Best Damn Sports Show Period's Rob Dibble gives you his take on the latest news and newsmakers.

Role Models

Wednesday, Nov. 16
Today more than 25% of all the MLB Players are Latin American. This year three of the four major awards were won by Latin American players. The AL MVP was won by Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees, the AL CY Young Award was won by Bartolo Colon of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the NL MVP Award was won by Albert Pujols of the St Louis Cardinals.

I wanted to take a little time to talk about the players as people as opposed to them as players since it's so close to Thanksgiving. I guess I can start this by saying, during my first year in the minor leagues up in Eugene, Oregon, I lived above two players from the Dominican Republic.

As the season wore on I really got to know both of them. They ate hot dogs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What money they saved, they sent back to their families in their native land. Now being from a middle class family in Connecticut, I was really impressed.

As I rose to the Major Leagues I played Winter baseball in Puerto Rico a couple of times, and it made me really understand why these players had such devotion to their families ... I saw families living in shacks made of tin with no floors and the sides of the shacks didn't touch the ground.

I saw poverty at it's worst but I also saw many players who would do anything to give back to their families and towns because just being able to play baseball, they knew they had really been given a blessing.

We all know the story of Roberto Clemente; he died trying to help total strangers in Nicaragua who had been devastated by an earthquake ... His plane carrying much needed medical, food and clothing supplies crashed and his body was never found. So let's talk about this year's MVPs.

Alex Rodriguez, a 2-time Award winner, has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to many charities. Let's just tell you about a couple of them. He gave $750,000.00 to the Boys and Girls Clubs and the Dominican Republic Relief Effort.

He also spends much of his time helping the youth of this country to improve their mental health ...His wife Cynthia, who has a Masters degree in Psychology, also helps Alex in many charities and says, "It's a lifelong effort to help children improve their mental health".

Your NL MVP Albert Pujols is just as giving. He has the Pujols Family Foundation that donates money to three or four charities including one very close to his heart, the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St Louis.

It's very close to him because Albert and his wife Deidre have a 7-year-old daughter named Isabella who has Down Syndrome. And what has Albert said besides being so giving, "I hope in 5 years we are helping 15 or 20 charities like this".

These are just two Latin American players. How about this year's AL MVP runner-up David Ortiz and last year's AL MVP winner Vladimir Guerrero. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, they both donated $ 50,000 dollars to the relief effort.

When asked why, David responded, "When we were younger, Vlad and I remember when we were hit with a hurricane and America was so generous. It was just the right thing to do".

The world not just America needs role models like these. I hear all the time how greedy baseball players are. I just wanted you to know, that there are many players who give back, not because they have to, but because they want to.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Red Sox, Yanks should have stayed put

Monday, Oct. 10
Maybe the grass isn't always greener.

Have you ever heard that old saying? Well, maybe the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees should write it down somewhere to remind themselves in the off-season, that you should be happy with who's on your team, not whoever's on the free-agent market.

Just look at the case of the defending world champions: The Red Sox let Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe and Orlando Cabrera go in favor of David Wells, Matt Clement and Edgar Renteria. Pedro won 15 for the Mets, Derek won 12 for the Dodgers and Orlando made only seven errors in Los Angeles with the Angels and he's still playing in the playoffs.

Now Wells won 15 and Clement won 13, but Renteria committed 30 errors in his first season with the Sox. I think it's safe to say that the Red Sox didn't get past the division series this year because of Wells and Clement and had they had Martinez and Lowe, I think they would still be playing.

Now as for the Yankees, remember when you had Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte? I do. How about Jon Lieber? Clemens the past two years has been, well, Cy Young. Meanwhile, a now healthy Andy Pettitte won 17 games this year and was 11-2 after the All-Star break with a 1.69 ERA. As for that old guy Jon Lieber, you waited a year to get healthy, then you let him go as a free agent to the Phillies. He also won 17 games and was 4-1 in September and was the ace of the Phillies all year.

