July 25th, 2006 → 1:10 pm @ Seth Mnookin
ESPN.com: “Resident Anti-Hero – Alex Rodriguez has become Public Enemy No. 1 in the Bronx.”
Baseball Tonight’s Steve Phillips: “Yankees Should Trade A-Rod”
The New York Times: “The idea that the Yankees must trade Alex Rodriguez is growing louder on television, talk radio, Internet chats and some newspaper columns. But there is one problem: For all of his struggles lately, Rodriguez is staying put.”
The New York Times: “Rodriguez is all smiles as his mistakes mount.”
New York Post: “Rodgriguez Soap Opera Wearing Down Yanks.”
New York Post: “On the Rod to Nowhere.”
New York Post: “Rodriguez Pulling Bombers Down to his Level.”
The poor guy is getting so beat up, even former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani is pleading for a little mercy: “I really think Yankee fans have to change their whole attitude about this. It doesn’t make any sense to me to be booing A-Rod when you want him to perform. We want him to succeed, not to fail. The idea of booing him every time he makes an out is kind of silly.”
It almost makes you feel bad for the guy. Almost, but not quite.
Post Categories: A-Rod
July 25th, 2006 → 12:55 pm @ Seth Mnookin
From the ESPN.com Baseball Homepage:
“Talk about fast starts. Ivan Rodriguez and the Tigers scored five or more runs in their first at-bat for the third straight game in Monday’s 9-7 victory over the slumping Indians.”
Five runs in one at-bat. That really is incredible.
Post Categories: ESPN.com
July 25th, 2006 → 10:05 am @ Seth Mnookin
When I do readings, the two questions I get more than any others are:
* Was Nomar on steroids?
and
* What’s Manny really like?
I have no idea what the answer is to the first one. And I always struggle with how to answer the second one: Manny practically embodies the meaning of the word enigma. In an article in today’s Boston Globe, Gordon Edes does a wonderful, and wonderfully funny, job of describing what it means for Manny to be Manny:
“One must always allow for the prospect, even after last night’s 7-3 Red Sox win over the Oakland Athletics, that Manny Ramírez may awaken today to an entirely new world of possibilities. Perhaps he has dreams of relocating to his wife’s native Brazil to become a gaucho, riding tall in the saddle. Maybe he’d like to return to his old neighborhood on the far side of Manhattan, strutting through the streets with a boom box on his shoulder the same way he did in the Sox clubhouse the other day, saying, ‘This is how we do it in Washington Heights.’ …
“But happily for the Red Sox and their aspirations for October, Ramírez seems no more inclined to want any of these scenarios to materialize this week as he is to ask to be traded. By most any measure, that represents spectacular progress from this time a year ago, when a change of address was foremost on Manny’s wish list.”
As yes, a year ago. Manny had one of his little spells down in Tampa, didn’t start the first two games of a homestand, and then came out about a half-hour after the tradeline had passed to hit a game-winning single against the Twins. (All together now: double-finger point!)
Come to think of it, late July has been a weird, wild time for the Red Sox these last few years. Remember 2004? Sure you do. On the morning of July 24, the Red sox were 9 1/2 games out of first. The start of that afternoon’s game against the Yankees was delayed because Fenway’s field was soggy. Terry Francona got ejected in the 2nd inning. Jason Varitek tried to feed Alex Rodriguez his catcher’s mitt.* And the Red Sox capped a three-run, ninth-inning comeback with Bill Mueller’s walkoff two-run shot of Mariano Riviera. (True story: I “watched” that game from a computer in a hotel lobby in Dubrovnik, Croatia, waiting as a slow internet connection fed me the MLB Gameday info.) The match, which Theo Epstein called “catalytic,” came on the tail-end of a 75-game stretch in which the Sox went 38-37. A week later, Nomar was gone. A month later, the Sox began their epic winning streak. And three months later, they were world champions.
So far, July 2006 has been quiet. Too quiet…
*It’s been rumored that, after A-Rod took offense at being plunked by Bronson Arroyo, Varitek told the Yankees third baseman, “We don’t throw at .260 hitters.” That, alas, is an urban legend. But as far as urban legends go, it’s a pretty good one.
