Author: The Baseball Zealot

ESPN not seeing the big picture on social networking issue

twitter ESPN has now issued new guidelines to its employees on how they will interact on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. 

Essentially, the guidelines are two-pronged.  First, they prohibit discussing (on any social network forum) internal policies or how stories are “reported, written or produced”.

Second (and more open-ended), they prohibit employees from having sports-related blogs or websites.  Further, they require a supervisor’s approval before discussing sports matters on a social networking forum.  If employees violates the new policy, they are subject to dismissal or suspension.

To the first point, I agree with ESPN’s point.  Internal matters stay within the business.  To not do so would open up a whole can of messy legal worms.

As to the second point, I feel ESPN is going down the wrong road.  They are missing the whole point of social networking.  I don’t want to subscribe to Rob Neyer’s twitter stream so I can hear about his vacation. 

Will ESPN abandon Twitter and Facebook altogether?  I’m sure they won’t.  They will have ESPN-sanctioned accounts in which the content will be very factual indeed but come off as stilted and will smack of the “company line”. 

Should ESPN have come out with guidelines on how to deal with these new-fangled social networking sites?  Of course!  Employ new guidelines to encourage responsible online behavior.  Encourage employees to interact with the public and put a good face forward.

But to totally ban discussing the very topic that they are in the business to report seems so backwards to me.  And to threaten dismissal as a punishment
 the mind reels. 

Get with the times, ESPN.  It’s a brand new world out here.

Upper Deck shut out from Baseball card market

Wow, the baseball card business is dog eat dog. 

In a blow to Upper Deck and other competitors, MLB has signed a multi-year deal with The Topps Company to become the exclusive trading card maker for baseball.   The former CEO of Disney, Michael Eisner, is heading up Topps now.

This is the business double-speak that Eisner is spewing:

“This is redirecting the entire category toward kids.  Topps has been making cards for 60 years, the last 30 in a nonexclusive world that has caused confusion to the kid who walks into a Walmart or a hobby store. It’s also been difficult to promote cards as unique and original.”

Okay, did he really say that? Kids are “confused” because of a little market competition?

This deal leaves competitor trading card company Upper Deck out in the cold.  The upshot is this:  Upper Deck is allowed to use the “likeness of players” but no team logos and no trademarks. 

It’s an obvious coup for Topps that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Prior finished?

The San Diego Padres gave Mark Prior his walking papers.  After a last failed rehab stint, The Prior Experiment is over.  Finally.

I’ve never been a real Prior fan.  Even when he was with the Cubs, he never thrilled me.  His lack of fire for the game not to mention his continual trips to the disabled list didn’t endear me to him. 

Back in the day, many non-Cub fans would lump Prior in with Kerry Wood.  Both were talented pitchers with potential but were prone to injury. In my mind, the similarities stopped there.  Wood played with much more passion and identified with the team.  (Wood had another thing going for him too.  He was a favorite of GM Jim Hendry).

So when there were rumblings a few years back of a Prior trade (one rumor had him going to the Orioles for Miguel Tejada), I was all for it.  A lot of my friends thought I was nuts but all I saw was a pitcher who had one great year in 2003 and hadn’t backed it up since.  I was ready for a change. 

Prior got a lot of media press and attention from the fans after his 2003 season but all told, he just won 18 games in the next three seasons. 

Bitter?  Not much.

Prior got his chance with the Padres. It just wasn’t going happen.   Will another team take a chance on him?  I highly doubt it. 

Personal note to Cubs management:  Don’t Think About It!

Sorry, Mr Aaron, I respectfully disagree

There are few baseball players who I can say I have the ultimate respect.  I feel I can put Hank Aaron in that category.  He put in his time.  He played hard and played well.  He lived his life without scandal. 

But I have to disagree with him this time. 

Aaron has publically said (in front of a banquet of Associated Press writers) he wants the list of players who tested positive in 2003 for PEDs to be released to the public. 

Aaron has been a long time and vocal opponent of use of steroids and PEDs.  He has his reasons for releasing the list.  His reasons are admirable, no doubt.  With the release of the list, he reasons the use of PEDs will diminish among current players. 

The thought though, that a presumed PED user broke his all-time record most likely lingers in his mind. 

I still have to respectfully disagree.  These tests were given privately and with the agreement that no other entity would have access to them.  To this point, every name that you have heard up until now, has been an illegal breach of contract. 

