Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Baseball Hall of Fame Fails Yet Again: Votes In Management Icon, Not Labor Pioneer

How many times will the Baseball Hall of Fame fail? This week they voted in Pat Gillick, who was the GM for Toronto, Baltimore, Seattle, and Philadelphia, but not Marvin Miller, who led the players union to free agency and made its members rich.  Miller lost by one vote.  It was the fifth time he was not elected. Miller, never at a loss for words, did not take the results quietly:

Many years ago those who control the Hall decided to rewrite history instead of recording it. The aim was to eradicate the history of the tremendous impact of the players' union on the progress and development of the game as a competitive sport, as entertainment and as an industry. The union was the moving force in bringing Major League Baseball from the 19th century to the 21st century. It brought about expansion of the game to cities that had never had a Major League team. It brought about more than a 50 percent increase in the number of people employed as players, coaches, trainers, managers, club presidents, attorneys and other support personnel, employees of concessionaires, stadium maintenance personnel, parking lot attendants, and more. It converted a salary structure from one with a $6,000 a year minimum salary to a $414,000 a year salary from the first day of a player's Major League service. The union was also the moving force for changing the average Major League salary from $19,000 a year to more than $3 million a year, and the top salary from $100,000 to more than $25 million a year. The union was a major factor in increasing the annual revenue of all Major League clubs, combined -- from $50 million a year before the union started in 1966 to this year's almost $7 billion a year. That is a difficult record to eradicate -- and the Hall has failed to do it.

A long time ago, it became apparent that the Hall sought to bury me long before my time, as a metaphor for burying the union and eradicating its real influence. Its failure is exemplified by the fact that I and the union of players have received far more support, publicity, and appreciation from countless fans, former players, writers, scholars, experts in labor management relations, than if the Hall had not embarked on its futile and fraudulent attempt to rewrite history. It is an amusing anomaly that the Hall of Fame has made me famous by keeping me out.

At least they didn't elect George Steinbrenner.

The others that were denied include: Vida Blue, Dave Concepcion, Steve Garvey, Ron Guidry, Tommy John, Billy Martin, Al Oliver, Ted Simmons and Rusty Staub. All the details are here. I could make a case for Concepcion, John, Oliver, and Staub. But first: Marvin Miller, Ron Santo, and Minnie Minoso.

(BTW, info on Santo's funeral and visitation is here.  The funeral should be covered live at 10 am on Friday on WGN radio and TV.)

- Barry Orton

Ron Santo Dies; Baseball Fans Mourn and Shame On The Hall Of Fame

Ron Santo died yesterday after falling into a coma on Wednesday.  He recently suffered from bladder cancer along with the effects of his lifelong case of Type I diabetes. Waxing America has been arguing Santo's case for the Hall of Fame for years, along with that of Minnie Minoso.

Keith Olbermann is pissed:

It should go without saying that the true tragedy is the death of Ron Santo at the age of 70 after a brave and inspirational fight against diabetes and the amputations of both legs it necessitated.

But beyond the mourning of this day, is the shame of this day. The Cubs' great third baseman is not in the Hall of Fame, and symbolizes that all-too-large group of players ranging from 19th Century stars to Gil Hodges to Buck O'Neil to Dale Murphy who are, by any means, considerably better than a huge percentage of those already in Cooperstown, but who are still excluded due to the enduringly searing reality that the Hall has never gone more than two years without one of its groups of electors screwing something up.

Bleed Cubbie Blue proprietor Al Yelon reflects the thoughts of many of us:

...I say with no hesitation that I admired Ron Santo for his play when I was young, and then again for the way he faced life's adversities. The Yiddish word for this kind of person is "mensch." Ron Santo was, without a doubt, a mensch, a wonderful human being.

...There is absolutely no question that Ron Santo should have been inducted into the Hall of Fame a very long time ago. He is one of the five or six best third basemen in baseball history. Santo mentioned many times that he did not want to go into the Hall posthumously, and I hope the Hall voters now respect his wishes.

They ought to be ashamed, every one of them, for not giving this good man and great player this honor while he was still among us.

