Reviews

Knicks and Mets Scions Need New Careers

12/7/2019

It's all the Knicks' fault that Jim Dolan feels like this most of the time

A petulant scion with no known talent?
No, no, come back, I swear, this is not about “politics.”

Rather, this is about two New York teams in a state of flux.

The Knicks are run by Jim Dolan, son of the man who built a cable empire that acquired Madison Square Garden. Dolan is the sourball who slumps in the front row, glowering and issuing occasional “off with their heads” orders toward coaches or even paying customers who criticize.

The Mets are owned by Fred Wilpon, a real-estate developer, whose son, Jeff Wilpon, manages to upset almost any baseball person in the Mets’ system – and, apparently, his relatives.

The Knicks have responded to the worst start in club history by firing the hapless coach, David Fizdale. From what I read, the problem goes way beyond the current stock of leftovers and dubious prospects. (NB: I stopped watching the Knicks soon after Dolan broke up a decent team to acquire fire-it-up Carmelo Anthony – the signature move of Dolan’s tempestuous stewardship.)

The truly amazing thing to me is that the Garden is generally packed with paying customers, in a city that prides itself on knowing great basketball. Are these people hanging on to their tickets in case Clyde comes back to pick apart a defense or Oak shoulders opponents into the first row?

Both the Knicks and Mets have been under the scrutiny of the Times in recent days, with Michael Powell issuing the most rational solution to the Knicks’ problem: Dolan should fire himself.

Meanwhile, the Mets’ owners are easing themselves out, The Mets are in the process of being sold to Steven A. Cohen, a hedge-fund guy with tons of money, even after paying a nearly $2-billion fine (That’s with a B, as in Bonilla) for mischief, all committed apparently by underlings.

I will not hold my nose at the business history of Steven A. Cohen. Really, how many rich guys can withstand scrutiny? My concern here is that Mets fans seem to be already celebrating the money they expect the next owner to toss around.

I am not confident that Cohen can bring any more actual baseball acumen than the Wilpons have. Fans should remember that the franchise has spent scads of money on occasion – Mike Piazza being the best example, plus locking down Jacob DeGrom recently.

Since I have owned up to being a Met fan in retirement, I have suffered but also enjoyed -- Collins, Alderson, Minaya, even the last painful years for David Wright, Murph's great year, admirable old pros like Granderson, Cuddyer, Cabrera, plus an adult broadcasting crew so superior to network blatherers. Sure, I quote Dante every March (" Abandon all hope, etc.") but the Mets have kept me going, agita and all.

Plus, we are all in this together: Remember how many fans and reporters (including me, mea culpa) begged the Mets to retain Yoenis Céspedes, who was demonstrably falling apart before our eyes even before he stepped in a hole last spring, or whatever the story is.

True, the Mets have bungled by hiring managers like Art Howe and Mickey Callaway and a few wrongo general managers. I am not so sure about the reforming agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, who is “running” the team, as of this morning.

Jeff Wilpon

Why are the Wilpons selling the Mets? The other day, the Times wrote that the Mets had the shorts due to the Wilpons’ past reliance on their money guy, one Bernard L. Madoff. I know Fred Wilpon and his brother-in-law, Saul Katz, minimally, and do not think they would have tied dozens of family members into accounts with Madoff if they had known he was as crooked as he turned out to be.

Iris (Fred's sister) and Saul Katz are the very same couple behind the Katz Institute for Women's Health at Northwell Health.

Fred Wilpon is a pretty private guy, loyal to some long-time Mets employees, frequent host to military vets, plus friendly with Sandy Koufax, his baseball teammate from Lafayette High in Brooklyn and one of the princes of this city. Any friend of Sandy Koufax….

But the family has a problem these days. From what the Times writes, the next generation of Katz scions does not want to be linked with Cousin Jeff.

Naturally, Fred Wilpon is loyal to Jeff, but now the franchise must be sold.
.
I can understand fans who think the current ownership has been a bad steward for the franchise. That is normal for fans. Look at what the current Red Sox ownership has done. But was Boston's rise all about money -- or very much about good management and sound judgment, also?
Abrasive heirs are one thing -- but finding owners with more money is not necessarily any kind of solution.
Enter, Steven A. Cohen.
###
The sale:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/sports/baseball/mets-steven-cohen.html
The Wilpons:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/sports/mets-wilpons-sale-cohen.html
Michael Powell dubious about Steven A. Cohen:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/sports/baseball/mets-steven-cohen.html
Knicks fire Fizdale:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/sports/basketball/david-fizdale-knicks-coach-fired.html
Masochistic Michael Powell has been watching the Knicks:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/sports/basketball/knicks-dolan-fizdale-fired.html

Ed Martin

12/7/2019 05:06:03 pm

Sadly, you are on target about the need for changes at the top for Mets and Knicks. I say this with regret because I knew Fred Wilpon, partner, Saul and Iris Katz and Helen and Chuck Dolan, and less well, several, but not members of their families. The relevance of this is that they are people we have liked and admired, generous, charitable, intelligent and dedicated to their families, And that, in my mind, is the especially sad part, since the parents have done all they could, in my somewhat distant view, now 25 years since our closeness.

