the_nub_mar2009.html
March 2009 Archive
March 2009
Archive
(Posted 3/31/09)
Too Big to Survive Can
Happen in Baseball
Taking their sign from AIG and Bank of
America, the Yankees
elected last fall to enter the new season “too big to fail.” The Steinbrenner boys invested in the
blue-chip market, insuring that their team would be the MLB’s biggest,
star-studded
spender by far in 2009. Where Yankee
fans are comfortable with that approach - failure won’t cost them a
cent - many
of President Obama’s supporters fear that, under his team’s new
financial plan,
the government will wind up bailing out the big boppers again, and cost
them a
bundle.
When
skipper Barack arrives in London for
the Group
of 20 meeting today, he will find Team USA’s credibility
undermined by the
way it catered to the big guys during the economic collapse. MIT prof and former chief IMF economist Simon
Johnson scans the error-dotted scorecard
in the current Atlantic:
“Elite business
interests — financiers, in the case of the U.S. —
played a central role in creating the crisis, making ever-larger
gambles, with
the implicit backing of the government, until the inevitable collapse. More alarming, they are now using their
influence to prevent precisely the sorts of reforms that are needed,
and fast,
to pull the economy out of its nosedive.” (quoted by Paul Krugman in NY Times)
The
Nation columnist William Greider dug deeper into the Johnson analysis
on Bill
Moyers Journal last weekend:
“Handing out of government guarantees and
capital to hedge funds and private equity funds…institutions founded on
secrecy…(will end)…somewhere down the road (with) people…learn(ing)
that the
investors, so called, are reaping…double-digit returns on this money
with
almost no risk at all to themselves…What the administration's approach
may be
doing is consecrating ‘too big to fail’.”
Greider is hopeful
Congress will
fight for reform rather than rubber-stamping the Tim Geithner-proposed
system. Where that system offers virtually
a
win-win deal to selected securities teams, Yankees manager Joe Girardi
is in an
almost no-win position: he’s expected to reach the World Series so will
get no
credit for anything less. And if the Yankees don’t win the
championship, he
could well be out of a job.
While Team USA’s
financial
cred
has
eroded
in
the
world
economic
field,
there’s
been
an
erosion
in
baseball
of
established
players
who
can
hit
for
power
and
average,
and
field,
run
and
throw
at
a
superior
level.
LA Daily News columnist Jon Gold names names:
“The
days
of
true
five-tool
talents…seem
to
have
disappeared.
The
only
five-for-five
studs
last
season
were
(Hanley)
Ramirez,
Matt Holliday, Alex
Rodriguez
and
Carlos
Beltran. But Holliday
has left Coors Field, A-Rod has a bum hip
and Beltran is turning 32
and his power numbers are declining. That
leaves Ramirez as the only likely (up-to-standard performer). “
Another list illustrating the shortage of first-line MLB talent,
compiled by
the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo, focuses on gaps in the backs of
pitching
rotations. Cafardo names only eight of
30 teams that don’t have end-of-rotation problems.
Three of the eight – the Yanks, Red Sox and
Rays – are in the AL East. The Braves
and Marlins are rotation-deep in the NL East (sorry about that,
Phillies and
Mets); the Cardinals and Reds in the NL Central (that’s right, no
Cubs), and
the Giants in the NL West. Shut out
entirely: teams in the AL Central and West.
-
o
-
(The Nub is a team effort skippered
by Dick Starkey. Comments to
dickstar@aol.com
are welcome, as are subscription requests.
Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)
Posted: 3/28/09)
Double-Plays Tainting
Politics and NYC Baseball
Until Hillary Clinton identified the
double-play combination
causing havoc on both sides of our southern border, NYC baseball fans
had only a
local twin killing to brood about: two
heavily taxpayer-subsidized stadiums with seat- pricing structures that
put
premium games out of average-taxpayer reach.
Where the stadium play revolves solely
around money and has
little impact beyond the NYC area, the game-disrupter lamented by
Hillary - the
combo of guns and money - has broad implications. Beyond
fuelling
the
drug
trade
between
Mexico
and the U.S.,
the traffic in dollars and weapons has all
but
destroyed any hope of establishing a humane and peaceful society in
this
country.
Clinton
spoke of our “inability” to control the spread of guns.
She could also have acknowledged the lack of
political will to take on the National Rifle Association and strengthen
gun
control laws. Firearms have been
involved in mass killings this month alone in Florida,
Illinois, Alabama
and California. More than 50 have died just in those
incidents. The NRA’s response to elected
officials: don’t legislate “on the fresh graves of tragedy.”
