george steinbrenner | The Baseball Zealot

Steinbrenner changed baseball (for better or worse)

Truly a rough week for the Yankee faithful. In the last three days, two iconic figures who represented the Bronx Bombers in two very different ways, passed away

On Sunday, PA announcer Bob Sheppard passed on at the ripe age of 99. His time with the Yankees goes back to the days of DiMaggio and Mantle. His voice was long lived. It could be heard as late as 2007.

Then today the Boss was finally dragged kicking and screaming from this dimension into the next life. George Steinbrenner, the shipbuilder turned baseball team owner who swore he would not get involved in his team’s business died at the age of 80.

Steinbrenner was controversial, aggressive, intrusive and yes, sometimes mean. But he won, too. Under his ownership, the Yankees won eleven championships and seven World Series.

A friend posed this question to a few of us over email: “Which had more effect on player salaries, George Steinbrenner or Curt Flood’s free agency case?”

Truly an academic question which has no real answer. But it does give one pause to think. Other owners were skeptical of free agency, not wanting to shell out the big bucks for players. Meanwhile, Steinbrenner, who inherited a sub-par Yankee team in the early 70s, wasn’t afraid to adapt his business model to include the concept of Flood’s idea of free agency. With the acquisition of Catfish Hunter and so many others, Steinbrenner changed the way, for better or for worse, how baseball owners approach acquiring on-the-field personnel.

The results,in Steinbrenner’s case, speak for themselves.

Teixeira Signs With the Yankees

An Angel Fan’s Viewpoint:

As a fan of the team that got the short end of the stick in this, here are my observations and conclusions:

Does anyone doubt that The Boss remains in charge of the Yankees? Maybe not the day-to-day operations of the team, but the BIG decisions. Who do they spend the money on? How much money is spent? Maybe even whether Joba starts or relieves. I think that The Boss still makes the big decisions.

I also think he was embarrassed last year to spend all that money and miss the playoffs. And he has vowed that IT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. Maybe he was even pounding on the desk.

Meaningless DonS Observation: One way to make it less likely to happen again is to have a third baseman who is less interested in chasing Madonna and more interested in chasing the pennant, but that’s just MY opinion. Well, mine and Nick’s.

Two Other Interlocked DonS Observations: 1) I hate The Boss – in nice way, as “The One, The, Only Groucho” used to say. “Say the secret word and a duck will come down and give you fifty bucks. It’s a common word, one that people use every day.” 2) I wish The Boss owned a team that I root for, because he settles for no less than victory…and spares no effort to achieve that victory. I think he would be spending similar money even without the New York financial advantages that he enjoys, because he is the most competitive owner in sports.

Who says “money can’t buy me love?”

RIP: Dock Ellis

dockellis

Just received an e-mail from Captain Will, it said…

“One of my favorites. I used to love to watch him pitch

When he was with Yanks, one preseason the Yanks were struggling and a reporter asked Dock, “Why are the Yanks struggling?” Dock replied, “Well it is by design, the more we lose, the more George flies down here, and the more George flies, the better the odds are of a plane crash.”

In 1970 Dock overcame eight walks in the first game of a doubleheader against the Padres to throw a no-hitter, several years later, he admitted he was high on LSD when he accomplished the feat. He was 19-9 with the Buccos in 1971 when the Pirates won the World Series. On July 13, 1971, Reggie Jackson blasted what almost certainly is the longest home run ever hit in an All-Star game, and one of the longest of all time. Jackson’s home run came at Tiger Stadium in Detroit off the NL pitcher, Dock Ellis. After the 1975 season Ellis was traded to the Yankees along with Willie Randolph & Ken Brett, in exchange for Doc Medich.

In 1986 the Yankees hired him to offer guidance to their minor leaguers on drug & alcohol abuse. Ellis kept up his campaign against addiction for the rest of his life, and frequently joined former teammates to support them on their charity work.

Dock Ellis always spoke his mind, he was one of a kind, he will be missed.

IT’S HARD TO FAULT A-ROD

I’ve been a fan of Alex Rodriguez since he played Class-A ball for the Appleton Foxes. Went to Appleton to see the kid play there, it was Alex Rodriguez poster night, and even got him to sign a baseball card, which is still on my desk. That was way back in 1994, Alex was the first player chosen in the draft, and this 18 year old kid was performing well on the field. Rodriguez batted .319 in his brief 65 game stay in the Midwest League, hitting 14 home runs there, before playing 17 games in Double A, 32 games in Triple A, and before the season was through 17 games in Seattle with the Mariners. But on this night I got to see what all the fuss was about, in person. He could do it all. It was obvious Alex would be a star. This skinny 6’3″ youngster had power, speed, and could pick it at shortstop.

