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In the end, the game comes down to one thing: man against man. May the best man win. ~ Sam Huff |
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Twenty Years of Preseason Drama
Jul 21, 2010 -- 12:03pmWhile what happens to Albert Haynesworth promises to provide plenty of training-camp drama, there always seems to be a summertime something when it comes to Washington D.C.'s favorite football team. In fact every year seems to bring some time of distraction. Here are the highlights from the last 20.
1990 - Coming off a second-straight season of missing the playoffs, rumors had begun that Coach Joe Gibbs would retire at the end of the season. Gibbs addressed the situation by saying he had been re-engergized by a family ski vacation and that, "They'll have to usher me out. I still feel good about what I'm doing." It didn't stop NBC's Will McDonough from reporting on the pregame show before the season opener that Gibbs was planning to quit. This time Gibbs gave it a more emphatic, "I plan to be here forever."
1991 - Mark Rypien was coming off his second full season as the starting quarterback and thought he had earned a contract extension with a sizable raise. The front office still had it's doubts about the former sixth-round draft pick and told him to prove his worth by playing out the last year of his deal. Since free agency had not yet entered the NFL, the Skins didn't fear losing him. In Ryp's "show me" season, he showed them a Super Bowl MVP.
1992 - Even with the incredible success of 1991, Rypien became a lengthy training-camp holdout. He even flirted with Bruce McNall's Toronto Argonauts in the CFL. He finally reached a deal, but showed up late and out of shape. After 28 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions in '91, Rypien's numbers dropped to 13 and 17 as the Redskins barely made the playoffs.
1993 - After the shocking retirement of Joe Gibbs in March, new coach Richie Petitbon promised, "business as usual." But it wasn't long before business started to get ugly. Art Monk skipped mini camp in a bitter contract dispute, before finally agreeing to a one-year deal. Wilbur Marshall, a thorn in Petitbon's side, was sent to Houston in a deal that was bungled by general manager Charley Casserly. After improperly agreeing to pay part of Marshall's salary, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue stepped in an penalized the Redskins in compensation. Instead of a first and fifth rounder, the compensation was lowered to third and fifth round picks. Things really began to unravel when star left tackle Jim Lachey tore his ACL in the first preseason game and was out for the year.
1994 - After an offseason house cleaning that included Petitbon and most of the veterans from the Super Bowl years, Norv Turner took over wearing two rings from his work as an offensive coordinator in Dallas. His first draft was what he hoped would be his new Troy Aikman, Heath Shuler. Slow on the uptake, the last thing Shuler could afford to do was to miss training camp. He did. After missing two weeks of camp, Shuler finally signed a $19.25 million dollar deal on August 2nd. It was the richest rookie contract in NFL history for a guy who turned out to be one of the biggest busts in league history.
1995 - Missing clutch field goals and extra points during the 3-13 rebuilding season of 1994, Chip Lomiller was on shaky ground heading into camp. He lasted until August 8th when Turner said, "I had as much patience as I could," and dumped Lomiller for former Dallas veteran Eddie Murray. First round pick Michael Westbrook didn't show up until a week later, ending his 26-day holdout to sign a 7-year, $18 million dollar deal.
1996 - Throwing for only 13 touchdowns and 19 interceptions in his first two years in the NFL, it was becoming clear that Shuler was a bust. However as a face saver for taking him with the third overall pick, Turner said there would be a quarterback competition in camp between Shuler and Gus Frerotte for the starting job. By watching them play in the first three presesason games, it was clear that there was no competition. Gus was clearly better and was named the starter on August 19th. Shuler would appear for only one more snap as a Redskin. He was booed as he took the field before fumbling a handoff on a reverse to Westbrook near the goal line.
1997 - This was the most dramatic off all Redskin preseasons. Owner Jack Kent Cooke had died in April and by late July, news broke that son John may not be able to keep the team due to the fact that most of his father's estate went to a charitable foundation. This was also the year that Westbrook attacked Stephen Davis with Channel 9 cameras rolling. Westbrook was fined, but not suspended. Turner called the incident, "unfortunate." Plus there was the stalemate with tackle Sean Gilbert, who said that "God" had told him to hold out for $5 million a year. Gilbert sat out the entire season.
