Archive for the ‘Sports figures’ Category
Baseball Second-Guessing . . . Does it Ever Work?
Folks, as I continue to watch my favorite baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers, stumble out of the gate, I have revisited a few of my baseball blogs from the past week-plus. Some of the comments I’ve made obviously were insightful — I suggested bringing up Blake Lalli, mostly because we need three catchers if two of them are likely to play due to being short-handed on the infield — but some were clearly not.
I wonder, sometimes, if this is how Brewers manager Ron Roenicke feels. Roenicke has all sorts of stats available to him that I’m not likely to ever see — even in these days of WAR (Wins Above Replacement), BABIP (Batting Average of Balls in Play), and other esoteric stats — and yet, he, too, can be wrong and get second-guessed. Frequently.
Now, I’m still not backing off what I said last night about Rickie Weeks. Weeks has a well-known tendency when in a serious slump to wave at the outside fastball. He’s done it for years, he’s unlikely to ever change, and because of this, he’s not the world’s best hitter to have up in a clutch situation.
Batting Weeks fourth was possibly the best choice considering the others tried at clean-up since Aramis Ramirez went on the 15-day DL (Alex Gonzalez and Jonathan Lucroy) did not do well. At least it was a change, and with change comes the possibility for better even if it doesn’t always happen.
My blog last night (the first half of it, anyway) was more about how frustrated I was that Weeks wasn’t pinch-hit for by either Martin Maldonado or Lalli, both of whom were still sitting on the bench. Maldonado has been an acceptable hitter with some power, while Lalli is a bit of an unknown quantity and might’ve taken St. Louis Cardinals’ closer Mitchell Boggs by surprise. And either of them could’ve done the same thing as Weeks — struck out on four pitches (the MLB recapper says only three, which I find odd) — but with greater panache.
That is, if panache matters in a 2-0 loss where the Brewers only garnered two hits, one by Nori Aoki in the first and one by Jean Segura in the ninth.
Speaking of Segura, I’m glad his injury wasn’t serious enough to put him on the DL. I’d called for that when I thought there was absolutely no way the Brewers would bring up another position player except by putting one of their few reasonably healthy ones on the DL; considering how Segura and Aoki are among the few bright spots on the team (Braun is hitting for contact and has a .406 average, though he took “the collar” with an 0-4 with 3 Ks last evening), it would’ve been a shame to shut Segura down.
So that’s a suggestion I made that obviously would’ve been a bad move for the team. And since I go off all the time about how I don’t understand this, that, or the other move by Roenicke, I may as well admit when a move I’d have made definitely wouldn’t have worked.
And two other suggestions I made — those of bringing Chris Capuano onto the Brewers and putting Chris Narveson back in the starting rotation for the Brewers — obviously won’t work at the moment, either. Capuano should get several weeks in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation now that former Brewers ace Zack Greinke is on the DL due to an injury to his collarbone sustained in a recent bench-clearing brawl with the San Diego Padres. (Carlos Quentin, who precipitated that brawl for the Padres, has been given an eight-game suspension. He’s appealing, so he’s still playing, but eventually he’ll have to sit.) And Narveson is on the DL with a blister on his pitching hand, so he’s obviously not a candidate for the rotation at this time.
One other suggestion I made requires more thought and far more information — that of sending Wily Peralta back down to AAA ball. Peralta had a good, solid start against the Cubs on Tuesday evening despite some horrible weather. But because it was so cold, and no one hit particularly well in that game for either side, it’s possible that Peralta’s performance looked a bit better than it actually was.
Even so, Peralta now has one terrible outing, and one good one. His ERA remains higher than it should be at 4.50 in twelve innings of work. I’m not convinced he’s the best answer over time, but he’s probably the best pitcher the Brewers have available unless they want to bring up Hiram Burgos from AAA Nashville. (Or until Capuano becomes available again down the line, providing “Cappy” can stay healthy.)
The main thing to remember with the Brewers right now, if you’re an ardent fan, is this: it’s still a young season. Anything can happen, no matter how bad things look right now. We have had some good pitching from Kyle Lohse and Jim Henderson (with relievers Figaro, Gorzelanny and even Gonzalez looking better every game) and some good hitting from Aoki, Segura, and Ryan Braun. Alex Gonzalez’s fielding all over the infield has been solid. Yuniesky Betancourt hasn’t been bad, especially considering he was a very late signee and had no Spring Training with the club. And so far, Maldonado has continued his hitting ways, as in a limited sample (four games), he’s hitting .286 thus far.
So it’s not hopeless.
Just remember, fellow fans, that it’s much easier for us to second-guess. I don’t often say something like this, because it is blindingly obvious, but here goes: Since we’re not there in the clubhouse, and we don’t know who has what nagging injury to deal with, or who may have come in hung over that might temporarily be in Roenicke’s doghouse for good reason, or who has the flu and can suit up to make things look good on the bench but can’t really play, we don’t have all the facts most of the time.
All of that said: I’d still have put in Maldonado, or maybe Lalli, to pinch-hit for Weeks last night. (I stand by that and will stick to it.) Though they are at least playing today — Maldonado’s catching for Yovani Gallardo, and Lalli is about to make his first-ever big-league start at first base — so maybe they’ll spark the Brewers to a big win.
Here’s hoping.
MLB: In Pursuit of Ryan Braun, Again?
Folks, some stories seem like broken records.
Take the story broken by Yahoo Sports through its blog “Big League Stew.” The headline reads, “MLB’s PED Vendetta Against Ryan Braun: Seeks Informants, Offers Immunity for Players Testimony.”
