Politics and Baseball Converge: What the Owners Won't Tell You

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Thought of the Day

College football season will be over tonight, but more importantly there are 36 Days until Pitchers and Catchers Report.

Ten Reasons Why Last Night was a Great Baseball Night

10. Red Sox clinched a playoff berth into the playoffs. I don't follow like I used to and they angered me after trading Manny Ramirez in what seemed to be a revenge act. But, the Red Sox have an amazing farm system that keeps funnelling players into the majors. In last night alone five home grown players started the game and four home grown pitchers were in relief. Amazing. This brings us to #9.

9. The Dodgers won and my favorite player of all-time hit a first inning three run home run. Nomar Garciaparra. Manny Ramirez also had a hit and is on fire since being traded to the Dodgers. He is hitting almost .400 with 16 HR's. A pathetic trade really. The Dodgers are still two games up in the NL West. Go big blue.

8. Phillies lose. The Philadelphia Phillies lost 3-2 to the Braves and the Mets gain a game.

7. The Minnesota Twins win. The Twins are only one and 1/2 games down in the NL Central. Here is for small market teams making the play-offs. I am rooting for a Twins/Devil Rays AL Pennant. The Twins are a team that does this right, competing every year with out the high payroll of most contenders. The twins rank 25th in major league salary race. Only four teams have lower salaries. You can win without money in this league. Go Twins.

6. The Devil Rays sweep a double header. The Devil Rays who rank 29th in salaries have clinched a playoff spot and are all, but assured of winning the east and playing the AL Central winner. The Devil Rays have $43 million dollar pay roll which is much lower than the combined salaries of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.

5. Jose Reyes three run triple for the Mets. Jose Reyes is an absolute lesson in why baseball is the greatest game on earth. He is a marvel to watch and seems to always have a big night. As Jose Reyes goes, the Mets go. He should be the MVP. The 25 year old Met had his 200th hit of the season last night. Kudos to D. Wright as well my feeling however, is that Jose is the player that the Mets could not live without.

4. Johan Santana wins for the Mets. In a do or die game, Johan was masterful throwing 125 pitches and holding off the best team in the national league while the Mets take their time to score their six runs. He is showing why they spent the money on him. This game was pennant race baseball at its best. These two teams are headed for a collision in October.

3. Prince Fielder hits a walk-off Homer in the ninth. The Brewers were losing most of the game, but came back and kept their wild card hopes alive. Fielder hit his 34th Home Run to the cheap seats in Milwaukee to keep them only one game behind the wild card leading Mets.

2. Ken Griffey, jr. moves into 5th place with his 610th Home Run. Junior is the guy we all should be parading around as the person who did it right. Never marred by any steroid stories, in fact he is so old school he hardly looks like he lifts weights. He quietly made it on to the big list now. Only Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), and Willie Mays (660) have more Home Runs than Griffey. He belongs there with these guys and hopefully he can play a few more years and climb up the list.

1. The Yankees are eliminated from playoff contention. This is the #1 story. After 14 years of buying their way into the playoffs (the period of 1995 - 2001 is excluded from this. The 1998 Yankees is still the best baseball team I have seen in my life) they come up short. After 2001 Steinbrenner said their would be changes and there were. They rid the team of O'Neil, Brosius and Tino and got the lard ass Giambi and a whole host of wasted players marring an astonishing team that will go down with the '27 Yankees as one of the ten best. This is how not to run a baseball team. They have run a franchise that was the model of all the baseball franchises and is now 0-8 this century. Sadly for them the model for franchises is now the Red Sox.

Forget the Red Sox I Bleed Dodger Blue (and any small market team)

A new report by Major League Baseball investigators are looking into accusations that several New York Yankees prospects from the Dominican Republic were forced to kick back portions of their signing bonuses to one or more team employees, several sources told ESPN. This I expect, I mean come on it is the Yankees.

Last week, the Red Sox's Dominican scouting supervisor, Pablo Lantigua, was fired after MLB investigators confronted him about allegedly skimming signing bonuses, according to an MLB source. Sources also told ESPN that the investigation is expected to implicate roughly 20 people on "a handful" of teams before it is complete. Investigators also have expanded their probe into Venezuela, where many major league clubs have player academies. "Things are coming to a head," one source familiar with MLB's investigation said.

So, these a-holes go to the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, both places where baseball is religion and by the way are baseball factories for the major leagues (ever heard of Pedro, Manny, Ortiz, how about Omar Vizquel or Johan Santana?); these baseball scum low ball the hell out of these - to be superstars (these players do not receive anywhere near the money top prospects from the states receive) and then on the back end the little they do give, force them to hand it over to overpaid executives in the baseball club.

