What’s Wrong with Baseball

As we prepare to continue this series here is a review of numbers 7-10 of the list. Click on the titles to read the articles. Number 6 to appear soon.

10: Wimpy Pitchers

9: The Designated Hitter

8: Cheating

7: The Concept of the Closer

Don’t Give the Evidence to Goodell!

Bill Belichick is talking … finally. And, while he’s apologizing, he’s also implying it wasn’t much of a big deal.

But what’s more important is what former Patriot employee Matt Walsh has to say. Walsh says he had evidence that the Patriots taped the St. Louis Rams’ walk-through before the 2002 Super Bowl.

Belichick recently minimized “Spygate,” saying, “I take responsibility for it. Even though I felt there was a gray area in the rule and I misinterpreted the rule….”

Here is the rule he misinterpreted. Tell me how someone who is consistently called a “genius” could misinterpret such a rule.

NFL Constitution & Bylaws Article 9:

Any use by any club at any time, from the start to the finish of any game in which such club is a participant, of any communications or information-gathering equipment, other than Polaroid-type cameras or field telephones, shall be prohibited, including without limitation videotape machines, telephone tapping, or bugging devices, or any other form of electronic devices that might aid a team during the playing of a game.

How on earth could someone who is not even a genius misinterpret that, much less a genius?

Meanwhile, Belichick is denying the Rams incident and Walsh is keeping the evidence until he has stronger assurances from the NFL.

Walsh! Don’t give the evidence to Roger Goodell! Remember what happened to the previous evidence? Heaven know has much incriminating evidence Goodell has already destroyed. Don’t give him any more.

Refs Hand Game to Cowboys; Officiating Partial?

“The pass interference play that wasn’t.” —Bryant Gumbel 

No neutral viewer (which I was in this game) could go away from this game thinking both teams got an even shake. Call after call went against the Carolina Panthers, who would have upset Dallas without the apparent complicity of the officials. It was obvious the refs were calling marginal penalties against Carolina while ignoring egregious violations of the rules against the preferred ‘Boys, especially the obvious pass interference, run repeatedly on the NFL Network, that Gumbel and Collingsworth both agreed had to be a penalty and totally reversed the fortunes of the game. 

Even with all the refs did for them, Dallas could only muster a 20-13 victory.

They didn’t earn it. Dallas fans can’t be proud about this one. It was a shameful display by the officials and, for at least one game, put the Cowboys on the same moral low-ground as the New England Patriots. Appropriate, I guess, since the two teams may meet in the Super Bowl. Only something has changed, at least for me. Up till tonight I would have been rooting for Dallas in that game. After tonight’s preferential, shameful display, I’ll have a hard time watching that game, if indeed it does materialize. 

John Fox, you’ve got a right to be angry. The officiating system, in front of the whole world, let you down, and cast doubt upon the integrity of the system.

Cowboys fans, hang your heads.

Bobby Petrino Joins the Nick Sabin League

Bobby Petrino is not popular in Atlanta. After urging his embattled team to “play all four quarters” each game, Petrino skipped town after 13 games in his first season with the Falcons. Shades of Nick Sabin. When the going got tough, Petrino got going. The players, Atlanta fans, Georgia, and all NFL viewers are rightly upset with such a low-class display. We call upon players to display character. When head coaches show so little of it, we can only pity the players who have to play under them.

And wasn’t it tacky to hold that celebratory press conference where Petrino was heralded as the Second Coming of Arkansas football? Not only did he shaft the innocent Falcons, he also was shown partying on television right after he did it. ‘Tis pitiful for a human being to act that way.

Belichick, Patriots Prepare for Jets

Bill Belichick today, when asked how he would prepare for the next game, replied that it would be just like they have been preparing for their games. Since their next game is a divisional contest with the New York Jets, we have to wonder if that includes the use of illegal videotape, which they needed to use earlier in the season when they played their first game in order to sufficiently embarrass them. Since New England will be at home, it should be easier for them to find an alternate way to cheat.

Kill the Sidelines Timeout

Put the game back in the hands of the players. Kill the timeout from the sidelines. Coaches messing with kickers has caused a number of double kicks, which sometimes backfires, and is definitely not fair to kickers. Now, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan has added a new twist, calling a sidelines timeout moments before Tom Brady was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 sneak, negating the play and robbing the Ravens of a deserved upset against the less-than-perfect Patriots. After two other fourth down reprieves, Brady threw a winning TD.

