Book shelf: Sports Illustrated showcases its best on baseball

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Sports Illustrated is out with another book that you will want for your coffee table if you are a baseball fan.

Baseball’s Greatest ranks the best of the best in the game’s history. The rankings include position-by-position, best sluggers, best managers, best games, etc..

Even though the Cubs haven’t won in 105 years, they still rank as the eighth best franchise in history. Go ahead and debate.

While the book will spark some conversation, it really is just another excuse for Sports Illustrated to showcase its best photos and writing.

The great Ron Fimrite on Hank Aaron hitting 715:

Henry Aaron’s ordeal ended at 9:07 p.m. Monday, April 8. It ended in a carnival atmosphere that would have been more congenial to the man he surpassed as baseball’s all-time home-run champion. But it ended. And for that, as Aaron advised the 53,775 Atlanta fans who came to enshrine him in the game’s pantheon, “Thank God.”

And what can you say about the photos? Naturally, I love the vintage shots: A close-up of Yogi Berra in his catcher’s mask; a young, cocky Reggie Jackson signing autographs; Fans in full focus watching Willie Mays go deep; Earl Weaver getting tossed but not without a fight.

It is Sports Illustrated at its best.

Here’s the official rundown from SI:

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Ruth or Aaron? Gibson or Koufax? Fenway or Wrigley? Yankees or Dodgers?

For as long as there has been baseball, pundits and fans of America’s favorite pastime have argued, deliberated and analyzed over who are the best players, the best teams, the best games and more. Indeed, one can ask an entire stadium of people and come up with an entire stadium of answers.

Now the Major League Baseball experts from Sports Illustrated weigh in with thought-provoking and insightful answers to the questions that have been pondered since the days of Abner Doubleday.

Indeed, the new must-have coffee-table book Baseball’s Greatest (Oct. 8, 2013, Time Home Entertainment, $32.95) offers the hands-down, unequivocal “Top 10” in more than 20 categories, including the top sluggers, pitchers, stadiums, managers, and franchises.

According to Bill Syken, the book’s editor, baseball is the toughest sport to judge across the ages: “When you attempt to compare Honus Wagner to Derek Jeter, or Stan Musial to Barry Bonds, or Walter Johnson to Roger Clemens, there are no right answers, only compelling arguments—and this book is full of them.”

Baseball’s Greatest also pays tribute to the diamond’s best characters and the most impressive records that may never be surpassed and includes hundreds of classic images and the storytelling that only the writers of Sports Illustrated can provide.

“As I researched classic SI stories, I was reminded of how many great writers SI has had over the years,” Syken said. “Robert W. Creamer, Ron Fimrite and Tom Verducci all represent the height of their craft, and the prose from them and many other spectacular writers makes the personalities in this book come alive.”

To create this ultimate fan book, Syken also assembled a lineup of SI’s baseball writers and editors that includes Tom Verducci, Stephen Cannella, Kostya Kennedy, David Sabino, Dick Friedman, Albert Chen and David Bauer. As they spiritedly debated every category to reach a consensus, the panelists justified their rankings, and their comments appear in the book alongside each Top 10 selection.

Their stunning collaborative effort resulted in not only rankings for the best players by position, but also produced lists that range from best base runners and defensive players to best quotes and movies—endlessly arguable topics that sports fans will love.

“My favorite section in the book is probably the greatest games,” Syken added. “Reading the old stories, you relive not only Fisk’s home run, or Mookie Wilson’s grounder, but all the forgotten drama that led up to those moments.”

 

Baseball card: Rico Petrocelli; You’d never see him with one of those ugly beards

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With Boston on the verge of going to another World Series, it seems appropriate to recall one of my favorite Red Sox: Rico Petrocelli.

Rico played his entire 13-year career in Boston, hitting 210 homers. His best year was in 1969 when he took advantage of the Green Monster to hit 40 homers. Not bad for a shortstop.

Rico was cool. Hard to think of that face sporting one of those ugly beards.

Now 70, Rico still is going strong. He and Ed Randall host “Remember When…” on Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s MLB Radio.

 

 

Weekend wrap: Another case for not having day playoff games during week; Kenny Mayne, TBS, Pat Summerall

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Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports media…

Weekday playoff games: Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at it from the perspective of fans being able to go to the game.

