Ken Griffey Jr. - Why Do You Play Us Like This?

Just when I started to like Ken Griffey Jr., he reverts back to his "I'm better than the team" attitude.

I started to like him again because he seemed to stay healthy (for the most part) and was never implicated in the steroid report - his numbers are real. I don't think the same can be said with some of his homerun hitting contemporaries.

But USA Today (which I read about in the Baseball Think Factory Newstand Blog) has Griffey mentioning his desire to "finish where he began" his career. But of course, he's not strong-arming the Reds! Yeah, just like he didn't strong-arm the Mariners eight years ago!

Back then, Griffey wanted out of Seattle. So the Ms had a deal in place to send him to the NY Mets - Griff refused and went public with his desire to get traded to the Reds. As if Seattle didn't have any trade leverage to begin with, they lost it all with Griffey's public spewing.

Griffey was traded to the Reds and signed a $118 million dollar contract (but he says its not about the money). Meanwhile, Seattle continued to win, make the playoffs, and even set the single-season win record. Griffey got injured again and again, and couldn't help the Reds get over the .500 mark more than once.

Now Griffey says that he'd like to finish his career where it began and play for Championship team.

How many homecomings does Griffey want? I thought it was a homecoming when he came back to Cincinnati? Now he wants one to come back to Seattle? At this pace, he'll have more home states than Hilliary Clinton (Arkansas, Illinois, New York) and George H.W. Bush (TX, ME).

How many championship teams are looking for .229 hitters who keep getting injured and are at the end of their career? The reason these teams are considered "championship" is because they don't have .229 hitters who constantly get injured, make a ton of money, and are at the end of their careers.

Hey Griff, it didn't have to be like this. You didn't have to publicly demand a trade to the Reds in your last year with Seattle. You didn't have to bankrupt the Reds by taking over $100 million from a revenue crunched team. And you didn’t have to end your Reds career by mouthing off about playing for a championship team and returning to a new home. You could have been a leader by hitting for an average higher than your weight, enjoy your “home” with the Reds and celebrate 600 career home runs.

Move on Junior, and don’t let the door hit you …

Roger Clemens - Like Sands Through the Hour Glass . . .

Is Roger Clemens the gift that keeps on giving? Watching his life unfold on the internet and through the NY tabloids is like watching a train wreck - you can't help looking, staring, and being thankful that it's not you in the rear-view mirror.

The amazing thing is . . . All he had to do was speak to George Mitchell when he was originally asked and tell the truth!

During his first press conference about the Mitchell Report, Clemens said that he didn't know what Mitchell wanted to talk to him about. Um, Roger... it's a steroid investigation, what do you think they want to talk to you about?

Since his "I'm not talking to anybody" stance, his career and reputation has been stuck swirling around this performance enhancing drug toilet bowl. And now his lawsuit against Brian McNamee is plunging everything from the bowels of Clemens' past.

First there was the country music star - oh and she was 15 when they met!

Then the NY Daily News linked Roger to a few other pinstripe huggers in Manhattan.

And today there is John Daly's ex wife! The Daily News and SI.com have stories about Roger and Mrs. ex-John Daly traveling the country and dancing with boa constrictors! What's next? Roger dancing with just a boa?!

We need to find Dan Duquette and get his reaction!

The only thing missing from this bad day-time soap opera is Paris Hilton, Rupaul, and a bowl of salsa. Lets see what happens next week on Clemens' very own Wisteria Lane!

Somewhere This Man is Smiling

Is there anyone laughing harder these days than former Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette? Duquette must be having a great time with these Roger Clemens hearings. How many people do you think he's said, "see I told you so!"

For those that don't remember, Duquette was the Red Sox General Manager who was ridiculed for not re-signing Roger Clemens to the Boston Red Sox. Duquette (in)famously said, "we had hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career." At the end of the '96 season, Clemens was coming off of back-to-back seasons where he only won 10 games hadn't won more than 11 since 1992.

Since then, Clemens met his new trainer, discovered the fountain of youth, and now sits before Congress awaiting perjury charges. He who laughs last....

NY Post Back Page - Feb. 8, 2008

This is why the NY Post rocks! Here's the back page for Friday, Feb. 8, 2008.

SportsCenter Jumps the Shark Again

The 6:00 pm ET SportsCenter last night started with Joe Gibbs retiring, Goose Gossage going in the HOF, and Tony Romo's vacation during an off-week. What?!?

Yes, the third story in SportsCenter was about Tony Romo going to Mexico for a few days with Jessica Simpson, her family, Jason Whitten and his wife. What the hell is SportsCenter doing! This isn't Entertainment Tonight!

In ESPN's eyes, this Romo story trumps the Football National Championship played just the night before, Roger Clemens steriod saga, and Andy Pettit saying he won't testify before Congress.

What are they doing at SportsCenter these days!

The Goose is In, But Rice Is Not

Goose Gossage will FINALLY get into the baseball HOF. What took so long? Once again, the baseball writers get it right, but at their own slow pace.

Gossage was the only one elected by the writers. Jim Rice fell just short again.

Rice deserves to be in HOF - especially after all of this steroid, PED, Mitchell Report talk. Rice's numbers aren't inflated: he didn't have smaller parks, expansion depleted pitching, and PEDs. His numbers are legit and he deserves to be in.

Expect the Goose to be on the autograph circuit a bit more and his cards to surface on eBay. I saw Goose at an MAB show last year. He was the nicest person to everyone and was even shaking hands to anyone who offered as he walked through the hotel lobby.

