Who is the Sportsman of the Year?

Thanks to the magic of the Internet, I had already known it for a few days. But, last night, I was in a Barnes & Noble store, and I saw the cover of Sports Illustrated, awarding the magazine's annual Sportsman of the Year to LeBron James of the defending World Champion Miami Heat -- and, this past summer, Olympic Gold Medalist.

Last night, in Miami, the Heat lost 97-95 to the Golden State Warriors, a team that has missed the Playoffs 5 years in a row, made the Playoffs once in the last 17 years, and hasn't even been to the Conference Finals since Gerald Ford was President.

The Dreaded SI Cover Jinx strikes again? Or just a coincdence? As Leroy Jethro Gibbs taught us on NCIS, "Rule Number 39: There is no such thing as coincidence."

(Of course, I'm guessing Gibbs doesn't believe in jinxes, either.)

LeBron, Athlete of the Year? An understandable pick. But "sportsman"? The big jerk doesn't know the meaning of the word. If he does, he's got a funny way of showing it.

(UPDATE: LeBron would eventually prove to me that he is no jerk. At the time, though, I wasn't willing to see it. Shortsightedness on my part, or had LeBron grown up? At this point, it doesn't matter.)

Dictionary.com defines "sportsman" as follows:

1. A man who engages in sports, especially in some open-air sport, as hunting, fishing, racing, etc.

2. A person who exhibits qualities especially esteemed in those who engage in sports, as fairness, courtesy, good temper, etc.

Based on those definitions, am I judging LeBron too harshly?

He does engage in a sport. Basketball, unlike golf, is a sport. Although the "hunting, fish, racing, etc." part of it harkens back to a time when there were no professional team sports as we now understand that phrase.

As late as its first decade, 1954-64, SI went out of its way to focus on such sports: Horse racing (no problem there), tennis (no problem there), golf (I don't like it, but I understand), fishing (I don't like it, but I understand), hunting (I despise it, but I understand), and even dog shows and professional cardplaying -- not like in today's professional poker, but contract bridge.

The man most often associated with that latter game, Charles Goren, was on the SI cover at least twice in that period. Dog shows and card games are certainly competitions, but they're not sports. Okay, when Oscar Madison played poker on The Odd Couple, it could get somewhat physical.  Other than that...

But based on the 2nd definition...

* Good temper? Actually, yes. I have never seen LeBron lose his temper on the basketball court. If he ever has, I've either never heard about it, or missed it.

* Fairness? Well, if you think about it, he did fulfill his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He wanted better players brought in, but he never demanded a trade from them. To the Cavs, he was fair. But to the Cavs' fans? Well, strictly speaking, he never had a contract with them. They certainly have the right to be mad at him, but does he really owe them anything more than he actually gave?

* Courtesy? This is where LeBron falls short. He had other options besides "taking my talents to South Beach." He could have stayed home in Cleveland. He could have gone to the great basketball city of New York. Or he could have gone to the great basketball city of Chicago. Considering how good both the Knicks and the Bulls are at the moment, he could have made all the difference those teams needed.

And when New York and Chicago love an athlete, that athlete stays loved. Even if they fall. After all, Joe Pepitone went to prison, and Lenny Dykstra is going there, but they're still loved in New York. But no, LeBron left for a ready-made team and good weather.

Winning a championship is never easy -- he found that out when the Dallas Mavericks beat the Heat, as the 2011 Heat did a great impersonation of the 2004 Lakers -- but the 2012 NBA Title was probably the most ready-made in the league's 65-year history. And it still felt like he was rubbing everyone else's noses in it.

I cannot see LeBron as Sportsman of the Year. Athlete of the Year, maybe. Sportsman of the Year, no.

So here are my 5 nominees, and my winner:

5. Urban Meyer. He left the University of Florida pretty much on top. Then he went to Ohio State when it was disgraced, and its loyal fans needed a lift. He gave them one. He (apparently) has obeyed the rules, and built an undefeated team that, if not for the transgressions of his predecessor Jim Tressel, would now be Big Ten Champions and preparing to play Notre Dame for the National Championship. But because of the NCAA's probation, they can't play to determine that they are, indeed, the best college football team in the country.

And you know what? Just like Terry Bowden, who led Auburn to an undefeated season in his first year after the scandal that forced Pat Dye to retire, he hasn't complained a lick. Compare him to men like Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino. And, if you want to throw in the collegiate form of another sport, Rick Pitino and John Calipari.

(UPDATE: Clearly, this was written before the 2018 abuse scandal at Ohio State.)

4. Usain Bolt. We can't know for sure that he is the fastest human who has ever lived. But as far as we can determine by timing, he is. And, except for being a Manchester United fan, he is, as far as I can determine, a man of sterling character, a credit to to his nation (Jamaica), his sport, and to any race, be it the 100-meter dash or the human race.

3. Michael Phelps. Sure, it seems greedy to want all those Gold Medals. But he challenged himself, and, yes, in some races he needed teammates, and challenged them, too, and they benefited. He's a great individual athlete and a great team athlete. He doesn't have a swelled head  He has a good sense of what he means to his sport.

And his one public misstep wasn't exactly committing a felony like what O.J. Simpson did and what Kobe Bryant was accused of, and it wasn't a blatant violation of the rules of his sport like what Pete Rose and the steroid users did, and it wasn't even a thoughtless (or even willful) humiliation of his family like what Tiger Woods did. Besides, there are now 2 States where it's legal.

(Man, if you had told me 20 years ago, or even 5, that, in 2012, gay marriage would be legal in more States than recreational marijuana use, I would've asked you what you were smoking.)

2. Eli Manning. The New York Giants quarterback didn't say he was the best quarterback -- even in his own family. He said he had joined "the elite" of quarterbacking. Then he proved his point. He showed the New England Patriots, for the 2nd time in 5 years, cheating doth never prosper for long.

While the groundsharing Jets don't know who their starting quarterback will be, or should be, Eli just does his job, quietly, and does it well, in the biggest sport in the country, in the biggest metropolitan area in the country. When he wins, he accepts it modestly and credits his teammates. When he loses, he takes it like a man, puts it in the past, and does his best the next week.

Of course, the Sportsman of the Year does not have to be a current athlete. My choice for 2012 isn't.

1. Bruce Bochy. Once upon a time, he was called "a good defensive catcher." Translation: He couldn't hit a beach ball with a telephone pole. He batted .239 with with 26 home runs and 93 RBIs. Curtis Granderson might call that "a typical season." Bochy calls it "my entire playing career" (1978 to 1987).

