Having a Ball- The Baseball Hall of Fame in between Naps

A quick wrap up of Major Sporting Events from the past week and my opinions on a specific topic in the Sports World.


I was thinking over the weekend that this is a really slow time in the sports world. But don’t take my word for it; check out the Home Page of any major sports Website. Major League Baseball is entering the “Dog Days” of the season. The NFL is a week away from starting up Training Camps. Golf is pretty non-existent until the PGA Championship next month. There were a few events in some of the minor sports and we’ll be able to review them since things are so slow.

One event that did occur over the weekend was this years Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Unless one of your favorite major league rs is being inducted, most pass on this riveting event. That being said, every time this event rolls around, it sparks a big debate on one person who many believe should be inducted, but hasn’t. Pete Rose. This week I’ve chosen to share my thoughts on the big question. Should Pete Rose be inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame?

But first, a quick Sports Wrap up…

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

While many teams are positioning themselves for a playoff run, most of the talk is on Free Agency. The St Louis Cardinals acquired Outfielder Matt Holliday from the Colorado Rockies, which seems like a great move. Since the move, the Cardinal’s have lost 2 of 3 and fallen out of first place heading into a tough series with LA Dodgers who have the best record in Baseball.
Everybody is talking about the Toronto Blue Jays Pitcher Roy Halladay being traded.. The top contenders are the Philadelphia Phillies, LA Angels, LA Dodgers, and Texas Rangers. I’ve heard a lot of talk that the Red Sox and Yankees were in the mix. I think this is a fantasy, generated by fans of these two clubs. There is no way the Blue Jays would trade their best player to a team in the same division. It will never happen!

Taking Charge

LA DODGERS -
Still poses the best record in Baseball and have a 9 Game lead in their division. However they are playing .500 for the last couple of weeks. They are playing like they are bored.

NY YANKEES-
Have been on fire for a month. Still only 2.5 games ahead of the RED SOX but if this play continues, they will take complete control. Many road games coming up, We’ll see.


PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES-

Have quietly taken a 7 game lead in their division. Right where they were last year. In one of the weakest divisions in baseball they should be set for playoffs.

LA ANGELS

Have won 12 of 14 and taken a 4 game lead in their division. This all happening, with 2 of their best hitters on the bench. The lead should grow as the season wears on and they get healthy. Count on them to be back in the playoffs.


On the Edge

EVERYBODY IN THE CENTRAL DIVISION OF BOTH LEAGUES
Except Cleveland, Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh

Both divisions are going to be great to watch down the stretch.

TEXAS RANGERS-
Won’t go away. Have given a little ground to the Angels over the past couple weeks. Is the annual nosedive around the corner?

BOSTON RED SOX.-
Can beat the Yankees. Solid Team, but they better be careful , the Wild Card is no Guarantee this year


TAMPA BAY RAYS-
Still a solid shot at making it back , but need to win within their division.


CHICAGO CUBS-
This was a tough one. They are only a ½ game up as I write this. However, they have climbed back in it and are playing the best baseball in the division. Remember, this team held the best record in the NL last year.

COLORADO ROCKIES-
2 and 3 since the Holliday Trade. Lead the Wild Card race, and their competition is in their division… San Francisco. Have been very good since Tracy took over.

SAN FRANCISCO-
Still hanging on but really dropping. Have the best 1-2 punch in baseball starting pitching. Need a bat, but if they can hang on and make the playoffs anything can happen with that pitching.



Season Over

EVERYBODY ELSE



NFL
This is the week Bret Favre gives his announcement on whether he will be returning from retirement, to play for the Minnesota Vikings, Right????? Riiiiiight……….


NASCAR

I heard Jimmy Johnson won the All State 400 at Indianapolis. OK here is the thing. NASCAR promotes itself as the people’s “sport”. They say that’s why it’s so popular, everybody can relate. Recently there has been a big decline in the popularity of the “sport”. They are losing sponsors left and right and I’m sure the economy has something to do with that.

They need to contract a little just like every other franchise that goes through tough times. They race something like 44 weeks out of the year for crying out loud.

I can’t relate.

Here is a great idea to get more viewers. Instead of having the cars drive around in circles, have them race city to city. Maybe have them drive 10 laps around the track when they get there to finish. Every time they need to change tires, they actually have to pull into a service garage. Get out, sit in a smelly waiting room. Be forced to eat a stale doughnut and a bad cup of coffee. Wait two hours and then pay $500 out of their own pocket, on the spot. Same goes for gas! Every time they fill up, they got to get out and pay at the pump with their own credit card. And if any part breaks on the car, they got to order the parts and wait for a teenage kid to deliver it in a pick up truck.

