In Banny We Trust

Most fans or writers or bloggers, going into a new baseball season, pick a player on their favorite team or team they cover that will have a huge year. Or, they pick a player that will emerge from the pack to contribute to the team that may be unexpected. It’s no different for my friends and I. Every year, we pick a “difference maker” or “impact player” or (sorry) “pick to click.” The joke around here is that I pick Leonys Martin every year. I’m somewhat of a Leonys apologist, but his ceiling has yet to be reached and I’m stubborn enough to continue that path and think he’ll get there soon, except for this year. Next year, I’ll probably go back to Leonys, to the shock of my friends.

Coming into 2015, you can pick upwards of 11 or 12 players to be impactful. From Prince Fielder coming off his injury to Yu Darvish to Derek Holland and on and on and on. There is more uncertainty coming into the upcoming season than I ever remember in my time covering or watching the Texas Rangers. With so many injuries, young and untested players like Ryan Rua and new faces like Yovani Gallardo and Ross Detwiler, we simply don’t know exactly what to expect. Some people think the Rangers will struggle and finish 4th or even last. Some think they’ll finish 2nd or 3rd. Not many think they have a shot as the division title. Usually I have a pretty good idea of where this team stands, and for the first time, I really have no clue. 2009 brought uncertainty, but we knew that young team had promise. This year is so much different.

The fact is, for the Rangers to be successful in 2015, they all need to be impactful. All of the injured players need to come back healthy and perform to their expectations, save for Martin Perez and Matt Harrison, who won’t be back until midseason-ish. Elvis Andrus, Fielder, Darvish, Rua, Leonys and countless others are the key. Not just one, but all. A down year from a combination of two or more players would be a major disappointment and something that could be unrecoverable.

There is one man that could hold the key to the season for Texas. That’s the new manager Jeff Banister. “Banny” can’t go hit or pitch for the team but he can keep the players loose and involved. From what we’ve seen from the outside looking in, Banister looks to be a player’s manager, but one with discipline as well. Most of us have seen the story about the trials and tribulations that Jeff Banister has gone through to get to the position he’s in today. He’s a better person and one with tremendous determination having gone through cancer and a severe neck injury. That kind of guy, can have a great impact on a baseball club. We have yet to know what Jeff can do as a manager, but from all the interviews, it seems like he is a guy who is totally supportive of his players but with an expectation of hard work and giving 100% every night. Pardon that horrible, overused cliche but it’s all I have at the moment. Jeff Banister’s motto is “Never Ever Quit” which is something that a team in this position should rally around.

There is something to Jeff Banister. Tim Bogar lost the manager job to him out of the blue. Bogar had an eye opening September and had the team pointed in the right direction, to the point they helped eliminate the Braves from the playoffs. Banister did none of that. What he did do was come in here and dominate the interview process. He’s dominated every interview and he’s got the fans on his side. Sure, we can go to the point that a manager is as good as his talent. It’s proven. It’s also proven that a manager can ruin a team. Bobby Valentine proved that in Boston and former players have come out about his time in Texas.

Jeff Banister, in my mind is the right man for the job. I think he’ll be just fine. He’ll have Boo (Steve Buechele) as the bench coach and Mike Maddux as his pitching coach. It’s rarely about one man, as a team and coaching staff and players get the job done. The teams with Wash portrayed his attitude on the field. This team will do the same for Jeff Banister. There is uncertainty. We all get that.

The old saying is “this team will go as far as the pitching will take them.” That’s true, but behind the scenes, there is a support staff that gives those pitchers confidence. Jeff Banister heads that committee. Jeff Banister will get this done. #NeverEverQuit

A Superstar for a Short Time, But a Superstar

Former Maverick Roy Tarpley has died at the age of 50.  The 6’11 center/forward came to Dallas as the 7th overall pick in the 1986 draft. Some say that draft was cursed with Len Bias, Chris Washburn, William Bedford and Tarpley all going in the top ten. Three of those either washed out or had substance abuse issues that led to their ouster from the league. Of course, Len Bias didn’t play any due to his premature death from a drug overdose just a few days after the draft was held that year.

