Pablo Sandoval: Is he worth the years or the money?

Now you see what a reputation does to someone. Pablo has not shown his employers, the San Francisco Giants, that he can be trusted to keep himself at a playing weight that would allow him to field his position to the best of his ability and or stay off of the injured list.

Due to the freakish incidents that he injured both hammate bones we all learned that because we only get two of those at birth and that he got both of his removed, he cannot injure another hammate bone again. That and the fact that he came into camp in excellent shape makes one think it would be highly unfortunate for him to experience any time on the disabled list in 2014.

On the morning show, KNBR680AM, Larry Krueger (with Gary Radnich) says if they aren't going to re-sign him they ought to trade him so they can get a prospect now rather than wait for the draft pick to bloom into a major league player. Draft picks in baseball are as valuable as they are in the National Football League they just take longer to become big league ballplayers while the college level seems to speed up the process in the NFL. (Note: Usually those players drafted out of college in baseball reach the big leagues sooner because they have had the seasoning in school. It's the players enter the minor leagues out of high school that generally take longer.)

Should the Giants sign Pablo or trade him?

Personally, I believe if he comes out of the gates swinging and starts producing that Brian Sabean and his staff will come to the conclusion that it would be best to sign the Panda for 4-years at 15 million per. Making it 4-years at $60 million.

Kevin J. Marquez

Integrity in Baseball is an Oxymoron

On the tombstone of Kenesaw Mountain Landis reads: His integrity and leadership established baseball in the respect, esteem and affection of the American people.

Here are a few astute recollections from Writersbloc.blog
It is hard to say which Landis harmed more- America's National Pastime, or its Common Decency.
He was ghoulish even to look at, "a wasted man," wrote John Reed, "with untidy white hair and emaciated face in which two burning eyes (were) set like jewels, (his) parchment skin split by a crack for a mouth- the face of Andrew Jackson three years dead.

Virtually every hateful outrage in baseball history can be ascribed, in some measure, to Landis' integrity and leadership. It started around 1915, when competition from the upstart Federal League threatened to undo the notorious "reserve clause," which bound each player to his team like an indentured servant. The clause was laughably illegal, an obvious violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, but Landis took care of that. First, he arranged a backroom deal in which the Federals were paid off and the monopoly restored; the, in a breathtaking masterstroke, Landis almost certainly used his influence to obtain baseball's antitrust exemption from the Supreme Court. With competition gone and players stripped of all legal protection, he was soon able to suspend Babe Ruth for having the audacity to play ball in the off-season. (All the sordid details can be found in a marvelous scholarly paper called "Larceny and Old Leather" by Prof. Eldon Ham of Chicago-Kent Law School.

Landis is best known for imposing a lifetime ban on eight members of the Chicago "Black Sox" who accepted bribes from gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series.

By far the most scandalous aspect of the Black Sox scandal was not the fix, but the legal proceedings that followed it. Three players confessed and eight were indicted, but before the case went to trial, the grand jury records, complete with confessions, went a-missing. They turned up four years later in the possession of one George Hudnall, who just happened to be Charles Comiskey's lawyer. Apparently, someone, or several someones, had decided that a public trial would be bad for the baseball business. So the players were acquitted; but Landis, in a final insult to American justice, banned them from baseball for life, as he put it, "regardless of the verdict of juries."

Examining Judge Landis' actions as a judge is helpful towards understanding his decisions as commissioner of baseball. As Federal judge his decisions could be overruled by both the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States, whereas in baseball, Landis himself was the ultimate decision maker on any matter- the court of last, and only, resort.

It was Landis' handling of the federal League case, which may not have been a prominent legal issue at the time, introduced organized Baseball to the federal judge. But I say it may have been the other way around. Have you ever seen pictures or a picture of Kenesaw Mountain Landis? And then teaming that with his antics on the bench must have caught a couple owners' attention.

A contemporary Chicago Herald article on one Landis' cases noted that the judge "did the prosecuting, the defending, the questioning...he even bullied when necessary to get information out of a witness."

