mlb

Those Silly Millionaires

~ latskojerry ~ 1 Comment

Imagine what you could do with 4.5 million dollars. Perhaps some of you don’t have to imagine. If so, congratulations. You can probably afford season tickets. We may never learn the real story with the probably untouchable Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher/slugger. His interpreter said he had a problem and his buddy helped him out. I really wish that I had a second language. I keep going back in my mind to Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle.

In today’s world, gambling and sports are partners, simultaneously raking in the big bucks with little or no consternation. Not so long ago, their paths were separate. Betting made money for some, but the whole thing was mostly underground, illegal, and considered by many to be immoral. The Black Sox scandal of 1919 nearly destroyed the integrity of the game of baseball when Chicago White Sox players were paid by “gamblers” to throw the World Series to the obliging Cincinnati Reds. Professional boxing and horse racing were other “sports” often linked to “fixes”. From club owners’ point of view, people buying tickets to watch sporting events need reassurance that the outcomes are not prearranged.

1951 was the first season that Mays and Mantle played for the Giants and Yankees and New York City simultaneously claimed three of the best center fielders of all time. Duke Snider was already established in Brooklyn. They each eventually played in World Series and were elected to the Hall of Fame. They were all three extremely talented and relatively well paid. Plus, if you played in New York, it was easier to make a few extra bucks endorsing products enjoyed by baseball fans of the day such as tobacco, beer, shaving cream, and razor blades. They didn’t have the kind of paydays we see now. One hundred thousand dollars was a huge salary in those days, not tens of millions. However, for a quick study of the ravages of inflation, please note that $65,000 then was like $500,000 today.

Players not named Yogi Berra were not able to manage their money so well. It would be a couple of decades before free agency,player agents, and financial managers joined the game. Neither Mays nor Mantle was headed for the poorhouse after retirement but they needed work. After former Cleveland star Al Rosen left his job with the Yankees to become executive vice president at Bally’s casino in Atlantic City, he quickly offered Mays a ten year contract at $100,000 per year to become a Bally’s employee, essentially a casino greeter. Soon, another casino, Claridge, made the same offer to Mantle.

Commissioner Bowie Kuhn countered that the two stars could work for casinos if they wanted to but they could not be employed by any baseball team at the same time. That was how squeaky clean the sports world wanted to be or at least look to be as late as the 1970s. A later commissioner, Peter Ueberroth of Los Angeles Olympics fame, lifted the ban and, oh how far we have come since then. Some of us had reflexes of shock and dismay to the recent merger of sport and betting. Now, articles concerning ballplayers note their salaries and length of contract details as much if not more than their batting averages, earned run averages and other statistics. Now we see the odds on everything from winning a game, winning a pennant, or striking out as part of every telecast brought to us by Fan Dual and other venues for dropping cash. I’ve lately been watching a lot of European soccer matches and the advertising in the stadiums and even on the uniforms for betting outlets is widespread.

Millionaires abound, paid by billionaires in the world of professional sports. Is this a good thing? Young people in their twenties or early thirties have enough spare wealth to “help their friends” in million dollar debt. it’s worrisome.

We’ll Miss Tito

~ latskojerry ~ 1 Comment

 

In 2024 major league baseball will have to proceed for the first time in a very long while without the on field presence of one of the best managers in its history. It’s a good thing that Bruce Bochy came out of retirement last season so that he could win another World Series because we are faced with the retirement of Terry Francona. We like Francona because, while he was very successful as a manager and as a player, he also has been a leader with about as positive an attitude as could be imagined and he is a good sport, something that seems to be in short supply these days.

In his eleven seasons managing Cleveland, his teams won 921 games and lost 757, a nifty .549 percentage. In 2016, they made the World Series and lost to Joe Maddon and his Chicago Cubs. Francona was manager of the year that season, as he was selected also in 2013 and 2022. His record over a 23 year managing career was 1950-1672 (.538). He had managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1997 to 2000 and then, perhaps most memorably, the Boston Red Sox from 2004 to 2011. The Sox won it all in 2004 and 2007. There are countless ups and downs throughout any baseball season just like there are at your house, but Terry Francona was never one to look for scapegoats or make excuses. That’s why he had the support of his players and did well.

2004 was the most fun season for those of us who are fond of beating the Yankees. New York won the American league East division by three games over Boston and, after being shut out by Johan Santana and friends in the first game, won the next three division series games while Boston was sweeping Anaheim. The League Championship Series opened October 12 with the Yankees routing Curt Schilling and the Sox 10-7. New York’s Jon Lieber bested Pedro Martinez the next day, 3-1, and then it was off to Boston. Fenway Park was no help at all as the Yankees totally thrashed Boston, 19-8. Was it over? Not quite. The Red Sox won the next two at home, two more in the Bronx, and then four straight over Tony LaRussa, Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals to rid themselves of the Bambino Curse as World Champions. Terry Francona could have been governor of Massachusetts after that triumph but he had a better job.

From 1981 to 1990 Terry Francona was a pretty good outfielder for the Montreal Expos, the Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland and the Milwaukee Brewers. He was among the league leaders in batting average after 58 games in 1984 when he twisted a knee trying to avoid a John Tudor tag. He and his .346 average were finished for the season and Terry was never the same, losing much of his speed. He pitched one scoreless inning for the Brewers in that final ’90 season.

Terry was the son of John Patsy “Tito” Francona of New Brighton, Pennsylvania, who died February 13, 2018, and is frequently called Tito as well. Terry was born in April of 1959, which just happens to be the best year of his father’s major league career. Papa was born in Aliquippa, Pa. , not far from New Brighton. The elder Francona played for Cleveland in ’59 and, in 122 games, tore up the American League for a .363 batting average with 20 home runs. He stayed with Cleveland through 1964. He, like his son, played outfield, first base, and pinch hit a lot in the days before designated sitters. Both Franconas ended their careers playing for Milwaukee, father in the American League and son in the National. Another interesting fact for Tito the elder is that, before that big ’59 season, he was traded to Cleveland by Detroit in exchange for Larry Doby, who is famous for many important things such as winning a pennant in 1954 and earlier becoming the first black player in the American League.