What I'm saying now, I said before the season started. You didn't know when Curt Schilling would be ready, but you would have known about Lowe and Pedro and how they pitch in the playoffs. As for the Yankees, just think of the headaches you would've stopped had you held onto your players and not wasted money on Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, and Randy Johnson.

Now the Yanks may still pull it out, but it will be because Brian Cashman bailed the Yanks out with Aaron Small, Chien-Ming Wang and Shawn Chacon.

The Yankees and Red Sox should stop trying to top each other and be happy with the players who brought you championships, not the ones who didn't.

Braves getting better and better

Monday, Sept. 26
Since John Schuerholz took over The Atlanta Braves in 1991, they have finished first every year. And this year will be no different.

They have a five-game lead with six to play. So let's just say they've got an excellent chance of winning their 14th straight division title.

Now people will say, but they only have one world championship and five pennants. Well, that's one more world championship and five more trips to the World Series than most teams, so just drop that crap right now.

What the Braves have done behind Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz is amazing, and while they have done this they have been as classy and creative as you can be.

This just may be their best year. When Raul Mondesi hit .211 through 41 games, he was sent packing. When Brian Jordan struggled or got hurt, Cox and Schuerholz went to work. They were able to bring in players like Jeff Francoeur, Ryan Langerhans, Kelly Johnson, Wilson Betemit, Brian McCann and Pete Orr. They also traded for players like Jorge Sosa, Todd Hollandsworth and Kyle Farnsworth.

This doesn't make them great on its own. But their ability to evaluate talent, put it together with the existing club, and their awesome minor league system, which they use to replace injured or old players ... that's what makes them great.

Then they give the players a place to thrive, and a chance to succeed. You know why you never hear players moan and complain after playing in Atlanta? Because Schuerholz, Cox and pitching coach Leo Mazzone have made Atlanta the closest thing to home as you can have in the major leagues.

As for winning in the postseason, John Smoltz said this a few years ago. "Once the regular season is over, it's up to the players to win a championship."

I agree with you totally John. To the Atlanta fans, please support your dynasty, they deserve it.

Watch Bonds now, while you can

Wednesday, Sept. 14

It's great to have Barry back, it really is. I liken it to when Babe Ruth played, or Joe DiMaggio or Willie Mays. You don't want to miss a second. It's like the stories I hear about people who grew up watching Mickey Mantle play, oh man, he was unbelievable.

Well I'm here to tell you, Barry is the same guy. How else can you explain, how after almost a year, Barry steps to the plate two games ago and hits like he's been doing it all year? I can't either.

What I saw him do when I played against him made me respect him; what I've seen him do since I retired has simply blown me away. We look at other athletes like Walter Payton and Jerry Rice and say, they played well into their 30s because of the work ethic off the field. I can tell you Barry works just as hard off the field as on, and has done so since joining the San Francisco Giants back in 1993. Gary Sheffield said a couple of years ago that he couldn't keep up with Bonds and his off-season workouts, and I played with Gary in Florida and I know how hard he works to stay in shape.

Barry made himself into a hitting machine by what he has done off the field. You may want to cut him some slack, because if you don't know greatness when you see it and you want to keep saying he cheated or something stupid like that ... well then, I can't help you. But if you are like me, and you know players do work hard and can make themselves better, then just enjoy his greatness and don't question things that don't matter.

And the past two nights I've been glued to the TV, waiting for every at-bat, because I know I won't see another player like him in my lifetime, and I don't want to miss my chance to see him play. You may want to do the same. Because 20 years down the road, you'll be saying, I could've seen the best ever, but I was just too stupid to do it.

Low scoring teams still in the race

Thursday, Sept. 8

How can teams that have so much trouble scoring runs still be in the playoff hunt? That's simple. It's pitching, my friend.

The Washington Nationals, Houston Astros and Florida Marlins all have the same problem, yet they are still in the wild-card hunt in the National League. ...

The Nationals are the worst offensive team in baseball, dead last, 30^th. They've only scored 542 runs this year. Yet because of their pitching, they still have a chance with 24 games remaining because they can get people out.