Disgusting. I am tired of the corporate scum running baseball. The Red Sox have now sent away Manny, Pedro and Nomar, my three favorite Red Sox players off to different teams - after bad mouthing them to the point where the fans in Boston didn't want them anyway. And now are part of an extortion ring against poor born latin players. Forget it. I am rooting for Manny over in Dodger land as well as I root for Nomar and Pedro. But...I now declare myself a small market baseball fan. I root for the Twins, the Devil Rays and the Brewers.

Here is rooting for a Brewers/Devil Rays series. Bring on the scummy Red Sox and the scummy Yankees. Karma is a bitch.

The Halliburton Yankees

If there was an appropriate name for the Yankees - it would be Halliburton. They have single-handedly made baseball a game about money and who has the most. Now, one might say, look at the Twins, look at the Devil Rays or the Oakland A's or look at those pesky Marlins, but of course these same people won't tell you they are anomalies, exceptions (these teams do not ever win. The Marlins did, but that was when they were loaded with salary.)

The Yankees have now acquired more talent, Xavier Nady and Demasco Martes and are looking into Jarod Washburn and maybe even Bonds (who I support to coming back to the league by the way). Because they have injuries to Damon, Matsui and Posada, why not load up and get some more guys in here. No other team can do this, nor does any other team want to. Now, of course the Red Sox, the Mets and Dodgers are all big market well spent teams, but when injuries occur they don't just load up for the sake of it. "Hey, because we have it."

And here is the ultimate reason why this is ridiculous. The salaries. The Yankees are so far and above every other team it is silly to say they are a big market team. We should call them the "super market" team and then the Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers and Angels the big market teams. The Yankees payroll this year is $207,100+ this year. The next team that is even close is the Mets at $137,000+ with the Tigers, Red Sox and White Sox rounding out the top 5. Surely ridiculous amounts of money to be paid, but the Yankees outspend the rest of the league by $70,000 which is inaccurate now with Nady, Martes and of course Washburn on the way.

How much money is that? Well, it is the entire salaries of the Rockies, Orioles, Rangers, Diamondbacks, Royals, Twins, Nationals, Pirates, A's, Devil Rays and Marlins. That is how much money it is. It is an astonishing amount of money. Yes, it is their money, no one disputes that, New York is the biggest market, blah, blah, blah, I get it. Is it necessary though? Is it necessary for Walmart to put every other business who competes with them out of business? Is it necessary for Starbucks to buy up coffee shops and then keep them empty just so another one won't go in there? Is it necessary for Halliburton to spend our money in Iraq and not keep track of it? No, it is not necessary.

Surely, it is true one can compete without spending this money, but it is usually a spend thrift way teams need to go about it, with good coaching and great drafts and what they don't tell us is - is these teams do not win championships. They compete, but they do not win. I am not a big fan of the salary cap, but this is stupid. The Red Sox are also caught up in the system as are the Mets, but comparing the Mets and Red Sox to the Yankees is like comparing Walmart to Super Cuts. Not a fair analogy. But, at least we have them to hate. That is nice.

Who will the Halliburton Yankees sign next?

Hugo Chavez Trying to Institute Fairness for Venezuelas in Major League Baseball

“Marines shouldered bats next to their rifles when they imposed imperial order in a region by blood and fire. Baseball then became for the people of the Caribbean what baseball is to us.”—Eduardo Galeano

When Hugo Chávez struck out in his December referendum aimed at overhauling the Venezuelan political system, a small group of overfed men raised their glasses in triumph: the assorted owners of Major League Baseball.

Edward Bennett Williams once called them a “Den of Idiots,” and for the last decade, the idiots have descended in vulpine fashion on both the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, marauding like free marketers on steroids in their quest for baseball talent on the cheap. Currently, 30 percent of all minor league players are from the DR alone.

Owners love Latin America for the same reason Disney can’t get enough of Haiti: they, can sign children for pennies, treat them like trash when they’re finished, and face contact lens-thin regulations for their troubles.

The impact on the athletes can be devastating. “Super Mario” Encarnación, once the most prized prospect of the Oakland As, was found dead in a Taipei motel room in October 2006, after an apparent drug overdose. He had been playing at the margins of the semi-pro baseball circuit desperate to not return home a failure to the DR. He returned, only when his friend former AL MVP Miguel Tejada, paid to have his body shipped back to their village from Japan.

Encarnación did do better than Lino Ortiz. The nineteen-year-old pitcher was about to be called up to the Majors when he died from taking an animal steroid in the DR looking for an edge. Steroids are actually legal and available over the counter, but their cost makes them prohibitive. Lino bought his from the pet store and met an all-too-early-death.

After the DR, the country that supplies the most talent in Latin America is Venezuela. There are now more than fifty players from Venezuela in Major League Baseball, including superstars like Johan Santana, Magglio Ordoñez and Miguel Cabrera. In the last twenty years, 200 Venezuelans have played in the Major Leagues with more than 1,000 in the minors. And yet despite this bounty of talent, the idiots are starting to scamper from Venezuela because Hugo Chávez is demanding that owners pay for the privilege of their pillage.

