It may not look like it here, but I am writing during the Vipers off-season.  Bookmark 7th Inning Stache and follow me on Twitter to keep up-to-date on my thoughts on Pete Rose, the MLB salary cap, Calgary weather, and more (I’m going to squeeze some Vipers stuff in there, so don’t tell anyone in case I get busted).

You should be able to find out which writer I am from the featured writers page.

• Site: http://7is.neswblogs.com/
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/xolager

Wish me luck.  Go Vipers!

Philadelphia Phillies Broadcaster, Chris Wheeler is coming to The BrynChester Luxury Condominiums!

Chris will be signing his new book View From The Booth, Four Decades With The Phillies

Sunday, December 13th from 1-3

What a great gift for that special Phillies fan! Only $20.00 Signed and personalized by Chris.

Reserve your book today. Call: 610-353-0100 or email: MegSheaRealtor@comcast.net

The BrynChester is located at 3503 Rhoads Avenue, Newtown Square PA

(corner of Bryn Mawr Avenue and West Chester Pike)

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind…..you get the idea.

The recent Tiger Woods situation brings up an interesting discussion – how much information is too much and how much is not enough? We clamour for celebrity information like it is the food that fuels us. But aside from that, what information should be disclosed? When is providing too much information more damaging than good?

Every situation is different and it is hard to point the finger at someone without knowing all of the facts. The problem is, the less we know, the more we speculate. Many celebrity athlete blunders have blown over quickly when the truth was told early (see Kobe Bryant’s affair and Alex Rodriguez’s steroid use). However, we have also seen telling the truth backfire on others (see Pete Rose).

So what should Tiger do? Who knows, but there are tens (if not hundreds) of millions of people waiting to find out…that is a lot of pressure.

He finished third in this season’s Most Valuable Player of the year award voting and he also passed Ted Williams for 68^th place on the All-time hit list, not to mention trading in the pinstripes for the stars and stripes early this spring in an exhibition game at Steinbrenner Field. Now Derek Jeter can add Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year to his list of major league accolades. Jeter joins a fraternity that includes Hit King Pete Rose as well as 1998 winners Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, just to name a few. As early as last Wednesday evening the winner of this prestigious award was a toss up. Well at least it seemed that way up until Tiger Woods decided to smash his Escalade into a fire hydrant.

Sources have indicated to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune that Bud Selig will step down after the 2012 season. If this is true, then the next labor agreement, due in 2011, will likely be his high profile impact on the game of baseball will be.

Selig, in 1992 after Fay Vincent resigned became the defacto commissioner until being ‘voted’ in as commissioner in 1998. During his time, Selig will be known for a laundry list of things, some good, some bad. How his legacy after 2012 portrays him, who knows as he still has 3 seasons left to change a few things.

During his tenure, before the 1994 season, Selig realigned the American and National league into three divisions each and instituted the Wild Card playoff berth for both leagues. However, in 1994, baseball for the first time since 1904 did not hold a World Series which was canceled due to the work stoppage. Before baseball would officially recover from the strike, Selig instituted interleague baseball during the summer of 1997, which still stands today with great success.

Baseball would not fully recover from the ‘94 strike until the great HR chase of 1998 which in someways officially welcomed Selig’s greatest battle, performance enhancing drugs. Since 2005, Major League baseball has instituted a tougher performance-enhancing drugs testing policy, but still has some holes (See: HGH testing), however it is much better in a time when it is needed.

Going forward, Bud Selig was further embarrassed when he called the MLB All Star game in 2002, in his hometown of Milwaukee, in the 11th inning of a 7-7 tie. Since then, the winner of the All Star Game would have homefield advantage during the World Series.

In a good move, Bud Selig created the World Baseball Classic (with help from the International Baseball Federation) which for the most part has produced positive results with few drawbacks. The next WBC will be in 2013 and will continue every four years.

In 2008, Selig instituted instant replay for disputed home run calls (Alex Rodriguez thanks you), but nothing else further. With the institution of instant replay for home runs, many people have called for expanded use of replay, especially after the 2009 Postseason. However, Selig still stands against expanding replay, which might stand until he leaves office.

Looking back on everything that has happened, it might be easy to paint Selig’s time in office as slightly bad considering the impact of the 1994 strike and performance enhancing drugs. However, I point to the success of interleague play, the wild card and introduction of revenue sharing. In my honest opinion, Selig will be vilified for things that happened earlier in his tenure (See: ‘94 Strike, PEDs), but will likely be remembered in a good light for items he has done mid to later in his tenure (Instant Replay, Drug Testing, Revenue Sharing).

 11:59 pm

I Flipped off Buffalo Bills Fans and Got Fined $250k? – NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - Boy, the nerve of some of these professional sports league commissioners.  They must think that they’re gods or something, what with the way they run things in their neck of the woods.  Take that rat fink Bud Selig for example.  He’s got a stick up his ass for Pete Rose and banned him from baseball for life over some harmless bets with friends,  but he let Barry Bonds get away with juicing up the homerun record.  Or what about David Stern?  The NBA is full of thugs on parole and their players are in the news more than Barack Obama, but he looks away and counts his paper bag money in the men’s room at the JCC.  Same with Goodell and his pack of jackals in the NFL.  He let Ray Lewis get away with murder, and he fined Bud Adams a $ quarter mill for telling Buffalo fans to fluck off after his team whipped the Bills’ ass.

