Political Journalist - Giants Fan

That would be Steve Harmon; a gent I don't know and never heard of until a few days ago. He's self-admittedly been a fan since 1968. (ten fewer years than moi, so obviously I missed something along the way.)  Professionally he first covered the Giants for the local Vacaville paper and later, the Sacramento Union during the Roger Craig, Will Clark, and Big Daddy years of 1986-90.

He than moved on to political reporting where he is currently engaged by the Bay Area Newsgroup's Contra Costa Times as a political reporter covering the shenanigans of the pols in Sacramento. A job most would consider "challenging" I suspect. But as his blog profile states, writing professionally about politics gives him the opportunity to write about the San Francisco Giants as a fan. Which for other Giants fans, that is a plus. Its kind of like playing beer-league softball and having Mike Krukow in your dugout.
So what does that mean?  It means, you get the investigative instincts of a guy who is surrounded by silver-tongued devils always looking for an edge; the observational acumen of someone who has to see the forest through the trees, and the knowledge and experience of one who has followed the Giants for 43 years. All of that and the willingness and skill to write elegantly and informatively on any topic about one of the most interesting teams in professional sports. That is a rare combination and one that I appreciate, and I don't like the work of most blogs  and/or sports writers in general.
And it doesn't cost a cent. All you have to do is click on a link to Steve's blog or follow him on twitter at ssharmon.  Here's a small sample. Steve writes at length, but never wastes words or runs off the tracks.  And this is just a random snippet from some of his observations. This one on Pablo Sandoval. As insightful an observation as you will see from somebody who is looking at the same things you and I are, but with a perspective just not often found in today's news cycle.

"Just a thought on Pablo Sandoval, who extended his hitting streak to 22 (if you want to count the All-Star game, it's 23). Forget what Tim McCarver said in the All-Star game telecast (maybe the worst ever in the history of the game) about Sandoval getting as many hits on bad balls as good pitches. That was old Conventional Wisdom. Last year's news.

This year, and particularly the last 10 or 15 games, Sandoval has become as disciplined a hitter on the Giants. He has learned to lay off pitchers pitches, build the count to favor him. The irony is this: pitchers still try to get him to bite outside of the strike zone, and are falling behind in the count as a result. Hence, Sandoval is getting great count leverage, getting good pitches to hit on 2-0 or 3-1 counts."

And you know what? He's absolutely right. Sandoval is indeed a disciplined hitter. Disciplined meaning working the count in his favor by not chasing pitches he can't drive. And that is a pitcher's worst nightmare. A guy talented enough to drive pitches outside of the strikezone, but good enough to not chase pitches he can't drive.

Steve also pointed out that the Buck/McCarver crew completely looked like two big green chunks of stupid with their prejudicial take on Sandoval's hitting. And that was he laid off two really tough pitches before he raked that double over the fence. Nobody in media picked that up except Steve that I am aware of; and that was buried in the middle of the rest of his piece about Aubrey Huff, which should also pump up Giants fans in addition to his observations about Sandoval.

Steve is not only a fan and a believer, but he gives you good solid evidence to support his beliefs, as well as your own hopes. Being a fan requires some hope and faith of course. But like they say, faith can move mountains, but you better bring a shovel. Steve provides some pretty high-quality shovels.

Celebrating Bud and Derek - Well Maybe not.

Baseball news centers around the All Star Game this time every year, and every year there is some trivial or not-so-trivial event or non-event that becomes the center of media attention. This year it was Derek Jeter and "will he or won't he show up for the All Star Game" in view of his 3000-hit milestone.

To be honest, I'm glad he wasn't around. Fox Sports is insufferable, even when there really is something newsworthy. Like Bud Selig canceling the '94 World Series. Like Bud auditioning to be a "Cops" mobile-home park resident when Bonds tied Hank Aaron's HR record.  Its hard enough to witness real events when Fox has the broadcast rights; but its their breathless productions of non-events that leave most of America comatose. 

