Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Pedro Martinez…..What would they be paid this winter as free agents?

Posted on December 18, 2012 by fenwaypark100

So in the past ten days or so, Zack Greinke has inked a six-year 148 million dollar contract with the Dodgers. For purposes of clarification, that’s 24.6 mil per year. For purposes of more clarification, that would be $822,222.22 per start, if he starts 30 games (he’s averaged 25 per season). Oh and what the hell, for even more clarification, if he pitches the same amount of innings, his next six seasons, that he has his first nine (1,492), he’ll earn $99,195.70 per inning! And if he averages 15 wins a season for the next six years, that will garner him $1,626,373.60 per win!  

In his nine-year career he has: won the Cy Young Award in 2009, the same year he led the American League with a 2.16 ERA. He led the National League in strikeouts per nine innings with the Brewers in 2011 and has never led the league in any other category. He has won 16 games twice and 15 games once.

Now don’t get me wrong, Greinke is a very good pitcher, very good; in fact the best available pitcher on this winter’s free agent market.  And here’s the short of it, Donald Zachary Greinke will draw the highest yearly salary of any pitcher in history! Not bad for the former Apopka Blue Dart, not bad at all.

Zack is 29 years old.

Within a few days from that, this young man became very wealthy.

He is Anibal Sanchez and he agreed to pitch for the Detroit Tigers for the next five years. And for agreeing to do so, the Tigers are going to pay him 80 million bucks! For purposes of clarification, that’s 16 mil per year. And for purposes of more clarification, that’s $533,333.33 per start, if he starts 30 games this year (he’s averaged 21 starts a season). This kid was 10-3 as a 22-year-old in 2006 and since then he is 38-48 for a career mark of 48-51! He will be 29 in February.

Those of you who have paid attention to this blog know that I’m a big history guy; I love the old school stuff. Therefore I have to be somewhat of a numbers guy. All that said, these signings sent me scurrying and a wondering what some of yesteryear’s pitchers would garner in today’s market. So here goes.

I have chosen three pitchers to span a century. They are, Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax and Pedro Martinez. Not bad eh? These three, span the century, and here’s what I did. I looked at each of them at the age of 29 in an attempt to establish their worth in today’s market.

First, Walter Johnson.

Walter Johnson had 417 career wins (110 of them shutouts) and is called by many the greatest pitcher of all time.

The ‘Big Train” as he was aptly called turned 29 in November of 1916. He had ten big league seasons under his belt and a resume that was actually quite impressive. The 1916 campaign saw Johnson go 25-20 with a 1.90 ERA. It marked his fourth consecutive year in which he led the American League in wins with 36, 28, 27 and 25 respectively. It was also his fifth straight year leading the league in strikeouts, fourth straight year leading the league in complete games and innings pitched.

Walter Johnson had 12 seasons of 20 wins or more including years in which he won 33 and 36 games.

When Johnson turned 29 in the winter of ’16’ he was 232-148, had thrown 302 complete games of which 65 were shutouts. He had been an MVP once (the award was new), and he had led the American League in 42 pitching categories. If Cy Young had been an award rather than an opponent, he would have won at least three and maybe four of them.

Were he to enter the free agent market this winter, I doubt even the Dodgers would be able to scratch up the cash to pay him. But just for the hell of it let’s have a little fun. Let’s use Greinke’s per event numbers and see where the “Big Train” falls.

Paying Johnson the same per win rate as Zack would put his contract at $491,164,646 or six years at $81,860,774 per. He could be paid by the inning which would bring him $312,268,063 or $52,044,677 per annum. Or it could go to the start which would only bring him $285,311,034 for six years or $47,551,839 per season. Hell if you paid Johnson Greinke’s per start rate for his complete games only old Wally boy would get $248,311,044 or $41,385,174 a year.

Oh, and just for the record, in 1917, Johnson played for $16,000 or $695.65 per win or $49.07 per inning or $470.58 per start.

In 1917, the average household income in the United States was $800 per year. Walter Johnson’s earnings were 20 times higher than that!

Now how about a look at this guy? Sanford “Sandy” Koufax.

Sandy turned 29 in December of 1964, coming off a year which saw him win 19 games while losing just five and leading the National League, for the third straight year with a 1.74 ERA. He also led the league in shutouts as well as strikeouts per nine innings.

Having just completed his 10th year, his career record was 112-60. He had won the Cy Young Award in 1963 and had led the league in 21 collective pitching categories. If Sandy were paid by the win, he’d get $182,153,776 or $30,358,962 a season. Were it by the inning it would be $165,258,870 or $27,543,145 per year. His best option would be to be paid by the start which would bring him $190,755,555 or #31,792,592 per year.

