All is right in the world

Derek Jeter has officially resigned with the Yankees. There's a press conference at 2:30 on ESPN. I'm stuck in class, but if anything important comes out of it, I'll post later.

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Ump Ruins Perfection

So the Yankees won today, 9-1, answering back to John's concerns about their offense. But even though I'm a huge Yankee fan, that story doesn't even compare to the one that happened in Detroit.

Armando Gallaraga was on his way to pitching a perfect game when a grounder pulled first baseman Miguel Cabrera to his right. Gallaraga covered first and appeared to get the runner by a step but umpire Jim Joyce called him safe.

Here's the best YouTube video I could find:



There's also a very good video on ESPN's main page showing how blatantly wrong Joyce was. This monumental mistake is going to raise (or lower, I guess, depending on which way you look at it) Joyce to the level of Don Denkinger, who made a similarly poor call in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series. (Yup, as I was writing this, I found the Congrats on Throwing a Perfect Game LOL jk, I'm Jim Joyce page. This is the only one of those stupid "LOL jk" pages I've liked on Facebook besides the one hating on Bennys.)

You have to feel so bad for Galarraga. The range of emotions he went through in those tenths of a second between catching the ball and finding out the call would be enough to make some people break down in tears. There's only been 20 perfect games in the history of the game, and now Galarraga has the distinction of being the person to come closest to throwing one and not (basically because he did, and it was taken away from him).

Now, when something like this happens, inevitably people, like my Syracuse boy Jayson Stark, bring up the instant replay thing. I like instant replay the way it is, home runs and fair/foul. If we start moving onto every play it's going to get too much. I know this call blew, but they can't over react.



Also, in what I am sure will go down as one of the worst-timed retirements ever, Ken Griffey Jr. hung 'em up after 22 seasons in the Majors.


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Should #21 be retired?

With Syracuse apparently about to be getting some heavy snow, the University canceled afternoon classes, which is a big deal. They cancel classes because of the weather less often than Robinson Cano gets a hit with runners in scoring position. Boom! Roasted! (Sorry Robby.) The last time they canceled an entire day of snow was before I was born, so even half a day off is unexpected. So with an impending storm and a stomach virus going around my dorm that is basically causing this, it should make for an interesting weekend.

Image via Wikipedia

Anyway, yesterday, the Derek Jeter press conference got a lot of talk on the ESPN, but that had more to do with the fact that its February and it was a slow news day. News sources try to stir up controversial stories out of nothing to draw viewers because that's what they are in the business of doing: drawing viewers. We all know that Jeter will retire as a Yankee, have his number retired, and then go into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee.

But that second point, having his number retired, got me thinking about another Yankee great, Paul O'Neill.

O'Neill retired after the 2001 World Series, with a memorable sendoff from the Yankee Stadium faithful, after a 17-year career.

His number 21 had not been reissued until 2008, when it was given to LaTroy Hawkins. That lasted all of 2 weeks before Hawkins changed to number 22 after a talk with Jeter and Mariano Rivera. The fans would jeer and start the "Paul-O-Neill" chant whenever Hawkins entered the game, leading to the change.

The number has not been given out since, leading to the question of whether #21 should be retired forever.

Case for the number being retired:

• He was an integral part of 4 World Series Championships
• 4-Time All-Star
• Yankee Stats: .303/185 HR/ 858 RBI
• 6 seasons with over 20 home runs, 4 seasons over 100 RBI's
• The fans: Will any other player really want to take the number if they are going have to take constant abuse from the fans?

Case against the number being retired:

• He was only a Yankee for 9 seasons
• He (most likely) will not be inducted into the Hall of Fame
• The Yankees already have 17 numbers retired (including 8 twice and Jackie Robinson's 42). With Jeter's #2 and Rivera's #42 sure to be retired how many more numbers can the Yankees afford to retire?
• There is the possibility that you can "unofficially retire" the number for the next 30-40 years and then reissue the number once my generation of fans (people currently ages approximately 16-29 or the Jeter Generation) is older and a more accepting fan base exists.

Personally, I think the O'Neill should be recognized in some way, but I do not think his number will ever hang in Monument Park. What do you think?

