Hannush Web Blog

I think, my whole life, I have heard people say stuff about “the good old days.”  Like every problem in the world is new.

This was brought home today buy the freebie Sporting News Magazine that landed in my mailbox today.  The headline story, “Great Teams Gone: Now more than ever, you don’t build a club – you buy one.”  It features a picture of Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Bob Skowron of the Yankees.

Who is this sportswriter?  Why did he choose a picture of Yankees (besides the obvious media obsession with New York teams)?

I read the article and it is apparently suggesting that since 1977 (actually closer to 1975, seeing as that was the year Andy Messersmith helped free players from the reserve clause), teams have spent the off-season rebuiding teams and no one stays in one place anymore.

Tell that to the Kansas City Athletics of the late 50′s and early 60′s who were basically a farm club for these oh so prized early 60′s New York Yankees.  When Mickey Mantle was good enough for the Yankees, he played there…when he started cold, he was concerned about getting traded to Kansas City.  Roger Maris made similar comments after arriving from Kansas City.  Bob Skowron and Roger Maris both became expendable to the Yankees and they were both dumped.  And since then, the Yankees have been at the forefront of this free agency madness.

But back to the point, were the old days really that good for everyone?

If you had an owner like Connie Mack, you were stuck with a trash team year after year because he knew how to sell off players when they became stars so he could make more money.  Cities like Washington and Philadelphia lived with loser teams for generations because owners were the driving force of the personality of teams back then.  Plus, some players were miserable (see Curt Flood) because they were put in these horrible situations (see Phillies of the 1960′s).

Being a Detroit Tiger fan, it would have been nice to see Jack Morris or Kirk Gibson play their entire careers in one city.  But Morris was sick of Detroit and wanted out, do I really want to go cheer for someone with that attitude about my team?  Meanwhile, guys like Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker chose to stay in Detroit…or the George Brett’s in Kansas City or Robin Yount’s in Milwaukee…  When there is free agency and a guy like Mike Schmidt stays with the Phillies his whole career…it makes them extra special to fans.  That Yogi Berra, Ted Williams or Joe Dimaggio stayed with a team that controlled their future, doesn’t impress me that much.

I know its hard watching your team rebuild itself year after year (sometimes at the expense of fan favorites – see Brandon Inge), but the only difference between the 60′s and the 00′s is, players don’t become miserable in their current franchises, they move on…and players now are what controls a teams destiny instead of owners.

Sounds like a trade off…not a reason to reflect on something that seems better only because we see only the good things and we forget the scars of the past.

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