Pinch hitting: Canyon of Heroes
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- January
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January is usually a slow month for baseball news. But fear not, we’ve lined up a series of guest bloggers to entertain you. Next up is Mike Plugh from Canyon of Heroes and Baseball Japan.
It’s our honor to have Mike posting here. He is a regular contributor to Baseball Prospectus and is an expert on players in Japan. His reports on Daisuke Matsuzka were widely read last year. Mike splits time between New York City and Akita City, Japan and is the proud father of Hiroto, a future Yankees centerfielder.
Here’s his post:
In the year Showa 9 (1934) a team of American baseball players traveled to Japan to participate in an exhibition series, delighting enormous crowds eager to get a glimpse of the legendary George Herman Ruth, otherwise known as “Babe.†The games were held at Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium and were sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun, owner of the powerful Giants of Tokyo. The courtesy of the host nation was evident as fans ran umbrellas out to the players in the outfield during long stretches of wet weather. The barnstorming Americans left an impression on the Japanese that has never quite dissipated after all the years since that event. Babe Ruth and the Yankees were household names in the baseball crazy land of the rising sun and continue to enjoy a kind of reverence that, in many respects, can only be found in the Bronx.
The Showa 9 exhibition played an important role in my assimilation to life in Japan, as a member of an extended Japanese family by marriage. My wife’s grandfather is an older gentleman, and a veteran of the Second World War. Before I met the man, I was introduced to this fact and told that in addition to his military service he was a strict school principal and had little love for the U.S., although he loved Europe and had traveled extensively with his wife throughout the continent. Needless to say, this made for a nerve-wracking introduction. In his later years, my wife’s grandfather has slipped a bit and has increasingly succumbed to Alzheimer’s. His periods of clarity are distinct in the quality and depth of detail that a man of his great experience can produce, but they come less frequently all the time.
On the day I entered his home, anxious and hoping to find some common ground, I was fortunate to enjoy more than a few moments of clear and thoughtful dialogue that eased the tension and bridged the perils of history. Chief among the moments that afternoon was the description of The Babe provided by an old man with a twinkle in his eye, peering back to the memories of a child growing up in Tokyo. I heard of the great size of the man and his broad smile, and the casual fraternization that occurred with the Japanese fans that ended in a small boy’s thrill, hanging from the bicep of the otherworldly American slugger.
A learned man I know tells of a tradition he shares with his college frat brothers. When the opportunity presents itself to shake the hand of the person who shook hands with a great historical figure, one must leap at the chance to forge a transcendental bond with the past. My opportunity came in an intimate and extremely tenuous meeting in an old man’s living room in Tokyo. In that fleeting afternoon I found the bridge over the troubled waters of history. It was George Herman “Babe†Ruth.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Wow, excellent post Mike!!!
That’s a great story, and though it’s a pretty unique one, the situation isn’t. So many people, I’m sure, find common ground in baseball. Thanks for sharing your story!
Very nice, Mike. Very philosophical.
My brother once got a children’s book called ‘Baseball Saved Us’, about Japanese kids playing baseball in the WWII internment camps in death valley.
It’s amazing how one came can unite so many.
Very nice, Mike. Can you explain the Yankees popularity in Japan, from a historical perspective? Does it trace back to that tour in 1934, or is it more of the fact that the Yankees are ‘Ichiban’?
Thanks again to Mike for posting here. Great job.
Testing:
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Pete,
What is this “Potting” that you speak of? lol.
Thank you, Mike. Wonderful story.
And well said, Rebecca. Though just a game, baseball is wonderous in its ability to unite. Remember after 9/11?
For me, it started when my Dad first took me to Yankee Stadium, and it’s been such a fun bond between us ever since. And last year I first took my boys to the Stadium. They already tell people that they saw one of Alex’s home runs in one game, and had the dubious distinction of seeing the worst two innings or Roger’s career in another.
Great job Mike. Matsuzaka Watch was the blog of the offseason a year ago.
My dad used to speak of Warren Spahn, Bob Feller and Stan the Man. To me, they were larger than life. Characters in an epic story whose history somehow extended into my living room when I’d watch Donnie Baseball steal a kid’s popcorn.
