- 11:15 PM
- 11/23/24
I am 89 next Sept I can speak for not many today that got to see the Babe and others of his generation and other generations until this present generation. And as far as grey hair mine doesn't have a lot of grey in it. Maybe because I have lost some of it. I am not trying to embarrass anyone here and as my grandkids keep telling me after reading some of comments about my writing maybe I shouldn't write some of the opinions I do. Everyone keeps repeating themselves in some of the statements that nobody really knows how or why so of these new players compete. Bottom line in my opinion is what they can make to help themselves and their families. You have to remember baseball in the late 1800's and early 1900's wasn't really a high paying salary operation. It was a sport that not all watched or wanted to watch it depended upon what part of the country you lived in. Walter Johnson, came from Fullerton California but he was an exception to the rule of where the main body of players came from. Baseball was fun to watch and allowed the fans to in some way forget their problems. God, I hate to use the word entertainment in regards to baseball, but in this example it is very fitting. You keep telling me that money isn't the only reason that players play. Yes, again in some cases you maybe right, but in the early stages of baseball it was for the fun of the game and some extra spending money that they earned playing this game. Howard plays the game well but if you think money isn't involved in his decision to play MLB you had better wake up and smell the roses. When I was growing up nobody mentioned the money they made except what the Babe made. Cobb was as we all know a jerk and believe me when I tell you money to him was the bottom line. He was very smart in his investments but tried to make as much as he could. The days of players just loving to play ended long ago when the money started becoming huge in relationship to some of there talent. A player hitting .275 making 2.5 million a year is crazy. I don't care if it 2007 or 1967. I can only hope I haven't made any asinine statements or embarrassed myself or any of you people and if I have please forgive a OLD MAN..I maybe old by your standards but my mine is the same as it has been for all these many years. Granted it does take me time to write this because my hands don't work like they use to and my eyes get tired looking at the small screen. I will end this with a thank you for listening and high hopes that baseball continues to be fun to watch and play no matter what the age, race or gender...
posted by The Old Man at 04:29 PM on June 29, 2007
Dude, I am not a cynical old man but I was just asking or really suggesting exactly what is happening in today's game. I really like watching Howard play and Utley is really living his dream 40 years late. He plays the game from the first inning until it's over. He plays with more heart than a great percentage of the players today. And it is sad that the guilty-until-proven-innocent attitude persists but that can be attributed to the players like Bonds, Sosa, McGuire that body styles have changed after a certain age unnaturally. I remember it wasn't that long ago that nobody even considered steriods or any of the new unnatural performance enchancing materials a problem. I would hope that Howard isn't on any type of drug enchancement but we will never know until drug testing is used on all players to stop their use. The fans today really aren't any different than the fans 40-50 years ago. They want their teams to win and go to the World Series. But as a fan for over 80 years I can tell you I wouldn't and don't approve of using any type of drugs to do so. Whether it is a star of one of my favorite teams or not. Steriod use is very dangerous to all using it. The lasting effects don't come into play until years later. Your systems are not layed out to overcome the effects of what the steriods do to you in the amounts that are being taken. Systems fail later on for whatever reason and you start to basicly fall apart. I am sure you remember the Raiders big Defensive tackle that died young because of his constant use of steriods and the linebacker for Denver Romanowski won't make it into his late 60 much less his 70's. When it comes to be called a cynic it doesn't really bother me because I know I am not. I can at my age look at all the sides of this particular question. Playing the game , like I have said for years, hasn't really changed much in the last 80 or so years. You still have to hit a pitched bat with a wooden bat. Only thing really changed is the players and types of players. Hitting a pitched ball is without a doubt the hardest thing to do in sports. Standing in the batters' box facing someone throwing a horsehide ball 95mph and attempting to hit it with a bat has no peers in any of the sports we participate in. Golf, football, basketball, scoccer, track & field, waterpolo, swimming the list goes on don't have the danger on a constant level. Getting hit by 300lber hurts and the risk is there for injury but being hit by baseball traveling at over 100mph off a bat or hit by a pitched 95mph ball far outweights the risk level of the other sports. Any pitch any batted ball. I got off the subject you were talking about. Todays' players even the ones that do drugs are just as much fun to watch play the game as it was 80 years ago. And no the players of most of the other generations loved the game far more than todays' players with a few exceptions. Remember the players of the teens-free agency didn't make the type of money that today's players make. Granted more buying power but even 8000 dollars a years doesn't compare with 1.5 million today. Babe got at his highest I think 80000 a year if that could be taken in today's market because of what he produced and what he did for baseball after the sox scandal maybe 50million a year would be what he was worth' Buying power then and now are different and really can't be compared with any kind of certainty but I remember what a dollar was worth in the 20's and trust me when I say 80thousand isn't the same buying power as 50million. When I got to go to the 27 World Series in New York with my grandfather and father it cost them about 15 dollars for the tickets, hotdogs, coke for me and beers for them. Now I want you to think what the prices are today. The inflation rate is off the scale here. When I really want to remember watching the game for just the fun of it I go to the nearest little league field and watch the kids play, except for some of the crazy parents they are having the same kind of fun I did in the 20's playing in all the fields around town. A Cynic no a realist yes. Dude, what you have to realize is I have been there done that and understand exactly what has been happening to the game we all love. Even at 88 I love to play baseball with my greatgrandkids and some of the older grandkids. I will tell you the biggest high for me is stepping into the batters' box and hitting the ball and it is almost as fun as playing in the field. You all know how much I loved Ruth but I remember watching a young man play in 1956 by the name of Mickey Mantle that loved to play so much and had such talent that he just played himself into an early grave. Mickey was just pure pleasure to watch play because you could see it in his eyes and by the way he played. Ruth in his early prime when he was only about 195lbs was unbelieveable to watch. He could hit anyone and anthing, run like a deer, and had an arm second to no one. He ran the bases, did anything to play and win. But knowing and watching him and just sitting here now remembering reminds me that yes, god yes, he was bigger than life, bigger than the president and above all really bigger than baseball in a sense because the fans no matter if you loved him or hated him because he was a yankee just looked at him as being the BABE. He could in their eyes do no wrong. The fans and sports writers of the day knew about his womanizing, drinking whatever but he still was the babe and everyone LOVED TO WATCH HIM PLAY..I know it really isn't something you can do compare him and todays players but what he had was a style that was so unique unless you watched him play it can't be explained. Ted Williams had that talent so did Mantle and Koufax but there was something about George Herman Ruth that hits you right in the face. You can look at all the statistics of all the players and they are just that statistics. Some are so unbelievable that they don't make anysense in todays' game, but look at some of the films they have of him and read the paper columns sportspages and other literature to get an view of what he represented to America in the 20's and 30's even now. As a old cynical man I just look at what it was like then and now but I don't feel bad because baseball is fun to watch, play and listen too.....
posted by The Old Man at 11:36 AM on June 29, 2007
Joey, I think that at the time he played there was a lot of jealous on the part of other pitchers. 46 wins two years in a row, and someone comes up with monkey testosterone, give me a break. According to my grandfather and father there were pitchers in the late 1800's and early 1900's that could and did pitch for what it seemed like, forever, day in and day out...Innings after innings and they didn't eat like they do today...You won't find any performance enhancers throughout baseball history because until the last 15 years there wasn't any. DMSO was used by Koufax and ice was applied to his arms after games and he iced them between innings. After that it became standard in MLB to ice pitchers arms sometimes before, during and after games. Ryan was noted for it as was most of the fast ball pitchers of this era. DMSO is a heat substance that allows tranfer of heat faster than just bengay. But it is extremely dangerous if not used properly and trust me if you get cold water on it just after you apply it it really hurts big time.. I have eaten rasberries, strawberries, blueberries and pomogantes my entire life over 88 years and that has only helped me maybe to live as long as I have. Steriods are an illegal substance used to enhance your performance on the field of play artifically. Berries et al are natural substances that help to keep your body functioning by means of natural ways. But I know what you mean..Andro and all the man-made drugs are cheaping plain and simple and if they want to stop it then if you get caught with them in your blood stream then you are gone from baseball and all the big money... Believe me if they did that then it would stop real fast. No baseball playing no MONEY>>>>>>and I am not harping on the money is the only driving force idea here. Even if they were paid at a lower scale if you couldn't play the game you wouldn't have a job and therefore no salary no money no making a living.
posted by The Old Man at 06:13 PM on June 28, 2007
I stand corrected my greatgrandkids just informed me he won 46 games twice in his career and 35 once and 20 a lot of other times. He was a farm boy from Missouri and it must have been like milking the cows pitching on the mound, only a days work, and he did it for over 14 years. My hats off to Mr Galvin and the like..................
