Newsday: Ichiro comes through as Japan wins WBC title

in
By Art Spander

Special to Newsday



LOS ANGELES -- There have been some
memorable games at Dodger Stadium, Sandy Koufax's no-hitters, Kirk
Gibson's stunning pinch-hit homer in the 1988 World Series. And now the
final of the 2009 World Baseball Championship has wedged itself into
the group.



It was a game that had seemed
destined to go on forever, and the boisterous record crowd of 54,846,
with probably more Koreans than Japanese, certainly wouldn't have
minded.



But Japan, after 10 innings and four
hours, finally was the 5-3 winner Monday night, defending the
championship it won in the first WBC three years ago and setting off a
celebration highlighted with the Japanese players circling the field
under a mammoth flag of their home country.



Ichiro Suzuki, who playing for the
Seattle Mariners is as well known on this side of the Pacific as the
other, broke a 3-3 tie with his third straight hit and fourth in six
at-bats.



The Japanese, leaving 14 men on
base, should have won easily, but unlike the semifinal win over the
United States on Sunday night Japan couldn't hit with runners on. Until
Suzuki came through.



Daisuke Matsuzaka, who pitched the
win over the U.S., was named tournament most valuable player, but
Monday night's starting pitcher for Japan, Hisashi Iwakuma, very well
could have earned the award. He retired the first 11 Korean batters and
allowed only two runs and four hits before being relieved with two outs
in the eighth.



The huge turnout of fans, the
Koreans banging their Thundersticks incesstantly and repetitively
chanting "Dae Han Min Guk,'' which is another way of saying Korea,
verified the WBC has a place on the sporting calendar. Even without an
American team in the finals.



In 39 games throughout the world,
Asia, Latin America, Canada, the United States, the WBC drew a total of
801,408. The two semis had attendance of more than 43,000 each, and
Monday night's crowd was a virtual sellout.



Venezuela, with a ton of major
leaguers, and the Dominican Republic, also with numerous stars from the
American and National League, were the pre-tournament favorites, but it
should be apparent Japan and Korea, with their discipline and
mistake-free play, have become the dominant teams in international
competition.



Korea won the gold medal at last year's Beijing Olympics, and now Japan takes its second WBC title.



"I believe we were the two best
teams in the world,'' said Jungkeum Bong, Korea's starting pitcher.
"Asia is the best in the world, and Korea and Japan were able to fight
until the end. It was great glory for all of us.''



Japan had three major leaguers in
the lineup, Ichiro, Kenji Johjima of the Mariners and Akinori Iwamura
of the Tampa Bay Rays. Korea's only big leaguer on the roster, Shin Soo
Choo of the Cleveland Indians, was the one who ended Iwakuma's shutout
when he homered in the fifth to tie the game temporarily, 1-1.



The two teams had played four times
previously in the tournament, splitting the games. "That we were able
to come up to the stage together, I really feel great respect for the
Koreans,'' said Tatsunori Hari, the Japan manager.



"And at the same time I feel like this was the game of the century.''



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Copyright © 2009, Newsday Inc.

Newsday: U.S. dominance appears to be fading

in
By Art Spander

Special to Newsday



LOS ANGELES -- Each time an American team fails to win in international
competition, as in the Ryder Cup before 2008 and the World Baseball
Classic, which concluded last night, there are periods of bewilderment
and even anger.



It is as if the United States collectively has failed, as if dropping a
ballgame or not being able to drop a putt is a reflection of society
rather than a sporting event.



There's no rule that says America is guaranteed a win, not when in this
ever-changing world, other nations are producing athletes good enough
to play in the United States as well as against the United States.



The NBA has Latvians, Croats, Brazilians and, of course, Chinese, dare
anyone forget Yao Ming. An Australian, Trevor Immelman, won the
Masters. An Irishman, Padraig Harrington, won the British Open and PGA
Championship. And as we learned Sunday night in the WBC semifinals,
Japan -- which defeated the U.S., 9-4 -- has a roster of excellent
athletes, some of whom are in the big leagues.



Anyone familiar with Ichiro Suzuki or Daisuke Matsuzaka shouldn't be surprised by the Japanese.



