Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Next on Passions: Larry Lucchino admits to sleeping with Mia Hamm
Can’t be a departure from the Red Sox without a little he said she said in the media. Of course, I predicted long ago that when Pedro or Nomar left, there would be a smear campaign attempting to portray them as greedy/whiny/selfish/evil. What I didn’t predict would be that Sports Guy would be leading the charge (although to be fair, he has criticized management for their role in this as well, and does a pretty good job accounting how the relationship between the parties soured.) I am mad at Sports Guy for three reasons:
1) He exaggerates the drop-off in Nomar’s play from 98-00 to 02-03. According to Hardball Times/Bill James Abstract, his Win Shares dropped from 32 in 1999 and 29 in 2000 to 27 in 2002 and 25 in 2003. His defense, specifically zone rating, has not dropped at all in this time, with the exception of this year when all parties admit the Achilles injury has hindered his range.
2) He is guilty of all sorts of character assassination without providing any hard evidence: for example he says “By all accounts, (Nomar) was a much different guy behind the scenes when the cameras were off -- most people covering the team used the word a word that rhymed with "brick," and they weren't talking about a sewing needle to the finger.” By all accounts? Like who? Any examples? Did he complain about having to carry his own luggage to the media? Or get ejected from his son’s little league game for spitting on the umpire? (wait, that was Roger.)
3) In his “Vengeance Scale,” column, he neglects to mention Final Fantasy VII, where Sephiroth reacts to discovering he is the offspring of a Alien who was brutally tortured and experimented on by murdering everyone in Shinra corporation, letting Cloud live, then leading him to his hometown to reveal that Cloud’s life was a lie, killing Aeris, causing the release of 4 godzilla-like weapons on the defenseless population, and attempting to destroy the world by causing a meteor to crash into Earth. Isn’t that at least a 9.5 worthy?
Whoops, got off track a little. Anyways, there has been quite the war of words in the Boston media, with Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino saying that Nomar said he was too injured to play and would have to go on the DL, then saying he was “fine” after he was traded (although Lucchino first said it was before he was traded,) inferring that Nomar was trying to sabotage the Red Sox season by sitting out games he didn’t need to. Nomar came back and said that both statements were wrong and/or taken out of context. Owner John Henry then went on a Red Sox telecast and said they had offered Nomar a 4 year 60 million dollar contract this spring, contrary to previous spin that the offer had been 4 years 48. No doubt Nomar’s agent will be firing the next salvo tomorrow. Several newspaper reporters are hating on Nomar, inferring he doesn’t care about the city, the team, or the fans, that his teammates all hated him (contrary to what they have stated in the papers,) etc.
So what do I think about all this? Well as for ownership's comments, they have stated that they wouldn’t have made the trade if they hadn’t thought what they thought about Nomar’s injury status (that he would have to miss 20 of the next 60 games.) To which I say: bullshit. First of all, while the owners and Theo have all claimed this, none of them have said they talked to Nomar about it directly, but rather relied on trainers’ reports. If this is true, then this is awful management. Don’t you think it might have been a good idea to go straight to the primary source (Nomar) just to make sure he would miss all these games, before trading him away?
More likely, they are reacting to the awful reaction this trade got upon its original announcement. If they had traded Nomar for Randy Johnson, spinning the trade wouldn’t be necessary: they could just come out and say: “we thought Nomar was a great player, but we felt the chance to acquire another Hall of Fame caliber pitcher was something we couldn’t pass up, especially considering Nomar was unsigned beyond this year.” End of Story. They already tried this tact with regards to Orlando Cabrera and Dougie, but it’s a little harder to sell two players with OPS below 700 than a future Hall of Famer. So, the need to spin the move, to come up with off-the-field reasons for a trade that can’t be justified on on-the-field reasons alone.
Of course, the Boston media ate this up. There are two things I want to bring up about the Boston media. First, there is a conflict of interest that out-of-towners need to be aware of. The largest newspaper, The Boston Globe, is owned by the New York Times, who has a minority interest in the ownership of the Boston Red Sox. The largest sports radio-station, WEEI, makes much of their money off exclusive broadcast contracts with the Red Sox, a relationship they would NEVER want to lose. The New England Sports Network, the primary cable channel, is owned by the Red Sox. Does this compromise journalistic integrity? I don’t know. Is it in the interest of the various media-people to piss off Red Sox ownership? Definitely not.