This article points out that Major League Baseball, in its infinite whatever, is using the Biogenesis Clinic information that has been leaked to the press as a way to go after Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun. Braun is the only major leaguer known to have successfully appealed a positive drug test, and MLB apparently just cannot handle it at all.
Instead, they wish to punish Braun after the fact despite losing their case in arbitration against Braun in 2012 — legally binding arbitration, at that.
MLB is even willing, according to an article at USA Today by Bob Nightengale (which the Yahoo Sports blog references), to grant some players immunity even if they test positive for PEDs themselves. Which seems extremely counterproductive if MLB’s interest here is in the cleanest sport possible . . . but more on that in a bit.
The reason MLB is upset is because their officials insist that Braun used performance-enhancing drugs due to a highly elevated level of testosterone in Braun’s urine sample back in 2011. Braun won his appeal in 2012 (here’s my earlier blog post on the subject); at the time, MLB “vehemently disagreed” with the decision. Later, MLB fired arbitrator Shyam Das, which looked terrible from a public relations standpoint — as apparently, the only arbitrators they want are the ones who rule in MLB’s favor.
As Ray Ratto pointed out in this column from February 23, 2012 (note that the lack of punctuation is also in the original column; the look of this has not been altered in any way save to cut out one link):
Rather than announce that Braun had won his appeal and had been found not guilty according to the procedures and protocols set up and approved BY Major League Baseball, it chose instead to swine-slap Das ruling, deciding that when they say guilty, they mean guilty.Now we dont know whether Braun hornswoggled the arbitrator, the system or nobody at all. We wont call him innocent or guilty. We will say, though, that he played by baseballs rules, he followed baseballs procedures, he went through baseballs process, and he was found not guilty.Thus, it is inconceivably bad form for baseball to scream about the result just because they wanted it to be something else.
Obviously, I agree with this assessment.
Ratto’s words, however, have proven prophetic in how MLB has behaved with regards to Braun. Take a look at this (also from Ratto’s above-referenced column):
The process is supposed to be about finding the truth, not getting the desired result. The desired result IS the truth, and baseballs system says Braun didnt do what he was accused of doing.MLBs reaction, though, shows that for it, testing isnt about determining a players guilt or innocence, its about nailing guys.”As a part of our drug testing program, the commissioner’s office and the players’ association agreed to a neutral third party review for instances that are under dispute, a statement from Rob Manfred, managements representative on the three-man appeals panel, read. While we have always respected that process, Major League Baseball vehemently disagrees with the decision rendered today by arbitrator Shyam Das.”Vehemently disagrees? Its your system, Robbo, the one your negotiators demanded. Is it only a good system when you win? (emphasis added by BC)
And if that’s the case, MLB is going to keep going after Braun in the same way Inspector Javert went after Jean Valjean in Les Miserables — even though it will do no good, much harm, and cause much strife for all concerned.
Look. I’ve thought and thought about this, and I’ve come to the same conclusions as in my original blog post on the Braun/PED issue:
Braun has been an outstanding player from the time the Brewers brought him up. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2007. His lifetime numbers are comparable to his MVP numbers; over his last five seasons, he’s averaged 36 HRs and 118 RBIs a season, and has hit over .300 every year except 2008 (when he “only” hit .285); his lifetime batting average, over five complete seasons, is .312.
So I don’t really see where Braun could’ve been taking anything that was of an enhancing nature, especially if he’s never tested positive before (and indeed, he hasn’t).
Jumping a few paragraphs, I said back in 2011:
. . . my view is that Braun’s statistical performance was well within his own normals. So it’s very hard for me to believe that Braun actually did take anything illegal of the PED variety; because of that, and because of my admittedly laissez-faire attitude toward baseball players and legal drugs, I believe Braun should be considered innocent until and unless he is proven guilty.
And as we now all know, Braun was found not guilty.
Which makes me think that Braun had a point. He wasn’t juicing then, isn’t juicing now, and that as much as anyone’s performance can be in these days of high-tech nutrition and personal trainers, he’s as clean as they come.
Since Braun has been proven to not have taken PEDs under binding arbitration, MLB should really let it go. Because the longer they pursue this mindless vendetta, the more they look like Inspector Javert — and with far less reason than that fictional French bureaucrat of old.
My final take? I suppose it’s MLB’s prerogative to look silly, spiteful and stupid when it comes to this apparent vendetta against Ryan Braun.
But speaking as a long-time baseball fan, I wish they’d knock it off.
Biased Judging Rears Its Ugly Head Again in Figure Skating
Folks, when I turn on the World Figure Skating Championships in any year, I expect to see great competition. I expect to see artistry, athleticism, dynamic performances, and proper, unbiased judging that’s based on what the figure skater in question actually does, rather than whether or not the judges in question like the figure skater.
I don’t always get it.
In 2010 at the Vancouver Olympics, United States figure skater Johnny Weir, a three-time U.S. champion, was denied a place on the podium. There was never any explanation given for this, even though Weir arguably skated the best and cleanest program of any of the top male skaters. Other skaters who finished in front of him included Patrick Chan (5th), who fell, Stephane Lambiel (4th), who fell, and Daisuke Takahashi (3rd), who also fell but received the bronze medal anyway. Nobonari Oda, who had a skate lace break, necessitating a break in the action while he went to get a new one and a mandatory deduction taken off his score, finished just behind Weir.
Weir was able to rise above this unfair result, and has become one of the most popular, visible, and undoubtedly flamboyant figure skaters of his era. But he shouldn’t have had to do so.
Instead, he should have won the bronze that night, and be known forever after as an Olympic medalist.
Today, there were two biased and inexplicable judging events at the 2013 Worlds. (Note that Weir, being injured, did not compete in the U.S. Nationals, much less this particular competition. But he did take in the action. More on that later.)
