Perfect Pitch Communications: The Nub

��<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <meta name=ProgId content=Word.Document> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12"> <meta name=Originator content="Microsoft Word 12"> </head> <body> <big> April 2010 Archive</big> (Posted: 4/29/10)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <big>Team Obama and Baseball Seen as Turning Off Young People<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The youthquake behind recent Gallup Poll results suggesting dismay with political business-as-usual surely resonated with Team Obama.  The young-oriented message should shake baseball, too, after a reminder of how badly its business looks with reforms buried back in the clubhouse.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The poll showed that young people have lost interest in voting Democratic, clearly because they’ve seen very little change they can believe in.  As to baseball, the digital-savvy younger generation can only scorn a sport that refuses to enter the technetronic age and rid itself of crucially erroneous umpiring calls.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Gallup</st1:place></st1:city> found that, among 18-to-29 year-olds – the group most favorably disposed to Democrats – only 23 percent of those surveyed were keen to vote in this year’s midterm election.  Some 32 percent of the youngish-to-middle-age 30-49 group likely to back Team GOP said they were raring to vote.  On Monday, a concerned Skipper Obama called on African-Americans, Latinos and women, as well as young people, to rally behind the Dem lineup nationwide as they did behind him in 2008.  He’s hoping his team’s partisan pitch for financial reform and sensible immigration laws will signal an end to playing small ball with the Repubs.</big> <big> </big> <big>There have been many amazingly bad umpiring calls already this season, but few, if any, could match the one in the Braves-Cardinals game the other night.  An <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Atlanta</st1:place></st1:city> rally was aborted when an out was called on the front end of what would be a double play.  But the camera showed second baseman Skip Schumacher 10 feet from the bag when he threw on to first.  The MLB-TV team agreed the call was carrying the “neighborhood play” too far.   They said a few words in support of video replays before launching a collective defense of umpires: owing to the new technology, they said, umpires have to work under extreme pressure, being scrutinized much more closely than they were 30 years ago.  It sounded as though they were on front-office message, another sign that change in the umpiring aspect of the game will not be coming soon.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>We’ll know how seriously the streaking Mets should be taken after the three-game weekend set at <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:city>.  Whatever the outcome, Mets fans can rejoice in the thought of meaningful games in May.  Until the nine-victory, 10-game home stand, such games didn’t look too likely.  </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Joe Torre, asked by SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt how he would like to remembered 10 years from now:  “For fairness.  Guys wanted to play for me because they knew I was fair.”<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Johnny Damon spent the first week of the season with his new team batting .177 (3-for-23).  He’s now the Tigers’ second leading hitter among regulars (after Miguel Cabrera).</big> <big>Going into last night’s game with the Twins, Damon was batting .329 (24-for-73).</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Orioles manager Dave Trembley knows he can’t last if his worst-in-the-majors last-place - team doesn’t start winning with some consistency.  So he apparently figures he has nothing to lose by expressing frustration about what’s been happening.  Asked in an interview shown on TV about his porous bullpen, he gave this remarkable answer: "There is no closer right now for me.  Who wants it?  Somebody take it.  There is no setup guy. Who wants it?  Somebody take it."  Alfredo Simon, just up from Triple-A Norfolk, looks like the closer.  For now.  <o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Coincidental or cause-related? Both the Phils and the Dodgers have gone into mini-tailspins since Jimmy Rollins and Manny Ramirez went on the DL.</big>                          - o - (The  Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)  <o:p></o:p> (Posted: 4/27/10)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <big>When Political and Baseball Fans Call for Action<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>In politics and baseball, as with most pastimes, the people in charge know how to respond to public demands for action when the pressure is on: if you can’t act, appear to do SOMETHING.  Current examples in both fields have to do with competitive balance.</big> <big>Team Obama worries that <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region> is seeking nuclear balance in the Middle East, a move much of the world expects the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> to stop.  The baseball commissioner worries that  persistent fan discontent over the lack of competitive balance in the sport requires a response. </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>International Herald Trib bench jockey William Pfaff sees something ominously familiar in the way Team Obama is responding to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s game:</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>“Robert Gates is reported to have sent a secret letter to…Obama last January reviewing the military options available if diplomacy…fail(s) to produce the desired halt in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s effort, if that is what it is, to build a nuclear deterrent.  If <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place></st1:country-region> does pursue a nuclear capability…it is to deter attack.  Precisely the same objection exists to theories of Iranian aggression as to those lies put forward in 2002-2003 about <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> posing a nuclear menace to the world. ”Once more the threat is a polemical invention, intended to frighten American, Israeli (and European) voters, and prompt a preemptive attack on Iran. The reason Mr. Gates reports his uncertainties to the president is that he too recognizes that the conflict with Iran is constructed from fictions – which, as with the lies about Iraq, may turn into another war, whose consequences are sure to be worse for all concerned than the (earlier) fiasco.” <o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>How far Team Obama is prepared to go - after this retroactive something - will depend, in part, on whether the skipper considers real or fictional the Iranian nuclear threat feared by <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>.  <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>’s supporters in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> are pitching hard to keep the skipper focused on that possible threat.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>In baseball, Bud Selig put together a practice-hitting front-office group and asked it to take swings at improving balance among mlb teams.  (Improve it, that is, without touching the financial disparities.)  Uncomfortable in the clutch situation, the group launched the idea of a “floating” option for teams.  The plan would allow particular clubs to switch divisions for a season or more.  Small-market but formidable <st1:placename w:st="on">Tampa</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Bay</st1:placetype>, for instance, could replace a rebuilding team like <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cleveland</st1:place></st1:city> in the AL Central.  The Rays, thus, would avoid having to contend with the Yankees and the Red Sox while the  Indians could theoretically benefit at the box office from more frequent AL East games with the Yanks and Red Sox.   </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>That resulting pop-up seemed to be an out before it left the pitcher’s hand.  But the effort was dutifully reported by the media: it therefore amounted to something.  And as yet, it has not been officially ruled a non-starter.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Tim Wakefield has become a non-starter with the Red Sox.  Tito Francona took the veteran knuckleballer out of the rotation when Daisuke Matsuzaka returned to the team from the DL.  It’s been hard for <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Wakefield</st1:place></st1:city> to hide his unhappiness with the move, which leaves him in limbo.  Francona: “This is not us turning him into a reliever.  This is putting him in the bullpen until he starts again.  I think we feel…he’s the guy who can handle this.”  Francona’s pitch would have been more persuasive had he said “we hope he can handle this.”<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The Sox have other obvious problems.  Victor Martinez threw out one of three steal-attempting Orioles over the weekend.  That modest achievement was worth a celebration.<o:p></o:p>  Going into tonight’s game against <st1:city w:st="on">Toronto</st1:city>, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Martinez</st1:place></st1:city> and his backup Jason Varitek had allowed 40 steals out of 42 tries.   Backup Mets catcher Henry Blanco, meanwhile, has caught four of four would-be thieves.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The Mets are playing the Dodgers and Phillies this week, which may well mean they will be sub-500 again by Saturday night.  But their achievement of exceeding .500, as of Sunday night, was notable.  We confess that we never thought it would happen.  Jerry Manuel deserves much credit, Omar Minaya and Jeff Wilpon some.  The Mets may exceed our expectations and turn out to be a .500 team, after all.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big>                         - o - (The Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)  <o:p></o:p> (Posted: 4/24/10)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <big>A Twin Search for the Elusive Even Playing Field <o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Incumbent legislators in NY state are like fans of the incumbent World Series champions: they surely believe in the idea of an even playing field, but not as it pertains to their privileged turf.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>A team headed by former NYC Mayor Ed Koch and including former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Governor Mario Cuomo wants the legislators to swing behind a change in the setup of their political ballparks, the districts that have given them home-field advantage in the electoral game.   The rearranging sought by Team Koch would be done by unaffiliated outsiders instead of legislative players themselves.  If done right, this new redistricting stance would end the practice of laying out a field tailored to the hitting team.  With that accomplished,  the goal of the even playing field would be within reach.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Team Koch has already enlisted the support of three key GOP players, candidates for governor Rick Lazio, Steve Levy and Carl Paladino, and of the likely Dem choice Andrew Cuomo.  The legislators have not yet come to the plate. If they stay in the dugout it’s because they like a practice that, in the words of Citizens Union Skipper Dick Dadey, “allows the legislators to choose their voters before the voters choose them.” </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Most Yankee followers would choose to describe themselves as baseball fans first.  But they contradict that claim when they duck away from the recurring pitch for reform of a system that gives their team a huge edge over its competitors.  The latest report from Forbes magazine has the Yankees taking in more than $170 million more than their nearest revenue-stream competitor, the Mets, and $285 million more than their nearest on-field competitor, the Rays.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>SI’s Joe Posnanski runs down the ramifications of the Yankees’ financial edge:</big> <big>“The Yankees' revenue stream is so enormous, it will give them a gigantic competitive advantage that should make them the favorites to win every... single... year. True, they won't win every single year because of baseball's quirks…. (But) since the 1994-95 strike, the <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state> Yankees have won 57.9% of their games -- that's 94 wins per year. That's the most in baseball -- more even than the <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Atlanta</st1:place></st1:city> Braves, who were so dominant for so long. The Yankees have won 100 games five times. They have made the playoffs every year but one. They have won the toughest division in baseball 11 of the 15 seasons. They have won five World Series and two other pennants…”     <o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Yankee fans are to be envied for their team’s success  – baseball gives them comfort while it gives Mets fans Agita.  But for the fair-minded among them there is a downside – the awareness that their team is winning as much because of money as for merit.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Stat city: One reason the Washington Nats are off to a better-than-expected start is that, for the moment, they have baseball’s most successful closer.  He’s Matt Capps, who, going into last night’s game, had saved seven of seven – all but one of the team’s victory total (8).   </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Shortly before spring training, MLB-TV’s Dan Plesac evaluated five free agent pitchers still available at the time.  He picked one from among the group - Pedro Martinez, Joel Piniero, Ben Sheets, John Smoltz and Jarrod Washburn – as most worth signing:  It was Piniero, who has a 2-1, 1.77 ERA with the Angels after 20 innings of work.  His strikeout-to-walk ratio is 13-3.  Sheets is not doing badly for <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oakland</st1:place></st1:city> – 1-1, 2.74 after 23 innings.  But his K-BB ratio is awful, 12-13.                        </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big>                            - o - (The  Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)  <o:p></o:p> (Posted: 4/22/10)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <big>‘Perfect Storms’ Sweeping Baseball and Political Fields<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>“Perfect storm” has become an all-purpose phrase applicable to baseball and politics as well as meteorology.  We know it means something like hitting into a triple play – the term first used to describe three storm fronts forming a powerful nor’easter in 1991 that snuffed out lives and homes along the east coast. </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Despite sporadic signs of clearing, Mets fans think a perfect storm has hit their team.  One, Keith Weber of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:city></st1:place>, surely spoke for a million or so when he e-mailed this message about the team: “ Let me check my list for this long Met season…Bad owner, check.  Bad GM, check.  Last place, check.  Meaningless season, check.  This might the earliest date in over 40 years I have given up even caring about the Mets.  Thank you…Wilpons for letting this happen.”<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Over on the political field, there it was again – a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Pew</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Research</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Center</st1:placetype></st1:place> sounding found that Team Obama is facing a “perfect storm” of public hostility.  The discontent expresses itself as distrust of government, having mainly to do with the economy.  Only 22 percent of people questioned look upon government favorably – “among the lowest measures (according to Pew) in more than half a century.”<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The National Journal’s Ronald Brownstein says leading liberal players worry that the skipper has lost control of the economic contest with Team GOP: “The(y) fear the White House is suffering from what could be called a ’narrative gap.’  By which they mean that the White House has inadvertently allowed Republicans to shift public discontent from business to government by not working more doggedly to link President George W. Bush's anti-regulation, tax-cutting policies not only to the 2008 meltdown but also to the economy's meager performance over his entire tenure.    </big> <big>Brownstein says the skipper is insufficiently aggressive at executing what a Yale professor calls "’the authority to repudiate’…the effort,  employed by…Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, to build support by portraying their agenda as the remedy for their predecessors' failures.”<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The hope among fans is that the skipper will start a repudiation rally when he steps to the plate at Cooper Union today. </big> <big>                     -     -     -</big> <big>Fans exhaling early-season blahs in <st1:city w:st="on">Boston</st1:city>, <st1:city w:st="on">Chicago</st1:city> and, yes, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state></st1:place>, should know that, comparatively, they have nothing to complain about. Compared to what? This perfect storm-damaged franchise: “The hole already is starting to look too deep. The season looks like it's over, and it has barely begun.” – <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baltimore</st1:place></st1:city> Sun (re the Orioles)</big> <big>                            </big> <big>Injuries: they are “part of baseball,” as the saying goes.  Their impact, we know, depends on the depth of the team affected.  A club like the Phillies can absorb a few weeks’ loss of Jimmy Rollins.  Some teams, however – like the Orioles, who have lost Brian Roberts and Miguel Tejada - don’t have capable replacements when a key player goes down.  Mets TV announcer Gary Cohen flagged the case of Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand, put on the DL after suffering facial fractures last Friday night when hit by Dodgers pitcher Vincente Padilla.  “I feel bad for the Giants,” Cohen said.  “They are going to miss Rowand’s bat.” Without Rowand in the lineup, SF lost three in a row this week, 2-1, 3-2, and 1-0, before yesterday’s game in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Diego</st1:place></st1:city>.  </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big>                         - o - (The  Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)  <o:p></o:p> (Posted: 4/20/10)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <big>Yanks, Phils and Team GOP Showing Competitive Confidence<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Slow-starters in both pastimes have a hopeful saying this time of year - “It’s a long season.”  The Yankees, Phillies and Republicans can respond with a smug smile.  The numbers in wins and losses on one field, and polling results on the other, give all three  confidence they can stay ahead for the long haul.  </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Seldom have two favored teams demonstrated their superiority so convincingly so early as the Yanks and Phils have done in the past two weeks.  Who doubts that they will win their respective divisions?  Team GOP needs to add at least 40 members to its Congressional lineup in the fall to win control of the House.  Few press-box observers would bet against that happening.  One of the most respected of that group - Charlie Cook – suspects the Repubs will win but doesn’t see it as a Yankees-and Phillies-like sure thing:</big> <big> “Combining its own race-by-race calculations with the results of national polls, The Cook Political Report officially projects a Republican gain of 30 to 40 seats. I suspect that the GOP will do even better if the trend over the past seven months continues…<o:p></o:p></big> <big> “The views of other experts vary… Most political scientists who have weighed in tend to think that Democrats will suffer serious losses but retain control. Analysts who look at individual races and then add ’macro’ national dynamics to the mix, however, largely expect Democrats to have real trouble hanging on.”<o:p></o:p></big> <big> Cook says that, if it loses, the Democratic team can find solace in the likelihood that Skipper Obama himself will benefit from having to share power with the opposition: he will then be able to share the blame for plays that backfire, which should give him a cold-comfort edge in the 2012 presidential contest.   </big> <big> For awhile many of us wouldn’t have been surprised to see the Yankees remain in first place in the AL East for the rest of the season.  But <st1:placename w:st="on">Tampa</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Bay</st1:placetype>’s seven-game winning streak - on the road, yet (in <st1:city w:st="on">Toronto</st1:city> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Boston</st1:city></st1:place>) - have put a stop to that line of thought.  The surge has propelled the Rays a half-game ahead of the Yanks.  And TB’s 10-3 record is for the moment best in the majors.<o:p></o:p></big> <big> “Home plate is on roller skates”: That’s what players say, according to ESPN’s Orel Hersheiser, when the umpire calling balls and strikes is inconsistent.  In the third inning of the Rays-Red Sox game yesterday, Angel Campos called Ben Zobrist out after two of John Lackey’s pitches were clearly way outside of the plate.  