The awards Alex Rodriguez has won since showing up on the scene are too numerous to mention. He was named the AL MVP in 2003, 2005, & 2007. In 1996, 2002, & 2007 he was named the ML Player of the Year. The AL Hank Aaron Award was bestowed on him in 2001, 2002, 2003, & 2007. He has won nine Silver Slugger Awards (7 at SS, 2 at 3B). In 2002 & 2003 he won Gold Gloves for his play at SS. In 1996 he led the AL with a .358 batting average. He’s led the league in home runs five times, total bases four times, RBIs twice, runs scored five times, and slugging percentage three times. Eleven times Rodriguez made the AL All Star team.

His statistics speak for themselves. In 1,941 games played A-Rod has hit 526 homers, knocked in 1,552 runs, scored 1,524 times, 407 doubles, an onbase percentage of .389, 271 stolen bases, while batting .306. It’s no wonder he is the highest paid player in the history of the game, no doubt, he is the best!

It should come as no surprise that when I had the chance to get Alex to play for my Illowa APBA franchise I jumped at it. The Northside Hitmen drafted Rodriguez as a rookie, but after years of me badgering him, CLuke FINALLY relented, and traded him to me in exchange for Miguel Cabrera. In APBA A-Rod’s been a winner, playing with the Hitmen, with the likes of Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, & Roberto Alomar, championships didn’t elude him.

There is more to it, than this is a game played with cardboard players & dice, rather than real players made of flesh & bone. There is the matter of money. When you tie up that much money in one resource, there just isn’t enough to go around for the rest of the ballclub, even if you are George Steinbrenner, and you own the New York Yankees. Rodriguez’ teams have finished in first place five different times, but never a championship.

Will he ever win one? That is the question being asked here. I’d have to say, no. Just too much money invested in one ballplayer. But that doesn’t it mean it can’t happen or that I won’t be rooting him on. Even though I’m a White Sox fan through and through, I’ll always be a fan of Alex Rodriguez.

Oh yeah, and that poster I received in 1994, is still hanging on my bedroom wall, after all these years.

Book Review: Hammerin’ Hank, George Almighty & the Say Hey Kid

“Mr Aaron, for every one of those bad letters you receive, there are thousands pulling for you. Good luck in your quest… after you leave the Astrodome.”

Greeting on the Astrodome scoreboard welcoming Hank Aaron during his quest to break Babe Ruth’s homerun record in 1973

–

It was a nice gesture to be sure but it underscored the pressure Hank Aaron must have been going through the year he attempted to break Babe Ruth’s record.

That drama that unfolded that year is one of several that is detailed in the book Hammerin’ Hank, George Almighty & the Say Hey Kid. The book essentially focuses on baseball during the year of 1973.

Now, when it comes to baseball history I love the 1970’s. I liked the style of play with its balance of speed, power and pitching. There were interesting players and other people of importance in the game. Before the era of “spin”, it didn’t take a scandal for a player to be “colorful”.

Author John Rosengren does a fine job picking his stories to tell. You’re not going to find a game-by-game account of the 1973 season. Rather he finds the important tales that remain relevant or at least interesting to today’s audience.

Speaking of relevance, Aaron’s story is told. Anyone who has not heard any version of it must read that chapter. There’s also Willie Mays’ last stand with the Mets. The rise of George Steinbrenner. And Orlando Cepeda making the most of the new Designated Hitter rule in Boston before his knees blow out.

Of course, Rosengen spends a lot of print on the World Champion Oakland A’s. We read much about the team interaction, with each other and with Dick Williams and Charlie O. Rosengren gives a pretty good insight into the workings of Reggie Jackson.

I’ve been asked to review books fairly often and I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed all them to some degree. But Hammerin’ Hank, George Almighty & the Say Hey Kid has got to be one of my favorite. That’s partially because I like baseball history books and because of the time period written about. But John Rosengren did his research (the book is well documented) and wrote a book that didn’t put me to sleep. THAT makes it a keeper.

Hammerin’ Hank, George Almighty & the Say Hey Kid

Author: John Rosengren

Publisher: Sourcebooks. Inc

Legends Field renamed for the Boss

Commercial naming rights, begone. Nope, the New York Yankees have announced that they are renaming Legends Field, which has been the the Yanks’ spring training home for 30 years, George M. Steinbrenner Field.

As much as he could be, the billionaire and principal owner of the New York Yankees was humbled by the action:

“I am humbled and flattered to have this outstanding and totally unexpected honor conferred on me,” George Steinbrenner said in a statement. “I extend my thanks to the Tampa City Council and to the Hillsborough County Commissioners for passing resolutions suggesting and recommending the change.”

The newly renamed facility is located in Tampa, Florida.

(photo: Baseball Parks of the Minor Leagues)