Countdown to 09.09.09
Posted: May 3rd, 2009 | Filed under: Baseball | 45 Comments »
Yes, the countdown to 09/09/09 has officially begun. Well, technically speaking, we here at the JoeBlog began the countdown to The Machine* quite a long time ago, but we’re** now getting into official hype mode. As opposed to the unofficial hype mode we had been in.
*OK, two points. One, I’ve heard people talk about the rather lengthy title of the book … “The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series-the Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds.” It’s a fair point. But I tend to look at it like so: The name of the book is The Machine. That’s all. The Machine. Short, sweet, to the point. I like it. I’m not crazy about the subtitle, but there are concessions you have to make in the publishing world. For instance, right now I’m trying to figure out how to get permissions to run a few lines from “Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” and “Rhinestone Cowboy.” Basically, nothing about the process of putting together a book is as easy as it seems.
Second, my neighbor is already playing basketball in his driveway. It is 7:35 a.m. Sunday morning. I don’t want to sound like Fred Mertz here, but I do need a ruling: Isn’t 7:35 a.m. on Sunday morning too early to be banging a basketball on the driveway? I mean, hey, I don’t care, I’m up, I’m writing blog posts, it isn’t affecting my sleep. But that’s not cool, right?
**Every so often on the blog, we like to kick it in first-person plural, using “We,” as if there is a large staff of people writing this blog rather than just one guy wearing a Bruce Springsteen T-shirt.
Here is a good and long story by my friend John Erardi in The Cincinnati Enquirer. This is an anniversary story pegged to May 3, 1975 — that’s the day that Pete Rose voluntarily moved from left field to third base and, in the process, changed the complexion of the 1975 season. I’ll leave it to John to go into detail,* but I will tell you that over the next few months I will occasionally put up DVD Extras from The Machine, things that either didn’t quite make it into the book or were somewhat shortened for the book.
*Especially since he quotes me extensively.
And I could have written an entire book just on Pete agreeing to move to third base in 1975. To me, this is at the core of the contradiction of Pete Rose. John goes into some detail on this. He quotes me saying that one of the big reasons I decided to write this book is because I believe many people have forgotten just how unique Pete Rose was as a player. Pete is remembered by most as the manager who put himself into games and bet on baseball and got banned and was convicted of tax evasion and ended up signing autographs at a Las Vegas sports memorabilia store in Caesar’s Palace. Even some of those who love Pete Rose the player tend to think of him as the hit king, Charlie Hustle, the guy who saved Bob Boone’s butt by catching that ball by the dugout in the 1980 World Series. And all of those are indeed Pete Rose.
But there is another Pete Rose, the 1975 version of Pete Rose, when he was this absurd force of nature. You know, in 1975, Pete Rose played in all 162 games. He did this, understand, even though the Reds won the division by TWENTY GAMES. They had the thing clinched on September 7, the earliest anyone had ever clinched a division title. Manager Sparky Anderson basically begged Rose to take off a day, but he would not do it. He was beyond driven, he was mad. And this was before he seriously thought about 4,000 hits. He would get the park first, and when others arrived he would beg anyone to throw him some extra BP or hit him some balls in the field. Then he would play absurdly hard all game long — many people thought a lot of that hustle was for show, and maybe it was, but he brought it EVERY DAY. Then he would go home at night and listen to the Dodgers or some other West Coast team on his car radio while sitting in his driveway. Then in the morning, he would take out a piece of paper and figure his baseball stats. And then it would all begin again.
Pete isn’t lying when he says that nobody ever loved the game more. Sure, he had an ego. Sure, he cared about money. Sure, he was no choir boy … guy had plenty of issues. But EVERYONE knows that. It seems to me that so much of his true self was out there, on the ballfield, and it was thrilling to watch because at the end of the day the basic story — tough kid from the West side of Cincinnati who couldn’t run, couldn’t throw, couldn’t hit with power became a star — is a true story.