At a time when the owners decided it was best for a commissioner to have all the power to rule on incidents in the league because all they cared about was making money it did not matter what the commissioner's tactics were as long as he got the desired results, which was what the owner's considered to be establishing the league of integrity. The owners weren't about to nitpick since they were sullied, despicable sorts who happened to fall ass backwards into their fortunes which allowed them to own their franchise. (Exhibit A: Bud Selig)

It was Landis' harsh treatment of and willingness to stand up to powerful defendants that made his reputation among the public. And even though Landis saw most of his major judgments being overruled on appeal and the popular courtroom consensus considered the scary looking bully as a "showboat judge" and derided him as the "kind of guy who gets a lot of headlines and then all of his decisions are overturned."

What I would like to know is who did their homework on this judge? And then, are there actual records of that particular owner presenting "his case" for Kenesaw Mountain Landis? Landis, a man who upon learning that President Woodrow Wilson had commuted a maximum sentence of a millionaire cattle rancher convected of selling diseased cattle, Landis responded by placing no penalty whatsoever upon a man convicted of stealing sugar, rationalizing that selling diseased cattle was not subject to punishment then why should stealing sugar?

Isn't the definition of commutation, in Law, a change of punishment or sentence to one that is less severe? Sounds to me like the cattle rancher still got penalized where Landis interpreted it wrongly. Stealing vs. selling is different. Only because the seller probably wasn't aware his livestock was poisoned or that his goods were damaged but once that was known a price of some kind was paid. Meanwhile the sugar thief got off merely on the technicality that he/she was not a millionaire. And this is the guy those owners wanted as their commissioner.

Kevin J. Marquez

Herman Franks (Manager of 1965-1968 SF Giants)

When you are hired by owner Horace Stoneham there are a couple of things you need to know and at least one you will find out. The first being, do you know the ins and outs of baseball. If so-called experts were brought in to grill you in an interview to see just how much you claim to know versus the bullshit in your resume, could you pass the test? Second, would be, does a so-called expert recommend you? And finally, certainly listed last but not the least bit important is CAN YOU BE HORACE'S DRINKING BUDDY?

Herman Franks answered these questions and then some.

I got a hold of something entitled, They Were There, and lo and behold it was about Herman Franks. I will try to set this up to the best of my ability based on the knowledge brought forth in a couple of articles. To be honest, there is a smile on my face likened to that of a slit watermelon.

When asked where he was when Bobby Thomson hit his "Shot Heard 'Round the World" Franks replied, "Doing something for Durocher" as he was Leo's bench coach for the '51 Giants.

As told to Ed Attanasio, This Great Game:
On his role in the Bobby Thomson home run: "They say that I stole Brooklyn's signs that day and I've never admitted to anything. And I never will. There's been a lot of talk about it since 1951. People don't ever get tired of talking about it. I must have talked to this writer (Prager) more than 50 times. Prager researched the hell out of that story, let me tell you. (Gee, he tells us this much, at least.) I read things in there I didn't know. Sal Yvars has blabbed all over the place, but no one else has talked. (Yvars was the backup catcher. Franks supposedly was stationed in the Giants' center field clubhouse at the Polo Grounds. He would steal the opposing catcher's signs through a telescope and relayed them through Yvars who was stationed in the bullpen who could then share his information with the coaches and hitters accordingly.)

Look, it's an easy assumption to think Franks did such a thing. He was Leo Durocher's bench coach who was always running errands anyway. So why not go out to the outer reaches of the Polo Grounds and make yourself useful. He was the perfect gobe-mouches, schlemiel, pigeon for the job. And, don't forget, he was a drinking buddy of Horace Stoneham. That he was able to help out in the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" made him a lot of money with the Giants as long as Horace Stoneham was the owner.

And, in the same article Franks claims the best team he ever managed was the 1965 San Francisco Giants except he didn't have a shortstop or a second baseman who couldn't turn a double-play. "We tried out a bunch of shortstops and second basemen, but we couldn't find anyone to fill the holes there. Damn, I always thought Hal Lanier was a slick fielding shortstop and Tito Fuentes was said to be very quick with getting rid of the ball from second base.