It's been said pitching and defense wins. Japan -- which fefeated South
Korea Monday night for the WBC title; the two finalists split four
previous 2009 WBC games -- had an ERA of 1.57 after the semifinals. The
U.S. had an ERA above 6.



The Asian teams, which began training in January, admittedly might be
ahead of the United States. And the United States had injuries to Kevin
Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Braun, Chipper Jones and Matt Lindstrom.



Manager Davey Johnson, who led the Mets to the 1986 world championship
and the United States to a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics, took flak
Monday for leaving starting pitcher Roy Oswalt in the semifinal game
too long.



"I thought he was throwing the ball all right,'' Johnson said of
Oswalt, who gave up five runs and five hits in the fourth. "I tried to
get [John] Grabow up. I didn't think it would take him so long.''



He added, "It took him longer in the cool weather to get loose. But I
thought Oswalt was throwing good enough to stay in the game.''



Said Brian Roberts, who homered on Matsuzaka's second pitch of the
game: "Baseball may be the national pastime of the United States, but
it is played all around the world. And as you can see, it's played very
well all over the world.''



Said Jimmy Rollins, who was 4-for-4 in the loss: "We had a lot of fun
being an underdog, knowing that we were at somewhat of a disadvantage
as far as having time to prepare. It shows the support and passion
these other countries have for baseball. In America, we have many
sports, so our attention is at whichever sport season is going on."



Mark DeRosa's two-run double in the top of the eighth got the United
States within 6-4, but Japan scored three runs in the bottom of the
inning on Derek Jeter's two-out throwing error, Suzuki's RBI single and
Hiroyuki Nakajima's RBI double that rightfielder Adam Dunn appeared to
lose in the lights.



Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda took it pretty hard. He said
during Sunday night's game: "Can you believe this? Look at the score. I
feel so bad about this. I'm very, very disappointed. We had high hopes.
This is the second time we were supposed to win. We taught these people
the game."



And now the students are schooling the teachers.



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Copyright © 2009, Newsday Inc.

Newsday: Team USA loses to Japan, 9-4, in WBC semifinals

in
By Art Spander

Special to Newsday



LOS ANGELES -- It was just one ballgame, and it didn't prove that Asian
baseball is better than American baseball. That was the observation of
United States manager Davey Johnson.



Just one ballgame, but it was one that put Japan into the World
Baseball Classic final against South Korea and left America wondering
about the sport it calls its national pastime.



Defending champion Japan, hitting balls in the gaps and getting its
usual effective pitching, defeated the United States, 9-4, last night
before a chilled but enthusiastic crowd of 43,630 in their WBC
semifinal at Dodger Stadium.



So tonight it will be South Korea, a 10-2 winner over deflated
Venezuela on Saturday night, against Japan in the final. And the
response should be huge, with Los Angeles being home to large Korean
and Japanese communities among its 3.2 million citizens.



"It was just one game,'' said Johnson, who managed the Mets to the 1986
world championship and years ago played in Japan. He was responding to
a question about whether Asian baseball has surpassed baseball in the
United States.



"They played good ball,'' Johnson said of the Japanese. "They got hits
with runners in scoring position. We didn't pitch when we had to.''



The Astros' Roy Oswalt was Team USA's starter, and whether it was the
cold -- it seemed more like a World Series game in Philadelphia than a
spring game in L.A. -- or because he still isn't ready for the
major-league season, he got pounded in the fourth, giving up five runs
and five hits.



Japan's Daisuke Matsuzaka -- "Dice-K'' of the Red Sox -- basically was
in control after giving up a home run to Brian Roberts on the game's
second pitch. As were the other Japan pitchers in this competition.
They entered with a 1.20 ERA, compared to the Americans' 6.18.



"When we walked the first hitter,'' Johnson said, "those guys usually
scored. And we weren't as sharp in the field as we usually are.''



"They are a fundamentally sound team,'' Team USA designated hitter
Jimmy Rollins said. "They don't try to drive every pitch out of the
park. And they play with passion. We play with passion, but they wear
their passion on their sleeves.''



The U.S. beat Japan for the bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics, but
once this game got to the fourth inning, it became obvious that the
Americans were in trouble.



"We did want to come here and play Japan,'' Johnson said before the
first pitch. "That's one of the goals we had. I think every player on
this team expects to win tonight.''



