Baseball Quiz: 1) Name the top ten on the all-time hit list. 2)
Name the four active players who enter the 2005 season with at
least 2600 hits. [No active player has 3,000.] Answers below.
Jose Canseco and the Steroid Flap, Part II
Well, like I said last time the former slugger is sure stirring
things up as accusations in his coming tell-all book, “Juiced:
Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got
Big,” are leaked. In fact the book is already so hyped the
publication date has been moved up a week to next Monday and
“60 Minutes” is now running its interview with Jose this coming
Sunday, Feb. 13.
Of course you don’t have to believe Mr. Canseco, a man who has
had more than his share of problems over the years. The word
“credibility,” for example, doesn’t exactly come trippingly off
the tongue when examining his past, including both on and off
the playing field.
Last chat I noted that Canseco is naming names, including Mark
McGwire, Jason Giambi, Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, and,
the biggest surprise perhaps, Rafael Palmeiro. Now the rebuttals
are coming, fast and furious.
From former Oakland A’s manager Tony La Russa, who was the
skipper when Canseco, Giambi and McGwire were teammates.
“I am absolutely certain that Mark earned his size and strength
from hard work and a disciplined lifestyle. When he was a kid in
1987, he hit 49 home runs….We detailed Mark’s workout
routine – six days a week, 12 months a year – and you could see
his size and weight gain come through really hard work, a
disciplined regimen and the proteins he took – all legal. As
opposed to the other guy, Jose, who would play around in the
gym for 10 minutes, and all of a sudden he’s bigger than
anybody.”
Former Oakland coach Dave McKay:
“I swear on a stack of Bibles, I never saw (McGwire) ever go
anywhere near anything that would have a chance of hurting his
body like a steroid. He’s a guy who’s always preaching about
health. I can’t ever dream of Mark using steroids.”
On the other hand, according to Tyler Kepner of the New York
Times, “La Russa and McKay said that Canseco would speak
openly about steroids and ignored advice to stop using them.
‘He’d say, ‘Come on, man, what are you talking about? I got the
world by the tail,’’ La Russa said. ‘Sometimes you suspected,
and then guys would deny it. Jose would make a joke of it.’”
Sandy Alderson, vice president for baseball operations of Major
League Baseball and the A’s general manager when Canseco and
McGwire played for Oakland, said he had never encountered
steroid use by any player and rarely suspected any of using them.
As Alderson told the Times’ Murray Chass:
“I never suspected Mark of using steroids. Was his growth
natural? If you go back and look at his career, he hit 49 home
runs….In his career with Oakland, he was fairly consistent with
the offense he generated.”
Now what’s funny here is that, yes, McGwire did hit 49 homers
as a rookie and he was a relatively skinny dude then. But his
career went into a tailspin and he almost left the game; only to
reinvent his body, turning himself into the 8th Wonder of the
World, and the home runs began exploding off his bat. And as
we keep repeating, McGwire was an admitted user of Andro,
now banned, and the substance I guess La Russa is referring to.
La Russa himself also needs to seriously cover his butt. This is a
guy well aware of his own image and the legacy he wants to
leave, including a plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The one that is most perplexing in this whole deal to me is Rafael
Palmeiro. This was a player, after all, whose first few full
seasons in the big leagues went like this.
1988… 580 AB…8 HR
1989… 559 AB…8
1990… 598 AB…14
1991… 631 AB…26
1992… 608 AB…22
1993… 597 AB…37
If you include the 1994 strike season where he hit 23 HR in 111
games and would have hit 30 in a full season, Palmeiro blasted at
least 30 homeruns 11 straight years, including at age 39.
Yet he isn’t muscled-up like many of the other sluggers and so I,
for one, have tended to give him the benefit of the doubt.
[Palmeiro’s career in the slugging department parallels that of
Jeff Bagwell and Sammy Sosa, to name two others who also
showed no signs early in their careers of being so prolific with
the long ball, but both of them turned into Popeye, unlike
Rafael.]
Palmeiro issued a statement the other day that read in part:
“As I have never had a personal relationship with Canseco, any
suggestion that he taught me anything, about steroid use or
otherwise, is ludicrous. We were teammates and that was the
extent of our relationship. I am saddened that he felt it necessary
to attempt to tarnish my image and that of the game I love.”
Many have been pointing to the fact that Canseco, in naming the
ballplayers he has thus far, has picked out only those who are
thought to be Hall of Fame material. If his accusations were
true, and how the heck are you going to prove many of them,
men like Palmeiro that were once thought of as ‘locks’ for the
Hall could have an exceedingly difficult time. The New York
Daily News’ Michael O’Keeffe, who broke the story last Sunday,
had a follow-up on the sentiments of some baseball writers who
have a say in who gets into the Hall and who doesn’t.
