Livan and Clemens one more time
By Tom Grout
February 15, 2008
“And he shall be Levon….and he should be a good man.”
These are the lyrics to a song by Elton John and let’s hope this will hold true to the Livan that is now a Twin.
The Twins went out and signed the veteran pitcher they think they need to help anchor a young pitching staff. This Livan is Livan Hernandez the pitcher who has been a World Series MVP and a NLCS MVP and is only 33 yrs. Old. That is he is 33 yrs old if you believe his birth certificate, if he has one, that I think he got from the same place that little leaguer got his a few years back which means the 33 could be on the low side. Livan is a Cuban escapee so it is hard to tell just how old he really is. Only Castro knows for sure.
However old the Twins Livan is, he should be a good man, at least for the price. Livan is being brought in to be an “innings eater” and looking at his record that is just what he has been. Since the year 2000 Livan has pitched more innings in the Major Leagues than any other pitcher but it hasn’t helped his weight anymore than cheeseburgers and fries have helped mine. To say Livan is a little plump would be an understatement. He will make Boof Bonsor look like he has been on Slim Fast.
Actually I am being a little harsh on Livan because I happen to like this signing. I have always like Livan and I wish we could have gotten him a few years earlier. I like the deal because he is an “innings eater” which is what the Twins do need. Not just for the young starting pitchers but for the bullpen. It takes pressure off the young guys and will take pressure off the bullpen that may be seeing a lot of action if the young guns have trouble going deep into the game. So Livan is kind of an insurance policy.
The other thing I like about the deal is that he came cheap. I know to most of us, maybe all of us, 5 million a year is a lot of money, but for what pitchers are going for in this market the 5 mill is a bargain. He will be like Carlos Silva only hopefully better and Carlos is going to make 12 mill for the next four years. I thought Livan was the best free agent pitcher out there this year so you can’t beat a blue light special falling into your hands. The people who don’t like the deal have to remember that Livan isn’t coming here to be the ace of the staff, but to pitch innings and mentor the young guys. Just keep him and Boof away from the golden arches after the game. Twins catcher Mike Redmond, a former teammate of Livan, says he may look like he is coasting through games but Livan is a competitor and if he is that he will be a great asset to the team. If he pitches 200 innings this year and wins 11 games he will earn his money.
Over all I like what Billy Smith has done so far. We may or may not compete for the division, but they will be fun to watch.
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One last Clemens comment. It’s just my opinion, and looking at the polls it’s just isn’t me, but Clemens is a liar. Macnamee is a sleaze like some of you have pointed out, but most hanger on’s or guys who in the entourage of a pro player are sleazes. I just think this sleaze is telling the truth.
The thing that hurt Clemens most is that he was blaming everyone but himself. This includes MacNamee, Pettitte, his lawyers, his agent, and of all things, his wife. The Rocket is nothing but a coward to throw his wife under the bus. Anyone who would hang his wife out to dry like that is scum. If I was a voting member of the Hall of Fame, Clemens will never get my vote and believe it or not it’s not just because what happened in the Congressional meetings. When he made a statement earlier that he didn’t care if he was ever elected to the Hall of Fame and when he basically said that they can screw the Hall, he lost my vote. There are plenty of players, good clean honest players, who would love to be in the Hall of Fame and they are deserving. I think of Tony Oliva. In fact that is how I would vote for the players involved in the steroid controversy by not voting for them until everyone else that is deserving has made it.
Finally!!!
You guys are getting what I have been preaching here for too long.
Scum, yeah. Beneath us all, yeah.
This exemplifies my disdain/wrath of "Professional" sports of today.
Look, we have been idolizing a bunch of whiney assed, spoiled brat millionaires for waayyyyy too long!
If they had to work a job like the rest of us do, how would they fare?
Would they be liked/respected by their co-workers?
Get real fans! They stink!!
Professional sports of today is....contraband! (I can't think of another word that specifically spells out how jaded I am about this subject)
These athletes should be rewarded for their abilities, but let's get ahold of ourselves here; ARod gets HOW much?
Santana gets HOW much?
Folks, we have _brain surgeons_ that don't make anywhere NEAR that kind of money.
How about the Oncologists of the world?
Ok, those examples don't do anything for you? How about this?
How much money do you think Killebrew made to play ball?
Mickey Mantle? Willie Mays?
Man, things are just too twisted.
Tom, how are you going to solve these issues?
Contraband is an interesting choice of words Bigsly! It is so deep that I have to think about that one for a while. My initial reaction is that you're right on.
I just got done watching the slam-dunk competition at the NBA All-Star game. A little interesting and they are unbelievable athletes but way too much hype and glitz for me. I long for the day of Larry Bird and Magic and MJ when they could really play basketball. Making the right passes, play great defense, being able to shoot free throws..... they were not just great athletes but great players.
It is not all the athletes fault that they make so much money and that isn't the reason they are scum. Clemens is scum for the reasons I said. What we are today is where our culture has taken us. The entertainment business is big business and sports is in the entertainment business. David Letterman makes a lot of money but am I going to stop watching him? No, because he entertains me. If he would go out and act like a jerk, break some laws then I may quit watching. Not all athletes are scum and not all actors or musicians are scum because they make money. They are getting paid for thier talent to entertain. Randlar, some of the things your brought up about the glitz is where are culture is now. It's got to be showy or it won't entertain today's youth which is a section of people they are trying to reach. ESPN has done a lot to help this glitzy stuff grow with thier 24 hour sports and all thier fantsy talking hosts. It's not just a game anymore, its entertainment. Bigsly, the athletes who are making the money are the ones that are more talented and are more entertaining, like the big name movie actors get bigger paychecks than anyone else. Their personality doesn't matter as much as thier talent to entertain. I am more disgusted over big CEO's of companies like Target and Wal-mart etc, who make tons of money while thier employees barely can make enough money to get by. How will all this entertainment money stop? People will have to stop going to games, movies, and concerts simple as that. Will it happen? More than likely not becaue people love to be entertained.
