Back in the early-90's, when the Pirates were in the midst of winning their three-straight NL East titles, there were rumblings that it would probably be the last great era of Pirates' baseball for a very long time. The economics of the game were changing, and more and more players were signing record-breaking contracts. As for the Pirates, Bobby Bonilla, Doug Drabek, Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke, and John Smiley were all nearing free agency, and it was almost a foregone conclusion that the team would lose most, if not all, of those players once they hit the free agent market.
It was around '91 or so when I started hearing suggestions that a salary cap was needed for teams in cities like Pittsburgh and Kansas City to compete with teams in New York and Chicago.
Local sports personalities like Stan Savran and Bruce Keiden would discuss this on a daily-basis.
Being the young, impressionable person that I was at the time, I believed a salary cap would eventually be a part of MLB, and everything would be okay with the world.
By 1993, most of the above-mentioned Pirates superstars either left for free agency or were traded away, and the Pirates three-year window to win a World Series had come to an end.
In the summer of 1994, there was the infamous players strike that eventually eliminated the remainder of the regular season along with the playoffs and World Series.
One of the the main reasons for the strike was the owners eagerness to have a salary cap put into place in-order to off-set the growing economic disparity between small and large-market teams. The players were dead-set against such an idea and went on-strike.
At the time, I figured the owners would eventually get their way and baseball would have a cap and more of a competitive-balance.
Well, as most know, the strike eventually was settled, but without a cap in-place. The owners essentially caved and the players won out. Sure, there was a form of revenue sharing to help ease the pain, but there was nothing to stop the escalating payrolls.
I couldn't believe the owners caved. A number of years ago, former Pirates pitcher Bob Walk was discussing the 1994 strike. Just out of baseball at the time, Walk still spoke with many players around the game, and he said that the long work-stoppage had started to take its toll financially on many players and several were actually pretty close to crossing the picket-line and returning to work.
I firmly believe that if the owners would have held-out just a little longer, MLB would be operating under a salary cap today.
From about the mid-80's to the mid-90's, the New York Yankees were just another team. They were like Notre Dame is today in college football. Yes, they had a great tradition; they were one of the most storied franchises in all of sports. But nobody feared the Yankees. Well, that all changed after the 1994 strike.
The New York Yankees have been the biggest benefactors in this era of free-spending. Since 1995, the Yankees have made the postseason every year but one, they have been to the World Series seven times and have won it five times.
The Yankees are so powerful now, their advantage so great, can you ever again picture a future era when the Yankees are just another team struggling to win for a number of years? It will never happen again in the current climate of MLB.
Moving-on, by the early 00's, the talk of a salary cap had started to dissipate. Now, instead of talk of competitive-balance, people started pointing to teams like the Twins and Marlins as good example of financially-challenged teams who managed to win under the current economic-structure.
Yes, the Twins have been a model small-market team for a number of years, and other teams like the Tampa Rays, Cincinnati Reds, and Milwaukee Brewers have shown that they can win from time-to-time, but where are the World Series titles? The Twins haven't been to the World Series since 1991, back before the current economic conditions took hold of the sport.
Yes, the Rays have been to a World Series recently, but competing in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox, who knows if they'll ever reach that level again.
In 2010, the Cincinnati Reds made their first postseason appearance since winning the World Series in 1990. What did they get for their troubles? They were on the losing end of a no-hitter in their first playoff game in two-decades and eventually swept right-out of the first round by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Yes, I know the Marlins managed to win a couple of World Series, but at what cost? After defeating the Cleveland Indians in 1997, owner Wayne Huizenga was forced to sell-off most of the pieces from that team, and in 1998, the Marlins were so bad, manager Jim Leyland asked the team's public address announcer to stop introducing them as the defending World Series Champions.
When you have to gut your franchise after winning a World Series simply out of necessity, that should tell you all you need to know.
Proponents of this current financial structure will point to teams like the Cubs and Mets as examples of large-market teams who rarely win. "Money isn't always the answer to everything." And that's right, it's not. However, it sure does help. Besides, there's a difference between winning and having a chance to win. Maybe the Cubs and Mets have inept front-offices who simply don't know how to take advantage of the system, but the opportunity will always be there if they can just figure things out.
In the NFL, where everyone operates under a salary cap, teams like the Lions and Bengals have struggled for years, but that doesn't mean they don't have the same opportunity to succeed as the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots.
And speaking of the Pittsburgh Steelers, they just played in the most recent Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay is an even smaller market than Pittsburgh. Can you ever picture a scenario where the Pittsburgh Pirates face the Kansas City Royals in the World Series? I can't.
Today, fans are just expected to accept this financial climate. We're just supposed to deal with MLB being the only major professional sport without a cap.
People will tell fans of small-market teams that the sport is doing well-financially, and no change is needed.
Oh really? Well, I refuse to accept it. How can MLB expect fans in Pittsburgh and Kansas City to buy-into the same World Series dreams as fans in Chicago and Los Angeles when they know the Pirates and Royals will always be at an inherent disadvantage?
It seems that only a few teams really matter in the current state of MLB, and for whatever reason, that's okay with the higher-ups. You wouldn't think that in 2011, the needs of only a few would outweigh the needs of the many in a major professional sports league, but that's what's going on.
There was a time, back in the 70's and 80's, when the Pirates, Red, A's, and Royals were some of the most talented and successful franchises in the sport. Can you ever imagine that being the case again? I can't.