The first problematic judging was seen in Friday afternoon’s pairs event, held in London, Ontario, Canada. German pair Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy skated a flawed, yet entertaining program that normally would’ve landed them in fourth or fifth place if the skating alone had been judged. However, they were instead held up by remarkably high program component scores — what used to be called the “artistic presentation” scores — and won the silver medal over two more deserving Canadian pairs, Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford and Kirsten Moore-Towers/Dylan Moscovitch. The Canadian pairs had to settle for third and fourth place, respectively.
Universal Sports Network’s color commentator, Peter Carruthers (himself a silver medalist at the 1982 Worlds and the 1984 Olympics in pairs), couldn’t believe it. He even said — rare for a commentator — that he felt the PCS scores had been “padded” to help Savchenko and Szolkowy out.
But that, bad as it was, paled compared to tonight’s fiasco in the men’s singles competition.
Denis Ten of Kazakhstan went out and skated the performance of his life in the men’s long program. He was by far the best and most entertaining skater, and — more importantly — he didn’t fall. And Ten won the free skate . . . but somehow still finished second to Patrick Chan of Canada. Despite Chan’s two outright falls, three double-foot landings, and several jumps that looked to the naked eye as if they were under-rotated in Chan’s long program, Chan — just like Savchenko and Szolkowy before him — was “held up” by overly inflated PCS scores.
And what’s so silly about this is that Chan had a very good short program. That gave him a lead of nearly ten points going into tonight’s free skate. Due to Ten’s brilliant program, Chan’s lead would’ve evaporated if he’d been judged fairly. Especially considering all the times Chan fell, double-footed jumps and otherwise looked like he was sleepwalking through his program. Which was pretty much all of the final three minutes and thirty seconds.
Sure, Chan landed two quadruple jumps early on. (Ten, to be fair, did only one.) But other than that, Chan did not look like he deserved to be on the podium tonight, much less win the gold medal.
Much less be what he is right now — a three-time gold medalist at the World Figure Skating Championships, despite falling several times during his 2012 long program as well.
The only way I can reconcile Chan’s standing with the judges compared to what Chan actually does on the ice is this: The judges seem to have a love affair with Patrick Chan. They believe he has superb skating skills — which, to be honest, he does. (Not better than several others in the field tonight, but I’ll grant that he’s among the top five or six in the world among current, competitive “amateur” skaters.) They appreciate his artistry, far more than anyone outside of Canada does, and they reward him for it.
To the detriment of other skaters.
What’s really frustrating about tonight’s judging fiasco is that, lost in the shuffle, Brian Joubert of France skated a powerful, clean program that should’ve landed him in the top five — if not garnered him a place on the podium with a bronze. But the judges put his PCS marks down and did not give him credit for what he actually accomplished — shades of what they did to Weir in Vancouver in 2010.
Which is why Joubert, who skated very well — much better than many others, including Patrick Chan — landed in an undeserved spot, finishing in ninth place.
That’s just not right.
Other than that, Max Aaron of the United States came in seventh — good for him, especially considering tonight’s abhorrent judging — and Ross Miner did not do well at all, finishing in fourteenth place. (The crew at Universal Sports didn’t even show his long program, more or less conceding that it wasn’t very good.) This may have been Miner’s only shot ever to skate at the World Figure Skating Championships, as both Weir and former Olympic, World and U.S. Champion Evan Lysacek plan to compete for the two spots available for the 2014 Sochi Olympics in addition to three-time U.S. Champion Jeremy Abbott (who finished third at this year’s U.S. Nationals, barely missing a chance to compete at the Worlds) and, of course, reigning men’s champ Aaron.
At any rate, it’s not just me who’s frustrated and upset by the men’s event tonight. Here’s Johnny Weir’s take, from Twitter:
Johnny Weir-Voronov
@JohnnyGWeirThis judging is ridiculous and the only reason people buy it is because it’s in North America. Imagine the outcry if it were Russia+Plush!?
Then Weir posted this:
Johnny Weir-Voronov
@JohnnyGWeirMy world champion is
@Tenis_Den. No question. Congratulations. Everyone should be feeling some Kazakh pride!#Молодец
Earlier in his Twitter feed, Weir also had kind words for Brian Joubert:
Johnny Weir-Voronov
@JohnnyGWeirBrian Joubert’s performance was the most encouraging of the night. Our generation can still do it. 🇫🇷
Weir wasn’t the only well-known figure skater publicly left scratching his or her head regarding tonight’s judging. Here’s what United States figure skater Christina Gao had to say:
Amazing skate,
@Tenis_Den!#inspiring
Then, after Ten was inexplicably robbed of his rightful gold medal, she posted this:
Wait what? I’m confused by my own sport.
#somethingswronghere#FSworlds13 more like#BSworlds13
So if two really fine figure skaters think there’s something wrong, there probably is.
Clean it up, International Skating Union. Or soon, figure skating as a sport will be considered no better than World Wrestling Entertainment.
Fun to watch, sure. But . . . dare I say it . . . fixed.
It’s Official — Brewers First Baseman Mat Gamel Tears His ACL Again, Is Out for the Season
Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Mat Gamel apparently has the worst luck of any major league baseball player going these days.
Not one full week into the official start of Brewers’ Spring Training, Gamel has been confirmed as having torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee. This is the same ACL he tore during his ill-fated 2012 campaign while running into that ditch the San Diego Padres call an infield.
So Gamel’s now torn the same ACL two years in a row. That, my friends, is abysmal luck.
Consequently, Gamel will be out all of 2013. (See this link, courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, for further details.)