When, on a 3-and-1 pitch,  Zobrist tossed his bat aside and started for first, NESN’s Jerry Remy warned that “umpires hate that.”  Zobrist couldn’t hear him, of course, and when he did it again, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Campos</st1:place></st1:city> flashed strike three.  Two batters later, Carlos Pena walked when <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Campos</st1:place></st1:city> called ball four on virtually the same pitch that was strike three with Zobrist at the plate.   </big> <big> The so-far short season has sent attendance-shock-waves through front offices in <st1:city w:st="on">Baltimore</st1:city>, <st1:city w:st="on">Cleveland</st1:city> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Toronto</st1:city></st1:place>.  The Orioles, Indians and Blue Jays, one-two-three in AL attendance in the mid-nineties, all drew the smallest crowds in the history of their ballparks last week dating from 1992 (Camden Yards), 1994 (Jacobs Field/now Progessive Field) and 1989 (Skydome/now Rogers Centre).  SI’s Tom Verducci says the poor turnouts were “a cold reminder that the halo effect of a beautiful new ballpark, like the smell of a new car, is not a lasting one.”  We may be treated to a fast fade of the halo over Citi Field if the Mets’ fortunes don’t experience a dramatic revival. <o:p></o:p></big> <big>                           - o -</big> (The  Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.) (Posted: 4/17/10)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <big>Inequality in NYC Exists for Ball Teams as Well as People <o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:city>, a microcosm of the economic extremes roiling the nation, now offers a case-study of inequality – financial and otherwise – affecting its two baseball teams.  Latest payroll estimates, published by the clearinghouse for mlb contracts (Cot’s), show that the Yankees are spending $87 million more than the Mets this season - $213 mil to $126 mil.  While the Yanks have added $12 mil to their payroll compared to ’09, the Mets spent $23 mil less on player salaries than they did last year.  It’s the widest payroll disparity ever between the two teams.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Economic inequality in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>, more severe now after the banking crisis, persists despite the obvious need for a changed approach.  One reason for the inertia: the sense among players on the right – like more than half the Tea Party supporters surveyed by NY Times/CBS pollsters – that Team Obama is pitching to help the poor rather than the middle class or rich.  But the brush-back of one class by another is contributing to the unrest we sense around us.  NYU-based historian Tony Judt sees it as a symptom of an “age of insecurity…Insecurity breeds fear.  And fear - fear of change, fear of decline, fear of strangers and an unfamiliar world - is corroding the trust and interdependence on which civil societies rest.”</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Although Judt does not allude to them by name, he wonders why there are no Tea Parties of the left.  Pointing out the holes in right field and then doing nothing about them, he says, won’t trigger a successful left rally: “The irresponsible rhetorical grandstanding of decades past,” he notes, “did not (get the job done).”<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Intimidated by the Yankees’ willingness to spend for baseball’s big name players, the Mets tried to match them in such signings.  They emphasized the need to have proven stars in the lineup, but in their spending sacrificed the resources needed to pay for a solid supporting cast.  Thus, $100 million of the current $126 mil payroll goes for eight players – Johan Santana, Carlos Beltran, Frankie Rodriguez, Oliver Perez, David Wright, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Jason</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Bay</st1:placename></st1:place>, Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo.  That leaves most of the other 17 playing for scraps.  Is it any wonder their quality is marginal?  Maybe we can’t blame all of the Mets’ revenue fallout on Bernie Madoff, but it went somewhere other than into the team.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>On a YES Yankees telecast the other day, Al Leiter got in a puzzling plug for a former team of his, the Toronto Blue Jays.  Noting the Jays’ fast start in the AL East, he said the three-team deal in which they sent Roy Halladay to the Phillies for prospects was working out well for <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Toronto</st1:place></st1:city>.  Except that only one of the prospects – pitcher Brandon Morrow, who came from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:city> – is on the Jays’ roster.  And, going into the weekend, his ERA was 12.00 and record 0-1 after two games.  It is true that pitchers like Ricky Romero and Shawn Marcum may be ready to flourish outside Halladay’s shadow.  But so far lefty newcomer Dana Eveland, picked up from Oakland in February, has been the Jays’ surprise standout – 2-0, 1:35 ERA.      </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>                            - o -</big> (The  Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)  <o:p></o:p> (Posted: 4/15/10)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <big>Who in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> Likes Taxes?  Well, Some Teams Do<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>As with many Americans, there is unhappiness on this tax day in baseball.  Owners of small- and middle-market teams are complaining – not about a sport-related tax they, in theory, are obliged to pay, but about the money they’re supposed to receive from the big-spending teams. The levy in question - the competitive-balance, or luxury tax – has yielded disappointingly little to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Florida Marlins, etc.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Polls indicate anti-tax sentiment in the country grows stronger every year. A recent Rasmussen survey found that 66 percent of those questioned felt  Americans are overtaxed (81 percent of Republicans felt that way).  The conservative argument that the government’s taking of people’s money is confiscatory – “you’ve earned it have a right to spend it as you see fit” – has simplistic appeal.  The twist in baseball is that smaller-market teams believe their comparatively modest revenues justify they’re getting luxury tax money from several big-market teams, not just the Yankees.  </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>As it is, this year only the Yanks will go over the $170 million threshold established for luxury tax purposes. (The NYYs have paid $175 mil in lux taxes over the seven years of the system’s existence; the Red Sox paid a total of $14 mil over four years of that period; <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Detroit</st1:city></st1:place> and the LA Angels paid minimal amounts only once.) The Yankees payroll now is $206 million.  The Red Sox ($162 mil), Cubs (146 mil), and Phillies ($142 mil) are among big-market teams that will be spared tax-paying, which some would-be recipients consider unfair. </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Globe op-ed columnist James Carroll does not believe the poll-driven wisdom that people see taxes as unfair.  