Kevin Kaduk of Yahoo’s Big League Stew joins the show to talk all about the current season in Major League Baseball. Of course we recorded the show yesterday afternoon, which was before news broke that the legendary Ernie Harwell had passed away.
Here’s my take at , with help from friend of the show and Tigers writer Ian Casselberry. Also, . It’s worth it today.
Kaduk and I talk about a lot of things. Descriptive, I know. We discuss the amazing length of the Ryan Howard contract debate that, honestly, seemed about as long as the extension itself. This obviously leads to a little talk about the “stat heads” who I’m sure, by now, hate me even though I am really far more on board with advanced stats than they seem to think.
We talk about the attendance issues in baseball and if it’s a real legit concern for MLB. What can they do to get more people in the stadium? Why won’t cities with strong baseball traditions, like Houston, show up for a game between Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt? Why do the Nationals fans care more about a AAA start for Strasburg than the fact that their current team is right in the NL East race at the start of May?
And if the answer is to give out ticket packages for pennies on the (current MLB) dollar, then how in the world will teams be able to afford to pay players what they’re making? If Albert Pujols is worth $35 million dollars a year — and he probably is worth that (or more) — can the Cardinals afford to pay him, plus Matt Holliday, plus their other players and terrific pitching staff?
Kaduk points out a chicken v. egg concept that the players make the money because fans pay those ticket prices, pointing out that we’re not paying the prices just so teams can afford to pay the players that much money.
We spend some time talking about the young crop of talent in the majors, including one Jason Heyward. Can he be a huge star, or is he benefitting from his newness? And is there too much pressure on a guy like Heyward and other young stars. Sheesh, the NY Post likened Ike Davis to Don Mattingly after 10 games. Could they end up like Evan Longoria, or will they be the next Alex Gordon?
And yes, we tackle the . Well, we talk about it and it kinda just falls on its own. Plus, .
Thanks for listening. Oh, and little Zoe and I got to meet Charlie Manuel yesterday and he signed her hat. Pretty cool stuff and awesome that a three year old girl was excited to meet a crusty old baseball guy. Circle of life.
Tags: Alex Gordon, Baseball, Ernie Harwell, Evan Longoria, Jason Heyward, Kevin Kaduk, MLB, Phillies, Ryan Howard
I am not one of those I will never listen to you again types, but let me say what I have wanted to say to you for some time, and something I think you know: you are a very self obsessed person. Why is this important? Because of you thinking the 2nd field guy should go to jail for five years for having some herb on the field. You should maybe puff some, it will make you see that there are things more important than you in the world (yer offspring don’t count). The PROBLEM with this country is that we send people like this to jail, when we should be locking up real criminals. I know you are all big bad liberal, me too, but, hey, maybe you should think about what that means? I have one marijuana arrest on my record in Oklahoma (1/16-1.75 grams, it happened in my apt while the cops were stopping a party next door- smelled it, roommate let them in etc.). If that happens again I am in jail for a year. Because of that I left my family and friends behind and moved to beautiful Denver, CO, where I can legally grow it. Is that something to be proud of? No, I hate it actually, but burning tree is a large part of my life and I refuse to give it up because the people of this country are frightened. I am also not going to stay behind and support the local economy of a place that clearly doesn’t want “my type.” Seriously, grow up. It is jerk bag liberals like you who don’t have the guts to say I am allowed to do what I want with myself cause yer scared of the republicans.
I couldn’t find out if it was weed or something else. No matter what it is, I have probably used it in a responsible way and gotten benefit in my sober life because of it (only cocaine is a useless drug). And you know what? It should be legal too, because it is my body and my life. I am not a f*ck up, I have a college degree, I make a direct difference in my community through my chosen profession and I smoke weed everyday, and have for a decade.
That said, this guy on the field seemed like a complete idiot, so whatever, but he wasn’t an idiot for having some dope (well, actually he was, since he knew he was running on the field, but he isn’t an idiot for using.)
I guess what I am saying is that if you really believe what you said at the end there then you probably need to re-evaluate yer life, or at least yer political party. You are already self-obsessed, so if you want to send people away for years for drugs I see you’ve got at least two republican attributes. If only you were a christian who wanted to kill people you didn’t understand, then you would be there! This is why there should be more than two parties. We shouldn’t be in the same political party, yet there you are, centering the “liberal” party of the u.s. because someone is messing up the concentration of some millionaire who wears laundry you like. That guy might be a p.o.s., but he deserves a life too.