Old Sabean vs. New Sabean (who, technically, is older than Old Sabean)

I keep thinking I should have something poignant and compelling to say about Buster Posey's recent devastating, season ending injury, but every time I start typing I cry, wail, and gnash teeth until I fall asleep clutching my 1989 Starting Lineup Will Clark action figure.  So instead, you get this.

Brian Sabean is, at this moment, the longest tenured General Manager in baseball.  Anyone who holds that job for this long is going to have some wins and some losses.  And he has definitely done plenty of things right over the years.  But at times he has shown a tendency to do, well ... dumb things.  Like signing a 35 year old Dave Roberts for 3 years at over $15 million, or signing Neifi Pérez (for any amount of money).  Of course, his most notable missteps are the contracts he gave to Aaron Rowand (5 years and $60 million) and Barry Zito (7 years and $126 million).

Bill Neukom, Brian Sabean,
and The Trophy

The past couple of seasons, though, have seen Sabes (and I call him that because of how close we are, given all of the conversations we've had in my head) avoid the dumb move.  Not everything has worked out, of course, but nothing he's done lately has handicapped the team.  They have gotten very little for the $12 million they are paying Mark DeRosa over 2 years, but that's mostly due to injuries, and we're still talking about a small percentage of the payroll, and a relatively short amount of time.  It doesn't look like Miguel Tejada is going to be worth anywhere close to the $6.5 million the Giants will pay him this year, but at least it was a 1-year contract, and Sabean didn't feel like he had to top the dodgers' 3 year/$21 million offer to Juan Uribe.  Unless you're the Sonoma County Crushers, it's unlikely that a one-year contract is going to do any long term damage.  And it may be coincidence, but it seems like much of this change in Sabean's approach happened in conjunction with Bill Neukom ("Mr. Bowtie") taking over as the Giants managing partner.

So with the offense struggling, and now Posey - arguably their best position player - out for at least this season, I'm hoping we continue to see New Sabean at work.  With that, here are some headlines I hope I don't see in the near future.

"Giants Sign (Retired Catcher) To Replace Posey"  
Bengie Molina was, in Krukow-speak, a "good Giant."  No question about it.  And I'm sure Sabean and crew could have handled his trade more diplomatically, but they were going about the business of making the Giants the best team they could, and they definitely accomplished that.  But bringing him, or any other catcher sitting by their phone, is no guarantee of production beyond that what Eli Whiteside is offering, but will cost money and introduce an unknown variable into a pretty stable clubhouse.  Old Sabean would have panicked, and would have immediately been on the phone with everyone from Kirt Manwaring to Bobby Estalella.  Hopefully New Sabean doesn't hit the panic button quite that quickly.



"Giants Trade Top Prospects For Fading Veteran Catcher"
A trade in these circumstances is not necessarily a mistake, and may prove to be warranted in the near future, but I don't want to see the Giants give up legitimate talent for the hope that a veteran catcher who is underperforming elsewhere figures it out when he gets to AT&T Park.  Acquiring Ivan Rodriguez for a Double-A prospect we'll never hear from again and a box of sunflower seeds sounds great.  Trading Thomas Neal or Brandon Belt for 3 months of Pudge ... not so much.



"Giants Sign Clone Of Hall Of Fame Catcher"
Obviously there are ethical and political implications with this one, and I suppose it would have very little to do with either Old or New Sabean, but as a baseball fan ... this one isn't so bad.  I think I could live with this one.  When Posey comes back, I'm sure they'll figure something out.  Belt can play left, and Posey and Gibson can sort out who catches and who plays first base.


The bottom line is that I find myself with a degree of confidence that Sabes isn't going to do anything rash to solve the dilemma of the Giants losing their star catcher.  Go get someone if you have to, Brian. Just don't do anything dumb.

Time to outsource the NFL?

In honor of Fox televising the UEFA Champions League Final

match (and of course the utterly insane flopping that would make Vlade

proud), I thought I would talk about some major flopping going on here in the states. The NFL players union is flopping around on the floor crying foul as we speak. Yesterday, Drew Brees announced he has had enough of the owners and decided to air some grievances in public. Let me start by saying I don't care about the player’s gripes or the owner’s profits. I really don't care. I have tried to care, but I am unable to muster any concern for either side. I may be in the minority on the national level, but to be honest the only measure (albeit miniscule) of sympathy I have is with the owners.

