BenMaller.com - Ben's Takes

Major League Baseball Exposed

By Ben Maller

I have been talking for months on this website and my radio show about the lying and cheating owners of Major League Baseball. This week Nelson Doubleday, one of the Mets' co-owners, admitted to the world that this is true. Doubleday said Tuesday that the commissioner's office was "in cahoots'' with co-owner Fred Wilpon to put an artificially low value on the team. Doubleday also accused baseball commissioner Bud Selig of conspiring with the appraiser, former Arthur Andersen accountant Robert Starkey, to "manufacture phantom operating losses'' in the sport's books.

If you look at what has happened to Enron & Worldcom, among other major corporations in this country in the last year, you have to at least wonder if Major League Baseball is also cheating. I have been told by players and agents for years that teams have been claiming poverty to gain sympathy from fans who they consider suckers.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Anaheim Angels are two teams that are often given as examples of teams in major markets that are being run like small market clubs. The theory, as Doubleday exposed, is that if teams make up operating losses, then the players can't get as much money from the owners.

In a report out Wednesday, an accountant said 28 of the 30 teams have projected net losses. The 30 major league teams began the year projecting an operating loss of $220 million in 2002.

This is crazy!

I hope that Congress steps in and investigates the MLB owners. These people are liars and they are killing the game I love. Bud Selig should be fired as commissioner TODAY! permalink

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Tuesday, August 06, 2002

Remembering Chick Hearn

By Ben Maller

Like everyone else who's a basketball fan in Los Angeles, I feel sad the morning after Chick Hearn passed away. I was very fortunate to get to listen to Chick over all these years and run into him several times over the years. Among the many special things about a Hearn broadcast was the build up he would give each broadcast. It didn't matter if the Lakers were playing the Boston Celtics in the 1980's or the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies of the 1990's. He made each game seem important.

Hearn also was able to describe a basketball game on the radio better than anyone else. You could literally close your eyes and be able to paint a picture in your head of what was going on off his words. A few months ago I was talking with my friend Geoff Witcher a veteran LA sportscaster and this topic came up.

Geoff has done play-by-play for years off and on and he was telling me how many of the new broadcasters today don't do the formatics of a radio broadcast. I hadn't really thought about it till I listened to a Chick Hearn broadcast and compared it to broadcasts of other NBA radio broadcasters I had access to hearing at work. So many guys forget to say bounce pass or what side of the court a player is on. It's the little things that made his work so special.

The thing I respect more than anything about the life of Chick Hearn was his ability to show up to work and work hard. I pride myself in not missing work and being available when possible but nobody will ever break Chick's Iron Mic streak of 3,338 consecutive NBA broadcasts. So many guys who reach that top level of broadcasting take every vacation day possible--not this wonderful man, though.

I didn't know Chick on a personal level like so many others in the LA media, but I did have a few special run in's with him.

The one that I wanted to share with you most happened when I was working at the late XTRA Sports 1150 in Los Angeles. It was a Monday, I was covering the Lakers game against Orlando on Martin Luther King Junior Day, 1998. This was the day that Chick Hearn broadcast his 3,000th consecutive Lakers game.

They had a special ceremony at half-time and after the game I was trying to get Chick to call into the afternoon show for an interview. I was helping out Joe McDonnell (Now of ESPN Radio 1110am) to make sure that Chick called in on that special day.

When I told Chick who I was and about the interview he said he was looking forward to it because he really liked Big Joe. I pulled my cell phone out to call the station so Hearn could do the interview but my phone could not get a signal in the concrete bowels of the Great Western Forum. I told Chick about the problem and he told me he really wanted to do the interview for Joe so he suggested we use the phone in the Lakers offices. Chick told his wife Marge the plan and upstairs I went with Chick and his wife. I held a few of the many gifts he had picked up during the day while we walked upstairs.

Chick did the interview thanked me for finding him and went on his way. It wasn't much, but for me it was special to be at that game on that day and even more special to spend a few minutes with the man after. I hope that Chick is in a better place resting because he sure deserves it. permalink

Monday, August 05, 2002

Big Ben's Weekend Thoughts

By Ben Maller

Major League Baseball, like every other major corporation, has a public relations firm to help them promote their product and sell the game, right? After hearing Bud Selig call the best story in the game an "aberration" on Saturday, it makes you wonder. The Minnesota Twins are 19-4 since the all-star break and have made the AL Central the joke of baseball. The Twins have built a good pitching staff with a front three of Brad Radke, Joe Mays, and Rick Reed. The odd thing about the success of the staff is that Radke and Mays have been hurt off and on all season.

