1945 was a long, long time ago. Probably before most of you were born. For sure before I arrived.

That was the last year they won anything, and the year the ‘Curse of the Billy Goat’ was emblazoned on the franchise.

Chicago Cubs baseball has been pretty bad since that mystical season.

1945 was the year of guys like Phil Cavaretta and Stan Hack, Jolly Cholly Grimm and Claude Passeau. Baseball old timers remember how good that team really was.

They won the pennant but got bumped off in the World Series by the Yankees. Since then a drought that has lasted forever.

Oh there have been good players at Wrigley Field off and on in recent decades. Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg and Sammy Sosa, Bruce Sutter and Dick Ellsworth, and Billy Williams. They followed in the footsteps of Hack Wilson and Tinkerj-to-Evans-to-Chance fame. But none of those teams won it all.

But the Curse of the Billy Goat, brought on by an exiled fan who was asked to leave the field and take his goat during that ’45 Series, has lived on.

The Cubs gave us the College of Coaches, 8-different coaches, who took turns managing the team over a year and a half, or year and a laugh.

It gave us Leo ‘The Lip’ Durocher as a firebrand manager, and names like Quade, Zimmer, Sveum and Renteria.. It brought us Harry Caray on Radio and TV. The controversial fan Steve Bartman. The Bleacher Bums, the Rooftop Seats, and the Ivy on the Walls.

There was so much about Cubs baseball to talk about, and not much of it was very good. It’s all changed.

Years of losing brought them high draft picks. The arrival of new leadership in Theo Epstien from the Red Sox and Jed Hoyer from the Padres, brought them new ideas. Wrigley Field has undergone renovation itself, just like the roster. Video boards, new rooftop seats and the like.

Cubs baseball is now home run hitting lst baseman Anthony Rizzo. It’s the power bat of rookie Kris Bryant. It’s lst round draft pick homer hitting catcher Kyle Schwarber. It’s a collection of Cubans and Caribbean’s who can play, names like Soler and Baez.

Yes they spent big money to sign free agent Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester. And yes, they are headed for their best season since winning a pennant in 2007-and-2008. But those were isolated teams that had a good season, then promptly fell apart.

In one stretch of time, they went 16-straight years without a winning season.

What we see tonite, when the Cubs head into Dodgers Stadium, is a young team, loaded with talent, managed by fun-loving Joe Maddon, that is built to win and win for a number of years.

This was a turnaround season when all the kids arrived. This off season should bring them the last ingredient they need, more starting pitching, And then we will watch them become dominant..

In all likelihood, what we see tonite in LA will be the beginning of the end of the ‘Curse of the Billy Goat’. It’s been awhile (`1945) since those in and around Rush Street have had something really good to cheer about.

Like the wind that blows out to left field in Chicago, that always comes up, winning baseball, lots of it, is coming to the Windy City.

 

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“.440 Hitter as a Person-No Longer a .226-hitter”
by Lee ‘Hacksaw’ Hamilton

 

