Featuring the strange tale of the 1989 Cleveland Indians, Ireland's No1 tennis player and a love letter to Grant Holt
Thanks for all your comments and suggestions on our last blog. Here are a few highlights from this week.
*The article of the week*
*An oral history of the 1989 Cleveland Indians*
Baseball's least likely success story in recent years must be The Oakland A's under Billy Beane, right? Well, maybe not. *Scott Lewis* has written an article for *The Score* that rivals the tale told by Michael Lewis in his best-selling book Moneyball.
By speaking to the players and coaches involved in this remarkable season, the writer has pieced together the story of the Cleveland Indians under the dubious ownership of Rachel Phelps, who did her best to sabotage the club's future in Ohio.
When she inherited the franchise from her late husband Donald in December 1988, the new owner calculated that she could relocate the team to Miami if they performed so badly that their supporters in Cleveland stopped attending matches.
She appointed Charlie Donovan as general manager and then set about constructing a team of "washups, scoundrels, nobodies and never will-bes". When Phelps put forwarded a list of potential recruits, it included a player who had been retired from baseball for 12 years and dead for two.
With their budget tightened, the Indians had to look far and wide for players, even searching in local prisons, where they found Rick Vaughn. The pitcher was serving a sentence for Grand Theft Auto when Indians scout Buddy Collins went to watch him play. The Indians were so desperate, they gave him a second chance.
Vaughn arrived up for training on the back of motorcycle, with everything he owned in a garbage bag. "He looked like he had been on tour the Ramones or some damn shit," said Collins, who was to become his new mentor.
Vaughn was joined in the team by Pedro Cerrano, a Cuban who hoped that praying to a shrine in his locker would help cure him of his failure to hit curveballs. He wasn't even the oddball of the bunch. That role went to Willie Mays Hayes, who turned up uninvited for a trial at the club in his pajamas. When he ran laps quicker than the rest of the squad, the coaches found him a jersey.
Things did not look promising for the Indians, at least not in the eyes of Harry Doyle, the radio commenter who covered their games: "I knew I'd be carrying a bottle into the booth every day because I thought, ah to hell with it, these guys won't be the least bit fun to watch." But, somehow these misfits bunched together in a way that no one could have predicted.
If Scott Lewis's story about the Indians ever receives the Hollywood treatment given to Moneyball, Vaughn should be played by Charlie Sheen. Isn't the resemblance obvious?
*Other stories we like*
*1) Fury gives Haye Licence to Thrill *
When *Steve Bunce* sets off on a tale about boxing, few writers can touch him. Here, in his column for *ESPN*, Bunce previews the forthcoming fight between Tyson Fury and David Haye. Bunce argues that, even though Haye could turn up in a James Bond movie in the near future, Fury is the real eccentric of the pair.
Fury is the character in this fight, says Bunce, who calls him "a genuine enigmatic personality". He's funny, witty, emotional and always unpredictable because, unlike Haye, he is not acting. Their contest should be entertaining, and in the meantime we can ruminate on who would make the better Bond villain.
*2) Dreams come at a price*
Britain's No1 tennis player was awarded £1.6m for winning Wimbledon, a sum of money he called "ridiculous". Ireland's No1 is not so fortunate. *James McGee*, who is ranked 269th in the world after his debut at Wimbledon last month, is unlikely to question the extent of his earnings.
Writing in *The Score*, McGee has explained how a lack of funding has affected his schedule, game, mentality, ranking and results through the years. Murray can count on a vast team of helpers, but McGee has faced the challenge of travelling to tournaments on his own and then bedding down in hostels to save some precious cash. Murray could earn £15m from endorsements this year, but McGee has to ensure his carriage bag weighs no more than the 15kg allowed on Ryanair flights.
We read a lot about the riches of the top players and how women fought for equal pay, but rarely does a player print out and publish his income and expenses. McGee has been a professional for five years and is now benefiting from the support of his home club, who helped wipe out his €6,000 debts. "The only way is to be absolutely exceptional at what you do and strive for excellence everyday," says McGee. Good luck to him.
*3) Golf in China is younger than Tiger Woods, but growing up fast*
Meet Xie Chengfeng. He works out in the morning, using a punchbag, medicine balls and a bull whip to strengthen his wrists. He puts in two hours at the driving range before lunch, and then he practices his chipping and putting, before playing a round of golf. He takes piano lessons to strengthen his fingers, maths tutorials to help him calculate distances, wind speeds and green breaks, and a daily English class to prepare him for his eventual arrival on the PGA Tour.
Xie is eight years old and typical of the young golf prodigies being pushed by their parents in China. *Brook Larmer*, who lives in Beijing and writes for the *New York Times*, has met and spoken with the emerging class of young golfers who could dominate the sport in coming years. Earl Woods would approve.
*4) Grant Holt, football fandom and me*
The *New Statesman* is not known for its football writing, but *Juliet Jacques*'s article about her love of Grant Holt articulates well the pain felt by any fan who has invested too much in a footballer only to see their hero hand in a transfer request and follow the money. This is not your average transfer storytelling, but it is all the better for that.
*5) Perpetual motion: The language of movement in football*
When not running the best account on Twitter, *Football Clichés* write a very entertaining blog. This article describes how changes in the backpass law made football quicker and increased the importance of pace in the modern game. It may sound dry, but the writer's insistence on dropping as many clichés as possible into every sentence makes every line a killer.
*This week on the Guardian Sport Network*
1) *Ashes 2013: The first Test report cards*
2) *Why don't we all lighten up and stop taking football so seriously?*
3) *County cricket: the week's final over*
4) *Five boxing films waiting to be made*
5) *Remembering a family day out at the Ashes in the summer of 1981*
*Debate the articles and share your own below* Reported by guardian.co.uk 17 hours ago.