The Nats have one of the best bullpens in the game — 46 saves and 63 holds, led by Chad Cordero with 43 saves and a 1.30 ERA, Hector Carrasco (61 innings pitched and 43 hits), Gary Majewski (one HR in 71 innings pitched) and Luis Ayala (14 walks in 71 innings pitched).

The latter three guys all have ERAs in the low twos.

The Houston Astros have the best pitching staff in the game while boasting the 26^th-best offense in baseball.

Led by Hall of Famer Roger Clemens and his 1.57 ERA, Roy Oswalt and a healthy Andy Pettitte, these guys are great (61-46 as a rotation). Throw in a solid bullpen with Brad Lidge and his 35 saves in 38 chances, and that's why they lead the NL wild-card race. But the Florida Marlins are right on their heals.

The Marlins have the 19^th-best offense in the Majors, yet they have the sixth-best pitching staff in the NL.

Dontrelle Willis is having a Cy Young year, winning his 20^th game last night, along with Josh Beckett and AJ Burnett. This will be one tough rotation if they make the playoffs.

And one last note ... Marlins closer Todd Jones has been nothing less than amazing this year (35-37 in saves, a 1.15 ERA and 12 BB's in 63 innings pitched).

Are you kidding me? And he's only making $1.1 million? What a bargain!

So you see, it's not about $200 million offenses; it's about pitching and defense.

That's what gets you a ring.

Stick in there

Wednesday, Sept. 1

How are you feeling today?

Do you think your team let you down by not trading for that high priced help? If you are a White Sox fan, do you think getting Ken Griffey Jr. was going to guarantee you a championship? If you're an Angel fan, now that you didn't get Mike Sweeney are your playoff hopes shot?

Is the fact that the Baltimore Orioles couldn't land A.J. Burnett back in June the reason they have just imploded?

Don't be too sure.

Baseball is a very complicated, yet very simple sport, all at the same time. 15 years ago when I was a part of a World Championship team, we didn't get a big name guy at the trade deadline, in July or August, and I can honestly say we didn't need one, either. It may have done more harm than good.

You see, there is a very delicate balance in a major-league clubhouse, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that you trust each other and love each other. That started back in the minor leagues for some of us, back in spring training for others, but sometimes bringing in that NEW guy may just send you in the wrong direction.

Just look at the moves the Red Sox made last year. Before the 2004 season they picked up Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke, then later that season picked up a couple small, but important pickups like Dave Roberts, Orlando Cabrera, and Doug Mientkiewicz. All of which are great guys.

Not one of those new guys hurt the team and what they meant to each other and what they were trying to do.

It's a simple plan, but every team has a different way of looking at it. You have your own jokes, your own teammates who keep things loose, make things fun. Sometimes when you change just the smallest thing, the team goes down the drain.

So don't be so sad, the White Sox are still good, so are the Angels, and so are the other teams still in the playoff hunt. Trust me, I know. 15 years ago, even though we had been in first place the entire season, everybody (except us) said it couldn't be done.

But we did it.

White Sox better watch their backs

Tuesday, Aug. 23
Chicago has been a great story all year, only the season isn't over yet and the White Sox better start picking it up a notch or they might get caught from behind.

Who will catch them you ask? The Cleveland Indians, that's who. Since the All-Star break, the Indians have made up a lot of ground, going 22-15, but in August are 14-5 and are only eight games back with 37 to play. Included in this final stretch are six more with the Sox and the last three games of the season in Cleveland.

Yes, the White Sox have been great, but not since the break — they are only 18-17 and just 7-11 in August. And the Big 2 — Jon Garland and Mark Buehrle — are both 3-3 since the break and the 25-year-old Garland has been hit hard in August, going 1-3 with a 5.26 ERA while having the league hit .330 off of him.

Yes, it's a stretch to think that Indians can catch the White Sox, but when you look at an offense that has nine players in double figures in home runs, a starting rotation that has been awesome in August — C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee are a combined 6-0 — it's not out of the question.