Today, if you root for a small-market team, you just have to hope that your team figures things out and can just give you a reason to celebrate, even for just a year or two.
The real shame in all of this is I used to absolutely love Major League Baseball. I still love the Pirates and am rooting like crazy for them to somehow get it together and compete under the current economic conditions. But as for baseball in-general, I don't have the love for the sport that I once did, and I can only point to the disparity between small and large market teams as the reason why.
And you would think that would really bother MLB, but it doesn't. After all, I'm not a Yankees or Red Sox fan, what does it matter how I feel?
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
PITT to the Big 12? I suppose it's not a totally absurd possibility
Rumors have surfaced that Pitt is a possible candidate to join the Big 12 after the seemingly inevitable departure of Texas A&M to the SEC. Pitt officials have refused to comment on the matter so you know the rumors are at least somewhat true.
From a logistics standpoint, Pitt going to a conference with Missouri being the closest university at seven hours away seems absolutely ridiculous. I mean, that would be like TCU joining the Big East......oh wait. That has already happened.
I guess it could actually happen. Pitt isn't the only school rumored to be in the Big 12 mix. Notre Dame is also a possibility, so you know if Pitt is being courted by the Big 12, Notre Dame is being courted with a box of chocolates, some roses, and a limousine.
Obviously, Notre Dame would turn down such an offer because they're totally too good for conferences, so Pitt would be sloppy seconds, and I must say, it wouldn't be the worst idea ever.
From a football standpoint, the Big 12 is pretty powerful. The conference may have taken its lumps recently with the departures of Nebraska and Colorado last year, and apparently A&M in the near-future, but any conference with Texas and Oklahoma as members is a player in football regardless of who leaves and who joins.
Pitt joining would almost-instantly upgrade its football program, at least in the court of public opinion.
As for basketball? Anything other than a move to the ACC would downgrade Pitt's basketball prestige, but as we all know, football rules the roost in big-time college athletics, and besides, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, and Texas aren't exactly chopped-liver in the basketball department.
I don't know what a move like that would do to recruiting for both football and basketball. Would New York still be a pipeline for Jamie Dixon if he didn't have playing in Madison Square Garden every March as a selling-point? On the flip-side, would he be able to land more kids from the Midwest or even South if he could sell trips to Texas and Oklahoma every year?
On the football side of the coin, in my opinion, selling a conference with Texas and Oklahoma in it can only help recruiting.
I've been wondering when the next conference-shift would occur, and it looks like it will be Texas A&M to the SEC. And you just know it's not the last domino to fall. There will be others. I'm beginning to think Pitt needs to be proactive and at least try to inquire about moving to another conference. It seems like the Big East is the most vulnerable conference every time this stuff comes up. Other than TCU, there isn't anything left out there for the Big East to go after. It's always going to be the sixth conference in-terms of football-prestige. And if a WVU or Syracuse defects, it may not even be that.
Pitt needs a stable place to hang its hat even if that hat will be hanging next to a Stetson in the closet.
From a logistics standpoint, Pitt going to a conference with Missouri being the closest university at seven hours away seems absolutely ridiculous. I mean, that would be like TCU joining the Big East......oh wait. That has already happened.
I guess it could actually happen. Pitt isn't the only school rumored to be in the Big 12 mix. Notre Dame is also a possibility, so you know if Pitt is being courted by the Big 12, Notre Dame is being courted with a box of chocolates, some roses, and a limousine.
Obviously, Notre Dame would turn down such an offer because they're totally too good for conferences, so Pitt would be sloppy seconds, and I must say, it wouldn't be the worst idea ever.
From a football standpoint, the Big 12 is pretty powerful. The conference may have taken its lumps recently with the departures of Nebraska and Colorado last year, and apparently A&M in the near-future, but any conference with Texas and Oklahoma as members is a player in football regardless of who leaves and who joins.
Pitt joining would almost-instantly upgrade its football program, at least in the court of public opinion.
As for basketball? Anything other than a move to the ACC would downgrade Pitt's basketball prestige, but as we all know, football rules the roost in big-time college athletics, and besides, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, and Texas aren't exactly chopped-liver in the basketball department.
I don't know what a move like that would do to recruiting for both football and basketball. Would New York still be a pipeline for Jamie Dixon if he didn't have playing in Madison Square Garden every March as a selling-point? On the flip-side, would he be able to land more kids from the Midwest or even South if he could sell trips to Texas and Oklahoma every year?
On the football side of the coin, in my opinion, selling a conference with Texas and Oklahoma in it can only help recruiting.
I've been wondering when the next conference-shift would occur, and it looks like it will be Texas A&M to the SEC. And you just know it's not the last domino to fall. There will be others. I'm beginning to think Pitt needs to be proactive and at least try to inquire about moving to another conference. It seems like the Big East is the most vulnerable conference every time this stuff comes up. Other than TCU, there isn't anything left out there for the Big East to go after. It's always going to be the sixth conference in-terms of football-prestige. And if a WVU or Syracuse defects, it may not even be that.
Pitt needs a stable place to hang its hat even if that hat will be hanging next to a Stetson in the closet.
When will people realize that new ownership is never going to be the answer for the Pittsburgh Pirates?