There are a few odd things about this particular injury according to the Journal-Sentinel report. First, Gamel tore the middle of the ACL, not either end as is more common. Most surgical failures — which constitute about ten percent of ACL surgeries — will re-tear on either end of the ligament, rather than in the middle where the ligament should be the strongest. Second, Gamel had spent eight solid months of rehabilitation prior to reporting to Spring Training. His rehab consisted of strength and flexibility exercises, and I’m sure his therapy was of the absolute best.
Consider, please, that in order to be able to hit, run, and field — strenuous activity by any other name — a baseball player has to be able to move laterally without strain, swing a bat with full extension and run without noticeable problems. Gamel had been able to do all of this prior to reporting to Spring Training.
In addition, he’d passed two physicals, where presumably he ran on a treadmill, had to do various arcane flexibility exercises (some akin to yoga poses), and did so in front of various doctors and physical therapists. He was given a clean bill of health because he had proven that he was ready to resume his life as an active, everyday baseball player.
Otherwise, he never would’ve stepped out onto the field.
And now, Gamel won’t get the chance to prove that he has what it takes to make it in the major leagues. At least, not in 2013. And possibly not at all, as two ACL tears on the same knee within eighteen months are a huge red flag to every general manager of every team in major league baseball.
However, I had a thought that might prove useful . . . if not to Gamel, maybe to someone else recovering from such an injury. It’s a long shot, but hear me out.
Last year, I read GOOSE, an autobiography written by ex-Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Tony Siragusa. Siragusa doesn’t actually have a working ACL in one of his knees, but he was able to work around this by coming up with a unique strengthening and conditioning plan. Because of this, Siragusa was able to play for twelve years in the NFL and he never missed a game.
But you’d have never known he had that sort of durability coming out of college.
That’s because Siragusa was told that maybe he’d play two years, or perhaps three, for the NFL, all because he didn’t really have an ACL. From this article from 2001 at Philly.com by Jerry Brewer of the Philadelphia Inquirer:
(Siragusa’s) quite the story, perhaps a great symbol for the NFL today. It is hyped as a league of parity and a league in which a hardworking player can become a success without having a great pedigree.
It is a league in which a then-280-pound tackle from the University of Pittsburgh could go undrafted (mostly because he has no anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee), endure nine knee surgeries, and play 11 years in an NFL career that reaches a plateau on Sunday when he plays in his first Super Bowl.
A wise old doctor from Indianapolis once told Siragusa his knee would hold up for two years in the NFL. Maybe three.
“The doctor examined my knee, and he said, ‘You have no ACL in your knee,’ ” Siragusa said. “I said, ‘You’re a good doctor.’ “
Boiling it down to brass tacks, Siragusa set out to prove the doctor wrong. And he did — by going to one of his trusted past college coaches, if memory serves (it’s been well over a year and a half since I read GOOSE, mind you), then setting up his brutal training regimen. This is what allowed Siragusa to play, and play well, for twelve long years without a working ACL in his knee.
My thought is that if Siragusa could do this and play football, it might be possible for Gamel to do the same thing. Gamel is only 27 years old. He may, if he’s fortunate, be able to find a strength and conditioning coach that can duplicate whatever it was that Siragusa managed to do. If so, this would allow Gamel to build up his legs to the point that even if his ACL fails for an unprecedented third time, he can still play despite the injury.
As I understand it, what Siragusa did in his conditioning program was to strengthen all of the muscles around where the ACL should be. These other muscles took the place of the ACL — or at least bore the strain of a rough and tumble NFL season — so isn’t it conceivable that Gamel could strengthen these same muscles around his ACL, which might take enough pressure off the soon-to-be twice-repaired ligament to allow him to continue his career?
However, if what Siragusa did is not able to be duplicated, perhaps Gamel would be better off to consider coaching. Or figure out some other passions to cultivate along with baseball to help him pass the time.
As of right now, it surely seems to me that unless Gamel is able to duplicate whatever it was that Siragusa did, Gamel’s body is telling him that it’s time to make other plans. Gamel has heart, moxie, and drive — everything you want in a major league baseball player — but if his body won’t hold up, he just isn’t going to be able to continue.
That’s why I hold out at least a slight amount of hope that Siragusa’s regimen may work for Gamel. Because it seems to be the best hope Gamel has.
And any hope beats no hope at all. Especially if you’re the unluckiest Brewer this side of Brad Nelson (Mr. “0-for-21” himself).
————
Note: Corey Hart has said publicly here that he will help Gamel all he possibly can. Hart, who is truly a class act, said he feels for Gamel and will encourage him to continue to pursue rehab. The Journal-Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak quoted Hart as saying:
“I’m just going to hug him and hope things work out. He’s going to have to have support everywhere. This is a tough situation. The biggest thing for him is suport (sic) in here. I told him to move in with me and I’ll help as much as I can. I’ll be leaving before him (to go on minor-league rehab) so I’ll let him stay at the house.”
(This is just one more reason why Corey Hart is my favorite current Brewers player. Just sayin’.)
Remembering Earl Weaver, Plus a Corey Hart Update
This past Saturday (January 19, 2012 to be exact), news broke regarding the passing of Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver. Weaver managed the Baltimore Orioles for his entire career and had a 1480-1060 record, good for fifth-best among 20th century managers who managed for ten years or more.
But that’s not what I remember most about Weaver.
Nope. I remember Weaver as a firecracker, someone who loved to bait the umpires and held the record for most ejections in a career (with 91 regular-season ejections by most counts) until Bobby Cox later came along and broke it. (But don’t fret, Weaver fans; he still holds the American League record for ejections.)