Here is a list of shortstops and second-basemen from 1965-1968: Dick Schofield, Jose Pagan, Lanier, Fuentes, Bob Schroder, Don Mason...And the positions were interchangeable. Damn, their GM was Chub Feeney, Chub, couldn't you have made a move with another major league team? I mean Schofield was way past his prime by the team the Giants acquired him.

Also to consider is that Matty Alou was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates after the 1965 season for a pitcher named Joe Gibbon. In '66 Matty Alou led the National League in batting.
Then there was the Orlando Cepeda trade to St. Louis for Ray Sadecki. And the following year Cepeda not only won the MVP award but led the Redbirds to a World Series title. So you see, Chub Feeney was as much of an achilles heel to the all-time drinking buddy of Horace Stoneham.

This makes me even prouder of the current Giants' staff since they got us two World Series titles. And now just around the corner,here comes 2014!

Kevin Marquez

Rube "Sousepaw" Waddell: Respected by Those Who Knew Him

The players who played ball in the early 1900s may have all had a little color added to them by writers whose intentions of selling newspapers was priority number one.

In looking up information on Rube Waddell I came across something Bill James said that may explain the eccentricities of George Edward Waddell. James suggested that Waddell may have suffered from a developmental disability, mental retardation, autism, or attention deficit disorder (ADD) which essentially were metal issues that were unheard of or improperly diagnosed at the time.

Rube was referred to as the "Sousepaw" a reference to his being a left-handed pitcher who participated in the sampling of alcoholic beverages.

(When Athletics' centerfield Danny Hoffman was knocked unconscious by a fastball to the temple. Wrote Connie Mack, "Then the man they had called the playboy and clown went into action. Pushing everybody to one side, he gently placed Danny over his shoulder and actually ran across the field." Rube flagged down a carriage, which carted the pair to the nearest hospital. Rube, still in uniform, sat at Hoffman's bedside for most of the night, and held ice to Hoffman's head.

His 349 strikeouts in a season was the standard set for major league pitchers until Sandy Koufax broke the record in 1965. In 1965 Koufax had 382 and in 1973 Nolan Ryan had 383 as a California Angel.

Here are some things said about George Edward "Rube" Waddell, a man who was born on a Friday the 13th (Oct 1876) and died on April Fools Day (1914), by people/players who knew him.

"He made my team. He was the greatest pitcher in the game and although widely known for his eccentricities, was more sinned against than sinning. He was the best-hearted man on our team and every man with whom he came in contact will verify my statement. When a comrade was sick the Rube was first on hand to see him and the last to leave and if he had money it went for some gift or offering to the sick man."

Rube's activity with Connie Mack's band virtually saved the American League from bankruptcy in the stormy season following the American's raid on the National rank and file. - Pittsburgh Press

Baseball was more joyous because of him. He was a fun-maker extraordinary. He drove away gloom like the sun dispersing the fog. He made everybody happy. Millions smiled at his antics. - Washington Post

The end of the spectacular life of George Edward Waddell calls the attention of the vast army of baseball fans to one of those characters, at once the most enviable and the saddest and most pitiful in the world, who are too giant-hearted for the civilization in which they live. They are affectionate, good-hearted giants, too big to see how little they serve their own interest, too impatient and too full of animal energy to stop and work out all the little tricks and artifices that would bring them gain/ giving always open-handedly and with both hands;relying absolutely in abounding energy, even finding pleasure and exhilaration in wasting and destroying that energy; angered only as a child is angered, by the sting of little annoyances, and sobered only in the presence of the genuine distress of others.- Literary digest

Rube was many kinds of man - angler, trap-shoot, football player, actor, fire fiend, amateur barkeeper, prize borrower, practical joker, comedian, a sworn enemy of gloom, a joyous wastrel, a boy that never grew up - as well as one of the greatest pitchers. As the leading comedian of baseball he was on the job, day and night, 365 days in the year. -Chicago Inter-Ocean

