The Mysteries of Baseball Management

I love the sport of baseball. Although it definitely takes athletic prowess and skill, it really is a game that hinges on tactics and strategies. It takes a keen mind to conceive and execute a successful plan of attack in baseball.

With that in mind, I can see no method to the madness of JP Ricciardi, the brains behind the Toronto Blue Jays.

Two seasons ago, the Blue Jays finished in second place in the American League East. Their biggest gaps were at shortstop where John McDonald had played brilliant defense but struggled at the plate; middle relief that often put the game out of reach; and a dependable second or third starting pitcher, preferably a left-hander.

Ricciardi responded by signing aging slugger Frank Thomas to be the team's new designated hitter, even though they'd been one of the more offensively gifted clubs the year before. He made some other additions, but the Thomas acquisition was Ricciardi's biggest move.

In no way did this address any of the team's needs. Admittedly, Frank Thomas proved to be a considerable asset, leading the Jays last year in home runs and RBI. He also made the Jays a more difficult team to pitch against. Pitching around him only added to the bases for solid hitters Alex Rios, Matt Stairs and Vernon Wells. It also took alot of pressure of those hitters, and other players in the Jays' line-up.

Unfortunately, the Big Hurt is a notoriously slow starter, and he was struggling at the start of this season. After some heated exchanges between John Gibbons and Thomas, Thomas was given his release. Shortly afterwards, he was picked up by the Oakland Athletics, with the Blue Jays picking up his $7 million tab.

Maybe Thomas was a problem in the locker room. Maybe, as speculated in much of the press, it was a cost cutting measure. Even if both of those issues contributed to his release, the move still doesn't make sense.

In both cases, Ricciardi should have moved him in the offseason, either for some draft picks or, better yet, some farm hands. It would have reduced the media attention and also meant that the Jays would have gotten something in return for Thomas. Instead of getting some bench depth, the Jays are now paying Frank Thomas to jack home runs for the competition, with literally nothing in return.

This is madness.

Alex the Great

Unfortunately, the Philadelphia Flyers downed the Washington Captials 3-2 in overtime, winning game seven of their playoff series. The Capitals could not match the physicality and veteran experience of the Flyers who were able to push their way into the next round.

But with the completion of Alexander Ovechkin's third season, we have seen the beginning of the new National Hockey League. We have seen him become the league's clear-cut MVP, with an electrifying brand of hockey that can excite even the most casual fan.

What I like best about Ovechkin isn't just his incendiary offense but how solid his overall play is. He doesn't just lead the Caps in goals and assists, he leads them in hits and plus/minus, showing that he has a well-rounded game that includes defensive prowess as well.

He has been the cornerstone of a revitalized Washington Capitals, and has helped carve out a niche for the Caps in the DC market. Really, a remarkable feat given that beyond the Redskins, the number one sport in Washington is in Congress.

There is, of course, the comparisons to Canada's own, Sidney Crosby. Where Crosby is taciturn with the media, underscoring years of practice having been under the spotlight since being an adolescent in Nova Scotia, Ovechkin is exuberant and goofy in front of the camera. Where Ovechkin plays up his awkward mastery of English and fools around with his teammates, Crosby is careful to say all the right things about the right people.

For years to come we're going to be treated to seeing Ovechkin grow, mature, and become an even more dominant force on the ice. What'll be interesting is if he can maintain his fun-loving zest for life. But if this post-season is any indication, he'll not only perform, he'll thrive under the increased spotlight.

Book Review: Searching for Bobby Orr by Stephen Brunt

I have read many sports biographies, "auto"biographies where the writing is undoubtedly done by a ghost writer, legit autobiographies and other non-fiction accounts of sports. I've read Leigh Montville's biography of Ted Williams, Jim Bouton's memoir Ball Four, H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights and more recent releases like :07 Seconds or Less and Fantasyland.

Searching for Bobby Orr is in a league of its own.