posted by The Old Man at 05:34 PM on June 28, 2007
He won 364 games and won 35 games once and 20 or more a number of times. Started 1874 and ended his career in 1892. Over 6000innings I would say that he came to pitch and his ending era was a very low 2.89 lifetime that puts him right up there was a lot of big time pitchers. He averaged over 20 wins a season for his career. Maybe Clemens should move over when someone says workhorse! 6000 innings in over 600 games he either had a rubber arm or was a good old farm boy like most of them were in those days. Looking at his stats really opens your eyes about the primadonnas of todays' game. They complain about 3 days rest . OKOK I know enough.
posted by The Old Man at 05:27 PM on June 28, 2007
According to my grandfather, James Galvin aka the Pud was an extremely tough, smart in your face pitcher and that he went to the game to play to win not just look go but win and in the years he played he won a lot of games. Monkey Testosterone is that the same as Antbolic Steriods today? I honestly don't remember him he was long gone before I was born, 1919, but according to my grandfather and his baseball friends he was a real solid pitcher that wasn't afraid to step up to the mound. To win 300 games and be the first pitcher to do so is something very special today or yesterday.
posted by The Old Man at 05:16 PM on June 28, 2007
Giambi is in the same boat as all the Steriod Kids from McGuire&Palmiero to Bonds and Sosa. McGuire admitted taking Andro because it wasn't illegal at the time and hasn't been tested positive as Bonds hasn't . But All you have to do is look at them before and after or now and then to understand what they look and looked like use caused by something other than sweat and hard work in the gym. I don't like the drug use going on but until baseball decides to really go after them hard and fast with the best methods available then we have to live it. In my old opinion none of the so called users will make it to the Hall on a first ballot and some may never make it until all this steriod crap is settled.
posted by The Old Man at 05:10 PM on June 28, 2007
Like the man says 100 in two years is something to talk about but that all it is is talk...lets us see what he does in the next 5 years before having him replace Kiner. The kid can hit the hell out of the ball but his biggest weakness is the pitch up and in and low and away. His arms are too big and he isn't fast enough yet to get the one up and in and he likes to sit back on the ball and use his arms and wrists to hit the hell out of the old horsehide. If he hits 250 more in the next 5 years and hits .330 and drives in 500plus then we can put him in that class. Oh yes steriods did he or didn't he that is the question people will ask especially if he continues to put up these numbers. Remember him behind Thome, Chamo is right "just wondering" what????? What did he look like when he first came started professional baseball and how did he grow. Don't mean to be mean but someone is going to ask these questions and we all know it. I like the way he plays and hits he is young likes to play and is having a good time so let it has been said before "Only Time Will Tell".
posted by The Old Man at 05:02 PM on June 28, 2007
How old do you think Grover Cleveland Alexander was when he left baseball.? And there is no question the pitchers threw their arms out but then did have more time between games and more rest. I wasn't taught the curve ball by my father until I was in high school and then I went into the Navy and a few years later WWII. Let me tell you about a pitcher by the name Warren Spahn remember him? Well he served in WWII and a remember a story about him in Germany throwing a grenade into the German forces. And he came back from the war and when on to win 300+ games after 1944. Of course the players are too too valuable today, look at the money they make now as compared with then. Not even comparible. Radatz destroyed his career for a lot of other reasons then bad mechanics. And yerfatma, then did pitch until a very ripe old age then please remember the life time wasn't 78.5 years for males then. I will finish this later my grandkids want to go to the Angel game now here in sunny Southern California. Later Oh yeah, one incident of monkey testosterone doesn't even compare with the problems of steriods today. Try again.
posted by The Old Man at 04:40 PM on June 27, 2007
If a pitcher has the right or correct mechanics while pitching it shouldn't have any effect on the pitch count...Ryan had the best mechanics of any of the present day pitchers and proved that pitching well even into his 40's and still striking out players with his fastball and curve.The bird arm was ruined because of his mechanics and the way he pitched. You pitch with only your arm and it will not last. According to Ryan his legs were always strong and his mechanics second to none. Large body, small framed body type still boils down to mechanics. Roy Face was a great pitcher with the Pirates but hasn't a monster on the mound. Ryan Duran a yankee/angel reliever in the 60's was small but had a fastball that was almost impossible to pick up due to its "rising" effect because he pitched so close to the ground and drove with his legs for his power and speed. His mechanics weren't great and he didn't last long. Dick Raditz aka the original Monster had terrible mechanics and didn't last as long as he could have if during that period he had worked on them, but then again who is to say he woudl have been as effective a reliever if he use the proper mechanics. He was huge on the mound and when he came at you with all his great bulk moving this way and that way before he delivered the pitch. Different teams have different ideas about this concept of pitchers' mechanics. But it would seem that the underlying factor to it all is ability plain and simple with mechanics factoring in to help lengthen careers and maybe save some pitchers' arms...
posted by The Old Man at 01:52 PM on June 27, 2007
For me now and forever always will be watching the Babe come up to the plate and just stand there looking out to the outfield and motioning for the pitcher to just go ahead and try and pitch the damn ball by him. When he hit them the hairs on the back of your neck would come up and it would seem that time would just stop and you would watch the ball rise from his bat and it would seem just keep going going going gone.......My son and I were at Yankee Stadium the day of his tribute and I cried, hell everyone was crying, just watching him try to walk out to homeplate to say his hello's....or goodbye's which ever way you look at it... I have a picture on my desk that is of GEORGE HERMAN (THE BABE) RUTH taking one of many great swings at the plate. I think it was taken in 1930 and it shows him swinging and that little turn he had that made him look like he was screwing himself into the ground. And on the other side of the desk is a picture of Shoeless Joe Jackson and Ted Williams talking during spring training in 1939 or 40. But I am bias about baseball and I have always felt that the rest of the world didn't get to experience what the United States did with the baseball world during those glory years. Sports memories in regards to perfection isn't always in the eye of the beholder..The Babe will always be the Babe and that is baseball sports perfection to all of us who love baseball. Love him or hate him there will always be that picture in everyone's mind of him swinging the bat at the plate. Other than baseball one of my greatest memories of perfection will be remembering Koufax on the mound, Williams at the plate and Jesse Owens running in the Olympics and reading in the paper how he put some little nobody political leader in his place.....
posted by The Old Man at 01:12 PM on June 27, 2007
I don't remember anyone even counting the number of pitches a pitcher had to make until the 60's when they starting counting Koufax because of his arm condition. Young and the boys pitched until they couldn't anymore. Even Grover Cleveland late in his career still pitched lots of innings very effectively. And Ryan pitched well into his 40's with his conditioning programs for his legs and shoulder. And as far as mocking the newer players under the conditions that the "older players" pitched I can't think of anyone today playing that could have pitched like they did. I have said it before there aren't many individuals that could have made it yesteryear...Yes, the pitchers of today with a few exceptions(Wells and a few others) are in better condition than the older players but it took unbelieveable guts to pitch then rain, shine or whatever and they did it day to day and season to season because they LOVED to PLAY the GAME.......7 40 year olds in one day I can remember grandfather telling me that Cy Young was the oldest pitcher to start and win a baseball game that he could remember. And that was in the late 20's but he was talking about the later teens and as he would put it and my father later on that was when men were men. I have told so many of these stories to my son and grandson but my father and grandfather used to talk for hours around the fireplace and discuss this player or that and my grandfather was well into his 70's in the late 20'sand early 30's. Nobody then even worried about how old a player was as long as he produced on the field. Ruth was KING and lead baseball back into a national past time era that may never be equaled again. I love watching all the old 40 years old pitchers some were good some didn't have a real great day but one thing for sure even at 40 you can still have fun playing baseball and today get paid a lot of money doing it.....
