A Changing of the Guard in the NBA

It is now early morning on July 1, 2010, just minutes after the opening of the free agency market in the NBA. For at least the last two seasons, NBA management, executives and agents alike have been looking forward to this day. What will undoubtedly be the single greatest free agency class in NBA history is about to hit the market, and fans and pundits alike are absolutely giddy over the prospects.







Lebron James. Dwayne Wade. Chris Bosh. Amare Stoudamire. Dirk Nowitzki. Paul Pierce. Carlos Boozer. These are just some of the top tier names being dangled about like carrots, waiting for their proverbial piece of the pie. There are also dozens of other mid-level players that will be available to fill crucial holes for many NBA teams. All of this will lead to a frenzy of activity in the coming weeks, leaving many NBA general managers and player personnel directors sleep deprived. What the NBA fan will see by mid-August is a complete transformation, a changing of the guard in the NBA.






Is this good for the NBA, or for team sports overall? That all depends on your outlook. If you're a Chicago Bulls fan, and the thought of two of these potential top-tier free agents signing with your beloved team reignites your passion, then you would answer in the affirmative. If you pine for the old days when teams stayed together for years (a la Russell, K.C. and Sam Jones, Havlicek, Cousy, Heinsohn of the Boston Celtics), then you're probably miserable. One thing is for certain: Those days are long gone. Today's NBA star plays for money as well as for rings. And loyalty goes only so far as the almighty Franklin.

Blown Call Ruins Perfect Game for Galarraga

Video replay clearly shows that Armando Galarraga's foot was on the bag in time to 

beat Cleveland's Jason Donald by a half-step (courtesy AP)

 

 

With two outs in the ninth inning of last night's game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, history was calling. To that point in the game, Tigers' pitcher Armando Galarraga was one out away from only the 21st perfect game in Major League history. 17,738 fans in attendance were on their feet, cheering for what they thought would be history, something they could tell their grandchildren about in later years. The entire Tigers' team was on the top of the dugout steps, waiting to storm the field to congratulate Galarraga. Just then, the unthinkable happened. 

With the count 1 ball and 1 strike to Cleveland Indians' shortstop Jason Donald, Galarraga delivered a slider. Donald grounded the ball into the hole between first and second. Tigers' first baseman Miguel Cabrera ranged to his right, backhanded the ball, and threw a perfect strike to Galarraga, gliding over to cover the first base bag. Umpire Jim Joyce, a  21-year veteran, called Donald safe on the play, and the perfect night was not to be. Tigers' manager Jim Leyland came out to argue in vein, and Galarraga, who was clearly upset, retired the next batter to preserve the one-hit shutout. 

Immediately after the game, Joyce went into the umpires' locker room, reviewed the play, and instantly met with the press to admit his mea culpa. He had clearly blown the call, and he knew it. Joyce owned up to his mistake with the media, and then requested to meet with the distraught Galarraga to apologize. Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski brought Galarraga from the home clubhouse into the umpires' room. "He asked if he could see Armando and I brought Armando in there," Dombrowski said, "and [Joyce] apologized profusely to him and he said he just felt terrible. They hugged each other and Armando said, 'I understand.'"

Dombrowski went on to say, "I feel terrible. I don't know why life works this way, but sometimes life just isn't fair for people. He's a good umpire." Said Galarraga: "He understands. I give him a lot of credit for coming in and saying, 'Hey, I need to talk to you to say I'm sorry.' That doesn't happen. You don't see an umpire after the game come out and say, 'Hey, let me tell you I'm sorry.' He apologized to me and he felt really bad. He didn't even shower. He was in the same clothes. He gave me a couple hugs."

The play itself unleashed a slew of calls for baseball to expand its use of video replay. Many players and managers weighed in on the issue soon after viewing the controversial play. New York Mets' third baseman David Wright said, "Umpires go out there, they give you a great effort. Of course they're not always going to get everything right, but that's kind of the nature of the game. If they do the instant replay thing, great. If not, we'll keep playing it how it's been played for 100 years." Kansas City Royals' manager Ned Yost chimed in as well. "My whole philosophy is that the umpires should be able to get the call right. And if it takes instant replay, that doesn't bother me. I'd just as soon make sure that the play is called right. Umpiring is not an easy job -- it's tough. I try to do it every night and I'm wrong about 60 percent of the time on plays at first base. I think he's out and I go look at the replay and he's safe. If I think he's safe, I go look at the replay and he's out. It's tough and I think that sometimes that could be something that could help."

