Sunday books: Frank Lane, baseball’s manic trader; ‘Most colorful GM of all time’

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Frank Lane, one of the most colorful characters in baseball history, has largely been forgotten. Bob Vanderberg, though, didn’t forget.

My former Chicago Tribune colleague and fellow loyal White Sox fan, nails the twists and turns of his eventful career in a new biography, Frantic Frank Lane: Baseball’s Ultimate Wheeler-Dealer.

Beginning with the White Sox in the 50s, Lane earned a reputation for trading anyone and everyone. While GM of the Cardinals, he even tried to deal Stan Musial to Philadelphia for Robin Roberts. August Busch didn’t allow it to go through.

In a Q/A, Vanderberg discusses Lane and makes the case why he should be in the Hall of Fame.

Why a book on Frank Lane? Sound like quite a character.

I kept waiting for one to be done—it never was, so I decided to do it (I had a couple hours of tape from a 1978 interview with him, so I had a  start).  I talked with Jimmy Piersall a few times about playing against the White Sox in  the ’50s, and he always admired their style of play. Well, Lane was the guy who got the players that enabled them to play that style—Minnie Minoso, Nellie Fox, Chico Carrasquel, Jim Rivera, etc.  Jimmy called him the most colorful baseball GM/owner of all time—“nobody close to him. Steinbrenner couldn’t carry his jock.”

He was always in the middle of the biggest trade talks.  He loved the spotlight.  Very quotable. (although you had to clean up the quotes….!)  And he didn’t mind if he was quoted incorrectly. He told me:  “I’d never give a damn if I was misquoted—the worst thing that could happen was if they didn’t  quote me.”

How much of his reputation was built on the volume of his trades as opposed to the quality of his trades?

The usual response you get is that Lane was a compulsive dealer who just HAD to make a trade.

As Joe Garagiola said: “Not only was he not afraid to make a deal, he was afraid NOT to make a deal.” His boss in Milwaukee, Bud Selig, said: “I used to kid Frank that he thought he got paid by the number of deals he made.”

But I believe the quality of his trades—especially the ones that built the White Sox into sudden contenders—is what established his reputation.  I mean, a veteran backup catcher, Aaron Robinson, 33, for a kid lefty, Billy Pierce, 21; another backup catcher, Joe Tipton, for a 22-year-old second baseman, Nelson Fox…. sending two minor-leaguers and $25 grand to the Dodgers for one of Branch Rickey’s less-valued shortstop prospects, the Venezuelan flash, Chico Carrasquel; a three-team deal in which Lane gave up little and gained Orestes “Minnie” Minoso, the 1951 Rookie of the Year…..  and the list goes on…

What were his best trades and worst trades?

Best ones, I’ve always thought, were Tipton for Fox; Aaron Robinson and 10,000 bucks for Pierce; the Minoso deal; as Cleveland GM, traded aging Larry Doby to Detroit (March 1959) for Tito Francona, who went on to hit .363 that season with 20 homers in a pennant bid that fell just short; and as Angels superscout and acting GM in December 1977, traded Bobby Bonds, young OF Thad Bosley and 18-yr-old pitcher Richard Dotson to White Sox for catcher Brian Downing (who became one of that franchise’s all-time stars) and young pitchers Dave Frost and Chris Knapp, who became key starting pitchers in the Angels’ drive to the AL West title in 1979.

Worst?  In spring training 1960, he traded Norm Cash (one of his original signees out of college) to the Tigers  for a minor-league infielders named Steve Demeter, who had one big-league hit; Rocky Colavito, hero of Cleveland’s younger set and 1959 AL home run champ dealt to Detroit day before 1960 season began for AL batting champ Harvey Kuenn. Lane hated to this day by many Clevelanders;  twice sold the amazing knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, once from St Louis to Cleveland and once from Cleveland to Baltimore; Cardinals CF and 1955 Rookie of the Year Bill VIrdon to the Pirates in May 1956 for CF Bobby DelGreco, a dandy glove man but a .230 hitter at best;  Roger Maris, 1B Preston Ward and LHP Dick Tomanek from Cleveland to Kansas City for 1B Vic Power and SS Woodie Held. Maris, then riding the Tribe bench, turned into the Yankees’ 61-homer man in 1961.