When 1975 started, Pete was an All-Star left fielder. He had won Gold Gloves out there. He was all but certain to go to the Hall of Fame — he got his 2,500th hit that year, and he went to his ninth All-Star Game, and he had won an MVP and three batting titles — and nobody has ever had more of a sense of history than Pete Rose. So, when Sparky Anderson came to him on May 2nd and asked him play third base, every single thing we know about Pete Rose should tell us that he would refuse. Would Derek Jeter move to third base on one day’s notice? Would Jason Varitek? Would any of today’s most respected players move to a crazy new defensive position on a day’s notice just because the manager had some crazy idea?*
*Albert Pujols would.
Here’s something more: Pete Rose had not played third base in more than nine years. And even then, in 1966, he only played it for two weeks, and he HATED it. Third base freaked him out, it affected his hitting; the attempt to move Pete to third was one of the big reasons that Reds manager Don Heffner was fired that year.
So, why did Pete move to third in 1975? Why did he play every single day even when the Reds had the thing wrapped up? Why did he inspire Joe Morgan into becoming one of the greatest players in baseball history? Why?
Well if you ask me, it’s a good thing someone wrote a book about it.
Thanks again to John Erardi and The CIncinnati Enquirer.
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The basketball dribbling of one’s neighbor needs to begin after 8:35am unless said neighbor has personally visited with you and discussed how some friends of his are coming over to play some hoops early in the am. The neighbor would do well to return some of those tools he borrowed some time ago also. Is this guy young and stupid (still,no excuse) or just an a-hole who thinks of nothing but himself?
Basketball dribbling is nothing. In college I lived next to a middle school that had a marching band. Guess what hour band was? First hour. 3 days a week from March until May, I was woken up by a junior high marching band.
Sunday morning, no basketball (or bagpipe-playing, or whatever) before 9 am. There can be no debate about this.
Joe, I hope you’re doing a book tour, and will post the cities where you and The Machine will be.
I remember Pujols playing second base once. I guess that was a mid-game emergency due to some TLR over-managing or something, but it was still awesome. He’s super dreamy.
Can a team really be “hot” over an entire season? At some point, don’t they just become “great”?
I have no problem with the basketball dribbling early in the morning. As long as the sun’s up, anything is fair game in my book.
So, Red #5, are you, by chance, a next door neighbor to that newspaper columnist/blogger (or is it bloggist?)/book author guy in Kansas City named Joe Posnanski? If so, he’s pissed at you for shooting baskets so early on a Sunday morning, regardless of the sun’s position in the sky. I would be pissed too…. Occasionally think of the remainder of humanity rather than just the center of the universe that you obviously find yourself. Having selfishly shitty, inconsiderate neighbors is one of life’s biggest letdowns. This morning Joe was maybe thinking, “What, do I have to move (again!) in order to find a suitable, enjoyable place in which to live?!” As far as the “anything is fair game in my book” stance, maybe once in a while consider your neighbor’s book rather than your own.
Thanks for the teaser. The Soul of Baseball is terrific, halfway done and I love it.
Early morning Sunday stuff I see as this, do you really want to be the first loud guy of the day in the neighborhood? But maybe he watched White Men Can’t Jump last night and couldn’t get all of the fantastic spinning layups out of his head.
Judging by Red’s comments about the sun, I believe Red is a rooster.
How old is the basketball-playing neighbor? If he’s older than 30, tell him the NBA isn’t going to happen.
Pujols has played second a couple of times (including in the All-Star Game) and shortstop.
9:00 AM for basketball in the driveway. Perhaps 8:30 in the backyard…
I’m just posting to say I’m amazed that people are coming down on Joe’s side RE: basketball in the morning. I’m with Red – if the guy is up, and the sun is out, and he feels like getting in a little morning sweat, more power to him. It’s not like he is playing loud music; it’s a bouncing ball. If you want silence, move to the country.
