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Flood’s sacrifice sports’ most meaningful trade

July 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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It's become almost cliche to say all professional athletes owe a debt of gratitude to Curt Flood, the man who dared to challenge baseball's reserve clause. But it is undeniable. Flood's legacy is secure, no matter how naive today's stars may be about his efforts to make it possible for them to choose where and for whom they play and, as a result, pave the way for the big-money salaries now commonplace across all sports. He was a three-time All-Star, seven-time Gold Glove winner and member of two World Series champions, but it's Flood's life off the diamond that will always transcend the great feats he accomplished as a player. His is the story of a young adult confronted by racism he had not known as a child; of an athlete who sacrificed a stellar and lucrative career — Brad Snyder's 2006 biography of Flood is entitled "A Well-Paid Slave" — for a cause he saw as bigger than … [Read more...]

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Struggling MLB teams striking out on local TV

July 12, 2011 By 1 Comment
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It's bad enough attendance is down in big baseball markets like Los Angeles (Dodgers) and New York (Mets), but diminished fan interest is spreading beyond the turnstiles for these and other underperforming clubs. In a midseason examination of local baseball TV ratings, SportsBusiness Daily found the Mets and Dodgers are two of the teams experiencing the steepest slides at the season's midway point. In fact, only the Houston Astros — owner of the Major League's worst record — and the Tampa Bay Rays have larger percentage decreases. On the flip side, smaller-market teams that have enjoyed early season success have seen their ratings soar, most notably the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe's numbers on SportsTime Ohio are up a massive 80 percent from a year ago, according to the SportsBusiness Daily study. Other teams making dramatic gains include the Texas Rangers (+35 percent), … [Read more...]

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Teaming Costas, Michaels home run for MLB Net

July 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Any aficionado of sports play-by-play had to be in their glory listening to Bob Costas and Al Michaels call Friday night's MLB Network telecast of the New York Mets-San Francisco Giants game. The broadcasting legends made it seem so effortless the commentary was as entertaining as the game itself, won by the Mets 5-2. It had been 16 years since Michaels, voice of the Giants from 1974-77, had done baseball and the two had never teamed for play-by-play until Friday. Costas suggested the idea to his NBC "Sunday Night Football" colleague months ago. In actuality, MLB Network viewers only heard Costas and Michaels for five innings. That's because they traded places with Mets announcers Gary Cohen and Ron Darling on SNY and Giants voices Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area for two innings apiece. The ever-classy Costas subtly let his guest take center stage on … [Read more...]

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Ejections becoming hot-button issue in baseball

July 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Jim Leyland's comment to the media after Tuesday's game that baseball's umpires are "on edge" came as little surprise given the Detroit Tigers manager had been tossed from two games in the previous nine days. In the first five days of this month, 15 players, managers or coaches were ejected. Fifteen! Four were Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon and three of his players, all of whom got the boot in the eighth inning of Friday's loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Talk about your July fireworks. "For some reason, it appears to me that the tension level is much more than it should be between managers, players, coaches and umpires," Leyland said. " ... I'm not just talking about us. I'm talking throughout baseball. I'm not criticizing anybody in particular, but I'm making the point that we all have to work together to resolve this situation because it's getting out of hand." Out of hand … [Read more...]

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Athlete’s biggest foe can sometimes be the mind

July 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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When Taylor Buchholz's recent 15-day stint on the disabled list was to have ended, the New York Mets relief pitcher still did not rejoin the team. The shoulder fatigue he had been suffering had subsided. That wasn't the reason. He was fighting depression and anxiety. It is estimated that about 18.8 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the population age 18 and older in a given year, have a depressive disorder, according to the website depressionperception.com. That translates to about 12.4 million women and 6.4 million men in the U.S. Any time a celebrity discloses he/she has some type of depression, it's newsworthy just in the fact that we least expect those who make their livings in the public eye to be coping with such potentially debilitating illnesses. Among those who have spoken openly about their conditions are newsman Mike Wallace, actor Jim Carrey, talk-show … [Read more...]

