It’s not your grandfather or father’s game of baseball
There now seems to be a quiet solemnity arising as baseball nears its Opening Day on Sunday, 31st March . And on Easter Sunday, representing one of the holiest days, within Christendom, it should be noted, that the game still has its difficulties , the most obvious being, that the league hierarchy has yet to find a way extricate itself from a mess of its own making, as it relates to the never-ending saga of illicit steroid use by its players . At the center of it all , will be whether not Bud Selig will use the full extent of the law and seek legal action against the South Florida medical establishment Biogenesis , in seeking obtain documentary evidence as to the list of players associated with Biogenesis’ clients, their manufacturing and sales of PED’s and anabolic steroids . Amongst the players named in these documents are Alex Rodriguez , Ryan Braun and Melky Cabrera .
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Slideshow .
In the midst of this all, one of the game’s most revered and beloved players , will be celebrated on film when Hollywood will release the biopic “42 “ , starring Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford , in a film based upon the life of Hall of Fame inductee , Jackie Robinson and his introduction into and the desegregation of baseball.
Official trailer for the movie “42 ” released by Warner Bros Pictures Inc
Alas, from Robinson’s introduction and his vilification by fans and contemporaries alike , it would appear that the game of baseball is still bereft of intelligence , a great deal of bigotry and complete accountability and leadership among the game’s hierarchy and players remains, a reminder as to why it has fallen from its once historic heights. And while many will counter with the fact that Branch Rickey’s brave social maneuver changed the face of sports and the social fabric of the country . One could counter that as the biggest misnomer and the very fact that the race remained socially , economically and racially divided . Doubt my word ? Consider the fact that the US military was not “fully integrated” and then desegregated until eight years after the end of World War II . Cause for concern don’t you think , considering the rather banal and idiotic claims , repeatedly being made by sociologists and historians down the years ?
Courtesy of New York Daily News
Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and other players linked to Biogenesis will have to speak with Major League Baseball investigators
Baseball officials have been investigating players’ ties to Florida anti-aging clinics since last summer, when the Daily News first reported that Giants star Melky Cabrera had tried to avoid a 50-game suspension by claiming a dietary supplement sparked a positive drug testBy Michael O’Keefe and Christian Reed , New York Daily News
Alex Rodriguez and other players linked to Biogenesis will still have to speak to Major League Baseball investigators in the near future, even if they could be called as witnesses in the lawsuit MLB filed last week against Anthony Bosch’s now-defunct anti-aging clinic.
Baseball’s investigators will interview players tied to Biogenesis shortly after the season begins next week, sources told the Daily News.
“I don’t think the lawsuit will prevent the interviews from going forward,” one source familiar with MLB’s Biogenesis investigation said.
MLB filed a civil suit in Florida state court on Friday that accuses Bosch and several business associates of “tortious interference” in contracts between baseball and its players by supplying players with performance-enhancing drugs.
Baseball officials have been investigating players’ ties to Florida anti-aging clinics since last summer, when the Daily News first reported that Giants star Melky Cabrera had tried to avoid a 50-game suspension by claiming a dietary supplement sparked a positive drug test.
An associate of Cabrera’s, Juan Carlos Nunez, was banned from MLB clubhouses after he admitted that he created a fake website for the product. Nunez worked for Cabrera’s agents, Seth and Sam Levinson, whose Brooklyn-based ACES is among baseball’s most prominent agencies.=================================
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From my own perspective , I have always felt that baseball’s hierarchy has been disingenuous , along with the players and its union (MLBPA) ! The so-called stars within the game have failed to speak publicly about their contemporaries’ misuse of steroids and the cheating scandal associated with the misuse of the illicit substances in question. To make matters worse , Bud Selig’s handling of this whole tragic episode has bordered on being completely comical and without scope or any common sense . It should be noted however, with Selig stepping down from his office in 2014 , it is hoped that his successor will bring about some much-needed changes within the games at various levels. Pardon me for saying this , but if the likes of Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols and Buster Posey will seek to remain silent while the union and league hierarchy simply continue with their charade , that they are cleaning up the image of the game of baseball, then they can kiss my ass ! Why continue to put up with their diatribe, when they cannot simply be honest with themselves ?
As the game continues to mire itself also with the façade that it remains financially solvent , we should remind ourselves of the fact that it still continues with their rather banal and “ asinine tax sharing “ revenue scheme which Bud Selig believes will level the competitive playing field. In actuality , nothing could be further from the truth , especially when it comes to the likes of the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates , who have not between a hair’s breadth of making the postseason in the past two decades . Yet somehow, their fans remain in hope, that thing will change in the foreseeable future . Well considering their play during last season and over the past two decades , the chances of either team being in with a chance of making the MLB postseason 2013 , seems even more remote than ever before .
