Jan Sumner is an author, publisher, pitcher, and now contributor to Artificial Turf. A frequent guest on the radio show, he'll be sharing his views on sports right here. Check out Jan's first column on the "Guest Essays" page. Visit his websites: www.jadanpublishingcompanyllc.com and
www.therealstrikezone.com.
Welcome! As you can see this clever, or maybe not so clever, title for my column was put together by some very creative minds. Depending on the success and response, we’ll disclose those names later.
Hopefully you’ll find it not only clever, and entertaining, but thought provoking as well. Given my writing skills that will truly be a challenge, but I will do my best and will welcome your comments, criticisms…well, not criticisms, but certainly comments, as long as they’re favorable.
Anyway, greetings I hope you enjoy.
Jan Sumner
HONOR’S A GONER…..(1-21-08)
If you look up the derivation of the word honor you’ll find it means, among other things, respect, reputation and principle. There in lies the rub. Many athletes in trouble today want respect and admiration, based on their reputations and principles and are shocked, as Roger Clemens was, that they don’t get it. As I recall from his “60 minutes” interview he said he just wanted an inch of respect and wasn’t, due to an altered perception of American justice, getting it.
So let’s back up a bit. When this whole steroids fiasco started and the commish and union chief of baseball were called to Washington they pleaded ignorance, lack of awareness, and confusion. Then came the players themselves, Sosa who suddenly couldn’t speak English, McGwire who seemed to only have foresight and a blank memory of his career. We had Schilling who felt it was wrong and didn’t condone it (hello) and Palmero who waggled a finger and was shocked and outraged he’d been accused. And last and certainly not least we had the infamous Canseco, a man given to showboating and boastfulness. When his book Juiced came out the entire baseball community was angered and disbelieving. What irony that he would wind up being the most legitimate of all. His book, although lambasted by baseball, was in fact disclosing a secret the game had hidden for years.
Given this backdrop we can slime forward to the Balco investigation and the book, Game of Shadows, which succinctly detailed the use of steroids by a number of famous athletes including Barry Bonds. From that point the strut of virtuousness began. Marion Jones was adamant about her innocence and as we know has since been disgraced by her own admission and will face prison time. Michael Vick was initially defiant, but once his cronies turned on him, he too fessed up and is now in jail.
The landscape of the professional athlete is this country has changed, but we must not under any circumstances indict all of them. The vast majority are honorable, decent, God fearing men and women, but the old “a few bad apples,” cliché is more than relevant here. With press, radio and TV coverage at an all time intrusive high, privacy for public figures is virtually impossible. Obviously, that’s a double edged sword. Good for bringing out the bad and bad for intruding on the good. Whatever you feel about it, it’s moot, it’s just the way it is now and everyone will have to live with the consequences.
Athletes today know how the system works and yet some of them are either arrogant enough or dumb enough to think that their missteps will go unnoticed or won’t be able to be proven as wrong doings. Now, admittedly OJ would lend credence to the latter, but if you’re taking that to the bank you shouldn’t be shocked to find your account closed.
American’s on the whole are forgiving in nature, but that is predicated on the wrongdoer being honest about his or her deceitfulness. Andy Pettitte immediately came clean on his HGH use and from what I can see has been forgiven by the general public. How this will reflect on Roger Clemens no one knows at this point, but it is an interesting dichotomy.
Once again there will be a hearing in front of a Congressional committee, and my guess is once again insolent accusations will be the order of the day. I’m sure the hope is the truth will come out, but as we’ve seen in the past this rarely takes place and all we can deduce is that there is a problem and maybe the burden of that dilemma falls on the individual, maybe the league, maybe the Commissioner, maybe the owners, or maybe the ballplayers fourth grade teacher.
God knows there’s enough culpability to go around, but it sure would be nice to see guilty or presumed guilty parties start by not pleading the Fifth Amendment, forgetting their command of the English language, actually be willing to talk about their past and not pointing fingers at everyone but themselves.
That reflection in the mirror can be all telling. You can cover up the blemishes, turn away, or just refuse to look, but in the end you have to either look and own up, or live in denial, and we all know how well disowning your past works. Just ask those serving time how that worked out for them.
SERIES OVER...BUT NOT FORGOTTEN (10-29-07)
It was strange being at Coors Field for a World Series game. Talk about something coming out of left field, and I don’t mean Manny, it was to say the least surreal.
World Series – Game 4 – Coors Field
Last year I was doing a book signing at Coors and the store manager asked me, “Jan, do you think the Rockies will ever be in the World Series?” I asked her how old she was and when she told me 32, I said, “Not in your lifetime!”