Provide Fox with a chance to overdo something like Derek Jeter actually showing up at the ASG and viewers would have been treated to a 3 hour reality show; "Stalking The Derek". Instead of interviewing Brian Wilson's face nest, Bud's network of choice would have enlightened us with Jeter's critique of the All Star Game (which would not have been seen), his reaction to being proclaimed the most interesting man in the world and when American voters could expect Sir Derek's decision whether or not to accept the 2012 presidential nominations of both parties.

Thankfully, Jeter has been to many All Star Games before; as a player and as Mike Lupica's personal totem pole. Lucky for those who consider Jeter to be even more over-exposed than Oprah, Jerry Springer and Pee Wee Herman, that Jeter, was busy negotiating a deal with the Dos Equis El Jefes to be the new "Most interesting man in the world". Reports that  Jeter demanded that the beer be renamed "Tres thousand Equis" could not be confirmed

So Jeter couldn't be bothered showing up for the amusement of a few thousand Arizona piss-ants. Which was enough to set the chattering chipmunks off, wringing their hands "about the children" and  "what would Christy Mathewson have done?". Ad nauseum.

It does not matter beyond the 24-48 hour news cycle. There are dozens of ASG no-shows every year. And every year the media trots out the names of  Stan Musial, Joe Dimaggio, Willie Mays, Stu Miller, Clark Kent, Frodo and Luke Skywalker; proclaim them to be more respectful of fans than the dastardly, child-eating (insert name of no-show player) ingrate de jour. They wait the requisite 24-48 48 hours, then start up about Tiger Woods' mistress or Tom Brady's hair, or Serena Williams thighs or whatever IQ-robbing topic that rolls across the floor to attract their attention. The season starts again on Thursday and nobody will care about any of it, and Jeter knows that so he just keeps doing what he has always done; look out for Jeter's self-serving interests.

But I keep forgetting for some reason that the nose-picker in chief is still around for these events to award an ugly trophy designed by used car salesmen to the MVP of the most meaningless game of the season. And then the cameras pan onto Bud in one of those 33,000 gray suits he has been collecting since he bought his first Edsel, and I am reminded of why I look forward to the onset of blindness.

Frankly I think Bud has a product placement endorsement with competitors of the Men's Wearhouse to sport the most uninteresting gray suits in the world.  I can't think of any other reason to wear Ward Cleaver's hand-me-downs.

Unable to shut-up, the commish had to put out a statement to the media. Parts of which follow. The guy is a master. You have to admit.

"Let's put the Derek Jeter question to bed: "

To bed? WTF? Derek Jeter needed sleep; he overslept and missed his flight? Did  Bud read him a Winnie the pooh tale while he fluffed The Derek's pillow?"

"There isn't a player that I'm more proud of in the last 15 years than Derek Jeter" 

So much for Cal Ripkin, Tony Gwynn, Ken Griffey Jr and the other "isn't a player I could be more proud of" stiffs.

"He has played the game like it should be played. "

With a ball. A bat. A glove, cleats, cap, bases, foul lines, fences and a Bud Selig autograph.

"He's even been a better human being off the field as great as he is on the field."

So in addition to diving into the stands to catch a foul ball he dives out of windows to catch falling confetti.

"I know why Derek Jeter isn't here. I respect that. And I must tell you I think I would have made the same decision that Derek Jeter did."

So Bud endorses oversleeping, being put to bed, and having bedtime stories read to him.

I couldn't read anymore. And I refuse to link to it on ESPNs site. Nobody but nobody should be encouraged to read anything Selig says unless its a suicide note and he really means it and his will says all his suits have to be buried with him.

Gotta love the guy though for being an outstanding source of jaw-dropping amazement. Maybe he is  worth the $18 Million salary and $500,000 per year expense account.  But the more I think about it the more I think:

No. Dear God. No.  Please. No. No!. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Why No Negro League Uniforms in KC?

That's the question Joe Posnanski posed to the mutts that run the Royals organization in 2002. The response he got from a since departed marketing guy, was "we forgot". Yes. They forgot. And the KC Royals Marketing guy would not budge off that point. He refused to tear himself off the cross he volunteered to nail himself to for the Royals' ownership. The ownership that was too cheap to spend $6000.00 for commemorative uniforms to mark the annual Negro League game in Kansas City, the official home of the Negro Leagues. 