There’s no such thing as a bad first step into baseball. Even if it’s taken by a kid with a red B on his cap.
Yazman:
For my take on baseball after 9/11 check this out
http://community.livejournal.c.....tml#cutid1
A great story. This reminded me that what brought courage and livelihood back to Hiroshima was a creation of a city-owned baseball team. It is highly ironic, but also very symbolic of the strength of baseball.
Yes, finally a worthy post, a story only the guest blogger could tell. Excellent work! Now the only thing you need are some hilarious stories and photoshops that our blog could have provided in a guest post but no worries, we still luv ya.
Great post Mike. Really nice stuff.
I frequently visit Mike Plugh’s blogs and read his articles whenever I see them – his outstanding guest-post here is an example why.
Cool, I once shook Joe DiMaggios hand. In fact, I bussed his table. All the other busboys were Iranians and the owner heard me in the back trying to explain to these guys that this was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. They all had an attitude of “baseball, who cares…”
But the owner realized I was a fan so he introduced me. I was so shy I didn’t say squat.
All I can say is…
We need….
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!
(more)
Per Houston Chronicle, Cledmens has filed a defamation suit againsy McNamee. This could prevent them from testifying in front of congress because of a pending lawsuit.
edit: Clemens
pat:
http://www.chron.com/disp/stor.....32752.html
Great choice of forum for Roger. Think a Texas jury would believe McNamee and disbelieve Roger?
“”I don’t know if I’ll ever get the naysayers back. I don’t know what I’m going to get. Maybe some of my name back,” Clemens said to the Chronicle Sunday. The report also revealed Clemens’ stance that the lawsuit will not keep him from testifying before Congress on Jan. 16, which he plans to do without asking for immunity or invoking any rights.”
From:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....p;c_id=mlb
Great post Mike. I still check your website everday for an occasional post.
Murphy
As a lawyer you would know better than I, would this be something a lawyer would suggest in order to avoid a trip to Washington?
Based on an interview one of Hardin’s investigators had with McNamee, the lawsuit claims that McNamee was coerced into implicating Roger through use of “Cold War Era” interrogation tactics, suggesting to McNamee that he could go to jail for not implicating Roger. Very interesting that the target here seems to be the Feds and not really McNamee.
Discovery is going to be interesting. The Feds will fight tooth and nail against making any disclosures, seeking protective orders against having to answer Hardin’s questions in view of other on-going investigations, a need not to give away investigative techniques and the ongoing Bonds prosecution.
Disclaimer: I haven’t done a lick of legal research on this and there might be cases on point which blow this theory out of the water, but I would argue that the Feds went outside the scope of their employment. Federal Law Enforcement Agents used harsh threats of jail time to obtain information valuable only in a private corporate investigation. They also cut a plea deal on a Federal criminal case in exchange for information valuable only in a private investigation. By so doing, the Feds were acting as private agents of Mitchell and Selig – - not criminal investigators – - and that’s not what the FBI and IRS are supposed to do. Having crossed the line out of pure Law Enforcement they should not be allowed to hide behind the protections usually afforded law enforcement agents implicated in a civil lawsuit. They should be made to lay open all of their records and testify with only very limited protective orders.
Stay tuned. This is going to get real interesting.
Thanks, Mike – your post is a reminder of the positive side of baseball in the current atmosphere of negativity. Anyone who is a fan of the game can and will find something to cheer about, especially once the 2008 season begins.
pat:
The lawsuit will certainly give Roger – - and McNamee – - a colorable excuse not to answer questions from Congress, or from the media for that matter.
I’d say that Roger’s appearance in D.C. would be a waste under this scenario. Making him say repeatedly “I’m sorry but my lawyer has advised me not to answer that question because of the pending litigation” would be unfair to Roger and pretty boring besides.
Mike: That was a great post.
Talking to old timers about baseball memories is a lot of fun. But your story was very unique and bittersweet. Thanks for sharing it. And please give my best to Hiroto Plugh, future CF for the NY Yankees.
updated Houton Chron. story.
http://www.chron.com/disp/stor.....33092.html
Clemens’ lawyers say he is testifying before Congress and the filing of the lawsuit does not change that. Roger is doing all he can now.