I was having a conversation with some people the other day about the state of the Pirates. As is usually the case whenever I talk about the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bob Nutting came under fire. "What they need is a new ownership group. Someone that cares. Someone that is going to spend money. "
I reminded this person of the record amount the Pirates spent on the draft this season, and their willingness to take more risks and go after higher-upside players in recent drafts after shying away from such activities in seasons past.
The guy snickered and said it was just a smoke-screen. Of course, nobody trusts Nutting, or for that matter, team president Frank Coonelly or general manager Neal Huntington. After so many PR flubs in recent years, maybe it's understandable.
However, this notion of bringing in a new owner who will "spend money" has always made me laugh out-loud. People have been clamoring for a Mark Cuban-type (or Mark Cuban himself) to ride in on a white horse and save the day.
It's believed that a risk-taking, maverick owner who is willing to spend boat-loads of money is what will cure the Pirates failures, and you know what? It just might work..........for a year or two.
Mark Cuban is a billionaire many times over, and people don't get to be worth that kind of money by throwing away millions of dollars on a bad-investment, and that's exactly what any new owner would be doing if he or she purchased a small-market team like the Pittsburgh Pirates and tried to compete on the same-level as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
What would happen is Cuban would try to win for a few years (maybe even successfully) and then realize that it's not smart business to keep spending so much money out of his own pocket when he's not generating the kind of revenue that would even allow him to break-even.
As most people know, Major League Baseball is the only major professional sport in this country without a salary cap. Large-market teams will always have an inherent advantage because they're going to have a larger local television/radio deal.
Without a cap, it's damn-near impossible to compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, or even Cubs for big-time free agents when they can offer them the moon.
When people criticized the Nutting group when it was leaked that they made $35,000,000 over a course of five or six years, I, again, had to laugh. People were acting as if the Pirates should have used that money to go out and make a splash in free agency. Who were they going to sign? It's not like they made that much in one year, it took over half-a-decade to make that kind of profit. Hell, these days, the top guys are getting $15,000,000 in one year.
$35,000,000 over five years comes out to $7,000,000 a year. For that kind of money, you might be able to get a Jeromy Burnitz or Matt Morris. We all remember what studs those guys were.
I think it's fairly obvious where the Pirates ownership group has been investing that profit.
Pedro Alvarez, Jameson Taillon, Stetson Allie, and this year, Gerrit Cole and Josh Bell. Huge deals for young, unproven players with tremendous upside. They're doing exactly what a small-market team should be doing in-order to rebuild their system and stock it with talent for years to come.
2011 has been a glimpse into the future for the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's kind of easy to forget how inexperienced guys like Anderw Mccutchen, Neil Walker, Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez really are
And Alex Presley, Josh Harrison and Chase d'arnaud are prime examples of the new-found depth within the organization.
There is great hope for the future. On the pitching side, the team has found a bona fide closer in Joel Hanrahan to go along with a promising, young starting staff. I think we've only touched the surface for pitchers like Charlie Morton and James Mcdonald.
Jeff Karstens has come down to earth a little bit but has shown that he can be at least be a serviceable fourth or fifth starter. Before the year started, Karstens was barely on anyone's radar, but now, he's another cog for the future.
And most importantly, the Pirates have found themselves a legit Major League manager in one Clint Hurdle. He has made the team believe in itself, once again. He's made Pirates fans believe, once again.
The Pirates season isn't going to finish like we all hoped it would a month ago, but it's at least shown us that the organization is heading in the right direction.
This isn't to say that I think Bob Nutting is on par with Dan Rooney, but he's at least put a staff in-place capable of executing the small-market plan.
Why would you want a Mark Cuban to come in and hot-shot the future for a short-term fix?
I reminded this person of the record amount the Pirates spent on the draft this season, and their willingness to take more risks and go after higher-upside players in recent drafts after shying away from such activities in seasons past.
The guy snickered and said it was just a smoke-screen. Of course, nobody trusts Nutting, or for that matter, team president Frank Coonelly or general manager Neal Huntington. After so many PR flubs in recent years, maybe it's understandable.
However, this notion of bringing in a new owner who will "spend money" has always made me laugh out-loud. People have been clamoring for a Mark Cuban-type (or Mark Cuban himself) to ride in on a white horse and save the day.
It's believed that a risk-taking, maverick owner who is willing to spend boat-loads of money is what will cure the Pirates failures, and you know what? It just might work..........for a year or two.
Mark Cuban is a billionaire many times over, and people don't get to be worth that kind of money by throwing away millions of dollars on a bad-investment, and that's exactly what any new owner would be doing if he or she purchased a small-market team like the Pittsburgh Pirates and tried to compete on the same-level as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
What would happen is Cuban would try to win for a few years (maybe even successfully) and then realize that it's not smart business to keep spending so much money out of his own pocket when he's not generating the kind of revenue that would even allow him to break-even.
As most people know, Major League Baseball is the only major professional sport in this country without a salary cap. Large-market teams will always have an inherent advantage because they're going to have a larger local television/radio deal.
Without a cap, it's damn-near impossible to compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, or even Cubs for big-time free agents when they can offer them the moon.
When people criticized the Nutting group when it was leaked that they made $35,000,000 over a course of five or six years, I, again, had to laugh. People were acting as if the Pirates should have used that money to go out and make a splash in free agency. Who were they going to sign? It's not like they made that much in one year, it took over half-a-decade to make that kind of profit. Hell, these days, the top guys are getting $15,000,000 in one year.