 
He played because he loved the game, and was good at it once upon a time.
He got his time in the game, though his career never really took off, and his stats showed he was just another guy.
But he wasn’t.
Meet Billy Bean, former Detroit Tigers, Angels and San Diego Padres outfielder. He is back in the game, not as a coach nor a manager; not as a scout; but maybe something much more important.
A Baseball Ambassador for the Gay and Lesbian Community. MLB realized it had been too silent on the sexuality issues, even if it was 2013.
It is quite a tale, of a talent, whose life changed, once his sexual priorities changed. His career was one of highs, lows, and terror.
He was forever terrified he would be outed in the game, by a teammate, by a media member, by anyone, as being gay.
Bean lost his happiness and he lost his marriage as decisions took him different directions in life.
I sat in the dugout at Petco Park and talked. It was a baseball conversation, but not about the Pirates nor Astros, not about the trading deadline, all important things in the baseball pennant race world, but rather about something equally as important, helping other players, who might be gay, and how they should cope with life.
The conversation was free and easy, just like as if I were talking to an Orioles scout, or a Yankees beat-writer, or the Mets manager.
But the depth of the Billy Bean chat was moving.
“The hardest part of who I was, was fear, that somebody in baseball would find out”. His teammates did not know. His parent did not know. The woman he married did not know.
“It was never a happy time, this secret I kept my entire career”, he said, in a tone that could have been equal to a guy talking about a (2-31) slump.
Of course in the 1980’s and 90’s, that conversation would never have taken place. The shadows of his life extended beyond the closet he was in, thru the clubhouse, and to every other public place he went. Maybe the 9-innings of a game was the only safe-place haven he had.
“Off the field I was miserable”. He didn’t know whom he could trust, talk to, who might understand. In a career that stretched from 1986 into 1995, not one player suspected his tendencies, not one teammate nor close friend in the clubhouse was allowed inside the circle.
It took the death of his partner in 1995, that led to the courageous decision for Bean to say ‘”this is who I am”. It cleared up his mind, it freed up his heart.
But there was a complication. He feared he would win up with the “Triple Crown”. “My partner had died HIV-positive. Did I have HIV, how would I cope with the grief, would I be outed?.
The reaction was mixed and harsh. The macho side of baseball clubhouses surfaced. Of course he had left the game, so what they said, thought, reacted too, was not really his concern.
Everytime he started a conversation, he ‘armored up’, to protect his hidden secret. Somehow, someway, he decided to reach out, to become a public speaker. Talking to groups, companies, families.
He authored a book, and got all types of reaction.
In the glare of the light, he started to find reward, where fear once lived. He started to feel positive, “fortified by my life” as he put it.
Society and culture has changed in its view to sexuality. Maybe it has to do with the greatness of Martina Navratilova, or the tragic blood tainted death of Arthur Ashe. From those few came others, including Hollywood actors, team execs, and more lately an NBA players, Jason Collins, and a Brewers shortstop David Denson.
He re-linked with Major League baseball, who had heard of what he was doing. The knew about the book about his life. They knew of his credibility as a person.
From that came the created position, as MLB tried to take a step forward, where no player, organization, or sport, had gone before. Have an advocate. Have someone with this experience. Have a victim, who became a pioneer, be the point man.
Bean now travels around baseball, meeting with people like the Padres and Tigers, amongst the 26-teams he has spoken too. He is available for 1-on-1 conversations with players about their concerns or needs, in a clubhouse atmosphere, or a family situation.
“Coming out an revealing yourself is important, because you want to be a player and teammate and succeed. Once you rid yourself of the burden, all things change”.
On this hot-humid day, he met with the entire front office of the Padres. Then a closed door session with the Padres players. “It wasn’t a lecture, it wasn’t really about me, it was just about society, and how we might cope with it.”
His sales pitch, ‘don’t be afraid to have that lst conversation. Do not have a negative image of yourself any longer.” It is surprising, in his chat with the Padres 25-man roster, not one player asked a question. “Their theory is I’m not attached to that, and I do understand.”
Bean is now making himself available on a need basis to all clubs. He spoke numerous times to the Brewers and then to the young infielder Denson, about his life, and helped him with the decision.
He’d like to meet with every team and its players in a spring time tour of the Cactus League and Grapefruit circuit, when there is more free time, rather than during the heat of the pennant race.
Imagine the impact he could have with a message that would reach the 150-or-so players a club has under contract. You touch one who has a need, a concern, you hit a home run.
“It took me 33-years to accept who I am, and I believe I can be a big brother to those in need”. His road traveled should help players who want to speak out and don’t know how. It should clear the way of fear, and help strengthen a resolve to be the person they’ve turned out to be.
He’s there to help them talk to family members, and teammates. He wants to counsel youth, caught in the web of bullying, who don’t know how to deal with it. What was once a taboo subject is being spoken about in all forms of life.
And he believes he is making progress, with the guidance of Commisioner Rob Manfred. “Baseball is past the emotional stigma of being gay.”
“When I told teammates Trevor Hoffman, Brad Ausmus, Archi Cionfrocco, they responded ‘if only we would have known we could have helped’.
He smiled, at ease with his life, and headed out of the dugout to his next stop on a baseball road trip of a different sorts. The outcome of the Padres game could be read in a boxscore. The impact of his story and how it helps others, is still to be told.
His book ‘Going the Other Way’ is out. The MLB Network did an extended piece on him. MLB needs to market him and his availability more.
“The reason I left baseball, is now the reason I am back in baseball.” Good is about to come out because of a gay player.
Billy Bean might have been a (.226) hitter in his major league stops. What he is doing now, how he will help, the end result of his work, is like hitting (.440) in life.

