With news that the Padres are going to have a new owner soon, it made me wonder who the owners of the other twenty-nine ballclubs are. You ever drive by a big house and wonder “I wonder how that guy got rich?” Let’s do that with ballclub owners. Here’s the format:
Team: San Diego Padres
Owner: John Moores
School: University of Houston
Why: Made his fortune in the IT industry as founder of BMC Software and as an early investor in Peregrine Systems.
Some teams have several owners, so you may see multiple entries … for instance, you might not know the name Lester Crown or Robert Nederlander, but you can bet Hal Steinbrenner and Tom Ricketts do. Let’s see what you can do …
First, I’d like to thank each and every one of you for helping make 2008 one of the most successful in BP history. It was an amazing baseball season and we hope our coverage of our sport from every angle helped you enjoy it even more. We’ll strive to do the same in 2009.
Now, I was just curious what everyone’s holiday wish would be for the ONE new feature you’d like to see at BP in 2009 would be. Please, only one per comment and please be at least somewhat realistic. Would you like to see a particular writer added to the team, more video, an iPhone app with all the PECOTA projections, or something else entirely? I’m not promising anything but I am interested in your ideas.
The news that Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 shocked the hockey world, but the news today that Cherepanov’s death was the result of doping sends a bigger pall over the game. All indications are that Cherepanov was engaging in a chemical version of one of the oldest doping tricks in the book, blood doping.
In blood doping, originally, athletes would have some blood removed, just as if they were donating at the local Red Cross. That blood is saved and after the body has re-filled by creating more blood, it’s re-injected, giving a temporary boost of red blood cells, increasing VO2 max, the oxygen carrying capacity of the body. It’s a similar effect to training at altitude. In the late eighties and nineties, some discovered that the use of genetically engineered drugs to combat anemia could be used in a similar fashion. EPO (or repo, or epogen) became heavily abused drugs in sports like cycling, distance running, and others where stamina was key.
The downside for EPO usage - or rather overusage - is what users call “syruping” or “sludging.” If the blood has too many red blood cells, instead of being liquid and free-flowing, the blood gets too thick for the heart to pump efficiently, putting more of a load and eventually either thickening too much or the heart gives out. It’s a gruesome, painful death, as shown in the case of cycling star Marco Pantoni.
EPO is illegal in most sports and there’s never been a positive test in baseball, though it’s unclear if baseball actually tests for it. Like HGH, there’s great difficulty in differentiating between natural EPO and the recombinant version. Since baseball isn’t a big stamina sport, there’s not much reason for a player to use it, but there’s always some concern that there will be someone who thinks they can find one. I’ve always wondered if teams heading to Colorado might be more apt to try it in the way that one team used hyperbaric chambers for pitchers in a week before their Colorado starts.
There’s always something out there lurking and someone willing to inject, snort, and swallow the next drug that will help them. Sadly, that means that there will be another Alexei Cherepanov somewhere down the line.
I’m going to pick on Mike Nadel here because he wrote this column, one of many we’ll see about who people are voting for with this year’s HoF ballot. I’ll admit that I’m looking at these a lot more closely this year, especially when someone opens their ballot and gives their reasoning.
Nadel says “I’m passing on Mark McGwire for the third consecutive year as I continue sorting out what his being one of the Steroid Era poster boys means in the grand scheme” among the rest of his one-line pseudo-jokes. (Bob Knight jokes. Timely.) I won’t fault anyone who doesn’t vote for McGwire, but this is about the third time I’ve seen someone say that they weren’t voting for McGwire because they needed more time to think or more information.
What are they waiting for?
McGwire is not going to suddenly confess and if he’s talking at all, it’s not about steroids. In two years, Rafael Palmeiro will hit the ballot, the first player to have a positive test reach that point. Bonds, Sosa, Clemens, and more … they’re coming. The Mitchell Report is out and aside from some “Prison Without Bars” moment that is admittedly possible, it’s unlikely that we’re going to get contrition.
However, what about a player who’s image is ‘rehabilitated’ like Jason Giambi? Lots of things to think about and consider, but none of this is going to be new information or a new way of thinking. Either you believe that performance enhancers are enough to knock them off the ballot or you don’t, something that won’t change from today to 2021.
I think it’s Clemens that might be the tipping point. If some really won’t vote in one of the best pitchers of all time, then they’ll have made a mockery of the process and perhaps the Hall itself. McGwire? He’d have my vote and sadly, I think I’ll get that chance.
If you’ve read my stuff over the last four months, you already have a pretty good idea of what I’ll have to say about the Yankees signing Mark Teixeira. That article will go up this afternoon. Prior to that, you can catch the live version on ESPN’s First Take at 11:30 a.m. ET, where I’ll be holding court on the signing, the Yankees’ offseason, and what it means for the AL East race.
A massive free-agent signing on the afternoon of December 23. Who knew?
So the Yankees have signed Mark Teixeira. Along with CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, they’ve committed a load of money to three of the top free agents available this year, making everyone cry “checkbook” at Cashman and Company.
Thing is, the Yankees payroll has gone down at this point. I’m not the math guy or business guy around here, but using the available contract figures and terms, the Yankees are just south of $200 million before arbitration. With players like Melky Cabrera and Xavier Nady eligible, that figure (around $186m) will go up, but not significantly.
