Update to Upper Deck story

Upper Deck has released a statement in response to Topps’ exclusive agreement with MLB re baseball cards.  They have re-affirmed their agreement with the MLBPA which is at least half the battle.

The statement is difficult to parse out what with all the positive talk.  Phrases like:  “looking ahead”, “building the highest quality and most innovative baseball cards” and “looking forward to continuing the partnership”

The upshot of it all is that while Topps can use club logos (including logos on baseball caps), on their baseball cards,  Upper Deck cannot. 

Carl Pavano shuts down Tigers and maybe shuts up critics

I admit I snickered a bit when I read the news release about Minnesota trading for starting pitcher Carl Pavano.  My first reaction was: Is the Twins’ pitching really that bad off? 

Since 2004 when Pavano won 18 games with Florida, there have been continual trips to the DL not to mention countless disappointments for Yankee fans save for those who were smart enough to not to get their hopes up.  Pavano won only nine games between 2005-2008 including missing 2006 altogether.  This year with Cleveland, he has won nine games already despite a 5.37 ERA.  A positive stat for Pavano:  only 23 walks in 125+ innings.

Well, Carl Pavano may have quieted his critics a little after his first start tonight.  Against rival Detroit, he pitched seven scoreless innings in the Twins’ 11-0 victory.  Pavano was efficient, facing only 27 batters and throwing only 90 pitches.  And yeah, his control remained intact, walking none. 

Minnesota is within striking distance of first place in the AL Central.  With today’s win, they are only 4.5 games back behind first place Detroit and 2.5 behind second place Chicago.  The Twins put out the usual line that Carl Pavano is what they need to win down the homestretch.  I wonder if Pavano’s performance tonight helps them convince themselves of their own PR-speak (it shouldn’t surprise them TOO much, Pavano owns the Tigers.  He came into the game with a 3-0 record and a 1.93 for the season against them). 

Carl Pavano won’t come out and pitch shutout ball every start.  But it’s POSSIBLE he could be a productive member of their staff.  But the big issue with Mr Pavano is his health.  Hopefully for the Twins’ sake, history does not repeat itself.

A retro look: Making a lot out of nothing

Take a look at this 1999 box score between the White Sox and the Devil Rays and tell me if you see anything odd.

,

.

.

Give up?

Look at Frank Thomas’ line: 

2 runs scored, 2 rbis, and 0 at-bats.

He’s the only player in the last 55 years to score at least 2 runs AND drive in at least 2 runs without registering an at bat in one game.  He did so on the basis of three walks and a sacrifice fly. 

With the score 10-0, Jerry Manuel pinch hit for him with Brian Simmons (who?) in the 8th inning. James Baldwin got the win for those scoring at home. 

Incidentally, 1999 was the year the White Sox placed second in the Central Division based on their whopping 75-86 record. 

MLB Advanced Media introduces Twitter interface

It looks like MLB Advanced Media will be incorporating a Twitter client within its Gameday and MLB.tv interfaces for those fans who use the social networking tool.

gamedaytwitter

gdtwitterfull

I took the above screen captures from a Gameday stream between the Cubs and the Rockies.  The presence of the Twitter window will be opt-in (chosen by a tab) so for those who don’t use it, it won’t use up valuable screen real estate. 

The question is will the new system get used??  Most avid Twitter users already have a preferred method of using the micro-blogging tool, most likely a client program they’re comfortable with. 

But perhaps, it will spur the group of people who signed on to Twitter but never continued to use it
 to start using it  (Don’t know where I heard it but I think the majority of Twitter accounts remain inactive).  Maybe even some new people might give it a try. 

The Ron Villone List: Making a career of being mediocre

260px-7TH_Ron_Villone

You know the type of player I’m talking about.  The player who seems have been around forever but never be in the leaderboards, never make the All-Star team nor win the elusive awards.

The mediocre ballplayer.

Yet, for some reason, they have enough value in the majors to keep coming back year in and year out.

