Around The Horn

Pain was a constant for Charles Herbert Ruffing as a result of the loss of four toes on his left foot from a mine accident. But he looked past the pain and pitched his way to the top, in the 1930s, becoming one of the great hurlers in Yankee history.

Born May 3, 1905 in Granville, Illinois the kid they called “Red” was already playing for the Nokomis mining company team piloted by his father at age 15. Four years later Ruffing was on the Red Sox.

With Boston, Ruffing twice led the league in losses. In l930, the Yankees acquired him for $50,000 and Cedric Durst. It was another case of a player coming to the Yankees and shining. Ruffing won 22 games in his first New York season.

Utilizing a moving fast ball with a sharp breaking curve, the powerfully built Ruffing went 231-124 in 15 Yankee seasons. He had four consecutive 20-victory seasons and won seven of nine World Series decisions for the Yankees.

His three main rules of training were “Run, run, run.”

A superb all around athlete, Ruffing was one of the best fielding and hitting pitchers ever. Eight times he batted over .300.

Number 15 was so good with the bat (he hit .29l with 5 home runs in l932) that McCarthy liked to use him as a pinch hitter. He had more than 200 career pinch hit at-bats. The all time leader among Yankee pitchers in home runs, RBIs and batting average for a season, eight times Ruffing batted over .300.

Ruffing played on seven championship teams. First among all Yankee pitchers in complete games, Ruffing is second in innings pitched, wins, third in strikeouts and games pitched, and ninth in winning percentage.

Bill Dickey said of him: “If I were asked to choose the best pitcher I’ve ever caught, I would have to say Ruffing.”

HF

Harvey Frommer is the author of 34 sports books, including the classics: “New York City Baseball,” “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,” “Rickey and Robinson: The Men Who Broke Baseball’s Color Line,” “The New York Yankee Encyclopedia,” “A Yankee Century: A Celebration of the First Hundred Years of Baseball’s Greatest Team,” and the updated and revised 2005 edition of “Red Sox Vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry” (with Frederic J. Frommer). Frommer sports books are available - discounted and autographed - direct from the author.

If you look at BK Kim and Clint Barmes you see the disperency in talent and in paychecks in the game today. The $6 million dollar man, is washed up and the minimum wage rookie is staring in Sports Illustrated. Throughout the game there are over priced old stars, that quickly became old, and small. Sort of like mini-Sammy is a microcosm of the whole league. You look at the shoulders of some of the players and you notice players are getting back to a normal size. Banning steroids will be a blessing for the game, but until all the old remains are purged, there still will be questions. The other question in the game is how to give each team an equal chance of winning. Baseball should be ashamed for what it has done to the Kansas City Royals. How can you expect a team to have a chance, when they were forced to give up their best player, Carlos Beltran, because they could not pay him what he was worth. Each team must have the same budget to work with. Unless this happens each year there will be more Kansas City Royals throughout the land. It just isn’t fair that one team is spending over $300 million in salary and tax, and other teams less than $40 million. The solution is to come up with a salary structure like that used in the NFL. If each team should put up $100 Million for salaries that would mean a total of $3 Billion in total for all players. Each team would have 5 players making $500,000. Five players making $1 million, 5 players making $3 million. 5 players making $5.5 million and 5 players making $10 million. Tell the players union this is how it will be and if they don’t like it they can start their own league. Next year 2006 is when this needs to be implemented

I am the The Fan’s Commish

Rick Swanson

“A” is for the National ANTHEM, that the lady sings.
“B” is for the BASEBALL game, and the fun it brings.

“C” could be for the CALLS, it’s what the Umpires say.
“D” is for the Diamond, where the Players play.

“E” flashing on the scoreboard only means one thing.
“F” is for the FOUL Ball, after a half-hearted swing.

“G” is for the GROUND Ball, that usually means you’re Out.
“H” is for the Base HIT, that makes fans wave and shout.

“I” is for the INNINGS, that makes up every game.
“J” is for the JOURNEY, toward the Hall of Fame.

“K” means there’s a Strike-Out, and a Player has met his fate.
“L” could be for LEFT-On Base, and that’s an awful waste.

“M” could be for a MANAGER, who guides the Team all year.
“N” stands for the NUMBERS, that the Players wear.

“O” is for the OUT-FIELDERS, who run and catch the Ball.
“P” is for the PLAYER, who hits it over the wall.

