Over at Yahoo, they did a piece called, "America's Ten Worst Cities to be a Sports Fan." Of course, the headline on the main page was accompanied by a picture of a fan sitting in the stands with a paper bag over his head, something that has been done so many times by now that it should be considered the Madonna of sports cliches, topped only by (maybe) that silly "DE-" and then the picture of a fence which apparently has been mandated by law to be featured at every professional and college football game in the country.
I mean, really. The bag over the head thing was funny and original back in the seventies when poor, beleaguered New Orleans Saints fans were doing it, but where has the originality gone? Archie Manning's kids are now playing in the NFL; can't we find a new way to show our disgust with the home team?
Anyway, in this article at Yahoo, the author "compared the latest median household income figures from the Census Bureau to the Fan Cost Index for each team compiled by Team Marketing...Those ratios were then compared to team performance, with regular season won-lost records and playoff outcomes combined for all teams in a given city."
Got all that?
No? Me neither, although their fancy formula determined that the city of Miami is currently the worst place to be a professional sports fan in America, so it must have something going for it. Undoubtedly Cam Cameron wouldn't argue with that assessment; not after going 1-15 in his only season as head coach of the Dolphins.
But, really, as sports fans, arent we all accustomed to failure? If you follow teams in any of the four so-called major professional sports - baseball, football, basketball and hockey - which is what Yahoo's writers considered in their analysis, then you can't really be completely happy with your team's season unless they won their league's championship, right? And you can throw college football and Nascar into the mix, too, since they have championships of their own.
The team almost universally considered to be the most successful ever, with the longest and most storied history, would be the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. They've won an astonishing 26 world championships since 1900, nearly triple the number won by the next-most-successful team, the St. Louis Cardinals.
Impressive numbers, until you consider the fact that by winning 26 times in 108 years, they've lost 82 times! 26 championships in 108 years means they have been ultimately successful just 24% of the time, zero percent in the last eight years; no wonder Hank Steinbrenner seems so upset all the time.
You could argue with my choice of team to use as an example - the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL and the Boston Celtics of the NBA are also widely considered to be the most successful in their league's history - but the point is still the same: even these teams with such great traditions of winning championships have lost a lot more than they've won.
When you think about it, it's really a wonder we all don't wear bags on our heads. It's not easy being a sports fan.
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If youlove fiction and have a few minutes to spare, check out my website, www.allanleverone.com
I normally try to stay away from re-posting something that I've written here before, mostly because I figure it's good to try to force a little creativity out of my feeble brain. In this case, though, I'm posting something I wrote originally this past March.
The Jimmy Fund is the long-time charity of the Boston Red Sox, dedicated to fighting cancer in children. Today and tomorrow, Boston sports radio station WEEI and television network NESN, the New England SportsNetwork, are holding their seventh annual Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, hoping to raise millions of dollars to fund cancer research.
Here is the post I wrote last March dedicated to the subject:
Between fans of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, even over the winter the sniping never really ends, it just becomes a little more muted than during the regular season.
This year in particular, the offseason seemed more bombastic than usual, what with members of both organizations getting involved and ratcheting up the noise. First, A-Rod stepped on Red Sox toes with the ill-timed World Series announcement that he was opting out of his contract. He says it was his agent's idea and that he regrets the timing, but that was just the first volley anyway.
After that came Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon's remark to a reporter that the Series-clinching ball, the one he supposedly had in his possession, had been eaten by his dog. The dog's name? "Boss," of course, what else?
Move on to spring training, where Hank Steinbrenner railed against Boston's "Red Sox Nation," much to the delight of Red Sox fans everywhere. Steinbrenner promised to restore order to the universe by beating the Sox, and everyone else, and earning a Yankee World Championship.
Finally, Boston management responded by enrolling Mr. Steinbrenner in Red Sox Nation and sending him a David Ortiz autographed hat as a peace offering. Needless to say, that peace offering went unaccepted.
From a Red Sox perspective, then, the Yankees are the hated enemy, the thorn in their side, the bane of their existence. As a kid born and raised outside Boston, I can testify to the truth of that statement, and undoubtedly the same thing is true of Yankee fans everywhere, who used to say, "You have to win once in a while for it to be a rivalry," in a not-so-subtle nod to the fact that while the Red Sox were going 86 years without a championship, the Yankees were racking them up with regularity. Well, now that the Sox have won a couple, it seems the rivalry has become invigorated and reached a renewed intensity.
