ST. LOUIS - You want to know just how surreal what should have been a celebratory September for the St. Louis Cardinals has turned?
Before last night's game, Cards manager Tony La Russa weighed his team's six-game losing streak against the ace he had in one hand in the form of Chris Carpenter and the slowly reviving offense he had in the other and declared:
"I'd like to get five tonight for Carp and take my chances."
The Cards did get five runs. Problem is, the Padres got six off Carpenter.
Before you could say implosion, the Cardinals had lost, again, their 7-5 defeat another lesson in how to lose a grip on what had once seemed a sure National League Central title.
With five games left, the Cardinals, who led the division by as many as seven games as recently as last Wednesday, now hold but a 11/2-game lead over piping-hot Houston.
"We're not OK because we can't make enough happen to win some games," said La Russa, no longer content to sugarcoat things. "But," he added, "we're still alive. Understand that... . You play hard, you turn things around. And we're playing hard."
The Astros, winners of seven straight after a 7-4 victory in Pittsburgh last night, have chopped five games off the Cardinals' lead since Friday. If that weren't alarming enough for the Cards, their miseries have allowed the Cincinnati Reds - winners of six of 10 - to climb to within 21/2 games.
Cardinals losses. Astros wins. A Reds revival. It's the stuff legendary comebacks and collapses are made of. And all are fueling concerns hereabouts the way oxygen feeds fire.
"One of the toughest parts about this game is the harder you try, the less you perform," catcher Gary Bennett said.
"We have one of two choices: Push back harder or give up. I don't think there's any give-up in this clubhouse."
Still, you can't blame Cardinals fans if they want to know: What in the name of Gene Mauch is going on here?
Yes. The 1964 Phillies and their skipper's name are being invoked in the St. Louis media for reasons other than fond memories of the Cardinals team that took advantage of that historic collapse. All because of an 8-15 September free fall.
Carpenter (15-8) was supposed to end all that. And he seemed braced to, carrying a 5-2 lead into the top of the seventh. It was a lead the ace, who had gone 5-0 with an 0.90 ERA in his previous six home starts, could not hold.
When he gave up four in the seventh, the team that was shaken by four straight losses in Houston over the weekend was left even woozier. Comebacks and close games (the Cards have lost eight of their last nine one-run games) are taking a toll.
Witness La Russa after Monday's 6-5 heartbreaker to the Padres: "It's a really rough stretch. We're so close to breaking through."
Or breaking down.
Third baseman Scott Rolen, for instance, continued to struggle, his slump stretching to 2 for his last 28 last night.
"He can't be asked any more often by trainers and coaches if he's OK," La Russa said before Rolen went 1 for 4. "Some people say he's tired. Some people say he's hurt."
"I'm OK," Rolen quietly declared before the game. "We're getting down to the end, but I am going to go out there and keep grinding, and hopefully good things will happen."
Rolen had been charged with protecting Albert Pujols - until last night, when La Russa dropped Rolen from cleanup to fifth behind Pujols and Juan Encarnacion.
"Fourth is an extra responsibility he doesn't need right now," La Russa said.
Just trying to win a game is responsibility enough. Right now, even that seems more than any Cardinal can handle.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Monday, September 25, 2006
RIP, Braves Dynasty
On Sunday, the Atlanta Braves were eliminated from the National League wild-card race. Thus, their dynasty ends. Again, a job well-done. Time will tell if the absence of Ted Turner's money - and Time Warner's interest - will allow this team to rebuild anytime in the near-future.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Wild for the Phils?
By Claire Smith,
For The Inquirer
There's an adage in baseball that while players crave long-term contracts, endorsements, home-run records and the like, what they really want is to still be around when the leaves turn brown.
With 152 games down and only 10 regular-season games to go, the Phillies are very much still around.
Nine wins in 13 games - leaving them a half-game behind the National League wild-card leading Los Angeles Dodgers - ensured that.
Now, the Phillies enter the final weekend of their final regular-season homestand tantalizingly close to their first postseason since 1993.
Four games. And every single one will mean something, beginning with Florida tonight and ending Monday night with a makeup game against Houston.
Florida, desperately clinging to its own wild-card dream, threw crucial defeats at the playoff-hungry 2005 Phillies.
The Astros? They filleted the 2005 Phils, winning six of six, then won the wild card by one game over, yep, Philly.
Fish vs. Phils. Ryan Howard's power vs. an old nemesis.
What Phillies fan, what Phillies player, could have asked for more?
"It's huge, just what you want," Pat Burrell said. "We've had a kind of inconsistent year, but we've somehow managed to stay in this thing, and now is the time when guys have got to get hot and do their thing. And, hopefully, that will happen."
Indeed, when the Phils get to Fan Appreciation Day on Sunday, they pray they will have given away something more precious than prizes by then.
The real prize fans crave is hope.
Hope that the "no game today" postings that follow homestands won't stand until April but rather only until October.
Hope that the baby-faced home-run basher, Howard, gathers enough strength to return to being, as catcher Mike Lieberthal dubbed him, "the X-factor." In the wild-card chase. In the MVP race. Heck, even in the spirited debate about true home-run records (the purists' 61 hit by Roger Maris or Barry Bonds' unbeloved 73).
Finally, the Phillies are holding hope that at long last the fans who cautiously have been driving up the box-office numbers and TV ratings placed their faith in the right pews.
"It definitely feels different. At this time of the year, in the past, we'd draw about 20,000 fans," said Lieberthal, a veteran of 12 Phillies seasons - some of which played out in Septembers so somber and devoid of meaning that barren, old Veterans Stadium resembled Siberia.
"But it just seems like fans are more into it now," Lieberthal said. "Games may not be sold out, and school is back in, but it seems like the fans are more into it now. There's definitely more excitement."
That can be measured among TV viewers, who drove the Phillies' audience share to double digits five times in the last eight broadcasts. That included an 11 share, or 11 percent of those watching television at the time, for Wednesday's game.
The 6-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs drew a 6.7 rating on CSN - the third such 6-plus rating in eight games. (Each ratings point in the region represents about 30,000 homes.)
As for the box office sales, the Phillies have yet to sell out a game during the homestand that began Monday. Attendance did edge up from 31,100 to 31,500 to 35,000 as the now-completed three-game series against the Cubs progressed.
Initially, the team expected similar crowds for the games tonight and tomorrow at Citizens Bank Park, then 40,000-plus for Fan Appreciation Day.
No more.
"We've moved our projections up," John Weber, the Phillies' director of ticket sales, said yesterday. "We're now hoping to get above 40,000 [tonight], in the mid- to high 30s on Saturday. We are expecting to sell out our game Sunday.
"Monday is still up in the air," Weber said. "It is our last home game... and, hopefully, Howard will be going for a little higher of a number. But the low 30s would be our projection right now."
When walk-up ticket sales projections become as riveting as actual wins and losses, you know there's pennant fever in the air.
Home-run fever could be an added lure, thanks to Howard, a likable, larger-than-life figure who has given this city its first truly Ruthian home-run king.
Howard will enter play tonight against Florida righthander Ricky Nolasco (11-9, 4.56 ERA) with 57 homers.
But having gone without one since Sunday, Howard was very much looking ahead - to the needed off-day yesterday.
"I'm trying to be more comfortable at the plate - and trying to go into this day off not thinking about anything," said Howard, who is sitting on major-league-leading totals in home runs and RBIs (140). "I'm just going to try to forget everything. That's definitely, definitely important."
Getting one's mind right and rested is critical, agreed lefthander Jamie Moyer, a veteran brought in late-season to lend the value of stretch-drive experience to a young team. And, said Moyer, "since I've been here, I've seen guys that are hungry and who want to play the game.
"Some are still learning how - and that's a process that can go on for a long time. But it's important to stay in character, to bring [something] every single day to the ballpark that will help you win games."
Veterans Burrell, Randy Wolf and Lieberthal know that these four games might represent the final times they appear in Phillies home uniforms.
"But when we finally leave here [Monday], I don't think anybody's going to be too emotional thinking this could be their last game played here," Lieberthal said, "because I think everybody believes we're going to be in the playoffs, and that we're going to be back."
For The Inquirer
There's an adage in baseball that while players crave long-term contracts, endorsements, home-run records and the like, what they really want is to still be around when the leaves turn brown.
With 152 games down and only 10 regular-season games to go, the Phillies are very much still around.
Nine wins in 13 games - leaving them a half-game behind the National League wild-card leading Los Angeles Dodgers - ensured that.
Now, the Phillies enter the final weekend of their final regular-season homestand tantalizingly close to their first postseason since 1993.
Four games. And every single one will mean something, beginning with Florida tonight and ending Monday night with a makeup game against Houston.
Florida, desperately clinging to its own wild-card dream, threw crucial defeats at the playoff-hungry 2005 Phillies.
The Astros? They filleted the 2005 Phils, winning six of six, then won the wild card by one game over, yep, Philly.
Fish vs. Phils. Ryan Howard's power vs. an old nemesis.
What Phillies fan, what Phillies player, could have asked for more?
"It's huge, just what you want," Pat Burrell said. "We've had a kind of inconsistent year, but we've somehow managed to stay in this thing, and now is the time when guys have got to get hot and do their thing. And, hopefully, that will happen."
Indeed, when the Phils get to Fan Appreciation Day on Sunday, they pray they will have given away something more precious than prizes by then.
The real prize fans crave is hope.
Hope that the "no game today" postings that follow homestands won't stand until April but rather only until October.
Hope that the baby-faced home-run basher, Howard, gathers enough strength to return to being, as catcher Mike Lieberthal dubbed him, "the X-factor." In the wild-card chase. In the MVP race. Heck, even in the spirited debate about true home-run records (the purists' 61 hit by Roger Maris or Barry Bonds' unbeloved 73).
Finally, the Phillies are holding hope that at long last the fans who cautiously have been driving up the box-office numbers and TV ratings placed their faith in the right pews.
"It definitely feels different. At this time of the year, in the past, we'd draw about 20,000 fans," said Lieberthal, a veteran of 12 Phillies seasons - some of which played out in Septembers so somber and devoid of meaning that barren, old Veterans Stadium resembled Siberia.
"But it just seems like fans are more into it now," Lieberthal said. "Games may not be sold out, and school is back in, but it seems like the fans are more into it now. There's definitely more excitement."
That can be measured among TV viewers, who drove the Phillies' audience share to double digits five times in the last eight broadcasts. That included an 11 share, or 11 percent of those watching television at the time, for Wednesday's game.
The 6-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs drew a 6.7 rating on CSN - the third such 6-plus rating in eight games. (Each ratings point in the region represents about 30,000 homes.)
As for the box office sales, the Phillies have yet to sell out a game during the homestand that began Monday. Attendance did edge up from 31,100 to 31,500 to 35,000 as the now-completed three-game series against the Cubs progressed.
Initially, the team expected similar crowds for the games tonight and tomorrow at Citizens Bank Park, then 40,000-plus for Fan Appreciation Day.
No more.
"We've moved our projections up," John Weber, the Phillies' director of ticket sales, said yesterday. "We're now hoping to get above 40,000 [tonight], in the mid- to high 30s on Saturday. We are expecting to sell out our game Sunday.
"Monday is still up in the air," Weber said. "It is our last home game... and, hopefully, Howard will be going for a little higher of a number. But the low 30s would be our projection right now."
When walk-up ticket sales projections become as riveting as actual wins and losses, you know there's pennant fever in the air.
Home-run fever could be an added lure, thanks to Howard, a likable, larger-than-life figure who has given this city its first truly Ruthian home-run king.
Howard will enter play tonight against Florida righthander Ricky Nolasco (11-9, 4.56 ERA) with 57 homers.
But having gone without one since Sunday, Howard was very much looking ahead - to the needed off-day yesterday.
"I'm trying to be more comfortable at the plate - and trying to go into this day off not thinking about anything," said Howard, who is sitting on major-league-leading totals in home runs and RBIs (140). "I'm just going to try to forget everything. That's definitely, definitely important."
Getting one's mind right and rested is critical, agreed lefthander Jamie Moyer, a veteran brought in late-season to lend the value of stretch-drive experience to a young team. And, said Moyer, "since I've been here, I've seen guys that are hungry and who want to play the game.
"Some are still learning how - and that's a process that can go on for a long time. But it's important to stay in character, to bring [something] every single day to the ballpark that will help you win games."
Veterans Burrell, Randy Wolf and Lieberthal know that these four games might represent the final times they appear in Phillies home uniforms.
"But when we finally leave here [Monday], I don't think anybody's going to be too emotional thinking this could be their last game played here," Lieberthal said, "because I think everybody believes we're going to be in the playoffs, and that we're going to be back."
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Dusty Likes Phillies' "Big Boy"
For two days, Dusty Baker - who once managed Barry Bonds - had watched how Ryan Howard, like Bonds, could send a buzz through a crowd just by stepping to the plate.The Chicago Cubs manager also marveled at how Howard was already seasoned enough to relinquish his slugger's credentials when needed and intelligently chip in a two-out, opposite-field hit.
And when he ran the bases well enough to score from first on a two-out double to left in a 4-1 Phillies victory Tuesday? "Big Boy can roll," marveled Baker.
What Baker didn't see in this three-game Cubs-Phillies series is what pleased him most.Baker did not see Howard's signature play - the howitzer home run - a now-storied shot that has made the Phillies first baseman the most feared long-ball threat in the game.
Fifty-seven times opposition managers have seen the bolts; Baker did once when Howard homered at Wrigley Field last month. But not in this series.
"Hopefully," Baker said before last night's game, "we can get out of here tonight and deal with Howard next year."
In a way, baseball men like Baker are as curious about all of Howard's tomorrows as they are cautious about his todays.
"You'd better hope you have a lefthander ready, and really hope you have two to increase your odds," Baker said. "There's no guarantee either way, but when you're facing this team and you have to face [Chase] Utley and Howard, back to back? You've got to have more than one lefty during the course of the game.
"For two games, Cubs reliever Will Ohman - with two confrontations and two strikeouts of Howard - seemed to be that lefty. "It was very impressive, but you don't want to be in that situation too often," Baker said with a chuckle. "I don't care how good he's done against him. Every time Will gets him out, the law of averages is on Howard's side."
Howard proved Baker right when he faced Ohman in the fifth and raked a double last night.
"He just kind of left the pitch up, and you've just got to jump on it sometimes," said Howard, who went on to score in that inning, paving the way to a 6-2 Phillies victory.
So he is dangerous. But as dangerous as Bonds?
"Not yet," Baker said, "because look how long it took for Barry to get to that point."In the first four or five years, you could pitch to Barry. After that, Barry went to that next level."
Howard's first two-at bats against relative unknown lefty Les Walrond last night (strikeout swinging on a breaking ball, groundout) illustrated how difficult finding that level is in the face of increasingly stealthy pitches."
And that will be tougher this next week, because there's a lot at stake and he's no longer a secret," said Baker, referring to the Phillies' chase for the wild card."
Right now, you can probably pitch to him a little bit and he can get himself out, but after a while, he's going to stop swinging at the balls that he's swinging at. Then you're really going to be in trouble."
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Homestretch Triumph
By Claire Smith
In today's Inquirer
Citizens Bank Park - home, sweet home or house of horrors?
The Phillies, running out of time in their quest to close the deal on the National League wild card, entered last night's game against the visiting Chicago Cubs needing to decide which it is.
