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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Waterboy

Adam Sandler vaulted into the $20-million-salary stratosphere with this, his second $100-million hit in 1998--a movie that further shows just how deeply embedded he is in the Jerry Lewis tradition of idiot comedy. He plays Bobby Boucher, a backwoods Cajun and a mentally challenged individual with a fixation on water: specifically, on serving the coolest, most refreshing H2O available to the college football team he has served since he was an adolescent. But when he's fired from his position, he takes up a similar job with a lowlier college team coached by neurotic Henry Winkler. One day at practice, Bobby loses his temper and delivers a bone-shaking tackle to the starting quarterback; before he can say, "blackened crawdads," he's the star of the team and leading it to a bowl game. But it's all against the wishes of his overprotective mother (Kathy Bates), who wants to keep her Bobby to herself--and that includes keeping him away from the floozy girlfriend (Fairuza Balk) who's sweet on him. There are two kinds of people in this world: People who find Sandler funny and people who view him as a neon-lit symbol of the decline of popular taste. You know who you are and, based on that, you can decide whether this is a movie for you. --Marshall Fine
Customer Review: Hilarious
This is Adam Sandler at his best playing a goofy waterboy. Kathy Bates as his overbearing mother was hilarious, the scene with his bed sheet pegged out is just class, I have never laughed so much. This is an absolute must see for all Sandler fans.
Customer Review: Great Sandler film
This is a great movie. Many lines that are worth repeating to your friends.

It's that time of year again known as the off-season in pro baseball and as always free agency was one of the hottest topics at the GM meetings this past week (November 5-8, 2007). The other two were instant replay and trying to approve the wearing of batting helmets for first and third base coaches. The helmet issue arose due to the death of Rockies Minor League manager, Mike Coolbaugh, who died after being struck in the head by a line drive while coaching first base.

Looking back in retrospect, free agency was born out of 70 years of player frustration at the hands of baseball owners who held a choke hold on player's rights. The Brotherhood Strike (1890) was the first attempt by the ball players to end the owners grip on player mobility as they organized the National Brotherhood of Ball Players. But it failed miserably and the owners kept their death grip on the game until 1966.

That year, the players enlisted the services of Marvin Miller, labor union activist, and formed the Major League Ball Players Association (MLBPA). The final nail in the coffin of the owner's reserve clause binding players to one team happened when both Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax refused to re-sign their contracts. In 1970, Curt Flood, St. Louis Cards outfielder, took the leagues to court to officially challenge the clause by negotiating a player trade citing the 13th Amendment and Antitrust legislation as grounds for the law suit.

He lost the case in 1972 in the Supreme Court by a 5-3 vote, but due in part to large-scale public sympathy, the damage had been done. In 1975, Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith played without contracts and then declared themselves free agents. The owners, whose grip on the ball players was weakened by concessions that came out of the Flood case, had no choice but to accept the Collective Bargaining Agreement put forth by the MLBPA, effectively ending once and for all the reserve clause's effectiveness.

I've come up with a list of the five biggest free agent busts of the last ten years by putting in some due diligence and doing some research. Hopefully, you'll see my reasoning behind choosing the five ball players that are on this list. I arranged the list from lowest annual contract salary to the highest, and oddly enough three of the five are pitchers.

Biggest Bust #5 - Albert Belle (LF/RF - Orioles) - 5 years, $65 million ($13m/yr.)

Albert "Joey" Belle played for three teams in his injury shortened 12 year career --- the Indians (1989-96), the White Sox (1997-98), and the Orioles (1999-2000). He was called "Joey" (his childhood nickname) while in the minors, but his temperament and excessive drinking habits labeled him a high risk draft prospect in college, and it was during his counseling for alcohol abuse that he started going by his proper name of Albert.