Weaver was a great manager, don’t get me wrong. And he certainly beat my Milwaukee Brewers team more often than not, though we did win against Weaver and his Orioles in 1982 in the final game of the season. (Don Sutton out-dueled Jim Palmer in Baltimore. Had the Brewers lost that game, the Orioles would’ve advanced to the 1982 ALCS and the Brewers would’ve gone home, there being no wild cards back then.)
Here’s how Sports Illustrated described Weaver:
Anointed as “Baltimore’s resident genius” by Sports Illustrated‘s June 18, 1979 cover, Weaver was a 5-foot-7 spitfire whose irascibility was exceeded only by his tactical acumen; imagine Ozzie Guillen’s profanity crossed with Lou Piniella’s explosiveness, multiplied by Tony LaRussa’s mastery of roster usage. Weaver’s tirades against umpires were legendary; he holds the AL career record for ejections with 94. In 1969, he became the first manager thrown out of a World Series game in more than 60 years. In 1975, he was run from both games of a doubleheader in by umpire and longtime nemesis Ron Luciano, the second time during the exchange of lineup cards, then ejected again by Luciano the next day.
Mind you, Ron Luciano was one of the most colorful umpires in MLB history, and wasn’t likely to get along with someone as equally colorful as himself.
Not that Weaver was easy for any umpire to get along with. Don Denkinger said this in an article by the Associated Press (via Yahoo Sports):
Former umpire Don Denkinger said he called one of Weaver’s last games in the majors.
”He comes to home plate before the game and says, ‘Gentlemen, I’m done.’ He told us the only way he’d ever come back is if he ran out of money,” Denkinger told The Associated Press by phone from Arizona. ”I told him that if he ever ran out of money to call the umpires’ association and we’d take up a collection for him. We’d do anything, just to keep him off the field and away from us.”
But Weaver had a slightly softer side. Again according to Denkinger (from the above-mentioned AP article):
Umpires found out just how demonstrative Weaver could be. Denkinger remembered a game in which the manager disputed a call with Larry McCoy at the plate.
”Earl tells us, ‘Now I’m gonna show you how stupid you all are.’ Earl goes down to first base and ejects the first base umpire. Then he goes to second base and ejects the second base umpire. I’m working third base and now he comes down and ejects me,” Denkinger said.
Much later, after they were retired, the umpire asked Weaver to sign a photo of that episode.
”He said absolutely. I sent it to him, he signed it and said some really nice things. It’s framed and hanging up in my office back home in Iowa,” Denkinger said.
I remember many games where I sat in the stands at old Milwaukee County Stadium, watching the Milwaukee Brewers play Weaver’s Orioles. Weaver was a brilliant statistician, something I didn’t fully appreciate at the time (especially as it always seemed whenever I went to a Brewers-Orioles game, the Brewers were going to end up on the short end of the stick). But he was an even better motivator, which is why he knew how to get the best out of such players as Mark Belanger (a defensive specialist who regularly hit below the “Mendoza line”), John Lowenstein and Terry Crowley.
Here’s a bit from the SI article, quoting a well-known “underground” audiotape of an interview Weaver did with broadcaster Tom Marr:
Weaver was known for assembling productive platoons, and nurturing exceptional pinch-hitters who could turn a game around. In this legendary 1980 “Manager’s Corner” interview recorded with broadcaster Tom Marr as a gag after a flubbed take — unaired but widely circulated since then (and again not safe for work) — he extolled the virtues of one of his long-time benchwarmers:
Terry Crowley is lucky he’s in ——- baseball for Chrissake. He was released by the Cincinnati Reds, he was released by the ——- ——- Atlanta Braves. We saw that Terry Crowley could sit on his ——- ass for eight innings and enjoy watching a baseball game just like any other fan, and has the ability to get up there and break one open in the ——- ninth.
Weaver believed in pitching, defense and a three-run home run (one of his most widely-shared sayings). And for the most part, he had the pitchers to back up that philosophy in Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Steve Stone, Mike Flanagan, Pat Dobson and Dave McNally, among others. He also had the acumen to move Cal Ripken, Jr., from third base to shortstop during Ripken, Jr.’s rookie year.
Weaver’s managerial record is extremely impressive. His demeanor on the field was that of a fiery Napoleon, which was fitting considering Weaver might’ve been 5’7″ on the tallest day of his life — exceptionally short for a major league anything, much less a manager.
And Weaver even has a Wisconsin connection (aside from all those games against the Brewers): He managed the Appleton Foxes (now known as the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) in 1960 to a 82-59 record and a league championship according to ReviewingtheBrew.com, and is ensconced in Appleton’s Baseball Hall of Fame for that season alone.
With all of Weaver’s potty-mouthed tendencies, he was also known as a devoted family man. He was married, only once, for forty-eight years.
With all of that color, and all of that style and all of those umpire-baiting moments (not to mention the chain-smoking and his well-known penchant for conducting post game interviews in the nude — back in the clubhouse, of course), Weaver will never be forgotten by anyone who ever saw him manage.
Now for something completely different: Brewers RF-1B Corey Hart has decided to seek a second opinion regarding his right knee issues, so surgery has been delayed. According to MLB.com, the MRI of Hart’s knee has been sent to Dr. Richard Steadman in Vail, CO. Depending on what Dr. Steadman thinks of the MRI, the doctor may or may not wish to consult with Hart in person.
The Brewers assistant GM Gord Ash said this in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article via Yahoo Sports about Hart’s delayed surgery:
“Until we get past this step, we don’t know what the next step will be,” Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash said, according to the (Milwaukee) Journal Sentinel. “Time is of the essence, so we’re hoping it won’t be delayed that long. It’s hard to say right now.”
