union, also declined to comment.
One by one, the names of elite players tied to performance-enhancing drugs have surfaced this year. In February, it was Rodriguez and Bonds. In May, it was Ramirez — for the first time. In June, it was Sosa.
Rodriguez had been viewed by some as a clean player who could eventually overtake the career home run record established by Bonds, who had been linked to possible drug use through the federal investigation. Rodriguez subsequently admitted that he used a performance-enhancing substance from 2001 to 2003.
The Times reported in June that Sosa was among those who tested positive in 2003, the first time he had been publicly tied to performance-enhancing drugs. Sosa became a national figure with the Chicago Cubs in 1998, when he and Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals engaged in a celebrated race to overtake Roger Maris’s single-season home run record of 61. McGwire’s image suffered tremendously when, at a Congressional hearing in 2005, he refused to answer questions about steroid use.
By 2003, Ramirez had long since established himself as one of baseball’s best hitters. Ortiz, however, was less known. In 2002, the Minnesota Twins effectively cut him after failing to trade him. He signed a bargain contract with the Red Sox and began the 2003 season as a backup.
Ortiz quickly blossomed, setting personal highs in home runs (31) and runs batted in (101). He surpassed those numbers in each of the next four seasons.
Ramirez, with his dreadlocks and quirky behavior, and Ortiz, with his gregarious personality and portly build, formed a dynamic tandem on and off the field. They seemed to feed off each other — not to mention demoralize opponents — by hitting back-to-back in the heart of the lineup.
In 2004, they helped the Red Sox overcome a 3-0 series deficit against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. The Red Sox then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to end decades of heartbreak in Boston. Ortiz had a game-winning home run and a game-winning hit against the Yankees and was named the most valuable player of that series. Ramirez was named the World Series M.V.P. after going 7 for 17 at the plate with a home run.
Three years after winning that first title, Ramirez and Ortiz returned Boston to another World Series, where they defeated the Colorado Rockies.
The pairing was split last season when the Red Sox traded Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers after team officials grew concerned that he was not playing hard in response to a contract dispute. In Los Angeles, Ramirez took off again, becoming popular among the fans and leading the Dodgers to the playoffs.
But Ramirez’s hero status in Los Angeles took a hit in May when he was suspended after baseball officials learned that he had been prescribed a fertility drug often used by bodybuilders after they stopped using steroids. When Ramirez was suspended, he issued a statement that appeared to maneuver around his 2003 test results.
“I do want to say one other thing,” Ramirez said. “I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.”
That five-year period extended back to 2004, which excludes the 2003 test.
Since returning from his suspension, Ramirez has been widely accepted by the home fans. In 48 games this season, he has compiled a .327 average and has hit 11 home runs.
Ortiz, meanwhile, has been in a sharp decline. He had an operation on his wrist last year and missed nearly a third of the season. He started this year in a slump and did not hit his first home run until a month and a half into the season. Since June 1, however, he has hit 12 more home runs.
In 2007, Ortiz said that he used to buy a protein shake in the Dominican Republic when he was younger and did not know if it contained a performance-enhancing drug.
“I don’t do that anymore because they don’t have the approval for that here, so I know that, so I’m off buying things at the GNC back in the Dominican Republic,” Ortiz told The Boston Herald. He added: “I don’t know if I drank something in my youth, not knowing it.”
In February, he said that players who tested positive for steroids should be suspended for an entire season — about 100 games more than the current policy requires for a first offense.
David Waldstein contributing reporting from Boston.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Yankees New Stadium
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/sports/baseball/17rhoden.html
Sports of The Times
With New Stadium, Yankees Replicate Charm, but Lose Advantage
By WILLIAM C. RHODEN
April 16, 2009
By the middle of the seventh inning Thursday, the Yankees’ highly anticipated home opener had officially been declared a disaster. The Yankees opened a new season and christened a new stadium in the eerie shadow of the old.
The home team trailed, 10-1, after a nine-run seventh by the Cleveland Indians on the way to a 10-2 loss. And Yankees players were showered with boos in the new $1.6 billion stadium.
For most major league baseball teams, the home opener is the essence of the clean slate, the fresh start. For the Yankees, the idea of starting with a clean slate is daunting, like climbing Mount Everest. After they were pasted Thursday, the incline became a lot steeper.
This was much more than a simple home opener: This was the opening of a lavish new Yankee Stadium, built by a franchise with baseball’s highest payroll, despite the economic collapse around it — a franchise accustomed to winning championships, although it hasn’t won a World Series title since 2000. Old Yankee Stadium represented one of the greatest, or at least one of the most storied, home-field advantages in North American sports. Visiting players routinely gushed about walking into the Stadium and soaking in its history.
With a simple move across the street, that part of the Yankees’ legacy is gone and the franchise, payroll aside, is now on a level playing field with the competition.
After Thursday’s game, pitcher C. C. Sabathia was asked whether the new Stadium, with its amenities, felt as special as the one he used to visit when he was a member of the Indians.
“It still has that feel because the park still looks kind of like the old Stadium,” Sabathia said. “But it’s a weird feeling, too, going out with a clean slate and us starting a new era of Yankee baseball.”
The focus on the Yankees’ mystique tends to be baseball-centric, but what gave the old Yankee Stadium its luster were classic championship moments that cut across sports. The old Stadium was a veritable museum of American sports history:
¶ Knute Rockne’s famous “Win one for the Gipper” speech delivered at halftime of Notre Dame’s 1928 victory over Army.
¶ Joe Louis’s 1938 victory over Max Schmeling in a heavyweight title bout.
¶ The Baltimore Colts’ sudden-death victory over the Giants in 1958 in the Greatest Game Ever Played.
¶ The string of World Series appearances through the 1920s, ’30s, ’40s, ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, then from 1996 to 2003.
Before Thursday’s game, Derek Jeter, asked about the recent losses in Tampa Bay, including a 15-5 pummeling, said that a six-month baseball season was hardly over in April. Indeed, a month from now, the embarrassment in the home opener may well be a footnote.
Manager Joe Girardi said that Thursday’s game was “hard to watch,” but he added that the Yankees’ fate and the legacy of the new Stadium wouldn’t be decided on the first day.
True enough, though Thursday’s rout, three days after the rout against Tampa Bay, raises questions about how long it will take these Yankees to fill a new stadium with the sort of championship moments that made the old Stadium so special.
Soon? Longer? Never?
Before Jeter’s first plate appearance Thursday, a bat was placed across home plate. The bat, we were told, was used by Babe Ruth on opening day 1923, for the opening of the old Yankee Stadium. Ruth homered that day and the Yankees swept the opening four-game series against the Red Sox, then cruised to the pennant and the World Series title.
On Thursday, Jeter flied out and the Yankees were pummeled.
Asked what he would miss about the old Stadium, Jeter said, “You’re going to miss everything about it.”
On its own merits, the new Stadium is a gem. Every effort was made to duplicate and, in many instances extend, the charm of the old Stadium. The signature frieze at the top of the stadium bowl is back, the manually operated auxiliary scoreboard is replicated, and a gap between the bleachers and right field allows us to get a peek at the No. 4 elevated train.
But some crucial things did not make the trip across the street — and they never will.
Mystiques are created by championships and championship moments: title fights, football classics and World Series victories. The old mystique is gone. You can argue that the mystique began to fade seasons ago.
What will that legacy be? Who will be the first group to win a championship in the new Yankee Stadium?
How the Yankees transfer that mystique from the old building, now gray and dark and awaiting its demise, to the new is Girardi’s challenge.
The questions may not be answered for years.
The architects and the Yankee organization did a great job of moving as much memory as they could into the new Stadium.
Sadly for these Yankees, some spirits just don’t travel that well.
E-mail: wcr@nytimes.com
A version of this article appeared in print on April 17, 2009, on page B15 of the New York edition.
Sports of The Times
With New Stadium, Yankees Replicate Charm, but Lose Advantage
By WILLIAM C. RHODEN
April 16, 2009
By the middle of the seventh inning Thursday, the Yankees’ highly anticipated home opener had officially been declared a disaster. The Yankees opened a new season and christened a new stadium in the eerie shadow of the old.
The home team trailed, 10-1, after a nine-run seventh by the Cleveland Indians on the way to a 10-2 loss. And Yankees players were showered with boos in the new $1.6 billion stadium.
For most major league baseball teams, the home opener is the essence of the clean slate, the fresh start. For the Yankees, the idea of starting with a clean slate is daunting, like climbing Mount Everest. After they were pasted Thursday, the incline became a lot steeper.