But, like a lot of mediocre athletes, his love for the game and his intelligence led him into coaching. All he's done is manage a team that had never won the World Series in over half a century in their current city to 2 in the last 3 seasons.

And this team, the San Francisco Giants, previously known for steroid cheat Barry Bonds, appears to have done so cleanly, and with a bunch of fun characters, who know what to take seriously, and what not to. Bochy has also been active in youth charities.  He's a great manager and a great guy, and hardly anybody knows it.

Youkilis, a Yankee? What Have We Done to Deserve This?

Warning: This post contains foul language.  If you can't handle it, don't read it.

Kevin Youkilis is a Yankee? Kevin FUCKING Youkilis?

What have we done to deserve this?

Little Bill (Gene Hackman): "I don't deserve this!"
Munny (Clint Eastwood): "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it!"
-- Unforgiven

If they give that bastard the Number 20 that he wore with The Scum, the Number 20 worn with such honor on the Yankees by Tiny Bonham, Spec Shea, Bucky Dent and Jorge Posada, I am going to have one hell of a conniption. (Tiny and Spec are dead, and won't care. I suspect Bucky won't care, and maybe Jorge won't -- but I'll bet Laura Posada will.)

(UPDATE: He got Number 36. So it was an insult to Johnny Mize and David Cone.)

Lisa Swan of Subway Squawkers spoke for many of us, explaining why this deal is so sickening: Not because of what Youkilis can do if he's healthy (a massive if), but because of his inability to stay healthy, and his attitude, and the price of that attitude, and what his signing means for the Big Pinstriped Picture:

Hey, kids. Brian Cashman made history Tuesday! Thanks to his idiotic signing of Kevin Youkilis, the Yankees will be paying more for the third baseman spot in 2013 than any other team has ever paid for any other position in history! That's right, folks. The Yanks will be spending a mind-boggling $40 million year for third base next year, more than the Miami Marlins will be spending for their entire franchise's payroll.

And what are the Yanks getting for their money? ... Replacing an aging, expensive, injury-riddled third baseman with a bad hip, with another aging, expensive, injury-riddled third baseman with a bad hip. Not to mention that whole Red Sox thing. Good grief.

Only the Yanks would get "younger" (Youk will be 34 in March) with a player who misses 40 to 60 games a year, and who has been on the DL pretty much every year of his career. Only the Yankees would replace an overpaid, frequently-injured third baseman with an even more brittle version. And give him $12 million (!) to do so.

Not to mention that Youkilis is a jerk, and even his fellow Red Sox players long ago grew tired of his hissy fits after every strikeout. (And before you bring up Paul O'Neill, he acted like a baby, too, but he helped the Yankees get four rings. Youk won't be getting his own Yankeeography any time soon.)

"That whole Red Sox thing" has been overcome before. Sparing you the details of pre-Steinbrenner-ban acquisitions like Babe Ruth, Red Ruffing and Sparky Lyle, we had to accept Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon.

Now, except for his fling with Margot Adams, Boggs is a decent guy. Damon turned out to be one, once we stopped seeing him through the Fenway prism. Clemens was always a jackass, but we decided to ignore that for a while. All 3 worked out well for us: Boggs and Damon each helped us win a World Series we really needed, 1996 and 2009, respectively; while Clemens was a part of the 1999 and 2000 World Champions (just sorta along for the ride on the former, a key cog on the latter).

It's not just that Youk was a Red Sock. Or that he was a member of the 2007 Red Sox, a more hateful bunch of Scum than even the 2004 variety. After all, the '07 team had Super Punk, Josh Beckett, and the insanely annoying Jonathan Papelbon, as well as Youk with his whinging and his wiggling his candy ass. The 2007 Red Sox were so offensive (and I don't mean with the bats) that they made the 1993 Philllies "Macho Row" bunch look like gentlemen.

And, yes, the Sox did get tired of Youk's act, just as they finally got tired of the acts of Beckett, Papelbum, Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and even "Manny Being Manny" Ramirez. (But not, as yet, John Lackey. Remember the Boston "Buffalo Heads"? I think Lackey may be the last of the "Fried Chicken Heads.")

And now this guy is a Yankee? Oy vey.

And if that were the worst of it, I would already agree with it 100 percent.  But, as Lisa continues: 

Yesterday, I heard over and over from Yankee fans trying to justify the trade about how this was the best Brian Cashman could do. What nonsense. I would have been happy with a rookie or role player who can play decent defense and can stay healthy. But the Yanks are more interested in big names for ratings on the YES Network than with having some nobody (the horror!) field the position. Of course, having somebody who could, you know, actually be a relevant player in 2013, not 2004, never figures into Cashman's equation. (Hey, Manny Ramirez is still out there; maybe Cash can sign him, too!) 

Don't give him any ideas, Lisa.

She concludes:

Brian (Fredo) Cashman will preen somewhere about what a great GM he is, putting this golden oldies team on the field. Good grief. I haven't had somebody join the team that I had such a visceral reaction to since Javy Vazquez Part Deux. This is worse. 

Guess what, folks? You can't count on the Yankees making the playoffs with this ancient crew just because they have in the past. Every single team in the AL East got better in the winter this year, except for the Yankees, who got worse (Rafael Soriano not being on this team will come back to bite them.) There's a reason my Sox fan friends are laughing over Youkilis being a Yankee -- they know what he is now. And the one-time .300+ hitter is not an All-Star third baseman anymore. He's slightly more relevant than Derek Lowe, but that's about it. Good grief.

Now, I have to disagree with her. I was actually willing to give Home Run Javy a second chance. I was wrong. I don't want to give Youkilis even a first chance.

Look, there's something to be said for, "This guy has hurt us before, let's get him now. Even if he doesn't work out well for us, at least he won't be hurting us anymore." It has worked before.

In 1946, the Yankees wanted to trade Joe Gordon, a great 2nd baseman, to the Cleveland Indians, for a pitcher. Joe DiMaggio told them the pitcher to get was Allie Reynolds. Why? Not because Reynolds had a great fastball (although he did), but that DiMaggio had trouble hitting him.

Well, without Reynolds to hit against, DiMaggio won the MVP in '47, could have won it in '48, and missed the 1st half of '49 but came on like gangbusters in the 2nd half.  Without DiMaggio to pitch to, Reynolds helped the Yankees win the Series in '47, '49, '50 and '51 -- and, after DiMaggio's retirement, '52 and '53. Joe D said to get this guy, and he became the ace of a team that won 5 straight World Series. (Sadly, he simply doesn't quite have the career stats to get into the Hall of Fame.)