But you think that getting humiliated in print once would be enough. Apparently not.

Joe Posnanski writes here about it in a post entitled "Blunder From the Past"  and it begs the question on why stuff like this happens. And I have my own ideas on why idiocy reigns supreme at times like this.

Because Bud Selig allows it to happen.

It happens because guys like David Glass of the Royals, Lew Wolf of the A's, Peter Angelos of the Orioles, Fred Wilpon of the Mets, Jeff Loria (who has managed to trash two franchises), Robert Nutting of the Pirates and Team McCourt clowns own baseball teams that mean little more than their matching McMansions, McYachts, and McCountry club memberships. And I haven't even touched on Reinsdorf, Lerner in DC, or the Goldman Sachs cronies in Tampa, Sternberg and Silverman.

For the most part they have no first or even second-hand experience with the career path of most other employees. And it is that way because it has always been that way for spoiled children of privilege, and/or those fueled primarily by Gordon Gekko type greed. But mostly it is because they don't care.

They don't care because there are no consequences for not caring if there are no Negro League uniforms for what should be Kansas City's most important game. Apathy and greed and insulation from consequences is why Dodger Stadium is 2/3 empty every night and in last place. Its where fans get killed and maimed in their parking lots because the owners are skimping on security.  Its why the Pirates haven't had a winning year since Barry Bonds left almost 20 years ago. It is why the entire top of the Oakland Coliseum is covered with puke-green tarps. And it is why the Mets owners obsession for loan-sharking rates of investment returns put them in bed with Bernie Madoff. I guess you can never have too many $Millions.

Greed and Ego, and let the fans eat cake. You have things like this happen every year because the guys who are ultimately responsible, do not care if they offend the sensibilities of normal folks who have a sense of perspective and respect for traditions that actually do unite folks who have a history of not always getting along.

These guys don't care what Joe Posnanski thinks or writes. Though it may have happened, I have no recollection of any owner ever speaking out against the travesty that was Buck O'Neil's exclusion from the HOF while he was alive. They didn't care when the All-Star game was moronically called a tie and they proceeded to encourage Selig to make an ass of himself with the home-field-advantage-fairy tale.

These things happen because the people who could prevent them from happening couldn't be bothered less. Anway, I wrote something up a couple of days ago on Giants vs Dodgers ownerships, Burns vs McCourts

Underdog Flummoxes Joe

I recently talked to Joe. Joe is still celebrating the Giants World Championship. And Joe has been following the Giants like he always does. But Joe is flummoxed. The season is more than half over, the Giants have booked 50 wins before the All-Star break, for the first time since 2003, and they don't have a single position player eligible for the All-Star game.

Baseball reference has this bar chart at the top of the Giants 2003 season's page. And every season for that matter. Every game is represented by either a green bar above the line which is a win, or a red bar which represents a loss. If there is a blank spot, there was no game*. The margin of victory or loss is represented by the height/depth of the bar. The longer the bar, the bigger the margin of victory or defeat. If you look across the 2003 season, you will see a bunch of tall green bars and a handful of long red bars. Mostly mountains, a few foothills, a few gullies with the occasional valley and one or two box canyons. If it were an EKG, you would think you were looking at a healthy normal heart.

Click forward to the 2011 season. The Giants have played 89 games and won 50. At the same point in 2003 they had won 55. But if you look at that bar chart for the current season, and visualize somebody's brainwave activity, you would swear it belonged to the winner of last year's Darwin Awards. If it were geography, you would be on the great plains of Middle America with little but the horizon and highway heat mirages in sight. Either that or the Giants appear to be playing 2 games per week. Its like the Rockie Mountains of 2003 vs the Salton Sea of 2011.