But expectations and results are two different things.



The Americans, wearing gray road uniforms, started quickly enough on Roberts' homer.



With darkness still far off -- the game began at 5:09 p.m. PDT -- and
the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance as a perfect backdrop for a
California setting, a Hollywood-type ending seemed imminent. Especially
after the Mets' David Wright doubled in the third to give the U.S. a
2-1 lead.



But Japan's batters lined a couple of balls into open spaces to begin
the fourth off Oswalt, to be followed by an error from Roberts on a
hard shot by Kosuke Fukudome. The Mariners' Kenji Johjima recorded his
second sacrifice fly, and Japan was in front.



Akinori Iwamura, a star for Tampa Bay in the World Series, tripled.
Finally, after a couple more hits, Johnson replaced Oswalt with John
Grabow. It seemed certain that the U.S. would not replace Japan as
champion.



Matsuzaka allowed two runs and five hits in 42/3 innings and was pulled
when he reached 98 pitches. Matsuzaka is 3-0 in this year's WBC, having
allowed 14 hits and four runs in 142/3 innings. He went 3-0 and was
selected tournament MVP three years ago.



Team USA, of course, was without Boston's Dustin Pedroia and Kevin
Youkilis, both injured along the way. They didn't get to face Red Sox
teammate Matsuzaka. "Before Pedroia left,'' Johnson said of last year's
American League Most Valuable Player, "he said one thing he wanted to
do was play the Japanese and beat them so he didn't have to listen to
Dice-K all year long.''



No such luck. Matsuzaka struck out four, including the final batter he
faced, Wright, who was mesmerized by a sharp breaking ball.



The Yankees' Derek Jeter and the Mets' Wright each went 1-for-5 and
committed an error in the semifinal. Wright finished at 9-for-32 (.281)
and Jeter was 8-for-29 (.276).



Johnson, 66, played in Japan, for the Yomiuri Giants and was asked his
opinion of Asian baseball now as compared to when he was involved.



"In the '70s,'' Johnson said, "I thought quite a few players would come
to the United States. I was kind of surprised they didn't. But now
their stars come over and become stars in the United States in the big
leagues.



"So I think their baseball program has grown. Their catchers are
better. The running game is not as prominent. But they'll try to run
and play little ball.''



Japan has 77 hits in the Classic, 61 of which have been singles, and only four home runs.



- - - - - -



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Copyright © 2009, Newsday Inc.

Newsday: U.S. faces familiar face in Japan's Dice-K

in

BY ART SPANDER
Special to Newsday

LOS ANGELES -- The argument is that the World Baseball Classic doesn't count for much,
at least in America, the country where baseball was invented. That like
the Olympics, it's an event for the rest of the globe, for Latin
America, for Asia.


But what makes sport is personalties, names, reputations. What makes
tonight's WBC semifinal fascinating is that instead of Japan against
the United States at Dodger Stadium, it could be Boston against New
York.


Japan is starting Red Sox righthander Daisuke Matsuzaka. And, of
course, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and Mets third baseman David
Wright are in the Team USA lineup.


(Oddly, Dice-K would have been facing Red Sox teammates Dustin Pedroia
and Kevin Youkilis if they hadn't gotten hurt earlier in the WBC.)


"We face him all the time," Jeter said of Dice-K, who joined the Red
Sox in 2007. "Playing Boston 20 games a year, we see him all the time,
so I'm familiar with what he throws. I think at this point in the
season, pitching is usually a little ahead of the hitters. So it's
going to be a challenge for us."


Wright - whose walk-off two-run single in the bottom of the ninth
against Puerto Rico that sent the United States to the semifinals still
resonates - said he and other National Leaguers will depend on U.S.
players from the other league for advice on Matsuzaka.


"I think we'll be leaning on the AL East guys a lot," Wright said of
the team's approach. "I've never had the opportunity of facing him.
Having some AL East guys is going to help; go over scouting reports and
tendencies."


Whatever happens, the beauty of Wright's game-winner on Tuesday night will stay with the Mets' third baseman a long while.


"I don't think I've ever had so many phone calls and messages after a
game," Wright said. It was his affirmation that some people in this
country do care about this competition.


