What to do now that the Super Bowl is over and spring training still hasn't arrived? Here at MLB FanHouse, we Mind the Gap.
Once, when Tony La Russa was managing the Oakland A's in the early 1990s, he said that if he had a team of nine Mike Bordicks, his teams would make the playoffs every year.
He was trying to explain how much he valued Bordick, but in that one sentence, La Russa, now the Cardinals' manager, summed up what winning baseball is all about.
Bordick, primarily a shortstop in his 14 years in the big leagues, was an All-Star once, in 2000 as an Oriole. He got one -- count it -- MVP vote in 1992 with the A's during his only .300 season.
What Bordick brought to the table was incredible defense and knowledge of the game that that limited his mistakes in all phases of the game to an absolute minimum. He once went 110 games at shortstop without making an error. Those qualities made everybody around him a better player.
As we look toward the opening of spring training camps in Florida and Arizona in the next week or so, we here at FanHouse were wondering just who the difference-makers are -- players who, though not superstars, can, if they reach a certain level of Bordick-ness, positively influence the pennant race.
The Seattle Mariners announced that newly acquired starting pitcher Cliff Lee underwent minor surgery on his left foot this past Friday. Lee needed the surgery to remove a floating bone spur in his foot that had recently broken loose from its attachment.
"We decided Lee should have the surgery as soon as possible, rather than try to pitch with the discomfort during the year," Mariners executive vice president and general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "To get it out of the way and have it behind us is important."
Lee won't need a cast or even to stay off his feet. He will continue his upper body exercises while being able to bear weight on the foot for the next 7-10 days. Then, over the next 2-3 weeks, Lee will gradually return to his normal baseball activities. With pitchers and catchers reporting to camp in just over a week, it appears Lee will be a bit behind the normal schedule for starting pitchers.
The Mariners have given no timetable for his return, but it's entirely possible Lee is forced to miss one or two starts as he's working himself back into shape. Considering the alternatives -- Lee pitching in pain all season or being forced to miss time early on in te season -- this seems to be the correct decision.
What to do now that the Super Bowl is over and spring training still hasn't arrived? Here at MLB FanHouse, we Mind the Gap.
Even the dumbest baseball fan will be able to tell you that the Cardinals won't get too far if Albert Pujols doesn't have a big year, that the Yankees will struggle if Marino Rivera isn't Mr. Automatic out of the 'pen and that the Mariners won't really be the Mariners if Ichiro isn't relentlessly pounding out his standard 200-plus hits in 2010.
As good as these players are, however, each is simply one of 25. Without the other 24 to fall back on, these stars have about as good a chance of winning the World Series come October as you or I do of winning the lottery.
Perhaps more than any other sport, baseball is a team game. Quarterbacks have carried teams to the Super Bowl. Once-in-a-generation players (i.e., Michael Jordan) have strapped teams on their backs to carry them to NBA titles.
But in baseball the list of stars who never made the it to the World Series is substantial. Hall of Famer Ernie Banks is the standard-bearer thanks to the Cubs. The men with the fifth- and sixth-best homer totals, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa, never made it. Don Mattingly was Donnie Baseball for a decade-plus with Yankee fans, but he never tasted the Fall Classic either.
And why? It's simple, really. Even in their best years, they needed more help from their teammates than they wound up receiving.
The Milwaukee Brewers announced on Monday that they will be honoring the team's former owner and present Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig with a statue that will be displayed at Miller Park's Home Plate Plaza. The Selig statue will join current statues of Milwaukee greats Robin Yount and Hank Aaron, both of whom have been there since Miller Park opened in 2001.
"We are proud to honor dommissioner Selig for all of his efforts on behalf of the Milwaukee Brewers and Major League Baseball," said Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio in a statement. "The Brewers and Miller Park are in this city because of the dommissioner's vision and dedicated efforts. Just as importantly, he has remained a prominent and highly philanthropic member of our community while effectively leading Major League Baseball during his tenure as baseball's top executive."
When Tom Rickettsbought the Chicago Cubs from the Tribune Company for around $740 million last October, it wasn't just the team he was buying. He also got Wrigley Field in the deal. Wrigley may be an icon in and of itself, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of areas in which the 96-year old stadium could use an upgrade.
Ricketts has plenty of plans to improve the park, but up first he'd like to make some changes to the luxury suites. While he's renovating two of the luxury boxes in the park into one large ownership suite, there are also plans to build an all-inclusive club for season-ticket holders.
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