In 1998, the Yankees signed Chili Davis. He'd driven the Yankees crazy for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels (as that team was then known). He played the 1st 2 games of the season, then got hurt, and was out until August 17. At least he wasn't hurting us, right?

But when he did come back, he hit .291 the rest of the way. It didn't mean much, as the Yanks ran away with the title, although he hit .286 in both the ALCS and the World Series. In 1999, at age 39, he played a full season, and hit 25 doubles and 17 home runs, with 78 RBIs, helped the Yankees win another title, and retired. (Having hit 350 home runs, the 1st native of Jamaica to play in the major leagues is now the hitting instructor for the Oakland Athletics.)

And, of course, there were the acquisitions, for the 1993 season, of Boggs and Jimmy Key, who'd been a fantastic pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. Key went 186-117 in just 12 full seasons in the majors, and really doesn't get the credit he deserves. Boggs was a good addition to the team that built toward the title and got it in 1996; Key was, well, a key addition.

Look, if Youkilis can do well for the Yankees, I'll hold my nose until he proves himself as such, and then accept him as one of us. I did that for Clemens. I did that for ex-Mets Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, David Cone, and, uh, Joe Torre.

But I don't think he'll do well for us. This is a big name being signed by a GM working for an ownership that, unlike those from whom the club was inherited, seems to care about profits and publicity more than winning. And the new acquisition is frequently injured and viewed as "foreign." With the results... 

The Yankees are starting to act more and more like Arsenal -- which got knocked out of the League Cup last night. By Bradford City. That's a League Two team. That's the English soccer equivalent of the Florida State League.

Come to think of it, Cashman and the Arsenal board are also acting like Lou Lamoriello with the New Jersey Devils -- when the Devils play, that is. (Gary Bettman, end the lockout, you bloody cunt!)

It's bad enough to root for one team that plays like this. But the 3 teams about whom I care the most, all playing like that? That is unacceptable.

Youkilis... As they say where Arsenal are based, "Fucking hell!"

UPDATE: Youkilis played 28 games for the Yankees in 2013, batted .219 with 2 home runs and 8 RBIs, got hurt in June, and never played in the major leagues again. He retired with a .281 lifetime batting average and 150 home runs -- about half of which seemed to come against the Yankees. He was a massive waste of money and time for the Yankees, but he goes down in history as a Red Sox hero -- if any Red Sox player from the post-Boggs era can be called a "hero."

What Does It Take to Make Baseball's Playoffs?

A while ago, I decided to find out how many games it took to win Major League Baseball's Divisions. I looked at the average number of games won by the second-place teams, and added one, and got my answer.

For the American League East, that average was 92 wins. It was 92 when I took it back to 1996, the first season of the three-divisions-plus-one-wild-card setup (the first one not shortened by a strike, anyway), and it remained 92 when I took it back to 1969, the first season of any kind of divisional play. Therefore, in those years, it took 93 wins to win the AL East.  That that this total was the average of the teams that did win, but that 93 wins would be enough to win the Division.

I saw a blog that suggested that, given current rosters and statistical projections, the Yankees would win 85 games in 2013 -- not enough to win the AL East or either of the 2 AL Wild Cards.

So I looked it up, looking at both Leagues from the debut of the Wild Card onward, 1996 to 2012.

In the American League, the average is 90 wins exactly. Even though the Oakland Athletics finished 2nd in the AL West in 2002, with 102 wins, behind the Seattle Mariners' AL record 116 wins, the win total of the best team that did not qualify for either their Division title or the Wild Card was the 86 of the Minnesota Twins. 102 to 86 is a huge dropoff, although the Twins finished a much smaller 6 games behind the Cleveland Indians for the AL Central. The Indians won 91 and the A's won 102, yet the Tribe won their Division and the A's didn't win theirs.

In the National League, the average is nearly 90: 89.588 wins. So, round it up to 90.

Now, this doesn't mean that, if the Yankees win 90 games, and no more, that they will make the Playoffs. Only that they would be likely to do so. After all, my 93-win projection was not enough this time, as both the Wild Card teams, the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers, won 93, and neither won their Divisions: The Yankees won 95 and the A's won 94.

The Detroit Tigers won 88, but that was enough to win the AL Central. The NL Wild Cards were won by the Atlanta Braves, with 94, and the St. Louis Cardinals, with just 88.

Can the Yankees, as currently constituted, win 90 games? Possibly. Can they win 93? I don't know, I'm not optimistic about it.

We don't know who the starting catcher will be. Russell Martin has signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and general manager Brian Cashman didn't lift a finger to re-sign him. The remaining options are, for the moment, unappetizing.

We don't know how Alex Rodriguez is going to come back, and we don't know what the Yankees are going to do at 3rd base until he does. The thought of Kevin Youkilis as a Yankee makes my skin crawl. In the words of the immortal Abbott & Costello, "I don't know -- third base!"

We don't know how Mariano Rivera is going to come back. As good as he was before his injury, he's 43.

We don't know if Andy Pettitte has one more good year in him. As good as he was when healthy this past season, he'll turn 41 next season.

Too many question marks. I'm reminded of a sequence in a movie that premiered 20 years ago today, December 11, 1992, starring Manasquan High School Class of '54, Jack Nicholson, and Glen Ridge High School Class of '80, Tom Cruise:

Jessup: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I'm entitled!
Jessup: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth!
Jessup: YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

A Quick Weekend Wrapup

The Giants and Jets both won yesterday. The Jets went down to Jacksonville and beat the Jaguars, 17-10. The Jags needed it more than the Jets. The Jets are fighting to save a season -- probably a lost cause. But the Jags may be fighting to save the franchise, as, along with the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers, they are considered one of the teams least likely to stay put.

They are 2-11, and what a year to have the worst record in the NFL and thus the 1st overall pick in the next year's draft: The year a freshman wins the Heisman Trophy.

It was Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M. He's a redshirt freshman, so he's got 3 years of eligibility left, but can come out for the draft after 2 more years -- meaning he can enter the 2015 NFL Draft.

The Giants took advantage of the New Orleans Saints' disarray, caused by the bounty scandal in the off-season, including the yearlong suspension of head coach Sean Payton, and beat them 52-27 at the Meadowlands. This enabled them to keep pace in the NFC East, 1 game ahead of the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys, who both won yesterday.

The Cowboys are dealing with the death of Jerry Brown, in a car crash, driven by his best friend, Josh Brent, who has been charged with drunk driving. This is the 2nd week in a row that an NFL player has died in shocking fashion on the Saturday before a game, following the Kansas City Chiefs' Jovan Belcher killing his girlfriend and then himself.