posted by The Old Man at 12:54 PM on June 27, 2007
No Gary, I am his oldest son. Sometimes my day goes crazy on this computer. He is very aware of what is happening around him but sometimes he just gets extremely upset at times that he reads and hears and decides to finally after everything his has been involved in and starts to write his remarks and loses his train of thought. So please excuse him sometimes. I have been reading some of his comments and he hasn't even started to tell some of the stories that all my brothers and sisters got to hear growing up. He and my grandfather and greatgrandfather use to talk and get into some discussions that lasted hours and days and in some cases are still going on between he and I and my younger brothers. Thank you. And if you really want to hear a story ask him about the umpires. He and my grandfather where very close friends with most of major league umpires up until he couldn't attend many games anymore. Jocko Conlon was my grandfathers' very close friend as was Emit Ashford. ucla512
posted by The Old Man at 04:40 PM on June 16, 2007
Older, you hit it on the nail 88 next September and still going strong or so my kids, grandkids and greatgrandkids tell me, most of the time to shut up about them not being able to do my childhood. Fact of the matter is, I don't really think many of the younger generation could have done my childhood. Hell, for that matter my sons childhood either.. Puppet for the NFL. pretty good on that one I will say I didn't think even that is strong enough language to list Upshaw major problem with disappearing anytime anything came up involving players and owners. It seems that he justs sits around and collects his salary and his NFL retirement pension benefits and watches the owners get fatter(wallets that is) and more powerful day by day. I would think that someone in that position would be a very strong and powerful individual and on a daily basis get in the owners faces for the benefit of the players, either retired or active, and his excuse the language bullshit answer about not being in the employment of the former NFL players, how does he think he got there in the first place. As a former player himself and a lineman to boot, he should be the very first leader of the pack and former pack to get enough to cover everyone that deserves it. Yeah, then someone will say, what about the ones that took the payout and lost it all. That's not what everyone is talking about. I know for a fact because I played then and my sons and grandsons later on that football equipment in my time was completely inferior and didn't protect much of anything. But the size of the players wasn't anywhere near what it is today. Bigger, faster, stronger bla bla bla heard it all before. The ones that need it today deserve it no matter what the situation or causes. If one of the few from the 40's and 50's are in need of help then what the hell is stopping them from helping them. The owners are and have been greedy, cheap and in some cases didn't give a damn about the health of their players except while they were playing for them making them millions of dollars in revenue, TV/Radiol rights and advertizing and marketing. My grandkids all in the twenties think I am too hard on the owners and even the union but my feelings for all the former players goes way to deep. Same thing can be said about the government and its veterans. It is just two peas in a pod concept.. Government aka NFL ownership Horse of another color so I will not go there today. The NFL as an organization has done tons of good in the past and the present but something has to give now. I have been bagged on here by some of the readers about my opinions and comments on money being the bottomline. If after reading and looking at all the news stories about what is happening in this incident and the tragic situation with former NFL players you really don't come to the opinion that money isn't the bottom line for not caring or helping then what the hell is................................
posted by The Old Man at 04:25 PM on June 16, 2007
Even Koufax or Ryan wasn't worth 25 mill a year. If you think any player today is worth that kind of money than by your type of comparison Babe Ruth would have been making what 50 mil a year in today inflated market. I know better than you what the valve of money was worth in the 20-60's. And all the reports, story lines, articles are not going to change the fact that today's fans can't afford to buy season tickets anymore unless they are uppr middle class. In 1948 I think my father paid like 2.50 cents for tickets to the Yankees, something like 1.75 for general admission and look at todays prices and you will be floored. Parking at Dodger Stadium was 2.00 a game and it worked out to be like 60-70 for season parking. The real point I am trying to make here is that the players of 20 or more years ago never got salaries that were in line with what the newer players are making today. Even at a ml/average compared with them it isn't even close...I have said before the players should get as much as they can for as long as they can before retiring from baseball. They deserve every penny. But Gary, a million a year buys a whole hell of a lot more now then 24000 in 1960's. I know that for a fact. My father during the second world war was working in the defense industry and making about 8500 a year in the forties, that was a lot but he had 6 kids, a father and mother and three brothers to feed and keep a roof over their heads, please don't tell me that that was living as high off the hog as todays players at a million a year.From my prespective the players are over paid but they deserve it more than the owners who get nothing but richer every year.
posted by The Old Man at 12:25 PM on June 15, 2007
Speaking from one of the aged group, I think that Strezelczyk's condition at his age speaks to the problems within the system in the NFL. I played football in college in the 30's and believe me it wasn't anything like what the players of today have to play. My heart goes out to the family and to all former players that are having any physical or mental problems. To die at 36 years old is one of the saddest things I can think of. He was just really starting his life. Maybe the powers of the NFL will finally stand up and be counted and do something to help stop the system that allows for this kind of injury to occur.. I am sure I am speaking for a lot of us. I am tired of hearing from the co-called NFL expert doctor that this isn't a injury caused by playing in the NFL.
posted by The Old Man at 12:03 PM on June 15, 2007
thank you tommy I have been raking my brain all afternoon trying to remember Dave Winfield. Ohio State, Minnesota same difference unless you go to those schools. I guess it is the same thing as calling UCLA SC. thank you again. Gary they are in better shape, bigger, sometimes faster, sometimes stronger but that doesn't make them better. I am not repeating anything I have heard from the past because I am the past I have seen since the middle 20's starting with the 1924 Yankees and Phillies. In 1927 I watched the Babe and Lou take the Yankees on a journal that players only dream about. I appreicate any and all baseball players past or present because I know what it has taken them to get there. I missed the 1940's until 46-47 because I was in the WWII and didn't get back until late in 46. But my father saved me all the sports pages from that I had missed. I have more than memories. Pictures I have of almost everyone you can think of starting with the 24 Yankees. I don't go by the numbers you read in some statistics reviews. TV Radio sponsorships have all contributed to the high salaries and the players should get a high share. Some of my sons friends have played in the major leagues in the 60-70's and also some played in the NBA and NFL. I have had very long discussions about what we are talking about and from what they are all saying money is a extremely large determining factor in what sport they play and for how long. Salaries, pensions, insurance are a very big incentive especially in today's market. Gary I don't need any books to show me what the players are like then or now.
posted by The Old Man at 12:44 AM on June 15, 2007
I have to get my foot out of my mouth on this one. Dave Kingman isn't the player I am trying to talk about. Wrong school wrong team Kingman went to USC and this player, I am trying to remember his name, went to Ohio State after Howard and was also a basketball all american. Yes, Kingman wasn't even a good journeyman player, he hit a few homers but basicly struck out a lot. The other one played at the end of his career with the Angels, tall, black, played in the outfield and later on first base a few times. The hitters of today are facing day in and day out far inferior pitchers than the players of yesterday. Figgins, not enough as good as Wills, the others let us look at them in 15 years. Jeter is a extremely good player in a real hard town to play. Has the numbers but I still wouldn't put him in the top 3 Shortstops. He is more of an athelic than some of the older players, but I sit here thinking watching him and remember, Hornsby,Wagner, Traynor and his fielding is as good as theirs but his hitting during the conditions they had to play with and against whom they had to bat again I don't really feel he is in that class. Maybe I am wrong but 365ba against pitchers that did anything to the ball and it was dirty, dark most of the time, compared to now with over the last 10 years and multi expansion and talent drain doesn't show me anything to chance my mind. Hoffman is a good old boy will keep pitching until he dies on the mound just like the old guys. Crafty, help me I can't remember his name...driving me crazy. Rivera would be interesting pitching against even Aaron, Mathews, Howard and the like they loved fastball pitchers and according to my father Hank had some of the fastest wrists he had seen since Babe. And the first time rivera would have pitch his big fast one to Mickey the ball still would be traveling.Kent is just like anyone of the players of greatness over the last 70 years. Nose to the grind taking no shit from anyone and expecting the same of his teammates...I like that about Utley and Ichiro. Purjols has shown some great numbers in his first 5 years but there have been some questions about his upper body strength increase and when he is bad he is just that can't hit it out of the infield. Against the Angels last week during the first two games quality pitching he looked like a little leaguer trying to figure out how to hit a major league curve and ml fastball up and in. Damn, thought I had the name it is Dave something I think. There are a lot of major leaguers today that could make it in the 60-80's and even earlier but the percentage of those isn't near what it was during those eras. The other day I was watching a minor league game here in Southern California, one of Angels teams, and I saw a pitcher pitching on the sidelines with the coaches during the game. A tall left hander with blond hair and god he had a fastball that I could even see until it was almost in the catchers mitt. But he didn't know where the ball was going up or down high or low. Couldn't get his name but one of the guys with a radar gun was talking about the pitches registering over 101 more than 6 or 7 times in a row but his pitches were totality uncontrolable. That is what it was like in the 50's when some of the pitchers started to come on the major league scene. I do enjoy the game today because I get to see more of them everyday than years ago. Ah, the new age of television and disk TV..
posted by The Old Man at 03:37 PM on June 14, 2007
Now is the league going to tell them when they can go to the bathroom and take a leek.. You have got to be kinding...............Next thing the league is going to tell the players they can only wear approved jockstraps color cor/with the teams colors. Give me a freaking break already. The average fans of today want to win games not dress like fashion tren magazine models. Wins and loses are the only things on peoples mind and that is the only thing that is going to sell tickets at the boxoffice..
