nyy26wc
01-13-2002, 02:56 PM
1) Whitey Herzog gets a stupidity award for (1) accusing MLB of reverse racism, something he may be the first person ever to do and (2) making up his own version of US history.
According to Herzog, "We are so intent in our country today that we must do some things strictly opposite of what our country was built upon. When our country was built, the best man always got the job. The most capable person was the guy. It didn't make any difference what color he was, it didn't make any difference if he was a minority."
Herzog is sort of correct. We are doing things somewhat different from what our country was built upon. Our country was built upon the premise of giving the best white man the job. Of course, "best" could be modified as the system warranted it, such as the best white man who was the boss's son or nephew, the best white man the boss didn't personally hate, the best white man whose family had connections the boss wanted to exploit, etc.
So, we are getting away from that. On the other hand, things have never the point things are "strictly opposite" of that. Somewhat opposite, yet. Strictly opposite, no. But, enough of digressing and back to baseball.
2) According to the Boston Globe, "Rumors persist in baseball circles that the Henry group has a financial shortfall on its bid, despite Henry's insistence it will have no problems satisfying the terms of the $700 million deal. One insider said that while Henry may be attempting to reduce his own financial stake in the purchase by lining up additional investors - talks with Joseph O'Donnell and Steve Karp are ongoing - it's preposterous for anyone to suggest the group couldn't close the deal today without a penny more from anyone on the outside."
3) The BlueJays signed INF Dave Berg to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Berg hit .363 SLG, .293 OBA, .655 OPS, -9 RCAA, .348 OWP, 3.63 RC/G, 23 RC in 82 games with the Marlins in 2001. Prior to his terrible .293 OBA, he had a .340+ OBA in each of his first 3 years in the majors, but a lack of SLG ability has resulted in this being his 3rd consecutive year with a negative RCAA, however 2001 was his 1st year with a negative RCAP. Berg has a .716 career OPS, compared to his league average of .786 and positional average of .720, -12 RCAA and 9 RCAP.
4) The Tigers re-signed C Mitch Meluskey and Ps Seth Greisinger, Tim Kalita, Shane Loux, Fernando Rodney, Victor Santos, Joe Valentine and Andy Van Hekken to 1 year contracts.
Meluskey missed the entire 2001 season
As a rookie in 2000, he hit .487 SLG, .401 OBA, .888 OPS, 12 RCAA, .589 OWP, 7.43 RC/G, 68 RC in 117 games with the Astros.
Greisinger was once a prospect but has missed the past 3 years due to injuries.
Santos had a 3.30 ERA and 10 RSAA in 33 games (7 starts) as a 24 year old rookie in 2001.
5) The A's signed P Bryce Florie to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
6) Orioles MGR Mike Hargrove says he's projecting Melvin Mora as the starting CF.
7) MLB has granted the Orioles permission to move home plate up 7 feet, like it was prior to the 2001 season.
Florie spent most of 2001 recovering from a serious injury suffered when he was hit in the face by a line drive off Ryan Thompson's bat in September 2000. In 7 games in 2001, he had a 11.42 ERA and -7 RSAA. Florie has a 4.47 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.60, and 4 RSAA in 261 games.
8) A stupidity award goes to Washington Times writer Eric Fisher, for being the first one that I've seen call czar bud's new scandal "Budgate."
My objection actually has nothing to do with the fact that it is ridiculous to compare this, in terms of importance, to Nixon's scandal. Instead, it is an objection to the stupidity of adding the word "gate" to any scandal.
Watergate wasn't called Watergate because Nixon's burglars broke into the Water Hotel and then gate gets added to signify a scandal. It's Watergate because it was the Watergate Hotel. That's it.
Prior to Nixon, the biggest presidential scandal of the 20th century was the Teapot Dome scandal of the Harding administration. Therefore, if it was reasonable to add a suffix from a previous scandal when naming a scandal, we wouldn't even have the Watergate scandal. Instead, we'd have the Watergate Dome scandal.
Furthermore, if it was reasonable in baseball to attach something based on a prior scandal in baseball history, then we'd need to add the word Sox to it. People correctly realized it was stupidity to refer to a Pete Rose Sox scandal, it was stupidity to refer the 1980s Cocaine Sox scandal and who's ever heard of Collusion Sox?