1998 - Fractures in the relationship between Casserly and Turner were starting to show. Casserly said that he expected this to be a playoff team with the addition of NFC defensive player of the year Dana Stubblefield in free agency and "Big Daddy" Wilkinson by trade. Turner, even after barely missing the playoffs the previous two years, refused to be as bold. Frerotte, who had banged his head in to the wall and broken his hip late in the previous season, was starting to show he wasn't the answer. Gus was benched in the opener as the Skins lost their first seven. Cooke, trying to save his team, didn't want to deal with dumping Norv and watched him finish strong with wins in six of the last nine games.
1999 - The arrival of new owner Dan Snyder brought drama of its own with Snyder promising quote, "active control" and moving in to an office at Redskins Park. In late July, Casserly and Turner had reached the point where they couldn't be in the same room together and Casserly was shoved out the door. Vinny Cerrato is named Director of Player Personnel. Snyder also indicates that Turner will have to show him before determining his future beyond 1999.
2000 - The circus is in town. Snyder creates controversy by charging fans to attend training camp at Redskins Park. High-priced free agents Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders and Jeff George are seen as the trio who will push the Skins from defending NFC East champs to Super Bowl contenders. To add even more splash, Stephen Davis is signed to a $90 million dollar deal.
2001 - The summer of Marty. New Sheriff Marty Schottenheimer knows he needs to make changes. "Dannyworld" is a memory as Marty moves training camp back to Carlisle. Deion, who says he can't trust Marty as far as he can throw him, retires while managing to keep his $7.5 million dollar bonus. Darrell Green, feeling pressure from the new coach, announces he's retiring, but not before playing the full season.
2002 - Steve Spurrier arrives for his first day of training camp at Carlisle and asks the question, "Why are we here? I think we should be at Redskins Park." Spurrier also pleases veterans like Bruce Smith by holding easy practices with the explaination, "Soldiers don't train with live bullets." After going in to the final preseason game with Osaka star Danny Wuerffel as his starter, the Old Ball Coach announces after the game that he's decided to shuffle the deck and will start Shane Matthews in the opener.
2003 - Loaded up with free agents, several from the Jets, Spurrier begins his second and last Redskin training camp. He realizes that Patrick Ramsey is his best option at quarterback, but refuses to give up on the notion that his former Heisman-winner at Florida, Danny Wuerfful can make his "fun and gun" offense work. Snyder doesn't see it that way and takes the ball out of Spurrier's hand by releasing Wuerfful in the final cuts. Asked why he was left with only Ramsey and Rob Johnson as quarterbacks heading in to the season, Spurrier said he didn't have an answer.
2004 - Drama was pushed aside for a year as the days of wine and roses appeared to have returned. Joe Gibbs was back and all seemed right with the world. Even when tackle Jon Jansen tore his achillies in the preseason opener, there seemed to be little concern. Gibbs would get it done. The only drama question appeared to be, how long will it take to put another Lombardi trophy in the glass case at Redskins Park.
2005 - Safety Sean Taylor's season was in jeapordy. Charged by Miami police with aggrivated assualt with a firearm, Taylor was facing serious jail time. The case was settled in a plea deal after the season. Also, Patrick Ramsey, who Gibbs declared his new starter with three games to go in the '04 season was clearly being outplayed by Mark Brunell. At the first sign of trouble in the opener, Ramsey was sent back to the bench and Brunell was back.
2006 - Clinton Portis dislocates his shoulder in the first preaseason game making a tackle after an interception. He openly questions the coaching staff for even having him in the game for such a meaningless contest. Portis later declars himself out for the opener only to have that vetoed by Gibbs. His season ends early and the Skins finish 5-11.
2007 - Third string, but amazingly still on the roster, Mark Brunell is a Redskin. But the Jason Campbell era has finally begun. Gibbs had said he would stay, "as long as it takes," but at this point some were wondering if they even wanted him to stay. The regular season provided the ultimate drama with the murder of Taylor followed by the December spring to the playoffs with Todd Collins replacing the injured Campbell.