“Q” is for the QUICK Players, who’ll Steal a Base, or more.
“R” is for the RUNNER, who’ll round Third Base and score.

“S” could be for a SHORT-STOP, who’s always on the ball.
“T” could be for a TRIPLE, when the Ball caroms off the wall.

”U” could be for UMPIRES, who stand around the Bases.
”V” is for the VICTORS, and their happy faces.

”W” has to be WORLD SERIES, where all players would like to be.
”X” could be for eXtra Innings, and eXtra Base Hits that we see.

”Y” is for the YELLING, for a Home Run with a Man aboard.
”Z” is for the ZEROS, that you’ll find on the scoreboard.

Each letter stands for something that I see, at the old Ballgame.
Next time when you’re watching one, maybe you can do the same.

oo77

For The Good of The Game

For the good of the game Bud, please resign and go back to being the owner of Milwaukee that you are.

For the good of the game choose a new commissioner that is not an owner. Someone like Bill Bradley or Jim Bunning

For the good of the game MLB should give up it’s antitrust exemption.

For the good of the game there should be a strict salary cap, not revenue sharing

For the good of the game each team should spend the same amount on player’s salaries. There should be 30 owners willing to spend $80M on baseball players each year.

For the good of the game, no player should make more than $10M to play for a year, but every player should get $1M to be in MLB.

For the good of the game there should be random drug testing.

For the good of the game there should never again be a DH in any baseball game, at any level.

For the good of the game wild card winners should be eliminated, in baseball you should have to win a division to move on. You could have more division winners but no wild cards

For the good of the game, teams could have a fight on the field

For the good of the game the Red Sox and Yankees can hate each other.

For the good of the game, Nomar and Jeter should not make commercials together.

For the good of the game the Red Sox should win the World Series, with the Cubs and White Sox also winning it all

For the good of the game there should be realignment in baseball with the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, in one division.

For the good of the game Montreal should move to Washington.

For the good of the game umpires should have a statistic in the boxscore that shows how many wrong calls per game they make.

For the good of the game, there should never be another strike, except one called loud, clear, and promptly by an umpire.

I wrote this in September of 2002 the only things that came true so far are the Red Sox winning the World Series, Montreal moving to Washington, and random drug testing. Which one do you think will happen next? Send a reply to

The Fan’s Commish
Rick Swanson

TORONTO, April 20, 2005: The place where Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a professional is well on the way to being recognized with signage telling of the feat. Heritage Toronto, a charitable agency of the City of Toronto responsible for presenting heritage programming, has approved an application for commemorative plaques on the site where Ruth hit his one and only minor-league home run.

On September 5, 1914, Ruth was a 19-year old pitcher with the Providence Grays in the ‘AAA’ International League, which was one rung below the majors. Playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs at an old ballpark at Hanlan’s Point on the Toronto Islands, Ruth tossed a one-hit shutout and smashed a three-run homer that is believed to have disappeared into Lake Ontario.

Jerry Amernic, whose novel Gift of the Bambino begins with an account of the home run, has been leading a campaign to have the site declared a heritage site and to have an interpretive display erected on the spot. The Toronto Blue Jays, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and the City of Toronto have all pledged their support.

In 1985 the city erected a small plaque on a rock at Hanlan’s Point, but many say it is hard to find and doesn’t do the moment justice. Toronto Mayor David Miller recently indicated his support publicly when he said, “If we do something to better honor that memory, I think it would be terrific.”

Jerry Amernic, who will be doing talks and book signings in New York from May 11-15, claims the 1914 ball wound up in the lake but others aren’t so sure. A veteran sports writer said he once interviewed a man who was at the game and that he told him the ball went over the fence into the right-field bleachers. However, a local historian says the ball went into the water and may still be sitting on the bottom of the lake.

“When I was doing research for my book,” says Jerry Amernic, “I discovered many stories about the ball. I heard it was stolen and even that it was bronzed and set up in a bar. But I’ve seen photos of the old ballpark and think it went into the lake which is the premise of my novel. One thing is for sure. This is the holy grail of all baseballs.”

The proposal for the heritage site calls for three commemorative plaques with photographs and text about the 1914 home run, the old park at Hanlan’s Point, and Toronto’s baseball history which goes back to the 1800s. Officials with Heritage Toronto say the Babe Ruth display could be ready in time for the beginning of the 2006 baseball season.

