Three Left Turns Make a Right

The more I think about the special election for the Negro Leagues, the more troubling it is to me. They actually elected four owners to the HOF yesterday. Looking over the current inductees, I can only count three whose sole position was as an owner (Comisky, Veeck and Yawkey). Yawkey, (who was the owner of the Red Sox for over 40 years) was an avowed racist (thankfully he passed on Hank Aaron and Willie Mays) who bought his way into the HOF by paying for a major addition to the building. Connie Mack is also in the HOF, but as a manager, even though he was the owner of the team for 50 years.

Once again, I think the voters are trying to make up for an injustice by including people who do not stack up to the standards that the HOF has set. This can only serve as a means to further diminish this once exclusive institution. Why isn't Colonel Ruppert or Walter O'Malley in the hall? Who knows, but the voters have not seen fit to include them. Colonel Ruppert created the New York Yankees dynasty, O'Malley oversaw the dismantling of the color line, the move of Baseball to the west coast, the rise of the Dodgers from laughing stock to perennial contender, and yet they haven't been voted in. My point here is not to argue for their inclusion, but to point out just how hard it is for an owner to get into the HOF. It is very clear that a different standard was used in this election.

Given the new lower standard that has been established with this election, I don't see why an argument can't be made for Charley Finley or George Steinbrenner along with Ruppert and O'Malley. It's true that an injustice was done to most of these people (one of the owners inducted was white, so his association with the league was by choice, not necessity), but it's just as true that two wrongs do not make a right.

Chicken Stanley for the HOF

The Baseball Hall of Fame is trying to make up for past ills by inducting a group of Negro Leaguers into the HOF. Now, I'm all for putting deserving players in the HOF and obviously the Negro League players have been under represented. I do not however agree with putting players in based on anecdotal evidence. The HOF has made mistakes based on actual statistics, so how on earth are they going to sort through anecdotes to figure out who deserves to be in the HOF. Jay Buhner hit one of the longest home runs I have ever seen. Should that be enough to get him into the HOF? Of course not, so why on earth would the HOF rely on such "evidence" to put Negro Leaguers in? It's clearly an injustice that they were not allowed to play in the Major Leagues, but is the wholesale induction of players really the way to provide redress to those players? I don't think so. If MLB is in such a giving mood, why don't they provide a good pension to the living Negro Leaguers or provide the families of all the former Negro Leaguers with a one-time payment to make up for the denial of the opportunity to play in the Majors.

The Hall of Fame has already been cheapened by the old Veterans Committee (The new Veterans Committee made of the living HOFers has yet to induct a candidate). There really doesn't need to be any more damage done. Seriously, were Honus Wagner and Phil Rizzuto even playing the same game? Yet they are honored by baseball in the same way. At this point there is no way for baseball to honor its truly great players. The honor has been so watered down, that the great, good and sometimes just the lucky now share the same hallowed ground. Rizzuto and Reese were good players, but were they any better than Bowa and Concepcion? I don't think so, but the fact that the first two have gotten in, leaves the latter two feeling like they have a beef when they are not voted in.

I understand the fact that Negro Leaguers got a raw deal. I understand that they have not gotten their just due from the HOF. But to induct a group of players into the Hall based on flimsy statistics and hearsay, is just as wrong.

I Wanna Grow up to be a YES Man

Michael Kay is the ultimate company man. And trust me, that's not a compliment. It's one thing to root openly for the home team, but it's another to tow the company line the way he does. Phil Rizzuto was the ultimate "homer", but he never bowed down to the almighty YANKEES. I mean good Lord, Kay has his head stuck so far up Steinbrenner's ass that he probably has a pretty good view of his tonsils. He has never and probably will never say a critical word about the organization. I'm sure that at times Jim Kaat would like to slap him. Whenever Kaat criticizes the organization, you can hear the crickets chirping over Kay's microphone. His fawning extends to practically every member of the Yankees. Watching his interview show is an exercise in stupidity. From the stupid grin on his face, to the stupid questions, there is not one redeeming factor about the show. Not since James Lipton have I seen someone suck up to mediocrity with the consistency that Kay does.

I'm almost looking forward to his calls this year because they will give me a chance to document just what a spineless jellyfish he is. And by the way Michael, you are calling a game on TV, not Radio. We do not need you to tell us that the pitcher is in the wind up, in the stretch, licking his fingers or scratching his ass. We can see all that. Remember that TV actually comes with a moving image. It's such a thrill when he's out of the booth and Singleton and Kaat call the games. At least then we get to hear some intelligent analysis of the action and perhaps even hear an objective viewpoint.