Mike,
I enjoyed your post. It was very moving and it speaks to the power of baseball to forge common ground and enable the seeds of relationships to take root.
For me, being a baseball fan came in handy when I first met my husband’s dad. At the time I was a Mets fan (having been drawn into the sport in the first place by the Miracle Mets of ‘69), and this was something we had in common. My husband was (and is) a Yankees fan (which helps to explain my crossover). It was a way for us to get to know each other, and at the time, I remember he was very excited to have someone share his zeal, and I know he was fairly surprised and impressed by the extent of my knowledge of the game.
Regarding the 60 minutes interview with Clemens last night, there’s not much I can add to the discussion. I still feel the same way I did before the interview. I suspect that’s the case with most others. But I did want to make one observation regarding what someone posted last night about not believing that Roger didn’t know about Andy because, “don’t BFFs tell each other everything?”
Tne answer is, no, BFFs do NOT tell all, ESPECIALLY if they think their BFF will think less of them as a result. Andy looked up to Roger. If, IF, Roger did not use steroids, and IF he made it known (as in the interview last night) that he looked at them as a harmful shortcut, I can absolutely see where Andy would keep the information from Roger about his brief trial with HGH.
“Clemens’ lawyers say he is testifying before Congress and the filing of the lawsuit does not change that. Roger is doing all he can now.”
That’s a surprise. It sure raises the ante for McNamee, no? If Roger will testify, will McNamee?
Wow, Rebecca. Terrific post. Thank you for sharing that here.
murphydog -
Thanks for linking the Chronicle story.
I found it amusing that whoever wrote it thought that Clemens’ attire for the interview was worth mentioning. I guess wearing a lavendar shirt sheds some kind of light on the character of the interviewee????
“the lawsuit claims that McNamee was coerced into implicating Roger…”
murphydog: ome thing I posted yesterday b4 I realized there was a new thread: I can’t help but wonder what kind of pressure Mitchell must have been under before McNamee served him Clemens. What do you think would have been the opinion of the report if it hadn’t (supposedly) bagged at least one new elephant?
I personally don’t think Mitchell himself would have done anything unethical, but I can’t help but wonder if someone who worked for him knew the risks of a report sans-elephant, and let McNamee know what he needed. I think Mitchell would have been fried in the media without Clemens.
OK, I know, call Oliver Stone…
Clemens is sure doing everything an innocent man can do (numerous things Bonds did not).
I admit, I sure hope he didn’t do it.
Mike a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing it. I also enjoy all your posts during the year.
Murphydog – Someone, perhaps you, brought up the question a few days ago about where McNamee is getting all the money from to hire these very well known, high priced lawyers. Did we get an answer to that question? Would lawyers like those McNamee has retained provide legal assistance free or for cut rate fees for the publicity value of handling a case like McNamee’s?
Best of the guest spots so far. Much much better than the last few posters. Finally something well written and interesting.
Doreen:
“I guess wearing a lavendar shirt sheds some kind of light on the character of the interviewee????”
There is a whole business devoted to such issues in big ticket lawsuits. What color suit, hair style.. etc.
What nobody seems to have noticed however is that Hardin did not appear to be sitting there along with them, just slightly off camera, ready to pounce to protect his boy Roger. I find that interesting, a factor suggesting that Clemens is letting it all hang out, as we used to say.
it seems to me that Andy could, and prob will, have a primary role in front of Congress, and in front of a judge in Clemens’s lawsuit.
and i agree with Doreen… if Roger didnt use, and Andy gave into the pressure, as much as Andy looked up to Roger it would shock me if he actually did tell him what he did, knowing how that would change Roger’s perception of Andy as a ballplayer and a man.
nice post mike
“Would lawyers like those McNamee has retained provide legal assistance free or for cut rate fees for the publicity value of handling a case like McNamee’s?”
Yes, up to a point.
I’m sure McNamee was well paid by Roger, and has a house he can mortgage, and he was dealing illegal drugs so there is some off the books cash lying around. Emery’s office is busy so they can afford to float McNamee for a while in exchange for the publicity. Note however that McNamee is not the plaintiff, so unless he counterclaims against Clemens, he stands to win nothing here. Emery’s cut of nothing is one third of zero.