A change would be better for all concerned it seems to this outsider. Jim and his parents, siblings, must be in considerable pain, they are intelligent and know the score. Fred and Judy, his sister Iris and her husband Saul, seemed very close to me, back in the day, separate families, but with common instincts and values. Bothe families were involved in charitable work with children with disabilities, volunteering in the school, supporting events, helping attract athletes, etc. This is true of the Dolans as well.

What is moving me to write is a sense of “the best Laid plans....”

May they all move on to happier times.

George Vecsey

12/8/2019 09:15:20 am

NB: Edwin W. Martin, Jr., was president and CEO of the Henry Viscardi School, Abilities, Inc., in Albertson, N.Y., a nationally known center, His wife, Peggy, as a volunteer, helped train thousands of people for employment and a fuller life. In Ed's time at the Viscardi Center, the Wilpon and Katz families were active supporters, as were the Dolans, His view of them comes from the heart. GV

bruce

12/7/2019 06:03:52 pm

george,

don't follow les mets at all, but i chuckled when i read this because i thought the same thing when i read what preceded it.

.....Any friend of Sandy Koufax….

bruce

George Vecsey

12/8/2019 09:20:08 am

Bruce: Koufax visits the Mets camp every spring, spending time with the pitchers. He is a mensch. When my late friend Bob Welch got out of rehab in 1980, the first person he told in Dodger camp was Koufax, as they ran together. (Bob said Koufax still had more stuff than anybody on the staff.) Sandy told Bob he should share his experience with his teammates -- great advice. The loyalty between Koufax and Fred Wilpon speaks well of both people. GV

bruce

12/8/2019 09:42:41 am

george,

in a country where history--sports and otherwise--seems to end a few years ago, it speaks to koufax's ability and personality that he's still revered and remembered.

see photos of him every year at dodgers' camp with people still seeking him out and milling around.

as i've mentioned, when i was a kid i loved the yankees but i didn't know anybody who didn't love koufax.

didn't like what he did to our teams but....

i've always felt a bit bad for him with his world series totals.

only 4-3 but with an ERA of under a run a game.

bruce

George

12/8/2019 10:29:19 am

Bruce: first game of the '63 Series, 15 strikeouts. I was there.
Recently, he slips into US Open tennis....the camera picks him up for a few seconds, the crowd bustles with respectful surprise.
Same with Dodger and Met pitchers when he visits their camps.
GV

bruce

12/8/2019 10:38:33 am

george,

an icon.

the only criticisms of him i remember was when drysdale and he held out.

also, some when he observed yom kippur, if i recollect correctly.

when i think of that series now, you might remember this, it's about big al taking umbrage when i didn't love mickey mantle enough even tho he was my baseball idol.

funny tho that mantle was my idol but koufax was somehow in a different category--floating above or something.

bruce

Gene Palumbo

12/8/2019 09:22:25 pm

Speaking of Koufax: I might have sent this one in before, but who cares? Treat yourself to hearing Vin Scully narrate the bottom of the ninth in Koufax's perfect game in the '65 series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uozLFsEPu8

bruce

12/8/2019 09:44:33 pm

gene,

i think it's the fourth time.....

jest kiddin' but i listened to it the last time you sent it.....at least, i think this is where i heard it.

liked the 29.000 fans and one million butterlies comment.

of course, koufax had a laugher. the dodgers hammered out one hit.

54 years ago....makes me feel a knuckleball short of ancient.

bruce

Josh Rubin

12/9/2019 10:09:03 am

Sigh. Those are my teams. It was my fate that they would both win championships just as I was starting to follow pro sports in earnest (1969-70) and in such mythic style. So they are deeply imprinted and I am stuck with them.

I agree that the karma's been really bad at the Garden since Dolan overrode Walsh and traded the whole team for Anthony. Walsh knew how to build a team and knew a good deal from a bad one. He also knew how to trade with a poker face - unfortunately, his own boss fell for the bluff. There's been no sign of intelligence, planning, or forethought in the front office since.

