Five Things You Should Know: Greatest Winners

In the movie Patton, George C. Scott said that Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser.  Players play for the ring and fans root for champions.  There’s just nothing like coming out on top.  Whether it’s cutting down the nets or hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup, winning is sweet.  With that said, here are my five greatest winners (from the sports world, anyway) of all time:

1. Bill Russell- eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons, two college championships, and an Olympic gold medal.
2. Jack Nickalus – the king of golf until Tiger passes him.
3. Michael Jordan – six rings, a college title, and two gold medals.
4. Richard Petty- not a NASCAR fan, but it’s hard to ignore 200+ wins and seven championships.
5. Yogi Berra – ten rings with the Yankees and a dictionary full of great sayings.

Honorable mention:  Johnny Unitas – two NFL titles, one Super Bowl ring, and maybe the toughest guy to play the position.  Rocky Marciano – he never lost.  Ever.  Ali had more championships, but did I mention that Marciano never lost?  Henri Richard- He played twenty years for the Montreal Canadiens and won eleven Stanley Cups.  Tiger Woods – knocking on Jack’s door.  Joe Montana – four Super Bowl rings (without the Steel Curtain defense).

Bets, Bans, and Baseball

The reports this week are that Bud Selig, commissioner of Major League Baseball, is revisiting the Pete Rose case.  In case you’ve forgotten, Pete Rose was given a lifetime ban from baseball because he gambled on baseball games.  Apparently, Selig may be reconsidering the terms of that ban.  If he does, Rose may be eligible for the Hall of Fame.  I have mixed feelings on both issues.

In regard to the Hall of Fame, Rose’s career numbers are stellar.  He is the all-time hit king of major league baseball.  He has over 4,200 hits.  In addition, he made seventeen all-star appearances over the course of his career.  He was a great player who played with hustle and passion.  There is no doubt that his career numbers justify him being in Cooperstown. 

Furthermore, most people feel that Rose’s transgressions came after his playing career was over.  It seems that Rose’s gambling took place during his managing career, and not during his active playing days.  In addition, not even the most hard core cynic would suggest that someone with the competitive streak of Rose would ever bet against his own team.  Ray Fosse can testify to how much Pete Rose wants to win.  Subsequently, many believe that Rose’s post-playing days should be overlooked, and the focus merely be on his active playing career.

On the other hand, there are three major reasons why Rose should not be reinstated and made eligible for the Hall of Fame.  First, he bet on baseball.  Second, he bet on baseball.  Third, he bet on baseball.  He committed the unpardonable sin.  He gambled on the game.  Ask Shoeless Joe Jackson where that gets you.  It gets you banned, no matter how great you were.  Baseball has a sensitivity towards gambling like no other sport.  They experienced first hand how destructive it can be on the game.  The Black Sox scandal of 1919 seared the minds of the baseball community.  Gambling, and gamblers, cannot be tolerated.

I’m not sure what Commissioner Selig will do, or even what he should do.  One day, I feel lenient.  The next, hard-core.  Let him back in.  Keep him out forever.  I’m not sure what’s right.  I lean towards keeping the ban in place.  But, even with that said, I realize that Rose’s future is not an easy decision.  I don’t envy Selig.  But let’s be clear about one thing.  Rose himself, not Selig (or former commissioner Bart Giamatti for that matter), is the one who has kept him out of the Hall of Fame.  Rose knowingly broke the rules.  He knowingly lied for years about it.  He severely damaged his most recent chance at restoration by confessing for a payday in his tell-all book.  Pete Rose got himself banned, and has kept himself banned.  Bud Selig merely has to determine whether or not to undo the damage Rose has done to himself.

Five Things That You Should Know: Being at the Ballpark

Baseball.  The sun.  The smell of fresh cut grass.  Popcorn.  Peanuts.  Cracker Jacks.  Good stuff.  My daughter is not a baseball fan.  She’s more into the N.B.A.  That’s fine.  Like many others of her generation, she just misses the subtleties of the game.    The ballpark is one of the great places to go.  With that said, here are five things that make the ballpark great:

1. Just relaxing - You can sit and talk.  Watch the game.  Enjoy the weather (of course being in Cleveland, I sat at more than one game last year in a winter coat!).
2. Eating a hot dog – I know you can by the same brands at the store, but is there anything better than a dog at the stadium?
3. The Home Run – The sound is distinct.  Even if you are distracted, you look up and watch the ball sail.  Back, back, back…and the crowd goes wild.
4. Rallies – It’s awesome when your team comes back from behind.  Two out.  Runner on second.  Crack.  Line shot up the middle.  The throw…the slide…safe. 
5. Entertainment between the innings – Racing sausages, dancing ketchup bottles, blooper reels, contest winners.  It all makes for a show between the show.

