When we’re not fantasizing about rebuilding a downtrodden franchise as its GM or replacing a skipper who should be run out of town, we seam-headed bloggers spend plenty of time pondering the life of a ballclub’s beat reporter. It sounds like a sweet deal: you get to see all the games, travel to all the ballparks in the league, spend hours talking to players, coaches and the manager, and generally glimpse behind the curtain at how a team works. You’re talkin’ baseball all day long, and they PAY you to do it. A bad day at the ballpark beats a good day in a fluorescently-lit cubicle.

Bronx Banter’s Alex Belth has a lengthy and fascinating interview with Buster Olney, the reporter for the New York Times who covered the Yankee beat from 1998 to 2001 –a pretty good run which saw the team reach four World Series and come within an inning of winning all four. Prior to that, Olney covered the Mets, the Orioles (when they were good), and the Padres (when they weren’t); now he’s traded in the horsehide for the pigskin, covering the NY Giants because the travel demands are less intensive.

In addition to offering a less rosy view of the beat life and its effect on a person, Olney’s got *plenty* to dish about the inner workings of the recent Yankee and Met clubhouses and about the game in general. Essential reading for fans of either team, not to mention just about everybody else.

• • •

The latest on Yankee reliever Steve Karsay is that Dr. James Andrews examined his shoulder on Tuesday and found no rotator cuff damage, but gave him two cortisone shots. The aforementioned Mr. Belth emailed Baseball Prospectus injury guru Will Carroll about Karsay’s woes. Here‘s what Carroll had to say:

[Karsay] needed relief in two distinct areas. NEVER a good sign and one that they’re already thinking he’s at significant risk. Still, it’s just inflammation and not something surgical so there’s still a chance he’ll come back. Give him a week’s rest and he can pick up his rehab again. Chance of recurrence? 100%.

I believe the proper term for that is double-ouch.

• • •

In a whole new league for recurring ouches is ESPN’s disaster timeline for Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. I’m not sure whether “comical if it weren’t so sad” or “sad if it weren’t so comical” is the proper description of the Big Owe, which hosted what is likely its final home opener on Tuesday. But I do know that a million drunken monkeys at a million drafting tables couldn’t come up with a worse design for that roof than stadium designer Roger Taillibert did.

And the monkeys who designed the roof at Milwaukee’s Miller Park didn’t do such a hot job either.

The New York Times is reporting that Yankee reliever Steve Karsay, who cut short a Monday bullpen session after just 11 pitches, is probably out for the season. Karsay’s currently suffering from bursitis in his shoulder, and its believed that his back woes contributed to it by altering his mechanics and/or disrupting his conditioning. He’s off to see orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Alabama, and that’s rarely good news.

It’s tough to nitpick a 16-3 juggernaut, but thus far the Yankee bullpen has been the team’s sore spot, posting a 5.35 ERA and 1.84 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) in their first 19 games. A slew of factors have contributed to that, including the incredible effectiveness of the starting five (a record 14-0 thus far, a collective 2.46 ERA, and almost 7 innings per start), injuries to Karsay and closer Mariano Rivera which have the Yankees relying on a new and relatively undistinguished cast of characters, and a complete cipher in Sterling Hitchcock, who’s pitched only 2.1 innings despite gobbling up a roster spot and $6 million of the Yankee payroll.

This laundry list doesn’t even include Jose Contreras, who in addition to being an expensive bust thus far out of the pen (10.80 ERA in 5 gruesome innings) is now the organization’s number one distraction based on his demotion/exile. It should also be pointed out that the Yankee defense has thoroughly let the relievers down: opponents are batting .429 (51-for-119) on balls in play against the pen (the team’s Defensive Efficiency Rating as a whole is .673, second-worst in all of the majors and about 39 points below the AL average).

There are some bright spots, however. The pen as a whole is striking men out (9.1 per 9 innings) and has allowed only one homer, Antonio Osuna (1.74 ERA) and Chris Hammond (2.16) have settled down after some first-week jitters, and Rivera should return later this week. But the loss of Karsay leaves the Yanks without any of last year’s three setup men, though it’s arguable whether or not Ramiro Mendoza (a gasoline-soaked 12.60 ERA for the Red Sox) is still on the Yankee payroll. Osuna, Hammond, and Juan Acevedo have Jeff Nelson-sized shoes to fill in earning Joe Torre’s trust and bridging the gap between the starters and the increasingly fragile Rivera. Contreras, Columbus shuttler Randy Choate, or green rookie Jason Anderson will need to step forward, or Brian Cashman may find himself dealing what few prospects the Yanks still have in exchange for more live arms.