Even though his career was ended in 2000 due to a severe hip injury, Belle's career was continually clouded by his questionable behavior both on and off the field. He was suspended in the 1986 college World Series when he went into the stands after a fan had been shouting racial slurs at him. In 1990, he threw a baseball into the stands, hitting a person that was taunting him about his alcohol rehab. He also ran into a Halloween vandal with his car after catching him in the act of throwing eggs at his house.

In 1994, a corked bat got him suspended. He was fined in 1996 for colliding with Fernando Vina on a play at second base. And in 1995, Hannah Storm of NBC Sports was the target of a profane outburst during the 1995 World Series when she approached him for an interview. It was also reported that the Indians billed him $10,000 a year for damages done to opposing team's clubhouses during road games.

At the end of the 1999 season, Belle invoked a clause in his contract that would guarantee that he would remain one of the three highest paid players in baseball, and when the White Sox refused to give him a raise, he immediately became a free agent. The Orioles, desperate to get back into a pennant chase, jumped at the opportunity and signed Belle to a five year contract worth $65 million. But Belle's career would end after only two of the five seasons on the contract when he was diagnosed with degenerative osteoarthritis of the hip. He was only 34 years old.

During his career, Belle became only the fourth player all time along with Ruth, Gehrig, and Foxx to have eight straight seasons of 30 or more homers and 100 or more RBI's. In 1995, Belle became the only player in MLB history to hit 50 homers and 50 doubles, and to this day he remains alone in the record books with that stat.

Biggest Bust #4 - Chan Ho Park (P - Rangers) - 5 years, $65 million ($13m/yr.)

Park has been with 4 teams in 14 professional seasons. He was picked up by the Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1994 where he spent eight seasons (1994-2001), then pitched for the Rangers (2002-05), the Padres (2005-06), and finally the Mets (2007). But the "bust" occurred when he was in a Rangers' uniform.

After a 15-11 season with the Dodgers in 2001, Park signed with the Rangers for five years and $65 million, which was a record for size of contract signed by a pitcher at the time. But while he was in Texas he was hampered with injuries and a hitter friendly ballpark that did not play out in his favor. Park was an unpopular figure in the Dallas area. The media constantly demeaned him in print with nicknames like "Heave Ho Park", "(It's) Outta Tho Park," and "Oh No Park", not to mention the jeers of fans that he was an under achiever hurting his team as well as a big waste of money.

Not wanting to label Park as a pitcher who could not succeed, upper management took the stance that he didn't fit the Rangers' organization. So on July 29, 2005 the Rangers traded him to the Padres for Phil Nevin, and he was immediately shelled for seven runs and eight hits in only 4.1 innings in his first outing in a San Diego uniform. The only highlight of his 2006 season came as a reliever for Korea in the World Baseball Classic.

February of 2007 saw Park ink a one year, $3 million deal with the Mets, but he was immediately sent to AAA New Orleans due to a poor spring performance. On April 30th he pitched only one time for the Mets filling in for an injured Orlando Hernandez, but was sent back down to New Orleans on May 3rd and then designated for assignment on June 4th. On June 12th he signed a minor league contract with the Astros' triple A franchise at Round Rock, but as of season's end, he never joined the Astros due to unimpressive stats in the minors. This past November 7th, Park supposedly accepted an offer from the Dodgers to report to spring training in 2008.

Some of the notable events of Park's career include being the first South Korean pitcher to reach 100 victories in the majors. In 2001, he gave up Bonds' record breaking 71st home run and then his 72nd later in the game. April 23, 1999 saw him give up two grand slams in one inning to Fernando Tatis. And in the third inning of the 2001 All Star Game, he surrendered the home run to Cal Ripken, Jr. (later named the game's MVP) which put Ripken in the record books for being the oldest major leaguer to accomplish that feat.

Biggest Bust #3 - Mo Vaughn (1B - Angels) - 6 years, $80 million ($13.3m/yr.)