Historically unions have served an important purpose in bringing some measure of equality to the workplace. The imbalance comes when unions demand so much of their employers that they find it easier to outsource to India than to deal with unions. I am sure that

no one in the states wants to see the NFL outsourced to India. You are a member of a union, because you are not wealthy enough to be the owner. It doesn’t matter how your particular owner got control of your team or business, all that matters is that they do in fact own it. Owners have the right to make profits without apologizing for it. As for unions, they always end up top heavy. Those running the union ask those at the bottom to risk everything while they themselves continue to make their money even in a time of layoffs and recession. So here we are, with Drew Brees running about the country on his righteous crusade seeking end the tyranny of those horrible NFL owners.

In case you missed it, here is what Drew Brees had to say. As you can see Drew Brees is convinced that ownership had the audacity to take advantage of Gene Upshaw’s death by pinning the leader-less billion dollar players union in the corner and bilking them for more money. While I don’t agree with Drew’s impossible theatrics, I can see how the players union was in a tough place after Upshaw’s death. It’s not like the players had the resources to hire a solid representative to look after their interests. They were sadly forced to accept a public defender from the district attorney’s office to try and get them a suspended sentence and public service.Wait…sorry I accidently turned the channel to Law and Order.Come on Drew. You are trying to tell us that the millionaire’s players club couldn’t secure decent legal representation on short notice? Let’s be real for a minute. The average guy who packs up his tools in the truck and shuffles off to a job every morning isn’t going to feel any sympathy for your misfortune, and here is why.

In 2009, the owners paid out 834 million dollars to players selected in the nfl draft’s first round. No, that is not a typo and yes you are reading that correctly. Those 32 players selected in the first round of the draft signed contracts and received signing bonuses totally over 800 million dollars. Of that amount $462 million is in guaranteed bonuses. Hey Drew, tell me again how it is the owners that are sucking the life out of the NFL. Drew Brees and the players union have somehow seen fit to be just fine with this imbalance and idiocy for years but suddenly they are trying to pin their own creation’s stupidity on the owners. Huh? Owners that are willing to dole out that kind of scratch for unproven commodities are obviously not unwilling to spend money.

I did some research on the pension plan offered by the NFL. Players receive between $3000 and $5000 annually per year in the league. So, my quick math skills tell me that if a player plays 5 years in the NFL he will receive between 15k and 30k annually. That may not seem like a ton of money, but the average income in the United States is just under 41k. So, if you take that total combined with a job at a fast food restaurant you find yourself smack dab in the middle of average. The NFL pension plan includes more that just money mind you. The NFL pension plan also includes medical coverage, research and care. You can read more about rule 88 and the Rozelle plan here. Last year there were a little over 3100 claims for annual pay outs from the pension fund.

I am not insensitive to the player’s plight here. I see how they might want to protect the retired players and offer them more income and coverage, as they themselves someday will have to live on their “meager” earnings. The players will tell you that the average career for an NFL athlete is less than 4 years in an attempt to garner your sympathy, but I just don’t see how that argument carries any weight. If you remove the 50 picks in the 6^th and 7^th rounds of every draft that play less than one year that average jumps up considerably. Also, aren’t we forgetting that their football talent should have gotten them a college degree that they can lean on after life in the NFL? If a player plays a couple of years, barring catastrophic injury, he should be more than capable of taking the money he earned, and coupling that with his college education he should have more than enough to build a great life with. Right? So what exactly is the NFL Players Union fighting for? Are they fighting for the athlete that was too foolish during their college tenure to actually learn in class? Or maybe the athlete that was too foolish to invest in their own retirement during a time in their life when they were making a ton of money? I am not sure exactly what they are fighting for beyond their own greed. Isn’t that exactly what those horrible owners are fighting for as well?