This was much more than a simple home opener: This was the opening of a lavish new Yankee Stadium, built by a franchise with baseball’s highest payroll, despite the economic collapse around it — a franchise accustomed to winning championships, although it hasn’t won a World Series title since 2000. Old Yankee Stadium represented one of the greatest, or at least one of the most storied, home-field advantages in North American sports. Visiting players routinely gushed about walking into the Stadium and soaking in its history.
With a simple move across the street, that part of the Yankees’ legacy is gone and the franchise, payroll aside, is now on a level playing field with the competition.
After Thursday’s game, pitcher C. C. Sabathia was asked whether the new Stadium, with its amenities, felt as special as the one he used to visit when he was a member of the Indians.
“It still has that feel because the park still looks kind of like the old Stadium,” Sabathia said. “But it’s a weird feeling, too, going out with a clean slate and us starting a new era of Yankee baseball.”
The focus on the Yankees’ mystique tends to be baseball-centric, but what gave the old Yankee Stadium its luster were classic championship moments that cut across sports. The old Stadium was a veritable museum of American sports history:
¶ Knute Rockne’s famous “Win one for the Gipper” speech delivered at halftime of Notre Dame’s 1928 victory over Army.
¶ Joe Louis’s 1938 victory over Max Schmeling in a heavyweight title bout.
¶ The Baltimore Colts’ sudden-death victory over the Giants in 1958 in the Greatest Game Ever Played.
¶ The string of World Series appearances through the 1920s, ’30s, ’40s, ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, then from 1996 to 2003.
Before Thursday’s game, Derek Jeter, asked about the recent losses in Tampa Bay, including a 15-5 pummeling, said that a six-month baseball season was hardly over in April. Indeed, a month from now, the embarrassment in the home opener may well be a footnote.
Manager Joe Girardi said that Thursday’s game was “hard to watch,” but he added that the Yankees’ fate and the legacy of the new Stadium wouldn’t be decided on the first day.
True enough, though Thursday’s rout, three days after the rout against Tampa Bay, raises questions about how long it will take these Yankees to fill a new stadium with the sort of championship moments that made the old Stadium so special.
Soon? Longer? Never?
Before Jeter’s first plate appearance Thursday, a bat was placed across home plate. The bat, we were told, was used by Babe Ruth on opening day 1923, for the opening of the old Yankee Stadium. Ruth homered that day and the Yankees swept the opening four-game series against the Red Sox, then cruised to the pennant and the World Series title.
On Thursday, Jeter flied out and the Yankees were pummeled.
Asked what he would miss about the old Stadium, Jeter said, “You’re going to miss everything about it.”
On its own merits, the new Stadium is a gem. Every effort was made to duplicate and, in many instances extend, the charm of the old Stadium. The signature frieze at the top of the stadium bowl is back, the manually operated auxiliary scoreboard is replicated, and a gap between the bleachers and right field allows us to get a peek at the No. 4 elevated train.
But some crucial things did not make the trip across the street — and they never will.
Mystiques are created by championships and championship moments: title fights, football classics and World Series victories. The old mystique is gone. You can argue that the mystique began to fade seasons ago.
What will that legacy be? Who will be the first group to win a championship in the new Yankee Stadium?
How the Yankees transfer that mystique from the old building, now gray and dark and awaiting its demise, to the new is Girardi’s challenge.
The questions may not be answered for years.
The architects and the Yankee organization did a great job of moving as much memory as they could into the new Stadium.
Sadly for these Yankees, some spirits just don’t travel that well.
E-mail: wcr@nytimes.com
A version of this article appeared in print on April 17, 2009, on page B15 of the New York edition.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Phillies close out Rays, earn World Series title
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=281027122
Lidge and the Phillies close out Rays, earn World Series title
10-29-8
PHILADELPHIA -- Save the jokes, the taunts and all those insults about the losingest team in sports.
The Philadelphia Phillies just won themselves a World Series.
If that sounds strange, it was strange.
Nearly 50 hours after Game 5 started but was stopped by rain, Brad Lidge and the Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in a three-inning sprint Wednesday night.
"It was a crazy way to win it with a suspended game, but we did and it's over," 45-year-old Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer said. "It has been a long wait, but it's worth it."
Left in limbo by a two-day storm, the Phillies seesawed to their first championship since 1980. Pedro Feliz singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh and Lidge closed out his perfect season to deliver the title Philly craved for so long.
Cheesesteaks, on the house.
"Who's the world champion?" manager Charlie Manuel asked the gleeful crowd during a 90-minute postgame ceremony that lasted longer than Wednesday night's action.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that President Bush talked to David Montgomery, the Phillies' president, on Thursday morning. She said he "offered his congratulations and said how exciting it must be for him, the team, and for all of the fans."
Perino said that Bush also noted that Manuel had brought some of the players by the White House last year, and said he was "really impressed" by them. She said Bush asked Montgomery "to give Charlie and the entire organization his best."
Bundled in parkas and blankets, fans returned in force to Citizens Bank Park and saw the city claim its first major sports championship in 25 years. No more references needed to those sad-sack Phillies teams in the past and their 10,000-plus losses.
"They could taste it just as much as we could," Series MVP Cole Hamels said.
It was among the wackiest endings in baseball history, a best-of-seven series turned into a best-of-3 1/2 showdown when play resumed in the bottom of the sixth inning tied at 2.
Home Sweet Home
The Phillies became the fifth team to come home tied 1-1 and go on to win the World Series by taking three straight in their own park. The Cardinals were the last to do it, in 2006 against the Tigers. Here's a look:
Year Team
2008 Phillies
2006 Cardinals
1984 Tigers
1974 Athletics
1969 Mets
How bizarre? Hamels was a star in Game 5 -- and the ace never stepped on the mound Wednesday night; Two Rays relievers warmed up to start, and there was a pinch-hitter before a single pitch; "God Bless America" was sung rather than the national anthem, and it was quickly followed by the seventh-inning stretch.
All because the game was suspended Monday night after rain made the field into a quagmire, washing out the foul lines, creating a puddle at home plate and turning every ball an adventure. Commissioner Bud Selig eventually called it -- fans booed loudly when he presented the MVP trophy to Hamels.
For Philly, it was more than a World Series win. Got the whole city off the hook, actually.
Finally, long after Julius Erving led the Sixers to the 1983 NBA title, something to celebrate.
How much did Philly fans want a champion to call their own?
Well, the sports hero they point to with the most pride isn't even a real person -- Rocky Balboa.
Yo, Adrian ... the Phillies did it!
"It's over," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. "It's over, man."
Fast Facts
• The Phillies scored two runs in the resumed portion of Game 5 to clinch their first World Series title since 1980 and second in team history.
• The win gives the city of Philadelphia its first major sports championship since 1983, when the 76ers won the NBA title.
• The Phillies go 7-0 at home in the postseason. Since 1995, only the Phillies and 1999 Yankees have gone unbeaten at home in postseason and won the World Series.
• The Phillies closed the season hot. Including the postseason, they won 24 of 30 to end the year.
Lidge went 48-for-48 on save chances this year, including two this week. He retired two batters with a runner on second, striking out pinch-hitter Eric Hinske to end it.
Lidge jumped in front of the mound, landing on his knees with arms outstretched. Catcher Carlos Ruiz ran out to grab him, and teammates sprinted to the mound to join them as towel-waving fans let loose.
"At first, I couldn't believe it. And then the gravity of what happened hit me," Lidge said.
A generation ago, it was Tug McGraw who went wild when the Phillies won their first title. A few days after country singer Tim McGraw scattered his dad's ashes on the mound, it was Lidge's turn to throw the final pitch.
Popular broadcaster Harry Kalas, in his fourth decade of doing Phillies games, serenaded the festive fans with a chorus of "High Hopes."
Despite low TV ratings and minus the majors' most glamorous teams, fans will always remember how this one wrapped up. And for the first time in a long while, kids saw a World Series champion crowned before bedtime.
"I believe this firmly, our guys are not going to be satisfied without playing in October from now on," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "And that's a good thing. And that's all because of this group of people this year."
Reliever J.C. Romero got the win, his second of the Series.
Hamels went 4-0 in five postseason starts, beating the Rays in Game 1 and pitching six sharp innings in the rain during Game 5. He was set to be the first batter when the game resumed, and was immediately pulled for a pinch-hitter.
