It’s bad enough if you shoot your friend in the foot. When you intentionally shoot yourself in the foot, you deserve whatever pain results. That is exactly what the pinhead owners of MLB did in signing a new contract with the Umpire’s union without mandating more use of technology for calling balls and strikes.

Until a couple of years ago, the fans were convinced that the umps were blind but recent developments in TV coverage have removed all doubt. Fox and other networks provide a pitch by pitch analysis of the missed calls using computer technology. We can clearly see a ball that is way low being called a strike and a ball just below the letters being called a ball. The union has run the game for years. They have prevented any use of instant replay or other technology that has even been instituted in college football. The reason is simple. The union does not want to allow their dues paying members to look as bad as they are.

The problem is that it doesn’t matter how good the players are, it will be the umpires and their bad calls that will determine as many games in 2010 as they have in the past. Some say that Congress is deaf about what the people want or in the case of the Health Care debacle don’t want. MLB leadership is just as deaf.

By signing a new deal without forcing balls and strikes to be called by technology, MLB has told the fans that it doesn’t care about them or about the game. At some point, the fans are going to have to show the owners that we don’t care about them or their game. That is the only way that things are ever going to get any better.

Your fantasy football doesn’t have to be over. Run a pro football franchise all year long for free at http://sportsims.net/. Tell them Coach Smith sent you.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He is a regular contributor on Cleveland Sports Radio http://www.sportstalkcleveland.com/ Monday morning at 11. He has also published several novels on

http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

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Inter-league play is over. The All Star game has been played. Now, I have had enough baseball and am ready for the playoffs. Baseball has only another 3 weeks until football and the NFL steals the spot light and doesn’t give it back. Baseball has a following but it is losing ground against other sports particularly football.

Proof of how totally football overshadows baseball can been seen most clearly in the steady decline of the TV ratings for the World Series. It has fallen about 50% in the last 10 years while the ratings for the All Star game have held fairly steady. Why? Because no one plays football in the middle of July.

Baseball has to take maximum advantage of the period when it is the only major league sport in the docket. The schedulers seem dedicated to having all the games between the Boston and the Yankees in the first few weeks of the season. But that is when both the NBA and NHL has its playoffs. A good marketing guy would never put their best games and highest draws on opposite a tough competitor. They should have waited until the MLB was the only show on TV.

Baseball faces another problem as well. The playoffs and World Series have started so late that the kids couldn’t watch them to the end. Add that to the fact that kids don’t play baseball the way we used to growing up in the 1950s, and you have the makings for a of a marketing disaster in the future.

Baseball has been trying to increase interest among the young by moving the first pitch time of playoff games earlier. It has also begun broadcasting the armature draft on television. The MLB draft will never reach the level of interest of the NFL draft for a couple of reasons. A lot of the early draft picks are high school age which very few fans have seen. Since most people don’t watch NCAA baseball except the the college world series they don’t even know the college players. So because most people don’t know the players, the interest in the draft just isn’t going to come close to that of the NBA or NFL.

So let’s move baseball of the national sports stage and get ready for the real national pass time—football.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

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What does everyone want to be named to but nobody wants to go to? Answer—the MLB All Star Game. Many players earn a bonus if they are named to the game only to find they are unable to participate because they are totally disabled by a potentially fatal case of hangnail.

The American League has no players entered in the home run derby. Even the HRD which has been the one shining star in MLB’s All Star Weekend has some serious rust on it. While every All Star game has challenges, MLB’s game seems to be the most endangered.

Who wouldn’t give up a weekend off at home with the family in the middle of July to spend a couple of days on the field at St. Louis in 100 degree 100% humidity? Evidently plenty of people wouldn’t. Even the NFL has decided that to get anyone to play in their post season game, they have to hold it in Hawaii. Baseball holds their game in the middle of the season. Maybe they should put a franchise in Hawaii too. At least the weather would be better.

Players are afraid of injury. Remember Pete Rose running over Cleveland’s Ray Fosse in the 1970 game? Fosse was never the same after that hit. It cost him his career.