Again, how is a 1 p.m. Dodgers-Cardinals game in L.A. optimizing exposure for the sport? Fifteen minutes before first pitch, the stadium was barely half full, and those baking in the sun weren’t all that inspired by scoreboard prompting to get up, wave a towel or “make noise” as they had the two previous nights.

As Zack Greinke squirmed out of a first-inning jam, there might have been more sounds, but the sight of rows of empty seats, especially in the shady upper reserved levels, had to be obvious.

End of the second inning: Plenty of spots available. Too late to start giving away bobbleheads?

Kenny Mayne: Tony Maglio of The Wrap talks to Mayne about his return to SportsCenter. Not necessarily his choice.

“Well it was [ESPN’s] choice,” Mayne told TheWrap. “In this case it was kind of like, ‘Here’s what we want from you,’ and the other stuff was off the table. So it was either quit or do this, and doing ‘SportsCenter’ is not the worst thing in the world.”

TBS and playoffs: Ken Fang of Fang’s Bites writes an extensive piece on the good and bad of TBS postseason baseball coverage through the years.

Any studio show Turner Sports produces is directly compared to the great Inside the NBA and while the MLB studio has paled, this year with Olbermann as host has been a huge success. Yes, the team of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal is leap years ahead of other studio shows, but Turner has to be given credit for blowing up its studio from past years and retooling in 2013. It’s unfortunate that Olbermann may just be a one-year rental for TBS as Keith does have his nightly ESPN2 duties, but if Turner and ESPN can come to an agreement for next year as there is an option for him to return in 2014, it would be beneficial to the viewers.

 

Pat Summerall: Mr. Fang also writes about the upcoming documentary on NFL Network.

It’s amazing to think that Summerall was part of four of the best-ever NFL broadcast teams first as an analyst with Ray Scott and then Jack Buck, and as a play-by-play man first with Tom Brookshier and then with John Madden. And not only was Summerall good in calling the NFL, he could also call boxing, basketball, golf and tennis also.

Howard Beck: On the APSE site, Daniel Paulling talks to Howard Beck about his decision to leave the New York Times for Bleacher Report.

“I kept waiting for someone to tell me, ‘You are crazy. Don’t leave the Times,’” Beck said. “No one ever said that. Everyone had a sense that it was a great situation no matter what. You’re at the greatest newspaper on Earth, but this is a great opportunity. These are both great places to be.”

Replacing McCarver: Mike Cardillo of Big Lead writes it will be difficult for Fox Sports to hire a new No. 1 baseball analyst that will please everyone.

Ideally, FOX will find a somebody with ties to the current players, who can also be conversational in the booth and also, perhaps, use more advanced metrics to help make his points, engaging the younger audience in the process. This version of an ideal baseball color commentator might not, however, exist. Strike that, it doesn’t exist.

Ortiz-cop photo: Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe discusses how he got the great photo of the cop raising his arms behind Tori Hunter’s legs going over the wall Sunday.

Grossfeld was one of several photographers at Fenway Park who captured Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter’s plunge over the outfield wall as he tried to track down David Ortiz’s grand slam in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the ALCS. The photo of Hunter’s legs sticking straight up while a police officer stationed in the bullpen raised his arms to cheer the home run has been widely shared across social media and has been the subject of much praise.

“I knew he was going over,” Grossfeld said. “It happened so quick, I was praying the focus was sharp.”

Bobby Orr: Sports Book Review Center examines the legend’s new autobiography.

Orr resisted opportunities to write a book for decades. He’s finally done it now. Basically, it’s a thank-you letter to everyone that helped along the way. Parents, relatives, coaches, teammates – you’d think Orr was the luckiest guy on the face of the earth to be associated with such good people, although the truth just might be the other way around. That includes people he’s encountered along the way, including Don Cherry – who gets his own chapter and an endorsement for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Ron Darling: Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News writes about how the former Mets pitcher didn’t wait for a call from Fox. Instead, he re-upped with Turner.

Darling’s and McCarver’s paths have crossed often. It seemed they were destined for a marquee crossing — McCarver walking out of the Fox booth and Darling walking in. It never even got to the talking stages. What happened?

“Turner was aggressive in coming and saying, ‘Hey, let’s continue this relationship.’ They didn’t have to do that,” Darling told me over the telephone. “That said a lot about my work with them and it says a lot about them as a company.”

