MOVIN ON UP
Ed Cossette’s Bambino’s Curse blog has been promoted to the big leagues. Ed’s blog is now being hosted by Fox, which means that Ed is officially bonafide (although anyone who has read BC already knows that). It couldn’t happen to a better, or more deserving guy, and that’s the triple truth (Ruth).
BETTER THAN EVER?
Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus is one of my favorite baseball writers, and not just because he roots for the Yankees, or because he was born in the Bronx, and raised in Manhattan. Sheehan is an even-handed yet forceful and convincing writer and he’s one of several reasons why Prospectus is worth the price of admission. Yesterday, Joe had a terrific piece on pitchers’ workloads that is definitive and should not be missed. Plus, it’s free, so everyone can check it out.
Don’t sleep, it’s a real treat.
HEY AL…
There is a good write up on Alfonso Soriano and Albert Pujols over at The New York Yankees Report . In case anyone thought that Sori is in the same league as Albert, think twice, man. Soriano is a treat to watch, and a real marvel, but Pujols is nothing short of great. I linked several articles on Pujols the other day which appeared on ESPN. Here is what some of Albert’s teammates have to say about him:
Matt Morris: “In Boston the other day, a lefty goes 3-0 on him, three pitches that weren’t even close. The fourth pitch is a ball, too, up and way away, and he crushes it the other way. It’s just unbelievable what he does. His body isn’t moving all over. He makes his adjustment, throws his hands at the pitch and slams it with a real short stroke.”
Hitting coach Mitchell Page: “His mind is way above his ability. Guys might have all the tools in the world, but they don’t have the mind this guy has. He helps me out, with the other players. The guy has three years in the big leagues and he’s saying things that people listen to. If it was Rod Carew after 15-20 years, that’s one thing. But when Albert talks, people listen.”
Scott Rolen: “The pitcher usually controls the at-bat, and the hitter has to make the adjustments. But Albert controls the at-bat. The pitcher has to find a way to get him out, to trick him. You can’t just come in and then go away, ’cause he’s gonna hammer it. You can’t go up and down, ’cause he’s gonna hammer it. You’d better throw three good pitches.”
…During a 13-game homestand from May 26-June 8 he went 26-for-57 (.456). Near the end of that stretch was a bases-clearing double against Orioles closer Jorge Julio that won the game 8-6. “It was a 97-, 98-mile-an-hour fastball on the inside corner, and he smokes it down the line,” Rolen said. “He shouldn’t be able to do that with that pitch. But he pulled his hands in with an incredible knowledge of where the bat head was. He has so much confidence in his swing and his approach at the plate, he had the confidence to stay with the ball and rope it like that.”
WHO KNEW NUMBER TWO?
Larry Doby, the first African American in the 20th century to play in the American League, passed away yesterday at his home in New Jersey. He was 78. Doby was signed by Bill Veeck to play for the Indians just three months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the National League. Doby was a major contributor to the Indians last championship season (1948) and went on to enjoy a career that would eventually get him elected to the Hall of Fame. Doby was also the second black manager in the big leagues (hired by Veeck once again).
Unfortunately, Doby’s is most remembered for being number two. The second guy. Who cares about second place? This is particularly upsetting when you consider the fact that Doby had to face the same brutal racism that Robinson encountered:
Before Doby’s election to the Hall, Willie Mays said: “Don’t forget Larry Doby. From what I hear, Jackie had Pee Wee Reese and Gil Hodges and Ralph Branca, but Larry didn’t have anybody.”
…”There’s something in the Bible that says you should forgive and forget,” Doby told the New York Post in 1999. “Well, you might forgive. But boy, it is tough to forget.”
…”The only difference was that Jackie Robinson got all the publicity,” Doby later said. “You didn’t hear much about what I was going through because the media didn’t want to repeat the same story.”
There was, of course, a lot that separated Robinson and Doby. Doby, was younger when he came to the majors, and was a withdrawn and sensitive guy, while Robinson was a tour de force, a dynamo. But what is inexplicable—even inexcusable—is how the press and the public have slighted Doby over the years. Earlier this year, I spoke with the filmmaker Ken Burns about Doby:
Bronx Banter: Jackie Robinson was a fitting choice as the hero of the “Baseball” series. Without taking anything away from his greatness, what about Larry Doby? He was the first black player in the American League. I don’t mean to single you out on this, but how come Doby has been so over looked, even neglected, by history?
