From Relief pitcher to Horse trainer

That sums up former MLB Pitcher Dan Plesac.

Dan Plesac has turned his lifelong dream into reality. The one-time major league All-Star relief pitcher has made harness racing his new passion after retiring from 18 seasons of playing professional baseball.

“Harness racing has been a love of mine since I was old enough to walk,” Plesac said. “This is what I’ve really wanted to do my entire life.”

Retired in 2004, Plesac, a youthful 45, has turned his hobby into a full-time profession. His Three Up Three Down farm, located in Crown Point, has produced 12 winners who have earned $37,408 under Plesac’s watchful eye. Plesac’s Major League Baseball career started in 1986 with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was a three-time all-star and finished his career ranked fourth for the most pitching appearances in baseball history with 1,064 games.

“I always hoped to have a career that would lead me to be secure enough to train and have my own horses,” Plesac said. “Training horses is a very difficult job. I just want to start at the bottom and get a feel for what I need to do.”

Plesac’s 40-acre, Hoosier State facility includes a six-stall barn and a half-mile training track.

Plesac’s family — mainly his father Joseph Sr., and his brother, Joseph Jr. — have been involved with harness horses for four decades. The family’s first horse, Baby Hoey, was born in 1968 and earned nearly $100,000 during his career.

In April of 2004, Plesac scored his first training victory when his filly Holistic Hanover won. Plesac also had owned the filly’s sire, Ball And Chain.

“To win a race with a horse that I bought, who was sired by a horse that I owned, was just the greatest thrill imaginable,” Plesac said. “That was very special for me and I was more nervous before the race than I ever was when I was pitching.”

In 1972, I remember watching for the first time one of my father’s horses winning a race. In July of that year I watched Charlie Zam win at Brandywine Raceway in Deleware and Fast Clip at Sportsman’s Park in Chicago. After the race, the winner and its owners have their photos taken. I still have one of those photos somewhere around the house. It’s fun to watch your own horse win.

When I attended the races, I saw or met quite a few people from other sports.(Gordie Howe, Richie Allen, Ron Swaboda to name three) Mostly gamblers, but a few owned race horses too. Good luck to Dan with his new career.

Two picks for the Baseball Hall of Fame

The Veteran’s Committee will announce the latest entrants today.

NEW YORK – Gil Hodges and Ron Santo top the players’ ballot and Doug Harvey and Marvin Miller head the officials’ hopefuls in the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee vote to be announced Tuesday.

Since the Veterans Committee was revamped for the 2003 election, no one has been chosen by the voters — mostly living Hall of Famers.

Players appear on the ballot every two years, and officials go on a composite ballot every four years. Twenty-seven players are on this years ballot, along with among 15 managers, executives and umpires.

Two years ago, Hodges and Santo each fell eight votes shy of the necessary 75 percent. They both were picked on 52 of 80 ballots (65 percent), followed by Tony Oliva (45 votes), Jim Kaat (43), Joe Torre (36), Maury Wills (26), Vada Pinson (23), Luis Tiant (20) and Roger Maris (19).

Harvey, a former NL umpire, topped the 2003 composite ballot with 48 votes, 12 short of the needed 75 percent. Former Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley had 38 votes, and Miller, the former head of the players’ association, had 35.

Lefty O’Doul, Al Oliver, Cecil Travis and Mickey Vernon were added to this year’s players’ ballot, and Elston Howard and Smoky Joe Wood were dropped.

Holdovers also include Dick Allen, Bobby Bonds, Ken Boyer, Rocky Colavito, Wes Ferrell, Curt Flood, Joe Gordon, Mickey Lolich, Sparky Lyle, Marty Marion, Carl Mays, Minnie Minoso, Thurman Munson and Don Newcombe.

The composite ballot also includes Buzzie Bavasi, August Busch Jr., Harry Dalton, Charles O. Finley, Whitey Herzog, Bowie Kuhn, Billy Martin, Gabe Paul, Paul Richards, Bill White, Dick Williams and Phil Wrigley.

The 84 eligible voters on the Veterans Committee include 61 living Hall of Famers, 14 Frick winners selected for major contributions to baseball broadcasting, eight members Spink winners picked for meritorious contributions to baseball writing and one holdover from the previous Veterans Committee.

The choices to me are pretty simple. The composite ballot has some good choices in Kuhn, Herzog, White, Williams and Wrigley. It also has Bravasi and gag…gag…Gabe Paul. Should I start re-telling 1970′s and 80′s Cleveland Indian jokes?

Like the little girl who is at a custody hearing. The judge asks her

Judge- “Do you want to live with your Mommy?”

Girl- “No Mommy beats me.”

Judge- “Do you want to live with your Daddy?”

Girl- “No, Daddy beats me worse than Mommy.”

Judge- “Who do you want to live with?”

Girl- “The Cleveland Indians.”

Judge- “Why the Cleveland Indians?”