$35,000,000 over five years comes out to $7,000,000 a year. For that kind of money, you might be able to get a Jeromy Burnitz or Matt Morris. We all remember what studs those guys were.
I think it's fairly obvious where the Pirates ownership group has been investing that profit.
Pedro Alvarez, Jameson Taillon, Stetson Allie, and this year, Gerrit Cole and Josh Bell. Huge deals for young, unproven players with tremendous upside. They're doing exactly what a small-market team should be doing in-order to rebuild their system and stock it with talent for years to come.
2011 has been a glimpse into the future for the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's kind of easy to forget how inexperienced guys like Anderw Mccutchen, Neil Walker, Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez really are
And Alex Presley, Josh Harrison and Chase d'arnaud are prime examples of the new-found depth within the organization.
There is great hope for the future. On the pitching side, the team has found a bona fide closer in Joel Hanrahan to go along with a promising, young starting staff. I think we've only touched the surface for pitchers like Charlie Morton and James Mcdonald.
Jeff Karstens has come down to earth a little bit but has shown that he can be at least be a serviceable fourth or fifth starter. Before the year started, Karstens was barely on anyone's radar, but now, he's another cog for the future.
And most importantly, the Pirates have found themselves a legit Major League manager in one Clint Hurdle. He has made the team believe in itself, once again. He's made Pirates fans believe, once again.
The Pirates season isn't going to finish like we all hoped it would a month ago, but it's at least shown us that the organization is heading in the right direction.
This isn't to say that I think Bob Nutting is on par with Dan Rooney, but he's at least put a staff in-place capable of executing the small-market plan.
Why would you want a Mark Cuban to come in and hot-shot the future for a short-term fix?
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
My series of actions that ended the Pirates 13-month losing-streak to the Milwaukee Brewers
It's over! Last night, the Pittsburgh Pirates finally lifted the 13-month curse and defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-2. Admittedly, it was a rather strong curse as the Pirates had to play two-games to actually slay the dragon, but an exorcised demon is an exorcised demon, and I'll take it any way I can get it.
Like a lot of fans, I'm very superstitious when it comes to my favorite teams, and I believe my course of actions yesterday had a lot to do with the Pirates finally ending their Milwaukee woes.
Below is a timeline for my Monday activities:
9:23am: I visit Bob Smizik's blog and start following a pretty heated-discussion between "pro-Nuttings" and "anti-Nuttings."
9:25am: I doze-off and smack my face on my laptop. This really leaves a mark.
10:01am: I research Rickie Weeks' injury-status online and come upon the wikipedia page of former Doobie Brothers bassist, Willie Weeks, and that leads me to watch a Youtube video of the Doobie Brother hit, "Real Love." Michael Mcdonald was the best front-man for the Doobies. I don't care what anyone says. I never do find out if Rickie Weeks is off the disabled-list.
10:32am: I'm back on Smizik's blog arguing with a fan about the Pirates' spending in the draft and how that is the only way for a small-market team to possibly compete in the current MLB financial-climate. The fan tells me that the Pirates need to go out and sign a Clemente-type. I tell him that with today's baseball economics, a Clemente-type would never sign with a team like the Pirates because they couldn't afford him. The fan then tells me he witnessed Clemente's 3000th hit and says that I am just a young punk. I ask him what seeing Clemente's 3000-hit has to do with the current situation. He tells me to get a hair cut and calls me a no-good "pro-Nutter."
10:34am: I punch my laptop 21 times in-honor of Roberto Clemente.
11:00am: I leave for work, but not before placing a fresh-baked apple pie right outside my apartment door with the hopes that the aroma will reach PNC Park and distract Prince Fielder into having a poor performance in the double-header.
12pm-5pm: I log-onto Bucsdugout.com 215 times to see if anyone else has commented/rec'd my "I really hate the Milwaukee Brewers" and/or "the irrational expectations for Pedro Alvarez" posts from last week. I'm really self-absorbed.
6:16pm: I design a Ryan Braun voodoo doll, but instead of sticking it with a pin, I take a super ball and continuously pitch to the doll up-and-in.
7:15pm: Ryan Braun homers in the top of the 9th inning and the Brewers crush the Pirates, 8-1, in game-one of the double-header.
7:22pm: After Braun's homer, I decide I've had enough of this jerk and drill the Braun voodoo doll right in the backside. The Braun doll doesn't charge me, but later on, I see it bitching out my Barbie doll for not retaliating against me.
8:02pm: I arrive home from work to find my apple pie gone. Prince Fielder goes 0 for 5in game one. You draw your own conclusions.
8:40pm: I see that the Brewers are ahead, 2-0, in the top of the first-inning of game-two and decide I will never, ever care about the Pirates again.
10:30pm: I ask my girlfriend to check the score of the Pirates game on her cell-phone, and she gets annoyed and calls me a cheap SOB for not having the Internet on my phone.
11:06pm: I hear that the Pirates have defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-2, and I pump my fist, knowing that I believed in them all-along.
Well, there it is. My routine from yesterday. If you'd like, you can copy this list as it seems to have very powerful benefits for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
I plan on repeating Monday's routine anytime the Pirates play the Brewers the rest of this season.