Vaughn was another high priced free agent whose career ended abruptly in injury. He played 13 seasons with three teams --- Red Sox (1991-98), Angels (1999-2001), and Mets (2002-03). He played his college ball at Seton Hall and was drafted by the Red Sox in 1989 (1st round - 23rd pick), and made his MLB debut on June 27, 1991. When he was playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League his teammates included Chuck Knoblauch and Craig Biggio.

Vaughn was a very popular figure in Boston mostly because of his charity work in the community and his personality, but his issues with Red Sox management and the local media eventually spelled the end of his career in a Red Sox uniform. Despite starting the 1998 season with a ninth inning walk-off grand slam to beat the Mariners, the season was filled with constant bitterness between him and management. After the Indians knocked Boston out of the divisional series, Vaughn announced his free agency.

Within days, he signed the highest paying contract (at the time) with the Angels. In 1999 and 2000 he hit over 30 home runs and drove in over 100 RBI's. He was plagued by injuries in 1999, one of which included falling down the dugout steps on his first play of his first game and badly spraining his ankle. In 2001, he never played in one game the whole season. But the Mets saw him as a run producer suited for the middle of their lineup and took him in trade for pitcher Kevin Appier on December 27, 2001.

Despite the new opportunity in the Big Apple, Vaughn could not resurrect his past performance in Boston nor kick the injuries that were nagging him the past few years. He had a poor season in 2002, and only appeared in 27 games due to a chronic knee injury in 2003. At that point, doctors were telling Vaughn that continuing to play baseball would eventually render him disabled. For Vaughn, this closed the door on his career.

Biggest Bust #2 - Kevin Brown (P - Dodgers) - 7 years, $105 million ($15m/yr.)

Though Brown had an 18 year career in the majors, he was never one that I would consider a great pitcher. He was mediocre at best, running hot and cold and the hot part usually happening at contract time. Brown always reminded me of a ball player from yesteryear named "Jumpin'" Joe Collins. They called him that because he "jumped" to wherever the money was.

Brown played for six different teams --- Rangers (1988-94), Orioles (1995), Marlins (1996-97), Padres (1998), Dodgers (1999-2003), and Yankees (2004-05). He was drafted fourth in the first round of 1986 by the Rangers, and made his debut in 1989, and was placed as #2 in the rotation behind Nolan Ryan. He had average seasons in 1990-91, but in 1992 he was 21-11 making him the first Rangers pitcher since Fergie Jenkins (1974) to win 20 or more games.

He spent 1995 with the Orioles after the 1994-95 strike was settled, and then went to Florida for the 1996-97 seasons. The highlight with the Marlins obviously came in the '97 season when they won the World Series. When Marlin's ownership dismantled the championship team, Brown was traded to the Padres for the '98 season. He helped get the Padres to the series, but not before he blew a save opportunity in Game 5 of the NLCS.

When Brown signed his contract with the Dodgers, he became the first $100 million man in baseball, and in my opinion the most overrated. The contract was oftentimes referred to as the worst one ever from a team's point of view because throughout his final years he would only average nine wins per season and be hampered continually with injuries.

Brown was traded to the Yankees in December of 2003 --- a trade I have never agreed with and my skepticism was well documented with "I told you so's" after only two years in the Bronx. Though he dealt with health problems (back and spine) during '04, Brown proved he lacked intelligence when he angrily stormed out of Torre's office, punched the wall outside, breaking his left hand. Brown would be out of action for the remainder of the season.

Brown would make an attempt at returning in 2005, but would fail miserably being plagued with back problems and other injuries throughout the season. His 4-7 record and 6.50 ERA was enough, and in February of 2006, he announced his retirement. For Yankee fans it was too long in the making. For me, it was the end of a foolish waste of money.

Biggest Bust #1 - Mike Hampton (P - Rockies) - 8 years, $121 million ($15.1m/ yr.)

