FanHouse RobertoClemente

With the Steelers and Penguins reigning as champs of their respective sports, it's certainly a fun time to be a Pittsburgh sports fan. The trouble now, with the Penguins' season over and Steelers camp still a month away, is that the only game in town is the Pirates. That's fine for a baseball geek like me, but many more casual Pirate fans are trying to make this rebuilding club, barely hanging around .500, into something they're not.

All those fans had their fires stoked a bit this week when Beaver County Times columnist Bob Hertzel decided to compare Andrew McCutchen, the Bucs' exciting rookie, to the golden standard of Pittsburgh Pirates, Roberto Clemente. I shouldn't have to tell anyone why this comparison is both unfair and ridiculous, but I'm going to anyways.

One of the cooler aspects of the World Baseball Classic (at least, in my opinion) is that it's one of the rare times that national pride and baseball intersect. It doesn't happen in the Olympics and it's limited during the season, but during the WBC it's evident just how much baseball means in various countries around the world.

A nice example of this is how touched Carlos Delgado was when he was told he could wear Roberto Clemente's No. 21 for Puerto Rico for the WBC.

I don't understand why people are making such a big deal of Ozzie Guillen telling Joe Morgan that he thought Ivan Rodriguez and Roberto Alomar were the two best players to come out of Puerto Rico, and not Roberto Clemente, but for some reason it really seemed to strike a chord with a lot of different people. The story was covered all over the blogosphere, including here at FanHouse, and treated as though it was of some great importance.

It's not, it's just the opinion of one man. Sure, the man happens to be everybody's favorite insane Venezuelan, but it's still only an opinon. I mean, don't you get into arguments with your friends all the time about certain baseball players being better than others? Isn't that one of the great draws of baseball?

It seems I'm wrong, though, because most of Puerto Rico hates Guillen right now.

Guillen made that statement even though he has been a lifelong collector of Clemente memorabilia and gave his son Oney the middle name of Roberto, after Clemente.

''If Clemente had to squat behind that plate like Pudge does every day, he would have been out of the game in two years,'' Guillen said Monday. ''People just want to be politically correct because of the way Clemente's life ended [in a plane crash].''

You're doubtlessly aware of Joe Morgan's credentials as an annoyer of baseball fans from coast to coast. It comes with the territory of maintaining positions that are indefensible in the face of actual facts. It's also probably not much of a surprise to you that White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has the propensity to come unhinged from time to time.

Predictably, sparks flew when the two men met over the weekend in Detroit. Morgan took issue with Guillen's statement that Ivan Rodriguez and Roberto Alomar were the best players to come out of Puerto Rico. Morgan argued in favor of Roberto Clemente and off they went.

Morgan told Guillen he was "crazy,'' starting a series of "FU's'' from Guillen..."The problem is these old guys think that none of the players now are better than back then,'' Guillen said. He then sighted (sic) an example, bringing up how Babe Ruth was fat and out of shape, but yet was a dominant hitter and pitcher back in "the old days.'' "Babe Ruth couldn't even play now,'' Guillen insisted.

That sickening feeling rolling over your body is the realization that Joe Morgan is right. Clemente was a better player than either Pudge or Alomar and Guillen's entire rationale is skewed. You can't argue "back in my day" is wrong when the basis for your entire argument is that none of the players back then are as good as the players now.

(H/T With Leather)

Want further proof that the Gods of Baseball are big fans of irony? Today, Carl Crawford was named the Devil Rays' recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award, given to the player "who combines outstanding skills on the baseball field with devoted work in the community." Crawford was recognized for his work in spearheading the renovation of Little League fields across Florida and his support of youth teams in his native Texas.

Within the same 24-hour span, he was also suspended for two games by Major League Baseball in response to what were deemed "inappropriate actions" -- slamming his helmet and getting all up in an umpire's face -- during Monday's game against the Orioles after he as called out on a close play at first, a call replays showed was incorrect.

Crawford being Crawford, he took it all in stride.

"What I did was wrong, you should never get into it with an umpire like that or something bad is going to happen, like a suspension," Crawford said. "I can't really say if [the disciplinary action] was bad or not. I just hate that it had to come to that."

He also noted that this suspension represented the first time he'd been disciplined by MLB since a brawl in 2004.

"So I haven't been in trouble for what, four or five years?" Crawford said.

Spoken like a true humanitarian.

International Pastime will look at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

This news is, quite frankly, saddening. When I need my baseball fix in November and December, where will I turn? Unfortunately, it won't be to the Puerto Rican Winter Ball League -- their upcoming season has been canceled.

The Puerto Rican winter baseball league, where the likes of Roberto Clemente, Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez once starred, canceled its upcoming season Thursday because of financial problems.

The league was supposed to start its 70th season in three months. Instead, it suspended operations and planned to spend the next year trying to reorganize.
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Puerto Rico's league runs from October through January. This year's season was expected to feature Yadier Molina and his brother, Jose.

The league has a storied past, with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Reggie Jackson all playing in Puerto Rico.

Well, the bright side is that it's only one season and it has a chance to be back in '08-'09. I'm just wondering why none of the Puerto Rican players have stepped up to revive the league. Sigh. If only Juan-Gone had signed on the dotted line ... the league might have been able to live on.