The NFL fined Titans owner Bud Adams $250,000 on Monday for flipping off Buffalo fans while celebrating his 41-17 win over the Bills on Sunday. Adams was seen giving the Buffalo fans the finger off and on from his luxury suite and again on the field at the end of the game Sunday when he walked around the end zone with birds flying from both hands.  The next day 86-year-old Adams, whose a bit of wise ass, said he got caught up in the excitement of the win. ”I do realize that those types of things shouldn’t happen,” Adams said. “I need to specifically apologize to the Bills, their fans, our fans and the NFL. I obviously have a great deal of respect for Ralph Wilson and the history we have shared. But, we did kick their ass today, and I took a quarter milli off of Roger Goodell too” (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091117/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_titans_adams;_ylt=AgGRxCebDcWtLQfy377MgFkLMxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJocTNkM2U1BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMTE3L2Zibl90aXRhbnNfYWRhbXMEY3BvcwMzBHBvcwM3BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2dvb2RlbGxmaW5lcw–)

 To make matters worse, Goodell was at Sunday’s game and after having breakfast with Adams made a straight bet on the game for $250,000.  Goodell left Adams’ suite at the end of the third quarter grinning like a virgin then spent the fourth quarter sitting with fans  and crying his eyes out in the end zone before leaving the stadium.  Video of Adams laughing like a hyena and flipping the crowd off from his suite was caught by a fan and was all over the Internet and cable TV by Monday afternoon.  Who cares? You’d be laughing your ass off and flipping of the crowd if you just took Roger Goodell for a $quarter million.

March 28, 1999
Live from Philadelphia, PA.
Your hosts: Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler

WWF Hardcore Title: Billy Gunn vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Al Snow (w/Head).
Holly is insanely over at this time with the crowd. Holly suplexes Snow on the outside. Snow beats down them with a hockey stick. Gunn thumps him with a food-tray and then breaks a stick over Holly’s back. Snow goes low on him with the broomstick and does some kung-fu stuff. Snow nails Holly with a broomstick and beats up Gunn. Al takes Head and nails both guys. He places up a table in the corner. Holly sends Snow through the table. Gunn hits Snow on the chair with his finisher. As Gunn is pinning Snow, Holly nails him with a chair, and pins Snow himself @ 7:06. Defiantly not a masterpiece, but had some fun spots and got the crowd into it. Not the worst way to start off the PPV,but not the best either. It was funny that everyone who held the hardcore title, which had no credibility, got over immensely with the crowd. * ½

• Highlights are shown from Tag Team Battle Royal hyping up the next match.

WWF Tag Team Titles: Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett (w/Debra) vs. Test & D’Lo Brown (w/Ivory).

The Tag Titles here meant less than they did now, and they wouldn’t pick up until Edge, Christian and the Hardy Boys came along. D’Lo goes for the Powerbomb, but Owen comes off the top and missile dropkicks him. Jarrett rolls into a jackknife for the win @ 3:58. Four minutes for a tagteam match on Wrestlemania!? Give me a break. At least they tried to pack as much as they can in such little time they had, but they couldn’t do that much in four minutes. * ¼

• People give their opinion on the Butterbean vs. Bart Gunn match, as they try to hype it up.

Brawl For All: Butterbean vs. Bart Gunn.

Butterbean catches him with a solid right and stubbles him. He tilts in and knocks Gunn down. Gunn says he’s alright, but Butterbean moves in and nails him with a right cross @ 0:35. Well that’s one way to get a famous person on the show;however, it still sucked.  N/R

Winner Referee’s the Main Event: Paul Wight vs. Mankind.

This was around the time where they couldn’t think of a name for Paul, but then they finally came up with Big Show, and it stuck with him. Show misses a swing. Mankind puts Mr. Socko in. Show starts fighting out of it, but Mankind keeps the hold in. Show finally picks him up and squashes him down to the canvas.  On the outside of the ring, Show hits Foley with a chair. Big Show then beats up Mankind in the ring, and eventually draws a DQ @ 6:50. Vince McMahon comes out pissed, and he starts yelling at Big Show for ruining the plain; then Vince pimp slaps Big Show, and then Big Show levels him. Vince wants to have Big Show the ref because he wants to give Austin a disadvantage, but Big Show screws the plain up. The match would have been better placed on Raw rather than the number one PPV of the year. Also, am I the only one who finds it funny that this beatdown put Mankind out of action, but his fiercer beat downs didn’t? ¼*

• Backstage, Vince wants Big Show to be arrested.

WWF Intercontinental Title, Four Corners: Road Dogg vs. Val Venis vs. Goldust (w/the Blue Meanie & Ryan Shamrock) vs. Ken Shamrock.