Contact:

Dorothy Stoikos or Jerry Amernic
416-284-0838

Dear Bud,

I would like to be the first to apply for the position of Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations for Major League Baseball. Let me tell you why I should be the one to replace Sandy Alderson as your right hand man. First I just recently had an interview for a position in baseball operations for a major league team. I met with an assistant GM and two scouts. I have had contact with MLB through Dinn Mann last year. He wrote: “Something along these lines has been in the works; it is a matter of the necessary devices getting installed, and we have considered pitches and prototypes for the very purposes you mention. The best primary contact for you at MLBAM regarding any involvement in this is Cory Schwartz, who is reachable at as is our CEO, Bob Bowman. I’ll make sure they are made aware of your interest and earlier contacts.”
I wrote him with a new statistic that I created for defense. It is called Reaction and Range, and it could measure the best and worst plays in the field, and give them a number that is easy to compute and measurable two requirements that Tom Verducci said to me, was needed for a statistic to be recognized. Bill James even said I was ahead of my time with this idea, which divides the Time of a play by the Distance the fielder ranges. R/R=T/D

This is not the first statistic I created. I spoke to an umpire, Mark Hirschbeck a few years ago, and told him how a machine could measure an umpire’s ball and strikes and would give each umpire a rating for each game. This was before anyone heard of ques-tec. I even contacted Dr.Phil Janssen when he was evaluating umpires for MLB, and he sent this idea to Ralph Nelson

I have been preaching the gospel of the Blue Ribbon report for years. I can name the panel like it was the Murderer’s row of the 27 Yankees. Mitchell, Levin, Volcker, and Will. I read all 97 pages of the report, competitive balance will be restored if I am hired. I wrote to every owner to have a salary cap in baseball. One president wrote “I too believe a “payroll cap” is both necessary and in evitable.” Another president said “I am sympathetic to the fact that the present revenue sharing formula and luxury tax has not produced the competitive balance that is necessary for all teams to have a fair chance at winning. Either the formula has to change or some form of cost-certainty must take place in order to achieve that goal.” One owner said “we are typically perceived as a “small market team” and accordingly, have been clear about the need to inject some financial sensibility into the industry” Other than George what team is not in favor of a salary cap? I even can give you a definition of the “debt service rule” which goes in effect in 2006.

I promise to make baseball more popular than ever, by letting kids watch the games in October. With me on your team, post season baseball will start no later than 6 PM so that all the kids can watch their heroes and be in bed by 10, not at 1:22 in the morning.

Then there is my latest idea that really is “for the good of the game” Even today an ESPN baseball exec told me I was ahead of my time with this idea. He wrote “Could become a staple at all sporting events.”

If each home team adopted the following guidelines, fans will stay in control, and not interfere with the players, or any ball that is in play:

Mandated Ballpark Reporter

It is required by team authority that all security, vendors, ushers, and team personnel report orally and in video/audio within 2 innings to the department of ballpark operations whenever there is reasonable cause to believe a fan has consumed too much alcohol, caused physical harm, verbal assault, or any type of abuse within the confines of the ballpark. Upon review by ballpark operations such individual guilty of any of the following will be permanently banned from entrance into ballpark, and subject to season ticket holder’s tickets being revoked.

I am The Fan’s Commish,
but soon I will be VP of baseball operations for MLB

Rick Swanson

The Boston Red Sox have an opportunity to do something never done in the history of baseball. That is to completely put an end to fan interference with MLB. The solution is simple. Video is the answer. Have the fans of today, and each tomorrow, watch the fans of yesterday, who violated the game by reaching over and banging the wall during Jason Varitek’s triple, (which should have been fan interference double) on the big screen, in slow motion. As the video is shown when ball rolls around the corner, and each fan that reaches over the wall is shown, there will be a sign across them that says Ejected! For the fan that allegedly touched Gary Sheffield and the one that tossed his beer at the player there will be a sign that says. Banned from Fenway for life! Anyone who tosses a beer at a player should never be allowed in the park again. Then on the top of the wall that separates fans from live play, completely around the park will be warning signs that will specifically say to keep you arms and body out of the field of play at all times while any play is in progress. The Red Sox organization is always trying to emulate the Patriots. What would the Pats do? They would revoke your season tickets for life, even if you let someone else abused them. If Boston baseball fans knew the punishment will be ejection and banishment forever just like Boston football fans do, their bad behavior would improve immensely.

I am the Fan’s Commish

Rick Swanson

He was born in Cairo, Georgia on the last day of January in 1919, and died on October 24, 1972 in Stamford, Connecticut. Robinson attended UCLA, where he won letters in three sports.