More than anything this does makes the flyer the Yanks took on Acevedo look pretty smart. Though his ERA sits at an unsightly 6.43, the pudgy reliever is 3-for-3 in save opportunities and looks anything but lost out there. If Torre can use him to take the occasional load off of Rivera, that may be the best $900,000 the Yanks spend this season.

I haven’t seen any video of this, but it sounds and looks quite comical. Cardinals first baseman Tino Martinez was hit on the shoulder by the world’s worst poet, Diamondbacks pitcher Miguel Batista, and they jawed and glared at each other. Tino took his base and was then forced out on a grounder. As he was trotting off the field, he charged after Batista, who threw a ball at him from very close range — and missed. Punches were thrown, benches cleared, managers put the cheese in machismo, etc. Here’s a photo just before Batista threw the ball at Martinez when he charged. But this photo just makes it look like two girls having a slap fight.

Oh, and lest anybody think I’m encouraging this kind of behavior (I’ll cop only to “not discouraging it”), I’ll point out that this is as good an opportunity as any to marvel at Martinez’s .865 OPS this season. It’s all downhill from here for Tino.

• • •

Speaking of not being too outraged at irresponsible behavior, is anybody else having a tough time working up sympathy for Texas Rangers rightfielder Carl Everett, who got hit in the head by an errant cell phone thrown by a fan? I mean, yes, it would have been terrible if a vaguely human entity had been hurt by something a fan had thrown onto the field. But the last ballplayer anybody wants to come to the defense of, with the possible exception of John Rocker, is Everett. The problem, as most right-thinking baseball fans see it, isn’t that some fan hit Everett with a cell phone, or that the fan was stupid enough to use as a weapon (a deadly weapon, according to the charges filed by the D.A.) something which bore his identity. It’s that the fan didn’t hit that rage-addled, dinosaur-doubting child neglector (he plea-bargained his way down from child abuse back in ’97, recall) with something that really would have put him out of our misery. Everett stayed in the ballgame? Better luck with your next toss, pal.

Our good friends over at Elephants in Oakland were at Saturday’s ballgame when Everett was hit, and they (to stay in the “royal we” mode for a moment) have a lengthy description of the physics-defying toss and all of the other fallout surrounding it. They were also, so far as I know, the first ones to point out that when Everett picked up the cell phone and threw it off the field, HE hit somebody as well — a stadium employee. Note that while Everett plans to press charges against the fan, noboby is pressing charges against Everett.

Taken with the latest incident of a fan running onto the U.S. Cellular Field (formerly Comiskey Park II) to attack umpire Laz Diaz, the Everett incident is sure to provoke plenty of hand-wringing in the mainstream media and in MLB’s head office over how to protect those on the field, and plenty of pseudointellectual commentary as to how this proves the further decline of western civilization. Count me out of all of this, as I have no answers to offer, and no interest in trying. Hell in a handbasket, folks, just like this blog entry. Now excuse me while I go egg some taxicabs…

Postscript: Loathe him though I obviously do, I coudn’t pass up the opportunity to pick up the AL’s Player of the Week for my fantasy team. That ought to cool him off.

It’s come to my attention that one of my favorite blogs is back in the batter’s box. Pete Sommers’ Baseball News Blog went into hibernation at the end of the World Series, but it’s now up and running again, with Pete’s concise excerpts of news and blogs from around the game, and a great collection of links. That site has done a hell of a lot to put this weblog in front of readers, so I’m elated to see it return. Welcome back, Pete!

BNB has called my attention to some team-specific blogs you should check out:

• Edward Cossette’s Bambino’s Curse has been around for awhile, though not quite as long as the Curse itself. It offers a fresh and often funny perspective on the Red Sox. Edward’s got some insight into the Bosox fans’ reception of Pedro Martinez, their collapsable bullpen, and why obnoxious fans can’t resist booing or even running onto the field:

Some people are not satisfied watching the game on the field — They want to be part of the action. By booing they attempt to be somebody, to insert themselves into the game any way possible, even if their actions are shameful (booing) or downright heinous (running onto the field to attack an umpire).

