THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

I know, it’s “not the same”.  Don’t state the obvious.  It’s never the same.

I was there too at Roy last game. Sitting in the red (for the first and last time) It was a bizarre feeling. I was 13 then maybe too young to really understood what was happening at the time. But old enough to remeber 93 and kind of remembering 86. And for me Roy was always great and I always respected the goalie that he was. I think the issue with Roy is how all of this was handled from the team perspective. The quick trade, the poor return on a hall of fame goaltender on his prime, etc.

But I’ve got the impression that he wasn’t loved in Montréal until after he retired. People were just too happy to talk about the “videoroom incident” in the office of Bob Hartley (The then av’s coach) Happy to critized is relationship with his wife (or ex-wife) etc. I think until he retired many people kept a bad feeling about him. Sure, when the showed highlight of the 93 or 86 Stanley cup’s finals peoples cheered. But it was, in my opinion, more about the Cup than the man. I would say that since he retired he is much more appreciated in Quebec, with the way he got down and coached in the Q. And he is always mentionned when the Habs are looking for a new coach and will surely be mentionned again when they will be looking for a replacement at GM. And if he was to be named people would cheered and be really happy that their savior is back to help the Canadiens win another Cup.

"When Gretzky was traded to LA, a member of parliament wanted to declare Gretzky a national treasure, so that he couldn’t be exported out of the country.  Obviously ridiculous.”

It may be ridiculous, but Brazil actually did this at one point with Pele, so its not unprecedented.

Who says Cleveland is great?  It isn’t.

The exit matters.  Whenever the topic of Gretzky leaving comes up or is discussed on TV, the picture that’s shown is that clip of Gretzky breaking down and saying “I promised Mess I wouldn’t do this.” People got over their resentment of his departure pretty quickly.  Compare that to someone like Chris Pronger who basically thought the city was a hellhole and didn’t seem to care how he was perceived after he left.  If I hit him with my car, I’d back up over him.

Whenever Lebron’s departure comes up, the clip will be him (lying) as he says he made his decision only that morning and then bloodlessly saying that he’s taking his talents to South Beach.

It might be silly but the way that these guys leave matters.  They get what they get because of the emotional connection that people feel with them.  In Lebron’s case, it’s sort of accentuated because there was a lot of local angst projected onto the situation but he handled it brutally.  There were a lot of issues when Gretzky left but he left the impression that he was sad about what he was leaving, even if he was happy with about his decision.  None of that with James.

Roy’s a little different, of course, but it retrospect, I think we all agree that Mario Tremblay is a real piece of work.

Three Hall of Famers leave the Mariners in consecutive years.

Randy Johnson, who said he’d wanted to throw the first pitch at Safeco Field, is traded and comes back a year later (the fourth game at Safeco, in fact) and is cheered wildly as he walks in from the bullpen.

Griffey forces a trade, and when he finally comes back the ovation goes on for about fifteen minutes.  Even this year, when batting about zero, he got bigger cheers than Ichiro or Felix.

ARod you know about.  Fans have their opinions, it’s just how it is.

As a Wings fan, whenever I think of Roy, I think of him getting lit up for 7 goals including one where he tried to show-boat with a “statue of liberty” type pose and lost the puck only to have it poked home. It was fantastic.

Though, that was back when I hated opposing players/teams. If that were to happen today, I’d be excited but wouldn’t revel in Roy’s misfortunes.

Viewed through the prism of professional wrestling, the LeBron departure was a highly entertaining exhibit of face-turned-heel. One could imagine David Stern approving from the shadows.