It could be like a Soap Opera for guys. “As the Wheels Turn”

In this weeks episode, Tony Stewart has a melt down as he is told his car won’t be ready for 2 more days and is forced to drive loaner car.

Or…. Jeff Gordon refuses to stop for gas even though he is almost on empty, hoping he’ll find a better price up the street.
Now that’s something I can relate to..

TOUR DE FRANCE

Alberto Contador won the Tour de France over the weekend. This is his second in a row. I know these guys are tremendous athletes, and I don’t want to take anything away from them, but I think we need to rethink following this event as a sport. I mean the guy rode most of the last leg of the event not only carrying, but drinking a huge bottle of Champagne. That’s illegal in most countries, isn’t it?



WNBA

Please……



PETE ROSE AND THE HALL OF FAME


Every year I go back and forth on the issue of whether Pete Rose should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Pete Rose was a dominant Player when I was growing up. When he played for the Cincinnati Reds, I was a huge Dodgers fan. The two teams were big rivals, and I had a chance to see him play in person a number of times.

It wasn’t until I got older, that I realized what I was fortunate to have seen, one of the best players to have ever put on a uniform in the history of baseball.

Here is a look at some of his accomplishments:


More Hits than any player in the history of Baseball- 4256
More Times on Base than any player in the history of Baseball – 5929
More Games Played than any player in the History of Baseball – 3560
17 All-Star Games
World Series MVP
Rookie of the Year
2 Gold Gloves
2nd All Time in Doubles
6th All time in Runs Scored

Pete Rose is Baseball.

The reason Pete Rose is not in the Hall of Fame is that he has been accused of and later admitted to betting on Baseball. Although the actual betting was legal, ever since the Black Sox scandal in 1919 this offense has carried with it a life time ban from Baseball.

This decision was made to protect the integrity of the game. In 1919, players from the Chicago White Sox ( The best team in the league hands down) fixed the World Series and threw 3 games to Cincinnati. The White Sox shockingly lost the series. Although never convicted, 8 players from the team, including Shoeless Joe Jackson were banned from Baseball for life. Like Pete Rose, Joe Jackson has always been considered one of the best players to have ever played. It has never really been proven that Joe Jackson did anything to throw a game or even a single play, but he is still suspended today.

There are differences between the Black sox scandal and the issue with Pete Rose. The first is that Pete Rose was not a player at the time. He had already retired and became manager of the Cincinnati Reds. The Black sox scandal involved actual players.

The second is that he never bet on his team to lose. He always bet on his team to win. The players involved in the Black Sox scandal purposely lost to collect money on the side.

I understand that even betting on your team to win could somehow adversely effect your teams performance in other games, but there is still a big difference in betting to win or betting to lose.

I think in order to look at this logically we need to look at the playing career of Pete Rose. We need to judge him on that alone. It’s what he did on the field that made him one of the best, and is what should be honored. Lets face it, he was a horrible manager and would never be recognized for his managerial accomplishments anyway.

I hated Pete Rose when he was a player…. because he was so good. And, because he was so good, it’s why I’m rooting for him now. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.


The Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig has recently been contemplating reinstating Pete Rose, making him eligible for induction to the Hall of Fame. He’s prevented this for 20 years because he says it would hurt the integrity of the game. But what hurts Baseball more? Pete Rose not being in the Hall of Fame? Or me not being able to share memories of the greatest player I ever saw take the field with my 5 year old son?

We’ve already erased 10 years of the game because of the steroid scandals. Lets not lose another 20.

Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame.

MID SUMMER CLASSIC?? HOW ABOUT A LITTLE RESPECT

As we head into mid summer, the sports world takes a breather. The NBA has ended their season (Finally!). The NHL has ended another season under the radar. Football season has yet to begin. NASCAR is well... making another left hand turn. Golf's U.S. Open has ended and in the Tennis world Wimbledon has now past.



That leaves us Baseball. Every Summer Major League Baseball puts on their annual All Star Game. This brings together all the top players of the game to face off in a game that matches the stars from the American League vs. the National League's top players. Besides the actual game, both leagues put up their best Home Run hitters against each other in an entertaining Home Run Derby.



At least that's how its supposed to be.



When the All Star Rosters were released last week I noticed something striking. Both the Los Angeles Dodgers , and Los Angeles Angels did not have one player represented in the starting line ups for next weeks game.



This is a perfect example of the lack of respect West Coast teams receive.



