What a farce. Thanks to a certain airline that specializes in losing luggage, I’ve had golf clubs spend more time in Florida than Mike Piazza did.
So much for that really big deal concocted by a bean counter on one coast and a TV mogul on the other coast. A slick magazine screamed about this “Trade of the Century,” but the same publication declared Latrell Sprewell’s attack on P.J. Carlesimo’s neck as racially motivated.
In fact, considering the entirety of baseball’s sewer, Piazza’s transfer from the Dodgers to the Marlins didn’t even qualify as the vowel movement of the month. Alas, a week after that blockbuster featuring recognizable names, Piazza went to the Mets for Larry, Moe and Curly.
The resurgent Cubs, who occupied the National League wild-card berth when the free-agent catcher was rerouted Friday, were the immediate losers. More about them later.
But first, shame on the sport. We come not to beat on the enthusiastic Allan “Bud” Selig, the club owner of conflicting interests who doubles as pro tem commissioner, albeit with a longer term than a number of U.S. presidents.
Nor is the exchange of a superstar necessarily evil. Better players than Piazza have been moved–Babe Ruth, Wayne Gretzky, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar–to name a few who were a whole lot better. And conspicuous fire sales are not without precedent. The San Diego Padres had one, then restructured, now hold first place.
It’s just that this Piazza thing has been so blatant. Back when fans at least presumed baseball innocent, there was a certain buzz to trades, even a romance. But now the industry is so flawed that it’s all about haves and have-nots, about contracts one team spits out for another team to chew on.
During the brutal work stoppage of 1994, and even before, management warned that labor had better grasp baseball’s financial troubles, or franchises would fold. That hasn’t happened, but the Marlins might as well have disbanded.
They aren’t defending, in any sense of the word, their world championship. They’ve surrendered, abdicated, and perhaps, in their own weird way, owners privately applaud this sham while they wince for cameras.
The fact that Wayne Huizenga raised the bar to win a title before he closed up shop only nourishes the Machiavellian possibilities. The free-agent staging area, once located in Homestead, Fla., is now in Pro Player Stadium. The champion Marlins couldn’t cope with the madness: Exhibit A for why the current system must be blown up for a new blueprint.
It will be a cold day in Milwaukee when Selig intervenes, for it was there that he announced cancellation of the World Series because owners and the union couldn’t agree on how to do business. Games have resumed; the cold war continues.
The Cubs? They still have a chance to improve, beyond Piazza. Other players, more affordable, will become available. Dallas Green, the most pragmatic general manager in the franchise’s sorry modern history, saw a shot at winning in 1984 and pounced on it without fear and trepidation about tomorrow.
More Top Picks Best Book Stands For Textbooks
To Cleveland he sent Joe Carter, whose next home run will be the 364th since he left Chicago. However, that 1984 trade altered the state of the Cubs. Rick Sutcliffe went 16-1 and the Cubs finished first for the first time since 1945. Sutcliffe won 16 again in 1989, when the Cubs seized another division title.
The force of Green’s will, the infectious joy of Harry Caray, the sudden respectability of the Cubs–they all converged in 1984 at the box office. The Cubs have been a hot ticket since. They not only entered a new era in 1984, they enjoyed a new bottom line.
“Before it’s all over,” General Manager Ed Lynch said Friday, “we might need another bat in our lineup.”
The Cubs can afford the luxury of renting. That’s really all the Marlins did, and when their lease ended, they had rings. Baseball is volatile. Moral to a sick story: Wait until this year.