Before the season comes into being , baseball has begun with an array of off-season moves , but more so the never-ending escalation in player salaries . The Detroit Tigers and their 2011 MVP and AL Cy Young winner , Justin Verlander , has been rewarded with a seven-year $189 million contract extension . Tigers GM , Dave Dombrowski and team owner, Michael Ilitch felt it beneficial and prudent extend the player’s contract , rather than losing him to free agency. Granted , with Ilitch’s vast financial resources , it should come as no surprise that the owner would seek to retain the team’s best and most valuable player. And if Verlander can reproduce the form shown over the past five seasons , then there is no reason why one shouldn’t assume that he and the Tigers can’t be a part of the postseason foray .
If there is a manager that will be under a great deal of problems , it most certainly will have to the Los Angeles’ Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly . A star laden roster, with many of those players being multiple time All Stars , undoubtedly well rewarded and amongst the best in the game financially. And that in of-itself might not be enough to satisfy long starved Dodgers’ fans , but moreover the executives of the ball-club who paid an astonishing $2.156 billion for the franchise, while it went through bankruptcy proceedings and reorganization . For lead managing partners , Magic Johnson , Todd S Boehly and Mark L Walter , Peter Guber , these are not wealthy entrepreneurs, who simply make a sizable investment merely for show , as they seek to make profit from their foray into professional sports’ franchise ownership . And with the continued rumors that the Dodgers’ ownership group through sports’ affiliated subsidiary may well seek to make an all-out $8.5 billion for AEG Worldwide Inc , the sports’ concession conglomerate owned by billionaire , Philip Anschutz , a member of Forbes ‘ 400 wealthiest Americans . If this unsolicited bid were to take place , it gives the Los Angeles Dodgers’ ownership group, properties such as a minority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers , Los Angeles Galaxy , the branded properties of the O 2 Arenas , globally , Nokia Theater , Ticketmaster , Walden Media , Staples Center , part ownership in several teams now competing in MLS soccer . If anything , the Dodgers’ owners intent , will be on the team and their wish in on taking > on the San Francisco Giants , their dominance within the NL West and stymie their chance of repeating again as divisional champions , as well winning the World Series for a third time in five years. And it’s pretty safe to suggest that Giants’ owner Larry Baer , GM Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy will be looking to prove that the success of last season isn’t something of a fleeting episode that should and will be easily forgotten.
If there is said to be a player, who has to be viewed as the leader of this Dodgers’ lineup , then that might well be Matt Kemp . Although, many would deem it that Adrian Gonzalez is more fitting in that role . There is no doubt that the team’s offense is among the most productive in the NL , and it will be interesting to see whether or not this roster can replicate the form shown in 2012.
With a solid pitching rotation , the Dodgers could be looked at as one of the better positioned ball clubs within the NL this season that could very well make a spirited run with a view to the postseason. And among the pitching staff , perhaps the player with the most to prove will be Zack Greinke , whose career if anything has been understated , albeit , that he was an All Star and Cy Young award winner in 2007 with the Kansas City Royals . In reality, Greinke’s career, can be best described as being sporadic and spotty to say the very least . Whether or not he can be at the forefront of a staff that also includes Clayton Kershaw , Josh Beckett , and Hyu Jin Ryu .
The Dodgers will start their regular season sojourn, with a three game home series against the San Francisco Giants at Dodgers Ballpark in Los Angeles , California. Game one on Monday evening. And in what should be an entertaining series’ opener , this should have all the makings of an eventful year for both of these famed ball clubs.
In the AL and specifically the AL East , the consensus appears to be that the Toronto Blue Jays have to be seen as the presumptive favorites to at least win the division outright. I am not so sure that on the face of it , the team can be seen as legitimate contenders , merely because on appearance alone the New York Yankees , Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays are said to have taken a step back , primarily because off-season moves and injuries . The Baltimore Orioles , I believe will remain a force to be reckoned with , within the division, but the Rays will have the best balanced roster , of any of the teams within the AL East. What does stand out, with Joe Maddon’s roster of talented players , just happens to be the fact the their starting pitching will remain amongst the best not just within the AL but within MLB in general . What is apparent , with the loss of James Shields and Wade Davis , Maddon is still lucky enough to know that there is a great deal of depth to his staff and the team pitching , in general. If the Rays can come out of the gate fast , with series of confidence building wins and build on that momentum , then there is no reason not to believe why they cannot be part be part of the postseason spectacle, in what fans believe , is amongst the best in team sports .