“San Diego Gulls get winner as Coach-despite what record says”

 

All coaching jobs in sports are tough.

Pressure to win, dealing with player problems, hoping to develop talent, wishing no-one ever got hurt.

Same thing in the minor leagues, and the newly minted San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League, will welcome a battle tested coach to their bench in October when they start the season.

Dallas Eakins comes with credentials. He comes with success. He comes in having also been fired. He knows what the profession is all about, first as a journeyman player, then as a coach in the AHL who won, and a coach in the NHL who lost..

He comes credentialed, having done well as a Toronto Maple Leafs assistant. Even better when he took over the AHL-Marlies, the Leafs top farm club.

He did so well, he was hired by the Edmonton Oilers to take over the youngest team in the NHL. Sadly there was no Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier nor Grant Fuhr around in Edmonton.

Instead, a host of really young players, Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Nail Yakopov and more. Congrats, these are all our number one picks, play them and win with them, at the NHL level, where it is dog-eat-dog every night.

He had little defense, garbage goaltending, and kids who got overwhelmed up front. 15-losses in 16-games got him fired at midseason last winter. Oddly, his players spoke out on his behalf of the job he did, trying to teach them to survive, much less win, when they were lining up against superstars like Sidney Crosby-Penguins, Alex Ovechkin-Capitals, and the Sedin twins in Vancouver. Oh by the way, good luck too against the Pacific Division brutes like the Ducks and Kings.

Eakins comes to San Diego to work for a really good Anaheim Ducks organization. Frustrated by not getting to the Stanley Cup finals themselves, the Ducks GM-Bob Murray, went out and wheeled and dealed. He added goaltending, got bigger and tougher in the corners, and decided to rent a few AHL vets along the way.

End result, the Ducks will be even tougher to play against this winter, and that means the San Diego Gulls will get the benefit of some gritty veteran talent to put on the ice with the young players Anaheim sends into the Valley View Casino Centre.

Yes Eakins employed lots of ‘coach speak’ yesterday. Words like commitment and pride, discipline and urgency. He is a teacher first, a motivator after that. He’s also dedicated to succeed.

Knocked off the horse in Edmonton, he didn’t take a cushy assistant’s job in the NHL, but wanted back into a head job again, to re-prove himself.

He talked about learning how to put out the ‘fires’ of coaching, knowing how to cope with the ‘white noise’ at places like Edmonton and Toronto. He knows the Ducks top farm club last year, the Norfolk Admirals lost 14-of-15 at one point last season. He also knows the Ducks called up six young players from the AHL-Admirals to strengthen their run to the NHL playoffs..

So he enters the Gulls job with his eyes wide open. He knows what he has to do is teach and groom to get guys to Anaheim. He knows he wants to instill a winning culture. He knows injuries can wreck a team, understanding Norfolk went thru 54-players with a revolving door roster last season.

But this season should be different. The Ducks, and the Gulls GM-Bob Ferguson, went out and got veteran goaltending. They signed veteran NHL toughness and a couple of proven AHL veteran defenseman. So the foundation is there, and now all the Ducks have to do is give Eakins some sniper goal scorers and see how quickly he can make the chemistry come together.

Coaching in the AHL is really tough. Players coming and going. Molding older players, who want to be in the NHL, with younger players, hoping to get a phone call to go up. It’s also jelling players from all backgrounds, Russia, Scandinavia, the Canadian junior leagues, and college players. Many are about to enter a culture zone and will be in for culture shock. Learning to be a pro, wanting to be a success.

