The Glory Days of Baseball

Glory days well they'll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days -Bruce Springsteen, Glory Days

Whatever happened to the glory days of baseball? The era in which hard work, perseverance, and sweat meant that you could be able to play in the bigs. An era in which the only form of " performance enhancing" meant doctoring a pitch by scuffing the ball or applying spit or pine tar to the ball.

Nowadays, we don't even know the plays on our own home teams are "clean" or "dirty." The fact is steroids have most likely once "saved" baseball, but are now like a cancer in baseball. By "saved," I mean the home run quests by McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds. Is by no means a rant about how steroids are/ have or have not destroyed baseball.

I am wondering whatever happened to the days of Robin Roberts and the Whiz Kids? Or the days of Babe Ruth and the Murderers Row?

I realize that every era in baseball has it's share of serious problems. From the Black Sox Scandal in 1919 to Pete Rose and gambling and amphetamines to HGH and designer anabolic steroids of the 1990's and 2000's.

Moreover to towards my point. When I was growing up, I was raised under three banners. My grandfather on my mother's side would always tell me stories about the 1928, '29, '30, and '31 New York Yankees. My grandfather on my father's side would always tell me stories about the 1927, '28, '29 and '30 Philadelphia Athletics.

Then my own father would tell me stories about the one and only, Philadelphia Phillies and how bad some of them teams were. It was always: Good Pitching, bad hitting or good hitting, bad pitching with the Philadelphia Phillies.

I can remember my two grandfathers arguing over which was the greatest team in baseball history... the '27 Yankees or the '29 A's. My father's father would always seem to win pulling out the baseball encyclopedia and proving statistically which was the better team. As well as stories of different players: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Grove, Mickey Cochrane, Eddie Collins, Ed Delahanty, Grover Cleveland "Ole Pete" Alexander, Jimmie Foxx, the list goes on.

I also remember asking my grandfather to compare player from the "Golden Age" or "Deadball Era" of baseball to players of that time (mid-1990's). As well as asking my father to compare players from today's game to players from his day, the "Liveball Era" or "Sliver Age" of baseball. They would all say that.

I also remember asking so many questions because I just became fascinated with the sport of baseball. I wanted to know more. My father soon taught me how to throw, and my grandfather taught me how to throw like Lefty Grove. My other grandfather taught me to hit like Mickey Cochrane, and field like Ed Delahanty. I learned how to play baseball, and was free to have fun from then on.

That was my memory of what I thought was the glory days of baseball. So what are your memories of the glory days of baseball? Please share them if you comment. Personally I believe what were the "glory days of baseball" are far gone, replaced by statistics, drugs, and greed.

Where it'll end
nobody knows...

-The Offspring, Hammerhead

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Mac's Attack: Special Report

Ryan Howard was signed to a three year $54 million deal. The deal eats up Howard's remaining years of arbitration, earlier this week.

Howard's signing will put the Phillies payroll over the $130 mark if our math is right.

Howard hit .251 last season with 48 HRs and 148 RBI.

Is Howard worth the $18 million? Who got the better deal, Hamels or Howard? The answer: Ryan Howard. Cole should of held out and waited for arbitration. Both who cares now. The big guns have been locked up so this season should look great.

More to come. Stick around.

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Mac's Attack: the Premier Episode

I figured I'd start a monthly article that deals with issues surrounding the Philadelphia Phillies. Issues in this debut article of the Mac Attack: Happy Truck Day to all, is Ryan Howard worth $18 million?, backing up Ruiz, and other rumblings. Let's commence the Attack.

First off, a happy truck day to all. Today is the day that every team in the MLB sends their team trucks, filled with everything from uniforms and bats to golf clubs and short people, down to their respective spring training camps. The first team reports in six days; the World Series champion Phillies report to Clearwater, Fla. on Feb. 14.

Next, is Ryan Howard really worth $18 million? Opinions are divided, but we at the Attack try to remain unbiased. Our take is that the "Big Dog" and his numbers don't lie. Howard played every game last season, including playoffs, and in 162 regular games Howard hit .251 with 48 home runs, 146 RBI, and 153 hits in 610 at bats.

Of course, the other offensive stats speak for themselves as well. In those 610 AB, Howard struck out 199 times, or 33 percent of the time. In 156 games, Howard committed 19 errors. Compare that to six for Albert Pujols, five for Mark Teixiera, five for Lance Berkman, eight for Carlos Delgado, and six for Adrian Gonzalez.

That said, while Howard may command $18 million for his high hit, home run and RBI output, his many errors, lack of walks and high strikeouts are working against him. So the Phillies and Howard will be locked in a room with some neutral person to start arguing money.

On to our next issue, backing up Carlos Ruiz. With the catcher playing for Team Panama in the World Baseball Classic, that leaves a three- to four-man opening for his backup. The primary competitors for Ruiz's back up are 36-year-old feel-good story Chris Coste; newly acquired Pirates catcher Ronny Paulino; and power-hitting rookie sensation Lou Marson.

Despite Ruiz's low offensive numbers, he has solidified his place as starting catcher. Ruiz is a premier defensive catcher and calls an excellent game. He handles that pitching staff with relative ease and really proved himself starter during the 2008 postseason. In the World Series alone, Ruiz hit .375, while in the NLCS he boasted .313.

Chris Coste last season hit .263 with nine home runs and 36 RBI in a career-high 274 ABs. Coste will have to compete this time for the backup backstop position with Ronny Paulino and Lou Marson. Paulino last season hit .212 with two home runs and 18 RBI in 118 ABs. But Paulino is a career .278 hitter.

Lou Marson, the Phillies' top catching prospect, and possibly the best prospect overall, also will compete for the backup backstop position. Lou Marson at AA hit .314 with a .413 OBS, 5 HRs and 46 RBI, along with his first Major League home run and second career extra base hit.

Who will win? Time will tell.

In other news: Ryan Madson has changed his number from 63 to 46. The change came most likely because Madson did not like having his locker situated at the other end of the Clearwater clubhouse. This meant that Madson would have been next to non-roster invitees and minor leaguers who stand a ghost of a chance of making the major league club.

Now Madson will be situated next J.A. Happ (43) and Scott Eyre (47).

Last but not least are the chances of Adam Eaton making the team. Vegas odds are at 500-to-1. Our "Oreland" odds put Eaton at 1000-to-1. Diehard fans odds put Eaton at 1,000,000-to-1. So it's not looking good.

Join us next time for the March spring training edition of the Mac Attack. Until then, stay tuned, because it's baseball season, baby!

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