Girl- “They don’t beat anyone.”

There’s more jokes but I’ll spare you the experience.

As to the players, it is an easy choice for me. I’m a Met fan and always have been. The Mets of 1969 were the luckiest team in baseball history and Hodges was the manager. He was a good not great ballplayer. I’m not letting sentimentality rule, but Gil Hodges is not a HOFer. If Gil had played in Philadelphia rather than Brooklyn, he may not have gotten this far.

So who are my choices? Ron Santo and Ken Boyer. Both of whom are are among the top 10 players at third base in baseball history. Up till World War II, 3B was a position for defensive players just like shortstop. Dominated by players like Willie Kamm, Pie Traynor, Ossie Bluege and others. The new era at 3rd base didn’t start till after the war, though Harland Clift, a member of the St. Louis Browns in the 1930′s and early 40′s, was a harbinger of what was to come.

Santo and Boyer were excellent glove men and good hitters. Both had long productive careers. They were also arguably the best third basemen at the time they played either in the National League or all of the majors.(Boyer faces the tougher argument there, he went up against Eddie Mathews for much of his career) Comparing these two players to the others on the ballot shows how clearly almost all the others are lacking.

After Boyer and Santo, the next best choics are Marty Marion(the premier glove man at SS in the 40′s), Joe Gordon(excellent 2B from the same era as Marion), Hodges, Jim Kaat who won 280+ games and Sparky Lyle. Relief pitchers are probably the most subjective position to rate in baseball, the standards are almost non-existent. Lyle was very good for 5-6 years and won a CY Young award. On the other hand, is the New York factor at play again?

Don’t make me laugh by mentioning Lefty O’Doul. He had a couple of good years in the inflated hitters years of the late 20′s and early 30′s. My father, who knew O’Doul slightly after his playing days were over, wouldn’t even be advocating him for the HOF. If we put O’Doul in who is next, Wally Berger? Babe Herman? There are already too many players in the HOF from that overrated era. If you count them up, there are like six or seven players at one postion(RF I think) in the HOF who were starters in 1929.

One last note- I have no objection to umpire Doug Harvey being voted in. He was probably the most respected umpire there was for much of his time in baseball.

Update- The votes are in. No one is being added to the HOF.

Love for Baseball

On Valentine’s Day, the love comes out for the greatest game in the world -

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter: “I think because everybody can relate. You don’t have to be seven feet tall; you don’t have to be a certain size to play. Baseball is up and down. I think life’s like that sometimes, you know. Back and forth, up and down, you’re going through this grind. I think people like watching it. Baseball’s like a soap opera every day.”

Ernie Banks, Cubs legend and Hall of Famer: “It’s just life. When I think about baseball, it’s just life. It’s really the way life is. It requires a lot of mental capacity to be involved in it. It creates a lot of joy for people and memories for people who follow it. It’s a family. You like it because it’s a family. You started with it and know all these people — it’s family, it’s friends, it’s fun, it’s a beautiful game. All in all, baseball is amazing.

Joel Kweskin, 56, White Sox fan based in Charlotte, N.C.: “It’s unique unto itself. Football, basketball and hockey are variations of the same concept — back and forth in a linear progression to score a goal. Baseball, however, is mapped out on the field unlike any other sport. A running back or return specialist can run 100 yards, tops; a baserunner legging out an inside-the-park homer runs 20 yards farther. Baseball is the most democratic of sports — any size can play, and because the ball is not controlled by the offense but rather the defense, every player at any given time is involved in a play. Along with the anecdotally accepted premise that hitting a pitched baseball is the single most difficult thing to do in sports, so might be fielding a 175-mph line drive or grounder down the line. I love baseball because it is the greatest game ever invented.”

Former Royals star Willie Wilson: “The first thing is, I don’t think there’s any criteria for size, so anybody can play. I think people can relate. A lot of people never played football; basketball, you’ve gotta be tall and be able to jump. But baseball is a game where you pick up a bat and a ball, and you catch it, you swing the bat and you hit the ball. Most people have played softball or some kind of baseball, so they can relate to the sport. For me, that’s why I think America just embraces baseball, man.”