Then again, I live in New York, so I’m conditioned to take noise in stride.
So how about dribbling at 3AM? There are a lot of people, myself included, for whom that would be far less sleep disruptive than 7:30.
DavidH: When you live in Kansas City and probably a suburb at that, you have already moved “to the country.” Midwestern values are a whole different thing than in NYC and a bouncing ball at 7:30 in the am on a Sunday is not neighborly.
If your neighbor is a legitimate Division-1 recruit and his normal gym is locked on a Sunday morning, than I say it’s acceptable. If, as someone said, he’s over 30, then maybe you need to have an intervention.
[...] Joe Posnanski placed an interesting blog post on Countdown to 09.09.09 » Joe PosnanskiHere’s a brief overviewThen he would play absurdly hard all game long — many people thought a lot of that hustle was for show, and maybe it was, but he brought it EVERY DAY. Then he would go home at night and listen to the Dodgers or some other West Coast … [...]
I take offense to the notion that a suburb of KC is “the country”. Maybe most of the rest of the states of Kansas and Missouri (except St. Louis) is “the country”, but the KC Metro is most assuredly a city. From the end of my house to my neighbor’s house is maybe 20 feet.
But, I do think that whenever the sun is up, doing outdoor activities is fair game. But this comes someone who mowed their lawn at 8AM this morning, and thinks he maybe should’ve started earlier.
That would never happen in my beloved Garden State.
Vengeance belongs to the Lord. So, if you want to do God’s work find out what kind of music he cant stand. Get two 18 inch woofers and place them in the window facing his house. Blast it.
Then later that evening leave three LP’s from the genre on his front stoop with a note: “I have more. For every time you have b-ball practice , I am going to have a concert. Although I am sure we can come up with something a little more neighborly.”
Having been of school-age at some point, and having had to wait for a bus many hundreds to thousands of times in the early morning, I must confess that I would often be shooting hoops at ~7am during any given week-day, and often on weekends, too (those pesky things called “YMCA youth basketball leagues” start playing games at 7am Saturday morning).
My neighbors, all of who had kids my age, understood, just like we understood when their dogs would occasionally bark at night, or they’d throw parties and cars would be shining lights in our windows all night long, etc. Being neighborly is compromising and understanding that, in this thing we call life, appropriate noise levels are preferences that can be accommodated by both sides. If you’re awake and annoyed at the noise because you want to read the paper in quiet, isn’t it reasonable that he might be annoyed at you when, later in the afternoon, you mow your lawn and he wants to sit down and write a research article? I think a little empathy is needed, especially if it’s a kid.
Anyway, great post, Joe. I bet Charlie Hustle would have been shooting hoops at some absurd hour if he were a basketball player. Just kidding!
Rules in the burbs are different than in the city — 7AM start would be fine in the city, but I think 9AM would be OK on Sundays in the burbs.
I used to live on Venice Beach, and I’d be woken up on Saturdays and Sundays by people at 8am who were driving around, looking for parking, and blasting music.
One time, I remember being woken up by a very loud Jeep, that was looking for a spot, blasting “Feeling hot, hot, hot!”
We morning people sympathize with those of you who feel the need to be lazy on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Even though I am up at 6 a.m. every morning, I make it a rule to not mow the lawn until 9 a.m. That is the only poite thing to do.
However, if you are the neighbor who stayed up until 3 a.m. playing your music loudly, drinking beer and having loud conversations with your buddies, I am a lot less sympathetic to your wishes for a quiet Sunday morning.
The way Joe describes his morning today, the basketball playing was “my neighbor” in “his driveway”. If this were some young kid shooting hoops I’d cut the boy some slack. Unless home ownership is much different in Joe’s neighbor from the rest of the country, this is not a young’un dribblin’ the rock.
Mowing the lawn, no. Basketball yes.