It’s not just baseball, though, our whole culture is currently obsessed with being in the spotlight. How else does one explain the popularity of reality TV?

And before I get into the realm of the proverbial kettle calling the pot black, I’m not immune from such emotions myself. Wanting to be part of the game on a level higher than mere passive spectator helps explain in part why I post to this weblog every day.

The line, then, between acting like an ass and booing Pedro after one bad outing and writing a baseball blog is a blurry one.

• U.S.S. Mariner is an M’s related blog by Baseball Prospectus’ Derek Zumsteg and a couple of guys from the excellent, if often overlooked, Strike Three website. Right now the guys are keeping an eye on the M’s top prospects, sweating some of new manager Bob Melvin’s moves and figuring out new ways of knocking a few back while watching the M’s.

• The Eddie Kranepool Society is a Mets-themed blog, named after the man who saw the lowest of lows and the highest of highs from the Polo Grounds to Flushing Meadows.

• Fish or Cut Bait is, as you’d expect, a blog devoted to those woefully mismanaged Florida Marlins and “their lives, their loves, their incredibly dumb dumbness.” Writer Erik has a running tally of the Fish’s statistical gains from their aggressive base-stealing and looks to spend a lot of time bemoaning manager Jeff Torborg’s torture of his young starters.

• I’m not so hot about that lavendar (lavendar???) color scheme, but Jon Weisman’s Dodger Thoughts looks like a promising way to follow the boys in white, red and blue. Like the rest of us in the free world, Jon’s got issues about Ron Coomer. Jon goes to A LOT of games and likes to point out that he’s a positive influence on the team: their winning percentage over the past 12 seasons is 14 points higher with him at Chavez Ravine (.559) than not (.545). Maybe I ought to chip in for a few tix…

I’m finally back online after spending the better part of a draining week moving from a spacious and inexpensive (though grungy) East Village apartment shared with my friend to a cozy and pricey (but clean) love nest with my girlfriend. It’s an exciting transition, tempered only by the threat of me having to selectively store a sizable portion of my book and music collections. Where Have You Gone Vince DiMaggio? Right back into a stackable banker’s box. A minimalist I’m not; the librarian/archivist/pack rat who spent five years of manifest destiny at Chow Mein Central (the aforementioned Second Ave. apartment which I just vacated) is going to take time getting used to a limited amount of shelf space.

Moving has put me in touch with some far-flung friends and family, and there are a couple of baseball-related notes I’d like to share. The first is that the Jaffe family can now make claims to having a member in the major leagues… sort of. I often talk about my father’s side when it comes to baseball — my grandfather was offered a professional contract, and he spent countless hours playing catch and talking baseball with his grandkids. But on my mother’s side, there’s plenty of connection with the game as well. My uncle Harold recently retired from his car audio business to take his dream job: seating host at the Seattle Mariners’ Safeco Field.

Though my mom termed it “a Wal-Mart greeter” position, any baseball fan would agree that Harold’s got a pretty sweet gig (“it’s a fucking BLAST!” were his exact words to me). Essentially, he gets paid to watch baseball and to wear a uniform (unnumbered) while working the Diamond Club seats behind home plate, even getting on TV now and then. He was one of 30 people selected out of 300+ who interviewed for jobs, and was lucky (or well-connected) enough to be placed in the expensive seats, which rotate between four stations: one directly behind the plate, one behind each on-deck circle, and one in the restaurant downstairs.

“The job is to take care of the guests’ every need and insure that everyone has a good time,” writes Harold. “We don’t serve food or drinks as that job belongs to the Hyatt folks… There is certainly some work to this job, but it is great fun and I’ve already met some really nice folks that appreciate good service and good, knowledgeable conversation. There is no doubt that this is a job made for your Uncle Harold! We have to make sure that folks don’t get too rowdy and spoil the fun for others, but we have security to deal with those issues.” Hmmm, maybe I’m in the wrong line of work and should give Mr. Steinbrenner a call. In the meantime, congrats to Harold, my uncle that made the show.

Next up is a quick email I received from Ron L., my mentor and former co-worker, who got lucky at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday: “Wells pitched a ball to the second Toronto batter last night and it went off his bat and right into my hands!!!!! I was in sec 9 box 233 row G seat 1! I got the ball!!!!”