Most of the time I don’t enjoy being wrong, but this was a definite exception. The place was Rockin’ albeit with new found fans, but who cared. A sea of white hand towels swirling around like gyroscopes on a clear, beautiful Rocktober night.
It was game four and the odds of this young, inexperienced group of overachievers coming back and winning four straight from the expensive and “been there, done that” Red Sox were slim and none and slim had already left town. I for one didn’t give a slider. We weren’t even suppose to be here, as I had so accurately predicted the previous year, so the reality of it was still somewhat foreign, but agreeable. I was going to enjoy it no matter the outcome.
Sure we lost, in a sweep, but our “Boys of Summer” grew into to men to greater and lesser degrees this night. They were overmatched, this time. But if this questionable ownership can keep this group together, adding some quality starting pitching, they will be something to be reckoned with. That of course is the pressing issue. Will an ownership with a history of doing things wrong to this point, including the ticket sales fiasco, see the light, open the coffers and capitalize (something they’re good at) on what they have going. Only they have the answer to that and let’s hope it’s the right one.
As for the team itself, what a remarkable journey. It’s been well documented, 21 out of 22, winning the National League Pennant, playing in the World Series, what should be the National League MVP and Rookie of the Year, a ride like possibly no other in the history of this great game. I was honored to be able to see it.
A Rocktober to remember!
ROCKIE PREDICTION...(10-8-07)
Wow, was I wrong! Back in July I made the assertion the Rockies would be, well, the same old Rockies. About a .500 ball club, give or take a game or two. To quote the current vernacular, “My Bad!”
I was, however, not alone in this fearless prophecy. My guess is there is no one on this planet who could have foreseen what’s happened. The fact they are one playoff round from participating in the World Series is beyond astounding. What a credit to this bunch of young ballplayers and their manager and coaches.
For those of you who haven’t seen them play down the stretch, winning 17 of 18, it has truly been remarkable. I’m sure inside, some if not all, have knotted intestinal fortitudes, but on the surface they look as calm and relaxed as sunbathers in Maui. It certainly belies their age and experience. For a bunch of guys still in their twenties, sans Helton, they are playing way above their understanding. Even Helton, with all his successful years in the majors, has never been here, and you could tell when they won the playoff game against the Padres and he went leaping across the infield after the final out looking for somebody, anybody to hug, feet virtually never touching the ground, that this was probably his most treasured moment in the game he so dearly loves.
I too am thrilled for the organization, the players and coaches, but there’s a special place in this for me and that’s the success and positive recognition for Clint Hurdle. We go back to his first year up with the Rocks, 1997, when he became the hitting coach and my boss at the time. He’s come a long way as has the club, but my personal feeling is he could not have done a better job of handling this bunch, young and raw as they are. We have talked several times this year and he was always upbeat and optimistic. I too have questioned his use of pitchers, but I guess he has had the last laugh, because their bullpen has been extraordinary during this stretch.
Well, we can only hope it continues to what would be the most bizarre ending in an already weird and wonderful baseball season. I’m not going to make a prediction here, because as we know I would only be wrong, and one massive embarrassment per season is enough. I will however state for the record that the boys of Rocktober will give it their all and win or loose with full effort and class.
GO ROCKIES!!!!
NEW BRONCOS...SAME RESULTS (8-29-07)
Well here it is the 2007 season for our beloved Broncos. Lets see they have a new defensive coordinator, new middle linebacker, new cornerback, fairly new quarterback, new defensive scheme, a virtually new defensive line, new prolific (see off field activities) running back, one new starting wide receiver and maybe most important, new hope.
But, then that’s true in all NFL camps, well, except maybe Oakland and Atlanta. Their problems run much deeper that new X’s and O’s. Here in Denver, however, every new season means a fresh start.
< Champ Bailey
Thus far in the pre-season, aka exhibition season, the men of blue and orange look somewhat out of sync, but then again it is pre-season so why worry, right? Wrong!
New system, new parts, old leftovers, bad mix. Let’s go through the season and see how it might shake out.
Open with Buffalo there: up for grabs, but I sense an upset – 0-1
Host Raiders, enough said – 1-1
Host Jacksonville, close, but Broncos prevail – 2-1
At the Colts, enough said – 2-2
Host Chargers, sorry – 2-3
Bye (too early)
Host Steelers, sorry again – 2-4
Host Packers, badly needed – 3-4
At the Lions, should win – 4-4
At the Chiefs, should win, won’t – 4-5
Host the Titans, should win, will – 5-5
At the Bears, enough said – 5-6
At the Raiders – 6-6
Host Chiefs, should win, will – 7-6
At Houston, should win, won’t – 7-7
At Chargers, shouldn’t win, won’t – 7-8
Host Vikings, should win, will – 8-8
There you have it, 8-8, maybe 9-7, but same old same old. If they can keep from making lots of NEW changes next off season things should be better, but that’s a big if. Coach S loves to make changes, I guess it’s a new, old thing, so to speak.