“I would not vote for any artificially inflated player – and that
includes Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Terence Moore said. “If
this is true, this is worse than the Black Sox scandal and then,
you were only talking about a few players on one team. This
affects everybody. You’re hurting guys like the Mickey Mantles
and the Babe Ruths and you’re hurting people in the game now
that are legitimate.”
The Daily News’ Bill Madden weighed in: “I’m inclined not to
vote for anyone who is documented to have taken steroids, at
least not on the first ballot, as my own silent protest. If they get
in, which most of them will, so be it, but it won’t be with my
vote.”
Another writer though, Bob Sansevere of the St. Paul Pioneer-
Press, questions whether Canseco’s book will change attitudes.
“I would have trouble changing my mind because we don’t have
any proof yet. Just because Canseco says it doesn’t make it
true.”
Finally, for now, Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell
added a different angle; whether the book will even be published.
“Canseco has gotten some rotten breaks in recent years. But he
hit the jackpot this time. He’s now got Peter Angelos, not a
homing device, attached to his ankle. The Orioles owner issued
a statement yesterday that he was willing to offer any legal
assistance that Palmeiro would need to clear his name. Memo to
Regan Books: ‘Sweetheart, get me rewrite.’”
Even were that to be the case, the damage is already done.
Reputations are being shattered left and right. Some will
undoubtedly be innocent and get dragged under regardless. But
all the players, and the lords of the game that served as
facilitators, have only themselves to blame.
Baseball’s Veterans Committee
What makes the above such a shame is it helps keep us fans from
focusing on more important items…like the Hall of Fame’s
Veterans Committee vote that is coming up March 2. A list of
25 players was compiled from various groups of baseball writers
and historians after being winnowed down from an original
grouping of 200. All eligible players in this first group had to
have played at least 10 seasons, up to and including the 1983
season. Those making the cut of 25 have been submitted to an
electorate of 85 and need to appear on 75% of the ballots to be
enshrined.
Here is the veterans’ ballot:
Dick Allen, Bobby Bonds, Ken Boyer, Rocky Colavito, Wes
Ferrell, Curt Flood, Joe Gordon, Gil Hodges, Elston Howard, Jim
Kaat, Mickey Lolich, Sparky Lyle, Marty Marion, Roger Maris,
Carl Mays, Minnie Minoso, Thurman Munson, Don Newcombe,
Tony Oliva, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre,
Maury Wills, Smoky Joe Wood.
I asked Johnny Mac to comment on the above players’ merits
and over the coming chats I’ll be including his thoughts. For
starters, J. Mac had this to say.
First, let’s get some general comments on the Hall of Fame out of
the way. The reason the Hall generates such spirited debate is
that no statistical criteria exists for enshrinement. All you need
is ten years of service and five years in retirement. It is, as Bill
James called it, the ultimate in a self-defining institution.
Question: “What is a hall of famer?” Answer: “Someone in the
hall of fame.”
Therefore, it is left to the writers and the Veterans Committee to
use their best judgment. For my money they haven’t always
lived up to that. The original intent was to honor the greats – the
real greats. The first five elected in 1936 were Ty Cobb, Babe
Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.
Not much argument there, I can safely say. My thinking has
always been if you have to ask the answer is no. Meaning that
anyone you have to think long and hard about probably doesn’t
belong. Just because the Veterans Committee lost their minds a
bit and started putting in the likes of Dave Bancroft, Freddie
Lindstrom and Eppa Rixey doesn’t mean we should continue to
vote in undeserving players simply because other undeserving
ones are in.
The least common denominator theory has never held water with
me and I will never use it as a criteria. It would be simple to
argue that Ron Santo was a better player than Lindstrom (which
he obviously was) but that fact alone doesn’t make Santo a Hall
of Famer. Heck, if being better than Lindstrom was all it took
(sorry about this Freddie, but you understand), then besides
Santo we’d be making up plaques for Graig Nettles, Ron Cey,
Ken Boyer, Matt Williams, Robin Ventura, Tim Wallach and a
host of other third baseman. So we have to rely on more sensible
criteria…is this candidate the best player not in the Hall? Or are
all other players with similar accomplishments in the Hall
already?
