Vegas, Baby!
Posted: February 27th, 2008 | Filed under: Baseball, Pop Culture | 40 Comments »
A random Las Vegas thought (but aren’t they all): Every time I walk through Caesars Palace — admittedly, this is not too often — I find myself amazed that there’s a huge indoor mall with the ceiling painted like a sky so that it looks and feels like you’re walking outdoors. I know that there is no shortage of symbolism in Las Vegas, and that it might be just as easy to tell the Vegas story by finding a $1,000 a night hooker or studying the couple from Iowa playing penny slots in Circus Circus while a 56-year-old cocktail waitress wearing an outfit she outgrew four children ago brings over a bloody mary and a scotch and soda. I get that. Still, I was walking through the Forum Shops today and felt entirely amazed that someone, somewhere came up with this concept to have people shop indoors while feeling like they’re shopping outdoors in a place where, much of the year, it would perfectly pleasant to actually shop, you know, OUTDOORS.
Yes, I’m in Vegas. I drove out here from Arizona on business — I actually drove right by Hoover Dam (if you know the roads around there you know that you actually sort of drive down INTO Hoover Dam) and I was tempted to stop because, I think, you’re supposed to stop at Hoover Dam and marvel at the splendor of human achievement. But I did not stop for two reasons, one there were a few too many people there who were already in the midst of marveling at the splendor of human achievement, and two when I think of Hoover Dam I always think of the great scene in Lost in America where Albert Brooks goes over to it, looks at it for one second and says, “Nice dam.†I think I got enough of a view driving by.
Anyway, I drove out here to visit Pete Rose for my upcoming book on the 1975 Reds. He appears four or five days a week at “Field of Dreams†in the Forum Shops. This may or may not surprise you — probably not. I was surprised to find out that Steve Garvey often appears two or three days a week. I actually came in a day early to see Garvey, but he called in sick, which is a real shame. I’ll have to come back. I’m fascinated by Steve Garvey.
I’m fascinated because Rose was, even in his best moments, viewed as a tough street guy who played and lived on the edge (if you had asked people in 1978 if there was a chance that Rose, long after his playing career was over, would be signing autographs at Caesars Palace I imagine the most common response even then might have been, “Yeah, I could see thatâ€). Garvey, meanwhile, was Captain America. He clearly wanted nothing more than to be an American hero (well, it’s actually clear that he wanted a little SOMETHING more than that, but that’s not my point right now). He was immaculately dressed, he smiled a lot, he had good hair, he appeared well-spoken on talk shows and game shows, and he made himself into one of the most famous players in baseball despite having pretty limited skills. Look: He didn’t really have much power, he couldn’t run much, he couldn’t throw at all, he did not have any special defensive aptitude at least not physically (in 1972, when playing 85 games at third base, he made 28 errors. And while I’m not a fan of using errors as a measuring stick for fielders, well, 28 errors in 85 games does tell a bit of a story).
But Garvey knew what it took to be a star in the 1970s and he went after that with the intensity of a man running for President. That’s why I respect him. He knew .300 was the batter’s benchmark, so he hit .300 six times. He knew 200 hits was impressive to people, so he wrote “200†in his glove and put together a complicated gameplan to reach 200 hits, a plan that apparently involved him beating out three or four bunts a month, or something like that. He knew errors were exactly the way many tended to judge fielding so from 1975 to his retirement he never, not once, had a fielding percentage lower than .994, and he won four Gold Gloves. He appreciated that first basemen were paid to drive in runs, and so five times in his career he had 100-plus RBIs. He knew that people appreciated endurance and the working spirit, and so he played in 1,207 consecutive games, a national league record. He gave the fans something to cheer and even admire and he made 10 All-Star Games, one of those as a write-in candidate. He performed in those All-Star Games too — he’s a two-time All-Star Game MVP. He’s also a two-time National League Championship Series MVP. He knew when the lights were on.