The gun lobby’s clout stems from its
double-play
partner. The NRA contributed a
million-and-a-half dollars to Congressional candidates in key races
last
year. The lobby’s huge war chest links
to the campaign finance system, where dollars have been playing an
especially
pernicious role since 1976; it was then the Supreme Court equated
unlimited
campaign spending with free speech. William
Greider
(who
is
guest
on
Bill
Moyers’
PBS
program this weekend) detailed how the
public was betrayed through regressive tax policy directly related to
that
decision. Here is how he lays it out in
his book “Who Will Tell the People?”
“For those who blame
Republicans
for what has happened and believe that equitable taxation will be
restored…(when) the Democrats…win back the White House, there is this
disquieting fact: the turning point on tax politics, when the moneyed
elite
first began to win big, occurred in 1978 with the Democratic party
fully in
power and well before Ronald Reagan came to Washington.
Democratic majorities have supported this
great shift in the tax burden every step of the way.”
The
same
can
be
said
for
Dem
support
through
the
years
of
minimal
gun
regulation.
The
people
don’t
have
to
be
told.
But, says historian Howard Zinn, “If both
parties ignore public opinion, there is no place for voters to turn.”
- -
-
Let’s check in for the first time this spring on the world
champion Phillies. The Philadelphia
Bulletin’s Drew Silverman filed an overview of the team 10 days before
its
opening-season game a week from tomorrow night.
Here is an excerpt:
“Kyle
Kendrick was
expected to be the Phillies’ fifth starter, but that didn’t exactly
work
out. Ronny Paulino was the favorite to be the backup catcher, but
things
have changed. Even players like Miguel Cairo and Marcus Giles,
who
initially thought they had a good shot at making the team, are starting
to
think otherwise.
”These are the Phillies’ major storylines of spring training. And
honestly, none are particularly earth-shattering in the grand scheme of
roster
moves.
”The Phils already have their starting position players set.
Their
rotation is 80 percent complete and their bullpen is pretty much carved
in
stone. All the Phillies need to do from this point on is a little
spring
cleaning when it comes to their bench, bullpen and the back end of
their
rotation…
“Ryan
Howard,
Chase
Utley
and
Jimmy
Rollins
are
probably
going
to
make
the
roster.
Calm
down,
it’s
a
joke.
Utley,
like
third
baseman
Pedro
Feliz,
underwent
surgery
in
the
offseason
that
initially
was
expected
to
sideline
him
for
part
of
the
regular
season.
However,
it
now
looks
like
both
Utley
(hip)
and
Feliz
(back)
will
be
ready
to
go
by
April
5.
This is bad news for all of the other
infield
candidates”…and for NL East
teams,
especially the Mets and Braves.
- o -
(The Nub is a team
effort skippered by Dick Starkey.
Comments
to dickstar@aol.com
are welcome, as are subscription requests.
Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)
(Posted: 3/26/09)
WBC Signals
Change in World Standings
“Decline
of the West,”
said the dilettante baseball fan (supporter of whichever NY team is
doing
well).
Time:
morning
of
the
WBC
title
game
in
which
Japan
and Korea
had shown Americans how their
national pastime should be played. The
fan in question hadn’t yet learned about the political hardball being
played in
Shanghai – China going to bat for a
new
international currency to replace the dollar.
Nor had he remembered the word out of Europe two months ago – as
reported by the International Herald Tribune’s William Pfaff: “The
(bailout) crisis has devastated
America’s…reputation for competence, and with it, justification
for
(a)
six-decade
role
as
world
leader…(That)…reputation…has
crashed
and
burned.”
The overconfidence in the
U.S. financial
clubhouse
that risk could be avoided and success achieved seemed to infect Team USA’s
approach
to the WBC tournament. The team had no
shortage of well-paid stars – Derek Jeter, David Wright, Jimmy Rollins,
Kevin
Youklis, Dustin Pedroia, etc. And it had
the type of power – Ryan Braun, Adam Dunn - that gives our military
apparent
world dominance. But, where Japan and Korea,
using
“small
ball,”
played
as
disciplined
units,
the
U.S.
would-be longballers performed
as comparatively casual individuals. MLB
Commissioner Bud Selig (on ESPN) regretted what he called the team’s
“lack of
intensity.” “We could have easily won th(e) game (against Japan),”
said
manager
Davey
Johnson. He had a list of
excuses that included the opposition putting in more training time and
effort. MLB VP Bob Watson had a simpler
explanation – one that could apply in international affairs as well as
in
baseball: “The
world,” he said, “has
caught up with us.”
