Mid-Season Myths of 2006 by Rick Kaplan
Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer
OAKLAND (July 2) –
1. “BILLY BEANE CAN SPOT A BARGAIN”
Like giving up Jeremy Bonderman for Ted Lilly? Actually, there was nothing wrong with Lilly. It looked like a good deal. Ted was easily the A’s best pitcher in the 2003 stretch drive and in that memorable ALDS against Boston. But Beane inexplicably let him walk away and sign for a bargain $5M for two years with the Blue Jays, where he is currently a very effective third starter behind Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett. Beane filled his spot with the utterly forgettable Mark Redman for the same $2M that Lilly got from the Jays in 2004. Moneyball net to the Athletics: nothing, with Bonderman and Lilly helping to lead the Tigers and Jays forward to possible post-seasons, while the A’s continue to flounder and dissapoint with Beane gems like Esteban Loaiza. Each day we watch Andre Ethier get two more hits with that sweet stroke, we wonder about Beane’s scouting competence and if we will ever see Milton Bradley fulfill the “potential” that has characterized his entire injury-dominated career. We were all excited when Milton first put on the Green and Gold and showed off his exceptional hustle and energy (See my effusive early-season columns). But someone in a well-managed organization also had to pay attention to his evident brittleness. Maybe way back when Beane mentor Sandy Alderson sent Jose Rijo packing to the Reds in exchange for Dave Parker, where Jose would thrive and totally dominate the A’s in the 1990 Series sweep, after Alderson said Rijo lacked a “work ethic,” we should have had some sense of Beane’s ability to evaluate players and “bargains.”
Click below for more!2. “JULY 3 COLISEUM SALUTE TO THE TROOPS DESERVES YOUR SUPPORT”
Most baseball fans appear to support the war on the Iraqi people, but THEY SHOULD NOT. I remember the German people whining, “We didn’t know what the Nazis were doing.” Well, we DO know. And I don’t come to the ballpark to celebrate imperialism and oil war. I come to watch baseball. And if I did “support the troops,” I would be offended by Barry Zito’s “generosity” in contributing $50 per strikeout to the women and men in uniform. That kind of largesse might buy two soldiers a weekend at the All-Star Game, if they took Greyhound and ate at McDonald’s. And this is from a guy who not only wants to advertise his giving but is looking to make $10-15M a year over the next ten seasons.
3. “DISTANCES POSTED ON M.L.B. OUTFIELD FENCES ARE ACCURATE”
Maybe this is something that could be verified by your GPS system or some advanced Google map, but without as much as an old-fashioned tape measure I am going out on a limb to say that it is not even close to 420 feet to that quirky right-center alcove at Fenway park. I am so sick of David Ortiz hitting these bloopers that land half-way up the centerfield bleachers and Baseball Tonight ooohing and ahhhing about him “crushing” another one. Even though there isn’t enough time to even begin to say a decent “going, going . . . gone!” before some ordinary can of corn is prematurely landing in the seats. Get out there and measure the fences in Boston, and while you’re at it do left field at Minutemaid (Houston). You can calibrate your tape measure at AT&T, which seems to have really accurate distances posted to me. A lifetime of estimating the time of rain delays, bat weights and lengths, crowds, home run distances, and hot dog prices has given me an uncanny sense of accuracy concerning these important matters.
4. “THE FANS DON’T LIKE THE COLISEUM”
Most of the fans I talk to think the old ballpark is fine. Great location, great history, great food. The only thing the real fans don’t like about the Coliseum is that the A’s new owner, Lew “the Wolff in Sheep’s Clothing,” doensn’t allow them in anymore! Thanks, Lew. Your marketing strategy and snob appeal isn’t working. Open the upper deck and get Carlos Lee, and there will be no attendance problem.
5. “AUTO RACING IS A SPORT”
Even though this isn’t a “baseball issue,” the racing season is heating up and taking attention away from our game, so I had to say something about this growing plague and menace. Auto racing is a crime. Can you imagine paying to watch a bank robbery, at least one that Al Pacino wasn’t part of?. Auto racing is against the law! It’s speeding! It’s reckless driving! Drivers basically try to run one another into walls at 200 miles an hour and the fans cheer. Are ESPN-televised car jackings and armed robberies far behind? Auto racing is a morbid, sadistic and voyeuristic ritual in which “fans” wait for horrific accidents. It’s a celebration of violence and danger that makes boxing look gentle and benign. It is completely unjustifiable pollution and destruction of our increasingly fragile environment. If this trend continues of framing degenerate and exploitive addictions such as auto racing, mass poker, and gambling, and overtly sexually marketed marginal sports such as tennis, golf and pool, it won’t be long before ESPN will be displaying nude full-body contact bowling and armed miniature golf tournaments and marketing them as sports. Auto racing is a vile, disgusting trashing of the planet and sets a really bad example of what to do with our resources and our time. Ychhhh.