When you start to break down the two bullpens, Cleveland's may be better, I know their numbers are — so make sure you finish what you start. The race is only three-quarters of the way over, so don't get caught looking over your shoulder.

This is going to be an amazing finish in the AL Central. Oh, and don't forget the Twins; they are 12-8 in August and always finish strong.

Doesn't Congress have better things to do?

Thursday, Aug. 11
When Congress wanted to hold hearings on steroids I was amazed. Don't we have bigger problems in this country?

I had just been to Iraq six months earlier and found out there is a giant war going on. And when I was a player with the Cincinnati Reds, my teammates and I helped raise money for the homeless.

Just examples of the far more pressing questions in this country than why does Rafael Palmeiro use steroids, or why did any of the eight out of the 1,200 major-league roster players get caught using a banned substance?

Let me get this straight, one more time, baseball is the root of all the problems in America?

If I take 1,200 policemen, 1,200 firemen, 1,200 doctors, 1,200 politicians and 1,200 airline pilots, how many of them do you think would test positive for a banned substance? Yeah you got it, more then baseball. So why is it when baseball has a problem it's more important to clean it up than the rest of the country? I can't figure that one out either.

I was driving into work today and heard this bleeding-heart writer on a radio show. He said, "If I ever have children, and maybe one is a boy, and 20 years from now, if we are at a ballgame, and someone hits a pitch out of the ballpark and he asks me who hit the most home runs ever? Well, if it's a steroid user, or a rumored user, how will I explain to him what has happened to our game? The cheaters have taken that away from us."

Are you freaking kidding me? I almost crashed my truck.

I am a father of two children and I do get asked way tougher questions everyday. Like "Dad, why is that man living on the street? Dad, why are all those men and woman dying in Iraq?"

I'm sorry I got political on you, but let's get serious. Baseball is a game, it's not a social issue. I played it, I should know. AIDS, cancer, war ... these are social issues, and of far greater importance than Major League Baseball.

Can we all just wake up, and stop crying about baseball and stop trying to fix the world through baseball? Enjoy the game, it's a distraction, it's entertainment. But I don't think it will cure cancer; I should know, my father died from cancer.

To me it's simple, let baseball clean up its own act or else. And let the government clean up the country.

New standard for Hall of Fame

Friday, Aug. 5
Now that Baseball has finally caught their "Big Fish" and other baseball players of the Steroid Era have admitted to using steroids, whether it be injecting it into their asses, or in their stomach, or rubbing it on injuries, thinking it was flaxseed oil and not the clear and the cream, the Hall of Fame voters should rethink their position on how players get into the Hall of Fame.

Forget the numbers, forget the 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. Forget the players who may have some kind of cloud of suspicion hanging over their heads. It's time to put worthy candidates into the Hall — players like Dale Murphy and Andre Dawson, Bert Blyleven and Jim Rice. Players like Gil Hodges and Ron Santo, who may have not have reached the 500 or 3000 mark, or set a record for something at their position.

The hall and baseball need to lower the bar so to speak and raise the level of excellence for players entering the Hall of Fame in the future. If MLB and the Players Union can't return the game to it's rightful place maybe the Hall can.

Somewhere along the road we lost our way, somewhere players thought they had to use other means as a way to be the best. Players should be put back on the right path. The path that was paved by hard work and dedication, not injection or swallowing a magic pill.

The game is bigger then a few bad apples, and should be a place of honor and sportsmanship, not deception and greed. If it takes setting a new standard for reaching the game's most hallowed place, so be it. Baseball should be looked up to, as a great game, not a job or a paycheck. We need to EVEN the playing field. Now! Before it's too late.

Palmeiro's credibility called in for questioning

Monday, Aug. 1
First, I'm physically sick and disgusted that this has happened. I've defended the players from Day One, and I feel embarrassed and cheated that Rafael Palmeiro has gotten caught using a banned substance.