To our way of thinking the man who causes laughter and chases care is a philanthropist and a doer of most goodly deed, even though his antics may sometimes be exaggerated by over indulgence. Poor Rube at least made millions smile, his escapades rocked the nation with the richness of their humor, and his capers left no sting.
Rube Waddell left no enemies behind; he hurt no one save himself; and even there, who has a right to say damage was done? For the Rube lived his life and enjoyed it to the fullest. - The Sporting News

His brilliant achievements on the diamond and sensational escapades were advertising mediums which brought thousands of dollars. - Detroit Free Press

The kindest, most amiable, but most irresponsible figure that ever graced baseball's stage, a physical wonder and the greatest left-handed pitcher of all-time, a jester who toyed with life as a bauble and tossed it way at last as a useless thing- that man, the "haggard harlequin" of our national game, was George Edward Waddell.
Now that he has passed from the Known to the Unknown, let us forget the weakness of spirit, and remember only the kindly heart and splendid courage of the man who was the wonder of his profession. - Philadelphia Public Ledger

He was idolized and imitated in the barn-lots of lonely prairie farms, and in the crowded parks and back alleys of the great cities. He was a human, roistering adventurer with all the lovable frailties of Captain Kidd or John Silver. And the fans knew him as a pal. He endeared himself to the public with his Huckleberry Finn peregrinations. - Esquire.

Who would be the perfect actor to play the part of George Edward "Rube" Waddell? Could it be Richard "Rook" Reinholdt? Now wouldn't that be something.

Kevin J. Marquez

Concussion: It's Not Just a Headache

If you are a catcher in baseball your best friend is not the chest protector or shin guards or protective cup. While they may prevent you from bruising up like a mishandled banana it is the face mask that can save you from debilitating headaches and even concussions.

The first masks were all about visibility. Carbon-steel wire mesh remains the material of choice to this day. Carbon-steel is used because it is flexible but strong. The goal is to get some deformation in the mesh to reduce some of the shock but still retain its structural integrity.

The hockey-style mask, the one Mike Matheny wore when his career came to a sudden end (while the aforementioned carbon-steel well-padded model was the mask in which he broke into the big leagues wearing) is made of high-tech polycarbon. The helmet is said to protect the top, sides, and back of the head but I beg to differ based on the amount of padding used on these models.

The hockey-style mask is said to deflect the ball rather than having the ball hit the catcher flush. Perhaps that is how the carbon-steel model was manufactured but as one who wore both (I used the hockey mask while umpiring) and was really uncomfortable wearing it. It felt too light. And too light made me feel unsafe.

While others considered the big, well-padded mask too weighty for their necks, I was comforted by the support it gave my noggin' when some punch and judy hitter would be up there flailing away at pitches barely getting the bat on the ball and having many a ball glance off my mask.

I can't go into why the hockey mask isn't better because one would think if it could stop a puck at xxx miles per hour it surely could protect a catcher from a batter's foul tips. But I think the fact that goalies can see the puck and it's flight, regardless of how fast it is going, is easy to detect and at the least get out of the pucks way rather than standing idly by letting the hardened rubber meet your mask. Talk about new meaning to "rubber meets the road." "Don't let the rubber meet your mug or you will be seeing images that have never before or ever existed!"

So seeing the ball gives the catcher a chance to react to it. But on pitches above the catcher's head where they can only rely on instinct that's where the deflections seem to dominate the unsuspecting backstop. A player who doesn't see the ball can only hope it lands somewhere on God's green (or brown, depending on where you hang out) earth besides the back, top or side of his head.

In looking up how a catcher's mask has evolved no writer is privy to such information. They can only give you their interpretation based on the information they have. Where Major League Baseball (MLB) comes in is that issues seem to focus on whether the MLB is doing something about concussions not how to better suit the player with gear that prevents such a discussion in the first place. (Exhibit A: an article dated 2/25/14 "The Year of Living Less Dangerously" website: grantland.com/features/mlb-catcher-concussions) should pull up a somewhat limited perspective of the evolution of the "tools of ignorance" and how to better serve a catcher with the proper equipment.