Baseball Blogger Travis G.: Where to start? I think better when I make a list.
1. Players. The requirements to be a good baseball player are very undefined. You can be short, tall, thin, chunky, anything really. You name the greats and you get tall and chunky (Ruth, Ortiz), short and chunky (Yogi, Gwynn), tall and thin (Sizemore, Jeter), short and thin (Reyes, Ichiro). They may not be the best athletes (e.g. David Wells), but when they’re playing the best game in the world, who cares?
2. The Mentality. Baseball requires more intelligence than any other sport (save for NFL QB). Simply put, every hitter that steps to the plate is trying to out-think the pitcher, and vice versa. 4-5 times a game, focus has to be completely on the man in front of him. Will he throw a fastball, curve, change? If you take an at-bat (or even a pitch) off, you’re toast. Same thing with the pitcher. The only other sport that comes close is football, but mainly just for the QB. Baseball requires every single player to have good mental capacity.
3. The Field. Football, hockey, basketball and soccer all use essentially the same type of field/playing surface: a rectangle. Baseball uses a diamond. It’s not only unique in that aspect, but every single ballpark is unique amongst the sport. Each park has its own quirks and intricacies that make it special. Not a single other sport can say that. Yankee Stadium has Death Valley, the short RF porch, and the facade. Fenway has the Monster. Shea has the apple. Wrigley has the ivy-covered brick. Pac Bell (or whatever it’s called now) has the bay in RF. Houston has the hill in center. Imagine if the RCA Dome’s field was only 95 yards; that’s the equivalent of Death Valley or the Green Monster.
4. One on One. Basically the speech DeNiro makes in The Untouchables. Baseball is a team game: 25 men. But each of them takes one turn – by themself – to help the whole team. Then the next batter gets a chance. Because of the batting order, a team can’t simply send its best hitter up every at-bat. You can’t just give the ball to Jordan or Shaq (Pujols or Ortiz) every time. A team’s best hitter will get 4-5 chances a game to help his team. That’s it. You need a complete team to win.
5. Substitutions. Once a player is removed, he’s done. You can’t just sub in the best defenders when you have a lead. You can’t take out Santana for an inning because he’s tired, then re-insert him. Could you imagine the way baseball would be played if there were no substitution restrictions? It would be bedlam. Players don’t get any breaks (outside of the DH) during the game. Even late inning defensive replacements are a gamble if the trailing team comes back. And substitutions play an ever bigger role in the NL.
6. No Clock. No running out the clock. It doesn’t matter what inning and what score it is, you still need 27 outs to complete the game. There’s no easy way to ‘seal’ a win. You still have to face every batter, and record every out.
7. History. When Japanese kamikaze pilots flew their planes into American ships, they would often yell ‘Fuck Babe Ruth!’ No other American sport has the history baseball does. Some of the most iconic figures in our culture are Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle, Ripken, McGwire, Bonds, Aaron, Clemens, Jeter. It’s goes all the way back to the 1830′s. The ‘Junior Circuit’ (AL) had been going strong for over 45 years before the NBA ever started. The Yankees had already won 20 World Series before the first Super Bowl was ever played. I just love that feeling of history when I watch a game.
8. Summer. What better sport to exemplify the feeling of summer than baseball. The only summer sport we have. Warm weather, kids are out of school; remember the day games with your dad, drinking a soda, eating a hot dog? No other sport lets you enjoy the weather. Hockey and basketball are indoors. And the football season lasts from September to February, nuff said.
9. Connection. This ain’t football where the most ardent fans get to see a maximum of just 24 games (including the pre and post-season). Baseball is 3 hours a day, 6 days a week for 6 months. You get a minimum of 162 games. That’s double basketball and hockey, and 10 times that of football. Not only do you get to see your ‘guys’ 162 times a season, but you actually feel close to them. They’re not wearing masks to cover their faces (football, hockey), so you see (and often share) their reactions and emotions. You don’t get that feeling of ‘closeness’ from other sports. And then when you add the fact that baseball plays 162 games, it’s easy to understand where the connection comes from. When the season is over, it’s like you not seeing your family for 5 months.
10. Home-field Advantage. Having the home team hit in the bottom of each inning assures that every team, every season (even Kansas City) will have its share of thrilling, bottom of the whatever, walk-off wins. It’s nothing like football where you squib kick it or have the QB kneel down, or in basketball where you dribble out the clock or foul the opponent 10 times.

Your thoughts?

Baseball Preview: New York Mets

This and next month, Outside the Beltway Sports will be taking a trip around the Major Leagues profiling the 30 major league teams. We continue today with The New York Mets – who along with the Yankees had the best record in baseball in 2006.

New York Mets

Last season: 97-65 won NL East, lost NLCS to St. Louis
Manager: Willie Randolph

Meet the new guys

RF Moises Alou, IF Damion Easley, SP Chan Ho Park, RP Scott Schoeneweis, RP Jorge Sosa

Gone and hardly remembered

RP Chad Bradford (to Baltimore), LF Cliff Floyd (to Chicago Cubs), RP Roberto Hernandez (to Cleveland), RP Darren Oliver (to LA Dodgers), SP Steve Trachsel (to Baltimore), 2B Chris Woodward (to Atlanta)

And now your starting lineup

1. SS Jose Reyes
2. C Paul LoDuca
3. CF Carlos Beltran
4. 1B Carlos Delgado
5. 3B David Wright
6. LF Moises Alou
7. RF Shawn Green
8. Jose Valentin
9. Pitcher

Bench

OF Endy Chavez
OF Ben Johnson
IF/OF Julio Franco
IF Damion Easley
C Ramon Castro
OF/IF David Newhan