The Redskins are dealing with something far less, a knee injury to sure Rookie of the Year quarterback Robert Griffin III. But he should be back next week.

And I notice the season finale has the Cowboys and Redskins, arch-rivals despite the massive distance between them (1,366 miles), playing each other in Landover. A Playoff berth, or even the NFC East if the Giants stumble, could be on the line.

Despite hanging 52 on the Aints, the Giants did not have the highest scoring total of the weekend. As the great former WCBS-Channel 2 sports anchor Warner Wolf would say, "If you had the Cardinals and 57 points... you lost!" The Seattle Seahawks obliterated Arizona, 58-0.

This was on a December 9, almost on the anniversary of the biggest NFL blowout ever: December 8, 1940, Chicago Bears over Washington Redskins, 73-0. And that was in an NFL Championship Game, against Slingin' Sammy Baugh's Redskins, in Washington, no less (at Griffith Stadium), so it wasn't against a bad team. In contrast, the Cardinals are .500 (6-6-1) and fading fast, a shell of the team that went to the Super Bowl not that long ago.

*

Baseball. Mark Reynolds signed with the Cleveland Indians. The good news for the Yankees is that this player, who hit them hard for the Baltimore Orioles in September and October, will no longer be on a team that they have to face 18 times a year, as Interleague Play usually cuts down the number of games the Yankees play against the AL Central teams; and that it makes it unlikely that the Indians will sign Kevin Youkilis, meaning the Yankees could sign the bald bastard with the wiggly ass to hold down 3rd base until Ow-Rod returns from his latest surgery.

The bad news is, there's no guarantee he'll become a Yankee, the Los Angeles Dodgers (with Magic Johnson's megabucks) are interested in him, and even if the Yankees do get him, it's Kevin Youkilis. I learned to like Roger Clemens (which makes me feel dirty just thinking about it), but I don't want Youk on my team! Some principles are more important than winning.

Sadly, for Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, money seems to be just such a principle for them.

Maybe they're adopted.

*

Basketball. The Knicks keep winning. The Nets have now lost 4 in a row, getting smacked by the Milwaukee Bucks in Brooklyn last night.

Hockey: The NHL has now canceled all games through December 30.

Time is running out to get a solution.

Memo to Gary Bettman: Nobody ever bought a ticket to see an owner.

What's that, you say? Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux are owners now? Well, to hell with them. They are traitors to the game that made the rich and famous.

We want our hockey back.

Who Belongs in Monument Park?

With the recent, and long-overdue, election of Yankee dynasty-founder Jacob Ruppert to the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is the natural tendency to think about who else belongs.

As a Yankee Fan, I have the tendency to think of who belongs in Monument Park.

At the new Monument Park at the new Yankee Stadium, there are the following Plaques and Monuments, in chronological order of their placement. All received Plaques, rather than Monuments, unless otherwise stated:

1. Miller Huggins, Monument 1932.
2. Jacob Ruppert, 1940.
3. Lou Gehrig, Monument 1941.
4. Babe Ruth, Monument 1949.
5. Ed Barrow, 1954.
6. Mickey Mantle, Plaque 1969, replaced with Monument 1996.
7. Joe DiMaggio, Plaque 1969, replaced with Monument 1999.
8. Joe McCarthy, 1976.
9. Casey Stengel, 1976.
10. Thurman Munson, 1980.
11. Elston Howard, 1984.
12. Roger Maris, 1984.
13. Phil Rizzuto, 1985.
14. Billy Martin, 1986.
15. Lefty Gomez, 1987.
16. Whitey Ford, 1987.
17. Bill Dickey, 1988.
18. Yogi Berra, 1988.
19. Allie Reynolds, 1989.
20. Don Mattingly, 1997.
21. Mel Allen, 1998.
22. Bob Sheppard, 2000.
23. Reggie Jackson, 2002.
24. Ron Guidry, 2003.
25. Red Ruffing, 2004.
26. George Steinbrenner, Monument 2010.

This does not count the Plaques honoring the Papal Masses delivered at the old Stadium, by Paul VI in 1965, John Paul II in 1979, and Benedict XVI in 2008. Nor does it count the 9/11 Monument dedicated in 2002. Nor does it include the 2 Plaques not in the Park, those for clubhouse manager Pete Sheehy and groundskeeper Jimmy Esposito, which are hung in the dugout.

*

What can we determine about these choices?

First, lets take Allen and Sheppard out of the mix, since they're neither uniformed personnel nor management. So that's 24 men.

16 are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. 7 are not: Munson, Howard, Martin, Reynolds, Mattingly, Guidry and Steinbrenner.

14 received their Plaques while they were still alive: DiMaggio, Mantle, McCarthy, Maris, Rizzuto, Martin, Gomez, Ford, Dickey, Berra, Reynolds, Mattingly, Jackson and Guidry.

17 were honored as players, although some may have contributed in other ways. 4 were honored as managers: Huggins, McCarthy, Stengel and Martin (who, while capable of big moments on the field, was not an especially good player). 2 were owners: Ruppert and Steinbrenner. 1 was an executive: Barrow. Although some (especially Rizzuto) were broadcasters, only Allen has been elected mainly as one, so, in spite of what we may think about him, I think we can rule out John Sterling as a candidate for the time being.

Of the 17 players, 3 were infielders: Gehrig, Rizzuto and Mattingly; 5 were outfielders: Ruth, DiMaggio, Mantle, Maris and Jackson; 4 were catchers: Dickey, Berra, Howard and Munson; and 5 were pitchers: Gomez, Ruffing, Reynolds, Ford and Guidry.

None were from the Pre-Ruth Era, 1903 to roughly 1919.

7 were from the Ruth-Gehrig Era, roughly 1920 to 1935: Huggins, Ruppert, Barrow, Ruth, Gehrig, Gomez, Ruffing. (Gehrig, Ruppert and Barrow continued into the next era. Dickey and McCarthy debuted in this one, but had their peak years in the next one.)

5 were from the DiMaggio Era, 1936 to 1951: McCarthy, DiMaggio, Dickey, Rizzuto and Reynolds (who straddled the era more than Rizzuto and Berra did).

6 had their main contributions in the Mantle Era, 1952 to 1964: Stengel, Mantle, Berra, Ford, Howard and Maris.

None were from the CBS Interregnum, 1965 to 1975.

6 are remembered from the George/Billy/Reggie Era, 1976 to 1990: Steinbrenner, Martin, Jackson, Munson, Guidry, Mattingly. (I'm counting the 1980s with the late 1970s since it was still an era of George and Billy.)