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Baseball Tonight discussion, Part III

Last week, the Sport Management Club at Syracuse University hosted two of ESPN's Senior Baseball writers, Tim Kurkjian and Jayson Stark, for a discussion on Major League Baseball. This is Part III of the discussion.

Q: How has Scott Boras affected the game with his trend of pitting teams against each other to drive player salaries up?

TK: I’ll let Jayson answer this because Boras hates Jayson.

JS: Well, I’m not Scott Boras’s favorite person. I once wrote that one of Boras’s clients was less likely to get a job than another player because Boras was his agent and some teams did not want to deal with him. He sought me out in the press box the next day and demanded I print a retraction because he said there was no evidence that the agent will prevent a player from signing with a team. But the fact is that there are some General Manager’s and teams that won’t deal with him. Now, he tries to work around the people that won’t deal with him. He’ll try to find someone else in the front office or deal directly with the owner to try and get a deal for his player. The major issue with him I think is what is more important; making the player happy or getting him the most money? I know guys who go for the big contracts and are just miserable with where they end up and cannot wait to get out of there. The perfect example this year is Matt Holliday. Holliday loved it St. Louis, the fans embraced him, he did well, but they probably aren’t going to be able to give him the best deal. Now shouldn’t Holliday be able to go to Boras and say, “I don’t need to have the most money, I just want to stay here where I’m comfortable.”

Q: What do you think about the trend of General Managers and other top executives moving from being former players to being college-educated businessmen?

TK: There was a time 20 years ago where 70% of the GMs played in the Majors. Now, 3 of the 30 played. That is where the sport is going. Guys like Theo Epstein is extremely smart figuring out all the statistics and information like that, but his biggest strength is surrounding himself with baseball people. Too many GMs like that think they can evaluate talent the way someone who played can. There was one story about how a GM came to a manager and said, “All of our charts and say that this player can play centerfield, so we want you to put him there.” The manager told him that the player could not play centerfield. The GM trusted his research and told him to try him out there. So the player went out there for a week and was horrible. So after a week, the GM went to the manager and told him he was right and asked, “How did you know that?” It’s because managers like that have played and understand what it takes to play. I don’t have a problem with the trend as long as the new GMs understand that they can’t evaluate talent like a baseball person can.

Q: How has technology like Twitter helped or hurt the way you cover baseball games?

At this point, Tim’s daughter Kelly, a freshman at Syracuse who was sitting in the audience raised her hand and said:

Let me just say that my dad knows absolutely nothing about technology.

TK: Well, I guess this isn’t a question for me to answer, go ahead Jayson.

JS: I love Twitter. At one point it was a little bit of an issue at ESPN because they were concerned about what were putting on there because they wanted to make sure it drove people to ESPN.com and not Twitter. I backed off until they decided what to do, and now there’s a Twitter module on our ESPN MLB page for all the Tweets we do. But it’s an amazing interactive media. I’m sitting in the press box and all the sports writers are tweeting about the game, and we’re all sitting right next to each other providing information. It’s a great place to put tidbits and information that may not fit anywhere else, too. And when I’m not physically there, using it helps me feel like I am there.

Q: With a lot of glaring mistakes by the umpires in the postseason this year, do you think instant replay will be expanded?

JS: I wish they would. I was the guy, who a week after they instituted replay, called for them to expand it. At the General Manager’s meetings, they made no formal recommendation about instant replay. And Bud Selig is dead set against the further expansion of it, so as long as he is in charge, I don’t see it happening, whether it is a challenge system or a fifth umpire.

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Kurkjian and Stark weigh in on MLB, Yankees

The Sport Management Club at Syracuse University hosted two of ESPN's Senior Baseball writers, Tim Kurkjian and Jayson Stark, for a discussion on Major League Baseball. There were a lot of people in the auditorium, but I was able to get one question in. Most of the questions were about the league in general, but people obviously asked some questions about the teams they follow. Being Syracuse, NY, there were plenty of Yankees fans, and there was some very good information on them, including the Joba and Hughes bullpen/starter debate. But I'm not going to tell you here, I'm going to make you read the post. Devious of me, I know. There's a lot of material here, and as I commented to a few people at the meeting, I think I took more notes in that hour and a half than I did in class all last week, so I won't get into every single question that was asked. The easiest way to do this is in Q&A format. I'll put the question, and then TK for Tim Kurkjian and JS for Jayson Stark.

