The Road to Freedom & Equal Rights

Combining social activism with politics is always a recipe that will create a lot of turbulence and histrionics in our society. People complain that discontented groups and minorities should do their demonstrating in a quiet, undistinguishable way so no one gets bothered or upset. Our country was founded by protests and upsetting patriots. It finally led to a war and our independence, the epitome of social disobedience. I'm sure the British would have been much happier with quiet passive demonstrations. It takes a great deal of courage to put yourself and your career on the line, and push the envelope for the greater good. Does it upset certain factions in our society? Yes, it's supposed to make sure that people can hear and notice the injustice in our society. No one who has the courage to show that type of dissidence is a bad person even if they're misguided. They're following their hearts and trying to do the right thing. People like calling Colin Kapernik and Megan Repinoe (Medgar Evers.-Rosa Parks) bad for demonstrating through their medium of sports. People don't generally want to worry about this type of activity while watching Sports. It is supposed to be an escape, it's not supposed to be a center of political anguish. But on occasion, these people take it upon themselves to spread the word, because it's the only platform they have that is significant enough to make a Dent. They go the extra mile and put their souls, their personalities, and their careers on the line. Even if you don't agree with them you have to understand they're following their hearts, and this country is a country that grew out dissidents and democratic Justice. This is the way we've always been, and whether they're right or wrong, as a Nation we fight and die in the fields around the world so that people have the right to do this. Free speech, democracy, voting and free elections do not come without a price and sometimes you may not like the messenger, but the message may be important to hear anyway.  Keep the Faith and G-d Bless America..

What Button Do I Push?

Yankee fans have had a rough couple years to say at least. There's been a postseason drought and the rebuilding process has been cumbersome. This year has had a lot of great moments with an influx of youth and excitement that seems deep enough to last for many years. Rookie of the Year candidates, MVP candidates, Home Run Champions and "The Beat Goes On". The Postseason is something that Yankee fans have come to appreciate more and more because of the drought that they've lived through recently, but Friday night's game in Cleveland couldn't have been a more crushing defeat. If your team gets hammered you live with it, and you go on and try to do better and focus even more. You try to reset the narrative for the next time, and if you've done your best and you get beaten then sometimes you just tip your cap. Friday's game in Cleveland didn't have a script like that. It was a series of blunders, miscalculations, and bad decisions. As my son pointed out if the Yankees only made half the mistakes they made they probably still win, but that's life in the fast lane.

     Historic comebacks always need some help from the other team that's the way it works, and the Yankees provided plenty of that. The details are well-documented from an early departure of CC Sabbathia, to a failed review on an umpires call, to being picked off in the 11th inning. All of them a disaster in their own right, but together a tsunami too much for the Yankees to overcome.

     Sports is the only true reality show in the world, it's played by humans who compete and pay the price every day. There is a bigger issue here and I've been talking about it for a long time and that's the Sports World's obsession with statistics and letting the computer dictate how someone manages a game. A computer is a machine that collects data statistics and information to "Aid The Human Condition" not take it over. Saber 

Metrics, Stat Cast and all the other databases that baseball seems to be obsessed with are there to aid the manager not to dictate what he does without thinking about the human element. When the game is on the line a good manger should be able to make his own decisions based on what he sees, what he knows, and his own experience. If you're going to leave the human element out of it the managers should just sit in their offices send in their lineups and let the computers figure out who won the game.

     A manager's job is to read the moment and make decisions based on specific game situations, and adjust to the problems he sees on the field. Otherwise you might as well let the computer make the decisions for you and then why do you need a human manager at all. The computer can't tell you if a pitcher is losing his velocity, if his tempo is off, if he is struggling with his motion and delivery. Or if a batter is chasing pitches, if his swing speed is late, or if he's over swinging etc. That's the human element. That's what a manager is supposed to be able to do, not just read a stat sheet and manage the game based on computer data. The upsetting thing about the Yankee loss on Friday is that it seems that that's exactly how Joe Girardi managed the game. "Formula Joe and his stat sheet". The game got away from him because he didn't know how to make in-game momentary decisions. Managers like that do not help their team win they're just caretakers to the statistics they use and in the real time moments when they need to make decisions they come up short. Which is what we saw on Friday with the Yankees, it was a sad day. Managers, coaches, and analysts need to be able to tell the difference between real action, human performance and fantasy teams. They need to go back to managing  by what they see, otherwise owners should just plug it into the wall socket and let the computers dictate the day. Computers can be a man's best friend but they're not meant to replace the man. Spock was Captain Kirk's most valuable asset, but he wasn't there to take over the ship.

