COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Half of the baseball-loving populace of Cincinnati spent yesterday trying to figure out whether to start waving goodbye to Barry Larkin. The other half was busy making the pilgrimage to Cooperstown to pay homage to the greatest Reds team of its lifetime.
Most ironies in life aren't delivered in this neat a package. But this one was almost too perfect.
On the one hand, you had the harsh realities of baseball as it is today in places like Cincinnati. On the other hand, you had the glorious memories of baseball as it used to be.
Can you blame anyone in Cincinnati for voting for that time-travel journey back to the good old days?
Once upon a time, a quarter-century ago, one of baseball's most dominating teams ever played in Cincinnati. But now, on Hall of Fame weekend, the manager of that team was shaking his head sadly, ruing the fact that you couldn't have a dynasty like the Big Red Machine in this day and age.
"You couldn't do it," said Sparky Anderson. "You couldn't pay those people now. How could you pay Bench and Perez and Morgan and Rose and Foster and Concepcion? How could you do that? It would be an impossibility now."
That would be three Hall of Famers, the all-time hit king, a burgeoning 50-homer man and one of the best shortstops in baseball. Just those six guys might make $65 million today. And that might be conservative. So add in a pitching staff, a Dan Driessen here, a Ken Griffey Sr. there, a Cesar Geronimo in center -- and you'd be at $90 million easy.
The last three teams in Cincinnati haven't made that much combined. A quarter-century ago, there would have been no question whether the Reds would hold onto a Barry Larkin or not. Teams held onto players like that forever -- or at least until baseball issues forced their departure, not economics.
In fact, there was Sparky Anderson yesterday, still apologizing for allowing the Reds to trade Perez in 1977. But you can bet there will be nobody apologizing to Barry Larkin in 2024 if he agrees to this deal to the Mets. Modern baseball means never having to say you're sorry.
Though talk persists that the Phillies continue to listen to offers on Curt Schilling, it remains very unlikely he'll be dealt before the deadline. Schillling recently added the Indians to his no-trade list, so they're out. The Braves have made their deal for a starting pitcher (in Andy Ashby). The Mets and Yankees don't seem to match up with the Phillies on this one. So that leaves the Diamondbacks, who appear to have backed off, and the Cardinals, who reportedly made an initial inquiry and never called back.
The Phillies are looking for at least two players who can project as stars in the near-future for Schilling. And he's signed for next year at $6.5 million, so they won't rush into anything. If Schilling is traded, it's more likely to be over the winter, when more of the front-line players the Phillies would want back would be available. No team trades its starting shortstop or closer in the middle of a pennant race.
Phillies GM Ed Wade denies reports that the Cardinals offered J.D. Drew and Matt Morris for Schilling. Wade wouldn't comment further, other than to say the Cardinals "haven't made any offer." But it wouldn't be as outlandish as it sounds for the Phillies to ask for Drew if they dealt Schilling to St. Louis. They obviously think he can play, or they wouldn't have drafted him in the first place.
Reports have the Phillies turning down a Cleveland offer of Richie Sexson, Jaret Wright, Enrique Wilson and a prospect for Schilling -- mostly because they were wary of Wright's health. But when Schilling decided he didn't want to go to Cleveland, it became a moot point, anyway.
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List of the week
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San Diego's Ruben Rivera did the near-impossible this week. He hit a game-tying inside-the-park home run with two outs in the ninth. SABR's David Vincent passes along this list of other game-tying inside-the-parkers by players whose teams were one out away from a loss:
Fred Clarke, Pirates -- April 20, 1908
Billy Southworth, Giants -- May 14, 1925
Ernie Johnson, Yankees -- June 10, 1925 (as a pinch hitter)
Lou Finney, Browns -- Sept. 5, 1945
Johnny Callison, Phillies -- June 9, 1963
Dick Allen, Phillies -- Sept. 25, 1964 (in 10th inning)
Dan Driessen, Reds -- Aug. 27, 1977
Lee Lacy, Dodgers -- Aug. 3, 1978 (as a pinch hitter)
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One more fascinating twist in Schilling's saga: After announcing earlier this season that he will represent himself in future negotiations, he's now rehired his former agent, Jeff Borris, of the Beverly Hills Sports Council.
With a week to go before the trading deadline, the early line is that there won't be much big-name action. One of the most intriguing players who still might go is John Wetteland. If the Rangers think they can sign him, they'll keep him. If not, he could still be dealt before the deadline. And one team scouting him heavily in the last week was St. Louis.
The one team certain to make a big deal for a hitter is Seattle (Rondell White? Jeromy Burnitz?). "I really like their team," says one AL scout. "They catch the ball, and their starting pitching is good. But they can be pitched to. They've got three offensive stars. Everyone else in that lineup, you can get out. All they lack is one more bat."
Teams apparently still alive on Rondell White, if Montreal deals him: Seattle, Boston, the Yankees and Atlanta. Even though the Yankees just acquired Glenallen Hill, they maintain interest in White.