Expect McNamee to counterclaim or sue Roger, maybe in NY State Court or in Federal Court in NY, so McNamee can try to get the case out of Texas and at least establish the possibility of recovering some money in a settlement.
mike plugh-
it is amazing historically how the japanese picked up baseball when it hasn’t taken hold in the same way so many other places( like europe). i have no doubt my father who’s 86 and was in the navy during most of world war two would be able to sit down with your wife’s grandfather and talk about baseball. they have in common that both had seen babe ruth play and loved baseball. baseball is a game, but somehow it grabs onto people and takes them beyond it just being a game. it’s great that it can be a common denominator between people with different values and from different times.
Roger can’t win plan and simple. People want to hear him speak he does an interview (than it isn’t good enough). People say he should sue, he sues, and people say he is only suing so he doesn’t have to go in front of congress. And so far the only evidence against him is the word of a man he when faced with jail time spilled his guts. He had evidence on many other players in the report, canceled checks, awb #s, letters of thanks. Well where is the evidence on Roger? And lets no foget the personal problems the Mcnamee faced in 2001, (the rape case), he was never charged because the woman refused to press charges, but he lied about that situation.
It is much easier to prove someone did something, than it is to prove you didn’t. Roger can say he didn’t do it till he is blue in the face, but he won’t have evidence that he didn’t do it. Unless there is a blood sample laying around in a lab some where.
murphydog-
just as an aside, how does it affect things that mcnamee said he injected steriods into clemens in canada. how does something that happened in another country get assimilated into a us court case?
also why aren’t the canadian authorities involved in some way?
Murphy
Sorry to make you the resident legal expert but…. by Clemens lawyers filing suit, does the burden lie with them to prove McNamee lied or does the burden lie with McNamee to prove he didn’t?
Great post, Mike! Excellent!!!
randy 1:
“just as an aside, how does it affect things that mcnamee said he injected steriods into clemens in canada. how does something that happened in another country get assimilated into a us court case?
also why aren’t the canadian authorities involved in some way?”
Defamation is focused on the statement, not the underlying things spoken about, as the statement is what does the damage to reputation. So Clemens does not have to sue in Canada for defamation resulting from things occurring in Canada. The jurisdictional rules about which court to sue in are a little complicated, but Texas is where he lives and he should be able to start an action there.
As for the Canadian Authorities, they really have no role in a defamation action. They could I suppose open a drug probe, depending on statute of limitation issues. I’m not ruling anything out yet, but the Canadians are probably well served just to sit this one out.
The burden does lie with Clemens to prove McNamee lied.
It doesn’t matter that it happened in Canada for purposes of the defamation suit. For purposes of an American criminal suit, it would matter if he never took the steroids in the USA.
Canada is not involved because they probably consider this whole thing retarded.
yanks61
January 7th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Mike a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing it. I also enjoy all your posts during the year.
Murphydog – Someone, perhaps you, brought up the question a few days ago about where McNamee is getting all the money from to hire these very well known, high priced lawyers. Did we get an answer to that question? Would lawyers like those McNamee has retained provide legal assistance free or for cut rate fees for the publicity value of handling a case like McNamee’s?
__________________________________________________
Ward is an ACLU lawyer. These are the types of cases they love…the poor and down-trodden (McNamee) vs the corporate image (Clemens)and he goes after the government, also. Interesting that in this case, he’s using the government employees as witnesses.
Canyon of Heroes. Thats a good name for a Yanks blog. I should have thought of it first.
“Sorry to make you the resident legal expert but…. by Clemens lawyers filing suit, does the burden lie with them to prove McNamee lied or does the burden lie with McNamee to prove he didn’t?”
No problem. Just remeber that I profess no expertise in defamation so you get the advice you pay for : )
The burden rests with the plaintiff to prove by a preponderance of the evidence the facts that entitle him to damages (money) from the defendant. In order to prove McNamee lied, Roger has to prove the negative of the statements attributed to McNamee, namely, that he, Roger, did not receive from McNamee the injections of illegal substances as described by McNamee. Roger also has to prove that McNamee made the statements with “Actual Malice” or in reckless disregard of the truth. In short, McNamee said the false thing about Roger knowing it was false or having a very good reason to doubt the veracity of the statement.