"That's something, no matter what team you play for or who your
favorite team is in the big leagues, you're talking about representing
your country and putting this uniform on and going out there and being
able to do that. That would be a memory that lasts a lifetime."


Astros righthander Roy Oswalt has a chance to make memories of his own.
He's the U.S. starter against defending WBC champion Japan.


"They told me they wanted me to go first and Jake [Peavy] second," said
Oswalt, alluding to tomorrow's championship game against South Korea or
Venezuela - if Team USA can get past the semifinals.


Then, echoing the thoughts of his teammates, Oswalt added, "Hopefully, he gets to go second."


If he doesn't, if Japan wins, the Team USA players will return a bit
earlier to their major-league teams for two more weeks of spring
training.


"The reason I'm here this time," said Jeter - who competed in the 2006
WBC, in which the United States didn't make it past the second round -
"is you realized what an honor it was to represent your country and win
a championship."


This time the Americans still have the chance.


- - - - - -
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Copyright © 2009, Newsday Inc.
















For A's, the Wolff is at the door

in
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The problem for the
Oakland Athletics is they were always confronting themselves, not to
mention the rest of us, with a conflict of bad ideas.



First was the ridiculous one to put tarps on the third-deck seats, as
if, borrowing from that not-so-wise bird the ostrich, what we couldn't
see wasn't there.



Then -- or did this come first? -- was the plan by owner Lew Wolff, a
real estate mogul, to erect a "village" that would contain a ballpark,
somewhere east of Eden and west of the sun. Well, in Fremont, 20 miles
from Oakland, but what's the difference?



Then in those whiny, pouting, "You don't know what I can do to you"
ways Wolff loves to impose, he complained last season nobody paid
attention to the A's, despite a surprisingly good start. And that more
people went to the games of the Giants, who weren't playing nearly as
well as his A's.



Wolff may have been the frat bro of baseball commissioner Bud Selig,
but Lew understands neither the game nor the people who support it, or
in his case fail to do as much.



You don't go around figuratively kicking fans in the teeth, whether
it's effectively telling them they're ignorant or attempting to confuse
them by trading away the talent or stealing away the franchise to
never-never land.



There are a great many individuals who would like to tell Lew what they
think, but only the folks like Lew, who don't have to listen to a boss
but are the boss, have that privilege.



What he told us Friday was Oakland (the town) stinks, and he'd go
anywhere else, including San Jose. If possible. But, ho, ho, it's not
possible.



Given the current state of the economy, the fact the Giants do hold
territorial rights down there at the south end of the bay and a place
like Sacramento has a better chance to losing the NBA Kings than it
does of acquiring the A's, Mr. Wolff is without the only thing that
means anything in his world: Leverage.

   

We concede that McAfee Coliseum isn't AT&T Park. But there are
worse venues. BART stops at the Coliseum. For day games the sun shines
at the Coliseum. And with the upper deck untarped and a crowd of at
least 20,000 there is a nice feel to the place.

   

"Our attendance and low number of season ticket holders (both one of
the lowest in Major League Baseball)," Wolff proclaimed in a statement,
"also continues to decline when our on-field performance produced
playoff participation."

  

Does Wolff need to be reminded the A's in 2007 and 2008 had losing records and were out of the race by July?

   

That those seasons they dumped almost every player who was recognizable by someone other than his own mother?

  

That continual hints of dragging the team to Fremont created negative feedback from a fan base already whipsawed?

  

Oakland, the city, hardly has been guiltless in this scenario, with
former mayor Jerry ("I know nothing about baseball except they don't
punt on fourth down") Brown preferring to build lofts in old warehouses
rather than a ballpark.

   

But lo, the current jefe, Ron Dellums, authored on Friday -- or at
least signed -- a letter to Wolff outlining the city's intent to
provide the A's a new home.

   

This was met instantly with a back-of-the-hand response from Wolff and
his minions, who spitefully answered the Oakland plea by saying, "We
have fully exhausted our time and resources over the years with Oakland
dating back to the previous A's ownership.



" ... Outside stimulation to have us continue to play in an aging and
shared facility may generate press and 'sound-bite' opportunities but
do not provide any tangible alterations in the circumstances we face."



In other words, nyah, nyah.