The equivalent  of eight seasons have passed between then and now. Or a little more than the length of a pretty good major league career. They won 100 games in 2003. Nobody is around from then except Sabean, Righetti, Gardy, Kruk, Kuip and Jon Miller. Everybody else from the Managing partner to the 40th guy on the roster is different. The Giants scored runs in 2003, but not what you would think. They scored 755, good for sixth place in the NL; the Braves scored 907 by comparison. The Giants were second in the NL in Runs Allowed with 638 trailing only the Los Angeles McCourts' 556. This year the Giants are 15th in runs scored and 3rd in runs allowed. And they lead the majors in walk-off wins with 11.

So Joe is faced with a conundrum (my "beat the word into the ground" of the week). Trying to understand how the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. Other than the pitching, this is a lineup pretty much filled with 0 to 2 tool players. A few guys can run some, throw a little, catch a little, hit a little less, and pretty much exhibit all the power of a rolling PG&E brown out. Best described as a lineup of unwatchables until the last couple of innings to see if they can scrap up some runs or hold onto a lead pieced together innings earlier.

Joe is faced with contradictions. A team that leads in walk-off victories yet has nobody with an OPS over 850

Joe  is faced with paradoxes.  A team whose two-time Cy Young winner (Tim Lincecum) is sporting a losing won loss record, yet gets selected for the All-Star team.  A team being managed by a guy (Bruce Bochy) who even after winning the world series and 50 games this season, still has a losing career won-loss record. Even after taking the Rangers down in in last year's World Series in 5 games, he still has a losing record.

Joe is faced with mysteries. A team whose other Cy Young winner (Barry Zito) has a high school fastball, since coming off the Disabled List, but throws zeros up on the scoreboard faster than you can run to a concession stand and fork over $384.00 for a burger and fries. A team whose emergency call-up from AAA after a 4 year absence from the Major Leagues (Ryan Vogelsong) is now going to the All Star Game and is in the company of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Tim Lincecum, Cole Hamels, in leading NL starters in most important pitching categories. A team on schedule to score fewer than 600 runs in a season and averaging less than 3 runs per game at home.

Joe is faced with explaining away adversity. Buster Posey, Freddie Sanchez and Brandon Belt..the best hitters arguably in a weak lineup out for weeks and months at a time because of injuries, and others Torres, Ross, Burrell, Huff, and Sandoval all spending time on the DL themselves.

Yet the team has its best All Star break record in almost eight years.

So what's the answer. I don't think there is one. I think what Joe is seeing here is something he normally doesn't see at the Major League Level where its the best in the world competing against each other where excellence, talent and good fortune combine to give you predictable results.  What Joe is seeing here is something that happens all the time in college ball, where you have the best of their level competing against each other, not the elite of the elite. You have the best college players competing against each other, and the game becomes more team oriented. And thats probably why the Giants are where they are now. They play team ball. Good starters. Good relievers. Unselfish at bats. Focused, if not spectacular defense and comfortable that the powers that be in their own organization have confidence in them. It allows them to play with more focus more often than not than their opponents.

And that's the best I can come up with.

Giant fans - Fortunate children

originally posted at wherehaveyougonejoe.com

The Commish finally pulled the plug on former friend Frank McCourt. This morning the Los Angeles Dodgers filed bankruptcy in Delaware. Besides being the first state in the union, and the home of former US Senator, Joe Biden, it's just as famous for being a destination state for folks who want to establish corporations with a minimum of government scrutiny and cost. Understandable. Most folks I know prefer fewer government fingers in their business pies, not more. And I'm sure its legitimate from a business standpoint. Its just one of those things that just doesn't seem to be right in this case. One of MLBs 6-8 centerpiece franchises the Los Angeles Dodgers turns out to be a Delaware Corporation. Not bad. Just strange. Which is what the Dodgers have become ever since Frank and Jamie McCourt rode into town in a highly leveraged limousine. 

Maybe if it were the Giants, it wouldn't seem unseemly. The  ownership of the Giants is famous for being fan and community friendly. Not just towards its fans, but everybody in the Bay Area. It is no accident. That precedent was established almost twenty years ago by Harlan and Sue Burns, the biggest financial stakeholders in the Giants when they bought out Bob Lurie in 1992.

