Brantley Caps Special Day with Walk-Off Double by Jordan

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Brantley Caps Special Day with Walk-Off Double by Jordan Brantley caps special day with walk-off double By Jordan Bastian and Scott Merkin / MLB.com | April 11th, 2017 CLEVELAND -- On a day meant for celebrating all the Indians accomplished last season, the Tribe quickly turned the page with a walk-off win for this year's montage. In his long-awaited return to Cleveland, it was Michael Brantley who played the role of hero in Tuesday's home opener at Progressive Field. In a 2-1 win over the White Sox in 10 innings, Brantley slashed a pitch from righty Tommy Kahnle down the left-field line, scoring Francisco Lindor from first base. Brantley -- who missed most of last season due to a right shoulder injury -- raised his right arm skyward as he rounded second, and awaited a mob of teammates. "I don't know if you can write it up any better," Brantley said. "I guess if you hit a home run, but we got a win. That's all that matters. A lot of hard work went into this offseason. A lot of time away from my kids and my family." Kahnle said Brantley's game-winner was a case of good hitting. "That's what we're looking for," Kahnle said. "[Catcher Geovany Soto] gave me a fastball outside and I basically hit my spot, but he put a good swing on it and they won the game." For Brantley, it was his fourth career walk-off hit, and the first of the year for a Cleveland club that had plenty in its run to the World Series last year. The Indians, who received their American League championship rings before the game, led the Majors last year with 11 walk-off wins "They worked so hard for it last year," Brantley said. "We accomplished so much. Just to take a second and enjoy it and understand how hard they worked, we worked, to get there, I think is what's most important. Now, it's kind of past us now. It's time to look forward to this season." The late heroics followed a pitchers' duel between Cleveland's Carlos Carrasco and Chicago's James Shields. Over seven innings, Carrasco limited the White Sox to one run -- courtesy of a Todd Frazier homer that rocketed out to left with an exit velocity of 110 mph in the fifth. Carrasco struck out seven and walked none. Shields, who has a 1.69 ERA on the young season, held the Indians to one run (via a first-inning homer from Lindor) over his 5 1/3 frames. "That's a good lineup over there, one through nine they're pretty solid," Shields said. "Overall command was there." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Yandy's strong defense: The White Sox threatened to break through in the eighth, when pinch-hitter Matt Davidson's double put runners on second and third with one out. Tyler Saladino sharply pulled a pitch from relief ace Andrew Miller, but third baseman Yandy Diaz dove to his left for a highlight-reel grab. The runners had to stay put, and Miller escaped with a strikeout of Tim Anderson to end the inning. "I can't tell you what happened, because the ball just went into my glove," Diaz said through team translator Anna Bolton. "I saw that the ball was in my glove when I got up off the ground. What was important at that time was just to get an out." Brantley, who had a great view of the play from left field, said it was a game changer. "It was huge," Brantley said. "If that ball gets past him, I don't think I'm going to have a chance to throw out the pinch-runner who was running. He was too fast. The ball wasn't really hit hard enough, so two runs would've scored right there. It was a game-saving play. It was awesome." Taming Edwin: Twice, Chicago's bullpen quieted slugger Edwin Encarnacion with one out and the bases loaded. In the sixth, righty Zach Putnam got the job done with a splitter, which generated a 5-4-3 double play groundout off Encarnacion's bat. Right-hander Nate Jones followed suit in the eighth, inducing another 5-4-3 double play from the slugger to halt another potential rally for Cleveland. "We made the pitches we needed to at the time we needed," Jones said. "And the defense behind us made the play." QUOTABLE "You want that for yourself too, for your team. You see the glories of winning and it's pretty cool. To sit there on the other side and say it's not exciting to watch, it's a travesty to say that because everybody dreams of doing that. You get a ring for winning the American League, there's nothing better than that." -- Frazier, on the effect of watching the Indians' pregame ring ceremony "It was awesome. I was so happy for him. As soon as I touched home plate, I looked around and everyone was clapping for him, his family in the stands. It was pretty cool, special, happy for him. He's back. Brantley's back." -- Lindor SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is only the second time in baseball history that both reigning pennant winners (Indians and Cubs) enjoyed a walk-off win in each of their home openers. The last occurrence came in 1960, when the '59 World Series participants (White Sox and Dodgers) achieved the feat. Lindor's power surge Lindor received some of the loudest cheers during the Indians' pregame AL championship ring ceremony. In the home half of the first, the shortstop