My Opinion on MLB Copyright Laws

When it comes to YouTube & Major League Baseball, there's a zero-tolerance policy. With the National Football League, you can search for "Bo Jackson" and get hundreds of video clips. On the other hand, MLB has dedicated full-time employees looking for things like a 30-second clip of a fan catching a Greg Colbrunn foul ball in 2003. If you think that's an exaggeration, it's exactly what happened to a fan in 2009 when the fan tried to describe a game to a friend & Major League Baseball prevented the fan from doing that. Zero tolerance means zero tolerance.

Fine. I'll pay the stupid $3.99 MLB might want for a Mariners/Padres game from 2003. Nothing's for free, and Commissioner Rob Manfred's $25 million a year salary isn't going to pay for itself...

Here is what Major League Baseball is essentially saying to the small percentage of their fanbase who upload archived games to YouTube, only to see the video & YouTube channel deleted:

Not for sale. At any price. Scram! And if you find it, it will be scrubbed from existence.

However, I understand where MLB is coming from. It's a free market, it's their product, and they have a right to make money with it. I remember being similarly annoyed when vintage video games became available over the internet in ROM format a.k.a. illegal downloading. Nintendo kept shutting down sites that offered games that Nintendo wasn't selling anymore. It was beyond aggravating, and it didn't make sense if Nintendo wasn't going to sell their vintage games. Then years later, the Wii & Wii U came out, and Nintendo started selling those vintage games to play on the new system.

But does MLB really have a plan to digitize and upload the 100,000+ games that have been broadcast since the '60s? Is there really some sort of "Operation: Holy Crap Amazing" going on behind the scenes? If so, then this all makes sense. Something like that would make an incredible amount of money. If they keep the $1.99 pricing model that they currently have on the iTunes store for the games they do have for sale, MLB will be rolling around in liquid cash. I'm guessing that there's a plan to make a lot of games available. But there is also a theory that MLB wants you to give them your hard earned money.
I'm guessing it's not going to include the Mariners/Padres game from 2003. I'm guessing there's a good chance that I'll never be able to buy a random, forgotten game from 30 or 40 years ago. Maybe in a couple of decades, something will become available.
Until then -- and this is the important part -- how does the availability of such a game do anything but help Major League Baseball?
But until MLB Advanced Media realizes that a draconian zero-tolerance policy is something that only made sense in 2000 before the drunk monkeys in their office could figure out a better policy, I'm keeping this guy's YouTube channel a secret because if I were to send you the link to his YouTube channel the potential for MLB to infiltrate his site increases thrice fold!

Players of the Past: Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez

Pudge Rodriguez in 1996

Former catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez was recently elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame & rightfully so. He had a total Wins Above Replacement [WAR] of 68.9, with his highest single-season WAR coming in his Most Valuable Player Award Winning Season of 1999, where he barely beat out Red Sox stars Pedro Martinez & Nomar Garciaparra in the voting process. Pudge Rodriguez could run, field, hit & of course throw, despite his large size [5 foot 9 217 pounds] & the fact that he was a catcher [who, historically speaking, are not the fastest guys on the field] he could run the bases efficiently with good foot speed. He had the best throwing arm of any catcher I have ever seen in my life. He threw out 786 baserunners & that is excluding the 88 men he threw out from his knees behind home plate. So, in total he threw out 874 baserunners!

Oh & did I mention he could block home plate better than anyone in the history of the game?

The Most Corrupt Team in Baseball History: A Rant on the New York Yankees

Just like comedian Dennis Miller, I don't want to get off on a rant here but...

26 New York Yankees alumni-14 pitchers & 12 position players- have been implicated in the use of Performance-Enhancing Drugs [PEDs] Some denied using the drugs & others were reported to have used them before or after they played with the Yankees. The dates shown are the years they were Yankees. Before I start this rant, I just want to let the readers know that this is according to United States Senator George Mitchell's actual official report on MLB's Steroid Issue that focused on players who played during Major League Baseball's Steroid Era from 1993-2003 to...

First off, let's start with the pitchers, shall we?

Roger Clemens [1999-2003, 2007]

Former Yankee Trainer Brian McNamee said he injected Clemens with growth hormone & steroids. Clemens obviously denied using banned drugs & sued Brian McNamee for defamation.

