MLB Bats Whittled Down to Uneven Playing Field 

Sunday, July 01, 2007

By Diane M. Grassi

As Barry Bonds comes ever closer to breaking the National Pastime’s hallowed home run record, currently held by Hank Aaron at 755, the controversy regarding illicit performance enhancing drug use, which may forever taint Bond’s entire career, does accomplish taking the focus off of Major League Baseball (MLB) and its own shortcomings.

The scrutiny which has been paid, in only just the past two years, over drug use among MLB players, while having been a black eye for MLB, is also convenient as Commissioner Bud Selig need not address myriad other issues which also play their part in preserving the integrity of the game.

For example, MLB has done little exploration into the variations in equipment over just the past 10 years or so and more specifically the wooden bat itself. A number of questions come to mind. Is it just coincidence that Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in 2001 after he switched his bat’s wood from that of ash to a hand-lathed maple? Is the accelerated breakage of bats over the past 5 plus years due to an acutely thinning bat handle with a larger barrel and lighter weight or is it the non-discriminate MLB approval process of the making and even storage of bats that makes them more vulnerable?

Is it a coincidence that prior to 2003, MLB welcomed smaller bat makers as suppliers to MLB players but suddenly instituted an exorbitant certification fee with nearly impossible to acquire insurance liability policies for smaller operations, costing thousands upon thousands of dollars? And is it not worth taking a look at why there is such a difference in the quality of bats Hillerich & Bradsby Co., the manufacturer of Louisville Sluggers, provides only specific big leaguers, but does not do so for others? In fact, the company proudly admits it.

Preserving the sanctity of the game is multi-faceted. Although technology and safety standards over time have essentially been a beneficial reward for players, it is hard to measure the consistency of the game of MLB if issues such as bat manufacture and its own baseball operations are done on a selective and arbitrary basis. And when it ultimately impacts the way the game is played and its future records, it should be routinely examined.

Hillerich & Bradsby, although deemed the official bat of MLB, is not the exclusive supplier of bats for its players. However, it is still the number one provider to MLB with about a 60% share of its bats supply and curries favor and power, due to its longevity and stature in the history of the game, not to mention the power which is bestowed upon it by MLB, which few other manufacturers enjoy.

In 2002, there were 48 MLB bat manufacturers, and surprisingly little thought was put into the verification process in order to become a bat maker supplier of MLB bats other than for the supplier to provide a sample bat made out of a single piece of wood. But in 2003, MLB went to the other extreme. In a form letter sent to all bat makers in December 2002, MLB stated it would start requiring that they carry $10 million worth of liability insurance, and indemnify MLB, its shareholders, directors, officers, employees and agents attached to various product liability issues.

In addition, the certification fee was increased to $10,000.00 per year, necessary to provide bat makers with the privilege of selling their bats to MLB players. Since that time, although the liability coverage has been reduced to $5 million per year, it still remains prohibitively expensive for boutique manufacturers, or most other domestic suppliers other than Hillerich and Bradsby, to do business with MLB.

MLB also requires that the insurance carrier providing coverage to bat makers must have a “best rating of A-8 or better.” Carolina Clubs, a MLB certified bat maker from Florida, was nearly denied doing business with MLB, as to find a guaranteed insurance carrier of any kind in the hurricane-ridden state of Florida in the post-Katrina era is nearly impossible. However, virtually overnight in 2003, bat suppliers were whittled down to a mere 14 for that season. In 2007, there are supposedly 20-25 suppliers, although MLB makes it difficult to even corroborate such information.

According to the head of MLB Baseball Operations at the time in 2003, Sandy Alderson, “The administrative fee was originally intended to help us defray the costs of inspecting bats, approving bats and for all administrative work and testing.” MLB needed $140,000.00 to approve the bats of 14 companies?

In 1862, MLB first restricted the diameter of the barrel, requiring it not exceed 2.5 inches. It was increased in 1895 to 2.75 inches in diameter, as it remains today. 1868 saw the limit put on a length of 42 inches, as it also remains today. No weight requirements, either minimum or maximum have ever been required. With those parameters, combined with improvements in technology and players’ bat speeds, it could be argued that it is a far different game than even Babe Ruth played. For example, the Babe used a 42-ounce bat as opposed to the average weight of 32 ounces used by today’s MLB players.

Ash bats were exclusively used for decades, after hickory was phased out, until 1997 when Sam Holman of Ottawa, Canada and his Sam Bat caught the attention of then Blue Jays star player, Joe Carter. He then supposedly talked up Holman’s bats which eventually in 1999 found their way into the hands of Barry Bonds. Bonds went on a tear hitting 374 of his total home runs with the sugar maple bats from Sam Holman and broke Mark McGuire’s 1998 home run season record of 70 by besting him with his 73 in 2001.

Holman’s bats have been used by over 500 MLB players and he is expected to furnish Bonds with the bat used for his number 756. Given the proximity of Holman to some of the best maple tree forests in North America in Ottawa, Holman’s business has thrived over the past ten years, although he is selling his business in order to retire. Ash trees also hail from a northern climate, and are harvested primarily from the New York-Pennsylvania area.

The arguments over the consistency and flight of the ball with either wood are never-ending, but there are distinct differences between the two woods. Ash supposedly has more flex, but is not as heavy a wood as maple, producing a bit less flight of the ball upon impact. Additionally, ash bats have less longevity than maple bats and break more frequently and are more apt to shatter, flake and splinter upon breaking.

Sugar or rock maple, considered the finest maple for bats, are more expensive, and range in price from $70.00 -$130.00 while ash bats range between $50.00 and $75.00, yet need to be replaced more frequently than maple. Most players using maple claim that the ball travels farther off of the barrel’s “sweet spot” as opposed to ash. But because the wood itself is a heavier grade, the barrels are made slightly narrower than the ash bats in order to accommodate a lighter weight comparable to ash. And when maple bats do eventually break, they do so in large pieces as opposed to splinters.