Based on the news account only, it seems that Hardin is going to argue that the statement was false because they were coerced from McNamee under the enormous threat of prosecution if McNamee did not say something to implicate Roger. Roger would still also have to prove that his reputation was damaged and how much that damage is worth.
Don’t hold you breath for a trial, however. My guess is that the pre-trial discovery phase alone will last at least a year or two.
I’m taking a day off from work today, so I can finally weigh in on the momentous issues of the day (lol).
Murphydog – many thanks for your posts recently, about the legal aspects of all this. Your posts have been very enlightening.
It’s unfortunate that we have to even consider this PED business. It’s sad that our system seems to function more based on what you can get away with, rather than actual truth or right and wrong.
Actually, Murph, this would probably constitute defamation per se in NY, so damage would be presumed. I’m not sure if they have the same rules in Texas, but I’d imagine Texas is probably a less protective state for First Amendment rights. The amount of damages will have to be proven, but shouldn’t be any significant hurdle, it’s just a jury matter.
GB7:
I’m not sure Emery’s heart will be in this fight. He’s going to have to say good things about the credibility of overzealous Feds who broke down his client and show that his client was not scared into exaggerating or stretching the truth out of fear of going to jail. It’s the opposite of every deeply held belief this guy probably has about the world.
Anthony:
I agree that damages are not the issue here. (I didn’t want to guess on Texas law on slander per se, libel per quod and all the rest without the research).
The real interesting thing seems to be that Hardin will try to make the Feds look as dirty as McNamee. Heck, he might even paint poor McNamee as another victim of Selig, Mitchell and the Feds. (And they don’t love the Federal Government in Texas).
Murph, that’s going to be the good part. How does he pull this off without hindering his client’s chances, and still not put his other witness in paril of perjury. You know Hardin’s going to hammer the two agents.
The other thing is this Friday night phone call. Apparently it was initiated by McNamee. I wonder if either side recorded the conversation and might be tempted to use it. Seems that Hardin made the lawsuit decision quite soon after that phone call.
peril** edit button, please.
Interesting point, I hope for Rogers sake he did tape it. Now that would be a smoking gun.
Roger, “WHY DID YOU LIE MAC?”
Macnamee, “I’m sorry Rog, I had to do it to save my butt”.
“The other thing is this Friday night phone call. Apparently it was initiated by McNamee. I wonder if either side recorded the conversation and might be tempted to use it. Seems that Hardin made the lawsuit decision quite soon after that phone call.”
My sense is that this was the call in which McNamee said he wasn’t going to change his story so all bets were off and the suit was filed. I think the call about the fishing rods was an investigative phone call.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01.....f=baseball
“Issue May Really Be How Far Players Will Go to Gain an Advantage”
By ALAN SCHWARZ
i’ve said for along time anabloic steroids and hgh are the tip of the iceberg of the pharmaceutical problem in baseball and sports in general. the problem is compounded because there are healthy natural supplements that big pharma doesn’t want us to have.
it’ll probably just confuse the issue for people who are already overwhelmed with info, but the tragic case of steve bechler, the oriole pitcher who died ,where ephedra was banned in the united states as a result, illustrates the battle between big pharma and advocates of natural over the counter supplements.
ephedra has been used in the united states as a natural asthma remedy for over a hundred years. it was used as an ingredient in xenadrine, one of the top selling over the counter energy/fat burning supplements in america until it was banned for it’s ephedra content. ephedrine is to ephedra as caffeine is to coffee. ephedrine was an active ingredient in xenadrine.
xenadrine was in every baseball clubhouse and athletic locker room in america. it was red bull before red bull.
caffeine and ephedra were mixed in xenadrine and had a synergenic effect of amplifying each other.
congress and mccain in particular made a big show of banning ephedra containing the active ingredient ephedrine , but they didn’t ban pseudo -ephedrine which is synthetic ephedrine.
the product sudafed at the time was 30 mg of pseudo ephedrine. sudafed was not banned.
so ephedra, which was natural, was banned by congress, but sudafed , which was made by big pharma, wasn’t. both had ephedrine in them as the active ingredient.