The Mets lineup is a nice mix of dynamic young players and excellent older vets. Wright and Reyes give the Mets young talented and inexpensive hitters that complement Beltran. Delgado is the heavy hitter to bring in the table setters. Alou and Green are not counted on to be anchors. It is reasonable that Green is just placeholding until Lastings Milledge is ready for primetime. He showed flashes last season but not enough to warrant the job full time this year. A really impressive spring may change some minds. The weakest non-pitcher link is Valentin, who was as recently as 2004 capable of poking out homeruns with a remarkable frequency for a middle infielder, even lead gloved middle infielders. The bench features the ageless Julio Franco and retreads like Easley, Chavez and Newhan. Johnson was considered a top Padres prospect, but his status dropped last year. He is capable of filling in for Alou or Green if they go down with injury.

Rotation

1. Tom Glavine
2. Orlando Hernandez
3. John Maine
4. Olive Perez
5. Chan Ho Park
6. Aaron Sele
7. Pedro Martinez (DL) – Due back in August

Bullpen

Closer Billy Wagner
Duaner Sanchez
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoeneweis
Jorge Sosa
Pedro Feliciano
Guillermo Mota (serving 50 game suspension beginning opening day)

The bullpen is the strength, and with the addition of Schoeneweis they can weather the departure of Chad Bradford. The rotation is a dodgy proposition. They will audition Perez, Park and Sele as well as top propsects Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber for rotation spots. The Mets benefit though from the good hitters and the deep bullpen, and when Pedro returns he will be the best trade deadline acquisition in the league. He won’t cost anything and he should be solidly above average. Glavine anchors the current rotation followed by Franco’s fellow ageless wonder Orlando Hernandez. Then come the question marks. John Maine should be number three. Chan Ho Park effectively replaces Steve Trachsel. And that leaves Oliver Perez to round it out. Unless Aaron Sele beats one of them out this spring. Wagner, Sanchez and Heilman are very good in high leverage situations. Shortening ballgames to six innings is advantageous and the Mets will be able to do that in at least fifty games next year.

Help is on the way…

Top prospect Mike Pelfrey has all the makings of a harder throwing Brandon Webb. He gets groundballs easily with a hard sinking fastball. And when he dials it up a bit, he can blow it past them. His progress last season was remarkable getting him four starts late last season. He was roughed up a bit, which is not surprising for a 22 year old kid in his first pro season. This year, Pelfrey could break camp with the big club or spend a month or two in AAA. Regardless, he will be in the Mets rotation at some point this summer.

Other prospects who may be called on
Lastings Mililedge was a mixed bag in Queens last year. No one is ready to write him off, but no one is ready to hand him the job in rightfield. He has the tools and the talent. He needs more discipline, but that will come. He may fill in this season, but I expect Chavez and Johnson to keep him in AAA for a full year of seasoning. Phil Humber went from top draft pick to Tommy John surgery to highly rated prospect in a three year whirlwind that culminated in two hitless innings for the big club last year. Humber has a knee buckling curveball and good velocity on his fastball. He was recovering for much of last season and should be fully healthy this year. The Mets owe it to themselves to give him as long a look as they can afford to give this spring. Fernando Martinez will not be making any appearances at Shea, but succeeds Mililedge as the young toolsy outfielder with a great swing and the necessary make up to play in the bigs. He is easily their highest upside farm prospect. And should be ready for the bigs in 2010. Just after his 21st birthday.

Outlook

They have definitely slipped. Pedro was not vintage in ’06, but losing him for most of ’07 hurts the Mets more than anything else. They have a powerful offense. A team more constructed for the AL than the NL in terms of run production. Their bullpen is deep, flexible and good. When Mota returns in late May, they will have six above average to excellent arms in the pen. The Mets will have to piece together their rotation until Pedro is healthy. At first glance it is a daunting proposition. But with their potent offense and a reliable bullpen, it is more than manageable. Their season relies on a number of ifs. If Oliver Perez pitches like he did a few years ago when he was a rookie. If John Maine can build on his good starts. If ageless wonders Julio Franco and Orlando Hernandez can keep on producing at the big league level. If Pedro is effective when he comes back. If he comes back. The Mets have enduring questions. They have one huge advantage. They were so far ahead of their division, that even with the slippage, they have not likely yielded their advantage. GM Omar Minaya rewarded Willie Randolph with a new contract. Mets fans will see if both of them are worth it this season, which will be the most challenging one in either of their tenures in Queens.

Predicted finish 93-69 Good for first in a tough NL East.

Baseball Preview: St. Louis Cardinals

This and next month, Outside the Beltway Sports will be taking a trip around the Major Leagues profiling the 30 major league teams. We begin today with the defending Champions.