These numbers are not too far above the contract signed by Greinke. It may seem absurd to suggest that 36 million dollars is not “too far off” however when we are dealing with an excess of 150 mil, it simply does not seem so.

However here’s the Koufax rub, if you will. In 1965 and “66” Sandy Koufax DOMINATED baseball. He won the pitching triple crown both years, the Cy Young both years and posted a new single season strikeout mark with 382 in 1965. He was 53-17 with a 1.89 ERA and 699 strikeouts.

Sandy Koufax won three Cy Young Awards when only one pitcher was selected between both leagues.

In 1965 Koufax played for $110,000 or $4230.76 per win, or $327.70 per inning or $2439.02 per start.  In 1965, the average income per American household was $6900 per year. Sandy Koufax’s salary was 16 times higher than that.

Last and certainly not least, is Pedro Martinez.

 

Pedro turned 29 in October of 2000. He had just completed a year in which he went 18-6, led the league with an ERA of 1.74, shutouts and strikeouts. He won his second consecutive Cy Young Award and his third in four years.

Like Greinke, he had completed nine seasons with a record of 125-56 and an ERA of 2.67. He owned three Cy Young Awards and had led the league in 19 different pitching categories.

If Pedro took “Greinke Dollars” and was paid by the win, he would sign for $182,153,776 or $30,358,962 per year! (SAME AS KOUFAX) If he were paid by the start, he’d get $173,488,420 or $28,914,807 per year. And if he were paid by the inning, he’d get $156,331,320 or $26,055,220 per season.

These numbers are even closer to Greinke’s yet after considerably more accomplishments and domination in his first nine years.   

Pedro would pitch another nine years after his 29th birthday and he went 94-44 in those seasons. Not as dominant as he once had been, he did however, win another pitching triple crown and add another 20 win season while leading the league in 13 more pitching categories.

In 2001, Pedro played for 13 million dollars. Injuries skew his stats for that year as he only pitched 116 innings and went 7-3 with a 2.39 ERA in 18 starts. That’s 1.8 million per win,  112 thousand per inning and $722,222 per start. In 2000 the average income for the American household was $45,000 per year. Pedro’s salary was 29 times higher than that.

Well there you have it. Oh wait, one more thing. The average American household in 2012 has an income of $50,502. Zack Greinke makes a little over 48 times that amount.

And as for Anibal Sanchez, good Lord what are former Tiger pitchers like Hank Aguirre, Joe Sparma and Jack Billingham thinking? Timing is everything I guess!

So what does it all mean? Actually, not really much of anything except perhaps one maybe and one absolute. Maybe, the players in the 1960s were pretty much held in check and Zack Greinke’s absolutely has got a lot of work to do!

 Timing is everything indeed!

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GIVE FENWAY PARK FOR CHRISTMAS….

Posted on December 16, 2012 by fenwaypark100

Hey folks…Looking for a Christmas present for your favorite sports, baseball or history fan? Try this….

7688FENWcvr.indd

Here are a few reasons why…..

  • There are 220 photos in this book, of which over 40 are published for the first time.
  • It is more than just a story about the Red Sox.
  • It is a story about Fenway Park.
  • It is inexpensive.
  • Shipping is included.
  • It will fit in a Christmas stocking.
  • I will personally autograph it to whomever you like.
  • I guarantee your recipient will learn something about Fenway Park they never knew.
  • I guarantee they will like it.
  • I guarantee I will like it.
  • Here are a few photos from inside….

Images of Fenway Addy

A sweet little four-year old’s first trip to Fenway in 2011.

Images of Fenway Flying Harry

“Flying Harry Aaganis knocks down a pass in the Boston University secondary. 

 Images of Fenway Ted HR 1939

 A happy Ted Williams crosses home after a Fenway homer in his rookie year.

Images of Fenway RFK

Attorney General Robert Kennedy throws out first pitch on Opening Day 1964.

Images of Fenway Dent Scoreboard

How many of you can identify the significance of this moment?

Images of Fenway Dave M

Pan Mass Bicycle Challenge for the Jimmy Fund.

Images of Fenway Yaz Goodbye

Yaz waves goodbye in October of 1983.

Images of Fenway Rice Number

Johnny Pesky unveils Jim Rice’s number 14.  

Fenway’s fantastic story told in over 200 fantastic photos. ORDER TODAY!!!

Click on this link…..You will not be sorry….PROMISE!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221148945557?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

GIVE FENWAY FOR CHRISTMAS.