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Schmidt scores with call to end interleague play

June 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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No less an expert than Mike Schmidt, the Hall of Fame third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, recently penned a piece for the Associated Press calling for the end of interleague play in baseball. To that, we raise a glass. The gimmickry of having teams in the American and National leagues cross over for a handful of games each season may at one time have been a way to help regenerate interest in a sport that was facing some bumps in the road, but the imbalances and inconsistencies it has wrought are simply no longer necessary with baseball flourishing. Primary among the arguments against interleague play is how it has diluted the World Series. Those who call themselves progressive thinkers on the subject — commissioner Bud Selig among them — would say it has in fact enhanced the Fall Classic. But prior to 1997 when interleague games were implemented, there was something … [Read more...]

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Under siege, McCourt files bankruptcy

June 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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The Los Angeles Dodgers' bankruptcy filing Monday in a Delaware court is an eleventh-hour ploy to try and get a federal judge to approve $150 million in financing so owner Frank McCourt can meet his scheduled Thursday payroll and keep the team afloat for at least a while longer. McCourt must also find a way to revive a TV deal with Fox that will pass Major League Baseball's sniff test. That is if Fox still wants to be involved with McCourt after the bankruptcy action. Commissioner Bud Selig vetoed the last deal, triggering Monday's developments. The long-term TV contract, valued at about $3 billion, would have given McCourt and the Dodgers $385 million upfront; however, Selig would not approve it, he said, because a substantial portion of the money would have gone to pay the owner's legal bills and other obligations spelled out in a divorce settlement between McCourt and his … [Read more...]

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Nats take step back letting Riggleman exit

June 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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How could the Washington Nationals let Jim Riggleman resign? The manager of a team that finds itself winners of 11 of its last 12 games and over .500 for a rare moment in its young history is allowed to walk because management steadfastly refused to take steps to extend his contract. Ridiculous. What's even more amazing about the Nats season thus far is that they've been successful without their young pitching ace Stephen Strasburg all year and slugger Ryan Zimmerman on the disabled list for a good part of it. Nats general manager Mike Rizzo issued a statement saying it was always the team's intention to wait until after the season to discuss an extension. Even if the team went into a tailspin in the second half of the year, the players have demonstrated they respond well to Riggleman's by-the-book style of managing. The 58-year-old has been around the game for a long time and is … [Read more...]

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As McCourt digs in, how will MLB get him out?

June 20, 2011 By 1 Comment
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The stage is now set for a bloody showdown between Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Major League Baseball. With Bud Selig’s nixing Monday of a proposed TV deal between the team and Fox, McCourt could well not make his June 30 payroll, giving the MLB commissioner executive power to seize control of the team. McCourt was to receive $385 million upfront from Fox as part of the TV deal that is reportedly worth in the vicinity of $3 billion. Selig said in a statement the diversion of some of that money for “personal needs,” including legal fees and settlement obligations pertaining to McCourt’s divorce with his ex-wife Jamie, is not in the best interests of the team or the game. The ruling effectively negates a divorce agreement reached by the McCourts on Friday. “Given the magnitude of the transaction, such a diversion of assets would have the effect of … [Read more...]

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Old school for Marlins; more new blood to NHL

June 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Call it the sports world’s version of “The Young and the Restless.” In a week when a couple of NHL teams continued a trend by filling head coaching vacancies with new, young blood, baseball’s Florida Marlins turned back the clock for an old but familiar face. If Edwin Rodriguez’s Sunday-morning announcement that he was stepping down as manager of the Marlins was a surprise, then the word that Jack McKeon was expected to replace him on an interim basis was something of a stunner. It was eight years ago that McKeon, then 72, took the reins of a Marlins team that had lost 22 of its first 38 games under Jeff Torborg and led them to an improbable World Series win over the favored New York Yankees. Now, the 80-year-old McKeon gets to try it again, this time second only to Connie Mack as the oldest manager ever. The Marlins have dropped 10 straight and 18 of their 19 games … [Read more...]

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