St. Louis Cardinals

Last season: 83-78 First Place NL Central, Won World Series 4-1 over Detroit
Manager: Tony Larussa

Meet the new guys

RP Ryan Franklin, 2B Adam Kennedy, RP Russ Springer, SP Kip Wells, RF/1B Eli Marrero

Gone and hardly remembered

SP Jason Marquis (to Chicago Cubs), RP Jorge Sosa (to NY Mets), SP Jeff Suppan (to Milwaukee), SP Jeff Weaver (to Seattle), SS Jose Vizcaino (Free Agent), 2B Ronnie Belliard (Free Agent)

And now your starting lineup

1. SS David Eckstein
2. LF Chris Duncan
3. 1B Albert Pujols
4. 3B Scott Rolen
5. CF Jim Edmonds
6. RF Juan Encarnacion
7. 2B Adam Kennedy
8. C Yadier Molina
9. Pitcher

Bench

OF Preston Wilson
OF So Taguchi
1B/3B Scott Spiezio
IF Aaron Miles
C Gary Bennett

The lineup is pretty very good. Eckstein is a steady table setter. The modest power punch is gone, but he gets on base at an acceptable clip and does not hurt the team in the field. Duncan, Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds can all thump the ball. Encarnacion’s on-base skills are lacking, but has enough pop in the bat to drive in some runs with the tablesetters in place. Adam Kennedy has a little more pop and a little less discipline than Eckstein and Yadier Molina is unacceptable any way you slice it.

Off the bench, So Taguchi is a good role player, but should not get the nearly 350 plate appearances he got last season. Scott Spiezio has nice pop off the bench and is a useful reserve. Preston Wilson redicovered his power stroke when he came to St. Louis, but struggled making contact and getting on base. At this point he is a useful spare part, most of the time and a hopelessly futile out the remainder of the time. Miles’ defense elevates him slightly above replacement level. Bennett defines replacement level.

Rotation

1. Cris Carpenter
2. Mark Mulder
3. Anthony Reyes
4. Kip Wells
5. Adam Wainwright
6. Ryan Franklin

Bullpen

Closer Jason Isringhausen
Randy Flores
Josh Hancock
Ricardo Rincon
Russ Springer
Braden Looper

The pitching staff does not have the same level of acceptable competence. Cris Carpenter is excellent. And Mark Mulder, if healthy can be quite effective. After that, the Cardinals are piecing together a rotation after the devastating defections of Jeff Suppan, Jeff Weaver and Jason Marquis. Anthony Reyes has carried the tag of can’t miss prospect for awhile. His K rates and walk rates were always good in the minor leagues. If his low walk rates can carry over to the bigs, which they haven’t yet, then he should be a solid middle of the rotation starter. Wells, Wainwright and Franklin are below average innings eaters. Those are okay on a team with a very good offense. The Cardinal offense is better than average, but not very good.

In the pen, it’s a little better, but not by much. If healthy, Isringhausen is effective closing down the game. Flores, Hancock, Rincon, Springer and Looper are okay at getting to Isringhausen, but are nothing like the more impressive bullpen in Queens or the one that the Braves are putting together in Atlanta. They will leak out a few games here and there. But they will steal a few here and there too.

Help is on the way…

Top prospect Colby Rasmus has been in the Cardinals system for two years. He’s a toolsy outfielder with nice speed, decent power and plenty of room to fill out his six-foot-one frame. Like most tools first players, he is very hit or miss. His Rookie ball and A ball results were solid hits. Advanced A though presented some problems. Fielding questions may push him to a corner, where he’d need a power surge to contribute as a regular. He’s still at least two or three years away. Repeating High A with a midseason promotion to Double A would be completely in order for him.

Other prospects who may be called on
None really. The rest of the Cardinals top prospects are also far away from the Majors. Cardinals GM Walt Jockety has typically used top prospects to acquire major league ready talent and the Cardinal development system is not inspiring. A number of last year’s Baseball America top ten prospects slipped out of the top ten, replaced by prospects who had not been previously noticed or ’06 draft picks. It is just as likely that St. Louis turns a prospect like Josh Kinney or Mark McCormick for a retread starter like Carl Pavano or Byung-Hyun Kim. Farm Director Jeff Lunhow has run the last two drafts and now controls the entire farm system. That may yield more talent.

Outlook

The success of the Cardinals last year was in overcoming adversity and getting hot in October. This team has too many holes to count on a post season appearance in 2007. But they cannot be counted out either. As improved as Chicago is, they are not run away division winners, either. The Astros and the Reds and the Brewers should all contend as well. How St. Louis does depends largely on Albert Pujols and his bat. The best hitter in baseball and one of America’s newest citizens carries the offense of his club. Albert can count on another good year, and if he stays healthy, that’s worth another couple of wins for the Cards. Besides Carpenter, who is capable of winning twenty games, the staff will be baling wire, bubble gum and duct tape for April and May. But once they get their legs underneath them, they should settle in. I do not expect a successful title defense, but they can make the playoffs, where it is anyone’s ballgame.