It was like the 1972 Summer Olympics Gold Medal basketball game, when the three Eastern Bloc judges kept giving the Soviets chance after final chance until they won. Here it was not corrupt judges; it seemed more to be Fate.

And a hare-brained coach. Who called timeout as his valiant players exerted their final majestic effort … successfully, but fruitlessly.

This game will be remembered for a long time. Maybe not as long as the ‘72 Olympics (the silver medals still sit unclaimed in a vault in Lusanne, Switzerland), but still a long time … for Ravens fans … and Patriots haters.

So, please. NFL, put the game back in the hands of the players. Kill the timeout from the sidelines.

Sports Soaps Top 5 of the Week

The U.S. sports scene has been providing a bumper crop of soap operas.

1. Barry Bonds: Finally indicted.
2. A-Rod: Mr. Not-October slinks back to New York.
3. O.J.: Is America ready for another trial?
4. Stephon Marbury: AWOL egoist pays.
5. Ricky Williams: Desperate Dolphins tap sober former-superstar.

Dishonorable Mention:

Joe Glenn/Kyle Whittingham: Coaches prove they can be less mature than the students they coach. [story]
Michael Vick: Continuing saga.
Belichick/Patriots: The coach fans love to hate.

Marbury Soaps

The New York Knicks fined Stephon Marbury more than $180,000 for missing Tuesday night’s game at Phoenix.

Marbury says he has something on Isiah Thomas and threatens blackmail.

What will happen in the continuing saga of Stephon Marbury?

Get rid of him. This guy is a loser. It’s the same Marbury who defended Michael Vick’s dogfighting as a “sport.” Now he’s playing loose with his team commitment.

Which will be the next team to be afflicted with him?

The One Thing the Patriots Don’t Have

October 28 final score: New England Patriots 52 Washington Redskins 7.

Embarrassing? Yes. For both teams.

The ’Skins’ Randall Godfrey, after the close of the game, reportedly confronted Bill Belichick. “You need to show some respect for the game,” he said, referring to the Patriots obvious running up of the score. Here’s what he told NBCSports.com he said:

“I told him, ‘You need to show some respect for the game.’ You just don’t do that. I don’t care how bad it is. You’re up 35 points and you’re still throwing deep? That’s no respect….

“You look at all the great head coaches … I’m just disappointed,” he said. “You gotta show some class, show some respect. Joe Gibbs? We wouldn’t have done that. Bill Walsh? You wouldn’t see those types of guys doing that stuff. I’ve never seen nothing like that. Most teams, you get up like that you sit on the ball and try to run the time out. They’re up 30-some points and they’re throwing deep. That was blatant disrespect. I hope we can see them again, definitely. You don’t see Joe Gibbs doing that. You can’t even imagine that kind of stuff coming from him. Joe Gibbs. Bill Walsh. Bill Parcells. This isn’t like college going for power rankings. This is the pros you show some respect, show some class.”

I have to say Godfrey is out of line on most of this. Spare us your sour grapes when you’ve just been obliterated on the field. Losers don’t get to cross examine their conquerors.

But there was definitely some lack of respect shown by the Pats, like Wes Welker’s in-your-face playground-like spiking after scoring the TD that led to a 45-0 lead; and Matt Cassell celebrating by winding up and spiking for his touchdown in garbage time. (That’s like some NBA scrub doing a dance for getting a meaningless lay-in as time expires.)

Tom Jackson said the Pats were getting “frenzied” as they poured it on the hapless Redskins. “They want to pound people into submission,” said Steve Young (who once did a kneel down on the Niners’ opponents’ 1-yard line at the close of a game).

Even the Pats’ owners appeared uncomfortable with the run-up. They have felt embarrassed by video-gate; now their scrubs are doing dances late in a rout?

There is another reason we could expect Belichick to lay off.

”It’s risk/reward,” said Bill Cowher. “How long do you want your starters to play? You want to be careful. At some point, if this continues, someone is going to take a cheap shot. Is that worth subjecting your players to if it comes to that? The risk [Belichick] is taking is that guys could get hurt in those situations. That’s his decision as a coach, and he has a right to do it.”

Players and coaches should all react with the same class Joe Gibbs did, who took the high road. He said he had nothing against what the Pats did. And you can’t argue. They have every right to run up the score. It’s just that previous dynasties didn’t do it. But that’s up to Belichick. Belichick still looks cowed and sheepish at his press conferences. He gives curt, mumbled answers and gives every appearance of a shame-faced malefactor who can only talk on the field, not eye-to-eye.