Like a lot of fans, I'm very superstitious when it comes to my favorite teams, and I believe my course of actions yesterday had a lot to do with the Pirates finally ending their Milwaukee woes.
Below is a timeline for my Monday activities:
9:23am: I visit Bob Smizik's blog and start following a pretty heated-discussion between "pro-Nuttings" and "anti-Nuttings."
9:25am: I doze-off and smack my face on my laptop. This really leaves a mark.
10:01am: I research Rickie Weeks' injury-status online and come upon the wikipedia page of former Doobie Brothers bassist, Willie Weeks, and that leads me to watch a Youtube video of the Doobie Brother hit, "Real Love." Michael Mcdonald was the best front-man for the Doobies. I don't care what anyone says. I never do find out if Rickie Weeks is off the disabled-list.
10:32am: I'm back on Smizik's blog arguing with a fan about the Pirates' spending in the draft and how that is the only way for a small-market team to possibly compete in the current MLB financial-climate. The fan tells me that the Pirates need to go out and sign a Clemente-type. I tell him that with today's baseball economics, a Clemente-type would never sign with a team like the Pirates because they couldn't afford him. The fan then tells me he witnessed Clemente's 3000th hit and says that I am just a young punk. I ask him what seeing Clemente's 3000-hit has to do with the current situation. He tells me to get a hair cut and calls me a no-good "pro-Nutter."
10:34am: I punch my laptop 21 times in-honor of Roberto Clemente.
11:00am: I leave for work, but not before placing a fresh-baked apple pie right outside my apartment door with the hopes that the aroma will reach PNC Park and distract Prince Fielder into having a poor performance in the double-header.
12pm-5pm: I log-onto Bucsdugout.com 215 times to see if anyone else has commented/rec'd my "I really hate the Milwaukee Brewers" and/or "the irrational expectations for Pedro Alvarez" posts from last week. I'm really self-absorbed.
6:16pm: I design a Ryan Braun voodoo doll, but instead of sticking it with a pin, I take a super ball and continuously pitch to the doll up-and-in.
7:15pm: Ryan Braun homers in the top of the 9th inning and the Brewers crush the Pirates, 8-1, in game-one of the double-header.
7:22pm: After Braun's homer, I decide I've had enough of this jerk and drill the Braun voodoo doll right in the backside. The Braun doll doesn't charge me, but later on, I see it bitching out my Barbie doll for not retaliating against me.
8:02pm: I arrive home from work to find my apple pie gone. Prince Fielder goes 0 for 5in game one. You draw your own conclusions.
8:40pm: I see that the Brewers are ahead, 2-0, in the top of the first-inning of game-two and decide I will never, ever care about the Pirates again.
10:30pm: I ask my girlfriend to check the score of the Pirates game on her cell-phone, and she gets annoyed and calls me a cheap SOB for not having the Internet on my phone.
11:06pm: I hear that the Pirates have defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-2, and I pump my fist, knowing that I believed in them all-along.
Well, there it is. My routine from yesterday. If you'd like, you can copy this list as it seems to have very powerful benefits for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
I plan on repeating Monday's routine anytime the Pirates play the Brewers the rest of this season.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
I read a book about the Raiders and lived to talk about it
Last week, I was at my local library, cruising the sports section (what else?), looking for something Steelers/football-related, when I stumbled upon a book written by Peter Richmond entitled: BADASSES: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, And John Madden's Oakland Raiders.
It's in my DNA to hate the Raiders, but I also really love 70's football, so I gave it a shot.
I was not disappointed.
The book chronicles the Raiders' inception in the old AFL (original name for the team was to be the Oakland Senors), their ascension to football powerhouse in the late 60's, and their many years of struggling to win the "Big One" before finally claiming their place atop the football-world with a victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI.
The author goes into great detail, describing things such as Al Davis's rise from assistant coach for the Chargers all the way up to eventually becoming majority owner of the Oakland Raiders.
Richmond discusses the many unique characters on those Raiders teams. People like Phil "Foo" Villapiano, Ted "The Stork" Hendricks, Jack "The Assassin" Tatum, and Ken "The Snake" Stabler are just some of the featured characters discussed in the book.
You may be enticed to know that there are plenty of stories involving the Steelers and their legendary rivalry with those Raiders teams.
To nobody's surprise, the Raiders players and coaches are still bitter about the Immaculate Reception and insist to this day that the play was illegal and should have gone in Oakland's favor.
According to the book, Frenchy Fuqua came into the Raiders' locker room after the controversial ending to say hello to an old college teammate and told the player that he did, indeed, touch the ball on the legendary play.
That's the first time I ever heard that in all these years, and who knows if it's true, but it's a fun little tidbit and only adds to the legend of that day.
Obviously, there are ample sections devoted to the Raiders many playoff battles with Pittsburgh. In particular, the Steelers/Raiders trifecta in the AFC Championship game and how Oakland's quest to defeat the Steelers in that game, after losing to the Black and Gold in '74 and '75, became an obsession. And when they finally got over the hump and knocked off Pittsburgh in '76, it was almost on par with winning the actual Super Bowl two weeks later.
I know this might be blasphemous for me to say as a Steelers fan, but reading the Raiders' struggles, and their many near-misses in the playoffs from the late 60's all the way up to Super Bowl XI, I sort of became sympathetic with their plight and couldn't wait to get to the part where they finally won it all.