So I present to you, a top ten list (in no real particular order) of players who made a career of being mediocre.

Call it the Ron Villone List

Gabe Kapler

Years in the majors

 11

Crowning achievement

 in 2000, hit .302 in 444 at-bats

More representative statistic

 has not had more than 310 at-bats since 2002

Hard nosed Kapler (aka the “Hebrew Hammer”) was picked in the 57th round by the Detroit Tigers and subsequently became the latest picked player to make the Tiger roster.  Kapler turned some heads early in his career especially with the Rangers when he hit .344 in the second half of 2000.

Since then, it’s been up and down and all around for Kapler.  He had a brief stint with Colorado then it was back to Boston.  He never got the playing time he did early in his career.  In 2007, he even took a job a manager with Class A Greenville Drive before returning to the majors.

Sid Ponson

Years in the majors

 12

Crowning achievement

 went 17-12 in 2003 with a 3.75 ERA

More representative statistic

 5.03 career ERA, 15 wins in last four years.

Sidney Ponson has put his time in with the Baltimore Orioles and wins were far and far between. Ironically, his best year statwise was the year he split between the Orioles and the San Francisco Giants.  He went 17-12 with a pretty tasty 3.75 ERA.

Ponson has had his junky years though.  Between 2005-2007, his season ERAs were all above 6.20.

Doug Mientkiewicz

Years in the majors

 12

Crowning achievement

 hit .306 and won Gold Glove in 2001

More representative statistic

 28 homeruns in last five 1/2 years in typical power position

I wasn’t going to put Doug M in this list at all but in my straw poll, his name came up a couple times so I felt I had to put him in.  No doubt, his recent performance has influenced his inclusion.

Firstbaseman Mientkiewicz’ value baseball value is most definitely with the glove.  With the Twins early in his career, that and his control with the bat was good enough to play him every day.  In 2001, he not only won a Gold Glove but placed in the top 15 for MVP for that year.

Since 2005 though, he’s been a journeyman, playing for a different team each year and barely playing half-time.

Ron Villone

Years in the majors

 15

Crowning achievement

 10 wins as split starter in 2000 with the Reds

More representative statistic

 Six seasons of 5.00 plus ERA

If any player defines the word “journeyman”, it would be Ron Villone.  In his 15 year career, reliever Villone has never played for a team for more than two years.

Russ Springer

Years in the majors

 17

Crowning achievement

 Two seasons with St Louis with sub-2.50 ERA (2007-2008)

More representative statistic

 Seven seasons of 5.00 plus ERA (including his first four)

Most notable for his ejection for hitting Barry Bonds during his quest for homerun #713 than anything, Russ Springer, like Villone is a journeyman reliever.

In 17 seasons, he was on again, off again (mostly off) and never made the headlines nor was good enough to be a closer.  Interestingly, at age 38 and 39 with St Louis, Springer had two of his best years with ERAs of 2.18 and 2.32.

Casey Fossum

Years in the majors

 8

Crowning achievement

 (it’s hard to find one but
)  he managed a winning record (5-4) in 2002 with a 3.46 ERA

More representative statistic

 Season ERAs of 6.65 (2004) and 7.70 (2007) were more the norm

Ok, Fossum has only been around for eight years but I’m still including him.  It wasn’t hard.

Fossum actually started ok in his first two seasons with Boston going 8-6 with ERAs of 4.87 and then improving to 3.46 in 2002.

Then within the six years, things went downhill.  In 27 starts, he lost 15 for Arizona in 2004 with a sky-high 6.65 ERA.

The sad thing is that wasn’t his highest ERA.  Three years later, as a spot starter with Tampa, he managed a 7.70 mark.

Gregg Zaun

Years in the majors

 15

Crowning achievement

 hit 11 HR with 61 rbis in 2005 with Toronto

More representative statistic

 in 15 years, 2005 was his only full-time season

I hate to pick on any catcher especially one with a kick-ass web site (BRING YOUR Z-GAME!).  Catchers, even ones in a backup role, have an important role to play.