Another little point to make is the fact there are players who
aren’t Hall of Fame caliber who nonetheless made lasting
contributions to or had a large impact on the game. There is a
place for these guys, somewhere outside of the monicker “Hall of
Famer.” Let’s face it, Rafael Palmeiro will waltz into the Hall
with his abundant career numbers (assuming he can convince the
writers he wasn’t on steroids the whole time) even though you
can’t name one significant moment in his career. Not one. He
has had zero impact on pennant races, never did anything
memorable in a big game, made precious few all-star teams,
never finished higher than 5th in the MVP balloting, etc.
Roger Maris, on the other hand, while compiling nowhere near
Palmiero’s numbers, had a staggering impact on the game of
baseball. Jackie Robinson, for example, while undoubtedly a
great player, is not in the Hall because of his hit total.
That’s it for today. Chew on the above list and let’s see if our
opinions jive when I start rattling off the bios next time.
The Grammys
**Don’t miss it…Sunday evening…and our exclusive re-cap in
the next Bar Chat!
Albums of the Year
1958 – Henry Mancini…The Music from Peter Gunn
1959 – Frank Sinatra…Come Dance with Me
1960 – Bob Newhart…Button-Down Mind (comedy)
1961 – Judy Garland…Judy at Carnegie Hall
1962 – Vaughn Meader…The First Family (comedy)
1963 – Barbra Streisand…The Barbra Streisand Album
1964 – Stan Getz / Astrud Gilberto…Getz / Gilberto
1965 – Frank Sinatra…September of My Years
1966 – Frank Sinatra…A Man and His Music
1967 – The Beatles…Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
1968 – Glen Campbell…By the Time I Get to Phoenix
1969 – Blood, Sweat & Tears…Blood, Sweat & Tears
1970 – Simon & Garfunkel…Bridge over Troubled Waters
1971 – Carole King…Tapestry
1972 – George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan et al…
Concert for Bangladesh
1973 – Stevie Wonder…Innervisions
1974 – Stevie Wonder…Fulfillingness’ First Finale
1975 – Paul Simon…Still Crazy After All These Years
1976 – Stevie Wonder…Songs in the Key of Life
1977 – Fleetwood Mac…Rumours
1978 – Various artists…Saturday Night Fever
1979 – Bill Joel…52nd Street
1980 – Christopher Cross…Christopher Cross
1981 – John Lennon / Yoko Ono…Double Fantasy
1982 – Toto…Toto IV
1983 – Michael Jackson…Thriller
1984 – Lionel Richie…Can’t Slow Down
1985 – Phil Collins…No Jacket Required
1986 – Paul Simon…Graceland [ughh…talk about PC]
1987 – U2…The Joshua Tree [Now you’re talkin’!!!!!]
1988 – George Michael…Faith [You know he….oh, never mind]
1989 – Bonnie Rait…Nick of Time
1990 – Quincy Jones…Back on the Block
1991 – Natalie Cole…Unforgettable
1992 – Eric Clapton…Unplugged
1993 – Whitney Houston…Bodyguard
1994 – Tony Bennett…MTV Unplugged
1995 – Alanis Morissette…Jagged Little Pill
1996 – Celine Dion…Falling Into You
1997 – Bob Dylan…Time Out of Mind
1998 – Lauryn Hill…The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
1999 – Santana…Supernatural
2000 – Steely Dan…Two Against Nature
2001 – Various artists…O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2002 – Norah Jones…Come Away With Me
2003 – Outkast, Speakerboxxx…The Love Below
Stuff
–Can I get serious for a moment? Many of you may have seen
the ad put out by the Department of Homeland Security on
making a plan / putting together a kit in the event of an
emergency. It really is useful and I’ll be the first one to admit I
have become real slack the last two years or so…you know, not
refreshing the beer and Chex Mix supply, for example.
Especially for those of you with families scattered about and
needing a little guidance in coordinating things, go to
“ready.gov” and pull up some of the forms. Also, don’t forget to
spread the word on my site as you’re fleeing the territory.
–AP Men’s College Basketball
1. Illinois
2. North Carolina…plays Duke after I go to ‘post’
3. Kansas
4. Boston College…doh!…lost Tues. night to Notre Dame
5. Kentucky
6. Wake Forest
7. Duke
8. Syracuse…lost to UConn since this poll.
9. Louisville
10. Oklahoma State
And at #24, Pacific! Granted, they’ve made a few NCAA
appearances, and upset Providence just last year in a #5 vs. #12
game, but this is the first time they’ve ever been in the top 25.
–Just when I complained the college basketball season was dull,
it’s suddenly getting interesting. The ACC may be the best all-
around conference but with so many schools grouped around
.500 in league play they may not receive more than 4 or 5 bids
to the Big Dance. On the other hand, the Big East could receive
6 or 7. Don’t worry, Boston College fans. If you’re going to
slump (and I’m including the Eagles awful performance in a
victory over Seton Hall last weekend), this is the time to have
one. They’ll get hot again for the Big East tourney and beyond.
