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Thursday, January 19, 2006

Red Sox' Theo Esptein Returns Two Months After Escaping in Gorilla Suit (No Kidding)



According to the AP, Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein returned to the organization in an unspecified role and just two months after quitting the team, and....Well, read the rest below.

BOSTON -- The door was ajar, and Theo Epstein finally walked through it and back into the front office of the Boston Red Sox.

The most successful general manager in franchise history will rejoin the Red Sox baseball operations department in a full-time -- but otherwise unspecified -- position. His long-rumored return comes 2½ months after he turned down a contract extension and fled Fenway Park in a gorilla suit to avoid the encamped media.

"As you know, we have spoken frequently during the last 10 weeks," the team and Epstein said in a joint statement on Thursday night. "We have engaged in healthy, spirited debates about what it will take over the long term for the Red Sox to remain a great organization and, in fact, become a more effective organization in philosophy, approaches and ideals.

"Ironically, Theo's departure has brought us closer together in many respects, and, thanks to these conversations, we now enjoy the bonds of a shared vision for the organization's future that did not exist on Oct. 31. With this vision in place, Theo will return to the Red Sox in a full-time baseball operations capacity, details of which will be announced next week," the statement continued.

Epstein declined to elaborate on the statement, which also came from principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and president Larry Lucchino. The team would not comment on how Epstein will fit into the organization's hierarchy, but Henry denied that Lucchino's role was diminished to lure Epstein back.

"Larry's role does not change," Henry said. "Details next week."

Lucchino did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

The Red Sox have been operating with co-GMs, former Epstein lieutenants Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherington. But their Dec. 12 promotions were overshadowed by persistent rumors that they would soon be working for Epstein again.

"Certainly Theo is a good friend of all of us, and he's worked very closely with these guys in the past," Lucchino said then. "The door has been really ajar for some time, and until Theo goes to work for another baseball organization we'll keep the light on in the window with the possibility of him coming back and helping us."

Epstein's return concludes an almost Shakespearean saga that led him to walk away from the team, reportedly because of a falling out with Lucchino, his longtime mentor. The Red Sox president and chief executive officer first hired Epstein, then a Yale student, to work as an intern with the Baltimore Orioles; Epstein followed Lucchino to the San Diego Padres and rose to assistant GM there.

The Red Sox made Epstein the youngest GM in baseball history in 2003, and his first team came within a Pedro Martinez pitch count of reaching the World Series. The next year, Boston won it all for the first time since 1918.

The Red Sox also reached the postseason in '05 -- a three-year run that was a first in franchise history. But what should have been easy negotiations over a contract extension turned fierce and Freudian.

On Oct. 31, the day his old deal was set to expire, Epstein belied a newspaper report that he had agreed to stay and walked away from the team's three-year, $4.5 million offer.

Explaining his move two days later, Epstein said, "You have to be all-in. You have to believe in every aspect of the job and the organization and your ability to stay and do the job the right way, with your whole heart and your whole soul. And in the end, it just wasn't the right fit. It wasn't right."

Both sides denied -- or at least downplayed -- a rift between Epstein and Lucchino.

"We've had a very successful working relationship," Epstein said in November. "I think Larry and I like each other. As with any long relationship, there are complexities. ... But in the end, I want what's best for Larry. He's done a lot for me. I owe him quite a bit, and I take that to heart."

SF Giants Spring Training and Season Tickets on Sale


Again, the season gets closer! Now SF Giants tickets are on sale. You can get them with a click on the title of this post. This will be an exciting year as Barry Bonds returns in good health and chasing the Home Run title!

Monday, January 16, 2006

Why can newspapers sell baseball statistics content? -- The illogic of MLB's business

Well, here we go. Major League Baseball is working yet again to guard the use of baseball player statistics. What's so illogical about this is the terrific loophole that newspapers take advangtage of.

What do I mean?

Well, sports sections contain stats on players, right? Those same papers have annual fantasy contests based on what those same players do. Plus, those same papers make money off articles written abut the players and the stats they generate.

All this and baseball never touches them at all.

But MLB gives internet companies hell.

What if I have an internet company that reports baseball news using blogs, etc., but then has the same contests that offline newspapers have? Good idea, eh?

If I do that, MLB should not be able to touch me in court.

Right? Right?

I think so. Otherwise, it is a double standard that should not hold up in court.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

LA Angels of Anaheim? Still Reads "LA" to Me - Type "LA Metropolitan Area" in Google and see!


I can understand that the City of Anaheim is upset that they are sharing space in the name "LA Angels of Anaheim" with Los Angeles. But their lawsuit is ill-considered. Why? Well, first their own lease agreement with the organization allows for the use of the name "Anaheim" in some fashion. In fact, the lease reads that team name itself be one "containing Anaheim therein."

Hence "LA Angels of Anaheim."

The City claims that it is losing economic development money by this agreement, which it structured. But really the City should just go ahead and sue anyone and everyone who identifies "Anaheim" with "LA" starting with the search engine company Google.

If you type "LA Metropolitan Area" in Google you get a huge number of listings that will show you what cities and towns the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area contains. Right there is Orange County, and within it Anaheim.

It's funny. Under the logic of the City of Anaheim, it should haul Disney into court for not respecting emiment domain laws and calling Disneyland "Disneyland of Anaheim." Heck, why not. Disneyland is shown as a major destination in the "LA Metropolitan Area."

But under that logic, and since Disneyland has a more prominent listing than the City of Anaheim, perhaps Disney should sue Anaheim for not calling itself "The City of Anaheim: Host To Disneyland."

Well, at least you can't fault Anaheim for having no civic pride. They're a far cry from their sister California city, Oakland. Oakland has no problem giving public money for an arena for a team that doesn't even want to carry the city's name. Of course, we're talking about the Golden State Warriors. They should be called "The Oakland Warriors."

Think of the marketing revenue Oakland's losing. Many people don't even know where "The Golden State" is, or so they tell me.

It's California, you say? Great, but does that mean I have to sit next to Bigfoot in the woods of Northern California to watch a Warriors game? Or do I have to find them in downtown Fresno, only to learn that the team's now playing in Palm Springs? I hope not. If I'm Oakland's tourism chief, I can't work with my own city's basketball team to help me promote the city. That's more than sad, it's sick for one town to allow itself to be used in this way.

Anaheim wouldn't stand for it.

If the Warriors were in Anaheim, they'd be ran out of town for calling themselves 'The Golden State Warriors of Anaheim' rather than the 'Anaheim Warriors.'

Opps...I should have typed "LA Warriors of Anaheim."

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Oakland A's 2006 Tickets Exchange


Yep. It's almost baseball season! 2006 A's tickets can be gotten with a click on the title of this post!

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Atlanta Braves tickets on sale for 2006 season


Atlanta Braves 2006 tickets for sale -- or sell your own. Just click on the title of this post.

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