Tomorrow Is A Promissory Note

If you're a baseball fan, this is the time of year when rumors run rampant speculation is at a fever pitch, and a team's future fortunes may live or die based on a good or bad trade. It's called the "trading deadline."  With basically two-thirds of the season already completed it's time for franchises to decide whether they're Contenders or Pretenders, whether there are buyers or sellers. Talk shows and newspapers are full of game plans, formulas, and wish list's that if successful may get their teams to the promised land. For all of us baseball diehards it's serious business, but at the same time has to be taken with a grain of salt. Should they or shouldn't they, Yes, No, Maybe.

   Trading highly rated prospects and future potential superstars is as unpredictable as trying to predict what the weather will be for the next 6 weeks. It's as unpredictable as trading commodity Futures on the exchange. There's no guarantee but there is plenty of risk. I've always said prospects are always prospects until they're not. From the time a young player is drafted out of college or even high school and during all his time in the Minor Leagues there is always a risk. Injuries, under performance, lack of development, and just plain wear and tear can make the best prospect at 19 or 20 look like the worst investment at 23 or 24. But as Hyman Roth said in The Godfather "this is the business we've chosen". But if you are a baseball fan much of this is understood, the question is what do you do, when do you do it, and how much do you give to get. The trading deadline makes every general manager deal with that question. There is no right and wrong no guarantees or promises that can be depended upon to help a GM make these decisions when the great unknown lays ahead. If you make the right decision it's easy to justify what you've done and everybody loves you. If not your resume takes a big hit. I've always felt that taking a long-term view is a relevant issue to consider as well. But more importantly, I believe that it's not just what you can do at the moment to make your team better. It's what happens to your franchise if the deal doesn't work out. How does that affect your depth of talent, the holes you have in your current lineup, your future ability to keep your team competitive, team chemistry, your Minor league pipeline etc.

    You can sell your farm for a pot of gold but then you have nothing to eat and no place to live. GM's get paid for making decisions that hopefully make sense and give them the edge and leverage that they need to have their teams be successful. It's the same in other aspects of life. No matter what you do there is always a risk reward, a price to pay and a final result. Hopefully in all of our lives we can all hit home runs when we have to make those kinds of decisions.