Posted in Fenway Park and Football, Fenway Park Baseball, Fenway Park Other | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Burn Baby Burn…..

Posted on December 14, 2012 by fenwaypark100

There are some people who inherently can teach. They are few and far between, but when we encounter them we know. We see it in their countenance, in their communication and in their love of and passion for their chosen endeavor.

Two such men are these guys.

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Mark Guthrie (L) and Craig Faulkner

Mark is a former major league pitcher who spent 15 years pitching for eight different teams. Included among them was my beloved Red Sox, although I think he would prefer to forget that stint. He pitched 15 games in the post season,  six of those came with the World Champion Minnesota Twins in 1991.

Guthrie Early Twins

Mark was 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA and three holds in the Twins 1991 post season.

Craig played for eight seasons in the minor leagues with the Orioles, Cardinals and Brewers. He led the New York Penn League in home runs in 1987 and the following year led the Orioles Hagerstown Suns in both home runs and RBI. Today he is the head coach of the 2012, 7A Florida State Champion Venice High School baseball team. I have written about his team a few times on this blog.

VHS 2012 State ChampsCraig Faulkner(R) led the Indians to State Championships in 2007 and 2012.

Mark and Craig have been lifelong friends. Meeting as kids, they played together in the Venice Little League, on the Venice High School team and then in college at LSU. In fact they, along with future big leaguers, Albert Belle, Jeff Reboulet and Jack Voigt were a part of the Tigers 1986 SEC Championship team under “Skip” Bertman, the team which changed the culture at LSU.

 Mark was 9-2 with the ’86’ Tigers.

Jack Voigt

Jack Voigt played with Guthrie and Faulkner in the Venice Little League and at Venice High. He played six seasons in the Big Leagues.

Albert “Joey” Belle hit .354 with 21 homers and 66 RBI in 1986 with LSU’s Tigers.

Two decades ago, Guthrie, Faulkner and Voigt founded the Holiday Baseball Clinic! Aimed at the little ones, it established a baseball teaching tradition in Venice Florida which Jack Voigt and Venice alum and former major leaguer Jon Knott continue to this very day.

SCAN0506 Left to right bottom, Pete Dombrowski, Guthrie, Faulkner, Voigt and Justin Tarro. In the back Rich Carroll, Jeff Balsar, Adam Pavkovich, Jeff Callan, Jon Knott, Blake Lynn and Josh Sinibaldi at the Holiday Baseball Clinic in 2000.

Growing families took Guthrie and Faulkner down  different baseball paths. For Craig it was his vision for the Venice High School baseball program. Using Bertman’s model at LSU he set to doing just that; there was a field to build and a community to serve and he began brick by brick and player by player to construct and teach a tradition of “excellence on and off the field.”

For Mark it was travel ball and two of his boys. And like all of us who love this game and want to pass the passion onto our kids, he became entrenched in the life that is Florida travel baseball. And when his playing career came to an end, his teaching career accelerated to another level as he formed the Gulf Coast Greyhounds who traveled the state playing baseball.

Guthrie and Faulkner were never far away from each other and as Mark’s boys grew, as they have a tendency to do, there was never a doubt in his mind that when young manhood beckoned he would hand his boys off to his former teammate, his friend to learn about baseball and life under his tutelage.

With his sons both playing at Venice High, Guthrie figured his days on the travel circuit were over, but then a funny thing happened. The boys wanted more; not just his boys but the boys whom he had coached and were now about Florida’s Gulf Coast playing on various high school teams. He turned to his friend and together they gave birth to the Florida Burn.    http://www.floridaburn.com/

 Goodrich led Spruce Creek to the 20012 Florida 8A State Championship.

Teaming up with Spruce Creek High School coach Johnny Goodrich, the Burn attracted kids from throughout the Gulf Coast and Central Florida and the program literally exploded. Last summer they had an 18 and under team, a 17 and under team, two 16 and under teams and a freshman team. With their goal to “get these kids to college, if they have the talent to play there” the Burn made an immediate impact, not only on baseball in the state of Florida but nationally and they now have younger teams as well.      http://www.floridaburn.com/

Thirty five of the ninety kids who donned the uniform of the Burn committed to colleges this past year. Of those, 25 will play at Division one schools. As for playing the game right, the sixteen and under team won two, catch that two, National Tournaments and those came against teams that were in fact a year older than the Burn’s boys. http://www.floridaburn.com/

There is a committment and focus required to baseball that indeed exposes character and when the teachers of this, the greatest of games is done by men who possess the character of the likes of Guthrie, Faulkner, Goodrich and the men they surround themselves with, than it’s the players who are the winners! And championships have little to do with it, those are simply the frosting.