After struggling initially, the Phillies finally settled on the latter, thanks to the pitching savvy of veteran Jamie Moyer and just enough offense to win, 4-1.
The victory ensured that the Phillies would remain, at worst, 11/2 games behind San Diego in the wild-card chase. The Padres played later against visiting Arizona.
Fortunately for the Phillies, Moyer was obviously as at home as a Phillie could hope to be while making only his second start at Citizens Bank since being acquired Aug. 19 from Seattle.
The 43-year-old lefthander, 3-2 as a Phillie, pitched seven innings of six-hit, one-run ball to improve to 1-0 at the Bank.
The Phillies? They are 37-39 here. But at least the win quieted for a night questions about why the Phillies remain the only big-league club with a winning record on the road and a losing mark at home.
It also allowed the team that entered play three games under .500 at Citizens Bank to reclaim the momentum built on a 7-3 trip.
That trip had made it possible for Phillies fans to care about what happens on this crucial - and final - homestand of the year.
"Three or four more games [won] at home and - who knows? - maybe we'd be leading the wild-card division," reliever Tom Gordon said after pitching a scoreless ninth for his 32d save. "But these games are really, really key games for us, and we've just got to fight.
"And," the veteran of many a pennant-stretch run noted, "the important thing is we've put ourselves in a situation to fight - and a good team will prevail. And the way we've played the last two months, we're that good team."
The Phillies needed to show that very much after the 11-6 debacle of a loss in the series opener Monday, a loss that had brought Charlie Manuel back to his season-long position of having to explain this peculiar home-field "disadvantage."
"I don't even know the answer to that," the manager said before the game. "I have thought about it and thought about it... . We just need to be a little more alert and cool."
Cool? Last night the Phillies needed to act as if they understood that there were only 12 games remaining in their season, and half of those to be played - here - by Monday.
Initially, only Moyer, a St. Joseph's product, seemed a sea of calm as he and the Cubs' Wade Miller, a Reading native, traded scoreless innings through four.
The Phillies' awkwardness at the plate was evident, and the uneasy crowd of 31,892 picked up on that immediately.
Ask Pat Burrell.
Miller, a rebuilt righthander making only his third appearance of the year after off-season shoulder surgery, snaked a slow curve past the hesitant Burrell for a called third strike to end a bases-loaded, first-inning threat. The boos rained on Burrell.
Failure to pounce on Miller (0-2) was a group effort from the start. He struck out eight through the first four innings, and the Phillies stranded seven; shortstop Jimmy Rollins' strikeout in the fourth stranded three alone.
Still, it was Burrell's first-inning strikeout - his sixth in three-plus games - that filled the park with that famed Philly venom.
Increasingly targeted by boo birds waiting to jump on what goes wrong, Burrell could not respond. Fortunately for him, his teammates did.
In the bottom of the fifth, with two outs, Howard singled, then churned home on a double by David Dellucci - the designated Howard protector of the day.
One Cubs error and a two-run bloop single off the bat of Abraham Nunez gave the Phillies a 3-0 edge after five.
A Rollins' home run in the eighth sealed the deal and restored what the Phillies needed most - their taste for home cooking.
See a photo gallery at http://go.philly.com/photos.
In today's Inquirer
Citizens Bank Park - home, sweet home or house of horrors?
The Phillies, running out of time in their quest to close the deal on the National League wild card, entered last night's game against the visiting Chicago Cubs needing to decide which it is.
After struggling initially, the Phillies finally settled on the latter, thanks to the pitching savvy of veteran Jamie Moyer and just enough offense to win, 4-1.
The victory ensured that the Phillies would remain, at worst, 11/2 games behind San Diego in the wild-card chase. The Padres played later against visiting Arizona.
Fortunately for the Phillies, Moyer was obviously as at home as a Phillie could hope to be while making only his second start at Citizens Bank since being acquired Aug. 19 from Seattle.
The 43-year-old lefthander, 3-2 as a Phillie, pitched seven innings of six-hit, one-run ball to improve to 1-0 at the Bank.
The Phillies? They are 37-39 here. But at least the win quieted for a night questions about why the Phillies remain the only big-league club with a winning record on the road and a losing mark at home.
It also allowed the team that entered play three games under .500 at Citizens Bank to reclaim the momentum built on a 7-3 trip.
That trip had made it possible for Phillies fans to care about what happens on this crucial - and final - homestand of the year.
"Three or four more games [won] at home and - who knows? - maybe we'd be leading the wild-card division," reliever Tom Gordon said after pitching a scoreless ninth for his 32d save. "But these games are really, really key games for us, and we've just got to fight.
"And," the veteran of many a pennant-stretch run noted, "the important thing is we've put ourselves in a situation to fight - and a good team will prevail. And the way we've played the last two months, we're that good team."
The Phillies needed to show that very much after the 11-6 debacle of a loss in the series opener Monday, a loss that had brought Charlie Manuel back to his season-long position of having to explain this peculiar home-field "disadvantage."
"I don't even know the answer to that," the manager said before the game. "I have thought about it and thought about it... . We just need to be a little more alert and cool."
Cool? Last night the Phillies needed to act as if they understood that there were only 12 games remaining in their season, and half of those to be played - here - by Monday.
Initially, only Moyer, a St. Joseph's product, seemed a sea of calm as he and the Cubs' Wade Miller, a Reading native, traded scoreless innings through four.
The Phillies' awkwardness at the plate was evident, and the uneasy crowd of 31,892 picked up on that immediately.
Ask Pat Burrell.
Miller, a rebuilt righthander making only his third appearance of the year after off-season shoulder surgery, snaked a slow curve past the hesitant Burrell for a called third strike to end a bases-loaded, first-inning threat. The boos rained on Burrell.
Failure to pounce on Miller (0-2) was a group effort from the start. He struck out eight through the first four innings, and the Phillies stranded seven; shortstop Jimmy Rollins' strikeout in the fourth stranded three alone.
Still, it was Burrell's first-inning strikeout - his sixth in three-plus games - that filled the park with that famed Philly venom.
Increasingly targeted by boo birds waiting to jump on what goes wrong, Burrell could not respond. Fortunately for him, his teammates did.
In the bottom of the fifth, with two outs, Howard singled, then churned home on a double by David Dellucci - the designated Howard protector of the day.
One Cubs error and a two-run bloop single off the bat of Abraham Nunez gave the Phillies a 3-0 edge after five.
A Rollins' home run in the eighth sealed the deal and restored what the Phillies needed most - their taste for home cooking.
See a photo gallery at http://go.philly.com/photos.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
A tough loss, but good possibilities remain
No other team gained ground on the Phillies, and the wild card is within reach - especially with Howard's big bat.
By Claire Smith
For the Inquirer
When the Phillies took the field last night, the upper decks in right field and down the left-field line were sparsely populated.
Citizens Bank Park is not yet the place you absolutely have to be. But as fans started to drift in to fill the lower left-field bleachers with their fannies and the air with their cheers, you couldn't help but imagine the possibilities.
Do things right, the Phillies had to know, and the days of ambiguity might end, in the National League wild-card race in which they hovered one game out of first at the start of play last night. And in the hearts and minds of reticent Philadelphia sports fans.
All it would take was... what?
One more gutsy postseason guarantee by Mike Lieberthal?
One more series victory over a team the Phillies not only have to beat, but should beat?
One more gargantuan, game-winning blow by Ryan Howard during his march toward the still-magical 61-homer mark?
Someone to take charge after a tough loss - like last night's 11-6 pasting by the visiting Chicago Cubs?
A rare clunker from a starter (Jon Lieber, 21/3 innings, five earned runs, two incredibly hard-hit homers by Aramis Ramirez) sent most of the starting nine home without comment, including Lieber.
Makes you wonder about pressure, from within and without.
Still, the Phillies had to know, even in defeat that the signs remain good.
No team closed ground on them, nor do many seem to remain serious threats to their second-place wild-card standing.
Second, the Phillies did not go quietly, especially after Howard was plunked by Cubs starter Sean Marshall in the fourth inning.
That ignited the crowd of 31,101, which included about 4,000 walk-ups. For a time it ignited something within the Phillies, too, who closed within two runs after a pinch-hit grand slam by Jose Hernandez topped a six-run fourth.
It proved to be not enough. As Charlie Manuel reminded during batting practice, "We've got to go out there and take care of our business." Last night that did not happen. Not against a team thriving in the role of spoiler.
The Cubs, after all, took four of six from the wild-card-contending Dodgers and Reds last week. "They've been playing good ball, if I am not mistaken," centerfielder Shane Victorino said.
Still, even after rampaging around the bases, Chicago did not trample the Phillies' shot at October. And that goes a long way, even when you lose by five.
Possibilities buy you time.
Howard alone has the potential to form a one-man brass band down the stretch. That much was clear before the game when the Cubs' dugout, filled with players and coaches and the likes of former Phillies outfielders Garry Maddox and Gary Matthews, marveled at the major-league home-run leader during batting practice.
"Fifty-seven home runs - you've got to give him the MVP just because of that," said Matthews, a coach with the Cubs.
"I was getting a haircut today and they were calling Ryan Howard the black Babe Ruth," said Maddox. "And this was over in Camden, where there hasn't been much outreach.
"But when somebody puts up stats like that, everybody's paying attention."
Even after the big guy went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, the Phillies are still so counting on that. And still expecting more
By Claire Smith
For the Inquirer
When the Phillies took the field last night, the upper decks in right field and down the left-field line were sparsely populated.
Citizens Bank Park is not yet the place you absolutely have to be. But as fans started to drift in to fill the lower left-field bleachers with their fannies and the air with their cheers, you couldn't help but imagine the possibilities.
Do things right, the Phillies had to know, and the days of ambiguity might end, in the National League wild-card race in which they hovered one game out of first at the start of play last night. And in the hearts and minds of reticent Philadelphia sports fans.
All it would take was... what?
One more gutsy postseason guarantee by Mike Lieberthal?
One more series victory over a team the Phillies not only have to beat, but should beat?
One more gargantuan, game-winning blow by Ryan Howard during his march toward the still-magical 61-homer mark?
Someone to take charge after a tough loss - like last night's 11-6 pasting by the visiting Chicago Cubs?
A rare clunker from a starter (Jon Lieber, 21/3 innings, five earned runs, two incredibly hard-hit homers by Aramis Ramirez) sent most of the starting nine home without comment, including Lieber.
Makes you wonder about pressure, from within and without.
Still, the Phillies had to know, even in defeat that the signs remain good.
No team closed ground on them, nor do many seem to remain serious threats to their second-place wild-card standing.
Second, the Phillies did not go quietly, especially after Howard was plunked by Cubs starter Sean Marshall in the fourth inning.
That ignited the crowd of 31,101, which included about 4,000 walk-ups. For a time it ignited something within the Phillies, too, who closed within two runs after a pinch-hit grand slam by Jose Hernandez topped a six-run fourth.
It proved to be not enough. As Charlie Manuel reminded during batting practice, "We've got to go out there and take care of our business." Last night that did not happen. Not against a team thriving in the role of spoiler.
The Cubs, after all, took four of six from the wild-card-contending Dodgers and Reds last week. "They've been playing good ball, if I am not mistaken," centerfielder Shane Victorino said.
Still, even after rampaging around the bases, Chicago did not trample the Phillies' shot at October. And that goes a long way, even when you lose by five.
Possibilities buy you time.
Howard alone has the potential to form a one-man brass band down the stretch. That much was clear before the game when the Cubs' dugout, filled with players and coaches and the likes of former Phillies outfielders Garry Maddox and Gary Matthews, marveled at the major-league home-run leader during batting practice.
"Fifty-seven home runs - you've got to give him the MVP just because of that," said Matthews, a coach with the Cubs.
"I was getting a haircut today and they were calling Ryan Howard the black Babe Ruth," said Maddox. "And this was over in Camden, where there hasn't been much outreach.
"But when somebody puts up stats like that, everybody's paying attention."
Even after the big guy went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, the Phillies are still so counting on that. And still expecting more
Integrating past into the present
Tribute to Murtaugh raises money for future.
The Pittsburgh Pirates proved that good things can - and do - happen at a confluence when they brought home a World Series championship to Three Rivers Stadium in 1971.
Yesterday, the Phillies and Delaware County sought to borrow from that trailblazing team's legacy. The Pirates' cross-state rivals joined with the Delaware County Athletes Sports Hall of Fame to bring three good causes together when they gathered at the Renaissance Airport Hotel to honor Danny Murtaugh, the Chester native who managed the '71 Bucs, and raise money to revive baseball in inner cities, in general, and Murtaugh's hometown, in particular.
Murtaugh, who died in 1976, was feted for his vision, as well as a career that was comparable to Hall of Fame managers Tommy Lasorda and Earl Weaver.
"He led the Pirates to two World Series [titles] the Pirates had no business winning," said Bruce Markusen, author of 1971 Pirates, the Team that Changed Baseball.
Aside from the upsets of the Yankees in 1960 and the Orioles in '71, Murtaugh was also remembered for his refusal to bow to the unspoken belief that a preponderance of minorities should not be fielded on any given day.
For those reasons, Markusen declared: "Danny Murtaugh deserves to be in the Hall of Fame."
Murtaugh's son, Tim, recalling Sept. 1, 1971, the historic day when his father fielded an all-minority lineup, against the Phillies, amused the sold-out luncheon when he revealed that his father was color-blind - literally.
"It must have been an omen of things to come," Tim Murtaugh said after telling how his father's medical affliction was discovered when he attempted to become a pilot in the Army Air Corps in World War II.
All who gathered agreed that Murtaugh would have applauded the effort to revitalize youth ball in cities such as Chester. The Phillies were applauded for their work, especially when Rob Holiday, the Phillies' assistant director of scouting, told of the growth of the team's Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities initiative, which is known as RBI.
When the Phillies' RBI branch started in 1989, 200 children participated in what was then a neighborhood Puerto Rican Rookie League.
The Phillies now promote and sponsor RBI teams and leagues in which up to 7,500 children participate throughout the Delaware Valley.
"Baseball is a wonderful game," Dick Allen, the former Phillies slugger who is part of the Phillies' RBI vanguard, told the audience.
"To see kids having fun playing with one little baseball - no guns, no shootings, no knives... . When they're started young, they're on their way," Allen said.
Then, nodding toward a table filled with members of the Chester Red Sox - the only youth team in Chester and the beneficiary of the fund-raiser - Allen said, "When they get to these fellas' age, they're well on their way."
Fifteen-year-old Keyon Staples, an outfielder with the Red Sox, agreed.
"Some people don't understand why we play," he said. "They say baseball is a white person's sport, that blacks should play football and basketball. But they don't know about it. Baseball is fun, too, and I love it."
The Pittsburgh Pirates proved that good things can - and do - happen at a confluence when they brought home a World Series championship to Three Rivers Stadium in 1971.
Yesterday, the Phillies and Delaware County sought to borrow from that trailblazing team's legacy. The Pirates' cross-state rivals joined with the Delaware County Athletes Sports Hall of Fame to bring three good causes together when they gathered at the Renaissance Airport Hotel to honor Danny Murtaugh, the Chester native who managed the '71 Bucs, and raise money to revive baseball in inner cities, in general, and Murtaugh's hometown, in particular.
Murtaugh, who died in 1976, was feted for his vision, as well as a career that was comparable to Hall of Fame managers Tommy Lasorda and Earl Weaver.
"He led the Pirates to two World Series [titles] the Pirates had no business winning," said Bruce Markusen, author of 1971 Pirates, the Team that Changed Baseball.