Post Categories: 2004 Playoffs & A-Rod & Bill Mueller & Gordon Edes & Jason Varitek & Manny Ramirez & Mariano Riviera & Nomar Garciaparra
July 24th, 2006 → 11:03 am @ Seth Mnookin
In Sunday’s Kansas City Star, Joe Posnanski–one of the truly great baseball writers out there–has a feature on Dee Brown, a former Royals can’t-miss prospect who, in 1999, at age 21, was a minor-league sensation, hitting .331 with 25 homers, 30 steals, and 107 runs. At the time, Baseball America ranked Brown the #11 prospect in the country. Today, seven years later, he’s playing for the AA Witchita Wranglers. He’s been released five times.
Posnanski’s story is heartbreaking, a tale of talent, character, and maturity colliding with spectacularly disastrous results. It’s also a tale of how to mishandle young talent, and might help explain why the Royals have remained mired in the cellar when other teams with low payrolls have had some success. It might even help explain why the Red Sox’s pitching staff has been propped up by a trio of rookies who’ve shown surprisingly consistent poise and confidence.
In his story, Posnanski recounts how, in 2000, Brown got news that his mother had breast cancer. He spent the night in tears, and in the next day’s game, he didn’t run out a fly ball. His manager benched him, made a throat-slashing gesture with his pencil, and told Brown he was “done.” Brown swore at his manager and took off from the stadium–an immature reaction, to be sure, and one that likely signified a player not only struggling with a personal crisis but also in need of some nurturing and patience.
Brown was promptly suspended. And, as he tells it, he was never forgiven. “I was a kid, man,” he tells Posnanski. “And they decided I was a bad person.” (This account is backed up by a former Royals employee, who told Posnanski, “I’ve never seen any organization fuck with a player the way the Royals did with Dee Brown. They ruined him.”)
So what does this have to do with the Sox? A lot. Theo Epstein and the team’s baseball operations crew have been proud of the fact that they’ve held on to their prospects. But they’ve done more than that. They’ve tried to figure out the effect coaches have on developing players. Instead of letting prospects get by on their talent, they’ve tried to teach them good habits. (Take, for instance, the “Red Sox Minor League Quality Plate Appearances Award,” which is given out every month.) And they’ve taught the team’s minor leaguers how to deal with the media, how to deal with success, and how to deal with failure.
Last September, a little over a month after his big league debut, Jonathan Papelbon told me, “In January, I did the media development program. A lot of the subjects we went over in that time period are coming up now, and I’m able to go back to that and rely on it and say, ‘Hey, what did I learn and how can it help me?’ So in terms of dealing with the press and everything else that comes with playing major league baseball, yeah, it’s helped.” Papelbon is clearly an incredibly poised, confident pitcher. But I’d bet it’s not coincidental that he’s dealt with his incredible success in stride and has shown such steely resolve while mowing down opposing teams in the ninth.
Brown’s failure likely doesn’t come as a big surprise to Bill James. “A highly successful player is supported by a ‘network’ or ‘scaffolding’ that must be built up gradually over time,” he told me last year. “To play successfully in the major leagues requires a great deal of athletic ability, but also a great deal of knowledge of how the game is played, training habits, self-motivation habits, self-confidence, and a wide variety of skills.” To explain his point, James referenced Dustin Pedroia, the Red Sox’s infield propsect. Last year, with Mark Bellhorn limping through the beginning of the season, there were plenty of fans who wanted Pedroia to take over second base. After all, he couldn’t be any worse than Bellhorn, right? Well, if Pedroia came up, fell on his face, and was scarred by the experience, the Sox not only would have had a hole in their infield, they would have had a freaked out prospect on their hands. “Obviously, [Pedroia] has a lot of things going for him beyond talent,” James says. “But then there is a danger of relying too much on that. … [You want to] give the player the opportunity to succeed, but hold back as much as you can on the pressure to succeed.”
(An aside: Last May, the Red Sox called up pitcher Cla Meredith. Meredith made his major league debut in the 7th inning of a tie game against the Mariners with two outs and a man on second. Meredith walked the bases loaded before giving up a grand slam to Richie Sexson. When Epstein stopped by John Henry’s suite later in the game, he seemed at least as upset about the effect the experience might have had on Meredith as he did about the loss. Meredith, who pitched two more innings that year and was traded to the Padres this May, looked absolutely shell-shocked in the Red Sox clubhouse after the game.)