Predicted finish: 88-74 First place in a close NL Central race.

Ex-Yankee Hank Bauer dead at 84

He was the right fielder and one a key player on the championship Yankee teams of the 1950′s. From AP-

Hank Bauer, the tough ex-Marine who set a World Series record with a 17-game hitting streak for the Yankees and later managed the Baltimore Orioles to the 1966 title, died Friday. He was 84.

Bauer died in the Kansas City area, where he made his home, Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said.

During 14 seasons in the major leagues, a career that spanned from 1948-61, Bauer became a three-time All-Star outfielder, helping the Yankees win seven World Series titles and nine AL pennants. He spent his first 12 seasons with the Yankees and his final two with the Kansas City Athletics.

In his final Series appearance, he hit .323 with four homers and eight RBIs as the Yankees beat the Milwaukee Braves in seven games in 1958.

Bauer managed the Kansas City A’s to ninth-place finishes in 1961 and 1962, then took over as manager of the Orioles in 1964.

In 1966, he managed the Orioles to a 97-63 record and a World Series sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bauer left the Orioles during the 1968 season, and his final managing job was with the Oakland A’s the following year.

Bauer’s time in the Marine Corps was at least as distinguished as his time in baseball.

Bauer enlisted in the Marines shortly after Pearl Harbor and saw action in a number of battles in the Pacific, including Okinawa and Guadalcanal, according to Hall of Fame archives. He earned two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.

Bauer was wounded at Okinawa, hit in the left thigh by shrapnel in his 53rd day on the island.

“We went in with 64 and six of us came out,” Bauer said.

Bauer’s service record came under fire from an ill-informed politician

In the 1950′s, a Congressman published a list of athletes that received ‘soft duty’ during World War II. Hank Bauer, the Yankee Rightfielder, was on the list (Bauer was a very talented ballplayer).

Only one problem: Bauer, a Marine, took part in the invasion of four islands – New Georgia, Emirau, Okinawa and Guam. He took shrapnel in the back of his leg which could never be removed.

When his error was pointed out, the Congressman (I wish I had his name) said, “I didn’t mean Hank Bauer, I meant Hank Sauer.” Sauer was a Chicago Cubs outfielder.

Unfortunately, Sauer had also seen combat.

Talk about dumb Congressman. Note- This story was published in Bill James’ Historical Abstract.

Another former Baltimore Oriole, Steve Barber, died this week. Barber was on the mound and Bauer managing in a famous 1967 game.

Facing Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader at old Memorial Stadium, Barber took a no-hit bid and a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning despite severe bouts of wildness.

Barber walked the first two batters in the ninth, then retired the next two hitters. But he threw a wild pitch that let the tying run score and, after yet another walk, was pulled from the game.

Stu Miller relieved, and the Tigers scored the go-ahead run on an error. The Tigers wound up winning 2-1 despite getting no hits. Barber’s line that afternoon: 8 2-3 innings, 10 walks, two hit batters, a wild pitch and a throwing error.

Barber and Bauer both gave baseball fans many memories. RIP.

Cross posted at Poliblog’s Deportes

Samardzija signs 5yr $10M Deal with Cubs

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Jeff Samardzija decided to give up football and stay with baseball.

The former Notre Dame receiver, projected as a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft, agreed Friday to a $10 million, five-year contract to pitch for the Chicago Cubs.

“Baseball is my first love. I played it my whole life,” Samardzija said.

A 21-year-old right-hander, Samardzija was the Cubs’ fifth-round pick in last year’s amateur draft and had a 2.70 ERA in seven starts for their Class A teams at Boise and Peoria.

He returned to Notre Dame and helped the Irish make the Sugar Bowl, catching 78 passes for 1,017 yards as a senior. The Irish lost the game to LSU 41-14, but Samardzija did catch a TD pass.

His deal includes a $2.5 million signing bonus and the Cubs hold options for a sixth and seventh seasons in 2012 and 2013. If the options are exercised, the deal would be worth $16.5 million over seven years.

Samardzija said there would be no returning to football, even though he’s headed for a stint in the minor leagues, probably starting at Class A Daytona after spring training. The deal also includes a no-trade clause.

Thinking It Over

With the question of whether to play professional baseball or head to the Senior Bowl looming earlier this week, Jeff Samardzija talked with ESPN The Magazine’s Amy K. Nelson to share his thought process. Story

“He has offered at any time in the five-year period to give the [signing bonus] money back. He wanted to make everything clear that there wasn’t any turning back,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said.

“That was something I wanted in there to show my commitment to this organization, along with the no-trade clause,” Samardzija said.

Samardzija’s fastball was clocked at 97 mph last summer and Hendry said the Cubs project him one day to a be “high end starter.”