Michael Kay, poster boy for ass lickers everywhere.

Garden Party

The Knicks?!!?! I don't even know where to start really. Isiah Thomas clearly has a plan, and I think that's the best thing that I can say about his moves since taking over the Knicks front office. He has a plan but apparently he was on Heroin when he hatched it. Here's what he has done so far in a nutshell; He has traded away the Knicks future (in the form of an unprotected #1 pick in the upcoming draft, which by the looks it may end up being the #1 overall pick), imported high priced "talent" (Curry, Marbury, Jalen Rose, Crawford), brought in players who just plain suck (Richardson, Jerome James (come on Jerome James????? what the fuck!) and traded for broken down players (Penny Hardaway).

And what has all this wheeling and dealing brought? A God damned disaster! And now he has seen fit to trade for Steve Francis. Francis hasn't seen a shot yet that he doesn't think he can make. It's amazing, first there's Marbury, who last year proclaimed himself the best point guard in the NBA (unless there's an NBA in Sweden, I believe that to be a bit of an overstatement). And now add Francis to that mix. Someone forgot to tell Francis that he is not the second coming of Pistol Pete, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson all rolled into one. I guess it's nice to have confidence in your game, but he's bordering on delusional. I don't know who gave him the nickname "Stevie Franchise", but they should ask for it back.

Instead of waiting for Hardaway's contract to expire at the end of the year and help the Knicks start to get somewhere near the NBA salary cap (they currently pay somewhere in the $60 million range in penalties for being over the cap), Isiah decided that Francis would somehow be able to turn the team around. Now the Knicks have Jamal Crawford, Nate Richardson, Quentin Richardson, Jalen Rose, Francis and Marbury to share two guard positions. How about that! Half the Knicks starting 12 will be guards. All of them are shoot first and pass maybe players. Jalen Rose is probably be the best point guard of the group, but Marbury would never allow him to move into the starting PG position.

I find it hard to believe that Larry Brown has signed off on these moves. First of all, he and Jalen Rose are basically sworn enemies. Rose accused Brown of trying to ruin his career while he was in Indiana. Larry Brown is a defense first coach, who has basically been handed a group of players that can't play defense. This has got to come to a head at some point. I'm guessing that Isiah will be shown the door before Larry. At least Larry has a defense for the dismal record of the Knicks. He can claim that he could only use what was given to him by Thomas, and he would be absolutely right. Why on earth did anybody think that Isiah knew what he was doing anyway? He didn't do anything with the Raptors (granted they were an expansion team, but he didn't move the needle at all during his tenure there), he blew a deal when he was the owner of the CBA that would have basically made them the developmental league for the NBA. He didn't take the Pacers to the NBA finals, in fact they got better after he left. This is the trail of "success" that he carried with him into the job as GM of the Knicks. I guess anything looked like an upgrade after the Layden era, but at least those teams made the playoffs.

I'm not sure that the Knicks could beat the bench players of an NBA team right now. They get beaten by 20+ so many nights that it seems the scoreboard at the Garden starts out with the Knicks losing by 20. I can only lay the blame at the feet of Isiah Thomas at this point. He either drafted, signed or traded for every player currently on the team. I know that when he came in, he was handicapped by the contracts that the Knicks had, but he has taken a bad situation and made it worse. I can only hope that the Isiah experiment will come to end shortly. It will take years for the Knicks to rebound, but at some point they have to realize that it's time to hit the chicken switch.

It's a guarantee, by George!

In his annual state of the union address, the Yankees esteemed owner decided to tell everyone that the team would definitely win the World Series this year. George is always good for a sound bite and I'm glad that he's confident enough in the team to make such a prediction. Of course, he makes that prediction every year. I really like having George as an owner. He's made his mistakes (The speed Yankees, the Winfield conspiracy, illegal contributions to the Nixon campaign), but for the most part he has made errors based on what he thought was for the good of the team.