Mailbag: Re “opaque”
financial language (mentioned
in previous Nub) – “Quoting
Warren Buffett: He
said years ago that if you cannot understand a corporate report, you
can be
sure that they wrote it that way with great care.”
- Brit Wyckoff, Washington, D.C.
- -
-
The Yankees (and Mets) have obviously set up their
new-stadium ticket-pricing structure with care:
they’ve made it hard to get a handle on the high cost of seats
at a
given location and game. Newsday’s Neil
Best accepted the challenge; here’s a sample of the pricey NYY numbers
he came
up with, the economy notwithstanding:
“Say
you
can
sneak
away
from
the
office
Wednesday
afternoon,
April
22,
and
would
like
to
check
out
the
stadium
for
the
game
against
the
Athletics
with
nine
of
your
closest
friends.
”You're in luck! As of noon (Tuesday),
you could buy 10 together in Section 24B, Row 5, for $2,625. Per seat. Plus $59.70 a ticket ’convenience
charge.’ Plus $3.25 for ’order processing.’
”Grand total: $26,850.25.” No
kidding.
-
o
-
(The Nub is a team
effort skippered by Dick Starkey.
Comments
to dickstar@aol.com
are welcome, as are subscription requests.
Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)
(Posted: 3/24/09)
Why Can’t Finance Be
More Like Baseball?
Statistical static like GIDP* and
WHIP** notwithstanding, simplicity
is the soul of baseball. The game
unfolds in a leisurely, easily comprehended way, unlike football and
basketball,
which feature complexities like “nickel” defenses and three-second
violations. The financial game is complex,
too, seemingly
deliberately so. But the politics
surrounding
the Wall Street collapse has become clearer with each new costly
complication.
“Massive, “opaque” and “quasi-private”
are three terms
descriptive of government deals throughout the current losing streak: Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi sees a
linguistic, as well as political, basis, for such a strategy:
“By
creating
an
urgent
crisis
that
can
only
be
solved
by
those
fluent
in
a
language
too
complex
for
ordinary
people
to
understand,
the
Wall Street
crowd has turned the vast majority
of Americans into non-participants in their own political future. There is a reason it used to be a crime in
the Confederate states to teach a slave to read: Literacy is power… By
making
an already too-complex economy even more complex, Wall Street has used
the
crisis to effect a historic, revolutionary change in our political
system — transforming a
democracy
into a two-tiered state, one with plugged-in financial bureaucrats
above and
clueless customers below.”
The
consequence,
thus,
is
a
new
double
standard
in
which
ambitious,
willing-to-work
Americans
no
longer
enjoy
the
fair
shot
they
once
had
in
the
competitive
game;
an
unfair
edge
now
belongs
exclusively
to
the
invulnerable
financial
players
chosen
by
Team
Obama.
The Nation’s William Greider
(writing in the Washington
Post) says the choice has left the president in a clearly precarious
position: “trapped between
the…elites who decide things and the people who are
governed. Which side is he on? If he does not choose wisely, the anger could
devour his presidency.”
- -
-
Trying to win the Yankees’ center field slot is not exactly
devouring Brett Gardner. But Red Sox
Nation (and Globe) reporter Nick Cafardo says Gardner has had his problems proving
he’s the
man for the job:
“(Gardner’s)
teammates are rooting for him to get the starting job, but there's a
growing
feeling that the Yankees may rekindle talks with Milwaukee on Mike Cameron.
Why? As one scout put it, ‘He's a very
streaky kid. He'll have a couple of
weeks where he'll get big hits and really be an effective leadoff
hitter and
another two weeks where you need to hide him as the No. 9 hitter’."
Anyone who watched the World Baseball
Classic final four
over the past few days had to be impressed by the superior intensity of
the
Asian teams, and the unfocused manager and perhaps understandably
haphazard
quality of Team USA’s play. The Denver
Post’s Troy Rendt provides a clear-eyed epitaph on the team’s ultimate
failure:
“Forget
for a second that too many of the best American players
declined invites to the World Baseball Classic. Forget
that
Adam
Dunn
was
in
right
field,
Mark
DeRosa was at first base and that…the
roster was not perfect and the timing of this event is not a fit for
the U.S…
“A bigger issue is (this:)…
Japan and Korea...both
provide
reminders
of
how
the
game
used
to
be
played,
selfless
and
team-driven.