Thanks for the support, Randlars.
Man, Bird and Magic, Bird and Dr. J, Jordan and ?
Who was it that was Jordan's nemesis? Who was it that really brought out the competitive "spunk" in Michael Jordan?
Was it Pippen? He was only the (imho) 2nd best player in the NBA at the time.
I remember the picture of Bird and Dr. J with their hands around each other's throats, enraged at each other for being so good at what each of them could do.
They _must_ have been good friends at some point of their careers.
Point is: I have to agree that although the athletes of today are bigger, faster, stronger (i.e. "The 6 million dollar man") I'm not sure that they're as smart or have the "savvy" that Bird, Magic and Jordan had.
In other sports, how about Joe Namath vs. Tom Brady?
Mohammed Ali vs. Whoever today's heavyweight boxing champion is.(what does that tell you)
How about Gordy Howe vs. Gretsky vs. Ovechkin?
Too much hype and glitz, oh yeah! No substance, H and G only!
Bibsly -- Great to have you back. You passionately expressed what I emotionally feel sometimes. But I respectfully take issue with you. Your arguments about earnings and relative worth are not new. Mickey Mantle & Willie Mays got paid $100,000 when school teachers were paid $4,200 and the minimum wage was $1.00/hour. What are your thoughts on the equities of that? So we sign Livan to a $5 million contract. That makes him a millionaire, but a whiney assed, spoiled brat millionaire? "Scum, yeah. Beneath us all, yeah". And you decry ARod for getting $28 million a year -- how do you feel about Julia Roberts getting $50 million a year? Where is the rant about whinny-assed movie stars & bocotting movies? Santana gets $25 million, but Oprah gets $150 million. That's right, $150 million a year. Georgi Armani -- $135 million, and George Lucas, that great contributor to American culture -- $400 million. That's in one year. And Dick Cheney got $9 million from Haliburton stock options, the Enron boys ran off with 600 million or so . . . .
So here's the proposition -- the owners have jacked up the ticket prices, the concessions, the license fees, the parking, and everything that they could get their hands on. Last year MLB grossed $6 billion dollars. And the prices are not going to come down -- and why should they -- baseball ran more people through the turnstiles last year than in the history of the game. So the income is going to be there. They only question left is whether it goes to Livan, Santana, Justin Morneau and the guys that are the heart of the show, or does it go into the pockets of the Pohlads, the Steinbrenners, and the corporate coffers of the owners? My choice is with the players. If you look at game and see dollar signs, then you need a different hobby. If you look at the game and see exceptional athletes doing what no one else on the planet can do, then baseball might be your game. (And don't get me started on the NFL or NBA)
Just my opinion.
After a day to think about it, contraband isn't the right word to describe pro sports for me Bigsly. I'm not sure what it is yet but I'll let you know when I think of it. It might make a great topic on this blog, describe pro sports with one word and one word only, it might be interesting to hear what people think.
There's no doubt that I'm jaded by pro sports these days, (and I'm really down on it at the moment) but it's a guilty pleasure of mine. But, I don't think there's anything baseball could do to keep me from being a fan though. There's just something about it. It's just always going to be part of my life and if heaven is truly paradise, I'll spend my forever playing baseball in a corn field in Iowa. Maybe Tom will teach me his knuckleball there. I'm not going to let the players and owners take that away from me.
Randy, describing pro sports in one word would be "entertainment".
I'll teach you the knuckleball but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Yep!
I have duly been taken to task!
You guys are right about the entertainment portion of sports.
It all seems so incredulous to me that society's priorities, to me, are so screwed up.
The "teacher" analogy really hit hard to me. That's true!
I don't have the facts to support the rate of pay for school teachers, or "the Say Hey kid" at their respective times, but the lop-sidedness of it all is wretched.
As for the actors and their entertainment value, again, you're right. Gosh! I personally see so little value in what they do. Of course we all like to see a movie here and there, or even read stories/novels from our favorite writers.
Although you have scorched my perspective on this issue (thanks TDog,Randlars and Tom)I think what is important to me is that you can identify with the point that, even we fans have to admit the _priorities_ of society have shifted from community based "entertainment," to the more worldly approach of filling our spare time!
P.T. Barnum was credited with inventing the "fan" with his traveling circus shows. He certainly developed quite a base from which to keep his coffers filled.
In closing, I guess my real complaint is that "Professional" athletes, imho, are truly overpaid for what they really provide to society.
It's not so much as to them making a lot of $, but comparatively, why aren't teachers, doctors and, if we dare go there, preachers being paid for what they contribute to us and our children every day!?
I don't know if you're still reading this blog Bigsly but how about Nursing Home nurses and hospital nurses? We pay people more to manage livestock facilities than these people. They are truly angels.
Bibsly, Sandbars -- Agree with you both. Nursing home & hospital nurses--great point.
I think we probably all have been smitten with high school sports at one point or another and in my heart I wish that pro ball could be like that, but we know it ain't gonna happen, and I'm with you Sandbars, the MLB owners can't do anything to chase me away (although they keep trying).
And as to the one word to describe pro sports? I would suggest "brazen" -- defined as "impudent, immodest, shameless".
In keeping with "TDawg's" philosophy, (agreement with most) "brazen" is pretty good.
However, if we were to throw in the shameless, immodest and impudent as well, it wouldn't hurt my feelings.
Nursing homes and health care too much go un-appreciated.
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