Saturday, October 27, 2007

Last Days of October . . .

The Yanks: My peeps have Cashman recommending Girardi, and the three talking heads pushing Mattingly. I am not entirely comfortable with the decision making by committee thing - especially when 3/4's of the committee is there due to marriage, or birth. The decision is to be made on Monday, with formal announcement on the replacement supposedly to take place on Tuesday.

The Market and The Greater Good: Friday's action was a big day for Wall St., and more importantly a big day for the world. With the 3 point move in Microsoft's common stock on Friday, Bill Gates' personal net worth went up by about $2.7 billion (that's billion with a B). Give or take a few dimes, he's worth around $30.7 billion. Of that amount, he's only leaving $30 million to family - the rest goes to the Gates Foundation that supports health and education initiatives throughout the world, helping mostly the extreme poor. Simply put, the more money Gates makes, the better off the world is or will be. Just another example of why free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity.

The Media: Kudos to the Washington Post. Other than Fox News, they were the only major media outlet that had the stones to recently lead its news with: A) No American casualties in Iraq the last 8 days, B) The Al Anbar province has been pacified, C) Al Qaeda has been defeated in Iraq, and D) Oh boy, this is the big one, that the surge is actually working. . . . You can always tell what is important to the ideologues that run an organization by what they lead with. The NY and LA Times, Chicago Tribune, CNN, NBC, and MSNBC appear to have a vested interest in America failing. -- They have picked the wrong side.

The Call: As soon as the Yankees name the manager, obviously A-Rod will be the big story. Just for fun, I'd like everyone to state their formal position on A-Rod as soon as possible. I think he opts out, does not re-sign with the Yanks, and is off to the Cubs with a 7 year, $240 million salary, with an equity stake in the club. Any takers on that one????

4 comments:

57 said...

I cannot stand him, and I think he is only concerned with himself... but A-Rod should get paid....
Some of his career highlights:

• Youngest ever to hit 300 HR, 400 HR, 450 HR, 500 HR
• 6 straight 40-HR seasons; 10 straight 30-HR seasons
• 3 50-HR seasons
• 2 MVPs (2003 & 2005)

In addition, he's on the short list of players who have led baseball in home runs, RBIs and runs in the same season:

Player HR RBIs Runs
Alex Rodriguez, 2007 54 156 143
Roger Maris, 1961 61 142 132
Mickey Mantle, 1956 52 130 132
Johnny Mize, 1947 51 138 137
Ted Williams, 1942 36 137 141

But now I look at the above list and say, which one of these folks did not play in a World Series?? Answer? A-Rod... Ted Williams is the only player that did not win one, but at least he helped his team get there.

At the end of the day, is A-Rod the type of player who would trade in the above numbers for a title? I think not!! If he loves money so much, maybe some incentives should be thrown in his contract in order to pay him dollars if he wins a title. Here is a thought... pay him a salary of $35,000 and if he reaches the WS, he gets a $27,000,000 bonus, and if he wins the WS he gets that figure for 5 years. Now THAT will motivate him... because, clearly, that is all he cares about.

Maris, Mantle, Mize and Williams are all rolling in their graves.. with the exception of Williams who is churning in ice...

Good Night Now.

Middle Relief said...

I am disappointed in the Rockies. I think the 9 day layoff let them to remember how they got to where they are, and are probably feeling lucky just to be there.

Boston set to win a World Series, the Celtics poised to be a contender, New England the odds on favorite for another Super Bowl, and BC has legit shot at making it to the national title bowl - what the hell is going on here??? I miss the days of the greater Boston area being loserville.

Anonymous said...

I wish I could give my prediction on A-Rod, but I honestly believe that its 50/50 whether he stays or goes. I think he actually wants to stay and win a Championship in NY, but if he listens to Boras he will opt out. Even if there was no market for him (which there is), Boras is so arrogant that he believes that he could get a better deal for him if he opts out....and he might be right.

57, I know what you're trying to say, but its tough to compare the teams A-Rod has been on for most of his career to those of Johnny Mize's '49-'53 Yankees; Mantle's '51-'64 Yankees; and Maris' '60-'64 Yankees (with a '67 Cardinals team thrown in). Plus, last time I looked, A-Rod was only 32 years old. Plenty of time to win a few titles.

Mid, yes indeed the Greater Boston Area is on friggin fire with their sports teams. Thank God the Bruins suck. I actually have to live here in New England.

57 said...

The thing is, I don't see A-Rod having a better supporting cast offensively than the Yankees (Red Sox not withstanding)... what sports agents don't know about sport dynamics could fill a book. Will we EVER see the day when a player actually negotiates on his own behalf?? Agents have ruined sports.

The Bruins are not that bad this year, actually.

The NFL better have a GREAT PR representative that can spin the train wreck that was the Giants/Dolphins game today. How bad did our game look in front of those Brits. England gave us the Beatles and we gave them shit.

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