FanHouse Eddie Murray

There have been plenty of moments in baseball involving steroids that stand out in our memories, but one that's always stuck in the back of my mind was Rafael Palmeiro sitting in front of Congress back in March 2005. There he was wagging his finger at Congress and saying "I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that."

Then five months later Palmeiro was being suspended 10 games by Major League Baseball for failing a steroid test. Of course Palmeiro then began backtracking and saying that he'd never "knowingly" taken any steroids in his life, and he wasn't changing his story on Friday as he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

Last week, the Orioles celebrated the 25th anniversary of their 1983 World Series title. That was the last time the once-proud franchise won a championship, in case you were wondering, and it's been a decade since they were relevant.

Eight days later GM Andy MacPhail did nothing at the trade deadline despite his club's grim chances in 2008. Closer George Sherrill is still an Oriole. So is second baseman Brian Roberts, first baseman Aubrey Huff, outfielder Jay Payton and starting pitcher Daniel Cabrera.

To an outsider it might look like the latest gaffe from a front office that has been as hapless as they come since the days of the Clinton administration. But spend a few days with the team at Camden Yards and you get an entirely different vibe.

MacPhail has overhauled the organization in such a way that there's very real hope for the very near future. In perfect concert, manager Dave Trembley has changed the clubhouse culture, stressing things like accountability, respect and appreciation. It's enough to make you see the light at the end of the tunnel, if nothing else.

Whether or not he hits .400 this season, Chipper Jones's place in the history of baseball is pretty secure. He's been a MVP, the offensive leader of the winningest National League team of his era and a solid player at two different defensive positions. He may be the second-best switchhitter in baseball history, in fact, but he's not sure he ranks that low on the list.

"The one thing that I wanted to be, that (Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray) weren't was the all-around guy who hit for average, power, drove in runs, scored runs, was a tough out, on-base percentage, all those things. Not that they were any slouches, but from an average standpoint, Mickey hit .298. I don't know what Murray's average was (.287), but, you know, the one thing I can say is, from an average standpoint, 'I got 'em.' "

I'd rather have Jones than Murray, I'll give him that, but this is the first time anyone's ever said Mantle wasn't an all-around player. Sure, Jones's career average of .310 is better than Mantle's. Britney Spears sold more albums than Billie Holliday, doesn't make her a better singer.

What Jones, and USA Today, leaves out is that his average is 38 points higher than league average over his career. Mantle's is 42 points better. It's like inflation. Prices from the 1950's and 1960's are lower in actual numbers but similar in value, same thing with batting averages.

Back in the old days, you couldn't swing a dead cat at a baseball game without hitting a player who was rockin' some sweet facial hair. A few of those "retro" 'staches are still out there. But, man, did anybody match the face-fur magic of Eddie Murray? He had discovered "manscaping" by the time this commercial was made, but you can still see shades of what used to be.

While Alex Rodriguez's milestone homer is going to generate most of the buzz today, let us not forget Frank Thomas' accomplishment. The Big Hurt smashed two home runs against the Rangers today, putting him at 505 for his career. With the two dingers, Thomas passed Eddie Murray on the all-time list and now sits at No. 20.

Thomas took pride in passing Murray, his long time friend.

"He's one of my buddies, one of the greatest of all time," he said. "It's a good feeling, a real good feeling."

Right on Thomas' heels is Alex Rodriguez, who hit his 500th home run Saturday against the Kansas City Royals.

"I saw it," Thomas said of Rodriguez's historic shot. "I'm happy for him because it's been stressful for him. Now he's probably going to take off like the rest of his season has been."

Thomas hasn't had the best of seasons this year, but when you step back and realize only 19 guys in the history of baseball have hit more home runs than him -- it probably softens the blow of his disappointing season a bit.

Cheers, Frank.

And by firing Rettenmund who had been the team's hitting coach since June of '06, they became the third team in the weak-hitting NL West to fire a hitting coach. The Dodgers fired coach Eddie Murray and replaced him with Bill Mueller, and the D-Backs canned Kevin Seitzer about three weeks ago, replacing him with Rick Schu. So once again, I'll bring up my question -- how much responsibility for the lack of hitter's performance should be assumed by the hitting coach? Seems like it's just the easiest way for the teams to address their problem.

Here's the thing: going into the year, it was common knowledge that the Padres didn't have much offense. The fact that they're last in the majors in batting average shouldn't be much of a shock. The team would be hard-pressed to do worse than .244, making Wally Joyner's job seem somewhat easy. The firing was also good timing by the Padres; they did it the same day as the trade deadline, possibly hoping all the deals would overshadow the firing. That's not the feeling in the Padres clubhouse -- some of the players knew they could have saved Rettenmund's job had they performed better.

Previously at FanHouse:
Dodgers Can Hitting Coach Eddie Murray
Do Hitting Coaches Impact the Game?

I've always been part of the school that thinks baseball managers have little influence on the game -- certainly far less than football and basketball coaches to be sure. Through their bullpen maneuvering, they might influence the outcome of 10-15 games a year in my estimation, which is a far less percentage than the impact football and basketball coaches have. When all is said and done, it comes down to the performance of the players. So where am I going here? I want to know how much hitting coaches impact the teams they instruct.

Both the LA Times and Arizona Republic had notes detailing how much the offensive production of the Dodgers has improved ever since Eddie Murray was fired and replaced by Bill Mueller. From the Republic:

When Murray was fired June 13, the Dodgers were batting .261, were second-to-last in the majors with 0.67 home runs per game and were scoring just 4.4 runs per game.

Since Mueller took over, the Dodgers have raised their batting average 46 points to .307. They are scoring 5.8 runs per game and have increased their home run output to 1.1 per game.

So is there any rhyme or reason to the difference in production? Is it the influence of Mueller, or is it luck?

When you have expectations and they're not met, somebody's going to get the blame for it. For the Dodgers, they of 9th-best batting average in the National League, hitting coach Eddie Murray is the man taking the fall for poor offensive production.

The Dodgers fired Hall of Famer Eddie Murray as hitting coach Thursday after completing a three-game sweep of the NL East-leading New York Mets in which they got 31 hits and scored 18 runs.

Bill Mueller, hired as special assistant to general manager Ned Colletti during the offseason, will serve as interim hitting coach.

Colletti said the move had been considered for some time.

"We don't do anything here quick or without a lot of thought and a lot of compassion," he said during a telephone conference call. "We feel like there's a lot of the season left and the offense can be a lot better than it is. We decided to do it now."

With all the runs the Dodgers scored this week, the timing on this is pretty terrible. I mean, it's sort of like a clown making children laugh all day and crafting some amazing balloon animals only to be let go at the end of the party. You know, something like that.