If I’m wrong on my predictions, hey, I’m new at this.
300 VS 755...A DEBATE? (8-7-07)
It’s not about Glavine vs. Bonds, although that in itself deserves an in depth discussion. No, this is about whether it’s easier to hit 755 homeruns or win 300 games.
Certainly two different achievements, both worthy of the highest praise and admiration - at least on the surface regarding the soon to be new homerun king. But I’ve cussed and discussed Bonds, as many before me have and most certainly many more will after me, so I’ll leave that alone…for now.
Both records unquestionably demand one thing – longevity. Again this would raise some questions concerning Bonds, so let’s put the homerun crown where it has been, and will continue to reside for must of us, with Hank Aaron. Hammerin’ Hank played from 1954 to 1976, a total of twenty-three years. That works out to be just under thirty-three homeruns a year. Tom Glavine has been playing since 1987, so he’s been at it for twenty years now. With 300 wins he’s averaged fifteen wins a year over that time span. Again, both truly remarkable accomplishments.
For me, however, winning that many games on the hill is more difficult. Oh, I know hitting a baseball is the most difficult single act in sports, and based on pure statistics I would agree. But there are other factors at work here. When a batter steps in to hit, it’s all on him. Now I realize it’s one against nine and you’re trying to hit a round object with a round object, but the bottom line is the guys on the bench who may have booted the ball around the last inning, or the bullpen that was unable to hold the lead are absolutely no factor in whether the man at the plate is successful at hitting the ball out of the park. Ah, but for a starting pitcher they are not only a factor, but many times the determining factor.
The other night ESPN ran a segment on how many dingers Bonds would have right now but for great catches that stole potential round trippers. I believe they showed ten. That’s for his whole career. Who knows how many times Aaron got robbed, but I’d guess it’s somewhere in the ten to twelve range. For Glavine that may be a fair guess per year on no decisions, lost leads or his team playing poor defensively or giving him no run support.
Even beyond that we have the health issue. Again, realizing everyday players have to play through nagging injuries and face different pitching almost daily. But on the flip side they get to practice their craft every day, hone, adjust and work through slumps. During his career Aaron played in 3298 games and had 12,364 at bats. That means he hit a homerun every 16-17 times up. We all know it didn’t work exactly that way, so let’s just say he had a lot of opportunities.
Glavine on the other hand has gotten 30-35 starts a year and in order to win 300 games has had to win around half of those every year, .500 percent. For a pitcher, any pitcher, to stay healthy for that long is, well, almost impossible. While hitting a baseball is singularly difficult, throwing a baseball in excess of 85 mph is not natural for the human arm. It you’ve ever seen pictures of a pitcher’s delivery you know what I mean. To not have your arm go south somewhere along the line is beyond amazing. The vast majority of hitters don’t face the likelihood of Tommy John or shoulder surgery, which are potential career enders more times than not. Most of the DL lists in baseball involve pitchers and arm problems.
Now none of this is meant to diminish the most sacred record in all of sports. But I do think to achieve 300 wins is more difficult. I also think it will probably never happen again, unless Randy Johnson can somehow come back from back surgery. The 755, or soon 756, will only last as long as it takes A-Rod to get there, or possibly even Junior.
The point is homeruns will continue to be hit at increasing rates, for many reasons. Three hundred game winners? Nah, that time has passed. So here’s to you Mr. Glavine…WELL DONE! You too Hank!
DOG DAYS FOR VICK (7-21-07)
I remember when I was a kid my dad telling me about a dog breed he’d seen fight in Kansas when he was a kid. “Pit Bulls,” he said. “There’s nothing like them. They’re vicious and trained to kill.”
I had no idea what he was talking about because I’d never heard of them and certainly never seen one. My dad grew up in rural Kansas and his older brothers would take him to these fights. He hated them and what they represented and grew up loving dogs. We always had a dog around when I was a kid, they were part of our family.
Dog fights are as old as man and his best friend. For some men there’s just this insatiable desire for violence and blood. Since they don’t want it to be theirs, hey why not a dog they’ve bred for that vary thing. This of course brings us to Michael Vick.
I’ve read some comments referring to the fact he plays a violent sport therefore there must be some correlation in his mind between football and dog fighting, you know, he and his colleagues are trained to dish out punishment, inflict pain, so apparently they can’t distinguish between a football field and a fight pit. I also see where Dan Reeves has stepped forward to offer support for Vick, saying, “Sure, I’d do anything I could to help Mike. I think he’s basically a good person. Unfortunately, it just seems like he’s made some bad choices over the years.” To quote a former tennis great, “You cannot be serious!”
