My breakfast with Murray Chass, PART 2

Despite steroids being the overarching theme of the morning, we did actually talk about a few other topics. Here is a quick run through (hey, I did say steroids was the major topic):

The Economy: The recession has seriously affected baseball like every other industry. It is impossible for a team like the Pittsburgh Pirates to string together a winning team in an economy like this, and they will in fact go 17 straight seasons without a winning record, the most in Major League Baseball history. The only team seemingly unaffected by the recession is the Yankees.

Money vs. Management: There is a difference between a baseball organization having significant money and having good management. While a team like the Yankees is more or less destined to be successful by spending insurmountable sums of money for the best ballplayers, a team like the Minnesota Twins, a “small market” team, relies on great management and a skillful minor league system to thrive in the major leagues. Tampa Bay is another great example of a small market team with great management but a very low budget, while the Pirates are an example of a small market team with a history of bad management.

The National League Eastern Division: The Mets are the best five and a half months of the season. The Phillies are the best in the last two weeks. “I hope that if the Mets have 17 games left this season, they have at least an 18-game lead.” Finally, something Murray and I agree upon.

Chicago Cubs: “I don’t believe in curses,” Chass affirmed us. “But the Cubs did something wrong one of those days.” I think it involved a goat of some sort.

Players that used steroids: Mark McGuire is a good example of what will happen to players that used steroids when they are eligible for Hall of Fame voting. They will get denied.

The Yankee Years: Torre’s book goes way out of line just to make a few extra dollars, Chass said. You would think that Torre would have enough money, but apparently not. Considering Torre is still an MLB coach, it is very difficult to understand how a ballplayer will ever be able to trust him after he published this book.

Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson: Neither will ever make Hall of Fame (I just giggled to myself as I just realized that I have a better shot than that).

That just about sums it up, besides for a bit more blog slurring (which I hope you can understand I would prefer not to relive). Despite our differences, breakfast was delicious, and I even came home with some baseball memorabilia that I won at the raffle.

-NiS

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