Ok, I tried.

I tried to be nice to the Red Sox in my last blog. But it’s hard to be nice to a team that has called itself “idiots”, and then goes about its daily business trying to prove the nickname is real.

Yes, yes—Theo Epstein is back as GM. The stars in the Red Sox Nation are aligned again, and the chowderheads are once again spouting off like they actually won a divisional title or something.

Sure, they won a World Series. But like my pappy always told me, “Even a blind pig finds a root every now and then”.

The Red Sox are currently blowing their deal for Coco Crisp by refusing to send a native chowderhead, Manny Delcarmen, to Cleveland to replace Guillermo Mota’s injured body. Mota was burnt out in two seasons of Dodger setup, and hasn’t been the same since he was traded to the Marlins.

Funny, his follow-up act, Eric Gagne, has been hurt, too. Maybe someone should come up with a new stat for managers—percentage of pitching staff that is injured under them.

The Dodgers would be high on that list, but Dusty Baker and the Cubs would be challengers, too.

Anyway, back to Boston. They don’t have a center fielder, or a shortstop yet. Mike Lowell is set to man third base—after a horrible hitting year last year. Mark Loretta is set to start at second, after an injury year. JT Snow is slated for first, where he will begin to collect his Social Security checks soon. Varitek and Ortiz had career years last year. Trot Nixon is a candidate to be injured, just walking through the parking lot.

And then there’s Manny Ramirez, the Idiot King. Sure, he is a lovable goof who has already probably hit himself into Cooperstown. He also opens his mouth once a week, and creates controversial headlines.

To be fair, it’s the media that makes the headlines, but Manny is a “sitting duck”, as they say in the sharpshooter business. And the Boston media surely are sharpshooters.

The Beantown wonder Peter Gammons often seems nice, but as I have noted in an earlier column, he looks like a cross between The Cryptkeeper and Mr. Rogers. I’d put in a trade request, too, if that dude was hanging out in the locker room when I got out of the shower.

And Gammons is the nice one. No wonder Manny wants out, every other day.

In case you missed my previous column, I have conclusive proof that Boston only won their World Series because Theo Epstein made a deal with the Devil. The link to that column is HERE.

So I ask you, how will the Sox do it again? Theo’s a young man, but you can’t grow a soul back, once you’ve signed it over to The Prince of Darkness.

And no, I don’t mean George Steinbrenner. I think he’s actually a little lower on the list, like the Arch-Duke of Darkness. Because he’s family, he can make deals with The Devil and get away with them, all the time.

But not Theo Epstein. A price must be paid. And when you won’t even throw in Manny Delcarmen, you really don’t deserve a chance at another World Series trophy.

Theo’s back, and everything is the same as it ever was. Even The Talking Heads video is selling again. But Johnny Damon’s wearing pinstripes, and the Red Sox are looking a third place finish right in clean-shaven face.

Peace-Out
Jim Evans
jevans@baseballdigestdaily.com

They were tattered and worn. There was a big hole in the big toe. The heel had been mended over with two mismatched pieces of smaller fabric.

Such was the state of the Boston Red Sox, just a week ago. Now that big hole in the big toe—otherwise known as the hole in the top of the lineup, since Johnny Damon turned traitor to the Red Sox Nation and signed with the Yankees—seems fixed.

In a trade that seems close to being finalized, the Sox are trading Andy Marte for Coco Crisp. There are other players involved, but they only amount to one GM trying to haggle another for a role player. Crisp would bat leadoff, play center, and probably be every bit as good as Damon, at a much lower price.

Marte would fill the Indians gaping organizational hole at third base, which has caused them to re-sign Aaron Boone, and play Casey Blake, over the last few years.

And those darned Sox aren’t done yet. Sometime this week, they will have a press conference that will announce how they have re-hired Theo Epstein. No more mending the heel with two smaller pieces of fabric, like the Red Sox did at the winter meetings with GM-by-committee. They are back to basics with the whiz kid that broke the Bambino’s curse.

Alex Gonzalez, the 28 year old shortstop, formerly of the Marlins, is also rumored to be close to signing with the Sox, pushing Alex Cora to a more comfortable utility player role. Gonzalez and Cora are equally weak offensively, with Gonzalez having a career .245avg/.391slg/.291ob, to Cora’s .244avg/.349slg/.310ob .

