With the Texas Rangers on the market, their fans have eagerly waited for the team to be liberated from the ownership of Tom Hicks. And then last week Hicks spoiled their lunch. He said he was putting together a group of investors to buy the team over which he would then maintain control.

I’m not sure how that would work, Hicks selling his team to himself. But I know it wouldn’t be good for the Rangers if Hicks succeeded in pulling it off. Hicks may be the second worst baseball owner after Vince Naimoli, who made such a farce of his team that Tampa Bay booted the “Devil” out of its name.

Keep reading...

When the Toronto Blue Jays named Alex Anthopoulos their new general manager last month, the inclination was to think that they couldn’t get out of the statistically-oriented rut their departing general manager, J.P. Ricciardi had put them in. Anthopoulos, after all, had been Ricciardi’s assistant and was 32 years old. All those young new general managers practiced statistically-oriented baseball, didn’t they?

But then came word from Omar Minaya, the New York Mets’ general manager, who gave Anthopoulos his first job in baseball with the Montreal Expos in 2002.

“He’s not from a statistics background,” Minaya said. “He’s from an evaluation background.”

Keep reading...

On three successive days in July of 1978 the Red Sox led the Yankees in the American League East by 14 games. The Yankees had won the division title in the two seasons before that one, and the Red Sox had finished first in the division the year before the Yankees’ twin titles. It looked like the Red Sox were prepared to take their turn again.

The Red Sox, however, would squander that lead. As all Red Sox fans know all too miserably well, the Yankees caught the Red Sox, took a small lead, the Red Sox then caught the Yankees, they finished in a tie for first and the Yankees won the playoff game and the division championship.

Keep reading...