2008 - The Jim Zorn era begins with the new coach recognizing the teams' colors of maroon, black and - with the help of Snyder - yellow. Phillip Daniels tears his ACL on the first day of camp and Vinny Cerratto, now the Vice President of Football Operations and soon-to-be talk show host trades 2nd and 5th round picks to Miami for Jason Taylor.
2009 - Zorn, having lost six of his last eight games the year before, claims he's learned from his experience and is well prepared for his second season on the job. It soon becomes apparent that he isn't prepared, never was prepared and never will be. After the seventh game, he's replaced as a play caller by a former bingo caller from the senior citizens home and spends the next two and a half months as a lame duck.
2010 - Besides Haynesworth and the first camp under Mike Shananhan, who knows? But we do know, it will be something.
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He Got Game. Will He Keep it?
Jul 13, 2010 -- 11:15amNow that the LeBron-Wade-Bosh experiment is off an running in Miami, the number one question is: Can LeBron and/or Wade adjust his game to fit the talents of the other superstar? The number two question is: Has something like this ever happened before?
We'll have to wait and see on the first one. On the second one, there may be a more recent example, but the one that comes to mind is Earl Monroe moving from the Baltimore Bullets to the New York Knicks. He's got a ring, but we missed out on seeing the beauty of one of the prettiest games in NBA history in the second half of Earl "The Pearl" Monroe's career. He gave it up to fit in with the equally talented Walt Frazier.
Monroe has been the second pick of the 1967 draft by the Baltimore Bullets. A playground legend from the streets of Philadelphia, where his nickname was "Jesus", Monroe went on to star at Winston Salem State, averaging 41 points a game as a senior. He was an instant sensation, averaging 24 points a game over his first three years with a spin move that has never been duplicated. In 1968, the Bullets added Wes Unseld and became a contender. With the two stars plus Jack Marin, Gus Johnson and Kevin Loughery, the Bullets made the NBA finals in 1971 and were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks.
In the offseason, Monroe started making noise about his contract while threatening to jump to the Indiana Pacers of the ABA. When he stopped showing up for games early in the 71-72 season, the Bullets were forced to make a move. On November 10, 1971 the unthinkable happened. Monroe was shipped to the Knicks for journeymen Mike Riordan and Dave Stallworth and cash. Monroe and Frazier would form the best backcourt in the league, bar none.
Teaming that duo with the nucleus of the team that had won the NBA title two years earlier made the Knicks the prohibitive favorite, but they lost to the Lakers in the finals to give the great Jerry West his only championship. To be fair, that Lakers team was awesome. They won 33-straight regular season games and their total of 69 wins stood as the record until the Michael Jordan Bulls broke it in 1996.
Finally it all clicked during the 72-73 season and the Knicks beat the Lakers for the title in what would turn out to be Wilt Chamberlain's swan song. However, Monroe who had to change his number from 10 to 15 to accomodate Frazier, also had to change his numbers. Frazier scored 21 a game, while "The Pearl" played sidekick with 15.5 a game. He was finally an NBA champion, but he paid a price for it - a price that he said he regretted years later. Monroe to this day says leaving Baltimore was a mistake.
If you haven't seen the Spike Lee film, "He Got Game", there's a scene that says it all about Earl Monroe. Denzel Washington playing Jake Shuttlesworth, explains to his son played by Ray Allen, how he got the name, Jesus. He tells him it was Monroe's playground nickname that he carried with him to Winston Salem State and the Bullets. And before, as Denzel says, "they put shackles on his game with the New York Knicks." Before that, Monroe was, as Denzel says, "the truth."
Earl Monroe left the Bullets nearly 40 year ago. He got his ring in 1973 and the franchise got one five years later. But each was never the same again. We'll see what happens with LeBron and Wade.