If there’s a lesson for the U.S.,
(that’s
it).”
P.S. If Bud
Selig is serious about
building the WSB’s popularity among U.S. fans, he would not let
ESPN
schedule coverage of the championship matchup at 9:30p, EDT. That precluded most fans in the East staying
with the game to the tournament’s conclusion early this morning.
- -
-
*Grounded into double play
** Walks plus hits per innings pitched
- o
-
(The Nub is a team
effort skippered by Dick Starkey.
Comments
to dickstar@aol.com
are welcome, as are subscription requests.
Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)
Posted: 3/21/09)
A.I.G.’s ‘Bonus Babies.’ No Boon for
Team
Obama
For
longtime
baseball
fans,
“bonus,”
now
a
fighting
word
in
the
American
lexicon,
is
linked
to
names
like
Sandy
Koufax
and
Al
Kaline. Unlike the hundreds of A.I.G.
workers who are
divvying $165 million in bonuses as rewards for their year-end presence
in the crippled
company, Koufax, Kaline and other “bonus babies” from 1947 to 1965
earned their
money (a few thousand dollars each) - Koufax from the Brooklyn Dodgers,
Kaline
from the Tigers –for signing after performing outstandingly as amateur
players.
A.I.G., recipient of $183 billion in
bailout taxpayer
dollars, obviously cannot claim a performance basis for the bonuses. How the company was able to gain government
approval
for the largesse being awarded is a source of embarrassment;
fingerpointing at
Team Bush, the Fed, Congress and, most of all, Treasury Secretary Tim
Geithner is
the grandstanding game of the week.
The rap against Geithner, part of what
worried Obama fans
when the skipper-elect picked him for Treasury, was that he was a Wall
Street
insider. Thus, as described in the NY
Times the other day: “Mr. Geithner’s instincts are that government
should not
dictate compensation issues to businesses.” Dean Baker, co-director of
the
Center for Economic and Policy Research, puts the bonus matter this
way: As Fed
chairman (last fall) “Geithner
had
every
reason
to
believe
that
AIG
would
continue
to
pay
out
bonuses
even
after
it
was
bailed
out
by
the
government,
because
he
did
not
tell
it
to
stop
paying
bonuses.
He
may
not
have
considered
this
issue
important
until
the
last
week.”
Paul
Krugman
balks
at
lettung
Geithner’s
boss
take
a
pass:
“This
administration, elected on
the promise of change, has already managed, in an astonishingly short
time, to
create the impression that it’s owned by the wheeler-dealers.”
Krugman’s
Times
colleague
Gail
Collins
has a
bonus-related blacklist, surely similar to that of many Americans:
“I hate everybody in
the world of
finance…And I’m totally angry at everybody in Congress for trying to
pretend
that they’re angrier than I am…(And) let’s complain about Barack Obama. Why doesn’t he sound angrier?”
Chances
are
Obama
will
cry
foul
when
he
sees
his
approval
ratings
in
the
polls
any
moment;
they
are
likely
to
plummet
over
what
could
be
remembered
as
his
financial
Bay of Pigs.
- - -
It’s possible the second World Baseball Classic will end in
virtual obscurity, as far as U.S.
baseball fans are concerned. Team USA has been decimated by injuries -
excuses in
place - and will be overmatched in the final-four semis against Japan (tomorrow night) South Korea,
and Venezuela.
But the come-from-behind 6-5 victory
over Puerto Rico that put the team
into the semis will be long remembered by
the players involved. Here are two
testimonials as reported by SI’s Tom Verducci:
Brian
Roberts (Orioles):
"I've never played in a game like this. Ever.
(Who) say(s) this doesn't matter? All you had to do is see the
faces as
everyone ran out of the dugout. I wish I could find the words to
describe the
feeling."
Brian McCann (Braves):
"I
would
go
through
(anything)
for
this
one
moment.
This
is
a
moment I will cherish for the rest
of my life, for sure. It's the greatest
game I've ever been a part of. “
McCann
also
spoke
with
wonder
about
the
enthusiasm
that
night
of
teammate
Derek
Jeter: “To see Derek Jeter out
there, a guy who has won everything in this
game, and he's out there dog-piling in March ... wow."
- o -
(The Nub is a team
effort skippered by Dick Starkey.
Comments
to dickstar@aol.com
are welcome, as are subscription requests.
Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)
(Posted : 3/17/09)
Tiger Ordonez Takes
on Political Risk
“You can’t
mix politics and
sports,” says Detroit Tigers third
baseman Miguel Cabrera. His
teammate
Magglio
Ordonez
disagrees. Both are playing with Venezuela
in the World Baseball Classic. The
tournament’s second round site is Miami…and
Ordonez heard it Saturday from his
expatriate countrymen who moved to south Florida.
Why? Ordonez
went
to
bat
on
TV
for
a
referendum
extending
term
limits
for
President
Hugo
Chavez. The ex-pats consider the
multi-millionaire Ordonez a traitor to his class for supporting a
socialist
like Chavez. Who can blame them? Chavez is spreading Venezuela’s
wealth,
which
means
the
upper
classes
are
taking
a
hit.
That’s why many of them left.
“I don’t have any grudge against them,”
says Ordonez (who
received less of as hard time last night).
“I just don’t think they’re well-informed.”
The info Team Bush spread about Venezuela,
dutifully
amplified
by
our
media,
identified
it
as
part
of
a
Latin
American
“axis
of
evil”
with
Cuba,
Bolivia
and Ecuador. Here is a rare, almost-balanced example of
how the NY Times has treated Hugo in its pre-Obama news stories: “Chávez
has
tightened
his
grip
on
the
country’s
political
institutions,
imposing
his
socialist
vision
and
threatening
to
assert
greater
state
control
over
many
parts
of
the
economy.”
Seldom noted in the Times (or any of
the major media) is
that Chavez has been imposing his vision democratically, through
popular
vote. Seldom, too, are the occasions
when our media describe socialism in anything but negative terms. Truthdig’s Robert Scheer, an exception,
sees
a socialistic goal in these terms: “If (it) means
a
system
of
governance
in
which
a
robust
middle
class
is
rewarded
for
work
with
a
strong
social
safety
net
supported
by
higher
taxes
on
the
most
affluent,
well,
let's
get
it
on.
“
Whether
Team Obama will change the official Yanqui
stance toward socialist outfits to the south is still not clear. But many believe the president’s willingness
to let Brazilian skipper Lula da Silva make
the
case
for
better
U.S.
relations with Chavez and the other erstwhile “axis” leaders is a
hopeful
sign. In connection with da Silva’s
weekend visit to the White House, Team Obama dropped a subtle but
promising
clue: it refrained from criticizing Bolivia’s president Evo
Morales for
expelling Bush’s ambassador during that country’s secessionist crisis
late last
year.
- -
-
For what it’s worth as pre-season banter, the Mets and Yanks
dominated a list of the top 10 “game-changers” compiled by the Boston
Globe’s
Nick Cafardo. He asked 20 scouts,
managers, team execs, players, etc. for names of men who can change a
game
singlehandedly and/or carry a team on their backs.
The near-unanimous number one: Albert Pujols,
with Manny Ramirez runner-up. But the
list also includes three Mets: Johan Santana (3), David Wright (5), and
Jose
Reyes (8). The Yanks placed two: A-Rod
(9) and C.C. Sabathia (10). The other
three: Cleveland’s Grady Sizemore (4), Toronto’s Roy Halladay and Boston’s own Dustin Pedroia (7).
- o -
(The Nub is a team
effort skippered by Dick Starkey.
Comments
to dickstar@aol.com
are welcome, as are subscription requests.
Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)
(Posted 3/14/09)
Team Obama Has Gap in Its Lineup
“Obama
fans
‘getting
restless’
40
days
in.
You
can't
be
serious! You
must
be
a Met fan.”
Peace, Mr.
Yankee fan who replied
that way to a previous suggestion; we’re feeling early empathy for the
springtime absence of A-Rod. Team Obama
obviously has a missing link, too; a guy as yet unsigned who hits from
the left
side and makes sure he gets the skipper’s ear.
Where is he
(or she)? We need someone to swing
hard for a
single-payer health system and a more even playing field in the Middle East. The
O-team bogs down when those issues are on base and need driving in.
Democracy
Now’s Amy Goodman
describes how hard it is to get the president to let single payer into
the
ballpark:
“Congress
is
considering
H.R.
676,
"Expanded
and
Improved
Medicare
for
All,"
sponsored
by
John
Conyers,
D-Mich.,
with
64
co-sponsors.
