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Monday, March 24, 2008
Baseball’s sold its soul
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Good morning. You just missed Opening Day.
The Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics played the first game of the major league season Tuesday morning (normal baseball earth time) in Tokyo. I imagine Japan will reciprocate this breach of tradition by opening the sumo season at Fenway Park.
“You’re taking something many consider like a national folk festival and moving it overseas,” said Roger Kahn, baseball purist and author of several books, including the classic, “The Boys of Summer.”
“They just dumped it.”
Opening Day. It merits capital letters.
It’s self-contained, needing no explanation.
It is less a game than a coronation.
William Howard Taft threw out the ceremonial first pitch in 1910, beginning a tradition for presidents. Jackie Robinson became the first African-American player in the major leagues in 1947. Aaron hit home run No. 714 to tie Babe Ruth’s record in 1974.
Take all of those Opening Day moments. Now move them to Japan.
“I don’t guess that any baseball fan really likes it,” Hank Aaron said. “It’s just that everything has gone so global. But I haven’t really caught on to this. Maybe they’re doing it in Tokyo because they have a dome.”
(Pause.)
“No, on second thought, we’ve got domes here.”
I get the whole global marketing thing. I don’t get taking one of the few special traditions remaining in sports and turning it into some infomercial like a Vegematic.
The first pitch for A’s fans was scheduled for 3:05 a.m. Pacific time. Advantages?
“There are a lot of bars that’ll still be open in Oakland,” Kahn said. “Jack London used to drink there all the time.”
Baseball officials want to grow the game in the Pacific.
Shouldn’t they be doing a better job nurturing the sport closer to home?
Now there are kids asleep before the first pitch of the World Series and the first pitch of the season.
Cincinnati, Boston, St. Louis … Tokyo. Feel the tradition.
This is MLB’s third Opening Day venture in Japan (Mets-Cubs in 2000; Yankees-Devil Rays in 2004). Yomiuri, a Japanese media conglomerate whose properties include a baseball team, is footing the bill.
While we’re at it, perhaps commissioner Bud Selig should have Yomiuri weigh in on the DH, the All-Star Game and Roger Clemens.
Aaron is still a player at heart. He thought about the Boston and Oakland players first — the disruption to start their season, the jet lag they’re feeling over there, how their bodies will feel upon returning.
“I used to get tired just when we went to L.A.,” he said.
But the wrecking ball that MLB’s marketing department has taken to the sport’s tradition confuses him most.
“I don’t guess there’s a lot of people who really like it,” he said. “If you ask anybody, ‘Where would you like to open the season?’ everybody would say in their own ballpark. But the game has gotten so crazy now with the schedule. Now teams are playing in Mexico and Japan. But I have to say I really don’t know how good it’s been.”
The Braves open Sunday night in Washington, a made-for-ESPN event in the Nationals’ new stadium. They return home after one game. As unconventional as that is, at least they’re in the same time zone. And continent.
Opening Day was special for Aaron. “No matter how many years you play, when that bell rings, you get jitters,” he said.
He tied Ruth in 1974 with a homer off Jack Billingham in Cincinnati. But his fondest memory came in 1956 as a Milwaukee Brave. It was another home run, but this one came off the Chicago Cubs’ Bob Rush in extraordinary circumstances. The Farmers’ Almanac database indicates a low of 33 degrees in Milwaukee on that April 17, with some rain and snow flurries.
“It was cold — I mean, freezing cold,” he said. “The manager, Fred Haney, had a meeting and said, ‘If anybody talks about how cold it is, it’s going to cost you $50.’ That was a lot of money back then. Then we beat the Cubs and I hit a home run. I’d have to say I remember that opener more than any other just because it was so cold and I was able to hit a home run.”
Now, we have memories. Japan gave us Daisuke. We gave them Opening Day. Nice trade.
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A ranking of teams that consume us
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
In the past several months, Atlanta sports fans have witnessed the firings, scorched-earth reassignments or sudden exits of three coaches and three executives, which is a remarkable achievement considering the Hawks’ season hasn’t even ended yet and the Thrashers’ general manager isn’t going anywhere (except, of course, the draft lottery).
If you’re wondering why the masses are counting down to Opening Day and already getting lost in 2009 BCS dreams, it’s because the landscape otherwise looks like desert. For that reason, we submit our inaugural rankings of the eight area sports teams that most consume our thoughts. Should indoor football or women’s basketball unexpectedly raise a pulse in the coming months, we’ll adjust to a top 10 next year.