Aside from the upsets of the Yankees in 1960 and the Orioles in '71, Murtaugh was also remembered for his refusal to bow to the unspoken belief that a preponderance of minorities should not be fielded on any given day.
For those reasons, Markusen declared: "Danny Murtaugh deserves to be in the Hall of Fame."
Murtaugh's son, Tim, recalling Sept. 1, 1971, the historic day when his father fielded an all-minority lineup, against the Phillies, amused the sold-out luncheon when he revealed that his father was color-blind - literally.
"It must have been an omen of things to come," Tim Murtaugh said after telling how his father's medical affliction was discovered when he attempted to become a pilot in the Army Air Corps in World War II.
All who gathered agreed that Murtaugh would have applauded the effort to revitalize youth ball in cities such as Chester. The Phillies were applauded for their work, especially when Rob Holiday, the Phillies' assistant director of scouting, told of the growth of the team's Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities initiative, which is known as RBI.
When the Phillies' RBI branch started in 1989, 200 children participated in what was then a neighborhood Puerto Rican Rookie League.
The Phillies now promote and sponsor RBI teams and leagues in which up to 7,500 children participate throughout the Delaware Valley.
"Baseball is a wonderful game," Dick Allen, the former Phillies slugger who is part of the Phillies' RBI vanguard, told the audience.
"To see kids having fun playing with one little baseball - no guns, no shootings, no knives... . When they're started young, they're on their way," Allen said.
Then, nodding toward a table filled with members of the Chester Red Sox - the only youth team in Chester and the beneficiary of the fund-raiser - Allen said, "When they get to these fellas' age, they're well on their way."
Fifteen-year-old Keyon Staples, an outfielder with the Red Sox, agreed.
"Some people don't understand why we play," he said. "They say baseball is a white person's sport, that blacks should play football and basketball. But they don't know about it. Baseball is fun, too, and I love it."
Friday, September 15, 2006
Treadmill frustrations
When Phillies manager Charlie Manuel complained that his yo-yoing team "can't get something going" shortly after the Phils' 4-1 loss to Atlanta Thursday, six other managers dying to see their teams launch a wholehearted run at the wild-card could relate.
As the seven wild-card contender/pretenders headed into play Friday night, only two - San Diego and San Francisco - could claim to have won more games then they had lost in their previous 10 games. SD and SF won seven of their previous 10. The Phillies, Marlins, Astros and Braves had slogged into action at 5-5 in their previous 10. The Reds had faltered along at 4-6.
Friday, the Reds, Phillies and Fish won while the Astros and Braves lost.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, the team leading the NL West, but definitely feeling the hot breath of the torrid Giants and relentless Padres, had also lost 6 of their previous 10, not great momentum heading into this weekend's showdown with the Pods. Continue playing like that, the Dodgers had to know, would likely dump them from the top of the NL West and into the ranks of the Seven Dwarf minions, suspect company, indeed.
Here is a look at the teams limping into crucial weekend series:
Los Angeles: 77-69, following 6-5 loss at Chicago Thursday.
Games left: 16 - 10 home, six road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (vs. San Diego)
San Diego: 76-69, following 4-2 win at Cincinnati Thursday.
Games left: 17 - Six home, 11 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Seven (Four at L.A., three at St. Louis)
San Francisco: 74-73, following 14-4 loss at St. Louis Friday.
Games left: 15 - Seven home, eight road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Six (two at St. Louis, three vs. L.A.)
Florida: 74-73, following 6-4 victory at Atlanta Friday.
Games left: 15 - Six home, nine road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (at Mets)
Philadelphia: 75-72, following a 4-3 victory at Houston Friday.
Games left: 15 - Seven home, eight road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Zero
Cincinnati: 73-74 following 4-0 victory at Chicago Friday.
Games left: 15 - Four home, 11 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Zero
Houston: 71-75. following a 4-3 loss to Philadelphia Friday.
Games left: 16 - Nine home, seven road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (vs. St. Louis)
Atlanta: 70-77, following 6-4 loss to Florida Friday.
Games left: 15 - eight home, seven road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Three (vs. Mets)
As the seven wild-card contender/pretenders headed into play Friday night, only two - San Diego and San Francisco - could claim to have won more games then they had lost in their previous 10 games. SD and SF won seven of their previous 10. The Phillies, Marlins, Astros and Braves had slogged into action at 5-5 in their previous 10. The Reds had faltered along at 4-6.
Friday, the Reds, Phillies and Fish won while the Astros and Braves lost.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, the team leading the NL West, but definitely feeling the hot breath of the torrid Giants and relentless Padres, had also lost 6 of their previous 10, not great momentum heading into this weekend's showdown with the Pods. Continue playing like that, the Dodgers had to know, would likely dump them from the top of the NL West and into the ranks of the Seven Dwarf minions, suspect company, indeed.
Here is a look at the teams limping into crucial weekend series:
Los Angeles: 77-69, following 6-5 loss at Chicago Thursday.
Games left: 16 - 10 home, six road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (vs. San Diego)
San Diego: 76-69, following 4-2 win at Cincinnati Thursday.
Games left: 17 - Six home, 11 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Seven (Four at L.A., three at St. Louis)
San Francisco: 74-73, following 14-4 loss at St. Louis Friday.
Games left: 15 - Seven home, eight road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Six (two at St. Louis, three vs. L.A.)
Florida: 74-73, following 6-4 victory at Atlanta Friday.
Games left: 15 - Six home, nine road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (at Mets)
Philadelphia: 75-72, following a 4-3 victory at Houston Friday.
Games left: 15 - Seven home, eight road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Zero
Cincinnati: 73-74 following 4-0 victory at Chicago Friday.
Games left: 15 - Four home, 11 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Zero
Houston: 71-75. following a 4-3 loss to Philadelphia Friday.
Games left: 16 - Nine home, seven road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (vs. St. Louis)
Atlanta: 70-77, following 6-4 loss to Florida Friday.
Games left: 15 - eight home, seven road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Three (vs. Mets)
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Wild-card mania, continued...
The Bums are bumming.
L.A. dropped two of three in Wrigley Field, a continuation of a road trip in which the Dodgers lost two of three in Milwaukee and split four in New York. L.A.'s life on the treadmill has allowed San Diego to pull with a half-game of the flagging NL West leaders. It has allowed the Giants to crawl back to within reach of the division lead. And it has muddled the league wild-card race.
Streaking the other way - the Phillies, who held a clubhouse meeting on Tuesday after a game in Atlanta was washed out. The Phillies then held sway over the all-but-dead Braves Wednesday, sweeping a pair to pull within 1 1/2 games of the wild-card leading Padres.
Got all that?
Here is another wild-card update, made necessary by decreased seperation of the contenders/pretenders:
Los Angeles: 77-69, following 6-5 loss at Chicago Thursday.
Games left: 16 - 10 home, six road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (vs. San Diego)
San Diego: 76-69, following 4-2 win at Cincinnati Thursday.
Games left: 17 - Six home, 11 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Seven (Four at L.A., three at St. Louis)
San Francisco: 73-72 (33-39, road)
Games left: 17 Eight home, nine road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Six (three at St. Louis, three vs. L.A.)
Florida: 73-73 (33-38, road)
Games left: 16 Six home, 10 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (four at Mets)
Philadelphia: 74-71 (38-33, road)
Games left: 17 Seven home, 10 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Zero
Cincinnati: 72-74 following 4-2 loss to San Diego Thursday.
Games left: 16 Four home, 12 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Zero
Houston: 71-74
Games left: 17 Ten home, seven road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (vs. St. Louis)
Atlanta: 69-76
Games left: 17 10 home, seven road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Three (vs. Mets)
L.A. dropped two of three in Wrigley Field, a continuation of a road trip in which the Dodgers lost two of three in Milwaukee and split four in New York. L.A.'s life on the treadmill has allowed San Diego to pull with a half-game of the flagging NL West leaders. It has allowed the Giants to crawl back to within reach of the division lead. And it has muddled the league wild-card race.
Streaking the other way - the Phillies, who held a clubhouse meeting on Tuesday after a game in Atlanta was washed out. The Phillies then held sway over the all-but-dead Braves Wednesday, sweeping a pair to pull within 1 1/2 games of the wild-card leading Padres.
Got all that?
Here is another wild-card update, made necessary by decreased seperation of the contenders/pretenders:
Los Angeles: 77-69, following 6-5 loss at Chicago Thursday.
Games left: 16 - 10 home, six road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (vs. San Diego)
San Diego: 76-69, following 4-2 win at Cincinnati Thursday.
Games left: 17 - Six home, 11 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Seven (Four at L.A., three at St. Louis)
San Francisco: 73-72 (33-39, road)
Games left: 17 Eight home, nine road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Six (three at St. Louis, three vs. L.A.)
Florida: 73-73 (33-38, road)
Games left: 16 Six home, 10 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (four at Mets)
Philadelphia: 74-71 (38-33, road)
Games left: 17 Seven home, 10 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Zero
Cincinnati: 72-74 following 4-2 loss to San Diego Thursday.
Games left: 16 Four home, 12 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Zero
Houston: 71-74
Games left: 17 Ten home, seven road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (vs. St. Louis)
Atlanta: 69-76
Games left: 17 10 home, seven road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Three (vs. Mets)
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Braves' run over; Yankees' up next
A Mets' victory or a Braves' loss tonight will bring to an end Atlanta's major-league record-run of 14 straight division titles.
Once that is a done-deal, the team with the longest current streak of consecutive division titles won will be the Yankees, with eight. Not-so-bold prediction: the Bombers' Their streak will stretch to nine since 10 1/2-game leads in mid-September are rarely blown.
Especially not when you field a lineup of the sort the Yankees are sporting these days. With the return of Hideki Matsui, the addition of Bobby Abreu and the pending activation of Gary Sheffield, the Yankees will have current or one-time all-stars at every position except second.
Joe Torre's toughest decision of the day is who to sit, not who to play. An embarrassment of riches? To some. To Torre, it's a window to a world of possibilities - not to mention the expensive pieces that could make a run at the division title-champion Braves possible.
Once that is a done-deal, the team with the longest current streak of consecutive division titles won will be the Yankees, with eight. Not-so-bold prediction: the Bombers' Their streak will stretch to nine since 10 1/2-game leads in mid-September are rarely blown.
Especially not when you field a lineup of the sort the Yankees are sporting these days. With the return of Hideki Matsui, the addition of Bobby Abreu and the pending activation of Gary Sheffield, the Yankees will have current or one-time all-stars at every position except second.
Joe Torre's toughest decision of the day is who to sit, not who to play. An embarrassment of riches? To some. To Torre, it's a window to a world of possibilities - not to mention the expensive pieces that could make a run at the division title-champion Braves possible.
Braves' run over; Yankees' up next
A Mets' victory or a Braves' loss tonight will bring to an end Atlanta's major-league record-run of 14 straight division titles.
Once that is a done-deal, the team with the longest current streak of consecutive division titles won will be the Yankees, with eight. Not-so-bold prediction: the Bombers' Their streak will stretch to nine since 10 1/2-game leads in mid-September are rarely blown.
Especially not when you field a lineup of the sort the Yankees are sporting these days. With the return of Hideki Matsui, the addition of Bobby Abreu and the pending activation of Gary Sheffield, the Yankees will have current or one-time all-stars at every position except second.
Joe Torre's toughest decision of the day is who to sit, not who to play. An embarrassment of riches? To some. To Torre, it's a window to a world of possibilities - not to mention the expensive pieces that could make a run at the division title-champion Braves possible.
Once that is a done-deal, the team with the longest current streak of consecutive division titles won will be the Yankees, with eight. Not-so-bold prediction: the Bombers' Their streak will stretch to nine since 10 1/2-game leads in mid-September are rarely blown.
Especially not when you field a lineup of the sort the Yankees are sporting these days. With the return of Hideki Matsui, the addition of Bobby Abreu and the pending activation of Gary Sheffield, the Yankees will have current or one-time all-stars at every position except second.
Joe Torre's toughest decision of the day is who to sit, not who to play. An embarrassment of riches? To some. To Torre, it's a window to a world of possibilities - not to mention the expensive pieces that could make a run at the division title-champion Braves possible.
Wild Card Update
Thank the Dodgers for making this 7 Dwarfs+1 race so much fun.
A disastrous loss in Chicago assured three things: L.A.'s presumed win in the NL West is anything but assured. Two, the Padres' late-inning stumble in Cincinnati cost San Diego a day off the calendar but not a game in the standings. Meanwhile, the ancient Giants are like sharks sniffing for blood in the water out west. Faster than you can say Bobby Thomson, the franchise most hated by the Bums is creeping closer to the top of the division.
Out in middle America, you just know that the Cardinals will find it very sweet to put another nail in the fast-fading Astros' coffin by completing a three-game sweep tonight.
You remember the 'Stros, the team Houston manager Phil Garner said could not afford to lose another game this season - three losses ago!
The Phillies, the team that still has the easiest path to the playoffs because of the poor records of the teams left on their schedule, could help themselves tremendously with a doubleheader sweep tonight, but won't do it if the offense does not wake up.
Sure, Pat Burrell and his bat are toast, but can somebody else please step up! Ryan Howard cannot do it alone.
Here is the tale of the tape heading into tonight's games:
Los Angeles: 76-68 (32-41, road) Games left: 18 10 home, eight road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (vs. San Diego)
San Diego: 74-69 (36-32, road) Games left: 19 Six home, 13 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Seven (Four at L.A., three at St. Louis)
San Francisco 73-71 (33-39, road) Games left: 18 Nine home, nine road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Six (three at St. Louis, three vs. L.A.)
Florida 73-72 (33-38, road) Games left: 17 Seven home, 10 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Five (one vs. Mets, four at Mets)
Philadelphia 72-71 (36-33, road) Games left: 19 Seven home, 12 road Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Zero
Cincinnati 72-72 (33-26, road) Games left: 18 Six home, 12 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Two (vs. San Diego)
Houston 70-74 (32-41, road) Games left: 18 Ten home, eight road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Five (one at St. Louis, four vs. St. Louis)
Atlanta 69-74 (36-38, road) Games left: 19 12 home, seven road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Three (vs. Mets)
A disastrous loss in Chicago assured three things: L.A.'s presumed win in the NL West is anything but assured. Two, the Padres' late-inning stumble in Cincinnati cost San Diego a day off the calendar but not a game in the standings. Meanwhile, the ancient Giants are like sharks sniffing for blood in the water out west. Faster than you can say Bobby Thomson, the franchise most hated by the Bums is creeping closer to the top of the division.
Out in middle America, you just know that the Cardinals will find it very sweet to put another nail in the fast-fading Astros' coffin by completing a three-game sweep tonight.
You remember the 'Stros, the team Houston manager Phil Garner said could not afford to lose another game this season - three losses ago!
The Phillies, the team that still has the easiest path to the playoffs because of the poor records of the teams left on their schedule, could help themselves tremendously with a doubleheader sweep tonight, but won't do it if the offense does not wake up.
Sure, Pat Burrell and his bat are toast, but can somebody else please step up! Ryan Howard cannot do it alone.
Here is the tale of the tape heading into tonight's games:
Los Angeles: 76-68 (32-41, road) Games left: 18 10 home, eight road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (vs. San Diego)
San Diego: 74-69 (36-32, road) Games left: 19 Six home, 13 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Seven (Four at L.A., three at St. Louis)
San Francisco 73-71 (33-39, road) Games left: 18 Nine home, nine road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Six (three at St. Louis, three vs. L.A.)