Yes, the Yankees spent a lot of money, but they didn’t suddenly spend money they didn’t have. They used money coming off the books and backloaded to work with money that’s coming off the books next year as well. I’m not defending them against charges that they’re “buying championships” but I would like to see some acknowledgement that the Yankees aren’t in some new era of spending. They’re just still spending, like they always have.
Add in some interesting ways of looking at the Marginal Revenue per Win calculations might make this make even more financial sense as the economy continues to turn down. With all the comparisons of 1931 and 2008, it’d be interesting to know what the payroll was on this 107-win monster.
I had one of those holy bleep moments the other day.
My Tivo nicely picked up a recording of an Elvis Costello show off of Palladia (which used to be MTV HD) and I was happy. “Club Date - Live in Memphis” sounded like something I would dig. So I pressed play, Elvis and the Impostors walked onto the stage …
… and there was the holy bleep moment, before they’d even played a note. You see, the club in question was the HiTone Cafe, an iconic club in Memphis in a building that was once used by Elvis Presley as his karate dojo. It’s also where I did a Pizza Feed earlier this year. It was a thrill when I was there, but I can’t tell you the thrill it was to know that I “played” the same stage as one of my heroes.
If you’d like to see the show - and I highly recommend it - check your local listings at these times for future showings.
As for Memphis and the HiTone, I can guarantee that I’ll be back next spring. If Elvis - either one - wants to interrupt me and play, I won’t mind.
With snowstorms swirling throughout much of the country this week, the idea of hunkering down with a good book is certainly appealing to many of us. With that in mind, I thought it might be a good time to touch upon reading lists and the best books of 2008.
Rather than going through everything I read this year, I’ll just mention a few that stood out or that I hope to catch up with in the near future [and yes, I am certain that after I’ve posted this, I’ll have multiple, “Oh, crap, how did I forget to mention…” moments.] No less important are your own lists, so perhaps this can serve as a starting point for opinions in the comments section?
As I have a strong interest in baseball history, it will come as no surprise that ‘Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Legends’ is one that I found notable. Ditto a pair of collaborative biographical efforts by SABR members: ‘Sock it to ‘em Tigers: The Incredible Story of the 1968 Detroit Tigers’ and ‘Spahn and Sain and Teddy Ballgame: Boston’s (almost) Perfect Summer of 1948.’ I also enjoyed ‘Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees First Dynasty, by Daniel Levitt’ My Sweet-Swinging Lifetime with the Cubs’ by Billy Williams, and ‘The 33-Year-Old Rookie’ by Chris Coste. Living in the shadow of Fenway Park, I also liked ‘100 Things Red Sox Fans Should Know Before They Die’ by Nick Cafardo, and ‘Red Sox Threads: Odds and Ends from Red Sox History’ by Bill Nowlin.
In the non-baseball-book category, three on my “to read” list are by authors who are huge baseball fans: ‘The Given Day’ by Dennis Lehane, ‘Songs for the Missing’ by Stewart O’Nan, and ‘On the Laps of Gods: The Red Summer of 1919 and the Struggle for Justice that Remade a Nation’ by Robert Whitaker.
With a reminder to pre-order ‘Baseball Prospectus 2009,’ I’ll now ask: Which books published in 2008 did you find notable, and which will keep you company as you ride out the dark and snowy days between now and spring training?
CC Sabathia has signed, so who won? Well, it depends on how you look at it, so in this giving season, why choose? The overall winners are “roarke” who nailed the 7/161, but said 12/4 for the signing date, and “todmod”, who was a million light on the contract, but was a day closer. Both will have three months added to their Premium subscriptions.
But wait! “Bossfan101″ nailed the date (12/11) and was pretty darn close on the terms (6/160) as well. I’ll give him a month for the prognostication.
Thanks to over 250 who participated and thanks to everyone who’s already a BP Premium subscriber.
Someone once asked Rogers Hornsby what he did in the off-season and he famously said “I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” What I do is follow along with new logos for teams and follow my passion for funky ballparks.
The Charlotte Stone Crabs debuted their new logo today, as did the Buffalo Bisons. The Crabs have the “burst” that helped carry the Rays to the World Series, but aside from that, I really like the new logo and color scheme. The Bisons, besides being redundant, is a bit more modern, but I’m not sure I like it. I’ll wait to see the unis, or rather, wait to see what Paul Lukas says. (They’re all just chasing the Montgomery Biscuits, anyway!)
As for funky ballparks, I’m still looking for good pictures of two of my favorites. One, still in use, is at Benedictine University in Kansas. The NAIA school’s park is near a river and right field actually plays uphill on the levee. It can regularly come into play and I’d bet makes for one heck of a home field advantage. If anyone has a good picture or knows the dimensions, please let me know in comments. I’ve also heard tales forever about a ballpark in Texas - usually in or around Austin - where there was a small dropoff in left field. I’ve heard that it dropped off going back (lower as you go back) and that it was more like a wall behind the left side of the infield with a raised playing surface beyond it. Again, any info in comments would be appreciated.
But what new logos (including the new “hanging Sox” Boston logo) and funky parks are you thinking of while you stare out the window, waiting for the UPS guy to bring your copy of BP 2009?
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