It's nice to have an owner that's so committed to winning that he allows his other business to fall apart (He inherited his money from his father who created a ship building company which he drove into the ground). He bought the Yankees for $10 million, which seems like a paltry sum today, but was a major investment back in the 70's. The Yankees are worth upwards of $1 billion today, so I guess he made a sound investment. George can be over demanding, overbearing, over judgmental and basically a complete asshole, but he really just wants to win (that still doesn't explain paying a criminal to try and dig up dirt on Dave Winfield, but hey, we all make mistakes). I know that most fans in other cities look at George as something of a joke, but he's a joke with 9 American League Pennants and 6 World Championships to his name. I'm not sure there's a fan anywhere that wouldn't trade their ownership for that record.

So we endure George here in NY. We talk about him like the Boston folks talk about Manny. In their case it's Manny being Manny, and in ours it's just George being George.

Cash is the Man

We all know that Gary Sheffield is a pain in the ass. And during his contract year, he elevates his game to monumental pain in the ass status. Coming into spring training every reporter was waiting to hear the first salvo in the year long Sheffield contract drama. They waited patiently for the surly Sheffield to come out and speak to them and begin his "I don't get no respect" speech. What they got instead was a smiling and relatively happy Gary Sheffield. I say relatively happy, because I don't Gary Sheffield is every really happy. For some reason he feels that the world owes him something and $13 million a year to play baseball simply does not cover the tab. Anyway, he was happy yesterday because Brian Cashman had taken him aside and told him that the Yankees would "probably" pick up his option for '07. With one conversation, in which Cashman essentially promised him nothing, the situation was diffused, leaving a lot of reporters feeling dumbfounded. They had already written the headlines in their heads and were just waiting for Sheff to fill in the rest. Unfortunately for them, they got a relaxed and optimistic Sheffield instead.

Brian Cashman takes a lot of abuse in the New York press ( (I actually heard Mike Francessa yell at him on his radio show last year), but he gets little praise for all the things that he does right. If his master stroke with Sheff is any indication of what kind of year he's going to have, then I think the Yankees are in for a very good year indeed. Of course the Sheffield issue will rear its ugly head again, probably sooner rather than later, but Cash will once again handle it with the same deft approach that has served him so well for the last 8 years.

King of the Impossible

Tom Gordon decided to vent about his time in NY yesterday. He complained that the NY media was too harsh and that he had to put up with some disparaging comments from fans in front of his kids. Tom Gordon was the set up man for Mo Rivera for the past two years and was probably the best set up man that Mo has ever had (forgive me Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson). He did face some scrutiny in the press, probably most visibly for his supposed throwing up incident and subsequent failure in the '04 Red Sox series. However, for the most part, he was treated well, because he performed well and did not make waves in the clubhouse. During this off season he accepted a job as the closer of the Philadelphia Phillies. Going from set up man to closer will focus a lot more attention and pressure on him than he ever had in New York. Now if Tom didn't like the way he was treated here as a set up man, I certainly hope he's ready for the treatment he's going to get in Philadelphia as the closer, where he replaces the very popular and proficient Billy Wagner. It's the only town where the fans hate their own players more than the opposing team. The press is relentless and he and his family are going to be subject to more abuse than he could ever imagine.

That is, of course, unless he never blows a save. Good luck, Flash. We'll miss you. I just hope you don't end up missing the quiet days and nights in the Bronx.

Arod is just a human, just a human being

Ozzie Guillen decided to take a shot at Arod last week by saying that he never intended to play for the Dominican Republic and that Arod is not Dominican. Ozzie is famous for saying that people don't like what he says because he tells the truth. I think a more accurate statement is that people sometimes take offense to what he's saying because what he states is an opinion that he tries to pass off as fact. Unless he had some direct contact with Arod (and Nomar for that matter, who he also took a shot at), he has no idea whether Arod was really conflicted over his decision of who to or if to play in the WBC.

Arod is an easy target for so many people because he signed the richest contract in baseball history. The fact that he produces at the highest levels and is one of the hardest workers in baseball seems to get lost. His perceived lack of success in the post season (his lifetime batting average in the post season is .305 by the way), is a myth. He had a bad series last year, but he has been a steady if not spectacular producer over his career in the post season. He was on his way to becoming the 2nd greatest shortstop of all time (no one can touch Hounus Wagner), but chose to move to third to accommodate Derek Jeter and the Yankees. He will now be on the list of the greatest SS and the greatest 3B.

Arod may not be the world's greatest teammate, but he's not Barry Bonds. As far as I know, he's never gotten into a fight with a teammate, does not demand that he have two lockers or a recliner in front of his locker. He's accessible to the press and usually has nothing but positive comments or when he is critical, he usually points to himself. Arod is a great player. Certainly one of the best players of my lifetime. And if people don't cut him some slack then his boyfriend Gary Sheffield (AKA "the angriest man in baseball") will kick the living shit out of them.