Now, I’ve been going to about 15 games a year for the past five seasons and the closest I’ve come to a horsehide souvenir is the infamous David Segui Foul Ball Incident, in which my former rooommate dropped one over the front rail of the upper deck to the jeers of 42,000 (everybody in the park except him) one chilly May afternoon. Ron goes to one game a year and snags a ball before anybody’s even snarfed down their hot dog, though to be fair he was sitting in a much closer seat than I usually do. Still, another lucky dog.

OK, time to unpack my bobbleheads (including the hard-won Paul O’Neill, for which I froze my ass off in the 20° wind chill last Wednesday). Gotta keep the important stuff around…

With everything else that’s been going on over the past few days, both in my life and the world of baseball, I neglected to point out something special: on April 9, The Futility Infielder turned two years old. The past year in particular has seen this site attain heights previously undreamt; my readership has nearly tripled in that time to around 100 hits a day, and on Thursday this blog passed its 38,000th recorded hit. I’ve made some new friends along the way and learned a lot about baseball, as well as about myself. It’s been a rewarding experience, and I take pride in what I’ve put together here.

At the risk of offending loyal reader Trevise, as when I mailed in a rerun of my birthday piece, I’m simply going to republish what I wrote on the occasion of the site’s first anniversary, because other than adjusting to add a year, I wouldn’t change a word of what I wrote. Enjoy!

• • •

The Rally of A Thousand Runs Must Begin With a Single Baserunner

Today is the [two]-year anniversary of the death of Willie Stargell, and it marks an anniversary of sorts for me as well — or for this site, more accurately.

The bat-twirling Pirates slugger with the infectious smile and the ridiculous train-conductor cap had been of my boyhood heroes. His death–at age 61, on the day the Pirates were to move into a new ballpark adorned by his statue–moved me more than most, as memories of watching “Pops” one storybook summer came flooding back. He was 39 and on his last good legs as a ballplayer, radiating joy every moment he played the game. Baseball, Willie’s smile told me, was all about having fun. I was 9 and learning the game from my father and grandfather; I pinwheeled my bat in imitation, and exuded joy every time I picked up my mitt.

A few months before Stargerll died, my own grandfather, Bernard Jaffe, had passed away, and his death was still weighing on me when the news about Willie came. “Pop” spent endless hours with me and my brother during our summer stays in Walla Walla, playing catch, pitching to us, taking us to games, and regaling us with tales of Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson as we watched ballgames on cable. The 1979 “We Are Family” Pirates, led by Stargell to a World Championship, were a mainstay of one summer’s programming (we were a Dodger family, but the Dodgers were well on their way to a season in sub-.500 oblivion). Moved by Stargell’s passing and, in the tradition of my grandfather, struck with a yearning to pass on a generation of baseball wisdom to those whose appreciations didn’t go back as far, I wrote an obituary of sorts, and emailed it around to friends.

In doing so, I tapped into a urge I’d had for a few years to combine my writing and my design into a single project, a labor I could love. I began plotting a web site as an outlet for my increasingly frequent writing about baseball, and my Stargell obit was the cornerstone (though in retrospect it’s a bit clumsy and half-finished). In two weeks time, I’d registered a domain name, opened a Blogger account, bought a book on web site design, and started construction of the empire which would make me rich and fam… oh, wait. It hasn’t (and won’t) make me rich and famous, but I’ve built something over the past [two] year[s] which I’m very proud of — not every single word or every opinion offered, but not too bad either. A peek inside the head of one fan and a look at the ways we fans enjoy the game — whether following our favorite stars or teams, taking in a night at the ballpark, or poring over the box scores. I hope you’ve enjoyed it; I know I have.

So happy birthday to me and to this site, and thank you to those who’ve supported it. As the Mayor of this here domain, let me declare this and all future April 9ths to be Wille Stargell Day. May we all take as much joy and offer as much inspiration as Willie did in our endeavors.

Yesterday’s Bull Durham-related controversy reminded me exactly why I don’t write about politics anymore: it angries up the blood, to borrow a phrase from Satchel Paige. Of course, he was talking about fried meats, not free speech and civil liberties, but I’ll reckon ol’ Satch probably knew a few things about those too.