Florida 73-72 (33-38, road) Games left: 17 Seven home, 10 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Five (one vs. Mets, four at Mets)
Philadelphia 72-71 (36-33, road) Games left: 19 Seven home, 12 road Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Zero
Cincinnati 72-72 (33-26, road) Games left: 18 Six home, 12 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Two (vs. San Diego)
Houston 70-74 (32-41, road) Games left: 18 Ten home, eight road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Five (one at St. Louis, four vs. St. Louis)
Atlanta 69-74 (36-38, road) Games left: 19 12 home, seven road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Three (vs. Mets)
Monday, September 11, 2006
What, did they expect a medal?
PITTSBURGH (ASSOCIATED PRESS) - A T-ball coach accused of offering an 8-year-old boy $25 to bean a disabled teammate is unlikely to receive a fair trial because of intense media coverage, the man's lawyer said.
Mark R. Downs Jr., 29, of Dunbar, was scheduled to go on trial Tuesday in Fayette County on a string of charges, including solicitation, corruption of minors and reckless endangerment. He refused a plea agreement in December.
The charges against Downs drew the attention of media outlets around the world. Many columnists expressed disgust at what they considered adult corruption of a child's sport.
"We feel he's been persecuted by the media," defense attorney Thomas Shaffer said. "[The case] was on from the nightly news in Japan to every syndicated network broadcast across the country."
***This guy is lucky the charges don't carry death threat implications ***
Mark R. Downs Jr., 29, of Dunbar, was scheduled to go on trial Tuesday in Fayette County on a string of charges, including solicitation, corruption of minors and reckless endangerment. He refused a plea agreement in December.
The charges against Downs drew the attention of media outlets around the world. Many columnists expressed disgust at what they considered adult corruption of a child's sport.
"We feel he's been persecuted by the media," defense attorney Thomas Shaffer said. "[The case] was on from the nightly news in Japan to every syndicated network broadcast across the country."
***This guy is lucky the charges don't carry death threat implications ***
Wild, wild Wild Card Race
Ah, the National League Wild Card - 20 games to go and still as clear as mud, what with eight teams fighting for one playoff invitation (yes, that eight includes Los Angeles, because of the Dodgers' failure to shake the Padres and assure that the NL West flag is truly their own). Which team will prove to be the mudder, the horse with the best kick left in this wacky stretch drive?
My only prediction: The Phillies - the team with the most obvious Mvp candidate (Ryan Howard, left) and the easiest remaining schedule - have the path of least resistence of the brood and, therefore, the least amount of excuses not to win advancement to the playoffs. If you think not, take a look at what faces the contenders, and the pretenders, in the final three weeks of the regular season as they head into play today (Sept. 11):
Los Angeles: 76-67 (32-40, road)
Games left: 19
10 home, nine road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Four (vs. San Diego)
San Diego: 74-68 (36-31, road)
Games left: 20
Six home, 14 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Seven (Four at L.A., three at St. Louis)
San Francisco 72-71 (32-39, road)
Games left: 19
Nine home, 10 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Seven (three at St. Louis, three vs. L.A.)
Philadelphia 72-71 (36-33, road)
Games left: 19
Seven home, 12 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Zero
Florida 73-71, after 16-5 victory over Mets Monday (33-38, road)
Games left: 18
Eight home, 10 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Six (two vs. Mets, four at Mets)
Cincinnati 71-72 (33-26, road)
Games left: 19
Seven home, 12 road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Three (vs. San Diego)
Houston 70-73 after 7-0 loss at Cardinals Monday night (32-40, road)
Games left: 19
Ten home, nine road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Six (Two at St. Louis, four vs. St. Louis)
Atlanta 69-74 after 8-3 loss to Cubs Monday night (36-38, road)
Games left: 19
12 home, seven road
Games remaining against teams at least five games over .500: Three (vs. Mets)
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Dynasty Well Done: An Appreciation
. By Claire Smith, for The Philadelphia InquirerTo their credit, the New York Mets came to bury the Atlanta Braves last week and did.
To their discredit, New York fans came to taunt, mocking visiting Atlanta with the Braves fans’ own signature tomahawk-chop chant during a doubleheader sweep on Wednesday.
Tom Glavine/
David L. Pokress/Newsday/MCT)
Photo via NewsCom
The two victories reemphasized the obvious. The Mets are going to win the National League East running away. The Braves won’t, ending a 14-year run as division champions.
Atlanta’s dream of a wild-card berth also likely ended that night, as the Braves fell off the pace by 6 1/2games in that race.
So Mets fans should have celebrated. But to dance on the dugout roofs at Shea and mock? The home team — arguably the best in the National League — deserved better from its fans. So, too, did the Braves.
There are classic dynasties and then there are classy dynasties. And the Atlanta Braves’ dynasty (1991-2005) had class.
The most arrogant thing about the franchise’s storied run was the chop.
That chant might have been as insufferable as it was insensitive, but not so the product on the field, for no one other than the rock-headed John Rocker ever demeaned the Atlanta uniform, belittled the opposition, or singlehandedly put an ugly face on the era.
Not Tom Glavine. Not Greg Maddux. And certainly not manager Bobby Cox.
Those guys were all too busy taking care of business.
They laid the groundwork for Hall of Fame berths for Maddux, Glavine and Cox, and maybe even for Atlanta’s third Cy Young’un — John Smoltz.
They won not only three NL West and 11 NL East flags, but also five pennants, the 1995 World Series, and so many Cy Young Awards, MVPs and manager-of-the-year trophies, you lose count.
And they did all of the above with less arrogance in their 14-year run than some losing teams exhibit in one forgettable season.
That down-to-earth approach may not have made the Braves the postseason constant they were. It did make them a welcome one.
It all started with Cox, the three-time NL manager of the year and arguably the league’s manager of the last decade.
Cox, a four-time manager of the year overall, could have big-leagued[/ITALIC] writers, players, and even others in his fraternity as he solidified his Cooperstown credentials since 1991. When you’re the only manager in baseball history other than Hall of Famers with fourteen 90-win seasons, after John McGraw (16) and Joe McCarthy (15), an inflated ego is all but expected.
Yet no cottage industry for books about the brilliance of being him has ever sprang up around Cox. He doesn’t pretend to be Abner Doubleday or try to reinvent the game daily. Most important, Cox has remained consistent in areas where it has counted the most: accessibility, civility, humility.
As Cox showed how it’s done in the manager’s office, he was blessed with a stellar supporting cast: a master architect in general manager John Schuerholz, and key veterans aligned not only as stars, but as team leaders as well.
Terry Pendleton, tantamount to a player-manager, policed the clubhouse. Brian Jordan, Chipper Jones and Javy Lopez made for a formidable posse.
Then there was Glavine, the lefthanded Michelangelo to Maddux’s Da Vinci.
How different might things have been for the Phillies — a team desperate for veteran leadership the last two seasons — if Glavine had signed here instead of with the Mets.
Glavine, like Derek Jeter and old-schoolers Willie Stargell, Don Baylor, and Brooks and Frank Robinson before him, defines clubhouse presence.
Glavine’s comportment and his intelligent approach to all things baseball showed one young Brave after another the meaning of professionalism and responsibility.
After Glavine and Maddux departed, Smoltz stood in their stead.
Before the 2005 season started, Smoltz gathered his teammates to explain what was expected: courtesy and accountability rather than condescension when dealing with the media; dealing with rather than ducking defeat; honoring rather than embarrassing the organization.
The conglomeration of kids took Smoltz’s advice, then took the NL East — again.
You cannot manufacture that kind of character. Most teams are just grateful to stumble onto it one or two players at a time in any one cycle.
The Braves overflowed with it for 14 years.
Now the race, well-run, is over.
So celebrate, Mets. Consider the possibilities, Phillies, Marlins, Nationals.
But remember, before you mock the dying dynasty as it exits stage right, before you even think about topping it, try emulating it first.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Fly, Phillies, Fly?
By Claire Smith, in the Inquirer
If Jimmy Rollins was joking, he's got a better deadpan delivery than Bob Newhart.
The veteran shortstop, who has logged enough time in these parts to vote in the election, paused the other day to assess whether the Phillies are making any inroads into the heart of Eagles country.
"I don't think they really care about baseball," Rollins said. "It's football season."
In Philadelphia, that's all that usually needs be said for someone to break out in an E-A-G-L-E-S chant - which is exactly what happened Monday, before the Phillies defeated the Houston Astros and Rollins offered his frank opinion.
Rollins, both resigned and ready for the inevitable, brushed off the "but you're in a wild-card race" rebuttal by reminding folks what happened a year ago.
"Shoot, I remember when we were sitting a game out, a half-game out, and we had 10,000 people here for the last day of the season," Rollins said.
Actually, the crowd for the finale was not nearly that bad. Still ...
Just for argument's sake, haven't the Phillies captured some attention around here because of a spirited MVP chase by home-run king Ryan Howard and a feverish wild-card race by the team? Or have generation after generation of Philly fans - indoctrinated into thinking this town isn't big enough for two passions - forgotten how or why their forefathers once stoked their pennant fever?
Well, Rollins, noted for his dry wit, was asked yesterday if he'd been joshing the day before. "Nope, dead serious," he said before a rainout spoiled the Phillies' chance to see whether a 16th victory in 24 games could move the needle on the interest meter all the more.
Jeff Conine, the recently acquired outfielder, doesn't sense a preoccupation among his teammates on whether it's the Eagles or Phillies winning the hearts and minds of fans. But the veteran Conine also knows that sometimes it takes more than just winning to seize the day.
Conine was on the Florida Marlins teams that won wild-card berths in 1997 and 2003. And even though those two teams went on to win world championships, "in Florida they never cared about the whole wild-card thing and didn't show up there," Conine conceded.
Here, the walk-up crowd of 10,000 that had Citizens Bank Park jumping on Labor Day suggested there might be room for a groundswell even as the Eagles limber up for their season opener.
Unfortunately, rainy Scottish moor dreariness has not allowed much chance to gauge whether the Phils can even move the ball against the Eagles, let alone sustain a drive into October.
Still, there is optimism. "With what Ryan is doing and what Chase Utley has done with his 35-game hit streak, I don't think there's any question they've helped rejuvenate interest," Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas said.
Those two, along with Cole Hamels, represent the new face and phase here, enough so, Kalas believes, to make a difference between this year's stretch drive and last year's.
Phillies coach Milt Thompson agreed. "They're making inroads, they really are," he said.
Having the big boomer chasing 60 home runs in the middle of the lineup can't hurt. "I'd pay to come see him," Thompson said.
And if thousands of others agree, and stumble into a wild-card race while searching for a home run chase? The P-H-I-L-L-I-E-S will take whatever you've got.
If Jimmy Rollins was joking, he's got a better deadpan delivery than Bob Newhart.
The veteran shortstop, who has logged enough time in these parts to vote in the election, paused the other day to assess whether the Phillies are making any inroads into the heart of Eagles country.
"I don't think they really care about baseball," Rollins said. "It's football season."
In Philadelphia, that's all that usually needs be said for someone to break out in an E-A-G-L-E-S chant - which is exactly what happened Monday, before the Phillies defeated the Houston Astros and Rollins offered his frank opinion.
Rollins, both resigned and ready for the inevitable, brushed off the "but you're in a wild-card race" rebuttal by reminding folks what happened a year ago.
"Shoot, I remember when we were sitting a game out, a half-game out, and we had 10,000 people here for the last day of the season," Rollins said.
Actually, the crowd for the finale was not nearly that bad. Still ...
Just for argument's sake, haven't the Phillies captured some attention around here because of a spirited MVP chase by home-run king Ryan Howard and a feverish wild-card race by the team? Or have generation after generation of Philly fans - indoctrinated into thinking this town isn't big enough for two passions - forgotten how or why their forefathers once stoked their pennant fever?
Well, Rollins, noted for his dry wit, was asked yesterday if he'd been joshing the day before. "Nope, dead serious," he said before a rainout spoiled the Phillies' chance to see whether a 16th victory in 24 games could move the needle on the interest meter all the more.
Jeff Conine, the recently acquired outfielder, doesn't sense a preoccupation among his teammates on whether it's the Eagles or Phillies winning the hearts and minds of fans. But the veteran Conine also knows that sometimes it takes more than just winning to seize the day.
Conine was on the Florida Marlins teams that won wild-card berths in 1997 and 2003. And even though those two teams went on to win world championships, "in Florida they never cared about the whole wild-card thing and didn't show up there," Conine conceded.
Here, the walk-up crowd of 10,000 that had Citizens Bank Park jumping on Labor Day suggested there might be room for a groundswell even as the Eagles limber up for their season opener.
Unfortunately, rainy Scottish moor dreariness has not allowed much chance to gauge whether the Phils can even move the ball against the Eagles, let alone sustain a drive into October.
Still, there is optimism. "With what Ryan is doing and what Chase Utley has done with his 35-game hit streak, I don't think there's any question they've helped rejuvenate interest," Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas said.
Those two, along with Cole Hamels, represent the new face and phase here, enough so, Kalas believes, to make a difference between this year's stretch drive and last year's.
Phillies coach Milt Thompson agreed. "They're making inroads, they really are," he said.
Having the big boomer chasing 60 home runs in the middle of the lineup can't hurt. "I'd pay to come see him," Thompson said.
And if thousands of others agree, and stumble into a wild-card race while searching for a home run chase? The P-H-I-L-L-I-E-S will take whatever you've got.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Calling All You Einsteins
The Phillies, at 70-68, are in the thick of the National League wild-card race. So, too, are the Padres, Braves, Astros, Marlins, Reds. None of these teams are necessarily thriving. Rather, they're either fighting to get to .500 or barely holding on to winning records.
So here is the question: How many wins will it take to win the NL Wild Card?
Unrelenting War of Nerves
By Claire Smith
Inquirer Staff Writer
Ty Cobb never participated in a wild-card race. But baseball's original Mr. Intensity must have been wishing for something like the insanity that is the 2006 scramble for the National League's backdoor entry into the postseason when he said that the national pastime "should be an unrelenting war of nerves."
Unrelenting?
Try divvying up the one playoff position still up for grabs in the league by seven desperate teams. Six teams, led by the Phillies, began play yesterday within five games of the wild-card-leading San Diego Padres.
That makes seven teams in the scramble for October by any means other than a division title.
Seven. That's insanity and intensity rolled into one. And not Stephen Hawking, Las Vegas oddsmakers, Carnac the Magnificent, or any fingernail-biting player in this race knows how this will all play out.
All that is known is that the ingredients for ultimate victory must include, well, a lot more victories than any of these teams currently have.
"Who knows what it will take?" said Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies shortstop, after watching his team outlast the Houston Astros, 3-2, yesterday to improve to 70-68. "I have no idea, but it's going to take some wins, that's for sure."
The Phillies stayed above .500 because Chase Utley hit a walk-off home run off Dave Borkowski in the bottom of the 10th inning.
The victory assured that the Phillies, at worst, would remain 11/2 games behind the Padres and stay ahead of Florida, Cincinnati, San Francisco, the Astros and Atlanta entering play today.
More important, the win also allowed the Phillies to climb one more rung closer to that 85-, 88- or, heck, even 83-win total it might take move into the postseason.
Not knowing exactly the magic number of victories required is what is magical about all this, of course.
