Slow week at The Theorem largely because Nils is lazy and I am not particularly interested in the latest steroid psuedo-drama. But I couldn't pass this piece by Carl Steward entitled "Next generation must restore baseball's purity."
[Purity should definitely be in ironic air quotes, right?]
If the sanctity of Major League Baseball is to be restored, it'll be the next generation of players, not the ever-growing cast of tarnished stars, that does it.
[Restored??]
It's a ray of hope in a sad, sordid time for the game.
[Really? If *now* is a sad, sordid time for the game, what would we call the ENTIRE period before 1947?]
Desire to shake fist at the sky > Having perspective.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sanctimony is the new black!
Ian O'Connor is on a roll.
In the real world, the Yankees would do what employers always do when they discover an employee has deceived them. They’d fire Rodriguez.
[Unless the deceit was limited to your tax return.]
The fans don’t want him. His teammates don’t want him. Even the old-timers have had their fill. “I was just across the street having a beer when all the TV kept showing was A-Rod hitting homers,” Whitey Ford said from his Florida home. “I made the owner of the place change the channel. I don’t know A-Rod, but this steroid thing is the same story over and over, and I’m sick of it.”
[This might be my favorite reaction to date. According to The Baseball Page .Com profile of Whitey Ford, they list his "Best Strength as a Player" as follows:
His willingness and ability to skirt the rules. Ford was a master at doctoring the baseball. He bragged that he could cut a baseball in more ways than any other pitcher. Ford sharpened the edges of his wedding ring and used it to cut slices in the ball, as well as the buckle on his belt. He also had his catchers, including Elston Howard, sharpen their belt buckles. One of his most famous inventions was a "gunk ball" which he loaded with a mixture of baby oil, resin, and turpentine. Several other pitchers, teammates and opponents, claim that Ford taught them how to throw the spitball and cutball.]
Good times.
In the real world, the Yankees would do what employers always do when they discover an employee has deceived them. They’d fire Rodriguez.
[Unless the deceit was limited to your tax return.]
The fans don’t want him. His teammates don’t want him. Even the old-timers have had their fill. “I was just across the street having a beer when all the TV kept showing was A-Rod hitting homers,” Whitey Ford said from his Florida home. “I made the owner of the place change the channel. I don’t know A-Rod, but this steroid thing is the same story over and over, and I’m sick of it.”
[This might be my favorite reaction to date. According to The Baseball Page .Com profile of Whitey Ford, they list his "Best Strength as a Player" as follows:
His willingness and ability to skirt the rules. Ford was a master at doctoring the baseball. He bragged that he could cut a baseball in more ways than any other pitcher. Ford sharpened the edges of his wedding ring and used it to cut slices in the ball, as well as the buckle on his belt. He also had his catchers, including Elston Howard, sharpen their belt buckles. One of his most famous inventions was a "gunk ball" which he loaded with a mixture of baby oil, resin, and turpentine. Several other pitchers, teammates and opponents, claim that Ford taught them how to throw the spitball and cutball.]
Good times.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Who is to blame for the A-Rod situation? Hank Steinbrenner. Oh, and Warren Buffett
In general, nothing gets sportswriters going like outrage; and nothing seems to create outrage quite like steroids (unless it is an NFL player). Ian O'Connor gets the ball rolling nicely.
Hank [Steinbrenner] signed off on a $305 million contract worth more than some major-league teams, a deal including $30 million in bonuses for slaying baseball’s sultans of swat. Never mind that the fan base couldn’t stand A-Rod, and that the DNA of the game’s most gifted player was so clearly missing that indefinable winner’s gene.
[Yeah, because it is smart to emphasize "indefinable winner's gene" over "the game's most gifted player" in that analysis. Maybe Cashman should have run a few gels before signing off on the new contract.]
Do Warren Buffett and the money guys at Goldman Sachs deserve a little grief from Yankees fans for bridging the troubled waters separating A-Rod and their team. Sure, why not?
[Ummm, because that's stupid?]
But Hank was the voice of the franchise at the time.
[Voice = Sole decision-maker]
As it turned out, Hank would’ve been much better off letting A-Rod sign with the Toledo Mud Hens.
[I got a guy on the other line asking about some white walls!]
There isn’t going to be a next employer; Rodriguez is too radioactive for any team to take.
[Umm, I'll take him, right?]
Hank [Steinbrenner] signed off on a $305 million contract worth more than some major-league teams, a deal including $30 million in bonuses for slaying baseball’s sultans of swat. Never mind that the fan base couldn’t stand A-Rod, and that the DNA of the game’s most gifted player was so clearly missing that indefinable winner’s gene.
[Yeah, because it is smart to emphasize "indefinable winner's gene" over "the game's most gifted player" in that analysis. Maybe Cashman should have run a few gels before signing off on the new contract.]
Do Warren Buffett and the money guys at Goldman Sachs deserve a little grief from Yankees fans for bridging the troubled waters separating A-Rod and their team. Sure, why not?
[Ummm, because that's stupid?]
But Hank was the voice of the franchise at the time.
[Voice = Sole decision-maker]
As it turned out, Hank would’ve been much better off letting A-Rod sign with the Toledo Mud Hens.
[I got a guy on the other line asking about some white walls!]
There isn’t going to be a next employer; Rodriguez is too radioactive for any team to take.
[Umm, I'll take him, right?]
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