We Have a New Commish... Your Thoughts?

[Eric]

Well, it seems as though the MLB owners, after a bit of discourse and debate, have decided on a new commissioner of baseball. His name is Rob Manfred.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb-exec...

What do you think Mr. Commish should tackle first? PEDs? Game length? Stadium/TV issues? Salary cap?

[Michael Linn]

Pete Rose and Joe Jackson
Mike Linn

[Eric]

Yes! The Pete Rose and Joe Jackson controversies. I'd have to agree with you there, for sure. However, what's the story on Mike Linn? It doesn't ring a bell for me.

Also, how 'bout the *footnote that needs to be by Barry Bonds record book entry regarding surpassing Hank Aaron's HR record? Should we revisit that controversy, also?

[Lisa]

I'll name a coupla names also: Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza

[Eric]

Lisa wrote: "I'll name a coupla names also: Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza"

You mean in regards to steroid use/cheating?

[Michael Linn]

Mike Linn is my name, I sign everything
Mike Linn
P.S. First offense-a full season
Second offense- LIFE
What`s in the record book is in.

[Eric]

Ah! Your name. Gotcha! :)

PEDs:

1st offense - suspended for a full season (starting when?)

2nd offense - ban for life

Yup. I'd go with that.

Tom Jones w/ the Tampa Bay Times newspaper had an interesting take on this topic today:

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseba...

[Michael Linn]

Targeting a younger audience is a major issue. When someone gets caught using steroids, 1st suspension-162 games from THAT point. Next- life! The rest of the issues, Bud`s puppet can take his time, there`s the same amount of rush, without congress looking over your shoulder that it took buddy boy.
Mike Linn

[Lance]

Pete Rose and Joe Jackson first..then length of games. Especially playoffs and WS when it seems that if it's finished before midnight it's a quick game.

[Michael Linn]

Lance, how much are you really going to shave off ANY game, even running timers on pitchers and hitters stepping out to readjusting EVERY piece of stuff, a la Nomar..As long as first pitch is after 8;30, the kids and most adults(not me, if I`m an adult) will be in bed. Do you need me to tell you the real issue here? Yes? MONEY!!$$..
Mike Linn

[Eric]

Games to tend to run on a bit long these days, but that's just baseball to me. I don't see how you're going to shorten games that much. Take away commercial breaks? HA! That's not going to happen. Make pitchers pitch faster? I don't think that's a practical solution. Keep batters in the box? That's not practical either.

Baseball has never been a barn-burner paced game. That's baseball.

@ Michael... I'm not sure that 162 suspension from the time of the infraction would work. If the infraction occurred after the All-Star break, the player would be forced to miss the end of that season, the spring training, and a goodly portion of the next season. He wouldn't in any way be prepared to just pop up and play once his suspension was over. He'd probably come back in the minor league for a few weeks. He may not ever make an appearance in the majors again that season. This would effectively be an 18 month suspension. With some players, that could spell a career-ender.

I'm not defending illegal PED cheaters here, but punishment would need to be fair.

[Eric]

Maybe the punishment for PED violations could be a combination of suspensions and monetary; fines, cuts in pay, re-negotiation of contracts, etc?

[Michael Linn]

Let`s not quibble with petty rules for cheaters, first offense-LIFE! That will take care of all that nonsense about what`s fair for cheaters. You use the word fair, like the 20 plus years stolen from us was fair. And who gives a crap if a career ends, and if you weren`t defending them, then what was that? Time to get tough, no more chances! PERIOD! Day one and we might need a tougher new commish already.
Mike Linn

[Mike]

How do you really feel Mike. Lol. I think 162 would work. If you gave life on the first offense I'd be worried about the law suits and legal battles that would follow. Here's a question. Are steroids a real problem now? I don't know, I don't see any crazy numbers or huge players these days. As far as the new commish goes, his job is to just keep bringing money in.

[Eric]

Well, Mr. Linn...

You may have a point there.

Burn the witches!

Er... I mean umm... ban the PED users for life! ;)

[Michael Linn]

Mike wrote: "How do you really feel Mike. Lol. I think 162 would work. If you gave life on the first offense I'd be worried about the law suits and legal battles that would follow. Here's a question. Are steroi..."