I always marvel when people make bad choices that involve life and death. I mean come on is there any perception of right and wrong here. Any concept of, “I don’t know, is this a bad choice to wet this dog down and then electrocute it?” If you’re that far off center on your good and bad choices you have far bigger problems then who your friends are and what you’re doing with your spare time.
Michael Vick is a grown man, famous, wealthy and more than able I’d guess to determine right from wrong. If he truly believed this was okay then why buy this secluded piece of property at 1915 Moonlight Road in southeastern Virginia. Why have a large fence at the rear of the property to shield what was going on from the general public. They found some 70 dogs there, 60 of which were pit bulls. Blood stains on walls, dog training equipment and paraphernalia associated with dog fighting. The owners called it “Bad Newz Kennels,” which may be more prophetic then they realized.
The NFL will close ranks and throw up their protective bubble and wait for the final verdict. Certainly everyone has a right to a speedy and fair trial and is innocent until proven guilty. Purportedly, however, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that could lead to a conviction.
This, however, goes beyond bad choices in life. Bad choices are, I took the wrong job, married the wrong person or moved to the wrong city. This is a pure and simple matter of right and wrong. Do I sneak away into the countryside, train, torture and kill dogs. If you’re that hooked on gambling, head to Vegas where the only one who gets fleeced is you. Don’t misconstrue laying down a bet with torturing and killing an animal.
Who knows what the final outcome will be. We can only hope justice is served and those who made the wrong choices will have to pay for their recklessness and lack of respect. It’s hard to find pit bulls warm and cuddly, but what in the world does that make those who choose to abuse them?
HALFWAY TO DEJA-VU (7-15-07)
Well, here we are at the halfway point of the major league baseball season, give or take a game, and for the Rockies it would appear to be déjà vu all over again to quote a HOF catcher of some renowned.
<Jeff Francis as viewed by empty seats.
It’s funny or maybe not, but every year the Gen-R boys are either at the top of the National League in team hitting or near the top. Pitching, however, is another whole bailiwick. As of the writing of this article (7/15/07) the Rockies were number one in the NL with a team batting average of .276. That would be good for only sixth place in the American League, but its tops in the NL.
Then we come to the most important and decisive factor involved in winning at any level of baseball – pitching. And again, as always, the Rockies float near the bottom of not only the National League, but big league baseball in general. This is of course not news, as it persists year in and year out, and year in and year out we descend to the bottom or next to the bottom of the NL west standings.
I guess what puzzles me the most is why? Why would you own a team and not truly be interested in winning. It’s not like the Monfort’s are getting stinking rich off this venture, so what is the motive for them to keep the team? I’m sure they’re doing well financially or they’d have unloaded them by now, but to go through this every year, the players hoping to win, but not truly expecting to. The fans getting more and more frustrated, wishing in vain for a team that could actually compete for the NL west title.
So here we go again, a .500 team at the mid-point, in need of starting pitching. Will it happen? My guess – NO! History has taught us with this franchise that no move is a shrewd move, at least in their eyes and pocketbooks. For me the most frustrating part of all of this is – how long? Will this ever change or will the Monfort’s just keep on keepin’ on and ignore the obvious. If they want to win now or in the near future they’d better go get some starting pitching. Otherwise, next year at this time I can just reprint this same article…BORING!
New York State of Mind (7-5-07)
It would appear that our very own Colorado Rockies can only dominate teams from New York City and surrounding boroughs. What we have to do is somehow convince and/or brainwash them into believing that the Dodgers are in fact the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Giants are the New York Giants, as they used to be before most of these young Rocks were born.
This would provide them with a profound edge in their division and enable them to contend for the NL western division crown. Winning or possibly sweeping these two teams alone would guarantee at least twelve and possibly eighteen victories. Then all we’d have to do is persuade them that Phoenix is a New Jersey suburb and San Diego is located on the tip of Long Island. Again, winning the series or sweeping would lock them in as National League western division champs.
All this talk about humidors and shaky starting pitching would be immaterial. As they have proven, when facing a team in a New York state of mind, they are confident, a run scoring machine, sending Cy Young caliber pitchers to the hill. They are in fact superior in these games. The mind is a crafty and wonderful thing, especially when it truly believes, and the Rockies coaches merely have to make them accept as true that any team from the Big Apple, or nearby smaller fruits, are there for the taking. It has always been that way and always will be!
A-Rod-en Thing to Do! (7-5-07)
Unbelievable! Why would she do it? What in the wide world of Yankeedom was she thinking?
I’m or course talking about Cynthia Rodriquez and her inexplicable wearing of a tank top to a Yankees game with the constantly overused, and completely disgusting, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge anagram. 