What has happened to MLB’s summer classic is inter league play and too much television. When Ben Franklin and I were kids, we seldom saw our favorite players on out of market teams except for the all star game. Ben was always a bigger baseball fan than I was. But you can’t eliminate inter league play because it draws fans to the ballparks all over the league. Reductions in TV games won’t be happening any time soon either. Baseball is losing enough money as it is. So what’s to be done?

One thing that should NEVER have been done is to allow the game to determine home field advantage in the World Series. Can you even imagine how stupid it would be to allow the West winning the NBA game 128-126 to give the Lakers home field advantage in the NBA finals?

Nothing can be done. Baseball can add a skills competition like the NHL and NBA has but that will not draw the top names. The old timers game is about the only thing that will draw some viewers but not enough to make a difference. A rookie game with 3A all stars vs the current rookie crop might generate some interest and exposure for future stars of the game.

As it has in every other area, baseball will continue to do the same things the same way and expect better results. That won’t work. Just ask our elected representatives in Washington. They use that exact approach to the problems we face.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

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                       MLB Umpire Foster

MLB’s reputation has taken major hits from the steroid scandal, missing the playoffs because of a strike and leadership of the some times blind but always intellectually challenged Bud Selig. But there is a bigger problem with the game—the ineptness of some of its umpires.

Umpire Marty Foster covered 3^rd base last night sort of. At least he was paid to do that. In the first inning he called Derek Jeter attempting to steal 3^rd. The ball got there in time but Jeter was never tagged. Jeter complained to Foster and was reportedly told that he didn’t have to be tagged to be out. When Jeter told Yankee manager Joe Girardi what Foster had said, Girardi exploded and got thrown out of the game for arguing the call. Maybe someone should buy Foster a copy of the MLB rule book. Even if they did, I doubt he would read it.

The umpires were already under the gun for inaccurate ball and strike counts. New technology has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that umpires are not able to tell a strike from a ground hog. Baseball has always said that it can live with a wider than legal strike zone as long as the calls are consistent for both sides. But the only consistency is how inconsistent the calls are. The union is fighting any use of instant replay including the limited use now approved. They want to keep the ineptness of their members a secret. But we all know they are inept. The sport needs instant replay to correct the most egregious mistakes.

The umpires are above criticism by players, team managers, and owners. Baseball fines and can suspend those individuals for saying anything negative about the boys in blue. Fortunately, there is nothing that the union can do to me. Unfortunately, there is very little I can do to the union as well.

If baseball ever wants to convince people like me that the game is fair, it is going to have to use instant replay to eliminate the stupidity and bumbling calls of their umpires. Balls and strikes need to be called mechanically. The existing technology can do that as fast as the umpire behind the plate but with total accuracy. Errors in calls on the bases need to be corrected real time as well.

The game deserves better. The players that work so hard hopefully with out the assistance of steroids deserve better. Most of all, the fans that pay to see the travesty laughingly referred to as MLB and those that buy the products that support the game deserve it as well. Unfortunately for all those people, the Umpire Union is so strong that instant replay will never be used beyond those approved now. In fact, look for the union to negotiate that use out of their next contract.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

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P.T. Barnum once said that you would never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. Some of the empty suits that have been elected recently show the truth in that statement. Now we get more evidence of that statement. Manny Ramirez is back tonight from his 50 game suspension. He will likely start in RF at San Diego. He is being hailed like Julius Ceasar returning from Gaul but Ramirez didn’t conquer anything. In fact Bud Selig conquered him, or at least the drug policy did.

Ramirez is a well below average outfielder, bad team mate, a steroid user, and a cancer in the clubhouse. He pouts until he gets what he wants as he did in Boston to force a trade. But he has two qualities that keep him in MLB and picking up big paychecks. First, he is popular. The fans love him and pay to see him play. He puts paying hind ends in the seats. Second, he can hit the ball.

We have several other indications of his popularity in addition to the excitement around his return. He filled the stadium while he was playing in the minor leagues. He is also in the top 3 in fan votes for the all star game despite missing 50 of the 79 games the Dodgers have played. Selig was so concerned that he made a statement that even if Manny won he would be banded from the game.