It's a Small World

Check out the following article by Tom Verducci dated 2/14 on the SI site: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/tom_verducci/02/14/damon.jeter/index.html. Then take a look at what I wrote on 1/20 with the heading "First in line". I think you'll find some startling similarities between the two. I'm not ready to say that Verducci is guilty of plagerism, but perhaps he's doing some late night reading (hmmm).

Baseball been berry berry good to me

It looks like we have come to the end of the career of Sammy Sosa. I can't say that I'm sad to see him go. He is one of the poster children for "better living through science". During the late nineties, he went from a 30 home run guy (averaging 34 HR's during the 5 years prior to 1998) to a 60 home run guy (averaging 58 HR's during the next five years) overnight. He is the only person to have hit 60 home runs in 3 different seasons. At least his offensive explosion happened during his athletic prime (which can't be said about Barry Bonds), but the difference is just too startling to be easily or naturally explained.

I can't say that I'll remember fondly his home run chase with Mark McGwire, but what I will remember is his corked bat exploding all over the field. I'll also remember his run in with a sports writer over getting a steroids test. After proclaiming that he would get tested any time and any place, Rick Reily from SI asked him to go and get tested that day. He of course refused and acted as if Reily had insulted his mother.

Is it just coincidence that Sammy's power disappeared when they instituted the steroid ban in baseball? It's possible, and since there is no hard evidence to prove that he took steroids, I guess some will believe that it is just coincidence (although I'm sure those people are limited to Sammy's family members and paid employees). Sammy was always a good ambassador for baseball and for that I guess he deserves some credit. He also deserves the blame for giving baseball a huge black eye. His performance before Congress was appalling. He was clearly trying to cover something up. I wish I could claim not to, "speaka de inglish so good", when I got asked a question I didn't want to answer.

So I say goodbye to Slammin' Sammy (although I think Steroid Sammy or Corked Bat Sammy would be more appropriate), the game is better off and perhaps just a little bit cleaner without you. I guess the next time we see you will be when you're inducted into cooperstown, where I'm sure that you will claim that you never did anything illegal or took any performance enhancing drugs. I'd like to think that on that day, most Baseball fans will not "speaka de inglish so good" either.

Say it ain't so, Joe (part 3)

Well the battle for best Baseball movie comes down to Bull Durham and The Natural. Bull Durham is probably the best look at the life of a minor league baseball team. It included the prototypical life long minor leaguer and the young star on the rise played equally well by the team of Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins. Kevin Costner seemingly lives to star in baseball movies and he does a great job here. He looks, talks and hits like a baseball player. Robbins isn't as convincing as an athlete, but he's okay. The love interest is played by Susan Sarandon and she's also fantastic. Bull Durham is funny, entertaining and really about as successful at weaving baseball into the story as any movie has been.

The Natural is quite the opposite of Bull Durham. Where Bull Durham tries to stick as close to reality as possible, The Natural is pure fantasy. Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs puts on the greatest hitting display in the history of baseball movies. I think he hits 1 double, 1 triple and about 40 home runs. He definitely looks the part of a baseball player. The actual baseball is okay but it's not really supposed to be realistic. It's a fantasy pure and simple. From the player dying after crashing through the wall to lightning striking when Roy hits a home run. Kim Basinger, Glen Close and Barbara Hershey play the love interests in the movie and it's all very symbolic. The good girl wears white and the bad girls wear black. Wilford Brimley and Richard Farnsworth are also fantastic as the manager and coach looking for one last shot at glory.

So there you have it. Reality vs. Fantasy, Costner vs Redford, Crash vs Roy, The Bulls vs. The Knights. It really is a hard pick but I'm going to have to go with The Natural. Bull Durham does a better job of showing us what Baseball actually is, but The Natural shows us what we wish that it would be. The Natural plays much more to the mythology of baseball, the magic of baseball, if you will. And when Roy Hobbs is laid up in the hospital and turns to Glen Close and says, "God, I love Baseball", it is without a doubt my favorite moment in any baseball film. I think there's something in the film that captures the essence of why I fell in love with the game, and why throughout the strikes, drug scandals, and other mishaps, I still believe that it's the greatest game every invented.