So, Lew, sell the team. Oh, nobody else wants it, at least until the market reaches 9,000 again?



These are tough times, as you know, and not just in the sporting business.



Journalism is dying as a profession. The New York Times said in two years there might not be a major city with a newspaper still printing. The auto companies are laying off thousands.



Who's going to buy a ball club?



The A's this late winter of '09 have given us a reason to think they
might be both interesting and contending, what with the addition of
Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra
along with the maturing of a seemingly decent pitching staff. Then
along comes the man in charge who says, "B'gone, with all of you."



Lew Wolff is angry because he couldn't get what he wanted. What A's
fans want is assurance their team will be not only worth watching but
playing where they should be, in Oakland, new park or old.

RealClearSports: The Dreaded New York State of Mind

in
By Art Spander



Alex Rodriguez underwent hip surgery. After admitting he took steroids.
Oh, you knew all that? Sorry. I forgot. Whatever happens in New York,
unlike Vegas, doesn't stay in New York.



It inundates virtually all of the free world.



We know the lyric, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
What the New York media make of almost every occurrence east of the
Hudson River is far too much.



At least for the rest of us, meaning the other 49 states and the territory of Puerto Rico.



The theory posited here is tabloids are in a large way responsible for
the creation of a great sports town. New York and environs have three
of those babies. And each offers sports on the back of the paper.



Providing some absolutely captivating headlines -- "HIP WRECK," "DOPE
OPERA" and "HIP-HOPE" were three on A-Rod's torn labrum -- and a
measure of overkill.



The non-tabloid New York daily, yes the Times, briefly was able to step
back from the Rodriguez story with a reflection on Terrell Owens, the
receiver who as at each stop previously, San Francisco and
Philadelphia, outlived his welcome and was waived by the Dallas Cowboys.



Almost immediately, T.O. was signed by the Buffalo Bills -- poor
devils; they'll learn -- but the Times piece was how he should have
been acquired by the New York Jets.



New Yorkers delight in pointing out their degree of sporting
sophistication, but in reality they are no less provincial than the
residents of Denver or Cincinnati. In fact, they are more.



And because three of the TV networks, the primary wire service and four
major papers are located there, the country invariably is set up to
believe if it's not the Yankees who count it's the Mets. It certainly
isn't either the Knicks or the Nets.



Third basemen. A-Rod is one. So is Eric Chavez of the Oakland
Athletics. He's attempting to recover from his own injuries and Monday
unexpectedly was not able to start as a position player for the first
time this spring.



Did anyone notice? Not in New York. It was more of the same. More of A-Rod.



The imbalance is startling. The Phillies won the World Series over the
Rays. Pittsburgh and Arizona played in the Super Bowl. Last year's NBA
finals matched the Celtics and Lakers, and this year's very well could
do the same. In the Stanley Cup finals, the Detroit Red Wings defeated
the Pittsburgh Penguins.



Not a New York team among the group. But New York hype and self-loathing was everywhere we looked.



When Rodriguez, after consultations, decided to have his hip partially
repaired immediately instead of waiting, the New York Daily News,
paraphrasing Derek Jeter, headlined WE WILL SURVIVE. They might, but
will anybody else?



No ill will is wished for A-Rod, an MVP, a star, but the coming days in
the New York press will be devoted almost entirely to his recovery.
Sure, room will be found for the NFL draft, of Giants and Jets variety
that is, but be forewarned. Basically the next five months will be
Rodriguez and more Rodriguez.



Of course it's a conspiracy. Had A-Rod stayed with the Mariners, with
whom he entered the majors, or with the Rangers, we would barely know
of the man. The $252 million contract he signed with Texas did raise
him a bit out of the ordinary, but nothing like being a member of the
Yankees.



You recall that Alex and his agent, the dreaded Scott Boras, explored
the idea of joining the Red Sox. That would have been a hoot.



The pieces never would have fit together the way they do in New York,
the tabloids, the critics, the Yankees' inability to advance to the
World Series or last season even to the playoffs.



New York is in love with itself. As depicted in that historic New
Yorker magazine cover, the people perceive everything beyond Manhattan
and the Bronx as wasteland.



An oft-repeated axiom is that while at other locations everything works
but nothing matters, in New York very little works and everything
matters.