Gonzalez slugged a career high 23 homers in 2004, and Cora hit .291 with a .371 OB% in 2002. Gonzo is probably the better shortstop right now, and Cora can play multiple positions, so this, at the very least, adds bench depth.

In a further unbelievable development, all this has knocked Manny Ramirez out of the headlines for almost a whole week. The Dreadlock Dread-Press wonder has not made any further public statements of discontent this week, much to everyone’s delight.

So the Sox seem to be on the mend. All that remains to be seen is if they can find a matched pair– of World Series trophies, in the same century.

Peace-Out
Jim Evans
jevans@baseballdigestdaily.com

It’s official! The U.S. Treasury department has reversed their stance, and Cuba is now allowed into the World Baseball Classic.

Of course, if you read my column, “Have a Cigar”, you’ll know that I was one of the very first to advocate this turn of events. And as I noted in that column, it has nothing to do with the Pink Floyd song.

I just like a good Cuban cigar. I have experienced these legally, in trips to Toronto, and believe me, the plant is something very different from what we have in America. Exquisite and smooth, it makes you think it’s possible that it even cures lung cancer.

So for everyone who was wondering—no, I don’t have Fidel Castro posters hanging in my house. I don’t even own Juan Castro in my Strat-O-Matic league.

I don’t believe in socialism, or communism, or whatever bleeping-ism they have on that little island. I’ve never been there.

I just want everyone to get to play baseball.

Of course, Havana went to great lengths to get into the WBC. They offered to donate their winnings to Hurricane Katrina relief funds. They said they didn’t care if players defected.

One can only hope that they are also going to be passing out cigars to the writers covering the WBC. I am still waiting on word of my press pass, but I hope to be at the finals in San Diego.

So let freedom ring! Castro’s boys get to play baseball in the U.S.! What’s next? Disneyland builds a franchise outside Havana? We could take that one away from the French—they don’t seem to like it very much.

Cuban athletes get to experience all that is America—after they get through customs, and the Patriot Act, and probably a few friendly drug sniffing dogs.

Maybe Jose Canseco will greet them at the airport, with Raphael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, and tell them about the shining purity of the American way of life, and baseball.

Better watch the dogs, Raffy—you won’t have Miggy Tejada to blame if you get busted this time.

(For those of you incapable of sensing sarcasm, this blog was written with tongue firmly in cheek.)

Peace-Out
Jim Evans
jevans@baseballdigestdaily.com

USAToday.com has an interesting combination today. The big news is ARod now says he will play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Of course, on the same page is a Jon Saraceno article touting ARod’s indecision about what team to play for, and his switch from baseball player to businessman.

Don’t they have editors over there? Save a good writer like Saraceno some embarrassment, and edit that piece slightly, so it doesn’t look like he was asleep at the wheel. He obviously was just writing an assigned piece before the news broke.

Now, as for ARod becoming a businessman—what do we expect? We have, for decades, bemoaned athletes—especially certain boxers—who made millions, and lost them because they didn’t know how to handle the money, or were ripped off by thieving handlers. Now we run them down for getting smart, and watching their cash?

Denny Neagle’s in the news again. His statement to police, which amounted to a confession of soliciting a prostitute, has been disallowed. He had about $19 million remaining on a contract with Colorado when he was arrested in December 2004. He was cut for his bad conduct, and the players association filed a grievance, which resulted in an unreported settlement.

Finally, a baseball team has found a way to get out of a bad contract. Neagle’s original contract was for $51 million. You’d think that a guy with that kind of loot wouldn’t troll the streets looking for a sidewalk hooker—ah, but then, that would be having the good sense of being a businessman, and we wouldn’t want that, would we?

It’s Arbitration Time! That wonderful time of year when clubs and ballplayers call each other names, and haggle publicly for every last dollar. It’s an embarrassment to the sport, and everyone involved. This year’s sordid lot includes Alfonso (I’m not playing outfield) Soriano—and yes, that was a stupid move to announce that, before negotiations. Guess he’s not a businessman yet.

Also still in the process are Adam Dunn, Carlos Zambrano, Mark Prior, Josh Beckett, Shawn Chacon, Juan Pierre, Coco Crisp, Morgan Ensberg and Felipe Lopez.

