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Former MLB player David Segui admits to steroid use

I wonder if any other retired players will come forward with the Mitchell report out due soon. From AP-

BALTIMORE – Retired first baseman David Segui admitted Monday that he used steroids and purchased shipments from former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, The Sun reported on its Web site Monday night.

Segui also repeated his June 2006 admission to ESPN that he used human growth hormone with a prescription.

He told the newspaper that he refused to talk to former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, whose report on performance-enhancing drugs is expected soon. Segui said he didn’t want to betray the trust of other players.

*****

Radomski pleaded guilty in April to federal charges of illegally distributing performance-enhancing drugs. As part of his agreement with the government, he was required to cooperate with Mitchell’s investigation.

Segui said he met Radomski after being traded to the Mets in 1994. They became close and still talk by phone several times a week — usually about fishing and family.

I remember Segui from my Star Tournament days. A slick fielding 1st baseman who didn’t have the power most players at that position possessed. A check of Segui’s career stats confirms it, his career high was 21 homers in 1997.

So all that HGH and steroid taking didn’t produce much for Segui. One day when feeling ill for some unknown reason, will he make a link to his foolish drug use years earlier? He was dumb to the stuff, one assumes his intelligence hasn’t all that much since his retirement.

 

1970 – it was a very good year …

In Baltimore.
For sports fans.

Thirty seven years later – also 23 years since the Colts left and 22 since the Orioles ceased their run of 19 winning consecutive winning season – it’s hard to remember that there was time like this, but the Baltimore Sun’s Mike Klingaman does.

The Orioles (108-54) won their division by 15 games, then took four of five from the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. Three months later, the Colts answered by defeating the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl.

On their heels came the Bullets, the city’s basketball entry, who reached the NBA Finals before losing to the Milwaukee Bucks.

“That was a magical year, though people didn’t realize it,” said Sam Havrilak, then a Colts running back. “It wasn’t such a big deal until [years later] when the media built it up.”

In 1970 Baltimore, the stars were all aligned. The Orioles had Jim Palmer, Boog Powell and Robinson; the Colts had John Unitas, John Mackey and Ted Hendricks. Even the Bullets seemed destined for success behind Earl Monroe, Wes Unseld and Gus Johnson.

I was a 10 year old, who had moved to Baltimore 2 years earlier. It was a great time to be a sports fan in Baltimore. (My children came of sports fan age during hte 90′s when their grandfather’s team, the Yankees were dominant and their father’s team stunk. Guess who they root for.)

But there was a cloud attached to that silver lining.

Yet the Orioles struggled at the turnstiles. Crowds averaged 13,000 during the season, and even the final game of the Series at Memorial Stadium fell far short of a sellout.

Players still are irked by that.

“We were a damn good team, and we knew it,” said Powell, the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1970. “We were disappointed that there weren’t more people in the ballpark.

“When we got so far in front during the season, people said, ‘We know you’re not going to lose [the pennant], so we’ll save our money for the World Series.’

“But, deep down, you knew Baltimore at that time was just not a baseball town.”

It wasn’t just that Baltimore was a football, WBAL, the one time flagship station of the Orioles saw baseball games as nothing more than programming. It wasn’t until WFBR took over the broadcasts in 1979 that rooting for the Orioles became fashionable.

The reason for this discussion, is that,with the Patriots going strong, Boston may again (repeating 2004) be a city of champions. But what the article reminded me of was a cartoon that the Sun (possibly the Evening Sun) reprinted from a New York paper at that time. (It might have been the Daily News, but I’m uncertain.) It depicted a number of individuals discussing Baltimore’s sports dominance at the time. The punchline was something like “But they don’t have a hockey team.” (Well Baltimore had a hockey team, the Clippers, but they were part of the now-defunct AHL, not the NHL.) Maybe Bill Ordine or someone around the Sun could dig up that cartoon, and republish it, if the paper has the rights to it.