This interesting take from Boston Red Sox centerfielder Mike Cameron: "We're going to replay it forever for the next two months anyway, so you might as well do it in the two minutes it takes to get it right," Cameron said. "Obviously the guy knew he was out, too, so that's even worse. In a situation like that, we was talking about having a little red flag you could throw on the field. You get one instant replay call. The game has already been so far advanced. You might as well have instant replay. I wouldn't mind it at all. We do everything else. We have every stat you can possibly have so you might as well have instant replay to get it all right."

There are many baseball purists out there who will certainly rail against the use of video replay, and many current players and managers are among them. St. Louis Cardinals' pitcher Mitchell Boggs had this to say: "I think what makes baseball great is the human element. If you have instant replay it takes a lot of tradition out of the game." "Those guys," Boggs added, referring to umpires, "do an outstanding job for the most part, they don't miss a lot, so I don't think instant replay needs to go that far. It is a tough situation, this time a guy missed a perfect game, but, you know, that is part of it." Even Detroit manager Jim Leyland, who was not shy about protesting Joyce's call -- both when he made it and after the conclusion of Galarraga's one-hitter, conceded "the human element of the game."

"It's going to remain that way forever. I think it should," Leyland said. "I'm sure somebody is going to say, if they had a replay on that play, the kid would have had a perfect game. Somebody will say something about that, but not me. That's just the human element. It's a good element. The umpires do a great job. There's no question about that. They are whole lot right more than they are wrong." *

*Parts of this story were taken from articles published on the web. Quotes taken from MLB.com. 

 

 

 

Griffey Calls it Quits

Ken Griffey Jr. retires as 5th highest home run hitter of all time (courtesy USPresswire)

He was class in cleats. He single-handedly saved a franchise. And now, he goes out the way he wanted to. Ken Griffey, Jr., former MVP and 13-time All-Star, announced his retirement before Wednesday night's game between the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins. The flashy center fielder totaled 630 home runs over a 22-year career, 417 with the Mariners in what arguably were his finest years. A star from the time he was the overall No. 1 pick in the 1987 draft, Griffey played 22 years in the majors with Seattle, his hometown Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox. He hit .284 with 1,836 RBI. His greatest feat may have been the fact that he almost single-handedly saved the Seattle franchise from relocating, turning the franchise into immediate contenders and helping to prompt the decision to build Safeco Field, and keep the team in Seattle after years of rumors of relocation.

In a statement released by the Mariners, Griffey said

"While I feel I am still able to make a contribution on the field and nobody in the Mariners front office has asked me to retire, I told the Mariners when I met with them prior to the 2009 season and was invited back that I will never allow myself to become a distraction."

 

"I feel that without enough occasional starts to be sharper coming off the bench, my continued presence as a player would be an unfair distraction to my teammates and their success as a team is what the ultimate goal should be," he said.

Rob Johnson, the Mariners' catcher whose locker was just a few feet from Griffey's, said "I think it's pretty easy for me to personally say he's the greatest player to ever play this game. He did everything. He wasn't just a home run hitter. The guy played outfield as good or better than anyone ever played. ... To me he is the greatest player to ever live and to get a chance to play with him and to get to sit next to his locker is pretty special." Mariners' president Chuck Armstrong took the call from Griffey regarding his retirement, and manager Don Wakamatsu gathered the team together to inform them before their game with the Twins. It should also be noted that Griffey's name was never linked to performance enhancing substances, something that certainly can't be said for his contemporaries such as Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. 

Griffey also paid the price in the latter years of his career for his reckless, all-out style of play, missing parts of many seasons due to injury. While Sosa and McGwire were never considered "complete" players, Griffey was the very definition of a complete player, a five-tool player who never gave up on any aspect of his game. Griffey also lived one his all-time dreams, when, one year after his major league debut, he played with his father, Ken Griffey Sr., and the two hit back-to-back home runs in one game.

While there are a myriad of highlights that are littered throughout Ken Griffey Jr.'s career, one alone stands out to this writer, and speaks directly to the character of the man. Griffey returned to the Mariners in 2009 and almost single-handedly transformed what had been a fractured, bickering clubhouse with his leadership, energy and constant pranks. His teammates, to a man, loved and respected him, and he constantly gave back just by leading by example. The game of baseball will sorely miss Ken Griffey Jr...

 

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