showed his appreciation by sending a souvenir into the right-field stands. Lindor's solo homer had an exit velocity of 105 mph and marked his team-leading fourth home run in seven games. WHAT'S NEXT White Sox: Derek Holland makes his second start and first on the road for the White Sox in the second game of the series Wednesday night, with a first pitch of 5:10 p.m. CT. Holland's last road win came on May 30, 2016, at Cleveland. He is 0-3 since. Indians: Right-hander Danny Salazar is scheduled to take the mound for the Tribe in a 6:10 p.m. ET clash with the White Sox on Wednesday night at Progressive Field. In his first start of the year, the righty struck out nine in 5 2/3 innings, and was charged with five runs (four earned). Covering the Bases: Game 7 by Jordan Bastian FIRST: After sprinting from first to home, and crossing the plate, where a mob of jumping and shouting teammates were swarming, Francisco Lindor looked into the stands at Progressive Field. In that moment, within all the chaos, Lindor spotted Michael Brantley’s family. “Everyone was clapping for him,” Lindor said. “His family in the stands. It was pretty cool௘²௘special. Happy for him. He’s back. Brantley’s back.” It had to be Brantley, right? Before the game, the Indians received their rings for winning the American League championship last season. A flag was raised beyond the wall in center and a pennant joined the others in the upper deck. It was another reminder of how much Brantley௘²௘deemed the “heart and soul” of the team௘²௘missed while sidelined with injury last year. While discussing the pregame ceremony, Brantley caught himself saying “they” in reference to all the team achieved in 2016. He corrected himself twice. “They worked so hard for it last year,” he said. “It was a team effort all the way around, and they accomplished so much௘²௘we accomplished so much. Just to take a second and enjoy it and understand how hard they worked௘²௘we worked௘²௘to get there, I think’s what’s most important. Now, it’s kind of past us now. It’s time to look forward to this season.” Tuesday’s tilt with the White Sox was a game in which neither team wanted to budge. Lindor homered in the first. Todd Frazier followed suit. That was it for nine and a half innings. It’s not like the teams didn’t have chances, either. The Indians and White Sox went 0-for-15 combined with runners in scoring position. Within that offensive drought, Brantley was walked twice to load the bases. Both times (in the sixth and eighth innings), Edwin Encarnacion grounded into inning-inning double plays. Taking the bat out of Brantley’s hands was working. So, it had to be Brantley, right? With two outs in the 10th inning, Lindor drew a walk to bring Brantley to the plate. Facing hard-throwing Tommy Kahnle, Brantley took a pitch and fouled off another. He took a pair of offerings and fouled off one more. The count was full. At that point, White Sox manager Rick Renteria headed to the mound for what developed into a lengthy meeting. Brantley waited patiently as some boos began to form. “I was just trying to stay within myself,” Brantley said. “I knew I had an advantage in the hitting count and I was trying not to do too much. I just put a good swing on the baseball.” Kahnle sent a 98-mph two-seamer over the outside edge and Brantley shot it down the left-field line. Lindor flew around the bases with only one thing in mind. “I wanted to score,” Lindor said. “My reaction since the first pitch of that at-bat was, if the ball is hit in the gap, I’m going no matter what.
Recommended publications
  • Defense Witnesses Testify No Obstruction ; Marcuse Appears
    Defense Witnesses Testify No Obstruction ; Marcuse Appears "Officials Never Declared Assembly Unlawful" by Mark Stadler said the link-ups did not stop contradicting earlier testimony News EdItor Saxon. Mahoney said the link-ups from Muir Dean Jim Beckley that Hearing officer Robert moved backwards, away from she had done so on two separate Lugannani heard Wednesday and Saxon. She said the individuals occasions. yesterday eight defense witnesses tried to maintain a steady distance All the witnesses except Mar­ testify 10 charged students did not from him at all times. cuse, who was present only at the violate University regulations at Quirk testified she never linked question and answer period, said the Nov. 25 demonstration over arms during the walk, directly Continued on Page 3 alleged UC ties with the CIA. The witnesses, who included San Diego Job Market: Be charged student Cookie Mahoney and Ruth Quirk and philosophy professor emeritus Herbert Marc use , testified in disciplinary Prepared to Start at Bottom hearings about the walk from the by Craig Jackson perience is imperative for many of gymnasium to Matthews campus Staff Writer these jobs because of the ex- taken by UC President Saxon If you are a June graduate with a treme specialization involved. following a question and answer BA in one of the social sciences, do She cited Texas as one region session with students at the gym not expect to find a good job in the where the rapid growth of industry steps. San Diego area. According to has made many more jobs The witnesses gave similar Noreen LYM, a labor market in- available.