At the half way point the Dodgers have the best record in the Major Leagues. They lead the league in Batting Average , Hits , and On Base Percentage. They are 3rd in Runs scored and have the best Runs Scored / Runs Against Ratio of + 93. This all accomplished without the services of Manny Ramirez for over half the season. Who is putting up these incredible numbers ?



The Los Angels Angels are also in first place again. After posting the best record in Baseball last year. They lead the American League in Batting Average, 3rd in hits, 3rd in RBI's and 5th in runs scored. Not as powerful as the Dodgers , but lets remember how their season started. They opened the season with 3 of thier starters on the Disabled List. Another starter, Nick Adenhart lost his life in a tragic car accident. Starters Vladimir Guererro and Howie Kendrick have missed one half the season. So who is getting the job done?



Well lets take a look.



The Angels :



Chone Figgins has a .310 Batting Average, 4th in league in Stolen Bases, Plays 6 positions and has not missed a game this year.



Juan Rivera has a .317 Batting Average , 16 Home Runs and 52 RBI's



Torri Hunter is Batting .305 , 17 Home Runs, 65 RBI's and is on his way to his Ninth Gold Glove



The Dodgers:

Andre Eithier has 16 Home run and and 54 RBI's and has played every game.

Juan Pierre has a .328 Batting Average and 24 Stolen Bases.

Matt Kemp is Batting .314 with 19 Stolen Bases , 10 home Runs and 45 RBI's

I won't even include Manny Ramirez , who in one month of service is batting .333 with 8 Home Runs and 25 RBI's. That equates to 48 Home Runs , 125 RBI's and a batting average over .330.

At a closer look we see that Josh Hamilton from the Texas Rangers made the Starting Line up for the American League. He has missed over half the season , is batting a whopping .254 with 6 Hoe Runs and 24 RBI's. Anyone mentioned above has better numbers.

David Wright has 5 home Runs and 43 RBI's and has struck out 85 times. Anyone mentioned from the Dodgers line up has better numbers.

I know this selection is by position but if Wright were eliminated, that would free up another position and anyone of these players could have been taken.

Instead the Dodgers have 1 position player on the All Star Team. The Angels have one as well.

To put that in perspective, Tampa Bay has 4, Boston has 3, Philadelphia has 3, HOUSTON even has 2!!

No respect.

On top of that we hear that Justin Morneau Mark Reynolds and Adam Dunn have chose not to take place in the Home Run Derby. Nice Commitment to fans .

No Respect.....

I can't get no relief

Baseball is one of my favorite sports. It's a talking sport. You can have conversations on 50 different subjects during an entire game, and still catch all the action. One can also have many debates about the game. Who's the best hitter? Who's the best pitcher? What era of baseball was more entertaining? And in the current age of Baseball, Who is over paid?

Having grown up in Southern California, I was lucky to have two Major League teams to root for. Of course the Los Angeles Dodgers and the California Angels. I attended more Dodger games as a child (Some I actually paid for), but was a huge fan of both. In fact as I got into my late teens the Angels became my favorite team. This was primarily due to Free Agency. Players that were the backbone of my team for years, were now getting paid more money to play for the hated rivals. Even worse , players I couldn't stand, who I'd been rooting against my whole childhood, now were playing for my Dodgers!

During this time I also noticed another strange thing happening. The way the game was being played was changing. In my youth , Major League Baseball teams carried 4 or 5 Starting Pitchers. They then carried 3 or 4 Relief Pitchers. The Relief Pitchers were guys who were just breaking in to the Major Leagues or were in the twilight of their career. They weren't good enough to crack the starting rotation where the big money was. They were used to mop up in lop sided games or come in if a pitcher was injured. They could pitch 20 innings in a week , or not be used for several. They were the last players on the roster.

Soon these no name pitchers started being used in special situations more and more often. They would be brought in to face a certain hitter earlier in the game. Left hand batters typically have a tougher time against Left handed pitchers. So, in certain situations a Starting pitcher would be removed for relief pitcher even though the Starter was ahead and seemed to be pitching fine.

Because of this, the number of relief pitchers grew on each team. They even started keeping brand new stats for relief pitchers. I guess this gave these pitchers a sense of purpose, and maybe a way to keep track of the worst of the worst.

Besides the typical stats of Wins , Losses, and ERA, they now were keeping official stats called Saves and Blown Saves. A Save is awarded when a Relief pitcher enters the game with his team leading. Let me repeat, his team is already Winning! They rest of the players on his team have already done the heavy lifting. To receive a Save a pitcher must complete the game , face at least one batter, and his team cannot be ahead by more than 3 runs. So lets get this straight, a pitcher can enter the game with 2 outs in the 9th inning leading 4-1. He only needs one out to get the save. He could give up 2 walks, a single , a double , and another walk and still get the final out and receive the save. Boy that seems pretty tough. So tough, that they began to give these wonder talents a special name throughout the League. This name.... "The Closer". Pretty catchy.