Andy Pettitte [1995-2003, 2007]

McNamee said he injected Pettitte with Human Growth Hormone to deal with a shoulder inury. Unlike Clemens, Pettitte has acknowleged using the drugs.

Kevin Brown [2004-2005]

From 2001, when he was a Los Angeles Dodger, to 2004, when he was a Yankee, Brown bought human growth hormone and steroids from former Mets batboy and confessed steroid dealer Kirk Radomski

Mike Stanton [1997-2002, 2005] While a Yankee, Stanton met Radomski, Mitchell wrote. In 2003, after Stanton had joined the Mets, Radomski delivered growth hormone to him at Shea Stadium.

Denny Neagle [2000]

While a Yankee, Neagle met Radomski in a nightclub and bought growth hormone from him five or six times in four years

Jason Grimsley [1999-2000] Grimsley bought $35,000 worth of drugs from Radomski while on the Yankees and three other teams, Mitchell wrote. In the Yankees bullpen in 2000, Grimsley showed steroid pills to McNamee, Mitchell wrote.

Ricky Bones [1996] In 2000, when he was with the Florida [now Miami] Marlins, syringes and steroids were found in Bones' locker, Mitchell wrote. Bones said he got the drugs in Puerto Rico to treat a degenerative hip.

Dan Naulty [1999] While with the Minnesota Twins, Naulty bought steroids from dealers in gyms, but stopped using the drugs when he joined the Yankees, Mitchell wrote. In a first-person article in the New York Daily News, Naulty implied he continued to use steroids and growth hormone with the Yankees.

Todd Williams [2001] Radomski said he sold steroids to Williams in 2001.

Carlos Almanzar [2001] While with the Texas Rangers in 2005, he was suspended 10 days for failing a steroid test.

Felix Heredia [2003-04] While with the New York Mets in 2005, Heredia was suspended 10 days for failing a steroid test.

Darren Holmes [1998] Holmes told Sports Illustrated that in 2003, with the Braves, he bought growth hormone from an online pharmacy but never used it.

Josias Manzanillo [1995] Radomski said he injected Manzanillo with steroids on the Mets in 1994. Manzanillo said he bought steroids but never used them.

Now, time for the position players...

Bobby Estalella - Catcher [2001] Told the BALCO grand jury that in 2002, with the Colorado Rockies, he got growth hormone and BALCO steroids from Greg Anderson, Barry Bonds' trainer.

Jim Leyritz - Catcher [1990-1996, 1999-2000]. He told the New York Post he used growth hormone during spring training 2001 in a failed attempt to catch on with the Mets.

Jason Giambi - First baseman [2002-2007]

He told the BALCO grand jury he obtained growth hormone and BALCO steroids from Anderson in 2002 and 2003.

Hal Morris - First baseman, outfielder [1988-1989] While with the Reds in 1999, Morris bought steroids from Radomski, Mitchell wrote. Morris denied it.

Chuck Knoblauch - Infielder [1998-2001]

McNamee said he injected Knoblauch with growth hormone in 2001. Knoblauch also bought growth hormone from Grimsley, McNamee told Mitchell.

Randy Velarde - Infielder [2001] Obtained BALCO steroids from Anderson, the player's lawyer said. Drug agents saw Velarde in the BALCO parking lot in 2002, while he was on the Oakland A's.

Jose Canseco - Designated Hitter [2000]. The self-proclaimed steroid pioneer joined the Yankees for the 2000 pennant run.

Glenallen Hill - Outfielder [2000] Mitchell wrote that Hill bought human growth hormone from Radomski in 2000. Radomski said Hill, a Seattle Mariner in 1998, complained that growth hormone he had obtained in Seattle was ineffective. Hill told Mitchell he bought steroids from Radomski but never used the drugs.

Gary Sheffield - Outfielder [2004-2006]

Sheffield told the BALCO grand jury that at Bonds' instruction, he used BALCO steroids after the 2003 season, when he was about to sign with the Yankees. He said he didn't know the substances were steroids until later.

Matt Lawton - Outfielder [2005] Lawton was suspended 10 days for failing a steroid test in 2005.

