Earl Weaver and Stan Musial -- RIP

Stan Musial
(photo: sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

Two members of baseball's Hall of Fame -- Stan Musial and Earl Weaver -- passed away today. They shared the mixed fortune of being integral parts of small market franchises. Both Musial and Weaver had personalities that could have only thrived in, respectively, St. Louis and Baltimore. Musial's folksy disposition would never have survived the New York hothouse, especially as he would have been incessantly compared to Joe DiMaggio and, later, Mickey Mantle. Weaver was much too cantankerous and did not suffer fools gladly, a lethal formula in any of baseball's major media markets. Charm City's temperament was just right for the man called the Earl of Baltimore.

Intriguingly, both player Musial and manager Weaver understood their physical limitations and made the most of them. Weaver, similar to many baseball managers, came to the realization that he would be a career minor league ballplayer at best. Managing turned out to be his MLB meal ticket. On the other hand, Musial began as a pitcher and, thanks to an injury, was compelled to play the outfield. By all accounts, he was a fantastic hitter. The National League All-Star outfield, at one point consisted of Orlando Cepeda, Willie Mays, and Roberto Clemente.  Musial and Hank Aaron were on the bench. So was Frank Robinson, whom the Cincinnati Reds eventually traded to the Baltimore Orioles. (Talk about a tough lineup to crack!)

Earl Weaver
(photo: cbsnews.com)

It was Robinson's arrival in Baltimore, along with pitcher Mike Cuellar, that turned Weaver's Orioles into an American League juggernaut. However, for all of Weaver's acknowledged wizardry, the Orioles of that era only won a single World Series. The team lost, most memorably, to the 1969 Miracle Mets in what remains one of the most exciting Series ever played. The Orioles also lost twice to Clemente's Pittsburgh Pirates. In the end, Weaver's Orioles were a somewhat unappreciated team. Part of that sad fact unquestionably belongs at the feet of the baseball-savvy Baltimore manager, who did his level best to piss off just about everyone he knew. For a small market team, even one blessed with exceptional talent, as the Orioles had in their glory days, media relations were and are very important. Today, with franchise value dependent upon "fan friendly" players, a major league team could not afford the Earl of Baltimore as its face to the media. For better or worse, baseball is a different game than the one where Earl Weaver and Stan Musial earned their Hall of Fame credentials.

Reflections on Roberto Clemente -- The Musical

Roberto Clemente's Plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame

Our friend Phil Dorsey, one of TheBocx.com's partners, suggested my wife and I join him to see a musical based on the life of the late, great baseball player and Puerto Rican icon Roberto Clemente. Phil has a personal connection to Clemente's life; Dorsey's father, a Pittsburgh postal worker, knew Clemente quite well. How well? The Pittsburgh Pirate right fielder entrusted Dorsey, Sr., with the keys to Roberto's Cadillac when Clemente was on the road. The musical -- DC7, The Roberto Clemente Story -- included a character based on Phil's father, and that piqued our interest in the play.

I thought Phil was pulling our legs (he is an excellent practical joker), but the press release about the play confirmed that someone indeed had made the stuff of Clemente's life into a musical. At first, the concept seemed an unlikely one. I had a hard time imagining a singer/dancer wearing a Pirate baseball uniform using Bob Fosse-styled technique and not looking ridiculous in the process. I had not factored an essential part of the musical, and a core concept of Puerto Rican culture: how music, dancing, and the dialogue between musicians and the audience informs the musical event. Once I heard and saw the performance's first number, I grasped the validity and necessity of treating Clemente's life in a musical form.

Today, the majority of major league baseball players are Latin. Few have significant commercial endorsements. It's tough for Latin players, even in the post-Clemente era, to feel local fans' and media respect.  For every Big Papi getting love from Red Sox Nation, there are many more, equally or more talented Latin players wondering why fans never fully embrace them. (Carlos Beltran, formerly of the New York Mets, quickly comes to mind.) The dialogue between baseball fans and players, just as alive and vital as that between musicians and audience, has a different dynamic for Latin baseball players playing in front of predominantly Anglo audiences.

It has been nearly a half-century since Roberto Clemente died during a humanitarian mission to Nicaragua. He was a leader for, among other things, respect for Latin ballplayers and the greater Latin diaspora in the United States. If Clemente were alive now, he would say there's a great deal of unfinished business to be done.

(Pittsburgh) Pirates Make Millions

Who said piracy is dead? According to documents leaked to deadspin.com, the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball franchise made over $30 million last year. For years, the team's management has pleaded poverty, traded any player who would command a marginally high salary, and showed no commitment to improve its team.

Some of the Pirates' loot comes from revenue sharing, a scheme in which prosperous franchises such as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox give small market teams some money. The notion is that the funds would be used to improve the small fries' talent pool and thus add more equitable competition to major league baseball.

The Pirate organization chose to keep the money, and essentially stiff its team's fans and sponsors. Major League Baseball is fighting furiously to shut the deadspin.com leak. However, this leak has as much life as BP's leak in the Gulf of Mexico. And for greedy baseball team owners, the financial documentation leak demonstrates their view of credibility parallels BP's perspective on the subject.

This leads me to the conclusion that Pittsburgh's team might be the most aptly named sports franchise in America.