Moments baseball would rather forget

Sporting News, The, July 29, 2002 by Ken Rosenthal

Excuse me for not getting all misty-eyed while considering the 30 most memorable moments in major league baseball history.

Considering the current state of the game, choosing the 30 most shameful acts is more appropriate.

30. The All-Star tie. Since when did the game turn into a Pee Wee League affair in which everyone must play? The decision to stop the game after 11 innings reflected MLB's twisted priorities. The only people who weren't considered were the fans.

29. The firing of Ernie Harwell. The Tigers dumped their popular Hall of Fame broadcaster in 1992. Harwell, 84, returned a year later and will retire after this season--on his own terms.

28. Dave Kingman sending a live rat to a woman reporter. The incident easily tops the worst thing that ever happened to me: a player threatening to stick a bat ... uh, you get the idea.

27. Ted Williams getting snubbed for MVPs. Hey, the writers aren't perfect, either. It's an embarrassment that some took out their grudge on Williams by failing to elect him MVP in either of his Triple Crown seasons, 1942 and '47.

26. Disco Demolition Night at the old Comiskey Park and Nickel Beer Night at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium. The two 1970s promotions went just slightly awry.

25. Alex Rodriguez's 10-year, $252 million contract. It's actually a seven-year, $171 million deal with three player options, but Rodriguez's side relished the perception that it had established an unbreakable industry standard.

24. The Marlins' fire sale. Wayne Huizenga's dismantling of the 1997 world champions was an affront to a city and an entire sport.

23. The election of Gen. William Eckert as commissioner in 1965. According to the book Lords of the Realm, the owners thought they were hiring a better-known general, Eugene Zuckert.

22. Expansion in the 1990s. Both Florida franchises are a mess, and Arizona is a financial house of cards. But the owners needed expansion fees to offset the $280 million they owed in collusion damages.

21. Ty Cobb jumping into the stands to attack a heckler who had no hands. And Cobb was in a good mood that day.

20. Albert Belle chasing trick-or-treaters. Belle also corked his bat and cursed Hannah Storm, making Cobb look like Richard Simmons.

19. Drug abuse in the 1980s. At least no one broke slugging records while on cocaine.

18. The alienation of young fans. Too many meaningful games are played at night, and the sport's lagging pace is a turnoff for children growing up in a video-game age.

17. Embarrassing renditions of national anthems. From Roseanne Barr in San Diego to Anastacia at this year's All-Star Game, when will MLB learn?

16. The continued failure of many teams to properly nurture Latin players. MLB loves cheap labor from Latin America but doesn't always provide adequate language and cultural instruction.

15. Commissioner Ford Frick ordering an asterisk to qualify Roger Maris' record 61 home runs. As Maris said in 1980, "They acted as though I was doing something wrong, poisoning the record books or something."

14. Juan Marichal beating on John Roseboro's head with a bat. The bloody scene from the 1965 pennant race produced a touching epilogue. Roseboro later forgave Marichal publicly, boosting the pitcher's candidacy for the Hall for Fame.

13. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner paying a known gambler $40,000 for dirt on Dave Winfield. Damn Yankees! The Boss was suspended, and his baseball people laid the groundwork for the team's recent dynasty.

12. The contraction announcement. Grinch Selig practically bum-rushed the podium to announce plans to eliminate two teams two days after the conclusion of the uplifting 2001 World Series.

11. Pete Rose allegedly betting on baseball. If he did it, he should apologize already.

10. Rose's exclusion from the Hall of Fame. It's not the Hall of Good Samaritans. Cooperstown is incomplete without the game's all-time hits leader.

9. Roberto Alomar spitting on umpire John Hirschbeck in 1996. Alomar was vilified for his disrespect of authority, but the two now are friends.

8. Dodgers executive Al Campanis saying that blacks "may not have some of the necessities" to manage. Fifteen years later, six managers are African-American and three are Hispanic. But none of the owners and only two G.M.s are from minority population groups.

7. The reserve clause. I can leave THE SPORTING NEWS for another publication. You can leave your company for another employer. But fans often forget that for nearly 100 years, players were unable to change teams.

6. The use of performance-enhancing drugs. They're turning baseball into a freak show. Teams should post ads on their outfield scoreboards: "Hit it here, and win a lifetime supply."

5. Collusion. If you're wondering why the players don't believe a word the owners say, think back to the late 1980s, when the owners were found guilty of conspiring to hold down salaries not once, not twice, but three times.

4. The cancellation of the 1994 World Series. My favorite line from that strike came from then-president Bill Clinton: "It's just a few hundred folks trying to figure out how to divide nearly $2 billion. They ought to be able to figure that out." Well, revenues last season were nearly $3.5 billion. And the two sides still can't figure it out.