The Worst Major League Baseball Game Ever

 

Wednesday, April 29, 2015; the Chicago White Sox vs.
the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. a game that the Orioles defeated the White Sox, 8-2 and the attendance was 0.
Zero, zip, no one, nothing, nada.


 

Images of an empty Oriole Park at Camden Yards in yesterday's

White Sox-Orioles baseball game.

 

Yes, in what has to be the worst decision of the new Major League Baseball commissioner, Rob Manfred, MLB decided that the game would be played in Baltimore and that no fans would be admitted into Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Keep in mind that this is due to the rioting going on Monday evening in Baltimore over the death in police custody of Freddie Gray. Already Monday's and Tuesday's games were cancelled. And there was the game played yesterday. And there was to be a series to be played in Baltimore between the Tampa Bay Rays and Orioles.

There were three much better solutions Mr. Manfred could have done.

One, move the game to Chicago. In fact when it became clear that there would be no game Monday and Tuesday, they could have moved to Chicago and played Tuesday night and Wednesday. Now the weekend series mentioned above will move from Baltimore to Tropicana Field in St. Petersberg, Florida.

Two, cancel the series completely and make up the three games throughout the regular season.

The third and toughest, I readily admit, is to have played the game and opened the stadium up to fans for free.

What?! Are you insane, Mr. RVFTLC?! Do you want a riot in a baseball stadium?!

Let me answer about a potential riot in a stadium.

Keep in mind that as of this writing, Baltimore is in the middle of a 10pm to 5am curfew. And the local police are supported by law enforcement throughout the state of Maryland. Even some from New Jersey. And of course there is the Maryland National Guard deployed throughout the city. So some of those forces could have been easily deployed throughout the Camden Yards area. Also, as of this season, all fans must pass through metal detectors similar to that at airports throughout the United States. Armed police and National Guard troops would not let the situation get out of control.

Well, how do you let these fans enter without chaos?
Easy.

The Orioles could have printed tickets as if it was for a game. Open all the stadium ticket booths and distribute accordingly. At the moment the national anthem ended, the ticket booth closes and that is all. Essentially a first come, first serve basis. They could have made huge, readable signs explaining how those who wanted to attend could do so. Also, they could have taken out a full-page ad in the local fish-wrap, The Sun.

I don't think that I am insane for suggesting a game go on in such treacherous conditions. I look at the possibility of a day of peace in a riot-torn city. That people could have a respite from the conditions that perpetuated the cancellation of games prior to yesterday.

One of the reasons I think that MLB took a cautious approach was because when the Orioles played on Saturday night, protesters began to harass fans leaving the game. Of course there was not a full-fledged riot at that moment and as such security was probably average for a Saturday night baseball game.

The other reason I think that fans should have been allowed to attend the game for free is because of the rantings of the Orioles' owner's son, John Angelos, on Twitter in regards to the whole situation in the city of Baltimore over the past 40 years.

Full disclosure is that John Angelos' father, Peter Angelos, is a well connected Democrat activist.

Since the game yesterday essentially made some money through advertisements and advanced ticket sales, it was essentially paid for. And since John Angelos made such a bold political statement, Peter Angelos could have sent a message of solidarity with his fan base.

But playing a game in an empty stadium sent a negative message of succumbing to thugs and essentially domestic terrorists. That they will play a game, a kid's game, but with no one in the ballpark. Not even in the summer after the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor, in 1942, did MLB cave to the forces of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan. The games went on.

The fact that MLB and Mr. Manfred went along with this says that in the future, caution and fear of a possibility of violence will make this sport cower in a corner.

Remember the date, Wednesday, April 29, 2015.

Remember the teams, Chicago White Sox at Baltimore Orioles.

Remember the attendance, 0

Remember that it was the worst major league baseball game ever.