The first weekend in December marked the first ever Florida Burn clinic. A total of 165 kids traveled to the Buck O’Neill complex in Sarasota Florida to showcase their skills for the two dozen college coaches and pro scouts who gathered.

P1130020

Tampa Bay Rays coach Davey Martinez talks to the members of the Burn clinic about hitting.

In ever-increasing numbers college coaches have stated that there are only three places in Florida where they look for kids because they know they’re being taught the game and taught it right. “What is most gratifying about that” said Guthrie “is we’re one of them.”

And all this in one full year!

With all due respect to Mr. Guthrie, the best part about the Florida Burn is that the boys are not just being taught baseball but life……….the right way!

http://www.floridaburn.com/

Burn Baby Burn!

 

 

 

 

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“Everyone Who Knew Him Well, Loved Him…..A Lot”. Sue Thomsen

Posted on December 11, 2012 by fenwaypark100

I know that I’m getting older, I sure as hell don’t feel any older, but the undeniable, incessant march of time will bring wisdom to those open to it. So my march toward my next decade has made me wiser, most definitely wiser. People, events, and experiences unveil to me on a daily basis the importance of earnestly grasping each moment this existence has to offer and ringing out every ounce of this life. To waste one second is to commit the greatest injustice to those we love and above all to ourselves.

And what is the essence of it all? Simple really, RELATIONSHIPS! The latest vehicle for crystallizing this fact with a blinding clarity came in a plethora of responses I received to a post I wrote back in May. It was about one of my first Red Sox heroes, and that was this man.

Jim Pagliaroni

Last weekend I noticed that I had a huge spike in visitors and they all focused upon my story about “Pag”. I also received several emails and comments and they were from his family and friends.

Pag (17), Sal Bando and “Catfish”.

You see, I was writing about Jim Pagliaroni the baseball player. The guy who was on deck when Ted Williams hit his last home run. The guy who caught both Bill Monbouquette’s record-setting 17 strikeout game in 1961 and no-hitter in 1962. The guy who caught “Catfish” Hunter’s perfect game in 1968 and the guy who was one of the once and forever Seattle Pilots of 1969. The guy who hit a grand slam home run to tie a game in the bottom of the ninth inning at Fenway. The Italian catcher who made an eight year old boy jump for joy!

I was writing about the baseball player but these wonderful people were writing about a husband, a father, a brother, a friend and a “Papa”. Words such as humble, loving, kind, loyal and the most unforgettable person I ever knew, filled the emails with one friend writing, “everyone who knew him well, loved him…..a lot!”

Jim Pagliaroni passed away at the start of the 2010 baseball season after a five-year battle with cancer and heart disease. His passing brought a void into the lives of these people which could only be created by a life so full, a presence so powerfully gentle and a spirit with a boundless capacity to love.

These people introduced me to Jim Pagliaroni bringing the eight year old boy to the 59-year-old man and touching the joy of a long ago summer day shared with his dad.

http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/sacbee/guestbook.aspx?n=jim-pagliaroni&pid=141566276&cid=full

So now I know Jim Pagliaroni in a way I never dreamed imaginable and my life is made richer because of it. I have been touched by his energy and moved by his spirit and I am grateful evermore to those who took a moment to unveil it to me. And in so doing reminding all that when it is all said and done what is it that really matters? It’s simple…..

P1120793

It’s the love!

Carpe Diem!!!!!

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Only the Hall Can Slay the Dragon…..

Posted on December 7, 2012 by fenwaypark100

This month, the ballots for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown New York are in the hands of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). The list of first timers on this ballot has resurrected that ugly STEROID dragon, who once again, rears its head!

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa, all linked to steroid use, appear for the first time on the Hall of Fame ballot.

 In the days of yesteryear the talk would be about the possibility of a record being set. What? That’s right, in 1992 Tom Seaver received 425 of a possible 430 votes for 98.84% of the vote. In 1999 his former Mets teammate Nolan Ryan, received 491 of a possible 497 votes for  98.79%. Were we in a different time, the talk would be about the possibility of the first ever 100% vote, perhaps twice. After all, in all reality how could anyone not vote for Bonds or Clemens?

Barry Bonds before and after.

Roger Clemens before and after.

Sammy Sosa before and after.