Additional observations:
-Obviously, this was a very unique team that somehow managed to befriend the Hell's Angels AND The Black Panthers.
-Like a lot of teams back in the day, the Raiders somehow managed to party hard stay disciplined enough to be one of the most-consistent teams of their era.
-Things that were discussed in this book--players staying out until 3am the night before games, Skip "Dr. Death" Thomas refusing to wear a helmet in practice because he didn't want to mess his hair up and John Madden going along with it, a lineman firing his gun in the dorm room during training camp, Fred Biletnikoff chain-smoking during games and at half-time--certainly illustrates the differences between then and now. Can you imagine the fallout of these kinds of things happening today?
-The book managed to humanize this team for me, a Steelers fan, who always looked at those Raiders teams as almost demonic. I'll give you an example: John Madden was so bothered by the Jack Tatum hit on Darryl Stingley in 1978 that left him permanently paralyzed, he visited Stingley in the hospital frequently and invited his wife over for dinner on a number of occasions in the weeks after the tragic event.
If you're a fan of 70's football like me and can stomach reading about one of Steeler Nation's all-time fiercest rivals, I'd certainly give this book a try.
It's in my DNA to hate the Raiders, but I also really love 70's football, so I gave it a shot.
I was not disappointed.
The book chronicles the Raiders' inception in the old AFL (original name for the team was to be the Oakland Senors), their ascension to football powerhouse in the late 60's, and their many years of struggling to win the "Big One" before finally claiming their place atop the football-world with a victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI.
The author goes into great detail, describing things such as Al Davis's rise from assistant coach for the Chargers all the way up to eventually becoming majority owner of the Oakland Raiders.
Richmond discusses the many unique characters on those Raiders teams. People like Phil "Foo" Villapiano, Ted "The Stork" Hendricks, Jack "The Assassin" Tatum, and Ken "The Snake" Stabler are just some of the featured characters discussed in the book.
You may be enticed to know that there are plenty of stories involving the Steelers and their legendary rivalry with those Raiders teams.
To nobody's surprise, the Raiders players and coaches are still bitter about the Immaculate Reception and insist to this day that the play was illegal and should have gone in Oakland's favor.
According to the book, Frenchy Fuqua came into the Raiders' locker room after the controversial ending to say hello to an old college teammate and told the player that he did, indeed, touch the ball on the legendary play.
That's the first time I ever heard that in all these years, and who knows if it's true, but it's a fun little tidbit and only adds to the legend of that day.
Obviously, there are ample sections devoted to the Raiders many playoff battles with Pittsburgh. In particular, the Steelers/Raiders trifecta in the AFC Championship game and how Oakland's quest to defeat the Steelers in that game, after losing to the Black and Gold in '74 and '75, became an obsession. And when they finally got over the hump and knocked off Pittsburgh in '76, it was almost on par with winning the actual Super Bowl two weeks later.
I know this might be blasphemous for me to say as a Steelers fan, but reading the Raiders' struggles, and their many near-misses in the playoffs from the late 60's all the way up to Super Bowl XI, I sort of became sympathetic with their plight and couldn't wait to get to the part where they finally won it all.
Additional observations:
-Obviously, this was a very unique team that somehow managed to befriend the Hell's Angels AND The Black Panthers.
-Like a lot of teams back in the day, the Raiders somehow managed to party hard stay disciplined enough to be one of the most-consistent teams of their era.
-Things that were discussed in this book--players staying out until 3am the night before games, Skip "Dr. Death" Thomas refusing to wear a helmet in practice because he didn't want to mess his hair up and John Madden going along with it, a lineman firing his gun in the dorm room during training camp, Fred Biletnikoff chain-smoking during games and at half-time--certainly illustrates the differences between then and now. Can you imagine the fallout of these kinds of things happening today?
-The book managed to humanize this team for me, a Steelers fan, who always looked at those Raiders teams as almost demonic. I'll give you an example: John Madden was so bothered by the Jack Tatum hit on Darryl Stingley in 1978 that left him permanently paralyzed, he visited Stingley in the hospital frequently and invited his wife over for dinner on a number of occasions in the weeks after the tragic event.
If you're a fan of 70's football like me and can stomach reading about one of Steeler Nation's all-time fiercest rivals, I'd certainly give this book a try.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
I really hate the Milwaukee Brewers
The Pirates got swept again this weekend by the Milwaukee Brewers. How many losses in a row is that to that team now? I've lost track. I suppose I could go research it, but does it really make any difference what the exact number is at this point?
I cannot stand the Brewers. There isn't a team in baseball I hate more than them. They have arrogant players like Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun--two guys who like to show-off and rub it in their opponents faces. And when they're not showing off, they're whining. Especially Braun. "Oh, I got hit by a pitch. Please do something about it!"
Anyway, this kind of dominance reminds me of how the New York Mets used to own the Pirates in the mid-to-late 80's. At the height of the dominance, 1986, the Mets won 17 out of 18 games against the lowly, last-place Buccos.
The Mets had jerk-faces on their team like Darryl Strawberry, Len Dykstra and Dwight Gooden. Gooden showed such disrespect for the Pirates in 1987, he called them a little league team.
As I said, the Brewers dominance over the Pirates is starting to become downright disgusting.
It wasn't long-ago that the Brewers were no-better than the Pirates and had a long-streak of losing seasons in their own right. They were a fellow small-market team that Pirates fans could point to and say, "well, at least we're not the Brewers." Boy have times changed.