The fact that he was so adamant in front of Congress that he never used steroids makes it even worse. Now he has the nerve to say he wasn't careful enough and didn't intentionally take them. Why do you need to be careful if you've never taken anything illegal?

I am sick that ANY player needs to cheat to play the game of baseball. Now the rest of the players and former players have to try and defend the sport because someone is so selfish and greedy.

I have a lot more feeling on this subject because anytime Palmeiro's name came up I was one of his biggest backers. I was always telling people, 'Look at this guy, he's got these great numbers and he's not as big as some of the other players, he's not a hulking guy.' What is really perplexing is that the players who have the most to lose and the least to gain should be the most careful.

If you really want forgiveness, don't stand behind the players' union — come out and be a man the way you were back in March.

One last thing: When Jose Canseco's book came out, Rafael Palmeiro was one of the only players who was going to sue Canseco over what was in the book. Now we know why he never did.

I and many other baseball fans feel very foolish today. To not be fighting mad that you came up positive... if it were my name, no union or lawyer could make me keep quiet about it.

Wild cards keep it interesting

Tuesday, July 26
With most teams having played around 100 games on their 162 game schedule, we still have about 16 or 17 teams that have a shot at the last two playoff spots. To me, That's AWESOME.

My last full season in the Majors was 1995, and I was more worried about what I was going to do at 32 then Commissioner Bud Selig's plan to bring back the fans and give hope to Major League teams that were out of the playoff race by August.

Now some 10 years later, I see that this may be the best thing Bud has ever done for the game. First, I think it makes teams like the Oakland Athletics and the Houston Astros play hard every game because even with their bad starts, they knew they were never really out of the playoff race.

How bad were their starts? Lets see ... The A's got off to a smoking 17-32 start, then found out the season had started without them and they have gone 37-13 since. Good enough to be leading the wild card race and only 5 games back of the division leading Angels in the AL West.

Now that's some great baseball. And how about those pesky Astros. Lets just say, injuries and a playoff hangover stood in their way, they started 19-32 and were thinking of trading Roger Clemens.

No, they wouldn't give up that easily, not the way they won the wild card in 2004. They have put up a 33-15 spot since the end of May and are three games back in the Wildcard race. But like I said, 16, maybe 17 or even a few more teams if they finish strong are still in the hunt for postseason play

What a game. Now I hope we never get to be like other sports where you have 16 teams in the playoffs, but what comissioner Bud Selig has done, has made the greatest game even better, and has made the longest professional season more competitive from start to finish.

Now, if we could only get rid of those interleague games and raise the mound back up to 15 inches. Ok, lets not get crazy ...

Getting Leiter a huge move

Tuesday, July 19
While other teams in the AL East sit and watch the transaction wire, the New York Yankees make moves and release dead weight in a New York minute.

Al Leiter is just the latest example. Whether it be getting rid of Steve Karsay, Mike Stanton or Paul Quantrill, or making a trade for Leiter, GM Brian Cashman will waste no time in changing the face of this $200 million team. Time is money, and wasting time is losing ground to the competition.

While the Orioles try to get A.J. Burnett, and the Red Sox trade for light-hitting Alex Cora and miss out on Bret Boone, Cashman picked up Leiter for a player to be named later and some cash. This may not sound like much now, but it's little moves you make like Theo Epstein did last year that can win you a championship. No one knows that better then the Yankees. It was the Dave Roberts stolen base in Game 4 of The ALCS that broke the Yanks' back last year. And it was Leiter who beat the Sox this past weekend to help the Bombers take three out of four in Boston.

You may ask, why Al Leiter? He's old and wasn't pitching worth a damn in Florida. But I say it's a great move.

Leiter started his career in New York when he was 21 back in 1987 and made 22 starts over two-plus seasons before going to Toronto. Then he pitched in New York with the Mets from 1998-2004, so he is well aware of the pressure and circumstance of being in a New York uniform. Plus, he's won world championships with Toronto and Florida and tried to get one with the Mets, so he's postseason ready for sure.

