Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio
Jul. 18—They say that the day after the All-Star game is the least active day for professional sports with no games scheduled in any major sport.
However, for most athletes it means it's the first day of fall sports, at least in Indiana where girls golf kicks off in just a matter days. But, before we get into high school sports, I want to talk about the All-Star game and major league baseball.
Going into the game, I just saw that home run derby champ Juan Soto of the Nationals turned down a $440M 15-year contract offer. For those with limited math skills (like myself) That is nearly half a billion dollars for 118 home runs and .293 average for a 23-year-old. So where does that put Mays, Williams, Mantle or Ken Griffey Jr.?
I guess I'm not so much concerned about the amount of money — but what it takes to turn it down. His numbers are similar to mid-60s phenom Tony Conigliaro at the same age and his career was over three years later.
So who eles actually hd money like that at 38 years old (at the end of the 15-year contract) — Jay-Z or Mark Zuckerburg? Only Jordan or Tiger made money like that at that age and most of it came from non-contract sources. Is it time reassess priorities? Soto could be a Hall of Famer, but he could also be Kerry Wood.
Only time will tell.
If people are upset about prices, inflation and the rising cost of everything, imagine what Soto's contract will do team's bottom line, ticket prices or cable MLB packages. The same holds true for Aaron Judge of the Yankees, but he is the only player who I will stop what I'm doing when he comes to bat.
As a kid, I loved the All-Star game, I can still look at a team from the mis-70s and smile fondly at the sight of Willie McCovey, Bobby Murcer or Joe Rudi, but that is a perfectly natural situation at any age, we all all have a "Boys of Summer" moment, where a player like Mark Fidrych is forever 20 years old. I guess you can call that "Sandlot Syndrome."
The next big milestone is the Hall of Fame announcement and Big Papi will make his much-deserved entrance as a true DH. If you still have complaints about the DH it might be time to put them away, it's been part of the game for 50 years, it's like complaining about the reception on your AM radio.
Gil Hodges also goes in the hall this year and Petersburg/ Princeton should be very proud. I recently found out that the truly stunning painted Hodges mural in Petersburg was helped paid for by painting local people into the stands behind Hodges. It might be a fun column to do a story on the mural the week of his induction. I have been told they are updating the mural to represent his HOF induction.
This was the final BBWAA ballot for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, and Sammy Sosa. Schilling joined Jim Bunning in becoming the second player ever to run out of eligibility after having twice received 70% of the vote, but falling short of the necessary 75%. As far as Bonds, Clemens and Sosa go, if baseball hasn't forgiven the all-times leader yet, what makes you think the 7-time Cy Young Awards winner, and career home run leader, and the man who help save baseball has a chance. Clemens is third on the career strike out list and has 354 wins, Bonds was the greatest player of his generation long before his head swelled up like a parade float, but there is nothing wrong with giving a player with 118 career home runs, nearly half a billion dollars — but there's nothing wrong with baseball.
Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?