Lou Meléndez, MLB’s vice president for international operations, was more than miffed to receive documents that called for instituting employee and player protections and requiring teams to pay out 10 percent of players’ signing bonuses to the government. Chávez wants to tax MLB for what they take from the country.

“We don’t pay federations money for signing players anywhere in the world, and we don’t expect to do so. It’s certainly not a way to conduct business,” huffed Meléndez. “When you see certain industries that are being nationalized, you begin to wonder if they are going to nationalize the baseball industry in Venezuela.”

As ESPN wrote, “There has been speculation, more internal than public so far, that Chávez, a socialist and self-proclaimed revolutionary who took office in 1999, will turn Venezuela into the next Cuba. In other words, some worry that baseball in Venezuela will serve to illustrate (once again) how politics spills over into sport.”

The hypocrisy is stunning. Heaven forfend, there is nothing “political” about a multibillion-dollar business running roughshod over an entire nation with no accountability for the dashed dreams of the 99 percent who don’t make it stateside. And there is surely nothing political about shutting down your baseball academy for fear that the natives might demand business practices that might approximate the humane.

Already, the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, and San Diego Padres have cut and run. “We just figured we might as well do it [then] to avoid some of the hassle of having to deal with some of the legislation that Chávez passes down there in hiring coaches, worrying about severance pay, and just getting in and out of the country,” Juan Lara of the Padres told the media.

This tension exposes the rot at the heart of this relationship. Chávez dares demand regulation and the first instinct of the owners is to flee toward more exploitable ground. Not only is Chávez right to pressure baseball to actually give something back, other countries—the Dominican Republic, in particular—should follow his lead.

Every year, millions of Latin American children are shredded as they reach to escape poverty with a bat and a ball. It’s long past time MLB gave something back to the nations they so blithely upend.

Even an idiot can see that.

Dave Zirin is the author of the book: "Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics and Promise of Sports" (Haymarket). You can receive his column Edge of Sports, every week by going to dave@edgeofsports.com.

Clemens to Be Named in the Mitchell Steroids Report

Roger Clemens will be among many named in the Mitchell Report on performance enhancing drugs. The report also specifies many "prominent" yankees. This should not surprise anyone about Clemens, he changed dramatically after leaving the Red Sox, not to mention being named in the affidavits released last year. Though, I hope this report focuses on Major League Baseball as much as the players. They let it happened and even encouraged it in my opinion.

Brian McNamee, who worked for the Yankees and as a personal trainer for Clemens and Yankee teammates Andy Pettitte, also told investigators that on at least one occasion, Clemens was in possession of steroids from another supplier, the source said.

Also, The Bergen (N.J.) Record, citing a baseball industry official, says "several" prominent Yankees will be named in the Mitchell report. The paper said the source spoke to a third party who had seen the final report. "It's going to be a rough day in the Bronx," the paper quoted the source as saying.

The Puerto Rican Winter League is Closing its Season

The Puerto Rican leagues are closing up shop after a long and storied history. It is sad. One of the reasons for it is the best players on the "island" no longer want to risk injury and play in a winter league. This is one of the many consequences of integrating leagues. The Negro leagues also died shortly after the integration of Jackie Robinson into Major League Baseball.

Big Mistake?

Looking to shuffle their roster after an embarrassing collapse this season, the New York Mets found a new catcher and right fielder Friday.

The price: prized outfield prospect Lastings Milledge.

After holding onto Milledge through years of trade speculation, the Mets finally dealt him to the Washington Nationals for catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church.

I wonder about the Mets choices. Milledge could be on the verge of stardom, yet they traded him for a fielding catcher who cannot hit and an average outfielder. It doesn't make any sense. If in fact, Milledge could be packaged for Johan Santana or Dan Haren, then fine, but this is baffling. I will miss this young man's energy. I think if given the everyday chance he could have been part of the triple force of Wright and Reyes. Time will tell if this trade will be as bad as the Scott Kazmir debacle. If it is Minaya will have to answer some big questions.

Kevin Youklis the Jewish First Baseman for the Red Sox

This is so funny and heartwarming in a way. Dennis Leary a die hard Red Sox fan finds out Youklis for the Red Sox is Jewish and hilarity ensues (i.e. attacks on Mel Gibson)

Online Videos by Veoh.com

2004 was an exorcism. 2007 is an exclamation point.

"they won't hang a cross in your locker."

The Rockies Get Off Their Knees from the nation magazine
by Dave Zirin

Twenty-one wins in twenty-two games. An improbable run to the World Series. One of the hottest streaks to end a season in the history of the game. And not two pitchers the average fan could even name. Ladies and gents, your Colorado Rockies: a team performing what even an atheist could call a baseball miracle. And "miracle" is an appropriate term for a team that riled the baseball world last year by claiming that filling the dugout with Christian players would grease the skids to greatness.