If you want me to believe that you care about those retired players, prove it. If the NFL Players are really a brotherhood, you can start by capping those ludicrous rookie salaries and use all of the extra money that the owners have proven they are willing to spend by putting it into the pension fund. Call it the Hello/Goodbye matching funds pension plan. For every dollar spent on the first round picks, a dollar is given to the pension fund. You could simply cap the first round at 400 million, that’s a paltry 13 per pick I know, and use the remaining 400 million for the pension fund over the life of the contracts. Also, you could take a percentage of all signing bonuses on all new NFL veterans contracts and put it into the pension fund. Plus, you could make paying into the pension fund a mandatory expense for all players who draw a salary in the NFL. If you, as the players, are unwilling to take these kinds of steps I have to believe that you are no better than every other union in the world. For every dollar you get the guy at the bottom you are pocketing five. You may start with the right ideas, but you end up with those at the top making all of the money and those at the bottom getting completely used as pawns in your game of greed. Last I checked Mr. Brees, you are at the top.

All Star Voting: Part One

I plan to post my All Star ballot, and all the rationale behind my choices, close to the deadline to vote.  Because even though the ballots have been open for almost a month, it's still too early to be able to vote intelligently.  Other than a strict "I never vote for dodgers" policy, I try to be as objective as I can when voting.  Close calls are determined by some combination of past success and who I'd rather see in the game.  But even the most diligent voter (possibly Brian Cronin) has not even half a season's worth of stats and performance on which to base their vote.

But after something that happened today, I cannot wait until I cast my 25 ballots to talk about All Star selections.  The Giants announced (via Twitter) an All Star voting "alliance" with the Boston Red Sox.  They want Giants fans to vote for "all Red Sox and Giants players listed on the 2011 All-Star Game Ballot," with the idea being that Red Sox fans will vote for Giants on the NL side.  So I responded by asking them to clarify that they were asking people to vote for "Tejada, Belt, Burrell, Crawford and Scutaro as All Stars?"  They simply responded "Correct."

Fresno Grizzlies slugger
Brandon Belt

I realize that the Giants Twitter account is probably manned by an unpaid intern, but still.  They want us to vote for:

• Miguel Tejada (lost his job to Mike Fontenot, back in the lineup only because Sandoval and DeRosa are hurt)
• Brandon Belt (sent to AAA over a month ago)
• Pat Burrell (lost his starting job to some combination of Nate Schierholtz and Aaron Rowand)
• Carl Crawford (dropped from 1st in the Red Sox lineup to 8th, due to his .215 batting average)
• Marco Scutaro (lost his job to Jed Lowrie).  

And that's not even mentioning the other undeserving Giants and Sox on the ballot, like:

• Pablo Sandoval (on the DL)
• Dustin Pedroia (.246, 2 HR)
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia (.229, 3 HR)
• J.D. Drew (.240, 3 HR)
• Andres Torres (.265, 1 HR, missed a month on the DL)
• Aubrey Huff (.228, 4 HR)

There's no question that almost every year fans vote in an All Star starter who has no business being on the roster based on that year's production.  On one hand, that annoys me.  On the other, it's one of the only things fans can do that has a direct, tangible result on the field.  On the other, other hand, I do tend to get all snooty towards the fans who vote for players who don't belong.

The bottom line is, sorry @SFGiants.  I will not be voting an all San Francisco/Boston ticket.  And I'm pretty annoyed that you are encouraging ... no, let's call it what it is: enabling.  I'm annoyed that you're enabling poor voting practices, and encouraging fans to tow the company line.  It's time for the PR department to get a little "misfit" in them.

Get 'em Wilponzi

Dear Mr Wilpon...I agree-ish

It has been a long held idea that ownership shouldn’t criticize the players on its payroll. I think for the most part I agree with that tradition, but in the case of the recently printed feelings of Mets owner Fred Wilpon I am willing to make an exception. For the record I can't stand when players, coaches and managers call out others for under performing. Some things are just better left to our friends in the NBA, don't you think? Currently Wilpon is being sued by victims of the Madoff scam for the money they lost and he gained. This is an important context to keep in mind during this blog post. I am a firm believer in the importance of understanding where someone is coming from before judging their comments and feelings. He has remained relatively quiet throughout the ordeal, until now.