According to Herzog, "We are so intent in our country today that we must do some things strictly opposite of what our country was built upon. When our country was built, the best man always got the job. The most capable person was the guy. It didn't make any difference what color he was, it didn't make any difference if he was a minority."
Herzog is sort of correct. We are doing things somewhat different from what our country was built upon. Our country was built upon the premise of giving the best white man the job. Of course, "best" could be modified as the system warranted it, such as the best white man who was the boss's son or nephew, the best white man the boss didn't personally hate, the best white man whose family had connections the boss wanted to exploit, etc.
So, we are getting away from that. On the other hand, things have never the point things are "strictly opposite" of that. Somewhat opposite, yet. Strictly opposite, no. But, enough of digressing and back to baseball.
2) According to the Boston Globe, "Rumors persist in baseball circles that the Henry group has a financial shortfall on its bid, despite Henry's insistence it will have no problems satisfying the terms of the $700 million deal. One insider said that while Henry may be attempting to reduce his own financial stake in the purchase by lining up additional investors - talks with Joseph O'Donnell and Steve Karp are ongoing - it's preposterous for anyone to suggest the group couldn't close the deal today without a penny more from anyone on the outside."
3) The BlueJays signed INF Dave Berg to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Berg hit .363 SLG, .293 OBA, .655 OPS, -9 RCAA, .348 OWP, 3.63 RC/G, 23 RC in 82 games with the Marlins in 2001. Prior to his terrible .293 OBA, he had a .340+ OBA in each of his first 3 years in the majors, but a lack of SLG ability has resulted in this being his 3rd consecutive year with a negative RCAA, however 2001 was his 1st year with a negative RCAP. Berg has a .716 career OPS, compared to his league average of .786 and positional average of .720, -12 RCAA and 9 RCAP.
4) The Tigers re-signed C Mitch Meluskey and Ps Seth Greisinger, Tim Kalita, Shane Loux, Fernando Rodney, Victor Santos, Joe Valentine and Andy Van Hekken to 1 year contracts.
Meluskey missed the entire 2001 season
As a rookie in 2000, he hit .487 SLG, .401 OBA, .888 OPS, 12 RCAA, .589 OWP, 7.43 RC/G, 68 RC in 117 games with the Astros.
Greisinger was once a prospect but has missed the past 3 years due to injuries.
Santos had a 3.30 ERA and 10 RSAA in 33 games (7 starts) as a 24 year old rookie in 2001.
5) The A's signed P Bryce Florie to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
6) Orioles MGR Mike Hargrove says he's projecting Melvin Mora as the starting CF.
7) MLB has granted the Orioles permission to move home plate up 7 feet, like it was prior to the 2001 season.
Florie spent most of 2001 recovering from a serious injury suffered when he was hit in the face by a line drive off Ryan Thompson's bat in September 2000. In 7 games in 2001, he had a 11.42 ERA and -7 RSAA. Florie has a 4.47 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.60, and 4 RSAA in 261 games.
8) A stupidity award goes to Washington Times writer Eric Fisher, for being the first one that I've seen call czar bud's new scandal "Budgate."
My objection actually has nothing to do with the fact that it is ridiculous to compare this, in terms of importance, to Nixon's scandal. Instead, it is an objection to the stupidity of adding the word "gate" to any scandal.
Watergate wasn't called Watergate because Nixon's burglars broke into the Water Hotel and then gate gets added to signify a scandal. It's Watergate because it was the Watergate Hotel. That's it.
Prior to Nixon, the biggest presidential scandal of the 20th century was the Teapot Dome scandal of the Harding administration. Therefore, if it was reasonable to add a suffix from a previous scandal when naming a scandal, we wouldn't even have the Watergate scandal. Instead, we'd have the Watergate Dome scandal.
Furthermore, if it was reasonable in baseball to attach something based on a prior scandal in baseball history, then we'd need to add the word Sox to it. People correctly realized it was stupidity to refer to a Pete Rose Sox scandal, it was stupidity to refer the 1980s Cocaine Sox scandal and who's ever heard of Collusion Sox?