Granted, run production has always a been real issue with the Tampa Bay Rays ,but if James Loney , well as Evan Longoria , Yunel Escobar , Desmond Jennings and Ben Zobrist may need to show that they are capable of leading this ball club to the undoubted success sought by the ownership group led by Stuart Sternberg , Matthew Silverman with the personnel experience of Andrew Friedman , who , I believe has been the brains behind the success of the franchise along with Joe Maddon’s managerial acumen . The less I hear Sternberg and Silverman bitching and whining about the Rays’ lack financial wherewithal and the lack of support from the municipality and county governments in coming to their aid with regard to a new venue . It becomes clearer to me that this ownership group simply has no goddamn idea what it takes to run a successful professional sports’ franchise. Sternberg’s alleged business acumen as a financier and commodities’ broker has become a fairy tale and a myth . Stuart Sternberg and Matt Silverman have indicated to me, that they are mere children in a room filled with men . The city of Tampa and St Petersburg have become renowned for having owners of their professional sports’ franchises who have become disengaged and so fucking clueless, as to what is needed to make their teams a real success and have a loyal fan-base ( average attendance , Rays, Lightning , Buccaneers) . And that has now become a reality for the Rays , Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the continued idiocy shown by the respective ownership groups.
As the season progresses it will be interesting to see how the teams s acquit themselves over an arduous 162 game schedule . Given what we all witnessed in 2012 and the play of the teams over the course of the season. Whether or not we can have a revisit of many of the highlights we all witnessed , with games , where many of them were close victories. Undoubtedly many of us will also be looking forward whether or not the sensational rookies we witnessed such Mike Trout , Yoenis Cespedes , Bryce Harper and Yu Darvish . Of this year’s rookies , several are likely to make some solid contributions for their teams this season , and we are likely to see that come to fruition with several of these players , namely Wil Myers , Jurickson Profar , Gerritt Cole , Billy Hamilton , Carlos Correa and Shelby Miller .
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Picture gallery.
Given the issues in 2012 during which we saw the best and the very worst within the game , in terms of what now appears that never-ending saga of steroids rearing its ugly head . It now looks as if all of the claims being made by Bud Selig that the hierarchy is doing the very best to clean up its image is now nothing but a comical joust by the commissioner . Mandatory off-season testing has yet to become a reality and the prolific and rampant use of steroids and PED’s now seem to be more widespread than ever , especially at the minor league level . Something that Selig simply glosses over repeatedly . As if we should have expected anything else to begin with ?
What if anything do you hope to see come out of this baseball season and which team or teams do you believe will be a major surprise during the regular and postseason ? Simply leave a comment as you see fit , and once again thanks as always for your continued support of this site .
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Picture and slideshow gallery details below.
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(1) The tainted face and continued shame of baseball arises once again , with the names of Ryan Braun , Melky Cabrera and Alex Rodriguez . All three players’ are named in documents of the South Florida medical establishment Biogenesis as recipient of steroids sent to their homes as part of a paid consignment . In 2012 Cabrera sat out the mandatory 50 game suspension when he was in the hunt for the NL MVP race . Rodriguez is currently sidelined with an injury , having undergone off-season hip surgery . Ryan Braun through his agent , Nez Badelo has suggested , that his client is completely innocent of the charges currently being leveled against him , and that he was merely a paid up consultant and endorser of the supplements produced by the company . Miami Herald …….
(2) Right , actor , Chadwick “Chad ” Boseman in the role of Jackie Robinson is seen in conversation with Dodgers’ general manager Branch Rickey , the role played by veteran actor , Harrison Ford . The movie entitled “42” , a biopic of the Robinson story , is set for release on 12th April , nationally , in theaters across the country . AP Photo / Donald Hurley …
(3) San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey hits a single against the Oakland Athletics during the second inning of an exhibition spring training baseball game , Friday, March 29, 2013 in San Francisco. AP Photo/George Nikitin ……
(4) Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, right, looks at team president, CEO and general manager Dave Dombrowski during a news conference after a spring baseball exhibition game on Friday, March 29, 2013, in Lakeland, Fla., where Verlander talked about his new seven-year, $180 million contract . AP Photo/Carlos Osorio …..
(5) Los Angeles Dodgers starter Zack Greinke delivers a pitch in the first inning of an exhibition baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday, March 30, 2013. Greinke starts the season as one of the highest salaried and paid players on the Dodgers’ roster . It should be noted that the Opening Day payroll for MLB's thirty teams will for the first time exceed $3 billion ($3,000,000,000) , with the Yankees now leading the pack after their recent acquisition of Vernon Wells , supplanting the Dodgers’ $213.5 payroll for 2013. AP Photo/Christine Cotter …
(6) Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon addresses the media before an exhibition spring training baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Sarasota, Fla. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio ….
