Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Santo Snubbed Again By HoF

Once again, the $^%$#@! Baseball Hall of Fame failed to recognize Ron Santo, who fell 9 votes short this time around. Waxing America has been obsessed with the Hall's failure to elect Santo, or Minnie Minoso, or Gil Hodges.

Here are the 64 Hall members who voted; 48 votes were needed.  If you know any of these guys, let'em know what to do next time.

Hank Aaron     Orlando Cepeda     Al Kaline     Eddie Murray     Red Schoendienst  Sparky Anderson     Bobby Doerr     George Kell     Stan Musial     Tom Seaver   Luis Aparicio     Dennis Eckersley     Harmon Killebrew     Phil Niekro     Ozzie Smith   Ernie Banks     Bob Feller     Ralph Kiner     Jim Palmer     Duke Snider Johnny Bench     Rollie Fingers  Sandy Koufax     Tony Perez     Bruce Sutter Yogi Berra     Carlton Fisk    Tommy Lasorda     Gaylord Perry     Don Sutton   Wade Boggs 
   Whitey Ford     Lee MacPhail     Cal Ripken Jr.     Earl Weaver  George Brett     Bob Gibson     Juan Marichal     Robin Roberts     Billy Williams
Lou Brock     Goose Gossage     Willie Mays     Brooks Robinson 
   Dick Williams  Jim Bunning     Tony Gwynn     Bill Mazeroski     Frank Robinson  Dave Winfield  Rod Carew     Monte Irvin     Willie McCovey     Nolan Ryan     Robin Yount  Steve Carlton     Reggie Jackson     Paul Molitor     Ryne Sandberg     Carl Yastrzemski   Gary Carter   
 Fergie Jenkins  Joe Morgan     Mike Schmidt    

As for me, my comment is still the same as it was in February, 2007, when Santo missed by 5 votes:  Feh.

- Barry Orton

Herb Score and Preacher Roe - Line Drives and Spit Balls.

Tuesday, two great idols of my youth passed away. Herb Score, the Cleveland Indian pitcher who received that horrid line drive off the bat of Gil McDougald died at the age of 75. It was unusual for a White Sox fan of eleven to admire an opposing pitcher who could break into the majors and routinely strike out 8 or 9 a game but Score was something special.

He never recovered from that line drive to pitch in the majors other than as a journeyman, but he succeeded as a great sportsman. After his active career ended he spent close to thirty five years in the Indians broadcast booth, never expressing anger or remorse over the baseball injury or an automobile accident that almost cost him life.

Score broke in with Cleveland in 1955, when major league teams played 152 games and promptly won 16 games while striking out a major league leading 245 in only 227 innings.  The following year he was 20-9 ,while he struck out 263.

I searched for that devastating picture of Score's battered swollen face but could not find it. For some reason, as horrid and uncomfortable as it made me feel, it was a reminder of our love of the game.

Preacher Roe was special, as were all of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950's. After all, to love the Dodgers was to hate the Yankees. Roe spent seven seasons with the Dodgers appearing in three World Series, all against the Yankees.   His best year was 1951, when he went 22-3.

You had to be a fan of a guy named Elwin by his mother, but called 'Preacher.' Actually he was a schoolteacher.

More importantly, he manged to throw the banned spitball. Through the years, there is one part of cheating in baseball I truly admire.  It is the spitball. Sorry, kids.

There is something about pitchers, craftily using nail files, bottle caps, or hair gel, as Roe was alleged to have done, that I respect, as they attempt to use cunning and deceit to defeat the thug with the club.  

Cubs' Zambrano No Hits Astros.

I just got home from Miller Park still feeling the thrill of Carlos Zambrano's 5-0 no hit victory over the Houston Astros in Milwaukee's Miller Park. The experience was electrifying and for personal live sporting thrills, I put it up there with the White Sox World Series game one in 2005, the Badger Rose Bowl victory in 1994, and the Badgers clinching the Big Ten basketball championship in 2003.

When Astros' leadoff hitter Darin Erstad, with two outs in the ninth inning, swung at his third strike, clearly a ball, low and away, the crowd of 23,000 erupted. Total strangers were hugging each other, the woman behind me was crying.

