GaryMrMets
08-20-2004, 03:23 PM
http://www.yesnetwork.com/announcers/article.asp?article_id=229
Pennant insurance an old hat
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent/small/pepe_head_sm.jpgBy Phil Pepe
Special to YES Network Online
August 3 2004
The Mounties dont always get their man, and neither does George Steinbrenner. It only seems that way. Randy Johnson stays in the desert and the Yankees go to Plan B and come up with Esteban Loaiza, who is a Yankee by the hair of his chinny-chin-chin; another All Star to place in their Bronx firmament.
Now here come the Yankee-bashers once again with more fuel to add to their furnace. Only the Yankees, they lament, can get rid of a headache (Jose Contreras), pick up a 20-game winner (Loaiza) and save $12 million in the bargain, and then swoop in and grab a former batting champion, John Olerud, on waivers: Two more examples of the rich getting richer, which can only happen in baseball, circa 2004, when money talks and the Yankees (i.e. Steinbrenner) are the principal filibusterers.
If you believe this is a sign of the times, you need to hear what Marvin Miller, then the Executive Director of the Major League Players Association, said some 38 years ago when Steinbrenner was still building ships in Lorain, Ohio, seven years away from becoming baseballs Darth Vader to Larry Lucchinos Luke Skywalker.
In the summer of 1966, Miller was trying to rally his troops, preparing them for their biggest fight with the major league owners, the battle against baseballs cherished reserve clause.
In the first meeting I had with the Yankees, Miller said, one of the subjects I brought up, because I felt the players ought to know what I think, is that I thought the reserve clause was an abomination. It kept the players as pieces of property; it left them without dignity and without bargaining power, and, over time, we had to do something about it.
One of the brightest, most aware players, Jim Bouton, came up to me after the meeting and said, How would it work if you didnt have the reserve clause? A team with the most money would be buying up all the stars and nobody would be able to beat them.
And I said to Bouton, You mean like the Yankees are now?
The fact is the rich have always gotten richer in baseball, then and now, and the Yankees have always exploited their wealth, but always within the rules, then and now. Fortifying their roster for the pennant-push is nothing new for the Yankees, nothing Steinbrennerian. They did it many times before Steinbrenner, by George; acquiring veteran players to help win pennants, sometimes at the expense of future stars. Here are some examples:
August 22, 1949: Purchased future Hall of Famer Johnny Mize from the Giants for $40,000. Mize batted .261 in 13 games and the Yankees won the pennant by one game over the Red Sox. In the World Series, Mize had two pinch-hit singles in two at-bats, including a two-run single in the ninth inning of Game 3, a 4-3 Yankees victory. The Yanks beat the Dodgers in seven games.
September 5, 1950: Purchased Johnny Hopp from Pittsburgh. Hopp played in 19 games for the Yankees, batted .333 with one home run and eight RBIs. The Yanks won the pennant by three games over the Tigers.
August 30, 1951: Acquired Johnny Sain from Boston for Lew Burdette and $50,000. Sain appeared in seven games for the Yankees, won two and saved one. The Yanks won the pennant by five games over the Indians.
August 1, 1952: Purchased Johnny Schmitz on waivers from the Dodgers. August 28, 1952: Obtained Ewell Blackwell from Cincinnati for four players and $35,000. Schmitz appeared in five games for the Yankees, won one and saved one. Blackwell also appeared in five games for the Yankees, also won one and saved one. The Yanks won the pennant by two games over the Indians.
August 22, 1954: Purchased Jim Konstanty from the Phillies. Konstanty appeared in nine games for the Yankees, won one and saved two. The Yankees won 103 games, but finished eight games behind the Indians.
August 25, 1956: Acquired future Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter on waivers from Kansas City. Slaughter batted .289 in 24 games for the Yankees, who won the pennant by nine games over the Indians. In the World Series, Slaughter batted .350 and his three-run homer was the margin of victory in the Yankees 5-3 win in Game 3. The Yankees beat the Dodgers in seven games.
September 1, 1957: Purchased Sal Maglie on waivers from the Dodgers. In six games, Maglie won two and saved three for the Yankees, who won the pennant by eight games over the White Sox.
Note again: These deals were all BS before Steinbrenner, so this business of buying pennant insurance is nothing new, nothing irregular, nothing outside the rules, and nothing that others could not emulate. The simple fact is, this is baseball once again imitating life in that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Acclaimed author Phil Pepe is a regular contributor to YES Network Online.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/loaiza_inline_073104.jpg
Esteban Loaiza is another in a long line of veterans acquired to help the Yankees in their playoff push.
