Captain...or Mercenary?

I'm going to start off by saying Jason Varitek is one of, if not THE best catcher at handling a pitching staff. I'm not going to debate his skills. What I have a problem with, is how he's handled free agency. Last time around, he wanted to be named captain of the team, yet still negotiated with other teams, and said "all things being equal" he wanted to return to Boston. Seems to me, a prospective captain should have a better line than "all things being equal." And yet, he re-signed, and was named captain. Now, he's a free agent again. He was offered nearly $10 million in arbitration this year, but no, El Capitan turned it down in the spirit of open negotiation. Now, this, to me, doesn't seem like that's the attitude of a dedicated leader in the clubhouse. I'm all for a guy getting as much as he can in free agency (within reason, whatever that is in sports), but I feel a captain should have a little more dedication to his team. I say fine, resign him, he's an icon in Boston, but there's no way he should be captain on one of the greatest teams in sports...

Say it ain't so, Joe...

Joe Torre has been a constant in the headlines the past few days because of his new book, "The Yankee Years." The book is gaining noteriety, because it is believed that in it he bashes Brian Cashman, A-Rod, and other members of the Yankee front office. One of the co-authors, Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated, maintains this isnt the case, and that it is a "third-person narrative" as opposed to a first-person account. For the sake of New York, Torre, and all things baseball, I hope it isn't true...Torre not only resurrected his managerial career in New York, but arguably earned saint-hood in the City That Never Sleeps by always being level-headed, never criticizing the front office publicly, and never, ever selling out a player...If what's being reported in the media about the book is true, it'll shatter that image, as well as the hearts of millions of Yankees fans....

Here a few links to other stories about this

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9135624/Hey-Joe,-say-it-ain't-so

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9130146/Torre:-Teammates-called-Rodriguez-'A-Fraud'

Clemens still under investigation...Why????

Soooo basically, I don't get why the government is so obsessed with Roger Clemens...This whole investigation has been going on for nearly a year now, and it's still popping up in the news...It just seems to me, with the war in Iraq, the sinking economy, a new President in transition, the government would have more important things to worry about than a former pitcher "allegedly" taking steroids, and lying about it...

Hall of Fame, or Hall of the Waiting Game?

Well, I'm new to this whole blogging game, so I'll start with an introduction of sorts. Most people know me as Loski, and I'm a second year journalism student. This blog is part of one of my classes, where I'll be posting twice a week. We're allowed to pick a topic, and I'm a die-hard baseball fan, so that's what I'll be writing about. Hope I'm able to generate some conversation. As one of my instructors will be reviewing this, I ask responses to be within FCC guidelines, haha. The thing that's got me this week is the voting results for the Hall of Fame. Rickey Henderson belongs there. What astounds me is that he didnt have a higher vote percentage. He is the all-time leader in runs scored and stolen bases, and he revolutionized the leadoff spot. But that's a rant for another time...My concern is based on Jim Rice. I'm not here to debate his worthiness, every angle for both arguments has been heard for the last 14 years...and that's where I'm concerned. What I'm wondering is what makes him Hall-worthy now, and not Hall-worthy the previous 14 years. He hasn't played a game in 20 years now, so his stats haven't changed. The way I feel is that the Hall of Fame should be just that, a place to enshrine the very best performers in the sport. And to me, a Hall of Famer should jump out at you, like today, you have people referring to Ken Griffey Jr., Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, and Alex Rodriguez as "future Hall of Famers." I think it should be evident right after they retire. Like I said, nothing in the last 15 years has made Jim Rice better. People argue that the "Steroids Era" makes previous players' performances more impressive. I disagree. You can't compare eras, because the game is played differently. That's why comparing Trevor Hoffman to Goose Gossage, and Ted Williams to, say, Manny Ramirez is flawed. I think a large part of this problem is the voters in the BBWAA, I think the voting criteria is too subjective to indivdual opinions. Like Corky Simpson of the Green Valley News and Sun, who's reason for not voting for Rickey Henderson was he "wasn't a Rickey guy." It's not whether you like the guy, it's whether the guy's performance warrants induction. And you can't pull the character card, because if that's the case, how do you explain Ty Cobb? I wonder if anyone else shares my frustration, or has some sort of explaination...