Hope Springs Eternal

It's the middle of February, there's 26 inches of dirty snow on the ground and the temperature is struggling to get above the freezing point, but today is one of the best days of year. Spring is not in the air, but at least this young man's (I'm speaking metaphorically) fancy turns to baseball and the promise of warmer days ahead. It's reporting week for pitchers and catchers in spring training. This is the week when every team is in first place and everyone gets to anticipate the thrill of opening day, warm days in the sun and a nail biting pennant chase leading to fall glory (except of course the fans of teams that actually play in Florida).

Winter has been mild, but it does nothing to fend off the darkness and despair of five months without baseball. The last out of the Yankees season basically signals the end of the sports year for me. Even when the Yankees win the World Series, the last out is always bittersweet. Today, however feels a little warmer, the sun is shining a little brighter, my step is a little lighter and all is right with the world once again. For right now, there are no more beautiful words in the english language than "Spring Training".

Say it ain't so, Joe (Part 2)

So, back to the baseball movies discussion. I guess next I should talk about another forgotten jem which is Bingo Long Traveling All Stars and Motor Kings. Bingo Long is one of the few movies made about the Negro Leagues. It's set at the end of the thirties and includes fictionalized portrayals of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, which are ably played by Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones. Richard Pryor is also in this one and he does a great job with comic relief. The baseball scenes aren't that great in this movie, but it does a good job of showing what life was like for the Negro League players of the day. I wish someone would remake this movie. Not only because I think it's a subject which is need of more attention, but also I think that it would be even more relevant given the times we live in today.

Eight Men Out is as historically correct a telling of the Black Sox scandal as we are likely to get on film. The movie documents the exploits of the 1919 White Sox, who threw the World Series as part of a gambling operation. Now there were many accusations of cheating back in those days by greats and near greats (Ty Cobb and Hal Chase, just to name a couple), but nothing was ever proven. It does a really good job of showing who these people were and the motivations for their actions. The Baseball is pretty good. Some of the actors actually look like they know what they're doing out there. It obviously doesn't have a storybook ending, but that doesn't particularly work against it.

I'll lump the Bad News Bears and Major League together. They both play it mainly for laughs. The baseball in the Bears in terrible, but of course they're supposed to be a terrible team. Until, that is, Kelly leak shows up and puts together the greatest hitting display this side of Roy Hobbes. Tatum O'Neal is fantastic in this and it certainly looks like she can pitch. I actually saw this one in the theaters and I still enjoy watching it today. Major League is also pretty funny and actually the baseball scenes are really well done. I know that Charlie Sheen can actually throw in the mid 80's so he was pretty convincing in his pitching scenes. It's got a lot of funny lines and the traditional storybook ending where the team wins and the hero gets the girl. What more can you really ask for. If I would have to make a call between the two of them, I'd give the nod the Bears.

Next is the Pride of the Yankees. The Lou Gehrig Story told by Hollywood in the early forties. There are of course wild liberties taken with the facts in this one and as I mentioned earlier, Gary Cooper was not left handed (but they did reverse the film to make it appear that he was). The baseball scenes are pretty dated, but it's hard not to love a story about a character as beloved as Lou Gehrig. As I said, liberties were taken, but you kind of forgive them because you think at least they got the essence of the story right. I guess time has made Lou Gehrig sort of the saint of baseball and this movie was probably the genesis for that sentiment.

That's it for today. I'll come back soon with the showdown between the two movies left standing for the title of Greatest Baseball Movie. The Natural Vs. Bull Durham.

The Great White Hope

A few words about the latest "GWH" at Duke. The latest incarnation is J.J Redick. He follows a string of GWH's at Duke. They all have the same things in common, their skin color, their supposed work ethic and their lack of success in the NBA. The funny thing is the 2 best players at Duke of the past 15 years (Grant Hill, Elton Brand) were never given the adulation that GWH's were. Starting with Danny Ferry then Christian Latener, then Bobby Hurley (I will admit that Bobby Hurley had NBA skills. His near fatal car accident was the biggest reason that his NBA career never panned out), then amazingly Steve Wojciehowski, then Mike Dunleavy to Redick, the press has fallen over themselves to praise these players. It's almost easy to figure out which player on Duke the press will fall in love with. My money is on their new point guard, Greg Paulus (he's short, he's white and I'm sure he's the "hardest worker in the ACC"). God knows that David Stern would shit himself if he could just find a white superstar player (Adam Morrison are you there?), but great players can't be created. They either have the skills or they don't. Being slow and unable to create your own shot does not usually lead to great success in the NBA (Steve Kerr notwithstanding).