His hitting is renowned. It is his only redeeming value. When he was suspended he had an average of .346 with 6 hr and 20 rbi. The one remaining question is what will this mean for both the team and the pennant race?

The Dodgers increased their while he was out. That was as much due to the opponents losing as to the Dodgers winning. The team went 21-8 in the games Manny played. That was a 72% winning percentage. They went 29-21 in the 50 games he was out for a winning rate of 58%. The Dodgers would win the division championship with or without Manny. The NL West is not the strongest division in baseball. However, they will need him to get to the World Series let alone winning it. That is why they signed him and why he was resigned him this season.

Part of the problem with Manny is he can not be trusted any further than you could throw the stadium. When he was at home waiting to get the contract signed, he obviously was not a good boy. The female hormone detected in his body is usually used as a part of a steroid regiment and is intended to help recover from the original treatment. This puts a whole new meaning to the saying that idle hands are the tools of the devil.

Many fans except those of the Dodgers hope that Manny slips off the wagon again and gets another forced vacation. Until baseball gets bad apples like Manny out of the game, it will suffer an image tarnished by the steroids scandal. 

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

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Comment of the month: #4427 “ANALYSIS: NFLPA Executive Director Smith has a revolt on his hands!” from robertinseattle

Comment:

And YOU are absolutely right. Just like Gene Upshaw. The NFLPA doesn’t and doesn’t want to represent the retired players. It’s been very clear for years. But then, that also means the NFLPA and its Executive Director is obligated by law to return any and all money ever held or spent from the disability and pension funds that they’ve been sitting on or controlling for years. That money was part of the total 60% share of gross revenues paid by the owners and earmarked specifically for those retirement funds.

That aside, even pension experts are stunned to see the levels of abuse and thievery that these guys have been enduring for the past 25 years. There is absolutely NO legitimate Union that can legally withhold pension and disability benefits for ANY reason whatsoever (unless they made the rule up themselves). No Big Three automaker’s Union (the UAW) ever went back to their retired workers to tell them they were cutting their benefits when they went on strike. They would have had a strike inside a strike! Have the NBA or MLB Unions ever threatened their retired members that way in the past?

Robert, I just have nothing to add. Well done.

Updates on previous columns:

Donte Stallworth got a pass on DUI Manslaughter.

This week Commissioner Goodell told another suspended player, Mike Vick, that he will not even consider the issue of reinstatement until he completes his house arrest. The critical question is when will Goodell consider reinstatement for Stallworth. According to the reports, Stall is under house arrest for 2 years. Goodell should treat Stall the same way.

God must hate the Cleveland Browns—My first column.

This week Browns WR Joe Jurevicius sued the Browns and the Cleveland Clinic for negligence over a staph infection that cost him last season and perhaps his career. It should be remembered that JJ is a Cleveland native and attended games as a kid.

The NFL survey said that the entire league had only 33 cases of staph from 2006-08. The Browns have had 6 players with staph and a total of 8 separate infections.

Analysis: It’s about time someone from the Browns sued the team and the hospital. I hope he wins a pot of money. Maybe that would make both organizations clean up their act. I will be rerunning the first article tomorrow for those of you that have not seen it.

MLB Hall of Fame and the steroids era

This week we found out that Sammy Sosa was another of the players that failed the 2003 test. What a shock that was. Sosa went from a Pee Wee Herman clone to Bluto in one off season. We all knew something was fake about his new found muscles.

Mangenious and his Magical Bus trip

There is still no word on how the NFLPA investigation into the issue is going but the union is also looking into claims that the Browns OTAs have been too long and physical.

Analysis: The way the team has played over the last 15 years, they need all the practice they can get.

Niblets fresh off the cob

Steelers owner Dan Rooney is confirmed by the Senate to be Ambassador to Ireland.

The Rooney family is class all the way. We wish him luck in his new job.

OTA facts and miss information.

Out of SF—QB and former 1^st overall pick Alex Smith is gaining ground against Shaun Hill to be the starting QB. Translation: We really want to dump Smith and will lie to increase his value.