A Lifetime Achievement

It's springtime on the east coast. The time of the year when things get a little bluer, a little warmer, and things turn from brown to green. In sports it's time to turn the clock forward and embrace our new season of " bread and circuses". Baseball has its opening day, the NHL has its playoffs, and Tennis starts to hit its stride. Hope springs eternal for all of us die hard fans, and we pledge our allegiance for the next 6 months. But there's one thing that comes every spring and over the course of one weekend provides us all with the most special drama and excitement that we could hope for. Every spring it arrives and whether you're a golfer, a golf fan, or just someone who appreciates drama, excitement and beauty you can look forward to it. It's The Masters. For many it's the official beginning of the golf season. There truly is nothing like it. There is history pageantry and drama all rolled into one weekend's worth of viewing. The other major golf championships are exciting and important but there is nothing like the Masters. When Bobby Jones designed Augusta National his intent was to make something special, memorable and challenging beyond expectation, and the history of the championship has proved to be nothing short of that. Every year the statement that the Masters begins on the back nine proves to be true. The powers to be make sure of that. Charges, Miracles, Heroics and Disasters are all part of Masters lore. It's part of the drama that we've come to expect. The setting itself is like a beautiful painting, and is it just me or does the grass seem greener and the flowers more colorful. Nothing looks like the Masters because there isn't another golf course like it in the world. People become experts on the course because the Masters is played on the same venue every year. We know the holes, we know the turns and we know the spots where Miracles can happen and invariably do. The greatest players in the world come to play here but they are not the Stars. The true Star of the Masters is Augusta National itself, the course. You don't win The Masters you wind up being the last survivor. She's a beautiful lady that requires perfect shots, perfect putts, and perfect course management. Shakespeare once said all the world's a stage and everyone is just players on that stage. That's what the Masters provides for us. A great play with twists and turns, drama, heroics, disappointment and eventually success. Masters champions are known forever. The other major championships are great but if you're a Masters champion you are a golfing G-d a member of the greatest club in Golf. The champion has run the gauntlet and survived and that stays with you forever. I remember many Masters finishes Ben Crenshaw crying on the 18th green remembering his mentor Harvey Penick, Adam Scott being the first Australian to win, Seve Ballesteros making people appreciate his heritage and golfing genius when he won. Arnold Palmer winning four times, Jack Nicklaus winning six times. Unfortunately I don't remember the British Open and US Open Champions as well. Maybe that should tell us all something about what the Masters means to golf and its history. Many of the greats have won the Masters, but even if that's the only great day you have as a player it makes you immortal. Here's to the Masters champions, the survivors, the history makers, the hero's. This year's champion is as great an example of that as there is. He conquered his demons and managed his fears and never gave up. A true Masters legacy. So here's to the champions, and on a personal note here's to one of the greatest champions of all time. A man who always made the rest of the world feel connected to golf more than any other person. Who always had a smile, a handshake and a personal connection with the public that made him not only a great golfer, but maybe even a better man. Thanks for the Memories Arnold, we will never forget..

The Double-Edged Sword

It really would be too easy to jump on the Yankees for giving up all their best pitchers bullpen or not, for young prospects, especially after their pitching meltdown last night and the likelihood that Nathan Evoldi's career could very well be over after his latest injuries; Sabathia's really hurting and their rising star Severino is imploding too. What the heck let's do it anyway. I wrote an article a week ago questioning the Yankees complete abandonment of this season efforts to try to make the playoffs and give away tremendous talent for prospects. Of course I believe in prospects and developing your farm system. No one plays forever and your farm system keeps a team " forever young ". The Yankee farm sysyem was a big reason for their historic run through the 90's and into the next Century. What I don't believe in is depending 100% on the development of prospects because we all know that's a real crapshoot.  Recent weeks have shown the Yankees talent is for real and they will definitely have a chance to put together a real solid foundation of talented players. The future looks bright but in the meantime you need to be competitive and no matter how bright your future is or how good your offensive players are you can't win if you can't stop the other team from scoring. Baseball is a game of pitching, always has been and always will be. The best pictures usually lead their teams to championships. Some of baseball's best cliches are about pitching. We all know them "momentum is only as good as your next day's pitcher", " good  pitching always stops good hitting" and on and on. Pitching is always at a premium, and finding a position player is always an easier job than finding an Ace for your staff. As I've said before getting younger and more athletic is a Sports Axiom .The Yankees are moving in the right direction, and if you're a baseball fan you can sense the excitement building. They may put together a foundation that starts another run at greatness. In the meantime I don't think they needed to give up the ghost. They still need pitching and it may take a while but once you build a strong foundation and usually last for very long time.. Go Yankees...