The lack of restrictions on weight or the lack of prescribed storage care of bats by MLB, could have a profound impact on whether or not a bat breaks or explodes upon impact. Such endangers its players and spectators. Players go through an average of 60-70 bats a season. But the moisture content of the wood upon manufacture as well as in storage, whether the bat is hand-lathed or completely machine made, as well as the bat’s weight and handle diameter, could all alter the bat’s ultimate performance and longevity. Seattle Mariner, Ichiro Suzuki, for example, has his own humidor for his entire bat supply.

And why should a bat maker, such as Sam Holman, who produces several thousand bats each season to MLB as opposed to Hillerich and Bradsby's 750,000, foot a bill of $65,000.00 per year for liability insurance? The supposed interest in increasing liability insurance fees by MLB for bat makers is an easy way for MLB not to address the incessant breakage of its bats. Perhaps it is the quality of MLB bat inspectors, or a lack of a minimum quality standard of wood or the non-requirement of prescribed weight ratio of bat barrels to handles. But instead of MLB looking for a better standardization process for its bats, it would rather thrust the responsibility onto the bat makers, and thereby still leaving players and spectators at risk.

Also of note, according to Hillerich and Bradsby’s Chuck Schupp, head of its professional division, “We have a priority list of players. A lot of it is based on a personal relationship. If someone is loyal to us, we’ll take care of them.” And although players are not required to sign exclusivity contracts with bat makers, as individual teams assume all costs for players’ bats, Schupp says there is a “Louisville Slugger ‘A’ list.” It includes Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Carlos Delgado and Ken Griffey, Jr., among select others.

If star players are treated preferably by Schupp for their Louisville Slugger bats, does that mean that average or up and coming players are at a distinct disadvantage while not getting the best product from the same manufacturer? Should not MLB perhaps look into that?

And finally, unless MLB and its Commissioner is willing to look at all matters of inequity in its sport, whether it be an issue between players, between equipment manufacturers and its players, between baseball operations and its suppliers or a lack of standardization when it comes to equipment, MLB should not be permitted to point the finger exclusively at the use of performance enhancing drugs as the sole threat to the sanctity of the game. For that is far from the only difference-maker in varying performance results in the game of MLB today.

And if MLB wants to be taken seriously in preserving the integrity of the game, it must do a far better job of it rather than its present lethargic effort. For certainly, they are not fooling the fans and the fans and the players deserve better.


Copyright © 2007 Diane M. Grassi
Contact: dgrassi@cox.net

posted by Diane M. Grassi 7:51 PM

Does Clemens' Contract With the Yankees Disrespect Baseball? 

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

By Diane M. Grassi

By now, the baseball nation has had time to try and wrap its head around the re-signing of Roger Clemens to the New York Yankees, for the remainder of the 2007 Major League Baseball (MLB) season. Most likely, according to Clemens and Yankees General Manager, Brian Cashman, it will be around June 1st, if not sooner, when Clemens makes his 2007 MLB debut.

Sports pundits, broadcasters, journalists as well as every MLB fan has an opinion about the big dollars involved and whether Clemens is essentially a hired gun. But there are perhaps a number of questions beneath the veneer which should be discussed, which are far bigger than one Roger Clemens. For baseball history and the supposed integrity of the game dictates, at least seemingly so, that no one player is greater than the game itself.

But if we expect an ex-owner and opportunist such as Commissioner Bud Selig to be the one to honor the game, we might as well give up now. Given his wretched record of ignoring performance enhancing drugs in his sport for almost 15 years, for example, until he was ultimately squeezed by the U.S. Congress to seriously address the issue, how can we expect anything but business as usual from such a flawed figure presiding over the integrity of the game?

And when speaking about the integrity of the game, we must address the very basic idea of baseball as being a team sport, which takes the efforts of every player to be in attendance for every game, whether or not they are actually participating on the field that day.

It can be argued that Roger Clemens is being paid entirely too much compensation for his truncated season in 2007, but more importantly, is the precedent setting structure of his deal. But in order to evaluate his current deal, it is helpful to revisit his contracts of the preceding 3 years.

Those who have followed Clemens’ career, since his first retirement after the 2003 season with the NY Yankees, know that he spent three consecutive years with the Houston Astros, thereafter. Clemens returned to Houston, supposedly for the opportunity to close out his career with his hometown club.

With some prodding from good friend and starting pitcher, Andy Pettitte, who also left the Yankees to return to his home in Houston, after not reaching an agreement with NY after the 2003 season, Clemens came out of his brief 6-week retirement and signed a 1-year contract with Houston on January 12, 2004, for the entire 2004 season.

Clemens pitched in 33 games in 2004, 214.1 innings, had an 18-4 record with a 2.98 ERA. He followed that up by winning the 2004 National League Cy Young Award, the seventh of his career.

In December 2004, Clemens accepted salary arbitration from the Astros and re-signed for a 1-year deal in January 2005, for the entire 2005 season. The contract was for $18,000,000.022; almost double that of his 2004 incentive-laden salary. During 2005, he pitched in 32 games, 211.1 innings, with a 13-8 record and finished with the lowest ERA in MLB at 1.87.

The Astros made it to the 2005 World Series but were unfortunately swept by the Chicago White Sox. Clemens also disappointingly was forced to leave Game 1 of the 2005 World Series due to a hamstring injury, a chronic problem for him during his years from 1999-2003 with the NY Yankees. Primarily due to those injuries, Clemens thought long and hard about whether or not to return to MLB for 2006, due to his conditioning program, stamina and longing for his family. He eventually, however, filed for free agency in November 2005. Then the Astros denied him arbitration in early December 2005, thus precluding him from re-signing with the club until after May 1, 2006.

Clemens then went on to participate in the World Baseball Classic in March 2006 and left the door open to return for the 2006 MLB season. And on May 31, 2006 he signed a contract with the Houston Astros worth $22,000,000.022, pro-rated for the portion of the season which he completed. Clemens’ first game of 2006, however, was not until June 22, 2006. He ended up pitching in 19 games, 113 innings, with a 7-6 record and a 2.30 ERA.