Pennant insurance an old hat
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent/small/pepe_head_sm.jpgBy Phil Pepe
Special to YES Network Online
August 3 2004
The Mounties dont always get their man, and neither does George Steinbrenner. It only seems that way. Randy Johnson stays in the desert and the Yankees go to Plan B and come up with Esteban Loaiza, who is a Yankee by the hair of his chinny-chin-chin; another All Star to place in their Bronx firmament.
Now here come the Yankee-bashers once again with more fuel to add to their furnace. Only the Yankees, they lament, can get rid of a headache (Jose Contreras), pick up a 20-game winner (Loaiza) and save $12 million in the bargain, and then swoop in and grab a former batting champion, John Olerud, on waivers: Two more examples of the rich getting richer, which can only happen in baseball, circa 2004, when money talks and the Yankees (i.e. Steinbrenner) are the principal filibusterers.
If you believe this is a sign of the times, you need to hear what Marvin Miller, then the Executive Director of the Major League Players Association, said some 38 years ago when Steinbrenner was still building ships in Lorain, Ohio, seven years away from becoming baseballs Darth Vader to Larry Lucchinos Luke Skywalker.
In the summer of 1966, Miller was trying to rally his troops, preparing them for their biggest fight with the major league owners, the battle against baseballs cherished reserve clause.
In the first meeting I had with the Yankees, Miller said, one of the subjects I brought up, because I felt the players ought to know what I think, is that I thought the reserve clause was an abomination. It kept the players as pieces of property; it left them without dignity and without bargaining power, and, over time, we had to do something about it.
One of the brightest, most aware players, Jim Bouton, came up to me after the meeting and said, How would it work if you didnt have the reserve clause? A team with the most money would be buying up all the stars and nobody would be able to beat them.
And I said to Bouton, You mean like the Yankees are now?
The fact is the rich have always gotten richer in baseball, then and now, and the Yankees have always exploited their wealth, but always within the rules, then and now. Fortifying their roster for the pennant-push is nothing new for the Yankees, nothing Steinbrennerian. They did it many times before Steinbrenner, by George; acquiring veteran players to help win pennants, sometimes at the expense of future stars. Here are some examples:
August 22, 1949: Purchased future Hall of Famer Johnny Mize from the Giants for $40,000. Mize batted .261 in 13 games and the Yankees won the pennant by one game over the Red Sox. In the World Series, Mize had two pinch-hit singles in two at-bats, including a two-run single in the ninth inning of Game 3, a 4-3 Yankees victory. The Yanks beat the Dodgers in seven games.
September 5, 1950: Purchased Johnny Hopp from Pittsburgh. Hopp played in 19 games for the Yankees, batted .333 with one home run and eight RBIs. The Yanks won the pennant by three games over the Tigers.
August 30, 1951: Acquired Johnny Sain from Boston for Lew Burdette and $50,000. Sain appeared in seven games for the Yankees, won two and saved one. The Yanks won the pennant by five games over the Indians.
August 1, 1952: Purchased Johnny Schmitz on waivers from the Dodgers. August 28, 1952: Obtained Ewell Blackwell from Cincinnati for four players and $35,000. Schmitz appeared in five games for the Yankees, won one and saved one. Blackwell also appeared in five games for the Yankees, also won one and saved one. The Yanks won the pennant by two games over the Indians.
August 22, 1954: Purchased Jim Konstanty from the Phillies. Konstanty appeared in nine games for the Yankees, won one and saved two. The Yankees won 103 games, but finished eight games behind the Indians.
August 25, 1956: Acquired future Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter on waivers from Kansas City. Slaughter batted .289 in 24 games for the Yankees, who won the pennant by nine games over the Indians. In the World Series, Slaughter batted .350 and his three-run homer was the margin of victory in the Yankees 5-3 win in Game 3. The Yankees beat the Dodgers in seven games.
September 1, 1957: Purchased Sal Maglie on waivers from the Dodgers. In six games, Maglie won two and saved three for the Yankees, who won the pennant by eight games over the White Sox.
Note again: These deals were all BS before Steinbrenner, so this business of buying pennant insurance is nothing new, nothing irregular, nothing outside the rules, and nothing that others could not emulate. The simple fact is, this is baseball once again imitating life in that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Acclaimed author Phil Pepe is a regular contributor to YES Network Online.
http://www.yesnetwork.com/images/talent_article/loaiza_inline_073104.jpg
Esteban Loaiza is another in a long line of veterans acquired to help the Yankees in their playoff push.