One of the biggest story lines during spring training has
and will continue to be the reintroduction of Alex
Rodriguez to major league baseball. After being suspended for over a year
for PEDs, the 39-year-old New York Yankees’ third baseman is attempting to salvage
the remaining years of his career from the scandal pages, but how much progress
will he be able to make in that regard?
A-Rod has already issued a formal
apology in the form of a hand-written letter. It’s an interesting touch for
an athlete who has earned hundreds of millions of dollars in player salaries
over the years, but one that certainly comes across as more personal than a
statement issued from a publicist or delivered from a dais during press day.
Although he is a statistical titan with his 20 years of
super star production, he will never be able to regain the credibility he had
before the suspension. All he can do now is make the most of the dwindling time
he has left on the field and do his best to add another chapter or two to his
story. Villains have a place in baseball too, and despite his recent troubles,
Rodriguez is now in the driver’s seat when it comes to writing his final act.
Now, on to the note for the week…
*Sad news to report in the passing
of former outfielder Gary Woods.
A backup for nine major league seasons from 1976-1985 with four teams, most
notably the Chicago Cubs, he hit a combined .243 with 13 home runs in 525
games. More recently, he acted as a scout for the Chicago White Sox, covering Southern
California.
*Former coach Wendell
Kim has died
at the age of 64 due to complications from Alzheimers. The 5-foot-4 dynamo
gained cult status during his stint as the third-base coach with the Boston Red
Sox because of his aggressive style, which resulted in the nickname
“Wave-‘Em-In Wendell.” A former minor league player, he was a career baseball
man and had a reputation as one of the best and friendliest people in the game.
*Tom Gage of The
Detroit News has the story
of Ed
Mierkowicz, the last surviving member of the World Series winning 1945
Detroit Tigers. The former outfielder appeared in just 10 games for the team
that year but did have one appearance in the Series, and still remembers his
time in the game with fondness. He hit just .175 in 35 major league games over
four seasons but did enjoy a solid 13-year minor league career where he hit a
combined .284.
*Beginner baseball historians can easily recite that the
majors were formally integrated when Jackie Robinson took the field with the
Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Unfortunately, spreading equality throughout the game
progressed slowly after that, especially when it came to spring training. Michael
Bechloss of the New York Times has
the story
of how baseball struggled in the post-Jackie years to provide equal
accommodations to black players training in areas that were unwelcoming of such
social change.
*The sketch comedy show Saturday
Night Live recently celebrated its 40th birthday. Over the years, a number
of baseball figures have made appearances. Here’s a look
at some of the best.
*The worst brawl the majors has ever seen occurred in 1965
when San Francisco Giants’ pitcher Juan
Marichal struck Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Johnny
Roseboro with a bat during a heated exchange. The event was shocking fans
and players alike. This piece
from Sports Illustrated has an
intriguing adaptation from the new book The
Fight of their Lives: How Juan Marichal and John Roseboro Turned
Baseball's Ugliest Brawl into a Story of Forgiveness and Redemption by John
Rosengren. It was a seminal moment in baseball, and hopefully one that will
never be repeated again.
*Hall of Fame manager Sparky
Anderson spent 18 of his 27 seasons as a skipper with the Detroit Tigers.
When he announced his retirement at the age of 61 following the 1995 season, he
was the third-winningest manager of all time. Some thought it odd that he left
the game at such an early age, including Detroit
Athletic Co.’s Bill Dow believes
it’s possible he was blackballed because of his refusal to coach replacement
players during the 1995 strike.
*Beloved announcer Harry Caray became the face of the
Chicago Cubs because of his distinct voice, his unique look and a variety of
quirks. However, before that he called games for the St. Louis Cardinals. This article
does a nice job describing how he came to switch jobs and became one of the
legends of the booth. Holy Cow!
*Few players mean as much to a team as Brooks
Robinson did to the Baltimore Orioles during his 23-year career. The third
baseman’s fielding was slicker than the kitchen floor of a fast food
restaurant, he could hit and was as fine an individual who ever stepped on a
baseball diamond. One of his major accomplishments was his turn as the 1970
World Series MVP, helping his team beat the Cincinnati Reds in five games. This
video recap of his
heroics shows exactly how electrifying his performance was.
*Before he became well-known as a movie star, Bill Murray
was a baseball fan; a passion he has carried with him to the present. In the
summer of 1978, he actually had a brief stint as a professional player with the
Grays Harbor Loggers in Aberdeen, Washington—even collecting a base hit. Rob
Neyer of Fox Sports has a write-up
of the actor’s career as a ballplayer.
*Speaking of people with second careers, many baseball
players have fancied themselves to be singers. This includes a group from the
1964 Los Angeles Dodgers, who appeared on The Joey Bishop Show. Featuring Don Drysdale,
Moose
Skowron, Ron
Perranoski, Frank Howard,
Tommy
Davis and Willie Davis,
the group actually does a credible job of belting out their version of High
Hopes.
Statistics via http://www.baseball-reference.com/
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