Ryan wounded up screwing Val, Billy Gunn, and Golddust to irate Shamrock, whore! Shamrock and Dogg start out the match. RD hits a dropkick and tags in Golddust. Golddust strikes away and throws Shamrock in Val’s corner. Val tags in and attacks Shamrock.Road Dog counters a Northern-Light and gets the Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Shamrock puts in the anklelock, but Val makes it to the ropes. They take it to the outside, and fight up the walkway where they both get counted out. Road Dog and Goldust are left. Shamrock obliterates them. Ryan by mistake grabs Golddust’s ankle, costing him. He gets a powerslam, but Road Dog rolls through it @ 9:47. No story, no structure and zero-percent of psychology; a bunch of spots thrown into one match with no flow. *

Kane vs. Triple H.

A San Diego Chicken comes out and goes after Kane. It turns out to be Pete Rose, but Kane gives him a TombStone, and it is enough distraction for Triple H to sneak behind and lowblow Kane. Kane tosses HHH away after some punches. Triple H sends him to the floor, but Kane lands on his feet, and pulls HHH out. Hunter irish-whips him into the steps.  Triple H gets him over and slams his face on the announce table. Kane nails H’s ribs into the ring-post. In the ring, Kane throws Hunter to the turnbuckle. Chyna then makes her way down to the ring. Hunter gets out of a Tombstone. Kane charges with the steel steps, but Hunter kicks them back in his face. Hunter trips him,and Kane goes face first into the steps. Triple H lariats him over the top. He goes for the Pedigree on the ring steps, but Kane backdrops him. Kane gets the chokeslam, and Chyna gets up on the apron with a chair. Kane turns him back and whack! SWERVE!  Kane wins by dq @ 11:30. HHH and Chyna start doing a beat down on Kane and DX lives on. Couldn’t Chyna have turned on Kane, and still gave us a real finish; seriously, who wants to see a DQ finish on Wrestlemania? Nothing reached 2^nd gear in this match up; kind of felt like both wrestlers were on auto-pilot.  It is amazing how much HHH would improve over the course of this year. ¾*

WWF Women’s Title: Sable vs. Tori.

Sable gets on the mic, and whoever thought it was a good idea for her to talk should have been fired. Tori wrestles her down and punches her in the face. Tori nails her with a sunset flip. Tori accidentally takes out the referee. Tori mingles out of the Sablebomb and goes for her own—but Nicole Bass press slams her. Sable finishes Tori with the Sablebomb at 5:06. This is not even the worse match of the night. -*

European Title: Shane McMahon (w/Test) vs. X-Pac.

Shane avoids the Broncobuster and runs. Test illegal attacks X-Pac from behind and puts him groin first in the ring post. Shane gets pimp slaps X-Pac around. He misses the Corporate Elbow, but Test distracts the ref while Shane gives X-Pac a low blow. Shane takes Test’s belt and beats up X-Pac. Shane to the top, but X-Pac dropkicks him on the top rope. Test takes X-Pac to the outside, but the Pac dodges him. X-Pac kicks the poop out of Shane and nails the Broncobuster. Test gets in and levels him with the belt. Shane misses the Broncobuster. X-Pac nails a spinning wheel kick on Test; followed by the Broncobuster on Test. Triple H runs down and pulls Test out. Chyna distracts the ref long enough, but HHH turns on X-Pac. Shane covers and gets the win at 8:41. The Corporation beats down X-Pac, but Kane makes the save. Shocking swerve by HHH; at least at the time. It was surprising to see of all the matches in the mid-card; this was the best one out of all of them. It would have been better with less overbooking, less inconsistency of the rules and more time. But overall, it was still a solid match, which felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the other crap on this show. ** ½

Hell in the Cell: Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Big Bossman.

They trade blows, and Taker gets a near-fall off a clothesline. Bossman comes back with a neckbreaker. Taker starts beating him down. Taker jolts him into the cell’s post. Bossman ties Taker up with chains and hits him with his nightstick. The cuffs snap and Taker falls down. Taker gets busted open. Taker hits him with a chairshot. Taker rams Bossman into the cell. Taker hits a flying clothesline for only 2.Taker goes up but can’t hit the Ropewalk forearm because the Cell in too small. Bossman takes the advantage and crotches him on the rope. Taker comes back with the Tombstone Piledriver for the three @ 9:46. Heel vs. Heel barely ever works because the fans don’t know who to cheer for or to boo, so it usually ends up being a dead and a not very interesting crowd. Not only did that take place, the match was awful also. Not the worse match I have ever seen, not even Taker’s worse match I have ever seen, but still pretty damn bad. -***