With that sense of entitlement, as it were, New Yorkers hurl their
thoughts and preferences at the rest of us, who have spent a lifetime
trying unsuccessfully to avoid them.



At the moment, A-Rod doesn't work, and to the news folk gleefully
observing the situation that matters more than anything else in sports.



It's difficult to determine whether Alex Rodriguez is a bigger story
playing or not playing. We are about to find out. Unfortunately.



As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports
history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his
long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has
earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And he has
recently been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of
America for 2009.



- - - - - -



http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/03/the_dreaded_new_york_state_of.html

© RealClearSports 2009

A's signing of Nomar and Cabrera prove they're serious

in
PHOENIX -- The T-shirt was a reminder, and
a tease. "No Splash Hits" were the words on the front, a poke at the
team across the bay, the Giants. "Four World Titles," it said on the
shirt's back, a reference to the great days of the Oakland Athletics.



Days the A's have decided to pursue once more.



The A's are off the treadmill, that depressing process of selecting and
developing young talent only to send the players off to other teams and
then starting the procedure once again.



Now it is to be seen if the A's are off to the races -- well, the race. The pennant race.



Rumors became actuality Friday. A short while before Oakland played the
Seattle Mariners on a pleasant afternoon at Phoenix Muni, management
introduced proof it is serious about chasing a championship instead of
continuing the chase to nowhere.



In a little room above the team's spring offices, assistant general
manager Bob Forst brought in Orlando Cabrera, destined to be starting
at shortstop, and Nomar Garciaparra, the man who's been everywhere from
Boston to Chicago to Los Angeles.



What a change. What a welcome change. The A's have, out of desperation
or because of planning, too frequently surrendered their stars or
potential stars, trading a Dan Haren, a Rich Harden.



The talk always was about the future. But to borrow that line from the late football coach George Allen, the future is now.



It was time to stop worrying about a stadium in Fremont, a nonsensical
idea from the start, created more to market real estate than win
titles, and think about playing ball.



It was time to find out if with the right chemistry and a few breaks, a fifth world title would be a possibility.



So the A's signed Matt Holliday, who carries a .319 lifetime batting
average and a $13.5 million contract, and brought back the
still-capable Jason Giambi, who before the steroid talk and the seasons
with the Yankees, was the 2000 American League MVP with Oakland.



That led to the 35-year-old Garciaparra and 34-year-old Cabrera adding
their ages and experience to a franchise too long acknowledged for
being too young.



"Having Giambi back, having Matt here, and Eric Chavez, who's probably
one of my favorites, that's what drew me here," said Cabrera. He hit
.281 with the White Sox in 2008, .301 with the Dodgers in 2007. He was
in the '04 World Series with the Red Sox. And he shows up every day.



Garciaparra, on the Dodgers the last three years, has a history of
injuries. He missed 90 games in '08 and wondered if his career was
finished. But a winter of rehabilitation, of learning strained calf
muscles were an inborn problem that needed continual attention, made
him believe he could stay on as ballplayer.



"The Phillies wanted me to sign a while ago," said Garciaparra, "but I
didn't think it was fair to commit until I made sure I was right. Here,
I was looking at the good combination of young guys and veterans, at
what Jason (Giambi) had accomplished in the game."



Early on last season, the A's, with their youth, were five or six games
behind the Angels, whose regular-season superiority was evident in
their major league high of 100 wins. But then the Athletics began to
slip, and Harden and Chad Gaudin were traded. The slip evolved into a
crash.



Oakland finished 75-86, 24 1/2 games behind the Angels. A's management had conceded. Again.



Just wait, we were told, until the new ballpark in Fremont is finished.
Then the money would pour in and the names could be retained.



It's finished, but not the way A's owner Lew Wolff had in mind.



So the people in the front office decided to sell baseball instead of
selling fans on real estate. Holliday, Giambi, Cabrera, Garciaparra. No
more a "who's he?" lineup.



"We've added talent," assured Forst. "You can talk about young and old,
but we'll always take talent. I think starting with Matt, adding Jason,
bringing in these two, we have added guys we felt could make us better
right away. Plus we have the young players from last year, the Suzukis
(catcher Kurt Suzkuki), plus kids who are coming, (pitchers) Trevor
Cahill and Brett Anderson.