The difference between Gibbs and Belichick? One word: class. Gibbs has it; Belichick doesn’t. I doubt he even knows what it is. The great coaches of the past had it; that’s why, though Bill B. will be on the same level as many of the great coaches of the past, he will never be in their class.

So the Patriots do indeed have almost everything. The one thing they don’t have is class.

The Finger and the Run-Up: Two Coaches Make Very Bad Decisions in Same Game

Wyoming coach Joe Glenn made a very bad decision in the midst of his team’s 50-0 drubbing at the hands of Utah Saturday. Moments before, Utes coach Kyle Whittingham had also made a bad decision.

Ahead 43-0 and kicking off following a field goal, the Utes executed an unsuccessful onsides kick, an obvious attempt to run up the score. Glenn flashed his middle finger at Whittingham, a surprising loss of good judgment for an NCAA coach.

Glenn had more than one reason to be embarrassed. Besides being down 43-0 at the time, he was clearly replaying in his head the tape of him guaranteeing a victory over Utah at a school function earlier in the week. This is also a surprising loss of good judgment for an NCAA coach.

Glenn was reprimanded by his conference. Today he apologized. He initially claimed he didn’t remember the gesture, but eventually acknowledged it. “I met with my team on Sunday and apologized to them for the gesture I made toward the Utah bench during the game,” Glenn said. “I also want to apologize to all fans for that action. Football is an emotional game, and I let my emotions get the best of me. I felt it was appropriate for me to let my team and all fans know that I am truly sorry for that emotional moment.”

For his part, Whittingham also acknowledged the onsides kick while up 43-0 was indeed a “bad decision.”

Both of these coaches get bad marks for character. Forgiveness, when asked, should be given. But both of these guys need to make some kind of positive contribution to the character of the young men they lead, to make up for the bad influence their actions conveyed.

NCAA coaches are big boys. They should know better. And they should care more about making a positive impact on young lives than throwing an obscene tirade at an enemy or trying to grind a guy’s face in the dirt for something he foolishly said.

Now, having apologized, Joe Glenn and Kyle Whittingham need to do some “community service.” They need to make some kind of clear positive contribution to make up for their childish antics. And they both need to grow up.

Refs Strike Again, Negating Sessions’ Near Field-Length Return

Rookie linebacker Clint Sessions scooped up the first of his two interceptions Sunday as it bounced off two teammates in the Colts’ end zone, and in one motion rolled to a standing position and took off, never having been touched. He motored all the way to the Chargers’ 7-yard-line.

But wait! That bane of NFL fair play strikes again … the inadvertant whistle. On the replay you hear it blow while Sessions is running, just before he exits the end zone. Why on earth would it blow then? The call on the field was an interception. This could have drastically altered the game, which San Diego won by 2 points. As it was, the Colts, starting on their own 20, didn’t score at all on the possession.

I know, I know. The Colts beat themselves, with Peyton Manning being very un-Peyton-like, throwing 6 interceptions, a club record, and Adam Vinitieri, that paragon of all football kickers, missing two field goals, including a chip shot that should have won the game in the closing minutes. Still, with all they did wrong, had the official not blown this call the Colts could have—probably would have—won.

I’m not a Colts fan. I am just a fan who is tired of referees deciding games and robbing NFL fans of exciting plays due to their bungling incompetence.

Manning’s performance (or lack thereof) is a huge story, as is Vinitieri’s meltdown. Tony Dungy, with typical class, cited a myriad of reasons the Colts didn’t win the game, portraying it as their own fault. And that it was … for all but one play … the Sessions end-zone interception.

The Chargers jumped out to a huge lead early, riding the coattails of great defense and special teams (two kick return TDs) play. Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson did not play well.

But neither did the Colts. Still, even though Indy was minus Marvin Harrison and other key players, they almost pulled it off. And they would have, if that errant ref had been competent.

I Missed This About Brady and Belichick

In yesterday’s post “Brady’s Six TD Passes: Are You Kidding Me?” I finished with, “It seems like I should say something about Bill Belichick, cheating and video tape here, but … forget it. They just plain dominated.”