My take? I understand Hart’s caution. He’s already endured one knee surgery on that knee already, and he probably would prefer not to have to go through another one. Plus, he’s in the final year of a three-year contract and has wanted the Brewers to give him an extension as he wants to join Ryan Braun as potential “Brewers for life.”
The Brewers will not even bother offering Hart an extension if he can’t play, no matter how much heart he showed at the end of the 2012 season while continuing to play on a ruptured plantar fascia. And no matter how much heart he showed by moving, midseason, to an unfamiliar position in order to better benefit the Brewers after Mat Gamel went down with an injury.
But unless there’s something really odd on that MRI, it’s highly unlikely that Hart will be able to avoid surgery.
What I’m guessing — and mind you, it’s only a guess — that Hart wants out of this second opinion is to perhaps endure a lesser knee surgery that will allow him to heal more quickly.
The current surgical plan would cause Hart to stay completely off his knee in a non-weight bearing capacity for six full weeks after the surgery. But Hart’s a workout fiend. He’s known for it. So being completely off his knee, unable to do any weight-bearing exercises, is likely to make him stir-crazy.
And when you add in the contract issues to the whole mix, I can see why Hart would rather have someone else look at the MRI in order to see if any other course of action will bring about a good result.
However, as a Brewers fan, I’d like to see the speedy Corey Hart of old return to the basepaths. That can’t happen unless he goes through the currently planned knee surgery, rests up, and then enjoys better flexibility and range of motion in his knee and foot thereby. (I know the plantar fascia issues seem to have improved, but I won’t really know how Hart can run until he’s able to get to spring training and give it a shot. Or get into rehabilitation, go to the minors and work his way up to the majors, whichever one is doable.)
That’s why I urge Hart to err on the side of caution with regards to this surgery. I know it may mean a lesser payday in 2014 if he really can’t play until mid-May or later. I know it may mean he’ll end up with a different team entirely if the Brewers are unwilling to give him a new contract (or an extension if he really burns it up upon his return).
But I want to see him healthy again, able to run the bases with greater abandon (and without knee and foot pain, natch) and to play at his full capacity.
As great as Hart’s 2013 season was (.270 average, 30 homers and 83 RBI), I believe he will feel a whole lot better once the surgery has been completed and the rehab done. And once he feels much better, he’s likely to hit even better and maybe even make a few more All-Star teams.
Let’s just hope the Brewers have the sense to lock him up to a new multi-year deal before his stock dramatically rises, post-surgery.
Notre Dame Football and Rape Victims — Why You Should Care
There’s a scandal that’s been long a-brewing in Notre Dame . . . and no, it’s not related to star football player Manti Te’o or his fake girlfriend.
No, it’s much worse than that.
It’s about at least one rape, by at least one Notre Dame football player, that’s apparently been covered up by higher-ups at Notre Dame. It’s about that coverup, and about how the Athletic Director of Notre Dame, Jack Swarbrick, would rather discuss the Te’o situation, bizarre though that is, than the reputed sexual assault (or assaults). And it’s about the abuse of trust by Catholic priests, who are in positions of power in the Notre Dame hierarchy and are apparently much more concerned about the big money coming in via Notre Dame’s football program than any justice for rape victims.
Now, you might be asking, “Why do you keep saying ‘victims’ in this case, when only one (unnamed) football player has been implicated in the latest scandal?” Well, it’s simple. As Melinda Henneberger, herself a Notre Dame graduate, reported in the National Catholic Reporter back on March 26, 2012:
On her way back to St. Mary’s College from the University of Notre Dame, just across the street in Notre Dame, Ind., freshman Lizzy Seeberg texted her therapist that she needed to talk ASAP. “Something bad happened,” read her message, sent at 11:39 p.m. on Aug. 31, 2010. A sophomore in their dorm bolted from her study group after getting a similar message. When they talked a few minutes later, Lizzy was crying so hard she was having trouble breathing: “She looked really flushed and was breathing heavily and talking really fast; I couldn’t understand her. I just heard her say ‘boy,’ ‘Notre Dame,’ ‘football player.’ She was crying and having the closest thing to a panic attack I’ve seen in my life. I told her to breathe and sit down and tell me everything.”
Lizzy Seeberg”s story is the main one under discussion, as she reported the crime to the police. She wanted justice to be done. But then, as Henneberger’s account clearly shows, Lizzy Seeberg was pressured by various people at Notre Dame (mostly students) to drop the case.
Instead of dropping it, she committed suicide.
But Henneberger uncovered other current troubles. As she wrote later:
Lizzy wanted it to be better for the next woman. But one subsequent case, never reported until now, involved another young woman who decided that you really don’t mess with Notre Dame football. A year ago February, a female Notre Dame student who said another football player had raped her at an off-campus party told the friend who drove her to the hospital afterward that it was with Lizzy in mind that she decided against filing a complaint, that friend said.
So, did you catch that? Here another woman was raped, but did not go forward with her story because she, too, was afraid of being pressured.
Here’s another tidbit from Henneberger’s article:
One Notre Dame parent and longtime donor I interviewed, who asked that his name not be used because his daughter had reported being raped by a fellow Notre Dame student, said a top university official told him Lizzy was without question the aggressor in the situation: “She was all over the boy.”
So it’s obvious that the Notre Dame higher-ups appear to be seriously into blaming the victim. But they didn’t want to have to admit that’s what they were doing, which is why it was all innuendo, rumor and guess.
In a sense, Lizzy’s ordeal didn’t end with her death. The damage to her memory since then is arguably more of a violation than anything she reported to police — and all the more shocking because it was not done thoughtlessly, by a kid in a moment he can’t take back, but on purpose, by the very adults who heavily market the moral leadership of a Catholic institution. Notre Dame’s mission statement could not be clearer: “The university is dedicated to the pursuit and sharing of truth for its own sake.” But in this case, the university did just the opposite.