KB: That’s one of those situations where when you are not the first, you get forgotten. It’s the John Adams syndrome. So maybe it’s going to take somebody of David McCollough’s caliber to rescue the Larry Doby’s of the world. The guys who end up in second.
BB: Nice guys finish last, right?
KB: That doesn’t make him any less courageous or any less heroic, it’s just that we focused our attention on the heroism and courage of Jackie Robinson, and that’s what we endow with all the symbolic importance that Jackie Robinson has for us.
BB: So it was more of an aesthetic choice rather than just saying, ‘Oh, Doby’s story just isn’t all that interesting.’
KB: It’s just a question of first, it’s not even a question of aesthetics. It’s just Jackie was first, and Jackie also happened to display this incredible courage and heroics and really wore it. And Doby, of course, had to go through much of the same thing, it’s just because our attention was on Jackie, we didn’t have the time to do Doby as well.
Here is a comment from a fan named Philippe that I came across in the Baseball Primer Clutch Hits chat room:
I’d just want to shed some light on the little-known role played by the Montreal Expos in bringing Larry Doby back to the limelight. After his major league career ended, Doby went to Japan for a couple of seasons and then was out of baseball altogether, although the Johnson administration did give him a job on the National Council on Physical Fitness. His main source of income was a liquor store he operated in in New Jersey, however.
The Expos hired Doby shortly after they were granted an expansion franchise in 1968. He was at first a scout and minor league instructor, but in 1971 he became the full-time hitting coach, staying until the end of the 1973 season. He coached in Cleveland in 1974 then was brought back to Montreal to be Karl Kuehl’s bench coach in 1976 (not something to gloat about in your resume), which led to his hiring by the White Sox when the Expos cleaned house after Kuehl’s firing.
And of course, one major league player, catcher Larry Doby Johnson, is named after him.
Rest in peace, Larry Doby. You have left good memories everywhere you have been.
Amen to that.
ENCORE
Roger Clemens didn’t suffer a letdown after recording his 300th victory last Friday, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning last night at The Stadium vs. Tampa Bay. Forget about the fact that this was the D-Rays, Clemens was downright nasty. He was matched, however, by Victor Zambrano. Clemens allowed one hit in eight innings of work, while Zambrano allowed two. Clemens pounded the Ray with his fastball and his splitter, while Zambrano vexed the Bombers with his sinker. Both pitchers left with the game still scoreless and then it was up to the bullpens. Both pens were excellent and this has to be one of the best-pitched games of the season.
The Yanks won the game, 1-0 when Alfonso Soriano singled with the bases loaded with one out in the 12th inning. Sori hit a pitch that was about two feet outside and maybe a foot off the ground. It is the same pitch we are used to watching him wave at all the time, but Soriano inexplicably poked the pitch, like a back hand return in tennis, up the middle to end the game. Just when you want to curse him out for swinging at that kind of trash, he turns water into wine. Go figure. He’s not a freak for nothing.
Before the game, Joe Torre addressed the comments he made to Fox TV. John Harper has a good write-up on Torre in the News today:
…The beauty of Torre in pinstripes [is]: He says what he thinks, and he doesn’t manage scared.
From the day he arrived as Yankee manager, Torre carried himself with a relaxed sense of security that can’t be faked, a security that comes with being an NL MVP as a player, and a man who knows he could command a high price as a broadcaster, if necessary.
So maybe he didn’t have a specific message in mind for Steinbrenner yesterday, but with his answers he surely offered a reminder to his players that he’s as much his own man as ever, the same guy who managed the Yankees to four world championships.
That may have been important to him, since Torre said in the dugout yesterday that his players had been asking him if he was okay, apparently alarmed by newspaper stories over the weekend full of speculation about being fired.
“My goal is to insulate them from those type of distractions,” Torre said. “I wasn’t successful this time.”