Now I learn I was too kind. I did not see the game and wrote the post as a tip of the hat to a team I have been down on since Videogate. I didn’t have the whole story. Here’s a quote from an AP story:

“Tom Brady was flawless at the start and off the bench, too. With his team winning easily, Brady came out of the game early in the fourth quarter Sunday, then re-entered to throw a team-record sixth touchdown pass, capping unbeaten New England’s 49-28 rout of the winless Miami Dolphins.”

He actually played into the fourth quarter before coming out, and when the scrubs couldn’t dominate, Belichick actually put Brady back in to run up the score. I hear he was less than pleased by questions about running up the score. This is something Bill Walsh would never have done with his dominant Niner teams. But then Belichick bears no resemblance to Walsh … at least when it comes to ethics.

Brady’s Six TD Passes: Are You Kidding Me?

Last week he had a personal best with five TD passes. Today he did it again … in the first half! He added a sixth before coming out of the game. Are You Kidding Me?

It was 42-7 over the Dolphins at the half. With second-line players in later in the second half, the Pats finished with a 49-28 win. Give Brady another shot of Mountain Dew.

It seems like I should say something about Bill Belichick, cheating and video tape here, but … forget it. They just plain dominated.

[For an update on this story, see here.]

What’s Wrong With Baseball #9: The Designated Hitter

The designated hitter. Bob Costas: “Baseball is simply a better game without the DH.”

This will definitely not resonate with younger readers, who have never known an American League that played with real baseball rules, but it can if they will think hard about the differences in the National League and American League games. Joe Torre is getting a lot of sympathy for being offered a contract Steinbrenner knew he would turn down. A great manager gets the short end of the stick, right?

Not entirely. While I do think Torre is an excellent manager, should he choose to continue managing and end up in the National League, he would have to do a lot more managing, thinking, strategizing. The strategies surrounding a pitcher who hits, having to consider removing him when the need to pinch hit arises, double switches, etc., means NL managers simply think a lot more. Few of them nod off in the dugout.

And the game is better. There is no guarantee Torre could still think like a National Leaguer (he did spend his career there). Of course, he has had to do that in the World Series he has managed in, so he should be able to do it.

So the main reason the DH is bad for baseball is Bob Costas’ “Baseball is simply a better game without the DH. “

There’s a second reason. Stats, though thrown together as major league stats, just don’t mean the same thing in the two leagues, especially for pitchers, who obviously, since they never get to pitch to pitchers, have higher ERAs in the AL. It’s mixing apples and oranges. Players’ career stats can’t really be compared. It’s even more of a mess since the introduction of inter-league play, which is clearly good for baseball.

The advantages of pitching to pitchers in the NL is somewhat offset by the fact that good pitchers get to pitch longer in the AL because they don’t get lifted as quickly. But fewer young pitchers get to develop this way. And this means that hitters have a disadvantage in the AL because they are facing good pitchers longer. The only hitters to gain an advantage in the AL are the aging guys who hang on for a few extra years because they don’t need to go into the field. (So where is Barry Bonds going to go?)

But it’s too late to rectify it on the stats end. And it’s too ingrained in the AL psyche to ever change. So I offer the #9 thing that’s wrong with baseball simply as food for thought. It’s never going to change, so we’ll live with it. And I’ll keep enjoying National League games more than American League games.

What’s Wrong With Baseball #10: Wimpy Pitchers

With a night off from playoff frenzy, in the midst of a postseason that gives hope to the little guy, I offer the beginning of a series on What’s Wrong With Baseball, from authorities greater than myself. Offering one at a time, in no particular order, we begin with number 10. Agree, disagree or offer your own selections.

#10. “Too many pitchers” pitching too few innings.

Cy Young said, many years ago: “Too many pitchers, that’s all, there are just too many pitchers. Ten or twelve on a team. Don’t see how any of them get enough work. Four starting pitchers and one relief man ought to be enough. Pitch ‘em every three days and you’d find they’d get control and good, strong arms.”

This from the man for whom the top pitching award in each league is named. He ought to know. When Cy Young said this, there were pitchers routinely twirling on two days’ rest. Many years after this, guys like Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn were pitching 16-inning complete games. But, alas, they needed three days’ rest. How many young fans have heard the Braves’ success slogan of old?: “Spahn and Sain and two days of rain.”

Even this is soft by the standard of The Standard (Young). What would he think today? Relievers limited to one inning, starters to 100 pitches, and getting 4 to 5 days of rest.