The Ryan Braun Saga IS All Bud Selig's Fault

Yesterday Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig suspended Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun for 65 games, essentially the rest of the baseball season, without pay as he finally had no choice but to come clean about his use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).
All of that is well and good.
But here is the thing.
This whole saga lies at the feet of Mr. Selig himself and is a direct result of his seizure of Major League Baseball in the mid 1990s.
This all stems from the dispute with the owners and the players union and the strike that killed the 1994 season and made the 1995 season start late.
FTR, I had not and have no sympathy for either side, but slightly with the owners. While there are 30 major league teams, if what would happen of teams contracting and that number being reduced, a lot of players would be out of a job. So that does give an edge to the owners.
The owners wanted a tight salary cap. Of course, the players did not.
Which leads to Mr. Selig and the duplicity he and his fellow owners had at the time to rid MLB of an independent commissioner that would act in the best interests of the game and not owners and or the players.
The last semi-independent commissioner was Fay Vincent. He was forced to resign his position by the owners in September, 1992. And the owners decided that Mr. Selig, then owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, should be "acting" commissioner.
Can you say conflict of interest?
Sure, Mr Selig let his daughter, Wendy Selig, run the day-to-day affairs of the team, but clearly the owners message was no more independent commissioner. We are just going to put in our chief lackey.
And with that, Mr. Selig and some fellow owners took hard-line positions on the salary cap. And the players recoiled.
Oh, and note that the end result was that nothing changed and the players and owners played under the expired collective bargaining agreement.
But what changed was the image of MLB.
It was in tatters.
Mr. Selig showed that he was boss. He moved his Milwaukee Brewers from the American League to the National League. He diminished the differences between the American and National Leagues. Instead of baseballs made for use in each league and signed by their presidents, a M|LB ball was put in use. Umpires that once worked for each league were no more as they became MLB umpires. And the true abomination was the introduction of "inter league" baseball. No more that the two league champs would just meet in the World Series. No, no, no. An example is that the American League Anaheim Angels* and National League Los Angeles Dodgers would play each other. During the regular season.
Sure, eventually they got around to a collective bargaining agreement and there has been relative peace.
But the fans, they were not happy.
And some players, well they had their own personal solution to their problems.
Taking steroids to build up unnatural bulk and if one is a good hitter, an even better hitter.
And the owners and Mr. Selig were tacitly approving that because the increased hitting meant fans would come back to the ballparks.
Thus Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire became a symbol of what is wrong with MLB today.
All three and others were implicated in using PEDs as they are now called. And none will ever end up in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Sure, the homers that they hit during the late 1990s got the fans back in the seats. Watching baseball again. But even a casual fan had to realize, hmm, how did these and some average hitters seem to belt them out of the park in record numbers?
Only when there was public outcry did the commissioner, and by sheer coinkidink the former acting commissioner, Mr. Selig, make up some new guidelines and vow that it would never happen again.
Now, I want to be blunt.
None of this went away. Some were just sloppy about it. But players and especially hitters were still juicing up.
But Mr. Braun, he is a big name. He is being suspended for the season without pay. Nothing about whether Mr. Braun will come back next season. Sure, he will have to submit to more stringent testing and all, but hey, he ducked it once, right? Who is to say he would not again.
See, if Mr. Selig was serious about this issue, he would have the hardest of policies on the use of PEDs.
First time caught, suspended a year, no pay. Must go to a drug rehab. Second time, well that is one time too many. A player can be thrown out of baseball, all salary gone. The players union will cry, but Mr. Selig can suggest strongly that it is for the good of the game.
But that will not happen.
Because of the players union, there will be no real consequences for serious violation of MLB policies regarding PEDs. Just the lip service and some action as taken against Mr. Braun. But will he be banned for life if there is a next time? HA!  Because as much as the players union is at fault, so are the owners. They looked the other way once and can and will do it again.
Had the owners let Mr. Vincent do his job as commissioner in the early 1990s and been an honest broker between the players and owners, they would not have used Mr. Selig as the Trojan Horse to essentially seize power and make the commissioner's office but an appendage of their cartel.
And a real problem is that people like myself love the game too much to do what needs to be done. Which if a pox on all of the above. Meaning not going to games. Not getting any of the MLB Extra Innings packages offered by cable and satellite companies. Not watching games on television. In other words, we the fans have to strike.
But we won't. And we will bewail the wickedness of all involved.
The latest chapter in this involving PEDs and Ryan Braun, this is all Bud Selig's fault.


*On this blog the Angels will NEVER be referred to as the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. They left Los Angeles in 1966, became the California Angels and then the Anaheim Angels. They can't have the name "Los Angeles" IMHO.

What, Gays And Lesbians Can't Be Humiliated On The Kiss-Cam?