Selig and the Owners don't want to admit that the Twins have built a solid organization and have done things the right way. The problem for baseball is that if the Twins can win, then any team can win if they do things the right way. The Oakland Athletics are another example of this. The Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates should be ashamed.

I hear that there are some problems with certain Dodger players and manager Jim Tracy. Don't problems always happen when a team stinks it up for a solid month? If the dodgers can get Kevin Brown back pitching like he did two years ago they can still win the wild card and everything will be okay.

The Dodgers must get a secondbaseman after this season. Mark Grudzielanek had some good years in Montreal playing on turf but he's a very average player. He's a butcher in the field who does not do enough on offense to make up for his lack of speed (1 Steal) and defense.

The Angels just went 3-and-4 in a seven game stretch against the Yankees and Red Sox. The Angels figure to finish behind the BoSox and Athletics in the three team wild card race.

I will give Team Disney credit for signing Darren Erstad to a long-term contract extension. The Halos almost gave Erstad to the White Sox at the winter meetings. When I say gave I mean it. The Angels would have gotten right-hander Jon Garland, outfielder Chris Singleton and two minor leaguers.

Garland: 8-8 record in 22 starts with a 5.27era

Singleton: .259 avg. 6 HR's and 39 RBI's *(Traded to Orioles)

Fans in Pittsburgh were all over Barry Bonds of the Giants. It seems they still can't forgive him for not being able to throw out Sid Bream in the NLCS against Atlanta.

Remember in the offseason when Steve Phillips was talking about how great the Mets offense would be and how they would give the Atlanta Braves a run for their money? The Braves must be really worried today as they hold a 17.5 game lead in the NL East.

Mets OF Jeremy Burnitz appears to be the posterboy for players who play well on crappie small market teams but can't handle the big cities. Burnitz is hitting .206 with 11 HR's and 35 RBI's. That works out for a pace of 16 HR's and 52 RBI's. Keep in mind that on some horrible Milwaukee Brewers teams Burnitz averaged 32 HR's and 100 RBI's over the last four years.

If Warren Sapp could only play as well as he talks he would be a hall of famer. Sapp is half the player that Michael Strahan of the Giants is, but he's right when he says that Strahan's sack record is bogus. The fact is Brett Farve of the Packers gave the record to his buddy.

I hope the Washington Redskins win the NFC East and average 35 Points a game doing it. The more arrogant that Steve Spurrier is the more I like him. So many of these NFL coaches are robots. They say the same cliches over and over again. Many have said that the 'skins can't win because they don't have a solid QB. The Fun N' Gun offense can create a star QB. Remember Kurt Warner was working at a market in Iowa before he was given a chance in the Rams offense. According to Spurrier, what the Skins do is similar to the Rams wide open attack.

Antonio Freeman, Sam Adams and Rickey Watters still don't have jobs in the NFL.

NFL Films was against doing another season of "Hard Knocks" on HBO. After watching the program I now understand why. Dave Campo is no Brian Billick and Jerry Jones is not a TV Star. The Cowboys could really use Tony Siragusa or Shannon Sharpe to make things interesting.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are not going to trade Kevin Garnett this offseason. New Jersey doesn't have enough to make the deal and the Mavericks would have to gut there roster to do it.

My favorite NBA story of last week was former Clipper legend Lamond Murray of the Cavs faxing the newspapers in Cleveland saying play me or trade me. This from a guy who is the classic garbage time bad team player. The next good team in the pro's that Murray is a part of will be his first.

Charles Oakley is still out there could he end up with the Lakers?

My thoughts are with Chick Hearn a broadcasting legend and hall of famer. Chick is Lakers basketball. I had the chance to talk with him several times over the last 10 years and spent alot of time with him on the day he broadcast his 3,000 game in a row back in 1998 on Martin Luther King Day against Orlando.

Listening to a Lakers game will never be the same. permalink