There will be more gossip, hand-wringing and finger-wagging to come, as McCourt will seek to blame everybody and anybody but himself for the demise of his and his former wife's glass-jawed financial empire. There seems to be some sort of raw cosmic equilibrium in all of this; the Giants losing the Burns to early passing after heroic battles against a dread disease, and now some two years later, the Dodgers soon to be rid of their owners to all manner of unseemly behavior. 

Here is some of what I wrote about a year ago:

Sue Burns' battle with cancer was wearing her down at the end; too ill to come to the park that night.  She passed away on July 26, two weeks after Sanchez' no-hitter--barely enough time to say farewell to her legions of friends, family, and fellow Giants.

We don't often think of women when referring to teammates. But Sue Burns was truly a Giant. The ultimate team mom. Those who played little league right on up through college ball and the low minors all have numerous and great memories of "team moms."  The rides to and from practice and games. Win or lose, there was always a hug, a smile and a "you'll get 'em next time" from Team Mom.

Even in the low minors where young players are housed with willing families, it is the team mom who helps keep the homesick blues away from young players away from home for the first time and thrust into the cut-throat world of professional sports.  We simply do not hear enough about them.  Their stories are too droll by today's standards of slam-bam, 24-hour celebrity news cycles.  Sue Burns was the exception.  She was Barry Bonds best friend when he had no friends.  Thats what team moms do. They befriend the friendless, comfort the disturbed, and like the unlikable. Team Moms accept us for who we are. No matter what.

If ever a picture were worth a thousand words, this is it. The late Sue Burns, San Francisco Giants principal owner and team mom. Former school teacher. This is what was written about her by Jim Doyle,  at the Chronicles website the week of her passing into history: "Mrs. Burns shied away from Bay Area society circles.She talked plainly and dressed casually. She served on the board of the Sequoia Hospital Foundation, and donated to the charity's gala in 2007 a collection of signed baseballs. She was a board member of the Giants Community Fund. Following the tradition of her husband, Mrs. Burns co-hosted parties for the coaches and management staff in San Francisco and at spring training in Scottsdale."
And in the picture just to the right of her, is embattled billionaire owner Frank McCourt around the time he fired his wife--via text message. From ESPN in August 2010 on the verge of the McCourt divorce trial:

"Today, what began as boardroom and bedroom bickering has become tabloid fodder in LA. Details of their spat, once the domain of baseball blogs and Twitter feeds, now rival the latest nuttiness from Lindsay Lohan and Mel Gibson for splashy headlines in the Los Angeles Times. The McCourts came to Hollywood expecting star treatment. They just didn't expect to star in a reality show about their crumbling marriage. Once the divorce trial begins, on Aug. 30, sordid details of their troubles will likely be aired coast-to-coast." Frank McCourt litigated and leveraged a Boston parking lot into the Dodgers. Mainly by suing people: "To understand who Frank is you have to realize he's not a developer, he's a litigator," says a former business associate who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearful Frank might sue him."


I do not know if a bigger contrast in professional sports ownerships exists. Giants fans are fortunate. World Series Champs after 56 years of failure, Willie Mays 80th birthday party, AT&T Park, The Burns Legacy. Sue Burns. Fortunate children indeed.

Ryan Vogelsong - Lazarus Man and All Star

This is Ryan Vogelsong's rookie card. He was 22 years old. This is his 12th season since his debut with the Giants. It is his first All-Star team. He has put together a remarkable first half of the season, by anybody's standards. There is nothing in his career to indicate anything like this. If it was a long comeback from serious injury it would be understandable to a degree, though almost as unlikely.

But there really is no easy answer. I can't even come up with reasonable speculation. Its kind of like why did a tornado take out this block of houses, but left everything around it unscathed? Why do the stars come out at night? Why do fools fall in love? Hell if I know. And more than likely, neither do you.  My curiosity has limits. Baseball, like Life Insurance mortality tables can only give us general projections. Baseball cannot provide us with 100 percent certainty the outcome of a given pitch, a given at bat, a given appearance, start or season. It can only give us probabilities. No guarantees. No sure-things. Baseball is known for its gearhead use of statistics to predict failure, mediocrity, and success. Millions of fans spend hours arguing back and forth over these projections, and predictions based on prior results. 