Isn't that something. He wants to play baseball and actually loves settling in behind the plate, close to the batter. A person with a club who grunts and groans with every swing or ball called a strike in which no attempt to swing was made. And that person, with a glove, chest-protector, shit-guards and a face mask is wearing all of this protective equipment called the "tools of ignorance" and yet that's exactly where it stops. Nothing will be done to advance the protective equipment until enough people wearing the "tools of ignorance" get injured bad enough for the MLB to stop being ignorant on the matter of the health and well-being of its participants.

A new stop sign doesn't go up at the corner of Elm and Grand because of a PTA meeting. It goes there because little Johnny, Mary, Suzy, Billy, and Mikey have all been hit buy a car at that intersection. It took bodily harm for that stop sign to go up at Elm and Grand.

And that's the way the MLB will handle arriving at the best equipment possible in which their logo must be placed so they can receive some monetary gains-regardless if their receiving something for the mere fact that they only wanted their fucking logo to go onto the innovator's equipment- and you would still astute if you get the feeling that the ultimate concern of the player's health and well-being was secondary to the MLB. Yep, that's the way it works.

Welcome to baseball 2014.

Kevin J. Marquez

Do You Need Another Reason to BEAT LA!

It's one day before the 2014 San Francisco Giants report to Scottsdale, Arizona. And while it may be pitchers/catchers, when you speak of the orange and black, it's pretty much all about the pitchers and catchers.

Anyway, I am currently reading a book by Tim Wendel entitled, "Summer of '68." What a crazy bombastic year. The same year Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated and weeks later Robert Kennedy joined the list of politicians/Civil rights leader shot in the light of day.

In baseball, this was the year of the pitcher. Bob Gibson had an ERA of 1.12 and it was the first time in major league history that pitchers threw back-to-back no-hitters in the same ballpark. Where was the ballpark? Candlestick Park. The pitchers were: Gaylord Perry of the Giants and Ray Washburn of the Cardinals. (I remember this vividly and I was 8 years old at the time!)

But perhaps the biggest record breaking event occurred on May 31, 1968 at Chavez Ravine between the Los Angeles Dodgers and their rivals the San Francisco Giants. At that point, Drysdale had thrown 5 consecutive shutouts. Not since Guy Harris "Doc" White threw five consecutive shutouts for the Chicago White Sox in 1904 had such a feat been accomplished.

The all-time scoreless innings steak was held by Walter "Big Train" Johnson who pitched 55 2/3 innings of shutout baseball in 1913. This is what Don Drysdale was up against on that memorable night at Dodger Stadium.

Against the Giants, Drysdale was sailing along, holding a 3-0 lead into the top of the ninth. That's when Willie McCovey led off with a walk, Jim Ray Hart singled and Dave Marshall walked to load the bases. Nobody out. (Note: Marshall would break up Drysdale's bid for a no-hitter later in the summer at Candlestick Park.) Up to bat came Dick Dietz. The count was two balls and two strikes. Double D's next pitch grazed Dietz to force in a run and the Giants still had the bases loaded with nobody out. But wait! I can't believe what just happened. Rookie umpire Harry Wendelstedt claimed that Dietz made no effort to get out of the way of the pitch therefore he was ordered back in the batter's box and the count went to 3-balls 2-strikes.

Did it ever occur to the rookie home plate ump that Dietz had been fooled by Drysdale the entire evening therefore he was locked up and couldn't get out of the way of an errant throw way off the inside corner? How can you make a judgment call of intent? Who are you to determine that a player purposely refused to get out of the way of a pitch that was too far inside to avoid?

Had Dietz pulled a Craig Biggio and leaned into the pitch then perhaps we could say that Wendelstedt had a legitimate reason for making such an observation. But to assume the guy just wanted to get hit to break up a record setting shutout streak is to well, make an ass out of you and me.

Let's face it, Harry Wendelstedt saw a golden opportunity to get his name in the baseball annals, forever to be remembered, and he belly-flopped into the shallow end of the Cooperstown pool for fear of sinking like a stone in the deeper end.

As an eight year old boy learning about the game of baseball I thought this was the worst call ever conceived of by an umpire. And as I sit here some 46 years later it still remains the worst call ever made.