Gregg Zaun has been in the majors for 15 years, though, and has only managed to put in one full season.

Miguel Cairo

Years in the majors

 14

Crowning achievement

 between 1998-2000, stole 69 bases for Tampa Bay

More representative statistic

 for his career, Cairo has a .314 OBP and a .356 slugging percentage

Cairo’s value to his team is certainly not his hitting (career .265/.314/.356).

What’s kept him in the majors for 14 years is his versatility.  Throughout his career, Cairo has played every position save catcher and pitcher.  In 2008 alone, he did that for Seattle.

Jason LaRue

Years in the majors

 11

Crowning achievement

 hit double figures in HR between 2001-2005

More representative statistic

 in 2006-2008, average dipped to .194, .148 and .213

Sigh, another catcher but look at his numbers.  The difference is that LaRue has gotten his fair shot in the majors with 5 straight seasons of  400+ plate appearances.

Though he showed signs of power midway through his career (68 homers in five years), his .career 232 batting average and three straight BA of .194, .148 and .213. show patience on part of the GMs.

Russ Branyan

Years in the majors

 12

Crowning achievement

 this year without a doubt.

More representative statistic

 pick any year in the early 2000’s.  High strikeout %.

Branyan comes with a obvious big asterisk because of the phenomenal season he’s having right now.  Finally!

For years, Russell Oles Branyan spent time in the majors getting part time work as a thirdbaseman, outfielder or DH, whatever was needed.

I should know, I drafted him in my APBA league
 in the first round.

When Branyan came to bat you could expect one of three three things:  a strikeout, a walk or a homerun.  A single?  Forget about it!  With the Brewers in 2004, Big Russ had 23 extra base hits and 14 singles.

I was actually a fan of Branyan even in his lean, minus 200 at-bats days.  I always wondered what would happen if a team would take a chance on Russ and play him every day.

I guess we’re finding out now. The sad thing is, I’ve traded him from my APBA team.

Honorable Mention: Matt Stairs, David Weathers, Darren Oliver, Frank Catalanotto, Julio Lugo, others??

Thanks to the members of the Illowa APBA League for their help with this!

Cubs minor league pitcher sentenced for brawl incident

Justice moves slow in the minor leagues. Just ask Julio Castillo.

Julio Castillo was the pitcher who was involved in the bench-clearing brawl during the Dayton Dragons-Peoria Chiefs game in Dayton last July.  During the brawl, Castillo threw a ball into the stands and injured a fan.

Well, over a year later, he’s finally getting his due.  An Ohio judge sentenced him to 30 days in jail and three year’s probation. 

Castillo hasn’t pitched all year and it looks like he’ll have to wait till next year before he throws again. 

ESPN not seeing the big picture on social networking issue

twitter ESPN has now issued new guidelines to its employees on how they will interact on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. 

Essentially, the guidelines are two-pronged.  First, they prohibit discussing (on any social network forum) internal policies or how stories are “reported, written or produced”.

Second (and more open-ended), they prohibit employees from having sports-related blogs or websites.  Further, they require a supervisor’s approval before discussing sports matters on a social networking forum.  If employees violates the new policy, they are subject to dismissal or suspension.

To the first point, I agree with ESPN’s point.  Internal matters stay within the business.  To not do so would open up a whole can of messy legal worms.

As to the second point, I feel ESPN is going down the wrong road.  They are missing the whole point of social networking.  I don’t want to subscribe to Rob Neyer’s twitter stream so I can hear about his vacation. 

Will ESPN abandon Twitter and Facebook altogether?  I’m sure they won’t.  They will have ESPN-sanctioned accounts in which the content will be very factual indeed but come off as stilted and will smack of the “company line”. 

Should ESPN have come out with guidelines on how to deal with these new-fangled social networking sites?  Of course!  Employ new guidelines to encourage responsible online behavior.  Encourage employees to interact with the public and put a good face forward.