Samardzija, 21-6 in 50 college baseball games, said he spent 10 to 12 hours a day weighing the decision on which sport to pursue. His familiarity with the Cubs after his experience last summer was a major factor.

Hendry said he never pressured Samardzija after he returned to school last fall following his brief minor league stint.

“I felt the best thing to do was let him go back and play football. I went to see him play football, we talked regularly but it never came up, ‘What are you going to do?”‘ Hendry said. “He was going to do what he wanted to do and that’s what he should do and that’s what I told him.”

Samardzija said longevity and the chance of injury were not major factors in his decision to go with baseball over football. And he said there is no sadness about giving up football after a great career with Notre Dame. In 2005 he set the school’s single-season records for yards receiving with 1,249 and TD catches with 15.

“It’s an excitement for baseball. If there is a sadness for leaving football, I’m making the decision at the wrong time or just the wrong decision in general,” he said.

He said Irish coach Charlie Weis was supportive when he told him he was turning to baseball.

“He was excited. He wished me the best and he asked for Cubs tickets,” Samardzija said.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

Wow! That’s a huge contract for a player with “potential”. Jeff Samardzija could turn out to be a staff ace or he could be a bust. All signs point to ace, or atleast a #3 starter. He can hit 97 on the radar gun but sits around 94. He has a good frame, allowing him to work many innings. He really needs to work on his secondary pitches and work on his command, he had 12 walks in 30 innings last year for the Cubs minor league affiliates while triking out only 17 (he had 6 walks and only 4 strike outs over 11 innings at Peoria, his last two starts) not great numbers but it was a short stint.

This is a classic move, trying to lure an athlete to one sports and away from another. We’ll have to wait and see how this deal works out in the future.

Mark Prior: Cubs Tease

From the Cubs Official Website

The Cubs began their winter Cubs Caravan tour on Wednesday with good news regarding Mark Prior, who is throwing off the mound and making good progress.

“Mark is up on the hill, throwing some bullpens and doing well,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Wednesday before boarding a bus with other players and staff for a trip to downstate Illinois.

“The reports have been encouraging, and we’re all keeping our fingers crossed,” Hendry said. “We’d love to show up and have the old Mark back and feel like we have a great, new player come in that we weren’t expecting. We wanted to cover ourselves in depth if Mark was behind, but if he’s on schedule, we’ll feel like we got a bonus.”

To quote longtime Cubs fan and commentator George Will, “Well.” The hope resting on Mark Prior’s right shoulder is the hope of the north side of Chicago. Here’s why:

Carlos Zambrano followed Cubs general manager Jim Hendry’s spending spree closely from his Venezuelan home this off-season, knowing his turn to cash in was just around the corner.

Though the Cubs have yet to begin negotiations on a long-term deal for the impending free agent, they got a good idea of what they’re in for on Tuesday when Zambrano filed for a club-record $15.5 million in arbitration. The Cubs countered with an offer of $11.025 million, meaning Zambrano probably will do no worse than a $13 million salary for ’07 if the two sides settle before his hearing.

Ultimately, Zambrano is expected to seek a six-year deal for somewhere around $100 million-$110 million when contract talks begin next month.

“Carlos always has stated he wants to stay here,” Hendry said. “In the near future we’ll be working to get a multiyear contract done.”

Zambrano’s filing figure was the highest of any arbitration-eligible player this winter.

The spending isn’t done in Chicago. It might just be starting up. If the Cubs and Zambrano can’t work out a deal, Zambrano will be a very attractive free agent in next year’s market. And the Cubs are back to relying on Mark Prior and his limitless potential and questionable health.

Prior will be just 26 next year. It’s a pivotal year for him and the Cubs.

Baseball Nirvana in Chicago

More than six million people packed the two baseball parks in the city of the big shoulders in 2006. Not bad for two teams that didn’t make the playoffs. But the rough and tumble Chicagoans will not tolerate lovable losers. The White Sox can bask in the glow of their first title in 88 years. The Cubs though are on notice – another Cubs season that goes south will mean more anger on the north side of Chicago. Nothing inspires spending like the sword of Damocles tottering above a GM’s head. And Jim Hendry has fired his only scapegoat, Dusty Baker. He’s on the line with this team, and the moves show it.

Meet Alfonso Soriano, savior of the Cubs. Hendry better hope Alfonso can walk on water, because it will take miracles to pull the Cubbies together into a world beating team in 2007. A quick analysis of the starters and backups for the Cubs points to a team that reasonably expects score 775 runs next year. That’s okay. Not bad, but not great. Last year’s Cub team scored 716 runs, so that is a decided improvement. Some of that improvement is the return of a full season of Derrek Lee. But it is still only good for 16th best in the big leagues. Pitching clearly matters, a lot to the Cubs.

And the staff should be pretty good. The regular breakdowns of Prior and Wood should both be expected and planned for as well as serve as an opportunity for the Cubs to promote the club.