Beltran, Wright, & Reyes

Wilpon made some rather surprising comments about his three “star” players in a recent New Yorker article. Everything he said about Beltran, Wright and Reyes is true. Everything. Although true, these comments have the sharks of media in a feeding frenzy over the supposed blood in the water. I guess there is no room for honesty in the world of sports when someone’s ego is involved. Of course the media will make an exception for honesty whenever they are the self righteous ones delivering the necessary package of truth.

For me, one of baseball’s major issues is that contracts are based on past performance more than on future expectation. This is one of my biggest points of tension with the financial system of baseball. If you sign a player to a big contract (see Kevin Brown) you are stuck with whatever he does on the field without much recourse. You can get insurance for injuries, like the Braves did with Mike Hampton, but that is about it. In the NFL you can cut an under performing player and only be held responsible for a fraction of their salary. There are cases where that isn’t fair to the athlete, but the NFL is a more healthy business than the MLB, NBA and NHL. Baseball players say that they have earned the big contract, but a business man wants to hear “I will earn every penny you are going to pay me in the future.” Wilpon is a business man, he expects return on investment and he hasn’t gotten what he hoped from the “little” three. Here is my take on his comments by player.

Jose Reyes:

He called Jose Reyes a racehorse and injury prone. Jose Reyes signed for a lot of money in 2007 and for that investment got a couple of great years followed by diminished return due to injuries to his body and his injured commitment. Jose Reyes is going to seek monster money in the off season, and the Yankees will give it to him for sure because players with his speed are not common. Sadly though, you cannot argue that Reyes is a snagged spike on the infield or carelessly trimming a hang nail away from another trip to the DL. He has been an ok return on the investment, but Wilpon’s criticism was about his future value, not his past. There isn’t an educated baseball fan in the world that didn’t want Reyes in 07-08, and there isn’t an educated fan in the world that would sign him to a big contract now. He was/is banged up, but even while sitting around injured he collected his paycheck and never offered to return it. When young players rely on their legs for everything, and they incur a ton of injuries to them, the future is always in doubt. He never said he wasn’t a good player, just a dinged up one.

David Wright:

He said David Wright is a good kid and a good player but not a superstar. I am torn on this one. Wright is a fine player as evidenced by a 30/30 season, a 20/20 season and a career average over .300. I also know that he doesn’t strike a lot of fear into anyone. Anytime reports come out claiming that the park a hitter is playing in is “too big” for his power, you have a problem. As a rule, when your clean up hitter can’t muster the power to jack one out of his home field you have a serious problem (also keep in mind Wilpon signed black out Bay to an albatross deal). Would I take David Wright on my team…yes. Is he a superstar? No. If he didn’t play in New York he would be Mike Lowell.

Carlos Beltran:

This is what Wilpon got for 120 million.

Year	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2005-2011	NYM	785	3396	2930	511	818	192	15	142	518	97	16	411	511	.279	.366	.500	.867	127

This is an interesting stat line for comparison. This is the stat line of a man who made 23 million over 6 years for multiple clubs, but with comparative at bats. Care to guess who?

Year ▴	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2000-2006	Multi	815	3116	2805	434	726	158	20	152	469	110	38	252	714	.259	.325	.492	.817	108

I like Carlos Beltran, but he was a lousy return on investment. I am sure he is a good guy who plays with kids and has pet bunnies, but he is shell of himself. If you read the comments of Wilpon carefully you will see that he is ribbing his own stupidity more than making a criticism of Beltran. If Beltran wasn’t running at a low percentage of his previous self the baseball world wouldn’t be surprised by his solid start this season would they?

Let’s get back to the comments made by Wilpon. I personally think that athletes nowadays are paid so much money that the expectation of return should be intensified. I am so tired of the “fair market value" tag. If it is fair market value, based on future returns, then Beltran’s market value should be adjusted and he should be making a fraction of that contract. Wilpon is being sued by people who are angry that they were robbed and they are looking for someone to blame and make it fair for them. Their investments were poor ones and they want compensation. Wilpon was robbed of a lot of money by Beltran and Reyes, but who makes it fair for him? Selig? Please. I think as the owner you have the right to make any comments you want about your company and your investments. Players are investments in the same way new stadiums, logo designs, bobbleheads and foam fingers are an investment. Your goal is to have them bring a return worthy of what you paid for them. Beltran hasn’t done that. Reyes as shown a glimmer of it, but that star is fading. Wright has time to change that take, but it looks more and more everyday like he is just a really good player (which isn’t a bad thing at all). If they don’t like what Wilpon had to say they can go cry themselves to sleep in a giant bag of Wilpon’s, I mean Madoff’s, I mean Joe Investors, I mean someone else’s money. Money they didn’t earn.