No one knows.
Not Utley nor yesterday's other long-ball hero, Ryan Howard, as they try to find their way to their first postseason.
Not future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, who would likely have to add a wing to his home should he collect any more postseason bling.
"I don't know what the numbers are if you're trying to get to 88, 85 wins to get this done," said the veteran Astros righthander, who was forced from yesterday's pitching duel with Cole Hamels by a strained right groin.
"And who knows?" Clemens added. "If someone goes on a little run, [those totals] might not be good enough, either."
Anyone familiar with the seven gnarled contenders will probably chuckle at the thought of one catching fire.
The Phillies? Bullpen woes. San Diego? Can't hit. Houston? Can't jell. The Braves? Too little, too late. Florida? Too much inconsistency from Dontrelle Willis. The Giants? Too ancient.
For all but one of the above, there is soon to be another problem as well: too little time.
Ask Phil Garner, the harried Astros manager.
"We're down to no games left," Garner said. "We have to win them all. We don't have much room to play with here."
The Astros do have 24 games left. Still, logic, not numbers, suggests that Garner has reason to be concerned.
Even if the league meets the most mediocre of standards and hands its wild card to a team that wins merely 83 games, the Astros would have to go 16-8 the rest of the way, which is tough for a team that is 67-71.
"We've got to get to .500, and if we can't get to .500, we can't even put it in our vocabulary, talking about the playoffs," Garner said.
The Phillies are above .500 - barely. Getting to 83, 85, 88 victories or beyond? A good start would be to put away one rival at a time, starting with the Astros tonight and tomorrow.
"Running the table, that would make it a lot easier," Rollins said, smiling while crunching the numbers and considering all the possible routes to postseason play.
Inquirer Staff Writer
Ty Cobb never participated in a wild-card race. But baseball's original Mr. Intensity must have been wishing for something like the insanity that is the 2006 scramble for the National League's backdoor entry into the postseason when he said that the national pastime "should be an unrelenting war of nerves."
Unrelenting?
Try divvying up the one playoff position still up for grabs in the league by seven desperate teams. Six teams, led by the Phillies, began play yesterday within five games of the wild-card-leading San Diego Padres.
That makes seven teams in the scramble for October by any means other than a division title.
Seven. That's insanity and intensity rolled into one. And not Stephen Hawking, Las Vegas oddsmakers, Carnac the Magnificent, or any fingernail-biting player in this race knows how this will all play out.
All that is known is that the ingredients for ultimate victory must include, well, a lot more victories than any of these teams currently have.
"Who knows what it will take?" said Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies shortstop, after watching his team outlast the Houston Astros, 3-2, yesterday to improve to 70-68. "I have no idea, but it's going to take some wins, that's for sure."
The Phillies stayed above .500 because Chase Utley hit a walk-off home run off Dave Borkowski in the bottom of the 10th inning.
The victory assured that the Phillies, at worst, would remain 11/2 games behind the Padres and stay ahead of Florida, Cincinnati, San Francisco, the Astros and Atlanta entering play today.
More important, the win also allowed the Phillies to climb one more rung closer to that 85-, 88- or, heck, even 83-win total it might take move into the postseason.
Not knowing exactly the magic number of victories required is what is magical about all this, of course.
No one knows.
Not Utley nor yesterday's other long-ball hero, Ryan Howard, as they try to find their way to their first postseason.
Not future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, who would likely have to add a wing to his home should he collect any more postseason bling.
"I don't know what the numbers are if you're trying to get to 88, 85 wins to get this done," said the veteran Astros righthander, who was forced from yesterday's pitching duel with Cole Hamels by a strained right groin.
"And who knows?" Clemens added. "If someone goes on a little run, [those totals] might not be good enough, either."
Anyone familiar with the seven gnarled contenders will probably chuckle at the thought of one catching fire.
The Phillies? Bullpen woes. San Diego? Can't hit. Houston? Can't jell. The Braves? Too little, too late. Florida? Too much inconsistency from Dontrelle Willis. The Giants? Too ancient.
For all but one of the above, there is soon to be another problem as well: too little time.
Ask Phil Garner, the harried Astros manager.
"We're down to no games left," Garner said. "We have to win them all. We don't have much room to play with here."
The Astros do have 24 games left. Still, logic, not numbers, suggests that Garner has reason to be concerned.
Even if the league meets the most mediocre of standards and hands its wild card to a team that wins merely 83 games, the Astros would have to go 16-8 the rest of the way, which is tough for a team that is 67-71.
"We've got to get to .500, and if we can't get to .500, we can't even put it in our vocabulary, talking about the playoffs," Garner said.
The Phillies are above .500 - barely. Getting to 83, 85, 88 victories or beyond? A good start would be to put away one rival at a time, starting with the Astros tonight and tomorrow.
"Running the table, that would make it a lot easier," Rollins said, smiling while crunching the numbers and considering all the possible routes to postseason play.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Remembering Mom
If I have told the story once I've told it a thousand times - there would be no Claire Smith, baseball writer, if it were not for Bernice Anastasia Ximines Smith.
My mother was an avid sports fan. She especially loved the Dodgers - for the reasons most African Americans of her generation did. The Dodgers of Brooklyn had integrated the major leagues by signing Jackie Robinson in 1947, and, by doing so, captured the hearts and loyalties of a fan base previously shunned by professional sports.
My mother regaled me with tales of the Dodgers, Jackie and The Great Experiment that helped change America.
Superman never seemed more heroic to me than Robinson. I, too, became a Dodgers fan, a baseball fan. I didn't realize until much later in life that before Robinson, my hero was my mother - a superb human being and superwoman in the best sense of the word. Because she, like Robinson, was a trailblazer in a time that it was difficult to rise up from under the weight of segregation.
Mom, the daughter of immigrant house servants from Jamaica, became a chemist, worked for General Electric in its space exploration wing. She was a vocalist, a model, travel agent, insurance exec, world traveler, political activist. Did I mention she was a great mother and even better friend.
At every stop, though, Mom was a sports fan. Having spent her formative years in Philadelphia, she eventually gravitated to the city's teams, adding football (the Eagles) and basketball (76ers) and, yes, the Phillies, to her list of loves.
I stuck with baseball. The passion never waned. My mother never judged, but rather encouraged me to explore the possibilities. I did, eventually wedding a love of writing with the love of a game that changed America.
On Monday, my mother passed away at age 82 after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She had not been aware of baseball for some years and, in retrospect, that makes me sad. Because I think she would have loved the idea of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels, much the way she loved Jackie, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, Garry Maddox, Steve Garvey, Don Baylor, Dave Windield and Willie Randolph.
The lady knew ball and she knew talent!
I will always think of my mom when I think of the game. I smile today knowing that somewhere in the section of heaven reserved for baseball, she is again sitting in the sunshine, cheering on her team. And, who knows, perhaps she is even trying to convince an angel or two that the Dodgers are still No. 1.
___________
The Inquirer and Daily News did very nice jobs writing about my mom in today's editions. Their wirters I think captured what I always knew: she was an extraordinary woman. Here are the links. I hope you enjoy at your leisure.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/obituaries/15228947.htm
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/obituaries/15230831.htm
Friday, August 04, 2006
Gone But Not Forgotten
Spending time in Cooperstown last week reminded that the people responsible for my love of baseball were, in many ways, memorialized even though many are no longer with us.
Jackie Robinson. Larry Doby. Joe Black. Ted Williams. Babe Ruth.
I interviewed Ted Williams once - on the steps of Cooperstown's venerable Otesaga Hotel. His body was that of a old man in his final years. His eyes were fiery and his mind sharp. What a memorable experience.
Inever met Robinson or Ruth, but thank all my colleagues before me who put the human faces on these larger-than-life heroes and made them part of a nation's history and, therefore all of our lives.
As for Larry and Joe, I did know both very well. They were a part of the posse of noble men who sought to educate as many people as possible about the legacies of the Negro Leagues and blacks in baseball. That posse still rides - Fay Vincent, Len Coleman, Frank Robinson, Joe Morgan.
But the absence of Larry, Joe and Slick Surratt - a delightful former Negro Leaguer who is in failing health - leaves a void that hurts very much.
Not a day goes by without an urge to pick up the phone and reach out to Joe and Larry, to glean from their knowledge and understanding of the game they loved.
Then comes the inevitable - the acknowledgment of their passing and what time takes from us with each such loss.
Remembering Elden Auker
These reminiscences began today due to the sad news that Elden Auker, a peer of Dizzy Dean, Babe Ruth and a great friend of Fay Vincent's passed away today at age 95.
Fay wrote the following about his venerable dear friend:
Elden Auker pitched to Babe Ruth as a rookie for the Tigers in 1934.
He roomed with Jimmie Foxx in 1939 the year Ted Williams came to the Red Sox and he won 130 games in the big leagues, mostly with the Tigers where he was a stalwart on the great teams of the mid-30's, including the World Champions in 1935.
He grew up in Western Kansas, the son of a rural mail carrier who delivered the mail by horseback when Elden was a child.
At Kansas State he had been an All-American in football, basketball and baseball. But he also had been married to his beloved Mildred for 73 years when he died this morning at 95.
He is survived by his son Jim and his wife. He lived in Vero beach, Fla. He was a beloved figure in baseball and had been active until very recently.
Rest in peace, all.
Jackie Robinson. Larry Doby. Joe Black. Ted Williams. Babe Ruth.
I interviewed Ted Williams once - on the steps of Cooperstown's venerable Otesaga Hotel. His body was that of a old man in his final years. His eyes were fiery and his mind sharp. What a memorable experience.
Inever met Robinson or Ruth, but thank all my colleagues before me who put the human faces on these larger-than-life heroes and made them part of a nation's history and, therefore all of our lives.
As for Larry and Joe, I did know both very well. They were a part of the posse of noble men who sought to educate as many people as possible about the legacies of the Negro Leagues and blacks in baseball. That posse still rides - Fay Vincent, Len Coleman, Frank Robinson, Joe Morgan.
But the absence of Larry, Joe and Slick Surratt - a delightful former Negro Leaguer who is in failing health - leaves a void that hurts very much.
Not a day goes by without an urge to pick up the phone and reach out to Joe and Larry, to glean from their knowledge and understanding of the game they loved.
Then comes the inevitable - the acknowledgment of their passing and what time takes from us with each such loss.
Remembering Elden Auker
These reminiscences began today due to the sad news that Elden Auker, a peer of Dizzy Dean, Babe Ruth and a great friend of Fay Vincent's passed away today at age 95.
Fay wrote the following about his venerable dear friend:
Elden Auker pitched to Babe Ruth as a rookie for the Tigers in 1934.
He roomed with Jimmie Foxx in 1939 the year Ted Williams came to the Red Sox and he won 130 games in the big leagues, mostly with the Tigers where he was a stalwart on the great teams of the mid-30's, including the World Champions in 1935.
He grew up in Western Kansas, the son of a rural mail carrier who delivered the mail by horseback when Elden was a child.
At Kansas State he had been an All-American in football, basketball and baseball. But he also had been married to his beloved Mildred for 73 years when he died this morning at 95.
He is survived by his son Jim and his wife. He lived in Vero beach, Fla. He was a beloved figure in baseball and had been active until very recently.
Rest in peace, all.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Branca, Thomson & A Great Cause
Ralph Branca and Bobby Thomson - the pivotal players in the immortal New York Giants playoff victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers of 1951 - will be the honorees at Ed Randall's second annual Diamonds in the Rough Golf Classic to benefit the Prostate Cancer Program and the Cardiovascular Institute of St. Luke's and Roosevelt hospitals of New York.
The star of Talking Baseball with Ed Randall is seeking all who wish to contribute, play and, well, talk ball with some of the area's most legendary names in baseball, hockey, basketball and football.
So if you fans of both games would like to participate in the tourney - and hit their own "shot heard 'round the world - at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough-on-Hudson, N.Y., Aug. 7, contact Belinda Smith at 212-636-8400.
The star of Talking Baseball with Ed Randall is seeking all who wish to contribute, play and, well, talk ball with some of the area's most legendary names in baseball, hockey, basketball and football.
So if you fans of both games would like to participate in the tourney - and hit their own "shot heard 'round the world - at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough-on-Hudson, N.Y., Aug. 7, contact Belinda Smith at 212-636-8400.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Banking On Torre - And His Word
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, neither you nor any of your
predecessors can actually relate to this, but ...
There are managers, when blessed or burdened with an embarrassment of riches, either choke on it or thrive.
Joe Torre is very much in the latter category.
As usual, the Yankee manager has superstars backed up at most every position, like jets stacked up in holding patterns over Philadelphia International on a bad weather day.
That's what happens when your team owner, in this case, George $teinbrenner, buys you all you want in the form of quality players — then goes out and buys you some more.
Witness the $15 million insurance policy — Bobby Abreu — just added to the Yankees’ stable of all-star outfielders.
Don’t assume that the money rather than the trust factor makes things work. Steinbrenner has thrown millionaires by the bunch at Lou Piniella, Billy Martin, Bucky Dent and Buck Showalter and more often than not they flee, babbling about the sheer madness of power - his, ie. The Boss', not theirs.
Torre took the zoo out of the Bronx in a way that many other Steinbrenner-era managers could not.
His deft touch, tough hide, media savvy and incredibly accurate compass all resulted in easily calcuable success. Witness the 10 postseason berths the Yankees have gained in Torre’s 10 1/2-year tenure.
Year in and year out, team after team of high-priced Bronx Bombers was accepting of the way Torre handles the delicate balancing act.
They trust Torre to find enough at-bats or enough innings for players often used to more.
“I feel good about that; I feel it's an important word you used - trust,” said Torre. “I want them to trust me because I try to be as honest as I can with them.
And, again, the fact is I'd like to think that I am loyal to everybody but the most important thing is being loyal to the 25, and what’s best for the team.”
Over the last decade, Steinbrenner may have opined, even, dare we say, meddled. And Brian Cashman, the GM, is a proven architect.
But have no doubt — Torre is the ultimate arbiter on the field. And he’s made some tough ones during the biggest stages of championship seasons. Remember when he benched one-third of his starting lineup during the 1996 World Series against the Braves?
Torre replaced three noted veterans — third baseman Wade Boggs, rightfielder Paul O'Neill and first baseman Tino Martinez with Charlie Hayes, Darryl Strawberry and Cecil Fielder, respectively.
Bold, to be sure, the moves also proved to be right on. Instead of blowing up in Torre's face they helped get all six of those veterans World Series championship rings.
“Over the years, I was lucky. I had Strawberry and Big Daddy here at the same time - and these guys were ‘go ahead, go ahead,’” said Torre of such moves. “Chili Davis, it was the same thing. Guys have been ready to play whenever I’ve called on them.
“For 10 years I’ve been here, I've had very, very little guys only concerned with themselves, and that's great.”
Torre is counting on more of the same this time around from Bernie Williams — the partime outfield veteran-turned-starting rightfielder-turned role player who Tuesday night gave way to Abreu in right field.
Torre will expect no less cooperation from Gary Sheffield should he return next month from a wrist injury.
The guy Williams replaced will also have to adjust to having Abreu around, perhaps even reinvent himself as a first baseman, something Sheffield and Torre hinted at upon Abreu’s arrival.
“He already told me he’s already ordered a glove,” joked Torre.
Sheffield’s take on it all?