Now that the Brewers have righted their ship and have started to put some winning seasons together, to repeat, they're pretty unbearable.
The Brewers remind me of those neighbors that live down the street. They're not really rich, but they're slightly more well-off than the rest of the neighborhood, and this has totally gone to their heads and has made them the snobs of the block.
They're always inviting everyone over to see their new pool just to show-off. They think they're so cool because they can have pool parties. Big deal, their pool isn't that great; it's an above-ground pool for God's sake. And there are always dead June-bugs floating around in the water. Yuck!
They see you on the street and ask you how you're doing, but they don't really care how you're doing. They just want to show-off their latest triumph. And when you tell them your struggles, they pat you on the shoulder and tell you "you'll get there!"
Get where? Screw you, snooty neighbors!
What the slightly more well-off neighbors down the street need to realize is they're only a lay-off away from being in the same boat as the working-class folks on their street.
The Brewers have been riding-high for a while now and totally flaunting it in the Pirates' faces. Soon, they will realize the pitfalls of life in a small-market when guys like Fielder start leaving for the Yankees or Red Sox. Once Fielder sees that New York has an in-ground pool complete with a diving-board, he'll totally forget about small-market Milwaukee and their above-ground swimming pool.
I can't wait for the day when the Pirates turn the tide on the Fielder-less Brewers. It's going to happen, don't you worry.
Those "little league" Pirates of the late 80's eventually overtook the Mets for supremacy in the National League East. And when these current Pirates do the same to the Brew Crew, I hope they pull their shirts out(or whatever the hell the Brewers like to do to show-up their opponents after a big win), light up a cigar on the pitchers mound, and make Braun fetch them a nice, cool glass of lemonade.
I really hate the Brewers.
I cannot stand the Brewers. There isn't a team in baseball I hate more than them. They have arrogant players like Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun--two guys who like to show-off and rub it in their opponents faces. And when they're not showing off, they're whining. Especially Braun. "Oh, I got hit by a pitch. Please do something about it!"
Anyway, this kind of dominance reminds me of how the New York Mets used to own the Pirates in the mid-to-late 80's. At the height of the dominance, 1986, the Mets won 17 out of 18 games against the lowly, last-place Buccos.
The Mets had jerk-faces on their team like Darryl Strawberry, Len Dykstra and Dwight Gooden. Gooden showed such disrespect for the Pirates in 1987, he called them a little league team.
As I said, the Brewers dominance over the Pirates is starting to become downright disgusting.
It wasn't long-ago that the Brewers were no-better than the Pirates and had a long-streak of losing seasons in their own right. They were a fellow small-market team that Pirates fans could point to and say, "well, at least we're not the Brewers." Boy have times changed.
Now that the Brewers have righted their ship and have started to put some winning seasons together, to repeat, they're pretty unbearable.
The Brewers remind me of those neighbors that live down the street. They're not really rich, but they're slightly more well-off than the rest of the neighborhood, and this has totally gone to their heads and has made them the snobs of the block.
They're always inviting everyone over to see their new pool just to show-off. They think they're so cool because they can have pool parties. Big deal, their pool isn't that great; it's an above-ground pool for God's sake. And there are always dead June-bugs floating around in the water. Yuck!
They see you on the street and ask you how you're doing, but they don't really care how you're doing. They just want to show-off their latest triumph. And when you tell them your struggles, they pat you on the shoulder and tell you "you'll get there!"
Get where? Screw you, snooty neighbors!
What the slightly more well-off neighbors down the street need to realize is they're only a lay-off away from being in the same boat as the working-class folks on their street.
The Brewers have been riding-high for a while now and totally flaunting it in the Pirates' faces. Soon, they will realize the pitfalls of life in a small-market when guys like Fielder start leaving for the Yankees or Red Sox. Once Fielder sees that New York has an in-ground pool complete with a diving-board, he'll totally forget about small-market Milwaukee and their above-ground swimming pool.
I can't wait for the day when the Pirates turn the tide on the Fielder-less Brewers. It's going to happen, don't you worry.
Those "little league" Pirates of the late 80's eventually overtook the Mets for supremacy in the National League East. And when these current Pirates do the same to the Brew Crew, I hope they pull their shirts out(or whatever the hell the Brewers like to do to show-up their opponents after a big win), light up a cigar on the pitchers mound, and make Braun fetch them a nice, cool glass of lemonade.
I really hate the Brewers.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
The irrational expectations for Pedro Alvarez
What does an unexpected flirtation with .500, combined with a farm-system that's almost completely void of power-hitting talent add up to?
Irrational expectations for Pedro Alvarez,the young slugger of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who is almost singularly responsible for me placing "almost" in-front of "completely" in the paragraph above.
Pedro Alvarez pretty much possesses the only power-bat in the Pirates' entire organization capable of putting-up Ryan Howard-like numbers. Sure, guys like Mccutchen, Walker and Tabata will probably improve their power numbers as they mature (Cutch already has with 16 dingers this season), but their bats don't pack the potential wallop that Pedro's does.
But, Alvarez is struggling. In 534 at-bats, his career batting-average is .238, with 19 home runs, 79 RBI and a whopping 184 strike-outs.
