Thursday, March 18, 2004
VENDETTA MANAGEMENT
We've been somewhat busy at Sports and B's the last couple days with either March Madness or, in my case, a take-home final exam for my isotopes class that was due today at noon. Since I've lost all motivation, 90% of the exam was done from the span of 8pm last night to 11am this morning. I've developed this bad habit where if I convince myself I can get away with taking a small nap, then get up later, I always take the nap rather than power through. It's sad, it is.
The last baseball post here was this one, where I let Bob Melvin have it for ripping Willie Bloomquist, Greg Dobbs, Ben Davis, Mike Cameron, and John Mabry in the press this spring.
So the Times and P-I came out with their columns, which weren't too much to write home about, then Larry LaRue came out with this article, which I would have been somewhat forewarned about had I checked my email a little more often and seen that Mark at the Top Forum somehow scooped it via a source (don't ask me how). Before I go on here, I must say that Steve had a great post which brought up the "gotta make a move" mentality that it's quite possible Bill Bavasi gets depending on whatever need he or someone around him deems as more pressing.
I read through all this Davis stuff last night, and I had one phrase going through my mind that I couldn't get away from -- THEY'RE OUT TO GET HIM. This may be a stretch, but I don't think that bunt that Ben Davis laid to break up Curt Schilling's perfect game was ever lost on Bob Melvin's mind. Pat Gillick was the guy that brought Davis aboard before 2002 in what I still think was a fairly good trade. Bob Melvin was brought on in 2003, and since I can't truly think of any instances in 2003 where Bob had it in for Ben, I won't try to extrapolate or make any stupid assumptions. But I'm still betting that The Bunt wasn't lost on Bob. Fast forward to 2004 and a new GM. Davis wasn't brought in under Bavasi's watch, and he wasn't brought in under Melvin's watch. Kind of a conspiracy theory here, but maybe Melvin built Davis up (giving him a "chance" to get the starting job) just so he could take him down. Under this somewhat hair-brained theory of mine, Melvin saw the Jose Guillen and Vlad Guerrero bombs and smelled blood, and The New Bob Melvin decided to let Davis know about it AND rip him in the press. Yes, The New Bob Melvin is much like the same old Bumbling Bob, except he rips players in the media. I hate my life.
There's one thing I'm praying for this Mariner season -- I'm praying for the day that one of these Mariners calls Bob Melvin out in the media for doing something stupid. Jeremy is putting his money on Edgar or Boone for "first to call out Melvin," and I would have to concur. Edgar has done some lashing out against upper management personnel -- surely you remember this from last September? Boone is outspoken, nuts, and is somewhat of a team leader, so a call-out from him would be quite damaging, much like one from Edgar would be. We'll see if Rich Aurilia has any fire in his belly to stand up to Melvin. I wish Jeff Nelson were still here so he could give us the real skinny on everything. Ichiro won't call anyone out due to cultural reasons, I'm guessing. I think I'll set June 10 as an over-under for a Melvin call-out situation. Any takers?
The last baseball post here was this one, where I let Bob Melvin have it for ripping Willie Bloomquist, Greg Dobbs, Ben Davis, Mike Cameron, and John Mabry in the press this spring.
So the Times and P-I came out with their columns, which weren't too much to write home about, then Larry LaRue came out with this article, which I would have been somewhat forewarned about had I checked my email a little more often and seen that Mark at the Top Forum somehow scooped it via a source (don't ask me how). Before I go on here, I must say that Steve had a great post which brought up the "gotta make a move" mentality that it's quite possible Bill Bavasi gets depending on whatever need he or someone around him deems as more pressing.
I read through all this Davis stuff last night, and I had one phrase going through my mind that I couldn't get away from -- THEY'RE OUT TO GET HIM. This may be a stretch, but I don't think that bunt that Ben Davis laid to break up Curt Schilling's perfect game was ever lost on Bob Melvin's mind. Pat Gillick was the guy that brought Davis aboard before 2002 in what I still think was a fairly good trade. Bob Melvin was brought on in 2003, and since I can't truly think of any instances in 2003 where Bob had it in for Ben, I won't try to extrapolate or make any stupid assumptions. But I'm still betting that The Bunt wasn't lost on Bob. Fast forward to 2004 and a new GM. Davis wasn't brought in under Bavasi's watch, and he wasn't brought in under Melvin's watch. Kind of a conspiracy theory here, but maybe Melvin built Davis up (giving him a "chance" to get the starting job) just so he could take him down. Under this somewhat hair-brained theory of mine, Melvin saw the Jose Guillen and Vlad Guerrero bombs and smelled blood, and The New Bob Melvin decided to let Davis know about it AND rip him in the press. Yes, The New Bob Melvin is much like the same old Bumbling Bob, except he rips players in the media. I hate my life.
There's one thing I'm praying for this Mariner season -- I'm praying for the day that one of these Mariners calls Bob Melvin out in the media for doing something stupid. Jeremy is putting his money on Edgar or Boone for "first to call out Melvin," and I would have to concur. Edgar has done some lashing out against upper management personnel -- surely you remember this from last September? Boone is outspoken, nuts, and is somewhat of a team leader, so a call-out from him would be quite damaging, much like one from Edgar would be. We'll see if Rich Aurilia has any fire in his belly to stand up to Melvin. I wish Jeff Nelson were still here so he could give us the real skinny on everything. Ichiro won't call anyone out due to cultural reasons, I'm guessing. I think I'll set June 10 as an over-under for a Melvin call-out situation. Any takers?
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