(7) Jurickson Profar (13) of the Texas Rangers signs autographs for fans before the spring training game at Surprise Stadium on February 22, 2013 in Surprise, Arizona. Getty Images North America /Christian Petersen …..
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By Tophatal
Links to MLB articles within this site .
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MLB related sports’ stories :
MLB salaries: Yankees, A-Rod reign as cash changes hands
Teams paying for players no longer on roster
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MLB results 31st March , 2013
This week in MLB history & This week in MLB history Month of April
Baseball history chronological information (31st March) and 1st April
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Tophatal's Blog 
Baseball still remains anal , albeit that fans are chiming in on the heroic exploits of Hank Aaron .. breaking what was then the career home run record of Babe Ruth almost four decades to the day on 8th April , 1974 .
Aaron breaks the career home run record in a game played between the Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 8th April 1974 .
While the feat was historic , people seem to forget that Aaron’s life had been threatened and that of his family’s , with physical violence and venal racial epithets .
And to think that there are idiots, who truly believe that the country has advanced socially and economically from the day Jackie Robinson first stepped unto a baseball field , in what was said to be a socially relevant and changing era . That has to be the biggest crock of shit espoused by baseball historians and sociologists in history . The nation was still divided along racial lines and Black servicemen could not serve alongside fully in any capacity within the US military , and this was up until eight years after the end of WW II . Clearly they are and were clueless as too all else that was said to be happening in terms of the racial divide at the time and on the fateful day that Aaron surpassed Ruth's then historic mark . Even with the civil rights' era and the seventies itself , the country was still a fucking mess on both fronts .
Far right , Jackie Robinson poses with Dodgers’ teammates, John Jorgensen , Pee Wee Reese and Eddie Stanky before his first major league game, April 15, 1947.
Even the era itself and the homage paid to Robinson comes off as almost degrading and insulting .
Perhaps Hollywood finally , can actually do Robinson some justice rather than that piece of sanitized bullshit from 1950 entitled ” The Jackie Robinson Story ” story , that was so sanitized and homogenized as to not spoil the image what we knew were bigoted racists . So atypical of Hollywood during that era and up to point , something that still exists to this day within the industry .
So what should we expect this season and which teams will rise to the occasion and which will actually falter ? Chime in with your thoughts .
Tophatal ……………….
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MLB results 31st March , 2013
MLB scheduled games 1st April , 2013
MLB probable starting pitchers 1st April
MLB standings
MLB stats
Tophatal ………………
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Baseball. I try and watch it. I can’t. i have the Yankee game on in the background while working. My wife said it best boring. Too much steroid use. There was an HBO movie about Jackie Robinson done I think in 1990’s.
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bobby gee
Until , Bud Selig pulls head out of his own , a$s and legitimately does something to clean up the sport , rather than creating the perception that he and the league hierarchy are actually doing something . The game will remain a joke and a goddamn mess ! And even these anal retentive purists and morons suggesting that the game is doing its best to clean up its image . It’s clear that even they haven’t a goddamn clue ! The likes of Buster Olney can always regale the populace with old time stories and stats , but what f##king good is that , when the game itself is completely bereft of leadership and not one of the players is prepared to speak out against the profligate use of banned substances within the sport ?
Now you have Selig wanting to sue Biogenesis for the documentation on they possess on the players named , who allegedly having used their products . If they pursue that matter legally , then the players’ union (MLBPA) will seek challenge their action in the US Federal Court as well as the US Appellate Court , one way or another should they initially fail.
Braun at one of the several eateries (restaurants ) he owns in the greater Milwaukee area .
The biggest joke to come out of that episode is Ryan Braun’s agent , Nez Balelo , suggesting his client was simply a paid endorser for Biogensis’ products . That’s like a whore (hooker) stating that she’s being paid to use Trojan condoms , while she’s having sex with her clients . What a crock of bull$hit !
Jackie Robinson and actress , Ruby Dee , pictured here in a scene from the movie based on his life entitled “The Jackie Robinson Story ” . And if we took Hollywood at their word , with the events that took place , then the player’s troubles were merely a figment of his imagination .
And this was how wanted the world to see Robinson’s story being portrayed as a lone warrior seeking to fight the racial stereotypes when initially many of his teammates on the Brooklyn Dodgers wanted nothing to do with him at all .
If they made a movie on Robinson during the nineties , I am sure that piece of crap sucked and was just as homogenized and sanitized as that piece of bull-crap , that starred Jackie Robinson , himself alongside actress Ruby Dee .