More Spin Than a Primary Pollster

The Roger Clemens Spin Machine went into high gear Sunday night. Clemens answered softball questions from Clemens fan (err, Yankee fan) Mike Wallace on 60 minutes.

This interview was about as credible as watching Hugo Chavez interview Fidel Castro about the pitfalls of communism. Does Wallace think we don't know he goes to Yanks games?

The Sports Kolache has a great take on Clemens' interview. I think he's right-on with his grade of the Clemens' spin machine.

Top 10 Sports Returns of 2007

As we enter the 'returns' season of 2007, what returns for store credit should teams get for purchases made in 2007? Here's a Top 10 List:
10. Greg Oden - This year's #1 NBA pick by Portland won't play a single minute.
9. Eric Gagne - How many prospects did Boston give up so Gagne could throw gas on the 8th inning flames?
8. Brady Quinn - The Browns gave up this year's first round pick for someone to hold the clipboard.
7. Larry Johnson - The KC Chiefs would like store credit for overpaying LJ whom couldn't finish the season.
6. Mitchell Report - What did it tell us that we didn't already know?
5. Upper Deck Black - This was way overpriced and underperformed... much like #7.
4. Norv Turner - Replaced Marty (a 14-2 coach last year) and took half the season to find LT in his backfield.
3. JaMarcus Russell - The Raiders couldn't sign the #1 NFL Draft Pick in time to make more that one NFL start this year.
2. Florida Marlins Season Tickets - Are people actually paying for these?
1. Roger Clemens - What did the Yankees get for their $22 million half season?

Who’s been Naughty or Nice?

Nice: The New England Patriots – for hope they go undefeated so those ancient ’72 Dolphins stop having champagne toast every time a team loses.
Naughty: Mercury Morris – for pretending that his career was anything significant if he wasn’t a player on that ’72 team. He ran for over 1,000 yards once in his career. Perhaps Mercury can be just as ellaborate when he talks on sportscenter about his ’82 cocaine trafficking trial that he eventually got overturned on entrapment charges! Or Mercury can tell us how he got his jock handed to him by Bob Lilly in Super Bowl VI. Mercury talks like he's had this great NFL career, but in reality it's just as brief as his hair club for men commercials.

Nice: Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys for their exciting play this year. It’s hard to cheer against a guy who went to a small college, was undrafted, and sat the bench four years waiting for his chance to prove he’s better than Quincy Carter, Chad Hutchinson, Drew Bledsoe, Drew Henson, and Ryan Leaf.
Naughty: Tony Romo for bringing his girlfriends from American Idol or MTV reality show ex-wife’s club to football games. I don’t know what was more annoying to see 100 times during the game: Jessica Simpson or Bill Cowher’s family whenever his Steelers were on TV!

Nice: Pete Rose back in the trading card game.
Naughty: Upper Deck execs for acting like babies with Topps.

Nice: The NY Mets for giving the NL East title to Philadelphia
Naughty: Me for what I did to the TV after the Mets choked the division away!

The Mitchell Report should go on this list somewhere, but I'm not sure where.

Mitchell Report in the HOF?

This week’s poll question asked if MLB’s Mitchell Report belongs in the baseball hall of fame.

I believe it’s an historic document that helps to define the late ‘80s to the mid ‘00s era and belongs in the HOF. We can’t put *s on the records or backspace over the numbers that were calculated. However, I think we need to explain why the numbers ballooned faster than Rosie O’Donnel at a buffet.

The HOF should include the report as one of the reasons offensive numbers skyrocketed and why the Rocket Roger Clemens’ ERA stats plummeted. It should be recorded as the main bullet point of reasons why offense stats are higher in the era - other reasons include smaller ball parks and expansion.

I emailed the Baseball Hall of Fame to see if the report will be included and if so, where it would be displayed. I’ll provide their reply unless they post their answers here.

Does the Mitchell Report Damage Memorabilia Value?

I've read a lot on the web about card/memorabilia values taking a dive following the Mitchell Report. Beckett even has a temporary blog where paranoid collector's are discussing changing their retirement plans because of the impending crash of Clemens rookie card values! :) Whether you the report is a good idea or a bad idea - I don't see values taking a long-term dive.

In the short run, you may see some sell-off by collector's that have a short-term view or don't want the cards due to moral outrage. But over the long-term, I think the card values of Clemens and Bonds will bounce back and climb just as the cards of Pete Rose and Joe Jackson.

Pete's 1963 Topps has a low Beckett card value of $600 and Joe Jackson's are around $1,000. Would their cards be worth more if they were in the HOF? Maybe, but I don' think they are suffering because they are not in the HOF.

For those looking for a discount on Bonds, Clemens and Todd Hundley (yeah right), this could be an opportunity to buy some of their cards cheaper due to their short-term dip.

Mitchell Report - Does Anyone Care?

What exactly does this report do again?

Oh yeah, the Mitchell Report will reveal if players took performance enhancing drugs 5 years ago. I thought we already knew that answer?

I don't think this will have any effect on the memorabilia market. Card values of McGwire, Canseco, Palmerio, and Sosa have already taken their hit. Of the major 'roid targets, only Bonds has seen his card/autograph high on the Beckett Top 20 list thanks to his home run chase. Having a late and bloated report isn't going to change that.

Do we really expect baseball and the MLBPA to suspend players based on doing something five years ago that wasn't against the rules then, but is now? This is stupid. It's like being mad at your girlfriend because she dated someone else five years before she knew you.