Henneberger also wrote a column for the Washington Post (her regular gig) explaining why she would not be rooting for Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship. As she put it:
It’s not only what I believe went on at that off-campus party, or in the room of the player Lizzy accused, that makes it impossible for me to support the team, though that would be enough. The problem goes deeper than that, and higher, because the man Lizzy accused had a history of behavior that should have kept him from being recruited in the first place. And as bad in my book as the actions of those young men was the determination of the considerably older men who run N.D. to keep those players on the team in an effort to win some football games.
Among those being congratulated for our return to gridiron glory is ND’s president, Rev. John Jenkins, who refused to meet with the Seeberg family on advice of counsel, and other school officials who’ve whispered misleadingly in many ears, mine included, in an attempt to protect the school’s brand by smearing a dead 19-year-old.
And that smearing was brutal. This was a young woman who volunteered her time at her local church. She was a political conservative (not that it matters). She was someone who firmly believed she should save her virginity for marriage, all according to Henneberger’s NCR report.
Yet she was called “mentally unstable.” A sexual innocent, she supposedly was “all over the boy.”
And this caricature of a young woman is something most rape victims will recognize, especially if they’ve tried to report a sexual assault at Notre Dame. According to Henneberger’s report:
In 1974, a South Bend woman who was hospitalized and then spent a month in a psychiatric facility after reporting being gang-raped by six Notre Dame football players was described by a top university administrator as “a queen of the slums with a mattress tied to her back.” No charges were filed, but the accused were suspended for a year for violating school rules. At the time, even so revered a figure as Holy Cross Fr. Theodore Hesburgh said: “We didn’t have to talk to the girl; we talked to the boys.” Hesburgh, who is 94, made that remark to Notre Dame alumnus Robert Sam Anson, who in his student days had founded the campus newspaper. Anson quoted Hesburgh in a story very much like this one, written 35 years ago.
Those who argue that, if anything, Notre Dame is too hard on its athletes regularly cite the 2002 expulsion of three players and a former player accused of gang-raping a woman, though none of them served a day in jail. But their accuser insists they were only expelled after officials failed to dissuade her from going public: “First they said, ‘No one’s going to believe you.’ ” When she went to South Bend police anyway, Notre Dame officials “treated me horribly at every opportunity. I had PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] and I was afraid they [the players] were going to come after me again, but [school officials] wouldn’t let me park my car on campus because they said that wouldn’t be fair to the other students. When I tried to make an appointment with the counseling center, they called me back and said they couldn’t see me because of pending legal matters, though the legal matter they were talking about was the state versus these four rapists.”
So the anecdotal evidence is overpowering. But you might be asking yourself, why isn’t there more of a paper trail regarding all of these various accusers? (Much less a public outcry on the level of, say, the Penn State debacle of a year ago, something the Nation’s Dave Zirin wonders about as well.)
It’s simple. The town of South Bend, Indiana, doesn’t have much in the way of industry any longer. It’s economy is dependent upon Notre Dame, and to a substantial extent, on how many fans come to see Notre Dame’s football team every year.
Because of this, there’s a motive for covering things up. There’s a motive to say, “No, that couldn’t have possibly happened here,” even when it’s obvious that something bad has happened. And it sounds like from Henneberger’s exhaustive report at the National Catholic Reporter that Notre Dame, systematically, has done its level best to silence as many rape victims as it possibly can.
And I’m not the only person to feel that way. Henneberger, in her Washington Post column, talked with Kaliegh Fields, a St. Mary’s junior who attempted to help Lizzy Seeberg back in 2010. Pay close attention to what Fields has to say, as her final question is the one that’s been perplexing me ever since I started reading about Lizzy’s plight:
“I’ve watched almost every game this season and there’s not a single time that I don’t feel extreme anger when I see [the accused] on the field,” said Kaliegh Fields, a Saint Mary’s junior who went with Lizzy to the police station. “Once I start thinking about the people who put the school’s success in a sport over the life of a young woman, I can’t help but feel disgust. Everyone’s always saying how God’s on Notre Dame’s side,” she added. “And I think, ‘How could he be?’”
So after all this, you might be wondering why you should care about what’s going on at Notre Dame besides its football program. Or besides the current scandal with regards to Manti Te’o and “did he, or did he not, know that his girlfriend wasn’t real.” Or besides the fact that this one place, South Bend, Indiana, is dependent upon Notre Dame and its football program to stay alive in these uncertain economic times.
But if you have read everything I’ve posted, and honestly cannot understand why I’m hopping mad that Lizzy Seeberg did not get justice done . . . well, as Mr. T used to say, “I pity the fool.”
And the longer I think about it, the more I agree with Dave Zirin: the Notre Dame football program should be given the NCAA’s death penalty, because there’s something wrong when life becomes far less important than football.
Even at Notre Dame.
Should Packers WR Donald Driver Start Against SF?
Earlier this evening, as I often do on Mondays, I listened to sports-talk radio on WTMJ-AM 620 out of Milwaukee, WI. The question posed by hosts Greg Matzek and Jeff Falconio (known as “the freak” and “the geek”) was this: Should Packers WR Donald Driver play against San Francisco?
And of course, as you might expect, Falconio and Matzek’s answer was that Driver should not play. Driver’s stats this year do not look good, as he’s played very few downs. With only eight receptions for 77 yards and no touchdowns, Driver has not been the same cog in the Packers offense that he was for so many years since being drafted back in 1999.
