far be it from me to add the word wisely in there

Some sensible points, and a couple original ideas about the Phils the ext 2 years.

<<Prices for some tickets to Phillies games will cost more in 2010.
Most of the individual-game tickets to see the National League champions at Citizens Bank Park will cost $2 to $4 more, according to the club.>>

Well, lets see…figure 15000 such seats a game x3 bucks average=45k per date x81=3,645,000 smackers.

And guess what, sports fans.  The attendees will no doubt pay more for parking, eats and treats, and you ain’t fashionable unless you have current Phillies attire which they don’t take S&H green stamps for.  And the beat goes on.

Somewhere, Bo Diaz, later killed in a car crash fit in the equation.  Diaz was the catcher on the 83 NL title aquad.  I believe Diaz was signed as a free agent and later part of the 5 for Von Hayes.   My degree of certainty on that being the accurate transaction path is such that I’d be happy to bet somebody else’s lifetime savings on it.

Off the top of my head, Boone was let go not quite so much because he was old, but because Ozzie Virgil, Jr. was on the horizion.  Bob was like Pudge Fisk.  Went on to a terrific 2nd half of a long career with the Angels under Gene Mauch.  I’m going to guess Boonie was 32 when they let him go which means he would have been born in 1948.

If you think the Adam Eaton free agent signing was bad, and you think Carl Pavano was worse, the original, or very close to it free agent class included a guy named Wayne Garland.  He, I believe was with the Orioles, and signed with Cleveland.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he hurt his arm as early as signing the contract.

Yeah, check out this 1 season wonder and how he was in the right place at the right time.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garlawa01.shtml?redir

And the last switch hitter to win MVP honors in the AL was…….

Vida Blue, 1971 aforementioned Oakland (nee Philly) A’s

Funny thing is that, if memory serves, Bob Boone (who we let go because we thought was too old?) was the only AL catcher to have regular success at throwing Rickey out, and he did it well for several years.  

I miss watching all the base stealers (Rickey, Tim Raines, etc…) from that era.  I enjoyed that element of the game and I liked when it was a regular part of the strategy, as well as the hit-and-run, the suicide squeeze, and those types of plays (the value of an out be damned).

Yeah, free agency has been destroying the game for over 30 years now————proceeding from where you mentioned through the game’s first $1 million man (Nolan Ryan, if memory serves), through the first $3 million man (Kirby Puckett, I believe) a few years later, all the way to A-Rod, and beyond————except that the game is flush with cash and the owners are making more money than ever now, right?

Your mentioning Julio Franco makes me wonder what Von 5-for-1 Hayes is doing for dinner tonight (Manny Trillo, too).

Charles O. Finley, somehow, was a popular public figure.  He wanted orange baseballs, and I wanna say was at the root of the DH implementation, but I could well be wrong.  Despite looming free agency, he was the only owner who tried selling key players.   I guess his straightforwardness made him popular.   Those that dealt up close and personal with him had disdain for him. 

Free agency was a funny thing.  It was clearly right in principal to a large degree, but so many thought it would destroy the game.   Salaries back then were considered outrageous, and I can just imagine what they thought in the Depression driven 30s when Babe Ruth signed for 80k, more than President Hoover, and explained it by pointing out he’d had a better year.  In 1966, Koufax and Drysdale held out in unison for 110k and 100k respectively.  That was considered a ton of money, and Pete Rose was considered nuts to aspire be the first singles hitter to make 100 grand.  And while I never had a definitive view on if it would destroy the game, I remember and still think that the game wouldn’t necessarily shut down or suffer hugely short term.  It’s still a battle year in year out based on current media revenues, overall economics, and how much of a used car salesman Scott Boras wants to be in a given year, or for a given client.  Course when one is left to guess wha the owner’s revenues are, as you detailed, who knows what fair salaries are considering the uniqueness of the players skills.  The Phils sold out 66 home games, lived off popularity of a WS win, and an excellent season, and yet Ruben is telling us the payroll will be the same next year.  And Cliff Lee remains unsigned after next year, seemingly decades of millions apart from what he probably can get, and what the Phils will lkely offer.  I wonder about that.  

It’s a bit fascinating that the A’s were the ones to leave town, as great as some of their seasons were.  The 50 Phils win 1 pennant every 35 years, and drive the final nail in the A’s coffin.  It had never occurred to me until I read what you wrote about the significance of that timing, obvious as it may have been.

Omar Vizquel is to sign with the White Sox today.  I wonder what Julio Franco is doing for dinner tonight.