"It wasn't in the conversation, saying, 'Hey, we're going to go for
it.' We always have wanted to put the best team on the field, and I
think the guys we've added will help us achieve that goal."

    

Well, despite the rhetoric, hey, they're going to go for it. Finally.

Carney Lansford's nightmare: His batters against his son

in
SCOTTSDALE,  Ariz. -- The relaxed mood
of spring baseball no longer existed. The games players say don't mean
that much suddenly meant too much for Carney Lansford.



His son was pitching against the hitters he coaches.



The requirement for 22-year-old Jared Lansford, the Oakland Athletics
reliever, was to prevent any success by batters of the San Francisco
Giants, whose responsibility is that of 52-year-old Carney Lansford.



Who, as fortune would have it, was a longtime member of the Athletics.



"I could not watch," said Carney.



So, in the bottom of the fifth Thursday at Scottsdale Stadium, Lansford
marched into the Giants clubhouse, hiding from reality as it were.
Intelligently so.



"I've seen him pitch a couple of times before," said Carney of Jared,
"but I couldn't do this one. My hitters against my son. A no-win
situation."



For Jared, who got a pre-game hug from his dad, the situation was strange but not quite serious.



"It was different from any other team I faced," said the young pitcher,
now in his fifth season after having been drafted in 2005 out of St.
Francisco High School in Mountain View, Calif.



"I think it was worse for him than for me."



It was. Much worse. Jared would allow a couple of hits in his inning of
a game the A's won, 4-2, and has not allowed a run in three innings of
exhibition play.



"I didn't have my best stuff," Jared conceded, "but I got them to put the ball in play."



Jared appreciated the experience. Up in the stands, so did Debbie
Lansford, mother and wife, and Jared's younger brother, Josh, who will
report to the Cubs' camp in a few days.



"Oh yeah," agreed Debbie, "it was fun. It doesn't matter who they're
playing, I like to watch. It was unusual, but I enjoyed it very much."



Carney did not.



"I wanted him to pitch well, obviously," said Carney. " just couldn't
watch. My heart was pounding too much. And my stomach was in knots."



After the game, the family came together, as close as possible when
Carney and Jared were on one side of the screen behind home plate and
Debbie and Josh on the other. They exchanged smiles and through the
netting handshakes.



"I talked to my dad maybe a minute before the game," said Jared, as
relaxed as Carney was intense, "teasing him a little bit. I asked him
if he gave away my secrets. It was a lot of fun."



Jared's pitching coach is Curt Young, who found the whole thing
fascinating, especially since he now is in charge of Jared's
improvement and in the late 1980s and early 1990s was Carney's teammate
on the A's.



"Just watching it live," said Young, "it was real exciting for me. Just
knowing Carney and playing with him and knowing his son's out there
facing the hitters he's worked with. I'm sure it was a big day for the
two of them."



At least the one of them.



Carney, American League batting champion with the Boston Red Sox in
1981, later asked some of those batters, Rich Aurilia, Juan Uribe and
Steve Holm, what they thought of the pitcher they faced.



Aurilia and Uribe grounded out. Holm and Eugenio Velez singled, Velez'
ball not leaving the infield. Then Andres Torres grounded out. Five
batters, only one ball to the outfield.



"They said he had pretty good movement on his ball," Carney explained.
"Maybe a little too much movement. But he made the pitches when he had
to.



"I saw him pitch a few times in the Fall League, high school and the
minors. But this is a nightmare for me, for him to pitch against our
team."



The nightmare was brief. The Lansfords, all four of them, are staying
in the same condo. "I'm sure we'll talk about it tonight when we all
get there," said Jared.



The Family Lansford never has been far from baseball. Carney signed a
contract in 1975 after graduating from Wilcox High in Santa Clara and
played through 1992. After coaching with the A's and managing the
Angels farm team at Edmonton, he left the game after the 1999 season,
only to return in 2007.



He's been through a great deal, the 1989 Earthquake Series, trades, injuries. But nothing quite like he went through Thursday.



"But now," said Debbie Lansford, "we all go back to the house and have dinner, and life is good for another couple of days."

      

She understands. It's only a game.