Tophatal ……………
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Actually Robinson wasn’t the first black ball player in MLB. It was Moses Fleetwood Walker in 1880, He played on season with the Toledo Blue Stockings- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Fleetwood_Walker
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I knew of Fleetwood Walker but herein as such , baseball and how the historians reported it , as they chose to gloss over that fact , , much like they gave the impression that the Negro Leagues was meant to be seen as a stepping stone for black players from that era and during Robinson’s time to play in what was the MLB as we then knew it ,
Truth be known , Rickey’s social experiment at the time , the MLB hierarchy wanted it to blow up , in Branch Rickey’s face , as did the vast majority of the public , as they felt it, abhorrent in having a Negro , playing a sport that was allegedly being dominated by Caucasian males .
” Don’t worry ’bout me , being being called an an Uncle Tom, as my best friends are all called Tom ” . .
Tophatal ………………..
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The Negro League stars did play against Ruth and the likes and beat their asses big time. Kenisaw Mountain Landis was a racists. He hated blacks just like the Democrat party-The home of the KKK.
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bobby gee
And therein , lies this misnomer as to how great the Caucasian ball players were said to be , What utter bullshit ! Babe Ruth may well have been the best player of his race , but he certainly wasn’t the best player of that era . There were players in the Negro Leagues who were his equal , if not better , but the stats , are , nowhere to be seen to bear out those facts because , history has simply chosen to ignore it altogether .
Tophatal ………………..
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Josh Gibson was a great home run hitter. He shattered Ruth’s record in the Negro leagues. Yet these men were ignored.
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bobby gee
Gibson is in the Hall of Fame , one of the first Negro inductees in Cooperstown . Unfortunately he died at a young age , thirty six . Yet his stats , mild as they were , they are comparable to Ruth’s at the same stage of their respective careers .
Josh Gibson
Jackie Robinson
Had Gibson been able to play at the Major League Level , I believe that he would have been able to have had a major impact , just as impact-ful as Robinson’s career was said to be during his illustrious career in Major League Baseball .
Babe Ruth
Gibson was the Babe Ruth of his era
Tophatal …………
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Yes he was So was Paige, He was real even in his fifties pitching in the American League.
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History has its revisionists and the sport of baseball is simply no different . The likes of Gammons , Kurkjian and Olney would rather now spend more time talking about the achievements of Caucasian players , rather than the accomplishments of the players within the Negro Leagues . God forbid , you should get any of that triumvirate of assholes talking about the financial landscape of the game as they’re as clueless as another asshole , Bud Selig and baseball’s CFO Jonathan Mariner .
MLB team values and their profitability .
Another reason why baseball’s hierarchy remains so frigging clueless ! Jonathan Mariner , CFO in MLB
Tophatal ………….
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Once again Longoria’s health will be the key to the Rays success or lack there of. Wil Myers will hopefully join the team in mid to late April. Their defense and pitching will be good, but it will be run production that will determine if they are contenders or mere pretenders.
Good luck to your Braves. Cheers!
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aero
Not only will Longoria’s durability come into play concerning the team but also his productivity and undoubtedly his leadership skills . I don’t believe that we have seen the best of him in terms of that one particular part of his game ! Unless, Maddon gets behind him , and demands that of Evan Longoria , I truly believe that he will never fully live up to the potential that many believe he does possess . So far, in his career , I have yet to witness any leadership qualities being shown by the third baseman of the Tampa Bay Rays . He is very good , but in reality he should be one of the elite players at the position within MLB .
As I alluded to earlier , the Rays need to come out of the gate fast and maintain that momentum over the first six weeks of their schedule . Failure to do so , given the competitiveness of the AL East and they may well struggle over the remainder of their schedule .
Pitching will be at a premium and this is where the Rays will have an advantage over their rivals within the AL , as proven and witnessed over the course of last season .
Rays’ schedule in April and their probable starters during the month .
In terms of the Braves , if the offense can live up to their potential , then I can see the NL East becoming competitive two-horse race between themselves and the Washington Nationals .
I am not sold on the Phillies or the Mets for that matter, two teams who to my mind , would rather spend money , rather than build organically through their respective farm systems .
The Mets will be in for a tough time , in what appears to be a season ending injury and loss of Johan Santana for their entire regular season . And people were trying to suggest that the front office knew what they were doing when they offered him that bloated and extortionate contract ? The Wilpon family and Saul Katz , clearly haven’t a goddamn clue how to run a successful sports’ franchise but they seem to show their expertize in knowing how to ruin one !
Tophatal ……………………
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Oh these idiots who simply believe that this country has progressed racially over the last four decades . If it’s not enough of a sign to see the carnage now taking place (535 homicides in 2012 , 2756 wounded- primarily minorities African Americans Latinos ) in the city of Chicago where the law enforcement simply are not overly concerned that the preponderance of the victims just happen to be minorities . Yet the city’s mayor , Rahm Emmanuel is out on the political stump for a President whose head is so far up in the clouds that were he to defecate , I seriously doubt he’d be able denote the odor .