How would Lane have been in today’s climate with free agency and big-money salaries?

Piersall, who played for him, said, “No, he couldn’t operate today. He wouldn’t have the patience.”  But Selig and author Roger Kahn, who know him well, were certain he’d have been able to change with the times. This guy, remember, had a great mind.  He was constantly coming up with new ideas.  A mind that can do that would be able to handle anything.  Look, he was head of several  MLB committees, one of which studied expansion in the early ’50s (he predicted two 10-team leagues by 1961 and, soon after, two 12-team leagues, with 6-team divisions)….. he led the fight for making batting helmets/liners compulsory;  he said baseball had to have one set of “Major League” umpires, not one for the AL and another for the NL  (it finally came to pass in 2000); and he carried the flag for adoption of the “designated pinch hitter”  rule as early as 1967—-and then, five years after the rule was adopted, he argued that it was no longer needed and it should be gotten rid of…

He would enjoy being in the spotlight, battling the other clubs in the off-season for the top available stars—as he had back in 1953 for All-Star 1B and two-time batting champ Ferris Fain (seemingly headed to the Yankees until Lane got him in a huge trade with the A’s ) and in 1954 with All-Star 3B and former batting  champ George Kell (acquired from the Red Sox for a player and $125,000).

Is there anyone comparable to him today in any sports, not just baseball?

Only guy I can think of would be Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavs owner who is fairly flamboyant and probably a bit goofy. I’m racking my steadily shrinking brain, but I can’t think of anyone.

Make the case for him being inducted into the Hall despite not being a GM for any pennant winner?

You always hear the phrase “in the best interests of baseball.”  Just about everything Frank Lane did was in the best interests of baseball.  When he was your team’s GM, you could be assured that he was keeping your team in the headlines and, most of the time, in contention. His trades always kept the pot boiling.

Here’s Bud Selig’s take on Frank:  “I think Frank does belong in the Hall of Fame. His impact on our sport  and on so many franchises was really critical, and he was one of those individuals who, when you met, you would never forget. He was a remarkable human being.”

Weekend wrap: McCain targets cable companies; More Sports Emmys fallout; Yes, Carrie Underwood!

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Introducing a new weekend feature: Trying to catch up with stuff I missed during the week and other interesting stories:

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John McCain introduces legislation giving cable subscribers a-la-carte options. Considering that these cable companies have big money, McCain’s proposal is going to mean a nice payday for several lobbyists. Not a chance of this going through.

Awful Announcing did a poll of media writers and came up with its own Sports Emmys. Mike Emrick won for best play-by-play. Hard to argue with that.

Also on the Sports Emmy front, Dan Levy of Bleacher Report weighs in with his winners and losers.

Oops, almost forgot the biggest news of the week. Carrie Underwood to sing the theme for NBC’s Sunday Night Football!

Brandel Chamblee not a big fan of TPC’s famed No. 17.

Frank Deford with his weekly commentary on NPR on women’s sports.

Steve Lepore of SB Nation reports Bomani Jones has signed a new deal with ESPN.

Sports Media Watch: Kentucky Derby earns second largest audience since 1989.

Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News writes about the split-screen problems in his area.

Chuck Culpepper of Sports on Earth not happy with Jimmy Connors’ decision to write about Chris Evert. Headline: What a jerk.

 

 

 

 

Dan Levy not a fan of Gus Johnson on soccer; ‘A disaster’

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I’m not a soccer guy, so I will leave it to others to weigh in on Fox Sports’ decision to use Gus Johnson on its game coverage.

Dan Levy of Bleacher Report thinks it is a huge mistake. He came down hard on Johnson’s soccer ability this morning.

A review like this one is a problem for Fox. Even if Johnson gets better on soccer, first impressions are often final impressions.

Levy writes:

Johnson is good at calling a lot of things*. Soccer is not one of them.