While former NL MVPs Ryan Howard and Rollins drive the Phillies, it was their less-heralded teammates who helped win it on this chilly night. Closing It Out
Phillies closer Brad Lidge was 41-for-41 on save opportunities in the regular season. He stayed perfect in the postseason and equaled the NL record for saves. Here's a look:
Most Saves by NL Pitcher
Single Postseason Year, Player Team Saves
2008, Brad Lidge* Phillies 7
2002, Robb Nen Giants 7
2007, Manny Corpas Rockies 5
1996, Mark Wohlers Braves 5
*Won the World Series
Tied at 3, Pat Burrell led off the seventh with a drive off the center-field wall against J.P. Howell. Chad Bradford relieved and one out later Feliz singled home pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett.
Rocco Baldelli's solo home run off Ryan Madson made it 3-all in the top of the seventh. The Rays almost got more, but All-Star second baseman Chase Utley alertly bluffed a throw to first on a grounder over the bag and instead threw out Jason Bartlett at the plate.
Pinch-hitter Geoff Jenkins, the first batter Wednesday night, doubled and later scored on Jayson Werth's bloop single.
In all, there were six new pitchers, three pinch-hitters and two pinch-runners when play restarted.
Manuel, whose NL East champions clinched a playoff spot in the final week, guided the Phillies' second overall championship in six World Series tries. The Phils helped themselves by going 7-0 at home this postseason, beating Milwaukee and the Dodgers in the NL playoffs and then defeating the Rays.
"I always thought we'd win the World Series. I knew we could beat anyone in the league," Manuel said.
Once known as a city of champions, Philadelphia saw its sports teams fall on hard times after Erving and Moses Malone led the Sixers to that 1983 title.
Since then, the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers made it to the championship game or round -- seven times, in total -- and lost all of them.
The city became so starved for a crown that it was ready to throw a parade down Broad Street for a horse. But local colt Smarty Jones lost, too, in his bid for the Triple Crown.
Now, all those people can gather for the celebration Friday -- it's Halloween, and fans can dress up as champions for Halloween.
"People enjoy being associated with winning and a world championship is the ultimate," Mike Schmidt, MVP of the Phillies' other championship, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press this week. "It unites a town behind one team."
Tampa Bay did itself proud, too, until this final week. Baseball's best success story this season, the worst-to-first Rays played like the downtrodden Devil Rays from the past decade.
Even so, the gap between the Phils and Rays wasn't enormous. Had Evan Longoria's late, long drive off Moyer in Game 3 not been blown back by the wind, the teams might still be playing.
Game notes
The World Series failed to make it to a Game 6 for the fifth straight year, the first time that's happened. ... Burrell went 1-for-14 in the five games. ... Howell put down the first sacrifice bunt of his career.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Lidge and the Phillies close out Rays, earn World Series title
10-29-8
PHILADELPHIA -- Save the jokes, the taunts and all those insults about the losingest team in sports.
The Philadelphia Phillies just won themselves a World Series.
If that sounds strange, it was strange.
Nearly 50 hours after Game 5 started but was stopped by rain, Brad Lidge and the Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in a three-inning sprint Wednesday night.
"It was a crazy way to win it with a suspended game, but we did and it's over," 45-year-old Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer said. "It has been a long wait, but it's worth it."
Left in limbo by a two-day storm, the Phillies seesawed to their first championship since 1980. Pedro Feliz singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh and Lidge closed out his perfect season to deliver the title Philly craved for so long.
Cheesesteaks, on the house.
"Who's the world champion?" manager Charlie Manuel asked the gleeful crowd during a 90-minute postgame ceremony that lasted longer than Wednesday night's action.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that President Bush talked to David Montgomery, the Phillies' president, on Thursday morning. She said he "offered his congratulations and said how exciting it must be for him, the team, and for all of the fans."
Perino said that Bush also noted that Manuel had brought some of the players by the White House last year, and said he was "really impressed" by them. She said Bush asked Montgomery "to give Charlie and the entire organization his best."
Bundled in parkas and blankets, fans returned in force to Citizens Bank Park and saw the city claim its first major sports championship in 25 years. No more references needed to those sad-sack Phillies teams in the past and their 10,000-plus losses.
"They could taste it just as much as we could," Series MVP Cole Hamels said.
It was among the wackiest endings in baseball history, a best-of-seven series turned into a best-of-3 1/2 showdown when play resumed in the bottom of the sixth inning tied at 2.
Home Sweet Home
The Phillies became the fifth team to come home tied 1-1 and go on to win the World Series by taking three straight in their own park. The Cardinals were the last to do it, in 2006 against the Tigers. Here's a look:
Year Team
2008 Phillies
2006 Cardinals
1984 Tigers
1974 Athletics
1969 Mets
How bizarre? Hamels was a star in Game 5 -- and the ace never stepped on the mound Wednesday night; Two Rays relievers warmed up to start, and there was a pinch-hitter before a single pitch; "God Bless America" was sung rather than the national anthem, and it was quickly followed by the seventh-inning stretch.
All because the game was suspended Monday night after rain made the field into a quagmire, washing out the foul lines, creating a puddle at home plate and turning every ball an adventure. Commissioner Bud Selig eventually called it -- fans booed loudly when he presented the MVP trophy to Hamels.
For Philly, it was more than a World Series win. Got the whole city off the hook, actually.
Finally, long after Julius Erving led the Sixers to the 1983 NBA title, something to celebrate.
How much did Philly fans want a champion to call their own?
Well, the sports hero they point to with the most pride isn't even a real person -- Rocky Balboa.
Yo, Adrian ... the Phillies did it!
"It's over," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. "It's over, man."
Fast Facts
• The Phillies scored two runs in the resumed portion of Game 5 to clinch their first World Series title since 1980 and second in team history.
• The win gives the city of Philadelphia its first major sports championship since 1983, when the 76ers won the NBA title.
• The Phillies go 7-0 at home in the postseason. Since 1995, only the Phillies and 1999 Yankees have gone unbeaten at home in postseason and won the World Series.
• The Phillies closed the season hot. Including the postseason, they won 24 of 30 to end the year.
Lidge went 48-for-48 on save chances this year, including two this week. He retired two batters with a runner on second, striking out pinch-hitter Eric Hinske to end it.
Lidge jumped in front of the mound, landing on his knees with arms outstretched. Catcher Carlos Ruiz ran out to grab him, and teammates sprinted to the mound to join them as towel-waving fans let loose.
"At first, I couldn't believe it. And then the gravity of what happened hit me," Lidge said.
A generation ago, it was Tug McGraw who went wild when the Phillies won their first title. A few days after country singer Tim McGraw scattered his dad's ashes on the mound, it was Lidge's turn to throw the final pitch.
Popular broadcaster Harry Kalas, in his fourth decade of doing Phillies games, serenaded the festive fans with a chorus of "High Hopes."
Despite low TV ratings and minus the majors' most glamorous teams, fans will always remember how this one wrapped up. And for the first time in a long while, kids saw a World Series champion crowned before bedtime.
"I believe this firmly, our guys are not going to be satisfied without playing in October from now on," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "And that's a good thing. And that's all because of this group of people this year."
Reliever J.C. Romero got the win, his second of the Series.
Hamels went 4-0 in five postseason starts, beating the Rays in Game 1 and pitching six sharp innings in the rain during Game 5. He was set to be the first batter when the game resumed, and was immediately pulled for a pinch-hitter.
While former NL MVPs Ryan Howard and Rollins drive the Phillies, it was their less-heralded teammates who helped win it on this chilly night. Closing It Out
Phillies closer Brad Lidge was 41-for-41 on save opportunities in the regular season. He stayed perfect in the postseason and equaled the NL record for saves. Here's a look:
Most Saves by NL Pitcher
Single Postseason Year, Player Team Saves
2008, Brad Lidge* Phillies 7
2002, Robb Nen Giants 7
2007, Manny Corpas Rockies 5
1996, Mark Wohlers Braves 5
*Won the World Series
Tied at 3, Pat Burrell led off the seventh with a drive off the center-field wall against J.P. Howell. Chad Bradford relieved and one out later Feliz singled home pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett.
Rocco Baldelli's solo home run off Ryan Madson made it 3-all in the top of the seventh. The Rays almost got more, but All-Star second baseman Chase Utley alertly bluffed a throw to first on a grounder over the bag and instead threw out Jason Bartlett at the plate.
Pinch-hitter Geoff Jenkins, the first batter Wednesday night, doubled and later scored on Jayson Werth's bloop single.
In all, there were six new pitchers, three pinch-hitters and two pinch-runners when play restarted.
Manuel, whose NL East champions clinched a playoff spot in the final week, guided the Phillies' second overall championship in six World Series tries. The Phils helped themselves by going 7-0 at home this postseason, beating Milwaukee and the Dodgers in the NL playoffs and then defeating the Rays.