I can remember 4 distinct situations where a "Closer" was brought in in the Playoffs and World Series' ,where not only did the "Closer" not save the game, he lost it and ended his teams season. 3 of the times involved my favorite teams.

1985 - The St Louis Cardinal's Jack Clark Blasts a 3 run homer in the top of the ninth inning off Dodger's "Closer"Tom Niedenfuer erasing the Dodgers 2 run lead and ending the series in 6 games.

1986-Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. The Angels lead the Series 3 Games to 1, Needing one win to advance to the World Series. After a 2 run home run by Don Baylor of the Boston Red Sox, Donnie Moore the Angels "Closer" enters the game to Close out the Red Sox and advance the Angels to their first World Series ever. He promptly gives up another 2 run home run to Dave Henderson. Boston takes the lead and wins the game. The Angels do not win another game in the Series and Boston advances to another World Series.

1988 - The Dodgers who were down 4-3 to the Oakland A's in the Bottom of the Ninth, bring up a One legged Kirk Gibson ( Who had not played and would not play the rest of the series due to a serious leg injury).Facing the formidable "Closer"Dennis Eckersley , Gibson blasted a 2 run home run to win the game. The A's never recover and lose the series 4-1. ( This one didn't bother me too much)

1993- In game 6 of the 1993 World Series , The Phillies were leading the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th inning trying to force a Game 7. The Phillies bring in Closer Mitch Williams who promptly walks a batter , gives up a single and finally a series ending 3 run home run to Joe Carter.





At least they don't pay these guys that much money.


Mariano Rivera the "Closer for the NY Yankees makes $15,000,000 a year. What???? I don't get it.

I know its hard but lets try to stay focused. Last year in 2008 the 8 teams that made the playoffs had a total of 108 Blown saves. 108! That means that on average every team that made the playoffs last year had over 13 Blown saves! But who cares they made the playoffs, who cares about 13 more wins for your team. Unless its the last game of the season!

This year the top 10 paid "Closers" are each paid and average of $11.7 Million dollars a year. The bottom 10 paid just under $1 Million a year, Half of them making the League minimum of $400,000. The top 10 have 171 Saves and 26 Blown saves. That means that 1 out of every 6 times these guys blow the game for their team who worked the whole game to put them in a position to win. The Bottom 10 paid "Closers" have closed 168 games and only have 14 blown saves. That's only 1 out of 12 times do the lowest paid "Closers" have a blown save. So...... the lowest paid "Closers' are twice as effective. I don't get it!

The Los Angels Angels had great closer last year. Francisco Rodriquez had 62 saves last year. You might think that the Angels rewarded him with a contract like Mariano Rivera. No , they let him go for nothing. He became a Free Agent and he went on to the New York Mets and signed a multi-year contract for 9.7 Million Dollars. Could it be that my favorite team had finally figured it out? Oh wait, the Angels went out and signed a new "Closer" , Brian Fuentes, to a $8.5 Million a year contract. He went on to Blow 3 of his first 6 Save opportunities this year. I don't get it!

I mentioned that when I was a child I went to many Major League Baseball games. It was $9 for a Field Level ticket. These were the good seats , right up close to the action. You could hear the players talk , and see the looks in their eyes.

I have a 5 year old son, and would love to take him to a Major League Baseball game so he could experience the joy and excitement I did when I was his age. The problem is , these tickets now cost a minimum of $45 , and some teams even charge $100 for these seats.

I have a plan that might work out for all parties and help the youth of today be able to take part of this great game.

PAY THESE RELIEF PITCHERS (or "Closers" as they like to be called) WHAT THEY ARE WORTH- $400,000 A YEAR.... THE BARE MINIMUM.

This would give Major League teams an extra $11.3 Million to play with . With this excess cash Major League teams could lower their Field Level prices to below $15 a seat and not lose a dime.

But wait there is more! With all the kids and families that could now afford to come to a Baseball game and enjoy the experience from the real good seats, think of all the snacks they could sell. I mean every kid needs to experience a $10 hot dog, $5 Coke , and a $4 bag of peanuts.

With all the extra revenue from these family friendly priced snacks, they could even lower their great seat prices to $9 a seat and still make more money. Hey that's what it was when I was a kid.

I don't understand why they would not want to do this. I just don't get it.........