Killeverything's (New)NeverEndingBaseballThread

[Machado]

From ESPN.COM
Fehr stepping down:

NEW YORK -- Donald Fehr is retiring as head of the baseball players' association after more than a quarter-century in charge of the powerful labor union.

Fehr, who turns 61 next month, said Monday he will retire no later than the end of March.

Subject to approval by the union's executive board, he will be succeeded by union general counsel Michael Weiner, his longtime heir apparent. Weiner will head negotiations heading into the expiration of the current labor contract in December 2011.

"I have no hesitancy in recommending to the players that he be given the opportunity to do this job," Fehr said.

A clerk to a federal judge who became the top lawyer to pioneering union head Marvin Miller in August 1977, Fehr took over as acting executive director on Dec. 8, 1983. That was 2½ weeks after players fired Kenneth Moffett, the former mediator who had succeeded Miller following a 50-day strike in 1981.



When Donald Fehr was elected to head the Major League Baseball Players Association after the 1995 season, the average salary was $1,071,029. It's more than three times that now. (Source: ESPN Research).
Year Avg. Salary
1996 $1,176,967
1997 $1,383,578
1998 $1,441,406
1999 $1,720,050
2000 $1,988,034
2001 $2,264,403
2002 $2,383,235
2003 $2,555,476
2004 $2,486,609
2005 $2,632,655
2006 $2,866,544
2007 $2,944,556
2008 $3,154,845
2009 $3,240,206

Fehr led players through a two-day strike in 1985, then was voted the executive director's job on a full-time basis that December. His early years in charge were defined by management's conspiracy against free agents. The union successfully charged management with conspiring against free agents following the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons in violation of the labor contract and settled the cases for $280 million.

Miller, who held the job from 1966-82, said Fehr's tenure should be remembered in a largely positive way.

"Overall, on balance, I think he's done a fine job," Miller told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. "It's still one of the most solid unions you're going to find anywhere. Whenever I'm asked this, one thought that occurs to me is that Don faced some problems I never had to face. And I'm not talking about the drug issue or anything like that."

"When I was there, there was always a signficant cadre of players who had personal experience in how bad things were before the union -- how horrible the conditions were," Miller said. "That's a powerful factor in players understanding what the union means. Almost from the beginning of Don's tenure, he had a membership where not a single player had played one game of baseball without a union. That could be a challenge at times, and he faced it quite successfully."

Fay Vincent, who served as MLB commissioner from 1989-92, called Fehr's career "a superb one."

"He succeeded a legend and did a wonderful job for his constituents," Fehr told ESPN.com's William Weinbaum.

"Donald would come in below Marvin, who invented the union. It's very hard to compete with what Marvin did, but Donald deserves tremendous praise."

When Fehr first assumed the top job 26 years ago, the average salary was $289,000. It had risen to $2.9 million by last year. But while players made tremendous economic gains and fended off management's repeated attempts to obtain a salary cap, he has been criticized by some for not agreeing to drug testing until August 2002.

"He was wrong to see things in terms of civil liberties for the players and not in terms of the overall interests of baseball," Vincent said. "He always said that was your responsibility [the commissioner and the owners]. But I don't want to harp on that as it is just one aspect of an outstanding career."

He presided over three work stoppages during his time in charge, with the brief 1985 strike followed by a 32-day lockout in 1990 and a 7½-month strike in 1994-95 that wiped out the World Series for the first time in 90 years. That stoppage ended only when the National Labor Relations Board, at the union's behest, obtained an injunction to restore work rules from U.S. District Judge Sonia Sotomayor, nominated last month by President Barack Obama for the Supreme Court.

There has been labor peace since then, with the current collective bargaining agreement running through the 2011 season, and Fehr developed a businesslike if not warm relationship with Bud Selig, baseball's commissioner since 1992.

"For more than 25 years, Don has represented his constituency with passion, loyalty and great diligence," Selig said in a statement Monday. "Although we have had our differences, I have always respected his role. In recent years, we have worked together to find common ground for the betterment of the game, which will have resulted in 16 years of unprecedented labor peace by the end of our current collective bargaining agreement. We hope to continue to build upon the game's prosperity as we work with the new leadership of the Players Association."

A bookworm happier to discuss the latest essay in Scientific American rather than baseball, Fehr led a casual union in which he showed up to work most days in jeans and sneakers, keeping a jacket and tie in an office closet in case he needed to go on television.