posted by The Old Man at 11:53 AM on June 14, 2007
If you think the league has any type of depth today then you are not watching the same MLB games I am. I am longing for Kingman but he was a whole lot better than 85% of the players today. He wasn't a hall of famer, granted, but he play fairly strong baseball of a number of years. It was just a name out of the back of my mind. I would certainly hope, I can name more names being the fact I am most likely 70 years older than you. He did make a million in 85 and didn't deliver. Roger Maris hit under 300 for his career but for those 4-5 years hit the heck out of the ball playing with Mantle. Don't believe anything you read from the Yankees' press and to blame getting in late that is a real round of boloney to blame something for your team losing. Teams take redeyes because it is cheaper than going earlier and now in MLB I don't think there is a team with a team plane the way the Dodgers use to have one with the O'Malleys. Depending on the traveling team determines size of airplane. To fly from Boston to Chicago takes about an hour or so but it is still faster than going by train and the trains of today are far comfortable than even 40 years ago much less 60. I am not making a league of the good old boys of the Past aka Ruth etc..if you really want to see the talent difference between now and then look at the complete stats for a coupleof the teams 27 Yankees team batting average was .307 hell's bell's Ruth hit .356 60hr,417tb,158rs and had 171 rbi's. Lou hit .373 with 47,447,149 and 175rbi. Lazzeri .309,Combs.356. Then take the yankees of 98 or the year that they won it all. Trust me don't compare with 27 or even the 26 or 27 yankee stats. The Dodgers had team stats in 55 that allowed them to take the NL and Series but no were even close in stats. The teams in the 60's Dodgers, Reds, Cardinals, Yankees had great teams and in some cases very good bench secondary players. I am not so blind that I can't see the difference between then and now players but the blinding truth of all this is that the complete teams overall then and now are very very different because of the talent leve then had. I haven't seen a player in todays' game with the exception of Vildi from the Angels that has the kind of talent and mental approach that the players had to the game even 30 years ago. Talent yes, Bond, Vildi, Jeter, A-Rod, and a number of others Griffey comes to mind but lacking in most is the mental discripline to go at it day in and day out. As to why the league is less talented today there could be a number of reasons. Foremost is a lot of the better players or going to other sports like football and basketball. Play less games and get more money. Yes, there goes that old line again, MONEY, still comes to bottomline its the money that may determine were you want to play. In the early 50's you didn't have any other choices to really play but baseball. NFL was not what it is now. And the NBA was just starting to arrive so to speak. There were a lot of basketball players that ended up in MLB because of the money one that really to mind are Frank Howard allamerican from Ohio State who signed with the Dodgers opting not to go to the NBA. Reid played baseball and basketball so did Dave Debuss. I don't really know all the stats, but according to Sporting News and other papers the better black players aren't playing baseball anymore for whatever reason. The most intense player I ever saw play was Jackie Robinson, when he played baseball a UCLA and football and track he was complete out of this world so to speak. He never gave up and could have made it in either the NFL if he really whated to or had he had a mind set golf. But that is getting away from the idea of comparing older and now teams. Still the statistics show that more talent teamwise on the older teams even as far back as the early 80's then now...From my prespective looking over all the data and memory I have come to that analysis. This is a disagreement between lots of people particularly my son and grandsons but that what it is all about. If I am rambling on I am sorry crafty but sometimes I really get going after everyone here starts putting in their two cents worth and my kids and grandkids start telling me I am living in the past, which I am not because that is gone forever but memories are memories and mind is extremely good particularly for my age.. Thanks for listening old man
posted by The Old Man at 11:48 AM on June 14, 2007
I think the way Donovan didn't handle it is what is going to continue on well into next year and it may or may not effect his recruiting. Anybody asked Donovan why he said yes in the first place? I certainly don't know why he even considered it coming off a championship year and all the promises he made the new recruits and university. If you weren't a gator hater before think what is going to happen when he starts his league and all the catcalls start coming in from the stands. The newspapers etc... are going to have a real field day with this whole situation.
posted by The Old Man at 06:00 PM on June 13, 2007
yerfatma, Dodger Stadium up until the add on was 54,912 or there abouts now it is around 56000 and change...A big slice hardly when you consider Dodger Stadium land aka chevaz revine was given to the O'Malleys by the city of Los Angeles. What do you think the price of that stadium property is worth today 100 or 200 million if it was built on...We are not comparing the salaries of yesterday to today because it still doesn't show what the owners were making then. Remember the OMalleys gave Andy Messersmith 300,000 dollars as the first free high priced agent. And that wasn't that long after Koufax and Drysdale held out. Who was worth more Koufax & Drysdale or Messersmith, that is a no brainer. Howard T , you trying going on a old time train for hours getting there sometimes late checking into not the best hotels or eating the best food and then playing a game until sometimes terrible conditions. If Babe and Lou and all the others had had the equipment and playing conditions of today and could go from place to place by plane in 1/8th the time I certainly believe some of the numbers they put up would have been higher and in some cases even out of reach.. It is a lot easlier for the players today than 40 years ago and there is some discussions that have taken place comparing eras in baseball. Some are fair some are not. But bottom line is and always will be stats:runs,hits,errors,pitching so on and so forth. You have to still hit a pitched ball with a bat for an average then without the help of any drugs/steroids medical assistance. You can still watch old films of the "old days" 1960's ha ha ha just watch the way they played. Wills, Mays, Aaron, Mathews, Davis, Bonds(the legal one) a joke, McCovey,Kingman, Gilliam, Mantle, Maris, Howard, Kaline, Cash, just look at the names and now look at some of the role players today batting 250 or less and getting millions. Shutting it off doesn't do it if you can't back the facts. I have seen almost 90 years of baseball players come and go and very few of the ones we have playing today would last in the majors even 30 years ago much less 50 or more. My grandkids want me to write an article comparing the 27 Yankees to the greater teams of the last 10 years. Ok I will but let me tell you folks now stats wise there isn't even any kind of comparison that can be made.......
posted by The Old Man at 05:24 PM on June 13, 2007
Gary, Sandy and Don were only asking for a fair salary of 150,000 per year apiece. Hardly being greedy or playing for the money. Sandy only played one more year because of his phyical problems with his elbow and we all know about Don. At the time that would have made them the highest paid pitchers. The O'Malleys were making millions from their agreement with the city of Los Angeles about the stadium. A sweeping statement maybe, but in fact, it is right on the money so to speak. 25 million a year and most of todays players are playing for the money look at all the players salaries , yes, there are some exceptions to that a few maybe playing because they love the game but that is very very few. Spoiled cats,cheap, greedy on a whole that seems to be the nor here. There are some players that really give back a lot to the community but generally the majority isn't into it as much as they are. Times change, granted, but the game is still the same with a few minor exceptions. Todays' game is watered down talent compared to the 60's and 70's. After all the expansions 40% or more of the players wouldn't be playing 30 years ago. Drugs and other things have made players get better, overcome injuries and allow themselves to compete at a higher level. You wonder why I watch, because sometimes and only in a few games do the players play like they should or have in the past. Look at the players today sitting around inthe dugouts during the games, you would be surprised at watching them picking there noses, not really getting into the game. Money runs the game that is a bottom line statement, but the owners are the ones that really started all this being greedy and cheap and they are the ones that let the players become fat cats as you put it. I don't think that K Rod is worth 25 million and anyone one that doesn't know anything about baseball or talent. But he got so I say go for it. Get it while you can. But that still doesn't make him worth that kind of money. Somebody said this morning on the radio that what made baseball's high salaries was the gambling,Television & Radio and the peoples' demand for something to bet on. That maybe partly truth to a point but what has happened due to all the high salaries etc..is that the real baseball game has been taken away from the average fan who can't afford 25.00 a game for a ticket or 5.00 a beer and 7.00 for a hotdog or 4.00 for a coke. How many of us can afford for a family of 4 250.00 a game to go to baseball? My condemnation of the players of todays' baseball stands because these players are not as talented generally as the old timers, don't or won't or can't play under conditions that the old timers played. The old timers had to run trains long distances between games, no airplanes, had some of the worst conditions to play in on the field and the game was harder because the pitchers were allowed to do anything to the ball. There are few today that could have played years ago but most couldn't or wouldn't. Maybe I am being a little too hard on them. Some of these kids can just plain play baseball not ands if or buts. But when a TV announcer says hitting 250 is a good hitter than I am really sorry what a line of bull____...........The greatest homerun hitter of any era, George Herman Ruth, batted .342 lifetime batting average and has the highest lifetime slugging percentage and the highest homerun average per at bats and to try and tell me that .250 is a good hitter be serious.
posted by The Old Man at 12:06 PM on June 12, 2007
yerfatma, you have been out in the sun to much, major leaguer hurt by taking a strike. I have watch players from Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig, Williams, Kaline, Aaron, Yaz, the list goes on and on and in all the years I have been to baseball games since 1924 I have never seen a hitter hurt by taking a pitch no matter what the situation. And to take one for the team, means to get hit by a pitch. The last time I figured out a batting it was hits per number of at bats: 3 hits with 10 at bats = .300 not pitches taken...