    [Show full text]
  • Jackie Robinson's 1946 Spring Training in Jim Crow Florida
    The Unconquerable Doing the Impossible: Jackie Robinson's 1946 Spring Training in Jim Crow Florida To the student: As you read this accounting of Jackie Robinson's Jim Crow experience, ponder the following: • The role individuals played such as Rachel Robinson, Branch Rickey, Mary McLeod Bethune, Joe Davis and David Brock, Mayor William Perry, Clay Hopper, Johnny Wright, Wendell Smith, and Billy Rowe in shaping Robinson's response to the discrimination heaped upon him? • What factors, internal or external, enabled Jackie Robinson to succeed in his quest to cross baseball's color line? • The influence of ideas, human interests, such as the popularity of baseball and sport in American life, and the American consciousness • The impact of press coverage on human behavior and beliefs • The impact of World War II in reducing regionalism and replacing it with patriotic nationalism, civil rights organizations, enfranchisement and voting leverage, economic need and greed Los Angeles, February, 1946 On the late afternoon of February 28, 1946, Jack Roosevelt Robinson and his new bride, the former Rachel Isum, waited for their American Airlines flight from the Lockheed Terminal at the airport in Los Angeles, destined for Daytona Beach, Florida. Jack's attire was very proper, a gray business suit, while Rachel was splendidly outfitted in her new husband's wedding gifts, a three-quarter length ermine coat with matching hat and an alligator handbag. Although they had originally thought to travel by train, the Robinsons had decided to fly to New Orleans, then to Pensacola, and finally to Daytona Beach. There, Jack was to report by noon on March 1 to the training camp of the Montreal Royals, the top triple-A minor league farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team.
    [Show full text]
  • Steroids in Baseball and the Case Against Roger Clemens Daniel Healey
    Marquette Sports Law Review Volume 19 Article 11 Issue 1 Fall Fall of the Rocket: Steroids in Baseball and the Case Against Roger Clemens Daniel Healey Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw Part of the Entertainment and Sports Law Commons Repository Citation Daniel Healey, Fall of the Rocket: Steroids in Baseball and the Case Against Roger Clemens , 19 Marq. Sports L. Rev. 289 (2008) Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw/vol19/iss1/11 This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FALL OF THE ROCKET: STEROIDS IN BASEBALL AND THE CASE AGAINST ROGER CLEMENS DANIEL HEALEY* INTRODUCTION - THE ROCKET ON THE HILL Athletes who are chemically propelled to victory do not merely overvalue winning, they misunderstand why winning is properly valued .... Drugs that make sport exotic, by radical intrusions into the body, drain sport of its exemplary power by making it a display of chemistry rather than character. In fact, it becomes a display of some chemists' virtuosity and some athletes' bad character. - George F. Will1 On February 13, 2008, Roger Clemens (Clemens) traveled to Capitol Hill to clear his name. A seven-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, and Houston Astros, "the Rocket" had come to the end of his career, but only the beginning of his legal and media troubles. In December 2007, Clemens's trainer, Brian McNamee (McNamee), had implicated his former employer as a steroids user in the "Mitchell Report," the definitive account of the proliferation of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in Major League Baseball (MLB).2 After facing two months of intense media scrutiny, Clemens traveled to the Hill to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (the "Committee") that he had never used PEDs.