So far, none have been from the Torre/Girardi Era, 1991 onward.

The average gap between a player's last game and their granting of a Plaque is 21 years -- meaning that, given a Plaque in 2012, the mean year of a player's last game would have been 1989.

*

Looking at the back wall of Monument Park, where most of the Plaques are, there are 10 available spaces. Presuming that we want to fill all 10 spaces -- and that no potential candidates pull a "Pete Rose," or an "O.J. Simpson," and none others are perceived as having pulled a "Roger Clemens" -- who could it be?

We know that, for the moment, not all of the Monument Parkers are Hall-of-Famers. And not all Yankee Hall-of-Famers are, as yet, Monument Parkers: Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, Tony Lazzeri, Joe Gordon and Goose Gossage, all generally thought of as Yankee Hall-of-Famers, are not Parkers. Enos Slaughter, Catfish Hunter, Dave Winfield and Wade Boggs, Famers who made significant contributions to Yankee history, while usually more identified with other teams, are also not Parkers.

All Parkers have received YES Network Yankeeography episodes, except for Huggins, Ruppert, Barrow, McCarthy, Dickey, Reynolds, Allen, Sheppard and Ruffing. Taking out Allen and Sheppard, that leaves 7 men, the last of whom appeared in a Yankee uniform in 1954, Reynolds; and of those, only he appeared beyond 1946. This could be due to a comparative lack of film footage of these figures.

But Yankeeographies have been done of the following individuals who are not in Monument Park:

From the Mantle Era: Don Larsen.

Playing in the George/Billy/Reggie Era: Bobby Murcer, Sparky Lyle, Graig Nettles, George Steinbrenner, Lou Piniella, Catfish Hunter, Willie Randolph, Goose Gossage and Dave Winfield.

From the Jeter/Rivera Era: Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, David Cone, Joe Torre, Tino Martinez, Joe Girardi, David Wells, Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Hideki Matsui and Alex Rodriguez.

There is no 2nd baseman in the Park, no 3rd baseman, only 1 righthanded pitcher, and no relief pitcher. (UPDATE: Randolph became the 1st 2nd baseman, and Gossage the 1st righthanded pitcher and the 1st relief pitcher.)

Robinson Cano has now played 8 full seasons. Is it safe to say that he has become the greatest 2nd baseman in Yankee history? Gordon only had 7 seasons in a Yankee uniform. Lazzeri had 12.

Distance of time could be a factor, but Red Ruffing got a Plaque in 2004, 58 years after he threw his last pitch in Pinstripes. Still, there were some living fans who saw him pitch. (There still are.) It is unlikely that there are any fans old enough to remember Wee Willie Keeler as an active player, let alone as a Yankee (actually, in his case, a Highlander). And, in his case, he's better known for playing elsewhere: The original Baltimore Orioles of the National League, and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

And for all the spectacularity of Larsen's single-game achievement, it is just that, a single-game achievement. At least Roger Maris had 2 Most Valuable Player awards, not just the one amazing season of 61 in '61.

Let us presume that there will be no replacements of Plaques with Monuments for legends who will die in the intervening years. Yogi Berra is 87 and was hospitalized earlier this year. Hopefully, he'll still be around for a while. But look who's gotten the Monuments: Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle -- the Mount Rushmore of the Yankees. Huggins, the only Yankee manager ever to die in office. And Steinbrenner, who built 2 dynasties and the new Stadium. If McCarthy and Stengel only got Plaques, not Monuments, certainly Yogi won't get a Monument. Jeter? He's 38, so that's a question that, hopefully, won't have to be answered for a long, long time.

Let us also suppose that we can add 10 new Plaques, 1 every year. Based on length of service, quality of individual service, contributions to championships, and fan memory (i.e. how much he's loved by the fans), I think we can award Plaques to the following individuals, at the following times:

1. Bobby Murcer. Since the Yankees knew he was battling cancer, they should have given him his Plaque while he was still alive -- as they did with Roger Maris.

True, Murcer never played on a World Champion, but he did at least play on a Pennant winner, which is more than can be said for Don Mattingly. If Mattingly was honored for "carrying the Yankees through a dark era," why not honor the man who carried them through an even darker one?

Bobby was a member of the Yankee family for over 40 years, as a player and as a broadcaster, and he was admired by fans of all teams. That the old Stadium closed without him receiving his Plaque was a crime. Give his family his Plaque on Old-Timers' Day 2013. With the most right thing to do now impossible, this is the next-most-right thing to do.

2. Joe Torre. Most likely, the Yankee brass is waiting until he's elected to the Hall of Fame. He'll be eligible in 2014, and it's unlikely that any of the players from his era will get a Plaque before he does.

UPDATE: I was half-right. Torre got elected in 2014, and got his Plaque shortly thereafter. But Tino and Paulie got Plaques shortly before he did.

3. Andy Pettitte. I'd like to see him in the Hall of Fame, but I think the PED cloud will keep him out. So he might as well get his Plaque sooner (say, in 2015) rather than later, instead of waiting for him to get into Cooperstown.

UPDATE: Andy did, indeed, get his Plaque in 2015.

4. Dave Winfield. He did win a Pennant, unlike Mattingly. And he was one of the best all-around players of his generation. I don't know what anybody is waiting for. He's in the Hall of Fame. Whatever grudge The Boss still had against Dave died with him, and it's silly for Hank and Hal Steinbrenner to maintain it.

5. Paul O'Neill. The heart and soul of the Torre years, his Number 21 is already out of circulation, if not officially retired. He won't make the Hall of Fame, but he might as well get his Plaque anytime the Steinbrenner brothers are ready.

UPDATE: He got it in 2014.

6. Bernie Williams.  He won't make the Hall, either, but he was a wonderful player and a great guy who deserves his Plaque. At the rate I'm describing, he'd get it in 2018.

UPDATE: He got it in 2015.

7. Mariano Rivera. No way he plays beyond 2013 now. Given 5 full seasons, he'd be elected to the Hall of Fame in January 2019.

UPDATE: While he did get his Number 42 retired, as of August 2015 his Plaque has not yet been awarded. My guess is, they're waiting for him to be elected to the Hall.

8. Hideki Matsui. He's been released by the Tampa Bay Rays after batting .147 in 34 games. I think he's done. If so, having played 10 seasons in the North American major leagues, he'll be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2018.

Will he be elected, for his combined contributions (statistically and culturally) in Japan and North America? I hope so, but it won't be in his first year of eligibility. Ichiro Suzuki, who will play next season (though we don't yet know if it'll be as a Yankee), might beat him to it -- although he'll go in as a Seattle Mariner, and won't get a Monument Park Plaque.

