Saturday, January 31, 2015

Paying for dirt on players: Steinbrenner, Selig, Manfred. Steinbrenner Kids?

A previous incident of a star Yankee player being investigated and ridiculed by Yankee ownership involved George Steinbrenner and Hall of Famer Dave Winfield.
Howie Spira
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Steinbrenner

On July 30, 1990, Steinbrenner was banned permanently from day-to-day management (but not ownership) of the Yankees by MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent for paying a gambler named Howie Spira $40,000 to dig up "dirt" on Winfield. Winfield had sued the Yankees for failing to contribute $300,000 to his foundation, a guaranteed stipulation in his contract.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fay_Vincent

His relationship with baseball's owners was always tenuous at best; he resigned in 1992 after the owners gave him an 18–9 no confidence vote...

The leaders in the movement to oust Vincent were members of what The Sporting News later dubbed The Great Lakes Gang:[4]
Bud Selig, president of the Milwaukee Brewers;
Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the Chicago White Sox;
Stanton Cook, head of the Tribune Co., which owned the Chicago Cubs;
Carl Pohlad, owner of the Minnesota Twins;
Peter O'Malley, the longtime majority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers ...

He was replaced by Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig, whose family continued to maintain ownership over the Brewers.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Selig

Allan Huber "Bud" Selig ... born July 30, 1934 is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball. He initially served as the acting commissioner beginning in 1992 before being named the official commissioner in 1998...

The same year (1993), New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was reinstated from a lifelong suspension that was instituted by Selig's predecessor Fay Vincent.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Manfred

Robert D. Manfred Jr. (born 1958 or 1959) is an American lawyer, business executive, and the tenth Commissioner of Baseball. He previously served as the Chief Operating Officer of Major League Baseball and succeeded Bud Selig as Commissioner on January 25, 2015...

In 2013, Manfred led MLB's investigation of the Biogenesis scandal.[8]
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Rodriguez

Rodriguez admitted to using banned substances from 2001 to 2003...

Friend and former teammate Doug Glanville, while noting the outrage over Rodriguez's years of steroid use, berated Rodriguez's critics for their "lack of outrage about how a confidential and anonymous test could be made public."  ...

August 5, 2013, MLB suspended Rodriguez ... a total of 211 regular-season games plus any postseason games...  Rodriguez's "use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including Testosterone and human Growth Hormone, over the course of multiple years" and "for attempting to cover-up his violations of the Program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner's investigation." ...

The proposed suspension would effectively ban him from playing in Japan or South Korea, as the leagues in those nations honor any suspensions imposed by MLB...

In November 2014, it was revealed that Rodriguez had admitted to the Drug Enforcement Administration in January that he had used performance-enhancing drugs.[148] This was contrary to his sentiments 18 days earlier, vehemently denying any allegations and HGH use.
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Biogenesis baseball scandal

The Biogenesis baseball scandal broke in 2013 when several Major League Baseball (MLB) players were accused of obtaining performance-enhancing drugs ("PEDs"), specifically human growth hormone, from the now-defunct rejuvenation clinic Biogenesis of America...  MLB sued six people connected to Biogenesis, accusing them of damaging the sport by providing banned substances to its players...

Biogenesis of America was a health clinic briefly operating in Coral Gables, Florida, specializing in weight loss and hormone replacement therapy.[4] It was first registered in state corporation records in March 2012,[5] and was founded by Anthony Bosch ...

On January 22, 2013, the Miami New Times obtained documents from former Biogenesis employee Porter Fisher ...  The paper, however, refused to hand the documents over to Major League Baseball (MLB) authorities.

The Florida Department of Health, and MLB, both targeted the clinic's owner, Anthony Bosch, each separately taking action against him.

In March, MLB sued Bosch, and his business partners ... Subsequently, the MLB claimed to have found evidence that a representative of Rodriguez had purchased his medical records. It then paid a former Biogenesis employee for documents.[8]

In May (2013), Bosch agreed to work with MLB investigators (Manfred) in exchange for his name being removed from the lawsuit ...

In August (2013), Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. attorney for the southern district of Florida, announced that Bosch intended to plead guilty to one charge of conspiracy to distribute testosterone.[9] ...

MLB commissioner Bud Selig remarked "We conducted a thorough, aggressive investigation guided by facts so that we could justly enforce our rules ... we pursued this matter because it was not only the right thing to do, but the only thing to do."
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Steinbrenner Kids: add tacky to dumb and lazy: trying to void A-Rod's bonus.  Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Why?  And why now?  Is this driven by family hanger on Randy Levine, club president of the New York Yankees?  Is out of control general manager Brian Cashman behind it?  Or are the four adult children of late Yankee owner George Steinbrenner simply exhibiting a family trait that goes back to their father trying to discredit his star player, Dave Winfield, and receiving a lifetime ban by commissioner Fay Vincent, which was overturned by Vincent's successor, Allan Huber "Bud" Selig, who led the cabal that removed Vincent? ...