Stephen Brunt, a regular columnist for the Globe and Mail, truly does an excellent job detailing the life of Bobby Orr, a notoriously uncooperative interview subject. Because he was denied personal access, Brunt relies on tons of background research in magazines, newspapers, and interviews of the people around him. Although he knows his subject very well, Brunt never gets too close, too admiring of Orr, providing the reader with a fairly objective account of what Bobby Orr is like.

More impressively, Brunt even makes notorious lawyer-cum-fraud artist Alan Eagleson seem sympathetic. This is no easy task, especially for an audience of hockey fans who are more likely to sympathize with their on-ice heroes who were taken gross advantage of by Mr. Eagleson. However, Brunt is able to present both sides of the argument fairly, even scoring some fair points on behalf of Eagleson.

This is one of Brunt's strengths: he really humanizes the story. He has an empathetic writing style that humanizes the subject matter. For my part, I'd always heard of Bobby Orr, but certainly never seen him play. I never understood how important he was to the sport of hockey on or off the ice. I'd always grown up idolizing Paul Coffey's offensive-defensive style, and I now appreciate that Orr is Coffey's stylistic ancestor.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who's got even a passing interest in hockey. It's a great read.

Love them or hate them - - the Leafs are important

I have many friends and family who are not fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs. My mother is from Montreal and is a die-hard Habs fan; my girlfriend is from Edmonton, a lifelong Oilers fan, even though they've had some serious struggles. I totally appreciate that - - you should cheer for your team through thick and thin. They represent you. However, many Canadians cheer for their local team, and, should their team be eliminated from the playoffs, they then cheer for other Canadian teams.

Except the Leafs.

People hate the Leafs. Loathe the Leafs. Win or lose, many Canadians despise the Leafs and want to kick them when they are down.

For those of you who are not Canadian, this is part of a bigger Canadian issue. This vitriol is actually a symptom of Canada's rampant regionalism and the somewhat justified resentment of a very decentralized nation that has much of its business and media power centralized in Toronto.

Resentment towards the Leafs stems from the fact that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - - an institution financially supported by the federal government - - always focuses Hockey Night in Canada on the Maple Leafs. They always play in the main 7 PM time slot, and are the focus of any hot-stove conversation. Defenders of HNIC would deny this charge, but there is a more obvious reason for this, recently underscored by an article in the Globe and Mail:

The producer of "MVP" says she was recently warned by CBC programming director Kirstine Layfield that if the Leafs failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, the public broadcaster's arts and entertainment division would take a $10-million hit that would put some of the network's much-heralded new shows at risk.

There are many Leafs fans across Canada, vestiges of a time when the Leafs were English-Canada's team. This fan base is particularly rabid. Regularly watching Leafs games can be somewhat confusing because Leafs fans are as loud on the road as they are at home. Often, you need to see the logo on centre ice to tell where the Buds are playing.

You can love or hate the Maple Leafs, you can even dislike the NHL or sports in general, but if you are Canadian you can not deny this fact: the Toronto Maple Leafs are culturally significant. Even when they are struggling and not living up to the very high standards that their fans hold them to, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the most important Canadian sports franchise. I daresay they are one of the more important businesses in this nation.

So important that their on-ice struggles have cost the CBC and will apparently mean the cancellation of popular shows MVP, Intelligence and JPod. Mary Young Leckie, creator of MVP said "It's just another good reason to hate the Leafs." Can you imagine Coronation Street's success being dependent on the fortunes of Manchester United? The renewal of Seinfeld relying on the Yankees winning the pennant? Really, it's a pretty unique situation.

I'm sorry that these shows have been canceled, and as a fan of the Leafs I'm sorry that they're not going to make the playoffs. But I think that fans of other teams have to ease off their loathing of the Leafs, at least to the point that they can appreciate that our public broadcaster has been built upon a foundation paid for by the fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are, regrettably, a necessary evil in this country, and their success translates to the continued cultural growth of this country.

A guest blogger

My dad saw that I haven't been able to post on this blog for awhile, so he kindly offered to write a post for me. In the next few days I should be able to have some more time to dedicate to posting regularly here and will be back on track with my Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule.


