HEY, WILLIE! Why are the Oakland A's allowed to dump players?

HEY, WILLIE!

You wrote about Charlie Finley the other day and it brought up a question in my meager mind.

Back then, didn't MLB stop Finley’s Oakland A's from doing what the Oakland A's are doing today? “For the good of baseball,” they said back then.

PETE

HEY, PETE!

“In the best interest of the game,” was the official clause unholstered by commissioner Bowie Kuhn in 1975, when Finley unloaded his soon-to-be free agents midseason.

Problem was, Charlie flat-out sold three of his stars — Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox, Vida Blue to the Yankees — for a total of $3.5 million, which is laundry money in today’s game.

Finley could’ve traded his lame-duck stars for other players instead of selling them, but cash was oxygen for Charles O. Finley.

This past week, the current Oakland A’s have traded flesh, not peddled it. They've dealt away soon-to-be expensive stars for younger, cheaper, potential stars. The cash factor was indirect.

One of those trades was Matt Olson to the Braves, and while he won’t make Atlanta fans forget Freddie Freeman, he’ll definitely make them remember Matt Olson. Yes, that’s an ironclad scouting report.

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HEY, WILLIE!

I loved your article about the designated hitter. I totally agree with everything you said and I’m glad you mentioned Rusty Staub, one of my favorite Mets of all time.

Another favorite was Ed Kranepool — Steady Eddie never played in the minors; went right from high school to the Mets.

Ed played his whole career for the Mets. You don’t see that very much anymore.

TIM R

HEY, TIM!

Mild correction on Kranepool, courtesy of our research staff (they’re the guys with moss growing under their Sperry knock-offs). Ed did play a little bit of minor-league ball after signing with the Mets out of high school in 1962, but still reached the majors in September, comfortably before his 18th birthday.

Not a correction, but an educated observation about Ed Kranepool: Moving from James Monroe High School in The Bronx, across town to the Polo Grounds to suit up for the infamous ’62 Mets, was hardly a promotion.

HEY, WILLIE!

When you think you have had a bad day, how about the guy who paid $518,000 for the football Tom Brady threw for his “final NFL touchdown pass?” After Brady said he’s coming back, that ball is probably worth $12.50 at Dick’s.

ED IN PALM COAST

HEY, PALM COAST ED!

Maybe there’s a market for “The Ball the Poor Guy Bought, Thinking It Was Tom Brady’s Final TD Ball.”

The guy can go on tour with “TBTPGB,TIWTBFTDB” and put out a tip jar, eventually recouping his investment (and then some!).

If you don’t think there’s a market for stranger things than that, you haven’t been paying attention.

HEY, WILLIE!

I am a lifetime sports fan, with an emphasis on baseball, and have read many many articles written by multitudes of sportswriters, and you are without a doubt my all-time favorite!

I had intended to compliment you on your column last week (March 13) about the DH and kept getting sidetracked. However, after reading your column (March 15) ending with your comment about The Sporting News, I had to write and compliment you immediately.

I absolutely loved The Sporting News and was a subscriber for years. It started to turn me off when it went from a newspaper style to a magazine style with all the glossy pictures. It just wasn't the same.

Thanks and keep up the great work!

BOB A

HEY, BOB!

You know, Bob, usually I don’t publish such complimentary emails.

Usually.

OK, folks, until next time … huh? What’s that? Did you really think we were pulling the curtain without some NASCAR correspondence?

HEY, WILLIE!

I’ve watched Atlanta races for 50 years, and I have to say, this upgrade is upTOWN! Way to go Atlanta!

On the old oval they’d get all spread out. On the “newer” oval they were faster but still spread out. But this new Atlanta looked like a mini version of Talladega or Daytona — pack-racin’, except the cars can actually pass. I'm all in!

TOMMY IN GULF BREEZE

HEY, TOMMY!

Quick catch-up for the casual fans: The Next Gen cars are dialed in at 670 horsepower with a four-inch spoiler, but in order to maintain sanity at Daytona and Talladega, it’s 510 horsepower and a seven-inch spoiler, which serve to bunch everyone together in the old restrictor-plate manner.

With higher speeds expected at a newly repaved Atlanta, where the banking was also increased from 24 to 28 degrees, NASCAR went with the Daytona/’Dega package there, too, and as expected a “plate-race” broke out … and broke a lot of cars.

The “Big One” isn’t relegated to the two behemoth tracks anymore.

And right on cue, Corey LaJoie finished fifth, gathering his fifth career top-10 and first somewhere other than Daytona Beach or Central Alabama. The Have Nots love it, the Haves hate it, and everyone buckles those belts a little tighter.

No one will be shocked if the fever spreads to other fast tracks, as NASCAR and the networks fight the temptation to turn the whole season into nothing but road courses and Big Ones.

Just kidding, they probably won’t fight it.

— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Oakland A's dump players, just like Charlie Finley couldn't | HEY, WILLIE!