The Baseball Digest Archives
November 1983
The November issue of Baseball Digest traditionally contained the magazine’s choices for that season’s all-rookie team along with their picks for top rookie in each league. These articles were written before the announcements of the official BBWAA Rookies of the Year, so it’s interesting to see if/when their choices differ from the eventual winners. That was the case in 1983: the editors agreed with Ron Kittle in the AL, but instead of Darryl Strawberry they went with Craig McMurtry in the NL.
The first thing that jumps out looking at the list? Julio Franco was actually young once. 1983 doesn’t appear to have produced one of the great rookie crops; in addition to the number of players listed above that have largely faded from memory, it’s not as if there was a bumper crop of players who fell short of making this team that went on to have significant careers. Among the other players mentioned in the accompanying article were Don Mattingly, Andy Van Slyke, and Mike Boddicker along with a bunch of names that are now obscure.
The thing that I love most about going through these old issues is to see how attitudes have changed over time. There is an article discussing the results of a player poll conducted by the New York Times. (72% of the players responded, so it is a very representative sample.) Among the results: nearly 75% opposed replay review, the same margin preferred natural grass over artificial turf. As expected, AL players overwhelmingly approved the DH, NL players disapproved by roughly the same margin, resulting in a near 50-50 split. 70% voted against interleague play. It was interesting to see the voting results for best & worst stadiums. The best stadiums in each league (Los Angeles & Kansas City) are still in use today, whereas the worst (Cleveland and San Francisco) were both replaced long ago.
A good chunk of this issue was devoted to umpiring. There is a lengthy feature that fully describes the tough life that an ump leads - constant travel, relatively paltry pay at the time, the physical beating they often take, the verbal abuse from managers & fans. That was followed by a shorter article describing some of the more famous rhubarbs that umps have had with managers.
Later on the issue there are a pair of articles which describe some of the hidden defensive value in the game. One discusses the importance of having a catcher who calls a good game. It’s followed by one which features Dwight Evans talking about the value in getting good jumps on the ball while playing the outfield.
I’ll close by acknowledging the article on one of the most underrated players of the early 1980’s; Pedro Guerrero. That’s a bit surprising because he played for the high profile Los Angeles Dodgers, and he was one of the co-MVP’s of the 1981 World Series, yet he has fallen through the cracks. Part of that is due to the fact that playing at Dodger Stadium didn’t do him many favors; if he had the benefit of more modern statistical analysis there would be better perspective on his numbers. Also, let’s be honest. He bounced around from position to position over the course of his career. Let’s just say that defense was never his strong suit. But he was one hell of a hitter.
It Looks Even Worse In Motion
A couple of weeks ago I briefly mentioned that I had finally seen a Cybertruck for the first time, but I don’t think I gave it proper justice. The photos make it appear to be a dorkmobile, but seeing it in the flesh is a different experience entirely. First off, it’s shocking to see how small it is. Plus, it is not only an aesthetic nightmare, but it’s unimaginatively designed. If you were ever a Cub Scout, you remember the Pinewood Derby. They would give you a block of wood & a set of wheels from which you would build your car. The Cybertruck looks like the metallic equivalent of someone simply sticking the wheels on the wood without doing any whittling and calling it a day.
But wait, there’s more. Last week I had my Cybertruck Encounter Of the Second Kind and actually saw one on the city streets, more specifically I got to witness that monstrosity making a turn at a street corner. It is so bulky that I can’t believe any person could possibly find it pleasurable to drive one of those machines.
A Crucial 3 Weeks
At this moment there are only 4 teams in the National League with winning records, along with a 5th team that is at exactly .500. Assuming the Braves maintain their strong hold on the first wild card slot (which is no guarantee with the losses of Ronald Acuna Jr. & Spencer Strider) that means there figures to be a scramble for the last two playoff positions. Even the Mets are only a game and a half out of a playoff spot right now. With the exceptions of the Rockies & Marlins every NL team has a plausible shot at postseason play.
That is going to make these next few weeks vitally important. By the time July 4th & then the All-Star break come around, front offices will need to start deciding if they should be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. Remember, it’s not just a team’s deficit that’s important, it’s also the number of other clubs they would need to leapfrog. The more squads that you trail, the more teams that you need to count on to lose, and chances are that some of the them that you are chasing are playing each other. So, one is guaranteed to win, which means you can’t make up ground.
The key is to be within two games of the lead when it’s time to make the in or out decision. As long as the wild card race remains this crowded, 4 games is likely too large of a deficit to feel that your chances are realistic; there would be too many clubs in the way. A 3 game deficit is the tough one; a team could go either way. Bottom line, the next few weeks will entail as much scoreboard watching as one generally sees in late September. There is a silver lining to the rampant mediocrity in the soft middle of the National League, it means that there should be a boatload of daily excitement even this early in the season.
The American League is much different; perennial powers the Astros & Rays have not been able to get started, nor has the defending champion Rangers. Each of these teams may have already dug themselves into holes too deep to climb out of. Is it possible that the teams currently holding playoff position (Yankees, Guardians, Mariners, Orioles, Royals, Twins) are all but cinches to move on?