Hampton was drafted by the Mariners in 1990 and made his major league debut in 1993. Besides Seattle (1993), he has been with the Astros (1994-99), the Mets (2000), the Rockies (2001-02), and the Braves (2003-present). Hampton would get off to a disappointing start in Seattle and get shipped off to Houston after only one season. The best year of his career came in 1999 with the Astros when he posted a 22-4 record and a 2.90 ERA as well.

Hampton was also revered as one of the better hitting pitchers in the league and would win five Silver Slugger Awards in a row. In 2001 while with the Rockies he batted .291 and hit 7 home runs. But coupled with his hitting prowess that year was a disappointing 14-13 won/loss record and a dismal 5.12 ERA. Adding insult to injury, he developed control problems. In 2002, things just got worse. His ERA swelled to 6.15 and he posted a miserable 7-15 record.

As a result, in November of '02, Hampton was traded to the Marlins then immediately to Atlanta. He won 14 games in 2003 and in 2004 he helped get the Braves into the post season. Limited by injuries in 2005, he posted a 5-3 record, only to have his season end with an elbow injury that August. He would undergo Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2006 season while in rehab, and 2007 would prove to be no better. In March, he tore an oblique muscle; in April, a bullpen start was shut down due to recurring elbow pain; and after having another elbow procedure done shortly thereafter, the Braves announced that he would miss the entire 2007 season with a torn flexor tendon in his pitching elbow.

As of the date of this article, there is no news about Hampton or his future. For me, this contract was more ridiculous than A-Rod's $25.2 million per year only because the Yankees got some good out of A-Rod. A writer for Sports Illustrated said it best --- "This deal, signed in the wild winter before the '01 season, was doomed from the start. The lefty Hampton was so bad -- 21-28, 5.75 ERA -- that the Rocks paid Florida (and then the Braves) to take him. The Braves still owe Hampton -- who missed all of '06 and '07 -- $15 million for '08." Now that is a "bust" if ever there was one.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, e-mail me at no1nyyfan55@yahoo.com and I will respond to you as quickly as I can. Until next time, here's hoping your free agent isn't a bust.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com
http://www.baseballlibrary.com
http://espn.go.com

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Backyard Baseball 2007

Backyard Baseball 2007 combines the friendly playground atmosphere with your favorite MLB players. Play with or against the kids and pros! Create your own team, and control every wacky pitch, clutch hit, and sprint for home. Play with or against pros like Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez, and unlock secret pros and amazing power-ups. You'll have big-league ball right in your own backyard. Multiple modes of play - Single Game, Season Play, Batting Practice and Home Run Derby All-new Fielders' Challenge mini-game Full stats and standings in Season Play
Customer Review: Two Thumbs Down, Get Backyard Baseball 2005 Instead
Plainly put this product blatently sucks, sorry, I can almost always find something positive to say about a game but this is just a sorry excuse for a game. You cannot play with a controller on PC? What kind of baseball game doesn't let you use a controller, I mean a baseball game is perfectly in sync with the layout on a controller, to use a mouse or keyboard to play is ludicrous. I'm sure the other versions (PS2, GBA) use controllers why the heck can't they incorporate that feature into PC? I love Backyard Baseball 2005 and only bought this to upgrade a bit, thinking they would have improved a few things, but no improvements whatsoever. The field isn't fully visible when you hit the ball, it's near impossible to control fielders with a mouse, using the keyboard to hit a ball is a clunky interface at best, still no network support for multiplayer games?? C'mon it's BB 2007 not 1997. And what is this business of playing the game direct off of CDROM ? That means updates/patches are never gonna happen, you can't patch a CD Disc, UGHHHH! Pity to the peeps whose CD Rom drives poop out from whirring away for an hour to play this game. I wish I would have read the other reviews on amazon before I bought this stinker. Please listen to me, the only thing this game would be good for is a birthday present to a kid you don't like very much : ) Sorry I wish I could say better
Customer Review: great for car trips
I recommend this fun and creative game with just a couple of caveats: it can burn a lot of time and it eventually becomes boring (i.e. after some months it will collect dust on the shelf). I bought this game for my 7-year-old son after he thoroughly enjoyed Backyard Soccer. I noticed that the soccer game increased his desire to play the actual outdoor game and his performance on his real soccer team visibly improved. The baseball game has peaked his interest in trying out baseball and he is yearning for summer when he can join a real little league team. Each game can take a lot of time, and I like to limit my son's time on video games, but I think it is perfect for long car rides. We often drive for 12 hours, and my son can spend much of that time playing just this one game. It is hard to find anything else to occupy his attention for that long. I think it is fairly challenging, even at the beginning level, but with sufficient practice you can put together a winning team at any level. We also enjoy examining all the statistics, which is what makes baseball an interesting sport.