Ryder Cup: Ron Sirak assesses the PGA of America’s decision to stay with the NBC for the Ryder Cup.

There cannot be two entities whose constituencies overlap as perfectly. Both Golf Channel and PGA of America members live and breathe the game of golf. If the 27,000 PGA of America professionals are the boots on the ground for the game, bringing golf to passionate players at both public and private facilities, Golf Channel gives that passion a voice.

And, in a new deal, that marriage is not just set through 2030, but it moves forward with a re-energized commitment to use Golf Channel, NBC and the entire Comcast family to not just televise the game, but to celebrate it, analyze it and, ultimately, grow it.

“Golf Channel is truly the daily broadcast voice of golf,” PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua told GolfDigest.com in discussing the arrangement that keeps the Ryder Cup on NBC through 2030.

Camera angles: Michael Clair of Sports on Earth has some fun with his vision of alternative camera angles for baseball’s postseason.

Heat vision: Wondering if your favorite player is truly on a ‘hot’ streak? Now you’ll know for sure with special heat vision cameras. The orange-red blobs that streak across your screen will let you access information that you’ve never had before like, “Does Prince Fielder become molten hot lava when running around the bases?” and “Is our starting pitcher really suffering from a fever or did he just have too much to drink last night?”

 

 

Should CBS, ESPN be ticked? NFL showcases Peyton’s best games on NBC’s Sunday night

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NBC already had the season opener with Peyton Manning and Denver taking on Baltimore, the defending Super Bowl champs. On Nov. 24, it has Manning meeting his old rival, Tom Brady, in a game at New England.

However, the biggie is on Sunday. Manning returns to Indianapolis for the first time to face the Colts and its ungrateful owner. Jim Irsay apparently forgot that without No. 18, he doesn’t get that shiny new stadium in downtown Indy.

Yes, it is quite the bounty for NBC. The ratings should be huge for Sunday’s game, even with a possible Game 7 in the Boston-Detroit series.

Indeed, the NFL, which always scripts a strong Sunday night schedule, has been exceedingly good to NBC this year. It gave NBC arguably three of the four top games on Denver’s schedule.

CBS did get the Manning Bowl in week 2 with Peyton beating down his brother, Eli, in New York. And it has the two Denver-Kansas City games, which now have much greater significance than anticipated at the beginning of the season.

However, CBS, which has the AFC package, can’t be overly pleased with NBC landing Denver’s prime AFC’s games. The NFL could have tabbed one of Denver’s NFC’s games, which air on Fox, for a Sunday night.

And ESPN? Clearly, the network isn’t happy. Its only shot at the older Manning brother was a Denver-Oakland game in Week 3, a predictable rout that was at Denver, no less.

Mike Tirico wasn’t pleased to be calling a Raider game on a Monday. Last week, in an interview with The Mighty 1090 in San Diego, he voiced his displeasure.

“On Monday night, you deserve to see teams that are good, and the Raiders have not been good for a decade,” Tirico said. “I don’t think that best serves the customer, the NFL fan. You get Peyton Manning. That’s great. You want to see him against a quality opponent in one of his five or six primetime games as opposed to a team like the Raiders, coming off a bad season in a perpetual rebuild….I don’t think the Raiders are a team that America needs to see in primetime on national TV.”

It doesn’t get much better for Tirico and Jon Gruden this week. ESPN has the younger brother for Giants-Vikings on Monday night. Not quite the same. What looked like a decent match-up at the beginning of the season now is a dud; the teams have a combined 1-10 record. You only can generate so much hype for Josh Freeman’s Vikings debut.

Even if the Giants-Vikings were a good game, it isn’t on par with Peyton returning to Indy.

I’ve been told these things have a way evening out over time. There’s also the element of the luck of the draw. With the schedule being released in April, some games turn out better or worse depending on how teams fare during the season.

However, there was little doubt that NBC’s three Denver games would be huge. If it is indeed luck of the draw, then the network was dealt three aces.

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Earlier this week, NBC did a teleconference for the big game. Note, it occurred before Irsay made his ridiculous statements.

Here are the excerpts.

Tony Dungy on Manning: “I never thought I would see him in a different uniform and certainly wouldn’t think he would be coming back playing maybe the best football of his career — undefeated and putting up such gaudy numbers. But it’s going to be an emotional night, a fun night and a night where we’re going to see great quarterbacking I think on both sides of the field.”