Fox either doesn’t agree, or doesn’t care. Either way, the network is wrong and the attempt to grow an American audience by using Johnson as its lead voice has so fabulously backfired, it’s actually driving viewers away.

And…

The experiment for Fox has been a disaster, Johnson has been exposed as an overmatched, amateurish soccer announcer with very little indication he will get better and, still, Fox continues to put him in the booth for big matches. What’s worse, Fox is doing Johnson no favors with his booth partner, recently pairing him with Ian Wright, who somehow manages to make Johnson sound like the most seasoned announcer on the call.

At least when Fox paired Johnson with a top analyst there was some ability to salvage that part of the telecast. When Johnson is paired with a broken record who can only talk about a team’s width for 90 minutes, the product is an unmitigated disaster.

And the final hammer:

Wrong. Fox won the rights to the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and, per reports, this Johnson experiment was the beginning of Fox’s plan to have him be the voice of those World Cups.

Granted, five years is a long time, and Johnson could develop into a more seasoned soccer announcer in those years, but Fox has already ruined him for soccer fans in America by putting him on high-profile matches for which he was so blatantly unprepared. 

Had Fox built Johnson’s work slowly over the next five years, the experiment may have worked. Now, Johnson is proving to be the network’s next big sports failure—the glowing puck, Digger the Gopher and Cleatus the Robot of the soccer world.

ESPN’s 30 for 30 becoming Martin Scorsese of Sports Emmys; Simmons not happy

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Earlier this week, Bill Simmons, as only he can, caused a stir with this tweet:

Anyone who hates ESPN should go to the Sports Emmys – it’s the one night that the industry can get us back by not voting for anything we do.

Being the team player that he is, Simmons was venting about ESPN, despite all of its bulk, winning only five Emmys. Meanwhile, HBO, minute by comparison, won six.

For the moment, let’s put aside whether there is a let’s-get-ESPN factor in the voting. I’m fairly sure Simmons doesn’t put out that tweet if his creation, the 30 for 30 documentary series, won an Emmy Tuesday.

And I’m not talking just about this year’s awards. As remarkable as it seems, not one of those tremendous 30 for 30 films through the years has been given an Emmy.

This year in the documentary category, 30 for 30 had nominations for The Announcement, the film about Magic Johnson’s shocking revelation, and for 26 Years: The Dewey Bozella Story. The winner was HBO’s Namath.

30 for 30 also was nominated for outstanding sports series edited/anthology. The winner was HBO’s Real Sports.

Once again, Simmons and the 30 for 30 folks had to feel like Martin Scorsese, the long-time best director never to win an Oscar. Remember how it seemed Marty got nominated every year (actually five times) and would walk away empty-handed?

Well, the same thing seems to be happening to 30 for 30.

The biggest problem is that 30 for 30 is in the toughest categories to win an Emmy. Arguably, you are talking about the highest levels of quality in all of sports TV. The competition is fierce.

The Namath documentary was excellent. It’s hard to argue about that choice.

30 for 30 might be a difficult fit in the outstanding edited sports series category. It doesn’t have a set schedule like Real Sports, which comes out once a month, or a thread of following a football team like Hard Knocks. Those factors probably cost 30 for 30 some votes there.

Still, it hardly seems right that 30 for 30 hasn’t walked away with at least one statue since the series started in 2009. These films have been landmark achievements. The frustration  boiled over for Simmons.

I’m sure Simmons has been told by now that his angry tweet probably wasn’t a good idea. It just sounds like so much sour grapes, and he has been ridiculed in many places. To make him feel better, Deadspin gave him its “Good Broadcastering Award.”

Simmons probably is best served following Scorsese’s lead. The director never complained about being passed over all those years. His time eventually came when he won the Oscar for The Departed in 2006.

30 for 30 also will get an Emmy one of these days. Until then, Simmons and the others associated with 30 for 30 will have settle for those documentaries being regarded as the best thing ESPN has ever done.

Not a bad consolation prize.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jack to miss rest of playoffs; likely end of remarkable career

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One of the most amazing stories in sports broadcasting appears as if it is about to end.