Second, they understand that in order to keep things interesting, (and thus, keep selling papers, attracting listeners) throughout the baseball season, they need to stir shit up from time to time. The baseball season is overly long and boring. For Christ sake Boston plays 54 games a year against Toronto, Tampa and Baltimore, who between them have maybe 3 or 4 exciting players. To follow a team closely the way Red Sox fans do, you need to either: 1) enjoy baseball so much you can watch the team for three hours a day for 5 months, in other words have no life, no job, and no family to take care of (me in the summer of 2000 and 2001,) or 2) Watch some games, and follow the stupid soap operas that come up every week or so. And the Boston media has gotten so damn good at capitalizing on this second group, that they will make up stories to get in a huff about. When I was home for two weeks, there was a new one every few days: First speculation Manny was refusing to play when he wasn’t hurt when he sat out some games around the All-Star break, followed by the overreaction to the Ortiz bat incident, the Varitek-A-rod brawl, and now…the Nomar trade.
Some of the incidents blow over, to be forgotten by press and public alike in a matter of weeks. This, obviously isn’t one of them. I have several problems with this attitude and manner of covering the team. First of all, it makes star players miserable after they spend enough time here. Every star player of my lifetime: Boggs, Clemens, Greenwell, Vaughn, Nomar, has left the team under this cloud of anger and accusation. When the stars come, like Ortiz now, they love the passion of the fans. They put up with the reporters. But it never, ever lasts. Why? Because we can’t build a team good enough to win the World Series/get unlucky in the playoffs. And eventually, someone has to take the blame for that. Never mind the fact these are great players, on good, enjoyable teams. Second, it makes the team less fun for me to watch or follow. What do I really care if Nomar is an asshole? He isn’t my friend. He’s my team’s shortstop, and a great one at that. Let’s talk about that a little, not how he was liked on the team, or whether he was mean to Sully the trainer or the grounds crew.
I’ve written enough for now: this is a huge issue. I will write again later this week trying to give my perspective on Nomar’s career in Boston and what can be done by the Red Sox, the players, and the fans who don’t like this side of Red Sox Nation to overcome this malaise, that I believe is hindering us from putting a championship caliber team on the field.
1) He exaggerates the drop-off in Nomar’s play from 98-00 to 02-03. According to Hardball Times/Bill James Abstract, his Win Shares dropped from 32 in 1999 and 29 in 2000 to 27 in 2002 and 25 in 2003. His defense, specifically zone rating, has not dropped at all in this time, with the exception of this year when all parties admit the Achilles injury has hindered his range.
2) He is guilty of all sorts of character assassination without providing any hard evidence: for example he says “By all accounts, (Nomar) was a much different guy behind the scenes when the cameras were off -- most people covering the team used the word a word that rhymed with "brick," and they weren't talking about a sewing needle to the finger.” By all accounts? Like who? Any examples? Did he complain about having to carry his own luggage to the media? Or get ejected from his son’s little league game for spitting on the umpire? (wait, that was Roger.)
3) In his “Vengeance Scale,” column, he neglects to mention Final Fantasy VII, where Sephiroth reacts to discovering he is the offspring of a Alien who was brutally tortured and experimented on by murdering everyone in Shinra corporation, letting Cloud live, then leading him to his hometown to reveal that Cloud’s life was a lie, killing Aeris, causing the release of 4 godzilla-like weapons on the defenseless population, and attempting to destroy the world by causing a meteor to crash into Earth. Isn’t that at least a 9.5 worthy?
Whoops, got off track a little. Anyways, there has been quite the war of words in the Boston media, with Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino saying that Nomar said he was too injured to play and would have to go on the DL, then saying he was “fine” after he was traded (although Lucchino first said it was before he was traded,) inferring that Nomar was trying to sabotage the Red Sox season by sitting out games he didn’t need to. Nomar came back and said that both statements were wrong and/or taken out of context. Owner John Henry then went on a Red Sox telecast and said they had offered Nomar a 4 year 60 million dollar contract this spring, contrary to previous spin that the offer had been 4 years 48. No doubt Nomar’s agent will be firing the next salvo tomorrow. Several newspaper reporters are hating on Nomar, inferring he doesn’t care about the city, the team, or the fans, that his teammates all hated him (contrary to what they have stated in the papers,) etc.