It can be speculated that since Clemens lived in the Houston vicinity, that he initially retired after the 2003 season to spend more time with his wife and four young sons, and that it was the main reason he was accommodated by the Astros allowing him to stay at home in Houston, when not scheduled to pitch, while the club was on the road.

Most baseball fans, at least those outside of Houston, were reportedly not even aware of such an arrangement. Those who did know, as well as the media, pretty much gave him a pass for such an allowance, given the future Hall of Famer’s contribution to the game of baseball over the course of his career. Presently, Clemens has 348 lifetime wins and 4.604 strikeouts, second all-time. His advancing age also worked in his favor for such a request.

But Clemens’ just executed contract with the NY Yankees ventures even more so into untested waters. For not only will Clemens be playing a shortened season, but for the first time, at least in Yankees history, the storied club with the most wins in history, will allow him to essentially be a part-time player. Yes, his contract is excessive even for a full-time player, which works out to around a pro-rated amount of $4.5 million per month for the 2007 season. But he will be accorded the option in his shortened season to be away from the team on his four days between starts if he so wishes, to either tend to family, charity or other business obligations.

Ever since the DH was instituted in 1971, it has been scrutinized as it raises the question as to whether it is fair for a DH to be considered a full-time player, as he does not play the field. But it remains the obligation of the DH to cheer on his teammates, whether he is on the field or not. The same can be said for relief pitchers, pinch hitters, utility players, or pinch runners, whether or not they are used on a daily basis.

Clemens seemed rather disingenuous when he said at his news conference on May 6, 2007 that, “I didn’t know the details of my contract sitting down yesterday.” Rest assured that Roger Clemens knew exactly what he wanted and that his agent Randy Hendricks would not have deleted such a clause in the contract without checking with him first.

But, if it really does not matter to Clemens when asked specifically about such an arrangement, then he should honor his promise to work with the young pitchers on the Yankees staff when he is not pitching, and strike that traveling clause from his agreement. Otherwise, how he will have time to work with the other pitchers, given his out-of-town distractions, will remain questionable.

Where Bud Selig should make a ruling is to make it clear that such an arrangement should not be left up to any one franchise as it will ultimately lead to favoritism over other players and opens the door for other players demanding like contracts. It also leads to the probability for low team morale, and thereby a lack of team cohesiveness.

And the contributing parties to this whole scenario must be held accountable in addition to the Commissioner of MLB. They include the Houston Astros, its management and ownership, the NY Yankees, its management and ownership, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), and of course, Roger Clemens himself.

But the fate of MLB clearly rests on Bud Selig’s shoulders. However, he is once again too shortsighted to foresee that MLB’s future also is determined by his inactions and benign neglect of his obligations for the good of the game of baseball. And yes, sometimes it is not about the money but rather about the game itself and about preserving its integrity for generations to come.

You decide.



Copyright © Diane M. Grassi
Contact: dgrassi@cox.net

posted by Diane M. Grassi 8:32 PM

Native American Prospects Hold Key Between Past & Present 

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

By Diane M. Grassi

The dawn of the 2007 Major League Baseball (MLB) season is perhaps the best time to reflect upon baseball’s past and its hopes for the future. At no other time of the season will fans’ aspirations be as high without need for qualification.

As teams gear up for Opening Day on April 1st, major league camps in both the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues have had the enviable positions to not only evaluate the 2007 starting line-ups but to get a look at what the future holds for 2008 and 2009. And in that regard, Spring Training has routinely become important not only to evaluate present-day players but for the prognostication of what teams can expect down the road.

Baseball is arguably the sport most intertwined with its history and legacy along with its impact on society. Its past demands that it be revisited, especially when speaking about its future, as we explore here two notable and historically unique minor league prospects.

It was in 1887 when the first American Indian is believed to have competed in the major leagues. James Madison Toy, of partial Indian ancestry played in the American Association League in that year as well as in 1890. Toy preceded Louis Sockalexis, the first officially acknowledged American Indian who competed for the Cleveland Spiders of the National League in 1897 until 1899.

Although Native Americans entered the world of professional baseball 50 years prior to African Americans, who competed in the Negro Leagues, until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by signing his minor league contract with Dodgers in 1945, there have been less than 50 Native Americans of full Indian ancestry to compete in the Major Leagues since 1897.

Charles Albert “Chief” Bender is the sole Native American elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, although Jim Thorpe was perhaps the best-known Native American player of the 20th century as he excelled in multiple sports.
There are, however, many well-known Hall of Famers who are of part Native American ancestry such as Johnny Bench, Willie Stargell and Early Wynn.

At long last, the drought of notable Native American future hopefuls in MLB may be over. One of them can be found in the New York Yankees organization and the other in the organization of its rival, the Boston Red Sox. Right handed starting pitcher, Joba Chamberlain, was landed by the Yankees in the 2006 draft, signed as a supplemental first-round pick and 41st overall. Chamberlain is a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. After competing for two years for the University of Nebraska, having only started to play baseball as a senior in high school in Lincoln, Nebraska, Chamberlain led his team to the 2005 College World Series going 10-2 for the season with a 2.81 ERA.

Now 21, Chamberlain has been clocked with a 98-mph fastball and has been favorably compared by physique, delivery and his portfolio of pitches to Cleveland Indians pitcher, C.C. Sabathia. Most important for the Yankees, is not to rush Chamberlain to the Big Show too early, as he has a history of weight and triceps tendonitis problems. He spent the winter in the Hawaiian Winter League where his progress continued, followed by an invite to Spring Training. Yet, it is his strong mental makeup which is central to his battling any problems which may arise along the way, according to the Yankees. Slated to start in A-ball at the beginning of 2007, Chamberlain could end the season as high as AAA, with a possible shot at making the Yankees rotation in 2008.