Last year the Rockies went public with the news that the organization was looking for players with "character." And according to team management, "character" means players who have chosen Jesus as their personal Lord and manager. "We're nervous, to be honest with you," Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said at the time. "It's the first time we ever talked about these issues publicly. The last thing we want to do is offend anyone because of our beliefs."

Rockies chairman and CEO Charlie Monfort took it further, saying, "I think character-wise we're stronger than anyone in baseball. Christians, and what they've endured, are some of the strongest people in baseball. I believe God sends signs, and we're seeing those." The team took some heat for its statements, especially when former players spoke of having their lockers searched for dirty magazines and feeling pressure that you had to be down with the God Squad to feel part of the team. It also raised the question of whether the team was discriminating against non-Christian players--would Jewish icon Shawn Green be welcome? What about just straight-up heathens?

But as the team makes its miracle run to the series against the Boston Red Sox this year, the Rockies are playing down their holier-than-thou image.

"Do we like players with character? There is absolutely no doubt about that," O'Dowd said in the New York Times today. "If people want to interpret character as a religious-based issue because it appears many times in the Bible, that's their decision. I believe that character is an innate part of developing an organization, and to me, it is nothing more than doing the right thing at the right time when nobody's looking. Nothing more complicated than that. You don't have to be a Christian to make that decision." "There are guys who are religious,sure, but they don't impress it upon anybody," Jewish pitcher Jason Hirsh also stepped forward to say. "It's not like they hung a cross in my locker or anything. They've accepted me for who I am and what I believe in." (That could be a great pitch for recruiting free agents: "They won't hang a cross in your locker!")

Have the Rockies really turned over a tolerant new leaf--as the Times report suggested--or is this merely the sin of spin? Relief pitcher Jeremy Affeldt said, "When you have as many people who believe in God as we do, it creates a humbleness about what we do. I don't see arrogance here, I see confidence. We're all very humbled about where this franchise has been and where it is now, and we know that what's happening now is a very special thing.

"Humility and confidence are fine--indeed, novel--traits in an athlete. But the troubling part of that statement is the assumption that Christianity by definition brings character to the table. Maybe it's because I live in Washington, DC, a town full of politicians who blithely invade other countries with other people's children and deny healthcare to millions of kids and say they are guided by God. Maybe it's because I find a team using a publicly funded stadium as a platform for an event originally dubbed "Christian Family Day" exclusionary and a gross misuse of tax dollars. (Later, the events were renamed "Faith Day" to sound more inclusive.)

But for those of us who believe that freedom of religion also should mean freedom from religion at the ballpark, it doesn't matter if you call it Buddha-Jesus-Jewish-Vishnu-Islamic-Wicca Awareness Day. We just want to go to the ballpark without feeling like we're covertly funding Focus on the Family's gay-retraining programs. Religion and sports: it's a marriage in desperate need of a divorce.

That's why it was hard not to feel a tiny taste of supernatural satisfaction upon learning Tuesday that the team website crashed following what Rockies officials called "an external, malicious attack." The team's efforts to sell all its World Series tickets online was unprecedented and seen by many diehard Rockies fans as a way to sell tickets to out-of-town corporate entities and shut out the locals waiting in line for days to buy them in person. Unless your lord is Michael Milken, gouging home-town supporters doesn't seem very Christian at all.

So who could be the perpetrator of this "external and malicious" attack on the Rockies website? Was it God, punishing the team for squeezing the common fan? The Devil, trying to derail their grace-driven run? Some Red Sox Nation hacker getting his jollies? Whatever, it was hard not to smile at the biblical significance for one of baseball's most sanctimonious teams. They could throw the money-changers out of our sporting temples, but that would leave the owner's boxes empty. And we can't have that.

Josh Beckett on His Ex-girlfriend Singing the National Anthem at Jacobs Field

The SG Readers Have Spoken. The Red Sox Will Win the World Series

By a vote of 44% to 32% the Red Sox will win the World Series say the Subversive Garden readers. the Red Sox open against the Angels on Wednesday and the Yankees (2nd. place finisher) will open against the Indians in Cleveland on Thursday.

I have to say I don't much like the format this year. The Red Sox will play three games in six days. It is usually two games on and one travel day and the playoffs are decided in a matter of weeks. It makes the playoffs so exciting because elimination is right around the corner very quickly. As opposed to the rest of the major sports. Though, I think it has everything to do with TV and ratings which I find repugnant.

Last night's playoff game between the Padres and the Rockies was played at 7:37 (in the east) and really should have been played at 1 PM so the teams could have adequate travel time to get to their next destination. But, it was played at night so the optimal amount of people can watch. And by the way if last night's coverage is any indication it will be a boring first week. TBS has no idea what they are doing. A thirteen inning game that was entirely boring. Nothing to do with the play, but the coverage was dreadful.