Cy Young played for the Red Sox. He would have scorned Terry Francona’s decision to rest Beckett the extra day, thus limiting the use of his ace to two games in a seven-game series. … Robbing the Sox and the fans of their best shot. (Young played for two Cleveland teams as well … and a second Boston club.) To Young, pitching made you stronger. Throw more, not less.

From Cy Young, our number 10 thing that is wrong with baseball: “Too many pitchers” pitching too few innings.

Joe: “No”

Joe Torre is no longer the manager of the New York Yankees. An aging George Steinbrenner offered him a pay cut I’m sure he expected him to reject. The team lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year in 2007 and Steinbrenner wants a winner.

Joe should have said, “No.” Whoever succeeds him will get a lot of money and a few years off his life expectancy.

It’s Wakefield

After Josh Beckett’s dominating win over the Indians four days ago, I wrote: “Beckett has pitched on three days’ rest before. But I have to believe if Terry Francona was going to do it, he would have pulled him after five. Bottom line: It wouldn’t be a good risk to take and the Red Sox seem to have signaled they don’t intend to do it. They want Beckett to play longer than Koufax did.” (See here for full post.)

We now know it’s knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Beckett will be well rested for game 5, if there isn’t some deeper reason for holding him back. Francona would be more likely to pitch him tonight down 2-1 than up 2-1. Red Sox are down but feel Wakefield (#3 in Red Sox wins behind Cy Young and Roger Clemens … good company) squares up well against the Indians.

Should be a good game.

Rockie Top

(Or is it Rocky Top?)

The Rockies are at the top of the National League on their way to attempting to gain the summit of the Majors in the coming World Series.

Twenty-one out of 22 games. That’s where the Colorado Rockies stand after their 6-4 win at Coors Field eliminated the Arizona Diamondbacks. If Arizona was thinking The Boston Red Sox did it, they were doing too much thinking and not enough playing. It is too bad that the error by Arizona first baseman Conor Jackson on Willy Taveras’ easy grounder splattered the fourth inning with the unearned runs that led to the victory, robbing the D-Backs of a chance at a Red Sox-like comeback, but there’s no way you can say the unearned runs mean the Rockies didn’t earn their World Series birth.

Series MVP Matt Holliday had the three-run blast that capped a six-run outburst in the fourth inning. The Rockies are definitely on Holliday and the guy’s clutch rep is growing by leaps and bounds.

The Oct. 24 start date of the WS gives the Rocks more than a week off, a record, and a huge rest-up advantage since the Indians and Red Sox give every indication of going seven in the ALCS. The Indians lead the ALCS 2-1 after last night’s victory.

The Rockies’ seven straight wins puts them alone in the company of the Big Red Machine of 1976 as the only teams to start a postseason in such a way.

It’s hard to remember that this invincible-looking team was just one strike from postseason elimination at the end of the season.

The D-Backs have nothing to hang their heads about, though their pain is understandable. “Once the sting of this subsides,” manager Bob Melvin said, “we’ll be able to reflect that we did have a great year.”

Chris Snyder made it close with a three-run homer in the eighth. In the ninth, with a runner at second and the tying run at the plate closer Manny Corpas induced Stephen Drew to pop out on a 3-0 pitch. “If that’s not the tying run,” Melvin said, “then I obviously don’t let him swing. But right there you know you’re going to get a fastball, you know you’re going to get a pitch to drive. He just came off it a hair and popped it up.”

Eric Byrnes made the final out on a check-swing grounder and the celebration was on.

Pete Carroll Does Sweet Valley Girl Impersonation

After USC narrowly defeated Arizona (20-13) Saturday, a team they should have handled easily, USC coach Pete Carroll surprised members of the press by launching into an incredibly accurate impersonation of a valley girl.

“To get a good win and finish it strong at the end was really cool,” Carroll said.

Did he say, “really cool“? That’s what all that time in Southern California will do for you.

Two Undefeateds Will Remain; Let One Not Be the Cheatriots

With Indy on a bye and the other two undefeateds playing each other, there will be two teams left without losses at the end of the day. That is, of course, except in the unlikely event of a Pats-Dallas tie. Then there would still be three.

Justice would demand a Cowboys victory. The Patriots should have forfeited at least the one game against the Jets. But with an apparently complicitous commissioner, Roger Goodell, who took it easy on the league primadonnas, then destroyed evidence, that didn’t happen.

The Dallas Cowboys are a good, honest team … up against the exposed villains of the league. Every honest football fan not living in Massachusetts should be saying, “Go Cowboys!”