May Ron Santo's memory be for a blessing to his family, friends and many many fans. He was a mensch.

- Barry Orton

Happy happy, joy joy, Yankees close out season in defeat to modest Texas Rangers

It is no secret how I feel about the New York Yankees.

It was not enjoyable watching the Yankees head towards the American League playoffs as the season closed out, though I did take comfort in their poor September performance. After the Bronx entry in the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs crushed the Minnesota Twins, the prospects of another Yankee appearance in the World Series loomed large.

My hope for Yankee elimination dimmed when the Rangers blew a 5-1 lead in the first game of the American League championship Series.

Thankfully the Rangers got it together and not only defeated the Yankees, but humiliated them in the process.

The Rangers opening day payroll was 27th at $55,250,545, the SF Giants were 10th at $97,828,833.

The Yankees were tops of course at $206,333,389, almost 50% more than  the payroll of the 3rd ranked Chicago Cubs, who cannot win no matter what they try.

There is justice.

Dollars spent per regular season win:

Yankees $2,172,000

Rangers:  $614,000

Cubs: $1,958,000 (sorry Zweifel)

Shattered Maple Bat Impales Cub; MLB Ignores Solutions

It's one of those wince-inducing clips:  Promising Cubs rookie Tyler Colvin gets hit with a bat shard while on third base.  The sharp end actually punctured his chest wall, but he still scored before being helped off the field. Colvin's done for the rest of the season, but will be all right.

It looks like there are plenty of options to lower the risks, including Rockbats, developed from research at Madison's Forest Products Lab, but Major League Baseball still has its head in the sand.

(Speaking of heads in the sand regarding sports risks, the issue of serious brain trauma from repeated hits in football, including levels below the pros, isn't going away.)

MLB has pulled the clip from YouTube, but you can see it here.

- Barry Orton

 

Time to Fire Ozzie Guillen, Again; Help Needed for White Sox

As my Chicago White Sox spin further into the American League Central cellar, Ozzie GUillen continues to demonstrate he is unfit to manage,

 After vigorously defending hitting coach Greg Walker, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen took another shot at his batters Saturday as a lack of offense led to another frustrating loss

As I noted in Hating the Damn Yankees and Other Thoughtful Observations:

Nothing need be said about my Chicago White Sox other than Ozzie Guillen is the most over-rated manager in baseball and should have been fired long ago. The White Sox won the World Series despite Guillen, not because of him.

 

Baseball Hall of Fame Blows Another Call

Voting Andre Dawson into the Baseball Hall of Fame was the right call.  Putting a Montreal Expos cap on his official plaque: Fail.

Dawson wanted to commemorate his happy career as a Chicago Cub:

Dawson famously signed a blank free-agent contract with the Cubs during spring training of 1987. Cubs general manager Dallas Green filled in the contract with a modest $500,000 figure for the 1977 NL Rookie of the Year.

... "It was just a matter, for me, of going somewhere that I knew I would enjoy the game and be a little more respected from a management standpoint. I couldn't have picked a better place. I always loved daytime baseball and I always enjoyed playing in Wrigley Field."

Dawson had made it clear earlier this month...that he preferred going into the Hall of Fame on July 25 in Cooperstown, N.Y., as a Cub.

Class move, HoF.

- Barry Orton

Mark McGwire, Steroids, the Hall of Fame, and the Baseball Establishment

I love baseball. I love going to games with friends, with my kids, and when I traveled I went to games by myself.

Last night I listened to some young sportcaster who wasn't born when Nolan Ryan threw his first no-hitter. He said there was always cheating in the game, elevating the illegal spit ball or stealing signs to the use of steroids.

Sorry, doctoring the ball is part of the game just as is the sign stealing. Steroid use is a sacrilege. In 1953 pitch-by-pitch I saw my White Sox fill the bases and then light hitting catcher Sherm Lollar hit a grand slam home run to beat the Boston Red Sox. That was my first game. I think of Dad and I think of that game. I remember that game and I think of Dad.

