04/19/24
February 18, 2004
They should just start bombing each other. : (pulling this from the actual trade thread) John Henry, principle owner of the Boston Red Sox, in an email to the media today, rallied for a salary cap and pointed the finger at the New York Yankees in particular. Steinbrenner, never one to back down from the Red Sox mouthing off, described Henry as "embarrassed, frustrated and disappointed by his failure in this transaction" and choosing "to not to go the extra distance for his fans in Boston".
I have never ever seen anything like this before in sports. Owners fighting each other. Just play ball.
posted by jerseygirl to baseball at 03:59 PM - 19 comments
"We understand that John Henry must be embarrassed, frustrated and disappointed by his failure in this transaction. Unlike the Yankees, he chose not to go the extra distance for his fans in Boston. It is understandable, but wrong that he would try to deflect the accountability for his mistakes on to others and to a system for which he voted in favor. It is time to get on with life and forget the sour grapes." - Steinbrenner As much as I dislike the Yankees and their owner ... he's right.
posted by jasonspaceman at 04:08 PM on February 18, 2004
Wow, do you think George wipes his mouth with Tucks pads after a good meal? What an asshole. The amazing thing about all this is here you have two supposedly highly intelligent and highly successful men — men who should know better — and yet they conduct a childish little slapfight through the media. I can only hope for the day when the Tigers mash them both into the infield dirt.
posted by wfrazerjr at 04:08 PM on February 18, 2004
The ironic thing is that in speaking out, George got another chance to one-up him. Zing!
posted by dfleming at 04:23 PM on February 18, 2004
Regardless of my opinion on a salary cap (I don't necessarily see it as a panacea; money will always win out), John Henry should have kept his mouth shut. Tough to complain about the situation when you dropped north of $600 million on a team and are #2 or 3 in salary.
posted by yerfatma at 05:16 PM on February 18, 2004
I think they should fight each other on pay-per-view. George can get revenge for the imaginary Dodger fans in the elevator; John can live almost every baseball fan's dream by taking swings at Steinbrenner. Everybody wins. I would pay $59.95 for this on pay per view.
posted by jeffmshaw at 05:21 PM on February 18, 2004
and the $59.95 gets distributed to all teams with a salary under 80m
posted by jerseygirl at 05:30 PM on February 18, 2004
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! SEE! LIVE OWNERS BATTLING IT OUT IN THE SQUARED CIRCLE! YOU'LL PAY $59.95 FOR THE WHOLE SEAT... BUT YOU'LL ONLY NEED THE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDGE!
posted by forksclovetofu at 05:36 PM on February 18, 2004
and the $59.95 gets distributed to all teams with a salary under 80m Half of whom put it directly in their pockets and then raise ticket prices.
posted by yerfatma at 06:54 PM on February 18, 2004
[This is funny]
posted by billsaysthis at 07:01 PM on February 18, 2004
The ironic thing is that in speaking out, George got another chance to one-up him. Exactly. Henry needs to start thinking before talking. All he did is allow george to say things he was thinking but wouldn't dare say. I'm sure he was salivating when he heard Henry's comments.
posted by justgary at 11:16 PM on February 18, 2004
I thought John Henry was one of the Waltons?
posted by squealy at 03:54 AM on February 19, 2004
Selig tells Henry to not respond. You know it's bad when a guy who couldn't figure out how to end a tie game becomes a voice of rationality.
posted by jerseygirl at 06:54 AM on February 19, 2004
a little off-topic of the owners fighting, but this is from SI's story of how the A-Rod to Yankees deal went down: On Feb. 8 Scott Boras, Rodriguez's agent, called Yankees general manager Brian Cashman about another client, free-agent first baseman Travis Lee. Cashman mentioned how much trouble he was having trying to replace Boone. He had failed to get Adrian Beltre from the Los Angeles Dodgers, for instance. Then it hit Boras: Why not Rodriguez? ... On Feb. 10 the Rangers conducted an internal conference call with Rodriguez, Boras, Hicks, G.M. John Hart and manager Buck Showalter regarding the direction of the club. Boras just happened to mention that Rodriguez might reconsider a trade to the Yankees. Hicks scoffed at the idea. "Alex isn't going to play third base," the owner said. "He's always said that." "Alex," Boras said, "what do you think about third base?" "I wouldn't rule it out," Rodriguez said. Silence fell over the line. Said Boras on Sunday, "Frankly, Tom Hicks was stunned."
posted by msacheson at 03:18 PM on February 19, 2004
Someday, if anyone wanted to get into it, I'd love to discuss baseball agents.
posted by jerseygirl at 03:38 PM on February 19, 2004
I'd get into it right now. I know nothing about them except what I've read in the past several months regarding Scott Boras and Arn Tellem, and they seem like absolute slime to me.
posted by rocketman at 04:27 PM on February 19, 2004
Somehow jerseygirl, I get the feeling that when you say "I'd love to discuss baseball agents," you mean you'd love to stick one in your trunk and go plant him in the desert.
posted by dusted at 04:51 PM on February 19, 2004
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
posted by lilnemo at 05:47 PM on February 19, 2004
What do you call 600 sports agents at the bottom of the sea?! A good start! bah-dum-ching! thank you very much, i'll be here all week. try the veal.
posted by jerseygirl at 07:14 PM on February 19, 2004
I agree. It sounds and seems like Henry is just bitter. No one rallied around the cap when he wanted A-Rod and when reports came out that they made a last attempt to absorb all of A-Rod's contract.