    [Show full text]
  • 1961 Minnesota Twins Media Guide
    MINNESOTA TWINS BASEBALL CLUB METROPOLITAN STADIUM HOME OF MINNESOTA TWINS /EprP.1n/inf/ /I , AMERICAN LEAGUE _j1,, i'; , Upp er /'ZIweoi Year of the Great Confluence For the big-league starved fans of the Upper Midwest, the Big Day came on October 26, 1 9 d6a0t,e of the transfer of the American League Senators from Washington to the Minneapolis and St. Paul territory, and the merger of three proud baseball traditions. For their new fans to gloat about, the renamed Minnesota Twins brought with them three pennants won in Washington, in 1924, '25 and '33, and a world championship in 1924. Now, their new boosters could claim a share of such Senator greats as Clark C. (Old Fox) Griffith, Wolter (Big Train) Johnson, Joe Cronin, Lean (Goose) Goslin, Clyde (Deerfoot) Milan, Ed Delahanty, James (Mickey) Vernon, Roy Sievers, and others. Reciprocally, the Twins could now absorb the glories of 18 American Asso- ciation pennants - nine won by St. Paul and nine by Minneapolis - in 59 seasons. They could be reminded of the tremendous pennant burst by St. Paul in 1920, with the Saints winning 115, losing only 49, posting a .701 percentage, and running away from Joe McCarthy's second-place Louisville Colonels by 28 1/2 games. Mike Kelley, the American Association's grand old man, managed that one and four other Saints flag winners before buying the Minneapolis club and putting together three more championship combinations. The pattern for winning boll in St. Paul was set early, in the first year of minor league ball, in fact.
    [Show full text]
  • When Travis Ishikawa Smashed the Home Run That Put the San Francisco Giants Into the World Series Last Week, Many Baseball Fans
    Published October 24, 2014 FoxNews.com The untold story behind Mr. Ricky´s real desire to bring Jackie Robinson into the all-white baseball league FILE: From left, Brooklyn Dodgers baseball players John Jorgensen, Pee Wee Reese, Ed Stanky and Jackie Robinson pose at Ebbets Field in New York on April 15, 1947. (AP) When Travis Ishikawa smashed the home run that put the San Francisco Giants into the World Series last week, many baseball fans flashed back to what may have been the most dramatic home run ever. That was “The Shot Heard ‟Round the World,” aka “The Miracle of Coogan‟s Bluff,” that the late Bobby Thomson hit in 1951. Thomson played for the same franchise (the then-New York Giants) and his walk-off blast, like Ishikawa‟s, was hit with two men on base in the bottom of the ninth inning and put the Giants into the Series. 1 Yet I was struck by another connection to Thomson‟s dramatic home run 63 years ago: the famous image of a dejected second baseman named Jackie Robinson, his hands on his hips, watching to make sure Thomson touched each base as he joyously raced to home plate and broke the hearts of the Brooklyn Dodgers and their ever-loyal fans. Ishikawa‟s faith in God got a ton of media attention over the last week. If not for his faith, Ishikawa said, he would not have been with the Giants, let alone get a chance to hit the home run that put them in the World Series.
    [Show full text]
  • A Behavioral Law and Economics Approach to Legal Regulation of Doping in Sports Shayna M
    Marquette Sports Law Review Volume 19 Article 7 Issue 1 Fall Are We All Dopes? A Behavioral Law and Economics Approach to Legal Regulation of Doping in Sports Shayna M. Sigman Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw Part of the Entertainment and Sports Law Commons Repository Citation Shayna M. Sigman, Are We All Dopes? A Behavioral Law and Economics Approach to Legal Regulation of Doping in Sports, 19 Marq. Sports L. Rev. 125 (2008) Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw/vol19/iss1/7 This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ARE WE ALL DOPES? A BEHAVIORAL LAW & ECONOMICS APPROACH TO LEGAL REGULATION OF DOPING IN SPORTS SHAYNA M. SIGMAN* INTRODUCTION You should care about the prevalence of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) and doping methods currently being used and abused within elite sports. You should care, not because teenagers and youth are harmed by this, even though they most likely are. 1 You should care, not because elite athletes or those attempting to become elite athletes are harmed by this, even though they most likely are. 2 Whether you are a recreational athlete or a couch potato, whether you are a serious sports fan, a casual fan, or not a fan at all, you should care about the fact that it is highly likely that you have been harmed by doping in sports. Associate Professor of Law, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Touro Law Center.