Motive: petty vindictiveness and self loathing that they gave A-Rod a new contract that they now regret.
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So have we come full circle?  Are the Steinbrenner Kids digging up dirt as we speak to discredit Alex Rodriguez to accomplish some of the following:
- get Rodriguez to retire
- get Rodriguez to accept a trade
- not pay Rodriguez the bonus money he may earn from a marketing agreement between him and the Yankees for tieing the career home run totals of those with more: Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds.  Rodriguez would receive $6 million for each player tied in exchange for his participating in promotional activities.

Ironically, if the Yankees win a civil suit and have the agreement negated, and A-Rod did these things, the Yankees would be begging him to go back to the original deal:
- hit 61 home runs in 2015 and pass Ruth
- hit 109 home runs in the remaining three years of his Yankees contract and pass Bonds.

This would be in addition to A-Rod more likely reaching these milestones, about which the dumb and lazy Steinbrenner Kids seem to be oblivious, during the 2015 season:
- 2,000 Runs
- 2,000 RBI
- 3,000 Hits.

The Yankees have been orgasmic for every milestone, both substantive and trumped up, by retired Yankee captain and former best buddy of A-Rod, Derek Jeter, in recent seasons.  The Steinbrenner Kids made a series of bad decisions that let the team slide into a very uncompetitive position  and much of that was to promote Jeter over what was good for the team and its fans.  They may be compounding those mistakes with their counterproductive treatment of Alex Rodriguez.  Even their father knew there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Friday, January 30, 2015

Rob "Bud Light" Manfred inspires timid, unimaginative ideas, continuing the Bud Selig Dark Ages.

In his first few days as commissioner the most positive reaction that Rob Manfred has inspired is that he is open to this or that idea, which is just weasel talk for "I'm not quite as dumb and lazy as my predecessor, Allan Huber "Bud" Selig".

On the commissioner's MLB Network former player Eric Byrnes babbled something that simulated an endorsement of a semi-radical idea without quite being explicit.  Byrnes seems to have a couple of brief fleeting experiences with starting the count at 1-1.  I have long advocated starting the count at 3-2 but Byrnes had tried to articulate the only thing that could possibly be interpreted as an innovative idea during the 22 year Selig-Manfred reign of terror (terrible ideas).  Byrnes said that he was much more alert as a batter when his plate appearance started at 1-1 and that the pace of the game speeded up considerably.  Unfortunately, Byrnes prefaced his halting comments by stating that he did not want baseball to descend into beer softball.  Softball but without the beer.  Slow pitch softball is the essence of the game: hitting, fielding, base running.  Quick play at a rapid pace with plenty of action.

Manfred, the A-Rod slayer, is comfortable with the two conferences having a different rule, designated hitter (DH), and with the All Star game determining the home field/rule advantage in a possible game 7 of the tournament finals.  That level of thought pretty much tells all you need to know about "Bud Light".

Thursday, January 29, 2015

A-Rod, just donate the bonus money to charity. Call out Levine and the Steinbrenner Kids.

Alex Rodriguez should call their bluff.  Offer to donate the bonus money to a charity agreed to by both parties.  Make them look like the fools they are.

Steinbrenner Kids: add tacky to dumb and lazy: trying to void A-Rod's bonus.  Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Is this driven by family hanger on Randy Levine, club president of the New York Yankees?  ...

Motive: petty vindictiveness and self loathing that they gave A-Rod a new contract that they now regret.
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Willie Mays cover Baseball Digest
September 1954 via Wikimedia Commons
This week I learned that the bonus money is not in the player contract between A-Rod and the Yankees.  As you read the excerpts below consider that if A-Rod passes Ruth in 2015 he will have hit at least 61 home runs and be worth way more than the $6 million.

Yankees working to void milestone bonuses for Alex Rodriguez as he closes in on Willie Mays on home run list

A-Rod, who has 654 career home runs, needs to hit just six more to tie Willie Mays' 660 homers and become eligible for a $6 million bonus. He'll collect $6 million for everyone he passes on the all-time list.

BY BILL MADDEN, TERI THOMPSON  NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Published: Sunday, January 25, 2015, 2:36 PM

As the Daily News first reported Saturday, the Yankees have declined to meet with Rodriguez as he attempts to mend relationships with Major League Baseball and prepares to re-enter the game following his season-long drug suspension, and are preparing for a battle to nullify the marketing bonuses that are separate from the remaining $61 million on A-Rod’s player contract.