My hope is for a Red Sox v. Cubs world series. My belief is that the Colorado Rockies will be playing the, yes...though I dare to say it the Yankees. ugghhh...here is rooting against my brain and for my heart.

fenway gets green

have you voted in our poll for the world series winner? so far the red sox are in the lead. rightfully so... with manny, ortiz and the boys of boston. (i guess my loyalties are shifting cause the mets suck right now!)

but now there is a perfect reason to vote for the sox and feel good -- on september 20th, the red sox and the natural resources defense council partnered to develop a plan to make fenway and the green monster more green.

grist described some of the changes:

Under a five-year partnership with the National Resources Defense Council, the nation's oldest active ballpark may vend beer in corn-starch-based cups, serve local, organic food from concession stands, add solar panels, and even initiate a new tradition: a fifth-inning recycling stretch. and more from the boston herald here.

was it a coincidence in planning that just three days later on september 23rd, baseball celebrated its 162nd birthday? so where is baseball's birthplace???

the elysian field in hoboken! i thought the plaque on 11th and washington streets marked the birthplace but i stand corrected. according to mayor david roberts, the public lawn near 12th street by maxwell place (the very site for which roberts compared his fight to de-privatize the space to that of rosa parks) is "the exact site where America's game was first played."

The Evolution of the Home Run

I was saddened to see Rick Ankiel's name associated with HGH this past week. And even more saddened to see his press conference and subsequent reports. Tommy John surgery is no joke, but since when is HGH a prescription drug and why are you getting it delivered from a pharmacy. Why not go pick up the drug at the pharmacy? Oh yeah, Rick, doctor-patient privilege. Remember, Rick it is your privilege.

Then, the news of Troy Glaus and his steroid problem, Jay Gibbons and now MLB wants to meet with Gary Mathews, jr and his shipments of HGH. Oh baseball is in trouble. But, when are we going to get the real culprits, baseball officials who deny this is a problem and say it is a few bad apples? You know, the Donald Rumsfeld defense. This is not a Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield problem, this is a tremendous problem for baseball and the ungodly power numbers are ruining a magical game. Baseball has been a soulful experience for me, it helped save me, it taught me how to win, lose and how to be a man. This game is no ordinary game. When I see those fans who are passionate about the world cup and soccer, that passion is what I feel for this game, but it is something more. It is part of me. It is not separate from who I am. I do not exist without it and I feel a tremendous sadness when it becomes a laughing stock. So, I wanted to investigate just when these numbers went crazy. Here is that analysis.

The onset of the power game entered baseball when Babe Ruth decided to put down his pitcher's glove for good and play the outfield. In 1919 still with the Red Sox he played 111 games and hit 29 Home Runs breaking the single season record for most home runs in a single season. Before Ruth the home run was not considered to be important, instead it was considered to be selfish because of the chances of a pop-out and certainly because the fences were so far, hitting a home run was done by hitting it over the outfielder's reach rather than a fence. The year before Ruth hit his 29 Home Runs the league leader hit 11.

The next year Ruth was traded to the Yanks (by my beloved Red Sox) and the game changed forever. Ruth hit 54 Home Runs, the next closest player hit 19 and the birth of modern baseball began. Ruth hit 59 Home Runs the next year and then famously hitting 60 in 1927. By the end of the decade, however the likes of Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig and Hack Wilson were challenging his Home Run totals. In that decade from 1921- 1930 there were (16) 40 Home Run hitters (an average of 1.6 per season) and (38) 30 Home Run hitters (an average of almost 4 per season). Not until the late 20's did others begin hitting homers like Ruth.

In the next decade with Ted Williams, Joe Dimaggio, Jimmie Fox and the ending of Ruth and Gehrig's careers one would expect the totals to begin to sky rocket. But, they did not. Again, from 1931 - 1940 only (16) players hit 40 Home Runs during the decade (an average of 1.6 per season) and (59) players hit 30 Home Runs (an average of almost six per season). Only two players hit 50 home runs during the decade, Hank Greenberg hit 58 and in 1938 and Jimmie Fox hit 58 in 1932 and 50 also in 1938.

Remarkably during the next decade from 1941 - 50 the home run totals went down, most notably by the war years. An average of less than one 40 home run hitter (only 8 for the entire decade) per season and (4) 30 home run hitters (43 for the decade). The hitting was remarkable, however because Williams and Dimaggio had one of the best seasons ever in 1941. Stan Musial was beginning to flourish, but the pitching also seemed to catch up to the hitting as (the statistics show) seems to happen naturally through the decades.

The next decade from 1951 - 1960 is when the Home Run steadied and did so for the next forty years ebbing and flowing, with standout seasons and some anomalies that we will see. But, usually these seasons have to do with expansion of the MLB teams and then the following year the numbers come back into line. There is one season that does not follow that trend and it is 1987. Regardless, in the 50's an average of (3) players with forty home run seasons per season occurred during the decade (a total of (33)forty home run seasons for the decade) and (97) 30 home run seasons which is more than double the last decade for an average of almost (10) 30 home run performances per season during the 1950's.