George Steinbrenner
Stop for a second and think how many "headline" owners we've had over the years in sports. Back in the day, Connie Mack both owned and managed the Philadelphia Athletics. He did it for about 50 years. Here in this town, we had Jack Kent Cooke, who hoisted three Super Bowl trophies over a nine-year period. His personality was as big as his success level. But for the most part, the owner doesn't overshadow the team.
Not the case with George Steinbrenner, born appropriately, on the 4th of July. When Steinbrenner bought the Yankees from CBS in 1973 they were terrible. In fact CBS paid $13 million for the team, Steinbrenner paid $10 million. He declared he would be a "hands off" owner and soon proved to be anything but.
Within three years, free agency evolved and its meeting with Steinbrenner proved to be the perfect storm. Stars like Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson transformed not just the Yankees, but professional sports. He hired and fired Billy Martin five times. He gave Dave Winfield the biggest contract in professional sports history and then ripped him.
He was big, bold and perfect for the times. And perfect for the city of New York. Check where professional sports are today and where they were when "Big Stein" bought the Yankees and you'll see a world of difference. Rest in peace Boss
Staycation
Jul 07, 2010 -- 11:21am Think about it. Your biggest investment is your home. It not only takes up the bulk of your money, it takes the bulk of your time outside of work maintaining it. So why not take some time to enjoy it?
If you're like me, you leave home early in the morning for work and don't get home until dinner time. After you eat, you watch some television, head to bed and repeat the cycle the following day. When you do get time off from work, you drive or fly to some place to spend even more money doing things you wish you had more time to do at home - like reading a good book. Then you schlep back home, unpack and fall into bed exhausted with work waiting for you the next day. Oy.
This is why I am a leading proponent of the "staycation." Why this always draws snickers is beyond me. It has become over the years, my favorite week. I'm able to combine two of my favorite activities, reading and afternoon movie watching, with home projects I never seem to get to on the weekends. After a week away (or in this case - stay) I'm back at work, refreshed, relaxed, better entertained and well-read. And you can't put a price on peace of mind thanks to a clean garage, trimmed trees, power washed siding and a basement that's on it's way to being organized.
I finished two books, "The Richest Man in the World" about former Eagles owner Jerry Wolman and "Well Paid Slave" about Curt Flood who's bold move to challenge the reserve clause in baseball changed professional sports forever. And I read these books sitting on the patio I built during last year's staycation. Nice!
As for the movies, neither one will go down as a classic, but "Grownups" and "Cyrus" pretty much met my expectations. The Adam Sandler "Grownups" wound up being sort of a silly version of "The Big Chill". But it had enough laughs to make this middle-aged guy figure that his nine bucks and two-hour investment didn't go down the drain. As for "Cyrus", there have been enough television shows like "King of Queens" to make you believe that the hot babe could actually fall for the dumpy guy. So getting past John C Reily hooking up with Marisa Tomei wasn't all that difficult. And Jonah Hill (who will someday lose weight and lose his career) was actually believable as Tomei's son.
All in all, thanks in part to incredible weather, a pretty darn good week. Lying on the beach may be a great way for YOU to relax. I'll take my way and anxiously wait for the next one later this month.
LeBron
As I write this, the television in my office is tuned to ESPN non-stop hyping the one hour "The Decision" special for Thursday night. Although at this hour it appears that the decision has been made. Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade have reportedly agreed to play together in Miami and the speculation is LeBron will make it a threesome. Uggh!
Somewhere Curt Flood must be turning in his grave. Yes he was the one who made the first kick at the door of free agency, but if this scenario plays out, it will represent a mockery of what NBA officials had in mind when they became the first sports league to get a handle on modern professional sports. Remember the NBA was the first league to institute a salary cap nearly 30 years ago.
Apparently the new way to keep score these days is with a ring total. Michael Jordan has six, Kobe Bryant has five and this trio (if it happens) have one. So does that mean if they win the next five, will LeBron and Bosh have to go elsewhere to stay ahead of Wade who will always have that ring he won with Pat Riley as his coach. And speaking of Riley, bet the mortgage he'll be back to coach the Heat. That no doubt, is part of this deal.
The NBA has long been a players' league. It's about to become a league run by three players. Good luck.