I have no doubt — from my own recollections of Garvey and from my sense of him now — that all of this was calculated and planned, and not in a bad way, not at all. When you build a bridge, you need precise plans. Garvey was building a bridge. He used to say that he did not understand players who claimed they did not know their own stats — a player WAS his stats. Garvey (and Rose too) understood this. A player’s salary, his image, his future, his place in history, all of it revolved around stats. Garvey knew this better than anyone.
Of course, stats and perspectives have changed in unexpected ways. When you look back on Garvey with a sense of perspective, it’s hard to see him as he was thirty years ago because now that .329 on-base percentage jumps out like Glenn Close in the bathtub (Garvey never walked more than 50 times in a season and, poetically, walked just once in his final season, in an All-American 76 at-bats. He couldn’t change). Now, you see that he never slugged .500 (an oversight in his campaign for stardom, he slugged .499, .498 and .497 — if he had known people would start LOOKING at slugging percentages, I imagine he would have stretched one more single into a double). Now you can find some advanced defensive metrics that suggest he wasn’t an especially good defensive first baseman. And, of course, the whole Captain America thing was somewhat tainted by the numerous paternity suits* and Cyndi Garvey’s book which, I believe, charged him with being the Boston Strangler, Idi Amin and the guy who traded Brock for Broglio.
*OK, now, I know this isn’t right: But I was curious just how many paternity suits Steve Garvey had to deal with. I just remember it being a lot. So I went to his Wikipedia page because I knew that would be in there (along with some claim that he was actually born on the Planet Xenix). And I just find this amazing — there’s not a single word on his Wiki page about it. The word “paternity†does not appear. The whole page is about his playing career with one brief mention that he’s been married twice. That is so reserved, so tactful — in other words so utterly un-Wikipedia. I’m not saying this is bad — I actually think it’s very refreshing. I just have no idea what happened there.
My feeling is that Steve Garvey, in his own way, really stood for something. True, a lot of people felt even then that he was a phony, and they never bought into the hype. But don’t misunderstand me — I’m not saying that Garvey was Captain America or anything close. I’m saying that he WANTED to be Captain America, at least out loud; It mattered to him to present something larger than life to fans, to give the haters a big target, to be something a little bit more. Who has time for that now? Derek Jeter, maybe? But I don’t think he really puts himself out there the way Garvey did. Curt Schilling? Maybe, but he’s mostly just loud. Torii Hunter, I think, tries to be something more; but he’s not as famous as Garvey was.
It’s just a different thing — I’m fascinated by athletes who want something more than sports success, they want a kind of fame and love that can only come from being viewed as a saint or hero. Steve Garvey wanted that. It all came crashing down, and I’m not smart enough to say what it all means. It just touches me that now, on Tuesdays and Wednesday most weeks, you can find him at Caesars signing autographs.
* * *
Another random Las Vegas thought: They play bad music EVERYWHERE. I cannot understand this. I was walking through the casino, and all through the place — over the irritating clanging of slot machines* — the Kenny Rogers song, “Lady†was playing. Now, OK, I appreciate that it probably makes some financial sense to play “Lady,†because I imagine Kenny Rogers will be playing here on the weeks he’s not in Branson. But I mean, that song was EVERYWHERE. I went into a restaurant, it was playing in there. I went into an elevator, it was playing in there. I went down the hall toward my room and it was playing IN THE HALLWAY. I still hear it now. “You have gone and made me such a fool. I’m so lost in your love.†Someone help me. Is the idea here to get me to want to go play the slots just to DROWN OUT THE SOUND OF LADY? I wouldn’t put anything past these people.
*I’ve only been here one day, so the slot machine noise is only “irritating.†By Day 2, it becomes “brain rattling.†And by Day 3 it sounds like the beating heart in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart†mixed in with a bad Nine Inch Nails song.