Rodriguez, who has 654 career home runs, needs to hit just six more to tie Willie Mays’ 660 and become eligible for a $6 million bonus. The marketing deal also calls for him to receive $6 million if he ties Babe Ruth (714), another $6 million if he ties Hank Aaron (755) and yet another $6 million if surpasses Barry Bonds (762) to become baseball’s all-time home run king.

The Yankees, however, now view the marketing bonuses as worthless and invalid, according to sources, the result of Rodriguez’s suspension for violating the game’s collectively bargained drug policy and his scorched-earth attack on baseball and the Yankees...

The marketing deal, suggested by billionaire Warren Buffett, was the last significant step in restoring Rodriguez to the Yankees’ roster...

The deal was considered unique for the Yankees and was tied to Rodriguez making public relations and promotional appearances as he pursued the milestones. These kinds of marketing bonuses are not allowed in the standard player contract, according to the game’s Basic Agreement, which is why there was a separate contract.

Now, the Yankees will argue that Rodriguez signed the agreement under false pretenses and has rendered the marketing opportunities worthless based on years of lies, deception and, finally, admission to DEA agents last year ...
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Rk Player HR From To Age G PA AB R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm
1 Barry Bonds 762 1986 2007 21-42 2986 12606 9847 2227 2935 601 77 1996 2558 688 1539 106 4 91 165 514 141 .298 .444 .607 1.051 *78H/D9 PIT-SFG
2 Hank Aaron 755 1954 1976 20-42 3298 13941 12364 2174 3771 624 98 2297 1402 293 1383 32 21 121 328 240 73 .305 .374 .555 .928 *9783DH/45 MLN-ATL-MIL
3 Babe Ruth 714 1914 1935 19-40 2504 10622 8399 2174 2873 506 136 2214 2062 1330 43 113 2 123 117 .342 .474 .690 1.164 971/8H3 BOS-NYY-BSN
4 Willie Mays 660 1951 1973 20-42 2992 12496 10881 2062 3283 523 140 1903 1464 192 1526 44 13 91 251 338 103 .302 .384 .557 .941 *8H/39675 NYG-SFG-NYM
5 Alex Rodriguez 654 1994 2013 18-37 2568 11344 9818 1919 2939 519 30 1969 1240 92 2075 169 16 101 240 322 76 .299 .384 .558 .942 65D/H SEA-TEX-NYY
6 Ken Griffey 630 1989 2010 19-40 2671 11304 9801 1662 2781 524 38 1836 1312 246 1779 81 8 102 199 184 69 .284 .370 .538 .907 *89DH/73 SEA-CIN-CHW
7 Jim Thome 612 1991 2012 20-41 2543 10313 8422 1583 2328 451 26 1699 1747 173 2548 69 1 74 165 19 20 .276 .402 .554 .956 3D5H PHI-CHW-LAD-MIN-CLE-BAL
8 Sammy Sosa 609 1989 2007 20-38 2354 9896 8813 1475 2408 379 45 1667 929 154 2306 59 17 78 202 234 107 .273 .344 .534 .878 *98D/H7 TEX-CHW-CHC-BAL
9 Frank Robinson 586 1956 1976 20-40 2808 11742 10006 1829 2943 528 72 1812 1420 218 1532 198 17 102 270 204 77 .294 .389 .537 .926 97D3H8/5 CIN-BAL-LAD-CAL-CLE
10 Mark McGwire 583 1986 2001 22-37 1874 7660 6187 1167 1626 252 6 1414 1317 150 1596 75 3 78 147 12 8 .263 .394 .588 .982 *3/HD59 OAK-STL
11 Harmon Killebrew 573 1954 1975 18-39 2435 9833 8147 1283 2086 290 24 1584 1559 160 1699 48 0 77 243 19 18 .256 .376 .509 .884 357DH/49 WSH-MIN-KCR
12 Rafael Palmeiro 569 1986 2005 21-40 2831 12046 10472 1663 3020 585 38 1835 1353 172 1348 87 15 119 232 97 40 .288 .371 .515 .885 *3D7/H98 CHC-BAL-TEX
13 Reggie Jackson 563 1967 1987 21-41 2820 11418 9864 1551 2584 463 49 1702 1375 164 2597 96 13 68 183 228 115 .262 .356 .490 .846 *9D8H/7 KCA-BAL-NYY-CAL-OAK
14 Manny Ramirez 555 1993 2011 21-39 2302 9774 8244 1544 2574 547 20 1831 1329 216 1813 109 2 90 243 38 33 .312 .411 .585 .996 79D/H CLE-BOS-LAD-CHW-TBR
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/29/2015.