Rondell White - Outfielder [2002] Radomski said he delivered drugs to White's New York apartment in 2002.

In other words, the New York Yankees World Series title of 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 & 2009 should all be "invalidated" or at least be marked with a big fat asterisk. The New York Yankees are not the most respected team or an institution of Baseball but what they really are is baseballs biggest disgrace and most corrupt team. The Yankee name should live in infamy and disgrace much like the Black Sox Scandal of 1919. Of course, that's just my opinion I could be wrong... [But I'm probably not!]

2017 San Diego Padres Youth Movement

A new year means a new opportunity not just for the Seattle Mariners but for the team that they share their Spring Training Practice Facility with. In case you didn't know, the Padres were not just bad in 2016, they played worse than the 1979 Seattle Mariners, a 100 loss team. In fact, like that 1979 Mariners team, they hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in their home city. But that's all in the past. Let's look to the future of the San Diego Padres, which is extremely bright. 

Let's start with the position of catcher:

The Padres had a terrible defensive catcher in Derek Norris [below], who looks like a lumberjack got too close with a Yeti... Anyway, Norris was traded last month to the Washington Nationals, so we don't have to see this facial monstrosity anymore.

Enter Austin Hedges, who hit .326 with 21 homeruns & 86 Runs Battted In. He is young [24 years old], very good defensively [unlike Norris] & has a great throwing arm. Hedges is clearly ready to play in the Major Leagues as a full-time player in San Diego.

Now let's look at where, in my opinion, the San Diego Padres are the most exciting, the Outfield:

Baseball fans got a glimpse of future stars Manuel Margot & Hunter Renfroe in September. When you factor in Travis Jankowski & Alex Dickerson sharing playing time in left field, and the fact that all of these players will be younger than 27 years old when the 2017 season gets underway, the Padres have a very youthful & exciting outfield.

Lastly, infielder/outfielder Jose Pirela [top] & shortstop Jose Rondon [center] are both playing in the Venezuelan Winter League Playoffs, while a 3rd player, Fernando Perez [bottom], is currently playing in the Mexican Winter League Playoffs. Pirela hit .343 during Venezuela's Regular Season, while Rondon batted .263 there & Perez batted .315 during Mexico's regular season.

The Inevitable: Major League Baseball Expansion

In 1998, Major League Baseball expanded to thirty teams, the Tampa Bay [Devil] Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks and has not expanded the league in the 18 years since. This is the longest the game I love dearly has gone without a new team since expansion began in 1961.

Why not mix things up a little bit and add two more teams to the league? Which cities would be most deserving of its first — or perhaps rejuvenated — baseball franchise? Should any teams be moved from their current homes?
I think baseball should strongly consider adding two more teams to the game and restructuring its current playoff and divisional systems. While it’s unlikely that this will occur in the aftermath of a brand new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Player's Union and other subtle changes to the game, here is a blueprint that league officials should pin to the corkboards in their home offices and ponder often...

First of all, Montreal, Quebec, Canada is getting a team when baseball expands, no question about it. They have a LARGE fanbase, they have a logo, and they have an incredible baseball writer named Jonah Keri, who I am honored to have conversed with on Twitter about Montreal baseball numerous times.

Which teams might get moved?
The 3 likely candidates for relocation are:

• The Tampa Bay Rays
• The Oakland Athletics
• The Texas Rangers

The Rays struggle to draw fans to the Trop every single season, even in years that they are quite good at baseball. Part of this is because the team is in Tampa Bay, and it takes half an hour to drive from downtown Tampa Bay to the stadium without traffic. Since there are really only two bridges that connect Tampa & neighboring St. Petersburg that make sense for driving to the games, there is a lot of traffic. If the City of Tampa Bay wanted to keep the team in town, I’d recommend dropping a shiny new stadium in between I-4 and the Selmon Expressway south of Ybor city. It would be near both major highways, the Amtrak line, light rail, and close to many excellent restaurants, bars, and art galleries. Or maybe drop it in the middle of Encore, a very wealthy neighborhood in Tampa Bay. I know that there are plans for that part of town, but...baseball, you guys.
Neither of these things are going to happen. In this scenario, the Rays are gone. This is mainly because Florida just doesn't give a flying you-know-what about baseball, even though they tried [and failed hysterically] to swipe the Mariners away in the late 1980s.
Maybe the Texas Rangers seem a bit odd to you, but consider that both the Oakland and Texas end their current stadium leases in 2024. That convergence — along with the necessity to prepare teams for its new homes and cities for its new teams — opens up an interesting window of possibility for baseball. The troubles with the Athletics, their attendance [or lack thereof], and Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum are well-documented. The threat of the Rangers moving to Dallas, while less known nationally, continues to grow. However, I have always said this about Oakland/Bay Area sports fans, they may not be high in number but they are definitely high in team spirit, so they will not let their Athletics skip town without a fight.