* * *
A few more random thoughts:
– I caught that good interview with Larry Walker by good friend Derrick Goold, and was particularly struck by Walker’s blunt and charming assessment of his Hall chances: “I would love to have a vote or two.†We might have a better sense of how this crazy era will be viewed in 2011, when Walker is on the ballot, but I would have to say that right now I think Walker is a very viable Hall of Fame candidate. He did play a lot of games at Coors Field when that ballpark was a joke, but …
– The guy has a career 140 OPS+, which is measured to take into account the Coors advantage. There are currently four players with 140 OPS+ or better who had 7,500 plate appearances (I figure that’s 15 years, 500 PAs) and are not in the Hall of Fame. They are:
1. Mark McGwire.
2. Jeff Bagwell
3. Edgar Martinez
4. Larry Walker
OK, we all know the McGwire story … no steroid assumptions, he’s in. Bagwell will get in, I would assume. Edgar is an odd case because of the DH thing, and I really don’t know how his Hall of Fame case will be viewed.
And there’s Walker. And though he has the lowest OPS+ of the group, I think you could argue he was the best player. He was the only one of the four to add real defensive value to the team — guy won seven Gold Gloves and had a terrific arm. He’s got more stolen bases than any of the four and the best stolen base percentage. It’s interesting that all four of them had one absolute monster season in a five-year span:
McGwire, 1998: .299/.470/.752, 70 homers, 147 RBIs, 130 runs.
Bagwell, 1994: .368/451/.750, 39 homers, 116 RBIs, 104 runs, in only 479 PAs.
Martinez, 1995: .356/.479/.628, 29, 113, 121 in 145 games.
Walker, 1997: .366/.452/.720, 49 homers, 130 RBIs, 143 runs.
I don’t know that Walker is on my Hall of Fame ballot — I haven’t studied it THAT closely — but I don’t think the fact he played at Coors Field and happened to whack the ball there should disqualify him.*
*I want to make a point that I wrote that entire thing without mentioning the name Jim Rice and … DAMN, I blew it.
* * *
The Royals are now spending A LOT of time on fundamentals — a lot more than when I was there watching last week — and by fundamentals I mean bunting drills, relay drills, pitching fielding drills, etc.
I am of two minds on this thing. On the one hand, I think of the story Bill Fischer tells about a sign that Charlie Finley had put up in the A’s clubhouse. It said “Sweat plus sacrifice equals success.†Finley loved that quote — I guess he came up with it. He later had SSS engraved on World Series rings to represent that quote. Anyway, one day Fish was in there and some teammate wandered over and pointed out that sign and said: “See that?â€
“Yeah,†Fish said.
“You think the bleeping Yankees have that in THEIR clubhouse?â€
I don’t think the bleeping Yankees are spending a lot of time this camp doing extensive bunting drills. I doubt that the Tigers are spending a whole lot of time having relay-throw races. So there’s that.
BUT, my other thought is this: I like the fundamentals drills a lot. I like it because to me, none of this matters all that much. You’re not going to teach guys how to play Major League Baseball in six weeks.
But, you can — and this has been a thought of mine for a long time — begin to create something of an identity. I remember once, years ago, when I was selling newspapers door to door in Charlotte, our boss, a bizarre guy I’ve mentioned named Leon, said, “OK, well, we’ve had some trouble selling papers lately, but today will be easy. We’re going to an apartment complex, and that’s like shooting fish in a barrel. You have all these new people, young business people, they need to get the paper, they want to be part of their new community, you guys should sell like crazy today.â€
Well, that made sense to me. And I sold something like seven subscriptions that day, which wasn’t just a record for me, I think it beat my old record by six. I mean it was a banner day, I got a bonus and everything, and when we were in the car, he said: “Well, that was good selling.â€
And I said: “You were right, that was easy.â€
And he said: “No, you idiot. Apartment complexes are death. Deadbeats live there. Nobody ever buys papers in apartment complexes. People usually are there for like a few months until they get a house, they don’t want the paper. You sold them because you believed in yourself.â€
I don’t buy that entirely … but I do think that for once I had an identity as a salesman, and that really did make a difference.