Of Madoff and Mookie

Gabe:  So I'm reading this New Yorker article about Wilpon.  Did you know Preston Wilson is Mookie's son? (note: technically, step-son and nephew. yes, "and." seriously. look for yourself.)

Adam:  Ummmm no ... is Trevor his son too?

Mookie Wilson

Gabe:  No word on Trevor.  I will investigate.

Adam:  Maybe Trevor is the love child of Mookie and Ray Knight.

Gabe:  Ray Knight?  I think he looks more like Sid Fernandez.

Adam:  El Sid is definitely the male in that relationship.

Gabe:  Yep.  Sorry, Mookie.  Although it's easier to picture Sid pregnant.

Adam:  I read some of the article.  Didn't finish because of little league practice.

Gabe:  Priorities, dude.

Adam:  That's true.

Gabe:  Wilpon doesn't come across as a bad guy except for the couple of paragraphs where he ripped his best players.

Adam:  That's true.  I am on his side actually.  He's the owner ... not a manager.

Gabe:  Yeah, I am leaning that way, too.  Especially after I read that people "with small accounts—under five hundred thousand dollars" had their losses covered by insurance.  Not to excuse Madoff, of course, but I have a hard time feeling financial sympathy for millionaires.

Adam:  Me too ... I mean I am on his side about the players rippage too ...

Gabe:  Oh, I think he was accurate.  Just not smart to say that stuff publicly.

Adam:  19 homers already for the one year wonder.

Gabe:  Are we still talking about Preston Wilson?

Adam:  Last year was the year of the no-no ... this is the year of the 3-homer game.

Gabe:  But also the year of the pitcher: part deux?

Adam:  So when the pitchers are good ... they are really good ... when they are bad they are really bad?

Gabe:  I guess so.  Can I still blame expansion for diluting the pitching talent pool?

Adam:  Totally ... it's obvious pitching just hadn't caught up to bunting yet.

Gabe:  Do you think Jay Bell and Brett Butler are working on comebacks?  Y'know ... as the greatest bunters in history?

Adam:  Yeah they might be.  Or they are polishing their resumes for hitting coach jobs with Otis Nixon.

Brooks Conrad

Gabe:  Do you think Fredi Gonzalez has room for all 3 on his staff?

Adam:  Yeah ... we can fire Conrad and Uggla ... and just field 23 guys.

Gabe:  Good call.  Bell is probably still a better defensive 2B than Uggla.  And you're better than St. Conrad.

Adam:  Yep.

Interleague Play: Selig's Finest Hour

In some ways, I'd say I'm a baseball purist. I don't like the Designated Hitter. I enjoy a good pitching duel. I don't believe ketchup has any place on a hot dog. Heck, I'd like to go back to the 154 game schedule. But I really like interleague play.

Say what you will about Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper's homerness on Giants broadcasts, they're about a jillion times more objective and entertaining than Ray Fosse and whichever lesser Kuiper it is in the booth with him. They're terrible. But during last night's Giants/A's game, it was their turn for the local TV broadcast, and I toughed out a couple of innings before switching to the radio broadcast on my iPhone MLB At Bat app. The Lesser Kuiper (TLK) asked Fosse if he liked interleague play, and Ray responded with the expected negative perspective. It makes the All Star game less "special." It makes the World Series less compelling. Blah,blah, blah. I don't buy it.

I love the All Star game. I'm not a big fan of it deciding the World Series home team, but I love the game. How is it less interesting if Albert Pujols already faced Felix Hernandez ("F-Her"?) 3 times the month before? Maybe Pujols took him deep, or maybe he never touched the ball. Either way, doesn't that add to the drama as much or more than it detracts from it? I'm voting "yes." Yes it does.

And if you need a lack of familiarity between two teams to be excited about the World Flippin' Series, you should probably look inward to find the root cause of your apathy, not blame interleague play.