With Rico Brogna coming back off the disabled list and finding he'd lost his first-base job in Philadelphia, the Phillies will try to move him as a courtesy to one of their most loyal soldiers. The Red Sox and Tigers are known to have expressed interest in Brogna in the recent past. Ron Gant has played so well over the last two months, the Phillies have decided they would prefer to keep him -- at least through the end of the year.
After pulling into Cooperstown this weekend, Tony Perez said he hasn't ruled out managing in the future.
"I didn't have good success as a manager," Perez said. "But like the nine years I waited for the Hall of Fame, that's behind me. Going back to managing is not on my mind right now. I like what I'm doing with the Marlins. ... But I'm never going to say never. I don't know what's going to happen. If somebody comes up with the right offer, I might go back to that. But I'm not looking for a manager's job."
One of the big topics on every Hall of Fame weekend is the players who aren't in the Hall. Perez and Anderson have campaigned tirelessly for Dave Concepcion in Cooperstown. And Carlton Fisk gave plugs to Jim Rice ("for 10 years, the most feared right-handed power hitter in the American League") and Dwight Evans ("best right fielder in the American League").
Some of these campaigns get a little out of hand, though. Perez actually said: "If I was voting, all eight guys (on the Big Red Machine) would be in the Hall of Fame." But Anderson wasn't plugging any other managers.
"When players go in, they're voted in," Anderson said. "They've got one special way to get in: They earned it. But managers go in how? By those players who got them all those victories. I like to joke: 'What if I, in Cincinnati, had some good players?' People, to me, must always realize that coaches and managers are not geniuses. They become great names because they've got great players."
Finally, when the Pirates played the Indians last weekend, Pittsburgh reliever Marc Wilkins told some reporters about growing up an Indians fan in a suburb of Cleveland. When he was 10, Wilkins said, he was shot down when he asked his favorite Indian, Rick Manning, for an autograph before a game in 1981.
Manning, coincidentally, now does color on Indians cable telecasts. So when Indians play-by-play man John Sanders heard this story, he asked reporter Katie Pollock to interview Wilkins for the telecast, then tell him Manning would make it up to him by signing that autograph now. Which gave Wilkins a chance to get even after all these years -- by repling with a simple: "No thanks."
Useless information dept.
Interleague bests, courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau: Batting average (AL) -- Nomar Garciaparra (.468). Batting average (NL) -- Chris Stynes (.457). Best ERA (AL) -- Freddy Garcia (1.83). Best ERA (NL) -- Scott Downs (0.59). Batting average by an AL pitcher -- Freddy Garcia and Kent Bottenfield (both 2 for 3, .667). Batting average by an NL DH -- Wilton Guerrero (10 for 25, .400).
Interleague worsts: Batting average (AL) -- Jason Varitek (8 for 49, .163). Batting average (NL) -- Mickey Morandini (8 for 54, .148). ERA (AL) -- Mark Mulder (8.38). ERA (NL) -- Kevin Jarvis (11.57). Batting average by an AL pitcher -- Orlando Hernandez (0 for 9, 7 SO). Special pitcher citation -- Bartolo Colon (0 for 5, 5 SO). Batting average by an NL DH -- Rob Ducey (0 for 14).
Best-hitting AL pitching staff: Mariners (5 for 17, .294). Worst-hitting AL pitching staff: Indians (.045, 1 for 22, 15 strikeouts, only hit by a relief pitcher -- Justin Speier). Best-hitting group of NL DH's -- The team that almost switched leagues, the Diamondbacks (12 for 28, .429). Worst-hitting group of NL DH's -- Rockies (2 for 19, .105).
That Yankees-Phillies game last Sunday was officially once in a lifetime. The Yankees came back from five runs down in the ninth and two in the 10th to win. And Elias reports that the only other AL team to trail by more than one run in the ninth and 10th innings played that game more than seven decades ago. That was the Tigers, who came from two back in both the ninth and 10th to beat the White Sox, 11-10. Ted Lyons took the loss. Charlie Gehringer went 3 for 6, with four RBI. The loss by the White Sox rendered Moe Berg's three-hit day top-secret.
Wednesday's match-up in Minnesota -- Milton (Eric) versus Buerhle (Mark) -- was baseball's greatest Vaudeville attraction in years. Haven't had one this slapstick since an August, 1994 White Sox-Yankees series featured Burns (Britt) and Allen (Neil) -- but not in the same game.
Offensive Insanity Dept.: The White Sox and Royals both scored in double figures three straight games this week. Remember when that used to be a rarity, way back in the early '80s? Over the first 32 post-expansion seasons, from 1961 to 1992, that happened only 17 times. Elias' Ken Hirdt reports it now has happened 51 times since '93. And counting, of course.
Mike Piazza has joined yet another tremendous group. This is his second season of at least three grand slams. And the Sultan of Swat Stats, SABR's David Vincent, reports that only 10 other men in history have done that. Jimmie Foxx did it four times. But the group at 10 includes Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Ralph Kiner, Chuck Klein, Sid Gordon, Willie McCovey, Joe Rudi, Alex Rodriguez and Mr. Grand Slam, Mike Blowers.