One other thing I remember is that given how good the Oriole were for the first 15 years we lived in Baltimore, I never really developed a sense that it was possible that the team could deteriorate or ever be bad. I was in my mid-20′s when that realization hit. 19 years is a long run of success. To the best of my knowledge it is the second longest streak or winning seasons in North American sports history. (First place belongs to the Yankees.) But it’s long over now and the question is whether or how long it will be before the Orioles get it back.

(One final irony: we moved to Baltimore from Springfield Massachusetts. When I learned we’d be moving I wondered if I’d still be allowed to root for the Red Sox. The Orioles success from 1969 and on made that question moot very quickly.)

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

 

Thoughts about 25 years of season tickets

From the Baltimore Orioles mailing list … (reprinted with permission)

This is kind of a long ramble, but hey…its about the O’s :)

I went to this game last night….My family has had season tickets since ’82. 20+ rows back from the O’s On Deck circle. Back then we had 4. A few years into Camden Yards we increased it to 6. A few years after the tailspin began, we lowered it back to 4. 2 years ago we lowered it to 2 seats. My family is now thinking we’ll give up our seats next season. We
can’t find anyone who wants to split them anymore and at $97 a game ($45/ticket, $7 parking) to watch this crap, its just not worth it.

So I figured I’d take my nephew and go to one last game in the family seats. We rushed to make it in time for the first pitch–which Zambrano promptly used to nail the first hitter in the side.

It only got worse…and it just seemed as if he had no control other than to lay it in there. Any time he tried to actually PITCH, they took it for a ball. Only things getting over the plate were medium speed meatballs.

Finally they pulled him after it was 5-0, bases loaded 2 outs. Birkins then completed Zambrano’s night by allowing all 3 inherited runners to score.

8-0. Zambrano’s line? 2/3 inning, 8 runs. I kept repeating that in my head. 7…8…9 years ago, that would have been all the sports stations were talking about the next day. Yet today I know that if I turn on 1300 or 1570, it’ll be mostly Ravens chatter about their game in Cleveland (I’m a huge Raven’s fan, so that doesn’t bother me that much).

On the drive home (we left after the 6th inning since it was a bit sticky out and a school night and I had to get my nephew home), I called my Dad and chatted a bit. He lamented about giving up the tickets, but knew deep down the only reason he’d kept them these last couple years was for my nephew who’s a huge Orioles fan. Prior to that, we’d kept them because my mother and I were crazy Orioles fans and loved going to the games. My dad was always a tag-along and would bring the Wall Street Journal or a sailing magazine and read while my Mom and I would follow the finer points of the game.

Every Opening Day was like a holiday for my family. I would have an excuse written to get out of school to go see my dentist. What the administration didn’t realize was my Dentist was my Dad and I’d be seeing him sitting next to be at the ballgame! (side-bar, I submitted this many years ago to ESPN the Magazine for best excuse used to get out of something for opening day
and they printed it in issue #2).

Anyway, so I talked with my dad and just said “Angelos has killed my love of the Orioles. Can you believe it? A diehard fan like me and he has left me just not caring.” And its true. I used to attend or watch well over 140 games a year when I was younger. I knew the O’s TV schedule by heart and looked forward to watching each game. As the losing continued, I would watch less and less. I’d check the box scores less and less. Every Spring I would get so excited. I had to watch the first televised spring training game, even though I knew I would only see the real players for the first inning or two. Didn’t matter. It was the O’s.

And here I am now. I’m 32 years old and I feel like I’m in mourning. I sat in the old seats and it looked and felt different. I couldn’t see the Bromo-Seltzer Tower because of the monstrosity of a hotel they’re building which blocks out 1/2 the view of the outfield (not really Angelos’ fault, but still. The players are mostly mailing it in, other than Markakis. Even BRob looked a little slow and uncaring on some plays/at-bats. There were maybe 5 thousand people in the stands. There are far less employees around (nobody directing traffic in the parking lots, most concessions only had 1 cashier working).