9. Alex Rodriguez. At this point, I think sticking around just to get to a new all-time record of 763 home runs is pointless. I'm still going to include it on my "Days until" countdown, but that's just for show now. If A-Rod lasts beyond 2015, I'll be surprised. Will he be elected to the Hall of Fame? If so, a 2015 finale means he'd be eligible in 2021.

But it all depends on how forgiving the voters are. That he's not the prick that Clemens and Barry Bonds are, and that he was more honest about it than Mark McGwire and David Ortiz, should help, but will it? Regardless of whether he gets into the Hall, I seriously doubt that Hank and Hal will deny him his Plaque.

UPDATE: Given a 2nd suspension for PED use, his chances of getting into either the Hall of Fame or Monument Park seemed to be slim and none. But his 2015 comeback puts Monument Park, if not necessarily the Hall of Fame, back into play.

10. Derek Jeter. Jeter's current contract runs through the 2014 season. He'd be 40. Knowing him, he'd want one more deal, so I'm thinking he'll retire after 2016. Given 5 full seasons, he'd be elected to the Hall of Fame in January 2022.

UPDATE: Jeter retired in 2014. He got his Plaque and the retirement of his Number 2 in 2017. He will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2020.

The most obvious names not on this list, so far, are Jorge and Tino. Considering his longevity, Jorge is much more likely to get one first. I'd like to see Tino get one, but I'm not sure that he will.

UPDATE: Surprise! Tino was the 1st player from the Torre/Jeter/Rivera era to get a Plaque, in 2014. I did not see that coming. Jorge got one in 2015. So did earlier stars Mel Stottlemyre, Willie Randolph and Goose Gossage.

Why not Catfish Hunter or David Cone? There may still be a lot of people who think of them, first and foremost, as having been with other teams.

Why not Mike Musisna? He spent half his career elsewhere, and did not win a World Series.

Why not Goose Gossage? He only won the 1 title (and 1 other Pennant), and was a Yankee just 6 seasons. True, Reggie Jackson won 2 in just 5, but he was a marquee player in a way that no pitcher could ever be. I love the Goose, but unless we get a lot more room for Plaques in the Park, his is not soon in coming.

UPDATE: I was wrong again. The Goose got his Plaque in 2014.

And Cano may still be playing in 2022.

UPDATE: But it won't be for the Yankees, who didn't re-sign him after 2013.

There is, however, one more Plaque that I think should be given.

To Yankee Fans. There are teams that have "retired a uniform number" for their fans. Why not have a Plaque with a picture of several fans, showing a good ethnic mix, including kids?

After all, the honors that are already out there are for the fans as much as for the men to whom they are actually dedicated. How about a special Plaque -- or even an additional Monument -- to dedicate on April 18, 2023, the 100th Anniversary of the opening of the old Stadium? I can't think of a better time to do it.

Unless it's on the home opener next year, on April 1, 2013.

The Colonel's Promotion

Left to right: Babe Ruth, Jacob Ruppert, Bob Shawkey and Lou Gehrig.

How stupid is it that the man who built the 1st 2 Yankee Dynasties... who built the first Yankee Stadium... who built the greatest farm system baseball has ever produced... who brought Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio to the club... is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

It's not stupid anymore: Colonel Ruppert was finally elected yesterday.

Jacob Ruppert Jr. (no middle name) was born in Manhattan on August 5, 1867, in the aftermath of the American Civil War. He was the grandson of immigrants from Bavaria in what is now the southern part of Germany. (Germany wasn't unified until 1871.)

His father ran the Ruppert Brewery, and young Jake was no "heirhead": He worked 12 hours a day for $10 a week (about $260 in today's money), washing barrels. He rose to become vice president and general manager under his father. He served in the New York National Guard, and thus became an adviser to 2 Governors of New York, David B. Hill and Roswell P. Flower. So his rank of "Colonel" was not completely honorary.

Hill was Lieutenant Governor in 1884, and succeeded to the big chair when Grover Cleveland was elected President that year. Speaking of big chairs, he was the 1st Governor of any State to order a death penalty by electric chair. He also created the Adirondack Park forest preserve.

He was elected to the Senate, and opposed his former benefactor Cleveland, running against him for the 1892 Presidential nomination, and then blocking 2 of his judicial appointments through "Senatorial courtesy." When asked if he was still a Democrat after the Populist split of 1896, he said, "Yes, I am a Democrat still. Very still." About all that can be said of Flower is that he succeeded Hill and created the City of Niagara Falls.

In 1898, with the aid of the Democratic political machine of New York State, known as Tammany Hall, Ruppert was elected to Congress, defeating an incumbent Republican, in spite of Republican Theodore Roosevelt sweeping into office as Governor. He was re-elected in 1900, '02 and '04, and did not run again in '06. Like another Democratic businessman elected to Congress from New York in those days, William Randolph Hearst, he was something of a playboy with a spotty attendance record in Congress.

Ruppert always loved baseball, and had tried to buy the New York Giants from John T. Brush. When Brush died on November 26, 1912 -- the 100th Anniversary just passed -- the franchise passed to Brush's son-in-law, Harry Hempstead, but he wouldn't sell to Ruppert, either. The Chicago Cubs were for sale, but Ruppert decided that Chicago was too far from home.

In 1914, Ruppert decided to talk to the Giants' manager, the already-legendary John McGraw. McGraw, who also had an ownership stake in the Giants (rules now prohibit a manager from having one), said the club was still not for sale, but that the owners of the New York Yankees, Frank Farrell and Big Bill Devery, might be interested in selling.

Were they ever: After 12 seasons of no Pennants (they'd finished 2nd in 1904, '06 and '10, but more often than not were mediocre), they'd had enough of baseball, and had enough of each other.

Ruppert and a former Army engineer, with the aristocratic name of Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston, made the purchase in January 1915 for $480,000 -- about $11 million in today's money.

In 1917, the Yankees needed a new manager. With Huston back in the Army for World War I -- he entered with the rank of Captain and rose to that of Colonel, so that the owners were known as "The Colonels," but "Til" preferred his old nickname of "Cap" for Captain -- and thus unable to stick up for his drinking buddy, Brooklyn Dodger manager (and former McGraw flunky turned enemy) Wilbert Robinson, Ruppert asked American League President Ban Johnson for a suggestion.

Johnson suggested Miller Huggins, a lawyer who'd been a prototypical good-field-no-hit 2nd baseman and a decent manager with the St. Louis Cardinals, but now out of work.