Only those Rockies could go from scoring 18 runs in one game (at home) to getting one hit in the next game (in Los Angeles). But that's a challenging feat, even for them. The last team to go from 18 runs or more to one hit (or less) in back-to-back games, according to Elias' Kevin Hines: the 1986 Angels. Beat the Royals, 18-3, (and got 20 hits) on Sept. 18. Got no-hit by Joe Cowley and the White Sox, 7-1, the next day.
Name of the Game Dept.: Too bad those Bobby Joneses in Flushing weren't together long enough to have one come in to relieve another. (And now that the left-handed Bobby Jones has gone off on Bobby Valentine, they probably never will, either.) But we did have our first instance of a Jones relieving a Jones since 1993 this week, when A's rookie Marcus Jones was relieved by Doug Jones. The last previous instances of a Jones taking the place of another Jones, according to Elias, came in 1993 in Houston, when Doug relieved Todd four times, and 1992, when Doug relieved Jimmy three times. There was also a three-game Phillies-Astros series from May 29-31, 1992 in which all three games were won by pitchers named Jones (two by Barry, one by Jimmy). And that's more about this than anyone ever needs to know.
Technically, baseball doesn't consider day-night doubleheaders to be official "doubleheaders." But the A's and Rockies combined to score 40 runs in a day-nighter Monday. And there haven't been 40 runs scored in a doubleheader played outside of Denver since Sept. 7, 1993 -- the famed Reds-Cardinals double dip in Cincinnati in which Mark Whiten hit four home runs in game two. Game One score that night: Reds 14, Cards 13. Game Two: Cards 15, Reds 2.
Darrin Fletcher's stolen base this week reminds us that there are still some zero heroes out there of note. ESPN research genius Jeff Bennett reports that Florida's Mike Lowell was up to 609 career at-bats (through Friday) without either a triple or a stolen-base attempt. He passed the previous record-holder, Jim Price, of the '67-71 Tigers (602 career AB, 0 triples, 0 SB attempts). It's now another 123 at-bats for Lowell to pass Bob Uecker, the all-time record holder for most at-bats without a triple or a steal. (Uecker did make three stolen-base attempts -- and was out on all three.)
Bennett also reports that going into Saturday's games, five pitchers had more RBI than Marlins leadoff man Luis Castillo (who had six, despite hitting .368). The five: Rick Ankiel, Shawn Estes, Masato Yoshii, Woody Williams and even Randy Johnson. Ankiel is also outhomering Castillo, 2-1.
How about that homestand in Arizona this week -- the Mariners without A-Rod, followed by the Cardinals without McGwire?
And who says the schedule doesn't work anymore? There were some great trips this week. The Mets did an all-Canada jaunt (Toronto to Montreal). The Braves made a Grapefruit League-like from Miami to Tampa Bay. The Phillies had the baseball-palace trip -- Yankee Stadium to Wrigley Field. And the Twins played the Cubs and White Sox on the same homestand.
Interleague play caused some other classics. Two Royals starters -- Chad Durbin and Dan Reichert -- made back-to-back starts against the White Sox and Cubs. Then two Twins -- Eric Milton and Joe Mays -- performed the same trick. Brad Penny made three straight starts against the New York teams. And three times in four starts, Andy Ashby pitched against the Orioles -- for two different National League teams.
Pat Burrell homered against the Yankees this week, giving him four this year in New York. Last non-New York rookie with four homers in the Apple: Chipper Jones in 1995.
More proof intentional walks are overrated: The Valley Tribune's Ed Price reports that through Friday, following the Diamondbacks' last 15 intentional walks, the next hitter reached base 10 times (9 for 14, one walk, 12 RBI).
The Tigers are more dangerous on Saturday afternoons than Florida State. The Detroit Free Press' John Lowe reports that going into the weekend, the Tigers had trailed in the seventh inning or later on each of the the last five Saturdays -- and rallied to win all five games. Twice, they even trailed with two out in the ninth.
Minor-leaguer of the week: Justin Morneau, of the Twins' Gulf Coast League outpost, drove in 10 runs in one game on Thursday. His RBI single in the first, two-run double in the third, grand slam in the fourth, three-run homer in the seventh and RBI single in the eighth gave him this astonishing box-score line: Morneau 1B -- 5 3 5 10. According to our pals at Howe Sportsdata, those 10 RBI were three more than Morneau collected all last season (OK, in just 17 games).
Meanwhile, on the the other side of the minor-league rainbow, there's Fort Myers catcher Brandon Masters. He finally ended a Dunston-esque streak of 42 games, 142 at-bats and almost eight weeks without a walk this week.
The Reds hadn't had a starting pitcher throw back-to-back complete games since Aug. 23 and 28, 1995, when David Wells did it. Then Pete Harnisch threw back-to-back CGs at Coors Field and Enron Field, of all places.
Sunday in Denver, Brian Bohanon became the second pitcher this season to steal a base (joining teammate Masato Yoshii). Uh, no he didn't. The game got rained out in the fourth inning, so the steal didn't count. "That's OK," Bohanon said. "I lost four runs (allowed), too."
Jayson Stark is a senior writer at ESPN.com. Rumblings and Grumblings will appear each Saturday. | |
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Stark: Week in Review
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