It seems clear that not one of these players will be inducted into the Hallowed Halls come July of 2013. The BBWAA has spoken, rendering their verdicts on Mark McGwire, who has never received as high as 25% of the vote and Rafael Palmiero has received 11 and 12.6% of the vote in his two years on the ballot. A player needs 75% of the vote to be inducted and 5% of the vote to remain on the ballot.

It is also crystal clear to me that not just the players are involved in all of this, the owners, the writers, broadcasters, managers and coaches all were “aware” of what was going on and yes even Mr. Selig himself shares complicity in all this nonsense.

On December 19, 2007, just after the release of the Mitchell Report, the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy wrote: “Here’s what a former Red Sox manager told me in 1999, “Everybody in the game knows why Clemens got so good again. He’s on steroids, it’s obvious.””

The opinions of what to do about all this vary and range from these guys should never get in to what difference does it all make? It is clear to me that the answer lay with the Hall of Fame itself. Let’s face it, that is truly what the debate is all about!

I propose the following:

1) The Hall of Fame should officially declare the years 1988-2005 “The Steroid Era” and they should recognize it in the museum with displays explaining the hows and whys of the era. After all there is the Dead Ball Era, the Live Ball Era, the Modern Era etc, etc.

2) The current method of election should be blown up (see number 4) and again election requires that 75% of the voting members name the player on their ballot. There were 573 ballots cast last year. Here are the rules. http://baseballhall.org/hall-famers/rules-election/bbwaa

3) Any member of the BBWAA who was a voting member during the “Steroid Era” should be suspended for 10 years, from participation in the voting. This should apply to any broadcasters, players, coaches, etc who played during the “Steroid Era”.

4) A body of 200 members should be established and that should include former players, writers, broadcasters, historians and fans. Interested individuals would submit an application and pass a test of knowledge of baseball and its history.

5) The 75%/5% requirements should be maintained.

6) Any player who played the majority of their careers during the steroid era would have their Hall of Fame plaque state such. For example, Derek Jeter’s plaque would read “Played during the Steroid Era but was never linked to its use.” While Alex Rodriquez’s would read, “Tested positive for Steroids use during his career” and Clemens, Bonds and their ilk would read, “Linked to Steroid use”.

Now the astute among you realize that under my “new” criteria, Mr. Selig would also be banned from Hall of Fame participation, but he, nor the Hall, want to hear that and of course it will never happen because Emperors and rattlesnakes don’t commit suicide.

The narcissistic Barry Bonds is now chirping about letting “bygones be bygones” and he does not understand what everybody is “still so made about.” Really?  Judgement day approaches and he is ALMOST contrite.

So what will happen, I predict the following:

1) The Hall of Fame will do nothing.

2) None of these guys will get in this year, although I do believe that Bonds and Clemens will receive more votes than any first time juicers have received to date.

3) If Roger Clemens does not receive at least 50% of the vote he will pitch in the Major Leagues next year and buy five more years before his name will reappear on the ballot again.

4) The dragon will continue to rear its ugly head.

They have cheated history!

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“Well Here We Are Again, I Guess it Must be Fate”….. Chicago

Posted on December 4, 2012 by fenwaypark100

How about that! It’s Hall of Fame election time for Major League Baseball and the air will ONCE AGAIN be filled with discussion of guess what? I’ll give you a hint, it starts with an “S” and it rhymes with hemorrhoids, the biggest pain in the ass a human being can experience. 

 

 This year’s induction should have been a celebration of baseball not seen since perhaps the inaugural Hall of Fame induction in 1936! The Hall opened with some pretty good names: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner and some guy named Babe!

Mathewson, Babe, Wagner, Johnson and Cobb.

I mean really it was to be a no brainer! Just check the names in this class of first time eligibles: Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, Biggio, Piazza and Curt Schilling! Wow! Is there any doubt, any doubt whatsoever, that in a different time and different place that Bonds, Clemens, Biggio and Sosa would be heralded into the hallowed halls of American’s sports most famous, most venerated bastion of immortality? And on their very first go round no less!

Does is it seem that long ago when we were reveling in that magical summer of 1998 when Sosa and Mark McGwire both laid waste to Roger Maris’ record of 61 home runs in a season?

 

Roger Maris, 61 homers in 1961.

 Can we ever forget McGwire crawling into the stands to embrace the Maris family following his record-breaking 62nd home run, or his tear-filled press conference after in which he kissed the bat that Maris had used when he clubbed number 61 in “61′?

McGwire with Richard Maris.

Or how about Sammy running in from his outfield position to love on McGwire for reaching 62 ahead of him. It was glorious, glorious and we all ate it up, “ate it up like cereal…But it was something like shrapnel!”