Tee Ball is the most popular youth baseball program in Little League, including other youth baseball leagues around the country, and has the most participants. As the 5- and 6-year-olds whom participate in Tee Ball get older, there is a drop off in youth baseball participation each year. Traditionally the largest drop off of players in most youth leagues occurs after players reach their twelfth birthday. Soccer is almost a year round sport and youth lacrosse is growing, which are both in direct competition with youth baseball. Baseball parents, coaches, and leagues are almost compelled to make the first baseball experience for young kids a positive one.

Youth baseball leagues can develop certain positive philosophies that will maximize the chances of retaining baseball players in their leagues. Ill touch on just few that I feel most appropriate. First of all, Tee Ball leagues should strive to make it as non-competitive as possible. Some overzealous parents who are very competitive will look upon their own childs first tee ball experience as the Major League World Series. Leagues must set a standard with this non-competition philosophy. Not keeping score is an option leagues try. But, from my experience with my own kids, as much as parents and coaches try, some of the kids themselves will be keeping score and reminding the coach and the other teammates every time a player crosses home plate. This will also lead to the kids keeping track of wins and losses. One option leagues might consider is to mix the teams up every 3rd or 4th game. This option affords tee ball teams to still have a team concept because they will practice with their team, and 75% of their games will be together. One thing they will have to overcome is two sets of different colored uniforms playing on the same side. Maybe one way to overcome this is to have players come to these games in white tee shirts and the leagues supply cheap colored vests. Maybe we call these games All League Games, or another positive term that everyone can accept.

The other part of the game that needs to be addressed is that at the age of 5 & 6, the skill level will vary tremendously. Leagues need to treat the tee ball season as a progression type situation. In a 20 or 25 game season, maybe use a larger ball when hitting off the batting tee for the first five games. In practices, coaches should use a larger ball on a tee early in a season. One thing I did when coaching tee ball is to take a bathroom plunger, turn it upside down and place it into the batting tee. Now a coach can rest a beach ball or a kick ball on top of the tee for the kids to hit.

When teaching fielding, coaches need to make the task as achievable as possible. I used to start the season using a Velcro ball and Velcro paddle to catch a fly ball. The kids love this. On ground balls, teach the players to make contact with the ball with their glove, keep it in front of them, and not necessarily catch it.

On throwing, keep the distance short, spreading the players out very liberally and moving them back after every five throws.

These are just a few ideas that leagues should address, keeping in mind that we must start with baby steps and progress as the season goes on.
Parents must realize that they will have their fair share of competition as their kids move up in age. Tee Ball should be a positive experience in every sense of the word. Skills should be the theme of tee ball and less competition. In the world of youth sports, which includes playing time problems, parental sniping, and on the field arguing, youth baseball Tee Ball should be immune to this problems as much as possible.

http://www.YouthSportsClub.com

http://www.VideosForCoaches.com

Marty Schupak has coached youth baseball for 18 years and is the video creator of "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice", "Backyard Baseball Drills", "Winning Baseball Strategies", "Hitting Drills & Techniques", Pitching Drills & Techniques, and author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills". He is a principle with Videos For Coaches and is also President of the Youth Sports Club, a group dedicated to making sports practices and games more enjoyable for kids.

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