Cris Collinsworth on Luck: “There’s going to be a great tribute [to Peyton Manning], but there’s also going to be a great passing of the torch. Andrew Luck, if you watched him play at all, you know what a fantastic player he is — his mobility, his brainpower, his ability to do so many other things that Peyton did early in his career, and arguably even at a better level.”

Rodney Harrison on Manning: “He is truly the best quarterback that I’ve faced in my career and I’ve had the privilege of going against so many great Hall of Fame quarterbacks. But Peyton Manning is something special. You can’t game plan around Peyton Manning. You just kind of hold your breath, try to do a few things right and hopefully you don’t get beat. Just to see the type of football that he’s playing at this stage of his career is absolutely amazing.”

 

 

Oh no, there is something to Thursday night NFL doubleheader; Jerry Jones says could be ‘easily’ done

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So much for NFL PR shooting down a Wall Street Journal report that the league is considering adding a second game on Thursday nights.

Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Daily has this from Jerry Jones:

In an interview yesterday at his team’s HQs, Jones, who also chairs the NFL Network Committee, replied affirmatively to a question about whether the NFL was discussing the doubleheader concept.

He said, “We could easily have a doubleheader on Thursday. I don’t think that is out of the realm of thought, we haven’t set up how we will do it.” All options are open, he said, when asked if a second Thursday night game would also air on NFL Network or elsewhere.

Again, this is a really bad idea on so many levels. Let’s hope it doesn’t go beyond the Jerry Jones is talking stage.

 

 

Posted in NFL

ESPN’s Caple on slow baseball: ‘If you aren’t going to hit the ball, don’t waste our time’

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Great game last night, right? Sure, but there’s still something wrong about a 4-3 game lasting 3 hours, 47 minutes.

It isn’t just me complaining. Earlier this week, ESPN’s Jim Caple weighed in, obviously tired of watching endless games.

Caple wrote:

Almost four hours for a 1-0 game in which one team didn’t get a hit until the ninth inning? What, are they trying to keep pace with the Republicans and Democrats in Congress?

And no, the American League broadcast did not include more commercials, although you could probably air a couple of Geico ads during a typical Boston at-bat and not miss anything important.

It isn’t just the Red Sox.

Much of the blame for these lengthy games goes to the Red Sox, who grind out at-bats until the starter reaches his pitch limit or simply falls asleep on the mound. But it’s not just them. The Athletics and Tigers played a 1-0 game in their division series that lasted nearly three and a half hours. Sonny Gray’s mustache had almost filled out by the time that game ended.

Caple concludes:

Batters will contend that working the count wears down the pitcher, gets them better pitches to hit and makes them more successful. But mostly, it just means they strike out more often. Batting averages are lower than they’ve been since before the DH era began. Strikeouts are at an all-time high. Players are not hitting any better; they’re just taking longer to fail.

Look, if you aren’t going to hit the ball, don’t waste our time. Stay in the box. Don’t fiddle with your gloves. Just get it over with in three pitches and grab some bench.

We don’t want to finish the game with beards that would shame the Smith cough drop brothers.

Amen to that.

 

Posted in MLB

Watch with your kids: Essence of Mariano Rivera captured in new BEING documentary

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If anyone deserves to have a documentary, it is Mariano Rivera. If it is possible, you will have an even higher opinion of the Yankees great after watching this film.

There’s a moving segment in which prior to a game, Rivera meets with a Kansas City family, which had just lost a son. The compassion that he shows gets to the heart of Rivera.

This is film you should watch with your kids. Talk about setting an example.

Here is the official rundown from Fox.

Baseball debates are as old as the game itself: Ruth or Aaron? Feller or Ryan? Brock or Henderson?  However, there is one position where debate is pointless: Who is the game’s best closer?  On this, fans, players, coaches, historians and media all agree:  Mariano Rivera, and as most know, the 2013 regular season was his last as an active player.  Granted unprecedented and exclusive access to many of Rivera’s most private moments since before spring training, BEING: MARIANO RIVERA, the definitive 90-minute television documentary from FOX Sports Originals, Relativity Television and Major League Baseball Productions on the reticent superstar’s final season in pinstripes, premieres Sunday, Oct. 20 on FOX (2:30 or 4:30 PM ET; check local listings), with an encore presentation on Tuesday, Oct. 22 on FOX Sports 1 (8:30 PM ET).