Another Native American star in the making spent Spring Training in Red Sox Nation. Jacoby Ellsbury, whose mother is of full Navajo descent and a member of the Colorado River Tribe, has taken his partial Native American heritage quite seriously. Ellsbury, signed by Boston in the first round of the draft in 2005 as the 23rd overall pick, is a left-handed outfielder who competed for Oregon State University where he was the 2005 Pac-10 Conference Co-Player of the year and an All Academic Honorable Mention. Ellsbury was ranked as the fastest base runner and 3rd best defensive outfielder of eligible college players in Baseball America’s Best Tools Survey for 2005.

Ellsbury’s speed coupled with power to all fields, according to the Red Sox, most closely resembles Johnny Damon’s playing style and the hope is that he will at least spend part of the 2008 season at the major league level while becoming a regular starter in 2009.

And a recent former major leaguer, Bobby Madritsch, pitched for the Seattle Mariners in 2004 and 2005 and was traded to the Kansas City Royals for the 2006 season. Madritsch is of Lakota Sioux heritage. He recovered at age 28 from reconstructive shoulder surgery when the Mariners signed him. Unfortunately, he re-injured his shoulder and tore his labrum in 2005 and the Royals eventually released him. Now 31, Madritsch has not elected another surgery but is still attempting a comeback in some organization with a minor league contract for 2007. Thus far, only the Philadelphia Phillies have shown any interest.

All three of these players have one commonality in addition to their Native American roots, however, and that is that they grew up off of the Indian reservation, regardless of their heritage. Ellsbury had limited time living at the Warms Springs reservation early in his childhood, where his mother is a special education teacher, but he grew up in Madras, Oregon. Chamberlain grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska and Madritsch, while born on an Indian reservation, was taken away when he was but 2 months old and raised amongst the rough neighborhoods of Chicago.

Key to their success, however, is that all three men assimilated into American life, unlike other Native American boys living on Indian reservations and thereby increased their odds for success later in life. Still, unbeknownst to most Americans, the reservations remain rife with poverty with a lack of general services. There exists a high school dropout rate of over 40%, an unemployment rate of over 60% and the poverty rate exceeds 25%. Healthcare and education are under-funded while diabetes, obesity, alcohol and drug abuse are pervasive problems. And all of this remaining depravity is present in spite of the fact that the Indian Gaming Association touts that there are now Indian gaming casinos in 28 states which have proliferated over the past decade.

And the lack of participation in sports on either the collegiate or professional levels by Native Americans prevails. The overriding concept ingrained in Native American culture is that standing out for individual accomplishment is in direct conflict with the importance of functioning as a group. Enjoying success apart from the tribe is not rewarded but rather scorned. As such, athletes who leave and go on to have a modicum of success only return to the reservation to face criticism and rejection by family and friends. This is often too much to reconcile in the mind of an adolescent.

Many Native American athletes additionally suffer from a bad rap by college coaches or professional scouts as well. Few coaches avail themselves to the talent on the reservations. Most are told, by the scant few who have actually approached Native American communities, that they will be let down by the Native American’s inability to successfully assimilate on the college or professional level. Moreover, coaches worry about academic eligibility of these prospective students.

Making the transition from a sheltered life on a reservation to a college campus requires basic life skills which are lacking without the proper guidance. And feelings of guilt about achieving success have led Native American athletes to deliberately sabotage his or her chances to thrive. They would rather go back to a depraved life that is familiar to them and be around family rather than vying for a better stake in life.

Not dissimilar to the lack of effort exhibited by MLB in its investment of players from the African American community, it as well as the universities routinely seek out players overseas rather than even approach potential which exists on Indian reservations. The idea is dismissed out of hand. But unlike the youth of the African American community, who generally long to escape a life of poverty and crime-ridden neighborhoods, the Native American needs to be exposed to options in a way which can work in concert with their culture and customs, yet improve their lot in life.

Both Chamberlain and Ellsbury find themselves in unique positions, given the level of expectations for them on the big league level. And since they remain members of their respective tribes, they have the opportunity to foster a new dialog between MLB and the Native American community as well as to implore scouts and college coaches to not give up on their people. Therefore, it is ever more important that these two players by virtue of their climb to success at the major league level and beyond play a key role in introducing a whole new source of untapped talent of American boys, who just happen to live on a reservation.

“I think coaches might find out that the reservations contain some extraordinary athletes….It takes a special coach to bring them along, give them the security they need,” according to South Dakota State Representative, Ron Volesky, a member of the Lakota Sioux and a Harvard graduate. He too grew up primarily away from the reservation.

But let us hope that the Native American population can give to those of their own heritage, who have been successful, the necessary access to its most important asset, its children, in that they have a chance for a better life, whether it be in sports or some other discipline.

Copyright ©2007 Diane M. Grassi
Contact: dgrassi@cox.net

posted by Diane M. Grassi 6:58 PM

MLB Profits From New Change in Immigration Law 

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

By Diane M. Grassi

Major League Baseball (MLB) will celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s entry into the major leagues, on April 15, 2007, which ended the prohibition of integration of African American players. However, it is arguable how much MLB has built upon his symbolic legacy, as civil rights hero, since it enjoyed complete integration in 1959.

For it is has been documented, and especially over the past 10 years, as the 2007 baseball season begins, that MLB has far more in common with American-based multi-national conglomerates than it does with the idea of inclusiveness, where bottom line profits dictate company policy.

Ironically, MLB will also hold an exhibition game on March 31, 2007 in Memphis, TN between the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians. It is lauded as the inaugural “Civil Rights Game” in the city where the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Yet, for all of Commissioner Bud Selig’s interest in diversity in MLB, there are scant African American patrons in baseball stadiums nationwide. Although MLB argues that is not necessarily so, it denies even keeping such statistics.

Such could also explain why MLB does such a poor job of marketing to the African American community, as it is one which MLB, it would appear, simply does not consider valuable. For as overall profits rise, “If it ain’t broke why fix it?” In turn, why have a civil rights game if there are no African Americans in the house?