He was in the Army during World War II and then played briefly in the Negro Leagues when the war ended. He was signed to a minor league contract with the Montreal Royals in 1946 by Branch Rickey, and the following year came up to the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke baseball’s age-old color line.

He played in the major leagues for a decade. He broke baseball age old color line on April 15, 1947. He won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949, and he helped the Dodgers win six pennants and one world championship.

Despite all the pressure he played under, he was still able to record a lifetime batting average of .311. His base-stealing ability and hustle won many games for the Dodgers. He set several records for fielding for second basemen.

His influence on sports is immeasurable. His breaking of baseball’s color line against the greatest of odds is still one of the most dramatic stories in all of sports history. And there are those who still have special memories of the man and the legend. Here is how one from that time still remembers the great player Brooklyn Dodger fans called “Robby“.

When school was out, I sometimes went with my father in his taxi. One summer morning, we were driving in East Flatbush in Brooklyn down Snyder Avenue. My father pointed to a dark red brick house with a high porch.

“I think Jackie Robinson lives there,” my father said. He parked across the street and we got out of the cab, stood on the sidewalk and looked at the house. Suddenly, the front door opened. A black man in a short-sleeved shirt stepped out. I didn’t believe it. Here we were on a quiet street on a summer morning with no one else around.

The man was not wearing the baggy, ice-cream-white-uniform of the Brooklyn Dodgers that accentuated his blackness. He was dressed in regular clothes, coming out of a regular house in a regular Brooklyn neighborhood, a guy like anyone else going out for a bottle of milk and a newspaper.

Then, incredibly, he crossed the street and came right toward me. Seeing that unmistakable pigeon-toed walk, the rock of the shoulders and hips that I had seen so many times before on the baseball field, I had no doubt who it was.

“Hi Jackie, I’m one of your biggest fans,” I said self-consciously. “Do you think the Dodgers are going to win the pennant this year?”

“His handsome face looked sternly down at me. “We’ll try our best,” he said.

“Good luck,” I said.”

“Thanks,” he replied.”

He put his big hand out, and I took it. We shook hands and I felt the strength and firmness of his grip. I was a nervy kid, but I didn’t ask for an autograph or try to prolong the conversation. I just he walked away down the street.

HF

Harvey Frommer is the author of 34 sports books, including the classics: “New York City Baseball,” “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,” “Rickey and Robinson: The Men Who Broke Baseball’s Color Line,” “The New York Yankee Encyclopedia,” “A Yankee Century: A Celebration of the First Hundred Years of Baseball’s Greatest Team,” and the updated and revised 2005 edition of “Red Sox Vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry” (with Frederic J. Frommer). Frommer sports books are available - discounted and autographed - direct from the author.

