Richard Rys of Philly magazine wrote a massive, and terrific, piece on the Phillies ownership. Five silent partners, who meet 4 times a year to discuss the state of the team. A team where friendship is valued more than performance and where caution always is weighed above risk.
It seems we get these ownership exposés about once a year. But this is the best piece I’ve ever read about the lackluster owners we know nothing about. I keep waiting for that deadline deal that will put us over the top. Alas, I should resign myself to that never happening.
The power of the internet never ceases to amaze me. The ability to communicate with people on the other side of the world or on the other side of the street–simultaneously–is mindblowing, and something we take for granted every day.
A couple days ago, in checking the statistics on this blog–who’s accessing it, from where, and what are they reading–in order to assess our progress on the site, I noticed that more than a few viewers were being directed from a forum on the official site of Tigres de Licey, the most prestigious baseball team in the Dominican Republic. I wouldn’t have known what this was, except for having been to the Dominican twice, a country where it’s impossible to escape baseball. Apparently, in searching for the Jose ReyesSportscenter commercial (Jose is a Dominican native, and a superstar on the island), the Licey fans stumbled upon NL Beast.
So in the spirit of globalization and promotion of baseball around the world, bienvenidos a Bestia de Liga Nacional, nuestros amigos del Republico Dominicana.
As many of you might have noticed, NLBeast.com isn’t quite as active as it used to be. We’re currently going through a transformation period. With increasingly time-consuming day jobs that don’t really lend themselves to blogging at work, it’s become difficult to post as frequently as we used to. That being said, we’re still planning on continuing NL Beast, just as a different sort of blog. Expect less news and more analysis. That’s the beauty of blogging; it augments other media so that there is no need to report on everything. We’re still new to this, so if anyone has a suggestion or two, please feel free to drop us a line in our comment section.
Utley leads all NL players with 537,788 votes, and it isn’t even close. Utley is more than 100,000 votes ahead of the next most popular player, Astros first baseman Lance Berkman (329,723). But Utley is the only Phillies player leading at his position, which tells me that he’s getting votes from all NL precincts, not just Philadelphia.
Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer gives a quick snapshot of every stadium around the league in yesterday’s paper. For the most part I think he’s right on with these reviews.
Maybe we’re getting spoiled.
During the last two decades, 18 new major-league ballparks have opened. They are all terrific places to watch a game - clean, modern and comfortable.
The downside of the stadium boom is that so many have come along that we get a little less excited each time one opens.
That was the case when the Phillies visited baseball’s newest stadium, sparkling Nationals Park, last week.
The place is beautiful. You can see the Capitol from the upper deck. It’s convenient and accessible. The concessions are superb, though not cheap. Players like it and fans should, even if that upper deck is a little far from the field.
But when held up against some of the other baseball-only parks that sprouted since 1990, and even some older ones, Nationals Park lacks something. It doesn’t have that one signature feature, like the Green Monster in Boston or the Roberto Clemente Bridge in Pittsburgh. It doesn’t make you say Wow! like Camden Yards or AT&T Park did the first time you walked in those places.
This is not a slight of Nationals Park. It’s just that the competition is tough these days.
With that, we thought it would be a good time to rate the 30 big-league parks. These are just the opinions of one scribe who has been fortunate to see them all. The criteria are wide open, from atmosphere to fan experience. Here goes:
Premium seating
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore. The park that kicked off the retro-stadium boom in 1992 is still a standard-setter. From the smell of Boog Powell’s barbecue wafting over the right-field wall, to the iconic warehouse, to the skyline beyond the outfield wall, it is very pleasing to the senses.
PNC Park, Pittsburgh. It has all the player/fan amenities you’d want, but the surrounding ambience makes it one of the best. Beyond center field, the Clemente Bridge spans the Allegheny like a giant yellow welcome mat. At night, one of America’s most underrated cityscapes glistens in the distance. A must-see.
AT&T Park, San Francisco. Most picturesque, with the bay just beyond the right-field wall and the Bay Bridge hanging in the distance to the left. The seats are close to the field. Whether you liked Barry Bonds or not, there was no more electric setting in baseball than when he was hitting home runs there. The environment, a complete turnaround from blustery, uninviting Candlestick Park, once led a scout to say, “You used to go to the ‘Stick, nobody was there, and all you smelled was marijuana. This place is packed and all you smell are garlic fries.” (more…)
Yes, you’re right, it’s a Larry Craig bathroom stall giveaway from the St. Paul Saints. Marketing genius if you ask me. Click the link and watch the video for a good laugh.
