Comments on: Random tidbits of a Wednesday morning

By: Sarah Green

Sarah Green — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:49:40 +0000

Oh, but Danny O! That ain’t no Fu Manchu. That’s a handlebar.

And Coley has already given Rollie Fingers some UFH love—even if he was mostly just busting him for unpaid taxes.

Not that you can ever really have too many pictures of Rollie Fingers. Thanks for the morning pick-me-up. :)

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By: Danny O

Danny O — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:09:56 +0000

If you’re gonna walk down relief pitcher facial hair memory lane, by golly, don’t forget to bring Rollie Fingers along.

http://www.geocities.com/brewer09/oldschool/rolliefingers.JPG

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By: Zvee Geffen

Zvee Geffen — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:48:34 +0000

NYSoxfan….I can only assume your “back off Tek, man” statement applies to the bloodthirsty folks I was quoting in the post, and not to me. Since clearly, I have a love for Jason Varitek that is as deep as the mid-Atlantic ridge and as pure as freshly fallen snow. I would link to my old Metro column rhapsodizing about The Captain, but apparently, the Metro’s link is broken. Bah.

While yes, the umps were terrible in that series, alas, the Hit Dog had already left for Anaheim by then.

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By: NYSoxfan

NYSoxfan — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:31:46 +0000

Back off Tek, man. As much as MFY fans want to villify the Sox for the success they’ve enjoyed. The’99 Sox had Pedro, Nomar and Mo Vaughn but went down in 5 games to the MFYs in the ALCS. The umps were terrible in that series, but I digress… Time will tell who is using what. Until then, let’s focus on fixing what’s really wrong with baseball — the rapaciousness of MLB. Give us the head of Bud $elig on a platter. He denied Mitchell subpoena power, which would have turned up scads more guys on the juice.

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By: Danny O

Danny O — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:47:15 +0000

Thank you Sarah. I actually did mean to say “just because Mitchell uncover dirty laundry on everyone.” You’re good at reading minds.

“UMPBUMP HUNGRY, UMPBUMP SMASH” reminds me of that character on the Smurfs named Bigmouth. (See http://bluebuddies.com/help/smurf_names_and_list_of_the_smurfs.htm – 4th entry on the smurfs enemies list)

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By: melissa

melissa — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:20:53 +0000

MLB and Bud Selig hired George Mitchell to compile this report thus it is not an independent investigation. Mitchell from all evidence possesses personal integrity but he did not have subpoena power. He had no power to compel players past or present to be interviewed under oath. Because of his lack of subpoena power he relied on Federal investigations of BALCO, Radomski and McNamee. Radomski and McNamee were compelled by Federal prosecutors to give truthful interviews to Mitchell under threat of additional prosecution. The Feds also gave Mitchell documentation such as canceled checks to corroborate the testimony. Due to these constraints Mitchell could only gather info on players connected to those specific investigations.
It would show bias if there were other names uncovered in those investigations that Mitchell chose to omit, perhaps Red Sox players. We will not know this unless documents he reviewed are made public.
I think it’s unfortunate that he was not able to gather information on other sources of PED that players certainly had. If Mitchell had revealed no names he would have been accused of a white wash and people wouldn’t have paid as much attention to the report.

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By: Zvee Geffen

Zvee Geffen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:28:03 +0000

Perception is reality? I had no idea you were such a philosopher, Ward.

Considering that neither McNamee or Radomski ever worked for the Red Sox, and that Mitchell got all his names from those guys, and that everyone else refused to talk to him because he was not given any leverage by MLB or Congress at all, I think the man did the best he could. If you think there’s some other, unexplored way he could have gone hunting for names under those circumstances, let’s hear it.

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By: coley

coley — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:52:05 +0000

Sarah, I don’t think it matters if the report was biased. Because the perception exists that it is biased. And perception is reality.

(personally, I don’t think Mitchell omitted any names. But I’m not convinced he went looking for names as dilligently as he might were he not a Red Sox fan and employee)

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By: Zvee Geffen

Zvee Geffen — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:06:35 +0000

Danny O, re: “just because Mitchell uncover dirty laundry on everyone.” Looks like something got eaten by UmpBump when you posted this (UMPBUMP HUNGRY! UMPBUMP SMASH!). Did you mean, “just because Mitchell *couldn’t* uncover dirty laundry on everyone”?

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By: Danny O

Danny O — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:01:24 +0000

I think the report could be biased, but I don’t know for sure. The worst thing about Mitchell’s expose is that it anecdotally names some players, many w/NY connections, because the two primary sources were w/the Yanks and Mets. But what about other players and the activities in non-New York clubhouses? I’m not saying that the allegations regarding the NY players are completely bogus. But the problem with naming these players publicly is that they get excorciated in the press while planty of other players, who more than likely were doing the same thing in other clubhouses, are getting a (nearly) free pass just because Mitchell uncover dirty laundry on everyone.

And in response to Thurmon Munson Should Be in the Hall of Fame:

You are so right. The modern world is built around making life difficult for the Yankees and their fans. That’s why you never see any positive news about the team from the Bronx. ESPN clearly hates them.

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