Bud`s clone will do just that. They tried to push Reinsdorf`s puppet Werner in to bust the players union further, but Selig somehow made a deal. A history lesson, who were the main culprits in the collusion case? If you said Reinsdorf and Selig, grab a cigar. Strange bedfellows
Mike Linn

[Harold]

I think they have to cut down on the lack of hitting and strikeouts. That combined with the length of the game is losing the younger people rom gaining an interest in the game. That spells trouble for TV executives as well as game attendance.
I'm not quite sure how they do it but I know that is something they are discussing. Some are actually talking about banning the defensive shifts. That has really taken a toll(although Brandon Moss has hit safely the opposite field in his last 8 at bats I believe to beat the shift).
As for Rose and Jackson, that won't happen ever. Betting on baseball or taking a dive is a lifetime ban that no owner wants to change. Rose's memorabilia are in the HOF and they could do that for Jackson as well.
I agree with Mike Linn about a 162 game ban for PED use and life for a repeated offense. (less for amphetamines- 81 games and then a 162 suspension).
It's true that it's tough to shorten the game because teams like the Red Sox and Yankees take a lot of pitches as strategy so you can't change that. But you could rule that a batter could not step out of the batter's box in between pitches, automatic intentional walks, allow just 3 warm up pitches for relievers who should be warmed up from throwing in the pen, cut out throwing the ball around the infield after an out, etc. True, it would only save a minimal amount of time but something needs to be done.

[Michael Linn]

With owners making money hand over fist, there really isn`t much to mess with. Oh yes, it would be nice to correct all the things Harold just mentioned, but Bud`s boy will whitewash the fence to give us the same non action daddy gave us. Remember, steroids wasn`t addressed until Congress wagged a finger in their face. Today`s power specialists in each bullpen, and some rather stupid hitting approaches takes care of that concern. Stupid just extends further regarding shifts. GO THE OTHER WAY! The shifts will vanish. As for shortening the game, by what, minutes? You mean less commercials to make money?
And now to my favorite. Rose has served 25 years for whatever we want to call his egregious boner. I say , give him his plaque that also says he bet on baseball, and hang it in the janitor`s outhouse downstairs.
We don`t see the criminal in Selig because of the playoff system in place, and the cash flow. Fay Vincent was fired because he wouldn`t buckle under to the owners, so they hired an owner, and a cheap, conniving, do nothing until forced to one at that. I didn`t vote for him either
Mike Linn

[Lance]

Back in this late but even little things to speed up a game would help. Harold touched on most of the things I would like to see happen, especially the batter not stepping out after every pitch to adjust equipment. Some of the length is simply now the way the game is played and more pitches taken and more foul balls to make a pitcher work - seems like every Brett Gardner at bat is at least 7 pitches. But also enforcing the twenty second rule consistently would help. Games of 2:10 will now be the exception never be the rule any longer. But some of the between pitch nonsense can be cut out.

[Lance]

Michael wrote: "Let`s not quibble with petty rules for cheaters, first offense-LIFE! That will take care of all that nonsense about what`s fair for cheaters. You use the word fair, like the 20 plus years stolen fr..."

So Commisioner Linn: given the public and official reaction to Andy Pettitie' s use of HGH for injury recovery you would ban him for life too, correct? And, knowing you would say yes, how do you make sure a positive test is really positive without the nonsense rules that allowed Ryan Braun off the hook the first time he was caught?

[Harold]

Frankly I can't agree with the term "nonsense" rules regarding Braun's first test. The technician totally tainted the test results and made them highly unreliable by not refrigerating the specimen for something like 48 hours. I recall at the time when I believed Braun(naivete) that the chain of custody problems were so wrought with unreliability that he would win on appeal. But they have corrected that problem. I'll say this for a lifetime ban, it would deter anyone from using anything banned unless they applied for an exemption

[Michael Linn]

Not only, if lifetime is the ban, is Andy gone, Papi is gone, and Braun too. They ALL failed a test. If there have to be rules that exempt or govern certain situations, so be it. But Commissioner Linn pardons no one! Then what`s the sense of making rules, but if not to enforce and scare the crap out of the next guy. Do we really know for sure what we don`t know about the Mitchell report? Did Clemens, A-Rod, and Bonds fail tests, or not? I know, 2003, no legalized testing. They are ALL gone! If Bud wasn`t an owner, he too would have been gone, just like Vincent, the last really good commissioner.
Mike Linn