FLASH! Leaf fans not as smart as they think!

Here are some facts so that Leaf fans can legitimately restore their high opinions of themselves:

1. 1983 was the last draft year that 100% of the players drafted in the first round actually made it to the NHL. In fact, only four times before that (post-expansion), namely 1973, 1977, 1978 and 1979 did 100% of the first-round selections make the NHL.

2. In 1967 (when Canadian-born players prevailed), only 3 out of a total of 18 first rounders made the NHL. These were Serge Bernier (selected 3rd); Battleship Bob Kelly (selected 16th) and Al Karlander (selected 17th). Consider that the league doubled in size within months after this 1967 draft! Yet only these 3 made it!

3. Alexander Steen was picked by the Leafs in the first round. Last year, he had a 40 game scoreless streak. This year, he will, again, not score even 20 goals in the season.

Conclusion: Having first round draft choices does not assure success for NHL teams. It's a crap shoot. So dumping Mats Sundin for a first round draft choice and one or two 2nd stringers would have been stupid.

Conclusion: Sundin saved the Leafs from such a foolish trade - if it could even have been made - given current revulsion of GM's to rent-a-players. Leaf fans should not hang Sundin in effigy. They should show some appreciation for him (not just because he is probably the greatest player in franchise history). Particularly stupid are those who claim that Sundin should have waived the no-trade clause out of loyalty to the team. They subscribe to the Titus Oates mentality that you can save the team by abandoning it. How stupid!

Conclusion: Those idiots who say that the Leafs should deliberately tank it so that they can participate in the 5-team lottery for the top draft choice are particularly dull-witted. They are also dishonest. Firstly, the Leafs can enhance the value of their entire team by making the playoffs. Cliff Fletcher will have a hard time making successful trades if he is seen as offering a bunch of losers (who couldn't make the playoffs and who tanked it). Secondly, apart from enhancing the market-value of players who make the playoffs, the young players on the Leafs will gain valuable experience by playing in the playoffs. That kind of exciting, desperate hockey is not matched by any playoff in any sport. It is irreplaceable. Thirdly, if the Leafs tank it, they still might not win the lottery for the first draft choice.

Finally, shame on Stormin' Norman Rumack and Mike Milbury. They have encouraged frustrated Leaf fans to vent their deficient analyses of the situation. Are they idiots too? Or are they cynical members of the media who are fanning the flames for ratings? Either way, shame on them!

With my apologies...

This is reading week and I've got pressing deadlines both at work and at school, so, unfortunately, my focus is elsewhere.

But here, instead of spending about seven minutes reading my blog, you can watch seven minutes of NBA Slam Dunk contest:

The NBA's Western Conference Cold War continues

It started with the Memphis Grizzlies trade of Pau Gasol to the Lakers for spare parts to create a better low-post scoring threat to balance Kobe Bryant's perimeter and slashing game.

Then, the much discussed trade of the Miami Heat's Shaquille O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion.

And now, at long last, the New Jersey Nets have pulled the trigger and sent Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks.

Only the gun misfired.

The Nets and Mavs agreed to exchange Jason Kidd for Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Devean George and others. The trade was all but done. On Wednesday night the Nets didn't play Kidd against the Toronto Raptors (and paid for it by losing 109-91 ) and the Mavericks didn't play Harris or Stackhouse. Everything was going smoothly.

Except Devean George refused to waive his no trade clause.

And now, while he is being persuaded to agree to spend some time in the Swamp, Jerry Stackhouse might be ruining the deal by implying that he and the Mavericks worked out a deal where he would get waived by the Nets and then return immediately to the Mavericks.

This situation has become a laughable mess.

But that's what happens in Cold Wars, isn't it? As tension builds, as sides begin to arm themselves and increasingly ridiculous and desperate moves are made, things get out of hand.

At this rate, I'd be surprised if there were any superstars left in the Eastern Conference by the end of the season!