The resentment he says is simply a temporary reflex:  </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>“Many officials mistake our mid-April grimace for a signal that the broad citizenry has itself broken faith with the principle of commonwealth. It is not true. We may dislike the tax bite, but we loathe the destruction of civic pillars and the deliberate unraveling of safety nets.  Citizens long for leaders who will remind us that what we do this week has nobility in it. And if we have to do more of it — pay higher taxes — so that teachers and librarians, and those they serve, are not humiliated but enriched, we will.” <o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Whether more big-market mlb teams will agree to a lower luxury tax threshold possibly requiring them to chip in should be tested next year.  That’s when terms of a new arrangement are to be worked out.  Baseball’s Exec VP Rob Manfred says that, given the economy, he thinks the small-market teams have a persuasive argument. </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The warm greeting Hideki Matsui received from the Yanks on his return to NY should be duplicated when the team’s other departed ’09 hero Johnny Damon comes back as a member of the Tigers.  But that won’t happen until August 16, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Detroit</st1:place></st1:city>’s first and only visit to the Stadium.  Damon’s gotten off to a slow start with his new team; his batting average after stroking two hits in yesterday’s game with KC was .194.  Steve Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press suspected before opening day that Johnny D might be in for a rough season.  Here is how he put it: “One of these years, Damon won’t be able to fix his problems… and…make up for his weak arm with hustle and smarts. This could be that year.”   (“If it’s not,” he added,”<st1:city w:st="on">Detroit</st1:city> will love Damon”, as they did in NY, <st1:city w:st="on">Boston</st1:city>, <st1:city w:st="on">Oakland</st1:city> and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kansas City</st1:place></st1:city>.) </big> <big>  </big> <big>                           - o -</big> (The  Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)  <o:p></o:p> (Posted: 4/13/10)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <big>Barack Became National Skipper as Baseball Was Regaining Blacks<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Coincidental with the emergence of Barack Obama as a serious presidential contender, the number of blacks in baseball rose from a low of 8 percent in 2007 back into double digits, now about 10 pct. (The percentage of blacks in MLB was 17 percent in 1997). Braves rookie Jason Heyward is the 2010 poster boy of the resurgence, but interest among blacks – and recruitment of them - began to rebound, thanks to the arrival of African-American standouts several years earlier.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Skipper Obama has certainly been a source of pride for blacks and people of color generally.  But polls indicate his gaining of broad acceptance has been as slow and sporadic in the political field as the backing and filling of blacks in baseball.  Signs of racist attitudes among tea-party participants suggest that the president and his leadership are a long way from winning over opponents in the South.  </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>A sampling of that opposition – dating from November 2008 - was provided the other day by Michael Tomasky of the UK Guardian. He checked the white vote (through exit polls) for Obama in four northern states, including Massachusetts, where he won with over 50 percent of the vote and in four conservative non-southern red states, including Arizona, where he lost but scored in the 40-percent range.  In three deep-South states, the white-vote percentages for Obama were dramatically different, attesting to the apparent persistence of anti-black bias:</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Alabama</st1:state></st1:place>, 10%</big> <big><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Mississippi</st1:state></st1:place>, 11%</big> <big><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Louisiana</st1:state></st1:place>, 14%</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>It is clear that, if those numbers have moved in the last year-and-a-half, the trend has been away from the skipper and his team.</big> <big>                              </big> <big>Among the young black baseball standouts who triggered the turnaround in the sport:  Jimmy Rollins, who debuted at shortstop with the Phillies a decade ago.  C.C. Sabathia came along next, joining the Indians in 2001 (and going 17-5 in his rookie year); Carl Crawford was called up by <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Tampa</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Bay</st1:placetype></st1:place> in 2002.  Curtis Granderson started with <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Detroit</st1:place></st1:city> in 2004.  Slugging first basemen Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder had back-to-back coming-out years in 2004 and 2005 with the Phillies and Brewers.  Adam Jones broke in with <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:city> in 2006.  For the <st1:city w:st="on">Upton</st1:city> boys, B.J. and Justin, ’04 and 2007 marked the respective starts of their major league careers, with <st1:placename w:st="on">Tampa</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Bay</st1:placetype> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Arizona</st1:state></st1:place>.  Derek Jeter was reaching his peak, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Frank Thomas nearing the end of their years of stardom when the new African-American generation took the field.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Back on the political field, there is some question – even among supporters – about the staying power of Obama as national skipper.  Author Gary Wills, who shifted from batting right to left early in his career, has urged Barack to stop his centrist compromising and take the strong, unpopular stands – like leaving Afghanistan – that risk making him a one-term president.  Here is how Wills put it in his review of a book on Obama (David Remnick’s “The Bridge” ) in the Sunday NY Times:</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>“(Obama) may have…believ(ed) that his election could of itself usher in a post-racial, post-partisan, post-red-state and blue-state era.  That is a change no one should ever have believed in.  The price of winningness can be losing; and that, in this scary time, is enough to break the heart of hope.”<o:p></o:p></big> <big>                                -     -     -</big> <big><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Stat</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">City</st1:placetype></st1:place>:  At the end of the first weekend of the baseball season, Rollins had the best BA - .391 (nine for 23) among African-American players.  Curtis Granderson of the Yanks, Milwaukee’s Rickie Weeks, and Torii Hunter of the Angels were tied for second going into last night at .348 (eight for 23).  