Barry Jackson writes in the Miami Herald that Jack Ramsey, 88, will miss the rest of the playoffs to undergo a medical treatment.

Ramsay, 88, declined to discuss the nature of his medical condition. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1999 and received treatment, several years ago, for melanomas “all over my body.”

Ramsay said Thursday that the looming treatment will prevent him from working the remainder of the NBA playoffs, including The Finals, for ESPN Radio. He had been scheduled to announce Game 3 of the Heat-Bulls series on Friday. And he said he’s not planning to do broadcast work next season, barring a change of heart.

“I’m going back to Naples and will start the treatment on Monday there,” Ramsay said by phone Thursday. “I have a specific time period where I must have this and cannot do it if I’m traveling around. I’ll miss doing the broadcasts.”

Of his spirits, he said, “I’m fine. I’ve been through all this many times.”

Earlier this year, Dr. Jack said he intended to retire after the season. From Jackson:

“I’m not enjoying it like I used to, and travel is difficult,” he said. “Before this season, I did the games mostly with Jim Durham, and then he passed away after the first game this season.

“I enjoyed working with him, which is why I extended my [stay with ESPN]. I will miss the association with the players and coaches. It has been a great ride.” 

Indeed, it has. It staggers my mind that a man in his late 80s could withstand the grind of calling all those games, let alone the travel that comes with it. Dr. Jack did it at such a high level.

When you look at his work as a coach and then as a broadcaster, well, it is quite a combination of quantity and quality.

Thanks, Dr. Jack, and be well.

 

 

 

Mike Lopresti: A pro’s pro signs off at USA Today

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Want to take note of my favorites: Mike Lopresti. The long time Gannett and USA Today columnist was among those taking the buyout.

I have known Lopresti for more years than either of us care to admit. You always knew you were at a big game if Lopresti was there.

Lopresti is a pro’s pro, perhaps the ultimate compliment in this business. He shows up, works hard, and then delivers. Again, again, and again.

Earlier this week, he did it one last time for USA Today, tracing the changes that he has seen during 43 years of covering college sports.

Some samples:

Who knew that an NCAA basketball tournament with 25 teams would one day have room for 68? Or that Midnight Madness would one day be pushed back to September and March Madness would leak into April?

Television revenues for the tournament were $550,000 in 1970. Who knew that barely four decades later, that number would be off by $670 million or so?

And…

Who knew how the horizons for freshmen would change? How they went from ineligible to play in 1970 – the quaint theory being they needed time to become acclimated as college students – to the frenetic age of one-and-done?

And…

Mississippi had a dashing quarterback named Archie Manning. Who knew what his bloodlines would mean?

In 1970, Saturday meant a college football game on network television. Or maybe even two. Who knew that one day it’d be 25 on a gazillion channels?

In 1970, the Final Four was in Maryland’s Cole Field House, capacity 14,380. Who knew that the NCAA would decide one day that the last place it wanted to play its most important basketball games was a basketball arena?

Who knew AAU basketball coaches would turn into power brokers of uncertain repute, and the White House would one day call for a football playoff? Who knew that coaches would have salaries like movie stars, and the debate on recruiting rules would have to include what to do about Twitter and texting?

As always, good stuff from a pro’s pro.

 

New Fox Sports 1 kicks off with NASCAR, UFC on Aug. 17; Regis show named ‘Crowd Goes Wild’

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Looks like I won’t be watching much of Fox Sports 1 on its opening day.

Fox Sports 1 announced its schedule for its big debut Aug. 17. Lots of NASCAR and UFC.

So that’s great if you enjoy NASCAR and the UFC fans are excited about a big day.

However, if you are like me, and NASCAR and UFC aren’t your thing, you probably won’t be investing much time with Fox Sports 1 on Day 1.

Fox Sports 1 is more promising more announcements tomorrow.

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Here’s the schedule for Aug. 17:

All times Eastern.