And in that phone conversation with my Dad I realized it didn’t matter if he gave up the tickets; honestly, what exactly would I be missing? It didn’t FEEL like a fun place to come. It felt like a Shiva house (a Jewish house in mourning). I’ve gone to maybe a dozen Frederick Keys games over the last decade and I can get more enjoyment out of those games. It feels like a place people want to come! My boss has season tix to the Nationals so I’ll probably got a few of their games next year. Not that their record is much better, but they show more promise and don’t have the weight of 10 losing years hanging on them.

I’ll have positive memories of games I’ve attended in my family seats…

’83 playoffs and world series in Memorial Stadium (we had practically the
same seats/sections before the move)
Last game at Memorial
First game at Camden
Ripken’s 2131 game with my mom
Playoff runs in ’96 and ’97
Ripken’s last hit from game1 on 10/05/01

I’ll always remember last night…but for much different reasons. With all apologies to Don McLean, for me, it was the day the Orioles died.

Kevin

_______________________
Kevin Gandel
IT Manager
Lemek LLC dba Panera Bread

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

 

Pettitte wins number 200, pulls Yankees to 1.5 games behind Boston

by Ty Kepner -

When it all began for Andy Pettitte and the Yankees, in April 1995, his wife and their infant son were living with relatives. Pettitte had earned $2,100 a month in the minors the year before, and he was eager to buy a home for his young family by making a name in baseball.

The years since have been very good to Pettitte. He has earned more than $75 million, and while there are bigger names in baseball, there are few more prolific winners.

Pettitte earned his 200th career victory at Yankee Stadium last night by beating the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1. Since the start of Pettitte’s career, only Greg Maddux (215) and Randy Johnson (203) have won more often.

Joba Chamberlain struck out Melvin Mora with a slider to end the eighth, and Mariano Rivera held on in a 34-pitch ninth, overcoming a one-out bloop double by Nick Markakis and two-out walks by Aubrey Huff and Ramón Hernández. Rivera earned his 30th save when Scott Moore struck out looking.

By holding the Orioles to a run and seven hits in seven and two-thirds innings, Pettitte helped the Yankees in two races. They are only a game and a half behind first-place Boston in the American League East and lead Detroit by five and a half games for the wild card.

The playoffs seem like a lock now, but winning the division (and hopefully getting homefield advantage) would be very, very nice.

 

Umpires vs. technology

As I’ve said before, umpires need help. And I refer you to a piece I wrote over a year ago on this very same subject. Baseball (and sports in general) is far behind the times in utilizing modern technology where it can, specifically to improve officiating.

I’ve thought about this topic for a long time. I think Questec is a good thing. (For those who dont know, it’s a computerized system that measures ball & strikes, and compares it to what the umpire actually called.)

One of the biggest and most frustrating problems in pro sports are bad calls by umps/refs. What I’d like to see is the steady removal of the so-called ‘human error’ from sports; I’ll talk specifically about baseball:

When umps are unsure when a ball is fair or foul down the line, why can’t a system be installed like they use in tennis? They could use technology to determine whether balls are just that, fair or foul.

Also, on disputed HRs, they must use instant replay. There’s no other fair way. An ump should be stationed in the park somewhere near a TV, like in the NHL. He should have the final word, since he’ll have access to the replay.

On balls and strikes, why not use Questec or ESPN’s ‘K-Zone’ (for example) to actually call the strikes? The only problem is that strike zone height is different for every hitter, but width is exactly the same, 17 inches (the width of homeplate). Rickey Henderson had a smaller up/down zone because he was short and crouched, and Richie Sexson’s up/down zone is bigger because he’s 6’8″. But their side-to-side zone is exactly the same. Therefore, computers/technology should be used to tell an umpire when a ball hits the plate or just misses. For the time being, umps will still need to call the up/down pitches (because every hitter is different), but will know for sure when a pitch crosses the corner or not. Or an ump could be assigned to determine the upper limit of each hitter’s strike zone dependent on his stance.

