Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1810956, member: 289"] Words are important. We often lose sight of their real meaning and when we do that we lose our way. We think of a drunk in an alley as “pathetic”. But if someone gets hit by a car, that’s “tragic”. By their true meanings, the opposite is true, (unless the guy got hit by the car through his own negligence). In Greek drama, “pathos” is a play where misfortunes befall the hero through no fault of his own and evoke sympathy while “tragedy” is a play where the hero’s misfortunes can be traced to his own character and are thus reveling of that character. Tragedy produces not sympathy but more complex emotions: empathy, “catharsis” or at least, regret. All human lives contain tragedy and pathos, (as well as triumph, romance and comedy). But tragedy has the most impact. In the 1985’s the previously moribund Mets were sprouting star prospects all over the place. Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Mookie Wilson, Kevin Mitchell, Greg Jefferies and… LENNY DYSKTRA. Lenny first made a splash in the Carolina League in 1983 when he hit .358, had 46 extra base hits including 14 triples and stole 105 bases, scoring 132 runs in 136 games. Mets fans couldn’t wait to see this modern Ty Cobb take his place in the Mets’ outfield. Lenny made his debut in 1985 but made his first real impact in 1986, when he platooned with Wilson in center field and hit .295 with 42 EXB and 31 steals. He also walked 58 times and scored 77 runs, despite the platoon. In the post season he hit two dramatic home runs: a walk-off in game three against the Astros and a game opening home run in Fenway Park with the Mets down 0-2, having lost the first two games at home to the Red Sox. The Mets rallied to win the championship and Lenny was the hero of the Big Apple. He continued to show unusual power and speed for a lead-off hitter- and to platoon with Wilson, who had only the latter. In 1987, he hit .285 with 50 EXB, including 37 doubles and stole 27 bases in 1987. In 1988 he hit .429 in a losing effort in the NLCS. But the team was declining just when it should have been soaring with all those stars. One by one the frustrated Mets got rid of each one of them- and fell from 108 wins in 1986 to 103 losses in 1993. Dykstra was traded to the Phillies in 1989. He didn’t take it well. He’d been hitting .270 for the Mets and fell to .222 for his new team. But the Phillies were building and Lenny got in the swing of things, determine to make the Mets- in the same division, of course- regret that trade. He sure did. The official reason why he was traded was that the Mets were looking for “an offensive spark” and thought it might be the Phillies’ Juan Samuel, who tanked in New York. In 1990 he hit .325 led the league in hits with 192 while scoring 106 runs. Injuries held him to 156 games over the next two years but he hit .299 and scored 101 runs in those games. But he really exploded into – temporary- superstardom in the Phillies’ pennant-winning year of 1993, hitting .305 with a league leading 194 hits and 129 walks- one of four players in history to lead the league in hits and walks at the same time. He had 69 EXB including 44 doubles and 19 homers. He scored and astonishing 143 runs- the most in baseball in 44 years. His team won the pennant, which Barry Bonds’ did not and you could make a case that Dykstra, who finished second to Bonds in the MVP voting, actually deserved it more. It was the height of his career and his life. He only played three more years and 186 games. He was only 33 when he last played in the majors, although he tried a comeback through the independent leagues in 1998. In 1991 he’d crashed his car while driving drunk. “Dykstra suffered fractured ribs, a broken cheekbone and a fractured collarbone”, (Wikipedia), and injuring teammate Darren Daulton. “In October 2015, Dykstra told Colin Cowherd that beginning in 1993, he paid a team of private investigators $500,000 to dig up dirt on MLB umpires. He used the information, he said, to leverage a more favorable strike zone during games.” (Ibid) It Might be true. Lenny walked 40 times in 1992 and 129 times the next year. But the fact that Lenny would brag about such a thing tells you an awful lot about him. He has now admitted, using steroids, (which may explain some of his frequent in juries) and had posed shirtless for magazines to show off his muscles. Andy Van Slyke, per Bill James, complained that when the Pirates played the Phillies, there was so much tobacco juice in center field that it was “like a toxic waste dump”. Keith Hernandez said the Mets traded Lenny because he was “a little wild and crazy” and that the Phillies obtained him for the same reason. “There was nothing corporate about the man”. In retirement, Lenny continued to be “colorful” – and tragic. He ran a chain of car washes, then styled himself as a stock expert and was so successful at first that he became fabulously wealthy- or so it appeared. It is alleged that he put an ad in Craig’s LIst for a “personal assistant” only