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William Shea – Hall of Famer?

I know, you’re thinking that I’ve finally lost it. Why should a lawyer from NY who had a stadium named after him be enshrined in the Hall of Fame?

Because he changed the game.

After the Dodgers and Giants left New York in 1957, Mayor Robert Wagner charged Bill Shea with bringing a National League team back to NYC. Shea contacted Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati but was turned down by every team.

Refusing to give up, in 1959 Shea teamed up with Branch Rickey and announced the formation of the Continental Baseball League. The league would be the first serious challenge to the National and American Leagues since the ill-fated Federal League in 1914-15. The proposed league would place teams in New York, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, Toronto, Atlanta, Buffalo, and Dallas. With the exception on New York, none of these cities at the time had a major league level baseball team.

Shea was able to line up owners and financing for the league in fairly quick order – including Bob Howsam (original owner of the Denver Broncos) and Jack Kent Cooke (owner of the Redskins, Lakers, and LA Kings).

Realizing that the challenge was serious, the NL and AL approached Shea and offered expansion teams in 3 of the Continental League cities – NY, Minneapolis, and Houston. With his original goal in hand, Shea agreed to disband the league.

Shea’s legacy is more than just getting those 3 teams. Seven of the eight Continental League cities would eventually support a major league franchise, the sole exception being Buffalo. He engineered the first expansion of major league baseball since the American League and National League agreed to work together in 1903.

There are 29 members of the Hall of Fame that are designated as either an Executive or Pioneer. William Shea may not have played the game, nor did he manage or own a team. But there can be no doubt that he changed the game by initiating expansion, a true pioneer of the game. And for that maybe he deserves recognition in Cooperstown.

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Why "The Patch" Was Genius

Pure genius!

The Mets and the Wilpons outfoxed us all this week.  We all took the head-fake and didn’t look at the man behind the curtain.  Well played.

First they felt us out with “Baracklyn.”   A few loudmouths like me took the bait but most of you kept your heads and focused on the real story – Derek Lowe.

When Baracklyn didn’t work the Wilpons unfurled their secret weapon: The Patch!

The blogosphere went nuts.   The internet went nuts!  For a few hours The Patch was one of the most ridiculed things in the world (thanks to Yahoo).

(Oh and by the way we didn’t sign Lowe)  Yeah how about that stupid patch!!!!!!

Well played Wilpons.  You distracted us all, but we’re back now.

We don’t care about The Patch anymore.   We don’t care about Bernie Madoff and financial rumors.  We don’t care about banks and signage.  We care about pitching, left field and second base.

This team is not ready to win the east, never mind the World Series.   There’s one ace starter, two guys that seem like they might be good pitchers, nobody starting the fourth game of the season and a so-so pitcher from the Nats on Day 5.  

Where’s Manny?   Where’s Ollie?  You have the money ($40 of it is mine, thanks again for that “order charge” on my partial plans.)…or maybe you don’t?  Could this Madoff rumor be true?   Or do you just not like pitching?  

I know, stop asking questions Mets Police – keep your eye on the patch, and The Apple and the black uniforms.

www.metspolice.com

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Why Have A Patch At All?

I’ve been thinking about the Mets patch.  
 
Why have a patch at all?  What does it accomplish?
 
Does it somehow generate merchandise sales?  Are there crazies who really need a fifth Wright jersey except this one has a patch?
 
Does it rub it in the faces of other teams?  Will the Cubs feel jealous that they don’t have a new stadium?  Will the Mets pick runners off first because they are confused, thinking the Mets have been around for nearly 50 years?   (Speaking of which, I can’t wait to see the 50th anniversary patch).
 
This Inaugural Season patch (which doesn’t make sense unless we travel to 1962) doesn’t even provide a warm fuzzy feeling the way the Shea patch did.  In fact, all it did was make the Mets a world-wide joke.
 
Would it kill the ownership to announce they made a mistake?  For once, just admit you made a mistake.  
 
What if they withdrew the patch and said that they got the overwhelming sense from their fans that the patch was disliked.   They’d have egg on their face for five more minutes, and probably a bunch of positive newspaper articles about their wisdom…and then we all move on….
 
….in blue hats and pinstriped uniforms with no patches.
 
 
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Counterpoint: Pete Rose Should Not Be Enshrined In The Hall

Let’s clarify something right off the bat. The Hall of Fame is not ignoring Pete Rose. In fact, Pete Rose is already in the Hall of Fame.

Yes, I wrote that correctly.

Pete Rose is already in the Hall of Fame.

His accomplishments are recognized and memorabilia from his career is displayed. Depending on when you go you might also actually see a picture of him (probably sliding head first).

What he does not have is a plaque among the Hall of Famers. And this is the way it should be.

“Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.”

That is the rule that Rose violated. It is displayed in every single clubhouse at every single level of organized, affiliated baseball. And I don’t mean displayed like the calorie chart of Whoppers at Burger King. It is displayed on signs large enough to see across the locker room.

In other words – if you ever set foot in a professional locker room, you should know this rule. How many times did Pete Rose see this rule? How many clubhouses did he walk into and out of in his career? He played or managed in 4,330 games in the majors. Add in minor league games, exhibitions, spring trainings, practices, etc. – you have to figure Rose walked past this sign at least 6,000 times in his life.

He knew what the rule was – and he knew the consequences of violating that rule.

It’s not a temporary ban. It’s not a suspension. It says permanently ineligible.

Rose was an amazing player. Was he the greatest at any specific position? Hardly. But he was outstanding at 5 different positions. And he played the game with more heart and passion than maybe anyone in the history of the game. He wanted to win all the time no matter what.

Sadly it was that passion for winning that was ultimately his downfall.

The debate whether Rose gambled or not is in the past (though the specifics of how he bet are still in dispute). Even if – as Rose now claims (and we know what kind of credibility that has) – he only placed bets on his team to win, it still violated baseball’s prime directive.

And as for those who will lump Rose in with those from the steroid era – stop. It’s not the same thing. None of the juiced ballplayers (McGwire, Sosa, etc.) ever broke a baseball rule. There was no rule saying they couldn’t use supplements. They did what they had to do to win and they should be in the Hall when their time comes up (see my comments about McGwire).

Bottom line, Pete broke the rule. You break the rule, you suffer the consequences.

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