Nate
Mark W, I said that I don’t have a problem with it. I didn’t say that I do it. I do live in the country now…nearest neighbor is about 1/4 mile away. Used to live in OP, had an asshole of a neighbor that complained about my dog barking (only one person complained), had to go to court over it, so I moved.
I’d much rather live next to a guy that played basketball at 7 AM than a guy that bitches about every little noise in the area. But that’s just me.
One more thing Mark. You say the guy that plays basketball at 7 AM is selfish and thinks he’s the center of the universe. What about the guy that complains about the noise? How is he not selfish? Doesn’t he think that he’s the center of the universe??
I can’t speak for every neighborhood, but the vast majority of people in my particular ‘burb do not do anything audibly loud to their neighbors:
A) Before 9:00 AM on the weekend;
B) Before 7:00 AM on a weekday;
C) After 9:00 PM on a weekday;
D) After 11:00 PM on the weekend
Obviously, there is wide variation across neighborhoods and neighbors, but this is our local, unspoken rule of thumb. A rogue barking dog or lawnmower or bouncing basketball or whatever outside of these hours is generally a one-time thing, no harm, no foul. But if the same dog barks at 5:30 every friggin’ morning and at midnight every friggin’ night, then yeah, I’d speak to that neighbor. And if that didn’t work, I’d call the cops. You want to let your dog bark at all hours, no matter what the rest of the neighborhood does with their dogs? Then move to the country, like Red.
I was up at five to go walk into a field a mile away in heavy dew and fog to sit and try to call in Ben Franklin’s favorite bird. Basketball would have been preferrable to the wet ass and no gobbling.
That’s what she said.
Paul White has it pretty spot on in suburbia ’round the world. The general rule here(Sydney) is 7:00am workdays, 8:00 weekends. But I live in a neighborhood with lots of families and lots of kids so there’s always some kids playing somewhere outside around 8:00 on the weekends….and its nice to see the kids outdoors anyways.
lol at putting He Hate Me in the poll for No. 30…..
You can find the time left and a real time countdown at http://999.raapr.org
Basketball at 7:35 A.M.? That’s like bunting for a hit during a no-hitter. It’s just not cool.
The kids were off from school last week and it’s the first nice weather we’ve had here in northern Maine after a long winter. So this writer thought it would be great to sit on the porch. Except the kids next door, with nothing better to do, rode their ATVs and motor bikes for hours. I could shoot them. I really could.
Too bad Pete Rose took such a bad detour in his life. He was a force of nature on the baseball field.
(a) I was born in 1975, so I didn’t see the Big Red Machine play, except for a couple weekends ago when MLB Network ran the 1975 World Series highlights. Rose and Morgan were awesome. Just awesome. I understand why people love Rose now, and that was just an hour of highlights.
(b) I live in the DC suburbs. 7:30 is too early for basketball in the driveway. No noise before 9 a.m. on weekends — lawnmowers, fixing the motorcycle, etc. But as a former pollster, I demand the following poll from this free blog that has brought me hours of pleasure:
– Three polls: “I live in a city/suburb/rural area and the earliest that a person should mow the lawn on a Saturday morning is: 6/7/8/9/10/no limits.
Thank you.
If the neighbors can hear your dog barking, why can’t you hear it? Try spending some time with Fido, and give him the attention he deserves. Pet him, take him for a walk, throw the ball to him. Dogs that bark are usually lonely and starved for some human interaction. Very sad………..
Does anybody have any advice on finding a copy of Sport Illustrated? I looked all weekend and they appear to have all been sold.
“Perez’s two-run homer in the sixth inning to cut the run deficit to 3-2 is the most important hit in Reds history because of the circumstances, Posnanski says.”
Stupid Bill stupid Lee and his stupid slow stupid curveball. When’s the stupidest time to throw that?
A) In your stupid driveway at 7:30 AM
B) During a shutout in the 7th stupid game of the stupid World Series
C) When you’re traded for stupid Stan Papi
What a stupid stupidhead.