There have only been 12 African American MLB managers in the history of the game. The most at any one time was 6 in 2002. Today, after the 2006 dismissals of Frank Robinson of the Washington Nationals and Dusty Baker of the Chicago Cubs, Willie Randolph of the New York Mets and the newly named Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers remain the only African American managers in the major leagues.

Hall of Famer, Frank Robinson, became the first African American major league manager in 1975 and was involved in almost every facet of the game for 51 years, from player to coach to manager to Vice President of On-Field Operations of MLB. Most recently, he was the Montreal Expos manager followed by the Washington Nationals helm, where he led the transition of the two organizations for a period of 5 years.

Frank Robinson was unceremoniously fired as manager by new Nationals management last fall but had at least been promised a community outreach position which he very much wanted. The Nationals management which won its ownership largely based upon its promise to MLB to engage the African American community, chose instead to relieve Robinson entirely of his services.

But Frank Robinson has been repeatedly vocal about keeping the game alive in the African American community, in addition to outspoken Hall of Famer, Joe Morgan, and current Minnesota Twins outfielder, Torii Hunter. Yet, MLB speaks only in platitudes about diversity, bypassing the inner city and working class neighborhoods, seemingly looking for talent everywhere but there.

As its own ruling class, baseball owners have invested in multi-million dollar academies and facilities primarily in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. But it is now going even farther abroad into mainland China and even Ghana, subsequent to its interests in Japan and South Korea.

MLB has but one Urban Baseball Youth Academy in the entirety of the United States, located in Compton, CA which opened in 2006. MLB donated but $1 million towards the project which is situated on the grounds of Compton Community College which furnishes its buildings of operations. Hardly what one would call a triumph for American inner city youth, at a time that Bud Selig describes as the “Golden Era of Baseball.”

“China is the most important country for the game of baseball as it seeks to develop around the world," according to Randy Levine, President of the New York Yankees. He led a contingent to mainland China on behalf of the NY Yankees and MLB in February 2007 to contract with the Chinese Baseball Association in order to develop baseball, initially constructing fields and financing Little Leagues and equipment. The goal is to eventually provide an academy. Meanwhile, the New York Mets and MLB sent a group to Ghana to formally introduce baseball to West Africa.

But do not mistake such overtures as part of a tour of goodwill ambassadors, as MLB, which still remains the only professional sports organization in the U.S. with a broad reaching anti-trust exemption, does nothing anymore without its eye on the proverbial money ball. It is baseball on the cheap, overlooking America’s homegrown kids. It obviously has no compunction nor feels any obligation to develop an American program, investment or facility built, for example, for every offshore program, investment or facility built.

In 2006, more than 23% of players on major league rosters were comprised of foreign-born players which has more than doubled since 1990. Foreign-born players do not include those from Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories or possessions or those born abroad to U.S. parents. The Dominican Republic enjoys the largest number of foreign-born major league players or about 1 out of 7 in 2006, followed by Venezuela. Mexico, Canada, Japan, Panama, Cuba, Colombia and Taiwan totaled just half of those from the Dominican Republic.

All major league teams have academies and/or share facilities primarily in the Dominican Republic with a few remaining in Venezuela, where building has tailed off due to civil unrest. But in its latest coup, MLB has gotten an even bigger break from the federal government in a recent change in the Immigration & Nationality Act, which was hardly publicized. Amended by the U.S. Congress in 2006 and signed into law on December 22, 2006 by President George W. Bush, it is known as the “Compete Act of 2006” or the “Creating Opportunities for Minor League Professionals, Entertainers and Teams Through Legal Entry Act of 2006.”

The legislation changes the visa status of foreign-born minor league players to be able to use P-1 visas, formerly reserved only for major league players, and an upgrade from the H-2B visas, generally used by temporary foreign-born workers in numerous industries. Each team previously was limited to 26 H-2B visas per season for its minor leagues. Major leagues have no numerical limitations with the P-1 visa, valid for a period of 10 years.

Given that over 40% of minor leaguers are foreign-born and that most of them are from the Dominican Republic, this will enable a continuous pipeline of Latin American players. MLB’s foreign academies house, feed, school and teach athletic skills to boys as young as 10 years old until they are age 16, who are then allowed to sign minor league contracts. In the U.S., a player must be 18 years old to sign a minor league contract and then must go through the draft system.

Young Dominicans have the opportunity to benefit from more than just baseball skills but preparation for a life in the U.S. as well. They are given a chance to at least temporarily leave a life of depravity. By the same token, very few of these youngsters statistically make it to the major leagues and even prior to their new visa status, hundreds of minor leaguers were brought to the U.S. each year only to be relieved of their services. Hundreds of Dominican players also never return to their homeland and remain in the U.S. as illegal immigrants, primarily surviving in the underground economy of New York City.

What MLB no longer finds useful becomes disposable. Unfortunately, these disposables are people; from retired players who never had benefit of the lucrative contract, true ambassadors of the game such as Frank Robinson, African American youth, and even foreign-born players who are not major league material.

It has been said that Latin players in the Dominican Republic sign for contracts between 5 and 10 cents on the dollar compared to their U.S. counterparts. And with approximately 400 Dominican players signed each year to minor league contracts, MLB can celebrate its unhampered pipeline of such as well as its new surprisingly cozy relationship with the U.S. Congress which it lobbied along with the U.S. State Department, for these immigration law changes.

It may be a win-win for MLB as employers looking for cheap labor and even for those other employers willing to hire them at below market value wages, should these minor leaguers remain in the U.S. illegally upon their termination from their respective clubs. Their visas remain valid only as long as they are employed by MLB and its minor leagues. In addition, there will now be more available H-2B visas available per year for those multi-national corporations sniffing out labor with devalued wages in other industries. And the U.S. Congress gets a feather in its cap from some of its largest donors.