The Smoking Gun has more pics. The number is the Saints ticket office.
ESPN’s E-Ticket featuresYu Darvish, the 21 year-old Japanese phenom (he’s actually half-Japanese, half-Iranian) who is being called “Dice-K 2.0.” It’s possible that Darvish can be bought in much the same fashion as Daisuke Matsuzaka was two years ago. Speculation is that the asking price just to negotiate with Darvish could reach $50 million.
The article and attached video expand to discuss the differences between Japanese and American baseball, from revenue-sharing (doesn’t exist in Japan) to practice ethic (seven hours a day for little leaguers) to MLB’s presence in Asia (lots of Ichiro, Hideki Matsui, and Dice-K jerseys being sold). Interviewed are Bobby Valentine, who manages a team in Japan (ESPN2 had a great show about this called The Zen of Bobby V, also very interesting) and former-Met Masato Yoshii, who is now a pitching coach in his home country.
If Darvish decides to come pitch in the United States, it’s highly likely that the Yankees will do everything in their power to sign him (after losing out in the Matsusaka sweepstakes and making a mistake on Kei Igawa). I’d love to see the Mets go after him, but I am quite certain that if Darvish decides to pitch here, Hank Steinbrenner will do everything in his power to ensure that Yu wears pinstripes in the Bronx.
His piece focuses on the Mets. But it happens in Philly, too. And I don’t have a problem with it. Booing a visiting Scott Rolen half a decade after he was traded does not yield any internal dividends. But booing a lackluster team or a snotty player or a poor coaching decision all are legitimate reasons to groan publicly.
Players serving time on the Phillies come to know that boos serve as dissatisfaction with effort more than anything. And when the results are positive, Phillies fans will cheer as loud as any in the game. In New York, I imagine the case is not much different. The Mets are not playing to their potential. If they do, they would receive equally boisterous accolades.
Should fans sit back silently, or worse, cheer a floundering ball club? Of course not. Northeast sports fans are the best in the country, because they care. Those emotions should involve cheering, and booing, too.
So says David Murphy of the Daily News. Here’s what he had to say over at High Cheese:
We wrote a couple weeks ago about the case of the exploding bat, and the concerns of various people inside the game that maple bats and their tendency to shatter represent a hazard in the baseball workplace.
Just had a transcript of a Bud Selig interview forwarded to me. In it, he addresses the issue. This is from an interview with Charley Steiner on XM Radio.
Steiner: Okay. The next question, and again we’ll use this in a generic sense, quote unquote maple bats.
Selig: Yeah.
Steiner: Yes, there are all sorts of bats. Different bat companies and so on. One thing that we have all noticed over the last few years are these projectiles. I mean there are times when a given batter goes through three bats in one at-bat. And these are not just broken bats, but there are javelins that impale the ground. Actually, one got a piece of Don Long the hitting instructor of the Pirates when he was here at Dodger Stadium. How serious is that an issue for you? Let’s just begin with that. Where are you on that?
Yankee slugger Jason Giambi wears a gold lamé, tiger-stripe thong under his uniform when he wants to break out of a slump - and he shares it with hitless teammates who want to get back on track.
Apparently, he is not alone; Giambi shares his man-thong with the rest of the Yankees.
Over the years, the 37-year-old All-Star has left the “golden thong” in the lockers of slumping teammates Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Johnny Damon, Robin Ventura and Robinson Cano.
“All of them wore it and got hits,” he reports. “The thong works every time.”
After going to the Red Sox Orioles game yesterday at Camden Yards I couldn’t help but post this ridiculous video once I found it online. And they said “Meet the Mets” was lame.
I will be heading to Camden Yards tonight to see Josh Beckett face off against Jeremy Guthrie. In light of that, this week’s AL roundup will discuss the Baltimore Orioles record thus far this year. The expectation of the Orioles coming into 2008 was that they would be vying with the Giants for the worst record in baseball. Having traded away star shortstop Miguel Tejada and ace Erik Bedard (and making attempts to trade away Brian Roberts, which may still happen), Baltimore was in a full-blown rebuilding process.