He was working at the law firm of Jolley, Moran, Walsh, Hager & Gordon in Kansas City, Mo., after clerking for a federal judge when Miller and Dick Moss, then the union's general counsel, needed a lawyer to help defend the owners' appeal of the Andy Messersmith-Dave McNally case, in which arbitrator Peter Seitz overturned the reserve clause. Fehr had been working on cases involving the steelworkers.

"It was really all an accident," Fehr said in 1985. "Marvin and Dick both came out of the steelworkers, so they went to our firm. Originally, someone else was going to handle it. But I was eventually asked to do their work."

When Moss quit the union to become an agent, Fehr was hired by Miller as Moss' replacement.

"I had become fascinated with baseball labor-management relations during the Messersmith case and decided to take the job and move to New York," Fehr said.

Weiner, the longtime No. 3 official, has been with the players' union since September 1988 and has been its general counsel since February 2004. The No. 2 official is Gene Orza, the union's chief operating officer.

[killeverything]

I just can't leave him alone.

By JOSE LAMBIET
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Benched for alleged "fatigue," slumping New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez partied until 2:30 a.m. Saturday in Miami Beach. He then disappeared into the tropical night with actress Kate Hudson in the back seat of his chauffeured Maybach.

And while it's pretty obvious A-Rod and Hudson are an item, the third baseman wasn't too fatigued to continue pretending otherwise. Indeed, it must be a coincidence that Hudson, the star of Almost Famous and Fool's Gold, is in Miami just as Rodriguez's New York Yankees are playing the Florida Marlins in SoFla this weekend.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/conte ... 7&cxcat=46

Is he fucking retarded?

I don't think his exhaustion has anything to do with partying, but with the media coverage this teams gets. Much less the coverage HE gets, showing up in chauffered car to a happening joint with a movie star is fucking stupid. Can't wait to see the home reception from the fans if he continues slumping.









And no there is nothing else to talk about today.

Well maybe that Manny Ramirez is starting his Minor League recovery tommorrow with Las Vegas. I don't know if it's the Las Vegas 51's, their AAA affiliate or a single A team in Vegas. I've heard conflicting reports.

[JakeYonkel]

The A-Rod circus continues.

Good thing he's not signed for another 8 seasons.

Oh wait.







You know, to his credit, I bet Jeter hits as much (if not more) ass than A-Rod does, but you really don't see or hear about it much. You may see him at a gala event with some bitch, but it's never the tabloids reporting that he's flaunting around LA with Scarlett Johannson or leaving a strip club in Dallas at 3am.

[bighairdiscs]

^ Jeter isn't the attention whore that A-Rod is.... I truly believe that A-Rod loves all the attention that all this "tabloid stuff" brings.

[killeverything]

^ Jeter isn't the attention whore that A-Rod is.... I truly believe that A-Rod loves all the attention that all this "tabloid stuff" brings.

I think so too. Arod craves the attention, remember Torre's statements about his obsession with Jeter?

The difference Jeter may enjoy the "perks" of his fame at a level we can only dream about. He shut's up about it. I may argue the merits ( or lack thereof ) of his defense repeatedly, but you honestly can't say anything bad about the guy. He answers every question with a "I'm honored or privaledged to be here. Against good competion." type of statements. The guy is the epidomy of class.

We know that he's fucked Milano, Carey, Biel, Alba, Johnansen, etc. Because someone told us about it............and we hate him for it.



Still can't say anything bad about the guy.

Unfortunately for Arod is the MFY fans and NY media know that too. So everytime he preens ( not sure if that's a word, but it sounds good ) around like a jackass. They'll let him know about it. I honestly think the guy is retarded. Not Girardi dumb, but up there.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Yeah, I was going to mention that about ARod hanging in South Beach, but I forgot. Fatigue, lolz. And now he gets a day off every week until the ASB.

Saturday when he came in to pinch hit, the cheers were deafening. But Sunday was more of a mixed bag of cheers and boos, but the damn flashbulbs were sure popping everywhere. Can't understand NY fans...cheer him in one AB, then boo the next.

[killeverything]

Yeah, I was going to mention that about ARod hanging in South Beach, but I forgot. Fatigue, lolz. And now he gets a day off every week until the ASB.

Saturday when he came in to pinch hit, the cheers were deafening. But Sunday was more of a mixed bag of cheers and boos, but the damn flashbulbs were sure popping everywhere. Can't understand NY fans...cheer him in one AB, then boo the next.

Try trying to wrap your head around them booing Rivera.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Yeah, I was going to mention that about ARod hanging in South Beach, but I forgot. Fatigue, lolz. And now he gets a day off every week until the ASB.