Yet
even
when
Rep. Conyers directly asked
Obama …if he could attend the White House health-care summit, he was
not
immediately invited. Nor was any other
advocate for single-payer health care…
“After
much
outcry,
Conyers
was
invited.
Activist
groups like Physicians for a National
Health Program (pnhp.org) expressed outrage that no other single-payer
advocate
was to be among the 120 people at the summit.
Finally, the White House relented and invited Dr. Oliver Fein,
president
of PNHP. Two people out of 120.”
Goodman cited a media
watchdog survey in the days leading up to last week’s summit. Of the
hundreds
of stories that appeared in major outlets, said the surveyers,
"only
five
included
the
views
of
advocates
of
single-payer
-
none
of
which
appeared
on
television."
Any
wonder single-payer couldn’t be found when the summit
game was over.
And, of course, there’s
no sign of veteran diplomat Charles Freeman, nominated to be Team
Obama’s chief
intelligence analyst. He made the
mistake in the past of criticizing Israel while advocating
equal consideration
of Palestinian and Israeli grievances. In
so doing, he unleashed an uproar that forced him off the field before
he picked
up a bat. Charlie Schumer took credit
for persuading the White House that Freeman was no friend of Israel
and
therefore should be sent back to the scholarly bushes.
Here is part of Freeman’s valedictory: “ I
am
saddened
by
what
the
controversy
and
the
manner
in
which
the
public
vitriol
of
those
who
devoted
themselves
to
sustaining
it
have
revealed
about
the
state
of
our
civil
society.
It
is
apparent
that we Americans cannot any
longer conduct a serious public discussion or exercise independent
judgment
about matters of great importance to our country as well as to our
allies and
friends.
“The
libels
on
me
and
their
easily
traceable
email
trails
show
conclusively
that
there
is
a
powerful
lobby
determined
to
prevent
any
view
other
than
its
own
from
being
aired,
still
less
to
factor
in
American
understanding
of
trends
and
events
in
the
Middle
East.”
The lobby deserves
credit, not
blame, for playing hardball, its role. But
Team Obama must be prepared to deal with
such intensity, it needs somebody who can stand at the plate and not
back down
when principle is at stake and the action gets hot.
- -
-
Baseball fans who are enduring
what one Boston Glober calls a “Sominex” spring training season, have a
treat
in store tonight: Team USA
plays Puerto Rico in the second round
of the
World Baseball Classic (8p, ESPN). Two
familiar Carlos - Beltran and Delgado – are PR mainstays, as are former
Yankees
Bernie Williams and Pudge Rodriguez. Barring
a
continuation
of
the
Netherlands
team
miracle,
Derek
Jeter,
David
Wright
and
company
will
be
jousting
with
the
Puerto
Ricans
and
Venezuela
to
see
which
one
of
the
three
gets
eliminated
before
moving
into
the
final-four
round.
How great is it to be able to follow games
that count while the juiceless Grapefruit and Cactus League schedules
stretch
ahead for three more weeks!
Speaking of
the Venezuela
team,
an important new Met was key to its last victory. Sports
Illustrated’s
Tom
Verducci
was
on
hand
for
the
performance:
“The
New York Mets would
like to see what they saw from closer Francisco Rodriguiez in Venezuela's 5-3 victory over Team USA on
Wednesday night. Okay, it was a typical
K-Rod save: he walked the leadoff batter and wound up bringing the
winning run
to the plate, all before fanning Kevin Youklis to close the deal. But for a guy whose velocity dipped last
season, Rodriguez hit 95 mph on the radar gun and sat consistently at
92-93
mph. Not bad at all for the ides of
March.
“Rodriguez
did
speak
about
the
adrenaline
rush
of
pitching
with
‘Venezuela’
across
his
jersey
.
’I
feel
that
right
now,’
he
said,
‘I'm
at
another
level,
to
wear
the
Venezuela
jersey. It's totally different’."
- o -
The Nub is a team effort skippered by
Dick Starkey. Comments to dickstar@aol.com
are welcome, as are
subscription requests. Previous Nubs can
be found by scrolling below.)
(Posted: 3/10/09)
Baseball GMs and
Obama: ‘Cheer-Up Everybody’!
“We are where we want to be,” said Mets
GM Omar Minaya, his
spring training satisfaction replicated by two dozen or more of his MLB
counterparts. “I am absolutely
confident” said President Obama that our potent economic offense will
start
scoring after a few more innings.
Lots of optimism on the baseball front
and the political
field, with results promised but a long way from realized.