posted by The Old Man at 05:26 PM on June 09, 2007
jda, Your father was right on the nose in regards to Williams. He was and will forever be larger than life as long as person remember who and what he did during his career and even into retirement. Judge Landis, who is my opinion was a total horse's behind, ruin Shoeless Joe Jackson's career "for the good of baseball bla bla bla. I remember seeing him play late into the 20's and 30's under different names in games around the south. My grandfather use to talk about him with my father well into his 80's and 90's about what he could do on a baseball diamond. He could hit with the best, great arm, wonderful fielder, ran the bases like a deer and looked so natural out on the field that he made it seem effordless. Dad said that even as he got older and played less he made it look so easy and natural that playing in sand lot games etc..was enjoyable to just sit in the stands and watch him play. I have seen a lot of players hitters whatever but the only difference with Jackson was it looked like it was just so natural for him like breathing and walking. Babe wasn't quite as serious as Joe, but when he came to the plate you knew that he would get good wood on the baseball. His lifetime batting averages proves that I think somewhere around .362. Just think a career high of .362 is right up there, but to average that for your entire career is something dreams are made of...Nobody had the fan appeal of the Babe. When he arrived anywhere you could feel the electricity in the air. Bigger than life, hell he was bigger than the president of the United States than, when he came up to bat everybody stopped what they were doing and watched what was going to happen at the plate. He was funny also kind of sad in a way because everyone wanted a piece of him in those glory days and there just wasn't enough time in the day to accomodate everyone but Babe did try. God, he wasn't a without his faults and we all know about them. But Babe, George Herman Ruth, had a heart as big as Gold and one of the things he loved the best was the kids. When he would go barn storming in the off seasons coming to outwater towns around the country he would open the gates and bring the kids in to watch them play and get them hotdogs and cokes and just smile until the day was done. When they came up with the word IDOL it should have spelled it George Herman Ruth because to us kids and most of the parents of the day he was just that bigger than life, loveable, laughable, silly, funny and did something to all of us that is lacking in todays players with a few exceptions the Angels Vildimar comes to mind....Just think if a player in todays game came to the stadium and opened up the gates for the kids waiting outside trying to see and treated them to hotdogs and cokes what would be said..Like Ted Williams, Babe would take baseball for hours with the kids and parents when he had time especially during his barnstorming days. I am going to say something here that a lot of people will disagree with but what the hell being old allows me to just say what I feel sometimes. The new players of todays' game are spoiled, fat cats, lazy, cheap, greedy and the only reason they are playing with a few exceptions, are for the MONEY. No Player is worth 25million dollars a year. I am well aware of the other side of this coin, the owners have been making millions and millions of dollars for years and the players deserve their equal share. I am the first person to agree with that, make what you can for as long as you can. But besides Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan I haven't seen a player worth that kind of money put fans in the seats like these two did duriing their playing careers. Everytime Sandy pitched the stadiums were packed with people and media. Dodger Stadium never didn't have a sellout when he pitched and it was the same with Ryan. There is no way anyone can justify 25 million a year or whatever. If Babe were playing today then if you look at the stats and the people coming to watch 162 games complete sellouts average spending is about 50/person @ 45000 = 2.25 mil per game 162 works out about 350million per year. If you say he deserves 10 percent of it that is 35 million ayear and at that it is stlll low. Numbers say it all and I know I am being totality out in left field here. Ok enough fantasyland. My grandfather went to the Black Sox scandal hearings and to listen to him they was a lot of unanswered questions involving a lot of things about that whole situation. Most of the fans didn't really give a damn and some of the players were wrongly involved. Red Adair told me years later that most of the major league players thought that Jackson got screwed but the biggest hurt was to baseball in the fact that they lost Jackson as a player. He should have been a first ballot hall of famer. They started with 5 when it should have been 9 or 10. I was told by one of the people who write in here that I should do an article or column. If I can figure out how to do one there are a few stories I have about all the players I was lucky enough to see during the 20's 30's 40's50's60's and early 70's.
posted by The Old Man at 11:09 AM on June 09, 2007
This is something for all of you need to comment about even if you don't really know much about this era in major league baseball.
posted by The Old Man at 05:18 PM on June 08, 2007
Joe Torre is a class player and manager and is extremely well respected by all in baseball even Steinbrenner likes him.........Good for you and good for baseball. He has been taking a lot of crap from the fans in New York but one thing that everyone has to remember is he ISN'T playing the game and can't play it for his players. Some deliver and some don't or can't whatever. He has done something that will be in the record books forever more. I sincerely hope that the Yankee fans know what they have and if they keep booing him and blaming him for what isn't his doing they will be without one of the best managers in baseball.
posted by The Old Man at 04:22 PM on June 08, 2007
Hoffman deserves to be in the Hall of Fame just for lasting long enough to get to 500 saves. Only time will tell if he gets on the first ballot, seems like, there are enough of the people that vote that just don't realize what he has done all these years. There may have been better arms and better pitchers but he is the only one that is over 500 and still going.....If the relief pitcher position is the most underrated position in sports than it is a better sad state of affairs for baseball and sports fans..........
posted by The Old Man at 04:12 PM on June 08, 2007
Crafty, Nap was a angel compared to Cobb. Besides his ability to hit the baseball, bar none, with the exception of Shoeless Joe the next best hitter righthanded was Hornsby and left Williams. Hornsby was pure hitting ability with some power added in. Sweetest swing without any question was Ted Williams but Hornsby was unbelieveable from that right side. I don't really think Nap hated Cobb although most of the other players wouldn't have anything to do with him, but Cobb just didn't want to or need to get along with anyone including his own teammates. Some of them hated him worst that playing with him. Cobb sitting out the last day didn't work for him to win the title, he didn't have the highest batting average, so Landis should get an big E for blowing the call. Jocko Conlon once said that the greatest eye for hitting he ever saw was Ted Williams but Cobb and Hornsby weren't very far behind. Ty Cobb is a legend in the south, Georgia, but any of the people who knew him , knew exactly what he was. He had no respect for the game, the players, umpires, managers or commissioners and treated them all with the same disrepect that he treated everyone. Batting average wise Cobb will rank 1 but not by much and believe me when I tell you some of his hits were a lot cheaper than the ones Lajoie was credited for that day. My grandfather and father use to tell me that in his 50's and 60's Cobb still could hit the ball, but let me tell you a true story of Ted Williams when he told over the Senators managing in the late 60's. His first day on the job he gave a hitting lessons in the batting cage at the Big A of Angels. I believe he was 55 or 56 somewhere along that age group. He was in the batting cage explaining to everyone listening,both the Angel and Senator players the act of hitting for percentages, he instructed the pitcher to pitch it here or there up and down and then for the next 35-40 minutes hit line drives all over the place including some real long homeruns. I was in the stands with my father and grandfather listening to all they were saying and watching this 56 year old hit the ball with such an easy swing it was unbelieveable. The players from both teams just listened to him talk and hit the living hell of the ball. It is something I have and will remember forever. He told the pitcher to pitch it over this part of the plate and then hit it over the left field fence by at least 25 feet. After the game he stood around the dugout and talked to the people for over 45 minutes about baseball and fishing. I have always considered myself a lucky individual because I am one of the few living that can said they got to fish with Ted Williams off the San Diego coast one summer day. We all know what kind of a baseball player he was but to my mind he was even a better fisherman...
posted by The Old Man at 04:07 PM on June 08, 2007
Good for Van Gundy but alas my Donovan NBA career is gone forever. No team is going to hide him after what he did last week. The biggest question everyone is raising is about his ability to control players at a higher(NBA) level. Van Gundy has proved before that he can do the job but Donovan may find it harder to coach now in college than it was last year. If I were a player and he did to me what he did to his recruits I would really think twice about playing for him and trusting him when he promises things. Yes, he is now staying at Florida for 5 years but the recruiting end of college business may have changed somewhat because of what he has done...
posted by The Old Man at 11:17 AM on June 07, 2007
We all know what a horse's ass Cobb was, but it was extremely interesting to watch him at the plate. I wasn't around in 1910 but my father and grandfather and Red Adair use to talk about this situation sometimes at great lengths. Then when it was reported by the Sporting News of the error on Cobb's two hits all hell broke out at home and in and around the baseball world. Bowie Kuhn was a complete and total gutless wonder because he didn't do anything to correct a error, because according to him it wasn't in the best interests of baseball or Cobb. Errors in calculations should be corrected no matter what the cost to the former players/managers/owners etc.... The players almost to a man in both leagues disliked or downright hated Cobb. His attitude in general sucked, he didn't like or trust anyone and doubtless of his abilities to play baseball wasn't a very happy person. I have always thought that he was very jealous of Ruth and others not just the Yankees but other players on the different teams. Lajoie was a tremendous hitter and a pretty good fielder. He and Cobb were very different types of hitters. But the biggest difference to my mind is Nap Lajoie, who also hit .400 in his career, was a gentleman and was fun to watch play the game. He really liked playing baseball and having fun at the same time. I saw both players play and they were very different and really hard to compare except their batting averages. Lajoie got old real fast if I remember it right but the man could play with any of them today or yesterday. Kuhn should have corrected the error regardless of what it did to Cobb 9 consecutive titles...My dad use to say that Bowie Kuhn was a Judge Landis want to be. He did a lot for baseball and some of it was good and some not so good. As to your question about breaking down the title like that, remember Alex Johnson of the Angels, it went down to the last day of the season and last abat when he singled to beat Yaz for the title. Here is a little bit of information about Johnson, he was a very interesting character to say the least, one season on the first day of Spring training in Palm Springs he got to the park and started to take batting practice against the pitching machine. He moved up to the 45 foot mark and was hitting line drives all over the place against the machine pitching 90+. No question that he could hit the living daylights out of the old horsehide. He was a very strange person and had all kinds of trouble talking to anyone very within himself and didn't like all the spotlight I think. Cobb's autobiography shows somewhat of a different side to him but if you can get to some of the comments from the players of his day including teammates your eyes will open as to why he was respected as a hitter but thought of as a real son of a bitch. I wrote a letter to him in the early 60's and asked him what he thought of baseball and never received an answer but Red Adair use to tell me that he was just a mean nasty hard individual and wasn't worth even thinking about because the only thing he care about was himself and his records and accomplishments. I would never take anything away from Cobb as a baseball player because he was one of the best at putting the ball into play but Nap Lajoie was still one of the best in his career...
