What I Learned Friday

Busy week.



Regardless of your political affiliation, you can't knock the good deeds done by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who died this week at the age of 88. Kennedy founded the Special Olympics and instantly gave hope to millions who lost the genetic lottery. I could do without, however, seeing Oprah at the church. Apparently Oprah and Eunice's daughter, Maria, worked at the same Baltimore TV station.

Speaking of lives well lived...Les Paul, the inventor of the guitar bearing his name, passed away at 94. A source of mine told me that Paul played every Monday night at the Irideum Jazz Club in New York City. I kept meaning to go see the legend. I never got there. The Irideum Jazz club says it will pay homage each Monday night to Paul's night and legacy. Nice touch.

Screw Twitter, Facebook and Craig's List. There. All that in less than 140 characters.

CBS' James Brown (no, not the singer) landed the sitdown interview with Michael Vick upon his return to pro football. Only Brown will be guesting on 60 Minutes. No matter what questions Brown asks, some in the audience will think Brown soft-tossed queries to Vick; some will see Brpown as too tough. Don't believe me? See the Katie Couric interview with Sarah Palin, supposedly hand-picked by the Palin/McCain camp because they assumed 'Ol Katie was sympathetic. And look how that turned out. Vick did Brown no favors.

For all I care, Joba Chamberlain, his rules and fist pumps, can go down to Columbus and learn how to be a starter in . No need to worry about innings limits then. And I say that as a 30-year Yankees fan.

Few things in television are more tedious than Olbermann/O'Reilly feud. Two more egomaniacal wind bags do not exist. I'd like to see both of them in an Undertaker/Mankind "Hell in a Cell" match.

Can Eisner Save Topps?

The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card is an iconic card in the card collecting game. It is also an example of the kind of card Topps used to produce. Like the Mantle of 1952, those days are long gone.

Last week, Major League Baseball Properties signed an exclusive agreement with the Topps Company to be its exclusive supplier partner of baseball cards. That means that beginning next February, only Topps can manufacture baseball cards with the player and the MLB team uniform. And that's bad news for collectors because it means less choice and fewer options.

The Topps news is like a death knell to the Upper Deck Card Company, a Topps competitor that produces a better product. That's right, the photos are vibrant, intersting and depicting action.

When I collected as a kid, it was as if Topps waited for the players to pass through New York--so all the shots are in the in Yankee Stadium taken during batting practice or long-toss.

Topps was bought by Michael Eisner's Torante Company and Madison Dearborn Partners in 2007. Eisner, the former executive who once led the Mickey Mouse's turnaround in the mid 80s only to be later forced out by the Disney board, is filming a movie about his new business called, Back on Topps. Great.

I have a bad feeling about this. It only took one statement from the press release. "We are looking forward to working closely with MLB Properties and Clubs to invest in innovation and creativity to bring baseball cards and other collectible items to new audiences for many years to come," Eisner said in a statement.

So Mr. Eisner, Michael, Mike. (Can I call you Mike?) Yes, I urge Topps to innovate. Make a product that kids and the card collectors will buy. People cursed Upper Deck for having the audacity to chop up a Joe DiMaggio uniform into a thousand tiny swatches--the insert cards were then included in the regular wax packs. Clever idea.

Say what you want: Upper Deck makes better cards. The Upper Deck photography is topnotch and last year's Yankee Stadium Legacy set (one card produced for each game played at Yankee Stadium) was a stroke of genius. These are the kinds of innovative ideas Topps should have been owning since 1938--when Topps was founded. Instead, "innovation" for kids and collectors of the 1970s meant mini-baseball cards. Save for the popular Heritage sets, Topps too often comes up short on innovation IMHO.

Like I said, I have a bad feeling about this. Hopefully, the Upper Deck lawyers are drafting an anti-trust case as we speak.

The Legend Is Always Better...

Something is rankling me:

In Marty Appel's Thurman Munson biography, he reveals that Orioles pitcher Tippy Martinez grooved a fastball to Bobby Murcer in the "Eulogy" game won by the Yankees 5-4.

You know that game: It's curently in heavy rotation on YES and was originally broadcast on Monday Night Baseball which means a heavy dose of Howard Cosell. Here's the situation: The entire New York Yankee contingent travels to Canton, Ohio for Munson's funeral. Bobby Murcer and Lou Piniella are the eulogists. Emotionally spent, some players don't want to play that night's game against Baltimore. But owner George Steinbrenner proclaims, "that's what Yankees do." So they travel back to New York and play.

Bobby Murcer is up at bat in ninth already having hit a three-run homer. For some reason, Yankee manager Billy Martin leaves the lefty Murcer in to face the lefty Tippy Martinez, a former Yankee and Munson devotee.

Tippy gets two quick strikes on Murcer but then Tipppy's mind wanders back to a game years ago when Detroit speedster Ron Leflore had a 30-game hitting streak on the line. Munson, Tippy recalls, visited Tippy on the mound and instructed Tippy to give him a fastball to see if Leflore could extend the hitting streak. Fast forward to the Murcer at-bat. Tippy, who claims he could have blown away Murcer with three pitches, has Thurman in mind. Tippy grooves a fastball to Murcer who lines down the right field line. Yankees win.

Cosell breaks into high drama ("Bobby Murcer, who buried his friend this morning" ). As Appel writes in the book ABC-TV cameras showed Tippy walking off the mound, looking skyward, as if to say, 'That's for you Thurman.' ABC didn't know what they had, writes Appel.

Granted Murcer still had to hit the fastball with the game on the line. Great anecdote. But aren't some things better left unexposed? Must we know everything? The legend is ALWAYS better.

Sox-Yanks coverage...

The Yankees complete a four-game sweep of the Red Sox. It just goes to show what's possible when you wisely spend half a billion dollars. While the Yankees were giving the Red Sox a beat-down over four days, the broadcasters following the team were less successful. Here's but a small sample:

1.) I hate to be Ned Negative here but why does the NY media consistently give Joba and his on-the-field antics a pass? Case in point was Thursday night when Joba was life and death to get through five innings. A Jpba strikeout ends the fifth and what do we get? A closeup of Joba acting all Tiger-draining-a-30-footer-at-Augusta ensues. Dude, relax. You were lucky to get the win. Be quiet, walk back to the dugout and look at your plate.

2.) Though he doesn't have the big league resume or shtick of his YES counterparts, analyst John Flaherty is consistently on point and insightful. I'd listen to the guy call the phone book. No corn-ball antics just straight ahead analysis.

3.) YES' Paul O'Neill is rapidly becoming this generation's Bobby Murcer: the beloved former ballplayer coming back as broadcaster. And O'Neill is also Murcer-like in the following: the next time he says something insightful or intelligent will be the first time.

4.) Shut-up-Suzyn moment: Saturday on WCBS-880, radiocasters John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman squeled in delight that the Yankees are undefeated on YES' Yankee Classics. Clever line. Only it was used by the YES crew the night before. I'm not sure if it's the tickle in her voice, but invariably I yell 'Shut-up-Suzyn' withing ten minutes of tuning in. Mrs. Del Franco Daily thinks I'm crazy.

5.) Speaking of the Friday night telecast, play-by-player Michael Kay was building the drama. Only it came off as forced and faked: "When we come back, Derek Jeter, who one won a game in November, will try to win one in August." Please. You get the feeling that some of the guys think they are never far away from their Al Michaels "Do-You-Believe-in-Miracles?" moment. Like pitching a perfect game, a great radio call maybe happens once in a career. Most guys don't have one.