Back to the Mets, who have somehow played their way back into the thick of things. One of my closest friends has insisted that the downturn the team has taken beginning with their late season collapse in 2022 is due to the team defying the baseball gods once Timmy Trumpet actually stepped onto the field one day to participate in Edwin Diaz’s intro. I don’t agree with that, there is a more obvious explanation. Things starting getting bad as soon as they brought the black alternate uniforms back into circulation. You can’t tamper with those beautiful blue & orange unis. The team needed to recruit someone special to restore the mojo. It’s no coincidence that the team is undefeated since The Grimace threw out a ceremonial first pitch last week. All is once again well in Flushing.
Sir Charles
With the NBA broadcasting contracts set to expire after next season, there has been a large amount of angst generated as word has leaked out concerning the next set of broadcast partners. The league has not made any official announcement, but all indications are that ESPN/ABC will retain its part of the package, including rights to the NBA Finals. NBC will regain NBA rights (along with the return of Roundball Rock!) and Prime Video will enter the scene as well. That will leave WBD/TNT on the outside looking in.
There will be more to say when the league finally confirms all of this - and WBD is feverishly attempting to drain a buzzer beater to remain in the NBA game - but the first thought every NBA fan had upon hearing the news was “what does this mean for Inside the NBA?” I’m not alone in thinking that Inside the NBA is the single greatest studio show in television sports history. People have been holding out hope that the on-air quartet could migrate to one of the new rights holders - contractual obligations could make that tricky, in particular with Ernie Johnson - but it now appears that even those hopes have been dashed.
All due respect to Ernie/Kenny/Shaq, but Charles Barkley is the engine that drives the machine, and he announced Friday night that he intends to retire from TV work after next season, regardless of the fate of TNT’s NBA contract. Keep in mind that this is far from the first time that he has threatened to retire; it’s entirely plausible that he is tired of hearing questions about his & the show’s future, so he threw it out there to shut people up. I’m not going to write his TV obit until he is actually sipping Mai Tais on a beach as a new season tips off. What his announcement means more than anything else is that no matter what happens, we shouldn’t count on seeing Inside the NBA on a different network with the same cast come 2025. Next year will be a season long victory lap for that show. It will be so missed when it’s gone.
50 Years Ago - 461 Ocean Boulevard
One trend I’ve noticed lately is that when the citizens of Springfield turn on a famous person it comes with a dismissiveness towards their past work. Look at the response to Jerry Seinfeld’s bizarre press tour for his Pop Tarts movie. Each off-putting comment he made resulted in a batch of “he was never that funny anyway” responses. That is similar to what happened when Eric Clapton became the voice of COVID ignorance. So many people pushed back with some form of “he’s just boring dad rock.” OK, that might be true for the latter stages of his career. He titled one of his albums Old Sock after all. He might as well have called it I’m Not Trying Anymore. At his best, however, his earlier solo career was top notch and there was no better example than 461 Ocean Boulevard. (BTW, if you want to use his attitudes during the pandemic to retcon his career, I wouldn’t focus on his music as much as his behavior. For a long spell he had successfully memory holed the more deplorable events from his past, such as the time he went on a racist rant on a concert stage. Not to mention the fact that stealing his best friend’s wife was a serious violation of the Bro Code.)
His second solo album came out after a prolonged absence as he went through rehab to deal with his heroin addiction. Personally and professionally rejuvenated, the album was a huge commercial success and it served as a reminder of why he was such a big deal in the first place. By this time he had largely moved past the blues purity that inspired the famous “Clapton Is God” graffiti. In its place he leaned towards clean mainstream rock. The album isn’t terribly heavy on guitar pyrotechnics, but his fast-fingered skill is evident throughout.
More than half of the album consists of covers or modern reimaginings of traditional songs. It starts off with a bang - Motherless Children is one of my very favorite songs in his solo catalog. It provides exactly what you would want from an interpretation of such an old song; it maintains its essence while updating it for a modern audience. I’m a little less impressed with his version of I Shot the Sheriff, which became a #1 hit. He introduced Bob Marley to a larger audience, great. I’m sure that Marley was happy with the royalty checks. It just felt a little too antiseptic to me. I won’t go so far as to say that he removed all of the soul, but I spend the song practically begging him to kick it up a notch; it remains in first gear all the way through. You could almost say the same about his cover of Willie and the Hand Jive.
I don’t want to make it sound as if I don’t like the album. I would still rank it as one of his 2 best solo albums, either this or Slowhand. The hits from the album may not be his strongest - although Let It Grow is a wonderfully sublime song - but several of the filler tracks on this album are exceptional. In addition to the opening track which I discussed earlier, it ends on a very strong note with Mainline Florida.
Closing Laughs
And with that, we have reached the end for another day. Thanks to the new subscribers, and thanks to my loyal readers as well. Enjoy your day all you good people. See you again on Wednesday.