"I always thought we'd win the World Series. I knew we could beat anyone in the league," Manuel said.
Once known as a city of champions, Philadelphia saw its sports teams fall on hard times after Erving and Moses Malone led the Sixers to that 1983 title.
Since then, the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers made it to the championship game or round -- seven times, in total -- and lost all of them.
The city became so starved for a crown that it was ready to throw a parade down Broad Street for a horse. But local colt Smarty Jones lost, too, in his bid for the Triple Crown.
Now, all those people can gather for the celebration Friday -- it's Halloween, and fans can dress up as champions for Halloween.
"People enjoy being associated with winning and a world championship is the ultimate," Mike Schmidt, MVP of the Phillies' other championship, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press this week. "It unites a town behind one team."
Tampa Bay did itself proud, too, until this final week. Baseball's best success story this season, the worst-to-first Rays played like the downtrodden Devil Rays from the past decade.
Even so, the gap between the Phils and Rays wasn't enormous. Had Evan Longoria's late, long drive off Moyer in Game 3 not been blown back by the wind, the teams might still be playing.
Game notes
The World Series failed to make it to a Game 6 for the fifth straight year, the first time that's happened. ... Burrell went 1-for-14 in the five games. ... Howell put down the first sacrifice bunt of his career.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Sadly, one play defined Merkle's career, life
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3604289
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sadly, one play defined Merkle's career, life
By Ed Sherman
Special to ESPN.com
WATERTOWN, Wis. -- Fred Merkle was born in Watertown, Wis., in 1888, but he spent only one year there before his family moved to Toledo, Ohio.
Still, that didn't prevent Watertown resident David Stalker from claiming Merkle as the town's very own. He spearheaded an effort to erect a monument in Merkle's honor.
Set in black marble with a baseball perched on top, the monument notes that Merkle was a "potent line-drive hitter and agile first-baseman." It says he was a member of six World Series teams.
However, there is no mention on the monument of the play that earned Merkle a spot in baseball infamy. The inscription boasts of Merkle's "intelligence" on the field, seemingly a contradiction for a player whose nickname was "Bonehead."
"We want the average person to see Fred Merkle for who he really was," Stalker said. "There was much more to his career than just one play."
Yet as Bill Buckner discovered in the cruelest way possible, one play can define a career. Prior to Buckner and the ball-between-the-legs grounder that ended Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, there was Merkle, the goat of goats.
Tuesday marks the 100th anniversary of the play that forever cemented Merkle's legacy in baseball. The Chicago Cubs and New York Giants were locked in a dramatic pennant race when they met on Sept. 23, 1908.
With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Merkle, who had singled, was on first base and Moose McCormick was on third. With two outs, Al Bridwell then hit an apparent single to drive in McCormick with what seemed the winning run.
It looked to be a huge victory for the Giants, and jubilant fans mobbed the field at the Polo Grounds. But in the commotion, Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers noticed Merkle never touched second base.
Evers frantically waved for the ball, and there's considerable dispute about whether he actually got the game ball. Evers then stepped on second and umpire Hank O'Day called Merkle out on a force, thus nullifying the Giants' run. Keep in mind, this was the same umpire who let a similar play stand up when a base runner didn't touch second at the conclusion of a game earlier in the month.
Despite O'Day's ruling, the game couldn't go on because of all the fans on the field, and it was declared a 1-1 tie. Merkle's nightmare then was compounded when the Cubs and Giants finished the regular season tied. The Cubs won the one-game playoff to win the pennant, propelling them to their last World Series title.
Merkle, who was only 19 at the time, was vilified. The Sporting News, the game's official bible back then, wrote of "the stupidity of Fred Merkle." Newspapers quickly labeled him "Bonehead."
Merkle went on to become a decent player during a 16-year career, finishing with a .273 average. He had 49 stolen bases in 1911, an impressive total considering he was 6-foot and 190 pounds.
Yet Merkle never seemed to get over the top. He was on the losing side of six World Series. When he was blamed for a botched popup that helped cost the Giants the 1912 World Series, the headlines blared, "Bonehead Merkle does it again."
"Sometimes it looks like the Cubs and Merkle got jinxed at the same time," Stalker said.
That day in 1908 forever haunted Merkle and his family. After he retired and moved the family to Daytona Beach, Fla., his daughter came home from school and asked why the kids were calling her "Bonehead."
Once a visiting minister in his church began by saying, "I want to begin by admitting an ugly secret. I am from Toledo, Ohio, birthplace of the infamous Fred 'Bonehead' Merkle."
Merkle promptly walked out.
The pain ran deep for Merkle. Stalker has a collection of photos of Merkle on display in his basement.
"Look, you can see the torture in his eyes," Stalker said. "Right after it happened, he lost his hair and weight. [During the playoff game] he was sitting in the dugout saying 'I'm sorry. It's my fault.'"
But was Merkle truly at fault? Keith Olbermann is among those who say no.
Olbermann, formerly of ESPN and now the host of "Countdown" on MSNBC, has been interested in Merkle's case for more than 30 years. He has proposed Sept. 23 be a national day of amnesty in Merkle's memory, but not because he did something wrong.
"I was struck by the finality of it," Olbermann said. "He does something everybody did, for their own safety, as a game ended. He was the first player on whom the rule was ever enforced and he never lived it down."
Indeed, the real goat might have been O'Day, the umpire. No less than Hall of Fame umpire Bill Klem delivered a stinging indictment.
"Evers talked a great umpire into making the rottenest decision in the history of baseball," Klem said.
The damage, though, was done. Olbermann doubts Merkle will ever be vindicated.
"The goat story is still easier, and more compelling, than the story of the poor rookie victimized by a rule that was never enforced," Olbermann said.
As fate would have it, the Cubs will be in New York on Tuesday to play the Mets. Olbermann plans to attend the game.
"I have to be there," Olbermann said. "I've never believed the Cubs didn't curse themselves by playing that rule on poor Fred. [The Cubs have had] a century of bad luck, meaning something abysmal is likely to happen to the Cubs [on Tuesday], especially since somebody scheduled them to be in New York."
When Merkle retired in 1926, he was so bitter he wanted nothing to do with baseball. It wasn't until 1950 that he returned to a big league park.
Merkle had to be talked into attending an Old-Timers' Game at the Polo Grounds. Even after all these years, he was fearful of how the fans would treat him.
Perhaps the fans remembered the good things he did for the Giants, or perhaps they felt sorry for his plight, but they gave him a loud ovation.
"He had an impressive career," Stalker said. "That's what he should be remembered for."
Oh, if that were only the case. What happened 100 years ago Tuesday even had an impact on his final resting place.
Merkle once cracked, "I suppose when I die, they'll put on my tombstone, 'Here lies Bonehead Merkle.'"
They never got the chance. When he died in 1956 at the age of 67, he was buried in an unmarked grave.
Ed Sherman was a longtime sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sadly, one play defined Merkle's career, life
By Ed Sherman
Special to ESPN.com
WATERTOWN, Wis. -- Fred Merkle was born in Watertown, Wis., in 1888, but he spent only one year there before his family moved to Toledo, Ohio.
Still, that didn't prevent Watertown resident David Stalker from claiming Merkle as the town's very own. He spearheaded an effort to erect a monument in Merkle's honor.
Set in black marble with a baseball perched on top, the monument notes that Merkle was a "potent line-drive hitter and agile first-baseman." It says he was a member of six World Series teams.
However, there is no mention on the monument of the play that earned Merkle a spot in baseball infamy. The inscription boasts of Merkle's "intelligence" on the field, seemingly a contradiction for a player whose nickname was "Bonehead."
"We want the average person to see Fred Merkle for who he really was," Stalker said. "There was much more to his career than just one play."
Yet as Bill Buckner discovered in the cruelest way possible, one play can define a career. Prior to Buckner and the ball-between-the-legs grounder that ended Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, there was Merkle, the goat of goats.
Tuesday marks the 100th anniversary of the play that forever cemented Merkle's legacy in baseball. The Chicago Cubs and New York Giants were locked in a dramatic pennant race when they met on Sept. 23, 1908.
With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Merkle, who had singled, was on first base and Moose McCormick was on third. With two outs, Al Bridwell then hit an apparent single to drive in McCormick with what seemed the winning run.
It looked to be a huge victory for the Giants, and jubilant fans mobbed the field at the Polo Grounds. But in the commotion, Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers noticed Merkle never touched second base.
Evers frantically waved for the ball, and there's considerable dispute about whether he actually got the game ball. Evers then stepped on second and umpire Hank O'Day called Merkle out on a force, thus nullifying the Giants' run. Keep in mind, this was the same umpire who let a similar play stand up when a base runner didn't touch second at the conclusion of a game earlier in the month.