Emanuel has spent more time blaming others for his and his predecessors’ …. incompetency . When you cut the law enforcement budget and then start laying off police officers , first responders and teachers but do nothing to curtail the staff within your own frigging office don’t offer up dip-shit and fuc#ing dumb ass excuses as a response !
Tophatal …………
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The Rays’ third baseman , Evan Longoria is a brash idiot and an ass-wipe ! Don’t be critical of a former teammate or teammates ( Shields and B J Upton) once they’ve left , when you had the opportunity to be critical while they were members of the team in 2012 . Longoria lacks leadership abilities and he’s never shown it over the course of his career . Anyone believes to the contrary simply knows nothing about the Rays and Longoria’s lack of leadership skills .
If the Rays should falter , then fingers should be pointed not only towards Maddon and his coaching staff but also directly towards .. Evan Longoria , who thus far has only shown potential and very little else beyond that during that during the regular or postseason . Longoria is now coming across like a poor man’s David Wright and Derek Jeter all rolled into one .
“Pinky swear you’ll let me scrub and lick your balls in the showers after the game with my lips “? Joe Maddon to Evan Longoria
He’s (Longoria) being paid like a superstar , but unfortunately, he’s showing that he remains greatly immature , and with the penchant for being a frigging tool ! Maddon is way too soft with his players , treating them with “kid gloves” , rather than treating them like men .
Rays’ schedule for the month of April and their probable starting pitchers .
Tophatal …………..
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Here is a prime example of the state of affairs in MLB.
A cold, wet empty day in the Bronx now pic. http://twitter.com/eY1OpAtOwU
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Ronbets
I hear the Yankees didn’t perform too well , as Sabathia got shelled for a couple of runs in the team’s loss by 8-2 against the Red Sox ? How sad , too bad ! Who gives a $hit ? It’s the Yankees , who tend to spend their way out of trouble rather than building from within over the past five years .
Baseball can no sooner gets its frigging act together , before the players or Bud Selig makes a lame idiotic decision that does the image of the game irreparable damage ! . Meanwhile , the blowholes at ESPN , Fox and TBS as well as the MLB Network , simply follow the hierarchy up the garden path of sheer stupidity , without ever having the integrity to question any type decision rendered by Bud Selig and his bunch of ass wipes .
Tophatal ……………….
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try this link
pic.twitter.com/eY1OpAtOwU
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Ronbets
Baseball historians will always have a way of revising history to make it feel all so homogenized and non-existent . It’s almost as if the accomplishments of the players in the Negro Leagues should be kept in a basement lock box and only celebrated when Selig sees fit to acknowledge Jackie Robinson Day annually within the game .
Wells , overpaid and definitely , frigging well overrated !
The Yankees’ front office wanted to pare down salary this season by keeping it within the $200 – $215 million range .. Fat chance of that happening when they go out and acquire an abject reject like Vernon Wells , who’s remaining contract will be honored, with the Angels paying 60 % of the remaining three years of the deal . How the hell does that work , and why is that repeatedly allowed within the game ? That’s sort if idiocy that ends up derailing the financial viability of small market teams as determined by average home attendance , when it’s a trade between themselves and a big market team . However , here that is most definitely not the case .
Nice rack !
She was meant to be throwing out the celebratory Opening Day first pitch at Yankees’ Stadium but the front office had a change of heart after A Rod stated this was of the r “skanks” (Chloe Goddess) he’d bedded .
Definitely a lying douche bag !
A Rod , just overpaid and unproductive over the last five years with the Yankees
The sooner that scum bag A Rod leaves the game , the better off baseball will be ! . He still denies any connection to the South Florida medical establishment Biogenesis . And given the fact that the MLBPA (union) will fight to have any documents disclosing their members association or knowingly having associated with this company . You can now see how asinine this situation has become , especially in light of the BALCO .. ” Affair” and The Mitchell Report .
Tophatal ……………
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When’s the movie about steroids in baseball coming out and who are they going to get to play Bud Selig?
That’s the one I REALLY want to see.
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Chris Humpherys (@Sportchump)
We all know that’ll turn out to be a work of fiction to begin with , in relation to the actions of Bud Selig and the MLB hierarchy . I mean , where else could you get a bunch of assholes in conjunction with the MLBPA (union) agree to routine testing , and then after the records are noted , they fail to destroy the specimens , therein allowing the Feds ( Justice Department and FBI ) to subpoena those records and then become the precursor for all of the predominant evidence used to indict and obtain a guilty verdict against Bonds as well as being part of what turned out to be a disastrous case against Roger Clemens .
