News and Notes 11/26/08

-> Breaking news:

Sometime after Thanksgiving, Scott Proctor will start throwing a baseball. Proctor, a Martin County native and pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is rehabbing from elbow surgery in October.

When reached for comment, Joe Torre said he planned to have Proctor cook for him on Thanksgiving and Christmas and throw 90 innings of a simulated game in his backyard before New Years. Thanks to BTF for the link.

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George Mitchell is patting himself on the back:

"The impression I get is that

had a significant impact of reducing usage, although that still remains very difficult to measure with any complete precision," the former Senate Majority Leader said Tuesday during a half-hour interview in his midtown Manhattan office.

Huh.  It's "very difficult" to measure how much steroid usage has been reduced in baseball, but you're pretty sure that your report had something to do with it.  If it's difficult to measure reduced usage, it must be

very

difficult to determine what caused the immeasurable. Thanks for chiming in, George. I'm probably being too harsh.  I'm sure the Mitchell Report had an impact on PED usage in baseball.  The threat of the report certainly must have had an impact.  The timing of the report's investigation, coinciding with increased testing and stiffer penalties certainly had impact.  Neither of those are attributable to the report itself. No, there is only one deterrent we can directly attribute to the Mitchell Report: anyone can be labeled a steroid user and dragged through the mud using circumstantial evidence and hearsay that would never hold water in a court of law.

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A couple of New York politicians want to change the name of Citi Field to Citi/Taxpayer Field.  That's what I want, a constant reminder every time I drive the Grand Central that my tax dollars went to give the Mets a new stadium.  No thanks. What kind of punsihment is that for Citibank?  The company name is still on the building.  Is there some kind of lesson that the multi-billion dollar bank is going to take home and ruminate over? I have a better idea.  The old stadium was called Shea.  The new stadium is called Citi.  Let's combine the two. I'll let you put that one together.

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Do the Marlins need a new stadium or a new city to play in?

The new ballpark will be located on the site of the now-demolished Orange Bowl near downtown. It's a major piece of a $3 billion public works package that includes a tunnel for the Port of Miami and a downtown trolley line. The Marlins say the ballpark will ensure higher revenue, allowing the team to spend more on players. The delay to a 2012 opening means player payroll -- perennially one of the lowest in the major leagues -- will be slower to increase, Samson said.

Payroll is the problem, right?  In September of 2003, with the Marlins in the wild card hunt, they were drawing between 25 - 33k for weekend games against NL East teams.  That's a decent number, but not what you would expect for a team that went on to win 91 games and the World Series. Would they have sold more tickets if they had some more high priced players?  Maybe a few but probably not enough to make a difference.  They would have sold more tickets if they were a football team. This whole exercise is a waste of money.  The Washington Nationals debuted a new stadium this year.  Max capacity?  41,888.  Their average attendance for 2008?  29,005, up from 24,217 in 2007.  Sure, that's a bit more revenue for the team.  But enough to bridge the gap in the NL East?  Doubtful.

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A charity no longer wants Roger Clemens to help them raise money. Well, duh. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.