We had seven tickets behind home plate.  

Saturday night I was driving back from Wausau listening to Chicago's  WGN radio.  The station's sports director  informed the audience that two of the games rained out by hurricane Ike were to be played in Miller Park on Sunday night and Monday afternoon.

The Astros were not happy about the situation. Their stadium was playable, but Commissioner Bud Selig did not feel it appropriate to play in a city in chaos dealing with the aftermath of hurricane Ike.

I called Bill Kessler and he too was determined to attend Sunday night's game.

He went on line, while watching the Badgers play Fresno State, but could not find any site for ticket purchases.

I called my cousin Audrey. Last summer we discussed meeting at Miller Park for a ball game. She and her husband Walter had never been to the Brewers' home. We agreed it would be great to not only see a game at Miller Park but a Cub-Astro game to boot.

By this time WGN was reporting that tickets were available on line at the Brewers' website.

Bill and I conferred again and decided to buy seven tickets.

Sunday morning we started making phone calls. We called about a dozen friends. Dave Zweifel, editor emeritus of The Capital Times, fresh in from the LA red eye having attended the Badger game in Fresno already had tickets. So did our friend, Lenny Mattioli, another long suffering and tormented Cub fan. Len was taking his wife to Milwaukee.

By noon all the tickets were spoken for except one. Then Jim Anixter, The Pink Hat Guy, my high school classmate and softball teammate called to claim the last ticket. We would meet in front of the Hank Aaron statue.

Sunday, before a single pitch was thrown, was like having a free extra day added to our lives. When the the Angels and Indians were snowed out of Cleveland, I went to their April 9,2007 game played at Miller Park. Every ball game is exhilarating, no matter the time of year, the ballpark, or the teams.

There is something special about a game rescheduled on short notice shifted to a different ballpark.

It is like your birthday, the holidays and a canceled day of school rolled into one. There are no troubles, no worries, just the feeling that you were blessed with a most cherished gift. An extra baseball game. To add to the spontaneity was the opportunity to pick up great seats on short notice.

Most of us have seen games with no hitters through three innings. I was keeping score and the line was clean.

By the fifth inning the game was getting interesting. The Cubs four run third inning had the crowd electrified and Zambrano's pitching was strong. 

When he struck out two batters in the sixth and got Erstad to ground out 6-3, the excitement captured even the most cynical fans. Including me.

I was still calm in the eight. It was scary when Geoff Blum hit a sharp liner to right that required Mark DeRosa to chase it down on the run.

When Carlos Zambrano came out to pitch the ninth we were all on our feet. At this point I was captured in the moment. As I watched Zambrano, I realized that if the no hitter ended, I would feel bad for not witnessing history, but I would feel even worse for Zambrano who had pitched so well and deserved the honor.

There was joy among Cub fans and baseball fans all over the world, and especially in Milwaukee, which was the home of neither team.

Hurricane Ike killed dozens of people, caused billions of dollars in damage, and left thousands homeless. If the Houston Astros and the people of that city wanted to play their game at home, there was no reason to question the appropriateness of their decision.

Once again, as with his embarrassing decree that the resulted in the 2002 All-Star Game ending a tie, Bud Selig managed to blow a call with major consequences.

2008 will long be remembered as the year of the devastating hurricane that slammed Houston, major league baseball, and created an improbable set of events that led to the Cubs getting a game at Wrigley Field "North" and the first no-hitter thrown in a ball park that was home to neither team.

Quality of Waxing America Readership Declines; Reds Everywhere

Sunday I posted on bicycling, Weekend Bicycling Report July 27, 2008 and Skippy, with obviously too much time on his hands, left a comment:

Where is your smartass poll about the Brewers melting down, now that they are a game out of first? You loved rubbing it in when they were having a rough patch, but dont mention them when they start to rock and roll...

Not one to admit mistakes, are you, you smug commie piece of...