Anyway, I’ve seen that with baseball teams too. Bad teams with an identity can play well for a while — the 2003 Royals I thought went out each day with this identity … it wasn’t just that they knew they could win, they knew exactly HOW they could win. They didn’t strike out much, and they hit with runners in scoring position. Fluky? Of course. But it worked for four months. Last year, the Royals again had a brief span where they had an identity — the bullpen was pitching lights out and the Royals felt like if they could just get into the sixth inning with a lead, they would win.
I think the that one thing manager can do for his team is send them out there with this sense of purpose — we KNOW we’re better than anyone in baseball at catching the baseball or nobody can beat us in the late innings or we’re going to put enormous pressure on them with our running game or whatever. Some of it is nonsense, like Leon’s Hustle, but sometimes that OK.
What I’m really saying here is that if the Royals believe that they’re most fundamentally sound team in the game, that’s not the worst thing in the world. And it’s been a while, I think, since the Royals have felt they were armed with ANYTHING to go out there and win with. Now, if the Royals start bunting in the second inning … well, that could be a problem.
* * *
Fan question: Would it be justice if Clemens gets nailed for perjury on this stupid Canseco party since he and his lawyers are the ones who made a big deal out of him not being there in the first place?
Answer: There will be no justice in the Clemens saga. No chance.
* * *
Two farewells.
– To W.C. Heinz, the brilliant sportswriter who wrote about Bummy Davis and Red Grange and wrote this in Death of a Racehorse: “They worked quickly, the two vets removing the broken bones as evidence for the insurance company, the crowd silently watching. Then the heavens opened, the rain pouring down, the lightning flashing, and they rushed for the cover of the stables, leaving alone on his side near the pile of bricks, the rain running off his side, dead an hour and a quarter after his first start, Air Lift, son of Bold Venture, full brother of Assault.â€
Mr. Heinz was 93 years old.
– To William F. Buckley, in remembrance, one of my favorite scenes, the spider killing scene in Annie Hall:
Alvy Singer: What is this? What are you? Since when do you read the National Review? What are you turning into?
Annie Hall: Well, I like to try to get all points of view.
Alvy: That’s wonderful. Then why don’t you get William F. Buckley to kill the spider? OK?
Annie: Alvy, you’re a little hostile, you know that? Not only that, you look thin and tired.
Alvy: Well, it’s three o’clock in the morning. You, uh, you got me out of bed, I ran over here, I couldn’t get a taxi, you said it was an emergency, and I didn’t get … I ran up the stairs. I, uh, I was a lot more attractive when the evening began.“
Mr. Buckley was 82.
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The genius of Joe, expressed once again. How many other baseball columnists quote both Woody Allen and Albert Brooks in the same blog item?
You may be underselling Bagwell’s defense.
Joe thinks of “Lost in America” for Hoover Dam.
I think of “Beavis and Butt-head Do America” and Beavis asking the tour guide, “Is this like a god dam?”
Oh, and there is no such thing as a bad Nine Inch Nails song.
Another athlete who always intended to be something more than an athlete: Tiki Barber. I always got the sense he played football as a means and not as an ends. I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not, it’s just McNamee. (“It is what it is.”)
Years ago I remember reading a story in the Sporting News when Steve Garvey was still a Dodger of A school being renamed in his honor. I do not remember if it was an elementary school or a high school, but I wonder if anyone knows if this school is still named after him.
It’s nearly 20 years since Pretty Hate Machine came out.
I never held the paternity thing against Garvey. Maybe if I knew more I would feel differently, if there were some unpleasant side issues. Otherwise, he was single at the time. Did we really think Steve Garvey wasn’t getting laid? Did any of us think Steve Garvey shouldn’t be getting laid?
Steve Garvey always brings to mind this Baseball Primer saying (quoted from the wiki):
A saying: The three worst things a person can be are: 1) a Nazi war criminal, 2) a child molester, and 3) Steve Garvey.
[Steve Garvey] is, as far as anyone knows, the only person who fits into all 3 categories.