Until then, the countdown begins at …
8. THRASHERS
Before being hired in 1998, Don Waddell made his mark building minor-league organizations in San Diego and Orlando. The problem: He’s still building minor-league organizations. Other than retaining Ilya Kovalchuk (for now), the Thrashers fail in every conceivable category: ownership (Bruce Levenson, the “hockey guy” in the Atlanta Spirit group, has fumbled in management and public relations), roster building, player development, coaching, franchise stability, direction and fan development. The worst news isn’t that things are bad now, but that there’s no reason to believe they’ll get better any time soon. Oh, and ticket prices just went up.
7. GEORGIA BASKETBALL
Now that we’re past Euphoria Weekend, a question: was the SEC tournament a jumpstart or an aberration? Coach Dennis Felton deserved to return for another season regardless of last week. But one improbable run doesn’t discount that the program had significant issues. If Felton’s players don’t go to tutoring sessions or they obliterate the conduct code, that’s on him, not athletics department policies or the result of a Jim Harrick hangover. If fan support doesn’t increase, it’s at least partly because Felton needs to throw himself into more pep rallies. But if Felton’s players suddenly are tuning him in and this recruiting class is as good as he thinks, they won’t need any more miracles.
6. GEORGIA TECH BASKETBALL
Four years ago, the Yellow Jackets reached the national finals. The fact that it wasn’t the start of something big doesn’t mean Paul Hewitt can’t coach or recruit. But it does mean he has failed to accomplish the one thing we presumed was a lock: building a consistent, winning program. Never mind going to the Final Four once in a while. The Jackets lost to UNC-Greensboro and Winthrop in the first 10 days of this season. They are 27-37 in the ACC with one NCAA tournament win in the past four seasons. Not good enough. Hewitt, notwithstanding his oversensitivity to criticism, certainly knows it. We’ve seen his upside. But the upside is collecting dust.
5. HAWKS
Here’s the dichotomy: The Hawks have a good starting five and a solid bench. But it’s almost like having nice oriental rugs under a leaky roof. Players can’t win if they’re poorly coached (Mike Woodson). Since GM Billy Knight dragged his feet in getting a point guard, he needs to draw some blame for this playoff scramble and the team being slow to gel. Knight’s also the one who hired Woodson, only to decide belatedly to fire him, only to be shot down by owners. Who will be in power after this season - and what gives you confidence the right decisions (starting with Smith’s contract) will be made? Until then: wet rugs.
4. GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL
Ran into Paul Johnson at the airport the other day. Saw him charm a Georgia fan, who then wished Johnson good luck this fall (other than in the season finale). So there’s one step up the mountain. Credit athletics director Dan Radakovich for trying to shake up a sleepy athletics department and apathetic fan base. His decision to fire Chan Gailey probably had more to do with that than seven-win seasons. But Johnson still has to prove he can: 1) recruit in a major conference; 2) win with his triple-option offense in the ACC; 3) excite the masses. If he can do the first two, the third will follow.
3. FALCONS
I know: Why so high? Thomas Dimitroff gets a blank slate. In this town, the unknown trumps the known of others. An NFL team can change its fortunes quickly if it makes the right moves, and Dimitroff’s off to a good start. He has trimmed payroll, dumped gimpy veterans and malcontents and stockpiled draft picks. He signed running back Michael Turner. Six wins next season would be an accomplishment. But Dimitroff seems like he knows what he’s doing. The big unknowns: the quality of the draft picks, the head coaching abilities of Mike Smith and the ability of owner Arthur Blank to actually let his football people make football decisions.
2. BRAVES
They’ve had a longer run of success than any other Atlanta sports entity, even with missing the playoffs the past two years. This season, either the starting rotation explodes or they’re in the World Series. But they’re in the conversation again. John Schuerholz-to-Frank Wren has been a relatively seamless transition. Bobby Cox: still here. The lineup: Chipper Jones-Mark Teixeira-Jeff Francoeur-Brian McCann hitting 3-4-5-6. The operation: Still a model for anybody looking to start a franchise. If there’s one question, it’s ownership’s payroll limitations that could submarine the chances of re-signing Teixeira.
1. GEORGIA FOOTBALL
Yes, preseason projections have mutated beyond even the usual absurd Georgia standards. I believe AJC.com now has a rule that we must have at least a five-inch blog every time somebody burps in Butts-Mehre Hall. That said, this program has no flaws right now. The Dogs are north of everybody in money, fans, stability and direction. Mark Richt, who always had the ability to recruit, last year became a better coach. Gauge the program this way: It’s not merely that this year’s Bulldogs will be in the national-title hunt, but that it’s difficult to project when they won’t be. They stand alone.
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