But here's the dirty little secret that Hank Steinbrenner surely doesn't want you to know, whether you are a Boston fan or a New York supporter: The Steinbrenner family has been incredibly generous to the charity the Red Sox organization adopted 55 years ago and has supported ever since, the Jimmy Fund.
Established in 1948, the Jimmy Fund of Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is dedicated to raising money and awareness in the fight against cancer in children. In the 60 years since it's inception, the Jimmy Fund has raised over $400 million dollars, with more than 90 cents out of every dollar raised going directly toward research dedicated to "eradicating cancer and related diseases."
For the past seven years, Boston sports radio station WEEI, and NESN, the New England Sports Network, have teamed up with the Red Sox organization to run a weekend radio/telethon in support of the Jimmy Fund. Each of the first six telethons have raised a larger amount of money than the one the previous year, culminating in last year's total of $3.74 million, with a grand total in the six-year history of the event of nearly $12 million raised.
What does all this have to do with the Steinbrenner family? Since it's inception in 2002, George Steinbrenner has supported the fundraising weekend with an annual donation of $10,000, which he upped last year to $25,000. He is not by any means the only celebrity/rich guy making a donation - Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig are two others who have opened their wallets generously - but the others aren't the owners and public faces of the supposed sworn enemies of the franchise.
Rivaries are great for sports. They add drama and excitement to the season and give fans and media something to talk about. But some things are more important in life, and it's nice to see that The Boss and the entire Steinbrenner family have an appreciation for that fact.
This year's 7th Annual Red Sox WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio/Telethon takes place the weekend of August 14-15, and for the seventh straight year will attempt to break the previous season's record for money raised. Undoubtedly the Steinbrenner family and thus the New York Yankees will again be a big part of the fundraising effort.
For more information on the Jimmy Fund or to make a donation, just click this link. Or this one. Or this one. Anyone who has watched a relative or close friend suffer through cancer - and who hasn't? - knows how difficult it is to sit by as a loved one is ravaged by the disease. Now imagine that someone is a young child, maybe even your son or daughter. Take a moment to check out the Jimmy Fund, and if you have a few bucks, think about pledging something - you just might save a life today.
__________
If you love fiction and have a few spare minutes, check out my website, www.allanleverone.com
Between fans of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, even over the winter the sniping never really ends, it just becomes a little more muted than during the regular season.
This year in particular, the offseason seemed more bombastic than usual, what with members of both organizations getting involved and ratcheting up the noise. First, A-Rod stepped on Red Sox toes with the ill-timed World Series announcement that he was opting out of his contract. He says it was his agent's idea and that he regrets the timing, but that was just the first volley anyway.
After that came Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon's remark to a reporter that the Series-clinching ball, the one he supposedly had in his possession, had been eaten by his dog. The dog's name? "Boss," of course, what else?
Move on to spring training, where Hank Steinbrenner railed against Boston's "Red Sox Nation," much to the delight of Red Sox fans everywhere. Steinbrenner promised to restore order to the universe by beating the Sox, and everyone else, and earning a Yankee World Championship.
Finally, Boston management responded by enrolling Mr. Steinbrenner in Red Sox Nation and sending him a David Ortiz autographed hat as a peace offering. Needless to say, that peace offering went unaccepted.
From a Red Sox perspective, then, the Yankees are the hated enemy, the thorn in their side, the bane of their existence. As a kid born and raised outside Boston, I can testify to the truth of that statement, and undoubtedly the same thing is true of Yankee fans everywhere, who used to say, "You have to win once in a while for it to be a rivalry," in a not-so-subtle nod to the fact that while the Red Sox were going 86 years without a championship, the Yankees were racking them up with regularity. Well, now that the Sox have won a couple, it seems the rivalry has become invigorated and reached a renewed intensity.
But here's the dirty little secret that Hank Steinbrenner surely doesn't want you to know, whether you are a Boston fan or a New York supporter: The Steinbrenner family has been incredibly generous to the charity the Red Sox organization adopted 55 years ago and has supported ever since, the Jimmy Fund.