posted by The Old Man at 11:11 AM on June 07, 2007
Mr. Upshaw, Made a comment about he only works for the players today not the "old timers" or pass veterans. Excuse me what a lot of bull---- coming out of one who is a pass veteran. Maybe he has forgotten who got him where he is and how on all the sweat and tears of the old timers and veterans he is making his money today and the money the new players are receiving. I really don't think Delamielleure needs any assistance with the likes of Upshaw, whose looks and acts like one of the fat cats of he NFL...Is he an owner or have a piece of the action on the side? Yes, he is working for the new players, but maybe he should put it to a vote of all the present players in the union and talk about doing something for the past players. Mike Ditka was on a talk radio show and said something about the owners or players or both giving 1.00per ticket for one game and start raising some funds for the players that need the help. The past players didn't make the money that these players make today not even near it. Let the players decide what they would like to do to help and to hell with Upshaw and all his bull--- and verbal crap. Upshaw couldn't back it up when he was playing and he can't do it now. Why is it that former players like Ditka, Olsen, Jones, Grier, and many others try to help but that the president of the NFL union does nothing but sit on his ass and make threats..................
posted by The Old Man at 03:41 PM on June 06, 2007
This is what is wrong with the pros of today. Granted the owners are making billions and the players deserve at least half, but, this whole situation with Samuel is what out of line. Just who in hell, does he think he is and what ever happened the the contract guidelines and rules governing them. He signed the deal now play or don't get paid. The situation is a real double edged sword. One that we all know about and have for years now since the big money came into play. He doesn't have the legal right to hold out so to speak and his attitude is way out of line. He sits out violates his contract and no money comes in and his has to pay back some of what they have already given him. I am not for the players or owners and all lose here but he should be told to shut up and get into camp and try and work it out in the office....
posted by The Old Man at 05:57 PM on June 05, 2007
Neanderthal doesn't even do it justice....what does fan stand for? James' game isn't even in the top 20 of championship performances. Although it was kindna special especially if you watched the first two games. Pistons didn't play defense and who knows what happened to their offense so we should wait and see what happens in this series and if they go any further against the Spurs...
posted by The Old Man at 05:10 PM on June 01, 2007
Please excuse a old man for not completely reading the storyline. The whole situation is making a mountain out of a molehill...Anyone else do that and it doesn't make the papers much less the front page and everyone talking about it online bla bla bla... I maybe old by your standards, almost 93 next Sept and I have been around baseball for almost all of my many many years. What happened to the BlueJays has been so blown out of context. Its silly because what the old timers as you young people call them, Ruth, Hornsby, Cobb, Gehrig, Williams, Jackson, Warner, Grove, Feller and the rest did anything to win games. You don't remember the old pitchers using Jelly, spit, beltbuckets, sandpaper whatever to do things to the balls and bats to get people out or a hit , yeah, it is illegal as hell, but they still did it DAILY EVERYGAME. Gaylord Perry used the spitter jellyball whatever he is in the hall of fame and it is not big deal. I will say it again GROW UP AND SMELL THE ROSES its a game and in this game anything goes to win if you don't get caught not that it is right but that is what has been happening in baseball for years. I am proud to be a fan for so many years but this kind of journalist crap about nothing has to stop. AROD made a play that worked get on with it. The things that people use to yell at Ruth were unbelieveable. Cobb you either loved him or hated him, I guess it is the same with Rose, Williams was loved not only by Boston fans but by America period. DiMaggio was great but he had his problems like all of us. The question everyone seems to center on here is A Rod was it something he shouldn't have done it isn't our call folks..Poor sportsmanship give me a break..Ruth pointing out to center field, Wills telling the firstbaseman he is going to steal second and third and home, that is what baseball is all about. As long as nobody yelled anything wrong at them or kicked something at them or made fun of them for something we have to remember to just sit back and enjoy the game for what it is' It takes me a little longer to sit down and write then you folks but it is fun for me and it makes the days seem longer and more enjoyable. Living on the west coast makes it ever greater because I can see and hear all kinds of games from morning to night now with the TV and all the sports to pick from. It use to be only the radio you could listen to and then it wasn't even near the coverage that it is today. Remembering the first all star game listening on the radio for any information about comes to mind now. We live in a society today that allows us freedom of information about what is happening everywhere but the ability to listen and watch the sports channels is what we are all talking about here on line. I try not to rub anyone noses in things and if I do then you please excuse a old man of being sometimes a little slow. REMEMBER this game is a kids game played by adults for money/fame whatever but it still a simple game of catch and pitch and hit..everybody keep up all the interesting and opinionated comments and phrases
posted by The Old Man at 05:05 PM on June 01, 2007
Boston fans are pissed off because it was a Yankee who caused them to lose the game because of the play by A Rod...Grow up and shut up..It is part of the game and if you think it doesn't go on everyday then I can sell you some swampland in Arizona very cheap...The Boston players involved should be getting a real good laugh at themselves because they are major leaguers and got caught up in something a 9 year old does. It worked and I am sure they wish they had did it first. If the umpires started calling any kind of vocal interference than they had better call it on every catcher in baseball because the catcher and batters are always talking to one another, same thing here, except nobody is making a big deal about it. During Sandy Koufax's last no hitter the perfect game, he told the last 5 or 6 batters what was coming is that interference. I am not a Boston fan or a Yankee fan but you guys have to grow up and quit acting like 9 year olds, but we all know that is not going to happen now or in the future. The history of this action goes back most likely to the very beginning of baseball. Concentration is the underlying key. To do well you have to be able to shutout all the outsides sounds and voices.........Sore Losers period here but wait until the next time they play in Boston I am sure all hell will break lose when A Rod appears at the plate or in the field..
posted by The Old Man at 03:20 PM on May 31, 2007
No MJ wasn't a better defensive player they just let him get away with more because according to the league at the time he was the NBA..But that is just one's opinion..If you think Jordan didn't get away with more than look at some of the highlight films of him pushing people out of the way to go to the basket, steal the ball and in one of the best examples showing Jordan push the player in front of him to the side and then shoot the winning basket. Rings don't mean crap if the teams you played against weren't some of the best but lets' not get in that disagreement....Bryant is a overpaid, self-centered, ego loving player, no question he is the best in the NBA night in and night out but if BUSS had any kind of balls he would tell him to shutup and do what he does best play basketball and stop crying about this or that. Yes, he is right about alot of it, the refs this year were the worst and missed a lot of call for whatever reason, but he should have been to the line at least 500 more times. We watched games this year with him doing things that only Elgin Baylor was doing in the 60's and most of the time the refs let him get beat up and didn't call the foul or called the wrong foul. To say do this or I want to be traded is the action of a child along the lines of if you don't do this I will take my ball home.....
posted by The Old Man at 02:58 PM on May 31, 2007
Upshaw shouldn't take credit for anything because he should have gotten off his ass a long time ago to help the older players. But the real problem has always been the owners for not stepping up to the plate and help without being asked to help. The olders players are the ones that put the younger ones in the position to make this kind of money to begin with and without them the owners wouldn't be as rich as they are now. Drood that is nothing but bullshit about smokers and Alzheimers. The only medical facts about Alzheimers is Al Choride from tums and anti acids maybe a causal effect of the disease. They have open up some people with Alzheimers and noticed the pathways inthe brain have shut down in the areas of memory and in all these patients one of the underlying comparisons was all had taken a lot of tums and antiacids but who knows. But what we do know is that all the hitting to the head in football is a direct causal effect to dementia and maybe alzheimers. The helmets of today are far better protection for the players then a few years ago. The league's experts are paid by the league and that goes to the idea that whatever you want to hear I will write if you are paying me... Gene Upshaw, as a former NFL player, should have been at the forefront for getting the older players help a long time ago. To wait until 2007 is sickening and screw 88plan more help should have come about in the early 90's when some of the first older players started to come down with signs and symtoms.. Upshaw has done a lot for the league and its players but he has failed to his greatest extent in the area of healthcare for older players and all the conditions directly caused by them playing in thel NFL.