Despite O'Day's ruling, the game couldn't go on because of all the fans on the field, and it was declared a 1-1 tie. Merkle's nightmare then was compounded when the Cubs and Giants finished the regular season tied. The Cubs won the one-game playoff to win the pennant, propelling them to their last World Series title.
Merkle, who was only 19 at the time, was vilified. The Sporting News, the game's official bible back then, wrote of "the stupidity of Fred Merkle." Newspapers quickly labeled him "Bonehead."
Merkle went on to become a decent player during a 16-year career, finishing with a .273 average. He had 49 stolen bases in 1911, an impressive total considering he was 6-foot and 190 pounds.
Yet Merkle never seemed to get over the top. He was on the losing side of six World Series. When he was blamed for a botched popup that helped cost the Giants the 1912 World Series, the headlines blared, "Bonehead Merkle does it again."
"Sometimes it looks like the Cubs and Merkle got jinxed at the same time," Stalker said.
That day in 1908 forever haunted Merkle and his family. After he retired and moved the family to Daytona Beach, Fla., his daughter came home from school and asked why the kids were calling her "Bonehead."
Once a visiting minister in his church began by saying, "I want to begin by admitting an ugly secret. I am from Toledo, Ohio, birthplace of the infamous Fred 'Bonehead' Merkle."
Merkle promptly walked out.
The pain ran deep for Merkle. Stalker has a collection of photos of Merkle on display in his basement.
"Look, you can see the torture in his eyes," Stalker said. "Right after it happened, he lost his hair and weight. [During the playoff game] he was sitting in the dugout saying 'I'm sorry. It's my fault.'"
But was Merkle truly at fault? Keith Olbermann is among those who say no.
Olbermann, formerly of ESPN and now the host of "Countdown" on MSNBC, has been interested in Merkle's case for more than 30 years. He has proposed Sept. 23 be a national day of amnesty in Merkle's memory, but not because he did something wrong.
"I was struck by the finality of it," Olbermann said. "He does something everybody did, for their own safety, as a game ended. He was the first player on whom the rule was ever enforced and he never lived it down."
Indeed, the real goat might have been O'Day, the umpire. No less than Hall of Fame umpire Bill Klem delivered a stinging indictment.
"Evers talked a great umpire into making the rottenest decision in the history of baseball," Klem said.
The damage, though, was done. Olbermann doubts Merkle will ever be vindicated.
"The goat story is still easier, and more compelling, than the story of the poor rookie victimized by a rule that was never enforced," Olbermann said.
As fate would have it, the Cubs will be in New York on Tuesday to play the Mets. Olbermann plans to attend the game.
"I have to be there," Olbermann said. "I've never believed the Cubs didn't curse themselves by playing that rule on poor Fred. [The Cubs have had] a century of bad luck, meaning something abysmal is likely to happen to the Cubs [on Tuesday], especially since somebody scheduled them to be in New York."
When Merkle retired in 1926, he was so bitter he wanted nothing to do with baseball. It wasn't until 1950 that he returned to a big league park.
Merkle had to be talked into attending an Old-Timers' Game at the Polo Grounds. Even after all these years, he was fearful of how the fans would treat him.
Perhaps the fans remembered the good things he did for the Giants, or perhaps they felt sorry for his plight, but they gave him a loud ovation.
"He had an impressive career," Stalker said. "That's what he should be remembered for."
Oh, if that were only the case. What happened 100 years ago Tuesday even had an impact on his final resting place.
Merkle once cracked, "I suppose when I die, they'll put on my tombstone, 'Here lies Bonehead Merkle.'"
They never got the chance. When he died in 1956 at the age of 67, he was buried in an unmarked grave.
Ed Sherman was a longtime sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Beast of the Month - May 2008
Beast of the Month - May 2008
Roger Clemens, Cooperstown Caliber Major League Pitcher
"I yam an anti-Christ... "
John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) of The Sex Pistols, "Anarchy in the UK"
"There is no joy in Mudville."
Ernest Lawrence Thayer, “Casey at the Bat”
Okay, fine, we get it. It's no longer just about unconvincing performances before Congress by Sammy or Mac, nor is it about Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro or even Barry Bonds. Steroids is no longer the exception to the rule in baseball, it is the rule. And sorry Virginia, there is no Santa Claus.
That would be lesson after the release of the Mitchell Report, the investigative report commissioned by Major League Baseball that named at least some of the names of the steroid era, a list that still is likely the tip of the iceberg. Iceberg tip or not, the names of drug dopers could field a team of All-Stars that would hold their own against the '27 Yankees. Among the roster, besides Giambi and Bonds: 200-Game winner Kevin Brown, former Philadelphia Phillies hero Lenny Dykstra, 2003 NL Cy Young winner reliever Eric Gagne, 2002 World Series MVP Troy Glaus, two-time AL MVP Juan Gonzalez, one-time rookie sensation Wally Joyner, 1990 Rookie of the Year and postseason hero David Justice, 1987 Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove catcher Benito Santiago, 2002 AL MVP Miguel Tejada, 1995 AL MVP Mo Vaughn and 1994 home run champion Matt Williams. And though many of these revelations came with the predictable denials and no comments, the general impression is that despite it being a tad politically compromised (tellingly, the report only named players who roided up and not executives or league officials who had knowledge of the widespread abuse) Senator George Mitchell did a solid job in his investigation, and all claims could be backed up in court.
Winners in the latest juicer revelations are few and far between. One could be Mark McGwire, who, after a number of doping indictments all related to perjury, seems all the more wiser for his infamous 2005 Congressional clam-up. The other would be Barry Bonds, whose defenders can repeat their insistence he was hardly some lone wolf and that his prosecution appears to be a politically motivated vendetta. The biggest winner, however, would have to be Jose Canseco once again. Even more so than the Mitchell Report and Game of Shadows, it is Canseco who has written the definitive account of the steroid era in baseball. In 2005, when Juiced was released, he became widely reviled in the sports press as a liar and shameless opportunist for pointing the finger at other dopers and making stunning claims along the way. Three years later, nothing in his book has been disproved and much has been found to be shockingly accurate. Despite this proven track record of reporting history, the publication of his recent sequel (cleverly titled Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball) led to a repeat of attacks on Canseco's honesty and character.
Meanwhile, there is little question who is the biggest loser from the Mitchell Report. That would be Roger Clemens, The Konformist Beast of the Month, who has replaced Bonds as the poster boy for steroid cheaters.
Clemens, like Bonds was for batters, is no mere pitcher. With all due respect to Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton (or even his current competitors Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez) The Rocket was named, in a 2006 ESPN poll of baseball experts, the greatest living pitcher by an overwhelming margin. He has won a record seven Cy Young Awards (two more than Randy Johnson, his closest competitor) and is the last starting pitcher to win an MVP trophy (after he went 24-4 for the Boston Red Sox in 1986.) His career record is 354-184 (nearly a 2 to 1 won-loss ratio) and is second only to Nolan Ryan in career strikeouts. He is also one of only three pitchers to strike out 20 batters in 9 innings (the others being Randy Johnson and Cubs one-time rookie flamethrower Kerry Wood) and he's done it twice.
(Granted, this has nothing to do with the rest of the article, but all these mentions of Randy Johnson bring up a good question: does a guy named Randy Johnson really need "The Big Unit" as a nickname?)
On a personal level, members of The Konformist staff have long admired Clemens for his tenacity, even if sometimes it has gone a tad psychotic. Of special infamy was his twin encounters with Mike Piazza of the New York Mets in 2000. After Piazza hit a grand slam off The Rocket a month earlier, Clemens beaned him on the hand and head with a single pitch during a July game. Then, in Game 2 of the World Series, Clemens threw a shard of Mikey's shattered bat at Piazza, leading to a bench-clearing on both sides. Even in this bizarre moment his greatness shines through: in that game he pitched a two-hitter with 9 strikeouts in eight innings of shutout ball, a performance that effectively silenced the Mets and led to Clemens' second World Series ring with the Yankees. This followed his one-hit shutout with 15 Ks in the ALCS, in the greatest postseason pitching performance besides Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Clearly, he was the true Yankee hero of their last World Championship.
And so it is this background that makes his inclusion on the Mitchell Report so tragic. What makes it even worse is his sad and sorry response. He could've owed up to his cheating (cheating that is apparent in evidence detailed below) in a tearful confession, a move that would've earned him long-term sympathy for honesty. Or he could've simply declared "no comment" and disappeared from public view for awhile. Instead, Clemens demanded a Congressional hearing to deny his usage of steroids. And, as Oscar Wilde would warn, when the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.