I like playing geographic rivals. I also like getting to see players from the other league, and how they stack up against my team. I like seeing the players and teams who aren't All Stars or the AL pennant winner. Now, sure, part of that is the twisted thrill I get watching anyone in their first at-bat against Tim Lincecum, but my enjoyment goes well beyond that. I like getting to see the other ballparks. I like the strategy that comes with having (or not having) the DH. I like seeing players adjust to new pickoff moves, outfield arms, and breaking balls.

The bottom line is that interleague play is FUN. I fully concede it creates some schedule issues and isn't a perfect system. But I like it. Bud Selig has done plenty of things that I don't like, and even some that I think are unethical to the point that he should have been removed from office, but I think he got it right with interleague play. And I sincerely hope that it's here to stay.

RIP Macho Man

Gabe: I just read that Macho Man Savage died in a car crash.

Adam: Today?

Gabe: Yeah, this morning in Tampa.

Adam: So maybe all those "judgement day" billboards were for Macho Man ... oooooohhhhhhhhhhh yeeaaaahhhhh ... listen here, Mean Gene.

Gabe: Did you know he played minor league ball with the Cardinals and Reds organizations?

Adam: So do you think it was Macho that introduced Canseco to the juice?

Gabe: It must have been. And he introduced Prince Fielder to Slim Jims.

Adam: Well played. I always wished he would have introduced me to Elizabeth.

Gabe: Ah, yes. Miss Elizabeth. But that might have changed the whole direction of your life.

Adam: Yeah, might have been me chewing on the turnbuckle instead of George The Animal Steele.

Gabe: Of course, then it might have been you introducing the cream and the clear to baseball instead of Canseco and his pals.

Gabe: But I'm fine with never having seen you in a singlet.

Tiger and Earl

(I am about to speak ill of the dead, so you may want to look away)

I love Tiger Woods. I know that it is no longer PC to admit that in some circles. He has made some horrific mistakes of late, and now there is a rising tide of PED accusations about to over take him and his career. With all that in mind, I still love Tiger Woods. I have been listening to the talking heads of sports radio bash this new “soft” Tiger. This man who walks off the course mid round, can’t seem to overcome poor play early in tournaments and is in a seemingly endless downward spiral. They bash him constantly. For many in the media, he is just getting what was coming to him. That being said, I still love Tiger.

Lost in the stampede to crucify him is a dire lesson for all of us who have children. I have heard Tiger acknowledge his deep guilt over disappointing his father. I have heard the media talk about how his father taught him better than this. I have heard more homage paid to the memory of Earl Woods than the memory of Bobby Jones (not the Mets pitcher, although it is possible he is no longer with us and is worthy of some respect). Here is the equation society is using for explaining the descent of Tiger:

Tiger Woods - Earl Woods + Fame + Arrogance=Failure.

That equation leads me to believe that most people think that Earl was the force that steadied the rickety ship of Tiger. Without Earl Tiger would have never achieved anything close to what he has accomplished in his life. Earl was a steadying force in the life of Tiger, that is certain, but I am not sure the formula explaining the descent of Tiger shouldn’t look more like this:

Earl’s personality + Tiger’s personality = Inevitable Combustion

The stories that come out about the building of Tiger by Earl show an insane pattern of poor parenting. It is one thing to inspire and push your son, it is another to demand impossible perfection from him. Tiger was bound to snap. Before the collapse did you ever see Tiger relax? Did you ever see Tiger not be perfect? It wasn’t like he didn’t have his chances to expose his imperfection. Fuzzy Zoeller gave him a nice open door (See, told you), and all Tiger did was handle those racist comments with complete class. Vijay Singh’s caddy showed that there are plenty of classless people in the golf world, but Tiger wasn’t one of them. He handled his struggles, his victories and his competitors with complete class.

Let’s get back to Earl Woods and his parenting model. I believe that Earl Woods drove Tiger to this moment. He needed to break out from his father’s vicarious drive. The more we control our kids, the more outlandish and destructive their break out will be. Earl designed the perfect golfer, too bad he had to destroy his kid to do it. What I find most amazing is the capacity Tiger had for perfection. For most of us, having perfection demanded of us is a joke. For Tiger, it was nearly achieved. Tiger’s personality has brought undeserved credit to Earl’s parenting. Tiger’s ability, to not only absorb his Father’s ridiculous demands, but to live up to them, shows us all his tremendous capacity for greatness. It was that capacity Tiger had for greatness and Earl’s thirst for success that sent Tiger on a collision course with self destructiveness.