It also sucks when a pitcher throws a strike, but it’s not where he meant to throw it, the catcher has to reach for it, so the ump automatically calls it a ball. It doesn’t matter where the pitcher MEANT to throw the ball, it only matters whether it’s a strike or a ball.

For out/safe calls, when the closest ump feels the play is too close to call, he could send it to the ‘booth ump.’ TV technology is such today that it could be done in 30-60 seconds. Or (ala the NFL) managers should have two replays to use per game.

These steps would help legitimize the officiating and would make for fewer arguments from players and managers. You can’t argue with Questec strikes – it’s 100% consistent and 0% prejudiced (for veterans, or against rookies). Instant replay would also ensure the right call, and isn’t that worth waiting (at most) 60 seconds for – especially in close and/or playoff games?

 

O’s woe is me

Ever wonder how much that 30 – 3 loss affected the Orioles?

Hardball times gives the Pythagorean effect for both teams.

Hardball Times also finds a reason that Erik Bedard has been more effective this year. Alas he’s now out indefinitely.

Allowing the other team 30 runs was historic. Now less than two weeks later the O’s are in the history books again. A pitcher no-hit them in only his second start. Who was the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in only his second start? Wilson Alvarez. In 1991. Against the Orioles.
(BTW that’s a great pun – Clay-nation!)

It’s quite often that baseball writers write about the importance good clubhouse chemistry. Well guess what, apparently the Orioles have it. Even after firing a manager and losing 9 straight.

Trachsel said. “I’ll keep all my doors open. You never say no to anything. I certainly enjoyed it and liked this clubhouse.”

That’s on a fourth place club fading fast.

Peter Schmuck is glad that Andy MacPhail got to see the real Orioles.

The Orioles’ record under Trembley at the time of his extension was 29-25, which was quite in contrast to the club’s 29-40 mark when Sam Perlozzo was fired. The difference also was apparent in the team’s demeanor between June 18 (when Trembley took over) and Aug. 22 (when the extension was announced). That’s all well and good, but the only fundamental change was the new manager’s increased emphasis on fundamentals.

That 54-game span of modestly winning baseball is not some dynamic statistical anomaly. Over the course of a 162-game season, almost every team – no matter how hapless – has an extended run of respectability.

Want proof? The Kansas City Royals, the yardstick by which baseball measures pain, went 29-24 from June 1 through Aug. 1. The Washington Nationals, the other MASN partner that entered the weekend mired in a long losing streak, went 29-26 from June 6 through Aug. 7.

In other words, it happens. Don’t get carried away.

I’d write more but this is just getting depressing. There’s always next year. Or 2010.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

 

What would it have been like if Teixeira was still in Texas?

Before tonight, the Orioles have been on the receiving end of some blowouts.

On June 26, 1978, the Orioles, on their way to a 90 win season (but 4th place finish,) faced the lowly second year Toronto Blue Jays at old Exhibition stadium. Earl Weaver was facing a difficult situation.

But desperate circumstances required desperate measures. At Exhibition Stadium on June 26, 1978, the Blue Jays, in their second big-league season, scored 24 runs, the most ever scored against the Orioles in one game.

The Orioles were down 19-6 in the fifth inning when Weaver, who was trying to conserve pitchers for a doubleheader the following day, sent for Harlow, an outfielder who had pitched one inning in the minors in 1971. Weaver later said Harlow claimed ownership of a slider, and was “throwing the ball at 92 miles an hour on our gun.”

Perhaps, but Harlow only lasted two-thirds of an inning, yielding five earned runs, two hits and four walks and striking out one Blue Jay.

The score stood at 24-6 and Weaver needed someone to put an end to the fifth inning. He called the bullpen and got Hendricks, the former catcher who was on the roster as player-coach that season. Hendricks had thrown batting practice that year, but that was the extent of his pitching experience.

The game might have ended badly, 24 – 10, for the Orioles, but it ended well for Hendricks.