At first, it actually seemed like a good strategy: pit Roger Clemens word and character mano a mano against his former trainer, Brian McNamee. After all, if Canseco is, for all the accuracy of his books, a dubious character, he's got nothing on the shadiness of McNamee, a man who has since admitted lying even on the testimony that implicated Clemens. It seemed likely that, given the choice between believing McNamee against the word of Clemens, Clemens would win. He even tested this strategy somewhat successfully on 60 Minutes in an embarrassing suck-up fest "interview" by Mike Wallace.
The problem with this strategy, it turned out, is it wasn't just Clemens V. McNamee. It was Clemens V. McNamee, Andy Pettitte, and Chuck Knoblauch, two other players who McNamee outed as drug dopers. Both of them have since confirmed under oath what McNamee told Senator Mitchell. Pettitte added Clemens had admitted to him in 1999-2000 that he had received HGH injections. Clemens insists that Pettitte "misremembered" the quotes.
Not only was it Clemens V. McNamee, Pettitte and Knoblauch, it was literally Clemens V. Clemens. It was revealed by McNamee (in a rather sleazy moment) that he had injected Clemens wife Debbie with HGH for a Sports Illustrated pictorial, a claim she would later confirm. So according to Roger Clemens, Pettitte, Knoblauch and even his own wife were injected with performance enhancing drugs by his own trainer, but Clemens himself, despite his own deserved reputation for being ultra-competitive, wouldn't even dream of the doing the same.
Besides the testimony, there was physical evidence to back the charges against Clemens. McNamee may be a weasel, but he sure is a sharp weasel, saving vials, syringes and gauze pads involving his injections of Clemens, evidence McNamee handed over to prosecutors in February.
It is interesting to note how the actual Congressional hearings went. The Democrats on the committee, almost to a man and woman, pounced on Clemens' admittedly flimsy defense with glee. Perhaps it was because the case Clemens made was so beyond dubious. It certainly didn't hurt that, after Kobe, Bonds and Michael Vick, finally there was a sports scandal this decade where liberals could proclaim outrage without politically correct fears of being called a racist. But perhaps the biggest reason for the Democratic Party pounding of Clemens was due to him being a friend of the Bush family, most notably Bush Senior. As it turned out, GOP members at the hearing not-so-coincidentally seemed to go out of the way to defend Clemens and bash McNamee, making this into a partisan battle. Of course, this only inflated the circus-like nature of the hearings. In the end, neither party really won: the GOP looked like shameless defenders of outwardly deceitful testimony, while the Dems looked like a sniveling group of cowards who could only press a case in the most frivolous of causes. (Perhaps the hearings are a perfect metaphor for the last eight years on the Capitol.)
Frivolous or not, the Democrat's conclusions seem pretty solid: that Clemens did indeed take performance enhancing drugs and then perjured himself repeatedly on the issue. Despite this, it seems unlikely there will be any prosecution of Clemens over this, and even if there is, rumors are floating that Bush Jr. would pardon him at the request of his daddy. (Of course, this pardon would hardly match Scooter Libby's on the Outrage-o-meter.) In any case, it is telling to contrast the Clemens saga results with the vendetta against Bonds, and wonder, politically correct or not, if race is indeed a factor for the discrepancy.
Clemens may not face the long arm of the law, but in the court of public opinion, he has suffered the biggest loss of his career. He may be the greatest living pitcher, but five years from now (when the recently retired Clemens first becomes eligible for Cooperstown) he will likely be snubbed from Baseball's Hall of Fame over the scandal. That may the least of his worries: after filing a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming his stellar reputation had been tarnished by his former trainer's allegations, reporters uncovered evidence of multiple adulterous affairs by the Rocket, including one with former country music star Mindy McCready. (When asked about the news allegation, McCready replied: "I cannot refute anything in the story.") Needless to say, besides putting obvious strain on his marriage, such revelations undercut his claim that his family man image has been unfairly tarnished by the steroid scandal.
It appears the fallout of the recent steroid revelations will soon go beyond Clemens, Bonds and others. Of special note: in Vindicated, Canseco outs current New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez as someone who asked for help in finding a trainer that would supply steroids. Rodriguez, a three-time AL MVP and a likely candidate to surpass Bonds in the career home run derby, has been hyped as a player who could supposedly restore the integrity of the game. While the charge has been hysterically denounced in the sports media in a repeat of the Juiced controversy, it is important to repeat that Canseco has a proven track record of telling the ugly truths that are eventually admitted as such.
But hopefully the steroid scandal will go beyond the current scapegoating of ballplayers. Of special note: in February, former relief ace (and infamous racist ranter) John Rocker claimed MLB commissioner Bud Selig knew he failed a drug test for steroids in 2000, and that doctors for both management and the players' association advised him and other Texas Rangers on how to effectively use steroids. (Among the other players were Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez and, of course, Alex Rodriguez.) But the real issue here isn't if A-Rod, Rocker and others were drug cheats: it's that it was known and sanctioned from the highest levels of the team, the players' union and even the league itself. This is the kind of scandalous conclusions that George Mitchell, for all his meticulous work, evaded in his report. Hopefully, this complicity in the doping scandal will soon no longer be ignored.
In any case, we salute Roger Clemens as Beast of the Month. Congratulations, and keep up the great work, Roger!!!
Sources:
Thanks to Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com, MLB.com, SportingNews.com and SportsIllustrated.com for help on this article
Canseco, Jose. Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005.
Canseco, Jose. Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
Fainaru-Wada, Mark and Williams, Lance. Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports. New York: Gotham Books, 2006.
Gammons, Peter. "Ample Living Proof of Clemens' Greatness." ESPN.com 1 May 2006 <http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=gammons_peter&id=2426053>.
Mitchell, George. Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball. 13 December 2007.
Roger Clemens, Cooperstown Caliber Major League Pitcher
"I yam an anti-Christ... "
John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) of The Sex Pistols, "Anarchy in the UK"
"There is no joy in Mudville."
Ernest Lawrence Thayer, “Casey at the Bat”
Okay, fine, we get it. It's no longer just about unconvincing performances before Congress by Sammy or Mac, nor is it about Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro or even Barry Bonds. Steroids is no longer the exception to the rule in baseball, it is the rule. And sorry Virginia, there is no Santa Claus.
That would be lesson after the release of the Mitchell Report, the investigative report commissioned by Major League Baseball that named at least some of the names of the steroid era, a list that still is likely the tip of the iceberg. Iceberg tip or not, the names of drug dopers could field a team of All-Stars that would hold their own against the '27 Yankees. Among the roster, besides Giambi and Bonds: 200-Game winner Kevin Brown, former Philadelphia Phillies hero Lenny Dykstra, 2003 NL Cy Young winner reliever Eric Gagne, 2002 World Series MVP Troy Glaus, two-time AL MVP Juan Gonzalez, one-time rookie sensation Wally Joyner, 1990 Rookie of the Year and postseason hero David Justice, 1987 Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove catcher Benito Santiago, 2002 AL MVP Miguel Tejada, 1995 AL MVP Mo Vaughn and 1994 home run champion Matt Williams. And though many of these revelations came with the predictable denials and no comments, the general impression is that despite it being a tad politically compromised (tellingly, the report only named players who roided up and not executives or league officials who had knowledge of the widespread abuse) Senator George Mitchell did a solid job in his investigation, and all claims could be backed up in court.
Winners in the latest juicer revelations are few and far between. One could be Mark McGwire, who, after a number of doping indictments all related to perjury, seems all the more wiser for his infamous 2005 Congressional clam-up. The other would be Barry Bonds, whose defenders can repeat their insistence he was hardly some lone wolf and that his prosecution appears to be a politically motivated vendetta. The biggest winner, however, would have to be Jose Canseco once again. Even more so than the Mitchell Report and Game of Shadows, it is Canseco who has written the definitive account of the steroid era in baseball. In 2005, when Juiced was released, he became widely reviled in the sports press as a liar and shameless opportunist for pointing the finger at other dopers and making stunning claims along the way. Three years later, nothing in his book has been disproved and much has been found to be shockingly accurate. Despite this proven track record of reporting history, the publication of his recent sequel (cleverly titled Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball) led to a repeat of attacks on Canseco's honesty and character.
Meanwhile, there is little question who is the biggest loser from the Mitchell Report. That would be Roger Clemens, The Konformist Beast of the Month, who has replaced Bonds as the poster boy for steroid cheaters.