But it remains a lose-lose for communities across the U.S. which finance sky box stadiums, unable to afford tickets for their families, for games played on the backs of many exploited athletes who never make it to the big leagues and at the expense of our own children, who of little means, are never even encouraged to play baseball by its biggest profiteers.

For there is a proviso in the immigration law which both the U.S. Congress and MLB conveniently overlooked. The policy developed in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, now the Department of Homeland Security, granted MLB its visa program, contingent upon foreign-born players only occupying positions on a team that could not be filled by U.S. citizens.

Obviously, the U.S. government and MLB have come to the conclusion that playing baseball should be included among those “jobs Americans won’t do.” Terribly convenient, but sad for the game of baseball, no longer to be considered an equal opportunity employer. Happy Civil Rights Game, Commissioner!

Copyright ©2007 Diane M. Grassi
Contact: dgrassi@cox.net

posted by Diane M. Grassi 4:24 PM

Baseball & Rawlings Bring New Meaning to Free Trade 

Monday, October 30, 2006

By Diane M. Grassi

America’s National Pastime has continued to rake in record high revenues in the past few years, yet it continues to remain deaf to its critics concerning the manufacture of its equipment and uniforms with regard to unfair labor practices in the third world. Specifically, for example, Major League Baseball (MLB) has an exclusive licensing agreement with Rawlings Sporting Goods Co., a subsidiary of K2, Inc. since 2003, to produce all of its major leagues’ and minor leagues’ baseballs.

In 2004, a 60-page report produced by the National Labor Committee (NLC), an international labor rights organization, entitled, Foul Ball, shed light on the poor working conditions of the Rawlings baseball factory in the remote city of Turrialba, Costa Rica. MLB had a tepid response to such claims. Following the report, life-long consumer advocate, Ralph Nader, wrote a letter to both MLB Commissioner, Bud Selig, and the Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director, Donald Fehr, to address Rawlings’ labor practices. Selig referred Nader’s letter to his legal department and Donald Fehr said he was unaware of such claims.

In 2005, the United States government entered into the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), allowing for further tax breaks for U.S. corporations doing business in Central America and without providing for genuine policing of unfair labor practices in offshore U.S. manufacturing. And instead of MLB taking the lead and coming out a winner in addressing a worldwide problem, which continues to fester in such U.S. based multi-national corporations throughout the third world, it remains silent some two years later.

The facts are quite striking as to what goes into the manufacture of a major league baseball and the sometimes physically debilitating human labor required to produce some 2.2 million balls utilized each baseball season with MLB using 1.8 million of them, in addition to the minor leagues and the NCAA College World Series with which Rawlings also exclusively contracts.

Rawlings has been operating its baseball factory out of Costa Rica since 1988 as it gradually transitioned its factories from the country of Haiti during its period of government unrest in the late 1980’s. Since 1990, Rawlings has produced all of MLB’s baseballs in Costa Rica. It manufactures apparel and other equipment there as well. Its low-end baseballs are manufactured in China. And although Rawlings also contracts with the National Football League and the National Basketball Association in producing some of their equipment and balls, the baseball itself perhaps best symbolizes all-things-American and therefore is worthy of the attention it garners.

The approximate 600 workers at the baseball factory in Turrialba are either “sewers” who stitch the cowhide covers onto the baseball’s sphere, or they are assemblers and winders who are responsible for assembling the core’s parts, made of two kinds of rubber and cork, and the winding of the ball’s four different grades of yarn. Those who stitch are required to complete 108 stitches into the cowhide leather of each ball by hand.

Each sewer must complete one ball every 15 minutes. They are required to reach a minimum quota of 156 balls a week in a factory without air conditioning, in temperatures exceeding 90°, requiring permission to use bathrooms, and denying speaking between workers on the factory floor. The hours that workers put in average 11 per day and they must always reserve their Saturdays for the factory in the event an “emergency order” comes through. If not available on Saturday, they are terminated.

The gross wages per worker average $1.15 per hour. Workers can earn an additional $7.42 per week if they reach the threshold of completing 180 baseballs in one week. Baseball factory workers earn more than the country’s minimum wage but have not gotten an increase in the amount they are paid for each ball completed, for 15 years. Provided they reach the minimum weekly ball quota each week, they are compensated an additional 25-30 cents per baseball. Should they not reach the minimum quota they risk being fired.

The physical impact endured by the sewers has left one-third with carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive stress injuries including permanent disability after just two or three years of stitching. And sadly, most MLB players have no knowledge that every baseball is made solely by hand under such conditions. Should a worker miss any length of time greater than a couple of days for illness or injury, they are easily replaced.

Costa Rica always relied upon its agriculture to sustain its people and provide jobs. Coffee and sugar cane were its main exports. Yet, in the past few years as prices in coffee rose, a good part of its business was lost to Nicaragua as labor was cheaper there. And due to cheaper labor costs, sugar cane soon followed. Because of the loss of jobs, the baseball factory is now what sustains the city of Turrialba with a population of 30,000. Rawlings has its workers over a barrel, as they know jobs are scarce with many more willing to endure their tough and pressurized working environment.

Ralph Nader’s letter in 2004 to both Bud Selig and Donald Fehr was in his capacity as President of his non-profit organization, League of Fans. In it he says, “We cannot tell you that it comes as a shock to us that MLB properties do not have any workers’ rights guidelines in their licensing agreements. …..Nor are we surprised by the irony of the Players Associations’ Strike Fund being supported by royalties from products which might be made by third world workers stripped of their own rights. The irony is bitter.”

Basically it comes down to three areas which the NLC has called upon Rawlings of Costa Rica, S.A. to change. They have asked that Rawlings provide ergonomics training for workers in order to reduce repetitive stress injuries; to provide workers with a better wage and increase the amount of incentives based upon levels of production. And the NLC emphasizes the need to allow the workers the right to organize in order to regulate problem issues, without fear of being fired, such as forced overtime and layoffs after three months before workers earn any legal rights. Currently, the workers are well aware that any talk of labor unions will get them dismissed and fear that the factory will go the way of its agricultural industry and relocate to a country where labor is cheaper.