WWF Heavyweight Title, No DQ: The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Jim Ross replaces Michael Cole and commissioner Shawn  Michaels removes Vince McMahon as ref. Austin and Rock brawl in the crowd, which. They fight to the staging area where Austin throws him into the railing. Austin tries a piledriver, but Rock backdrops him.Austin comes back and stomps a mudpile in the nuts. Austin strangles him with an extension cord and whips Rock into the entrance sign. Back near the announce tables, Rock gives him a water spot. Austin Snake Eyes him on the ring barrier, and follows by an elbow through the Spanish table. Back in, Rock hits a Rock Bottom. ONE-TWO-THR—NO! Rock gets a chair, but Austin takes it away from him. Austin hits the referee with the chair on accident. Austin blocks a chair shot, but can’t hit the Stunner. Rock beats on him with the chair. Tim White comes in. ONE-TWO-NO. Rock puts in a chinlock. Austin fights out of the chin lock but runs into a Samoan Drop for 2. Rock takes the ref out with a Rock Bottom. Rock turns around right into the Stunner! Rock does his overselling on the Stunner. Earl Hebner is the new ref. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Vince McMahon comes down and distracts Austin. McMahon nails Earl Hebner and joins the Rock in beating down Austin. Mankind comes out and throws Vince out of the ring. Austin gets two off a schoolboy, but hits a Thez Press. Rock regroups with the Rock Bottom. The Corporate Elbow misses, and Austin counters another Rock Bottom to the Stunner. ONE-TWO THREE! Austin wins @ 16:51. The typical Russo overbooking works here as this match is very fun. Not on par with their matches to come such as WM-17 and 19, but a great effort here. Some noticeable flaws in the match, and an obvious botch, but it didn’t make this less exciting. The match really didn’t have a dull moment, which it good, but I could have gone without the typical Attitude Era crowd brawling. The final sequence was really put together well, and created some good drama. One of the best matches of WWF in 1999, but that’s not really saying much. *** ½

Going Home: This is what happens when you allow Russo to book a Wrestlemania; it turns out to be one of the worse ones up to date. 2 out of 10 of the matches are above bad, and everything else basically is garbage. Wrestlemania should be about wrestling, mostly. Of course you can have your actors, famous people, and all the other entertainment stuff, but Wrestlemania is you’re “A” show, and you should build previous shows up for this one. In this case, Russo used this show to build up angles for the future, and for the show. Wrestlemania shouldn’t be based on storylines and angles; it should be focused on the wrestling. Raw is where you mostly focus on angles and storylines. It is pretty much 101 booking that you use TV shows to build up PPV. Russo still to this day does not understand that concept, and TNA’s buyrates are that low for that reason.

Two Thumbs Way Down.

DELETED SCENE: Much like the bit in the movie where Sacha Baron Cohen’s character has Paula Abdul sit on Mexican laborers, he pulls the same bit on Major League Baseball legend Pete Rose.

Funny thing is Pete Rose doesn’t seem to have much of a problem with it.

Source:
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/firstcuts/entry/view/41907/unaired_bruno_clip_pete_rose_interview

This guy was not afraid to get hurt.

Athomeatfenway.com had the opportunity to do a Q & A with Jerry Moses, Red Sox catcher from 1968 to 1970.

Some remember Jerry as the Yazoo City, MS gridiron star who chose Baseball over Football but was sidetracked by injuries.  Others recall Jerry as the 1970 All Star who had a ringside seat on the collision between Pete Rose & Ray Fosse.

When you meet him today, he is a friendly, soft spoken man with a kind countenance that hides his toughness.

He trained with Ted, cheered for Mantle and ran with the Hawk & Frank Howard.

You were a big bonus baby.  How did injuries effect your career ?

Three times I broke my middle finger, I did it even though I put my hand behind the glove.  Anytime the ball went below my glove I flipped it and the hand automatically opened up.  I couldn’t stop it.  I was out 6 to 8 weeks each time I broke it.  The one that really got me was in 1970 when Bert Campaneris was batting in Oakland, and he came around on his swing and hit my glove hand, crushing the network of nerves in my hand.  I tried to play about two weeks with it being that way, but finally the manager said what’s wrong with you ? I said “Nothing’, and he said, ‘Well, you’re not even swinging the bat.”  I said, “I can’t”.  I was bunting for base hits.  I was trying to get walks.  The injury  caught up with me.  I didn’t play the rest of the year.  I got traded the next year. 

The 1970 All Star Game:  Pete Rose & Ray Fosse

I think Ray Fosse and I should have been the only two catchers on the team.  But it didn’t work that way.  Bill Frehan was hitting around .240, but all the fans voting decided Bill should be there, even though Fosse and I were hitting about .310 a piece.  I didn’t get in the game.  When Fosse got in, there was no shot for me because they have to keep somebody as a backup if someone gets hurt.  So, when the collision happened, I was in an open area where the pitchers were getting ready.  We’re in Cinncinati and it’s the 14^th inning, and here comes Rose around 3^rd.   Ray tried to block the plate without having the ball.  Rose came in shoulder first, and Fosse didn’t know Rose was going to hit him like that.  He came in full bore.  That’s the way Rose played.  He played hard.  I don’t think he had to do that.  I don’t think he should have.  And I don’t think Fosse should have tried to do what he did because that game didn’t mean anything at the time like it does now.  But I will say this, and I’ve said it my whole life:  I had a football mentality, not necessarily a baseball one, and I don’t believe he would have ever gotten to the plate and run over me like he ran over Fosse.  If he did, he would have felt it.  I played a lot of football and I didn’t mind getting hurt.