RealClearSports: Dodgers Get Manny Happy Returns

in
By Art Spander











































GLENDALE, Ariz. -- An odd placement for a media conference, on the
deck of the Dodgers training complex, the new ballpark behind Joe
Torre's right shoulder, the old leftfielder in California beyond those
mountains to the west.

Exhibition season, isn't it? And that was some exhibition. Torre,
in uniform, if at the last moment, and general manager Ned Colletti,
explaining how after four months of desultory conversation the Great
Manny Ramirez Confrontation had come to a happy end.

Manny will be Manny once more as a Dodger. Not that this wasn't inevitable.

He has what the Dodgers need, talent. They have what Manny (and his
agent, Scott Boras) want, money. The signing, which technically hadn't
yet taken place Wednesday afternoon, was delayed, but it also was
inevitable.

"We had a desire to try and put the personality back into the
picture instead of just the negotiations," was the Colletti
explanation of how and why Manny (and Boras) at last were willing to
accept the two-year, $45 million contract they were not willing to
accept the last four months.

The guys, pals all, we're advised, sat in the home of Dodgers owner
Frank McCourt in Malibu -- hey, you think he's going to live in Los
Angeles? -- on Tuesday night and worked over the details.

"I thought Manny seemed very happy about the possibility," said Colletti.

And so another sporting crisis is averted. It's always something in our little world, isn't it?

A-Rod's hip. As opposed to A-Rod's 'roids. Kurt Warner visiting the
49ers in search of millions, and of course, signing once more with the
Arizona Cardinals, whose flying saucer-like stadium is quite visible a
couple of miles from the new facility used by the Dodgers and Chicago
White Sox.

We sit around and worry whether the Mannys and Kurts will
eventually reconnect with their current team, or maybe a different one,
while all around us the markets collapse, the economy bottoms out and
jobs are lost by the millions.

On this warm Wednesday in the desert, the Dodgers were playing a
spring game against their rivals, the Giants, who had shown interest in
acquiring Ramirez, but only under their own conditions.

San Francisco appears to have pitching. Randy Johnson struck out
seven on Tuesday. Barry Zito looked decent Wednesday, allowing four
hits, three runs and no walks during his two-plus innings. The Giants,
however, lack hitting. They would not have that problem with Manny.

"Under the right circumstances we would have wanted to sign him,"
said Giants team president Larry Baer, in attendance Wednesday. "We did
have a lot of conversation."

What the Giants would have wanted, the Dodgers obtained. Manny
makes them the favorites in National League West. More than that, Manny
once more makes them an attraction in a town that pays attention only
to attractions.

Manny can send balls over fences. Manny can send fans through the
gates, and in these difficult times -- attendance without Manny on
Wednesday was only 5,944 at the 13,000-seat Camelback Ranch Stadium -- that
is not to be underestimated.

When Zito, in the third year of his own dream-world contract, $126
million, was told the next time he pitches against the Dodgers, Manny
would be in the L.A. lineup, he shrugged.

"He's great and a challenge," was the Zito observation. Advised
the Dodgers now would be the choice in the division, Zito said, "I
think wherever he went he would have brought that with him."

What Ramirez also brings is the infamous baggage, a reputation for
dogging it, of going by his own rules, that proved unacceptable to his
previous team, Boston, but doesn't bother his current one, Los Angeles.

"Manny certainly seems comfortable here," said Torre. The manager
and general manager, delayed by Southern California rains, had flown in
only minutes before the meeting with the press.

"I couldn't be more pleased in how excited he was," said Torre. "Just the prospect of getting back on the field. He's in shape, but
after he shows up it probably will be a week until he's ready."

The Dodgers were ready to sign Ramirez, but as is so often the case
in such situations a charade had to be played out so neither side lost
respect.

It was a chess match destined to end at checkmate and both parties expressing appreciation of the other.

Only last Sunday, McCourt said the negotiations would be started "from scratch." Did that actually occur? The figures, two years, $45
million, had been debated for a while. But we're into the month of
March, and it was time for a settlement.

"We're trying to build a team here that works together," said Colletti, "and sticks together. A team that wins."

For $45 million, that's the least to expect.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports
history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his
long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has
earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And he has
recently been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of
America for 2009.

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