Jim Thome is making about $15 million this year. Before agreeing to a trade with the Dodgers, he made them aware he hadn’t played 1st base in four years, and felt his body could not handle that. So the Dodgers are paying $2.5 for him to exclusively pinch hit in 31 games plus the playoffs. And if they make the World Series, he can DH in the American League park.
In 1969, Jim Bouton spent the last part of the season with the Houston Astros, who were fighting for the National League West Division title. This was actually the first year of division play, as each league had expanded to 12 teams (2 divisions of 6 teams) from 10. No wildcards, though. Anyway, Houston comes up a couple games short. Bouton, of course, wrote the fabulous book Ball Four about his time with the Seattle Pilots and the Astros during the 1969 season. If you haven’t read it, please do. It has won various literary awards for non-fiction and is on many ‘best American book’ lists. Bouton wondered aloud whether the Astros might have benefited from picking up the controversial Richie (Dick) Allen. This guy hit the ball as hard as anyone, and was still in his late 20s. He is Black, and had a few things to say about civil rights. I mean, it was the 60s. Other players said, no, he would hurt the team chemistry. Bouton thought a few well placed RBIs might have created plenty of team chemistry, and gotten them into the playoffs. And they probably could have had Richie Allen for a pittance for 2 months.
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I saw a graphic on ESPN that said the Dodgers are paying Thome $1 million for the month of September. My supposition is that the Dodgers got $1.5 million from the White Sox in the trade.
ReplyDeleteI'm watching Dick Allen on the Bob Costas show.
ReplyDeleteApparently, my hero Bill James called Allen, I'm paraphrasing here perhaps, 'the worst cancer in the clubhouse in the history of the game'.
My hero Jim Bouton said he wishes Allen had been on his 1969 Astros for a few swings. They might have made the playoffs. He may be on to something. Allen joined the Cardinals in 1970 and hit 34 HRs. In 1969 Joe Torre led the Cardinals with 18, and in 1968 Orlando Cepeda led the team with 16.
Go figure.
Those HR figures are mentioned by Bob Gibson in his new book with Reggie Jackson. Bob was delighted.
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