But I defy anybody to have predicted this. Not even Lazarus man himself.  Probably the only three people that even half-way believed this would happen were Mr.and Mrs. Vogelsong and Song's mother; because moms always believe in the utter perfection and excellence that are their sons' endeavors in life.  Lets hear it for moms everywhere.

His 2011 stats are here; a quantification, if you will, of this inspiring story. His stats in context here:

The All Star Game is primarily a television event. Events are about stories and spectacles. And if Ryan Vogelsong isn't the best story in Major League Baseball this year, I don't know what is. Here's his current line after Wednesday afternoon's win over the Twins. He needs 6.1 innings his next start to have the minimum number of innings to be qualified as a leader. If these were Lincecum's or Cain's numbers, we would not at all be astonished. But these are not. They belong to Ryan Vogelsong who has risen from the dead like Lazarus.

Ryan Vogelsong	GP	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	WHIP	ERA
2011 Regular Season	13	11	1	1	72.2	60	16	15	4	19	57	5	1	1.09	1.86

And as of July 3, 2011 Ryan Vogelsong's line after today's game is 6 wins one loss and an era of 2.13 which places him in the top 3 in the National League among starting pitchers. A week from Tuesday, Lazarus Man, a minimum salary "wing and a prayer" spring training camp invitee, will be representing the World Series Champion Giants in Phoenix Arizona as a pitcher in the 2011 All Star team. And the CC Sabathia, of the New York Yankees, one of the highest paid and dominating pitchers in all of baseball and who makes in half a season more than what Song has earned in his entire career, is not.

There just isn't anything quite like Major League baseball that is so symbolic of the American Dream.

Remarkable.

Pete and Gordo

Original story here.
This is a picture of Gordon Smith. Below it is Pete Smith's baseball card with the Boston Red Sox. From 1964, a season he never pitched in. Pete Smith made his major league debut as the starting pitcher against the Detroit Tigers in front of 2734 fans in Tiger Stadium on September 13, 1962.  

Mgr. Pinky HIggin's Red Sox were in eighth place, 17.5 games behind the eventual pennant winning New York Yankees. Smith was matched up against the Tiger's future hall of fame pitcher, Jim Bunning.

Pete Smith gave up 3 home runs to 3 different Tigers before being pulled in the fourth inning.The three were not chumps: Al Kaline, Norm Cash, and Rocky Colavito. Smith's line for the 1962 season was 19 batters faced and era of 19.64. Not unusual for rookies. It was still a thrill

In 1963, after a pretty decent showing in the minors, Smith came back to the Red Sox to start a game on September 15, against the A's in Kansas City, in front of a little less than 7000 fans. He started, pitched 6 innings, gave up 3 earnies, no homeruns and was pinch hit for in the top of the seventh. It was what is by today's standards a quality start. It would be his last. He made 5 more relief appearances as the Red Sox played out the string of another dismal losing season finishing 28 games behind the Yankees again. But ever the silver lining in an otherwise dismal season his last game in the majors was in relief against the Los Angeles Angels. From Wikipedia:

"On September 28, 1963 at Fenway Park, Smith started a triple play against the Angels with the last ball he fielded in the majors. With Charlie Dees running on second base and Lee Thomas on first, Félix Torres tried to advance both runners with a bunt. Unfortunately for Torres, Smith fielded cleanly the ball and threw to 3B Frank Malzone, who tagged Dees out before throwing the ball to SS Eddie Bressoud, covering second to double out Thomas. Bressoud then threw to 2B Félix Mantilla, who covered first and completed the 1-5-6-4 triple play."

So Smith kicked around the Red Sox minor league system for a couple more years, before finally hanging it up after the 1965 season; done at the age of 25.