And then the whole damn thing imploded: Andro, Canseco, the Clear, the Cream, the Mitchell Report, Clemens, MacNamee, Congress, “I’m not here to talk about the past”, Manny, Arod, Manny again, Melcky….Blah. blah. blah ad infinitum, blah, blah, blah!

And what is it all about really?

What it all boils down to is this. It is about their place in history. There is no other sport which values its history more than baseball and the discussion about steroids is about each individual user of performance enhancing drugs and his place in history.

I have said this before and I am, for the 55,555th time, going to say it again, the players who cheated by using PED’s, did not cheat each other. I mean really, a juiced-up Roger Clemens, facing a juiced-up Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds or Alex Rodriquez or Manny Ramirez or Sammy Sosa is a “balanced” playing field. Cheater versus cheater. It is all well and good if you will.

Who and what the cheaters cheated is history and baseball’s all-time greats!

Remember the discussions? Roger Clemens was being heralded as perhaps the greatest pitcher of all time. There were those that were saying that Barry Bonds was a better hitter than Babe Ruth and that Manny Ramirez was in the argument as the greatest right-handed hitter in baseball history. There were some who even suggested that when it was all said and done “Alex Rodriquez might go down as the greatest player in the history of the game”.

So where and how does it all end?

Roger Clemens cheated and was thus placed in the company of these guys.

 

Walter Johnson, 417 career wins.

 

Christy Mathewson, 12 straight 20-win seasons including four of them with 30 or more wins.

Bob Gibson, 251 career wins, 7-2 in the World Series with eight complete games and a 1.89 ERA.

 

Barry Bonds cheated to achieve, in a few seasons, the numbers that Babe Ruth reached for more than a decade.

Babe Ruth 12-time Home Run Champ and a lifetime 1.164 OPS.

Barry Bonds cheated and stole Aaron’s lifetime home run crown.

Hank Aaron 755 career home runs.

Manny Ramirez cheated and entered into the argument as a better right-handed hitter than Jimmie Foxx.

Jimmie Foxx, the first right hander to 500 career homers, a lifetime .325 hitter with 534 homers.

So what do we do? How do we protect the rich and glorious history of this, the greatest of games?

The answer lay in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the keepers of that history. And what have they done? To date NOTHING! Absolutely nothing!

What should they do? My solution will be next.

It simply won’t go away….

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Joe Cicero, Kerry Keene and Me…..

Posted on November 30, 2012 by fenwaypark100

Recently I completed my book about spring training in Sarasota and Bradenton Florida. It will be released on March 9, 2013.

 My attraction to this subject is the fact that McKechnie Field in Bradenton, which opened in 1923, is the oldest, still functioning spring training facility in the country. The following year the New York Giants traveled to Sarasota to prepare for their season and today both these cities continue to host spring training.

OK, I confess, it didn’t hurt that the Red Sox trained in Sarasota from 1933 through 1958; save for the war years when they stayed close to home at Tufts University’s facilities in Medford Mass. 

Ted Williams in left field at Payne Park in Sarasota, circa 1948.

I also learned that the Sox spent a bit of time in Bradenton as well, training there when the team was owned by Bob Quinn in 1928 and 29. And it is there where todays story lies.

To begin, the Red Sox were in the midst of the worst stretch in their history. You think this past year was bad? You think the late 50s and early 60s were bad? They were spectacular compared to the 1920s and early 30s. Try this on for size.

In 1918, the Red Sox won the World Series! They would not have another winning season until 1935! In the midst of that horrific run, 1923 to be exact, Mr. Quinn purchased the team from Mr. Harry Frazee, remember him? All Mr. Quinn did was turn Fenway Park into the castle of despair as the Red Sox began an unprecedented run of futility.

Throughout Mr. Quinn’s tenure the Red Sox won 544 games while losing a whopping 988. That translates to a winning percentage of .355. Impressive heh? They had five seasons of 100 plus losses including three in a row and a record-setting 111 in 1932. They finished in last place in eight of the eleven years, next to last twice and climbed all the way up to sixth place once! Don’t forget, there were only eight teams in each league, so the Old Town Team was firmly entrenched as celler dwellers.

Despite the fact that they were a terrible, terrible baseball team, the City of Bradenton welcomed them in the spring of 1928. In my search for photos for the book of the Red Sox training there, I came across the story of a young phenom from New Jersey who was with the Red Sox that spring. His name was Joe Cicero.