    [Show full text]
  • WHITE SOX HEADLINES of JULY 28, 2017 “Sox Match
    WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF JULY 28, 2017 “Sox match Cubs with 3 HRs but drop finale” … Carrie Muskat & Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Abreu happily accepting role of leader” … Fabian Ardaya, MLB.com “Bummer goes from callup to first MLB K” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “For Chicago clubs, Quintana deal rare win-win” … Phil Rogers, MLB.com “Holland called as Sox welcome Tribe” … William Kosileski, MLB.com “Anthony Rizzo: More than talent needed for successful rebuild” … Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago “Why Yoan Moncada's slow start with White Sox could soon be a thing of the past” … JJ Stankevitz, CSN Chicago “Aaron Bummer on what it's like to get called up to the majors” … Dan Hayes, CSN Chicago “No fast lane to the Hall of Fame for speedster Tim Raines” … Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune “New faces trying to bond in the White Sox bullpen” … Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune “As losses mount, White Sox must maintain focus — and optimism — on the future” … David Haugh, Chicago Tribune “White Sox rookie Willy Garcia homers in return to big leagues” … Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “Despite struggles, White Sox keeping the faith in Anderson” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “White Sox bring up lefty Aaron Bummer, OF Willy Garcia’”… Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “Chicago White Sox's bullpen reeling” … Scot Gregor, Daily Herald “Willy Garcia gets another shot to show Chicago White Sox he belongs” … Scot Gregor, Daily Herald “Baseball’s Biggest Teardown Could Provide New Blueprint” … Jared Diamond, Wall Street Journal Sox match Cubs with 3 HRs but drop finale By Carrie Muskat and Scott Merkin / MLB.com | July 27, 2017 CHICAGO -- The Cubs and White Sox staged a crosstown home run derby on Thursday night, with the north side squad coming out on top.
    [Show full text]
  • Barrera V. Major League Baseball Et
    Case 7:20-cv-00198 Document 1 Filed on 07/27/20 in TXSD Page 1 of 38 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS MCALLEN DIVISION FELIPE “TRES” BARRERA III § Individually and on behalf of all those § similarly situated. § CAUSE NO. Plaintiffs, § v. § § § MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL; § OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER § OF BASEBALL d/b/a MAJOR LEAGUE § BASEBALL’ DR. DANIEL EICHNER; § JURY DEMANDED SPORTS MEDICINE RESEARCH AND § TESTING LABORATORY; and § LABORATOIRE DE CONTROLE § DU DOPAGE § Defendants. § PLAINTIFF’S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT AND APPLICATION FOR AN EMERGENCY TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF NOW COMES, Plaintiff Felipe “Tres” Barrera III (hereinafter referred to as “Mr. Barrera” or “Plaintiff”) files this Original Complaint and Application for Emergency Injunctive Relief against Major League Baseball, The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, Dr. Daniel Eichner, Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory, and Laboratoire de Controle du Dopage (hereinafter referred to as “Defendants” or “MLB” or “Dr. Eichner” or “SMRTL” or “Montreal Laboratory) and will show the following: INTRODUCTION 1. Plaintiff files this class action against the MLB, The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, Dr. Daniel Eichner, SMRTL, and the Montreal Laboratory, and asserts causes of action 1 Case 7:20-cv-00198 Document 1 Filed on 07/27/20 in TXSD Page 2 of 38 to vacate an arbitration award against Plaintiff based on a diversion from the MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program (“JDA”) and Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”), and claims for common law fraud, misrepresentation, and negligence for proximately causing Plaintiff and similarly situated players to suffer damages based on unreliable testing and “junk science1” for detection of Turinabol.
    [Show full text]
  • Outside the Lines of Gilded Age Baseball: Profits, Beer, and the Origins of the Brotherhood War Robert Allan Bauer University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
    University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 7-2015 Outside the Lines of Gilded Age Baseball: Profits, Beer, and the Origins of the Brotherhood War Robert Allan Bauer University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Sports Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Bauer, Robert Allan, "Outside the Lines of Gilded Age Baseball: Profits, Beer, and the Origins of the Brotherhood War" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 1215. http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/1215 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Outside the Line of Gilded Age Baseball: Profits, Beer, and the Origins of the Brotherhood War Outside the Lines of Gilded Age Baseball: Profits, Beer, and the Origins of the Brotherhood War A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History by Robert A. Bauer Washington State University Bachelor of Arts in History and Social Studies, 1998 University of Washington Master of Education, 2003 University of Montana Master of Arts in History, 2006 July 2015 University of Arkansas This dissertation is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. ___________________________________ Dr. Elliott West Dissertation Director ___________________________________ _________________________________ Dr. Jeannie Whayne Dr. Patrick Williams Committee Member Committee Member Abstract In 1890, members of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players elected to secede from the National League and form their own organization, which they called the Players League.