Blue Jay Vernon Wells (of the rookie class of ’99), was tied for the home run lead with three others who had hit four, including Albert Pujols (until Pujols hit his fifth yesterday afternoon).  </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The overall batting leaders after the weekend were <st1:city w:st="on">Atlanta</st1:city>’s Martin Prado, .542 (13 for 24), Edgar Renteria of the Giants, .524 (11 for 21) and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Detroit</st1:place></st1:city>’s Miguel Cabrera, .522 (12 for 23).  The National League had the two top strikeout leaders – familiar names Roy Halladay of the Phils and Tim Lincecum of the Giants, both with 17 ks. </big> <big>                            - o -</big> (The  Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)  <o:p></o:p> (Posted 4/10/10) <big> Baseball, Hedge Funds and the Futile Search for Fairness<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>“Stop whining,” said Yankees president Randy Levine to the Milwaukee Brewers owner who complained about the financial inequities in baseball.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Rupert Murdoch (in effect) when asked at the National Press Club about the political bias of Fox News.  “We have both sides…Democrats and Republicans.” </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Both statements, dismissive of the dream of fairness, have gone essentially unchallenged.</big> <big>The Yankees’ team payroll for 2010 is $125 million more than that of the Brewers ($206  to $81 mil).  The Yanks are spending $44 million more than their nearest moneyed competitor, the Red Sox ($162 mil).</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Murdoch is said to be worth $4 billion, Fox News an estimated $700 million-a-year net.   Rupert’s inability to think of the name of any Fox Democrat was considered minimally newsworthy.  Like banks that are too big to fail, Murdoch is too big in wealth and political/communications power to be publicly embarrassed.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>That Murdoch could buy and sell everyone at the Press Club made it easy for him to avoid a rhubarb.  That the star-splashed Yankees lineup attracts fans in other cities, spreading box-office largesse, inhibits any needed effort to even the sport’s playing field.  SI’s Frank Deford is the latest to underscore the urgency of that need: </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>“Come on, let's admit it. Baseball is the national pastime only if hedge funds are the national livelihood. If one needs proof, a British survey just revealed that the Yankees pay their players, on average, more than any other team in the world. Even more significant: The <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place> Bombers are the only MLB team in the top dozen. Baseball law really does allow the Yankees to be in a league of their own.”  <o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Just as the Yankees have the Red Sox for distant company, Murdoch has NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg as a power-hitting teammate on his billionaire’s team.  Bloomberg, we know, was able to buy a second re-election, using his wealth to override the anti-third-term wishes of the city’s voters.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>There may be no hope – especially given the recent Supreme Court decision expanding the reach of corporate money in elections – of reforming the country’s skewed political system.  In baseball, however, there is reason for less fatalism: although far-fetched, the Yankees could hit hard times and lose some of their financial edge just as the Mets have done - the suddenly strapped NYM’s dropped from second to fifth in payroll this year (down $15 million, from $149 in ’09 to $134 mil in ’10) and saw the value of their franchise fall as well.  A twin killing, executed by mismanagement and (as rumor has it) Fred Wilpon playing with Bernie Madoff.</big> <big>                             -     -     - </big> <big>As the season entered its first weekend, only one of 30 teams had avoided defeat: the Giants, with a 3-0 record.  Playing its home opener against <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Atlanta</st1:place></st1:city> yesterday, SF had an extra advantage: the Braves did not get their usual rest, having flown west for a day game after a night game at home.  The Braves wanted to play the Cubs at night, knowing it would mean putting up with the short turnaround.  Tim Hudson was sent west early and proved to be sharp enough to lead his team to a win.  But Billy Wagner blew a two-run lead in the ninth, and the Giants won, 5-4, to go 4-0 in the 13th.    </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>In a rare, talkative moment at a racetrack near <st1:city w:st="on">Pittsburgh</st1:city>, Manny Ramirez said he thought the Giants (not the <st1:place w:st="on">Rockies</st1:place>) would be the team his Dodgers would have to beat in the NL West.  No surprise on the city Manny said he hated most: <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city>.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>During the Cubs-Braves game on the MLB Network Thursday night, viewers were reminded that, owing to injuries, Lou Piniella was only able to field his first-string lineup for three games in 2009.  Nevertheless, the team stayed close to the Cardinals until the end, finishing second in the NL Central with an 83-78 record.  We remember that the Mets, much noisier about their injury jinx, could only manage a fourth-place 70-92 mark. And, by the way, does anyone believe the return of Jose Reyes today and Carlos Beltran in a few weeks will lift the Mets into NL East contention?  Not a chance, with a rotation of Johan and the four non-Santanas – John, Jonathan, Mike and Oliver. </big> <big>                                      - o -</big> (The  Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)   <big> </big> <big> </big> <big> </big> <big> (Posted: 4/8/10)<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Hot Media Air Afflicting Baseball and the Military Game</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>As spring training neared an end, someone asked MLB-TV’s Matt Vasgersian about the challenge of filling time talking about pre-season baseball.  “It’s a lot of hot air,” he said, adding “you try to minimize it.”</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>After almost a decade of war, the American people should be aware of the toxic air being emitted from war zones by <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> journalists embedded with our troops.  Like their sports-writing counterparts on the baseball beat, our media people abroad hype the home team whenever possible.  We saw how it happened in the pre-embedded days of 2001 when the mainstream press cheered Bush’s war on <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region>; they cheered while losing sight of the object of the game: capturing Osama bin Laden.  The much more shocking media performance – the blind wave-like support for the invasion of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> – brought disgrace to the NY Times, Washington Post and the TV networks for failing to see the whole field instead of just our side of it.  </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The verdict in baseball coverage is business as usual rather than disgrace.  