What do you recall about Gibson and Satriano – the late 60’s Sox catchers ?

In 1970, Satriano was the back up.  He got to catch some because Sonny Siebert and I didn’t see eye-to-eye. Siebert nibbled too much and he didn’t want to challenge the batters. Satriano ended up catching Siebert every time.  The other catcher was Russ Gibson.  Gibby had come up in ’67, playing that year with Elston Howard and Mike Ryan.  In ’68, Gibby caught a good bit of the games and Elston was only there a little that year.  Then in ’69, Gibby was the starting catcher and I was his back up.  In 1970, Eddie Kasko named me as his starting catcher, and Gibby ended up going to the Giants.

Did you recall Hawk Harrelson’s famous psychedelic wardrobe, Nehru jackets, racks of designer shoes and boots?

I loved Hawk.  He was a character.  He swung the bat pretty darn good.   He was unique in so many ways.  I loved him.    He may not have had all the tools, but he had enough.  I saw his Nehru clothing and his cowboy hat and boots, and that was just him.  I was with him a few times on the road, we’d go out to dinner and have a few drinks together, if we were in Washington, he and Frank Howard and a bunch of us would get together and go night clubbing.  These were high profile guys and I was just getting to the majors, so I enjoyed it.  Hawk took me along.  He was somewhat older than me, he had his own group, but he was good to me.

What was Frank Howard like to spend time with ?

The best.  Everytime he came up to bat, the first thing he would do was to greet the catcher, “How you doin’ ?”.  I’m doing fine, how you doin’?”  He was the nicest guy.

He was a guy we listened to.  We were playing Washington at Fenway one day, when Siebert, Reggie Smith and a Senator ended up in an exchange with somebody hitting somebody else, and all of a sudden we started fighting.  And Howard ran in from left field and gets in the middle of it, and says, “Boys, cut this out.”.  And we did.  We listened to him. No one could hit a ball as far he did.

Did you spend time with Ted Williams ?

Yes, actually.  7 years with Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams, both as hitting instructors.  Ted worked a lot with me.  I was a bonus kid that came out early.  This was pre-draft.  I guess they babied me through my time coming in.  It was really an awful situation in that you had two great hitters, great players, great HOF’ers, and what they did they did well, but they had two different ideas of how you should hit.  Doerr wanted you to hit on top of the ball, not necessarily swing down on the ball, but swing close to it.  And Williams wanted you to swing up…and I heard that difference of opinion year after year after year.

There was this wonderful video that Bobby did with Ted, and Bobby gave it to me because he knew I loved both of them.

Bobby was so neat…and Ted was John Wayne, you know, that’s what they called him.

It hurt my hitting to work with both of them.  The first year I hit 13 HR’s in 8 weeks in single-A ball.  I had no problem getting the ball out of the park.  Hitting HR’s was one of the reasons that the Red Sox outbid everyone else for me.  And then once I got into the organization, I tried to do what Ted told me and what Bobby told me.  Before you knew it I became a line drive hitter.  Hitting line drives isn’t a bad thing, but I never hit more than 7 HR’s a year.

Did you find Ted the hitting instructor to be overly technical ?  Mantle once said that Ted confused him.

Ted expected everybody to be as good as him.  And nobody was.

Mantle was my idol, as a kid growing up.  Down in Missisippi, the only guys we could see were the Yankees on Saturdays.

Anyway, I apologized for not being as good as Ted Williams wanted me to be.

Favorite guy to catch ?

Oh, I loved Lonborg.  I didn’t get to catch him as much as I wanted to.  Lonborg and Ray Culp were great. I think Ken Brett would have been a HOF’er had he not hurt his shoulder.

I caught Gaylord Perry with the spitball.  He was a master, a pro’s pro, a tough guy, not always gentle with guys he did not think were hustling.

Favorite pitcher to hit ?

I hit Nolan Ryan pretty good…I went 1 for 3…He K’d me once, I popped out once, and in the third at bat I bailed out on a curveball and broke my bat with the ball going over the shortstop’s head for a single.  God, Ryan could throw the ball.  I didn’t have to face him often.  You didn’t have a chance to tell if there was a tail on the ball because it was coming so quick.

I thought Rollie Fingers was one of the toughest guys coming out of the bullpen.  He had a ball that would sink and a slider that would go the other way.  If you didn’t guess right you weren’t going to come close to it.

It seemed like I hit the better pitchers better than I hit the guys who didn’t pitch so good.  I’m not bragging about any of it.  I hit fairly good off Bert Blyleven, and Jim Palmer, but not so well against the two Baltimore lefthanders, Cuellar and McNally.

I didn’t hit Catfish Hunter well, a guy who never let anybody hit a HR when there were men on base.   He’d wear you out inside and then come outside, and then with the slider.  I faced Hunter 30 or 40 times and always wanted to bat against him because I thought I could hit him, but I never got a hit…..

