Sorry Sosa

What a low-class move by Sosa last night at home plate with the karate kick slide followed by the “my bad” apology before Rod Barajas pummeled him. There was nothing unintentional about that move, and if the Rangers are old school, and they are, Sosa needs to have one buzzed by his ear tonight. There is a good chance Barajas will need a trip to the DL, and Sosa needs to pay. That was weak.

By the way, the Rangers won, and GMJ is putting up AL Player of the Week numbers.

One more thing about Los Rangers, In Early June, we were discussing pitchers in the Rangers system, and who would be “untouchable” among the young arms. I made the controversial statement that Chris Young would not be untouchable, because A) he would have the most value (at the time he was among the league leaders in ERA) and B) I was concerned about his lack of pedigree, and wondered if this was a mirage. If you had to chose a young pitcher to use to get Roger Clemens here, I would recommend Young before the DVD boys. Many thought I was high, and screamed at me how wrong I was.

I sure hope I was wrong, but what you see now is not good.

The graphic that the TV guys used before last night’s game showed this:

Chris Young ERA
First 13 starts 2.78
Last 7 starts 7.83

In 5 starts in July, he has an ERA of 10.18 with 23 Earned Runs in 20.1 Innings. Now it is up to him to adjust to the adjustments AL hitters have obviously made against him.

Rogers begins suspension, Rangers play with 24 …

Rangers owner Tom Hicks said he planned to call Selig to once again pass along the Rangers' unhappiness at what Hicks deemed "unfair" treatment. Hicks was upset that the commissioner did not allow the Rangers' request to keep 25 players on the active roster in Rogers' absence.

"I'm not surprised by the decision not to reduce the suspension because Bud told me he wasn't going to reduce it," Hicks said. "What I'm disappointed about, though, is that we have to play short-handed. That's very unfair."

And for once, Me and Mr. Hicks agree on something…

Fraley with a quick take …

It's a second-guess, but Rogers and the Rangers would be better off today if he had never appealed Selig's decision. The suspension would have been served by now, and the club could not be in worse shape. The Rangers went 8-12 in the first 20 games after Selig's initial ruling.

Bob Gainey’s farewell gift to the Stars, Pierre Turgeon (above) is bought out …He will go down as one of the softest players ever to wear the star. He will also go down as one of the nicest humans ever to roll through town. Kinda like Shawn Bradley, I guess.

Why do we feel cheated by this guy? Production. Plain and simple. He tried hard, but he never produced here. In the 3 years BEFORE he came to Dallas, Pierre averaged 71 points per season. In the 3 seasons he was here, he dropped to 43.

2003-04 Dallas NHL 15 25 40
2002-03 Dallas NHL 12 30 42
2001-02 Dallas NHL 15 32 47

Say what you want about Guerin and his deal, but his production is almost exactly at the levels they were when he signed.

Only watch this if you enjoy incredibly juvenile humor Click Here if you do…and don’t complain about what you saw to me…

Once upon a time, on planet Bob …



How goalie pads used to look …

Coming soon: Arrested Development, Season 2 ...Excellent.

Javon Walker does report on time ...Not sure what to make of this...

Revo on the Ballpark …

In the four years before The Gold Club opened, 780 home runs were hit at The Ballpark in Arlington. In the past four seasons (2001-04), 936 homers have flown out of the park, a 20 percent spike.

From 1996-1999, 1,031 homers were bashed at the hitter's paradise known as Coors Field in Denver, 251 more than at The Ballpark during the same period of time.

But in the past four seasons, only 15 more homers were hit at Coors than in Arlington, and with 155 homers already hit at The Ballpark this season compared to 107 at Coors, The Ballpark has become baseball's most prolific launching pad.

Finally, here is Attorney Dan (not to be confused with Lt. Dan) to discuss corporate economics:

Bob,

I would’ve posted this on the Blog, but it’s long, so I thought if ya’ll deemed it worthy, you could put the stuff on that’s interesting. Dan, please give it a chance even though the minute you saw the length, you put your head on the desk for a nap.

With all this talk about Hicks, revenue, players and ticket prices, I thought it would be important to look at corporate accounting and how it really relates to Hicks. I do NOT work for, have never worked for Mr. Hicks and do NOT have financial information that would be considered confidential so a lot of this is extrapolation (guessing with part of the facts).

Most large companies, including professional franchises, diversify their revenue streams and expense streams in order to break even or take a loss every year. Corporate tax rates are ridiculous so it makes no sense to “turn a profit”. If you see that you’re going to make money in a year, increase expenses. If you see you’re going to lose too much money, transfer expenses. As you said, it is called creative accounting and believe me it is standard operating procedure.

What the average fan needs to know is that in order to dilute liability, transfer income and above all reduce taxes, it is smart to have a separate business entity (Corporation, L.L.C, Partnership) to:

Operate the front office
Operate travel
Operate parking
Operate concessions
Operate the stadium
Operate the actual team
Contract with media/TV
Contract with sponsors
Deal with government incentives (tax breaks, abatements, real estate interests around the stadium)
And more, but you get the point.

Until all of these things are put into one large financial statement, there is no telling how much Hicks is making or losing. God knows what his annual salary is. He could be paid $500K from each entity, show a loss for the year from the companies of $20 million and STILL make out with $15 or $20 million in personal income.

As I said before, I don’t know exactly what Hicks has to disclose and include on his financial statements that he turns into the league, but he should be aware that we’re not that stupid.

I’m sorry guys, but unlike the other two owners, Hick’s financial model is clearly all business. Winning is a pleasant surprise, but not expected.

Dan