 Joe Cicero was 17 years old when he came to his first Red Sox spring training in 1928. In fact he had to get his mom’s permission to do so. A first cousin of matinée idol Clark Gable, “Dody” would make his major league debut in September of 1929. He played 10 games for the Red Sox in ’29’ and 18 games in 1930.

Following the 1930 season, the kid from Atlantic City New Jersey languished in the minors for the better part of the decade, never rising above the level of double A ball. In 1937 he left the minor leagues and headed north of the border and played some Canadian baseball and even gave the Canadian Football League a whirl.

Cicero in 1929.

He played semi-pro ball into the forties, served a year in the military and on Valentine’s Day 1945, the Philadelphia A’s signed him to a contract. He made their squad that year and when he took the field on opening day he etched his name into the annals of baseball history. It had been 15 years since he last appeared in a major league uniform, a record which today still stands!

Luis Kerry and I

Yours Truly, Luis Tiant and Kerry Keene at Curtis Liquors in Weymouth Massachusetts in August of 2012.

Fast forward to last week. I was talking to my good friend, baseball historian, and sometimes collaborator Kerry Keene. I was telling him about my “find”. He laughed and said, “I can’t believe you’re telling me this today.” “Why” I asked. “Well just yesterday I was on one of my SABR posts and the topic was the longest time between major league appearances.” Apparently the SABRites were bantering about various names as possibilities for this record holder. “I happen to know” said Kerry, “it’s Joe Cicero”.

I quickly contacted my publisher with a stop the presses plea. “I have something important to add to the book before it goes to final print.”

“I happened to know it is Joe Cicero.” Of course you do, the guy did after all play a grand total of 40 games between the years of 1929 and 1945.

Oh, and by the way, Cicero wore the number 10, but Kerry probably knows that too.

The mind of my friend never ceases to amaze and amuse me!

Joe Cicero, major league record holder, just one of the reasons I Love This Game!

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Fenway, A Timeless Edifice…..Excellence, A Timeless Pursuit…..

Posted on November 25, 2012 by fenwaypark100

I hope and trust that all had a great Thanksgiving! Nothing like Turkey Day! Mine was almost perfect, only one thing missing!

My girls with my nieces, nephews and significant others. And of course the Crown Jewels, two of my granddaughters.

I want to thank one and all for your kind responses regarding my return. I had to leave the blog for a bit as I was facing  a deadline for my book on spring training in Sarasota and Bradenton Florida. It will be released March 4th. I must confess that the abysmal Red Sox season made it a bit easier to leave it! Good God what a painful summer. I am back and will be posting a couple of times a week here as we look towards “next year”.

On Saturday (November 24) Kerry, David and I were at the Barnes and Noble bookstore at the Derby Shops in Hingham Massachusetts and we had a wonderful response! Thanks to all who stopped by and said hello and I must confess that the allure of Fenway Park and the resilience of New England’s Red Sox fans always amaze me. A special thanks to all of the folks who purchased Fenway as a holiday gift. As bad as the Red Sox were this year, Fenway will always be Fenway. There are few better places in the world to pass the time.

My good friend Pete and his lovely wife Donna stopped by to say hello.

Pete and I reach a long way back in Red Sox history as he was an invaluable aid to me when I was plying my wares on the streets outside Fenway back in the early 80s. We hocked many a TShirt together in the closing years of Yaz’s career. More on that in a future blog.

 

The loquacious Mr. Hickey chats with visitors.

We are hoping to appear a few more times before Christmas for signings and I will keep you posted as to the whens and wheres. In the interim, if you would like to purchase an autographed copy, click here I will be happy to send it along.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221142832958?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

 Those of you who have followed this blog, may remember that I am involved with the Venice High School baseball team in Venice Florida.

https://fenwaypark100.org/2012/06/06/of-road-warriors-championships-drafts-and-gpas/

Well on Saturday night the Gulf Coast city of Venice Florida held their annual Christmas Parade. The 2012 Venice High School State Champion baseball team was honored as they were asked to be the grand marshals.

Venice High School 2012 Baseball State Champs.

Well a couple of weeks ago, the Venice High School girls volleyball team won the program’s third State Championship. Head baseball coach Craig Faulkner got together with head volleyball coach Brian Wheatley and the result was that both these teams of champions led the 2012 City of Venice Christmas Parade.

Photo: Our four seniors!

Venice High School 2012 Volleyball State Champions.

I am privileged and exceedingly proud to be associated with these two programs who embody excellence both on and off the field and volleyball court.

“It’s great to be an Indian.”

Excellence, always a noble pursuit.

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THANKSGIVING 2012, 1912, 1966 AND OF COURSE…..1967!