The only one who won’t be surprised is the Gulls coach, who has been to the top of the mountain-the Oilers, the bottom of the valley-unemployed, and has seen it all.

He subscribes to the axiom, ‘if it doesn’ kill you, it makes you stronger’. Nothing should phase this guy, whom people in Edmonton and Toronto called a ‘passion play’ type of person.

Tough guy, toughened by what he has been thru as a head coach.
 

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“You Be the Coach-What do you do?”

 

The decision making this time of year on the job is very hard. What’s an NFL coach to do?

Not talking roster cuts, which will be tough a week from now, not talking about winning preseason games either. But really talking about health.

How much do you play your starters in these NFL preseason games? How much a risk are you willing to take to try and get some answers about your team, and its players? What happens to your team if a key player goes down, in a preseason game in August?

The NFL continues to be bashed about charging full ticket prices to see exhibition games. A bad business model for sure, but then again show me an NFL owner who is not committed to making money off the richest sport in the United States.

It’s easy to use the word ‘meaningless’ when referring to an exhibition game, Chargers-Cardinals, or last nights Bucs-Bengals game. But that is not necessarily true. Some of the games have been atrocious to watch, but you have to find out who can and cannot hold up in a battle of elite players.

Coaches, like Mike McCoy, or Denver’s Gary Kubiak, Andy Reid in KC, and new head coach Jack Del Rio with the Raiders, have to get answers about how their players hold up in ‘live action’ fire, in game conditions. You cannot produce that type of environment on a Tuesday in practice at Chargers Park. You get that only when Pro Bowler Corey Liuget lines up against some rookie left tackle from the Seahawks.

Coaches have to find out how the learning curve of young players is going and that comes in game action, not a walk thru, or a film session.

Teach them footwork. Show them technique. What they practice in the week leads to having to do it on game night.

The end result is learning on the job. The risk, are players going down in the second quarter of that exhibition game, and how it impacts your squad..

It’s been a tough first three weeks of NFL camps. There were 81-major injuries from the opening of camp thru last weekend. Add on another 12-significant injuries this past weekend, and you have a numbers problem.

 

Just ask Green Bay how they feel now that star receiver Jordy Nelson, their big money-big play guy, is gone after tearing knee ligaments this weekend.

Carolina lost both their top receivers, including Kelvin Benjamin, with season ending injuries in camp. Then over the weekend, pass rusher Frank Alexander went down with a torn Achilles, and center Ryan Kalil got hurt..

The Giants are without 6-safeties in camp. The Cowboys had 5-running backs hurt. And it goes on and on. 5-running backs in Buffalo have been dinged. Game-time injuries are part of the sport, but guys are going down in non-contact drills in practice too.

McCoy has been questioned as to why Philip Rivers has played just one series in two games. Why first round pick Melvin Gordon has just six carries in two weeks, and needs reps.

Rivers is like many other star QBs. They don’t need practice games, just full speed practices to get ready for opening day. But Gordon has to learn the speed of the game, the responsibilities of the position, and how to handle the wear and tear.

Dallas hasn’t had Tony Romo nor Dez Bryant on the field together yet. Colin Kaeperneck and Russell Wilson have played some in San Francisco and Seattle..

Tough call for a coach. You wouldn’t want to create a Ryan Mathews syndrome, where he kept getting hurt in preseason.

The NFL has openly talked of cutting the 4-game preseason slate to three, or even two. But they never moved on the proposals. They’ve already cut off season workouts, the OTA-world, in half, to help players heal and deal with the offseason. But that has a downside also, teaching time in the off season is limited. Practice time in pads in camp has been cut back. And downgraded even more in-season.

Alot of other veterans are playing games, and in a sense taking risks. Will the Rivers-led offense be ready on opening day? We know they will likely be healthy, but polished and ready? Who knows.

The NFL wants these games played, to make money. The coaches need these games to evaluate talent-vs-talent. The stars don’t want to get hurt unless it counts for real.

