Daily Archives: March 3, 2005

Phil Allard has a good interview with the author Peter Golenbock over at NYYFans.com. It’s part one of two, and worth checking out if you are into Yankee history. Speaking of which, peace to Repoz for linking this article on Jim Bouton early in the week. Here’s a good one from the Bulldog:

“Baseball has become a gross game presented in a gross manner with loud noises and advertising,”Bouton said. “There’s nothing beautiful about it. Nothing contemplative. Baseball’s beauty is its timelessness. There’s no clock.

“But now when you walk into a ballpark you are blasted with advertising messages and a big TV set in centerfield. You don’t listen for the crack of the bat. Now it’s all about home runs. It’s not about bunting or moving the runner over and all the little things. It’s just a different game.

“A home run is now as boring as the dunk is in basketball.”

I remember that the Pirates had one night last summer where they shut down the electronic scoreboard and just had an organist play during the game. Man, I wish I could have been there for that. Not to be a snob, but it sounded so, well, civilized.

The Veteran’s Committe did not elect anyone to the Hall of Fame yesterday. (Say what you want about Maury Wills, but I don’t get how he gets twice as many votes as Minnie Minoso…okay, I understand how, I just don’t think it’s fair.) In the Times, columnist Dave Anderson questions the committe’s methods:

After two veterans committee shutouts, it’s fair to wonder how responsibly do the Hall of Famers, especially the 58 ex-players among them, take their duty as voters?

Do they really study the two pages of statistics, rankings and highlights supplied to them for each of the 25 candidates on the ballot – particularly those of players from other eras whom they never competed against and probably know nothing about?

Do they just glance at the list and make a snap judgment?

…Particularly annoying is that three committee members did not cast a ballot. (A fourth committee member, Murray Chass, the baseball columnist of The New York Times, does not vote, in accordance with the newspaper’s policies.) If they were ill, that’s understandable. But if they simply did not care enough about the process to fill out the ballot, they should be removed from the committee. No vote this time, no ballot in two years when the committee will be polled again.

For more excellent Hall of Fame coverage, check out what my label-mate Mike Carminati has to say. (Oh, and while you are there, Yankee and Red Sox fans should definately read the first part of Mike’s history of trades between the two teams.)

The Yankees play their first exhibition game of the spring today, and all is quiet in the clubhouse, much to the chagrin of some. Man, oh man, how I wish I was at home watching. Just cause, you know?

Former Met Al Leiter thinks that syndicated radio personalities Mike and the Mad Dog done him wrong. In today’s Daily News, he tells John Harper:

“They influence not only fans but organizations,” said Leiter, who is paid to do a weekly spot on Michael Kay’s ESPN radio show. “Teams in New York listen to those guys. Why I don’t know. One guy’s a know-it-all, and his opinions are better than anybody else’s, and the other guy is a clown who throws a ball 47 miles-an-hour and plays tennis.

“They called me every name in the book, and questioned my integrity. Chris said I was done in 2003, and then when I had a strong second half, he said, ‘I guess I was wrong.’ Like a 10-second retraction was enough after he ripped me up and down in every way as if I’d done something to his wife and kids.”

Anyone listening to Fatso and Fruit Loops this afternoon? If so, let me know how they respond. I love bullcrap like this.