“The first thing I did was give him a hug,” he said of Abreu. “That’s the way this clubhouse is. We want to win. Alex moved to third base when he got here,” a reference to Alex Rodriguez — an MVP and outstanding shortstop making the career shift in order to play alongside all-star shortstop Derek Jeter.
“It’s not about egos,” said Sheffield.
Williams agreed, reminding, as Torre did, that when he signed he never expected to play as much as he has.
“This year is going to have a lot of defining moments,” said Williams. “The way I’m going to look at the year is that I am going to have an opportunity, or maybe two or three to make my mark and I am going to be ready for it.”
Williams then promptly went out on the night Abreu debuted at Yankee Stadium and delivered a three-run double in the Yankees’ 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays.
Williams contributed, alright — just as Joe Torre trusted him to do.
predecessors can actually relate to this, but ...
There are managers, when blessed or burdened with an embarrassment of riches, either choke on it or thrive.
Joe Torre is very much in the latter category.
As usual, the Yankee manager has superstars backed up at most every position, like jets stacked up in holding patterns over Philadelphia International on a bad weather day.
That's what happens when your team owner, in this case, George $teinbrenner, buys you all you want in the form of quality players — then goes out and buys you some more.
Witness the $15 million insurance policy — Bobby Abreu — just added to the Yankees’ stable of all-star outfielders.
Don’t assume that the money rather than the trust factor makes things work. Steinbrenner has thrown millionaires by the bunch at Lou Piniella, Billy Martin, Bucky Dent and Buck Showalter and more often than not they flee, babbling about the sheer madness of power - his, ie. The Boss', not theirs.
Torre took the zoo out of the Bronx in a way that many other Steinbrenner-era managers could not.
His deft touch, tough hide, media savvy and incredibly accurate compass all resulted in easily calcuable success. Witness the 10 postseason berths the Yankees have gained in Torre’s 10 1/2-year tenure.
Year in and year out, team after team of high-priced Bronx Bombers was accepting of the way Torre handles the delicate balancing act.
They trust Torre to find enough at-bats or enough innings for players often used to more.
“I feel good about that; I feel it's an important word you used - trust,” said Torre. “I want them to trust me because I try to be as honest as I can with them.
And, again, the fact is I'd like to think that I am loyal to everybody but the most important thing is being loyal to the 25, and what’s best for the team.”
Over the last decade, Steinbrenner may have opined, even, dare we say, meddled. And Brian Cashman, the GM, is a proven architect.
But have no doubt — Torre is the ultimate arbiter on the field. And he’s made some tough ones during the biggest stages of championship seasons. Remember when he benched one-third of his starting lineup during the 1996 World Series against the Braves?
Torre replaced three noted veterans — third baseman Wade Boggs, rightfielder Paul O'Neill and first baseman Tino Martinez with Charlie Hayes, Darryl Strawberry and Cecil Fielder, respectively.
Bold, to be sure, the moves also proved to be right on. Instead of blowing up in Torre's face they helped get all six of those veterans World Series championship rings.
“Over the years, I was lucky. I had Strawberry and Big Daddy here at the same time - and these guys were ‘go ahead, go ahead,’” said Torre of such moves. “Chili Davis, it was the same thing. Guys have been ready to play whenever I’ve called on them.
“For 10 years I’ve been here, I've had very, very little guys only concerned with themselves, and that's great.”
Torre is counting on more of the same this time around from Bernie Williams — the partime outfield veteran-turned-starting rightfielder-turned role player who Tuesday night gave way to Abreu in right field.
Torre will expect no less cooperation from Gary Sheffield should he return next month from a wrist injury.
The guy Williams replaced will also have to adjust to having Abreu around, perhaps even reinvent himself as a first baseman, something Sheffield and Torre hinted at upon Abreu’s arrival.
“He already told me he’s already ordered a glove,” joked Torre.
Sheffield’s take on it all?
“The first thing I did was give him a hug,” he said of Abreu. “That’s the way this clubhouse is. We want to win. Alex moved to third base when he got here,” a reference to Alex Rodriguez — an MVP and outstanding shortstop making the career shift in order to play alongside all-star shortstop Derek Jeter.
“It’s not about egos,” said Sheffield.
Williams agreed, reminding, as Torre did, that when he signed he never expected to play as much as he has.
“This year is going to have a lot of defining moments,” said Williams. “The way I’m going to look at the year is that I am going to have an opportunity, or maybe two or three to make my mark and I am going to be ready for it.”
Williams then promptly went out on the night Abreu debuted at Yankee Stadium and delivered a three-run double in the Yankees’ 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays.
Williams contributed, alright — just as Joe Torre trusted him to do.
Bad First Impression?
Bobby Abreu would be wise to learn that what flies in Philadelphia may come crashing down on him in New York.
In Phillie land it is not uncommon for the biggest stars to big-league or even stiff the media, win, lose or rainout.
Abreu's new team - the Yankees - do not hide. Haven't since the start of the Joe Torre era. Win or lose, the biggest of the big stars in the Bronx, stand up for the team, as a team.
So imagine the surprise - and disdain - drawn by the newest Yankee all-star when he kept about 50 members of the media waiting for nearly an hour after his first start in pinstripes tonight.
The muttering was unmistakable among the reporters. They'd long since interviewed Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez - and even Bernie Williams, who'd lost his starting job to Abreu. Guys who actually played far greater roles in the Yankees' 5-1 victory.
Abreu, 0-for-3, but none-the-less still in line for the softer questions accorded during a honeymoon, made the scribes wait.
Not smart. Likely not a scene to be repeated, either. The Yankees police themselves - and undoubtedly the scene most of them missed long after they carried out their olbigations to speak for the team will be recounted - and dealt with. That's the beauty of a Torre club - another lesson Abreu will learn.
In Phillie land it is not uncommon for the biggest stars to big-league or even stiff the media, win, lose or rainout.
Abreu's new team - the Yankees - do not hide. Haven't since the start of the Joe Torre era. Win or lose, the biggest of the big stars in the Bronx, stand up for the team, as a team.
So imagine the surprise - and disdain - drawn by the newest Yankee all-star when he kept about 50 members of the media waiting for nearly an hour after his first start in pinstripes tonight.
The muttering was unmistakable among the reporters. They'd long since interviewed Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez - and even Bernie Williams, who'd lost his starting job to Abreu. Guys who actually played far greater roles in the Yankees' 5-1 victory.
Abreu, 0-for-3, but none-the-less still in line for the softer questions accorded during a honeymoon, made the scribes wait.
Not smart. Likely not a scene to be repeated, either. The Yankees police themselves - and undoubtedly the scene most of them missed long after they carried out their olbigations to speak for the team will be recounted - and dealt with. That's the beauty of a Torre club - another lesson Abreu will learn.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Honoring An Era Brings Closure
Buck O'Neil addresses Hall of Fame audience
By Claire Smith
Inquirer Staff Writer
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - On a sun-splashed, sultry day, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the major leagues shone a light, perhaps for one last time, on the racial chasm that once divided a sport and a nation.
And judging by the celebratory air that surrounded the induction of not only relief ace Bruce Sutter but 17 luminaries from the era of Negro league baseball, closure was very much at hand.
"It is an awesome responsibility to stand before you and try to explain to you how important this day is to us," Jackie Robinson's daughter, Sharon, told the audience gathered to salute the Hall's largest induction class ever as well as Houston Astros announcer Gene Elston (Ford C. Frick Award) and baseball writer Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News (J.G. Taylor Spink Award).
Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, speaking after the ceremony, agreed. "This was a momentous day," he said, "because something you never thought would happen did happen. It's a great, great day."
It was made all the more special because of what was lacking. For there was no bitterness to be found despite the many heartfelt examinations of one of the nation's most divisive eras.
Despite his surprising exclusion from the latest group of Negro league-era inductees, Buck O'Neil, the legendary Kansas City Monarchs manager, warmed the audience with his grace and sheer joy for those who were selected.
"I want you to light this valley up today," said O'Neil, who also brought some Southern black preaching to the outdoor setting when he had the audience join hands and sing a repeated refrain: "The greatest thing in the world is loving you."
Love was not a theme exclusive to the distant past. Sutter, the Lancaster native and revolutionary split-fingered fastball specialist who pitched for the Cubs, St. Louis and Atlanta, was brought to tears when speaking of his deceased parents, his sons and his wife, Jamie, who is battling illness.
"I wouldn't be here without you," a choked-up Sutter told sons Josh, Chad and Ben.
"And," Sutter said, addressing the woman who has been his wife since he was in the minor leagues, "I know we have challenges to face, but we'll meet them as we always do - together."
The many family members of the Negro league-era honorees completed the sense of family. The new enshrines included:
Frank Grant, considered the preeminent black player of the 19th century, whose career in the integrated minor leagues was sidetracked when the notorious "gentlemen's agreement" made by white team owners segregated the game in the 1890s.
Standout centerfielder Pete Hill, who graced the Philadelphia Giants among other teams in the early 1900s.
James Raleigh "Biz" Mackey, the legendary player-manager who led Philadelphia's Hilldale club to a Colored World Series crown in 1925 and the Newark Eagles to the Negro League World Series crown in '46.
Louis Santop, the starting catcher for the Hilldale teams that won three straight Eastern Colored League pennants from 1923 to '25.
Effa Manley, a Philadelphian noted for her innovations as Newark Eagles co-owner, her civil rights work - and the distinction of being the first woman enshrined in the Hall.
Also enshrined were pitching ace and pennant-winning manager Andy "Lefty" Cooper; Alex Pompez, Jose "The Black Diamond" Mendez, and Cristobal Torriente, who were legends in both their native Cuba and black baseball; innovative club owners J.L. Wilkinson and Cumberland Posey Jr.; and prolific power hitter George "Mule" Suttles.
Homestead Grays pitching ace Ray Brown, slugging Monarchs centerfielder Willard "Ese Hombre" Brown, defensive first-base standout Ben Taylor, player, manager and historian Solomon White, and Ernest "Jud" Wilson also now reside among their fellow baseball immortals.
What the Hall started in 1971 with the election of Negro league legend Satchel Paige and continued with the selection of 17 other stars from the league over the years may now be compete. But Irvin, for one, is not ready to say that. Not when O'Neil still patiently awaits at age 94.
"I have no clue as to why he wasn't selected," said Irvin, adding his voice to a list of Hall of Famers now actively campaigning for O'Neil's inclusion, including Joe Morgan, Lou Brock, Ernie Banks and Henry Aaron. "I'm just hoping he might live long enough that he might get some consideration."
Cooperstown & A Classic Cowboy
Tracy Ringolsby, Hall of Famer.
Could there ever be a more fitting and accurate statement?
This past weekend in Cooperstown, the National Baseball Hall of Fame simply made official what peers, friends and family have always known: the gentleman from Wyoming is a consummate baseball reporter and writer.
Tracy was honored as the 2005 J.G. Taylor Spink award winner during the Hall's annual induction ceremonies in Cooperstown, N.Y., Sunday.
The award which leads to entry into the writers' wing of the Hall of Fame, is not tossed around lightly. The Baseball Writers Association of America votes it into the hands of only a select few based on their "meritorious contributions to baseball writing."
There was no better candidate than Tracy to take his place alongside such past Spink recipients as Murray Chass, Peter Gammons, Ross Newhan, Phil Collier and Jerome Holtzman.
Tracy's contributions to his profession have been many as his distinguished resume suggests. Yet the readers of the Long Beach Press Telegram, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Kansas City Star, Dallas Morning News and now the Rocky Mountain News were not the only beneficiaries of Tracy's skill, dedication and passion for his craft.
We fellow writers gained immeasurably, as well. Working alongside Tracy is like going to school. If you're smart you listen, watch and learn - about journalism, ethics, fairness and humanity.
Last but not least, Tracy teaches you about friendship and loyalty.
Topped off by a big stetson and an even bigger heart, Tracy Ringolsby is the complete package and, as most every veteran baseball writer has long suspected, also a bona fide Hall of Famer.
__________________________________
Want to read Tracy Ringolsby's Hall of Fame acceptance speech? Click on this link.
"In closing, I'd like to say there's an announcer over at the National Western Stock Show Rodeo, Brad Paulhomaus, he closes the evening by saying God's gift to us is that we are here today and our gift to God is what we do while we are here." - Tracy Ringolsby
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Manley: Pioneer, Hall of Famer
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - When the late Effa Manley is inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum today, emotions will flow among the family present to see the Philadelphia-born pioneer of the Negro League era honored.
The family contingent is led by Manley's niece, Connie Brooks, a wonderfully proud proponent of the era, its pioneers and their legacies. Especially Effa Manley.
Even when I was young, I knew that she was very special," said Brooks, a self-described "70-something" year-old retired social worker who lives in Jersey City. "But, to be truthful, I knew that the Hall did not put in all the people that should have been in. But I knew that somebody somewhere had to put her in, because she was definitely before her time."
"I'm extremely proud of her because, No. 1, she's a woman and this is a man's thing here," said Brooks. "And I know she would have been proud. And I know if my grandmother was living, or any of the seven siblings, they would say 'it's been a long journey for all of us, but Effie, yo made it" and rally around her like I don't know what."
Manley will join not only Irvin in the Cooperstown, N.Y., hall, but other greats who played for her, including Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League; and Negro league luminaries Leon Day, Roy Dandridge and Willie Wells.
Player-manager Biz Mackey, who led Manley's Newark Eagles to the 1946 Negro League World Series crown;, and another Eagles all-star, Mule Suttles, also will be inducted. They enter the Hall as part of a group of 17 African Americans selected by a committee of former players and historians that Major League Baseball put together in 2001 to recognize the contributions of black players to the sport's early days.
Relief pitcher Bruce Sutter also is entering the Hall, through the regular annual voting process.
To read the full Effa Manley story that appeared in today's Philadelphia Inquirer, click on this link: Queen of Baseball.
The family contingent is led by Manley's niece, Connie Brooks, a wonderfully proud proponent of the era, its pioneers and their legacies. Especially Effa Manley.
Even when I was young, I knew that she was very special," said Brooks, a self-described "70-something" year-old retired social worker who lives in Jersey City. "But, to be truthful, I knew that the Hall did not put in all the people that should have been in. But I knew that somebody somewhere had to put her in, because she was definitely before her time."
"I'm extremely proud of her because, No. 1, she's a woman and this is a man's thing here," said Brooks. "And I know she would have been proud. And I know if my grandmother was living, or any of the seven siblings, they would say 'it's been a long journey for all of us, but Effie, yo made it" and rally around her like I don't know what."
Manley will join not only Irvin in the Cooperstown, N.Y., hall, but other greats who played for her, including Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League; and Negro league luminaries Leon Day, Roy Dandridge and Willie Wells.
Player-manager Biz Mackey, who led Manley's Newark Eagles to the 1946 Negro League World Series crown;, and another Eagles all-star, Mule Suttles, also will be inducted. They enter the Hall as part of a group of 17 African Americans selected by a committee of former players and historians that Major League Baseball put together in 2001 to recognize the contributions of black players to the sport's early days.
Relief pitcher Bruce Sutter also is entering the Hall, through the regular annual voting process.
To read the full Effa Manley story that appeared in today's Philadelphia Inquirer, click on this link: Queen of Baseball.
Wolf Set To Return
Randy Wolf of the Phillies was told he'd miss a year and the doctors were right. The lefthander who underwent Tommy John surgery on July 1, 2005, today will make his first start since the reconstruction effort to save his career.
How excited is he? Well, read all about it in a Randy Wolf one-on-one interview today's Philadelphia Inquirer.
