Still trying to figure out the basis for all that moral outrage about the value of Mark McGwire's record-breaking home run ball. Sounds a lot more like hypocrisy from this angle.
McGwire makes about $8 million per year to hit a baseball. The fans pay that salary through their ticket purchases and -- indirectly -- by watching games on television and buying the products of the advertisers who buy time. That's a function of free-market economics.
The fans are granted a publicly announced contract after they pass through the turnstiles. They are "welcome to keep any ball hit into the stands as a souvenir of the game."
That means that the ball -- whether it be a relatively worthless foul ball or a historic home run -- belongs to whoever retrieves it. It was certainly honorable of the fans who caught historic McGwire homers to return them to him, but it certainly would not have been morally reprehensible to sell those balls to collectors.
You might recall that in 1994, the players went on strike and forced the cancellation of the World Series to defend their own economic interests. The best interests of the fans was never an issue, so why now should they be shamed into acting in the best interests of the sport instead of the best economic interests of their families?
The ball McGwire hit for No. 62 is nestled safely in an exhibit at the Hall of Fame, and that's great. That's where that ball belongs, but if some guy living in a trailer in Missouri had caught it and sold it to the highest bidder for $1 million, that would have been great, too.
That would have been the American way.
And another thing
Lest anyone get too caught up in the supposed spontaneity of Tuesday night's celebration, McGwire did hoist his 10-year-old son in the air moments after his historic home run, look into a camera and shout, "We're going to Disney World."
Presumably, he got paid a healthy sum for that endorsement -- probably a lot more than that groundskeeper got for bringing back the home run ball.
Straight talk
San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds has never been accused of mincing words, as illustrated by this diatribe against reporters who were critical of his performance earlier this season.
"I've never had an off-year," Bonds said. "I've never had a bad season since I was with the San Francisco Giants. I've been doing it for years, consistently, every year. There isn't a person in this locker room who can carry my jock strap. And I'm not saying that to be derogatory.
"I don't care what anyone says. I can go down the list here. I've done it consistently in the '90s, since I've been with the Giants' organization. But it's always something negative. If I don't hit 50 homers, it's an off-year. No one in here has hit more homers than I have in any given year, except Matt [Williams] in '94. He had [43] homers. I still had 37.
"No one on this team has stolen more bases than me in one year. Only a couple of times has someone had more RBIs than I have, had a better slugging percentage, a better on-base percentage. And there haven't been too many people who have had a higher average than me."
Bonds isn't very tactful, but he's right about one thing. He has been the top run producer of the '90s. He has driven in 100 or more runs in eight of the last nine seasons (the only exception: the strike-shortened 1994 season). He has more RBIs (976) than any other player in the '90s, ranks first in slugging percentage (.594) and walks (1,063), and is third in home runs (322).
Big opportunity
Former Orioles assistant GM Kevin Malone has been working without a contract this year, which explains why the club really couldn't do anything to keep him from jumping ship to become general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Presumably, owner Peter Angelos would not have stood in his way regardless, since it was a tremendous opportunity and the Orioles owner wasn't yet ready to make a final decision on a successor to departing Pat Gillick.
Malone deserves the chance to run his own show. He did a good job in his short tenure as GM of the Montreal Expos and was a loyal lieutenant to Gillick the past three years in Baltimore.
Triple threat
Former Orioles prospect Dave Dellucci has set a major-league record in his first full season. He has 11 triples for the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks, the most ever by a player on a first-year expansion team. He also has a chance to become the first rookie to lead the National League in that department since Ray Lankford in 1991.
30-30 vision
Braves outfielder Andruw Jones already is the youngest player ever to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a single season, and he still has time to join the exclusive 30-30 club. Through Friday, he had 29 homers and 25 steals with 14 games left to play.
That would be quite an achievement, considering the way he tested manager Bobby Cox's patience with his lackadaisical play in the outfield earlier this season.