There is way too much goddamn incompetence at all levels within the game of baseball . Anyone who believes to the contrary has been sleep walking for the past two decades of Bud Selig’s tenure not to realize that as a fact !
Tophatal ………………….
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I have to acknowledge the fact that you put so much time & effort into these pieces. There is always much to read & process and although not everyone will always agree with your opinions, it’s your passion for writing that transcends your observations.
That being said, nice newspaper article you uncovered on Moses Walker. That’s a great find Al!
Steriods in MLB? When Ryan Braun got off on that FedEx technicalitycrap, I decided to be completely indifferent on the subject of cheating in baseball. Just tired of it all-especially the higher-ups who are totally inept!
Although not a fan of either team, two possible surprise teams this season could be the Pirates and the Mets. I know your eyes are rolling and your head is shaking from side to side and it’s not without cause. I just think the Pirates have more talent than half of the major league teams and the Mets just might overachieve themselves into contention. Notwithstanding opening day’s 8 run barrage, this is an offensively challenged team but with speed, defense, a surprise upstart like Colin Cowgill, their pitching, starters and relievers can hold their own I feel. Matt Harvey could be this year’s R.A. Dickey…We’ll see.
I’m sure you will go off on a rant soon about these two choices so I’ll let you get starte. Remember the keyword here is “surprise team”…If the two aforementioned teams are not surprises then I don’t know who is!
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Hank
Is there anyone within MLB’s hierarchy with an ounce of goddamn common sense ? From any view , even as an impartial observer , there is absolutely none to be found but yet staunch advocates of baseball are carrying on as if doesn’t have any problems on any level whatsoever . That just happens to be the biggest crock of $hit going , and only an idiot would believe that to be the contrary . Simply look at the financial instability of the teams as evidence of that along with team payrolls .
Deal with the real issues Bud Selig , and stop regaling us with so much $$king bull$hit , much like Roger Goodell within the NFL !
Tophatal ……………
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Owners are businessmen, not ‘baseball people’. Times have changed Al. Remember when CBS was in bed with the Yankees? How much baseball talent and expertise did they have?
The 10 year contracts and $150-$250 million signings a la A-roid and Verlander and Posey will be a thing of the past down the road. The franchises cannot sustain both the financial aspects of such deals as well as help but being stuck with those long-term contracts that usually find the player often injured and/or regressed talent-wise well before its expiration date..
History keeps repeating itself and not many teams/owners are learning from it.
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Hank
George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees for a mere seven figure sum and then turned the ball-club into a multimillion dollar empire and where the franchise is now the most valuable in North American sports as well as the most profitable . And by the way which owners in baseball , do you actually believe to be genuine businessmen ?
If it’s a thing of the past in terms of players’ salaries escalating , then why is it now, more than ever before , we have more players earning in excess of $15-$20 million annually , than at at any time over the past eight years ?
It will not be a thing of the past while you have agents such as Scott Boras simply dictating a starting point and the goddamn clueless front office executives and owners simply not knowing their ass from their elbow . Look at the Miami Marlins last season and their payroll then and what it is now after that debacle of a season . Are you actually trying to suggest that the team owner , Jeffrey Loria has a clue along with the front office executives know the hell what they’re doing ?
McCutchen , the best player on the Pirates’ roster by far
The Pirates on paper have talent but their record of the past decade and in particular last season simply doesn’t reflect the fact that they are heading anywhere . Beyond Andrew McCutchen , there simply isn’t a reason to watch that team play .
Two sides of the same coin , simply overpaid and some might even suggest overrated ? David Wright and Johan Santana
The Mets won't be going anywhere this season , they remain in a financial mess and their income simply doesn’t place them in a position to go after prime free agents , their farm system isn’t that good and the team having now lost Johan Santana , they will struggle over the course of their season . Never mind , that they lack leadership on the field of play , What are you actually looking at , or are you conducting some sort of seance with a soothsayer or gypsy ?
MLB probable starting pitchers 4th April
MLB schedule 4th April
Tophatal …………..
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“Oh ye of little faith…”Fantasy enthusiasts, like myself, do not need gypsies, tramps or thieves my friend. We’re just naturally clairvoyant!!!
Hey, wasn’t it you who thought I was crazy for bragging on the Knicks? Considering that at least one player leaves almost every game with a tweak, and a bump, and a bruise, you have to admit there isn’t a hotter team in the league right now, and with just 8 games to go, you want your team to be entering the playoffs on a roll.
As for the Marlins…this is a franchise that has purged its players almost every other season in order to keep their payroll under $11.58. The team is the poster child for ineptitude and poor management. How can fans support a franchise that signs and dumps as often as I change underwear?
