 Yes,
this is the first installment of 19 to 21 for 2009
Volume 7, #1, January 8, 2009
Editorial Note: Perhaps you’ve been wondering what will
become of “19 to 21” in 2009. Perhaps you haven’t.
Well, whether or not, you’re about to find out.
Yes, “19 to 21” will return for a seventh year. No,
it won’t necessarily be at the same frequency or the same
format as the past six seasons. There are several reasons for this,
the most important being developments on the book front. As noted
previously, the 2008 version of “19 to 21,” now entitled
“The Breaks Even Out and Midnight Comes Quickly for Cinderella,”
has been “sold” to Publish America, for publication
hopefully early in the 2009 season. In addition, PublishAmerica
has also expressed interest in the 2004 season version of “19
to 21,” now tentatively entitled, “Bloody Sox and the
Curse of Harry Frazee.” Work on that one begins after publication
of “The Breaks Even Out.”
More significantly, at least to this author, is what I hope will
be my sixth book. I suspect that everyone who writes baseball history
hopes to write some sort of comprehensive history of the game. I
am planning to do just that in 2009. The “angle” (as
we say) is an idea I wrote on in an April 2007 edition of “19
to 21,” an idea originally from Rod Nelson, The Mount Rushmores
of Baseball. If you recall that posting, you’ll remember that
the format was to divide all of baseball history into a dozen eras,
and pick four outstanding individuals from each of those eras. It
is my intention to turn that idea into a book, having greatly expanded
and elaborated on the original story by going into far more detail
on the contributions of the 47 individuals (one person appears twice)
so-named. This being a fairly big project, along with the fact that
I still have a day job, will limit the time I can devote to “19
to 21.” However, as the initial manuscript of each of the
dozen chapters is completed (I don’t have a publisher for
this one, so there’s no definite time frame), I will send
same to you, the “19 to 21” subscriber list, as a sneak
preview.
There will be some more traditional “19 to 21” postings
from time-to-time, some of which will be in the format you’re
familiar with, and some of which may just be musings and other pithy
thoughts on this great game. I’ve found, over the years, that
there’s been a lot I wanted to say that didn’t always
fit real well into the “19 to 21” format of comparing
and contrasting past and present people and events in the game.
Thus, since I make my own editorial rules, I may not directly tie
everything written this year into a past event.
This first posting for 2009 is titled…
Injustice
As Scar said in the Disney movie The Lion King, “life’s
not fair.” Indeed, it is not. And everyone of us, often from
a very young age, have been strongly impressed with that fact. Injustice
abounds. Take the case of Benny Kauff, for instance.
Benny was known as the “Ty Cobb of the Federal League.”
Although THE Ty Cobb reportedly didn’t much care for that,
little (he was 5-8 and weighed 157) Benny came by his moniker by
dominating the Feds in 1914 and 1915. After playing five games for
the Yankees in 1912 at the age of 22, Kauff jumped to the Feds for
1914 and led the Indianapolis Hoosiers to the FL pennant by leading
the league in batting, on base percentage, OPS, runs, hits, total
bases, singles, doubles, steals and runs created. In other words,
just about everything. John McGraw was so impressed, he tried to
hijack Kauff for the New York Giants for the 1915 season, only to
be told by the National League that the NL wasn’t raiding
FL rosters. Back Benny went, to the Brooklyn Tip Tops for 1915.
Although the Tip Tops (named for the bread sold by their owners,
the Ward brothers) only finished seventh, Kauff was still pretty
good, this time leading the FL in batting, on-base, slugging, OPS,
stolen bases, power/speed number, runs created and OPS +. In other
words, just about everything of real significance. After the Feds
folded, McGraw got his man, and Kauff joined the Giants for the
1916 season.
Although he wasn’t the sensation in the National League he’d
been in the Federal League, Kauff was still pretty good. A flashy
dresser with a personality to match, Kauff still cut a fair swath
through baseball, leading the NL in extra base hits and power/speed
number in 1919 and finishing in the top 10 in numerous batting categories
a total of 37 times in his five years with the Giants. His OPS+
figures with the Giants were 137, 138, 143, 127, 137 and his career
OPS+ number ended up at 149, 34th all-time.
So how come his last season in the majors was 1920, when he was
just 30 years old? How come he played just parts of eight seasons?
(Even counting his FL time.) In a word, injustice. And it came from
the main purveyor of injustice in baseball, former justice turned
Commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis. And even John J. McGraw,
as powerful a figure as he was in baseball circles, couldn’t
save him.