The Red Sox celebration could not have been scripted better by those that made the “Fever Pitch” movie. First to meet Larry Lucchino on Yawkey Way, and for him to say, it was his pleasure to meet me, was a great way to start it off. Then to speak with Dr. Charles Steinberg by the player’s parking lot, and to have him say to me “Thanks for reminding me that tomorrow is the boss’s birthday, that is a good one to remember.” To enter the park and stand by the field, and have Johnny Damon come over shake his hand, and talk to him was really special. He graciously signed my son’s program, and just made everyone feel like they knew him personally. Then to have a TV crew interview me, and ask if we paid a lot for the tickets. I just said I’m just the luckiest fan in the world, just to be there with my sons. All this and we hadn’t even reached our seats yet. The ceremony was something every Red Sox fan has waited for since they were old enough to crawl to first base. It was when the ceremony began, that I began to reflect upon my life as a Red Sox fan. From the first game my father brought me to in 1957, I can recall Ted Williams hitting a home run in the last of the ninth to tie the Yankees, and remember that joy, only to have it end in pain, as NY scored 3 in the tenth to win. I remembered my father in July of 67 saying we should get tickets for the last game because it might mean something this year, and it turned out to mean the pennant. Or when we were lucky enough to have someone offer us 2 bleacher seats for game 7 Gibson vs. Longborg, 5 minutes before the game was about to start. At that moment another fan offered my dad $200 for something we just paid $40 for. He thought about selling until I said. “Dad it is the 7th game of the World Series, the Red Sox probably will never get this close to winning in our lifetimes, why would you sell these tickets to make $160?” He said “you’re right lets go to the game.” We did, they lost, but we were there. Then in 1975 he went to Boston at 4 in the morning and got SRO for game 2 and 6 of the World Series. Then in 1978 he took me and 5 friends to the playoff game, that was lost on a pop up that went into the screen. Then during the World Series of 1987 on the night of the 4th game, he died. Today was a day to remember him, and when the banner rolled down the green monster, tears began to roll down my cheeks. It was a combination of euphoria, and sadness rolling down at the same time. Standing next to my two boys, I felt like the luckiest fan in the whole park. Seeing the joy on their faces, will remain in my heart for all eternity. There are some riches in life that can’t be measured in dollars and cents. With me, my riches are the Red Sox. Many are just as much fans as I am, but I am so much richer compared to everyone else. Back in the 60’s and 70’s when my father took me to games, even when you bought a scalped ticket it wasn’t a week’s pay. The playoff game of 1978 only cost $20 for a $2 bleacher ticket. Today anyone can get a ticket. I checked at stub hub yesterday, and one grandstand for Opening Day at Fenway would cost you $999. Why then have I become so lucky to just write email to the leaders of my favorite team, and they go out of their way to let me go to a game? Not only today, but playoff games in 2003 and 2004, and the World Series. To be able to stand and cheer with my sons when Ortiz hit that home run at 1:22 AM less than 50 feet from where I sat with my Dad when Fisk hit his home run at 12:22 AM in 1975 made me feel like not many fans could have experience both of those thrills. Thousands must write email to leaders of their team, but for some unknown reason my request always seem to be answered. So even though my father, Earl Swanson didn’t last on this earth until Boston finally won it all, I’m positive that he was smiling down today, on his son, and grandchildren which he never knew. To paraphrase the words of the immortal Lou Gehrig “Today I feel as though I am the luckiest fan on the face of the earth.”

I am the Fan’s Commish

Rick Swanson

but really one lucky Red Sox fan

“The system we have now is working,” Selig said. “We have two more years in this labor agreement, and we’ll just watch and see how things go.” If things are working how could one team have only 15 players where the total amount is over $175M, and call the system fair? Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy has proposed a salary cap, a mechanism already used in the NFL and NBA. It will soon be used by the NHL too, as the players finally realized it makes the game fair, after they lost a whole season. Why should we wait and have another baseball strike in 2007. Start the cap in 2006. If you add in the luxury tax, 2005- threshold of $128 million; tax rate of 22.5% for first-timers, 30% for second-timers, 40% for third-timers . King George is the only one that is paying. No other team is even considered a first offender. NY pays 40% of $73 million, and that doesn’t count paying Vasquez salary of $9M and $8M more for Contreras, which would add $36M more just in luxury tax. The Yankees luxury is more than Tampa Bay and Kansas City’s entire payroll. And you think the system is working? Why should baseball, wait 2 more years because Bud says so! I’m the Fan’s Commish and I say we have a salary cap next year! If all the fans of America signed this petition, would that mean we could save the game?

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/478455326 I sent this to all 29 teams and 6 replied back agreeing with me. Maybe we need to start counting the votes and see which teams really want a salary cap. Boston, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Toronto, and Seattle all have said they believe it has to happen. Well lets ask all the other owners if they think the system is working now. I say everyone sign this now. Let’s impeach Bud. We the fans will save this great game. NY has made this a monopoly. Go to your Congressmen, write them, tell them to revoke the Antitrust clause. Tell them that America is built on trust! Lets all start up the chant.

Ban Bud from Baseball.

Know the words of the Blue Ribbon Report:
One of baseball’s oldest and cherished notions is that hope springs eternal, and that every club is a contender at least in spring training. If a club’s season ended in futility, the fans’ rallying cry was always, “Wait till next year,” because a new season always brought renewed hope. The realization that fans may now feel defeated before the first game in a majority of MLB communities is a cause for grave concern. Proper competitive balance will not exist until every well-run club has a regularly recurring reasonable hope of reaching postseason play.

SI wrote this: Selig contends that the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars among the 30 teams has created an environment where as many as 20 teams legitimately can compete for playoff spots this year, up from perhaps seven to 10 a decade ago.

All teams should be contenders, at least in the spring. Baseball has the only environment where only one team does not have a limit on spending. This doesn’t even count the competitive balance tax or so called revenue sharing that NY pays, that adds $75M more. That means in 2005 the Yankees will pay over $320 million for their team roster.

Is that a system that is working?

I am the Fan’s Commish

Rick Swanson