Peter Angelos, the owner of the storied franchise, ran the team into the ground and last year “handed”* the reigns over to Andy McPhail. McPhail definitely got good value for Bedard in centerfielder Adam Jones, which gives the Orioles a great young outfield with Nick Markakis and too a lesser extent Luke Scott (who came over in the Tejada deal).
*Angelos certainly didn’t hand over the team to McPhail. He is still meddling in trades and the day-to-day operation of the team. He is right up there with Jeffery Loria and the Nutting family as the worst owner in baseball. The Orioles fans deserve better, but he doesn’t appear to be leaving any time soon.(more…)
New York Baseball breaks down the two New York baseball networks in a must-read for any Mets or Yankees fan. They basically conclude (accurately) that YES does a better job with non-game coverage but SNY destroys on the field. They give a lot of props to Gary, Ron and Keith and their “brutal honesty” which is something I completely agree with. Having watched many other teams’ broadcasts, I can say that, with the exception of Vin Scully, there are no finer, more objective announcers than the Mets’ crew. The piece also gives lots of props to Kevin Burkhardt, a guy who calls a great game and a guy who is stuck as sideline reporter for now, until another network steals him away.
http://nybaseball.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/ny-baseball-report-card-yes-and-sny/
Note: The State of the AL will be a weekly column written every Tuesday by Alex Kellner, a fan of the Boston Red Sox. Alex also blogs at alexkellner.com where he discusses politics, technology and sports.
We have now reached the 1/5th mark in the 2008 baseball season and so far the surprise of the year in the American League has been the Detroit Tigers’ struggles. After losing their first seven games, the Tigers have rebounded –going 14-12– but still sit in last place in the AL Central. The Tigers were predicted by many to dominate the 2008 regular season and while there is still plenty of baseball to be played (it is the first week in May after all), the team’s weaknesses have been on display for all.
The Tigers are going to score a ton (this is a technical term) of runs this year with an offense that may be one of the best of all time. However, as the Tigers learned the hard way last year, scoring runs alone does not guarantee a playoff berth. In 2007, the Tigers ranked third in runs scored behind the Yankees and the Phillies, but still finished eight games back of Cleveland for the division and six games behind the Yankees for the wildcard. Pitching and defense were the Tigers downfall as they ranked 9th in the AL for runs allowed.
Pitching, specifically, looks to be the Tigers’ issue this year as well, as they have allowed the second most runs in the American League (only behind the horrendous Texas Rangers’ pitching staff). Team ace, Justin Verlander, has been struggling so far this year with a 6.28 ERA, which joins Nate Robertson and Kenny Rogers as starters with ERAs over six. The only positive point is rookie Armando Gallaraga who has impressed through four starts this year, with 1.88 ERA and a WHIP under one. The bullpen is equally as bad, and despite the hopes of Tiger fans, probably won’t see significant help from either Fernando Rodney or Joel Zumaya. All in all, unless the Tigers pitching steps it up and soon, they may miss the playoffs again despite possibly leading the league in runs.
Great week for the division. The NL East is hot; only the Marlins came in at under .500 for the past 10 games. The last-place Nationals are just 4 games out, and are 8-2 in their last 10. The Phillies may still lead the division, but the Mets and Marlins are just a half a game out.
Some of the league’s finest talent plays in the division, and this cream of the crop is setting the pace in 2008. Chipper Jones leads the league in Batting Average with a whopping .421 so far. Chase Utley leads in home runs, with 13; Pat Burrell is tied for second with 9. Burrell is also second for RBIs, with 28. Utley and Jones lead the league in OPS, with 1.193 and 1.189 respectively. Marlins starter Mark Hendrickson is second in the league for wins, with 5 so far. Of the pitchers with WHIPs in the top 10, 4 are in the NL East: Johan Santana, Tim Hudson, Jair Jurjjens, and Cole Hamels. Billy Wagner leads the league in Batting Average Against (.070). And Wagner, Brad Lidge, and Jon Rauch are tied for fifth in the league for saves, notching 7 to this point.
As expected, the division is shaping up to be extremely competative down the stretch. Look for the Marlins to cool off as their young pitching exhausts itself, and for the Braves to heat up as key players such as John Smoltz and Mike Hampton return. The Mets have nowhere to go but up, the Phillies continue to be led by career years by both Chase Utley and Pat Burrell, and even the Nationals are playing good baseball at present.