Several things to take note during this decade - black players integrated and their unique play began its indelible mark upon baseball, including Willy Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews. Willy Mays hit 50 Home Runs during the 1955 season as did Mickey Mantle in 1956, the only two players to hit 50 homers during the decade. It seems integration certainly helped the amount of players to hit 30 home runs, but not 40 home runs. Of course integration also added to the pool better pitching with the likes of Don Newcombe and Satchel Paige among many others. It seems to me from the numbers 40 home run seasons remained rare and 30 home run seasons increased.

Along come the 1960's the first real batch of expansion. The Los Angeles Angels and the Minnesota Twins were added to the American League. What happened? Roger Maris hit 61 Home Runs, the first time since 1927 anyone hit 60 Home Runs. Mickey Mantle hit 54 Home Runs and probably would have matched him had he not been sick and hurt. The next season the New York Mets and the Houston Colt 45's were added to the national league. But, looking at the decade as a whole the numbers do not increase that much. There was a total of (37) 40 Home Run hitters averaging almost four per season and a total of (120) 30 home run seasons during the decade, averaging 12 per season. Again, the numbers only increased statistically for the 30-home run seasons. Of course by the end of the decade you had the likes of Bob Gibson and Denny McClain, not to mention maybe the greatest pitcher ever -Sandy Koufax smack in the middle of the decade.

Pitching was catching up. Not to mention the second round of expansion occurred in 1969 adding the Montreal Expos and the San Diego Padres to the NL and the Seattle Pilots and Kansas City Royals to the AL. Of course 1969 and 1970 were big years for home run hitters despite the supremacy of pitching. In 1969 17 hitters hit 30 home runs and there were seven 40 homer seasons, both records at that point and in 1970 19 hitters hit 30 home runs another record and six 40 home run hitters.

The DH was added to the American League in 1973. Despite this new hitting advantage pitching reigned in hitters. In the decade there were only (17) 40-home run seasons (an average of below 2) and (92) 30-home run seasons (an average of just over nine). Again in 1977 when the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays were added home run totals went up. George Foster became the only player to hit 50 home runs in a season for the decade and 19 hitters hit 30 home runs that season, despite only (4) hitters doing the same the previous season. Expansion clearly helps the hitters in the year or two following it, but pitching adjusts.

See Part II - the Steroid era

The Evolution of the Home Run Part II

The 1980's in my mind are a very important decade for the home run despite it being a down decade. First in 1981 a strike occurred and only one player hit 30 home runs, the formidable Mike Schmidt. The year of 1987 accounts for this down year, however and we will get to that. As a decade (this time frame is 1981- 1992 a 12 year period) the 1980's had only (16) 40 home run seasons, one less than the 1970's (an average of 1.7 per season for the decade). But, there were (120) 30 homer seasons (an average of 12 per season for the decade). What is most important about this decade is 1987. We should look at the three year period of 1986-1988 to show how askew 1987 was and surely this could not have happened by accident.

In 1986 Jesse Barfield (yes, Jesse Barfield) led the league in homers with 40 followed by Mike Schmidt with 37. Only one 40 home run hitter and (13) 30 home run hitters. That year Mike Scott led the league in ERA with a 2.22 ERA. Skipping 1987 for the moment in 1988 Jose Canseco led the league with 42 homers followed by Daryl Strawberry with 39 and Joe Magrane led the league in ERA with a 2.18 followed by David Cone at 2.22. There was only one 4o home run hitter and only (5) 30 home run hitters. The #6 Home Run hitter was Will Clark with 29. Not a single hitter hit 50 home runs in the decade, a feat that was becoming more of a rarity and 60 home runs was considered to be almost as untouchable as hitting .400 and 56 straight games with a hit.

In 1987, however an astonishing (28) hitters hit 30 home runs or more led by rookie hulk Mark McGwire with 49 as did Andre Dawson. The #50 home run hitter that year had 26 home runs in 1987. The #13 Home Run hitter in 1988 had 26 home runs and the #50 home run hitter in 1988 only had 19 home runs. This number jump in 1987 and then back to normal in 1988 could not be by accident. Wade Boggs in 1987 had 24 home runs and never before or after had more than 11 home runs, done in 1994, the only other time he had double figure home runs. Talk that year was that the ball was juiced whatever that meant. Something, surely happened and it changed the next year. But, did baseball learn something that year? Was it an experiment to try a new power surge?

The Steroid (HGH) Era

That power surge miraculously occurred when baseball was on the brink in 1994. It began around 1993 and then went through the roof in 1995 after the strike never to relinquish. First the numbers. I included the time frame of 1993 -2006 a fourteen year period with the strike occurring in the second year. But, the averages are remarkable how much they differ. During this period there were (139) 40 home run seasons (two occurring in the strike year of 1994) an average of just over ten per season. The highest other total for a decade in the 1960's was an average of 3.7 for the decade. During that time frame there were (437) 30 home run seasons an average of (33) per season. The highest other totals were an average of 12 during the 1960's and the 1980's. That is a statistical jump that can only be accounted for by a surge in the home run through other means. Many of the arguments over the years were expansion (not true), pitching (not true), the umpires (ridiculous), smaller ball parks (partly true, but not really) and the players getting bigger! Voila!