I think Team Arbitration looks pretty good right now. Can they replace Cuba in the World Baseball Classic?

The former mayor of Detroit, Dennis Archer, has been picked to mediate the growing dispute between MLB and Washington D.C., which now does not want to honor it’s stadium-building agreement with baseball. What happened? A politician in Washington D.C. lied? Switched positions? Falsely represented something to get their way, and then tried to rework the situation to their advantage? Oh my! How unprecedented!

Maybe Bud Selig should have had ARod and Scott Boras work that deal for them.

Then again, maybe ARod should just build the stadium. He can probably afford it better than the nation’s capital. Between that, and deciding to play for TEAM USA, he’s got the beginnings of a presidential campaign going.

The Yankees and Red Sox lead the poll on Foxsports.com—of teams you are most sick of hearing about. What is this? Fox is actually trying to gauge what their audience wants? What’s next? Bill O’Reilly calms down? Oh wait, his audience loves him more than Catholics love the Pope.

The Yankees and Red Sox bullied a huge 84% of the vote—with the Yankees winning 54% to 30%.

Man, those Red Sox can’t come in first in anything, can they?

Peace-Out
Jim Evans
jevans@baseballdigestdaily.com

I was going to take Martin Luther King day off, but after reading another Dayn Perry article on Foxsports.com, I thought I’d chip in this short blog.

Dayn Perry is quickly becoming one of my least favorite columnists, due largely to the growing revelation of his misguided arrogance. He uses ‘ballpark adjustments’ with unknown formulas to justify his unqualified statements, and his sweeping declarations of talent evaluation are largely off the mark.

Today, in an article on the Red Sox, and what moves he suggests they make, he calls Miguel Tejada “easily the best offensive shortstop in the game today”.

First, where’s the famous ‘ballpark adjustment’ for hitting in Camden Yards? Tejada doesn’t even stack up as the best, without an adjustment. Straight up stats tell a different story.

In slugging, Jhonny Peralta of the Indians, just 23 years old, led all full time shortstops with a .520 percentage. Tejada was second with a .515 percentage.

In on base, Derek Jeter was first with a .389 percentage. Micheal Young of Texas, Carlos Guillen of Detroit, Peralta, David Eckstein of the Cardinals, Julio Lugo of Tampa Bay, and Felipe Lopez of the Reds all finished ahead of Tejada.

In average, Young’s .331 in Texas leads everyone– and Guillen and Jeter hit better than Tejada, too.

In OPS, both Young and Peralta beat Tejada.

Twenty-one shortstops stole more bases than Tejada.

Tejada did finish with the most RBIs—98—but then, he also played 162 games, batting in an RBI position. RBIs are a deceiving stat, anyway, as the batting order and on base chances supplied by teammates makes this stat vary tremendously. But still, give him credit where it’s due.

Somehow, it’s not so easy at all to judge Tejada as “easily the best offensive shortstop in the game today”. Especially when you consider the REAL best hitting shortstop in the game is playing third base for the Yankees—Alex Rodriguez.

ARod’s numbers of .321 average, .610 slugging and .410 on base, along with 130 RBIs, crush Miguel’s .304/.515/.349 and 98 RBIs.

But since Johnny Damon has abandoned the Red Sox for pinstripes, thereby killing all talk of moving Derek Jeter to center, and allowing ARod the chance to continue his legacy of being the best shortstop ever, we can’t count those stats against Tejada.

But we don’t have to, anyway. Tejada is clearly not the best hitting shortstop in baseball, even without considering that he may well have started his decline phase—in both performance, and attitude.

Have a happy MLK day, everyone.

Peace-Out
Jim Evans
jevans@baseballdigestdaily.com

First off, thanks to all the people writing nice comments about my Hal Richman interview. We’ve had some great suggestions for future articles that I am looking into, also.

Today I am just going to ramble around, and hit a lot of general topics that are out there, waiting to be commented on…

Hats off to Jeff Bagwell for fighting to rehab himself, and play again. He could have pulled an Albert Belle, and just stayed home. The Astros would have been fine with that—it would kick in the insurance payments on his $17 million salary. And while that all makes business sense, it’s nice to see competitive spirit can still be found in a classy player like Bagwell.