Five Things You Should Know: The Best Hitters I’ve Ever Seen

Sports are always a great source for arguments.  Who could have beaten whom.  My guy was better than your guy.  Ditka vs. a hurricane.  And the debates rage on.  In the spirit of that, I thought I would throw out a list of my own.  I tried to come up with the five best hitters I’ve ever seen.  I intentionally avoided a few obvious names because of the steroids era.  The steroids mess has swept up almost an entire generation of players in scandal and speculation.  Until the dust settles, it’s going to be difficult to judge that group.  So, I simply ignored them.  Plus, longevity should count for something.  So here are the five best hitters I’ve ever seen:

1. Tony Gwynn – Over 3,100 hits, a lfietime .338 batting average (seventeenth best all-time), and eight batting titles.  Can you name any other Padres besides him?
2. Wade Boggs – Five batting titles and a .328 career average, plus over 1,400 walks.
3. George Brett – Three batting titles, a career average over .300, and he hit .390 in one season.  Plus, he has one of the all-time great explosions when he comes screaming out of the dugout after losing a homerun in a play-off game against the Yankees.
4. Rod Carew – seven batting titles, a career .328 average, and a season where he nearly hit .400 (.388 in 1977).
5. Paul Molitor – If Molitor could have stayed healthy, who knows how many hits he might have ended up with.  As it stands, he had over 3,300 hits and a lifetime average of .306.
6. Pete Rose – He’s the hit king of major league baseball.  I know that he gambled on the game and is banned, but his bookie slips didn’t swing the bat for him.
7. Don Mattingly – He’s Donnie Baseball for pete’s sake.  I know the numbers really don’t put him in the top, but I watched him in the minors and he had a few years where he was one of the best in the game.

Drowning Pirates

Today the Pittsburgh Pirates did it again.  It’s not even the all-star break and they are dumping their all-stars.  This started way back in the eighties.  I got tired of it about ten years ago, and began paying more attention to the Reds and the Indians.  In all fairness, the Pirates may have made a great trade.  For all I know, they may have gotten three future hall-of-famers for all-star Nate McClouth.  If these guys do pan out, I’m sure the Pirates will trade them in the next few years.  One of these prospects could be the next Babe Ruth.  I don’t know.  But what is safe to say, is that they’ll probably end up being the next Aramis Ramirez or Jason Bay.  A potential star traded away in the unending cycle of rebuilding in Pittsburgh.

A New Low

I have rooted for the Pittsburgh Pirates for years.  In all honesty, however, my interest in them has waned over the last few years.  I have grown tired of them continually trading away anyone worth having while hiding behind the “we’re a small-market” excuse.  The Indians and Twins seem be handling the small-market thing alright.  They may not be hoisting World Championship Banners every year, but at least they’re competitive.  Anyway, back to the Pirates.  They perhaps hit a new low this past week when they lost to Manatee.  Not the Manatees, but Manatee…Manatee Community College!  Even though the Pirates’ team was made up of prospects without a lot of big league experience, this is definitely not the way you want to enter a new season.  Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente are somewhere shaking their heads.

Spring Training Is on the Air…Why?

I have already documenting my affinity for baseball.  It’s a great game.  One of the things that makes it awesome is the radio.  Now, you need to be a little older to appreciate a baseball game on the radio.  When I was younger, I would listen to the Reds and the Pirates on their respective stations.  On more than one occasion I would fall asleep listening to a game on the west coast.  Now, I enjoy listening to the Indians when I am traveling in my car.

Like I said, baseball on the radio is great.  Except, that is, for spring training baseball.  The announcers are fine.  The games are awful.  They don’t count.  They are filled with people who have never heard of.  Pitchers throw and inning or two.  The scores are inflated, but they don’t matter anyway.  I know spring training is important to the players.  Just do me a favor and don’t broadcast the games.  The only thing worse than a spring training game on the radio is one on television.  Unless, of course you consider pre-season football games.  Those are the worse of all.