Former ace Jim Palmer watched it from the dugout. Asked to account for Hendricks’ effectiveness, Palmer says, “Either Elrod had his good stuff that night or they just got tired.”

Hendricks suggests the latter.

“They got themselves out,” he says.

Palmer recalls that Hendricks used a little neck jerk motion reminiscent of changeup artist Stu Miller. “They swung at the neck twitch,” Palmer says. “It seemed like they could have swung twice” by the time the ball crossed the plate.

When Hendricks’ pitching debut was over, his ERA a tidy 0.00 and right-hander Don Stanhouse on the mound to finish the game, Weaver approached Hendricks and “he said, ‘Nice job.’ I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, but don’t think about it again.’ . . . I’d like to say it was fun but it really wasn’t.”

He says he would rather forget. But that’s not Palmer’s version.

“Heck, no,” Palmer says. “The next day we went down to get the papers and there were none left. Elrod had bought them all.”

(For a happier memory of an Oriole-Blue Jay game, see here for the famous John Lowenstein playing third-Lenn Sakata catching game from 1983.)

In another good season, 1996 – when the Orioles were headed to the playoffs – the Orioles suffered another lopsided defeat at the hands of tonight’s opponent, the Texas Rangers, allowing 16 runs in the 8th inning losing 26 – 7. Here’s a description of what happened

But it was not a good day for the Baltimore staff. They were already down 10-7 when Armando Benitez came on to start the eighth. Benitez promptly gave up a single, a stolen base, a walk, a wild pitch, and another walk. Thinking they might still have a remote chance, the Orioles pulled Benitez and gave the ball to Jesse Orosco. He managed to retire one of the nine batters he faced. At this point, infielder Manny Alexander was summoned to finish up, and he walked the first three hitters. After a sacrifice fly and another walk, Kevin Elster capped it off with a grand slam before Darryl Hamilton recorded the final out on a (sympathy?) ground ball to second. Texas residents would have been forgiven if they thought the final score of 26-7 was really from a Cowboys game.

In that inglorious effort, the Orioles issued eight walks. Five were given up by a shortstop, however, so it doesn’t really qualify as one of the worst control failures of this period. That honor goes to the Oakland A’s of 1979, who walked 8 Angels in one inning on the fourth of July and managed to do so without using any non-pitchers.

(Hmm. There were an awful lot of one-time Mets in that game, including the bullpen – Orosco, McDowell and Myers – from the 1985 World Champions.)

Tonight all the damage was done against Orioles pitchers as the Texas Rangers scored 30 runs.

The Texas Rangers became the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record Wednesday in a 30-3 rout of the Orioles.

Trailing 3-0 in the opener of a doubleheader, the Rangers scored five runs in the fourth, nine in the sixth, 10 in the eighth and six in the ninth.

It was the ninth time a major league team scored 30 runs, the first since Chicago set the major league scoring record in a 36-7 rout of Louisville in a National League game on June 28, 1897, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

I guess the silver lining is that it’s nice to make history. But most would rather it be for something positive.

Headlines in the Baltimore Sun.
# Box score: Rangers 30, O’s 3
# Maese: Will hiring Trembley look good in Oct.?

I think that acting decisively towards Trembley was a good idea. (I don’t share Maese’s hesitation.) However I’m glad they did it yesterday. If they’d been planning an announcement tomorrow, it would have been pretty difficult to pull off in the face of such an embarrassing defeat.

(Tonight’s game featured two grand slams for Texas. The Orioles and Rangers have another interesting game between them. August 6, 1986 the two teams set a major league record by hitting 3 grand slams between them. The Orioles hit two of them. But they still lost 13 – 11. At the time the Orioles had been respectable and were only 2 1/2 games out of first place. That game started a tailspin that saw the Orioles fall to last place for the first time in franchise history and their first losing season since 1967.)

Roch Kubato has second thoughts.