Will someone just smack the next person that writes about Alex Rodriguez playing, or not playing, in the World Baseball Classic? Unless it’s me, of course. It’s an exhibition! Stop acting like America has nationalistic concerns here. The Dominican Republic, Japan, Cuba—and probably every other nation on the planet that’s in the WBC—really cares about this, but not us here in the U.S.A.. We have the same attitude as a country that we had when the first basketball Dream Team played– we should sweep through everyone, and someone’s cheating if we don’t.

But I would hasten to say this, too—the Dominicans, and several other teams, look strong, and could easily win. We won’t even have an excuse like our basketball team did, with Larry Brown as coach, messing it all up by benching LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.

The city of Anaheim says it lost $100 million last year alone, because of the name change of the Angels. What a ridiculous claim! Did people park somewhere else for the games? Stay in different hotels? Eat in different restaurants? That figure smacks of the same evaluation system as the old “impression” advertising that the Internet formally used—and that fell through the floor in the stock market crash of 2000. It isn’t how many people that might see your name that counts—it’s where the dollars are spent. And that’s still in Anaheim, folks.

Frank Thomas- Mike Piazza- Sammy Sosa. All 37 years old, and unemployed. Frank has the best shot at a good year next year, but all three are basically DHs right now, and have diminished gate draw.

The Dodgers are missing the boat by not signing Piazza as a player/assistant coach. He can pinch hit, play a game or two as a rest for someone at catcher or first, and would restore the pride they lost last year—not to mention healing the wounds from the most infamous Dodger trade in the last 20 years.

Sammy Sosa wants desperately to have one good year while being tested for steroids, to cut down on the rumors, and bolster his Hall of Fame chances. Rumor has it the Nationals are talking to him. Hey, they were desperate enough for offense to try Cristian Guzman at short—why not Sammy?

Kudos to the D-backs for signing Brandon Webb long term. With Gold Glover Orlando Hudson now at second base, Webb becomes a Cy Young contender. He easily is one of the top three ground ball pitchers in all of baseball, and dropped his walks from 119 in 2004 to 59 in 2005. In 2003, he was third in Rookie of the Year voting to Dontrelle Willis and Scott Podsednik. This guy is a keeper.

Mark McGwire has slowly deflated, like the Michelin Man with a hidden hole, mostly out of sight since he retired. He’s due for a rough year, as everyone on the planet will debate his Cooperstown stats, and the supplement that fueled them. Was it just Andro? Or did his Bash Brother buddy, Jose Canseco, show him the kiss of the needle, too? God knows in the 1980’s, we all thought they both did enough steroids to end up counting by stomping their foot, like a horse at the circus. It was a joke back then, but now it will be a debate like baseball has never seen.

Speaking of controversial sluggers, Barry Bonds is making news for playing in a golf tournament in the Dominican. See how desperate we are to write about him? He’s the Darth Vader of baseball—and it’s just not as good a story without him.

And while we are making Star Wars metaphors, would Kevin Millar be Jar Jar Binks? The self proclaimed ‘idiot’ has signed with the Orioles. I’m not sure if this is what Miguel Tejada has been waiting for, but it should provide comic relief in Baltimore. Or maybe, just like Jar Jar, it will be a huge disappointment, and not very funny at all. He may well get punched if he tries to tell Tejada to ‘cowboy up’. There’s a difference between Miguel’s competitive spirit, and Manny Ramirez running into the dugout on the second out of an inning. The same ‘idiot’ act might not play so well at Camden Yards.

And finally, hats off to Jon Saraceno, USAToday’s excellent writer, on his recent Pete Rose piece (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2006-01-10-rose_x.htm). It shows the Hit King in all his twisted, tortured glory.

My idea for a Hall of Shame wing in Cooperstown should be gaining momentum with all these recent controversies. Pete, McGwire, Shoeless Joe, Palmeiro—all deserve to have both sides of their story told in the Hall of Fame. Every kid who ever walks in there should know the price that cheating can cost you, no matter what you have achieved before you get caught.

Peace-Out
Jim Evans
jevans@baseballdigestdaily.com

First off, thanks to everyone for all the recent letters and comments. It’s appreciated!

Today, let’s talk about the Hall of Fame, and the ever-shrinking door that stands at its entrance.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the framework for voting for the Hall of Fame needs reworked. In an excellent article on this subject: (http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5238282),
Kevin Kennedy brings up a few points that bear repeating.