One of the relatively new phenomenon in sports stadiums is the use of the Kiss-Cam.
For those unfamiliar, it is where there is time to fill (thanks mostly to television commercials) during a break in live action. In baseball it is usually between innings. In other sports like basketball, football and ice hockey, it is as noted during a break in the action.
It is camera people walking around and zooming in on what appears to be a couple. Usually of the opposite sex. And most of the time, they hardly even realize that there they are on the scoreboard for most of the fans to see. When they do realize, usually it is but a peck on the cheeks or a quick kiss. Some are looking for that camera. And then they do get a little crazy.
Now this pitcher for the Oakland Athletics, Brandon McCarthy, seems to not be happy when the Kiss-Cam is used at the Oakland Coliseum.
According to this on The Puffington Post, Mr. McCarthy is not a fan of the Kiss-Cam when it is used on same-sex couples. Especially male ones.
Mr. McCarthy took his rage about it on Twitter. Here is one of his tweets:

They put two guys on the 'Kiss Cam' tonight. What hilarity!! (by hilarity I mean offensive homophobia). Enough with this stupid trend.

Dude, lighten up already!
To many people it is funny. Straight, gay, lesbian, Black, White, whatever. And yeah, people would get a chuckle if two of the same sex locked lips.
Psst, Brandon. The whole purpose is a) to kill time and b) get some yucks.
Oh, and Brandon, do you even realize the reason why teams resort to such things?
To pay you and your teammates, Ace.
See, because every team televises their games, there is this thing called commercials. Advertisers pay a lot of money to be on said broadcast because a lot of people watch. And they watch the commercials. And because of that, the timeless sport of baseball gets a little longer because whenever there is any break in the action, there is a commercial.
But I guess this stellar star, with a lifetime record of 29-33, thinks that he should dictate the entertainment when there is a stoppage of play and there is what is called unofficially a commercial time out.
Hey, Brandon, maybe you do not like the bloopers that they show of baseball players. You know, all the mistakes, dropped balls, bad pitches, etc. Maybe that is humiliating to you.
Too bad, isn't it.
But let's get back to the tweets of Mr. McCarthy.
The second one deals with the humiliation of gay males:

so what? I know that isn't the intention, but the implication is that two guys kissing is funny. That's offensive to gay males.

Again, dude, whenever a camera pops up and they encourage people to kiss, it can be very funny. If gay males are that offended by getting the yucks, maybe they should just do what other people do. Ignore the camera. Many are totally oblivious and do not participate.
And let me point out that almost all humor is at the expense of someone and or their misfortune.
But, here is the capper of the wisdom of Mr. McCarthy:

so that's why they should stop doing it. Plus, it's cheap shitty comedy so it sucks on that level as well.

Yeah, it is cheap comedy. But it gets the laughs. Kind of like watching your cohorts and their bloopers. Although the prices that we have to pay to see the likes of you, it is not all that cheap.
I am a pretty purist type when it comes to sports and especially baseball.
I loath the so-called Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig. He is doing all he can to ruin the game. This trying to switch teams from one league to another. Making the regular season in baseball as meaningless as in the three other major league sports. Too many teams. Never starting a World Series game at a reasonable hour for ALL fans. The list goes on.
I hate the designated hitter. Only the National League has held out and does not use it. Good for them!
I do not like inter league play. Again, part of that reason is what I wrote above.
But as long as sports encourages a family-friendly atmosphere, and baseball does, there will be things like the Kiss-Cam.
And really, why should gays and lesbians not be humiliated by it like the rest of us?

Should Ozzie Guillen Be Punished For Being An Idiot?