Tarpley made an immediate impact on the Mavericks. A high energy, rebounding machine that gave head coach Dick Motta exactly what he has been lacking in his time as the coach in Dallas. The first year Roy was getting used to the league which has a brutal travel schedule compared to college basketball. “Tarp” made the adjustments and was becoming a player Motta could turn to for an energy boost and to clean the glass. With Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman and Derek Harper, Tarpley didn’t have to be the star like he was at Michigan and it was a perfect fit.

In his second year, Roy was the NBA’s 6th Man of the Year scoring 13.5 points per game and 11.8 rebounds per game and averaging 28.5 minutes per game. Tarpley helped the Mavericks reach the Western Conference Finals where they would fall to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7. In that playoff run of 1988, Tarpley averaged 17.9 points per game and 12.9 rebounds per game. A star was born.

The next year, the year we all expected Tarpley to assert himself as the next Maverick star, it all fell apart. DWI arrests, drug suspensions and it just went downhill from there. His fall from grace is well documented and painful for Maverick fans to remember.

Make no mistake, there is no hyperbole when I say he was going to be a superstar. There were nights when he dominated Olajuwon or Ewing. There were not many nights in that ‘87-’88 season when Roy Tarpley was not the best player on the floor. Roy afforded the Mavericks the ability to take chances in the draft with selections like Jim Farmer and Steve Alford. Tarpley made the draft picks of Bill Wennington and Uwe Blab inconsequential. In those early days with Harper, Blackman, Aguirre, James Donaldson and Sam Perkins, Roy Tarpley got significant playing time. In those same years Detlef Schrempf was a pretty decent player that could not find his role. Tarpley immediately found his and he was on his way to a Hall of Fame career. Detlef turned out to be a monster player for many, many years. Roy Tarpley was so much better than Schrempf.

I’m sad. Roy Tarpley, who gave me two of the greatest basketball years of my life has passed away. I’m sad. Roy Tarpley, who as a kid I loved and pulled for and had me out of chair when he filled the lane for a thunderous dunk, never fulfilled what we thought he would.  When I think back on Tarpley, I’ll think of his greatest moments on the court. You were an important part of that team for a small period Roy. I’ll always remember that fondly.

Rich, Max & Stu

It’s been a rough 7 months for sports media, especially in the Dallas-Ft. Worth market. Today, it got even tougher with the news that longtime ESPN anchor Stuart Scott has passed away. I didn’t always like what Stuart did as far as his on air catch phrases, but I never hated him. He tried things, some I loved, some I didn't. Looking back he was finding himself on air and now I realize that I was witnessing a great man finding his own voice right in front of me. He wasn’t afraid to experiment right in front of millions on television. That took guts. The kind of guts he displayed in his everyday life and his battle with cancer. The loss of Stuart Scott is a tremendous one for anyone who watched ESPN regularly or any of us that grew up watching him nightly on SportsCenter with Rich Eisen.

I admire Stuart for what he did both in front of us on tv and how he dealt with his illness, loved his daughters and the stories we hear about how he treated people everyday. The outpouring of love is tremendous today. As my friend Mac Engel said, “It’s too bad he [Stuart] never did hear all of the great things said about him.” From all accounts Mr. Scott was an amazing man; the type of person any sports fan would want to meet.....me included. Stuart Scott changed ESPN, for the better.

We also lost Max Morgan in the past few months. Max was a huge talent on the news at FOX 4 in Dallas. A staple of sports reporting for many, many years. Max was a beloved figure who always had a smile on his face. Max Morgan was always welcome in my home via the television and someone who always entertained me with his knowledge of sports and his style which was friendly. That booming voice was music to my ears. That smile warmed my heart. That catchphrase: “Hello Dallas-Ft. Worth, let’s talk sports,” warned me it was time to pay attention. We miss you Max.