Q: How will history look back on the steroid era in baseball?
TK: Right now there's an imaginary asterisk next to this era. And that should be it. Taking away records would ruin the credibility of the record book and the actual asterisk did not work in 1961 with Roger Maris. We need to take this era and give it to the best baseball fans and say, this is what the stats were, take what it what you will. Instead of attaching asterisks, we should attach stories to these statistics.
JS: The thing about this topic, is that when we talk about it, we talk almost exclusively about 10-15 players. We talk about Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and now Roger Clemens has gotten dragged into this, but the fact is hundreds of players took performance enhancers. Yes, there were people who were taking them to break records and to make more money, but there were also guys taking them to just hang on, or to make it to the big leagues. Then some guys thought that HGH had magical healing powers, and that's why they took them. And when it comes to the Hall of Fame, there is no way to keep everyone who did steroids out. We may have already elected a player into the Hall that used steroids. When there was no testing, it's impossible to think that you can just stop those people from getting in. I agree with Bob Costas when he says that when we get to that era of player, we should just put a sign that denotes these players as part of the steroid era. We know that the statistics in this era were different, and you can look at them any way you want to.

Follow up comment: Despite the dark cloud, it seems that, at least attendance-wise, the game has not been affected.
JS: I am amazed at baseball's success as a business. More people are watching baseball on TV or live in person than ever before. It seems that people compartmentalize, and they have this filing cabinet in their head, and they put the information on the steroid era in there and enjoy the game. To say that you aren't going to watch baseball or go to a game because of something that happened in the steroid era, if you like baseball, you are denying yourself pleasure.
TK: I think it is because baseball is bigger and better than any of the issues it faces. There are people who care more about baseball than almost anything else. We have a researcher at ESPN who can tell you who made the last out in every World Series since 1948 and how they did it. There is another guy who can tell you what every Topps Baseball card over a seven year period looks like. You'll say a player's name and he'll tell you, "There were two. One was him standing at the plate looking down at the third base coach, and the other one was him running out of the batters box." We also work with a huge Phillies fan who we once asked about a game on May 4th, 2004, which, at the time, was over 4 years prior. He was able to tell us they lost to the Cardinals 6-5, the Cardinals scored 2 in the first inning, and Kerwin Daley was the home plate umpire. It was just amazing.

Q: With the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) set to expire in 2011, how will MLB avoid the 9th work stoppage in its history?
TK: When they prevented a work stoppage during the last negotiations, the players stood up to their representatives and told them that they couldn't have another strike because last time they almost lost the game. Now, they know that, in the middle of an economic recession, they won't be able to walk out and say they aren't getting paid enough and they don't have good enough benefits when the average salary is close to $3 million. This is good for us because covering labor negotiations is horrible.
JS: Well, who just won the World Series? The Yankees, and when the Yankees win, people clamber that the system is broken. That's a bunch of garbage, because the system has never been better. Do you know how much revenue the Kansas City Royals take in before they sell a single ticket? $100 million. Some small market teams just aren't spending the money they are getting from luxury taxes and revenue sharing. It's been proven by the Rays, the Twins, and the A's that a small market team can win if you evaluate players correctly and spend money wisely. In the end, there won't be any major changes to the CBA and no work stoppage.

Q: What about a salary cap? Is that in the cards?
TK: Well, the Yankees provide the perfect foil for Major League Baseball. Every good story needs a hero and a villain, and they are, depending whether you love or hate the Yankees. But the fact is, when the Yankees and these other big market teams are good, it's good for the baseball. They make money for the entire league through merchandise sales, TV ratings, and luxury tax. There is no way the Player's Association (PA) will allow a salary cap within at least the next 10 years because there are obviously team's out there willing to pay.
JS: Also, it doesn't appear that there will be a salary floor either because the PA is opposed to that as well. The argument against a floor is that the only way a small market team like the Rays can compete is if, every few years, they blow the team up and start over. I think the way to do it is to set a floor of say $65 million for the payroll. And if a team, like the Rays decides to go under that number, just as the Yankees decide to go over the luxury tax threshold, they should be taxed. It would start out as a small tax at first and increase the longer the team stays under. The biggest flaw in the Basic Agreement right now is that there is no accountability on how teams spend the luxury tax money. They could be spending it on the Christmas party for all we know.