He Stood Above the Crowd
Jun 21, 2010 -- 11:12amWith only two rounds, the NBA draft not only fits nicely in to a prime-time television window, each player taken has a realistic chance to make it. That wasn't always the case when the draft went 10 rounds or more. Ann Meyers was drafted by the Indiana Pacers, Landon Turner, who had been paralyzed in a car accident, was taken by the Celtics in a nice gesture by Red Auerbach. And the Kansas City Kings took 1976 olympic decathlete gold-medal winner Bruce Jenner in the 1977 draft even though he never played college basketball. He was though, after all, the best athlete available.
So when the San Diego Clippers took somebody named Manute Bol in the fifth round of the 1983 draft, many of us assumed that it was another late-round "ha ha" pick. We really got a good laugh when we found out that Bol was 7-foot-7, lived in the Sudan and hadn't touched a basketball until he was in his late teens.
Thing is, then Clippers' coach Jim Lynam wasn't joking around with the selection of Bol. Lynam, who I'd gotten to know a bit when he coached at American University, understood how a shot-blocker could change a game. Even if he could do little else, Bol had the chance to make every player thinking about coming in to the lane, to think twice.
Unfortunately for Lynam, the NBA ruled that Bol wasn't eligible for the draft. Looking back, it doesn't seem fair since Bill Willoughby and Darryl Dawkins had gone directly from high school to the NBA. But Bol stayed the course and went the college route. When he tried to enroll at Cleveland State, the school was sanctioned for giving him illegal financial support. Somehow Bol landed at the University of Bridgeport in the fall of 1984. Again the reaction was, "are you kidding me?" At less than 200 pounds, he looked like a human pipe cleaner.
Reporters from all over the country showed up expecting to write about a sideshow act, but facing centers at least a foot shorter, Bol was dominant. He could rebound and was in fact the kind of shot blocker Lynam imagined he could be. After one season, Bol signed with summer league pro team in Rhode Island. They wanted him as a drawing card. He wanted to show he could play against better competition.
Then Bullets general manager Bob Ferry was impressed enough to take Bol in the second round of the 1985 draft. This was smack in the middle of the Redskins glory run through the 80's, so the chance for the Bullets to grab some attention seemed worth the pick. But Ferry didn't make the pick for publicity sake, he thought Bol could be a difference-maker in the NBA.
I saw Bol in person for the first time in the fall of '85. The Bullets played a preseason game against the Dallas Mavericks at the Baltimore Civic Center. I'd only been out of Dallas for a couple of years, so I wanted to see the Mavericks play as much as I wanted to see the tribesman who had once killed a lion with a spear. I'll never forget the sight of Bol sitting on the bench. It reminded me of seeing a parent sitting on kindergarten class chair. His legs alone seemed to be seven feet long. And with stick-like arms, I thought he'd be broken in half by guys like Ewing and Kareem. Even Ralph Sampson, who's nickname was "Stick" looked brawny in comparison.
Yet like he did his entire life, Bol proved everybody wrong. As a rookie, playing only about 25 minutes a game, he led the league with 397 blocked shots, still the second highest total in NBA history. People gawked as he climbed in to a specially-made car that he had to drive from the back seat. It never bothered him. "Are you staring at me because I'm so good looking?," he liked to say. He lived in a world made for people nearly two feet shorter, but seemed completely comfortable.
Bol's stay here lasted only three seasons. Ferry may have gotten a bit carried away with the odd-sized players. Not long after teaming Bol with 5-foot-3 Mugsy Bogues for the tallest and shortest combo in NBA history, Ferry was fired for John Nash. And Bol was shipped off to Golden State in 1988. Finally in the early 90's, Lynam by now coaching the Philadelphia 76ers, got a chance to coach the man who might have been able to save his job with the Clippers. Bol not only was a contributor to a team that went to the Eastern Conference finals the year Michael Jordan won his first title, he struck up a great friendship with Charles Barkley. Both had a great sense of humor and made for a dynamic duo.