8:00-8:30 AM NASCAR LIVE (L)
8:30-9:30 AM NASCAR SPRINT CUP PRACTICE (L)
9:30-11:00 AM NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES QUALIFYING (L)
11:00 AM-12:00 PM NASCAR SPRINT CUP FINAL PRACTICE (L)
12:00-12:30 PM NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK RACE PRERACE (L)
12:30-2:30 PM NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RACE (L)
2:30-3:30 PM TRACKSIDE LIVE (L)
3:30-4:00 PM UFC ULTIMATE INSIDER
4:00-5:00 PM UFC UNLEASHED
5:00-6:00 PM UFC TONIGHT (L)
6:00-8:00 PM FOX UFC SATURDAY PRELIMS (L)
8:00-11:00 PM FOX UFC SATURDAY (L)
11:00 PM-12:00 AM FOX SPORTS LIVE (L)
12:00 AM-1:00 AM FOX SPORTS LIVE (L)
1:00-2:00 AM FOX SPORTS LIVE (L)
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More from Fox Sports1, including the new name for Regis’ show. Wonder why they changed?:
Once past the launch, the stage is set for several major premieres on Monday, Aug. 19, including CROWD GOES WILD (formerly Rush Hour), starring Regis Philbin (weekdays 5:00-6:00 PM); FOX FOOTBALL DAILY, hosted by Curt Menefee and Jay Glazer (weekdays, 6:00-7:00 PM); and FS1’s MONDAY NIGHT FIGHTS franchise (9:00-11:00 PM), with bouts from Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
FS1’s exclusive live coverage of the 2013-14 UEFA Champions League season begins on
Tuesday, Aug. 20 and Wednesday, Aug. 21 (2:00-5:00 PM ET), providing the preeminent
competition in world club soccer greater with early round exposure than ever before. Later on Aug. 21, live coverage of the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES race from Bristol Motor Speedway is on display in prime time (7:30-10:30
PM). The prime time schedule on Thursday, Aug. 22 features exclusive live action from CONCACAF Champions League, the most prestigious club competition in North American soccer (8:00-9:30 PM).
Next up is the first UFC-branded Wednesday night on Aug. 28 featuring a FOX UFC
WEDNESDAY LIVE event and prelims scheduled from 8:00-11:00 PM ET.
The 2013-14 college football season premieres on Thursday, Aug. 29 (8:00-11:30 PM), followed by a game on Friday, Aug. 30 (8:30 PM ET-12:30 AM ET) and a tripleheader on Saturday, Aug. 31 (12:00-4:00 PM; 4:00-8:00 PM; and 10:00 PM-2:00
AM). Game action on Aug. 31 is preceded by the weekly two-hour FOX COLLEGE SATURDAY pregame show (10:00 AM-12:00 PM). Between the late afternoon and late night games are two hours of hard-hitting UFC 164 Prelims (8:00-10:00 PM).

 

Huge outpouring of support for Dick “Hoops” Weiss; among layoffs at New York Daily News

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It’s hard to imagine a better guy, let alone a better reporter, than Dick Weiss on college sports.

So that explains the huge outpouring of support for “Hoops” when the news broke yesterday that he was among the layoffs at the New York Daily News.

Here are some of the Tweets:

Jay Bilas: No writer is more ingrained in the game’s fabric than Dick “Hoops” Weiss. While some Tweet through games, he watches the game…

Armen Keteyian: Hoops Weiss, an institution with all the right principles. His work taught others how to report. Keen eye. Completely respected. Sad day.

Herb Gould, Chicago Sun-Times: I am stunned that my dear friend Dick `Hoops’ Weiss is out at NY Daily News. No better person, nobody knows Hoops better. #IdontGETit

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo!: Can’t imagine Daily News w/o Hoops Weiss. From first days in business to Sandusky trial last summer, learned a lot about reporting from him

Marlen Garcia, Chicago Sun-Times: I’ve been asked often about being a woman on sports beats… Guys like Hoops Weiss and Mike Lopresti helped make it non-issue for me.

Dan Wolken, USA Today: Trying to think of something original to say about Hoops Weiss, but my colleagues have covered it. Great guy, and truly an institution.

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By no means is this a farewell for “Hoops.” Knowing him, he probably found three games to cover today.

He will be working somewhere soon, and we’ll all be better for it.