Although there were unsubstantiated rumors about Kauff being involved
with the Black Sox scandal, the first real sign of trouble for the
tiny Ty came in February 1920, when he was indicted for auto theft
in connection with an auto parts business (a precursor of Auto Zone,
no doubt) that he’d started with his half brother along with
Giants teammate Jesse Barnes. The on-going criminal investigation
into the business apparently selling a rehabbed stolen car (Kauff,
who was also accused of stealing the car, said he didn’t know
the car was stolen when he sold it) made Benny too hot to handle
for McGraw, who sold him to Toronto in July 1920, where he hit .343.
Even though the case hadn’t gone to trial, Mac reacquired
him for the 1921 season, stating he was planning to put him back
again as his centerfielder.
Landis, no doubt deciding Kauff was guilty until proven innocent,
made him sit out until the May 1921 trial, wherein Benny was acquitted
in less than an hour. Didn’t matter. Just like it didn’t
matter that Kauff had never been formally accused of throwing games.
Landis, as he would later do with Buck Weaver, decided guilt by
association was bad enough, and banned Benny for life, a ban that
stuck despite his appealing to the New York State Supreme Court
for an injunction against Landis, that is, Major League Baseball.
So that was Benny’s story, probably best told by David Jones
in SABR’s “Deadball Stars of the National League.”
Unlike Benny Kauff, J.C. Romero won’t be asking for an injunction
against MLB in conjunction with the injustice visited upon him.
He’s going to serve his 50-game sentence, at a personal cost
of something like $1.25 million, because it seems as if no one was
able to give him timely and accurate information on the contents
of a supplement he bought at GNC. Now, Romero is no more guilty
of using PEDs, or of cheating, or of negligence in his ingestion
of supplements than Kauff was guilty of auto theft. And Romero isn’t
any happier about it than Kauff was. However, it is worth noting
that Romero is very upset about what the public, particularly the
kids, will think about his suspension. That’s why he hasn’t
named the supplement involved – he’s afraid some youngsters
might think it worth trying… for the wrong reasons.
In that regard, the rest of this column will be turned over to
Migdoel “Dio” Miranda, J.C. Romero’s personal
trainer. The following was written (in Spanish, and then translated)
in early 2008, well prior to the World Series (although the last
paragraph was added after the Series), by “Dio” as a
means of illustrating Romero’s training regime as prescribed
by Miranda.
J.C. Romero -- Spiritual, Emotional and Physical Work
By Migdoel “Dio” Miranda
A story of a holistic approach to health and fitness
In the winter of 2007, we came together like we did every year.
We take the time to find and analyze the details that give us the
edge against the opponent.
This tedious work requires hours of analyzing lumbar, thoracic
and cervical curvatures. Hours of observation and how his body moves!
The vertebral column has different curves that need to be in the
right position for optimal performance of the human body.
The work is vital and the importance of this work is essential.
After finding out where he stands on the results of the assessment,
the exercise program is created by me. I take time to create a program
that will make him stronger, faster, more agile and loose. A program
that strengthens him and does not drain him. A very customized approach
is put together to accomplish the specific goals that he requires,
and is based on a holistic approach.
I believe all the systems work together. The nervous system send
messages to muscles, the hip drives the knee and the knee drives
the ankle. Think about it. It all works together! And that when
a shoulder hurts, it does not necessarily is that the shoulder is
bad, but might be a problem with the toes and so on. That experience
very well might affect your thoughts, which trigger hormones and
cause thoughts once again, which will show in the body. The body
never lies! It is up to the person to make those thoughts positive
or negative. That is exactly why we see many people with bad posture
correlates or satisfy their way of thinking.
I look beyond the protocol for exercising right and eating right.
Every single human being is different and should be train accordingly
to that which is going in their life. Emotions, experiences, pain,
aches, discomfort. All plays a role in an exercise program.
We get to work right away so not another second is lost. My goal
is to balance his strength and together we attack. We laugh as we
catch up and discuss the league, but know when to be serious and
focus on the task ahead.
We start the day with a plan to improve our being. Before we begin,
we pray to God and give thanks for our lives and the opportunity
to enjoy them. While we eat breakfast according to our metabolic
type, we go over the plans for the day. Metabolic Typing is customized
nutrition. This means finding out how your body reacts to certain
foods. Knowing this, you can control cravings, hunger, energy levels,
emotions and mental focus.
Metabolic Typing identifies the system in your body that controls
how you feel after you eat. Knowing this system, a list of foods
that will help you come into balance can be recommended. If you
feel tired, bloated, anxious, irritable, etc. after you eat using
your list of foods to fine tune your diet (balance of Proteins,
Carbohydrates and Fats) will help you feel better than you ever
have before.