Watch the numbers rise. In 1993 a much smaller and in my mind much better player, Barry Bonds led the league with 46 home runs. That year there were five 40 home run hitters, the fifth largest total for a season so far. The first two occurring in the golden years of baseball 1953 -55 and then 1969-70 with expansion. But, there were (22) 30 home run hitters a record season up to that point. After the strike of 1994, 1995 followed 93 with four 40 home run hitters and 21 30 home run hitters. Also, Albert Belle had 50 homers that year the second time in the decade so far a hitter hit 50. Cecil Fielder did it in 1990 with 51. I remember these two seasons thinking how momentous these occasions were, fifty homers a Ruthian feat.

In 1996 Mark McGwire hit 50 home runs for the first time (52) and Brady Anderson also compiled 50 home runs. He had not hit more than 21 in a season up to that point and never again hit more than 24. That year there were (17) players who hit 40 homers and (43) players who hit 30 homers. In 1997 two players hit 50 (McGwire had 58 and Griffey - 56), 12 players hit 40 homers and 31 players hit 30. In 1998 ("the year that saved baseball") McGwire hit 70 and Sosa 66, with four 50 home run hitters that year, Griffey and Greg Vaughn. Thirteen 40 homer seasons and (33) 30 homer seasons. The pinnacle is the year 2000 when the high was 50 homers for Sosa, sixteen forty homer seasons and (47) players with 30 home runs or more. Ridiculous. The #50 home run hitter had 28 while the #50 home run hitter just 8 years before had 17. In one season (2000) that is half the total of 40 homer seasons for the entire decade of the 1980's and that includes 1987 when 28 hitters did that.

The next year Bonds had 73 homers with again four players hitting 50 (Sosa had 60), (12) players hit 40 and (41) players hitting 30. In all from 1920 - 1994 there were only (17) 50 home run seasons. They were the standouts, Mays, Ruth, Greenberg, Mantle, Foxx. In the period from 1995-2006 21 players had 50 home run seasons including the likes of Brady Anderson, Luis Gonzalez and Greg Vaughn. These are not names we associate with Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Ruth, Williams, Frank Robinson, but somehow they are there. To put it in a deeper perspective from 1951 - 1990 there were 98 40-home run seasons. And from 1991 - 2000 there were 96 home run seasons. That is not an accurate portrayal of the level of play and ability to hit a home run. What is more 1991 - 92 followed the same trajectory as the 80's, but then 93 there is a jump in the numbers that never stops. Rafael Palmeiro has 569 home runs and is tenth on the all-time list. This guy was not even the best on his team most years.

Something must be done to re-focus the integrity of the game. We are not "out" of the steroid era. It is still happening. Miraculously, players in their "contract" year suddenly have career years, a la Gary Mathews and his new 50 million dollar contract. The performance enhancing market has become a matter of economics. You want big money then you use. That is the bottom line. Major League Baseball owes it to all of us to tell the truth and get the game back where it should be. Who cares if Bonds or anyone else is prosecuted? This is a baseball problem and there are literally hundreds of players yet to be caught. But, who cares? Develop a test and players will stop using. Then, we will know what is real and what was not.

Ken Griffey, jr. who has never been linked to steroids may be the biggest loser in all of this. He sits at 593 home runs, hurt and looking like the almost 38 year old player he is. He is having a good season, but he is a shadow of what he used to be, just as Mays was at 38, Ruth, Aaron, etc. One does not start an assault on the record books at the age of 36. MLB should come clean so we can all trust it again.

Here is a spreadsheet table of decades. Take a look and decide for yourself. Also see Part I of the Evolution of the Home Run.

MLB Notes: Rick Ankiel

This year we at the Subversive Garden have written about Josh Hamilton and Jon Lester as great American sports stories. Hamilton, overcoming drug addiction and Lester overcoming cancer, both stories of tremendous magnitude and odds and now along comes Rick Ankiel.

Ankiel does not have the drama of addiction and cancer and certainly does not wish to be compared to these two men, but instead he had to completely remake himself as a player. Ankiel was a phenom who came up with the Cardinals as a 20 year old. He pitched his first full season in 2000 at the age of 20 (second youngest in the league), in which he posted an 11-7 record and a 3.50 ERA (ninth in the league) and 194 strikeouts (seventh in the league) in 30 games started for St. Louis. Ankiel threw a fastball in the 94-97 MPH range, and also possessed a heavy sinker with great movement, as well as his main strikeout pitch, a devastating 12-to-6 curve ball. Comparisons to Randy Johnson were abound and his upside was nothing short of greatness.