Thanks for all your comments and suggestions on our last blog. Here are a few highlights from this week.
*The article of the week*
*An oral history of the 1989 Cleveland Indians*
Baseball's least likely success story in recent years must be The Oakland A's under Billy Beane, right? Well, maybe not. *Scott Lewis* has written an article for *The Score* that rivals the tale told by Michael Lewis in his best-selling book Moneyball.
By speaking to the players and coaches involved in this remarkable season, the writer has pieced together the story of the Cleveland Indians under the dubious ownership of Rachel Phelps, who did her best to sabotage the club's future in Ohio.
When she inherited the franchise from her late husband Donald in December 1988, the new owner calculated that she could relocate the team to Miami if they performed so badly that their supporters in Cleveland stopped attending matches.
She appointed Charlie Donovan as general manager and then set about constructing a team of "washups, scoundrels, nobodies and never will-bes". When Phelps put forwarded a list of potential recruits, it included a player who had been retired from baseball for 12 years and dead for two.
With their budget tightened, the Indians had to look far and wide for players, even searching in local prisons, where they found Rick Vaughn. The pitcher was serving a sentence for Grand Theft Auto when Indians scout Buddy Collins went to watch him play. The Indians were so desperate, they gave him a second chance.
Vaughn arrived up for training on the back of motorcycle, with everything he owned in a garbage bag. "He looked like he had been on tour the Ramones or some damn shit," said Collins, who was to become his new mentor.
Vaughn was joined in the team by Pedro Cerrano, a Cuban who hoped that praying to a shrine in his locker would help cure him of his failure to hit curveballs. He wasn't even the oddball of the bunch. That role went to Willie Mays Hayes, who turned up uninvited for a trial at the club in his pajamas. When he ran laps quicker than the rest of the squad, the coaches found him a jersey.
Things did not look promising for the Indians, at least not in the eyes of Harry Doyle, the radio commenter who covered their games: "I knew I'd be carrying a bottle into the booth every day because I thought, ah to hell with it, these guys won't be the least bit fun to watch." But, somehow these misfits bunched together in a way that no one could have predicted.
If Scott Lewis's story about the Indians ever receives the Hollywood treatment given to Moneyball, Vaughn should be played by Charlie Sheen. Isn't the resemblance obvious?
*Other stories we like*
*1) Fury gives Haye Licence to Thrill *
When *Steve Bunce* sets off on a tale about boxing, few writers can touch him. Here, in his column for *ESPN*, Bunce previews the forthcoming fight between Tyson Fury and David Haye. Bunce argues that, even though Haye could turn up in a James Bond movie in the near future, Fury is the real eccentric of the pair.
Fury is the character in this fight, says Bunce, who calls him "a genuine enigmatic personality". He's funny, witty, emotional and always unpredictable because, unlike Haye, he is not acting. Their contest should be entertaining, and in the meantime we can ruminate on who would make the better Bond villain.
*2) Dreams come at a price*
Britain's No1 tennis player was awarded £1.6m for winning Wimbledon, a sum of money he called "ridiculous". Ireland's No1 is not so fortunate. *James McGee*, who is ranked 269th in the world after his debut at Wimbledon last month, is unlikely to question the extent of his earnings.
Writing in *The Score*, McGee has explained how a lack of funding has affected his schedule, game, mentality, ranking and results through the years. Murray can count on a vast team of helpers, but McGee has faced the challenge of travelling to tournaments on his own and then bedding down in hostels to save some precious cash. Murray could earn £15m from endorsements this year, but McGee has to ensure his carriage bag weighs no more than the 15kg allowed on Ryanair flights.
We read a lot about the riches of the top players and how women fought for equal pay, but rarely does a player print out and publish his income and expenses. McGee has been a professional for five years and is now benefiting from the support of his home club, who helped wipe out his €6,000 debts. "The only way is to be absolutely exceptional at what you do and strive for excellence everyday," says McGee. Good luck to him.
*3) Golf in China is younger than Tiger Woods, but growing up fast*
Meet Xie Chengfeng. He works out in the morning, using a punchbag, medicine balls and a bull whip to strengthen his wrists. He puts in two hours at the driving range before lunch, and then he practices his chipping and putting, before playing a round of golf. He takes piano lessons to strengthen his fingers, maths tutorials to help him calculate distances, wind speeds and green breaks, and a daily English class to prepare him for his eventual arrival on the PGA Tour.
Xie is eight years old and typical of the young golf prodigies being pushed by their parents in China. *Brook Larmer*, who lives in Beijing and writes for the *New York Times*, has met and spoken with the emerging class of young golfers who could dominate the sport in coming years. Earl Woods would approve.
*4) Grant Holt, football fandom and me*
The *New Statesman* is not known for its football writing, but *Juliet Jacques*'s article about her love of Grant Holt articulates well the pain felt by any fan who has invested too much in a footballer only to see their hero hand in a transfer request and follow the money. This is not your average transfer storytelling, but it is all the better for that.
*5) Perpetual motion: The language of movement in football*
When not running the best account on Twitter, *Football Clichés* write a very entertaining blog. This article describes how changes in the backpass law made football quicker and increased the importance of pace in the modern game. It may sound dry, but the writer's insistence on dropping as many clichés as possible into every sentence makes every line a killer.
*This week on the Guardian Sport Network*
1) *Ashes 2013: The first Test report cards*
2) *Why don't we all lighten up and stop taking football so seriously?*
3) *County cricket: the week's final over*
4) *Five boxing films waiting to be made*
5) *Remembering a family day out at the Ashes in the summer of 1981*
*Debate the articles and share your own below* Reported by guardian.co.uk 17 hours ago.