The good pitchers all pitched inside.  I knew a lot of guys who wouldn’t throw inside because they were afraid of giving up a home run.  You have to have the confidence.

The pitcher is going to pitch whatever he wants to pitch.  The catcher just makes the signs.  But if you have that chemistry, they won’t shake you off more than 3 or 4 times a game.  That’s what made guys like Bill Lee so good.  He’d pitch to you inside.   Bill didn’t throw the ball over 90 or 91 mph, but he would throw strikes….he was a little crazy, but he could pitch.

+++++++++++++

Gerry Moses came straight out of Baseball into the Food business where he has stayed for 40 years.  Among other successful ventures, he is the founder of Ann’s Boston Brownie Company.

He is in good health, is still working and having fun.  He works out and makes it a habit to eat healthfully.  He credits his wife of 41 years, Carolyn, for keeping him in line.  “If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know what I’d have done; she’s the strength of our house.

Gerry says the present BoSox owners “have been fabulous.  They embraced us and involve us…they seem to understand marketing better than most…..they get us (retired players) into Fenway despite the sell outs…I am lucky and proud to still be in the Red Sox family.”

Moses also added that the Sox he played with were multi-talented.  “We thought after ’67 we were going to have a good run there, but Lonborg got hurt, Santiago got hurt, Mike Andrews got hurt.

Those are the BoSox I remember so well.  Moses, Yaz, Reggie, Harper, Andrews, Rico, Boomer, both Conigliaro’s, Peters, Nagy, Romo, Lee, Lyle, Culp, Siebert and John Kennedy, the super sub.

That pre-Rice era of BoSox played its heart out and won more than it lost.

Gerry Moses fit right in.

Fosse's shoulder injury may have cancelled his ticket to stardom.

Vern Rapp Cincinnati Reds 1984 Topps Traded No. 96-T

Vern Rapp Cincinnati Reds 1984 Topps Traded No. 96-T back.

Vern Rapp had the opportunity to be the manager of two manager teams, unfortunately each of his tenures as a skipper bumped up against a pair of baseball legends.

Rapp was planning to retire as a coach of Montréal Expos at the close of the 1983 season when he received a surprise phone call from Bob Hassam, the architect of the Big Red Machine, asking him to become the Reds skipper.

When started the 1984 season it was the first time in 22 years that Cincinnati’s roster did not include Pete Rose or Johnny Bench. In the 121 games that he managed he used 101 different lineups, according to a Cincinnati Magazine article.

Hal McCoy, the hall of fame former Cincinnati beat writer for the Dayton Daily News wrote in 2008 that Rapp made the Reds’ clubhouse look like a high school locker room by posting motivational posters such as “When in doubt, slide,” “What you see in here stays in here” and “You’re the best.” McCoy dubbed Rapp was the Reds’ worst skipper during the 37 years he covered the team.

Rapp had a record of 50-71 when the Reds acquired their hometown hero Rose from the Expos on August 15 and was immediately named player-manager.  McCoy recently wrote that he mistakenly delivered the news to Rapp during batting practice at the old Busch Stadium in St. Louis. McCoy went on to say that Rapp made an immediate beeline to the clubhouse search for an explanation to the surprising news.

After the firing, the Cincinnati Enquirer published a quote from an anonymous Reds player who was not sorry to see Rapp go, according to Cincinnati Magazine. “You’ve got to respect your manager,” the unnamed player said. “You don’t have to like him, but you sure as hell have to respect him. I haven’t talked to anybody here who even likes the guy, much less respect him.

Rapp was a catcher during a 13-year minor career that was interrupted from 1951-52 due to military service in the Korean War. He reached the AAA level with the Columbus Red Birds, a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate, in 1948 and 49.

After a second decade in the minors, Rapp became a coach in the New York Yankees system starting in 1960, but that did not mean his playing days were over. He appeared in 36 games for the Denver Bears during his first season as a coach. The next season he appeared in three games and recorded a hit in his only at bat, while coaching for the Modesto Reds, who were actually a part of the Yankees’ organization.

Rapp went on to play into two more games well into his coaching career. He doubled in on plate appearance while managing the Arkansas Travelers in 1966 and a decade later he recorded a RBI single at the age of 48 while managing the Denver Bears.

The next season Rapp finally made it to the major league level when he went onto replace Red Schoendienst, the hall of fame and popular manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. Just like his later stint in Cincinnati Rapp, was also an unpopular leader. During his first season at the helm he guided the Cardinals to a third place finish, which was an 11 game improvement for the club. However a 6-11 start to the 1977 season led St. Louis to fire Rapp.

Overall Rapp had a 140-160 record as a big-league manager.

Obviously the person who stated that ‘Size Doesn’t Matter’ was not an autographed baseball collector!!!

My collection has grown to 15 signed baseballs now and as the quantity increases, the quality continues to soar as well.

I still have a few tricks up my sleeve in obtaining more, but for now I am very pleased with how this has turned out.  Collecting these baseballs has been a ton of fun, and I look forward to adding a few more quality pieces during this off-season.