What would you do?

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“What I saw-What I think”

 

Things I saw, what I think after a great sports weekend.

PADRES….This is what we have been waiting for all season long, booming bats, stronger defense, and much better pitching. The Padres leave for an East Coast road trip today having won 9-of-12. It was somewhat of a statement weekend, taking two out of three from the best team in baseball. They got lots of hits, they are healthy, and they played St. Louis hammer and tong. Sadly, it’s too little too late, for they are in such a deep hole, it seems unlikely they can catch the Pirates and Cubs for the wildcard spot. Maybe it was the right move not to break up this team at the trading deadline. The Friars still have to solve their shortstop woes, and figure out who plays where at 2nd and 3rd. Of course signing Justin Upton would go a long way to keeping this roster intact. Even Matt Kemp’s (.378-July) and (.388-August) means he’s not done yet.

DODGERS…I don’t know what the future holds for Manager Don Mattingly. This is a terrible LA tailspin. Joc Pederson, hitting (.155) since July is on the bench. Yasiel Puig seems to be a shell of himself with still no consistency to his game. Adrian Gonzalez is hitting a quiet .300, but has very little help elsewhere. Beyond Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, the rotation is still a slippery slope, and the bullpen ERA is above 4.00. I said in spring I thought they’d miss the offense that they used to get from Matt Kemp-Hanley Ramirez-Dee Gordon, and I think they do. Not good signs heading to the final month of the season. The LA payroll is now at an all time record 298M with a 44M luxury tax bill on top of that. Anyone think ownership will allow the manager to come back next year?

ANGELS…The playoff hopes are slipping away. A tired starting rotation. Mike Trout cannot do it all himself. Albert Pujols is cooling off despite his 30-home run season. Kole Calhoun has stopped hitting. There seems nothing left at Salt Lake City to help this team. Hard to believe a flawed team like the Astros are pulling away in the AL-West, but the Halos just don’t seem to have enough firepower or live arms to keep up the chase. Running off Josh Hamilton and getting nothing in return seems to be haunting a struggling lineup. This payroll, this roster, might not even make the postseason, again.

CHARGERS…They dialed up blitz packages, they hit everything that ran pass patterns; that was a pretty impressive evening of defense in the preseason win in Arizona. This might be the fastest defense San Diego has put on the field in a long time. The run game isn’t working because the offensive line is not moving people off the line of scrimmage. When it has been lst team offense vs 1st team defense in the Dallas-Arizona games, San Diego’s backs have 15-carries for just 30-yards. Two weeks to figure it out.

AZTECS…Maybe it’s not the quarterbacks, but rather the defense. Rocky Long can’t decide yet whether Kentucky transfer Maxwell Smith or freshman Colin Chapman should start at QB. Doesn’t matter. This Aztecs defense, especially the back seven, just seems relentless. That coupled with the four running backs they have, means this is going to be a good season. Very disappointing, less than 1,000 showed up for the Red-Black scrimmage Saturday. Does the community care, or does San Diego State do a poor job promoting its product to the community?

USD…Not a good sign when you have 4-quarterbacks and no one has claimed the starting job, and none of those players have taken many varsity snaps. The Toreros need someone to become what Josh Johnson became, a dangerous thrower, at quarterback, if USD is going to be competitive. This looks more like a Division III program, rather than someone who says they are Division 1.

SWEETWATER VALLEY….Yes they got knocked out of the winner’s bracket at the Little League World Series by Texas last night, but the Bonita stars are still alive. The fact Pearland, Texas held them to just 1-home run was impressive, considering the Bombers had hit six in the first two games. They play Rhode Island tonite, but what a thrill for these kids to go to Williamsport and be on ESPN>

GULLS…They introduce new coach Dallas Eakins tomorrow. This AHL club has the makings of being very good. The parent Anaheim Ducks have signed veteran goalies, defenseman and a couple of bangers on the wings, to compliment the young draft picks they will likely send here a month from now. Think this team has a chance to be good with a better blend of experienced NHL-AHLers to go with the young picks headed this way.

 

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