Clemens, like Bonds was for batters, is no mere pitcher. With all due respect to Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton (or even his current competitors Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez) The Rocket was named, in a 2006 ESPN poll of baseball experts, the greatest living pitcher by an overwhelming margin. He has won a record seven Cy Young Awards (two more than Randy Johnson, his closest competitor) and is the last starting pitcher to win an MVP trophy (after he went 24-4 for the Boston Red Sox in 1986.) His career record is 354-184 (nearly a 2 to 1 won-loss ratio) and is second only to Nolan Ryan in career strikeouts. He is also one of only three pitchers to strike out 20 batters in 9 innings (the others being Randy Johnson and Cubs one-time rookie flamethrower Kerry Wood) and he's done it twice.
(Granted, this has nothing to do with the rest of the article, but all these mentions of Randy Johnson bring up a good question: does a guy named Randy Johnson really need "The Big Unit" as a nickname?)
On a personal level, members of The Konformist staff have long admired Clemens for his tenacity, even if sometimes it has gone a tad psychotic. Of special infamy was his twin encounters with Mike Piazza of the New York Mets in 2000. After Piazza hit a grand slam off The Rocket a month earlier, Clemens beaned him on the hand and head with a single pitch during a July game. Then, in Game 2 of the World Series, Clemens threw a shard of Mikey's shattered bat at Piazza, leading to a bench-clearing on both sides. Even in this bizarre moment his greatness shines through: in that game he pitched a two-hitter with 9 strikeouts in eight innings of shutout ball, a performance that effectively silenced the Mets and led to Clemens' second World Series ring with the Yankees. This followed his one-hit shutout with 15 Ks in the ALCS, in the greatest postseason pitching performance besides Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Clearly, he was the true Yankee hero of their last World Championship.
And so it is this background that makes his inclusion on the Mitchell Report so tragic. What makes it even worse is his sad and sorry response. He could've owed up to his cheating (cheating that is apparent in evidence detailed below) in a tearful confession, a move that would've earned him long-term sympathy for honesty. Or he could've simply declared "no comment" and disappeared from public view for awhile. Instead, Clemens demanded a Congressional hearing to deny his usage of steroids. And, as Oscar Wilde would warn, when the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.
At first, it actually seemed like a good strategy: pit Roger Clemens word and character mano a mano against his former trainer, Brian McNamee. After all, if Canseco is, for all the accuracy of his books, a dubious character, he's got nothing on the shadiness of McNamee, a man who has since admitted lying even on the testimony that implicated Clemens. It seemed likely that, given the choice between believing McNamee against the word of Clemens, Clemens would win. He even tested this strategy somewhat successfully on 60 Minutes in an embarrassing suck-up fest "interview" by Mike Wallace.
The problem with this strategy, it turned out, is it wasn't just Clemens V. McNamee. It was Clemens V. McNamee, Andy Pettitte, and Chuck Knoblauch, two other players who McNamee outed as drug dopers. Both of them have since confirmed under oath what McNamee told Senator Mitchell. Pettitte added Clemens had admitted to him in 1999-2000 that he had received HGH injections. Clemens insists that Pettitte "misremembered" the quotes.
Not only was it Clemens V. McNamee, Pettitte and Knoblauch, it was literally Clemens V. Clemens. It was revealed by McNamee (in a rather sleazy moment) that he had injected Clemens wife Debbie with HGH for a Sports Illustrated pictorial, a claim she would later confirm. So according to Roger Clemens, Pettitte, Knoblauch and even his own wife were injected with performance enhancing drugs by his own trainer, but Clemens himself, despite his own deserved reputation for being ultra-competitive, wouldn't even dream of the doing the same.
Besides the testimony, there was physical evidence to back the charges against Clemens. McNamee may be a weasel, but he sure is a sharp weasel, saving vials, syringes and gauze pads involving his injections of Clemens, evidence McNamee handed over to prosecutors in February.
It is interesting to note how the actual Congressional hearings went. The Democrats on the committee, almost to a man and woman, pounced on Clemens' admittedly flimsy defense with glee. Perhaps it was because the case Clemens made was so beyond dubious. It certainly didn't hurt that, after Kobe, Bonds and Michael Vick, finally there was a sports scandal this decade where liberals could proclaim outrage without politically correct fears of being called a racist. But perhaps the biggest reason for the Democratic Party pounding of Clemens was due to him being a friend of the Bush family, most notably Bush Senior. As it turned out, GOP members at the hearing not-so-coincidentally seemed to go out of the way to defend Clemens and bash McNamee, making this into a partisan battle. Of course, this only inflated the circus-like nature of the hearings. In the end, neither party really won: the GOP looked like shameless defenders of outwardly deceitful testimony, while the Dems looked like a sniveling group of cowards who could only press a case in the most frivolous of causes. (Perhaps the hearings are a perfect metaphor for the last eight years on the Capitol.)
Frivolous or not, the Democrat's conclusions seem pretty solid: that Clemens did indeed take performance enhancing drugs and then perjured himself repeatedly on the issue. Despite this, it seems unlikely there will be any prosecution of Clemens over this, and even if there is, rumors are floating that Bush Jr. would pardon him at the request of his daddy. (Of course, this pardon would hardly match Scooter Libby's on the Outrage-o-meter.) In any case, it is telling to contrast the Clemens saga results with the vendetta against Bonds, and wonder, politically correct or not, if race is indeed a factor for the discrepancy.
Clemens may not face the long arm of the law, but in the court of public opinion, he has suffered the biggest loss of his career. He may be the greatest living pitcher, but five years from now (when the recently retired Clemens first becomes eligible for Cooperstown) he will likely be snubbed from Baseball's Hall of Fame over the scandal. That may the least of his worries: after filing a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming his stellar reputation had been tarnished by his former trainer's allegations, reporters uncovered evidence of multiple adulterous affairs by the Rocket, including one with former country music star Mindy McCready. (When asked about the news allegation, McCready replied: "I cannot refute anything in the story.") Needless to say, besides putting obvious strain on his marriage, such revelations undercut his claim that his family man image has been unfairly tarnished by the steroid scandal.
It appears the fallout of the recent steroid revelations will soon go beyond Clemens, Bonds and others. Of special note: in Vindicated, Canseco outs current New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez as someone who asked for help in finding a trainer that would supply steroids. Rodriguez, a three-time AL MVP and a likely candidate to surpass Bonds in the career home run derby, has been hyped as a player who could supposedly restore the integrity of the game. While the charge has been hysterically denounced in the sports media in a repeat of the Juiced controversy, it is important to repeat that Canseco has a proven track record of telling the ugly truths that are eventually admitted as such.
But hopefully the steroid scandal will go beyond the current scapegoating of ballplayers. Of special note: in February, former relief ace (and infamous racist ranter) John Rocker claimed MLB commissioner Bud Selig knew he failed a drug test for steroids in 2000, and that doctors for both management and the players' association advised him and other Texas Rangers on how to effectively use steroids. (Among the other players were Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez and, of course, Alex Rodriguez.) But the real issue here isn't if A-Rod, Rocker and others were drug cheats: it's that it was known and sanctioned from the highest levels of the team, the players' union and even the league itself. This is the kind of scandalous conclusions that George Mitchell, for all his meticulous work, evaded in his report. Hopefully, this complicity in the doping scandal will soon no longer be ignored.
In any case, we salute Roger Clemens as Beast of the Month. Congratulations, and keep up the great work, Roger!!!
Sources:
Thanks to Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com, MLB.com, SportingNews.com and SportsIllustrated.com for help on this article
Canseco, Jose. Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005.
Canseco, Jose. Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
Fainaru-Wada, Mark and Williams, Lance. Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports. New York: Gotham Books, 2006.
Gammons, Peter. "Ample Living Proof of Clemens' Greatness." ESPN.com 1 May 2006 <http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=gammons_peter&id=2426053>.
Mitchell, George. Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball. 13 December 2007.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Buckner Makes Heartfelt Return to Fenway
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h0bfGGjFFTc8ZLonvjb3yjpiosggD8VTUS100
Buckner Makes Heartfelt Return to Fenway
By HOWARD ULMAN
4-8-8
BOSTON (AP) — Bill Buckner's eyes were red. He paused for 15 seconds to control his emotions. Then he spoke again.
The outstanding hitter known for a costly World Series error had just thrown out the ceremonial first pitch to a loud ovation before the Red Sox home opener Tuesday. It was a strike to former teammate Dwight Evans.
The experience, Buckner said, was "probably about as emotional as it could get."
But he nearly decided not to come.
The Red Sox received their championship rings for winning the 2007 World Series before Tuesday's game against the Detroit Tigers. Buckner's legacy is tied to losing the series in 1986.