Here are my picks for the 2024 Major League Baseball expansion:

Austin, Texas and Portland, Oregon!

• If you want to talk about the demographic that Major League Baseball wants to bring back into the game — millennials — then these are two of the hottest cities on the planet right now. Both are among the fastest-growing cities in the country, and both sport interesting cultures that are underrepresented by professional sports.
• Austin has no professional sports team. While they do host the Texas Longhorns, who are arguably as dominant as the Buckeyes when it comes to supremacy over a state capitol, the city is loaded with private equity and startup money. If you stuck it a little bit south of the Colorado River, residents of San Antonio could conceivably make it to several games per season, or even scoop up partial season ticket packages.
• Portland has the Trailblazers in basketball and the Timbers in American Soccer, but also a long tradition of hosting minor league and independent league baseball teams [the Portland Beavers are the most well-known baseball team in state history]. Its TV market is comparable to Pittsburgh's, and even though they don’t fluoridate their water, it also gives the Mariners a team somewhat closer to avoid a few more long flights every year.

Discuss in the comment box below! I’d love to hear your ideas about this brave new baseball world. I guarantee you this, though: I will be creating this new baseball world using Out of the Park Baseball.

A Modest Proposal

Can we call the World Series the "MLB Finals" at this point, please? The reason being that, since 1994, their have been exactly ZERO teams outside of the United States in the so-called "World Series" If Major League Baseball wanted to make it a true "World Series", they should make the country that is number one in the world according to the International Baseball Federation [for example, the Cuban National Team or the best team in the Japanese League] the team that the MLB team has to face in October. I'd rather see this than the format that MLB currently has in place, where it's one team from the American League & one team from the National League.

My Evaluation of Jerry Dipoto

I really am pleased with Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto.
I know there are many Mariners fans that aren't too pleased with the trade of Taijuan Walker for Jean Segura, but I must admit I'm one of those that was wondering when Taijuan was going to "reach his full potential" and if he was going to do it at the speed we needed him to given our situation, which is to win now. Not only do I believe it was time to move on, I personally believe that Jerry got a pretty decent deal out of him. The Mariners have a legitimate shortstop in Jean Segura, now.
But like the majority of Mariner fans, I wasn't too thrilled with the shortstop the Mariners had last season in Ketel Marte either..
I know that time will tell on all these acquisitions, but I'm THRILLED that the Mariners have a GM that does things to fill the gaps that the team had last year. A player like Danny Valencia, for example, will help greatly versus left handed pitchers. Jerry Dipoto's seeing needs and ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING to fill them.
There was a time not long ago that I was wondering why the hell Mariner management wouldn't get rid of the dead weight to bring in star players.. NOW the Mariners have a GM that can work quickly.
But Jerry's not done... he hasn't spent any cashola...yet! My next guess is that he'll pay A LOT OF $$$ for a starting pitcher. Perhaps a damn good one. He knows the hole he made by getting rid of Walker, so I'm thinking he'll fill it soon.

So... as I see it, the Mariners offseason to-do list consisted of:
Get rid of Chris Iannetta & that racist catcher [Steve Clevenger], add Carlos Ruiz as the catcher [Check!]
Remove Franklin Gutierrez [as much as I hate to say it], Adam Lind & Dae-Ho Lee.. add Valencia [Check!]
Remove Marte, add Segura [Check!]
Next up: Remove Walker, add ????
So far, nothing but plus signs in my eyes & I can't see Dipoto reversing course... It's not in his DNA to reverse course, at least from what I've seen from him since he first took the job as Mariners GM at the end of 2015.