Now he has broken out from under that iron fist and the world knows he isn’t perfect. He hasn’t become comfortable with his imperfection the way John Daly has, and shouldn’t we be ok with that? The insanity of our culture is the measure of forgiveness we have for Daly (whose life has never been lived well), and the miniscule grace we offer Tiger (a man, who by all accounts has lived most of his life very well). A father has the power to guide and lead as well as the power to crush and control. The line is not as obvious as we would like to think it is. I believe Earl crossed the line and drove his son so deep inside himself, that the only way he would ever find his way out was to blast his way out. The last thing to be destroyed was the one thing Earl cared about most, Icon Tiger. Tiger was destroying himself privately for years, but to honor his father he kept the persona of Icon Tiger alive unscathed until that fateful night in Florida. Tiger hit that tree, but Earl was at the wheel.

I am in no way condoning the actions of Tiger, nor am I blaming his father for every one of his choices. I am not a person who makes it a habit to blame the parents for the sins of the child. I am writing this to just bring a little balance to the situation. Instead of looking for the “old Tiger” maybe we should be concerned with him finding out who that little boy was supposed to be 30 years ago? I know, I know, Tiger has a billion dollars to go find Tiger with. But can you really put a price on his lost soul? Here is the warning for all of us parents out there. So, your kid can swing a bat. Big deal. So, your kid has a sweet golf swing at 6 months old. Irrelevant. So your kid can play (name your vicarious sport of choice). Congratulations on the quality of your genetics. No matter what, never forget that the only gift is your child, not their talent. Encourage their dreams and help them build a fantastic future, but don’t force them to live the future you designed for them. Their success may not look anything like your success, but success it is nonetheless. I love Tiger Woods.

Tastelessly speaking ill of the dead,

Adam

The Ballad of Kevin Frandsen (or: Why I Have A Double Standard About Steroids)

Kevin Frandsen has been suspended 50 games for violating baseball’s substance abuse policy. You can read more about the specifics here in the SJ Merc.

You remember Kevin, right? Bay Area kid, played at San Jose State, drafted by the Giants in 2004. He was one of the few who actually get an opportunity to play for the team they grew up rooting for. He was local, personable, hustled, and was quickly embraced by Giants fans. He even had his own fanclub, “Klub Kevin,” which as best as we can tell was two 19-year old girls, but still. They had their own myspace page and everything.

But even at his best, he was a borderline big leaguer. His 296 plate appearances in 2007 were a career high, seeing time at second, third, short, left, and right. He hit 5 homers that year, and had a slash line of .269/.331/.379. In 2008 he missed almost the whole season with an injury, then in 2009 went in to Spring Training as the favorite to win the second base job. He lost it to Emmanuel Burriss (who lost it to Juan Uribe, and then Freddy Sanchez). During Spring of 2010, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for a bag of balls and an autographed picture of Carlos Quintana. They placed him on waivers at the end of April, and he was picked up by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, where he appeared in 54 games as a utility infielder. They let him walk after the season ended, he spent Spring 2011 with the Padres, who let him go before they broke camp, and he signed on with the Phillies organization, most recently playing all over the infield for the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

And now Frandsen has tested positive for Ritalinic acid, which is a banned substance under the “Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. “ Unless you have a prescription, which some players do. Ritalinic acid is a medication intended to treat ADHD. From other things I’ve read, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of players diagnosed with that particular affliction since this loophole opened. Of course some players, like Andres Torres, had already been diagnosed with ADHD and credit the medication with truly making a difference in their ability to focus, which I suppose is kind of important when you’re trying to distinguish between a 95 mile an hour fastball and an 80 mile an hour changeup. Beyond that, I don’t know what other advantage such a medication is supposed to create for a ballplayer, but clearly someone thinks it creates an unfair advantage and it is, clearly, against the rules. As someone diagnosed with ADHD (in my 30’s, to the surprise of no one), I have been on a couple of different medications, but I’m pretty sure none of them would have made me terribly effective standing in against Ubaldo Jimenez. Or even Ted Lilly.

