The First Post

From Horace Clarke to Robinson Cano, author and historian Bruce Markusen provides observations on baseball history, nostalgia, and the stories of today.

An introduction is in order. I’m new to MLB.com’s world of MLBlogs, but baseball has been a part of my life since I was three, when I started watching Mickey Mantle on TV (or so I’m told). As a 10-year veteran of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, where I worked from 1994 to 2004, I had the privilege of interviewing most of the living Hall of Famers during that span. With access to both research materials and newly conducted interviews, I’ve written five books on baseball, including biographies of Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, and Ted Williams. And I’ve also co-hosted the “Hall of Fame Hour” and the “Heart of the Order” on MLB Radio, working alongside solid on-air professionals like Billy Sample and Marty Lurie, and guided by the assistance of hard-working producers like Mike Dillon, Vinny Micucci, Mike Siano, and Dan Gentile. Drawing on those experiences, I’ll do my best to produce a lively and diverse MLBlog that features analysis of current-day baseball, the latest trade rumors, memories of collecting baseball cards, thoughts on growing up with the game, storytelling that relates to baseball history, and tributes to those that the game has lost. I hope you enjoy it. Here goes…

Several candidates have been mentioned as possible successors to Tony Pena in Kansas City–including current ESPN broadcaster Larry Bowa, Hall of Famer George Brett, former Pirates and White Sox skipper Gene Lamont, and onetime Red Sox manager Grady Little–but the most prudent choice would be former Royals second baseman Frank White. Currently managing Kansas City’s Double-A farm team at Wichita, White would bring a variety of strengths to the table; he’s a great communicator and teacher, knows the game and the organization inside-out, and also provides a link to the Royals’ last great era of the 1980s… For what it’s worth, White is also a great interview. Of the dozens of interviews I conducted while working at the Hall of Fame, a spring training conversation with White ranks as the best. The interview, originally intended to be about five minutes in length, lasted a memorable 20 minutes, as White spoke eloquently and dramatically about his appreciation of baseball and the game’s history…

Nationals general manager Jim Bowden did excellent work over the weekend in acquiring Marlon Byrd from the Phillies for fellow outfielder Endy Chavez. While both of these 27-year-olds have been disappointments, Byrd has more power and patience at the plate, giving him the much higher ceiling of the two projects. He also fills a specific need for the Nationals, giving them some right-handed power to balance a lineup that leans heavily to the left, featuring southpaws Nick Johnson, Ryan Church, Brad Wilkerson, and the switch-hitting Jose Vidro. At one time Byrd was compared to Kirby Puckett, and while he’ll never become that kind of player–in part because of a fragile ego–he has enough talent to become a solid everyday outfielder under the tutelage of the fiery Frank Robinson…

It’s a little surprising the Yankees didn’t get something in return for Steve Karsay, rather than simply releasing the onetime hard thrower while having to pay all of his 2005 salary. Given the number of teams that are both desperate for relief pitching and had expressed interest in Karsay (including the Rangers, Cubs, Marlins, Brewers, Mets, and Giants), the Yankees should have been able to play one of those six teams against the others and extracted at least a grade-C prospect in return–or even a backup outfielder like the Cubs’ Todd Hollandsworth. If the Yankees had played up Karsay’s services under the guise of a bidding competition (either real or imagined) during his stay on the designated-for-assignment list, they might have even convinced one of those teams to soak up a small percentage of Karsay’s contract. As it stands, the Yankees received nothing for a pitcher of pedigree who was once considered one of the better set-up relievers in the game. They also did nothing to gain some financial relief from what is becoming an ever-growing luxury tax.