posted by The Old Man at 02:47 PM on May 31, 2007
Just about everything that could be said about Bo has already been posted here except that when he had the ball or was at the plate look out and watch out because he made things happen.. All star game in baseball hit a homerun at Angels Stadium that was out so fast nobody could believe it and that was a game that Nolan Ryan made the NL look like kids at the plate. And in his football games he looked like at times a man playing against boys. God he was so fast in his cuts and turns and had unbelieveable power to run over people aka running over Boz..
posted by The Old Man at 05:59 PM on May 30, 2007
On LA radio talk show this morning Kobe told Vic the brick that he didn't want to be traded out of LA and that the Laker management was in a long term rebuilding program. He mentioned to Vic that it would have been nice to know about the long term program but said that he had talked to Jackson earlier and that he had told them that they were looking into something right now. Talk about bullshit, where in the hell does Bryant think he is the one running the team....Shaq is and was an ass slow, couldn't shoot, and doesn't rebound anywhere near his abilities. If the Lakers are stupid enough to get rid of their young talent then everything that they have worked for will go up in smoke. Like the Shaq trade that netted them nothing will basicly tell the fans money is the bottom line...... Bryant to New Jersey for Kidd you got to be kidding me....For whatever reason Bryant will be a hard sell to any team because of his rep and the fact that it looks from the outside in that he wants to run the show...He just signed a multi year contract and if Buss has any brains tell him to shut up and play basketball and bring back Jerry West to run the company...
posted by The Old Man at 05:54 PM on May 30, 2007
FIFA is almost as big a joke as the NCAA....It is planned to be a sporting game but alas like almost the nationalist sticks its ugly head in and everyone points and everyone when something happens that rocks the boat. Having the games at high altitudes is sometimes a big advantage for the teams that train there but the teams from these high places coming down to sea level have a big advantage because at sea level there is more O2. 6 to 1 half a dozen to another.........
posted by The Old Man at 02:52 PM on May 28, 2007
Dviking, You are way too young to remember Sonny Liston but trust me when I tell you there was no more Sonny ever did drugs. Boxing is a joke for as long as I can remember it and that goes back to Max Baer and then some. Sonny Liston after the Clay fight had a job as a greeter at Caesar's for 6 years and when he did a interview with a reporter and started to talk about what was happening with boxing than the next thing you know he is found dead with a needle in his arm, I think in his kitchen, and nobody makes a big deal and he is just forgotten. Come on, we can't be so stupid as to think oh it was just a ex-fighter couldn't take it and offed himself. We have all seen the fights that the decision was without question questionable and way out of line. Yeah I know it is a litttle bit of a stretch but so many things have happened in boxing and around boxing these last 25 years or so that it does present huge question marks that all... Foreman a cry baby no way this is the man that as a old man lifted people off there feet and in one case out of the ring. And remember Mike T wasn't allowed to fight him earlier because Foreman would have driven him right into the ground. He was a perfect fix for Foreman straight ahead and would have ended his career earlier if the idoit King would have allowed them to fight. I remember going to the LA Olympic and watching Sugar Ray Robinson fight, Archie Moore, Kid Galihad and a lot of others you, most likely don't know of because of your age, unless you are a fight fan. Remember the old saying "Money talks and bullshit walks" in regards to boxing it fits right in......
posted by The Old Man at 01:46 PM on May 28, 2007
Hey Folks, Go back and watch the tape of the fight with the thought in mind that there was something in the bottle besides water. Look real close at the end of the second round on. Don't know really don't care but there seems to be something amiss here. Boxing hasn't been and the up and up for years everyone knows it but nobody will do anything about it. Don King promoted anything but himself is something everyone would like to see. Only question now to ask is why wait 30 years? Sonny Liston talked about something with his last fight with Clay(Ali) and was found dead with a overdose of drugs not too much later. Liston didn't use drugs so that mess has always been a real question mark with lots of people... Just something to think about on Memorial Day.....................
posted by The Old Man at 09:19 PM on May 27, 2007
I would like to see just where he was hunting the animal and what type of handgun was used. Killing a wild boar with a rifle is extremely hard to do but with a handgun something doesn't mix here. Wild boar are very nasty animals and once wounded come after you like a freight train running down the track. The picture shows a boy with this huge hog holding a handgun. I would like to know more of the details. Wild boar don't normally weight a whole lot because to put on that much weight you have to eat tremendous amounts of protein and other food stuffs. As a kid in growing up in Tenn and Northern Georgia I never saw anything near a 1000 boar. The biggest boar I ever shot with a bow and arrow was about 250 lbs and it took two shots to bring it down., Sorry but it really doesn't sound like it is on the up and up.
posted by The Old Man at 03:18 PM on May 26, 2007
all the stats speak for themselves....If you hadn't been in the ballpen he most certainly would have gotten 300 wins by now. Just look at the time in the majors and what he has done in all these years. Third man with the braves and now with the mets if the voters don't vote him in in 4th or 5th year or before than there is something wrong with the voters. Congrats to him and more good luck in the future..
posted by The Old Man at 02:46 PM on May 26, 2007
Jason Giambi is a loser when it comes to drugs. He keeps making the same mistake over and over again and in the end it maybe his end....The Yankees are like all the owners talking trash about getting rid of him and voiding his contract. I am sure that the players union and contracts that they sign have something in them that will prevent all this from happening. If anybody believes that the Yankees didn't know he was still on drugs is completely kidding themselves. The way the contracts are written today would most likely make it very expensive for the Yankees to attempt to break it. It would take years in court to settle this type of case or the Yankees would have already gotten rid of him when this situation came to the papers and the interest of the media. All of us writing in these postings seem at first look to be far more aware of what is happening then the media in general. How many times have the media gotten it wrong just to sell more papers or more articles. The media today is interested in making news more than reporting it sometimes. The facts in regards to Giambi is as simple as the nose on your face. Did he or didn't he isn't in question here. Giambi did do the drugs, of course the owners knew, and I think THX got it right on the nose "Giambi has oatmeal for brains"....
posted by The Old Man at 01:03 PM on May 24, 2007
Jerseygirl, If you think the Celtics suck. Try looking at the Lakers with Jim Buss at the controls. He knows nothing about Basketball and it now looks like his father is going to give him complete control. My guess here is the Lakers will be worst than the Celtics in less than 2 years. He will try to give the farm away for someone that won't be able to help anybody win. Oh for the good old days of Magic and Byrd, Kareem and Parish and Hale and Worthy. Fun and strong basketball to watch not this lazy, sloppy crap watered down version that is being given to use today by a commissioner who knows jack about basketball. The NBA looks like it is going the way of baseball...too many teams, watered down talent and rules and guidelines that change for player to player and game to game by officials that make the worst calls and are out of place most of the time in games. Outside refs making calls they can't see and inside making calls they are not completely sure about......Make Charles the President of the NBA and sit back and watch what happens. At least he knows what the game is all about and would institute a program to train the refs to know there jobs..
posted by The Old Man at 09:49 AM on May 23, 2007
The only number you need to remember is the number 3...3 STRIKES 3 OUTS AND THE NUMBER 3 ON BABE. What is that worth?
posted by The Old Man at 09:39 AM on May 23, 2007
Southern mentality bull shit What is stupid is stupid plain and simple and don't try to sugar coat it...or cover it up Time for the boys to grow up and do somethiing that helps themselves and their families and communityl.
posted by The Old Man at 12:55 PM on May 22, 2007
we already know about the legal aspect of this case(illegal) it isn't OK and Vick had had to be aware of what was happening on his property or didn't care. Take your pick here. Dogs used for fighting are extremely unstable and prone to attack anyone at any given time...a time bomb that can go off without any warning. That many dogs means only one thing bottom line dog fighting in a community area that is illegal and very dangerous for anyone living around it. Of Course, Portis didn't really think about what he was saying or if he did then he really showed a lack ofl understanding of what the hell was going on at the home. If Portis is stupid as debo said then that makes Vick even more so because he has put his home and community at risk for a very serious and dangerous accident to happen if the dogs decided to go crazy. I remember seeing dogs fights in the early thirties during the depression and then they were extremely out of control. You get two big dogs going at each other and you never know what will happen. The moral problem is something I don't want to get into. The whole issue of Portis's statement is moot here. It doesn't seem like either of these two individual are looking at the big picture of what it looks like to everyone on the outside. All the fans, kids, adults up look to these guys and what they see here makes me personally sick to my stomach. Only a complete fool would believe that Vick didn't know what was going on and whether or not Portis was joking isn't even part of this situation. Good for you Debo270 right on and maybe the community should be up in arms about this whole deal. High priced athletics have a responsibility to the community as role models and to keep there names and the teams names in good standing..
