- The aftershocks and overreaction to The Mooning Incident are continuing to roll in. Vikings owner Red McCombs has demanded that FOX remove Joe Buck from the play-by-play booth this Sunday for the Vikings/Eagles matchup, which I think is complete nonsense. Before I get any e-mails blasting me for being hypocritical because of what I wrote yesterday, I still think people are wrong for treating this like it actually matters, and that Joe Buck calling it a "disgusting act" is just plain stupid. However, McCombs is overreacting to the original overreaction, saying that Buck is somehow prejudiced against the Vikings, and is so scarred by what he saw that he won’t be able to keep his objectivity on the telecast.
I don’t really know why McCombs chose to suggest such an asinine thing, and I especially don’t know why he didn’t feel the need to elaborate on it any more than he did, which was a two-sentence memo. I do know that Joe’s one of my favorite announcers because of his objectivity (unless he’s doing a Cardinals game on Fox Sports Midwest), which is to say he doesn’t pick sides when he makes fun of everything and everybody at every opportunity he gets. The "Slama Lama Ding Dong" commercials are priceless, too.
- Allard Baird’s been doing an awful lot of radio interviews in the past few weeks for a guy who supposedly isn’t up to anything. He last appeared Tuesday on the debut of the Royals Hot Stove show, and essentially gave a preview of the 2005 club and what’s ahead in the coming years. That was the boring part of his discussion with Denny Matthews and Ryan LeFebvre. In most every interview I’ve heard with him since the complete rebuilding project started back in 2002, Allard’s talked about the importance of the Royals having young pitchers and young hitters come up in unison. It’s taken them awhile, but it’s finally starting to happen, and most if not all of the credit should be given to Baird.
He made some pretty disastrous moves prior to the 2002 offseason, but since that point, he’s ensured that the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t coming from a freight train. I can’t believe the guy still has to hear criticisms after loading up the farm system – every level of the farm system – with quality young players. He’s done it through the draft, popping blue-chippers like Zack Greinke, Billy Butler, Chris Lubanski, and J.P. Howell, and under-the-radar guys such as David DeJesus, Brian McFall, and Luis Cota. He’s also started to earn a living by robbing teams of their better prospects; I’ve yet to send Mike Flanagan and Jim Duquette their thank-you cards for Denny Bautista and Justin Huber, respectively. John Buck, Mark Teahen, and Mike Wood only cost the Royals half a season of Carlos Beltran, who wasn’t coming back anyway. Many of these guys are already at the major league level, and many more – Teahen, Huber, and Butler – aren’t far away in the least.
For a guy who inherited an extremely barren pipeline of young talent, I think Allard’s done one heck of a good job in a relatively short amount of time. And for the first time in a long time, the Royals are headed in the right direction. The only thing left to do is finish the job by turning these young players into "dependable production guys," as Baird would call it. The right players are here, and the right man’s running the show. Finally.
- There’s a movement in the North Dakota legislature to make Roger Maris a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame. While I don’t want to rain on their parade, as I’m sure Maris is a beloved figure in his home state, I’m afraid this might pick up some steam and place an undeserving player in the Hall. The resolution says that Maris "probably achieved more in baseball with less appreciation [ . . . ] than any other player." All of that’s probably true, but the Hall of Fame is reserved for greatness, not players who were merely good as Maris was. If he wouldn’t have hit 61 homers 44 years ago amid all that Babe Ruth hoop-la, I don’t think anybody would even be considering this right now.
One other thing … According to Bill James’ similarity scores, the player most similar to Maris is none other than Jeromy Burnitz, who I don’t think will be seeing anybody’s Hall of Fame anytime soon. It’s a nice gesture on the part of Roger’s home state, but it’s also one without any merit or base.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, January 13, 2005 at 1/13/2005 01:02:00 AM.
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