Why do only sports writers get a vote? Does this outdated practice stem from the days before radio—and if so, then also television? As Kennedy states, “Why limit the vote to only writers? Vin Scully, for example, has been broadcasting Dodgers games since the 1950s and has seen all the great players of the last half century.” He goes on to also list Jerry Coleman, Harry Calas, and Marty Brenneman.

This is an extremely valid point. Do we assume that these men, because a baseball team has employed them as announcers, are less objective than their newspaper counterparts? That would be ridiculous. One vote does not make or break a Cooperstown candidate. But to keep the broadcasting elite out of voting, for whatever reason, is also ridiculous. These men have seen players for decades, and surely deserve to have a vote as much as some sportswriter who has been working for just ten years, which is the minimum requirement.

If eligibility for voting were as strict as eligibility for the Hall itself, I would guess 75% of the voters would be denied. How many of them are as worthy of a vote as Jim Rice is for Cooperstown? And yet they presume to judge.

And what about ex-baseball players themselves? Surely, they are worthy of judging their opponents. If you polled the batters that faced Goose Gossage, I’m sure he’d have close to 90% of the votes, or more.

And how in the world does Lee Smith not get in, as the all-time saves leader? You wonder how many of these voters forget that they cover a sport that they are not good enough to play. Every major leaguer was a Hall of Famer in high school, when these writers were getting spit wads shot at them, and trying to get a date for Prom. The MLB All Time Saves Leader deserves more respect, just for his longevity. He is the Fran Tarkenton of baseball, if nothing else.

Every year, Cooperstown loses more respect with the general public. And it’s a tourist attraction, for God’s sake! Just think what Disneyland would be like if they had a voting committee to see who got in there.

Headlines would read “Pluto denied again!” with writers debating his lack of speaking lines as a disqualification.  And what about Huey, Dewey, and Louie? Could they ride Uncle Donald Duck’s tail feathers into the Land of Enchantment?

Everyone at Cooperstown takes himself or herself just a bit too seriously. I’ve seen Tibetan monks who were less serious. And I think praying for world peace outranks supposed baseball immortality, any day.

The all time saves leader is not in. The all time hit leader, Pete Rose, is not in—even though his character mirrors the man he surpassed, Ty Cobb, and Cobb got in on the first ballot ever cast. Barry Bonds may become the all time homer leader, and not get in, due to steroid suspicions.

Who do these people think they are? It’s time to re-model the Hall, and give votes to broadcasters and former players, so these sanctimonious writers have to relinquish their stranglehold on honors that gifted athletes work a lifetime earning.

I love the fact that baseball is a sport where I can have passionate readers fighting over whether ARod is a winner, or running smack on me because I am an admitted Indians fan, while our divisional rival the White Sox have a World Series ring that I barely ever mention—but when it comes to lifetime achievements for dedicated and talented players, we should have a more level headed approach about denying honor that is due.

Peace-Out
Jim Evans
jevans@baseballdigestdaily.com

The following is the second part of an interview with Hal Richman, founder and creator of Strat-O-Matic baseball, and the Strat-O-Matic game company.

JE: Over the last several years, your fielding ratings have changed, in regards to Gold Glove winners and their ratings. Can you describe the thought process that caused you to deviate from rating Gold Glove winners automatically better than the rest? I believe the first instance was when Alex Rodriguez won his first Gold Glove at shortstop, breaking Omar Vizquel’s consecutive award string.

HR: If our research overwhelming indicates that the wrong player won the the gold    glove or he is not strong enough to be rated a "1", we will deviate. The vast majority of gold glovers receive a "1".  Thus, it is the rare exception that does not.

JE: Are there future innovations being developed for the computer version that we can look forward to?

HR: For this coming computer version (Version 11), you will be able to create a year book, and your own web blogger site.  Also a Daily reporter has been created. Other improvements have also been made.

JE: Internet play is something new to the Strat-O-Matic game. Is it a difficult process to program a game that is enjoyable in person, and yet also Internet ready? What challenges do your programmers face in this process?

HR: As programming for the internet is entirely different than programming for the PC, the Strat-O-Matic programmers were not responsible for the internet programming. The Strat-O-Matic engine was transported to the Internet by the Sporting News programmers.

JE: Can you estimate how many games, of card and computer variety, you have sold over the years?