But Ralph Nader is far more direct in his demand that MLB and the MLBPA “Adopt internationally recognized worker rights standards and effective enforcement mechanisms, as a core condition governing all of its product sourcing and license agreements.”

Few working for or playing in MLB or for that matter most living in the U.S., realize that Free Trade Zones are nothing but a win for U.S. based corporations operating offshore. They are not required to pay taxes or tariffs, allowed to import their supplies duty-free, their electricity and water usage is subsidized and they are not responsible for enforcing labor and environmental policies which would be required in the U.S.

In February of 2004, Robert Manfred, Jr., the Executive VP of Labor and Human Resources for MLB, responded to Ralph Nader on behalf of the Commissioner. His response says it all. “Our agreements routinely include provisions that require our partners to comply with applicable laws including those related to employment and workplace safety. At the same time, I am sure you understand that we are not in a position to actively regulate the practices of each and every separate company with which we do business.” No, but they could start with the ball, the centerpiece of America’s pastime.

It is not too late for MLB and its superstars to take a stand on workers’ rights, regardless of lax U.S. laws in the world of free trade and its agreements’ legal loopholes. Bud Selig, when interviewed at the 2006 All Star Game, stated that, “I really believe this is the Golden Era of baseball.” Many have scratched their heads since that remark but he followed up to say, “Do you know we will have $5.2 billion in revenue this year? I feel good about where we are." It is quite clear about what he means by the Golden Era. Sadly, however, some of that gold has come at the cost of others’ basic rights and human decency.

Copyright ©2006 Diane M. Grassi
Contact: dgrassi@cox.net

posted by Diane M. Grassi 7:02 PM

'06 World Series So Far A Snoozer 

Monday, October 23, 2006

Major League Baseball fans by nature and necessity are both optimists and pessimists. At the beginning of each spring season, even the most forlorn just the season prior drink the Cool Aid which allows team devotees to believe again that their team can win and get to the playoffs. We the fans remain optimistic until about June when the image becomes clearer as to which teams can begin to be taken seriously.

Yet, it usually is not until after the All Star break and the July 31st trading deadline that the optimists amongst us get a dose of reality when the true contenders start to emerge. The dog days of August used to be the ultimate test of grit and perseverance, but given the Wild Card races coupled with the best of 5-game Division Championship Series, luck, the disabled list and remaining depth of pitching rotations have but made the length of the baseball season ever the less meaningful.

So why should anyone be stunned that most sports fans would much rather do chores around the house in between college and NFL football televised games than watch the tail end of the MLB season? And why should casual fans care about the MLB Playoffs and the World Series when they do not seem to be enamored at season’s-end?

The reason this writer is asking these questions, is because as an avid MLB baseball fan for several decades now, it has been difficult to watch any of this 2006 post-season. It has been lethargic and limp. Aside from Detroit’s Cinderella story and the stunning resurgence of Tiger’s pitcher Kenny Rogers, neither the St. Louis Cardinals nor the Detroit Tigers have given us much reason to care thus far in the post-season let alone the World Series. Thus, why not throw in a little controversy over pine tar on Kenny Roger’s throwing hand in Game 2 to perhaps fuel the fires in order bring baseball back to the front page?

After the Tigers stunned the New York Yankees, the Eastern Division champions in the ALDS, and swept the Oakland Athletics, the Western Division champs, they sat around for a week in freezing weather in Detroit while the Cardinals won the National League Pennant and overcame the New York Mets who looked like they did not want to win it as badly.

The St. Louis Cardinals had one day in between their National League Championship crown to refocus on the well-rested Detroit Tigers. Having stumbled into the post-season with their 83 season-wins, it was the fewest amount of wins for a team appearing in a World Series since the 1973 Mets. The Cardinals finished with a 35-39 2nd half record losing 9 of their last 12 games and slated as the underdog.

And we have heard ad nauseam about the lack of depth in the Cardinals’ bullpen and the injuries still plaguing their stars, Albert Pujols, (hamstring) Scott Rolen (shoulder) and David Eckstein (shoulder, side). We have also been inundated with stats of the mostly young roster of Detroit pitchers which were clearly better in the first half of 2006 than in the 2nd.

Detroit also was not nearly as impressive in the second half of their season having finished with 95 wins but struggling in their last 50 games finishing with a 31-50 record. They also sacrificed their once commanding lock as American League Central Division winners and would up as the American League Wild Card team. But their combination of youth, veterans and dominant pitching was what manager Jim Leyland used to sell to his team on becoming contenders, regardless.

But it comes down to actually playing the games and there have been more than enough off-field decisions which at least could eventually end up providing a compelling World Series. However, it’s getting late early.

Game 1 gave us the first World Series game ever, featuring two rookie starting pitchers. The Tigers’ Justin Verlander, (17-9, 3.63 ERA) dominated most of the year although he did fatigue at times in his first big league season. Anthony Reyes pitched for the Cardinals. He was not even expected to start Game 1, given his truncated season with St. Louis with only five wins as a big leaguer. Due to the length of the NLCS, he was it. And he floored everyone and most of the Detroit lineup, pitching into the 9th inning and at one point retiring 17 batters in a row. Clearly Verlander left his high heat at home in Game 1, and some say that between the frigid playing-time temperatures combined with adrenaline he simply could not get it done.

Detroit looked lost in Game 1 with little offense except for centerfielder, Curtis Granderson, known more for his strikeouts with an American League-leading 174 than his on-base-percentage. Yet, leading up to the World Series he struck out only eight times. He has consistently been on base in the first two Series games along with left fielder, Craig Monroe, who hit homers in each of the first two Series games and 5 for the post-season tying Tiger-great Hank Greenberg. With veterans like center fielder, Magglio Ordonez, catcher, Pudge Rodriguez, and 2nd baseman, Placido Palanco, these two have been refreshing surprises.

