Mr. Technology
Baseball News and Views

In the Best Interests of Baseball - NOT!!!

Let’s see what the state of major League baseball is right now. It seems to me that the current commissioner and his underlings are taking unnecessary advantage of the tight Division and Wild Card races to do stupid things and to try to hide their stupidity.

Home Run Record Broken – Selig Silent

Recently, Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s home run record. What do you suppose the commish did? He stood with his hands in his pocket! Incredible!!! Bonds has not been convicted of anything, in fact he has not even been officially accuses of anything.

Bud Selig managed to make that event more about him and his inability to appreciate what Bonds has accomplished than about the accomplishment itself. It was like he was saying, “Duh! Gee! I don’t know what to do.”

Well, I’ll tell you what to do, Bud. Celebrate this event the same way you celebrated the Mark MacGwire/Sammy Sosa race to 62. You didn’t have any problem with that one, did you? No, because it brought attention back to baseball after you had botched negotiations with the MLPA to the point that you had to ignominiously cancel the World Series.

The message is, if you are suspected of doing something that seems to be “performance enhancing” then that is OK as long as it serves the purpose of the commish. Otherwise, you are treated like an outcast and will be vilified.

Beanball Wars – Start Them – Don’t Retaliate

Not long ago there was an incident it Toronto where A-Rod had a pitch come at his knees, actually it was thrown behind his knees. At the time it may not have seemed intentional but based on what happened the next day made it pretty obvious that the Blue Jays were still a bit upset that their third basemen has trouble catching pop ups when there is noise in the stadium.

The next night Rodriguez was hit on his left leg by a pitch from Toronto’s Josh Towers during the New York Yankees’ 9-2 victory over the Blue Jays and Roger Clemens made sure it didn’t go unanswered.

The Rocket showed his teammates what it means to be a real teammate by plunking Alex Rios in the middle of his back after pitching six effective innings.

But, as is the way baseball is run, this led to a suspension for Clemens and Manager Joe Torre and nothing for any of the instigators. No player, coach or manager of the Blue Jays received as much as a slap on the wrist.

This is something that has long rankled me. As long as you fire the first shot, you need not fear any punishment. But, just give the appearance of protecting your teammates and you risk ejection, fines and suspension. So I guess if the Red Sox decide that Joba Chamberlain really was throwing at Kevin Youkillis then they better take the first shot when the Yankees visit Fenway in mid-September. If they don’t throw at somebody in the first inning of the first game then the Yankees should. That way any retaliation will cost Boston and not the Yankees.

Now, do you see just how ridiculous this is?

Possibly the Most Absurd Bud Selig-Inspired Action Yet

With the Yankees threatening in the second inning of Wednesday night's game at Yankee Stadium, MLB officials sent a member of their security staff into the Red Sox dugout to see if Boston manager Terry Francona was wearing his uniform jersey beneath his fleece pullover.

You read that right – while the game was on, not between innings, this MLB goon made his way into the dugout to do a dress code check.

Francona, for his part as manager, asked if the matter could wait until the end of the inning and was told it couldn't. He had to go with the security agent into the tunnel behind the dugout to show his uniform top. Shades of grade school!

"I thought he was arresting me," Francona said. "That was about as embarrassed as I've been in a long time for baseball." And it is Major League Baseball that should be embarrassed.

When he was reached at MLB headquarters, executive vice president for baseball operations Jimmie Lee Solomon first defended the action saying that having a security agent do an in-game check of the manager is not unusual. "I don't see what the story is here," he said. But he changed his tune just a bit when he learned that the check came in the middle of an inning, Solomon added, "That was not good judgment on the agent's part. It was wrong to do it then. Terry has the right to be upset if that's the case."

The issue first surfaced in late July when MLB vice president Bob Watson contacted Francona in Cleveland about it. Francona said it had been brought to Watson's attention that MLB officials couldn't tell if he was wearing the uniform jersey under the team fleece he frequently wears. So what!!! Who Cares!!!

Watson was at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night and approached Francona before the game to remind him of the requirement to wear the full uniform. Francona pulled down the collar of the pullover to show Watson he was in compliance.

"He kind of did a double-take," Francona said. "I said, 'I told you I would.'

"So the league felt the necessity to check me to see if I was lying during the game. When Derek Jeter's on second base and I've got somebody coming from the league making me go down the runway, I was a little perturbed." As he should be.

Francona said that any time a member of the coaching staff, and especially a manager, is on television or photographed and it's unclear if he is wearing the full uniform, a letter of warning gets issued and a fine is threatened. So, let me get this right, if they aren’t sure they don’t ask, they just assume. Well, at least they are consistent with their hands in their pockets doing – well, you figure it out.

"I've had a letter of warning. You would think there would be more important things to do this time of year than to think about stuff like that," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "It's a farce, I think." And I agree.

Francona wears the fleece throughout the season because he is often cold because of a circulatory condition, something he explained to Watson. He admits he didn't always wear the jersey until Watson first made the request last month. Again, big deal. It’s not like he is wearing an obscene t-shirt of something.