And this is where I lose track of Smith until he pops up on radar in 2007 as a volunteer coach at Sonoma State. Only this time going by  Gordon, not Pete. (I asked him once how that came about, he told me and I promptly forgot). Sonoma State like most successful college baseball programs relies on experienced volunteers to help out with any number of little chores that most folks don't think about. And finding guys who know what they're doing and are smart enough to know when to chirp-up and when to dummy up is harder than one might think. Charting opponents pitchers/hitters. Getting materials donated for field upkeep, equipment, even somebody to raise and lower the American Flag before and after games, which is what Gordon would like to do. This came after he personally rebuilt the foundation for the 30 foot pole with his own money, and with a little help from a couple of players in the off-season.

February and March are prime baseball months in college baseball; by the calendar it is still winter. Though Sonoma County's image is one of summery days of wineries and vineyards, it is often cold, damp and windy, in the first half of the season. And for a couple of seasons, while friends and family would collect outside the gates, huddled up against the dusk chill of late winter waiting for their players to exit, one could look out on the other side of the park and always see Gordon trudging down beneath the line of redwoods, out behind the left field fence to lower the flag, in his own private ceremony, and fold it into place, to await the next game.

Unlike far too many coaches who run college and high school programs, Sonoma State's Head Coach for the last 26 years, John Goelz, is not particularly overly impressed with himself. He has collected so many awards and honors that he can't even remember them, so its not for lack of accomplishment. Neither does he exude false modesty or project a public persona that is different than his private self. He does not embellish nor shade stories or events to solicit praise or recognition. He is exactly who appears to be in that moment; engaged 100 percent with the person or persons to whom he is talking. Whether it is a 6 year old kid with a whiffle bat, a Division I transfer, parent of a high schooler, or an 87 year old with a heart condition, John Goelz genuinely makes that person feel like he/she is the most important person in that room. 

Much has been written in the last 4 years about Goelz, due mainly to two Division II College World Series appearances. Bob Padecky (the same one who had the notorious run-in with Kenny Stabler's hometown friends 30 plus years ago in Alabama.) has covered Goelz on and off for a number of years and, like Joe Posnanski, never writes to embarrass his subjects, and has the graciousness borne of an earlier era to leave out irrelevant facts or innuendos if they are harmful. He writes mainly about local athletes and their environs as if they were real people, not cartoons nor fodder for the celebrity sniffers. One might think these are merely puff pieces, and only of interest to those who know Padecky's subjects, but they aren't. Padecky has a serious journalist background that goes back more than 30 years when he was a beat writer for the Sacramento Bee covering the Raiders, Giants, Superbowls, and World Series and right on up through his tenure with the NY Times owned Santa Rosa Press Democrat. He is a serious journalist and he writes serious pieces; he just doesn't feel a need to immerse himself and his subjects in the ooze of sports gossip.

I suppose I could give you my own version of the relationships or personal stories of Gordon and John, but there's enough self-serving scribbling going around these days, and Padecky does such a great job of painting a great picture of two of college baseball's greatest friends.  Padecky's article starts here:
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The Sonoma State baseball program received a staggering $1.3 million donation, and coach John Goelz is still getting his mind around that number and Gordon Smith's generosity, almost as if the news came out of nowhere. It didn't. He was told eight months ago. But it passed him by, like a jet. Didn't stick.

Last fall Smith, who had returned to SSU as a volunteer coach after a two-year absence, told Goelz he had cancer, it didn't look good and he would like to make a donation to the program before he died. What do you need, John?

Goelz said lights and a turf field would be great. How much would that cost, Smith asked? About $700,000 for the lights, about $600,000 for the field. Give or take.

“I have enough in savings for that,” Smith said simply, casually.

OK, Goelz said, and let it pass in one ear and out the other. After all, the largest donation Goelz had ever received in his 26 years at SSU was $10,000, courtesy of Chuck Collett and Ralph Emerson. So $1.3 million? Yeah, right. And why not build a dome while we're at it? For years Goelz had been asking the university for financial help to upgrade the facilities and after years of fund-raising he had accumulated only $137,000. Drawings were rendered. Plans were ready. And that's where it stayed. Seemingly forever......(continued)