Anyway, there are a few links I want to pass on before I leave this behind and get back to talking baseball, where our agreements and disagreements are more benign, less charged. As Tim Robbins eloquently put it yesterday: “Isn’t one of the greatest things about going to the ballpark that you can sit next to someone you don’t agree about anything with and cheer for the same thing?”

First up is a letter to the Hall of Shame from Jules Tygiel, author of one of my favorite baseball books, Past Time, and a man who, from his writing on Jackie Robinson to his work on the recent traveling Baseball As America exhibit, has had a huge impact on my understanding of the game’s social aspect. Tygiel’s letter, which he posted on Baseball Primer, eloquently sums up my feelings on this imbroglio, so I’ll rerun it here:

Dear Dale:

As the holder of a lifetime membership in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Musuem, someone whose personal papers currently reside in the library at the Hall of Fame, and the author of the introductory sections (including those on patriotism and nationalism) to the Hall of Fame publication, Baseball As America: Seeing Ourselves Through Our National Game, I wish to strongly protest your imperious decision to cancel the commemoration of the anniversary of Bull Durham in Cooperstown, due to the opposition to the Iraq war voiced by its stars Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.

The presidency of the Baseball Hall of Fame is, in effect, a sacred trust. By politicizing the Hall of Fame, you have violated that trust. Your position does not give you the right to impose your own political views on the events at the Hall to the exclusion of all others. One must assume that if people who protest American military actions are not welcome at the Hall of Fame, then Abraham Lincoln who opposed the Mexican War, Mark Twain who opposed the Spanish-American and Philippine Wars, and Martin Luther King, Jr., who opposed the war in Vietnam would not be welcome at the Baseball Hall of Fame. I also must assume that this letter jeopardizes my own future relationship with the Hall.

You write of Sarandon and Robbins, “We believe your very public criticism of President Bush at this important — and sensitive — time in our nation’s history helps undermine the U.S. position, which ultimately could put our troops in even more danger. As an institution, we stand behind our President and our troops in this conflict.” How was this institutional position arrived at? Were the employees or trustees polled? Were the people who pay dues to the organization asked? Were those enshrined consulted? Or is this the fiat of one person, yourself? Since when does the Hall of Fame take a position on political issues or voice open support for political figures and why is the opinion of the head a baseball museum more valid or valued than those of other public figures, like movie stars?

I doubt very much that the expressed opinions of two celebrities “put our troops in…danger.” But actions like yours place our basic constitutional rights in dire jeopardy and disqualify you from representing the American national pastime. If you cannot see clear to reverse your position, then hopefully you will have the decency to resign.

Sincerely,

Jules Tygiel

Tygiel wasn’t the only renowned baseball writer who chose to distance himself from the Hall. Boys of Summer author Roger Kahn cancelled an appearance there. Hell, even Major League Baseball, which has shown its own PR ineptitude in the past, wasn’t touching the Hall with a ten-foot pole: “”Major League Baseball has nothing to do with a Hall of Fame event,” said Richard Levin, the MLB’s senior vice president for public relations. “It is not our practice to make political statements.”

Next up is Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times, who drew a contrast between Iraqis celebarating their new-found freedom with Dale Petroskey’s actions, calling the Hall president a “21st-century Joe McCarthy (the former senator, not the former manager).” Jeff Blair of Toronto Globe and Mail invoked McCarthy as well: “And you thought the only Joe McCarthy in Cooperstown was the legendary former manager? Let’s get this straight: Cooperstown has admitted racists, drunks, gamblers and people with god knows what else in their closet. It’s already admitted Reds, for Pete’s sake. It has articles on display from guys who dabbled in illegal drugs when they played and, in the next decade, will start admitting a generation of power hitters and power pitchers, at least a few of whom used illegal steroids. It has, in short, admitted the worst and the best of the game and society — people whose tendencies leaned toward cross burning as well as trailblazing. It is representative.”

Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant and Ira Berkow of the New York Times both drew on speeches from Bull Durham in their responses. Jacobs mused that while “Crash Davis said there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter… Kevin Costner’s character never told Susan Sarandon’s character there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing free speech. Maybe Dale Petroskey got that part confused.” Berkow uses Annie Savoy’s quoting of Walt Whitman:

“I see great things in baseball, it’s our game. The American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us.”‘I see great things in baseball, it’s our game. The American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us. ”

Baseball in many ways has indeed come to symbolize America. For example, the manager informs the umpire that he’s an idiot. That is called dissent, a longstanding institution in this country, but one with which Dale Petroskey, president of the Baseball Hall of Fame, is not fully familiar…

Although Petroskey wrote “We believe,” it was left unclear exactly who “we” were. According to Jeff Idelson, the Hall’s public-relations executive, Petroskey said it was “a management decision,” which means it was a royal “we” – Petroskey acting alone, apparently without consulting his board, which includes a handful of baseball people, including Bud Selig, George Steinbrenner, Joe Morgan, Frank Robinson and Tom Seaver. (Petroskey refused to take phone calls.)

Is Petroskey saying that it’s O.K. to dissent as long as you don’t have the large platform that people like Robbins and Sarandon enjoy? And what does it mean to “act and speak responsibly”? Should we all simply follow the opinion of others? Is that American? Aren’t our soldiers fighting for freedom for the Iraqis, the chance to institute a democratic government like the one in this country that (oops) protects free speech?

Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald spoke to a weary Robbins yesterday, who told him, “The danger in something like this is it sends the message that if you don’t agree with the administration, you’ll be punished. The people who say actors shouldn’t opine about these things are the people who think we’ll have public influence. Maybe they should strengthen their arguments instead of worrying about us. I worry people will get intimidated by backlash, won’t participate in democracy and will just let the government do what it pleases. That’s unhealthy in a democracy where we celebrate our differences of opinion.”

Finally, Chuck Carlson of Wisconsin’s Oshkosh Northwestern (whaddaya mean you’ve never heard of it?) reminded us that all over the country, Petroskey looks out of step:” Perhaps Petroskey and his conservative cronies believe they’ve struck another blow for real Americans. But, in reality, he hasn’t. This is a move that will look to most normal American as the small-minded stunt it is and, perhaps, maybe he’ll still change what’s left of his mind. But don’t count on it. In the meantime, pick up “Bull Durham” and revel in it one more time. Because, despite the efforts of the lunatic fringe, it remains a great baseball movie and symbolizes, in so many ways, what this country used to be about and what it may be again someday.”

Amen to that.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown has cancelled a celebration of the movie Bull Durham because of the anti-war views of stars Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon. Hall president Dale Petroskey informed the actors via a letter this week that the celebration, due to take place April 26-27 has been called off:

In a free country such as ours, every American has the right to his or her own opinions, and to express them. Public figures, such as you, have platforms much larger than the average American’s, which provides you an extraordinary opportunity to have your views heard — and an equally large obligation to act and speak responsibly… We believe your very public criticism of President Bush at this important — and sensitive — time in our nation’s history helps undermine the U.S. position, which ultimately could put our troops in even more danger. As an institution, we stand behind our President and our troops in this conflict.

Un-freakin’-believable. Petroskey, a former White House assistant press secretary under Ronald Reagan, is afraid that two intelligent, outspoken actors are more capable of endangering the United States’ military personnel than President George W. Bush, the commander in chief who sent those forces to war. So afraid that he apparently believes that the constitutional rights of public figures should be curtailed; in a time of war, those rights apparently don’t apply!

As I’ve said before, I have no intentions of turning this space into a political diatribe. But this action is downright cowardly. The Hall of Fame is a private institution. But it’s also a tax-exempt non-profit one, and as an astute reader (posting under Sarandon’s name but admitting that’s not actually his or her identity) points out, such organizations are not allowed to engage in political activity. Petroskey and the Hall are out of bounds, but the irony of them going out of their way to pre-empt Robbins’ and Sarandons’ appearance and call attention to their views is that they’ve given them a far wider audience (in this circle, at least) than they otherwise would have received.

Robbins replied to Petroskey’s letter with the following:

I am sorry that you have chosen to use baseball and your position at the Hall of Fame to make a political statement. I know there are many baseball fans that disagree with you, and even more that will react with disgust to realize baseball is being politicized.

To suggest that my criticism of the President put the troops in danger is absurd. … I wish you had, in your letter, saved me the rhetoric and talked honestly about your ties to the Bush and Reagan administrations.

You invoke patriotism and use words like “freedom” in an attempt to intimidate and bully. In doing so, you dishonor the words “patriotism” and “freedom” and dishonor the men and women who have fought wars to keep this nation a place where one can freely express their opinions without fear of reprisal or punishment.