The former first baseman knew the same old questions would crop up about that play 22 years ago that has been replayed on television hundreds of times. At first, he turned down the team's request. A few days later he agreed to return to Fenway Park for the first time since 1997 when he was batting coach with the Chicago White Sox.
"I really had to forgive," he said after collecting himself, "not the fans of Boston per se, but I would have to say, in my heart, I had to forgive the media..."
Another pause, this one for 10 seconds, before he continued, "...for what they put me and my family through. So I've done that. I'm over that. And I'm just happy that I just try to think of the positive. The happy things."
And not about the night of Oct. 25 in Shea Stadium when Mookie Wilson's ground ball rolled through his legs in the 10th inning. It capped a three-run rally and drove in the winning run in the New York Mets 6-5 win that forced a seventh game.
The Mets won the final game 8-5 and Boston's streak of no championships since 1918 continued. That drought ended in 2004, and then the Red Sox made it two championships in four years.
Buckner, a .289 hitter in 22 years with more than 100 RBIs in two of his three full seasons with Boston, wasn't the only Red Sox player who failed in the last two games of the 1986 Series. To focus on just one play is "the ugly part of sports," he said.
"I don't think that in society in general that's the way we should operate. What are you teaching kids? Not to try because if you don't succeed then you're going to buried, so don't try?"
The Mets already had tied the game at 5 in the 10th against Calvin Schiraldi and Bob Stanley before Wilson hit the ball to Buckner. And the Red Sox led 3-0 after 5 1/2 innings of Game 7 before the Mets tied it against Bruce Hurst in the bottom of the sixth and nicked Schiraldi for three runs in the seventh.
"You can look at that series and point fingers in a whole bunch of different directions," Buckner said. "We did the best we could to win there and it just didn't happen and I didn't feel like I deserved" so much blame.
"If I felt like it was my fault, I'd step up to the plate and say, `hey, if I wasn't here the Red Sox would have won this thing,' but I really can't do that so I think some of it is unjustly directed my way," he said. "I'm pretty tough mentally, but the hardest part was with my family and my kids and I'm still dealing with it."
His son Bobby is a freshman infielder at the University of Texas. His daughter Christen played softball at Boise (Idaho) High School. She is now a reporter for the Fox television station in Boise and attended her father's news conference for a story to be broadcast Wednesday.
"There were times when they had to deal with it," Buckner said. "I don't think that's fair and that made me a little bitter. I'm over that."
He praised the Red Sox management in place in 1986 and the current ownership group. He thanked fans for their support. He said he'd like to come back some day.
Buckner was cheered continuously as he walked from the Green Monster in left field — draped with an American flag covering both the 2007 and 2004 World Series banners — to the mound, waving to the full house along the way.
Then he stood on the rubber, came to a stretch, threw the ball then made an umpire's strike sign before embracing Evans.
"I'm glad that he's here," Evans said. "Just seeing him walk out, I couldn't be happier for him."
The pregame ceremonies featured appearances from current former players of the Boston Celtics and Bruins and current New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi.
Then the Red Sox received their rings, which feature 42 diamonds of various sizes. The inside of the ring is engraved with: "Boston Red Sox" and "10-28-07."
David Ortiz received his ring last, with the Red Sox' victory song — "Dirty Water" by the Standells — blaring.
Bruschi was touched by the reception for Buckner.
"I thought the ovation was incredible," Bruschi said. "I think you can see the emotion on his face, the way he was taking it all in. I don't know if it was cleansing for him or not. ... I've only been here 13 years but I've heard about that (play) enough."
So has Buckner, who was traded to the Red Sox by the Chicago Cubs in May 1984 and released in July 1987. He rejoined them in 1990 then retired after 22 games.
"Two of my best moments in baseball were when I came back here in '90 and today," he said. "The Red Sox fans, they've been great."
They cheered him in 1986, when the team made it to the seventh game of the World Series.
"It was a great season," Buckner said. "There's a lot of good memories and I'm just happy that I can focus on those."
Buckner Makes Heartfelt Return to Fenway
By HOWARD ULMAN
4-8-8
BOSTON (AP) — Bill Buckner's eyes were red. He paused for 15 seconds to control his emotions. Then he spoke again.
The outstanding hitter known for a costly World Series error had just thrown out the ceremonial first pitch to a loud ovation before the Red Sox home opener Tuesday. It was a strike to former teammate Dwight Evans.
The experience, Buckner said, was "probably about as emotional as it could get."
But he nearly decided not to come.
The Red Sox received their championship rings for winning the 2007 World Series before Tuesday's game against the Detroit Tigers. Buckner's legacy is tied to losing the series in 1986.
The former first baseman knew the same old questions would crop up about that play 22 years ago that has been replayed on television hundreds of times. At first, he turned down the team's request. A few days later he agreed to return to Fenway Park for the first time since 1997 when he was batting coach with the Chicago White Sox.
"I really had to forgive," he said after collecting himself, "not the fans of Boston per se, but I would have to say, in my heart, I had to forgive the media..."
Another pause, this one for 10 seconds, before he continued, "...for what they put me and my family through. So I've done that. I'm over that. And I'm just happy that I just try to think of the positive. The happy things."
And not about the night of Oct. 25 in Shea Stadium when Mookie Wilson's ground ball rolled through his legs in the 10th inning. It capped a three-run rally and drove in the winning run in the New York Mets 6-5 win that forced a seventh game.
The Mets won the final game 8-5 and Boston's streak of no championships since 1918 continued. That drought ended in 2004, and then the Red Sox made it two championships in four years.
Buckner, a .289 hitter in 22 years with more than 100 RBIs in two of his three full seasons with Boston, wasn't the only Red Sox player who failed in the last two games of the 1986 Series. To focus on just one play is "the ugly part of sports," he said.
"I don't think that in society in general that's the way we should operate. What are you teaching kids? Not to try because if you don't succeed then you're going to buried, so don't try?"
The Mets already had tied the game at 5 in the 10th against Calvin Schiraldi and Bob Stanley before Wilson hit the ball to Buckner. And the Red Sox led 3-0 after 5 1/2 innings of Game 7 before the Mets tied it against Bruce Hurst in the bottom of the sixth and nicked Schiraldi for three runs in the seventh.
"You can look at that series and point fingers in a whole bunch of different directions," Buckner said. "We did the best we could to win there and it just didn't happen and I didn't feel like I deserved" so much blame.
"If I felt like it was my fault, I'd step up to the plate and say, `hey, if I wasn't here the Red Sox would have won this thing,' but I really can't do that so I think some of it is unjustly directed my way," he said. "I'm pretty tough mentally, but the hardest part was with my family and my kids and I'm still dealing with it."
His son Bobby is a freshman infielder at the University of Texas. His daughter Christen played softball at Boise (Idaho) High School. She is now a reporter for the Fox television station in Boise and attended her father's news conference for a story to be broadcast Wednesday.
"There were times when they had to deal with it," Buckner said. "I don't think that's fair and that made me a little bitter. I'm over that."
He praised the Red Sox management in place in 1986 and the current ownership group. He thanked fans for their support. He said he'd like to come back some day.
Buckner was cheered continuously as he walked from the Green Monster in left field — draped with an American flag covering both the 2007 and 2004 World Series banners — to the mound, waving to the full house along the way.
Then he stood on the rubber, came to a stretch, threw the ball then made an umpire's strike sign before embracing Evans.
"I'm glad that he's here," Evans said. "Just seeing him walk out, I couldn't be happier for him."
The pregame ceremonies featured appearances from current former players of the Boston Celtics and Bruins and current New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi.
Then the Red Sox received their rings, which feature 42 diamonds of various sizes. The inside of the ring is engraved with: "Boston Red Sox" and "10-28-07."
David Ortiz received his ring last, with the Red Sox' victory song — "Dirty Water" by the Standells — blaring.
Bruschi was touched by the reception for Buckner.
"I thought the ovation was incredible," Bruschi said. "I think you can see the emotion on his face, the way he was taking it all in. I don't know if it was cleansing for him or not. ... I've only been here 13 years but I've heard about that (play) enough."
So has Buckner, who was traded to the Red Sox by the Chicago Cubs in May 1984 and released in July 1987. He rejoined them in 1990 then retired after 22 games.
"Two of my best moments in baseball were when I came back here in '90 and today," he said. "The Red Sox fans, they've been great."
They cheered him in 1986, when the team made it to the seventh game of the World Series.
"It was a great season," Buckner said. "There's a lot of good memories and I'm just happy that I can focus on those."
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