–St. John’s…the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. In losing to
Pitt Tuesday, the Redmen shot 28%, the third straight game
under 30%. If I thought two straight at 27% was a record, you
have the Bar Chat guarantee this 3-game streak is one.
–Super Bowl post-mortems:
I loved this piece of writing from the New York Times’ George
Vecsey.
“What do we do with the rest of our lives, now that the Cute One
is finished?
“I don’t know about everybody else, but for me the highlight of
the Super Bowl was Paul McCartney, who looked great for a
man who is dead. (It says so right on my well-worn vinyl record
of ‘Abbey Road.’)
“In fact, Sir Paul was the biggest winner at the game. Charlie
Weis already had his gig with Notre Dame, and everybody heard
Romeo Crennel was going to Cleveland, but after McCartney did
four of his songs on worldwide television, his CD’s leaped
toward the top of Amazon’s Movers & Shakers list. McCartney
looked so spry for an elder that any day now he will probably
signal his interest in the Knicks’ job….
“Super Bowls are so long they can be broken down into geologic
eras: Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic and Precambrian being the
four quarters. Inevitably, as in life itself, the more resourceful
mammals, that is to say, the Patriots, prevailed.”
And what to make of Donovan McNabb and Eagles coach Andy
Reid? First off, I was up a case of Yuengling Lager heading into
the Super Bowl, having beat the spread in the Steelers – Jets
game against Mark R. But I lost the spread to Mark in the Super
Bowl on double or nothing and I’m now beerless this coming
spring and summer. Anyway, enough about me.
Mark and I were talking the day after about McNabb’s play in
the final minutes of the game and we were in agreement that
Andy Reid wasn’t necessarily at fault. But then I started reading
some of the reports. As told by Ralph Vacchiano of the New
York Daily News, Reid had some of the following post-game
comments.
On why the team didn’t go into a no-huddle offense, trailing by
10 points with 5:40 to play.
“Well, you know, I’m trying to remember back on that. I put
that away a little bit,” Reid said. “But we did try to get it going.
I can’t remember. I can’t detail the circumstances why it didn’t
work as well as it should have.”
To refresh his memory, you’ll recall the Eagles huddled after
every play. They used up four minutes culminating in the
McNabb to Greg Lewis pass that made it 24-21, and by the time
the Eagles got the ball back one last time they had it on their 4-
yard line with 46 seconds to go.
Reid also didn’t manage the clock well at the end of the first half
when the Eagles had the ball with 1:10 remaining and all three
timeouts. He didn’t use the first timeout until there were 10
seconds left. Asked about this move Reid said, “I don’t
remember that at all, to be honest with you.”
Vacchiano brings up the point that the Eagles only attempted six
rushing plays in the second half. Reid: “I need to go back and
kind of reevaluate what I was doing from the play-calling
standpoint.”
Remember a few weeks ago when I talked about this article in
Sports Illustrated discussing how hard NFL coaches work; their
18 hour / 7 days a week jobs? Remember how I said for most of
them the so-called preparation doesn’t seem to have mattered,
witness the New York Jets awful clock management all season
long? I think I’ve just proved my point.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve never seen more lousy
coaching in my life than I have the past two or three seasons.
Just fundamentally poor coaching. And these guys are working
18 hours a day? For what purpose? Geezuz, go home early and
pet the dog or something. And get one of those Sports Illustrated
“How to…” books on coaching while you’re at it.
And back to Donovan McNabb, I don’t buy this ‘he was sick’
crap, as if that’s the excuse. The guy blew it and simply isn’t a
big game quarterback. He’s a choke artist.
Tom Brady? Man, there’s a winner, pure and simple.
Finally, Johnny Mac brings up the good point that if the Eagles
hadn’t beaten the spread there would have been some serious
rioting in the city. “In fact, a more cynical man than me might
opine that the Eagles seemed more concerned with covering than
actually winning the game.”
–Aaghh! A 3-foot alligator was found in a box in front of a
Bethpage, Long Island home Tuesday. Someone rang the
doorbell of a known ‘friend to wounded animals’ and deposited
the freezing gator on the guy’s stoop. You always make fun of
my paranoia when it comes to picking up the morning paper…
now I have another reason to be fearful.
–Wing Bowl follow-up: I commented last time on this event
held last Friday in Philadelphia…a mob scene of 20,000 packed
into the Wachovia Center. But I may not have made it clear just
what a horror show this is. Don’t get me wrong…if I was 24 and
lived in the area I’d probably attend, but two of my friends
perhaps summed up the atmosphere perfectly.