SMK — are we still allowed to be annoyed by anything that happened before 2004? I’ve forgiven everyone for everything. Except Clemens for his playoff appearances. And for working a trade to NYY. Everything else is wiped clean with me.
I’ve met Bill Lee at a movie screening. Asked him a question. What an asshole. My kind of asshole, but an asshole nevertheless.
Here’s some interesting numbers from Rally’s historical Wins Above Replacement database (it’s like WARP, except not worthless):
Pete Rose, 1975: 5.3
Jose Morgan, 1975: 11.8
Seems to me if one is going to pick a real “key moment” from the Reds 1975 season, it would actually be in the 1971-72 offseason when they traded for the best second baseman ever.
Rally has Rose’s best season at 8.4 (a bit better than your average Albert Pujols season) in 1973.
Morgan had 5 seasons better than that, all from 1972-1976.
So, in “who was more valuable to the Big Red Machine” or “who is more key” comparison, comparing Morgan and to Rose is like comparing prime rib to some sort of inferior player kind of prime rib.
No amount of horrible announcing, cheating, arrogance, shilling, and general scumbaggery (apply to whom you see fit) can change that.
Devil fingers:
You missed the point. Rose was going to play everyday whether he was in LF or at 3B. The thing about moving Rose to 3B was that it took Dan Driessen out of the lineup and put Ken Griffey, Sr. and George Foster into the lineup full time (they were essentially platooning in RF before that).
So check out the appropriate Wins above replacement for those players and see if it was a big deal.
I’m not in the least a Pete Rose fan, but I can see the move to 3rd being that of him being a “team” guy in at least that instance. He looks around and sees the talent around him, and knows that this is the year the Reds have their best chance at a World Series win. Having been “upset” by the Orioles in their previous visit, Rose knows there just aren’t that many opportunities and therefore does what he, and apparently Sparky Anderson, thinks is the best for the team to reach that goal.
No b-ball, lawn mowing, music playing (outside and loud) before 9:00!
Sorry the word “previous” is wrong of course. What I meant is it was their previous best chance to win the Series, though I suppose I should add the IMO qualifier to that too.
Here in NYC, most standard form leases have a clause regulating when you must be quiet (or at least enough so that the neighbors don’t complain to the cops); usually it’s about 10PM to 8AM. Then again, there aren’t a lot of driveways to play basketball in (on?) in Manhattan.
However, I do think it’s just common courtesy (something in very short supply these days, along with common sense) to be cognizant of your neighbors and the time of day.
From Joe: “Would Derek Jeter move to third base on one day’s notice?”
No, The Captain/Mr. November/Mr. Yankee/whatever wouldn’t move to third base, period. Even when his team had just acquired the current best-fielding shortstop in all of MLB. Five years later, with his defense having declined from dismal to execrable, he still hasn’t (and won’t ever, trust me) moved to a position more suitable to his skills (like, say, DH) and those of his teammates.
That Rose catch from the 1980 World Series- when it happened and I was ten, it was the best play ever. Now that I’m old, I firmly believe that it was Rose’s play in the first place.
Just my two cents.
The sun’s up, so anything goes in terms of loud outdoor activities? I guess that means that when the sun’s down, anything goes when it comes to playing loud music, right?
It’s wise to consider other people. At some point, you’re going to want them to shut the hell up too.
Jeter should have moved to center when Bernie Williams left. Third was never the right place for him, given that lousy first step.
Brent #38:
Sorry for the late response, no one’s probably reading any more anyway. You are right to make the point about Foster/Griffey. On the other hand, even if you think it was a 5-win swing (it wasn’t), well, the Reds won the division by 20 games… I guess it’s too late to bet on it, although that would be appropriate.
I have no problem saying Pete Rose was a great player. He was. I simply wish that it was more often acknowledged Joe Morgan was much, much better — it wasn’t even close.