Baseball Musings writes about Texas Tees Off. (via BallBug)

A quick hit from Inside Charm City.

Some thoughts from Oriole Post.

Sigh, in the nightcap the Orioles are losing by a rather pedestrian 6 – 4.

UPDATE: Baseball Tonight notes the many crazy things that have happened this week in baseball.

Texas sets a double header record, scoring 39 combined runs.

Texas kept right on hitting in the second game, too, although at a decidedly tamer pace. Travis Metcalf drove in four runs and the Rangers used a three-run eighth for a 9-7 victory and a sweep.

Texas set an AL record for runs in a doubleheader, surpassing the 36 scored by Detroit in 1937.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

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How it got done

On Wednesday, I was very down on the Orioles. It looked as if the Orioles were going to end the day without signing their #1 draft pick, catcher Matt Weiters. If that had happened, the Orioles would have forfeited their rights to Weiters.

But then word got out at the last minute that the Orioles had reached an agreement with Weither’s at a price less than what his “advisor” Scott Boras said he was insisting on. So not only did the Orioles enjoy a thrilling victory on Wednesday, they possibly landed the future of their franchise.

One element of the signing that I found interesting was a comment by the Orioles’ director of scouting, Joe Jordan.

“They got the deal done,” said an elated Orioles scouting director Joe Jordan. “You can tell the city of Baltimore that the old evil owner stepped up and took care of things tonight. We had to fight to the end.”

I read the comment that Jordan was speaking with his tongue in cheek. It was, I thought, a healthy acknowledgment that Orioles management understood how poorly it was perceived by the fan base and that it was now going to work to repair that relationship.

Some of my fellow bloggers were not so pleased with the statement.
Oriole Post:

I’m proud that the Baltimore Orioles signed Matt Wieters, beat Boras, and scored a major coup, and I commend the team on doing so, but it is to be expected — isn’t it?

We all want to beat our chests and cry out to the sky when we do something good, but in the manner that Mr. Jordan did it in?

Absolutely not. He sounds so ornery and cock full of himself, it’s not funny and very insulting to the people left who come out and support the team.

Inside Charm City :

Jordan is obviously taking a dig at Angelos detractors and it comes across as petty and vindictive on a night when you’d think mature members of the front office staff would have the sense to talk up the good news that occurred instead of taking pot-shots at people who pay their salaries through ticket sales.

According to this account in the Sun it appears that Boras’s original contract demands were higher than he expected to get for Weiters.

MacPhail, in Toronto, and owner Peter Angelos spoke by phone with Boras. Meanwhile, Jordan and his administrative assistant, Marcy Zerhusen, worked and worried from the third floor of the B&O warehouse, maintaining dialogue with one of Boras’ representatives while staying in contact with MacPhail.

“There were a lot of things going on, just trying to gather information and see where we were,” Jordan said. “In the end, it came together quickly. Marcy and I high-fived each other.

“From about 7 o’clock on, it seemed like every 15 or 20 minutes we were getting updates from Major League Baseball, as far as signings. As close as it was getting to the deadline, you could just see there was a pecking order. And as much as we’re trying to push this thing along, it’s not going to happen.”

Not until other first-rounders reached agreements, including Kansas City’s Mike Moustakis at No. 2 and the Chicago Cubs’ Josh Vitters at No. 3 – leaving Wieters as the last domino to fall.

“I don’t think, in these kinds of situations, that you really know if it’s going to happen,” Boras said. “The way these contracts work, it’s a fair deal for everyone. Skill-wise, this is an important signing for the Baltimore Orioles.”

Boras said he told the Orioles that Wieters would consider signing if they agreed to pay him the net present value of the contract for high school pitcher Rick Porcello, another Boras client who received a four-year major league deal from the Detroit Tigers, as the 27th pick, worth $7 million, including a $3.58 million bonus.


Baseball musings links
to Sports Agent Blog arguing (I think) that the earlier deadline keeps salaries in line, but that those who sign the latest still end up maximizing the salary and bonuses they’ll earn.