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It’s not faith I’m lacking , it is a body of work as it relates to the Knicks , and they have shown me nothing when it comes to the postseason over the past six years , This is a team that one minute can be upbeat and the next they are flailing in their own ineptitude with Jim Dolan not far behind picking up the excrement and making excuses for the team’s poor play ,
Call me when the Knicks are capable of matching fourteen consecutive seasons of making the postseason and racking up an above .500 record over that time frame .
When it comes to the Marlins I was there at the dawn of the organization’s inception as I lived in South Florida at the time . I was a devoted fan of the team right through their two World Series’ triumphs . But in mid 2011 I abandoned them altogether when I saw the writing on the wall as to the corrupt , lying , malevolent and deceitful side of the owner , Jeffrey Loria , as well the entire front office in conjunction and collusion of Bud Selig and the MLB hierarchy , They lied concerning the stadium issue and the gullible assholes on the city commission are now left holding the bag of shit on a stadium that will never be filled to capacity for any game by this organization.
The poster child for ineptitude in MLB are the Kansas City Royals led by a moronic oaf and owner David Glass ex President &CFO of Walmart Inc . Simply look at their regular season and postseason record and tell me what is meant to be enthralling about that if you can ?
What real attempts have the Royals made over the last decade to remain relevant within the game ? Every season with their fans it’s the same drivel being written , as how they .. have drafted well , acquired free agents and that their farm system is loaded with talent . No , the damn cupboard is actually bare , because if they had potential to have any semblance of success we would have seen it by now ! Anally retentive , remain the fans of the Royals .
The Royals remain a badly ran and damn cheap organization .
Tophatal ………………
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Al, how many teams in the history of the NBA have made it to the postseason 14 consecutive times besides the Lakers, Celtics and Spurs? What is that, 10% of the league? The Knicks haven’t won a championship in 40 years. Isn’t it alright with you if fans get excited when their team is doing well even though their track record in the playoffs isn’t as pristine as others? Believe me, their excitement is already tempered WITHOUT thinking about James Dolan & co…
As for the Marlins and the Royals, I couldn’t agree with you more!
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Hank
I don’t begrudge the Knicks’ fans their day in the sun/ shade what I dislike is their continued stupidity talking about the fact as they’re now relevant the past two seasons simply haven’t mattered ! It does matter , and they damn well know it . but again it comes to lack of intelligence . Their excitement is tempered by the fact that should they face the Heat in the Conference Finals , they will be brought back down to earth with a resounding thud .
Were it not for Cablevision , Dolan would not be privy to the resources and that of MSG Entertainment Inc this franchise wouldn’t be able to bust open the NBA’s lame ass salary cap figure of $58.044 million . Look at the Knicks’ team payroll , salary commitment and then realize the fact that for every $1 over that figure they will face a surcharge of $1-50 as mandated by the league hierarchy .
The Marlins and Royals are badly ran organizations and they will remain that way for years to come , as they have no commitment to excellence .
Tophatal ……………………
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Hank
What impresses you more ………. longevity with a proven track record or merely what a team is doing in the here and now ? Isn’t that how one adjudges greatness ?
Unfortunately , your statement about owners being businessmen has a missed the mark . Look at this as a relevance of that fact when it comes to the baseball franchises and their business template . And need I remind you that the profits of the small market teams is bolstered by the league’s asinine tax sharing revenue scheme ?
Teams with payrolls over $150 million are penalized as much as %30 of that figure as a surcharge . To you, has that leveled the playing field and actually made baseball as competitive as Bud Selig would like you and the rest of the fans to believe ?
Tophatal ……………..
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Hank
I don’t write these pieces to elicit favorable responses or to be biased . I simply write the pieces giving the patrons information that can be gleaned and then seek a response as they deem fit .
For me the Mets are just not good enough this season to win the NL East ! Way too many idiotic trades made by the franchise , because the Mets are still tapped out financially , even in spite of their having received financing from various financial institutions . And in case you hadn’t noticed they have also lost Johan Santana for the entire season . As to David Wright , he is a poor man’s Derek Jeter , as he simply does not possess any leadership skills whatsoever . So you tell me who you see as the vocal leader on that Mets’ roster ?
The Pirates and team owner Bob Nutting are simply too damn crazy ! No way in hell , they are even remotely close to winning the NL Central ! Just look at their body of work over the past two decades in terms of their divisional record . What signs are there , that things are about to change ? At least give me some positives, rather than a mere gut check reaction.
Tophatal …………………..
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So the Blue Jays are going to be fine this season ? Well their play at present shows the opposite of that and it’s reflected in their standing .
Tophatal ………………
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