Saturday when he came in to pinch hit, the cheers were deafening. But Sunday was more of a mixed bag of cheers and boos, but the damn flashbulbs were sure popping everywhere. Can't understand NY fans...cheer him in one AB, then boo the next.

Try trying to wrap your head around them booing Rivera.

Shit's crazy.

Speaking of Rivera, I didn't see him the entire series. You'd think he'd come into Friday's game, score being 5-1, that's still a save situation, right? At least give him some work. Though I did see him warming up in the 9th on Sunday, thank Lemmy he wasn't needed!

[tin00can]

^ Jeter isn't the attention whore that A-Rod is.... I truly believe that A-Rod loves all the attention that all this "tabloid stuff" brings.

I think so too. Arod craves the attention, remember Torre's statements about his obsession with Jeter?

The difference Jeter may enjoy the "perks" of his fame at a level we can only dream about. He shut's up about it. I may argue the merits ( or lack thereof ) of his defense repeatedly, but you honestly can't say anything bad about the guy. He answers every question with a "I'm honored or privaledged to be here. Against good competion." type of statements. The guy is the epidomy of class.

We know that he's fucked Milano, Carey, Biel, Alba, Johnansen, etc. Because someone told us about it............and we hate him for it.



Still can't say anything bad about the guy.

Unfortunately for Arod is the MFY fans and NY media know that too. So everytime he preens ( not sure if that's a word, but it sounds good ) around like a jackass. They'll let him know about it. I honestly think the guy is retarded. Not Girardi dumb, but up there.

I was gonna say something similar, that Jeter doesn't have the douche-stench that A-Rod does. Hell, I hate the Yankees but even I like Jeter. As has been pointed out, he handles himself with class and doesn't scream for media attention. I can't even hate him for all the hot chicks he's nailed; all I can do is admire him for it.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Yup. I've always liked Jeter, besides, he's Local Boy Makes Good.

[bighairdiscs]

Don't forget though, Jessica Beil claims that Jeter gave her Herpes

[killeverything]

Don't forget though, Jessica Beil claims that Jeter gave her Herpes

Oh yeah, there's that.

His line I heard is "what are your hopes? What are your dreams?"

[Machado]

Don't forget though, Jessica Beil claims that Jeter gave her Herpes

Oh yeah, there's that.

His line I heard is "what are your hopes? What are your dreams?"

Unless something drastic happens, the Jeter legacy is set in stone.
Same goes for A-Rod. His legacy of course will have many more controversial tones.

[killeverything]

Don't forget though, Jessica Beil claims that Jeter gave her Herpes

Oh yeah, there's that.

His line I heard is "what are your hopes? What are your dreams?"

Unless something drastic happens, the Jeter legacy is set in stone.
Same goes for A-Rod. His legacy of course will have many more controversial tones.

Yep.


Herpes distributor.

And

Obsessive cheater.

[Machado]

Fuck manny. Who does he think he is? Where did he get the balls to say what he said yesterday at the minor league game? I see his strategy is to go down the Mark McGwire road, except with a slight accent.


"People love me everywhere I go," Ramirez said before the game. "I'm excited to bring a lot of joy to a lot of people here. I feel good. I'm happy that I'm here."


One of the first questions was about whether he used steroids.

"I'm not talking about it anymore," he said. "I already said what I'm going to say. I'm here to do my rehab, you know, and [go] to the game and get a couple at-bats and get back to the big-league team."

[killeverything]

Fuck manny. Who does he think he is? Where did he get the balls to say what he said yesterday at the minor league game? I see his strategy is to go down the Mark McGwire road, except with a slight accent.


"People love me everywhere I go," Ramirez said before the game. "I'm excited to bring a lot of joy to a lot of people here. I feel good. I'm happy that I'm here."


One of the first questions was about whether he used steroids.

"I'm not talking about it anymore," he said. "I already said what I'm going to say. I'm here to do my rehab, you know, and [go] to the game and get a couple at-bats and get back to the big-league team."

Meh.

That's Manny though. This basically cost him the Hall Of Fame.

I enjoyed watching all the people up in arms about why he was able to come back to the minors, before his suspension is over. At first my intial reaction was "what the fuck? He's still suspended." Yet after more thought, I agree with it.

Let's say you're the LA Dodgers. You lost Manny* for 50 games. Do you think the Dodgers deserve to lose him for more than his suspension? Hear me out. Okay, Manny will probably need a few games to make sure he's ready to comeback to game ready situations.

Do you think it should effect the Dodgers anymore than it already has? What if he just came back after sitting out 50, and injured himself for the season? Would that be fair to the team/fans? They didn't do it and we all know that Torre has never seen anything in the locker rooms to warrant suspiscion of steroids on his teams.