    [Show full text]
  • C:\My Documents\Dailey
    The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Communications THE NEW CATHEDRALS: THE SPORTS STADIUM AND MASS MEDIA’S ROLE IN FACILITATING NEW CONSTRUCTION A Thesis in Mass Communication by Robert C. Trumpbour © 2001 Robert C. Trumpbour Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2001 We approve the thesis of Robert C. Trumpbour. Date of Signature _____________________________ _____________________ Richard L. Barton Professor of Communications Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research Thesis Adviser Chair of Committee _____________________________ ______________________ Suzanna DeBoef Associate Professor of Political Science _____________________________ ______________________ Patrick Parsons Associate Professor of Communications _____________________________ ______________________ Ronald A. Smith Professor Emeritus of Exercise and Sport Science iii Abstract Stadium construction has occurred at record-breaking level in major metropolitan areas of the United States in the last decade. This dissertation traces media coverage of stadium construction policy throughout the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century, focusing specifically on newspaper coverage of this issue. The hypothesis that media practitioners in smaller metropolitan areas will be more likely to privilege voices supporting new stadium construction is examined. The case study method is utilized and content analysis is employed to determine media coverage trends in major American metropolitan areas. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are examined as small market cities, while Boston and New York are explored as larger market cities. Evidence is provided that larger markets adopt a more critical position than small market cities regarding new stadium construction in newspaper opinion content. Large market publications are similar to smaller market counterparts in providing greater opportunity for expression to pro-stadium voices.
    [Show full text]
  • Going Beyond the Mitchell Report: Cheating in College Sports Via Performance Enhancing Drugs and Academic Corruption1
    Going Beyond the Mitchell Report: Cheating in College Sports Via Performance Enhancing Drugs and Academic Corruption1 By Frank G. Splitt To be successful, one must cheat. Everyone is cheating, and I refuse to cheat. – Robert Maynard Hutchins, 1939. INTRODUCTION – It is regrettable that George Mitchell missed a unique opportunity to make a significant contribution to the betterment of our society. All he needed to say is Major League Baseball (MLB) provides a salient example of the rampant cheating in almost all sports in America. His reported 20-month, multi-million-dollar investigation only scratched the surface of a much more deeply rooted national scandal – confirming what astute observers of sports in America already knew for years: performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) have replaced Wheaties and Ovaltine as the breakfast and drink of champions. GREED, MONEY, AND CONSUMMATE HYPOCRISY – The commissioner and the owners in MLB knew that cheating was going on but didn’t try to stop it because there was too much money at stake. Those tied to the financial fortunes of the game colluded for years in the fiction that super-sized bodies are the natural result of good habits, healthy living, and hard training. Sadly, the same could be said of the NCAA and its member institutions about academic corruption and the likely widespread use of PEDs that not only keep academically unqualified college athletes eligible to play, but also enhance their game performance — generating an ocean of tax-exempt money for participants in the college sports entertainment business. Unfortunately, the use of PEDs in MLB seems to be getting all of the media’s attention even though the drug culture in college and high school athletics embraces more athletes and can have more devastating physical and emotional impacts.
    [Show full text]
  • Curtailing Mlbâ•Žs Recruiting Abuses of Latin American Talent
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Michigan State University College of Law: Digital Commons CURTAILING MLB’S RECRUITING ABUSES OF LATIN AMERICAN TALENT Angela White* Baseball is an integral part of America’s social fabric, and as such, it has always reflected the language of America. In this time of globalization, when corporations are criticized for exploiting cheap sources of labor in developing countries, the exploitative nature of Major League Baseball’s (“MLB”) recruiting practices in Latin America seem to be overlooked. While the wealth of talent coming from Latin America demonstrates its importance to MLB, MLB has failed to adequately address the issues facing Latin American recruits. Even though MLB is not responsible for the socioeconomic inequalities that place it in a better bargaining position, MLB should be held accountable for the exploitative nature of its practices. I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 699 II. GLOBALIZATION OF BASEBALL ............................................................ 702 III. REGULATIONS ON FOREIGN RECRUITING ............................................ 706 IV. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL’S RECRUITMENT ABUSES:CHILD LABOR AND CONTRACT ISSUES ......................................................................... 708 V. REGULATION FOR THE BUSCÓN SYSTEM IN LATIN AMERICA .............. 719 VI. THE EARLIER, THE BETTER:AGE AND IDENTITY FRAUD IN BASEBALL ACADEMIES ........................................................................
    [Show full text]