A breakdown:

Billy Williams, Andre Dawson w/89 NL MVP inscription,  Fergie Jenkins w/HOF 91 inscription, Tim Raines w/#30, Mark Grace, Pete Rose w/#4256 inscription, Jim Palmer personalized w/1973,74,76 CY and HOF 90 inscription, Jim Abbott w/9/4/93 No Hitter! inscription, Ron Santo, Lee Smith w/478 saves inscription, Ryne Sandberg, Cameron Maybin w/#24, Jeff Conine, Tony Perez, and Dan Uggla w/#6.

If you like this, just wait.  I am hoping to add some great stuff in the coming months!!

I think it’s safe to say the best two teams in major-league baseball are meeting in the 2009 World Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies are looking to repeat as world champions and the New York Yankees had the best regular-season record (103-59) this season.

The Phillies are looking to become the first National League team to win titles in back-to-back years since the Cincinnati Reds in 1975-76. Hard to believe it’s been 33 years since the “Big Red Machine” (Johnny Bench, George Foster, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Pete Rose, et al) ruled the sport.

And the Yankees, believe it or not, haven’t won a World Series title since outclassing the New York Mets in 2000. That’s quite a drought for a team that won four crowns in five seasons from 1996-2000.

The matchup also fuels hope that this year’s “Fall Classic” — or do we now call it the “November Classic” since baseball’s decision-makers and television executives schedule more off-days for the playoffs than furloughed workers in California receive? — might be a memorable one.

Recent World Series matchups have been lame or lackluster (and sometimes both). Or maybe you’ve forgotten that the World Series hasn’t lasted more than five games since 2003.

The Boston Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004, the Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros in 2005, the Cardinals finished off the Detroit Tigers in five games in 2006, the Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies in 2007, and the Phillies closed out the Tampa Bay Rays in five games last year.

That’s a long time without a World Series for the ages so perhaps baseball is due for a good one. It doesn’t hurt that there’s a lot of star power in this matchup.

The Phillies are loaded with offensive stars in Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth and two fine left-handed starting pitchers in Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels (the 2008 World Series MVP). The Yankees, of course, are led by Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez with icon closer Mariano Rivera still performing at the highest level. Starting pitchers CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte — two more good lefties — lead the rotation and hitters like Mark Teixeira, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada and Johnny Damon are part of a solid lineup.

I break down the talent and analyze the matchups and it’s reasonable to think this could be the first World Series since 2002 (when the then-Anaheim Angels made sure Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants didn’t get a World Series ring) to go the full seven games. I realize Rollins is on record as predicting the Phillies will close out the Yankees in five games but I disagree with the shortstop.

Not about which team will win but in the length of the series:

MrSportsBlog is predicting the Phillies in six games.

Has anyone else out there given up on the idea that Managers have to be good developers of people?  I’m close…real close.  I’m not saying they can’t be or they shouldn’t be.  I am just saying that if they aren’t, they should get the hell out-of-the-way.  I know there are some companies out there that do a really good job of holding their managers accountable to this aspect of their role – providing them with the appropriate training, measures, incentives and accountability tools.  If you work for one of those companies, you’re lucky.  The majority of us, however, are more familiar with those organizations that will always let the manager’s contribution to the bottom line (as measured by traditional financial results) shadow any ineffectiveness in promoting and developing their people.  Ya know what, I’m OK with that.  But admit it and stop trying to pay lip service – and throw resources out the window – to the idea that the management team is good at and responsible for the advancement of staff.  Being a good developer, a good coach, isn’t something you just flip a switch on like “ok you’re a manager now, get at it…your employees are waiting.”   You may ask any ole’ father to coach the third grade soccer team, but you wouldn’t let him get close to the coaching staff of a World Cup team.  And Pete Rose was marginal as a player/coach…remember that?  Isn’t this the workplace equivalent?  Let’s face it, most of the time managers learn how to develop people directly from their managers and most of the time those managers suck at development too.  Here’s the cold hard reality: even if managers are good at development, even if they want to be more active in and deliberate with their employees’ advancement, there will always be something else which will occupy the number one spot on a long list of priorities…always!  And who suffers?  The employee…always!

So why not hire a couple of full-time coaches who can keep it as the number one spot on a short list of priorities?  People who are educated, trained, experienced, and proven to be effective in getting people to identify key areas for development, helping them focus on those areas, and then holding them accountable to them.  Have them work closely with the manager in gaining perspective and insight to the employee’s needs, but then let them get back to what they are good at (or to whatever the squeaky wheel is).  Two full-time coaches could provide up to 4 hours of dedicated coaching time annually for each employee in a 1,000 person organization.  Imagine what you could do with that.  And we’re not talking about a huge investment; plus any investment will be offset by the heightened productivity of your managers who no longer need to worry about filling out evaluation forms, etc.  And these coaches won’t just be “going through the motions.”  They’ll be making measurable and meaningful impact to the employees’ preparedness, productivity, potential, and advancement.  They can help cull the low performers and keep the HiPos.  They can help manage risk, plan for succession, and on and on and on…

Does anyone out there do something like this with success?  If so, how?  If not, why?