Established in 1948, the Jimmy Fund of Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is dedicated to raising money and awareness in the fight against cancer in children. In the 60 years since it's inception, the Jimmy Fund has raised over $400 million dollars, with more than 90 cents out of every dollar raised going directly toward research dedicated to "eradicating cancer and related diseases."
For the past seven years, Boston sports radio station WEEI, and NESN, the New England Sports Network, have teamed up with the Red Sox organization to run a weekend radio/telethon in support of the Jimmy Fund. Each of the first six telethons have raised a larger amount of money than the one the previous year, culminating in last year's total of $3.74 million, with a grand total in the six-year history of the event of nearly $12 million raised.
What does all this have to do with the Steinbrenner family? Since it's inception in 2002, George Steinbrenner has supported the fundraising weekend with an annual donation of $10,000, which he upped last year to $25,000. He is not by any means the only celebrity/rich guy making a donation - Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig are two others who have opened their wallets generously - but the others aren't the owners and public faces of the supposed sworn enemies of the franchise.
Rivaries are great for sports. They add drama and excitement to the season and give fans and media something to talk about. But some things are more important in life, and it's nice to see that The Boss and the entire Steinbrenner family have an appreciation for that fact.
This year's 7th Annual Red Sox WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio/Telethon takes place the weekend of August 14-15, and for the seventh straight year will attempt to break the previous season's record for money raised. Undoubtedly the Steinbrenner family and thus the New York Yankees will again be a big part of the fundraising effort.
For more information on the Jimmy Fund or to make a donation, just click this link. Anyone who has watched a relative or close friend suffer through cancer - and who hasn't? - knows how difficult it is to sit by as a loved one is ravaged by the disease. Now imagine that someone is a young child, maybe even your son or daughter. Take a moment to check out the Jimmy Fund, and thanks for reading.
From Boston.com and the Cape Cod Times comes a baseball story of greed and avarice that almost seems too ridiculous to be believed. Is it A-Rod opting out of a $252 million contract to sign another for $275 million? Is it the price of warm, watered-down beer at Fenway? Jonathan Papelbon's desire to be paid like Mariano Rivera "for the good of baseball"?
All good guesses, but unfortunately, all wrong. This story is even more ludicrous than any of those, if you can believe it.
This story involves the amateur Cape Cod League, a breeding ground for future major league baseball players that may have no equal in amateur baseball around the country.
If you're a fan of any major league baseball team, chances are that some significant players on your team honed their skills in the Cape Cod League before turning professional: Names such as Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio, Ryan Braun, Jacoby Ellsbury, Nomar Garciaparra, Tony Gwynn, Todd Helton, Brian Roberts and Aaron Rowand, among many others, all played at least one summer in the Cape League. In fact, according to their official website, capecodbaseball.org, fully one in seven MLB players played in the league at one time.
Cape League baseball has always been and is still free for fans to attend and has been in operation since 1885. In its current incarnation the Cape League features ten teams, all located, obviously, on Cape Cod.
Sounds like a storybook All-American summer league, doesn't it? The problem is, after 122 years, Major League Baseball has decided it needs and deserves a piece of the CCBL pie.
That's right, the sports league that's knee deep in its biggest scandal in nearly 100 years has decided the billions of dollars it rakes in yearly isn't enough - they are demanding that the six Cape League teams that share a name with an MLB team (They are the Chatham A's, Bourne Braves, Harwich Mariners, Hyannis Mets, Orleans Cardinals, and Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox) purchase all future uniforms and souvenir merchandise from expensive MLB-licensed vendors.
Additionally, MLB's grasping accountants are demanding an 11% royalty on sales of all existing inventory from the six affected teams. "Items such as coffee mugs and teddy bears that are not available through MLB vendors could no longer be sold."
As currently constituted, this deal being forced down the throats of these six Cape League teams would squeeze out local merchants, many of whom have been associated with the league for decades.
The reason MLB's Masters of Hypocrisy can make these demands is that MLB annually donates $100,000 of the roughly $2 million Cape League operating budget to its administrators. MLB's accountants, who must work part-time for the IRS, are threatening to cancel the yearly donation unless the teams agree to their extortion.