Different Rules same outcome Rany Jazayerli explains why the new rules don’t change the likelihood that a “tough sign” will still drop to one of the better teams later in the draft.

Ken Rosenthal argues that drafting well (and even overpaying for a high draft pick) can change around a team’s fortunes and is, surprisingly, a cost effective way of improving. Jayson Stark, though, argued that more often than not high draft picks are busts.

Crossposted at Soccer Dad.

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Ambassador Cal Ripken

The State Department announced yesterday that Cal Ripken would become an unofficial ambassador for the United States.

Baseball Hall of Fame player Cal Ripken Jr. is taking his talents teaching kids the fundamentals of the sport to a higher level as a new U.S. State Department public diplomacy sports envoy.

Ripken’s first assignment will be visiting China October 28-November 6 to train Chinese youngsters in the Asian country’s budding baseball program.

Ripken, a shortstop and third baseman in his 21-year career with the Baltimore Orioles, said August 13 at the State Department that he plans to use his new position to bridge the gap between people of different languages and cultures.

Ripken will be the second “sports envoy” the first was figure skater, Michelle Kwan.

The first State Department public diplomacy sports envoy, figure skating star Michelle Kwan, recently returned from Russia on behalf of the United States, where her “message of working hard and dreaming big resonated with young people” in that country, said Hughes.

The Baltimore Sun has a little more on the program.

Cal Ripken Jr., who usually avoids the political arena, was named a State Department sports envoy yesterday. He plans to remain politically neutral even as he joins forces with the Bush administration to try to bolster America’s image overseas.

The former Orioles superstar said yesterday that he didn’t accept the unpaid post to make a political statement but rather to work with children from other nations on baseball.

He’s part of an effort, largely orchestrated by longtime Bush confidant Karen Hughes, to expand the role of athletes in diplomacy. The effort has included sending American wrestlers to Iran and naming figure skater Michelle Kwan as an envoy in 2006 and dispatching her to Russia and China.

The position is unpaid though the State Department will pay for Ripken’s travel.

The Sun brings up an additional quesiton, that isn’t particularly fair.

The Hall of Famer’s appearance with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others from the Bush administration raised the question: Can a sports celebrity enter a political world and still be apolitical?

To Ripken and spokesman John Maroon, the answer is yes. But not everyone is so sure. In Washington, it is hard to pose for pictures with Rice and Hughes – as a smiling Ripken did after delivering brief remarks yesterday – without political meaning being attached to the gesture.

“If I’m someone who is looking at those pictures, I am going to think Cal Ripken supports President Bush,” said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for Common Cause, a government watchdog group. “Ripken is obviously an incredibly popular baseball player and President Bush is unpopular, and you could ask the question: ‘Is he trying to boost his popularity?’”

It isn’t really a question now. If a Democrat is elected next year and Ripken immediately steps down, that would be a political statement. But nothing Ripken’s done or said suggests that there’s any political agenda here.

I’m not convinced that this program will work, however I have little doubt that if the State Department of President Kerry had initiated a similar program, that Ripken would have accepted a similar role. It’s all hypothetical now, of course, but the question is a little too cynical.

More at USA Today and ESPN.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

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No more waiting on Wieters

Considering Andy MacPhail’s tenure with the Twins, Ken Rosenthal wonders if history is about to repeat with Matt Wieters now that MacPhail is with the Orioles.

MacPhail, the Orioles’ new chief operating officer, could be headed toward a negotiating stalemate with the team’s first-round pick, Matt Wieters, according to major-league sources.

Like Varitek, Wieters is a switch-hitting catcher out of Georgia Tech. Like Varitek, Wieters is represented by Scott Boras.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos had a long history of avoiding Boras clients before the team selected Wieters fifth overall in June.

MacPhail, former colleagues say, also would not be afraid to adopt a firm position with Boras.