Posted on November 21, 2012 by fenwaypark100

When I last left the Red Sox they were in flames on the runway having crashed and burned the 2012 craft. Wait check that, that craft never got off the ground, it simply imploded on the runway!

The year which had begun with so much promise yielded a disappointment the likes which had not been seen at Fenway Park in decades. In many ways it was worse than all the close calls of the past for it was a season that was virtually without hope.

I must confess that when I began this blog a year ago, I did so with great anticipation and excitement. You see, the plan was to compare this historic 100th birthday season with that splendid year of 1912. What fun it was going to be!

Alas , but what was it the poet once said? The best laid plans

Little did I know, but the 2012 version of the Red Sox would more closely resemble the 1966 entity which was the last Sox team to dump 90 games. I must confess it was somewhat apropos as this brought me back to my youth. To the days of empty stands and “wait till next year.”

So instead of comparing the exploits of Josh Beckett and Jon Lester with those of “Smokey” Joe Wood and Ray Collins, I watched as they morphed into Dave Morehead and Dennis Bennett.

Dave Morehead was 35-56 with a 4.17 ERA in six years with the Red Sox. (Including a no-hitter)

Josh Beckett was 5-11 with a 5.23 ERA with the 2012 Red Sox.

It is interesting to note that in his six seasons in a Red Sox uniform, Morehead made between 75 and 100,000 samolians, total. Now Mr. Beckett, on the other hand, made $124,015 for every inning he pitched for the Red Sox in 2012 alone! Did you catch that? One hundred, twenty-four thousand and fifteen dollars for every stellar inning he threw!

Dennis Bennett threw three years with the Red Sox and was 12-13 with a 3.96 ERA.

Carl Crawford was no semblance of “Duffy” Lewis and certainly not Carl Yastrzemski. The enormously talented Jacoby Ellsbury resembled Tris Speaker in centerfield only in the fact that he played centerfield for the Red Sox. Cody Ross gave a marvelous effort in right, one of the few bright spots in a gloomy season. Adrian Gonzalez showed that he is simply not a spotlight kind of guy. An excellent hitter he is just not made for the heat of light which shines so bright in Boston!

Pedroia was Pedroia, battling every inch of the way and Ortiz showed his bat still has life, if in fact his legs may not!

There was good news along the way. It came in the names of,

Felix Doubront who proved to be a solid back of the rotation starter.

And Will Middlebrooks whose bat and play at third was enough to dislodge Kevin Youkilis.

Pedro Ciriaco and Franklin Morales are the kind of players any manager wants on his team and I have to think that they are part of the 2013 solution. Good news also came in the dismissal of Bobby Valentine. A match made in hell to be sure the good ship Red Sox was doomed at the dock when this man took the helm!

So, the 2012 season was supposed to invoke those thrilling days of yesteryear and the immortal names of Speaker, Wood, Hooper and Lewis. Instead  invoked the ghosts of George Smith, Don Demeter, Bob Tillman and Lenny Green!

However there is still hope. For following the dismil 92 loss season of 1966 came the glorious year of 1967! Therein lies a beauty of an ultimate truth; there is and will always be hope because there was 1967!

So as we gather around the table on Thanksgiving Day be thankful for all your blessings. Personally I am a man of many blessings for which I am exceedingly grateful. None however greater than these…..

And of course…..

1967!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING…..

 

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Posted on September 27, 2012 by fenwaypark100

I will love Curt Schilling and Jim Lonborg FOREVER! Eck too! Lee was close and Wakefield is a prince but really, this is the all time Sox staff right here!

fenwaypark100's avatarfenwaypark100

This one is for you stat geeks. I have taken my All Fenway pitching staff and put together a few numbers of interest. First let’s recap, from most recent to back in the day: Jon Lester (L), Jonathan Papelbon (R), Pedro Martinez (R), Roger Clemens (R), Luis Tiant (R), Dick Radatz (R), Mel Parnell (L), Lefty Grove (L), Babe Ruth (L) and “Smokey” Joe Wood (R).

Jon Lester, a two-time all-star, a cancer survivor whose best years are yet to come.

Jonathan Papelbon the Red Sox all time save leader. 

Pedro 117-37 and astounding .760 winning percentage with the Red Sox. 

Roger Clemens twice struck out 20 batters in a nine inning game, its only been done four times in history and he did it pre juice! 

Luis Tiant, no Red Sox pitcher had more guile, more heart than El Tiante.

Dick Radatz was 40-21 (.656) with 78 saves in three successive years before an arm…

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