You might think that it's normal for a young power-hitter to struggle early-on in his career, and you'd be right. Power-hitters are supposed to have holes in their swings, they're supposed to strike-out a lot (especially as youngins'), and they're generally an "all-or-nothing" proposition when they step in the batters box. Howard struggled early in his career. Heck, Ryan Howard holds the NL record for most strikeouts in a single-season by a lefty, and he accomplished it twice!
Even as they mature into Hall-of-Fame players, power sluggers have a tendency to whiff a great deal. Reggie Jackson is the all-time leader in strike-outs; I'd say he had a pretty decent career.
Alvarez struggling should come as no surprise. He barely has a year's experience in the big leagues. However, in today's day-and-age of 24/7 sports coverage, it's almost impossible for a young player with the pedigree of a Pedro Alvarez to struggle without facing boat-loads of scrutiny and ridicule.
On his blog the other day, John Steigerwald compared Alvarez at his age to players like Clemente, Stargell and Bonds, and how they were light-years ahead of where Alvarez is at the same age.
Of course, those players had much more experience at 24 than Alvarez does now.
On Smizik's blog, the Pirates' faithful mercilessly refer to Alvarez as "Kdro," a bit mean-spirited, but a perfect example of the high-expectations of an impatient fan base.
Alvarez is in a tough-spot being the lone mega-bat in the Pirates' organization. The front office made a huge-splash in '08 when they drafted him 2nd-overall out of Vanderbilt. It was a sign that the Pirates were going for the best player available and not the easiest to sign as they had done in the past.
Alvarez was labeled the "savior" of the struggling organization, and that would weigh heavily on any young player.
Last year, it looked like the Pirates had the real deal as Alvarez hit 16 home runs and looked really great down the stretch.
Unfortunately, as often is the case, Alvarez has struggled in his 2nd season and is completely lost at the plate.
Now people are starting to call Alvarez a bust, and I think that's way premature. I think it's pretty easy to forget how inexperienced Alvarez is. 534 at-bats is less than what most full-time players get in one-season, let alone two.
I don't know if Pedro Alvarez will ever have a bust in Cooperstown like Clemente and Stargell, but my gut tells me he won't be on any "all-time biggest busts" list any time soon.
Pedro Alvarez should still be in Indianapolis right now, but when your organization lacks a lot of muscle, sometimes you're called-upon to do some serious lifting even if you are still trying to find all of your strength.
Irrational expectations for Pedro Alvarez,the young slugger of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who is almost singularly responsible for me placing "almost" in-front of "completely" in the paragraph above.
Pedro Alvarez pretty much possesses the only power-bat in the Pirates' entire organization capable of putting-up Ryan Howard-like numbers. Sure, guys like Mccutchen, Walker and Tabata will probably improve their power numbers as they mature (Cutch already has with 16 dingers this season), but their bats don't pack the potential wallop that Pedro's does.
But, Alvarez is struggling. In 534 at-bats, his career batting-average is .238, with 19 home runs, 79 RBI and a whopping 184 strike-outs.
You might think that it's normal for a young power-hitter to struggle early-on in his career, and you'd be right. Power-hitters are supposed to have holes in their swings, they're supposed to strike-out a lot (especially as youngins'), and they're generally an "all-or-nothing" proposition when they step in the batters box. Howard struggled early in his career. Heck, Ryan Howard holds the NL record for most strikeouts in a single-season by a lefty, and he accomplished it twice!
Even as they mature into Hall-of-Fame players, power sluggers have a tendency to whiff a great deal. Reggie Jackson is the all-time leader in strike-outs; I'd say he had a pretty decent career.
Alvarez struggling should come as no surprise. He barely has a year's experience in the big leagues. However, in today's day-and-age of 24/7 sports coverage, it's almost impossible for a young player with the pedigree of a Pedro Alvarez to struggle without facing boat-loads of scrutiny and ridicule.
On his blog the other day, John Steigerwald compared Alvarez at his age to players like Clemente, Stargell and Bonds, and how they were light-years ahead of where Alvarez is at the same age.
Of course, those players had much more experience at 24 than Alvarez does now.
On Smizik's blog, the Pirates' faithful mercilessly refer to Alvarez as "Kdro," a bit mean-spirited, but a perfect example of the high-expectations of an impatient fan base.
Alvarez is in a tough-spot being the lone mega-bat in the Pirates' organization. The front office made a huge-splash in '08 when they drafted him 2nd-overall out of Vanderbilt. It was a sign that the Pirates were going for the best player available and not the easiest to sign as they had done in the past.
Alvarez was labeled the "savior" of the struggling organization, and that would weigh heavily on any young player.
Last year, it looked like the Pirates had the real deal as Alvarez hit 16 home runs and looked really great down the stretch.
Unfortunately, as often is the case, Alvarez has struggled in his 2nd season and is completely lost at the plate.
Now people are starting to call Alvarez a bust, and I think that's way premature. I think it's pretty easy to forget how inexperienced Alvarez is. 534 at-bats is less than what most full-time players get in one-season, let alone two.
I don't know if Pedro Alvarez will ever have a bust in Cooperstown like Clemente and Stargell, but my gut tells me he won't be on any "all-time biggest busts" list any time soon.
Pedro Alvarez should still be in Indianapolis right now, but when your organization lacks a lot of muscle, sometimes you're called-upon to do some serious lifting even if you are still trying to find all of your strength.
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