Who Do Agents Represent?
Shortly before I graduated law school, I decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer (well planned, I know). So, nearly six figures in debt, with graduation on the horizon, I visited a corporate consultant to figure out what the “anything” is that you can do with a law degree. I sat in that office…
Crushed Davis
I moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 1979. At that time, the Dodgers had an impenetrable infield, with Cey, Russell, Garvey, and Lopes. Davey Lopes was in his eighth big league season, and he would go on to play in eight more. But by 1981, Lopes was beginning to see the end in…
Belt Tightening
Disclaimer: I may be biased. I have spent the entirety of my career (save for four months at the very beginning) on the management side of the table. Agents and lawyers representing talent have been my professional foe for as long as I have drawn a paycheck. And while I am often exasperated by their…
Rich Beyond the Dream of Avarice
Bud Fox once memorably asked: “How many yachts can you waterski behind?” I have thought about that question many times these past few days as Manny Machado, Nolan Arenado, and now Bryce Harper, have found themselves tuning in to Yacht Rock on Sirius Radio. All three of these guys were rich on November 1st, and…
Patience is a Virtue in Dodgertown
Living in Los Angeles this winter, after two consecutive seasons of “what-ifs,” two consecutive years of watching other teams celebrate on the green grass of Chavez Ravine, two consecutive years of sitting idly by, waiting for the deep-pocketed, second-largest market, mega-TV deal, Dodgers to spend on an impact free agent, has been trying, to say…
Hall Worthy?
It’s that time of year…again. When honors are given out and people feel snubbed and hackles get raised. Critics get on their high horse and tell the collective voters what they did wrong, and in doing so, how certain people were wronged. There is no shortage of soapboxes, and there is certainly no shortage of…
In Our Day
I’m lying in bed Saturday morning, minding my own business. I’m scrolling through Twitter, as I am wont to do. And then I come across this beauty: "That's all for now folks, see you next week on This Week In Baseball" ~ Mel Allen (1985) #TWIB #MLB #History pic.twitter.com/Q7ftJ91gOD — Baseball by BSmile (@BSmile) November…
Green Fields and the Stories That We Tell
The baseball season ended on Sunday, October 28th. I knew the end was nigh, so even when Manny Machado succumbed to Chris Sale’s slider, it had, at most, three more days and two more games. But the ending is always abrupt. I awoke Monday morning to a final Baseball Tonight podcast. My “friends” Buster and Josh,…
I Lied
There is a lyric in the most popular (but not the best) Blues Traveler song that goes as follows: “I’ve tried – well, no, in fact, I lied.” That one line sums up the emotions I have had to deal with since the Dodgers won the NL pennant. Last week I explained how I was…
Three Plays – Two Losses – One Player
If the World Series was going according to plan, it would be tied at one game apiece, and we would staring down the barrel of a five-game series starting Friday afternoon in Los Angeles. As it stands – as you all know – the Dodgers find themselves in an 0-2 hole trying to get fat…