J.C. says, “Dio, what do we have today?” and I say
with a smile, “Easy brother, you will find out soon.”
He gets into the mood of a warrior and I review the program, the
weights, meals and supplements. I don’t use pounds as a guide
for him to train. I use a window of repetitions that allows him
to exercise until he is about to break the form, very close to breaking,
but not quite. The form of the exercise is really important since
it helps the brain to recognize where the body is in the environment.
If he gets to have bad form, then is time to stop and rest. Form
is everything! It takes 5000 repetitions to break a faulty movement.
So I make sure that we stay on the right track.
With trust and expectancy, we hit the gym to further develop our
abilities and skills. Before anyone else is even awake – we
go to work. From squatting on swiss balls, pulling cables, balancing
on boards and stretching is what we do. Many times we stretch more
than exercise, depending on how the body is reacting towards past
workouts.
Warming up begins the well-customized training program. Without
guessing, we begin to train, not drain, his body. My job is to keep
all of his systems working at their maximum capacity and in balance
not only for his baseball career, but also for life with family
and friends after baseball. At that moment, there is no room for
negativity. If we lose this moment, this golden time, we can never
get it back. But, when we embrace it, it pays off and shows promise
for future dividends!
The respect between us is essential to the success of our relationship.
He listens intently to what I say. He is a client and a friend who
listens with the desire of learning and applying the knowledge that
gives him the advantage over his opponent.
Throughout the training process, emotions can fluctuate and it
is our job to keep them positive so we do not go backwards but continue
to evolve with each session. This year was a little different as
J.C. didn’t have a job and therefore, neither did I. This
situation forced us to be more focused on the spiritual and emotional
aspects of our training rather than the physical. It is impossible
to forget that the movement of the body is reflexive of the state
of the mind.
When we return from the gym, J.C. is tired and immediately requests
a massage. We have lunch and then I prepare to go to work as he
gets ready to relax. There are some days, when we are working with
vertebral column imbalances, that it is necessary for the massage
to come before the workout. These days are rare, but worth mentioning.
From normal Swedish massage work to trigger point therapy, whatever
is needed, is done. It is during this time that I listen to his
requests, work on logistics, and most importantly, decide where
we will eat that night. Most often, we eat at home because we can
prepare a much higher quality meal. The house is stocked with chemical
free and organic food such as free-range eggs and grass fed beef.
The fruit juice is squeezed fresh every day and is without coloring
or chemicals. By eating healthy and chemical free, we are ready
to improve with each day.
After we eat, we take the time to catch up on email and return
phone calls. The time for sleep draws nearer and that “farewell”
look comes with a desire to keep sharing knowledge and life experiences.
A champion goes to bed and I, as the man behind the curtain, pretend
to do the same. In reality, I must take the time to plan the next
day, a day more important than the one we just completed. As I finally
drift off to sleep, I am prepared for tomorrow and imagining J.C.
cooking his exquisite oatmeal for breakfast.
A normal day has gone by and Spring Training is just around the
corner. But, we are not worried because we have put in the time
and the hard work required in the off season. We have conquered
the medicine balls, bands, massages, corrective exercises, metabolic
typing, weights and cardiovascular exercises. We have graduated
yet again into a new season! It is time to begin preparation for
the next.
Then the season begins and the traveling begins and our program
remains effective. From good games to bad, we learn to focus our
energy and use each experience for the next baseball attack. Good
attitude defines J.C. The season is about training and massage.
The consistency never fails and the beast within begins to roar
with a ferocity that feels very clear. We chase after the dream!
With God and with a clear mind, the body is a much more effective
tool.
The result of all of our hard work is the only Puerto Rican in
the history of Major League Baseball to win two World Series games
and never be placed on the disabled list. That accomplishment speaks
for itself!
Nonetheless, now is the winter of our discontent (to quote another
famous figure.)
Does Dio’s story prove anything in terms of the injustice
visited upon J.C. Romero? No, not legally, and not that Judge Landis
would go along with, either. And it’s not likely to prove
to MLB or anyone else that said injustice was done in the first
place. All it does is illustrate how Dio daily trains J.C. during
the off-season. It’s not meant to convince anyone that J.C.
didn’t do anything wrong, or that he shouldn’t be suspended,
it’s just something that shows his devotion to his profession.
However, if you want my opinion, I think it illustrates that he’s
not the type of person who would knowingly take PEDs. This is about
J.C. Romero’s image, because he is very concerned about what
people think about him, especially kids. I told my two nine-year
old boys that he still can be a hero to them, and they in turn wrote
him notes saying they know he didn’t cheat. Sometimes, J.C.,
kids know more about justice and injustice than Commissioners.
-- John Shiffert
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