All six of the teams involved say they will change their names rather than submit to the unseemly arm-twisting by the bullies at MLB, but they admit it is too late to change their teams' uniforms for this season, leading to a classic David and Goliath showdown. A league source, who understandably wants to remain unnamed, says the Cape Cod League will not roll over or be strong-armed by MLB.
The shamelessness never seems to end in big-time athletics. $100,000 is nothing to Major League Baseball. Hank Steinbrenner probably spends that much on towels for Kyle Farnsworth to cry into, and yet Bud Selig's geniuses are threatening to yank that money out from under an amateur baseball league that has undoubtedly provided more players to MLB than any other over the past 122 years.
The Cape League should tell MLB to take their money and shove it; all six teams should change their names, and the league should start a national fundraising drive to make up the loss of the money Selig's minions are using to blackmail them with. Maybe MLB could use the $100,000 to fund a real HGH testing program.
Who would have ever guessed that George Steinbrenner would turn out to be the sane one in the family? That the man who alternately fired and rehired the same guy for the same job five times in a span of twelve years (Billy Martin), and who paid superstar money for a free agent (Dave Winfield) who drove on 100 or more runs six out of the eight years he spent in the Bronx only to hang the humiliating nickname "Mr. May" on him, would end up, in retrospect, being the stable, thoughtful, wise man out of the bunch?
As unlikely a possibility as that seems, especially to those of us who remember the seventies, it does appear to be the case, at least based on the early returns from the Hank Steinbrenner regime.
First Hank washes his hands of Alex Rodriguez when he delares free agency last fall, swearing to the world and Yankee fans everywhere the man will never wear pinstripes again, only to change his mind and personally negotiate a $275 million (or more) contract extension for the slugging third baseman, establishing himself as a man of his word. Which word that is, nobody is quite sure.
Then the man whose team is implicated more than most in the Mitchell report, with 22 current and former Yankees being outed, went off in a kooky interview with the New York Post on February 19, blustering that Red Sox fans shouldn't be "hollering too loud at Andy (Pettite) up in Fenway," thereby assuring that is exactly what will happen, as if there was any doubt on that score to begin with.
Steinbrenner went on to assure Yankee fans that "We'll make sure we give Andy all the support he needs in Fenway and other ballparks," before turning his attention on his other big concern on that day, that baseball was being singled out at the expense of other sports, especially football, when it comes to criticism of players for using performance enhancing drugs.
Never mind that the Mitchell Report was requested by the Commissioner of Baseball, and that the NFL has had a rigorous testing program for performance enhancing drugs in place since the early 1990's and that the penalties for violating the policies in the NFL have been considerably more stringent than baseball's, at least until recently.
Baby Boss has also taken a number of verbal jabs at departed manager Joe Torre, including saying that new hire Joe Girardi has more fire in his belly, implying that the veteran of one major league season as a manager is more competitive than the man who won four World Series for his father back in the dark ages of 1996 to 2000.
The latest Steinbrennerism once again involves his seemingly unhealthy preoccupation with his main rival in the American League East, the Boston Red Sox. Hank vents his frustration in an interview published March 2 in the New York Times Play magazine. In it, among other things, he says, "Red Sox Nation? What a bunch of [expletive] that is...This is a Yankee country."
He can hardly be blamed for defending the honor of his team, but the problem is, Red Sox Nation was never meant to imply that this nation is filled with Sox fans anyway. Most of us in The Nation realize and accept that our team is the second-most hated entity in baseball, behind....well....you know.
It's not "A Red Sox Nation," Mr. Steinbrenner, it's "Red Sox Nation," a group of fans intensely devoted to the club. A group cleverly designed, undoubtedly, to sell team gear and memorabilia. Perhaps it's time to have a little discussion with your marketing people and fire someone for not coming up with the idea for the Yankees.
In any event, all is right with the world, notwithstanding Hank's vow to "put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order." (By the way, if you vow to put the team back on top, isn't that kind of like admitting what you spent the rest of the interview denying?) In an effort to smooth things over, Boston's principal owner, John Henry, sent an official Red Sox Nation membership card to Steinbrenner as well as assorted other perks, including a David Oritz autographed cap.