I know it isn’t popular.  It is a very populist idea to think that we should find out who they are and punish them in whichever manner possible.  The fact is that there were no penalties for a positive result for the test back in 2003.  The MLB needs to respect this.  If MLB doesn’t honor that, good luck in trying to gain the players’ trust back. 

To what end would it serve to release the list?  We can’t rewrite history.  I suppose, as some have suggested we could restrict the Hall of Fame to only the “clean” ones (and measures of the like) but in my opinion, that would plunge baseball into dark, divisive, bitter scandal all for what is a relatively small number of players. 

MLB and the Players’ Union have a system currently in place for dealing with this issue.  Let’s focus on making sure this works and not go on witch hunts.

Scully to retire after 2010 season

Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully has given his notice

"God willing, I will probably come back for one more year," Scully said in a phone interview. "At this moment, my health is excellent, and I’m leaning toward one more year."

And then retire?

"Yes, that makes sense," he said.. 

The last of a dying breed.  A broadcaster who can call a game by himself and not sound boring.  His secret, in my opinion?  He doesn’t feel it necessary to fill up every second with inane blather. 

The Dodgers have a year and half with him.  Enjoy these last few months and when he leaves, send him off the right way.  He is a treasure to the sport of baseball.

Would Sandberg want Rose on his staff? You bet he would.

Cubs minor league manager and uber-legend Ryne Sandberg came out publicly in support of re-instating Pete Rose back into baseball. He went as far as to say he wouldn’t mind having him on his coaching staff. 

I know Sandberg is just talking out his –ss but who knows?  And with rumors of re-instatement surfacing once again, Pete might remember those words. 

And unless things change for Sandberg, that would make Pete Rose a Cub.

Generally, I’m favor of re-instating Pete Rose back into baseball but I’m not THAT ready.

Speedsters with low OBP

sicampy

Let’s take a look at stolen bases and on base percentage. 

Here are the players with the lowest OBP with at least 50 stolen bases in a single season. 

                         OBP   SB
    1 Bert Campaneris    .278  52 1972   
    2 Vince Coleman      .285  50 1994   
    3 Omar Moreno        .292  60 1982  
    4 Miguel Dilone      .294  50 1978  
    5 Omar Moreno        .295  53 1977   
    6 Bert Campaneris    .297  55 1967   
    7 Jose Reyes         .300  60 2005   
    8 Mookie Wilson      .300  54 1983   
    9 Vince Coleman      .301 107 1986   
   10 Bert Campaneris    .302  62 1969   








This list is rife of leadoff men (I’m going on memory but I’m pretty sure they all led off for their respective teams) but still couldn’t get the job done when came to getting on base.   


They say you can’t steal first base but from a stat point of view, what these guys was pretty amazing (if not self-serving, see #9).  These men got on base some 30% of the time (plus errors etc) yet still managed to steal an ungodly amount of bases.  


If you think Bert Campaneris is over-represented in this list, check out the full list.   Campy comes up #11, too.  


No, you can’t steal first base but when these guy DID get on, you could be pretty sure you had a man on second by the next batter.  


 


 


 


 









	


	





	

		
		
Illini football at Wrigley Field??
	


	
	
	

		
There aren’t a lot of details but Wrigley Field may be the home of future Northwestern-Illinois football games. 


Both teams have been in talks working out the finer points.  The soonest it could happen would be the 2010 season, according to the Big Ten Network.  Illinois football coach Ron Zook favors the idea. 


It wouldn’t be the first time football was played at Wrigley.  The Chicago Bears played there up until 1970.  This video clip shows the Bears coming out of the locker room when they played at the Friendly Confines.


 







	


	





	

		
		
Temper, temper, temper:  Mets’ exec Bernazard axed
	


	
	
	

		
Last week, Jim Leyland took off his shirt and was called ‘sexy’.


In a totally different set of circumstances, Tony Bernazard took off his shirt and will be fired.


Bernazard, who was the Mets’ VP of player of player development, was fired after he lost his temper more than once.  One incidence occurred in the Binghamton Mets clubhouse where he took his shirt off and challenged the players there to a fight.  Tony B also got into it with Mets’ reliever Francisco Rodriguez.


I don’t think the Mets can take any more “development”.


Bernazard, 52, has had the position with the Mets since late 2004.  He played in majors as an infielder from 1979-1991.