The new manager of the Miami, nee Florida, Marlins, Ozzie Guillen, stepped into it big time as he heaped praise on the Red Cuba former dictator, Fidel Castro in a recent interview with Time magazine.
Unfortunately, the cheapskates at Time won't let you read the whole article unless you are a subscriber.
But here is the link anyway.
The point is that Mr. Guillen is no stranger to controversy.
And once one reads the kind of gloss-over at Wikipedia, it kind of scratches the surface.
Mr. Guillen is a native of Venezuela. And in 2005, after as manager he led the Chicago White Sox to win the World Series, Mr. Guillen supposedly shouted "Viva Chavez!" in reference to the pseudo-dictator of his homeland, Hugo Chavez. In that situation, he later claimed that he does not support Mr. Chavez. And Mr. Guillen did not attend the celebration for the team's win at the White House. Hmm, could that be because of the president at that time? One George W. Bush?
Ahh, but what really got people's panties in a bunch was Mr. Guillen referring to a Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist, Jay Marrioti as a "fag".
Once one gets the gay and lesbian community in an uproar, well it is surprising that he remained with the White Sox after that.
But in the Political Correct world, they were in a pickle.
Dump the Venezuelan, Hispanic (or is that White-Hispanic?!) manager to please the homosexuals or keep Mr. Guillen so as to not offend the Venezuelan, Hispanic community.
Mr. Guillen stayed.
So, Mr. Guillen is one that likes to stir the pot.
But here is where the plain stupid enters in the whole controversy.
In case Mr. Guillen did not know, the team he is now manager of, the Miami Marlins, is in the largest Cuban city outside of Cuba. Oh, and the new baseball stadium, Marlins Park, sits right adjacent to. . .Little Havana!
So Mr. Guillen, who has already at one time seemingly praised Hugo Chavez, decided to show Fidel Castro some love. You know, how amazing it is that he stayed in power since 1959. How cool it is that Castro survived the Bay of Pigs and other attempts to bring him down.
OK, could the dude have just started a fire and burned the new baseball stadium?
He might as well have.
Because if one thing trumps angry homosexuals and potentially angry Venezuelan-Americans it is really angry Cuban-Americans.
Imagine that this comment drew a five-game suspension. Not from Major League baseball. But from the Marlins Management.
The Marlins slapped the unusual suspension because of the avalanche of bad publicity in the local Cuban-American community.
But here is the thing.
I do not think that Mr. Guillen should have been suspended.
Mr. Guillen is to the sports world what many a Hollyweird celebutard is.
Not all that bright.
I mean, I think that he has that dual thinking that many Central and South Americans have towards the United States.
Most of the people love the United States. But because of years of indoctrination, the same people have had a hate for what is a catch-all phrase.
That is "Yankee imperialism".
Many don't want to see a Cuba-like communist dictatorship. But they like, well kind of what Mr. Guillen said.
That Fidel Castro has essentially given the United States the middle-finger since 1959. And we have done nothing but keep them in the virtual stone-age with an endless economic embargo.
Hell, Fidel gave power over to his younger brother, Raul.
What Mr. Guillen reminds me of is the young, generally but not always, White skater boys that wear the Che Guevara t-shirts while skating down the road. Almost none of the kids have any idea about Guevara and the fact that he was to Communist revolution what Josef Mengele was to Nazi Germany.
I don't think that Mr. Guillen really has a clue about politics at all. He just spouts-off and then has to realize that he had no idea what he was talking about.
Maybe Mr. Guillen, in the first link, has a problem with alcohol. Read the article. Just sayin'.
That could be why he says such things.
But suspending Mr. Guillen for being stupid, well that is exactly the wrong message. After, he did apologize. I do not know if Marlins' management made him do it, but he did. And the Marlins knew what they were getting in the person of Mr. Guillen.
For the Cuban-American community in Miami, they are right to be mad at him. But take the opportunity to educate Mr. Guillen the truth about life under the Castro brothers. That means as uncomfortable as it is, they need to embrace him and educate him at the same time. Seeking to censor Mr. Guillen is not the way to go. It is exactly what they are fighting against in their old homeland.
Mr. Guillen, I believe, has been punished enough for being an idiot. Time to either get rid of him or let him manage and keep his politics to himself.

Dodgers To Go Up For Sale

The long Los Angeles nightmare is about to end as Frank McCourt will sell the Los Angeles Dodgers, Dodger Stadium and the surrounding land in bankruptcy court.
The potential bad news is that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban may now the the front-runner to purchase the storied franchise.
Mr. Cuban was interested in buying the Dodgers earlier this year. But not at $1,000,000,000.
Now, Mr. Cuban can pay a lot less, but more than Mr. McCourt paid for the team in 2004.
My hope is that an ownership group led by the former owner, Peter O'Malley, can buy the team. Mr. O'Malley would bring immediate benefit and stability to a team that has been rather unstable the past several seasons.
Whatever happens, Frank McCourt will not be the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers come Opening Day, 2012. And the nightmare will be over. Hopefully.