And, despite dramatic evidence to the
contrary, financial advisors remain bullish about investments in the
market. Should it all be taken
seriously? Let’s look at the record
book:
With a few changes, the Mets have put
together essentially
the same team that didn’t get it done last season.
Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz are an
upgrade over Aaron Heilman and Billy Wagner in the bullpen. But the familiar starting rotation after
Johan Santana is shaky. And just as they
ran out of money after signing Santana last year and therefore couldn’t
upgrade
their bench, so they have had to patch things together this time after
obtaining Rodriguez and Putz. Hope is
the order of ‘09 in Mets-land, but it says here there’s no cause for
optimism.
Team Obama is unwilling to upset Wall
Street,
checked-swinging on nationalizing “zombie” banks and leaving
transparency out
of sight in the clubhouse. We - all of
us - don’t know where our money to keep that privileged league in
operation is
going. Meanwhile, many top observers
predict that Obama’s would-be stimulus rally will fall short of getting
the
game back on track. And through it all,
the Dems squad in Congress seems incapable of brushing aside the
outnumbered GOP
and taking control of the action. “Yes, We Can…Hope for Change” might be Team
Obama’s revised slogan. There are few
signs
of confidence in the way it’s playing now.
The financial coaches, meanwhile, would
have us believe all’s
well. Joe Queenan tells - in the LA
Times - of the signals those coaches are flashing:
“Over and
over, investors have been told not to panic because no
one has really lost any money until they've sold their stocks. Meanwhile, the market has surrendered more
than half its value and seems perfectly prepared to continue its merry
toboggan
ride south. So even if you haven't
actually lost any money yet, it may seem as if you've lost money. It may seem, in fact, as if you've lost half
your life's savings.”
Skipper Obama reminds us that he’s
inherited this mess, and that’s perfectly true.
It’s also true that the fans are getting restless.
And the only one they’re poised to boo is the
man in charge on the field now.
- -
-
Skeptics watching the climactic ninth inning of the
Canada-USA game on ESPN Saturday had to become World Baseball Classic
believers. New Mets setup man J.J. Putz
had to pitch his way out of a 6-5 pressure cooker – tying run on second
with
one out and Justin Morneau and Jason Bay
coming up. Putz got both of them. In the process, his commitment to the WBC was
reinforced, as SI’s Tom Verducci reported:
“Th(e WBC) is about baseball and it is about country, not
the institution of Major League Baseball. And
if
you
didn't
get
the
significance
of
that,
you weren't standing next to Putz,
an ice pack dripping water from his right shoulder, a smile plastered
to his
face, when somebody asked him where this moment ranked in his career.
"This,"
he
said,
"is
at
the
top."
“Cody Ransom.” It
could be a perfect
made-up name for diceball or imaginary lineups in other card-table
versions of
the game. For some of us it will be more
fun watching the likeable, likely stand-in play third for the Yanks
early on than
it would be seeing the damaged star himself.
- o -
(The Nub is a team
effort skippered by Dick Starkey.
Comments
to dickstar@aol.com
are welcome, as are subscription requests.
Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)
(Posted
3/7/09)
Team Obama and
Baseball’s Tight-Money Model
“The Mets should have signed Manny,”
said a fan who could’ve
been speaking for countless brethren.
“They need him, and he would have been great in New York.”
The Mets, of course, have a stopper:
“We can’t afford it.”
That mantra was heard throughout the
majors as well-regarded
free agents like Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, and Orlando Hudson had to
settle for
bargain-rate contracts. The trend was
not too surprising. Most Americans understand the unyielding reality of
a
shortage of money. Especially now. The national losing streak should give the
White Sox fan in the White House the rationale (like it or not) to step
to the
plate and take some cuts…hitting to left.
A few suggestions:
*Leave Iraq
sooner not
later, and completely: We can’t afford
to stay.
*Reverse the buildup in Afghanistan: We can’t afford to see that war drag on.
*Reduce our outlays on weaponry:
We can’t afford to keep flexing our might.
*Cancel the Missile Defense system in Europe:
We can’t afford the hostility.
*Close Guantanamo
and return
it to Cuba. We can’t afford the moral cost.
Those hacks, spurred by the slump
rather than politics,
might elicit a positive response - even from right fielders on the
Congressional
team. We’re obviously playing clubhouse
kibitzer here, but such stepping back by the skipper could begin to
make sense
if the current tailspin continues.