[Harold]

That's a great idea Mike and I think management should have a specific clause in their contracts to that effect. The all purposeful "morals clause" may not be enforceable

[Michael Linn]

I`m not quite sure the players union would ever sign off on that one. It sounds like a deal breaker to me, and then go directly to court.
Mike Linn

[Harold]

I guess the union would have a right to strike if that were included across the board since it would be a material change in work conditions

[Michael Linn]

As it is, when a player gets suspended for testing positive, it`s without pay, but depending on the rest of the contract, it just doesn`t sound legal to just void it from that time forward.
Mike Linn

[Mike]

Hey men, I've missed a lot. Down in Disney with the family for a week. Lots of talk about steroids and penalties. While I don't mind the 162 then life it does seem that the problem has been on a steep decline. We're not pointing fingers at anyone these unless it's someone coming up on the HOF ballot. I think Ortiz is the only active guy we've discussed besides A-Roid of course. The only true way to get shorter games is to stop making all the needless pitching changes during a game. Mike and Lance I know you guys read a lot of baseball history and when ever you read about crazy one hour and 50 minute games or 2 hour games, they were always thrown by one guy. Stop the insanity, the lack of use with pitchers arms has caused more injuries in the last ten plus years then anything else.build up arm strength again, pitch longer, screw pitch counts, carry ten pitchers instead of 13. With 3 extra bench guys there will be less extra inning games because you'll have more options available. Pinch hitters, pinch runners, etc. ok I'm done for now.

[Michael Linn]

Gee, is THAT all? Get all those pitching coaches together, and start now. How many complete games does the ML leader have? 4? Not in your lifetime!
Mike Linn
The Dodgers and the Giants lead with 6. That`s each team!!

[Mike]

I know but it's better then making guys get in the box and 20 second enforcements. Lol

[Lance]

I do agree with you Mike...But how do we stop the current trends toward pitch counts and hard limits to "save" the owner's investments, er pitchers?

[Michael Linn]

If we figure out how we got here from Koufax, Marichal, Gibson ,etc, what has to be done to go even part of the way back. Conditioning, and extended pitch counts is a start. Only the very best of todays starters seem to have the grit and conditioning to go 8 or 9 , but you know very well what this is REALLY about , and why it`s NEVER going to happen. $$$$$$ Protecting the investment-PERIOD. Look at Verlander, he seems to have paid the price for being a workhorse. Is it worth it today to burn out an ace in his early 30`s ? Not at these prices.
Mike Linn

[Mike]

How come all the guys we grew up watching did it without blowing their arms out.

[Harold]

That's why clubs don't want to pay pitchers for extended contracts beyond 4 years in most cases

[Michael Linn]

Jim Palmer in the 60`s would have pitch counts from 120-140. Gibson, Spahn, Marichal seemed to be able to pitch ALL day. Likewise Carlton, Morris, Guidry , and EVERY pitcher on the Braves in the 90`s. Better conditioning, or just superior arms? I just think these guys today, the better ones, could also do it, but again Mike, What owner is going to allow their investment to do so? The times are different, money rules, and while I know the Kershaws, Felix`s, etc. can do it, why take the chance? The reality of todays game, as I`ve been saying since I`m here, is that the money dictates almost every argument we have.
Mike Linn

[Mike]

Neither better conditioning nor better arms. Just a different mental approach to getting the job done.

[David]

Michael wrote: "Targeting a younger audience is a major issue. When someone gets caught using steroids, 1st suspension-162 games from THAT point. Next- life! The rest of the issues, Bud`s puppet can take his time,..."

I have through most of the east and it saddens me to see empty ball fields. I grew up playing catch, long toss, playing 4-on-4 with right field out, etc. But you batted, threw and caught. You learned how hard it was to do those three things well, if at all. When I watched major league games and see how nonchalantly infielder caught balls on the short hop or outfielders run down fly balls, I was hooked. I knew how hard it was and still shake my head whether I am watching a major or minor league game or one on TV