Peter Gammons, a legitimate baseball-writing superstar, shills for the sport, but has the skill to do it persuasively.  Typical of his approach is this take on the new season: “Somehow, no matter what leaks out about the steroids era… every April baseball renews itself.  (Derek) Jeter vs. Josh Beckett.  Again.” <o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The man who heads the Arabian-peninsula-based news team whose straight-talking has alienated the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> military, wants a different type of new season in the <st1:place w:st="on">Mideast</st1:place>.  Al-Jazeera skipper Wahdah Khanfar says Team Obama must revise its game plan.  He spoke with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman:</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>“We in the Arab world are between…two (leadership generations)… The Obama administration should embrace this transformation. They should not take sides…against the people or with this party (or government)…We look at <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> as a superpower, and we expect (it)…not…to support one party (against another).<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>“Taliban influence is growing… And I think (it)…is changing, learning, developing…Direct dialogue between the Americans and Taliban is necessary, because…they are there.  And they represent…tribes (and) cultures.  You cannot eliminate them…Bombing and killing will always increase the anger and frustration against the Americans, and it will always…favor (the) Taliban or… any other movement in the <st1:place w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place>.” <o:p></o:p></big> <big>                          -     -     -<o:p></o:p></big> <big>It’s much too early to gloat, but the Giants have reason to celebrate the start of the top three members of their rotation: Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Matt Cain gave up a total of one run in 18 innings against <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Houston</st1:city></st1:place>.  Lincecum went seven scoreless innings Monday, Zito six on Tuesday.  Cain had yielded the single run after five innings yesterday, before he tired in the sixth.  SF won to complete an away-from-home sweep.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Michael Kay and Kenny Singleton were second-guessing Joe Girardi Tuesday night about starting Marcus Thames in left field instead of Brett Gardner.  “<st1:place w:st="on">Thames</st1:place> isn’t known for his fielding,” said Kay.  “And what is <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Gardner</st1:place></st1:city> supposed to think? He was told he’d be the regular left fielder.”  Later, when a pop fly dropped in beyond short stop in front of Thames, Singleton said “<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Gardner</st1:place></st1:city> probably would have had it.”  </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>NYC-based statman Scott Swanay, the Fantasy Baseball Sherpa, has weighed in with his predictions for the season.  Swanay has had a high BA - never less than .500 - in previous years’ division picks.  His surprise selection this year is <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Milwaukee</st1:place></st1:city> to win the NL wild card, joining the Phillies, Cardinals and Dodgers.  In the <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">AL</st1:place></st1:state>, Scott’s choice of the White Sox may surprise some.  Otherwise, he goes with broad-based favorites the Yanks, Red Sox (wild card) and Angels.  We’ll report back on his 2010 BA at the end of the season.    </big> <big>                           - o -</big> (The  Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)  <o:p></o:p> (Posted: 4/6/10)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <big>Of Barack and Derek and a Third Birthday<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>With the two players still prominent, we offer a still-pertinent re-play on this, our third anniversary post:  Team Nub’s lead-off item, dating from April 5, 2007 (the last presidential pre-primary period) :</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>“If Barack Obama regains his early campaign momentum, one reason is likely to be the Derek Jeter factor.  That Barack and Jeter share similar multi-cultural backgrounds will surely seep into the broader voter consciousness as the baseball season unfolds.  The racial comparison will likely lead many even casual observers of the sport to connect Jeter’s attributes with those of Obama.  Jeter has earned the admiration of fans throughout the country and world for his skills and conduct.  Obama can benefit from a transfer of that admiration if he handles himself in the political field with the same unruffled assurance that Jeter exhibits when he steps to the plate or corrals a difficult ground ball.”    <o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>There were no polls confirming that the Jeter factor came into play in Obama’s rally.  But we know that, Derek-like, he found a way to win. A little more than a year into his stint as skipper, Barack’s composure has been ruffled by bench-jockeying opponents.  Nevertheless, he seems to be developing a Yankee-captain-like confidence in running his team and the country.  As his tenure approaches middle innings, we can hope he will concentrate on his team’s play abroad, the questionable military-related decisions for which he is responsible in the Middle East and <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>.  <o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Derek, in a much-lesser league than Barack, has maintained a focus that enabled him to keep his personal life and political views (if any) private.  That intensity has helped him keep his professional skills sharp.  (He’s batting .400 so far after one game.) The expectations that his play would show signs of age as he approached 35 last season, are all but absent this year.  Andy Pettitte, who has been watching Jeter for years as a teammate, told ESPN why there is no slippage in one aspect of the Yankee captain’s game: "Derek is the best. I can honestly say I've never seen him give away an at-bat. Never. Not any."   And here is Rangers scout Tom Giordano on Jeter’s defense (as told to the Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy): “You’ve got to take the whole ballplayer… Last year they said Jeter was slowing down. Well, sure, his arm in the hole is not what it used to be, but I’ll still take him every time.”<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Everyone agrees that Obama’s main challenge now is the economy.  On Sunday, the 42d anniversary of Martin Luther King, Junior’s assassination, King’s 1967 speech linking the economy and war was memorialized on public TV and at church services.  The speech, connecting the “poor” – described more often now as “jobless” – and Vietnam contained a message relevant today that the president might do well to heed:<o:p></o:p></big> <big> “I come…tonight to make a passionate plea to my beloved nation…A few years ago there was a shining moment… It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor… There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings.  