I'm curious what everybody thinks about this. I heard all the ESPN commentators going nuts about it yesterday. I think that would really suck for the Dodgers if he was out for the season resulting for a coinciding injury.

Don't forget JC Romero also was able to rehab in the minors before his 50 was up last season. I'm under the Ban For Life stance myself, it's just this situation I don't think the teams' should be punished.

[Machado]

Fuck manny. Who does he think he is? Where did he get the balls to say what he said yesterday at the minor league game? I see his strategy is to go down the Mark McGwire road, except with a slight accent.


"People love me everywhere I go," Ramirez said before the game. "I'm excited to bring a lot of joy to a lot of people here. I feel good. I'm happy that I'm here."


One of the first questions was about whether he used steroids.

"I'm not talking about it anymore," he said. "I already said what I'm going to say. I'm here to do my rehab, you know, and [go] to the game and get a couple at-bats and get back to the big-league team."

Meh.

That's Manny though. This basically cost him the Hall Of Fame.

I enjoyed watching all the people up in arms about why he was able to come back to the minors, before his suspension is over. At first my intial reaction was "what the fuck? He's still suspended." Yet after more thought, I agree with it.

Let's say you're the LA Dodgers. You lost Manny* for 50 games. Do you think the Dodgers deserve to lose him for more than his suspension? Hear me out. Okay, Manny will probably need a few games to make sure he's ready to comeback to game ready situations.

Do you think it should effect the Dodgers anymore than it already has? What if he just came back after sitting out 50, and injured himself for the season? Would that be fair to the team/fans? They didn't do it and we all know that Torre has never seen anything in the locker rooms to warrant suspiscion of steroids on his teams.

I'm curious what everybody thinks about this. I heard all the ESPN commentators going nuts about it yesterday. I think that would really suck for the Dodgers if he was out for the season resulting for a coinciding injury.

Don't forget JC Romero also was able to rehab in the minors before his 50 was up last season. I'm under the Ban For Life stance myself, it's just this situation I don't think the teams' should be punished.

Personally I am against these players given the opportunity to "shake off the rust" in the minors.
I understand these are the rules and they won't be changed for manny in '09.
It's a disgrace that in MLB, a player that is "suspended" is afforded the chance to continue playing. What's the point of the suspension?
Obviously the MLB players union is the strongest in pro sports and here is just another example how powerful they are.
manny broke the rules and was given a 50 game suspension. he chose to take PED's, therefore he should pay the price.
getting the opportunity to play in the minors, well that appears to me he is not fully paying the price for his actions.
i did a portion of what ESPN commentators said and i'm glad they did say it. they found their "bollocks" and shared an opinion against manny being able to play.

[killeverything]

See I'm not so sure. He's not getting paid.

I don't think he should be in the position to injure himself, nor the team should be punished anymore than he's already fucked them.

I'm not sure what could be done about it. On the bright side though, that piece of shit Donald Fehr did stepdown. Which leads me to believe another "bombshell" is just about to drop.

Remember that motherfucker was behind looking the otherway during all these new HR records. He was part of games being so over-priced now, the World Series being cancelled, team financial imbalance......

He's just gonna walk away. Part of me thinks he's running from something.

[Machado]

See I'm not so sure. He's not getting paid.

I don't think he should be in the position to injure himself, nor the team should be punished anymore than he's already fucked them.

I'm not sure what could be done about it. On the bright side though, that piece of shit Donald Fehr did stepdown. Which leads me to believe another "bombshell" is just about to drop.

Remember that motherfucker was behind looking the otherway during all these new HR records. He was part of games being so over-priced now, the World Series being cancelled, team financial imbalance......

He's just gonna walk away. Part of me thinks he's running from something.

Kruk on ESPN gave Fehr a 'C' grade the other night. I thought that was fair. Fehr made the players a lot of $$ At the same time, like you said, he turned the other way when all the HR records were falling.
Selig also turned the other way. The 2 fuckers might as well have been holding hands while turning away and pretending to be blind.

I know Manny is not getting paid. That is great.
But a 50 game suspension should mean 50 games, not 50 games from MLB, but please feel free to play as many games as you want in the minors.
BULL-SHIT!!

[killeverything]

Congrats to LSU who are 6 outs away from being 2009 College World Series Champions.

I say that hoping it's like 1986 with premature announcements.


Hook em'!

[killeverything]

UPDATE, 6:06 p.m.: Terrible news for Ian Kennedy. He has an aneurysm and will have surgery in New York on Tuesday. The same surgeon that worked on David Cone, Dr. George Todd, will do the surgery.