How excited is he? Well, read all about it in a Randy Wolf one-on-one interview today's Philadelphia Inquirer.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Classy Buck O'Neil
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will honor the largest - and perhaps the last - class elected from the ranks of Negro League baseball.
Buck O'Neil will not be among the luminaries selected from black baseball. But the legendary manager of the Kansas City Monarchs of the old Negro American League will be there.
His attendance, alone, is a testament to a gracious man and speaks to baseball's good fortune that he is part of the game.
Never a slash-and-burn militant, O'Neil never showed bitterness about the era in which he was denied an opportunity to play in the majors because of segregation. Nor has he shown bitterness about his continuing to be excluded from Cooperstown.
O'Neil could have latched onto the controversy that arose when when a special committee recommended 17 Negro League-era players, managers and owners be enshrined, but did not include him. Many, many others did. Players, members of the media, historians, even Hall of Famers.
O'Neil, like always, left the vitriol to others. By doing so, he remains what he long ago became - the thoughtful public face of an important, often troubling period in American history.
So when he addresses the assembly that gathers to honor the Hall's Class of 2006, give him an extra round of applause. For Buck O'Neil may not yet be enshrined in Cooperstown, but he is a Hall of Famer in every other sense of the phrase.
Buck O'Neil will not be among the luminaries selected from black baseball. But the legendary manager of the Kansas City Monarchs of the old Negro American League will be there.
His attendance, alone, is a testament to a gracious man and speaks to baseball's good fortune that he is part of the game.
Never a slash-and-burn militant, O'Neil never showed bitterness about the era in which he was denied an opportunity to play in the majors because of segregation. Nor has he shown bitterness about his continuing to be excluded from Cooperstown.
O'Neil could have latched onto the controversy that arose when when a special committee recommended 17 Negro League-era players, managers and owners be enshrined, but did not include him. Many, many others did. Players, members of the media, historians, even Hall of Famers.
O'Neil, like always, left the vitriol to others. By doing so, he remains what he long ago became - the thoughtful public face of an important, often troubling period in American history.
So when he addresses the assembly that gathers to honor the Hall's Class of 2006, give him an extra round of applause. For Buck O'Neil may not yet be enshrined in Cooperstown, but he is a Hall of Famer in every other sense of the phrase.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
The Agony and the Ecstasy: The Sequel
In the 1965 movie, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Michelangelo has an on-running exchange with Pope Julius II about his seemingly endless tinkering with a little paint job called the Sistine Chapel.
Pope Julius, portrayed by Rex Harrison, kept asking where there would be a finish to which Mick, ie. Charlton Heston would respond it would be done when he was done.
Back and forth they went, alternating trigger words. Something along the lines of "when will there be a finish? When I am done. ... When will it be done? When I am finished."
Think Barry Bonds knows how Pope Julius felt?
I mean, waiting for the federal government to do something, anything to determine if the slugger is going to the slammer for steroid abuse/perjury/tax evasion/passing Babe Ruth's 714-home run total/being ill-mannered has become worse than a war of attrition.
It's like watching paint dry.
Today, the feds revealed that they are not done. But they also gave no clue as to when there will be a finish.
Instead, the feds who have been investigating Bonds, his tax returns, his truthiness - or lack thereof - in previous testimony about alleged steroid use, declined to indict Bonds. But they also declined to say they wouldn't indict him somewhere down the line.
What the feds will do is seat a new grand jury in order to keep on, well, keeping on. The new panel's obviously thankless chore? Determining if Bonds' bad taste in trainers, chemists and mistresses and love affair with the long ball are criminal - something the previous grand jury did not and apparently could not do.
Chances are the only people happy with this turn of events yesterday were the jurists whose grand jury assignment mercifully expired.
For them, there finally was an end.
For Bonds, baseball and the feds? There is no finish yet. Only the certain knowledge that not matter how this all finally plays out, no timeless work of art will be the result. Just a scandal that will rank among the game's biggest, dirtiest and most embarrassing of all time.
Pope Julius, portrayed by Rex Harrison, kept asking where there would be a finish to which Mick, ie. Charlton Heston would respond it would be done when he was done.
Back and forth they went, alternating trigger words. Something along the lines of "when will there be a finish? When I am done. ... When will it be done? When I am finished."
Think Barry Bonds knows how Pope Julius felt?
I mean, waiting for the federal government to do something, anything to determine if the slugger is going to the slammer for steroid abuse/perjury/tax evasion/passing Babe Ruth's 714-home run total/being ill-mannered has become worse than a war of attrition.
It's like watching paint dry.
Today, the feds revealed that they are not done. But they also gave no clue as to when there will be a finish.
Instead, the feds who have been investigating Bonds, his tax returns, his truthiness - or lack thereof - in previous testimony about alleged steroid use, declined to indict Bonds. But they also declined to say they wouldn't indict him somewhere down the line.
What the feds will do is seat a new grand jury in order to keep on, well, keeping on. The new panel's obviously thankless chore? Determining if Bonds' bad taste in trainers, chemists and mistresses and love affair with the long ball are criminal - something the previous grand jury did not and apparently could not do.
Chances are the only people happy with this turn of events yesterday were the jurists whose grand jury assignment mercifully expired.
For them, there finally was an end.
For Bonds, baseball and the feds? There is no finish yet. Only the certain knowledge that not matter how this all finally plays out, no timeless work of art will be the result. Just a scandal that will rank among the game's biggest, dirtiest and most embarrassing of all time.
Managing his mouth off
From my notebook to today's Philadelphia Inquirer...
NEW YORK - Ozzie Guillen, holed up in his South Florida home, was as angry as he'd ever been, so much so that the man who aspired to manage in the majors was about to quit baseball. For good.
The year was 2003 and Guillen, then the Florida Marlins' third-base coach, was fuming because the team had just fired its manager and his mentor, Jeff Torborg.
Guillen, going so far as to order the clubhouse staff to pack his belongings and ship them home, was through - that is, until the man who had managed him as a player and given him his first coaching job telephoned to ask one burning question:
"What are you doing?' " Torborg demanded. "You can't quit, Oz. You're going to manage one day!"
How right he was.
Guillen, who didn't quit, not only is one of baseball's most successful managers - he led the Chicago White Sox to a World Series crown a year ago in just his second season. The former shortstop from Venezuela also is one of the game's most provocative.
Unapologetically outspoken and combative, at times both profane and politically incorrect - that's Ozzie Guillen on a quiet day.
Mix the always-ready-to-tap emotions with situations in which he simply cannot resist shouting the unvarnished truth, and Guillen, 42, becomes one of the biggest characters and outspoken quote machines in the game.
If you think this "can't miss" entertainment from the 2005 AL manager of the year is something on nightly television highlight reels, imagine the view from the dugout.
As White Sox designated hitter Jim Thome wryly told reporters at the All-Star Game last week in Pittsburgh: "It's a lot of fun on his bench."
Sometimes the fire that is Guillen singes. That's OK, he says.
"I don't expect anybody to like me," Guillen said before his team played at Yankee Stadium Saturday. "I expect them to respect me and play for me."
The Sox, who had been without a World Series title since 1917, certainly have played for him: The 2005 world championship was won with an 11-1 run through the postseason. Much the same cast owns baseball's second-highest winning percentage despite suspect pitching this season.
As for liking him...
"He's different than what the media make him out to be," A.J. Pierzynski said. "I'm not going to say there haven't been run-ins, but the players like coming here every day and like playing for him."
The reason is simple, the all-star catcher said: "He treats his players as something special. He knows how to deal with everyone, communicate with everyone."
Just not always with a velvet touch, right?
"Well, he's not even-keel," Pierzynski said with a smile. "He does get emotional. But he doesn't change. He brings the same energy every day, win or lose.
"When he gets upset, he tells you, puts it behind him, and moves on. Sure, sometimes it's told in the newspapers, but often, when it is, you've already ironed it out and gotten it out of the way, and that's great."
Such a clearing of the air may have been in order before the White Sox ended their three-game weekend series here against the Yankees. Guillen, just off his stint as manager of the American League all-stars, was asked Saturday why he had chosen to use Yankees closer Mariano Rivera to save the AL comeback victory last week in Pittsburgh instead of his own bulldog closer, Bobby Jenks.
Rivera "is the best in the history of baseball," Guillen said Saturday, the day before Rivera nailed down career save No. 400 at Chicago's expense.
And if Jenks wasn't quite OK with that?
"I don't care if he's OK with it," Guillen said, defiance ringing in his voice. "I'm the manager. I'm the one that makes the moves. If he don't like it, play for someone else."
Guillen then laughed, as did the reporters he was addressing, a reminder that the package is complete only when the rapier wit is revealed.
That doesn't mean that serious missteps don't occur. They often do when a personality is in perpetual overdrive.
Earlier this season, Guillen, in full rant, used a homophobic phrase to describe a Chicago-based columnist to reporters. For that he was reprimanded by baseball commissioner Bud Selig and ordered to undergo sensitivity training.
A day after slurring the writer, Guillen said: "The word I used, I should have used something different. A lot of people's feelings were hurt, and I didn't mean it that way." Then, choosing different words, he unleashed another profanity-spiced opinion of the writer.
On Saturday, Guillen suggested that the incident was nothing personal, and was blown a bit out of proportion because of who he is. Still, he said, "that story was not the media's fault. It was my fault."
Torborg had predicted there would be such moments during a 2003 telephone conversation with Jerry Reinsdorf, the White Sox team owner for whom he had once managed. And that was during a call he made to recommend his former star shortstop and White Sox team captain as a manager.
"I told Jerry, there's no question about his work ethic, his knowledge, his enthusiasm, his love for the game, or his ability to communicate," Torborg said. "But I said, 'You will have to possibly be making some apologies for some of the things he says!' "
Reinsdorf laughed and so did Torborg. But the conversation did not end.
"I told Jerry that Ozzie is so honest; that's why he is so good with the players," Torborg said. "They know where he's coming from.
"And he won't put up with not playing hard or playing the right way. He'll get in their faces, no matter where - on the field, in the dugout, in the middle of the clubhouse. Then, the next thing you know, he's got his arm around the guy, taking him out to dinner... unbelievable!"
And absolute.
"I'm never going to change," Guillen vowed Saturday. "One thing about me - I'm always going to say the truth."
NEW YORK - Ozzie Guillen, holed up in his South Florida home, was as angry as he'd ever been, so much so that the man who aspired to manage in the majors was about to quit baseball. For good.
The year was 2003 and Guillen, then the Florida Marlins' third-base coach, was fuming because the team had just fired its manager and his mentor, Jeff Torborg.
Guillen, going so far as to order the clubhouse staff to pack his belongings and ship them home, was through - that is, until the man who had managed him as a player and given him his first coaching job telephoned to ask one burning question:
"What are you doing?' " Torborg demanded. "You can't quit, Oz. You're going to manage one day!"
How right he was.
Guillen, who didn't quit, not only is one of baseball's most successful managers - he led the Chicago White Sox to a World Series crown a year ago in just his second season. The former shortstop from Venezuela also is one of the game's most provocative.
Unapologetically outspoken and combative, at times both profane and politically incorrect - that's Ozzie Guillen on a quiet day.
Mix the always-ready-to-tap emotions with situations in which he simply cannot resist shouting the unvarnished truth, and Guillen, 42, becomes one of the biggest characters and outspoken quote machines in the game.
If you think this "can't miss" entertainment from the 2005 AL manager of the year is something on nightly television highlight reels, imagine the view from the dugout.
As White Sox designated hitter Jim Thome wryly told reporters at the All-Star Game last week in Pittsburgh: "It's a lot of fun on his bench."
Sometimes the fire that is Guillen singes. That's OK, he says.
"I don't expect anybody to like me," Guillen said before his team played at Yankee Stadium Saturday. "I expect them to respect me and play for me."
The Sox, who had been without a World Series title since 1917, certainly have played for him: The 2005 world championship was won with an 11-1 run through the postseason. Much the same cast owns baseball's second-highest winning percentage despite suspect pitching this season.
As for liking him...
"He's different than what the media make him out to be," A.J. Pierzynski said. "I'm not going to say there haven't been run-ins, but the players like coming here every day and like playing for him."
The reason is simple, the all-star catcher said: "He treats his players as something special. He knows how to deal with everyone, communicate with everyone."
Just not always with a velvet touch, right?
"Well, he's not even-keel," Pierzynski said with a smile. "He does get emotional. But he doesn't change. He brings the same energy every day, win or lose.
"When he gets upset, he tells you, puts it behind him, and moves on. Sure, sometimes it's told in the newspapers, but often, when it is, you've already ironed it out and gotten it out of the way, and that's great."
Such a clearing of the air may have been in order before the White Sox ended their three-game weekend series here against the Yankees. Guillen, just off his stint as manager of the American League all-stars, was asked Saturday why he had chosen to use Yankees closer Mariano Rivera to save the AL comeback victory last week in Pittsburgh instead of his own bulldog closer, Bobby Jenks.
Rivera "is the best in the history of baseball," Guillen said Saturday, the day before Rivera nailed down career save No. 400 at Chicago's expense.
And if Jenks wasn't quite OK with that?
"I don't care if he's OK with it," Guillen said, defiance ringing in his voice. "I'm the manager. I'm the one that makes the moves. If he don't like it, play for someone else."
Guillen then laughed, as did the reporters he was addressing, a reminder that the package is complete only when the rapier wit is revealed.
That doesn't mean that serious missteps don't occur. They often do when a personality is in perpetual overdrive.
Earlier this season, Guillen, in full rant, used a homophobic phrase to describe a Chicago-based columnist to reporters. For that he was reprimanded by baseball commissioner Bud Selig and ordered to undergo sensitivity training.
A day after slurring the writer, Guillen said: "The word I used, I should have used something different. A lot of people's feelings were hurt, and I didn't mean it that way." Then, choosing different words, he unleashed another profanity-spiced opinion of the writer.
On Saturday, Guillen suggested that the incident was nothing personal, and was blown a bit out of proportion because of who he is. Still, he said, "that story was not the media's fault. It was my fault."
Torborg had predicted there would be such moments during a 2003 telephone conversation with Jerry Reinsdorf, the White Sox team owner for whom he had once managed. And that was during a call he made to recommend his former star shortstop and White Sox team captain as a manager.
"I told Jerry, there's no question about his work ethic, his knowledge, his enthusiasm, his love for the game, or his ability to communicate," Torborg said. "But I said, 'You will have to possibly be making some apologies for some of the things he says!' "
Reinsdorf laughed and so did Torborg. But the conversation did not end.
"I told Jerry that Ozzie is so honest; that's why he is so good with the players," Torborg said. "They know where he's coming from.
"And he won't put up with not playing hard or playing the right way. He'll get in their faces, no matter where - on the field, in the dugout, in the middle of the clubhouse. Then, the next thing you know, he's got his arm around the guy, taking him out to dinner... unbelievable!"
And absolute.
"I'm never going to change," Guillen vowed Saturday. "One thing about me - I'm always going to say the truth."
Foaming About Froemming
Phillies fans really responded to a recent package I wrote about umpire Bruce Froemming, who is approaching his 5,000th major-league game. One went so far as to day Froemming's call in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Phillies at a packed Veterans Stadium on Oct. 7, 1977, "ruined" his life.
"Tell Bruce that the next time you talk to him," the loyal reader said.
