One of the most pleasant interludes of any baseball season, Hall
of Fame Induction Weekend in Cooperstown, is upon us. Jim Rice and
Rickey Henderson will be welcomed into the exclusive club in the
pastoral, little village in upstate New York. It always evokes
simpler, happier times
Paul Hagen, McClatchy Newspapers
One of the most pleasant interludes of any baseball season, Hall of Fame Induction Weekend in Cooperstown, is upon us. Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson will be welcomed into the exclusive club in the pastoral, little village in upstate New York. It always evokes simpler, happier times.
It’s all an illusion, of course. We’re fast approaching the day of reckoning when baseball’s tainted stars — Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro — will become eligible for membership.
The question of whether they are deserving is a knotty one. Their statistics say yes. The suspicion that they used performance-enhancing substances clouds the issue.
And even current Hall of Famers aren’t unanimous in their opinions on the subject.
Harmon Killebrew was fifth on the all-time home-run list for 26 years. He recently has been passed by Mark McGwire, Bonds, Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr., and Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome are closing in.
“I think it would bother anybody, but what are you going to do? Nobody is really doing anything to address what steroids did to the game, what it did to the game’s records,” Killebrew told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Meanwhile, Bob Gibson has a completely different spin. “Guys have always been cheating. Period. It just takes a little different form today,” he told ESPN Radio. Should steroid cheats be allowed in the Hall of Fame? “Oh, yeah, I think so,” he said.
The biggest problem here is that nobody can be sure who actually used steroids and who didn’t.
“I like to hope that Junior (Griffey) was not among them. I feel like he’s not. And Jim Thome. I hope he’s not. But how do you know?” Killebrew asked. “Do you throw out Sosa’s record and A-Rod’s record because their names are out and keep the records of other guys who didn’t have their names leaked?”
Because of that, there are only two choices here. Either every player should be judged simply on his performance or no player who performed during the Steroid Era should be considered.
It’s a simple choice. Not easy, but simple.
THE HOT CORNER
- Braves bench coach Chino Cadahia says rumors that shortstop Yunel Escobar is on the outs with the organization and could be traded as a result are outdated at best. He claims Escobar and manager Bobby Cox met last month and cleared the air.
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The Boston Globe says Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell has already been rumored as the next manager of the Indians if Eric Wedge is fired. Farrell has turned down opportunities to interview in Pittsburgh and Seattle in the past, but came up through the Indians’ system. Triple A manager Torey Lovullo is also highly regarded.
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Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez would love to stay in San Diego, but is also a realist. “To a certain extent, I don’t disagree with people who say the best thing for the Padres is to go out and get a bunch of people for me,” he said. “Just because of where the team is and everything.”
AROUND THE BASES
- The A’s are in a stretch during which they have only two scheduled days off between July 16 and Sept. 6.
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The Orioles have finalized plans to move their Florida spring-training base from Fort Lauderdale to Sarasota beginning next spring.
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In his first year after being an active player, lefthander Steve Kline is the pitching coach for the Giants’ Class A farm team in Augusta, Ga. “I can still get some guys out,” he said. “But they’re retired, too.”
CHEERS
For White Sox lefthander Mark Buehrle.
His perfect game Thursday against the Rays was just the 18th in history, and that speaks for itself.
But also credit an assist to manager Ozzie Guillen, who inserted Dewayne Wise into centerfield as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth at U.S. Cellular Field. And to Wise, who went over the fence to take a home run away from Gabe Kapler and preserve the perfecto to start the ninth.
“Under the circumstances, that’s one of the greatest catches I’ve ever seen in my 50 years in the game,” enthused announcer Hawk Harrelson on the air.
JEERS
To Astros slugger Carlos Lee.
“To be honest, I concentrate a lot more when there are runners on base,” he told the Houston Chronicle. “I give up less at-bats.”
You’ve got to admire the candor. Still, what Lee is basically admitting is that as good as he is, he could be even better if he stayed focused all the time. That’s too bad.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Mariners outfielder Ichiro, on going over the wall to rob Cleveland’s Victor Martinez and help Seattle hold on to beat the Indians last weekend:
“The only thing that was in my mind as soon as the ball made contact with the bat was to catch it. Just like a dog chasing a Frisbee.”
BOBBY ABREU NOTE OF THE WEEK
The haters can say he won’t run into walls on defense and that he’s not a “winning” player. Fair enough. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion.
This much, however, is beyond dispute: Going into Thursday night, the Angels’ outfielder needed two home runs to reach 250 for his career to go with more than 2,000 hits, 1,000 runs, 1,000 RBI, 1,000 walks and 300 stolen bases.
And how many players have done all that?
Five, as a matter of fact: Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Craig Biggio, Joe Morgan and Rickey Henderson.
Just sayin’ …
STAT OF THE WEEK
The Mets have been shut out or scored just one run in 12 of their last 27 games.
OOPS! OF THE WEEK
Indians manager Eric Wedge decided to give right fielder Shin-Soo Choo his first day off since May 7 on Wednesday in Toronto. Which wouldn’t have been a big deal except that it was Korean Heritage Night at the Rogers Centre. And, reportedly, there were many fans in one of North America’s most cosmopolitan cities who came out to see one of the few South Korean players in the majors.
“I did not know that was going on tonight,” Wedge said.
BY THE NUMBERS
3: Teams that haven’t won a game this year when trailing after eight innings: White Sox, Nationals and Cardinals.
4: Position players in the Mets’ starting lineup for last Saturday’s ESPN game who hadn’t hit a home run this season.
9: Straight lefty starters faced by the Orioles, starting with Joe Saunders on July 5 and ending with Mark Buehrle on July 18. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that ties a record.
UP NEXT
It figures to be all Roy Halladay, all the time, until the Blue Jays’ ace is either traded or the deadline passes next Friday at 4 p.m.
THIS IS WHAT WE KNOW AT THE MOMENT
The Jays appear committed to dealing one of the best pitchers in baseball and are willing to throw in additional players to get it done. “We’ve been told the deal could expand, depending on our need,” a scout told the Toronto Sun.
The two farm systems the Jays seem to have been scouting most thoroughly recently are the Phillies and Dodgers.
Toronto will assess offers based both on the quality of players it gets in return and the amount of payroll it can take off the books. “We want to get to the stage where we can line up all the offers, one, two, three, four, and say, ‘This is the best one,’ ” a team source told the Sun.”We’re not there yet.”
Beyond that, we’ve got a week — or less — to see how this all plays out.
FINALLY
Sometimes it seems like the only people not concerned with steroids are the fans.
Kaiser Permanente, the “official health insurance partner” of the Dodgers, dropped its sponsorship of Manny Ramirez bobblehead night shortly after the slugger’s 50-game suspension for steroid use was announced. Many players and former players have expressed dismay. The media has cast plenty of stones.
And the Ramirez bobblehead promotion sold out more quickly than any game at Dodger Stadium this year except Opening Day.
“It reinforced three things to me,” said David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute. “One, fans love free stuff. Two, they love to be part of a circus when it comes to town. And, three, they don’t care about how drugs and sports are related and are still willing to spend their hard-earned cash on it.”
Which raises the question: If the games are for the fans and the fans don’t care about steroids, why should anybody else?