posted by The Old Man at 12:53 PM on May 22, 2007
Portis should mind his own house and keep his big loud mouth shut. Worry about his own business. After the jersey number incident of his and some of his own behavior, he should concentrate on doing his talking on the playing field not the printed field..Whatever Vick did or didn't do is something that Michael Vick will have to defend not Portis. Dog fighting is something that isn't within the guidelines of the NFL rules and regulations and whether it is legal or illegal is for the law enforcement agencies to decide and enforce. Everyone wants to point fingers here, OK then lets look at the facts and only the facts as we know them from the press and television news. Fact one: What was happening at this home-Dog Fighting was taking place no ands if or buts..Fact two: Micheal Vick owns this house Two strikes here but the real question is did Vick knows what was happening at the home. Your guess is as good as mind. Don't know don't really care it isn't happening within the NFL so let the powers that are enforcing this issue deal with it. Make it simple and it is simple. NFL or Vick don't need for all these issues to be constantly bought up, Michael needs to deal with it not Mr. Portis or the press.
posted by The Old Man at 11:15 AM on May 22, 2007
If a batter is hurt because he is asked to take pitches for the basestealer than I am sorry , he has no business being in the major leagues. Jr. Gilliam batted behind Maury Wills for years allowing him to become the basestealer he was and his stats don't follow the idea that it hurts the hitter batting behind a basestealer. Case in point, the Angels SS Cabaera is hit close to 300 last year and the Angels leadoff hitters stole over 50 bases combined and if my memory serves me correct when he was playing for Boston he hit over 300 batting second. The opposite would seem to be in effect that if the pitcher was worried about the baserunner than he wasn't paying enough attention to the player at the plate and his pitches would than be rushed. You can't have it both ways--The greatest basestealers in history, Wills, Cobb and Brock drove the pitchers crazy on the bases allowing the players to hit behind them better pitches to hit. More fastballs less curves and changeups.....
posted by The Old Man at 11:01 AM on May 22, 2007
Good for Ahman Green and all the pros who do more than sit around and count their money.... My Hat is Off to Mr. Green. Someone the fans, young and old, can look up too as a true role model. Give back to the community is something we all should be doing.
posted by The Old Man at 10:51 AM on May 22, 2007
Nothing but a popularity contest if the fans are allowed to vote...Go back to the players picking the all-stars and nothing like that would likely happen again. Remember when the St.Louis fans picked almost there entire lineup. The only think worst then having the fans pick the lineup for the all-stars is having the sportswriters pick it. Petty Petty Petty and most that are now on the track know jack about baseball history. All the ones that knew what was up are gone and buried...
posted by The Old Man at 05:08 PM on May 19, 2007
Crafy, Can you show me how to post a quote or statement on this site. It seems that maybe my skills as a computer individual aren't quite what I would like them to be. It says to give a link or whatever and I can't get it to post on the site. thank old man
posted by The Old Man at 12:25 PM on May 19, 2007
grum, trust me when I say yes there was a lot of that crap going around in some of the some called brawls in Feller and Groves and Ruth's days but never did any of the players to my memory go after the pitchers of that day. Cobb was a sob and did all kinds of things on the basepaths and Chapman's death was a accident. Who in there right mind was going to was going to go after a pitcher with a baseball in his hands...I remember the Koufax incident with Juan in SF and Johnny Roseboro didn't try to hit Juan in the head when he returned the pitch to Koufax. Hitting Roseboro was completely on purpose. He should have been banned for life after that. And the Giants are very lucky that Sandy Koufax didn't go after one of theirs. Cooler heads came to forefront and nothing happened. They put it off as his latin temper and he lost his cool, bull no know what, he turned and took his bat and hit Johnny twice on the head. If Walter Alston hadn't had control of his team god knows what would have happened, remember the Dodgers had some very big players then one of them Frank Howard was one of the strongest in the majors. Frank stands a little over 6'8" at about 275plus and he coming out after you....Stan Williams the relief pitcher wasn't small either as was Joe Moeller at 6'6" 225 and Sandy at 6'3" 230 wasn't small himself. I have stated here in the past that todays players aren' t as hard or as nasty as players in the past and I will still stand by my statement. An example was Frank Howard hitting a homerun off Jim Callison of the Phillies the ball came off Howards' bat about 18 inches off the ground and directly between Callison's legs and kept rising until it went out of the park in dead center field landing to some accounts over 650feet. I don't remember if the umpire but he recalled that story at a dinner that he talked at after retiring from baseball and it is still funny thinking about having that huge individual standing at the plate and then almost golfing a pitch between the pitchers' legs that far. He mentioned that Jim Callison almost couldn't continue in the game because he stool there just thinking about what almost happened to him. The fans seem to have a real curiosity about these brawls and fights but we as fans must be very thankful that cooler heads rule. In hockey you have a stick, basketball a ball but in baseball you have the most dangerous of all equipment a baseball hardwood bat.....
posted by The Old Man at 12:19 PM on May 19, 2007
Van Gundy isn't the problem with the Rockets.....the center is soft, forwards play old and point and number 2 guard don't bring up for the Rockets to continue on in the playoffs. Everyone wants to point at Van Gundy for everything going wrong well, the fans and owners better start looking to what the team isn't doing to see the light at the top of the stairs. Defense wins titles and the first thing you must do is play DEFENSE DEFENSE, block out, run a offense that suits your players, and keep the ball in YOUR HANDS meaning no or less turnovers. Everyone this year has been agreeing that the officials have been the worst in years if not of all time. Some of the calls have been so far off that it is making the game hard to watch. Rules and violations are not consistent and change during the games from the start to the finish. The league itself is losing the fans because of this and other things. The league has to make everything consistent for all the players not just the select few and even then some of the best don't get the calls even though the foul was there for whatever it isn't called. (I not going to get into that any further, we all know what I am talking about and who this is happening with this year). Jeff Van Gundy can't play the game for his players anymore than any coach can play for his team. Whether or not he was fired doesn't make it any worst, Houston has to learn to PLAY DEFENSIVE BASKETBALL to go further in the playoffs. Soft players don't go far in the NBA playoffs and the past has proved that. When Magic and Kareem were winning there wasnt' a team any harder than there were. And defensive they were the best because Kareem cut off the middle and Worthy and the others took care of the rest. Russell and company did the same and remember the 72 Lakers with Wilt in the middle with West, Goodrich, Erickson and the rest they just wouldn't like the other team score... Coaches will always be the center of attention for what is wrong with the team but the players are the ones who should take the most responsibility for what happens and winning and losing...
posted by The Old Man at 11:53 AM on May 19, 2007
Baseball is always going to be a slow type of game because you never know what is going to happen game to game. 1-0, 9-1. 12-8 day to day team to team. Even when Ruth and the boys played in the 20's it could have been a rather slow day. Basestealing is a part of the game that can cause the game to speed up and not just running. Last year, the Angel and Dodgers were playing a game and the Angels shortstop was on third with a runner on first and Vidi at the plate. The Dodgers pitcherl, Billingsley, with one of the slowest moves to the plate, started his move to the plate and Cabrea broke towards home and beat the throw and scored with one of the best hitters in baseball at the plate. The crowd went wild, everyone was jumping up and down including the Angels players and Vidi just sat at the plate and smiled. Excitement that is what it is all about. Yes, I remember, the Dodgers with Wills a lot of 1-0 2-1, 3-2 games with the only offense being Wills a bunt single, steal second, steal third and then score on a ground out or fly out but still even then there was so much excitement in the air you could feel the game in your bones. High scoring games are fun for the fun sometimes but when it is close and you maybe depending on a stolen base and sac fly to win, that's what makes it baseball. A better man than me once stated "the hardest thing to do in sports is hit a pitched ball with a piece of wood" and you know a more truer statement has never been uttered. In what sport can you fail 70% of the time a be a all-star and make millions of dollars a year for playing a kids game.......
posted by The Old Man at 11:34 AM on May 19, 2007
Maybe now the art of basestealing will return to his former glory but the power hitter rules because the fans like the look of a long homerun. Maury Wills was one of the most exciting players to come along in generations. He would get on and you could feel it in the air, what's next, second then third and sometimes home. Walk, steal, steal, steal run. Brock was exciting as was Henderson but they were different kinds of players. Wills made opposing teams think and do things that changed there game plans. The Giants watered and sanded down the area surrounding first base to stop Wills but it still didn't stop him. There are a couple of managers in todays game and run, the Angels come to mind, and this game and the way it is played seems to me to be a cycle. Basestealing will come back when the managers go back to the basics. Stealing helps the hitters because it takes the pitchers and catchers minds away from what they are trying to do that being get the batter outl.....
posted by The Old Man at 03:19 PM on May 17, 2007
Howard fastest in history to 100 homers
One more thing, Just Gary, I maybe old and slow and it takes me a while to get some of the points of the younger generations but let me tell you something, this we or us bullshit has come from living more in my 88 years than you will ever live in your small simple uncomplex existence. If I was 40 years younger I would to put it in a language that even you can understand go over to your house and kick your ass from one side of the room to the other. And yes I speak for myself at all times and most of the statements I make I can back up with the knowledge of living in two centuries and through one world war (II) Vietnam, Korea, and assorted other little military problems. So if you don't like what I have to say then I guess I won't say it. I try not to disrespect anyone but if I have then once again I am sorry.