Steinbrenner responded by saying he will never join Red Sox Nation, but we here in New England know that's just to mollify the New York press and Yankee fans everywhere. We rest easy in the knowledge Hank is probably wearing his Ortiz cap right now, admiring it's jaunty look in the mirror.
Now if we can only get Jason Varitek and A-Rod to go out to dinner together.
In case you're not familiar with the expression, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," or you don't believe it's necessarily true, here's a little affirmation for you. Almost two years to the day after George Steinbrenner guaranteed the Yankees would win the World Series, before the team had even completed their first full workout of the spring (Now For the Weather, Continued Dark til Morning), son Hank, who is working non-stop, night and day without so much as a coffee break to live up to his father's Type-A legacy, has one-upped the old man.
According to an article published by Kevin Kernan in the February 20 edition of the New York Post, Joe Girardi will...well...how do I put this. To avoid any misunderstanding, let's quote the young Steinbrenner word for word: "Truthfully, I think Girardi is going to end up being one of the greatest managers in the history of the game. That's my gut feeling."
Wow. Girardi is the guy who, just in case you blinked and missed it, has managed exactly one full season in the big leagues, artfully guiding the undermanned Florida Marlins to a 78-84 record in 2006 before being rewarded for his accomplishment by being forced to walk the plank in Florida.
Joe Girardi is, by all accounts, a hard-working, bright young manager who would appear to have a heckuva future in the game. Isn't that enough, at least for now? Is it really necessary for the Big Boss to make Girardi out to be the best thing since Casey Stengel or Sparky Anderson or Billy Martin, thereby inflaming the New York media unnecessarily, before the poor guy has even figured out whether Jeter takes his coffee with one sugar or two?
Ah, but there's the thing. Steinbrenner goes on to compare Girardi, not to his predecessor Joe Torre, but to the oft-fired (by his father) Billy Martin. Everything that went on in New York before Torre took his leave of the Bronx Zoo seems to have left a trace of a bad taste in Blowhard the Younger's mouth, to the point where, as in the darkest days of the Soviet Empire after party hacks disappeared, all traces of them were removed and it was as if they had never existed.
Because, in New York, if you're talking all-time great managers, wouldn't Torre be a good place to start? His office chair is barely cold, so even the youngest Yankee fans would remember him, and all he did during his stay in the Bronx was win ten division titles and four World Series.
Billy Martin? He led the league in fights and firings, but only won two division championships and two World Series with the Yankees. Not a bad record by any means and this is not a knock on Martin, but aren't results supposed to be the ultimate measuring stick? If so, then Torre would seem to be the obvious point of comparison.
In any event, for a while it appeared the Hank Steinbrenner era was going to be stable and boring, but perhaps not. For his part, Girardi seems to be handling the coronation from his boss as one of the all-time greats well, at least so far. According to Kerner, when told of the quote from Steinbrenner, "Girardi was touched. 'That's a nice compliment,' he said as he sat on the edge of his office desk."
It's not like he's new to the bombast in the Bronx; Girardi spent four years of a fifteen year playing career in New York and undoubtedly will not be surprised by anything coming out of a Steinbrenner's mouth. But just in case, it's good that he's practicing sitting on the edge of his chair - that's likely where he'll be for most of his tenure in New York, even if he does become "one of the greatest managers in the history of the game."
So Alex Rodriguez and Scott Boras are no longer speaking to each other, the $300 million man told Katie Couric. Wow. This is like Alien vs. Predator - Who, exactly, are we supposed to root for in this little drama-queen adventure?
A-Rod is mad because he was made to look like a bad guy by Boras and the way the opt-out provision of his contract was handled. Boras is mad because A-Rod went behind his back to Hank Steinbrenner, after first consulting his buddy Warren Buffett, of course, and negotiated his own $275 million mega-deal.
Two thoughts:
1) I wish I had Warren Buffett to turn to for financial advice. Of course it probably wouldn't matter even if I could get a few quick little nuggets of wisdom from ol'Warren, since he probably tips the kid who parks his car when he goes out to dinner more than I make in a whole month. No doubt Warren Buffett would look at my salary and burst out laughing.