There were summer days hanging out by the Piccadilly Hotel or the Del Prado Hotel, asking Nellie Fox and Billy Pierce to sign my autograph book, or chasing Yogi Berra and Gil McDougal, and taunting Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford.

There was the infamous Cub playoff game where one foul ball unraveled an entire team. That game was not about a zealous fan, one of millions over a century who leaned over the railing some in foul territory, some in fair territory, who gave batters another chance or maybe even a home run. That foul ball was about the culture of the sport. It is part of the game.

The culture and the love of the game is enhanced by fans for generations who saw Ty Cobb, Mickey, Hornsby, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Ryan, Ernie Banks and argued their merits and compared their statistics.

Then came the steroids.

An entire generation of players soiled, the sport ruined. It is now impossible to tell just how good Mark McGwire was. And it is impossible to tell how good was the generation who played with him - both the users and the nonusers. Some where out there is a hitter who averaged twenty how runs over seven or eight  years who may well have been the best hitter of his generation.

There is no forgiving Mark McGwire. All of the apologies in the world does not undo the damage.

There is no forgiving the owners, the commissioners, and the baseball executives whose conspiracy of silence destroyed the game.

If the fans could see what was happening from the deep right field bleachers, it was not unreasonable to expect the insiders to see in the locker room.

Spit ball pitchers and sign stealers belong in the Hall of Fame; steroid users do not. If you cannot see the difference, you do not understand the game.

Finally, The Baseball Hall of Fame Gets One Right

Andre Dawson was the only player voted into the Hall this year. Waxing America called it, but we're surprised that Burt Blyleven didn't make the cut: he missed by five votes. Roberto Alomar also missed by a whisker-thin eight votes.  Mark McGuire didn't come close.

The totals:

Andre Dawson 420 (77.9%), Bert Blyleven 400 (74.2%), Roberto Alomar 397 (73.7%), Jack Morris 282 (52.3%), Barry Larkin 278 (51.6%), Lee Smith 255 (47.3%), Edgar Martinez 195 (36.2%), Tim Raines 164 (30.4%), Mark McGwire 128 (23.7%), Alan Trammell 121 (22.4%), Fred McGriff 116 (21.5%), Don Mattingly 87 (16.1%), Dave Parker 82 (15.2%), Dale Murphy 63 (11.7%), Harold Baines 33 (6.1%), Andres Galarraga 22 (4.1%), Robin Ventura 7 (1.3%), Ellis Burks 2 (0.4%), Eric Karros 2 (0.4%), Kevin Appier 1 (0.2%), Pat Hentgen 1 (0.2%), David Segui 1 (0.2%), Mike Jackson 0, Ray Lankford 0, Shane Reynolds 0, Todd Zeile 0.

- Barry Orton

Perplexing Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot Released

The 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is out, and to be elected, a player needs to be listed on 75% of the ballots, which are only cast by members of the Baseball (sports)Writers Association of America. Those eligible are:

Roberto Alomar, Kevin Appier, Harold Baines, Bert Blyleven, Ellis Burks, Andre Dawson, Andres Galarraga, Pat Hentgen, Mike Jackson, Eric Karros, Ray Lankford,  Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Shane Reynolds, David Segui, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Robin Ventura, Todd Zeile.

We're perplexed by this list.  Todd Ziele?  David Segui?  Pat Hengten?  Kevin Appier?  Really?

Ande Dawson and Bert Blyleven came close last year, and deserve election in Waxing America's opinion.  Roberto Alomar's solid career in Toronto needs more recognition, and some will argue for Don Mattingly, although he was a Yankee and therefore tainted by Steinbrenner.

The only other player on the list with solid HoF credentials: Tim Raines. He could fly around the bases and cover the entire outfield by himself. A feared leadoff hitter.  Another guy whose accomplishments were largely hidden under the dimmer media light of baseball played in Canada.

Mark McGuire?  Channeling Paul: "Phooey."

- Barry Orton

Yankess Win 27th World Championship

You bet I'm bitter. There were twenty-nine other teams. If any of them won the World Series, it would be an improvement over the Yankees.

Phooey.

What did you expect today? Something about Obama?