- -
-
With finances depleted everywhere (it seems) except in the
Yankees’ treasury, the New Yorker’s Roger Angell sees a test ahead for
the team
and its owners: “On trial…will be
the new Stadium’s attendance figures in this era of economic anxiety,
and
(whether there will be) renewals on those new corporate luxury boxes.” The
pre-crisis-level price tag on those boxes
(as Angell points out): upwards of a half-million dollars per season.
Manny will be making $25
million this year and $20 million
next unless he opts out of his contract next fall, a right the Dodgers
agreed
to apparently to help him save negotiating face. The
Boston
Globe’s
Nick
Cafardo
thinks
Manny
is
fortunate
to
have
extracted
$45
million
from
LAD
owner
Frank
McCourt:
“The
sport
will
be
hit
even
harder
next
offseason,” says Cafardo. “The feeling is Ramírez would be wise
to accept the $20 million in 2010 because that kind of money won't be
available
elsewhere…In another time and in another market, Ramírez would
likely have
received his four-year, $100 million deal.
But again, he's lucky, very lucky, he got what he got.”
- o -
(The Nub is a team
effort skippered by Dick Starkey.
Comments
to dickstar@aol.com
are welcome, as are subscription requests.
Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)
(Posted 3/3/09)
The Matt Holliday
Factor in NYC Politics
It’s March…baseball’s spring and the
start of the political
season. So why is the buzz in both
fields so future-oriented? Why so much
anticipation of change? Here are two
clues: Matt Holliday and available third terms.
Baseball fans know that Holliday, a
Colorado Rockies star,
went to Oakland
in an unlikely inter-season deal. A’s GM
Billy Beane is famous for swapping stars for prospects, often in
mid-season. Holliday can thus be
expected to move on, if Oakland
drops out of playoff contention this summer.
Political watchers know that six tireless NYC Council players -
all Dems
- are taking their hacks in the public advocate and comptroller
contests. Despite pledging to stay in the
Primary game
until next September, some, if not all six, could drop out in May,
leaving time
to change signals and circulate petitions (as of June 9) putting them
back in
the Council race.
For example, if either Mark Green or
Norman Siegel, two PA
competitors with no elective home, is far ahead on the
finances-or-poll-numbers
scoreboard, Bill de Blasio, Eric Gioia and John Liu could elect to
switch-hit
and try to take advantage of their Council incumbency.
In the comptroller race, Melinda Katz, David
Weprin and David Yassky could feel the same temptation if Billy
Thompson
decides to leave the mayoral field in favor of trying to keep the
position he’s
fielded for the past eight years.
How the Council candidates swung on the
mayor’s anti-democratic
pitch to bypass a third-term referendum could become an election issue. If so, here is what the box score shows: all three in the public advocate race said
“no” to dissing the people; in the comptroller contest, only one,
Weprin, voted
“no” to leaving the electorate out.
Comptroller Thompson didn’t get to vote, but he made his
opposition
clear.
If fund-raising success turns out to be
crucial, Katz has a
slight edge over Weprin, as of the mid-January filing.
She reported bringing in $2,135, 040 to
Weprin’s $2,062, 248. Yassky’s total was
$1,429, 594. (We’ll do the PA numbers
another time.)
- -
-
Mets GM Omar Minaya has already started talking about the
possibility the team will compete later to add Holliday via trade.
That’s
tantamount to confirmation the Mets don’t have enough offense going
into the
season. At the same time, Minaya
repeated the tired defense of the team’s
farm system. “Our…system is stronger
than people seem to give it credit for,” said the protest-prone GM. As has been noted here, the “people” at
Baseball America
rate the Mets system 17th out of 30.
Another repeat offender is Keith
Hernandez on the subject of
the World Baseball Classic (WBC). He
complained - not for the first time - on SNY Sunday about the
international
tournament interfering with spring training.
Big deal. For true baseball fans
- it says here - the WBC is a quadrennial bonus: many of MLB’s best
playing as
volunteers, not for money but as good citizens of their respective
homelands. And playing in GAMES THAT COUNT
throughout
most of March. Team USA took the Classic lightly last time
and
suffered elimination long before Japan
and Cuba
met in a memorable final. There’s no
guarantee it won’t happen again, but it will be fun to see Derek Jeter,
David
Wright, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youklis, Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy, et al,
try to
avoid embarrassment this time.
- o -
(The Nub is a team
effort skippered by Dick Starkey.
Comments
to dickstar@aol.com
are welcome, as are subscription requests.
Previous Nubs can be found by scrolling below.)
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