Recall that on June 13th I posted a poll asking readers:

It is time for the Brewers to:

• Panic 8.5%
• Get a new manager 19.4%
• Stay calm; it is a young team, they will settle down. 37.6%
• Trade Weeks and maybe Hall and Hardy for some pitching 9.1%
• Build a new team around Fielder and Braun 6.1%
• Become a Cub fan 24.8%

The Brewers did make a trade for some pitching though they managed to hang on to Weeks, Hall and Hardy.

Now what I want to know is what does the poll, (yes the Cub offering was smartass), have to do with being a commie? It appears that the political dialog has sunk so low that it even would shame Joe McCarthy. After all, if in the 1950's one were to root for Cincinnati rather than Cleveland or the Yankees, they would not be called a red.

MLB All Star Game. The Dumbest Game.

The All Star game was the brainchild of Chicago Tribune sportswriter Arch Ward, who saw his dream come to fruition when, on July 6, 1933, those who went to Comiskey Park saw  the most glittering assemblage of ball playing talent ever brought together on the diamond at one time.”

The game is a waste of time. I was fortunate to see the game that never ended in Miller Park in 2002. Another brilliant Selig contribution to the sport.

• Pitchers are limited to two innings or 50 pitches since everyone knows their arms are more valuable in regular season play.
• The selection of the players is a joke. Ever since Cincinnati stuffed the ballot box in 1957 sending the likes of third baseman Don Hoak and outfielders Gus Bell and Wally Post, mistakes continue to be made - by fans and managers alike.
• For the last twenty years, the lineups were riddled with players using juice who cannot field, which is 128% of the game.
• No one makes a sincere effort to win.
• The one time a player did go all out, it was that idiot Pete Rose forgetting that he did not have a bet on the game.  He ended the career of Indians catcher Ray Fosse with a slide that belonged in Arena Football.
• In 1945, World War II and the absence of quality players cancelled the game.
• Get the hint?
• Oh, save the Home Run Derby.

Instant Replay: The End of Major League Baseball as We Know It

It looks like instant replay in major league baseball games is a forgone conclusion and it will be here by August.

The beauty of the game is the human element. The game has rules here were meant to be followed,  (unless you can break them),  but it also allows for judgment, cunning, and conniving.

The spitball is illegal but great pitchers work feverishly to find ways to doctor the ball. At least I hope they do.

It is illegal to steal signs but the runner on second is doing his best to relay the catcher's signal to the batter.

Any outfielder worth his salt always makes the catch of the sinking line drive by rolling over and raising his glove triumphantly. It does not matter if he trapped the ball. It does not matter that the replay shows he trapped the ball. What is important is the success of the deception at that moment so that the umpire calls the batter out.

The deception does not stop on defense. Credit the batter who trots confidently to first base in an effort to convince the umpire that the last pitch was either ball four or perhaps had hit him.

It is the pitcher walking off the mound in an effort to convince the same umpire that the last pitch was strike three.

Umpires falling victim to these tricks are as much a part of the game as are their most infamous calls. The game is meaningless without the failure on the umpire to call fan interference when Steve Bartman reached for the foul ball.

That may have been the correct call but we all appreciate the umpire's horrible call that gave Derek Jeter a home run in game 1 of the 1996 American League playoffs.

 

Umpires' mistakes like home runs that appear to wrap around the foul pole or calling out runners who clearly beat the throw home are part of the game.

I can see it now. It is the top of the 5th inning and the clean up batter has a 3-2 count with two outs and the bases loaded. The batter takes the pitch and the umpire calls it a strike as the ball drifts outside. The batter drags his bat muttering under his breath something about the umpire's relatives and suddenly the arm goes up to the sky and Dave Ortiz  is summarily tossed from the game.

Instant replay shows the pitch was a ball, the batter is given first base and reinstated into the game.

Instant replay will end the game as we know it. First they will only use it for select plays such as the home run or the play at the plate. Eventually it will be used for calling balls and strikes. Finally the game will be perfected when the umpires are replaced by lasers, a gps, and microchips.

There are two problems with the game today. It takes too long and the expensive hot dogs stink. The instant replay will lengthen the time of the game, increase the price of the hot dog, and do nothing to improve its taste.

Phooey.