Mark R: “If you liked Wing Bowl you would have loved the
Coliseum…except if you were a Christian.”
Johnny Mac: “The only noticeable difference between this thing
and a pack of rabid hyenas devouring a wildebeest carcass is the
hyenas have slightly better table manners.”
–The 1972 film “Deep Throat” is being re-released. The
original, made in six days for $25,000, has grossed over $600
million. For those of you who are younger, “Deep Throat” is the
story of the Smith Brothers cough drop empire.
–According to the Ashikaga Institute of Technology, the
optimum time to take a bath is two hours before hitting the
pillow…or 90 minutes after dinner. This is alleged to cut the
time it takes to fall asleep from 30 minutes to 15 minutes.
[Clearly, the subjects have never had to try falling asleep after a
disappointing loss by one’s favorite sports team.] What the
research boils down to, though, is a three-and-a-half-hour dinner-
bath-bed routine that leads to one feeling fresher in the morning.
[South China Morning Post]
Sleep tips….another free feature of Bar Chat.
–The great thing about rock & roll, aside from the music itself, is
some of the history of it all. Like take March 1963. Picture the
Beatles opening for Tommy Roe and Chris Montez. Chris
Montez? He was a Richie Valens protégé who had a few top 40s
in the early to mid-60s. Specifically:
#4 – Let’s Dance…9/62….not a favorite of mine, hasn’t aged
well
#22 – Call Me…2/66
#16 – The More I See You…5/66
#33 – There Will Never Be Another You…9/66
#36 – Time After Time…12/66
And then it was over. One of Montez’s problems was all his
songs started to sound the same. But here’s a tip, guys, for
Valentine’s Day. Pull up the lyrics to “The More I See You” and
stick it in a card or something. Better yet, find your Chris
Montez Greatest Hits CD…just like I’m trying to do in the home
office of StocksandNews. Later, thank your editor. Heck, I’ll
even save you some time.
The More I See You
The more I see you, the more I want you
Somehow this feeling, just grows and grows
With every sigh I become more mad about you
More lost without you, and so it goes
Can you imagine, how much I love you?
The more I see you, as years go by
I know the only one for me can only be you
My arms won’t free you, my heart won’t try
[Instrumental interlude…dance around the restaurant, on the bed,
in the hot tub, whatever…while singing….]
La la la la la……la la la la la
La la la la la……la la la laaaaaaaa
La la la laaaaa laaaaa la la la la la
La la la la la……la la la laaaaaaaa
Can you imagine, how much I love you?
The more I see you, as years go by
I know the only one for me can only be you
My arms won’t free you, my heart won’t try
[Altogether now…]
La la la la la……..la la la la la
La la la la la……..la la la laaaaaaaa
La la la laaaaa laaaaaa la la la la la
La la la la la……..la la la laaaaaaaa
[Fade out….grab another beer, glass of wine, whatever….]
—
Top 3 songs for the week of 2/14/76: #1 “50 Ways To Leave
Your Lover” (Paul Simon) #2 “Love To Love You Baby”
(Donna Summer….uhhh) #3 “You Sexy Thing” (Hot Chocolate)
*Keith Knudsen, longtime drummer for the Doobie Brothers,
died at the age of 56. As Harry K. said, “I often wonder what the
correlation is between early death for rock stars and their heavy
cocaine consumption in the 70s and 80s. Likely 90%+.”
**And Merle Kilgore passed away at the age of 70. Kilgore co-
wrote the Johnny Cash 1963 hit “Ring of Fire” with June Carter,
as well as a #1, “More and More,” for Webb Pierce (1954).
Kilgore also managed Hank Williams Jr.’s career.
But back to “Ring of Fire,” the real story, according to Johnny
and June (who married afterwards) was that Kilgore had little to
do with the song and Johnny would get upset when Kilgore
claimed credit.
Baseball Quiz Answers:
All-time Hits
1. Pete Rose…4256
2. Ty Cobb…4189
3. Hank Aaron…3771
4. Stan Musial…3630
5. Tris Speaker…3514
6. Honus Wagner…3420
7. Carl Yastrzemski…3419
8. Paul Molitor…3319
9. Eddie Collins…3315 (1906-1930)
10. Willie Mays…3283
Active Players
Rafael Palmeiro…2922
Barry Bonds…2730
Roberto Alomar…2724
Craig Biggio…2639
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
**Goodness gracious…I got so caught up on the steroids deal
that I forgot to mention the significance of 750, as I said I
would in the last chat. I”ll get to it next time.