0 comments
I’m voting with my feet on tonight’s game — by not attending. While I prefer not to mix baseball with anything else, I shudder at being forced to endure tributes to warmongering when I attend games. So I’m not going tonight.
I love the Coliseum! For me the ideal would be the Raiders leaving and the Coliseum getting fixed up! The A’s owneership has done little to encourage fans to attend (some would say they’ve actually discouraged attendance). They are creating a self-fulfilling prophesy that having the team in Oakland means they can’t have enough attendance, even though the team has had good attendance many years.
Dear Anonymous –
Thanks for your comment. I believe in the constitutional principle of the separation of baseball and state (even if the A’s don’t). I think you may be right about the A’s even trying to discourage attendance in order to make their case for leaving for Fremont. To me things are noticeably less fan-friendly this season at the Coliseum, from the difficulty of parking in the paid lots to the militant enforcement of reserved seating even when there is no one in the stands. Forbes Magazine reported that the A’s made a $16M profit in 2005, right at the mean for all major league franchises, and has seen a $50M increase in the value of the franchise during the two years that Wolff has owned the club, which is the fourth best increase during that period in all of MLB. I agree with your sentimenat that the Coliseum could be remodelled for baseball. Look in the “story archives” for this website during the last few months and find “Musical Chairs,” “Dear Mr. Wolff,” and “A Wolff in Sheep’s Clothing” for some perspective and ideas on the issue of the I-880 Athletics.
I generally really (double adverbs) like your pieces but who peed in your Cheerios?
Point 1. Do the deadline moves for Dye, Durham, or Mabry ring a bell? How about Haren, Calero, Lidle, Saarloos (over Harville), Scutaro, Stairs or (until this year) Ellis. All bargains spotted by Beane. Some even see Thomas as a bargain. You pick trading Ted Lilly to prove Beane can’t spot bargains? Interesting.
Point 2. Provocative. I agree with you 51%.
Point 3. So what? It doesn’t impact the swing or the choice of “club”. It’s not like the batters use a 9 iron when they should have used a 4 iron.
Point 4. Seems kind of unfounded. It seems like the A’s have the best fans in baseball – there just aren’t enough of us.
Point 5. Your logic seems way off here. It sounds like, since it is illegal to run in school halls, high schools shouldn’t have track teams or bashing soccer because they pollute the planet by using too much fertilizer on the fields. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to hate NASCAR. Yours are stretches. BTW, no one wants to see nude bowlers.
I fully expect you to pull out of this Swisher-esque 0-5 four K’s performance soon.
Get back to the good work.
Dear Anonymous,
You mentioned “Thomas.” Frank or Charles? Anybody who watched Frank on TV in 2005 after he briefly came off the DL could see he still can hit, even on one leg. He’s not exactly a diamond-in-the-rough. We could go tit-for-tat all night about Beane transactions. You say Mabry, I’ll say Meyer. You say Calero, I’ll say Cruz. I’ll give you Chad Gaudin. I really like him. Duchscherer, as he himself acknowledges, needs to be too perfect. He’s no Scott Shields. We don’t need to argue about Jay Witasick, right? Scott Sauerback?!! And you didn’t tell me I mispoke about Beane “letting Lilly walk away.” because, as I’m sure you know, the A’s got Bobby Kielty for Lilly. Jermaine Dye? If the A’s held on to either Dye or Jose Guillen, neither of whom they seemed to respect or value, and both of whom signed bargain basement contracts with other clubs (Dye @$4M for his World Series MVP season with the Chisox in 2005, and $5M for 2006 campaign that may net him the AL MVP; Guillen being shown the door after a great year with the A’s in 2002 and signing with the Halos for $6M for two years, knocking in over 100 runs in 2004 for the Angels and leaving a gaping hole in their attack after they kicked him out) we probably would have seen them deep in the fall in 2004 and 2005. Anyway, we could start talking about soon-to-be free agent Jay Payton, another invaluable piece, and a Beane Bargain (?) deftly acquired for Chad Bradford, who the A’s probably will mysteriously let walk after the season and pretend Bobby Kielty (who is a great kid) can fill his shoes.
But forget all that. Just tell me, what about signing Esteban Loaiza for three years for $22M for a 87 MPH cutter with no location and occasional change-up? Did anyone actually scout him?
Somebody has to say this stuff!
Rick
hi rick,
yea, i agree about Beane. he is overrated. i also think he deserves as much criticism as anyone for the A’s not advancing past the first round in the playoffs. from not endorsing small ball to micromanaging the team, he shares the blame. macha pinch hitting for jermaine dye against derek lowe a perfect example of that. Macha went with “the numbers” and pinched hit Melhuse for Dye. what happens? we all know. if he doesn’t, dye gets intentionally walked and then the veteran chris singleton comes up with the bases loaded and would have at least tied the game.
agree with you 100% about support the troops night. good to see you’re willing to make such unpopular comments. hope you don’t get too much hatemail from rightwing neocons who seem to have endless amounts of time blogging and emailing.
-Mike E.
Your hindsight is admirable.
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