What I also like about the 39-year-old (we played together in Florida in 1996 when I was hurt all year, my last in the big leagues) is that this is a shot in the arm, a chance at one last shot at glory, and there are few players I respect more then Al. He's always prepared, always attacking the hitter with every pitch, and one of the proudest players I've been around, so if he doesn't have his stuff some nights, you can bet he'll try and beat you with his heart. He's a tough son of a b---- and there's no better player to have around when you need someone to lead.

One last thing, along with Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, and when Carl Pavano comes back, Leiter's addition will give the Yankees four pitchers in their rotation who have won championships. And I like those odds when the postseason starts.

World Baseball Classic

Thursday, July 14

Gary Sheffield is the first but he won't be the last to say that he won't risk his livelihood on early spring games.

The 16 team, 18 day World Baseball Classic is great in theory but will have many problems as MLB tries to make it work. Cuba has come out and said, that if this competition is a capitalization of baseball it will not participate. The Japanese Major Leagues has accepted, but their players association has not. Alex Rodriguez said he would love to play for the Dominican Republic, but minutes later was told by Commissioner Bud Selig, it's not his decision to make. These are just a few of the early problems getting these games off the ground.

The Major League Baseball Players association has said, they will require pitch counts. Here's my take.

Yes, I love the fact that baseball wants to go global, but no, the timing is terrible. Having a tournament in the middle of spring training is going to cause many players to decline and many teams to hold their breath while their players, which they pay millions of dollars to, participate in an event that holds NO rewards for them.

Just like winter baseball in many countries, once players have achieved some success in our Major Leagues, their teams ask them to stop playing, 1) because they don't want the player to risk injury and 2) teams want their players to have enough off-season as possible, and to save their best baseball for the MLB Championship Season.

These will be some of the major problems facing MLB as they ask players, 1) who are not in tip-top shape and 2) could be coming off season-ending surgery or some injury that hurt their production the year before. Listen, if I'm an owner, and I pay you to work and play for me, do I want you risking any type of injury that will hurt my teams chances that year? Also, do I want you wasting your pitches, or your energy on a tournament that gets me nothing in return?

And this might be the biggest reason — we are trying to get ready for a long, 185 day, 162 game season and possible playoff games. Some of our team is playing in this tournament, and some of us are playing spring training games, and all of us are not together for 18 days, and possibly longer depending on if you go to the final rounds?

Any activities, whether it be flag football or water skiing are written into players' contracts to protect them from harm. Why is it when it helps MLB it's OK for the same players to risk harm when they and the teams get nothing in return...

If I'm a player and or an owner, I say no thanks, if you won't stop the season for the Olympics, then don't stop spring training for The World Baseball Classic.

Jeter is deserving

Thursday, July 7

Baseball wants the All-Star game to have meaning? I don't get it.

If the game means so much, why are some of baseball's best players not in the game?

Derek Jeter just lost out on the internet vote to Scott Podsednik. That never should have happened. And Michael Young is more deserving than Jeter??? Don't make me laugh.

If I were starting a team right now, the first player I'd take would be Jeter. No one is more clutch in big games than him, no other shortstop in baseball has more championships, and no other shortstop has to play in a tougher media town.

You'll never find a better person to represent baseball than Derek Jeter. His numbers easily warrant him being in Detroit, and the fact that he had to be on the list of five players that had to beg for votes is a disgrace to the game.

First, the fact that home-field advantage is decided by this game is a joke.

Second, can you imagine an NBA All-Star game without Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson? Neither can I, and Jeter is the Jordan of baseball.

Third, if this game means so much to the outcome of the World Series, then put the best players out there on the field and forget the "player from every team" concept. Some teams don't have All-Stars, and fans don't want to see those players anyway, especially if they don't deserve it.

If you want to do that stupid internet vote, let the fans of those non-deserving players vote their player onto the team, that way, when some team doesn't have a player, only the fans are to blame. The All-Star game is a joke, especially when the best players are not going to be there.

Derek Jeter is better than the All-Star game. It makes me sick that he won't be there.

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