Huston was not happy about it, and it was the beginning of the end of his friendship with Ruppert. In fact, it was Ruppert's unwillingness to fire Huggins that led Huston, in 1923, to sell Ruppert his shares in the club, just as it was opening the new stadium and heading for its first title. When Huston died in 1938, none of the current Yankees had even met him.

Ruppert was the original George Steinbrenner, a big blustery German -- and, unlike The Boss, The Colonel had an "old country" accent to match, even though both he and his father had been born in New York. He did everything big, and wanted what he wanted when he wanted it.

He had big money, and wasn't afraid to spend it, provided his big spending got big results. He rebuilt the Yankee pitching staff, bringing in All-Stars (or they would have been, had there been an All-Star Game in those days) Bob Shawkey, Carl Mays, Waite Hoyt, Bullet Joe Bush and Sad Sam Jones.

He took advantage of a close friendship with Harry Frazee. Frazee was a theatrical producer, and his production office was in the same Times Square building as the Yankees' offices. (In those days, teams rarely had their business office in their ballpark. Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics, with the "tower" at the entrance to Shibe Park, was an exception.) Frazee was also the owner of the Boston Red Sox, and whenever he wanted to sell a player, all he had to do was walk down the hall and tell Ruppert, "Jake, have I got a player for you!"

If you're even mildly familiar with the history of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, you know what happened, but you may not know how it happened. George Herman "Babe" Ruth, pitcher-turned-slugging outfielder, was behaving like a spoiled child and a greedy adult. And after Ruth helped the Sox win the World Series in 1915, '16 and '18 (they'd also won it in 1912, before Ruth got there), the 1919 season was a bad one for pretty much the entire Boston team except Ruth.

Frazee had little to lose by letting the Babe go, and a lot to lose by keeping him. If you're a Red Sox fan, you need to know that Frazee is not the villain of the story -- Ruth is. If you're an Arsenal fan, he was acting like a combination of Ashley Cole (but with women) and Emmanuel Adebayor. With the talent to match.

Frazee had to let him go, and, due to circumstances beyond his control, he could only make deals with 2 teams, the Yankees and the Chicago White Sox. A deal to trade Ruth to the White Sox for Shoeless Joe Jackson (whose swing was so good that Ruth, a fellow lefty, claimed to have copied it) fell through, and Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees for $125,000, the biggest sale price in baseball history to that point. (After which, Ruth stopped being a mixture of Cashley and Greedy-buy-whore, and became his sport's Pelé -- though with continued misbehavior.)

With Ruth hitting more, and longer, home runs than anyone had ever seen before, the Yankees began to outdraw their landlords, the Giants -- and it's worth noting that the Giants were still a contending team at the time. By this point, Harry Hempstead had sold the Giants and the Polo Grounds to Charles Stoneham, who said the Yankees were not welcome to stay beyond their lease, which ran out after the 1922 season.

That was fine with Col. Ruppert, who'd been trying to get a new ballpark built anyway. On April 18, 1923, the original Yankee Stadium opened, a crowd of around 62,000 came out (the official figure was 74,218, but that was goosed), Ruth hit The Stadium's 1st home run, and the Yankees beat the Red Sox, 4-1.

Legend has it that Ruppert redesigned the Yankee uniforms to have Pinstripes, so they would look slimming on Ruth. That's not true: Pinstripes first appeared on the team's uniform in 1912, before either man arrived, and Ruth wasn't always fat. In fact, he was in pretty good shape through most of the 1920s, his short-circuited 1925 season being an exception. It wasn't until the 1930s that he became the fat man that we think we remember.

Like Steinbrenner, Ruppert wanted it all, and he wanted it now. Unlike George, however, the Colonel knew enough to trust "my baseball people" to make things go right, and stay out of their way, and not openly blame them when things went wrong. He hired Huggins to manage, he hired Red Sox manager Ed Barrow as his business manager (or "general manager," as we would say from World War II onward), and he let Barrow hire George Weiss to run the farm system. Ruth and the other new acquisitions got him close to the Pennant in 1920, won it in '21 and '22, and took the club's 1st World Series win in 1923.

The Yankees finished a strong 2nd in 1924, but slipped in '25. This was a transition year, as Weiss' farm system (developed on the model set by Branch Rickey of the St. Louis Cardinals) began to bear fruit, most notably Lou Gehrig, who arrived in '25, and Tony Lazzeri, in '26. Three straight Pennants (1926-27-28) and back-to-back World Championships (the Yanks fell 1 run short in Game 7 of '26 of making it 3 straight) were the result.

Connie Mack built his Philadelphia Athletics back into a champion in 1929, and Huggins died late that season. After Shawkey managed the Yankees in a lackluster 1930 season, Barrow hired Joe McCarthy, who'd managed the Cubs to the 1929 National League Pennant, but had been fired after a downturn. Ruppert got a manager he liked as much as Huggins, and McCarthy would lead the Yankees to revenge over his ex-Cubs in 1932.

Ruppert also built the Yankee farm system, including the Newark Bears and the Kansas City Blues. And he built the stadiums they would use starting in the 1920s, each named Ruppert Stadium. The one in Kansas City would later be expanded into Municipal Stadium, home of the Athletics (1955-67), Royals (1969-72) and Chiefs (1963-71). In remembrance of their forebears' home, when the new Newark Bears were established in 1999, they named their mascot Ruppert.

Tough Pennant races left the Yankees behind in 1933, '34 and '35, but another transition was underway. In 1936, Joe DiMaggio arrived; in '37, Tommy Henrich, Charlie Keller and Joe Gordon. The Yankees began a string of 4 straight titles, from 1936 to '39.

Ruppert would not live to see it completed. He died on January 13, 1939, after suffering from phlebitis for a year. He was 71 years old. He was buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York -- the same cemetery as Gehrig, Barrow and Frazee. Also Frazee's producer friend Florenz Ziegfeld; opera singers Robert Merrill (who often sang the National Anthem at Yankee games) and Beverly Sills, musicians Sergei Rachmaninoff and Tommy Dorsey (but not his brother Jimmy Dorsey), actor Danny Kaye, actress Anne Bancroft (presumably, her husband Mel Brooks will also be buried there), RCA boss and NBC founder David Sarnoff; Herbert Lehman, who was Governor of New York when Ruppert died; screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, and a far lesser writer (and human being), Ayn Rand.

Gate of Heaven Cemetery is right next-door, and contains the final remains of Ruth, and of Billy Martin.