Scott:
Steve Garvey Junior High School, in Lindsay, Calif., is still alive and well.
http://tinyurl.com/2o5stf
No one will ever understand wikipedia. It’s likely that Steve Garvey’s biggest fan (or perhaps Garvey himself) goes on his page regularly to remove any references to the paternity suits. I’ve read enough wiki articles to know that you see some crazy “edit wars” on there for very odd random things. Some of the “editors” site weird chapter and verse rules from some wiki bible that will back up their stand and then someone will do the opposite.
Someone beat me to the Tiki Barber comparison. Drat. He was the prototypical Garvey-esque player.
I get the same vibe from ARod. He always seems to have some image-driven agenda in play at all times, and I have no idea why he feels that he needs that given his skills as a player. He’s miles ahead of Garvey as a ballplayer, yet he apparently feels that he’s always got to say just the right thing, or look the right way, or whatever, instead of just letting his play speak for him. It always strikes me as kind of pitiful. Part of that, I’m sure, is the spotlight he’s now under, but he was that same way in Texas and Seattle, it just wasn’t as publicized as it is now.
There was a time when I would have said Schilling fit the profile too, but now I realize that’s probably not the case. Garvey and Tiki and ARod seem to be suffering from a problem with defining themselves, or with projecting a particular ersatz image. Schilling, on the other hand, is a genuine windbag. Big difference.
On his website he’s listed as a “product endorser.” The last product I remember he plugging was around 2000 and it was a horrible weight loss pill. I’m not making this up. He had a container of water with fat in it and claimed that this pill would make the fat disolve and that it would do the same thing to your fat if you took it. Its was pure snake oil crap. I’ll be the FDA or someone cracked down on it. I can’t remember the name of it, but I know it was one of those infomercial type items.
http://www.stevegarvey.com/
Forgot the link.
Here’s Garvey’s “Fat Trapper” and “Exercise in a Bottle” that he hawked.
http://www.metnews.com/articles/2004/garv090204.htm
Joe, since you are visiting my adopted hometown (yes, I live in Vegas), I just wanted to say “Welcome”! Neyer first turned me onto your columns a few years a go and I’ve been a faithful reader since — I still find it amazing that the Royals baseball columnist is better than any of the folks in NY (my original home). And I’ve already bought 4 copies of the book — 1 for my self, and gifts for my brother, father and father-in-law. Can’t wait for the BRM book. By the way, my favorite baseball celebrity in town is Reggie Jackson, who does not regularly sign books for money and is shockingly small in person, not to mention quieter than I expected…I’m still hoping to catch site of Maddux during the offseason, but no luck so far…
As a Reds fan growing up in the 70’s, I can’t even say his name without getting mad.
Would love to mess up his hair (nothing personal).
I’m still waiting for Joe to respond to his “championship-caliber guy” nonsense from a few posts ago.
My search of the LA Times turns up stories of two children born out of wedlock, but only one paternity suit filed against him.
JoeP,
I agree completely with your assessment on the Royals developing an offensive and defensive identity. I think their pitching identity will carry over from last year. This year they’ll develop a offensive fundamentals identity, which will take pressure off the obvious kinds of offensive categories (hr, doubles, high average, etc.). If the players feel comfortable that there’s always a baseline plan to score, then the other stats will follow. I predict the Royals will have one of their best years in recent memory for regular offensive stats precisely—and paradoxically—because they’ll have (don’t yet have it) a fundamentals baseline.
Another random thought: For the first time in about twenty years, I think the Royals have smartest MLB management team in Missouri. Since Walt Jocketty left, and LaRussa is in decline, the Royals are set to fill the void.
- TL
I always get a chuckle out of the the nickname someone bestowed upon Garvey when the paternity mess came to light: Steve Garvey, the Father of our Country. Ah, good times . . .
And Steve gave us the “Steve Garvey Celebrity Bill Fishing Challenge,” the holy grail of high comedy. If nothing else, it introduced the world to Michael Floorwax.
Speaking of messing up Garvey’s hair, anyone remember the Vitalis commercial? Vitalis, for those of you too young to remember, was a hair tonic that was supposedly better than the “greasy kid stuff.”