But to totally ban discussing the very topic that they are in the business to report seems so backwards to me.  And to threaten dismissal as a punishment
 the mind reels. 

Get with the times, ESPN.  It’s a brand new world out here.

Upper Deck shut out from Baseball card market

Wow, the baseball card business is dog eat dog. 

In a blow to Upper Deck and other competitors, MLB has signed a multi-year deal with The Topps Company to become the exclusive trading card maker for baseball.   The former CEO of Disney, Michael Eisner, is heading up Topps now.

This is the business double-speak that Eisner is spewing:

“This is redirecting the entire category toward kids.  Topps has been making cards for 60 years, the last 30 in a nonexclusive world that has caused confusion to the kid who walks into a Walmart or a hobby store. It’s also been difficult to promote cards as unique and original.”

Okay, did he really say that? Kids are “confused” because of a little market competition?

This deal leaves competitor trading card company Upper Deck out in the cold.  The upshot is this:  Upper Deck is allowed to use the “likeness of players” but no team logos and no trademarks. 

It’s an obvious coup for Topps that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Prior finished?

The San Diego Padres gave Mark Prior his walking papers.  After a last failed rehab stint, The Prior Experiment is over.  Finally.

I’ve never been a real Prior fan.  Even when he was with the Cubs, he never thrilled me.  His lack of fire for the game not to mention his continual trips to the disabled list didn’t endear me to him. 

Back in the day, many non-Cub fans would lump Prior in with Kerry Wood.  Both were talented pitchers with potential but were prone to injury. In my mind, the similarities stopped there.  Wood played with much more passion and identified with the team.  (Wood had another thing going for him too.  He was a favorite of GM Jim Hendry).

So when there were rumblings a few years back of a Prior trade (one rumor had him going to the Orioles for Miguel Tejada), I was all for it.  A lot of my friends thought I was nuts but all I saw was a pitcher who had one great year in 2003 and hadn’t backed it up since.  I was ready for a change. 

Prior got a lot of media press and attention from the fans after his 2003 season but all told, he just won 18 games in the next three seasons. 

Bitter?  Not much.

Prior got his chance with the Padres. It just wasn’t going happen.   Will another team take a chance on him?  I highly doubt it. 

Personal note to Cubs management:  Don’t Think About It!

Sorry, Mr Aaron, I respectfully disagree

There are few baseball players who I can say I have the ultimate respect.  I feel I can put Hank Aaron in that category.  He put in his time.  He played hard and played well.  He lived his life without scandal. 

But I have to disagree with him this time. 

Aaron has publically said (in front of a banquet of Associated Press writers) he wants the list of players who tested positive in 2003 for PEDs to be released to the public. 

Aaron has been a long time and vocal opponent of use of steroids and PEDs.  He has his reasons for releasing the list.  His reasons are admirable, no doubt.  With the release of the list, he reasons the use of PEDs will diminish among current players. 

The thought though, that a presumed PED user broke his all-time record most likely lingers in his mind. 

I still have to respectfully disagree.  These tests were given privately and with the agreement that no other entity would have access to them.  To this point, every name that you have heard up until now, has been an illegal breach of contract. 

I know it isn’t popular.  It is a very populist idea to think that we should find out who they are and punish them in whichever manner possible.  The fact is that there were no penalties for a positive result for the test back in 2003.  The MLB needs to respect this.  If MLB doesn’t honor that, good luck in trying to gain the players’ trust back. 

To what end would it serve to release the list?  We can’t rewrite history.  I suppose, as some have suggested we could restrict the Hall of Fame to only the “clean” ones (and measures of the like) but in my opinion, that would plunge baseball into dark, divisive, bitter scandal all for what is a relatively small number of players. 

MLB and the Players’ Union have a system currently in place for dealing with this issue.  Let’s focus on making sure this works and not go on witch hunts.