It is the offseason for all but two Major League Baseball teams: the Phillies and the Rays. The rest of the bunch, which includes the $2.13 billion worth of New York baseball, are discussing trades, contracts, free agents and other personnel changes to make their team a contender next season.
How do the Mets and Yankees become World Series-caliber clubs?
The formula is different for every team. One might need an ace, while another needs a big left-handed bat in the lineup. One might need an “in-your-face” manager, while another needs a free-spending general manger.
One fact that remains a constant for teams in any sport is that selfish players do not help win championships.
Stats gauge a player’s individual performance, but they can’t measure the level of the player’s will to win. Self-serving athletes are the worst teammates because in inevitable situations when the team needs an individual sacrifice, they don’t do what it takes to win.
One player, no matter how talented, cannot win a championship by himself. Allen Iverson couldn’t do it, nor could Terrell Owens, nor Barry Bonds.
Sure, there are exceptions.
Kobe Bryant won championships in L.A., but that was when Shaq was playing center. He made the Lakers choose between him and the Big Aristotle, and ever since Kobe became the sole star on the Lakers, they have not won a championship.
Plaxico Burress is one of the most talented receivers in the NFL, and his play helped the Giants get to and win Super Bowl XLII. However, his constant friction with Head Coach Tom Coughlin and failure to attend team meetings cause distractions in the locker room and set a bad example for younger players who aspire to reach Plax’s star status.
When Manny Ramirez is on a team, they usually make it to the postseason – he has been to the playoffs ten times in his sixteen-year career. But when he has a problem off the field, he quits when he is on the field, and that led the Red Sox to trade him so that they could make the playoffs.
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Selfish players are usually more damaging to football teams, hockey teams and even basketball teams than they are to baseball teams. The natural rigidity of the game allows individual performances to add up to a “team effort” more so than in other team sports.
Thus, baseball is driven by statistics and records. Since players are compensated for their individual efforts rather than their team’s performance, the motivation to sacrifice personal stats for the good of the team is not there for all players. A player can make a lot more money by hitting 50 home runs than by winning a World Series.
Unfortunately, many of the most talented players in their respective leagues are also the most selfish. But as Richard Hoffer noted in a 1998 Sports Illustrated article, “there’s good selfish and there’s bad selfish.”
Good selfish is playing hurt, even if you might not be the best option on the field. Bad selfish is going for the RBI, rather than hitting behind the runner to move him over.
So who cares if Pete Rose changed his jersey nine times during his record-breaking game so that he could sell them, as long as he helped the team win? And who cares if Reggie Jackson fought with Billy Martin all season, as long as he crushed postseason home runs?
Stats are tangible, but do not tell the whole story about a player. Egotistical players have the potential to ruin a team, no matter how many home runs they hit, touchdowns they score, or three-pointers they drain.
Stephon Marbury is about as talented a guard as there is, but did he help the Knicks win any championships? No. Instead, he flew home when he learned he wasn’t starting.
John Abraham was the Jets’ franchise player, but did he lead Gang Green to a Super Bowl? No. He didn’t show up to training camp and refused to play in the playoffs because he didn’t want to risk re-injuring a sprained knee with his contract expiring.
Latrell Sprewell choked his coach, refused a three-year, $21 million contract from the Timberwolves, stating, “I have a family to feed,” and then went bankrupt. Did he win any championships? No.
Alex Rodriguez is arguably (it isn’t much of an argument) the best player in baseball, but he has been criticized for padding his stats when the game is already decided and for not performing well in the playoffs. He also left the All-Star game, which was held in his own stadium, to attend a party he was throwing. Oh yea, and he hasn’t won a World Series yet either.
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So for teams like the Mets, who narrowly missed the playoffs by suffering their second straight late-season collapse, and the Yankees, who have the highest payroll in the MLB, how do you take that next step toward becoming a contender?
Before sinking all of their money into Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixeira and C.C. Sabathia, the Mets and Yankees should take a gander at the character of the two teams who found their way to the 2008 World Series.
The Mets and Yankees were statistically on the same level, if not better, than the Phillies and Rays. Greg Dobbs was the only Phillies position player to bat over .300 in the regular season, and he barely did so. The Rays don’t have a single player with more than 20 at bats that hit .300. The Yankees hit just as many home runs as the Rays and the Mets scored equally as many runs as the Phillies. Mets starters recorded a 3.82 ERA as compared to the Phillies’ 4.30, but it was the Phillies’ relief pitching that dominated the Mets’. And though the Rays’ bullpen was superior to the Yankees’, it was Tampa’s starting rotation that outshined that of the Bronx Bombers, throwing seven complete games compared to the Yankees’ one.
Simply put, adding up the statistics doesn’t necessarily translate to wins and losses. The Rays and Phillies hit when they needed to hit, got solid pitching performances when they needed lights-out pitching, held leads late in games, and staged comebacks in dire situations. This speaks to the teams’ attitudes more than it does their talent.
“You don’t see a lot of guys that have statistical numbers play well in these championship series,” Manuel said in an October New York Times article. “What you see is usually the little second baseman or somebody like that carries off the M.V.P. trophy that nobody expected him to do. That’s because he’s comfortable in playing that form of baseball, so therefore when the stage comes, it’s not a struggle for him.”
This is not to say that the Mets and Yankees are all prima donnas while the Rays and Phillies are a bunch of Rudys, giving 110% every step of the way. But when Alex Rodriguez sulks in the dugout while having an 0-for-4 night rather than cheering his teammates on, or when Jose Reyes argues with Jerry Manuel and rips his jersey off while leaving the game, it brings the morale of the whole team down.
Players like Mark DeRosa, who selflessly plays all four infield positions and the corner outfield spots, and Sandy Alomar Jr., who in 2006 helped groom catchers Russell Martin and Dioner Navarro while they were his competition, are there to win.
So when Omar Minaya and Brian Cashman decide this offseason whom to pay millions of dollars, they need to look past the numbers on the stat sheets and explore players’ character. Sign athletes who want to win a World Series, and avoid those who are just looking to earn a bigger paycheck.
Selfish players are selfish because they focus on their individual performance instead of the outcome of the game. But that is the nature of the beast in Major League Baseball. If management is going to pay $40 million dollars for home runs, why even practice situational hitting?
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/how-much-is-your-team-worth-2008/
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