2) This is exactly how two rich, spoiled middle-school girls would act if they were rich, spoiled middle-aged men. I find it extremely hard to believe - make it impossible to believe, now that I think about it - that Boras simply couldn't contain himself and tossed out the announcement that A-Rod was opting out of his contract without discussing it with his client first.
The timing turned out to be bogus and seemed to anger a lot of people for whatever reason, so Boras did what any good agent would do - he fell on his sword for Rodriguez, who showed his gratitude by going to Hank Steinbrenner, hat in hand, and disavowing Scott Boras, thereby making Boras look impotent to all in major league baseball's ownership and management fraternity. Sounds a little bit like a Shakespeare play, with all the intrigue and backstabbing, doesn't it?
As horrified as all the other owners must have been to see the dollar amount of the contract A-Rod/W-Buff negotiated, there had to have been more than a few ear-to-ear smiles and maybe a few chuckles and even the occasional guffaw to see Boras, a man who seemingly lives to torture baseball executives, finally get the comeuppance none of the people on the management side ever seemed able to deliver.
But here's what I'm wondering. Does Boras get a commission? I assume he was still legally and contractually A-Rod's agent at the time the contract was negotiated; I haven't read or heard a word about Boras being fired, certainly not before the contract was negotiated and that seems like the sort of thing the Yankees, or even Rodriguez for that matter, would have been more than happy to leak to a friendly media source.
So if, in fact, Scott Boras was still legally A-Rod's representative at the time the contract was finalized, doesn't that make him entitled to his commission, which, unless I'm mistaken, is usually in the neighborhood of 15%? If so, and if you assume the most conservative amount Rodriguez will earn over the ten year lifespan of the contract, the commission would come to a little more than $41 million. That's quite the exclusive neighborhood, even for a guy like Boras.
On the other hand, if you're Alex Rodriguez and you were so angry at your agent's handling of your contract situation that you negotiated a deal all by your lonesome, why would you want to pay such a substantial amount of money to a guy who did nothing for you?
I have no idea what Scott Boras's net worth is, not even a clue, but I'm guessing a big number like 41 with so many zeroes at the end of it would be enough to make Boras give very serious consideration to all his legal options when it comes to deciding how to handle the snub from a guy who used to be very close to him, if A-Rod decides to freeze Boras out of his commission.
Lawsuit, with all the messy squabbling and finger-pointing those things entail? Who knows, but for a seasoned, hard-nosed negotiator like Scott Boras, it would seem to be the natural response to having his toes not just stepped on, but squashed, in front of all the other middle-school girls. I have to admit I'm curious to see how this all plays out. Stay tuned, I'm sure we won't have to wait long to find out.
Mariano Rivera is insulted. It's hard to imagine why he would be insulted, when you consider the fact that his employers, the New York Yankees, have just offered the closer a three year contract for, if the reports can be believed, a total of $45 million.
Two thoughts immediately spring to mind:
1) Insult me, Hank Steinbrenner!
2) Is Mariano Rivera crazy?
The man who has spent his entire career in Yankee pinstripes and who has been one of the most dominant closers of the past decade has his panties in a bunch because Hank Steinbrenner had the audacity to make mention of his age while announcing the contract offer. At the risk of incurring Rivera's wrath, I will reveal here that he is 37, although he does turn 38 in less than two weeks.
Why does it matter? Apparently Rivera's age was used as justification for only offering a three year deal rather than the four which seems to have become all the rage in baseball circles. If Rivera was 27 rather than a decade older than that, a four year deal would make sense, at least from the Yankees point of view. But four years for a guy who will be 38 at the start of next season seems a little risky to me, especially if you look at some numbers, which I did.
First, the contract offer: -$15 million per year translates into a raise of 43% over the $10.5 million Rivera has made each of the past three seasons.
Second, Rivera's statistics: -In 2007, Rivera pitched in 67 games, which is exactly his average for a full season over the course of his career. -However, the number of hits he gave up, 68, is the most for one season since 1996, when he pitched 36 more innings, and an increase of 11% over the 61 he gave up in 2006. -The number of saves he compiled, 30, was his fewest since 2002 and a decrease of 12% from the 34 he recorded in 2006. -Of the biggest concern to the Yankees should be the number of earned runs Rivera gave up. The 25 he allowed in 2007 was his highest total since 1996 and an increase of a whopping 67% over the 15 he allowed in 2006.