Some Gods Have Lead Feet

Shooting stars are beautiful, exciting, powerful,  dangerous and ultimately self-destructive all at the same time. To call Alex Rodriquez a shooting star is underestimating his longevity and his impact on the game for better or worse. He came out of the Miami area as a teenager and is probably the greatest baseball player that we have seen in recent times. Like it or not that's what his numbers say. His potential was quickly fulfilled and he became a superstar before he even knew what the game was all about. As his career developed he clearly took some wrong turns and some Dark Paths. His talent  always bailed him out and his celebrity although controversial always seem to be a good selling point for team looking to market a superstar. His numbers are more than Hall of Fame worthy they are historic. He is fourth all-time in home runs and they're are only two men in the history of the game that have more RBI's. 3000 hits became just another roadblock that he pushed out of the way has he continued to break records. At his best he was in a class by himself. Yes Bonds, Pujols and others had their day in the Sun but they never performed at the level that Alex Rodriguez did for 20 years and they didn't do it as a 19 year old kid. God surely bless him with talent, but not the confidence to deal with the public in a way that was beneficial to him. For those who really know him they understand he's a nice guy who was insecure and unaware of how to deal with the Limelight and the Celebrity that poured over him on a daily basis.
       The steroid use is indefensible and certainly changed his career profoundly. To say he was part of  the steroid era and doing what everybody else did does not excuse it. But for him to become The Whipping Boy of Major League Baseball when dozens of other players  who were busted not only once but twice got a complete pass is not only prejudicial but completely hypocritical. How does David Ortiz become a hero in Boston after two failed drug tests. Ryan Braun was welcomed like a Conquering Hero in Milwaukee after lying through his teeth and having the biggest failed drug test in history, and in addition costing the technician that took the sample his job. The list is big and the hypocrisy even bigger. Selig figured he could cleanse the hypocrisy of baseball looking the other way during the steroid era if he could only get Alex. Which he did. Rodriguez's good looks, Bonanza type contract, and seemingly superior attitude didn't help his cause either; but like him or not his career statistics are matched only by a few in the history of the game. He is a flawed hero, a damaged star, an insecure celebrity. But no one can ever say he couldn't play the game.

Who Knows What Tomorrow Brings

Anyone who's been around sports for as many years as I have understands the need to get value while you can, restock your pipeline for talent and make sure your future is as bright as possible whenever you can. Getting younger faster and more athletic is a sports Axiom that holds true for any sports team you can talk about. The question is what's the best way to do it, and at what price. After all,  whether sports fans want to admit it,  the best way for these businesses to survive and thrive is to make sure their product is worth watching and sometimes it's painful process to get to that point. We all root for our favorite players and identifying with their ups and downs as if they were our friends. The reality is it is a business and emotions sometimes take a backseat to Dollars & Sense.
    What the Yankees are doing is something that you very rarely see top teams do because winning is always a relevant concern. I have never seen a team have a player dump like this and although it gives them youth and athleticism it also gives them an uncertain future. There's no question they must have a bigger plan in mind like stockpiling young prospects to package players for a starting pitcher or a big-time hitter which is obviously what they probably are thinking about. If not it's going to be a number of years before these kids even have an impact on their team. A wise man once said prospects are prospects and the odds against them even advancing through your minor league system are very small. The best you can hope for is to use them for trades or possibly help your team at one point in the future. With all of the thousands of kids in the minors think about how many actually make it to the Major Leagues, and we all know the answer to that. The Yankees have dismantled the best bullpen in baseball, gave away one of the best hitters and in essence traded three All Star player for prospects  that may or may not help them, and if at all are couple years away. The Yankees didn't get one player back that can help them now. It's going to be a long process. Supposedly the headliners are the real deal. For all those fans who want to blow up the system and start over to build a new Dynasty you've got your wish and hopefully it comes to fruition.
Yankees were competitive already, that's what .500 means. Were they on their way to the World Series that's a stretch for sure but they started the season 9 under and before the Tampa series they were three games over which means since that time they were -9 they have been +12. As good a record as anybody in that stretch of time. They weren't out of the mix, they were competitive. In my opinion the Yankees could have built with some off season trades some free agent signings with their freed up contract money, and continue to develop their minor Leaguers and not have necessarily blown up their team.Their Bullpen was as lockdown as you can get, that's worth a lot. The Yanks led the MLB in 1 run victories.
     As I've said I assume they will use some of their prospects 4 player upgrades. If all of their prospects  develop the Yankees will be a monster franchise. But history shows that never happens and hopefully  one or two prospects will survive. Evaluating 20 year olds is always a crap shoot no matter how good they look now. Season ticket holders and fans alike thanks for your patience, and  hopefully it won't take too long to get back to even where the Yankees are now,  Sorry George, I hope it works for you....Go Yanks...