And of course we lost Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com, a friend of mine. I’ve already told my stories of Richard including interactions we had and discussions on the phone with him. It still bothers me. It really bothers me. As a matter of fact I haven’t gotten over it. I find myself drifting to things Richard wrote or said to me. Lately it’s been more and more often. I’ve been short and irritable lately. The fact I’m not closer to Dallas compounded with the fact I was unable to attend any of the services or tributes to Richard eats at me like a sickness. Which is exactly what Richard wouldn’t do. I miss you, buddy. I’ll do better.

The loss of these men is hard to take. If you are an aspiring journalist, you can learn a lot from these three amazing people.

Today, somewhere in Heaven, there is a football game. Stuart Scott is hosting the pre-game show. Richard Durrett will write a column about the game and Max Morgan will tell everyone about it on the evening news.

Ah yes! The Baseball Hall of Fame

The Baseball Hall of Fame debate that comes along every winter has become a very touchy subject. Every winter we argue about who should or shouldn’t be in. We have guys that may or may not have done Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). We argue about that too. We pretty much argue about everything that comes along with the whole she-bang. Merry Christmas!

Evan Grant recently tweeted that he thought the voters had let down the process of voting players into baseball’s greatest shrine. Not really. I think 90% try to do a good job. (1) The remaining 10% have no clue or simply don’t care about what they are doing. (2) Of the 90% how many still watch the games? How many actually cover the sport anymore? You can make a decision based off of what you see on baseball-reference or Fangraphs. You can also make a decision by never looking at the aforementioned websites. So in response to Evan, I’m sure the voters have a small shred of responsibility for where this is now, but the process is really what is broken.

Let me explain. The ballot is log jammed and will get more crowded as time goes on. The voters have a maximum of ten players they can vote for. Usually only one or two get in, in any one year and five or six get added to the ballot and stay there. The response from the Baseball Hall of Fame was to limit the time a player can be on the ballot from 15 to 10 years, if they continue to hit 5% of the voting total. It takes 75% of the votes to get elected, why does it only take 5% to remain on the ballot? More on that later.

There is no clear and concise direction on the PED guys or those suspected of using. I’m not sure how that can be fixed or how a directive can be worded but maybe someone in the Hall or the MLB offices should put their collective minds to work on this. These guys get enough votes to stay on the ballot, and they will continue to stay there based on current support. Half of the voters vote for them, half don’t. Are we going to let Barry Bonds go to a veteran’s committee? Yeah, we are and he won’t get in then either unless the stance softens. It will eventually, but not anytime soon.

The Baseball Hall of Fame is the game’s highest honor. I recently saw a writer compare it to an honorary degree which is simply downgrading it to fit a narrative. The requirements to vote are ten years covering the game and ten years in the Baseball Writer’s Association of America (BBWAA), which can be congruent. Great. Being able to vote on an exclusive honor should require someone to be a part of an exclusive club. Ten years however, is a very long time to wait. We don’t trust Jonah Keri to make an informed decision? He’s got what? Eight years left until he can vote? This, I’m not sure how to fix. I will say they shouldn’t let any old Joe Schmo in. I should not be a voter, let’s get that out there.

Another problem is the BBWAA. Yes, it’s exclusive, but once you reach the pinnacle of being able to vote, it’s a lifetime honor. Some guy somewhere hasn’t covered the game in 15 years, stepped foot in a stadium or watched more than 20 games in that same time period. While this is a VERY small majority it’s still a problem. How many will it be in another five years? Or five years beyond that.