The commercial really starred Pete Rose, I think Garvey was an unknown rookie at the time. Garvey slides headfirst into second base on a close play. “Safe!” the ump yells. Rose argues the call, and the ump says, “You missed the tag, Pete.” Rose says “What do you mean I missed the tag, look at the grease all over my glove!”
The ump touches the end of the glove, turns and runs his fingers through Garvey’s hair, and says “You’re out.” Cut to Garvey entering the dugout, where a Maury Wills hands him a bottle of Vitalis and says “If you’re going to slide head first up here, kid, you better use this.”
Cheesy as hell, but still cracks me up thinking about it.
I know that a .300 BA is important, I know 100 RBIs is a big deal, I know that not committing errors in the field will garner respect for your defense. Everybody who’s ever watched the game, let alone played it knows this. There’s only a select few who can accomplish these feats. And Garvey’s one of them.
And Vegas – you’re suprised that they play bad music in Vegas? Why would the music be any better than the food, or the architecture, or the rest of the “entertainment”? It’s a crass town full of crass stuff. “Lady” is the perfect metaphor for Vegas.
Hey Joe–
This is just for you…
bling-bing-blingalingling-tink,tink,tink – blingaling-ling-blingaling-ling-tink,tink,tink – blingaling-aling…
Ahhhh…. Vegas.
Craig (comment #17) Let it go, brother.
As for Clemens and justice… He better hope congress doesn’t drag this out into the Obama presidency because if Bush is not in power when Clemens is convicted of perjury, he’s cooked.
Ya heard it here first!!
Speaking as a Red Sox fan: I think “justice” in the case of Clemens is a concept that elevates beyond our justice system, but into cosmic retribution.
We Red Sox fans had to put up with a lot. And we complained about it. A lot. And then we won the World Series. And we were happy. And we won another, keeping us happy.
That Rogers Clemens is probably going to jail, I believe, is evidence that there is a G-d, and He listens. Everyone should be happy about this. We Sox fans really wished for bad things to happen to him. This is beyond anything I personally hoped for.
Now, if Bill Lambier gets hit by a car or something …
It is my personal mission to get at least one Red Sox fan to justify the Clemens hate with something besides “he said he wanted to play closer to home, but he took the money instead.” He only had a choice to make because the Sox didn’t want to give him the money he thought he deserved. The blame belongs to the Duke just as much as Roger.
And if I have to hear the Sports Guy BS – that he “never said thanks to the fans” – I might jump off the Zakim bridge. I know Drew Bledsoe took out an ad in the Globe to say goodbye, but he is fondly remembered because the next guy turned out to be better. If the next guy had been Joey Harrington, everyone in Boston would be cursing Bledsoe for going to Buffalo.
I agree with Joe: there is no scenario in which justice and Clemens will wind up appropriately linked.
“Now, if Bill Lambier gets hit by a car or something …”
He’ll start looking around for a ref with that slightly stooped, hands down, palms forward, eyes wide, mouth open, “I did not totally deserve that” look that he’s given every other time I’ve seen him get hit. But there will be no ref! And then we laugh and laugh.
(although, isn’t it spelled Laimbeer?)
Might be.
Larry Bird once said that, every year he checked the All-Star reserve list to make sure Laimbeer didn’t make it.
Why?
“Well, he’d get on the bus, and say something like, ‘Hi, Larry,’ and I’d have to say, ‘F*** you, Bill.’”
I wish I could find a citation for this.
Check out this earlier Garvey wikipedia entry .
Looks like some people want the paternity suits to go away.
The Tigers may not be practicing fundamentals this Spring, but they were a few years back when Trammell was managing. He was criticised for that AND for bunting in the third inning. Then the Tigers fired Trammell and bought a whole new roster for the new guy.
Bunting in the third inning is a good play when it’s your best hope to score a run in the third inning. I expect the Royals will bunt a lot in the third inning this season. I hope it works. The new manager sounds like a winner if he can only convince the management to buy him a new roster.
