Oh, so much to talk about this week; I could write forever …
Let’s start with Mark McGwire, with whom in 1998 I spent a month on the road when I was at the AJC. I chronicled McGwire’s then-historic chase to pass the single-season home run record of Roger Maris. When I left the paper a few months later, they honored me by giving me blown-up front pages of my best stories and one of them was when McGwire passed Maris with home run No. 62. I had gotten to know McGwire in his days in Oakland and liked him, and even broke one of the baseball writer’s golden rules: asking a player for an autograph. Just a few hours after McGwire finished the season by hitting homers Nos. 69 and 70, I went back down to the clubhouse where he signed a ball for me, with the No. 70 on the sweet spot.
A few years later when the steroid issue blew up, I realized that McGwire was a fraud but didn’t quite understand to such lengths he would sink. He admitted he did steroids this week only because he had taken the hitting instructor job with his old team, the St. Louis Cardinals, and wanted to dispose of the distraction it would create every day if he didn’t finally come out and admit to it. Even worse is Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, who orchestrated the whole thing. Thankfully, McGwire will never get into the Hall of Fame and will go down as one of the sport’s biggest losers.
I remember one day years ago sitting in front of the locker of McGwire and then friend and teammate Jose Canseco when they were at Oakland and I was in Arizona covering spring training. I remember a shirtless Canseco turning to the young McGwire and saying, “Mark, you got to get that chest and those arms bigger. More home runs mean more dinero.” But for McGwire, all the money in the world won’t come close to buying back his dignity and reputation.
And speaking of dignity, anyone seen Tigers Woods lately?
Lane Kiffin … excuse me a second, it’s going to take a few minutes for me to stop laughing. So Kiffin quits Tennessee and is now the head coach at Southern Cal. I guess Barry Switzer didn’t answer his telephone. Look, like many, I wrote months ago this guy was a ticking time bomb but never did I think he would end up getting the top job at Southern Cal. Maybe we all can learn something from Kiffin. Lie, cheat, steal and act like an idiot, and you can still be successful. And how can USC, despite the fact that they are likely going on probation soon, hire him? But the damage left behind is astounding, especially the players that either were playing for him at Tennessee or he was in the process of recruiting. I really do wonder how the NCAA feels about this. Of course they are as transparent these days as Tiger Woods.
By the way, anyone seen Tiger Woods lately?
Poor Mark Richt, the Georgia coach, at the time of this edition’s printing, still couldn’t find a defensive coordinator. The only person that hasn’t turned him down is Lane Kiffin. Oh, wait, there’s some news coming out of Southern California … No, seriously, with all the hoopla Georgia’s recruiting classes have been getting over the last few years, it’s astonishing it is taking this long. I actually think Richt would be better off not trying to get an established name. Go and scout a few coaches from some of the better mid-major schools, young coaches with fire in their bellies who will work 18 hours a day, who someday want to be a head coach. Or, perhaps Tiger is looking for something to do.
Oh, and by the way, anyone seen Tiger Woods lately?
The best move of the week actually came up in Chicago where the Cubs hired Greg Maddux as their new assistant to the commissioner. Having covered Maddux here in Atlanta as the Braves beat writer, there was no one that new the game better than the future Hall of Famer and perhaps best pitcher of our time. Maddux is a thinker and certainly will help an organization that is not known to be very smart or savvy. I’ll end here with a quick Maddux story:
The Braves were playing the Mets, who had runners at second and third, and Maddux was on the mound with a pinch hitter on deck. Maddux was never big about intentionally walking hitters but out of the corner of his eye kept watching the pinch hitter take his practice swings in the on-deck circle. He noticed that the way the Mets player kept swinging that he was constantly looking for a ball off the plate, So Maddux walked the hitter at the player, then threw two breaking balls off the edge of the plate, which the pinch hitter fouled off. The next pitch he threw hard inside for a strike and the Mets player didn’t even bother swinging at. Maddux was known for this type of strategizing all the time, and if he takes it to the front office, the Cubs may finally have someone that can win that elusive world championship.
And by the way, Tiger Woods has been found. He, along with McGwire and Kiffin, were seen having dinner with former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and Mike Tyson at a White House function. I hear they slipped by security.
Rosenberg can be reached at 404-256-1572 and ijrosenberg@scoreatl.com. He can also be heard on Sunday on 790 The Zone from 1-4 p.m.
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