Five Things You Should Know About This Upcoming Baseball Season

Spring is here and the baseball season is just a few weeks away.  Good bye to winter.  Hello sunshine.  With that in mind, here are five things you should know about this upcoming Baseball season:

1. The Mets will choke again – New York always seems to find a way to collapse down the stretch.  You begin to wonder if it’s in their D.N.A.  Until they prove otherwise, no reason not to think it won’t happen again this year.
2. The Phillies and the Rays won’t repeat- Great stories from last year, but it’s just too tough to repeat in MLB.
3. You will be sick of hearing about steroids- ARod starting it all back up this year.  It’s only a matter of time until someone else get’s caught.  It’s the story that will no one seems to care about, but still won’t go away.
4. The Red Sox, Yankees, Indians and Angels will join the Phillies, Cubs, and Dodgers in the playoffs.  Not sure who the other NL team will be.  I’d say the Mets, but see no.1 above.  If they’re out, then I guess the Cardinals are in.  The Cubs should win the N.L.  I hope the Indians will win the A.L., but it will probably be the Sox or the Yanks.  The series all comes down to the hottest pitcher(s).
5. No one I root for will win this year – The Pirates and Reds won’t make any impact at all.  That leaves the Indians.  They have a shot.  They have a real shot.  It would be great for them and for the city of Cleveland.  But, I have lived here for ten years now.  You just sort of grow to expect something to go wrong somewhere along the line. 

It’s Spring Training and Hope Is in the Air

I used to really love baseball.  We would come home from school, and play until you could no longer see the ball.  We would form Strat-O-Matic leagues (sort of a precursor to fantasy baseball), and have a great time replaying a season.  I still like baseball, but it’s not the same.  When I was a kid, I rooted for the Cincinnati Reds.  Once they broke up the Big Red Machine, I moved on and began to root for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  I have rooted for the Pirates for years.  The economic realities of a small market broke the Pirates up more than once.  I’m really discouraged about where they are as an organization.  It’s almost like they don’t even try to field a winning team anymore.  As a matter of fact, I can’t remember the last time they won more than they lost.  I now live in Cleveland, and I try to keep an eye on the Indians.

As Spring Training gets underway, every fan of every team is filled with hope.  Maybe this is our year.  Hope floods the hearts of the fans that sit in the confines of Wrigley field singing during the seventh inning stretch.  It touches those arriving late and leaving early at Chavez Ravine.  It even finds its way to the handful that sit in empty stadiums in Kansas City and Miami.  Hope springs eternal.  Or so the saying goes.

Unfortunately, for most of us, our hope comes crashing to earth.  Some will crash in the fall during the heat of the pennant chase.  Some will wilt in the heat of the mid-summer.  Some, like my Pirates, will fall before Mother’s Day.  Hope may spring eternal, but it doesn’t last long.  At least not the way baseball marks time.

In life, we have to have hope.  There simply has to be something more than the present.  There has to be a future that’s filled with potential and promise.  It’s not found in money or material things.  Those all shrivel up and disappear.  It’s not found in power and politics.  Those all let you down in the end (unless of course it’s an election year).  Where do we find hope that will not fade in the bright sunshine and high heat of life’s difficulties?  Only one place.  The Bible says, “our hope is in the living God” (1 Timothy 4:10, NLT).

That’s what makes Spring Training so great.  Everyone has hope.  As the snow melts and the last of the winter chill leaves the air, hope sprouts.  What ’til next year is suddenly this year.  While players stretch in the Florida sun and the Arizona desert, their chances are high.  After all, it’s Spring Training.  Every team is tied for first.  Eventually, their hopes will fade.  The hope placed in God, however, will never disappoint.  No late season collapses.  No early season catastrophes.  Hope in Him is eternal.  Speaking of hope, maybe the Tribe can pull it off this year.

Nods, Shakes, and Shortstops

I’m not a big fan of the New York Yankees.  As a matter of fact, most of the time I would rather see them lose than win.  With that said, the Yankees do possess one of the great leaders in all of sports in Derek Jeter.  As Jeter descended into the circus that is the Alex Rodriquez mess, he handled himself with his usual class and style.  He said all the right “teammate” things.  At the same time, he managed to try to encourage people to understand that not everyone was dirty during the “steroids era.”  He stressed some guys did things the right way.  You know, guys like him.  Guys who captain flagship franchises.  Guys who are clutch.  Guys with four championship rings.  That’s why when guys like him talk, people nod their heads in agreement instead of shaking them in disgust.