"The way the season started for me, a lot of people were saying, 'He needs to go back to the minor leagues and he has a bad attitude,' " Jones said. "If I reach both, it will be fine. If I don't that will be fine too. If I stay on 29 homers, that would be great. If I don't reach it, I'll be satisfied with my season."
The club again is satisfied that he is the budding superstar who performed superbly in the 1996 World Series.
Hugs bring shrugs
The sight of Gary Gaetti and Sammy Sosa hugging McGwire after his historic home run proved to some old-timers just how much the game has changed.
New York Yankees manager Joe Torre wondered aloud Wednesday how Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel must have felt watching his teammates congratulate someone who had just homered off him.
"It made everybody happy, and that's great," Torre said. "Both [McGwire] and Sammy are class acts. But if I'm Trachsel, I'm having a hard time with everybody hugging him."
Torre pointed out that Hall of Famer Bob Gibson never would have shaken hands with an opponent on the field. But then, Gibson probably would have drilled McGwire the next time up for having the nerve to hit a home run against him.
Bay area bummer
The celebration in St. Louis had to leave Oakland Athletics fans with a bittersweet feeling, and club president Sandy Alderson with the unhappy task of explaining again and again why McGwire no longer is playing in the Bay area.
"Unfortunately, I don't think there were any options," Alderson said. "It had gotten to where it was what Mark wanted to do. We had all come to the conclusion he would not be back. That's become the nature of the game. Trades are often not made in the interest of improving a team but in the interest of salvaging something."
The A's got young pitchers T. J. Mathews, Blake Stein and Eric Ludwick, which looks like a paltry return but was all the A's could get with McGwire then unsigned for the 1998 season.
McGwire ended up signing a multi-year contract with the Cardinals after an amazingly positive reception from the fans that has never subsided. He was popular in Oakland, but East Bay fans never embraced him the way they do in St. Louis, where he's bigger than the Gateway Arch.
"One of the reasons St. Louis has embraced him so much is since he has been there, they've seen nothing but the positive side," Alderson said. "They haven't suffered through injuries. That's one of the reasons the reception has been so great."
Stepping up
The Pittsburgh Pirates hope to gradually shed their small-market image, beginning with a substantial increase in the club's payroll in 1999.
The club spent just $13 million on player salaries this year but will increase the budget to $23 million and sign some free agents during the off-season.
"A lot of it is just natural increase that comes with having players who are gaining more service time and are in line for raises," Pirates GM Cam Bonifay said. "But it is also a bump up for us. We should be able to do a few more things this winter. There should be some flexibility built into the payroll."
It won't exactly be a bonanza. After allowing for the normal annual salary inflation, the Pirates will have about $7 million to spend on free agents, enough to sign two or three decent veteran players.
"We obviously won't be able to go after the top-of-the-line free agents but we should be able to compete in the market for some good players," Bonifay said. "Obviously, our first priority is continuing to develop our young players, but we would also like to fill in some gaps with some veterans if we can."
A little perspective, please
Milwaukee Brewers manager Phil Garner may be facing some job insecurity. He may have a team that's well under .500 and headed nowhere in its first National League season. But he does have a handle on what's really important in this world.
"I'm going to quit talking about grinding it out," he said. "What else would you rather be doing in your life? We're making great money. We work in big-league cities. We travel first class.
"This is not a grind. A grind is when you don't know where your next meal is coming from, where you're working the coal mines and your kids are sick. Sure, there are going to be days when you're tired, but you just get on your knees and thank the good Lord that He gave you ability and put you here."
So much for complaining about the dog days of August and September. Garner just doesn't want to hear it in his clubhouse.
"Sure, you have days where you are mentally beat down. But if you look at it as a blessing, I don't think you should get down. I'm like everybody else. I fall into the trap of saying these are the dog days. Let's start seeing what we have and count our blessings.
"There's a whole lot of good things about being in this game. xTC None of us would be making this kind of money doing anything else. Without being too dramatic about it, you should look at these days like you're glad to be here at the ballpark. It's not a grind because you're not in the playoff race. There's plenty of reasons to count your blessings."
Pub Date: 9/13/98