HR: As we are a private company, we do not divulge such information. However, millions of baseball fans have played or have heard of Strat-O-Matic over the years.

JE: Being privately owned, have you ever considered a public offering, or taking in partners for your company?

HR: Yes, but not recently.

JE: Does your company have plans to ever include video clips of players in the game?

HR: Not presently.

JE: What are some of the craziest suggestions you have ever received for additions to the game?

HR: A voice activated system that lets the computer create new leagues and draft the players for those teams.  Also, from the past, transfer the game to the Coleco Adam computer, a computer system that had no hard drive and only had 36 characters of text display.

JE: Is it possible to produce a game that is statistically perfect in every way?

HR: We always strive for it.

JE: Some game companies have Internet servers that host leagues and ‘pick-up’ games. Is this something that Strat-O-Matic would have an interest in developing in the future?

HR: Perhaps.

JE: Would Strat-O-Matic ever consider putting a balancing equation into its calculations that would negate the high slugging years of "the steroid era" of baseball? How does this compare to early re-creations of years when the baseball was considerably softer-the pre-1920’s, before Babe Ruth’s glory years?

HR: We have always abided by the rule changes of  Major League Baseball.  If they make no changes in the treatment of Bonds’ and others statistics, chances are , we will not either.

JE:  Do you personally have a favorite team, or batter or pitcher, from all the years you have researched?

HR: I love the old seasons, Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth and Joe Dimaggio are my favorites.  As a child, I was a Yankee fan but now I am just a baseball fan.

JE: Do you have any final words for all the thousands of fans of your games?

HR: It has been said that if you understand Baseball, you understand America. Thus Baseball is a great tribute to the nation.   It is easily the most historic of all the sports.  I thank the fans for their continuous support and recognition of our efforts to duplicate the country’s greatest sport.

JE: Thanks again for taking the time for this interview, and for making a great game!

Peace-Out

Jim Evans

jevans@baseballdigestdaily.com

The following is an interview with Hal Richman, founder and creator of Strat-O-Matic baseball, and the Strat-O-Matic game company.

JE: Hal, Thanks again for agreeing to take the time for this interview.

I’d like to start by asking you to give a brief account of the mental process that you went through in the creation of your now-classic baseball game, Strat-O-Matic baseball. What made you create this game, and decide to market it?

HR: Strat-O-Matic was created by a frustrated athlete with very ordinary athletic ability. Also, admittedly, it was an escape from my difficult father.  I initially did not want to be responsible for the manufacturing and distribution of the game. Efforts were made to sell the game to a private or public company, with myself being retained by that company to be responsible for that product.  Nobody wanted it. One of my selling tools was a very positive report on APBA put together by Dunn and Bradstreet.  When all avenues failed to produce an interested suitor, I turned to the D & B report for strength for going the route alone.

JE: Many years have passed since you created Strat-O-Matic baseball. You have advanced from dice and cards, and now include a computer version in your offerings, which can be played alone, or against an opponent on the Internet. How did you select the new talent- the programmers and designers-that were necessary for this new step?

HR:  Other than developing the board games, the most important thing I did for the company was the hiring of Bob Winberry.  Bob came to me on his own behalf,  suggesting that he could develop a computer basketball game  at no cost to the company. Within a meeting, he provided an outline for a pro basketball game. It was obvious from his outline that he had a wonderful feel for creating sports games.  He had played Strat-O-Matic since his 13th birthday and also had developed some non-published board games on his own. It was quite obvious that Bob and Strat-O-Matic were the perfect match, thus the hiring.

JE: Over the years, negotiating with Major League Baseball and the Players Union for rights to the names and statistics of baseball players must have changed. What was it like in the early days, and how has that changed now?

HR: Our relationship with MLPBA can be divided into two segments, the Marvin Miller era and the Donald Fehr era.  When Miller was at the helm, everything was basically a handshake. There was almost no contact with the Association. Royalty Checks would be sent in and deposited by the Association. That was it. Once Miller retired, the MLPBA licensing group changed dramatically.  A licensing organization was set up with Judy Heeter at the helm. From then on, there was hands on control, at times too much.  In her defense, there were some unsavory licensors who had to be monitored constantly.  In regards to the use of names and statistics of the players, there is no problem if the player has signed with the union. If he has not, we are not allowed to use his name, as in the case of Barry Bonds.  We have never dealt with MLB as we do not use the nicknames or team decals.