Amen to that. I’ve attempted to send a letter to the Hall of Shame via its contact page, but submitting the form is apparently producing an error at the moment. I’d like to think it’s because so many baseball fans are outraged at this action, but I suspect it’s just the Hall of Shame conveniently closing its ears to the public until the storm dies down. I’ll keep trying to get through. [Postcript: submitting the form through the site’s contact page via .org instead of .com worked. The above link has been changed to reflect that.]

Thanks to reader Andrew Blackistan for calling this story to my attention.

Since I haven’t picked on the Red Sox yet this season… over at the premium portion of Baseball Prospectus, Joe Sheehan wries about the Red Sox decision to pick up Pedro Martinez’s option for 2004. Martinez, who’s got more whine than Ernest and Julio Gallo, successfully spun the situation in his favor such that the Sox acted seven months early in guaranteeing his $17.5 million contract, and when they capitulated the headline included the word “Finally.”

Here’s a sampling of what Sheehan has to say:

I don’t like the decision to pick up the option. I just don’t trust pitchers, especially ones who have to be babied just to get them to 200 innings. As great a pitcher as Martinez has been, he hasn’t been a workhorse since 1998, and as recently as 2001 was limited to 18 starts and 116 2/3 innings. … In just one season in Boston has Martinez been a reliable member of the rotation from April through September, which is reflected in where he ranks among his peers in workload:

Rank, American League innings pitched, 1998-2002: 7, 8, 7, 60, 20

Rank, American League games started, 1998-2002: 6, 33, 29, 55, 23

Ouch. Glad it ain’t my money.

As I’ve been meaning to point out, thus far I’m very happy with the bang for the buck Prospectus Premium has provided. It’s great to have Sheehan back, and Will Carroll’s Under the Knife column has been essential during these days of dislocated shoulders. Their free April Fool’s features (Tejada re-signing with the A’s, Doug Pappas defending Bud Selig’s take on the game’s finances, and some unlikely quips in Ryan Wilkins’ The Week In Quotes column) are still worth a laugh if you haven’t seen them. At least one of my blogging colleagues fell for it hook, line and sinkerball.

Though the weather in New York City still frigid, I’ve been thinking warm thoughts while writing up my Florida spring training journey. It’s three pages long, with about 30 photos (click them to enlarge) and a few more still to come. Check it out!

As you might expect, this piece has lately been absorbing most of the time I devote to this site, so I apologize to those of you who come here regularly expecting more content. Without trying to discourage anybody from checking in daily, things may remain a bit sporadic around here for the next week or so. The reason, and it’s a happy one, is that I’m moving into a new apartment (still in Manhattan’s East Village, now over near Tompkins Square Park) with my girlfriend of two and a half years. The move’s a week from today, so I’ll need to get crackin’ with the packin’. Lord only knows how quickly I’ll have Internet access, so if you’re hungry for baseball content, be sure to check out my pals listed at left. A few of the recent highlights:

• Baseball Musings’ David Pinto conducts an email interview with Bill James: “The game is very, very different from the game of 1977. . . it’s almost hard to put a finger on any one thing. But probably the easiest thing to SEE is the change from a speed game to a power game, with the consequent change in the pace of the game and in the appearance of the game. The players of today simply don’t LOOK like the players of the 1970s. They are much heavier, much thicker, much slower.”

• Baseball Ranter Mike Carminati examines the 30th Anniversary of the Designated Hitter: “If the AL fans really want to see more .130 hitters, more power to them. Just don’t say that it improves play, induces strategy, or eliminates one-dimensional players.”

• The tireless Lee Sinins, who puts together the daily Around the Majors mailing list, is interviewed over at Netshrine: “I’ve been collecting about 250 articles a day during spring training. When the season starts, that number obviously gets a lot higher. If it’s an AP article, if it’s a feature article on someplace like ESPN.com or Sportsline.com, or if it’s an item in the daily papers covering teams, if it’s online, odds are good I collect it.”

• Cub Reporter Christian Ruzich is back from a road-trip-enforced period of silence.

• In what we can only hope becomes a regular feature, Baseball Primer author and National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Manager of Program Presentations Bruce Markusen has penned a lengthy column full of all sorts of great trivia on DHs, Opening Day highlights, and the amazing afro of Rick Sweet.