Third, a historical perspective: Rivera's 443 career saves puts him third on the alltime list, behind Trevor Hoffman's 524 and Lee Smith's 478. With a good year next year, Rivera could jump to second alltime in saves, an impressive accomplishment.
But how have other closers fared after their 37th birthday and as they've approached age 42, which Rivera would be just weeks after the end of the fourth year he wants on his contract? Here is a listing of the top 10 closers of all time, besides Rivera, and what they did in those age ranges.
-Trevor Hoffman - 524 saves: Age 38, recorded 46 saves, his 2nd highest total ever. Age 39, (last season), recorded 42 saves, tied for his 5th highest total ever.
-Lee Smith - 478 saves: Age 38, recorded 2 saves. Age 39, recorded 5 saves and was finished. The three years previous to his 38th birthday, Smith had seasons of 37, 33, and 43 saves.
-John Franco - 424 saves: Age 38=19 saves. Age 39=4 saves. Age 40=2 saves. Age 41=DNP. Age 42=2 saves and was finished. The three years previous to his 38th birthday, Franco had seasons of 38, 36, and 28 saves.
-Dennis Eckersley - 390 saves: Age 38=36 saves. Age 39=19 saves. Age 40=29 saves. Age 41=30 saves. The three years previous to his 38th birthday, Eck had seasons of 51, 43, and 48 saves.
-Jeff Reardon - 367 saves: Age 38=2 saves and was finished. The three years previous to his 38th birthday, Reardon had seasons of 8, 30, and 40 saves.
-Billy Wagner - 358 saves: Currently age 35, so he doesn't apply.
-Randy Myers - 347 saves: Finished at age 35.
-Rollie Fingers - 341 saves: Age 38=17 saves and was finished. The three years previous to his 38th birthday, Fingers had seasons of 23, 29, and 28 saves.
-John Wetteland - 330 saves: Finished at age 33.
-Roberto Hernandez - 326 saves: Age 38=0 saves. Age 39=0 saves. Age 40=4 saves. Age 41=2 saves. The three years previous to his 38th birthday, Hernandez had seasons of 26, 28, and 32 saves.
The only two out of this list of the top closers ever in baseball history, to have significant success after age 37 are Trevor Hoffman, who has been as dominant as ever but is still only 39 years old, and Dennis Eckersley, whose performance dropped off from his most dominant days but who was still successful.
With those two exceptions, though, the rest of the names on the list showed a dramatic dropoff in performance by age 38 if not sooner. Is that the direction Mariano Rivera is headed? Maybe not, but a 67% increase in earned runs allowed this year over 2006 can't be considered a good trend, especially given that he pitched fewer innings this year than last.
Take the three year deal and smile all the way to the bank, Mariano. At the end of that time you will have made a total of nearly $125 million in your stellar career, a number only Alex Rodriguez can scoff at.
Big news in the baseball world, where up is down, black is white, and no sometimes means yes, but only if your agent badly misjudged the market for your services. Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees are talking again! Shocker!
After stating in no uncertain terms that they absolutely, positively, cross their hearts and hope to die, would not, under any circumstances, negotiate with A-Rod if he opted out of his contract to become a free agent, the Yankees are supposedly involved in negotiations with the slugger himself.
Time heals all wounds of course, and it has been 17 whole days now since that irrevocable breakup occurred when Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, announced that A-Rod would be entertaining any and all offers for his services. Now, according to a report published on Foxsports.com, the Yankee line is that, okay, maybe they will deal with A-Rod, but only if that thorn in everyone's side, Scott Boras, is nowhere near the action. "We will not negotiate with Scott Boras."
Unless, of course, it becomes beneficial to do so. Then another line will come out of the Bronx, which everyone will accept as gospel until that line gets overridden, and on and on ad nauseum until the end of time. Or A-Rod is back in the fold, whichever comes first.
All is fair in love and war is how the saying goes, but really it should be updated to include contract negotiations as well. No doubt those in the Yankees front office felt that they had to phrase their objection to A-Rod exercising the opt-out clause in his contract in the strongest possible way, in the hopes of bluffing him into staying.