Out of his mind—WR Plaxico Burress’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is shopping his client around the league and has indicated that 5 teams including the Jets may have expressed interest. Translation: Burress’ best chance of escaping a long sentence is that the prosecuting attorney is a Jets fan.

Out of Atl—Watch out for a new and improved QB Matt Ryan. He has had an entire off season to work within the system. The Falcons may not improve their record but look for Ryan to have a better year than 08. Translation: I think this is accurate. The D still needs work but Ryan is the real thing.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

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Don Fehr, Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, is stepping down. Very few people in the history of sports have had such a massive impact on their profession. Some insist that Fehr was a blessing to the sport. Others are just as aliment that he was a curse on baseball.

Fehr was a blessing:

There is little doubt that Fehr has been the most powerful man in baseball since Bud “I see nothing” Selig took over as acting Commissioner and then had the acting removed. Someone had to run baseball. There is also no doubt that Fehr has been the most powerful sports union leader in the US. He has overseen the largest increase in earnings ever seen in baseball. He also has helped increase the guaranteed minimum baseball salary by a factor of nearly 5.

He has also strengthened the position of the MLBPA to the point that an owner can not sneeze without his permission. Selig couldn’t suspend a ball without first checking with the Union. But from the last strike in 94, there has been labor peace and great revenue growth.

Fehr was a curse:

Three things fall into the curse category. First and most important was the strike of 1994 that wiped out the World Series. That almost drove baseball to hockey status. But the sport recovered thanks in part to the next Fehr curse—steroids.

I don’t blame Fehr for stopping any reasonable testing policy in baseball. Selig and the owners were almost equally at fault. However, Fehr alone had the power to insist on a league wide testing program without the approval of the owners or Selig. He did not. Instead, it was steroids that drove the home run battle between Sammy “the cork” Sosa and Mark “the needle” McGwire. The chase to the single season HR record in 1998 brought the paying fans back to the ballparks. There are reasons to believe that the game might never have come back from the 94 strike had the juiced ball not met the bats of the juiced players so often.

The 2003 so called anonymous test to determine if a league wide testing program was necessary found that 104 players tested positive for steroids. Two of those names have leaked out include Sosa. The leaks have been the only thing anonymous about the test. New names will undoubtedly be leaked soon at a 24 hour sports channel near you.

The third reason people site is the 1985 strike. While this stoppage did not begin to do the damage that the 94 strike inflicted on the game, it was painful as well.

Fehr is leaving a year and a half before the next contract expiration. The rumor is that MLBPA general counsel Michael Weiner will take Fehr’s place. Weiner is considered to be more pragmatic than Fehr. We will see. But with the economic downturn, even the Yankees are down in attendance. Of course $5,000 a seat is a little much to watch the Yanks beat up on the underlings of the American League.

If we can get a deal that keeps the boys of summer on the field, Weiner will begin building his own legacy. If not, that will begin his legacy as well.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

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I don’t usually write on Sunday but this is Fathers’ Day and the first one since this column started. My wish to all of you is that you have a memory of your Dad that keeps you going through the challenges of life. I do and I would like to share it with you.

From the time I was 7, I have been a Cubs fan. Supporting a team that has not won a championship in over 100 years is totally consistent with my personality and my luck. Of course, in 1954, I was not aware of the lack of titles and really didn’t care.

Back in the day when MLB actually played double headers, the Cubs would always come to Cincinnati and play a double dip just before my birthday (and the All Star game coincidently). My Dad ran a major business in Columbus. Even so, he would take the day off and we would go to the games and then dinner before returning home. Those were the first major league games I ever saw and what made it even better—I was with my Dad, my hero, and my best friend all in one man.

In the early 60’s the games went to night games. The only change to our procedure that caused was that dinner came first then the games.

My Dad and I have always been the best of friends. We never went through the teenage distance that so many father-son relationships do and for that I am very grateful. I am delighted to say that despite fighting in WWII including being dropped off on Omaha Red Beach 2 hours before the D-Day invasion, he is 92 and well. I will be having lunch with my Mom and Dad later today.