JE: Strat-O-Matic baseball has many unique qualities, including the balance between hitters and pitchers statistics that allow matchups that may, or may not, have occurred in real life. How does your company approach this task?

HR: With trepidation.  The lefty-righty matchups are very important.  If we feel that a player (usually hitters) does not have a realistic current breakdown, we will go back 3 years to verify the current data.  If it is not realistic, we will change it accordingly.  When a change is made, it does not affect his overall achieved average, just the lefty-righty breakdown.

JE: Are there special unique features in the computer version of the game that can help in the process of balancing hitters and pitchers stats, or is it more directly related to the cards and dice version?

HR: It is mostly based on the board game.  However, the computer help file indicates computer options only outside the board game.

The second half of this interview will be posted tomorrow.

Peace-Out
Jim Evans
jevans@baseballdigestdaily.com

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, in Orange County, state of California, West Coast of the United States of America, on the continent of North America, on the Third Rock from the Sun, in a little universe somewhere in space.

Now, is everybody happy?

Apparently not. The trial for the naming of the Angels franchise has just hit the courts.

To quote Douglas Adams, and the recent movie “A Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy”: “Space is Big. Really Big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindboggingly big it is.”

Yes, it is. Almost as big as Los Angeles.

Now, I know that all of those little, and big, towns in California have a lot invested in those city signs—you know, the “You are now entering (insert city name)” sign. And I know that all those little governments, and the little people who get elected to them, really have something that resembles civic pride, puffing their chests out and occasionally making them beam with it.

But, really, who are they fooling? You try driving from San Diego to Los Angeles, and tell me when one city stops, and another begins. It’s all just one giant mesh of humanity.

And this whole legal argument over the name of the Angels is like the threads of a coat screaming out, “I am not a sleeve! I am an armpit seam!”

To which I would reply, “No, you are a Coat”. Or rather, “No, you are Southern California, and Southern California is, for lack of a better term, all Los Angeles.”

When I went to college at Ohio University, many Cleveland area enrollees would identify themselves as being from Cleveland—and this was back when Cleveland jokes abounded. Whether they were from Parma, Lakewood, Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, or any other neighboring municipality, they didn’t mind cutting through the explanations, and lumping themselves with the big city.

I am also reminded that the Cleveland Cavaliers actually played in Richfield, Ohio for many years, a good 20 miles or so from the city. No one complained there.

Maybe the Anaheim officials should reconsider their complaint. Last I checked, the ball team was actually still playing in Anaheim. And I’ve heard rumors that Los Angeles has a few venues that would love to have the Angels play, and rent, and generate tourism income, in their neighborhood.

Plus, I see no one bringing up the actual fact that Los Angeles means “The City of the Angels”.

Perhaps the mayor of Anaheim should sue the Spanish conquistadors who brought their language over from Europe, and thereby caused loss of international acclaim to his city through this obviously malicious naming process.

Anaheim is known throughout the world already, though, isn’t it? Anyone ever heard of Mickey Mouse?

So your city has Disneyland, and a major league ball club that has won a recent World Series, and you are worried about tourism and notoriety? Try living where I live—Yuma, Arizona, the self proclaimed “Winter Lettuce Capital of America” and seasonal home to seemingly close to 100,000 “Snow Birds”—retirees from colder states and Canada who come down every winter and eat early bird specials, clip coupons, complain to locals that their town would be nothing without them, and tip less than five percent.

Now, that’s cause for civic offense.

Oh, Anaheim, how we pity you! You reside in Southern California, have a great baseball team, and never, ever shovel snow. You can drive to Disneyland, Hollywood and Mexico. What injustice the Divine has rained down upon your lives!

Maybe you should talk to someone who lives in Washington, D.C., and find out what its like to lose a baseball team, or talk to a Cleveland Browns fan, and find out how it feels to have your beloved franchise stolen from under your under-appreciating governmental nose.

Because, like it or not, sports teams are property, and can be moved, or renamed, without your permission.

Besides, you’re still in the name—“Blah blah blah Angels of Anaheim.”

Its not like they renamed your team the Baltimore Ravens.

Peace-Out
Jim Evans
jevans@baseballdigestdaily.com