Seriously though, do you really think that Magic Johnson spent less time in the gym working on his game than Larry Bird did? Do you really think that Bird had any less natural talent than Johnson did? Why is it that only white players get to be gritty, scrappy hard workers? If you listened to the press then that is exactly what they would have you believe. And apparently 99% of those kids go to Duke. So we get back to Redick. Sure he can shoot, there's no question about that. And who knows, at the next level he may turn into Steve Kerr (spot up 3 point shooter), which wouldn't be a bad thing. He's not going to be the second coming of Larry Bird (sorry David) and neither is Adam Morrison (sorry again David). It would be nice if there was just some perspective about these GWH's (I thought that Keith Van Horn was the next Larry Bird). Great white players have shown up before and it will happen again, but it won't be because the press builds him up (By the way, Larry's career numbers in college, 30ppg - 13 rebounds - 5 assists, we may never see his like again either white or black).

Let's all hope that the next great white player shows up soon. Not because he'll be David Stern's wet dream, but because it's always fun to see a great player perform.

NY 3B

Mookie Wilson is my favorite baseball player. Until 2004, Melvin Mora, who should still be a Met, was my second favorite player. Since 2004, David Wright, who was born a mere two miles from my childhood home here in beautiful Norfolk, VA, is second on my list.

David Wright is the best young third baseman in baseball since Richie Allen in 1964. Wright's 2005 OPS at age 22 (.911) was the highest for a 3B that young since the Phillies faded in Allen's rookie year. Of course, Allen, due to defensive deficiencies, stopped playing 3B full time at age 25 and predominantly played 1B the rest of his career, which was hampered by injuries, atttiude, and politics. Wright, though, is a much better fielder than Allen, needs no attitude adjustment, and possesses the talent and demeanor to be immune from team and front office contretemps. He will be a 3B and New York Met as long as he's healthy and happy. It is true that the great Pujols played some 3B in his fabulous rookie year at age 21. Some. And he hasn't played there much since. It is true that OF Miguel Cabrera is the same age as Wright and wants to be a full-time 3B again, but he isn't a 3B yet. He also hasn't produced at the more physically demanding position over a full season.

So, what's my point? With the standard disclaimer regarding injury or other unforeseen misfortune, David Wright will retire sometime between 2021 and 2026 recognized as the greatest third basemen of all time. Better than Schmidt. Better than Matthews. And yes, better than A-Rod. He can play the position, but most importantly, Wright is a hitter. He can hit fastballs, breaking balls, changeups, outside pitches, inside pitches, low and away pitches, up and in pitches, behind in the count, ahead in the count, with men on, in late game situations, and, hopefully soon, in the postseason. He has much better strike zone judgment than Schmidt at this age, as shown by his better BB/K rate. He certainly has produced more at this age than Schmidt. Just check out Schmidt's age 23 season some time. http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/schmimi01.shtml Dat is ugly.

NY does not faze David Wright. Playing in his hometown at AAA did not faze him. He is a hitter. He will keep getting better until he hits his peak around 2012, and should finish his career well over .300, 500 HR's and 1500 RBI's.

Now, the Steinbrenners currently have a pretty good 3b, as well. A-Rod's 2005 season at 3B was one of the best at that position in history. Currently, and I do mean currently, he is the best 3B in baseball. But he did not start playing 3B until age 29. He may play 3B for the next 10 years, who knows? Maybe he'll be moved to his more valuable position at SS and Jeter will be released. Ha! As a sworn enemy of the New York Steinbrenners, I thank them every day for handicapping themselves by placing the greatest SS since Honus Wagner, statisitically speaking, and plopping him at 3B to suit Jeter. Jeter is a great hitter and a decent defensive SS, but A-Rod is better. Much better at both positions.

Anyway, it is only a matter of time until Wright is better than A-Rod at 3B. 2006, probably not. 2007, again, most likely not. 2008, maybe, but by 2009-2011, certainly. And he'll only be 29 in 2011. Yes, 29--A-Rod's age at the start of the 2005 season.

So, even if A-Rod plays at 3B until he's 40, he won't be the best 3B ever. He might not be considered be the best SS ever simply because he only played the position for eight full seasons. He's in great player limbo. Too bad for the Steinbrenners. Meanwhile, expect to see another adjective added before David Wright's name over the next few years as he mashes NL pitchers, leads the Mets to renewed glory, and becomes the face of a city: ubiquitous.