Then came the (military) buildup…and I watched…a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor… so long as (such) adventures continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube.” <o:p></o:p></big> <big>                         -     -     -</big> <big>Predictions abound as the season starts.  In the six divisions only one team seems to be the unanimous choice of acknowledged experts.  The Phillies in the NL East.  All dozen or so regulars or semi-regulars on to MLB-TV picked the Phils.  On an MLB panel the other night, Harold Reynolds predicted the addition of closer Billy Wagner would be the key to making Atlanta a threat to the Phils.  Bobby Valentine, a new addition at ESPN, wasn’t shy about looking ahead to season’s end: he said the Cubs would meet Tampa Bay in the World Series.</big> <big> First impressions: Although the Yanks have more fire power than the Red Sox, the two teams seem even in starting pitching and defense.  And the Sox have a decided edge in relief pitching.  So it will be fun watching those two well-matched teams go at it into the fall.  Early test-time: The Yanks go to Tampa Bay after Boston, then come home to open against the Angels next week.  </big> <big>Times columnist George Vecsey called the Mets “irrelevant” on Sunday. We’ll wait until late spring or early summer to use that term here.  In the meantime, the positive for the Mets is the absence of pressure: there are no great expectations -  any sustained winning they do will be a pleasant surprise. <o:p></o:p></big> <big>                             - o -</big> (The  Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)  <o:p></o:p> (Posted: 4/3/10)<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <big>Bracing for a Cruel Baseball and Political Month<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>April – a cause for celebration for many of us, but a potentially cruel month for particular baseball and political teams.  Fans in <st1:city w:st="on">Seattle</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">Arizona</st1:state> and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cincinnati</st1:place></st1:city> can’t be happy that exciting starters Cliff Lee, Brandon Webb and Aroldis Chapman won’t be on hand to begin the season.  And Team Obama, with so much else at the plate, must defend against a sustained right-wing rally aimed at sending the health reform law to the disabled list.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The Mets, whose second, third and fourth starters have run-yielding disabilities, must make do without their best position player Carlos Beltran until May. Team GOP, which hopes a pitch to repeal health reform leads to a win in November, could have to settle for less, too, from its game plan.  <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Harvard</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Med</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">School</st1:placetype></st1:place> author/prof Atul Gawande says repeal of the entire law is “unlikely”: “No one,” he says, “is going to force children with pre-existing conditions back off their parents’ health plans.”  </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>The alternative GOP strategy, Gawande says (in the New Yorker) is “to strip out the critical but less…appealing elements of reform – (the provision)…of subsidies to make sure that (uncovered individuals) can afford policies; (the imposition) of significant new taxes on household incomes over $250,000 – thereby gut(ting) coverage for the uninsured.”<o:p></o:p></big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Team Obama surely knows that the alternative strategy could work.  A recent <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Gallup</st1:place></st1:city> poll found that by a 53-40 (percent) score, respondents considered the Dems’ reconciliation process in passing health reform an abuse of power.  Self-described independents registered 58 percent support for the abuse charge.</big> <big> Lefty Greg Sargent, who delivers a Plum Line blog daily, looked behind the results and produced this logical explanation: “Th(ey) suggest…the claim by …conservatives that Dems were going to ‘ram’ the bill through Congress via dictatorial fiat really succeeded in riling people up — even though Republicans repeatedly used the reconciliation tactic themselves to pass ambitious legislation.”<o:p></o:p></big> <big> The poll results thus reinforce a suspicion that the familiar “nation of sheep” charge is not all that far-fetched.  The charge is especially credible, given that Fox News is an influential guardian of the sheep in question. Added reason why the coming season will be a time of challenge for the O-Team.      </big> <big>                           -     -     -</big> <big>At least four top-rated division teams face bullpen challenges: the Phillies have lost closer Brad Lidge to injury for a few weeks, <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Huston Street</st1:address></st1:street> is out indefinitely with the <st1:place w:st="on">Rockies</st1:place>.  The Cardinals plan to let Ryan Franklin do their closing, even though he has no strikeout pitch.  And the Twins, having lost Joe Nathan for the season, are resorting to closer-by-committee.</big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Few teams can match the Mets for overall pitching disarray.  SNY’s Gary Cohen noted Thursday that John Maine finished the pre-season with an 8.4 ERA.  “That is emblematic,” he said, “of the entire rotation.”  Well, not quite: Johan Santana finished at 6.75 after being knocked around by the Class AAA Memphis Cardinals the other day.  Santana, the surgically treated ace, showed nothing this spring; he did seem healthy, however.  And the Mets can only hope he reverts to pre-surgical form when he opens the season against <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Florida</st1:place></st1:state> Monday.  </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>Oliver Perez, high man in salary, has the highest ERA – 8.66.  His $12 million take is nearly a third of the Mets’ entire ($38 million) rotation payroll.  We can guess that bill prompted Jeff Wilpon to veto bidding for upper-tier free agents.  And we can presume that, owing to the shaky pitching staff, the Mets will have to produce a miracle to get the fast start Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel may need to keep their jobs. </big> <big><o:p> </o:p></big> <big>A key figure in the Yankees-Red Sox opener tomorrow night, and to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:city>’s season, is David Ortiz.  The Globe’s Nick Cafardo says scouts have “questioned whether (Ortiz) will return to prominence… In a lineup that could have some frustrating hitters like (<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Adrian</st1:place></st1:city>) Beltre and Mike Cameron, Ortiz can’t be one of them if this team is to be successful.”<o:p></o:p></big> <big>                             - o -</big> <o:p> </o:p> (The  Nub is a team effort skippered by Dick Starkey.  Comments to <a href="mailto:dickstar@aol.com">dickstar@aol.com</a> are welcome, as are subscription requests.  Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.) <big> </big> <big> </big> <big> </big> </body> </html>

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