Baseballhead:
Whither Canada? (Part One)

Michael Cox

No doubt you've watched with interest this past week as a drama has unfolded in Montreal, with the ownership of Les Expos and the mucky-mucks in Commish Bud's office dance that old familiar pas de deux -- you know, the one where they hold their hat out at the end?

It's almost humorous to watch as MLB says, "we want you to leave town," then the team says, "but maybe if we can make some headway to getting a new park, we won't have to," and then both leave a pause long enough for the appropriate government agencies to respond. Repeat as necessary, with occasional interjection by our friends down in Virginia ("why, we'd love to make a bid for [insert team name here], as long as nobody sues").

Only there are a couple of monkey wrenches in the works this time: A principal owner who won't be undersold, and government officials who seem more adamant about their stance each time they're asked.

The former, Claude Brochu's refusal to sell his 7.6% of the team for $10M, appears to be the stumbling block to needed investor financing. It would almost appear to be a ploy if it weren't for the fact that the other owners began slamming him in the press. However, MLB has sided with Brochu, leading me to believe that the holdout was planned, if not by the other owners.

The second part is both troubling and heartening at the same time. Both Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard and Prime Minister Jean Chretien have adamantly opposed any financial aid, with Chretien not even offering the desired land as a sweetheart deal. It's a shutout. Looks like the 'Spos are long gone, right?

Not so fast, Jack. There's a sort of precedent to this in San Francisco, where three attempts to have the public pass a ballpark vote (and we all know how painful that can be) fell flat a few short years ago. Their backs seemingly up against the wall, and with principal owner Bob Lurie set to sell to out-of-town buyers, a group led by Peter Magowan came out of the woodwork with an offer below that of the out-of-towners (this is important) that MLB forced the Giants to accept. The kicker? One of Magowan's partners was Lurie, who in effect got it both ways when the new group announced they'd raise the money for Pac Bell Park with seat licenses and sponsorships.

Brochu may be hoping for a similar deal with the Expos -- one where he'd keep a share (and maybe even his role as Big Kahuna), and see the park built even without public funds. The latter part of my wild (crazy? Crazy like a fox!) theory seems to already be coming together, with the team lopping off a huge $75M chunk of the cost. Heck, they've even sold naming rights.

Prognostication: Parc Labatt gets built, the Expos remain, and the gang in the Capitol area begin to feel like they shoulda learned something from Tampa Bay. Wow, I ran out of space before I even broached the Toronto conundrum...

Item: New Phillie Chad Ogea tongue-lashes his old team in Cleveland, claiming it was Mike Hargrove's impatience that held him back, and not all those nasty injuries. In fact, Ogea implied that Grover may have hastened his injuries...

"I think what hurt me in Cleveland was that I went back and forth to the bullpen so much that it did affect my health in a way,'' said Ogea. "It's tough on your arm when you sit around for 10, 11, 12 days and then pitch six innings and come back two days later and throw again. That does affect your arm."

And he couldn't seem to fathom why he was banished to the pen after struggling last year, and sought reassurance that Terry Francona will keep him in the Phillie rotation. "If you pitch bad, you're going to go back out there again. It allows you to do your job. It allows you to go out and pitch without having to worry, 'What's going to happen if I pitch bad? I can't make a mistake here because if I pitch bad, I'm gone.'"

Of course, Ogea hadn't realize that on the Phillies this year, if you pitch bad, that still makes you better than most of the staff...

Item: The Yanks repeated a mistake yesterday when they forced Jorge Posada to renew his contract at the team-dictated price of $300K. If you'll recall, exactly one year ago today the team did the same with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, and neither forgot it at arbitration time this year. Both refused to settle, confident (and rightly so, as it turned out) that they'd get exactly what they wanted in arbitration. In fact, it may be the forced renewal last year that swayed the arbitrators, who turned down every other player who requested a big raise.

This may be another luxury the Yankees can afford, but it sure isn't financially prudent. The Mariners got a bargain when they signed Alex Rodriguez to a four-year deal after his rookie year, and if Nomar Garciaparra, Scott Rolen and Todd Helton perform as expected, so did the Red Sox, Phillies and Rockies. Plus, their guys will remember when their contracts come up again.

It may be just me, but the Yanks seem like the monkey that wouldn't learn, repeatedly pressing the button that administers the electric shocks rather than the one that dispenses the peanut. It will come back to haunt them.

Item: Orlando Cepeda is voted into the Hall of Fame on his first year of Veterans Committee balloting. Many of the committee members are his contemporaries, and he was remembered quite fondly by them and others he played with (honest to God, I can never remember seeing Bob Gibson smile before he complimented Cepeda this week).

Does Cepeda deserve to be in the Hall? Ehh, why do you always have to ask me the hard questions? Actually, his numbers are nowhere near Hall of Fame caliber, and his election appears to be due to the fact that he was so well liked, and a form of tribute for his ability to turn his life around after his drug-smuggling conviction (and that didn't end up being a big deal -- he served four months).

But who were the Vets going to put in if not Cepeda? Bill Mazeroski? Dom DiMaggio? Dick Williams?

about the author

Michael Cox seems to have eaten some bad tuna today, because he has been repeatedly hallucinating the visage of Jack McDowell, who keeps telling Michael to "use the Force." Help figure out what the hell kind of force he's talking about at mc@strikethree.com.