Hey Cubs fans, come on out to Wrigley on Wednesday afternoon. It’s Kerry Wood sore shoulder day at the park. Fans complaining of aches and pains will receive a coupon for a discounted MRI from North Side Radiology, the official MRI providers to the Chicago Cubs. And one lucky fan will get his medical expenses paid for a year. Remember that’s next Wednesday afternoon when the Cubs host the Rockies at Wrigley.

The signings of Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis to eat innings are useful. They plus Rich Hill, who was alternately was frustratingly bad and brilliant last year, will give the Cubs three league average starters. If Prior and Wade Miller can stay healthy for a half season each, the Cubs have starting pitching. Huge if. That leaves the unresolved question of Carlos Zambrano’s impending foray into free agency. The Cubs priority between now and spring training is to get the big fella under contract for the foreseeable future. In addition to having electric stuff, Carlos Zambrano is just as durable as Barry Zito has been and is two years younger. The seven year deal that the Giants gave Zito is the low point that Zambrano will accept to remain in Wrigley. As heralded as Wood and Prior have been, Zambrano has gotten the job done year after year and is the key to future Cub success.

But the X-factor is Prior, again. Cubs fans know he is a special pitcher. He was terrible last season, save for one remarkable performance, five and two-thirds no hit ball against the Mets in July. He walked five and threw 103 pitches. Not an ideal performance. If Prior can harness his considerable talent, the Cubs could run away with the division. As Miracle Max might say, “It’d take a miracle.” As noted earlier, Jim Hendry brought Alfonso Soriano in for big money, and he better hope he can walk on water.

The northside whirlwind has not the ChiSox who while not sitting idly by, have shown more of an eye to sustainable success, than instant gratification. Starting the offseason with a minor cross town deal that netted hard throwing but control challenged David Aardsma and hard throwing but control challenged Carlos Vasquez in exchange for Neal Cotts, you can get an idea of the direction the ChiSox are going. The offseason dealing continued with the trade of Freddy Garcia to the Phillies for pitchers Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez, who had been dealt by the White Sox to the Phillies last year in the Aaron Rowand trade. Floyd is an okay talent, but his mediocre fastball makes him a nibbler. And in Philadelphia’s bandbox, his every misplaced pitch was crushed. That kind of whiplash tends to make a pitcher more timid, and leads to more nibbling and ever expanding walk rates. Unfortunately, he is going to a league with a DH instead of a a weak hitting pitcher and a park where pitchers can watch balls fly over the wall in a hurry, too. The key to the deal had to be Gio Gonzalez, right? Absolutely. Gonzalez struggled at Reading, adjusting to a new league, a new organization and a higher level of competition. His walk and homerun rates jumped. Spending a year in Charlotte – a neutral park in terms of effects – will give him an opportunity to right the wobble of last season.

White Sox GM Ken Williams made another pair of deals. The first was a small one with Kansas City moving blocked 1B/RF/DH Ross Gload for Andrew “Sisquatch” Sisco. Sisquatch (so nicknamed because of his imposing 6-10 stature) mixes a nasty slider with serious heat. His problem has been, you guessed it control. Gload wasn’t going to beat out Dye, Konnerko or Thome, so getting an arm with serious talent for him is the smart move. Sico’s weaknesses might work out as he gets older. He is frequently compared to Randy Johnson whose control finally kicked in when he was with Seattle at age 29.

The stockpiling continued with the Brandon McCarthy deal. McCarthy had not found a way to displace any of the other starters in Chicago. He’ll start for sure in Texas. McCarthy goes from a bad homerun park to the worst, though. In exchange the White Sox acquired John Danks who would fit the Tom Glavine profile of a solid if not dominating lefty. In short, Chicago picked up three intriguing young arms who could all start in 2008. Plug Floyd into 2007 with Conteras, Buerhle, Garland and Vasquez and you still have a good rotation in ’07, while you wait for the kids to mature. A full season of Mike MacDougal setting up Bobby Jenks gives them an excellent late inning combo. The rest of the bullpen though has questions. But every bullpen ahs questions and if you can bring heat, then you can get out of trouble a lot quicker.

They have a strong rotation, questionable bullpen and solid lineup. They do not get on base as much as they should. That’s their organizational philosophy and it worked out well enough in 2005. They should win 90 games and contend for a playoff spot. But even better for the White Sox, they have a crop of young hitters either breaking in or that should be ready for the bigs in 2008 or 2009. Those talents include current starter CF Brian Anderson and projected reserve OF Ryan Sweeney, who did not hit a lot in a brief call up. In addition, 3B Josh Fields, and former bright stars CF Jerry Owens and SS Robert Valido are in the running for spots in ’08 or ’09. The White Sox have little organizational depth, but their moves this offseason maintain a competitive roster while re-arming at the highest organizational levels to extend that competitiveness until their Latin American scouting infrastructure improves.

A tale of two teams in one city; both hoping it will be the best of times.