Hot Stove Luncheon wrapup
Saturday’s Hot Stove Luncheon, featuring speakers Neil Fiala, Ron Jacober, John Mozeliak and Rick Hummel, was one of the most entertaining and insightful we’ve attended.
In chapter business, SABRen Steve Gietschier provided an update on the convention committee, which needs a deep bench to field the estimated 700+ attendees this Summer. The luncheon speaker will be the legendary Joe Garagiola, but if that isn’t enough to entice you to come, Gietschier announced that none other than Ben Jones — “Cooter” from Dukes of Hazzard — will be performing his one-man play, “Ol’ Diz,” about Cardinal pitcher Dizzy Dean. That in itself may be worth the price of admission. … By the way, ongoing kudos to Joan Thomas and Barb Sheinbein for their efforts on the Ballpark Marker Committee, which has now garnered funding for two more markers … The chapter honored Sheinbein with its Meritorious Service award Saturday, well-deserved.
Former Cardinal player and current SWIC coach Fiala led off for the speakers, and, for a guy with all of five at-bats and one hit (which, as he reminded Ron Jacober, was one more hit than he had) in the majors, has some interesting career twists and trivia. He was the Cubs’ third-baseman in the Thomas Ian Nicholas vehicle “Rookie of the Year” (which also had Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Pedro Guerrero), and therefore has an IMDB page — how many ballplayers can claim that? Fiala, as trivia buffs — like SABRen Jim Rygelski — will note, was one of only three players (along with Joe Edelen and Doug Bair, the others in the trade) to play for both of the teams with the best overall records in 1981, neither of which went to the playoffs … The Cardinals drafted the future University of Illinois baseball coach one round before they drafted future University of Illinois basketball coach “Lonnie” Kruger. In that draft the Vianney grad was drafted ahead of future Hall of Famer Paul Molitor (by the Cardinals, of course) … Fiala joked that he indirectly helped the 1982 Cardinals win the championship by getting traded for Doug Bair, who had a 20.6 VORP for the 1982 team (3rd-best) … And speaking of contributing to Cardinal championships, Fiala coached current Cardinal Scott Spiezio at U of I. Fiala recalled encouraging Spiezio to practice multiple infield positions, “because you never know where you might end up playing someday.”
We’ll always remember Ron Jacober — appearance-wise, anyway — from his TV days doing sports for the news and weekend Cardinal games on KSDK back in the ’80s. While the man has aged, naturally, his never-aging voice sounds so similar that the contrast was stark (to us, anyway). Jacober is one of the few remaining old-school media people in town, having worked in the same market for 38 years, which Jacober himself noted is a real rarity. But having been around St. Louis sports, especially baseball (his favorite) for so long, he, like Jack Buck, has interwoven his own legacy among our local sports collective memory. After all, who else has first-hand experience of interviewing Harry Caray, shortly after the Cardinal broadcaster was fired, “not sober” at Busch’s Grove with a Schlitz in his hand that he refused to put down during the interview? Jacober told that story and several others, including precious anecdotes about Lou Brock, Bob Gibson and Cool Papa Bell. It was a treat to hear him relate the stories behind the stories, much as the late Bob Broeg used to do.
After Jacober spoke, Cardinal Assistant General Manager John Mozeliak took the floor. We have to confess being most interested in Mozeliak of all the engaging speakers, since his very job deals with so much of what we enjoy writing about on this blog and reading about. As Walt Jocketty’s right-hand man, Mozeliak is primarily in charge of player contracts. From that vantage point, he told the group about the near-miss that was Miguel Batista in much the same way a real-estate agent might speak of nearly buying a property for a client. Moments away from a three-year deal, Mozeliak was on the phone with Batista’s agent, who informed Mozeliak that “Meche is killin’ us.” … When we asked what metrics he likes, and which he doesn’t, Mozeliak wasn’t specific, though he puts some stock in “runs generated and runs prevented” but that stats are merely one component of his equation when projecting a player’s value over the next one to four years, the others being scouting reports and “an intangibles bucket,” which includes feedback from the coaching staff … Still talking to Weaver, or, more specifically, Weaver’s agent, who is apparently “driving that bus” … Thinks the posting process that resulted in the “insane” Dice-K contract for the Red Sox needs to be reviewed … We asked his opinion of the future of arbitration-year buyout contracts for Cardinal pitchers, which we wrote about last week, but Mozeliak thinks it’s too early to be concerned about Reyes and Wainwright, though he mentioned that Yadier Molina could pose an interesting case … His top-five pitchers in the game, off the top of his head? Carp, Santana (when healthy), Oswalt and, “for one game,” Roger Clemens … The younger version of Ben Stein also touched on how the team makes decisions on which player contracts to insure. The line of the day came when Mozeliak was asked just how much authority he had to make deals. He replied without missing a beat, “You don’t send a boy to war.” Well-played, John.
Chapter president Norm Richards introduced Hummel, the latest recipient of the Hall of Fame’s Spink Award honoring sportswriters, to a standing ovation. Hummel spoke of the gratitude he has had for the many people who have congratulated him on his impending induction. Hummel, who has graciously appeared on the Hot Stove speakers’ panel several times, again gave his preview of the upcoming season, along with his fearless predictions for division winners, sticking with tradition and picking the Yankees to win the AL pennant (other division winners: Cardinals, Dodgers, Braves, Tigers, Angels). He also revealed the identity of the main “anonymous source” for his stories in the ’80s, who may come as a surprise, given his nickname … When we asked Hummel what baseball event he wish he could’ve been around to cover, he simply said, “I would like to have talked with Babe Ruth.” Among his real-life greatest coverage moments, he fondly recalled the titillating 1986 NLCS between the Mets and Astros, and the 2003 ALCS, which he also got to cover … We were a bit disappointed in Hummel’s not-surprising answer to our question about whether the Hall of Fame voting should be opened up to other close followers of the game, such as online and television media; The Commish said he thought that “500 or so voters should be enough,” and that the writers were the ones who started it in the first place.
On behalf of the chapter, thanks to all of our speakers and guests who attended, our friends at Mike Shannon’s, and Norm Richards, Rick Salamon and the many other members who helped organize the event. It was another high point on the calendar. The next one, of course, is Spring Training.