Cubs, White Sox Top Divisions; New York Laggards

As the major league baseball season approaches the one third mark, I take delight in noting the positions of the two Chicago and two New York teams. Gloating is bad manners and bad form, not to mention bad taste, but we are talking about the dismal performance of the Yankees in particular.

Impossible to resist.

As we enter Memorial Day, the White Sox with a modest payroll of $121 million  lead the American League Central while the Cubbies are tied with St. Louis with respective payrolls of $118.4 million and $100 million.

The fun really begins in the National East. The Mets ($137.8 million) are  two games under .500 and 5 1/2 games behind the league leading Florida Marlins who shelled out $22 million for a collective of misfits, having traded away one of the finest young stars in the game, Miguel Cabrera, during  the off season, to the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers have a salary in excess of  $137 million and are in last place.

The New York glee does not stop in Flushing Meadows but extends to the Bronx. Checking in at .500 and five games behind the Tampa Bay Rays are the Yankees. The Yankees are presently shelling out $209 million for a mediocre season while the Tampa Bay crew is sharing $44 million, or less than one quarter of the Yankee booty.

It is a long summer. Experience shows up in July and August, and deep pockets can always acquire additional players before the trading deadline. For now, I enjoy the season and look forward to Andy Sonnanstine's seventh win (salary $395,000)  while Andy Pettitte and Carl Pavano (the later on the DL) combine for four wins and $55 million. O.K. That is not fair. Let's throw in Kyle Farnsworth with a salary of $17 million, almost as large as the Marlins.

Milwaukee Brewers Meltdown

The Milwaukee Brewers are in trouble.  The meltdown that occurred in Thursday's 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth inning speaks volumes.

The lead off home run Ben Sheets gave up to Andruw Jones was not a major concern. Sheets was pitching well and pitched well to both Andre Ethier and veteran Jeff Kent, despite the latter's home run.

Then came the meltdown.

Left handed first baseman James Loney sliced an outside pitch to left field. Young Ryan Braun made a diving attempt to catch the ball. It got by him. With experience Braun will not make that mistake. No matter how he played the ball, with no runners on base, the first rule is to not let the ball get by him. Instead of one out and a runner on first , the runner was on third.

Then Ben Sheets came unglued. The three run homer run to Dodger backup catcher Gary Bennett, who was hitting .118 at the time, with no  RBI's this season, was his undoing.

These kind of collapses are mental and emotional and that is the responsibility of the manager. 

When Braun saw his pitcher down two-zip, despite pitching a fine game, he overplayed a ball. Understandable.

The Ben Sheets collapse is inexcusable.

When I have the stomach for it we can discuss the double switch in the sixth inning which resulted in taking out Hart.

And don't even get me started on Eric Gagne.

Best. Prank. Ever.

You might have seen news coverage of one of the pranks from the Improv Everywhere group, which calls their events "missions" and their participants "agents."  They are best known for having 200 "agents" freeze in place for five minutes in rush-hour Grand Central Station in New York, although their annual "No Pants! Subway Ride" drew 2000 people to ride pantsless in 10 cities, with 900 in New York alone. Of course, there is video.

They've outdone themselves recently, with agents turning a normal Hermosa Beach, California Little League baseball game in progress into an major-league level extravaganza, complete with Goodyear blimp, peanut vendors, and autograph-seeking fans.  The joy of watching the surprised kids and parents at the Best Game Ever has made me an Improv Everywhere fan for life.

Why is there not a chapter of this wonderful madness in Madison?

-Barry Orton

A Plague on the House that Ruth Built

The Report To The Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation Into The Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball is available for your reading pleasure.  After a while it becomes repetitious and it repeats itself as the title might suggest.

It is clear that this kind of shenanigans could not go on without the complicity of everyone associated with the game - owners, managers, general managers, players, and, of course, the press that covered the sport.

Screw all of them.

If a single one of the accused players ever ends up in the Hall of Fame, they should step aside and defer to the induction of a player worthy of recognition, Shoeless Joe Jackson.

I take comfort that some of the most notable and biggest, in terms of abuse, salary, and girth, of the named players were New York Yankees.