My question, therefore, is different: Should Donald Driver start against San Francisco, even knowing Driver hasn’t been able to do much this past season?
I say yes.
Before you go ballistic, hear me out. Driver’s history needs to be factored into the equation. He’s a three-time Pro Bowler with seven seasons of 1000 receiving yards or better. He’s a well-prepared professional with enough speed and smarts that it’s quite possible he can still make plays, even at his advanced football age of 37.
Yes, yes, I know that Driver only had 565 yards receiving in 2010 and 445 in 2011. I know by those numbers that he was starting to slow down, and that opposing defenses had fully adjusted to him.
Still. Driver has heart. He continues to have skills. And he can still help the Packers win — but he must be on the field and have a chance to catch the football in order for this to happen.
My thought is this: the 49ers definitely won’t be expecting Driver to start, especially as Driver was a “healthy inactive” for the playoff game versus Minnesota this past Saturday. They’ll be feverishly studying game film on the other Packers receivers — Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones and Randall Cobb — and will forget about Driver, as Driver appears at this moment to be nothing but an afterthought.
This could be a dangerous mistake.
Driver can still beat any team in the NFL if given a chance. He knows the opposing defensive players and their tendencies. He knows the opposing defensive coordinators, too, much less their tendencies. And he knows what he has to do to make plays, even though he’s gotten little opportunity to do so this past season in Green Bay.
Besides, if this is Driver’s last game with Green Bay, he should be treated with the respect he has earned due to his three Pro Bowl seasons and his seven 1000-plus yardage seasons.
That’s why I believe that Driver should start the game against San Francisco, much less play. Because I truly believe that Driver still has more to give, if only head coach Mike McCarthy will allow Driver to do so.
Suzy Favor Hamilton Outed as Vegas Call Girl
This afternoon (December 20, 2012 to be exact), news broke that Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton — one of the biggest female sports stars to ever come out of Wisconsin — has admitted to working as a high-priced call girl for a shady Las Vegas outfit called Haley Heston’s Private Collection.
Here’s a link to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s story and a relevant quote:
Suzy Favor Hamilton, a three-time Olympian who capitalized on her wholesome image as an elite runner, mother and wife to land lucrative endorsement deals and motivational speaking engagements, has admitted to leading a double life for the last year as a high-priced call girl.
In a stunning confessional via her Twitter account, following a story published on thesmokinggun.com, Favor Hamilton wrote that she was drawn to escorting “in large part because it provided many coping mechanisms for me when I was going through a very challenging time with my marriage and my life.”
The 44-year-old Favor Hamilton, a Stevens Point native and former University of Wisconsin track star, admitted to working as “Kelly Lundy” with Haley Heston’s Private Collection, one of Las Vegas’ premier escort services, in the thesmokinggun.com story.
“I do not expect people to understand,” she wrote on her Twitter account. “But the reasons for doing this made sense to me at the time and were very much related to depression.
“I have been seeking the help of a psychologist for the past few weeks and will continue to do so after I have put things together.”
What troubles me here is not just that Favor Hamilton is a married woman with a seven-year-old child, though that’s bad enough.
Nope. What bugs me is that Favor Hamilton is quoted as admitting that her husband “tried to get (her) to stop” and that he “wasn’t supportive of (her) need to do this at all.”
Which, mind you, is the way most husbands are likely to behave when it comes to thinking about their spouse being a paid escort who gave away the “full girlfriend experience” and was rated quite highly by The Erotic Review, which is called by the Smoking Gun article that the Journal-Sentinel references as “the Zagat guide of the escort business.”
So it seems that Suzy Favor Hamilton has more than a few problems here — she’s been working as an escort when she’s not destitute (her husband is employed, she owns a realty firm and they live in a $600,000 home), she’s been fighting depression for the past year or more and if her marriage isn’t in trouble because of all this, she must have the most supportive husband in the history of the universe.
While I have never understood the need for men or women to go outside their marriages, I do know that not everyone is meant to be monogamous. So for those people who have admitted open marriages and the like, I made up my mind a long time ago not to judge them even though I freely admit that I don’t get it.
So the sex part of the equation isn’t what is so very troublesome, even though I don’t really understand what would drive a high-powered woman like Favor Hamilton to go outside her marriage and have a number of risky sexual encounters for money.
It’s the lack of trust issue that bothers me more.
Favor Hamilton is someone who’s had a squeaky clean image. She’s had endorsement deals with Disney, various running firms, has been a model in more ways than one and has been someone female runners have looked up to for the past twenty years or more in Wisconsin and much of the Midwest.
So apparently, in order for her to somehow feel better about herself, she had to throw this all away and construct an alter ego of “Kelly” the escort. Who was willing to do just about anything if the price was right because she still had the body and panache and knew how to speak the high-powered language of well-heeled men in order to better separate them from their money.
Why this intelligent, beautiful woman couldn’t find herself in some other way, I just don’t know. Why would she would risk her career for this, much less her marriage? Why would she ever entertain such a thing, considering that it’s well-known that women who become prostitutes (the not-so-nice name for “call girls”) rarely retain custody of their children?
And what about the IRS audit that has to be on the horizon? Because it would be ridiculous to assume that she’s declared all of the money she’s made as a $600-per-hour escort on her tax forms.
All of this happened because Favor Hamilton apparently enjoys risky sex in extremely expensive hotel rooms with men she doesn’t really know.
This seems so off-the-wall, so uncharacteristic, and so utterly absurd that I feel like I’ve fallen into a parallel universe.
Yet it’s the truth.
Suzy Favor Hamilton, runner and Olympian, mother and realty owner, is also a call girl.
What a terribly sad thing to have happen . . . and she did it to herself.
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