On Opening Day, April 16, 1940, the Yankees dedicated a plaque in Ruppert's memory, which now stands in Monument Park at the new Yankee Stadium -- though no longer in the "imposing edifice" that he built.

In spite of 14 years of Prohibition, during which his brewery sold yeast and legal "near beer," Ruppert's fortunate was $40 million at the time of his death, about $656,000 in today's money. He never married any of the women he pursued, and had no children, so the estate went to his brother George, a Yankee vice president.

George Ruppert essentially let GM Ed Barrow run the team. But George and his kids mismanaged the brewery, squandering the fortune. In 1946, they sold lock, stock, barrels and Yankees to mining heir Dan Topping, construction magnate Del Webb, and former Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Larry MacPhail, who would modernize the team and (after MacPhail's controversial departure after the 1947 World Series) lead it into its most glorious era.

Topping and Webb, having no desire to run a brewery, sold the beer operations, including the brands Ruppert and Knickerbocker, to Rheingold. Ads for Rheingold and Knickerbocker, as well as for Chesterfield cigarettes (with the legend "A hit! ABC: Always Buy Chesterfield") would be placed on the clubhouse behind center field at the Polo Grounds. And through the 1960s and '70s, Rheingold would sponsor Mets broadcasts on WOR-Channel 9.

Yesterday, Jacob Ruppert was finally elected to the Hall of Fame, 73 years after his death. Also elected were old-time umpire Hank O'Day and early professional catcher James "Deacon" White.

And Then There Are Bad Days

In October, the Yankees got swept in the American League Championship Series by the Detroit Tigers, 4 straight.  There was even a rain postponement mixed in, so it felt like we got swept in 5 straight.

On Thanksgiving, East Brunswick High School lost to its arch-rivals, Old Bridge, 34-0.

This past Thursday night, Rutgers choked away their right to claim the Big East title outright, getting only a rather dubious share of it.

And, this morning (this afternoon, local time), Arsenal played like crap for the better part of 86 minutes against Welsh side Swansea City, totally deserving to lose, until Swansea finally scored in the 87th.  And again in the 91st (stoppage time), for a 2-0, as the booed rained down from the seats at the Emirates Stadium.

These were bad games.

They were not bad days.

Even December 1, 1984, a date which lives in EB infamy, 28 years ago today, the day that EB's football team lost the Central Jersey Group IV Championship and an undefeated season when a receiver lost a pass that would have meant a two-point conversion and (probably, there was a minute and a half left on the clock) the title, in the sun -- that was a bad game.  It was not a bad day.

There are bad games, and then there are bad days. It is important to know the difference.

December 1, 2012 is a bad day.

Not for me, personally. Oh, sure, some things happened that I wish hadn't. Including that Arsenal loss. But I've had much worse days than this.

*

Before today, I had never heard of Jovan Belcher. Every so often, there is a case of someone where you never knew he was alive, until you knew he was dead. This is one of those cases.

A native of West Babylon, Long Island, he was a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs. He was 25 years old, and had started 10 of the Chiefs' 11 games so far this season, and had started some games last season, so he must have been doing something right on the field. He had a girlfriend and an infant daughter. Professionally and personally, things seemed to be looking up for him. There appeared to be no sign that he was unhappy.

This morning, he shot and killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, 22 -- in the presence of her mother. Then he drove to the Chiefs' practice facility at Arrowhead Stadium, and, in front of head coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli, whom he thanked for giving him a chance to play pro ball, he used his gun again, this time on himself.

Last I heard, there was no publicly-released explanation for either his homicide or his suicide.

(UPDATE: A medical examiner's report revealed that Belcher had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a.k.a. CTE, the brain damage caused by repeated head contact in football.)

The Chiefs have had a sad history. In 1963, running back Stone Johnson was killed when he broke his neck in a preseason game. He was only 23, and had yet to play a regular-season game in the NFL (or the AFL, in which the Chiefs were playing at the time).

In 1965, Mack Lee Hill, essentially drafted to fill the hole left by Johnson's death, died on the operating table during what should have been routine knee surgery. He was only 25.

In 1980, former All-Pro offensive tackle Jim Tyrer, going through business failures, did what Belcher did today: He shot and killed his wife, and then killed himself. He was 41.

In 1983, running back Joe Delaney, having played 2 All-Pro seasons, drowned in a failed attempt to save 2 drowning boys. He was 24.

And in 2000, Derrick Thomas, then one of the best linebackers in the game, crashed his car, was paralyzed, and died a few days later of a blood clot, at 33.

Now Jovan Belcher. I don't know what the Chiefs did to bring all this on, but it seems like the club is cursed. That they haven't won the Super Bowl in 42 seasons now, now seems totally unimportant.

*

As Bill Cosby taught us, "Don't ever say, 'It can't get any worse.' It can always get worse!"

(UPDATE: As Cosby himself later found out.)

Another prominent sports death is worse, although in this case, it was hardly a shock. Rick Majerus died at age 64, after years of battling heart trouble, probably brought on by his weight.

The Wisconsin native was head man at Milwaukee's Marquette University in the 1980s, spent a year as an assistant with his home-State Milwaukee Bucks, and moved on to the head coaching position at Indiana's Ball State University. In 1989, he led Ball State to both the regular-season and tournament championships of the Mid-American Conference -- what would be called "doing the double" if it were a soccer team.

That got him an immediate offer from the University of Utah, his most familiar position. He led them to 6 Western Athletic Conference Championships in 9 years between 1991 and 1999, and 3 wins in the WAC Tournament. In 1998, he got Utah all the way to the NCAA Tournament Final, losing to Kentucky, but winning fans over along the way with his tactics and his personality.

In 2004, a year after getting Utah its first title in the Mountain West Conference after leaving the WAC, he resigned, trying to get control of his health, and took a job as a college basketball analyst at ESPN.  But he was almost immediately hired to coach USC. He took the job, then, within days, at a tearful press conference, announced he wasn't taking it, because of his health. He later admitted that his elderly mother was opposed to him moving to Los Angeles. She died last year.

Majerus stayed at ESPN until 2007, when he was offered the post at Saint Louis University. He was doing well there, but resigned earlier this year as his health worsened again. He died this morning.

In 2000, with Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN, he wrote a memoir: My Life On a Napkin: Pillow Mints, Playground Dreams and Coaching the Runnin' Utes.

Rick Majerus will be missed. Jovan Belcher, since I didn't know about him before, I can't say I'll miss him, but the people who did know him are saying they will, and that they can't understand why he would have done what he did this morning.

"In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's futures, and we are all mortal."
-- John F. Kennedy