So to all the Dads out there, Happy Fathers Day. And to all the sons and daughters, take some time to cherish the best memories of your Dad. In this world, there is little to bring a smile to our faces. We should take advantage of those best memories as often as we can.

If you have a special sports memory of your Dad, please share it with us.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

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Those involved in the early days of the AFL drafts talk about carrying a copy of the Smith and Street college football annual in his back pocket. The book was not there for reading material between picks. It was a statement about the lack of professionalism involved in the early drafts of the league. But the first AFL draft was organized compared to the MLB Draft.

Many years ago, MLB would not release the results of their draft of high school kids for fear that the colleges would use that list to recruit players. Over the years the baseball draft has been the least efficient in terms of top 3 round picks making it to the major leagues. There is a reason that the NFL drafts 7 round plus compensation picks, the NBA drafts 2 rounds and MLB drafts 50 rounds plus supplemental rounds for players lost to free agency.

To be fair, baseball has a lot of minor league positions to fill. But a great percentage of the picks will never get past A ball. Baseball drafts are a little like insurance company recruitment. They hire everybody and let the recruits sell policies to their friends and family. Those newbies that are able to move beyond their immediate circle are kept but the others are let go.

Baseball also drafts a great number of high school players. The NFL has enough trouble trying to compare players from the BCS leagues vs. those that played in 1AA or 1A. Multiply that by a couple of the federal government’s spending sprees buying out companies and you begin to see the problem of comparing kids in different states and at difference levels of high school ball.

Most years, the draft has half a dozen so called can’t miss players. Even so, usually 2 or 3 can’t miss players do miss making the major leagues. The major league scout that can tell which guy available in the 23^rd round is going to make it should be the highest paid staff member in the organization.

This year all 47 of the baseball fans that get the MLB channel got to see the first few picks of the draft. It is the first time that the draft was televised. Since I am not one of the lucky 47, I will not comment on the coverage. There is very little suspense because very few of the players picked will be recognized by anyone other than baseball geeks. I call them geeks with respect because I consider myself an NFL draft geek. The MLB draft does not allow trades so that aspect of other sports is missing as well.

Pitcher Stephen Strasburg (San Diego St) is the prize this year. He is 13-1 this year. He is a 3 pitch guy with a nasty curve and a 100+ mph fast ball. That is the extent of my knowledge of the players in this year’s draft.

So as you look over the draft for your favorite team, don’t hold your breath for your team to ride these guys to a World Series win. It won’t happen any time soon.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

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We have seen in the last few years an infection of political correctness in sports that has to go.

To the NFL—No Fun League, we need to realize that sports is entertainment. There is nothing wrong with a touchdown celebration. While some are just stupid, most are creative and add to the game. There is nothing wrong with the fun bunch in Washington celebrating a score together. Even the Chad formerly known as Johnson has shown creativity in celebrating touchdowns.

The argument is that celebrations insult the team that was scored upon. I remind those that hold that position that the NFL is BIG BOY FOOTBALL. These guys are making millions of dollars playing a game. If their tender little egos are that badly damaged, they can afford to go to counseling. And for those that would need to find themselves in a sport that allows celebrations, give them a map!

In the same vain, it is time that bad refereeing be pulled out from under the rug of total protection from the league. Errors are made and should be acknowledged. Every time a coach is fined for telling the truth about a bad call, the league loses creditability with the fans. The fragile ego’s of the officials, both zebra on the field and those in the league office, must be ignored. Just like politicians, if you can’t take the criticism, get out of the business.

To Vince Young—When you score less than a 10 on the Wonderlick test, you may not be bright enough to play QB in the NFL. Learn the playbook or get used your athletic skills in another profession.

Major League Baseball, the NBA, and college sports—You all need to stop bowing to the gods of political correctness as well. Get some guts and get tough on steroids. Give the coaches freedom of speech about officials. They won’t run away crying. They are big boys and girls as well.

And while I’m at it—while I have to use my electric blanket in June in Ohio, the next politician that tells me we should be paying $5 a gallon for gas to fight global warming should be voted off the island immediately.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

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