on a curious note, sudafed was a banned substance for the olympics at the time congress passed the law against ephedra, but soon after sadafed was allowed by the olympics.
to duplicate xenedrine, all that had to be done was take sudafed with a cup of coffe. the caffeine and ephedrine would be mixed and the desired pick up of energy level would be achieved.
it’s possible the ephedra/sudafed battle was simply big pharma, with an assist from congress, getting rid of the natural supplement ephedra that was a lower cost competitor.
we think all these hearings about drugs are about baseball. it looked that way in the bechler case, but the end result was that a cheap natural supplement was banned and the same product produced by a drug company continued to be sold.
this brings up the unusual inclusion of vioxx by clemens into the story. 27000 people had heart attacks or died from vioxx, so clemens is not just venting here. i think it’s obvious that big pharma is more than a side character in all of this.
like i said, all of this was probably more than people want to know but the bechler/ ephedra/sudafed story is absolutely true and the reason i think john mccain is a moron ,or worse, if he really knew what he was doing.
I heard it was an “emotional” conversation.
Great post by Mike
Also, good post by randy l shortly before this one
Sad that it comes back to (big) money in the end :/
Randy l,
Thanks for the informative post. A couple of comments.
My wife was trying to lose weight a few years ago and was taking a supplement that I later found out had ephedra in it. I started taking it and liked the energy kick it gave me. One day I was out playing golf, riding a cart mind you when all of a sudden I got dizzy and my eyes began swinging uncontrollably back and forth faster than a speed reader.
I sat down on a bench for a few minutes and felt better but I never took ephedra again and convinced my wife to do the same. Mind you I am an active athletic person and never before or since experienced anyhting like that. Subsequently I found out that some of the supplement companies had problems with dosage control. At least that was one of the excuses the Feds used in banning it.
Re Vioxx, no dsipute with the tragedies that occurred but I know several people who were on that and it gave them back their lives. Debilitating Arthritis had robbed them of mobility and wracked them with pain. Vioxx to them was a Godsend.
Murph, as a lawyer, would these two phone calls be something that’d press the issue on, to find out just how deep Novitzki was willing to go and to what lengths of legality/illegality in trying to get a big NAME trophy?
*something that you’d press*
Randy I – terrific post.
This brings up a tremendous question. If Sandy Koufax had Vioxx available, do you think he would have used it?
Does that make him, Roger, or any athlete, a “cheater”? If Vioxx, ibuprofen, aspirin, hydrocortisone injections into an inflamed joint (How many did Big Papi take this past season for his knee?) all take away pain, allowing the athlete to perform better…Aren’t these all “performance enhancing drugs”? What about a cup of coffee for a day game after a day-night DH in September? Of a game after a red-eye in from the coast?
To go further, what about Gaylord Perry and his performance enhacing spit, Vaseline, or whatever he admitted to (after retiring, of course)? Should he be kicked out of the HOF?
Just because something has been deemed legal or illegal, does that make it less of an issue? I don’t mean that we should ignore the use of illegal prescription drugs, but there is a larger issue here. Big pharma is a part of that.
I think Murph alludes to this, but the more I think about it, the more I believe Clemens has no interest in any financial recovery. Clemens is going to use these proceedings as a means to villify the Mitchell investigation, the federal investigation, and the cooperation between the two groups that led to the disclosure of McNamee’s statements that would otherwise have been kept secret unless someone was actually charged with a crime based on these statement. Clemens can’t go after the prosecutor or Mitchell directly — but through McNamee he can force them to open up about the clumsy and possibly unethical methods they used in their respective investigations.
Wow, best guest post so far. Thanks Mike!
About that alleged Friday night phone call, what appears incredibly strange to me is that they talked for A WHOLE HOUR! If I was Clemens (or McNamee for that matter), whether I was innocent or guilty, I would never speak for an hour with my accuser. You could be squeaky clean and something could still be misinterpreted and used against you out of a transcript of a one-hour conversation, unless Clemens is a programmed robot or reading strictly from a script fed by his lawyer.
Nicely done!
Nice story. Slightly better than the Yankees Chick’s post, I’d say.