I’m certainly not arguing that the Red Sox, the Yankees, the Mets, the Dodgers and all of the game’s other big revenue teams don’t have a huge advantage over teams like the Royals, the Brewers, and the Marlins. But in sports, money doesn’t equal success (see Knicks, New York) and the absence of a $100 payroll doesn’t equal failure (see Athletics, Oakland). In the past four years, the Red Sox have had the dough to add players like Curt Schilling and they’ve been smart (and lucky) enough to pick up players like David Ortiz. They’ve also, as Jonathan Papelbon, Manny Delcarmon, and Jon Lester can attest, given their young players the chance to succeed. I bet Dee Brown wishes he’d gotten that, too.
Post Categories: Joe Posnanski & Kansas City Royals & Minor leagues & Red Sox
July 23rd, 2006 → 11:09 pm @ Seth Mnookin
“But at some point, saturation coverage of a story begins to raise more questions about the newspaper’s motives than about the story being covered. The Times reached—and passed—that point this morning with its 40th-plus news story, column, or editorial (since July!) about the Augusta National Golf Club’s refusal to admit female members. Only a five-star general like Raines could have commanded such extravagant coverage as this.”
— Jack Shafer, “The New York Times’ Augusta Blog,” Slate.com, November 25, 2002
(On July 13, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art confirmed that, as of August 1, it would be raising its suggested admission price from $15 to $20.)
“Museum Is to Raise Its Admission Fee to $20”
July 13, 2006
By CAROL VOGEL, The New York Times
“For $15, Admission to the Metropolitan. For 50 Cents, a Real Museum Experience.”
July 15, 2006
By RANDY KENNEDY, The New York Times
“Into the Metropolitan Museum: What’s It Worth to You?”
July 21, 2006
By DAVID LEONHARDT, The New York Times
“Should Art Museums Always Be Free? There’s Room for Debate”
July 22, 2006
By ROBERTA SMITH, The New York Times
At this rate–which, admittedly, will be hard to sustain–the Times will have churned out 60 pieces on the Met’s new (suggested) admission price by the end of November. Girodet and Cai Guo-Qiang fans: the new multi-millionaire female golfers.
Post Categories: Flooding the Zone & Howell Raines & New York Times
July 23rd, 2006 → 10:47 am @ Seth Mnookin
The first week of the 2006 New England Monster Tour has included one rained-out Portland Sea Dogs game, two loads of laundry, three hotels, four readings, five continental breakfasts, and more than 600 miles added to a Hertz rental car. Some observations:
* Most, but not all, people can figure out how to pronounce Mnookin
* The Ford Focus is an excruciatingly uncomfortable car
* Hadley’s Hampton Inn is nicer than Manchester’s Equinox Resort and Spa (working phones, functional television remotes, and desk chairs really are important)
* Fans in South Hadley MA, Keene NH, and South Portland ME wanted to know who on the Red Sox was using steroids and why Theo hadn’t yet signed his contract; fans in Manchester VT did not
* It was very cool to meet Smoky Joe Wood’s son and grandson
* Older folks enjoy book readings
* It’s always fun to talk about the Red Sox, and it’s even more fun when you get to talk to lots and lots of people who care, and know a lot, about the team
* Amazon.com can be unintentionally hilarious
* Personalized inscriptions fluster some people
* The staff of the Northshire Bookstore has seemingly read every title they have in stock, and the Northshire is not a small store
* The staff of the South Portland Marriott is dressed in camp uniforms and serving s’mores because this is parents’ visiting weekend for overnight camps in Maine (make your reservations for 2007 now), and
* The Apple PowerBook G4 does not like to be dropped.
Post Categories: Feeding the Monster Readings
July 22nd, 2006 → 1:18 am @ Seth Mnookin
“I tell you what, if you fell asleep on the couch tonight you’re not missing much.”
— Jerry Remy, 1:11 am EST, July 22, in the middle of the top half of the ninth inning of the first game of the Sox’s West Coast swing. The Red Sox, who beat the Texas Rangers at home on Thursday afternoon, were leading Seattle 8-4 at the time.
“He’ll do this the rest of the night!”
— a clearly exasperated Remy, 1:32 am EST, after Ichiro fouled off the 10th pitch of his at-bat in the bottom of the ninth in what was now a 9-4 game.
“This is unbelievable.”
— Don Orsillo, 1:33 am EST, after the at-bat’s 12th-pitch.
Post Categories: Don Orsillo & Jerry Remy