The post-NBA years were rough. He returned to the Sudan and tried aid his country donating ill-advised millions to the rebels. By 2001, all the money he'd made playing basketball was gone. His heart was in the right place, but probably didn't have the sophistication to pull off what he wanted to. Still, Bol pushed ahead and participated in celebrity boxing matches and appeared in stunts like "world's tallest jockey" and "world's tallest hockey player." Sadly the man who proved that he wasn't an NBA freak show, had to become one after his playing days were over. A near-fatal car accident in 2004 made his final years, painful. His death over the weekend at the age of 47, brought to an end one of the more incredible lives in the history of sports.
When one looks back on the life of 7-foot-7 Manute Bol, one sees a man who stood above the crowd - literally and figuratively.
What If?
Jun 15, 2010 -- 1:09pmNow that Stephen Strasburg has backed his debut with another stellar performance, we move another step closer to passing "flash in the pan" status. He appears to be the real deal. And it almost didn't happen.
If you read the Strasburg background stories (there have been many written with many more to come), you learn that he was a high school pitcher who didn't blossom until his senior year. San Diego State was one of a few schools to offer him a spot on the team. And he showed up overweight and homesick. In fact Strasburg considered dropping out of school to go to work in a K-Mart.
Like Larry Bird, who dropped out of Indiana to work on a garbage truck, Strasburg may have gotten another shot down the road as Bird did at Indiana State. But Bird had been a huge high school star in French Lick. Indiana State stayed hot on his tail because of it. Strasburg wasn't on the Bird-like radar.
I recently learned how close the great Sandy Koufax came to never getting a chance to pitch. I've always been fascinated by "what if?" stories and this one ranks right up there. My friend Burt Abramowitz, a local real estate agent, is always a go-to conversation stop at the gym where I see him most mornings. Burt played high school basketball with Koufax at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn in the early 1950's. We've talked over the years about Koufax and his stories always bring a smile. But this one floored me.
Burt had told me years ago that Koufax didn't pitch at Lafayette. He said the best pitcher on the team was Fred Wilpon, who now owns the New York Mets, and that Koufax played first base. I had assumed that Koufax was the second best pitcher and appeared when Wilpon couldn't. Not the case.
It turns out that Koufax was so wild, they wouldn't let him take the mound in a high school game - ever. Burt told me Koufax would pitch in sandlot games, "but only if we were way ahead or way behind. He threw it a hundred miles an hour, but he didn't know where it was going."
Now I knew that Koufax went to the University of Cincinnati to play basketball, but I never heard how he managed to get on the baseball field. Burt explained that at the end of the basketball season went to talk to his coach, Ed Jucker, who doubled as the school's baseball coach, about getting ready for next year. Seeing the baseball roster and schedule laid out on Jucker's desk, Koufax said, "You know I can pitch."
Jucker laufed and said, "Go home to Brooklyn, have a nice summer and I'll see you on the court next season." Partly because of the nice travel schedule, Koufax insisted and asked Jucker to let him prove himself. Grabbing a catcher's mitt, Jucker took the lefthander who would become one of the greatest of all time to the basketball court. After stepping off the 60 feet, 6 inches he told Koufax to start throwing.
After about 15 minutes, without a home plate in front of him, Jucker didn't really know how many of the pitches were strikes. But when he took off his mitt, he noticed that his hand was black and blue. Jucker still wasn't completely sold, but knew from his basketball skills, that Koufax was a good enough athlete to deserve a look.
Weather keeps the baseball season from being very long in Cincinnati, so Koufax managed to start only three games. However, each of the starts produced double-digit strikeouts. And even though he was wild, Koufax clearly had a fastball that was hard to match. Word got out and with baseball teams in the early 50's needing to fill rosters from the majors down to class D ball, and the lefty with limited experience was given a few looks in tryouts that were common in those days.
That summer Burt says Koufax, back in the old neihborhood, produced photos of himself in the uniforms of the Boston Braves, Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates. Burt laufed and asked if he'd had those photos taken at Coney Island. How could a guy not good enough to pitch for his high school team get a shot at the majors? Koufax told him he had indeed tried out for all three teams, and while he hadn't signed a contract, asked his buddy to keep a secret. He said he expected an offer from the hometown Dodgers. Imagine playing for the team they'd rooted for as kids.
