Yeah, and it was just the icing on the cake. The Philadelphia Phillies were a horrible 59-97 (.378) in the 1972 season (where they’d have been without Steve Carlton, who managed to go 27-10, I can’t imagine) and the Philadephia Eagles went 2-11-1 in 1972. Only the NHL’s Flyers (37-30 in 72-73) rose above this sea of incompetence.
Growing up in Philly, I started being interested in sports at around this time. I’m surprised my emerging love of sports managed to withstand this abuse.
2 years. 16 million dollars. Very good season, started the All-Star game, helped guide the young pitching staff and payroll, smoked the Yankees in the playoffs , dominated the Athletics in the playoffs, and that’s your example of a BAD contract?
I’ll take a few more “bad” contracts, please.
For the record, Randy Johnson’s contract was 2 years at 32 million bucks. You know, at the time, Randy was still a bad man. Now, he’s a rickety old man whose contract expires when he’s 45 years old.
I agree on the Sixers
I agree on Tampa Bay – I’ll add the ol’ BallCoach hisself, Steve Spurrier, was the QB of that Team.
While I agree on TB – I think the 1990 Patriots get a undeserved free pass in these discussions. Winless at home, a single win in the 2nd Game of the season by 2 points. Worst offense in the NFL. This was a very-close-same-breath-mention ’76 Tampa Bayian effort (with an extra loss) by any measure.
Bonus points though for the sexual harassment scandal when Lisa Olson was verbally harassed by several Patriots players (who later were fined the basic facts really weren’t in dispute) in the team’s locker room. Oh and early days the owner called the reporter as “a classic [expletive]” and made blue jokes in public about it. There was a fight in a bar between two Pats number 1 picks (Irving Fryar and Hart Lee Dykes) which resulted in an eye injury that would eventually end Dykes’ career.
Horrible team, by the end there was no effort, it was a shameful quit, sad legacy. Tampa was worse because I honestly think they had less comparable talent – but not a “worst team” by as much as the talent gap and (this is IMHO now) fewer of Tampa’s players had probably quit like New England did by the end…
The problem (if, like me, you are a Yankee fan) is that George just. Doesn’t. Care.
He really doesn’t see the problem with spending the huge amount of money he does on these old guys. I hope he is around for many more years but I more feverently hope he no longer has real input into baseball decisions.
No, that’s NOT my idea of a “bad contract,” except in the moral sense (Rogers is a major scumbag… not that Johnson is any better), and I think you know that.
The point was merely that the Tigers built their pitching staff around a 40-something free agent, just as the Yankees did.
The Tigers’ gamble paid off a lot better, but that doesn’t change the fact that they were gambling on an old guy, just as the Yankees did.
The question is, is it bettert to suffer through 10 .400 seasons in the hopes that your young, inexpensive guys may suddenly click and make you a contender, or is it better to be a playoff team every year, even if you have some question marks come playoff time.
No problem, I just mistook your tone of the previous post. I don’t know if the Tigers intended to build their rotation around a 40 year old pitcher. He was pretty much a complementary piece (that ended up being the opening day starter). Gambling on an old guy isn’t bad, and, again, making the gamble on Randy Johnson when the Yankees did did NOT look like a bad proposition at all. Clearly, Johnson fizzled when he hit New York, end of story.
When you word your question like that, then I’ll take George’s approach. If you change it slightly to take bucketfuls of shit for a bunch of years (as we’ve had to do) until you get better to (potentially) build a VERY powerful baseball team for many years…or George’s approach…I’ll take the shit.
Also, for the record, I’d put Mr. Rogers higher on the scumbag list than Mr. Johnson. I certainly haven’t forgot about his altercation with the reporter last year. He’s had anger problems his entire career.