Sure an umpire cost a pitcher a perfect game. But that particular umpire admitted he erred and for that he gets exonerated. This guy Wendelstedt was simply trying to get his name into the record books/Hall of Fame. No ifs, ands or buts.

"It took a lot of balls on Harry's part to make the call," Drysdale said, "but he was absolutely right. Dietz made no effort to avoid that pitch." Holy Suzy chapstick that's some serious ass-kissing by ole #53. He must've have bought the calorically challenged umpire the biggest steak money could buy after the game.

The 2014 season is beginning to unfold. Do you need another reason to beat LA?

Kevin J. Marquez

Note: In the 1968 season, the Giants had a right-hander from Hickory, North Carolina by the name of Bobby Bolin. That year he was 10-5 with a 1.99 ERA. In a season where he started 34 games and beat Bob Gibson head-on, it was by far his best individual season.

Thick as a Brick

After the Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals to win the 2013 World Series, making it a total of three World Series championships in ten years (2003, 2007, and 2013) I couldn’t help but think about Bobby Valentine, the Red Sox manager for the nightmarish 2012 season.
My memories of Bobby Valentine have former manager of the Dodgers, Tom Lasorda, bragging about the young infielder. In fact, Valentine was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1st round (overall 5th pick) of the 1968 amateur draft. Coincidentally, it was Ted Sizemore, another infielder in the Dodger system, who captured the 1969 Rookie of the Year award.
(Since the inclusion of African-Americans into the game of baseball the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have been a factory of players who won the Rookie of the Year award. In 1947, Jackie Robinson won it, 1949- Don Newcombe, 1952- Joe Black, and 1953- Jim Gilliam. From the years 1947-1953 all of the Rookies of the Year were African-American with the exception of Alvin Dark in 1948.
Once again in the early 1980s the Dodgers had a hold on the Rookie of the Year award with Rick Sutcliffe winning in 1979, Steve Howe in 1980, Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 and Steve Sax winning in 1982. It was either a Dodger or an Oakland Athletic that captured the Rookie of the Year honors. You can look it up!)
Then I recall Bobby V going to Japan to manage and for all accounts had an experience that elevated his stature as a manager. The charismatic former infielder and Texas Ranger manager must have looked good to the Red Sox brass as they extended their laurel and hearty welcome.
Did I mention that Bobby V is Ralph Branca’s son-in-law? Ralph Branca served up Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard Round the World.” How thick of a skin do you think this guy has? But to be sure, both Bobby V and Ralph Branca are thick as a brick to think Valentine was improperly ousted by the Boston Red Sox.
I don’t know how ‘Bobby V got screwed’ when it seems like he called out people he could have kept behind closed doors and he made visible things you just don’t do if you are in position of authority, which a manager is for a baseball team. Discretion was not a glimmer of Bobby V’s method in handling a ball club that had talent with an assortment of attitudes that needed attention.
Valentine’s smug mannerisms throughout the 2010 season certainly rubbed me the wrong way I can only imagine how Sox fans felt. I had a hard time believing this guy, Bobby V, was being sincere. I saw a man filled with disdain who was frequently pointing the finger of blame.


Fitting Jethro Tull lyrics to "Thick as a Brick,"
in regards to Bobby V and his father-in-law.


Your bread and water’s going cold.
Your hair is too short and neat.
Ill judge you all and make damn sure that no-one judges me.

You curl your toes in fun as you smile at everyone -- you meet the stares.
You’re unaware that your doings aren't done.
And you laugh most ruthlessly as you tell us what not to be.
But how are we supposed to see where we should run?
I see you shuffle in the courtroom with
your rings upon your fingers and
your downy little sidies and
your silver-buckle shoes.
Playing at the hard case, you follow the example of the comic-paper idol
who lets you bend the rules.

Take the child from him
Put it to the test
Teach it
to be a wise man
How to fool the rest.

Of course
so you ride yourselves over the fields and
you make all your animal deals and
your wise men don't know how it feels to be thick as a brick.


Kevin J. Marquez