Q: What do you see the Yankees doing when it comes to free agents and other off-season moves?
TK: Of their big three free agents, Pettitte, Damon, and Matsui, I think Pettitte will come back and the other two will be gone. They are trying to get younger and more athletic. They saw how much Mark Teixeira helped them not only on offense, but with their infield defense, and want to do that in the outfield. In regards to the rotation, from talking with people in the know, my guess would be that Phil Hughes returns to the rotation and Joba Chamberlain stays in the rotation.
JS: I agree with most of what Tim said, but I can see Damon returning to the Yankees if the deal is right for the team. If there is a small one year deal with an option, they will probably jump on that. There are three words that are probably going to prevent that from happening, however, "Scott Boras client."

(My question) Q: With Derek Jeter's contract up after next year, and despite him still performing, he is an aging superstar. How do see the Yankees handling their iconic figure?
JS: Well the simple fact is: he's Derek Jeter. He is the heart of the Yankees. The Yankees know they need to take care of him. They have already gone to Jeter and his agent and said, "You're going to be a Yankee forever." The traditional rules don't apply to him. I thought the most interesting thing about them winning this World Series was the "Core Four," and how they all played in the clinching game. They have all been there through the minor leagues and from that first playoff appearance in 1995 and it isn't like they are there hanging on trading stories about the past. They are still four of the most important players on the team. The Yankees know this is a special situation with all of them and are going to deal with it accordingly.
TK: A quick story, last week I'm in the Yankees clubhouse after the game, soaked in champagne, and I need to interview Jeter. I see him and I'm following him through all these people. He dodges what seems like 100 people and over in the corner, he meets his Mom and Dad and gives them a big hug. It's just the type of person he is, and why he's been so successful. I asked Tino Martinez once to tell me something about Derek Jeter that I wouldn't know. Tino told me that if Derek had even just one beer, he will not get behind the wheel of a car and drive. It's why he remains so successful on and off the field, because he is smart enough to not get in trouble by getting arrested for a DUI.

Q: Do you think that Jeter will make a run at Pete Rose's hits record?
TK: I don't think he will, but he'll end up with around 3,500 hits. If he gets to that, he will have 800 more hits than any shortstop in history and anyone in Yankee history. He always plays hard. In 12 years, I have never, ever seen him not run hard to first base. And people still tell me he is an overrated player.


That basically covers it in regards to Yankee-specific material, and since this post is already over 1,800 words, I'm going to wrap it up...for now. I still have plenty of material on what they think of the off-season trade and free agent markets, as well as some stories on the nature of covering Major League Baseball, so I'll save that for a rainy day later this month (except that I live in Syracuse, so make that a snowy day).

*Image via Wikipedia*

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Raging Against the Machine: My take on ESPN's claim

Earlier this week, ESPN started a debate about whether Boston in the 2000's or Los Angeles in the 1980's had a better sports decade. While I know why ESPN picked these two cities (they are the locations of their two main studios), I am here to make the case for New York in the 1990's.

I am going to follow the same format as David Schoenfield did in his article.

Winning is everything:
I decided to include the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils into this data. Before anyone jumps down my throat, hear this: East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Devils and Nets played at the time(the Devils have since moved) is 7 miles from Midtown Manhattan. Foxboro, Massachusetts, where the NE Patriots play, is 22 miles away. And if you want to be a stickler about the name, the New York Giants and New York Jets both play in New Jersey, and the Patriots aren't called the Boston Patriots, they are the New England Patriots.

Table

Team	Titles	Winning Percentage	Playoffs	.500+
New York Knicks	0	0.617	10	9
New York Yankees	3	0.548	5₁,₂	7
New York Giants	1	0.522	3	4
New Jersey Devils	2	0.510	9	10
New York Mets	0	0.494	1₂	4
New York Rangers	1	0.485	6	5
New Jersey Nets	0	0.418	4	3
New York Jets	0	0.406	2	2
New York Islanders	0	0.355	2	1
	7	0.483888889	36	43.48389

1- Yankees were 1st place in the AL East at the end of the strike-shortened 1994 season
2- Teams were 3rd best in league in a seaon before Wild Card (4 of Red Sox 5 playoff appearances were Wild Card births)

New York finished with more championships (7 to 6) , and Boston finished with a much better winning percentage (.588 to .480). If you take the best team from each sport for New York, as Boston only has four teams, the championships become tied (6 to 6) and New York closes the gap dramatically in winning percentage (now .588 to .549)

For percentage of playoff seasons, New York comes in at 40% as a whole and 55% with the 4 best teams. .500 or better season break down as 50% for the whole and 75% for the best teams.