Sure enough, Koufax signed with the Dodgers, ending his basketball career and passing up what would later be a chance to play with Oscar Robertson. After less than two years in the minors, Koufax was called up to the majors and went on to a Hall of Fame career. His five-year stretch from 1962 to 1966 is one of the greatest of all time and made it to Cooperstown by the time he was 35.
And now you know the rest of the story - except for one part. The player sent down to the minors when Koufax was brought up was Tom Lasorda, who went on to make his own history with the Dodgers. Although Lasorda has to wonder if Koufax hadn't been so ready to come up, what would have become of his own pitching career if given a full chance. What if?
The First Time - Again
Jun 10, 2010 -- 2:03pmThe Stephen Strasburg debut Tuesday night was a once-in-a lifetime event. Veteran baseball observers said they have never seen anything like what happened in that 14-strikeout masterpiece. Other obligations prevented me from being there, but listening to it and watching it on television brought me back to my youth and another Washington, D.C. debut by a number one overall draft choice.
Pete Broberg was also a 21-year-old fireballer, and at 6-foot-3, nearly as big as Strasburg when the Washington Senators took him number one overall out of Dartmouth in June of 1971. The Senators saw him as part of a rebuilding effort along with other young players like Jeff Buroughs, Toby Harrah, Dave Nelson and Lenny Randle.
Broberg's signing bonus was literally a fraction of the $15 million that Strasburg received. He agreed to a $150,000 bonus 10 days before taking the mound against the Boston Red Sox on Father's Day. In those days 150 grand wasn't chopped liver, so calling Broberg a "Bonus Baby" seemed appropriate.
My dad and I were among the 19,884 paying customers at RFK Stadium that day. Obviously judging from the size of the crowd, Broberg hype didn't match Strasburg hype, but as the legendary Shirley Povich pointed out in the Washington Post, "Broberg's debut swelled the crowd by perhaps as many as 10,000 paying customers, thus making it a fiscal success for the Senators."
As for success on the mound, he didn't match Strasburg for impact, but left after six and a third innings with a zero still under Boston's run total on the scoreboard. Backed by a three-run homer from Frank Howard, Broberg was in position to win. But the bullpen trio of Paul Linblad, Joe Grezenda and Horacio Pina couldn't hold it and the Senators once again lost - 4-3 was the final. Still on a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon, my dad and I thought we had seen the future and the future looked very good.
I went back in the Washington Post microfilm for the account of the game. Although "pitch count" wasn't a common term 39 years ago, the Senators were counting Broberg's pitches and figured that 98 was enough when he was taken out of the game. Broberg afterward claimed he hadn't reached his limit, although he didn't say exactly what the limit was. Unlike today there seemed to be no targeted number. Manager Ted Williams explained his decision to yank the kid thusly, "At the start of the sixth, I talked to the umpire and he told me Broberg wasn't throwing like he was earlier." Imagine that. Williams made his move based on an umpire's observation.
Much like the game itself, Broberg's career did not have a storybook ending. The Senators left town for Texas at the end of the season. He wound up in Milwaukee a couple of years later and actually had a decent year in 1975, winning 14 games. And only a few years later he was out of baseball and headed to law school. He is, as he told me on the air Wednesday morning, "now a practicing attorney, I have to keep practicing to try and get it right."
I guess I'm one of only a handful of people who can remember both debuts. In between we went 34 years without baseball in D.C. And while the endings for the two pitchers are almost certain to be different (we're not going to lose baseball again), there's nothing like the first time - twice.
Tale of the Tape
2010 1971
Stephen Strasburg Pete Broberg
San Diego State Dartmouth
bonus: $15.1 million $150,000
pitches: 94 98
strikeouts: 14 7
walks: 0 4
hits: 4 3
earned runs: 2 2
Attendance: 40,315 19,884
Final: Nats 5 - Pirates 2 Red Sox 4 - Senators 3
Career record: ? 41-71, 4.62 ERA, 8 seasons
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