“We’re still talking back and forth,” MacPhail told FOXSports.com on Monday. “I really don’t know how it’s going to go.”

Andy MacPhail’s Jason Varitek debacle may be repeating itself with Matt Wieters. (Stephen Dunn / Getty Images)

The Orioles are not alone in their uncertainty; 11 other clubs have yet to reach agreement with their first rounders. The first-ever deadline for signing picks is 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Boras represents three other unsigned first rounders — high-school infielder Mike Moustakas, the Royals’ pick at No. 2; high-school right-hander Rick Porcello, the Tigers’ pick at No. 27, and North Carolina State right-hander Andrew Brackman, the Yankees’ pick at No. 30.

The Orioles are not along in their quandary, still it’s hardly encouraging if the new regime fails to sign one of the most highly regarded picks in this year’s draft.

True, there’s always a risk and the premium paid to a Boras client makes failure even more expensive. (Think Brien Taylor.)

Rosenthal suggests that MacPhail may not be as rigid as feared.

The Sun’s Roch Kubato isn’t appeased.

The hiring of MacPhail altered the dynamics of the negotiations, according to one source. Another, however, disagreed, saying, “I don’t really think that’s it.”

MacPhail, who served as a management negotiator during last year’s labor talks, would seem likely to follow MLB’s slot recommendations for draft-pick bonuses.

However, during MacPhail’s tenure as CEO, the Cubs exceeded slot when they signed pitcher Mark Prior to a record $10.5 million contract in 2001.

I don’t know what would be worse. Would the failure to sign Wieters be a good sign because it would mean that MacPhail was really in charge? I’d guess that to say that is to engage in wishful thinking.

No knock on Andy MacPhail, but I’d feel better about the Orioles securing the Georgia Tech catcher if someone else was handling the negotiations.

MacPhail, for better or worse, is not going to be overly generous when it comes to signing bonuses. The commissioner’s office wants to keep them down, and MacPhail’s not going to fight it. Not with his background.

He’ll be fair, but I’m not sure fair gets it done. Stay tuned.

More Roch here

I’m told it will be a few more years before the MASN money starts rolling in, so that’s not a factor as tomorrow’s deadline approaches. In the meantime, and again, it’s not my money, but letting Matt Wieters re-enter the draft sends a bad message to fans, the players and the rest of the league.

The Orioles will have egg on their faces if they don’t sign him. Or for drafting him without realizing how much it would cost to sign him.

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The latest from the Baltimore Sun.

Less than 24 hours before the deadline to sign draft picks, the Orioles remain about $5 million apart from reaching a deal with their top selection, Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters. And while team officials maintain they haven’t given up hope of signing the fifth overall pick, it will take a dramatic change to reach an agreement before tonight’s midnight cutoff.

According to club sources, Wieters’ adviser, Scott Boras, is asking for a deal that slightly exceeds the approximately $10.6 million deal that Mount St. Joseph graduate Mark Teixeira signed after he was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2001. Meanwhile, the Orioles have sweetened their offer in recent days to just less than $6 million.

Even if the team gets the deal done, being this far apart so late in the game doesn’t reflect well on the franchise. Sigh.

UPDATE: A commenter on my blog was correct in pointing to the signing of Jered Weaver. The Orioles signed Wieters at the last minute.

Like the Angels and Weaver, the Orioles signed Wieters at the last minute. Principal owner Peter Angelos and new president Andy MacPhail worked on the deal while in Toronto for the quarterly owners’ meetings last night and, with 10 minutes left before the midnight amateur signing deadline, reached a pact during a phone call with Wieters’ agent, Scott Boras.

“They got the deal done,” said an elated Orioles scouting director Joe Jordan. “You can tell the city of Baltimore that the old evil owner stepped up and took care of things tonight. We had to fight to the end.”

“Evil owner?” Good, it shows that the front office has some perception how popular Angelos is with the fan base. Maybe he’ll start listening to his baseball people. And maybe we’ll then start appreciating him.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

 
 


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