Lupica Who?

I am a Mets fan. I hate the New York Steinbrenners. Let's make that clear.

I also don't care one whit about Mike Lupica, and I don't pretent to understand why Mr. Hew apparently does. Why name this site after someone you detest? Ignore him if you don't like him because if you have to read his column to be able to ridicule him then you have just done what every columnist wants you to do, regardless of your motivation: read his column.

I would prefer a change in this site's name to reflect the authors' views on baseball and other subjects, not our opinions about the inconsequential Mike Lupica. Nonetheless, since Mr. Hew is one of the finest people I know, and since we lived together (platonically!) for two and a half years in law school, longer than anyone I have lived with except my wife and kids, I will continue to write on this blog when I have a chance (i.e., when I am awake, sober, alone, not facing deadlines, and in possession of an opinion).

Say it ain't so, Joe (part 1)

It's February which means that the long and harsh winter without baseball is almost over. In fact some players have already reported to spring camps in order to get ready for the WBC. It's the time of year where I end up watching a bunch of Baseball movies because I'm so anxious for the season to start. It got me thinking about which movies would qualify for my list of greatest Baseball movies of all time and also which one I considered to be the best. I wanted to end (or start) once and for all the debate about the greatest baseball movie ever made. This is going to take a little time so for today, I'll just tackle the movies that didn't make the list and one that did. I'll return to tackle the rest later. First of all, here is the list of contenders that I've come up with:

The Bad News Bears
Bull Durham
Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings
Eight Men Out
Long Gone
Major League
The Natural
The Pride of the Yankees

I'm sure you'll notice that some movies are missing (most obviously, Field of Dreams, A League of Their Own and Bang the Drum Slowly). I also somehow inexplicably left out Summer Catch (sorry, Brandon). Bang the Drum slowly simply doesn't do anything for me. It's got DeNiro, which is a good place to start, but it's just not up to snuff. The baseball scenes aren't very good and Michael Moriarty isn't really convincing as a baseball player. Great acting, compelling story, but just doesn't make the list. A league of Their Own is a about the all girls baseball league from the 40's. The acting is pretty good (except for Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell), Tom Hanks is in it (which is always a good thing), the baseball is fairly well portrayed, it's got a good and basically forgotten story to tell, but I just can't get over the fact that it's about girls (Sorry about that one).

The more problematic exclusion is Field of Dreams. I'm sure that for a lot of people, this is their favorite Baseball movie. However, It just doesn't meet my criteria of being a Baseball movie. In my mind, there have to be some actual games shown and some winning and losing done on the field. A major problem was the actor chosen to portray Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) is right-handed while Jackson was actually left-handed. How hard would it have been to find a left-handed actor to play Joe Jackson or if they liked Liotta so much, couldn't he just have learned to hit left-handed? Also, why aren't any Negro Leaguers shown on the field? I guess segregation still exists for baseball players in heaven according to the makers of this movie. There's actually a point in the movie where they joke about not inviting Ty Cobb because nobody likes him, I guess they don't like the colored folk much either. Those are just a couple of huge flaws in the movie (Also Amy Madigan produces what may be the single most annoying portrayal of the "spunky" wife ever committed to film), which clearly illustrate that the actual Baseball is not a main focus of the movie. I mean they reversed the film in Pride of the Yankees so that a right-handed Gary Cooper could at least appear to be hitting from the correct side. Field of Dreams is a good movie, but it doesn't make the list. Sorry.

So, now we are down to the movies that are actually in contention. I'll start off with one of the least known movies on the list and that's Long Gone. It was a made-for-HBO movie, so unless you had HBO back in 1990, you probably missed this one. It's the story of a minor league team in the south in the fifties. William J. Peterson is absolutely fantastic as the once great prospect that missed his chance to make the majors by joining the army character named Stud Cantrell. Virginia Madsen is also really good in this one as his girlfriend, Dixie Lee Boxx. The baseball is passable and of course the final game comes down to the bottom of the 9th with Peterson at bat. They also tackle racism, lost dreams and commitment issues in the movie and all is all it's a pretty good, entertaining little yarn. I don't think it quite measures up to the very best Baseball movies, but trust me that you could do a lot worse than spend 90 minutes watching this one.

Anyway, that's the end of part one of this particular rant.