When that didn't work, they were stuck with egg on their faces, because how could they make A-Rod an offer now after swearing they wouldn't? Luckily for the Yankees, they were provided an opening when the $300 million dollar man himself informed the Steinbrenner family he was, after all, interested in staying with the Yankees. The deafening silence from other teams regarding A-Rod's free agency couldn't have had anything to do with that, could it? Nah, of course not.
With the sums of money involved being in the hundreds of millions of dollars, it should be surprising to exactly no one that everyone involved will do whatever they feel is necessary to make the best possible deal, honesty be damned. And it's not like A-Rod, Scott Boras, and the New York Yankees are the only parties playing this little game - free agents and teams all over baseball are doing the same thing, just on a slightly smaller scale.
Remember this when your favorite player says he wants to stay or he wants to go or whatever. Same thing with what your favorite team says while negotiating to acquire or keep your favorite player. Free agency is an Alice in Wonderland world. Let the people involved disappear down the rabbit hole and work things out, it will save you a lot of heartburn. And maybe a few headaches as well.
The baseball world is buzzing tonight with the news that Joe Girardi will indeed replace Joe Torre as manager of the New York Yankees for the 2008 season. Reports are that Girardi will receive a three-year contract at a salary of approximately $2 million per year, or roughly the amount Joe Torre spent on positive reinforcement psychotherapy sessions for Alex Rodriguez each season the sensitive slugger spent in the Bronx.
Let's listen in to a portion of the new Yankee skipper's comments:
"I think any of us would be somewhat surprised to get the job....let's face it, you never know what those wacky Steinbrenners are going to do next. But listen, I can't be Joe Torre and, now that I think about it, why would I want to be? He's the guy they just showed the door, right? I'm just worried about being myself. I'm worried because, quite frankly, most people don't seem to like the real me."
Former Yankee great Don Mattingly was also in the running for the job, but inside sources say he hurt his chances during his interview with comments like the following: "It's a no-win situation for someone coming in here to...live up to what he [Torre] did...It's not necessarily a great situation."
When asked about those somewhat underwhelming remarks, a Yankee insider who agreed to comment only under a guarantee of anonymity said, "I'm not sure Donnie Baseball realized he was supposed to tell us why he wanted the job, not why he didn't."
Mattingly did, however, assure reporters that "vengeance is not running through me at all," right after informing the Yankees that he no longer had any interest at all in returning to the team in any capacity. "Trust me," he said in an effort to prove his loyalty to the club and perhaps even head off the restraining order that Hank Steinbrenner is no doubt in the process of serving even as we speak, "I'm not all of a sudden going to start rooting for the Red Sox. The Mets, maybe, but the Red Sox? No way. Unless Francona got fired. Because I am available. Did Francona get fired?"
Con####uously silent during these first stressful hours after the announcement has been the third and only other man to interview for the job, first base coach and former major league manager, well, Kansas City Royals manager, Tony Pena. When asked whether Pena was a strong candidate when compared with Girardi and Mattingly or whether he was only interviewed to satisfy the league's minority hiring guidelines, Steinbrenner said, "Tony who?"
Meanwhile, in a related development, Grady Little fell on his sword in Los Angeles, paving the way for the newly unemployed Joe Torre to land in the Dodgers dugout next season. When asked whether Little was forced out to make way for Torre, general manager Ned Colletti said, "We gave him the sword. You figure it out."
Grady Little's comment? "It was a mutual resignation," he said, giving a whole new meaning to either the word "mutual," or the word "resignation." "But at least I'm not going to have to worry about who's going to pay for all that psychotherapy when A-Rod shows up here."
Hey everyone, I know it must seem like I've dropped off the face of the earth, but it's nothing like that.
I've been busy writing - two full-length novels so far, plus over a dozen short stories - and working hard to try to get an agent. If you are curious and have a few minutes, check out my website, www.allanleve rone.com.
If you're a literary agent or if you know one, by all means contact me! In the meantime, I'll be here when I can - love this forum - and as always, thank you for checking out my blog, especially considering how many great ones you could be reading instead....