All of his life he had just been hoping
to catch a foul ball off of a Phillies’ bat.
As a kid he remembers sitting
in Section 514, with his Pop,
and watching a boy his age, in 218,
make a clean catch, one off Rose’s bat
no bunch of other little pack-rats,
scrabbling around in the seats for a loose ball,
a perfect form catch
like he had been taught to make in right field. 

All these years, nothing had come even close.
Hey, what’s the probability anyway?
He knew the statistics, just
like he recalculated each Phillies’ batting average
after the games. 

There was once when his Pop and he
sat in the first row of the Upper Deck,
the ball came sailing towards them
and he knew, that if he reached over the railing,
stretched as far as his small frame
would permit, that he could have had a chance
to catch it, but he was intimidated by that railing,
and the height. Only tepidly extended his arm
and just missed. 

Today, 20 years later, his Pop is gone
he sat with his 3 year old daughter
who wore a pink baseball cap.
He was sharing his memories with her -
and making her own,
when all of a sudden, he heard the crack
looked up and saw the ball heading his way
no time to put on his glove, which he still carried with him.
He reached up and made a fatherly, bare
handed catch. He knew inside his heart
that this should mean as much to her, as to him.
She would be waiting for this he was sure
the way he had all his life.
His long time dream reached. 

He took the prize and shared it with her
handing it over.
She turned, wanting to please her Pop
the same way a catch by him
would have swelled up pride in his own dad,
and with one mighty heave
tossed the ball back onto the field. 

One, not a father, might have wondered about
this frustrating moment, unexpected turn.
A lifetime dream lost, irretrievably.
He, in fact, was proud,
hugged her to make this moment his own,
the joy in her face – proving to her Pop
that she could do it, was all that he needed -
from the Ball that Got Away.

Ray Brown

A recent Wall Street Journal article written by Donald J. Boudreaux, a professor of Economics at George Mason University, makes the case that insider trading is actually healthy for the operations of the financial markets. The arrest of Galleon Group founder and hedge fund manager, Raj Rajaratnam, is a tragedy according to the article’s author. Specifically he says, “Insiders buying and selling stocks based on their knowledge play a critical role in keeping asset prices honest—in keeping prices from lying to the public about corporate realities.”

Oh really? Then I suppose Professor Boudreaux would be fine with all-time leading hitter and former Cincinnati Reds Manager betting on his own baseball team to win or lose.

Another disputed aspect of insider trading by Boudreaux is the inability to monitor the crime. “Insider trading is impossible to police and…parsing the difference between legal and illegal insider trading is futile—and a disservice to all investors.” Maybe heroin and cocaine should be legalized too, since we can’t completely police these crimes either? Seems to me the insider trading laws are pretty clear what insiders can and cannot do with material information. The digital world we live in today only empowers investigators more than ever to discover clear electronic footprint trails connecting trading and banking accounts. Certainly, there will be creative crooks like Bernie Madoff that can slyly succeed for a period of time, but those that grasp too far will eventually get caught.

Professor Boudreaux goes on to describe the scenario of an unscrupulous CEO at a hypothetical company (Acme Inc.) driving a company into bankruptcy. He argues employees, creditors, and investors would be better served by a CEO enriching himself with insider trading in the name of price efficiency. Capital productivity would be enhanced for creditors/investors thanks to information efficiency and employees could manage their job hunting effectively.

Sounds great Don, but in a legal insider trading world, don’t you think inefficient, unscrupulous behavior for siphoning information from executives might lead to distracting and wasteful corporate actions? If I’m an employee at ACME Inc. and I can make more money trading ACME stock, rather than being a productive employee making widgets, then it doesn’t take a genius to figure out where my 40 hour work week concentration will reside. Moreover, how is a sabotaging CEO, who is raking in millions by shorting his company’s stock ,supposed to be a good thing for stakeholders? I strongly disagree. Stakeholders will be jeopardized more by an unfocused, greed-absorbed workforce than by the current enforcement structure, which strives for an even playing field of information.

After forcefully arguing trading on insider information should not be prohibited, the professor hedges his stance by saying there are exceptions: “There are, of course, situations in which it is in the interest of both a company and the public for that company to delay the release of information.” For example, he describes a merger situation where early information leakage could “jeopardize the prospect of achieving greater efficiencies.” If according to Boudreaux, policing of insider information is impossible, then determining what he calls “proprietary” versus “non-proprietary” information is only going to stir up a worse hornet’s nest.

In the end, if price efficiency (see story on market efficiency) and cheaper cost of capital is Professor Boudreaux’s central aim, then perhaps disclosing inside information, rather than selfishly profiting from trading on inside information, is a more suitable approach. For Pete Rose, I recommend sticking to legalized sports betting in Las Vegas as a superior strategy.

Read Full Professor Boudreaux WSJ Article

Wade W. Slome, CFA, CFP®

Plan. Invest. Prosper.

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