Signature Moment

In New York sports, there is never a shortage of signature moments. From the Giants winning the Super Bowl in the biggest sporting event since the start of the Gulf War, to Chad Curtis catching the final out of the 99 World Series and everything in between. There are just so many to choose from. You have Dwight Gooden, who overcame drug and alcohol problems to pitch a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium. Then there's the image of Wade Boggs riding the police horse around Yankee Stadium after the 1996 World Series. It's probably got to be the breaking of the only Curse New York has ever had, when the Rangers won the Stanly Cup in 1994 after failing to win one since 1940.

Hall of Fame Careers
These are just the ones we could come up with, and we don't have a research department.

Hockey:
Wayne Gretzky
Mark Messier
Brian Leetch

Baseball:
Derek Jeter
Mariano Rivera
Mike Piazza
Rickey Henderson
Jorge Posada (borderline, probably not, but borderline)
John Franco (borderline, he won't make it until Lee Smith makes it.)

Football:
Michael Strahan
Curtis Martin
Vinny Testeverde (borderline, but he's the 6th on the All-time passing yards list behind Farve, Marino, Elway, Moon, and Tarkenton)
Lawrence Taylor

Basketball:
Patrick Ewing
Alan Houston (he seems borderline, but the NBA isn't really our thing, so we're undecided)
Mark Jackson (first time on ballot will be next year)


Greatest Individual Achievement
There are two different types of individual achievements: the ones that can happen on any given day, and the ones that take a career to achieve. In the 90's, New York had both.

The Holy Grail of pitching in baseball is the perfect game. Every pitcher dreams of one day throwing one. While the Mets have not had one since their inception (not even a no-hitter for that matter), the Yankees had 2 in the 90's. In 1998 David Wells blanked the Minnesota Twins and a year later David Cone threw his against the Montreal Expos.

"The Great One", Wayne Gretzky ended his career with the New York Rangers. In his final season, Gretzky set the goal scoring record by passing Gorie Howe. This man was such a great player, they altered the words of the national anthems for him at his final game.

Coaching Titan
There are two men that defined how to coach in their sport in the 90's. The first was Bill Parcells, first with the Giants, then with the Jets. Parcells's "coaching tree" would fill numerous head coaching vacancies around the league. One member of that tree is the hooded, classless, Bill Bellicheat from NE and the current Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.

Then there was Joe Torre. Torre could somehow have George Steinbrennar as his boss, manage the biggest team in professional sports in the largest media market in the world and still maintain an emotionless expression at all times. He overcame the "Clueless Joe" headline, to take the Yankees to 3 World Series before the end of the decade, including the 125-win season in 1998, which is the best baseball team to ever step on the diamond.

Memorable Brawl
This one will go to New York, without even an argument. The brawl between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks is one of the most memorable of all time. The picture of Jeff Van Gundy clinging to Alonzo Mourning's legs will live on long after he will.


Dramatic Playoff Comeback
The 1996 Yankees were just supposed to be happy to be there. They were playing the Atlanta Braves, with the big three of John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine. After getting embarrassed in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium, the Yanks went on to lose the second game at home as well. Down 2-0 and heading to Atlanta, "Joe Cool," as Torre was called, supposedly said to Steinbrennar, "We'll win three in Atlanta and come back home and clinch it in 6." Steinbrennar didn't believe him, but that's what they did. The entire series turned on Jim Leyritz's shocking 3-run home run off of Mark Wohlers. Some could say the dynasty was born on that swing. Even Joe Buck raised his voice a little for the home run call.


So that's the New York side of the debate. I feel it's a pretty good argument. What about you guys? Leave a comment, send an email (MichaelKaysSuccessors@yahoo.com) , tweet at us, write on our Facebook page, whatever, just let us know. We want to hear from you.

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