to inform the female applicants that part of their duties would be to massage him. He then took off his clothes to show where he wanted to be massaged. His housekeeper accused him of sexual assault. He supposedly hired a porn star as an escort and had the check bounce. He bought a $17 million estate from Wayne Gretzky. But he still owed $13 million when he started stripping the property to pay his bills. Security guards had to be hired to keep him away from it. “In August 2009, Dykstra was living out of his car and in hotel lobbies.” In 2011 Dykstra was charged with bankruptcy fraud as well as drug possession and grand theft auto.” Dykstra faced up to 80 years in prison if convicted of all charges relating to embezzlement, obstruction of justice, bankruptcy fraud, making false statements to bankruptcy court, and concealing property from the bankruptcy court.” He was $31 million in debt, even after he’d auctioned off his 1986 World Series ring. His eventual sentence was 3 years, although he got out in 6 ½ months, community service and limited restitution. Lenny was colorful, alright, but he needed to be a bit more ‘corporate’. KIRBY PUCKETT was the Bill Cosby of baseball. He was a funny-looking guy but a very talented one who had a highly favorable public image and was much beloved, even moreso when bad luck with his health prematurely ended his career. But the image of being a great guy and a model citizen was collapsed along with his health and he died young, his reputation in ruins for those who didn’t dismiss or forget what he is alleged to have done. Bill James, in discussing his #1 all-time catcher, Yogi Berra, said “Did you ever notice how many great baseball players have what could be loosely described a Hack Wilson type body? Kirby Puckett once said that his fantasy was to have a body like Glenn Braggs. Kirby was a shot, squat man who didn’t look like a baseball player. Braggs was about 6-3, slender, fast very graceful and, of course, one tenth the player Kirby Puckett was. When you look around, there are a lot of good baseball players who have that Kirby Puckett body. Maybe I didn’t phrase that right: there aren’t many ballplayers built like Kirby Puckett. But, given that premise, they seem to be disproportionally successful- perhaps because scouts don’t like them and don’t want to sign them unless they are really good. But perhaps, just perhaps, the short, powerful body is actually the best body for a baseball: Long arms really do not help you when you’re hitting; short arms work better. Compressed power is more effective than diffuse power.” He tells us that Berra’s home town team, the Cardinals offered Berra less money than his boyhood friend Joe Garagiola, because Garagiola looked more like their idea of a ballplayer. Berra went on to win 10 World Series with the Yankees while Garagiola made a career of joking about how bad he was. Kirby Puckett, (5-8 178 when he showed up but probably more like 200 by the end of his career), was no joke, although he didn’t make an immediate splash. Hitting no home runs in 128 games his first year and 4 in 161 his second. But he could hit, (.292 in those seasons and run, (35 steals, 18 triples), and played a spectacular center field, often leaping above the “baggie” wall at the Metrodome to catch what would have been home runs and having the best defensive numbers of any center fielder in the league. Twins hitting coach Tony Oliva worked with him to swing for more power, incorporating a leg kick into his technique similar to that of Mel Ott, another diminutive home run slugger. That did the trick and in 1986, Kirby Puckett became a 5 foot 8 inch superstar, hitting .328 with 31 home runs 20 steals, 96 RBI and 119 runs scored. As often happens, an offensive improvement caused people to recognize his defense and he won the first of his six Gold Gloves that year. He began to pound out the “Kirby Puckett years”. In the last ten years of his career he hit between .296 and .356 every year, hit between 20-28 home runs five times, had had three 100 RBI years, (and two 99s) with a high of 121, scored over 100 runs three times with a high of 119. His steals and triples declined and he never walked much but he never struck out 100 times, either. And it was worth the price of a ticket to see him play center field. He won two World Series rings, batting .309 with 5 homers, 15 RBIs and 16 runs scored in 24 playoff games, including the famous walk-off home run in the 11th inning of game six in 1991 which caused Jack Buck to simply say "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" And then, suddenly, at age 36 it was over. Kirby was hitting .344 in spring training when he woke up on March 28, 1996 being unable to see out of his right eye. He was diagnosed with a central retinal vein occlusion. “Three surgeries over the next few months could not restore vision in the eye.” (Wikipedia) and Puckett announced his retirement on July 12th. His numbers and those of his physical idol, Glenn Braggs, per 162 games: KP .318BA 209H 41W 88SKO 38D 5T 19HR 12SB 99RBI 