The bottom line is that Frandsen was looking for an edge. The last time I “laced ‘em up” was in fourth grade little league (LMYA! ), so it’s hard for me to even imagine what it’s like to be the best player in your high school, excel in a division 1 college program, continue to have reasonable success through the minor leagues, and then not quite be good enough to stick in the majors. That has to be something a competitive guy is going to fight as long and as hard as he can. While I think spending 30 years coaching baseball at a Community College sounds like a charmed life, it may well sound like embracing failure to someone who is SO CLOSE to their dream of major league glory.

Probably the best, most honest thing I’ve ever heard a ballplayer say about performance enhancing drugs was in an interview with Padre Hall Of Famer Tony Gwynn, towards the end of his career. I think it was Bob Costas interviewing him, but I might be wrong about that. Gwynn was asked if he ever used steroids, and he said (something like) “I didn’t have to. “ He went on to explain that he had the physical and mental abilities to thrive in the big leagues, so it was never really a temptation for him. Then he said that he did not know what he would have done if he had been a fringe player. A borderline player. Somebody almost good enough to stick in the majors. If steroids had been the difference between San Diego and Tucson, $30,000 and $300,000 (or millions), he wasn’t sure he would have been able to resist the temptation to cheat. It would be hard to resist when you’re 22 and the majors are so close. I imagine it would be exponentially harder to resist when you’re 29, had a taste of big league life, and you see your window of opportunity rapidly closing. I’m not excusing the action, just saying that I understand some of what went into the decision Frandsen made.

And this is where I have a clear double standard. I have sympathy and forgiveness for Kevin Frandsen. And Armando Rios. And Marvin Benard. And Jeremy Giambi. And Juan Rincon. I get it. Like Tony Gwynn (the first and probably only time I’ll ever use that phrase in a sentence), I don’t know what I would have done if I’d been in their shoes. I’d like to think I would have just worked harder, but I’m a pretty big fan of shortcuts. While those players have been criticized and, in the more recent cases, penalized, I kind of get it.

Which is what absolutely infuriates me about Barry Bonds. And Sammy Sosa. And Mark McGwire. And Rafael Palmiero. And Roger Clemens. And Manny Ramirez. Each of those players had the talent to truly be an all-time great player without any performance being artificially enhanced. In fact, I think all of them probably would have had a legitimate shot at Cooperstown even if they hadn’t inflated their numbers and extended their careers through PED’s. Although I suppose that depends a little on when Big Mac and The Rocket started juicing.

Barry Bonds was on his way to becoming one of the 10 best players baseball has ever seen. Maybe top 5. He had 3 MVP awards before even the harshest critics think he started cheating. He would have been alone in the 400 homer, 400 stolen bases club, and may have gotten to 500+ in both categories. As he got older, he really did make some mechanical adjustments to his swing that helped him keep balls fair when he pulled them down the line, and his pitch selection was ridiculous. There are whole seasons where I don’t remember him checking his swing even once. He was surly and gruff and arrogant and had a sense of entitlement that I cannot stand. He was never my favorite player. I’m not even sure I could say I was a fan of his. But he was the best player on my favorite team for a long time. And that’s why it still infuriates me that he still felt like he had to get an edge. Now, sure, nobody will ever be able to quantify the extent to which PED’s made a difference in Barry’s game, or any of the other players who used them. Nobody knows how many juiced up pitchers Bonds faced in his career. Those are the reasons all the talk about asterisks and wiping the record book of their accomplishments cannot happen. But did those players, and many others, cheat to try to get an advantage? Yes they did.

Which brings us back to Kevin Frandsen. I don’t know if he has ADHD, “has” it, or just took the meds for whatever baseball-related aid they might provide. It doesn’t really matter. And I have zero objection to his being held to the letter of the law on this one. He did the crime, so he’ll do the time. Fair. But I don’t think he deserves the same scorn and alienation as those for whom the decision not to cheat should have been much easier.

And Kevin, if you’re looking for a good first base coach at that Junior College, well … I might be available.