There goes some depth. I'm assuming that means his season is done.

Good thing they didn't trade all those guys for Santana.

[Sheep_Mafia]

Seeing Rivera bat tonight with the bases loaded--freaking awesome. I;m sure they told him not to swing. Hitters had no chance tonight. We are all blessed to have witnessed his career.

Torre has tough call on what to do when Manny gets back with Pierre. I'm guessing he's missing the DH position these days.

[WhiteHouseSubsAC]

Seeing Rivera bat tonight with the bases loaded--freaking awesome. I;m sure they told him not to swing. Hitters had no chance tonight. We are all blessed to have witnessed his career.

Torre has tough call on what to do when Manny gets back with Pierre. I'm guessing he's missing the DH position these days.

Pierre is going to either be traded or go back to part time status. Rumors are Seattle, but he's got a big contract that would need to be redone to have it make sense for everyone involved.

[killeverything]

Seeing Rivera bat tonight with the bases loaded--freaking awesome. I;m sure they told him not to swing. Hitters had no chance tonight. We are all blessed to have witnessed his career.

Torre has tough call on what to do when Manny gets back with Pierre. I'm guessing he's missing the DH position these days.

Pierre is going to either be traded or go back to part time status. Rumors are Seattle, but he's got a big contract that would need to be redone to have it make sense for everyone involved.

I heard right at the beginning of Manny's suspension they were going to put Pierre back as a part time/PH player. Especially since he's stepped it up recently.

I haven't heard anything about Seattle. I should look around for that.

[Machado]

Seeing Rivera bat tonight with the bases loaded--freaking awesome. I;m sure they told him not to swing. Hitters had no chance tonight. We are all blessed to have witnessed his career.

Torre has tough call on what to do when Manny gets back with Pierre. I'm guessing he's missing the DH position these days.

Meanwhile, Mariano Rivera was more excited about lining out to center field than striking out all four batters he faced. Using a borrowed bat (Cody Ransom), helmet (Alfredo Aceves) and gloves (Cody Ransom), he drilled a fastball.

Catcher Brian McCann asked Mo if he had ever been up before. With his teammates on the top step of the dugout laughing, Mo showed he can swing a bat.

“That’s what happens when you have skills,” Robbie Cano said.

[thejuggernaut]

It still astonishes me that so many people are opposed to pro athletes using so called performance enhancing drugs.

[TawnyVonJagger]

Marlins>AL East

So Hanley hit a GS tonight...his second of the series, and 3rd of the season. And can someone please tell me the FUCK why Jimmy Fucking Rollins is even in the running in the All Star voting? Fan voting SUCKS, and so does Rollins!

WHSAC...check the rear view mirror lately? Hey guys, remember the Sludge poster Bastardo? He plays for the Phils now, and he sucks there too!

Hey Yonkel! Are you going to the Rays/Marlins games? We'll be there Sunday. (That is, if my car doesn't blow up on me...)

[killeverything]

Marlins>AL East

So Hanley hit a GS tonight...his second of the series, and 3rd of the season. And can someone please tell me the FUCK why Jimmy Fucking Rollins is even in the running in the All Star voting? Fan voting SUCKS, and so does Rollins!

WHSAC...check the rear view mirror lately? Hey guys, remember the Sludge poster Bastardo? He plays for the Phils now, and he sucks there too!

Hey Yonkel! Are you going to the Rays/Marlins games? We'll be there Sunday. (That is, if my car doesn't blow up on me...)

Fan voting is the reason Mike Piazza was eleted as the NL starting catcher when he was batting below the Mendoza line.

The All-Star game sucks and fuck Selig for making it "count".

[JakeYonkel]

And can someone please tell me the FUCK why Jimmy Fucking Rollins is even in the running in the All Star voting? Fan voting SUCKS, and so does Rollins!

I agree. How can you possibly make the All Star game worth something if its rosters are decided upon by the fans? That makes NO sense. Thanks, Bud.

Hey Yonkel! Are you going to the Rays/Marlins games? We'll be there Sunday. (That is, if my car doesn't blow up on me...)

Nah, I haven't gotten out to St. Pete yet this season. We're leaving for NJ and Boston in a couple days, couldn't get it together in time. I wanna catch a game probably in like late July or August when we get home.

[Machado]

So many problems with the ALL-STAR game.
The fact that Selig continues to have the game "count" is
a complete joke.
I still laugh at the incident in Milwaukee several years ago.
The look on Selig's face was priceless. A hopeless man looking for answers where there were none.