By Punch N. Judy
BaseballBigMouth.com baseball news

A recent taped interview by CBS with Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks revealed just how much the pendulum of power has shifted in the wake of the steroid scandal that hopefully will gain some closure sometime before this decade is out.

Showing little fear of a players union that needs only to show its teeth under better circumstances, those who sign the bloated paychecks are now spouting off their views of the past few years with virtual impunity. Never mind that its guys like Hicks who have created these literal monsters within the game in the first place.

When asked by network affiliate KTVT’s Babe Laufenberg what his biggest miscues were as owner of the club, Hicks responded by pointing at Chan Ho Parks’ $65 million dollar deal, followed by the ridiculous two year, $24 million dollar pact he signed Juan Gonzalez to when the shrunken slugger returned home to the Rangers in 2002. In saying that Juan Gone had “come off steroids probably,” prior to the deal, you’d think a libel suit would at least be threatened as a response by those in the Gonzalez camp. Instead all we got from Juan’s mouthpiece Al Nero was “that kind of rhetoric does not deserve a response.” Spoken like a man who knows where all the needles are buried.

Nary was a tear shed in Baltimore when the cleaver fell on the head of Sam Perlozzo the other day. This seems to be a trend among the overpaid, under-achieving sect of players now inhabiting the game. A career baseball man whose chance came perhaps a little late, Perlozzo was booed unmercifully the last few weeks as key veterans Kevin Millar and Miguel Tejada began distancing themselves to cover their own backsides. Shame on them. Maybe Perlozzo can hitch a ride to Atlanta with outgoing pitching coach Leo Mazzone who is sure to get a call from Bobby Cox in the next few days.

One of my favorite beat writers in Detroit, John Lowe rated the old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland as his favorite park in which to work while covering the game. Say what? Apparently the press box in the old “mistake by the lake,” was closer to the field than any other. Perhaps that’s why the guy pounding the drum 500 ft away in center was so audible on my little transistor radio as I nodded off to sleep at age five.

Enough already with the clips of Don Mattingly working with a new Yankee every other broadcast at first base. Now it’s Jorge Posada being trained for a position he has no business attempting to play. Just make a comeback Donnie B, you can’t look any worse than Gary Sheffield did in the playoffs last year when he attempted to basket catch anything thrown his way.

Clown of the Week – Peter Angelos – Once again the renegade former labor barrister has made a move that attempts to exonerate himself as the chief reason why the Orioles blow. I’m not saying Perlozzo was Earl Weaver or even Joe Altobeli for that matter, but I think the O’s biggest downfall was perhaps in allotting a third of their total payroll to a crew of middle relievers whose ERA exceeds 5.00.

Quote of the Week – “If you know how to cheat, start now.” Earl Weaver to struggling O’s starter Ross Grimsley.

Editor’s note - Baseball and Eggs will appear every Thursday, and serves as a form of self–therapy for this clinically insane baseball fan. The baseball part is self–explanatory. The eggs however, could pertain to just about anything on Punch’s mind from Wednesday to Wednesday. Good day all. 

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 10:07 am and is filed under Baseball and Eggs, Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.