 

Q/A with Mike Greenberg on his unlikely book: How did guy who sits next to Golic capture perspective of women?

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Here’s a sentence I never thought I would write: If you are looking for a nice Mother’s Day gift, consider buying Mike Greenberg’s new book, All You Could Ask For.

No offense, but while reading the book, there were many times I checked the cover to make sure the author’s name wasn’t Michele Greenberg. You see, the ESPN radio host wrote a book about the intimate details of three women suffering from breast cancer.

I know “Greeny” is an enlightened guy, but the idea of him coming out with a women’s book still seems as unlikely as Martha Stewart writing on the greatest hockey fights of all time.

Yet Greenberg pulled it off. He wrote an entertaining book that has received favorable reviews.

Typical is this contribution from a reader named Amy on a review page:

I loved this book from beginning to end. I’m still flabbergasted by the fact that this was written by a man, one that is in fact a sports fanatic.
I believe that not many men out write chicklit books because of the difficulty they would have in developing genuine female characters. Well, Mike Greenberg has definitely proved us wrong. He not only beautifully managed to create just one, but three realistic and extremely relatable female characters. Mike clearly understands the women’s psyche.

Again, it’ll make a nice Mother’s Day gift. Perhaps even for Father’s Day too.

And the best part: All the proceeds of the book go to the V Foundation in memory of Heidi Armitage, a close friend of Greenberg and his wife Stacy, who died of cancer in 2009. Heidi was the inspiration for the book.

Here’s my Q/A with Greenberg:

So what’s next? You starring in an opera?

My father would love that. He loves the opera.

Seriously, what gave you the inspiration to write about three women?

At Heidi’s funeral, her husband, Adam, was reading these letters about Heidi from women I never met. It didn’t seem right to me. My wife, Stacy, said she became active in a support group during her last few months. She died never having met these women.

The next day, I was sitting at the kitchen table. It was as if I got struck by a bolt of lightning. I said, ‘I’m going to write a novel about three women.’

Forget the women aspect. Your two previous books were non-fiction. What made you think you could do a novel?

This is actually my third novel. It’s just that the other two weren’t published. The second novel is about the seedy underbelly of sports. I was really disappointed when everyone passed on it.

Again, forget the women’s aspect. What made you think you could pull this off?

About a month in, I literally woke up in a cold sweat. ‘What the hell am I doing? I’m going to make a fool out of myself.’ I sent what I had written to my literary agent. I told him, ‘Tell me I’m crazy for doing this.’ The next day, he said, ‘I think you’ve got this. Keep going.’

OK now the women’s perspective. How does a male sports radio talk show host know so much about women? Were you afraid women wouldn’t take it seriously?

Absolutely. My father was a lawyer. Whenever we would go to a movie, all he would do is complain that the courtroom scenes were dreadful. I knew if the book was not authentic, people would never lose themselves in the characters.

I don’t know how to explain it, but I got a lot of help from my wife, my agent’s wife, and my yoga instructor. So I had women in their 20s, 40s, and 60s. I kept sending them stuff and told them to tell me what I was getting wrong. For instance, they said no 28-year old would use the word, ‘blouse.’

Ultimately, I don’t think men and women are that different. This is a book about big topics: Power, friendship, mortality. In that way, I don’t think there is much delineation between the two genders.

What has struck you about the reaction?

I did two previous books tours where the people who came out were sports fans. They only wanted to talk about sports. ”

This book tour is totally different. For this one, I make it clear to people, “Just because I wrote it, please don’t think it’s a sports book.”

There were women who came out wearing these T-shirts. One said: “Sure, they are fake; The real ones tried to kill me.” Another said, “FU-BC.”

Not one said, “I have cancer, pity me.”

Heidi has been gone for three years. That part isn’t as current anymore. So to go out and meet these women (who have battled cancer), it’s been a great experience. It really hits home for me.

The best part is the money we’re raising. We’re close to making our first donation. It’s going to be a lot of money.

 Now that you have written a successful women’s novel, can we expect another?

I’m working on a book that has a first-person male character. It comes closer to my own sensibility.