As if baseball didn't have enough troubles...
Kenny Rogers, who physically assaulted a cameraman who (from all reports I've read) was quietly doing his job, was reinstated from his 20-game suspension. This wasn't a run-in during the heat of a game. He attacked, walked away, CAME BACK and attacked again. Then for good measure, he went after the cameraman a third time when he put the camera back on his shoulder. The arbitrator felt as if Rogers had served his time and should not have been suspended for 20 games. I always suspected that Bud Selig had no power...this confirms it.
At the same time, a frustrated DJ sounded off on the sad state of the Giants (gee, I wonder what he'd say about the Royals). He exercised his right to voice his opinion (he should have stayed away from the word 'Caribbean'...he may have gotten away with it). He was promptly called 'a messenger of Satan' by manager Felipe Alou. He chose to make fun of that on the air and was fired, along with the program director and morning show producer.
So let me see if I have this straight...a player can physically attack another person and is punished, but his penalty is reduced, a manager can call someone a 'messenger of Satan' without any recourse, but a radio DJ and others lose their jobs for making fun of being called Satan.
This sounds peculiarly like a government-run operation...or maybe it is.
16 comments:
Do you really think Alou deserves recourse for calling the guy a messenger of Satan?
Actually that dude is a fervent, constant critic of Felipe Alou. He just showed his predjudice when he said 'Carribean.' Most of the terrible hitters on the Giants aren't from the Carribean. That dude must think that Venezuela is a Carribean nation.
His apology was obviously insincere or he wouldn't have poked fun at Alou's over the top reaction. Then the radio station excercised their right to fire an employee who is a public embarrassment.
For Full disclosure: I think Alou is a terrible manager. His teams always seem to swing too much and avoid walks. I don't think it's because he's from the Carribean though.
And I thought it was because all those dudes from the caribbean (I'm offended that seamhead can't spell the word correctly) were high on pot.
But seriously. DJs get paid to be outrageous, sensational, and insensitive. Otherwise they can't find work. There's a thin line between entertainment and unacceptable (for some reason I had a flashback to Paul's songs) and walking that line is pretty tough.
You're correct...the redio station fired the three because they violated station policy.
In Alou's defense, when you overpay for defense (i.e., Vizquel, Matheny) and basically ignore offense, your team will not score many runs and will be criticized for it. The culture of the fan today appreciates offense over defense or pitching. Enough of that, though.
I agree, Alou is a terrible manager. The Giants are 21st in OBP and 27th in SLG. When your team ERA ranks 25th, you have a recipe for disaster. But that's what you get with Bonds sitting on the bench nightly with an ice pack on his knee.
And go look at the top players in terms of OBP. You're not going to find an abundance of Latin born players on the list. They are taught to swing early, swing often, and swing hard.
Ironically, the top Giant in OBP is Moises Alou.
DLS, Your comments about Latin players swinging early and often is just an untrue stereotype. I took your challange and found four Latin born players in the to 20 in OBP. That's pretty good. And it doesn't include guys who are the first generation of their family born in the US like Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Delgado. And ringing in at 29th another player from Latin America with an OBP 30 points below is career average - Manny Ramirez.
That's a good point, but I don't know if stereotype is the right word there. Many reports have been written on "camps" and "programs" (or some loose interpretation) in Latin American countries that show coaches explicitly telling players to swing at any close pitches. They say it is what it takes to play big league ball and it's been going on for years. Several great players have learned (or been taught) to take a walk.
But of the top 35 HR hitters for 2004, 8 had walk rates under 10%. Seven of those were Latin players (Beltre, Vlad, Aramis Ramirez, Castilla, Tejada, Carlos Lee, Jose Valentin). Only Steve Finley kept it from unanimous.
The worst offender for taking a walk in the past several years is Alex Sanchez (7 BBs in 332 ABs last year), who at the time was playing for the Giants. I'm willing to bet that the SF DJ's comments were directed at him.
I think they learn in the professional baseball, but I also think the instruction is getting better at lower levels in Latin America and in the US. I know I was never taught anything about talking walks when I played baseball. I think many American players get to play some college baseball. I think that makes a big difference.
Are you implying that Latin baseball instructors (managers?) aren't as good as American baseball instructors? First you repeatedly misspell Caribbean (without apology), and now this!
No, I said they're both getting better. I don't care if I misspelled Carribean
Clearly that's the case. The point is someone else may care. People are easily offended when it comes to nationality and issues of nationalism.
It sounds as if you are saying that the Latin players are coachable and are learning American baseball after coming here, and that their coaching and instruction at lower levels is improving. I may be misinterpreting though.
All players that don't go to college have to learn a lot in the professional baseball system. I think the Oakland A's have proven that young players are much more coachable than they've been given credit for in the past. But maybe that's just because they have an organizational discipline that they use at all levels. I'm sure that's hard to do considering all the minor leagues teams are independently owned.
Just an observation...read into this what you will...
Looking at all the non-pitchers, until you get to the lower levels (single-A or Rookie ball) of the A's organization, they have very few, Latin players. But when you look at the rosters of the lower levels, it reads like a Dominican phone book.
If I wanted political correctness, I'd have posted this on the Violent Farmer's blog.
Wander away, Jagua Piru...
I agree Jagua (about time you chimed in). Political correctness is simply a form of censorship and thought/dialogue control.
yes, but Jr. grew up watching some of the best hitters of all time perform their craft (including his own father). Most people don't have that opportunity.
And also, the very best hitters are the ones with high OBP and high slugging percentage. Of course that means a guy who draws a lot of walks and hits a lot of homers. For the Cards, Pujols and Edmonds demonstrate this (And a few others as well). Tony Womack was the antithesis of this, and I was excited to see him leave town.
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