A man of deep religious conviction, Rivera was a ferocious competitor who, win or lose, always respected the game.  A nurturing teammate, he freely offered guidance to young pitchers hoping to attain a fraction of his consistency and success, awestruck by his staggering career statistics: 19-years, all with the New York Yankees; 13-time All-Star; seven World Series, winning five; 652 career saves, with another 42 in postseason play.

“Throughout his remarkable career Rivera shied away from the spotlight and simply let his dominance over hitters and good work off-the-field speak volumes, so perhaps its counterintuitive that he would agree to allow cameras access to such intimate moments, but that’s just what he did,” said Michael Bloom, FOX Sports’ Senior Vice President, Original Programming.  “It will be an honor to present BEING: MARIANO RIVERA on FOX Sports and FOX Sports 1.”

“We’re honored and privileged that a man universally regarded as the best to ever play his position let us in to uncover the mystique of his final season,” said Tom Forman, CEO of Relativity Television.  “Our cameras find him in never-before-seen moments at work, at play, with family and friends, baseball legends, competitors and politicians alike.  Despite what fans may have already seen, BEING: MARIANO RIVERA is more thorough than any televised tribute to date.”

“MLB Productions has a proven track record and has established a significant level of trust among MLB players over the years, but given how closely Mariano guards his privacy, we’re extremely appreciative of the access he has granted us this season,” added Chris Tully, Senior Vice President, Broadcasting, Major League Baseball. “This special is a rare glimpse behind the curtain with one of the truly legendary figures in the game.”

 

Posted in MLB

Why games moved faster in ’59: Batters stayed in box; pitchers worked quickly

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Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News discovered this gem: A broadcast of a Dodgers-Cardinals game from the Coliseum on July 25, 1959. Jack Brickhouse, a legend, is on the call.

As you know, I’ve been on my soapbox about the maddening length of baseball games. Well, take a look at this video and it is painfully obvious what occurred back then.

The batters stayed in the box between pitches and the pitchers worked quickly. Really simple.

Lo and behold, what was the result? The Cardinals beat the Dodgers 4-2 in 2 hours, 11 minutes.

Oh by the way, the game went 10 innings. Yes, an extra inning game was completed in about the same time it takes the today’s game to get through six innings.

Yesterday’s game times: Detroit-Boston: 3:27; Cardinals-Dodgers: 3:10.

Take a good look at this video, Major League Baseball. This is how they used to play your game. Time to turn back the clock and do it this way again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in MLB

Losing: Sagging ratings, expensive right fees have WGN-AM looking to rework deal with Cubs

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My latest Chicago Tribune column is on WGN-AM 720 and the Cubs.

You also can access via my Twitter feed.

From the column.

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If the Cubs want to continue their long relationship with WGN-AM 720, dating back to 1925, they likely will have to do it at a reduced price.

Strapped with an expensive rights deal and sharply declining ratings because of the Cubs’ struggles on the field, WGN is exercising an option to re-open their contract with the team.

Broadcast sources say WGN is losing significant money on the Cubs broadcasts, with listeners and advertisers tuning out a team that has lost 197 games in the last two years.

Cubs games still will air on the station in 2014, but beyond that, the two sides will have to agree on a new deal.

WGN-AM President Jimmy de Castro declined to discuss any of the specifics of the situation. However, he stressed several times that he hopes the Cubs continue to be on WGN.

“Like any contract, there are periods where you do a business analysis,” de Castro said. “Both the Cubs and WGN are looking at it. We love our partnership and we hope it continues forever. The contract calls for us to take a look at it and we’re going to do that.”

In other words: Forever will end abruptly if the money isn’t right for WGN.

Broadcast insiders say the current contract calls for WGN to pay as much as $10 million per year to Cubs (“Maybe more,” said one source), making it one of the most expensive in Major League Baseball.

The Yankees recently signed a deal with WFAN in New York, calling for an annual payout estimated in the $15-20 million range.

The Cubs reportedly did a new contract with WGN in 2009 in advance of Tribune Co. selling the team to the Ricketts family. Back then, the Cubs were one year removed from back-to-back playoff appearances in 2007-08. They still were considered a hot commodity, attracting strong ratings on both TV and radio.

Well, not so much in 2013.