Accountability. We hold the players accountable for their on-field and off-field actions when it comes to the Hall. The voters never have to reveal their ballot if they don’t want. Some person somewhere can submit a ridiculous ballot and never have to answer for it. Also this isn’t the Heisman with ties to a school or boosters. If Billy Simms voted against an Oklahoma player in favor of a Texas player and it became public, it’d start a war in Norman. This isn’t college football and you don’t have a booster or coach nipping at your heels to make a choice “which best reflects the school.” For me, silent ballots are part of the problem in baseball.

So how do we fix it? I’m not sure, but I have an idea or six:

• Enact term limits based on the writer’s coverage. My idea is that if a voter stops covering baseball as their primary sport, they have five years of voting privileges left. After those five, they are out. Why five years? Because a player has to wait five years to be on a ballot, and a voter who saw the end of a player’s career will still have the opportunity to vote, when they still covered the game. That way the voter still sees the end of the career to make an informed decision.
• Public ballots. Make the writer agree to have their ballot revealed or their vote for that year does not count. Hold people accountable. If the ballot is outright stupid, then remove them from the process. We can use the Tango Score to be the judge. Score in negative numbers, you’re out. (This is quite radical, I admit)
• Change the minimum percentage that a player remains on the ballot from 5% to 20%. It takes such an overwhelming amount of votes to get in, why does it take so little to remain on the ballot? How many players have been elected after receiving less than 20% in their first year? I honestly don’t know, but I’d bet it’s zero. (If someone can find out, that’d be great) This clears the logjam of guys who hang around and never get in.
• Go to a binary ballot as suggested by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Is the player a Hall of Fame caliber player? Yes or no? It’s that simple in my mind. Also remove the ten player limit. Let the voters vote for as many as they want. The voters are not going to start arbitrarily voting for everyone just because. They understand the enormity of what they are doing. Plus if the ballot is public, that stops idiotic voting. Voters no longer have to leave off a player they think is worthy based on only having ten bullets in their gun.
• Allow Ford C. Frick Award winners to vote as long as they are active broadcasters. I trust Eric Nadel to make an informed decision on the matter, as well as Dick Enberg and Jon Miller.
• I don’t know how to “fix” the PED thing. If you have an idea leave a comment.

This is a lot to take in and a lot of rules. But 15 years and 75% simply don’t get it done anymore. The voter ship has changed and so have the players. My ideas are far from perfect. Take them and run with them.

The Best of Rangers Media in 2014

We are lucky. We are surrounded by talented writers, broadcasters and radio hosts in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. The Rangers media community is just as talented as any and they do not get enough credit. I was thinking this morning about my personal favorites over the last year. Favorite articles, writers, radio shows and decided to make my list of the best of Rangers media from the past year. I tried to thoroughly look at everyone and be as objective as possible. You may not agree with my choices and that's cool. Here is my best of Rangers Media: 

Best Writer: Evan Grant (Dallas Morning News)
Best Newspaper: Dallas Morning News

Best Blogger: Adam J. Morris (lonestarball.com)

Best Website: lonestarball.com

Best Writing Series: “TROT Coffey” Jamey Newberg (The Newberg Report)

Best New Writer/Blogger: Brandon Land (onestrikeaway.com)

Best Writing Staff: WFAA.com

Best Rangers Radio Show: “Diamond Talk w/ Sean Bass and Ty Walker” (The Ticket)

Best Interview: Ben and Skin w/ Jon Daniels and Jeff Banister in studio (The Fan)

Best Twitter Follow: Dave England (@juniusworth)

Most Underrated Twitter Follow: Levi Weaver (@ThreeTwoEephus)

Best Articles of the Year:

“Richard Durrett has left us too soon” by Jeff Wilson (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

“The changing impact of the Rangers’ ballpark” by Peter Ellwood (WFAA)

“Analyzing Elvis” by Jeff Johnson (Shutdowninning)

“Texas Rangers hiring of Michael Young, promotion of Steve Buechele change the ‘narrative’” by Evan Grant (Dallas Morning News)

“The revitalizing effects of Draft Day” by Jamey Newberg (The Newberg Report)