So what do I think about all this? Well as for ownership's comments, they have stated that they wouldn’t have made the trade if they hadn’t thought what they thought about Nomar’s injury status (that he would have to miss 20 of the next 60 games.) To which I say: bullshit. First of all, while the owners and Theo have all claimed this, none of them have said they talked to Nomar about it directly, but rather relied on trainers’ reports. If this is true, then this is awful management. Don’t you think it might have been a good idea to go straight to the primary source (Nomar) just to make sure he would miss all these games, before trading him away?
More likely, they are reacting to the awful reaction this trade got upon its original announcement. If they had traded Nomar for Randy Johnson, spinning the trade wouldn’t be necessary: they could just come out and say: “we thought Nomar was a great player, but we felt the chance to acquire another Hall of Fame caliber pitcher was something we couldn’t pass up, especially considering Nomar was unsigned beyond this year.” End of Story. They already tried this tact with regards to Orlando Cabrera and Dougie, but it’s a little harder to sell two players with OPS below 700 than a future Hall of Famer. So, the need to spin the move, to come up with off-the-field reasons for a trade that can’t be justified on on-the-field reasons alone.
Of course, the Boston media ate this up. There are two things I want to bring up about the Boston media. First, there is a conflict of interest that out-of-towners need to be aware of. The largest newspaper, The Boston Globe, is owned by the New York Times, who has a minority interest in the ownership of the Boston Red Sox. The largest sports radio-station, WEEI, makes much of their money off exclusive broadcast contracts with the Red Sox, a relationship they would NEVER want to lose. The New England Sports Network, the primary cable channel, is owned by the Red Sox. Does this compromise journalistic integrity? I don’t know. Is it in the interest of the various media-people to piss off Red Sox ownership? Definitely not.
Second, they understand that in order to keep things interesting, (and thus, keep selling papers, attracting listeners) throughout the baseball season, they need to stir shit up from time to time. The baseball season is overly long and boring. For Christ sake Boston plays 54 games a year against Toronto, Tampa and Baltimore, who between them have maybe 3 or 4 exciting players. To follow a team closely the way Red Sox fans do, you need to either: 1) enjoy baseball so much you can watch the team for three hours a day for 5 months, in other words have no life, no job, and no family to take care of (me in the summer of 2000 and 2001,) or 2) Watch some games, and follow the stupid soap operas that come up every week or so. And the Boston media has gotten so damn good at capitalizing on this second group, that they will make up stories to get in a huff about. When I was home for two weeks, there was a new one every few days: First speculation Manny was refusing to play when he wasn’t hurt when he sat out some games around the All-Star break, followed by the overreaction to the Ortiz bat incident, the Varitek-A-rod brawl, and now…the Nomar trade.
Some of the incidents blow over, to be forgotten by press and public alike in a matter of weeks. This, obviously isn’t one of them. I have several problems with this attitude and manner of covering the team. First of all, it makes star players miserable after they spend enough time here. Every star player of my lifetime: Boggs, Clemens, Greenwell, Vaughn, Nomar, has left the team under this cloud of anger and accusation. When the stars come, like Ortiz now, they love the passion of the fans. They put up with the reporters. But it never, ever lasts. Why? Because we can’t build a team good enough to win the World Series/get unlucky in the playoffs. And eventually, someone has to take the blame for that. Never mind the fact these are great players, on good, enjoyable teams. Second, it makes the team less fun for me to watch or follow. What do I really care if Nomar is an asshole? He isn’t my friend. He’s my team’s shortstop, and a great one at that. Let’s talk about that a little, not how he was liked on the team, or whether he was mean to Sully the trainer or the grounds crew.
I’ve written enough for now: this is a huge issue. I will write again later this week trying to give my perspective on Nomar’s career in Boston and what can be done by the Red Sox, the players, and the fans who don’t like this side of Red Sox Nation to overcome this malaise, that I believe is hindering us from putting a championship caliber team on the field.
# posted by Marmaniac @ 2:29 AM 