“It is my personal mission to get at least one Red Sox fan to justify the Clemens hate ”
To Brian L,
Uh, let’s see: punking out of game 6.
And, oh yeah 40-39.
nuf sed?
“I don’t think the bleeping Yankees are spending a lot of time this camp doing extensive bunting drills.”
Apparently they are, or at least for the cameras. The NY Times printed a picture the other day of ARod practicing bunting. Joe G. is talking about a more “NL-style” of play.
I’m very liberal on most issues, but I always had respect for Buckley. He articulated his positions well, he actually had positions, and he was capable of telling the truth (kind of like McCain was, until he could smell the nomination).
My favorite Buckley moment was on his tv show, back when he was supporting President Reagan for backing the apartheid regime. The debate was between Buckley and a younger, very calm, analytical Jewish gentleman from New York City. The kid from New York knew his stuff, but Buckley was in particularly fine form and just wouldn’t be cornered. He was talking a mist of trickle down economics and the human rights of law and order and social evolution, with the occasional red-baiting thrown in for good measure. It was very frustrating to watch, but fascinating.
Finally, at about the 30 second warning, the kid goes, “Ok, but what would you if you were a young black man living in the squalor of Soweto. What would you do if…”
Buckley reared back with that eyebrow and twisted smile, “Oh, well THEN I would be in the hills with the ANC!”
Best bumper sticker, ever…:
“Steve Garvey is not my Padre”
Thanks for the hat tip, Joe. Always thought this was an interesting aspect of Larry Walker’s Hall of Fame peer group: Of the 18 players in baseball history to win three batting titles, 14 are in the Hall of Fame and a 15th is Pete Rose.
Walker was the first Canadian to win a batting title since the 1880s when (not the speaker) Tip O’Neill did for the Brownies. Should it matter when voting that Walker is probably the greatest player, so far, from his country?
You know why I hate Clemens? Two words: Dave Stewart.
Soon after he left, Pedro arrived, and I learned what big-game pitchers do. Roger Clemens was not a big-game pitcher.
I’m going to bring up the subject of Edgar.
Nobody seemed to question Paul Molitor. Paul Molitor was a DH.
I think the sickest I’ve ever been reading something from Bill James was when I read about Paul Molitor being a 3B in the Baseball Abstract.
If Paul Molitor was a 3B, I was starting CF for the 1961 Yankees.
The Royals MUST be fundamentally sound and learn to manufacture runs. Only Guillen and Butler have the potential to hit a dinger on any at bat. Personally, I hope Butler swings for doubles more than homers.
Small ball is so much more fun to watch anyway. It’s the essence of baseball. Sitting back waiting for the 3 run homer puts me to sleep and I’m usually getting a beer when it happens.
I just hope Trey gets Joey Gathraight (ICHI G) a lot more at bats this year. Would like to see him lead off and De Jesus in the 7 hole. Gonna be fun watching Joey round the bases on a bunt, steal and single through the hole on the right side of the infield.
This gonna be a GOOD year for “DA BLUES BROTHERS”.
Just a comment on Trey teaching the guys the fundamentals.
Why do MLB players need to learn fundamentals from Trey? What’s with the farm system and not teaching this? The Royals have NEVER had a big time slugger and this should be second nature for this team. Hope Dayton and Trey get that straightened out with the minor league teams.
I am 38, grew up in L.A. and I worship The Garv. I will truck no dissent.
Wow, I’ve never read Joe before but he’s pretty funny. Best description of Vegas I’ve read since Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.
I watched Garvey play a lot growing up in L.A. and I think he got every ounce out of his skills, just like Rose. (A shout out to his teammate in baseball’s best infield ever, Davey Lopes. Hang in there Davey!)
G Young is way off base complaining about Molitor in comparison to Edgar though. Molitor played more than 1,000 games in the infield, Edgar less than 600. Edgar was a DH period. Molitor stole bases, played the field and eventually used the DH to extend his career. No comparison.