But, that year in the League Division series he ran into trouble. He suddenly could not find the plate. A lot of pressure was on this rookie starting the League Championship series. With a 6-0 lead he began walking people and throwing monumental wild pitches and was pulled giving up four runs in two innings, walking five. He came back in the League Championship series against the Mets. He was removed in the first inning after throwing just 20 pitches, five over the head of his catcher. Ankiel returned to the majors in 2001 but again had issues controlling his pitches, walking 25 batters and throwing 5 wild pitches in 24 innings, and was sent down to AAA. Here his problems became incredibly dramatic. In 4.1 innings, Ankiel walked 17 batters and threw 12 wild pitches, accumulating an ERA of 20.77.

Ankiel was sent to the rookie leagues in the Cardinal organization and seemed to gain some of his old form, not the least of which was hitting: sporting a .638 slugging percentage with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs in 105 at bats. After injuring himself in 2002 missing most of the season with an elbow sprain. In 2003 he had an ERA of 6.20 and then underwent Tommy John surgery to repair his left elbow. Ankiel did not return the majors until September of 2004 and pitched well in the end of the year in which the Cardinals were swept by the Red Sox in the fall of that year in the world series.

He pitched just 34 innings in the majors after that 1st disappointing game, walking 26, hitting five batters and throwing six wild pitches before missing all of 2002 and most of the next two seasons with arm problems. He tried one final comeback in the spring of 2005 but, still troubled by pain and wildness, he eventually confessed to Cardinals General Manager Walt Jocketty that he couldn't handle the disappointment any longer.

Suddenly, in the fall of 2005 he decided to start all over and switch to the outfield. Ankiel indeed could hit quite a bit as a pitcher. He shot through the low levels of the minor league system impressing with slugging percentages in the .500 range and was invited to spring training in the 2006 as an outfielder, but again had to have season ending knee surgery, yet another disappointment.

In 2007, however in which the Cardinal organization was experiencing a dreadfully disappointing season after the World Series win last year Ankiel is the story.

Ankiel was named a starting outfielder for the 2007 Triple-A All-Star Game. Through August 8, 2007 he had 32 home runs, 89 RBIs and was hitting .267, including a 3 home run performance on June 16th at Iowa. He was the current Home Run leader in the Pacific Coast League at the time of his call up, plus tied for second in RBIs. Ankiel was called to the majors on August 9, 2007.

In his first at bat in his return to the big leagues, Ankiel was greeted with a prolonged standing ovation from the appreciative St. Louis crowd. In his fourth at bat in the seventh inning, he hit a three-run home run off Doug Brocail to right field to help the Cardinals defeat the San Diego Padres, 5-0. This made him the first player since Clint Hartung (1947) to hit his first major league home run as a pitcher and then hit a later home run as a position player. The player before Hartung who accomplished this feat was none other than Babe Ruth. After the game, manager Tony La Russa said that his only happier and prouder moment in a Cardinals' uniform was when he won the World Series in 2006.

Two days later, against the Dodgers on August 11, Ankiel drew four standing ovations with both his batting and fielding. At the plate he went 3 for 4, with two home runs and 3 RBIs. And in the eighth, a spectacular catch in right field saved an almost certain extra base hit.

After surrendering a Home Run to Ankiel on Saturday Derek Lowe of the Dodgers said it best: "I don't think he's getting enough credit for what he's doing. It wouldn't matter if he started out 0 for 16. To be a pitcher and say, OK, I'm going to become a hitter and make it to the major leagues? I'm amazed at what he can do. It's a phenomenal story."

756

There is a new Home Run King and his name is Barry Bonds. 756 represents the most recognized number in American Sports.

Nobody in the majors, not Hank Aaron, not Babe Ruth, has ever hit more home runs than Barry Bonds. I am torn about it, certainly. There is a cloud over his head. A large one. Still, you cannot teach someone to hit like Bonds hits. Steroids, undoubtedly has helped his performance. But, they do not help every one's performance hit like Bonds does.

On the other hand, I followed Bonds as a young player. He was the new Willie Mays. I adored him, though most hated him. He had the five tools that everyone talks about. Hit, hit for power, run, throw and field. He could do it all. I followed and watched him as a pirate steal 50 bases and then go 40/40 (40 steals and 40 homers) only the second player in baseball history to do it. I watched his first three MVP's, but he did not get the respect he deserved. Ever. This is indisputable. How is it that Bonds (even before the Ruthian numbers) got left off the All-Century team? To me, he was the best left fielder to ever play, outside of Ted Williams before the power numbers went crazy. But, we overlooked him to his dismay. This is outlined in the book "Game of Shadows" to some extent.

But, I cannot say I am jumping for joy. I have been ambivalent about his passing Aaron for years now. And I remain so.

MLB Notes: Implicating Bush in the Steroid Scandal