Just goes to show that baseball is the sport built on personalities - and how those personalities transcend time and keep even the most fleeting moments alive and well for years, if not decades, in the hearts and minds of the fan.
To read why Froemming still raises the blood pressure of Phillies fans, click on the above link. To read about his great career - 36 years in the majors, 12 in the minors, click on Bruce Froemming's story.
"Tell Bruce that the next time you talk to him," the loyal reader said.
Just goes to show that baseball is the sport built on personalities - and how those personalities transcend time and keep even the most fleeting moments alive and well for years, if not decades, in the hearts and minds of the fan.
To read why Froemming still raises the blood pressure of Phillies fans, click on the above link. To read about his great career - 36 years in the majors, 12 in the minors, click on Bruce Froemming's story.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Wild Insinuation
Derek Jeter looked like something had literally been lost in the translation.
Someone had actually suggested that the Yankees had to win the American League East to advance to the 2006 postseason since everyone was saying that the wildcard berth will obviously go to a team from another division.
"I don't know who's been saying that. I haven't been saying that," the Yankees' shortstop said Saturday.
Afterall, he said, the Yankees were four games back of the front-running Chicago White Sox in the AL wild-card standings after winning the first two games of their three-game series at Yankee Stadium. Jeter said that with 70-some games left, that four-game difference was not enough.
"You can't just punch a team's ticket and say the wild card is coming out of here, or this team is automatically in the playoffs. Four games with 70 some games left? I don't think that's too big of a lead."
Thing is, Jeter isn't really thinking about the wild card as a vehicle to help the Yankees extend their decade-long postseason streak alive. "We want to win the division," said this 10-year vet who's never not played in the postseason.
Yankees-Red Sox. That does have more of a ring to it than Yankees-White Sox.
Someone had actually suggested that the Yankees had to win the American League East to advance to the 2006 postseason since everyone was saying that the wildcard berth will obviously go to a team from another division.
"I don't know who's been saying that. I haven't been saying that," the Yankees' shortstop said Saturday.
Afterall, he said, the Yankees were four games back of the front-running Chicago White Sox in the AL wild-card standings after winning the first two games of their three-game series at Yankee Stadium. Jeter said that with 70-some games left, that four-game difference was not enough.
"You can't just punch a team's ticket and say the wild card is coming out of here, or this team is automatically in the playoffs. Four games with 70 some games left? I don't think that's too big of a lead."
Thing is, Jeter isn't really thinking about the wild card as a vehicle to help the Yankees extend their decade-long postseason streak alive. "We want to win the division," said this 10-year vet who's never not played in the postseason.
Yankees-Red Sox. That does have more of a ring to it than Yankees-White Sox.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Saw This Freight Train Coming
The Detroit Tigers, possessors of the best record in baseball, might be the surprise of the year to most people.
Not Ozzie Guillen. The manager of the defending world champion Chicago White Sox saw this freight train coming at his team in the American League Central two years ago.
"Back in spring training, even last year, too, I said the team that is going to give problems is the Detroit Tigers," Guillen said today at Yankee Stadium. "When you looked at their pitching in 2004, looked at their pitching, you knew they were going to be good in a couple of years. Then, when the general manager [Dave Dombrowski] got the job, I said, watch, the Detroit Tigers in a couple years, they're going to win.
"Because, if you know Dave, he will do anything in his power to put a good ballclub together."
Dombrowski, Tigers GM since 2002, has put a string of gems together on offense and defense when he acquired free-agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez, shortstop Carlos Guillen and centerfielder Curtis Granderson.
Still, the difference-maker is the Tigers' pitching - and Dombrowski's prints are all over this very artistic rendering, much the same way they were on the two world championship teams he crafted for the Florida Marlins in 1997 and 2001.
He engineered the trade for Jeremy Bonderman in 2002. Justin virulently was came into the organization on Dombrowski's watch as a first-round pick in baseball's amateur draft of 2004. Those two starting pitchers are a combined 19-8 going into today's games.
Young reliever Joel Zumaya, a valuable setup man for veteran stopper Todd Jones (24 saves) was a plum Dombrowski's people found in 11th round in '02. And he found another, most surprising morsel on the free agent market in the form of veteran starter Kenny Rogers.
People scratched their heads when Dombrowski spent $16 million on a two-year deal for the 41-year-old pitcher. But Rogers' second straight All-star selection - and the starting assignment for the American League last week in Pittsburgh, combined with an 11-3 record, quieted doubters.
Add veteran manager Jim Leyland to the mix and the Detroit Tigers become a poignant as well as a plausible success story.
Most important, thanks to Dombrowski, they are no longer a doormat but rather armed, dangerous and poised to continue as baseball's winningest team. One poised to fulfill the grudgingly admiring Guillen's worst fears.
Not Ozzie Guillen. The manager of the defending world champion Chicago White Sox saw this freight train coming at his team in the American League Central two years ago.
"Back in spring training, even last year, too, I said the team that is going to give problems is the Detroit Tigers," Guillen said today at Yankee Stadium. "When you looked at their pitching in 2004, looked at their pitching, you knew they were going to be good in a couple of years. Then, when the general manager [Dave Dombrowski] got the job, I said, watch, the Detroit Tigers in a couple years, they're going to win.
"Because, if you know Dave, he will do anything in his power to put a good ballclub together."
Dombrowski, Tigers GM since 2002, has put a string of gems together on offense and defense when he acquired free-agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez, shortstop Carlos Guillen and centerfielder Curtis Granderson.
Still, the difference-maker is the Tigers' pitching - and Dombrowski's prints are all over this very artistic rendering, much the same way they were on the two world championship teams he crafted for the Florida Marlins in 1997 and 2001.
He engineered the trade for Jeremy Bonderman in 2002. Justin virulently was came into the organization on Dombrowski's watch as a first-round pick in baseball's amateur draft of 2004. Those two starting pitchers are a combined 19-8 going into today's games.
Young reliever Joel Zumaya, a valuable setup man for veteran stopper Todd Jones (24 saves) was a plum Dombrowski's people found in 11th round in '02. And he found another, most surprising morsel on the free agent market in the form of veteran starter Kenny Rogers.
People scratched their heads when Dombrowski spent $16 million on a two-year deal for the 41-year-old pitcher. But Rogers' second straight All-star selection - and the starting assignment for the American League last week in Pittsburgh, combined with an 11-3 record, quieted doubters.
Add veteran manager Jim Leyland to the mix and the Detroit Tigers become a poignant as well as a plausible success story.
Most important, thanks to Dombrowski, they are no longer a doormat but rather armed, dangerous and poised to continue as baseball's winningest team. One poised to fulfill the grudgingly admiring Guillen's worst fears.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
From Jackie Robinson to ... Ryan Howard?
Could it be that the Philadelphia Phillies will finally produce their first bona fide black superstar?
That is, a superstar in the sense of bigger-than-life personality so widely accepted, marketable and beloved that he not only could be the centerpiece of a franchise, but a bridge to a still-elusive fan segment — and untapped revenue source — the black Philadelphia.
Ryan Howard, the 2005 rookie of the year and powerful first baseman who won baseball’s home-run hitting contest during the All-star celebration this month, could be that player.
Howard’s shoulders seem that broad, his heart seems that willing, his sense of the mission to promote something larger than himself seems right on.
In Pittsburgh, Howard went toe-to-toe with the Mets’ vibrant shooting star, David Wright, in the finale of the nationally televised derby. And he not only held his own at the plate but also in the Q ratings.
His luminous smile and personality lit up the Pittsburgh skyline, all but defying anyone not to include him in the next generation of marketable baseball stars.
That night Howard said on national TV that his home-run derby win finally gave the Phillies — one of the major disappointments of the 2006 season — something to cheer about.
He also gave the organization more evidence that he just might finally be the guy the Phillies can count on to close a gap that has existed since, well, 1947.
That’s the year Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier and became baseball’s first ambassador to black America. And black America responded, welcoming and worshipping the heroic figure who helped the game shed, at long last, its segregation policies. One by one, most every major league team reinvented Robinson in the form of their own homegrown superstar players of color.
Larry Doby in Cleveland. Henry Aaron in Milwaukee/Atlanta. Willie Mays in New York/San Francisco. Ernie Banks and Billy Williams in Chicago. Joe Morgan in Cincinnati. Frank Robinson in Cincy and Baltimore. Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente in Pittsburgh.
Even St. Louis, the seat of rebellion against Robinson in ’47, eventually gave us Bob Gibson and Lou Brock.
The Phillies? They neither couldn’t or wouldn’t plug that caliber of superstar into their mosaic. And that gaping hole assured to this day that the Phillies’ major contribution to the story of baseball and race remains the fact that Philadelphia was the one stop most hostile to Robinson in ’47.
That legacy, and the lack of a major black presence in Phillies’ history is why I contend blacks in Philadelphia remain indifferent, even suspicious, of the franchise to this day. Al Downing, who grew up in Trenton and went on the pitch for the Yankees and Dodgers, agreed with that perception in a conversation long ago. When with L.A., Downing also noticed how few black fans turned out. And those who did came to root for the Dodgers.
Jackie’s team.
That allegiance, Downing contended, directly resulted from the Phillies never having given black Philadelphians someone to replace Robinson in their hearts. Not that there weren’t Phillies of color.
Richie Allen was a talent, to be sure, but one who often played the role of the angry black man — not so popular in blue-collar Philly during the racially volatile 1960s.
Sad fact is, Philadelphia never got Richie Allen. And the moody Allen never got Philly. And it cost Allen, who should have gotten much more of a bounce, popularity-wise, given his enormous talents.
Then there was the introspective Garry Maddox. A class act, Maddox often did more in one month, community-relations wise, than some 25-man rosters did in a season.But Maddox was quiet and introspective. And, to borrow a phrase from Reggie Jackson, Maddox was never seen as “the straw that stirred” the winning Phillies’ teams of the 70s and 80s. Not with Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton, pepperpot shortstop Larry Bowa and Dallas Green, the larger-than-life manager of the Phillies’ 1980 championship team, around.
Tony Taylor? Oscar Gamble? Gary Matthews? Davey Cash? Good citizens and good players, all. But they, too, played in the shadows of larger stars.
Of the current Phillies, Jimmy Rollins seemed on the cusp of being the breakthrough guy, but the ebb and flow of his game often seem to conspire to keep the shortstop and town at arm’s length from each other. Rollins is more willing to step up than, say Pat Burrell or Bobby Abreu. But to be a Frank Robinson, Pops Stargell or Ernie Banks requires not just talent, but a larger-than-life presence that never shrinks from the spotlight.
Jackie Robinson has waited a long time to hand off the baton to such a figure here.
Ryan Howard, it’s there for the taking. Grab it and go the distance.
That is, a superstar in the sense of bigger-than-life personality so widely accepted, marketable and beloved that he not only could be the centerpiece of a franchise, but a bridge to a still-elusive fan segment — and untapped revenue source — the black Philadelphia.
Ryan Howard, the 2005 rookie of the year and powerful first baseman who won baseball’s home-run hitting contest during the All-star celebration this month, could be that player.
Howard’s shoulders seem that broad, his heart seems that willing, his sense of the mission to promote something larger than himself seems right on.
In Pittsburgh, Howard went toe-to-toe with the Mets’ vibrant shooting star, David Wright, in the finale of the nationally televised derby. And he not only held his own at the plate but also in the Q ratings.
His luminous smile and personality lit up the Pittsburgh skyline, all but defying anyone not to include him in the next generation of marketable baseball stars.
That night Howard said on national TV that his home-run derby win finally gave the Phillies — one of the major disappointments of the 2006 season — something to cheer about.
He also gave the organization more evidence that he just might finally be the guy the Phillies can count on to close a gap that has existed since, well, 1947.
That’s the year Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier and became baseball’s first ambassador to black America. And black America responded, welcoming and worshipping the heroic figure who helped the game shed, at long last, its segregation policies. One by one, most every major league team reinvented Robinson in the form of their own homegrown superstar players of color.
Larry Doby in Cleveland. Henry Aaron in Milwaukee/Atlanta. Willie Mays in New York/San Francisco. Ernie Banks and Billy Williams in Chicago. Joe Morgan in Cincinnati. Frank Robinson in Cincy and Baltimore. Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente in Pittsburgh.
Even St. Louis, the seat of rebellion against Robinson in ’47, eventually gave us Bob Gibson and Lou Brock.
The Phillies? They neither couldn’t or wouldn’t plug that caliber of superstar into their mosaic. And that gaping hole assured to this day that the Phillies’ major contribution to the story of baseball and race remains the fact that Philadelphia was the one stop most hostile to Robinson in ’47.
That legacy, and the lack of a major black presence in Phillies’ history is why I contend blacks in Philadelphia remain indifferent, even suspicious, of the franchise to this day. Al Downing, who grew up in Trenton and went on the pitch for the Yankees and Dodgers, agreed with that perception in a conversation long ago. When with L.A., Downing also noticed how few black fans turned out. And those who did came to root for the Dodgers.
Jackie’s team.
That allegiance, Downing contended, directly resulted from the Phillies never having given black Philadelphians someone to replace Robinson in their hearts. Not that there weren’t Phillies of color.
Richie Allen was a talent, to be sure, but one who often played the role of the angry black man — not so popular in blue-collar Philly during the racially volatile 1960s.
Sad fact is, Philadelphia never got Richie Allen. And the moody Allen never got Philly. And it cost Allen, who should have gotten much more of a bounce, popularity-wise, given his enormous talents.
Then there was the introspective Garry Maddox. A class act, Maddox often did more in one month, community-relations wise, than some 25-man rosters did in a season.But Maddox was quiet and introspective. And, to borrow a phrase from Reggie Jackson, Maddox was never seen as “the straw that stirred” the winning Phillies’ teams of the 70s and 80s. Not with Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton, pepperpot shortstop Larry Bowa and Dallas Green, the larger-than-life manager of the Phillies’ 1980 championship team, around.
Tony Taylor? Oscar Gamble? Gary Matthews? Davey Cash? Good citizens and good players, all. But they, too, played in the shadows of larger stars.
Of the current Phillies, Jimmy Rollins seemed on the cusp of being the breakthrough guy, but the ebb and flow of his game often seem to conspire to keep the shortstop and town at arm’s length from each other. Rollins is more willing to step up than, say Pat Burrell or Bobby Abreu. But to be a Frank Robinson, Pops Stargell or Ernie Banks requires not just talent, but a larger-than-life presence that never shrinks from the spotlight.
Jackie Robinson has waited a long time to hand off the baton to such a figure here.
Ryan Howard, it’s there for the taking. Grab it and go the distance.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Things we never saw coming
- Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood, who was on the disabled list three times last year and missed the 1999 season after elbow surgery, is back on the DL because of a partial tear in his right rotator cuff. Surgery might be in order. In the least he's out a month. If he's cut, again, he's gone for the season. Staff ace going down with such an injury means just one thing in Chicago, of course - Cubs manager Dusty Baker's IQ just dropped, again.
- Jose Canseco is writing yet another tell-all about steroid use in Major League Baseball, vowing to name more names in his effort to convince baseball fans that its Baseball's Club Medicine Cabinet had more than one member. Oh, yeah, the guys he named in his last expose, Juiced, never did sue for libel. What's up with that, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Co.?
- Manny Ramirez who, on Friday, bowed out of the upcoming All-star game because of a sore knee, doubled twice, hit a single and drew a walk in the Boston Red Sox win over the Chicago White Sox Saturday.
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