The Cardinals won Game 1 by a score of 7-2 looking more like the NY Yankees than the Cardinals, so stingy in their offense previously during the post-season. But clearly the poor defense, marginal pitching, lack of offensive support combined with the week’s layoff and cold temperatures caught the Tigers off-guard and immediately dubbed them underdogs again.

Game 2 saw the continuance of the uncanny performance of one Kenny Rogers on behalf of the Tigers. Although selected to the 2006 All Star starting rotation, Rogers has had the stigma of being a first-half pitcher the past few years, yet he finished the year with a record of 17-8 and 3.84 ERA. But he was preceded with a 0-3 record with a 8.87 ERA in post-season appearances.

But since Rogers’ win against the Yankees in the ALDS, he is 4 innings shy of tying Christy Mathewson for his performance in the 1905 World Series with 27 scoreless innings. Rogers’ 8 innings of shut- out baseball surrendering only two hits in Game 2 has now reversed his prior 0-3 record to 3-0 in the 2006 post-season.

Cardinals’ starter, Jeff Weaver, working on a resurrection of his own career having been released by the Anaheim Angels half-way through this 2006 season, in favor of his little brother Jered, is now with his 5th MLB club. He wore out his welcome in Detroit in the dawn of his career, was run out of town by the NY Yankees and was kicked out of Dodger Town prior to Anaheim. His dismal prior post-season record was 0-2 with a 9.76 ERA.

Weaver, too, looked like a man in disguise during the NLDS and NLCS and it was only a matter of time when the real Jeff Weaver would show up. While he did not have his usual type of meltdown in Game 2 of the Series, it indicated that he is cooling off. Much heralded Cardinal pitching coach, Dave Duncan, is not done yet in rehabilitating Weaver’s mechanics and helping him control his inner demons.

The Cardinals could not figure out Kenny Rogers in Game 2 although closer, Todd Jones, gave them a glimmer of hope in the 9th inning when they were able to score a run and ruin the shutout. But perhaps with each team not knowing for sure which pitcher will really appear each night as the Series goes forward, it might be salvageable to witness, after all. Game 3 on Tuesday 10/24 in St. Louis serves up 2005 Cy Young Award Winner, Chris Carpenter, (15-8, 3.09 ERA) against Detroit’s upstart Nate Robertson (13-13, 3.84 ERA).

But despite Detroit’s story about the 13-straight losing seasons, second most losses in history with 119 in 2003 their 90 losses in 2004 and 91 in 2005, they now have arrived. No, this World Series is not anticipated to come close to competing with the Cardinals-Tigers Series of 1934 when St. Louis prevailed or the 1968 Series when the Tigers pulled it out.

But hopefully, the present-day Tigers’ story alone will be enough to garner enough interest in baseball to keep sports fans engaged. For without fan support, MLB, the national pastime, is headed to becoming past its prime in the not too distant future. And that simply cannot happen on behalf of us optimists!

So let’s put some energy into this thing and Play Ball! (Before it snows again…)

Copyright 2006 Diane M. Grassi
Contact: dgrassi@cox.net

posted by Diane M. Grassi 10:45 PM

Why Time Didn't Begin On Opening Day 

Sunday, October 22, 2006

From 2001 through the end of 2005 this was a thriving website. This year we crashed and burned. Why? Well, there are more than a few reasons. I've been flying under the radar for a while now, but perhaps now is the time to write.

The most basic story here is limited resources. When this adventure first started I was a graduate student. While I was often asked to work long hours, there was downtime when I could put a lot of love into this site. Now I'm a professor with a toddler. The first means that I'm working much harder, the second means that I simply can't leave the house for four or five hours of sun and baseball. Until the little guy is old enough to enjoy a hotdog and a good ass-kicking of the Dodgers, well, baseball just isn't part of my agenda.

Then of course there is James. Or the fact that there is no more James. He died. I know I said I'd keep this going in his honor, heck, it says that at the top of this page. And I do feel bad about not doing a better job. But this was always his baby and I was at best a junior partner. Like the old saying goes, I'll never be able to replace him, just follow him. He was the only person with enough clout to say "Marasco, get off your ass and fix that website." Now that he's gone, if I can't do this, well, there isn't a gorilla that can make me. As I write this I realize that although this message is timed with the start of the World Series, it is also within a week of my seeing a student from last year. I thought he had died. The young man has spent most of the past year in chemo. I don't think it is coincidence that my work on the site dropped to nearly nothing right around the time he came into my office and we spent a long time talking about cancer and what he had in front of him. Most of my side of the discussion was based upon e-mails I had traded with James.

Finally, there's the reduced role that baseball plays in my life. It's more than just the fact that being a dad means that I don't have spare time. I come from a Japanese-American background. Baseball has always been an integral part of assimilation. My grandfather was responsible for the construction of the diamond at his internment camp. I saw forty or fifty games a year in high school. I was going to a private school that is part of the old-boys network. For most of that time I felt like an outsider, baseball helped. When I was in grad school I returned to a forty-to-fifty game attendance level. I was a man of color who had transplanted from California to the Midwest. Again, there was something about baseball that helped with the cultural challenges I was facing. Now I'm back in California, but more importantly I'm in a very different station in life. I've got a good job with decent pay and a lot of respect. I've got a mortgage. I've traded in my mohawk for a lawnmower. It's hard to explain, but it feels like I've received a letter in the mail from the Department of Assimilation stating "Your application for Whiteness has been approved." The needs that baseball used to fill in my life have become less important.

So where do we go from here? Well, baseball is a part of who I am, and when the little guy has an attention span of more than 20 seconds I'll start taking him to games. But my days of spending six hours at the park, taking pictures during BP and then tracking the game pitch-by-pitch, those are done. As for the website, I can't put the hours into it as I did in the past. But there is a strong stable of writers (and yes, I let them down this year). I'm simply going to hand them the keys to place and let them take care of business. Things will be good.

posted by David 6:28 AM