97RS 367 bases, 177 runs produced GB .257BA 141H 49W 110SKO 24D 4T 16HR 14SB 75RBI 72RS 284 bases, 131 runs produced Bill James in 2000: “Its’ been five years and I know better, but I still half expect to pick up the paper and read that there has been a mistake or a medical breakthrough, and that Kirby will be allowed to come back and finish his career. Do I think Kirby is a Hall of Famer? Sure. Kirby had 2,300 hits at the time of his illness, actually 2,304. I estimate that he had a 62% chance of getting 3,000 career hits. Missing the decline phase of his career doesn’t change where he ranks on this list, (James has him as the #8 all-time center fielder), since the decline phase of a player’s career has more to do with padding numbers than with establishing greatness and I don’t see why it should keep him out of the Hall of Fame.” Puckett was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001. Twins GM Andy McPhail said of Kirby: "He has an effervescent, ingratiating personality. Kirby is a very warm, very genuine person. If he had been playing in New York or Los Angeles, they would be building statues to him." (Baseball Reference.com) Wikipedia: “Puckett was admired throughout his career. His unquestionable baseball prowess, outgoing personality and energy, charity work, community involvement, and attitude earned him the respect and admiration of fans across the country. In 1993, he received the Branch Rickey Award for his lifetime of community service work.” SABR: “he'll be remembered for his smile, his infectious enthusiasm, and his competitive nature that has made him the most popular athlete in the history of Minnesota sports. Even with the bad break that ended his career, Puckett refused to feel sorry for himself. He assured fans that he was fine and had no worries for the future.” That should have bene the end of the story but it wasn’t. SABR: “In early 2002 came the news that Tonya Puckett was seeking a divorce following years of alleged abuse from her husband. Tonya had called local police on December 21, 2001, several days after a phone conversation with Kirby in which she said he threatened to kill her as they argued over Kirby's alleged infidelity. In a police report Tonya also alleged that in the past, Kirby had choked her with an electric cord, put a pistol to her face as she held her daughter, then two years old, and, on another occasion, used a power saw to cut through a door to get at her.” Tonya was herself the subject of a charge of violent threats. Wikipedia: “In March 2002, a woman alleged that Puckett's wife Tonya had threatened to kill her over an alleged affair with Puckett, and she filed an order for protection against Tonya.” But “Later that same month another woman asked for protection from Puckett himself, claiming in court documents that he had shoved her in his Bloomington condominium during the course of an 18-year relationship. In September 2002 Puckett was accused of groping a woman in a restaurant bathroom, and was charged with false imprisonment, fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, and fifth-degree assault.” He was found not guilty of all counts but fans suddenly had a very different view of their hero. Meanwhile, his health broke. His weight ballooned to over 300 pounds. He suffered a stroke on March 5, 2006 and died the next day. He had a new girlfriend and they had planned to marry in June. SABR: “Minnesotan's mourned the passing of one of the state's most popular personalities ever. The grief was in some ways compounded by the revelations in recent years about a person many people idolized to an extreme degree. Learning the truth wasn't easy for many, particularly those in Minnesota, and some had trouble reconciling the Puckett they had chosen to envision and the real Puckett--a human being with many virtuous qualities as well as some flaws. Those unable to acknowledge the flaws directed their anger at the messengers reporting the news as well as those behind the allegations--"scorned women" as seen by those straining to hang on to their pristine visions of Puckett.” Frank Deford in Sports Illustrated: “In the final analysis, all they really know now in Minnesota is that he was one whale of a baseball player. They'll never be so sure of anyone else again. So, maybe that's a tough lesson well learned. The dazzling creatures are still just ballplayers; don't wrap them in gauze and tie them up with the pretty ribbons of Nice Guy or Boy Next Door (and certainly not of Knight in Shining Armor). On the other hand, what a price did fans pay to lose their dear illusions. You see, when the hero falls, maybe the hero worshipers fall harder. After all, Kirby Puckett always knew who he was. Well, he probably did. Nothing seemed to faze him. It was all the other folks who decided he must be someone else, something more. Yeah, the lovable little Puck was living a lie, but whose lie was it?” Tragedy and pathos, as well as triumph, romance and comedy. It was all there in the life of Kirby Puckett. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?