Alan Rubin link

12/9/2019 10:25:22 am

Drysdale pitched in Koufax's place on Yom Kippur and did not do well. When manager Walter Alston came out to remove Drysdale in the third inning, Dysdale commented "I bet that you wished I were Jewish, too."

bruce

12/9/2019 01:00:16 pm

alan,

going by memory, but i seem to recall that koufax took some heat for his decision not to pitch.

different world today....

bruce

George

12/9/2019 06:13:45 pm

Alan, Bruce: I was at that World Series, both LA and Minnesota,
I've heard the Drysdale line....don't remember reading or writing it at the time, but surely have heard it since.
(Doesn't mean it didn't happen)
But criticism of Koufax? Maybe because most of the so-called Chipmunks in the press corp -- young chatterers -- were Jewish, I did not hear or read any criticism of Koufax (No internet, so blogs and such did not exist, This was called The Good Old Days,) I also remember Koufax standing around with writers on a workout day at the ball park in Minnesota, relaxed and joking with a dozen familiar faces from NY and Philadelphia. There was no interrogation, nothing for Koufax to answer or defend or explain. He has become a private person but he was quite open with people he knew. Again, a simpler time. GV

bruce

12/9/2019 07:45:52 pm

george,

my memory is there was criticism because in those good old days you were supposed to play the game first and foremost.

i don't remember it being virulent, but there.

don't like to google this stuff because it feels like cheating.

also, if memory serves koufax pitched that seventh game on two days rest while drysdale had more or maybe was supposed to pitch.

drysdale was not a stiff and he could hit too.

no complaints from drysdale that i remember.

not as much 'wonder of me'.

bruce

Alan Rubin link

12/10/2019 06:05:39 pm

One need not be a rocket scientist to know how to rebuild the Knicks. Getting rid of Dolan is the top priority, but that is not likely to happen.

A turnaround could still be possible if Dolan hired savvy basketball people and left them alone. (This could possibly be outside the realm of divine intervention).

It would require patience and a long view from Knick fans. Although NYC fans are not known to have these traits, it is mentioned in the book Socceromics (below) that roughly half of the fans in Britain’s Premier League showed loyalty to their team regardless of their record over time.

The Knick management, once they develop one, should develop a PR campaign that fosters this kind of loyalty and support.

It is also possible that I am reaching senility.

“Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Germany, France and Spain Win; and Why One Day Japan, Iraq, and the United States Will Become Kings of the World’s Most Popular Sport” by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski was an interesting read although some claims in the title have not quite panned out yet.

bruce

12/10/2019 07:05:57 pm

alan,

i'm surprised only half of EPL fans remained loyal to their teams over time.

i had an english friend when i lived in japan who asked me why they didn't have a promotion/demotion system in american football.

i took the liberty of trying to explain even tho i have the misfortune of being canadian, eh....

i said i thought because the demoted teams would probably lost most of their fans if they were playing in a 'minor' league.

and you can imagine how the TV/cable networks would respond if big market teams were demoted.at the same time.

i'm sure you recall rangers being dropped a few divisions in the scottish league several years ago for some financial wrong doing.

would've been more of a disaster if it happened here.

Alan Rubin link

12/10/2019 07:31:16 pm

I realize that it will probably not happen in my lifetime, but U.S. men's soccer would survive and probably improve if a relegation system was established.

This would have MLS at the top, then NASL (if still in existence, followed by the United Soccer League. Then there are some lesser leagues.

This could be the basis for a relegation system and FA cup play could include colleges. Eventually, as play improved and more foreign players compete, they system would strengthen and gain acceptance.

MLS would benefit from more home-grown talent, which would improve fan support.

Gene Palumbo

12/10/2019 10:55:04 pm

Bruce wrote, "if memory serves koufax pitched that seventh game on two days rest while drysdale had more or maybe was supposed to pitch."

I remember Dick Young's column, just before the game, addressing that question. It went something like this: "When you're playing the seventh game of a World Series and you've got a Sandy Koufax on your staff, it doesn't matter if he's had three days rest, or two, or one. You go with him."

bruce

12/10/2019 11:11:59 pm

gene,

pretty hard to argue against using koufax at any time tho i suppose he'd be a little easier to hit these days.

probably have trouble breaking 90 mph with his heat.

i was 16 when he packed it in. i remember being very disappointed. jim brown had retired the previous season. best players, i thought, in their respective sports..

didn't know any of the ny media in those days, but i have strong memories of young and ali. didn't he insist on calling him clay or am i thinking of somebody else?

incidentally, koufax's perfect game was late in the season tho not world series late.

immersed in that time at the moment....waching the beatles' anthology for the first time in several years.

bruce

George

12/11/2019 08:43:10 am

I doubt Dolan will vacate, given the value of MSG (Rangers) and Knicks as long as fans keep showing up.
But the spectre of Carmelo hangs over the Knicks, to the point where big stars choose other teams. This is no longer the team of Reed and Ewing,
I know relegation aint happening in the four traditional North American sports because they are not structured that
way -- no upcoming independent teams at the next level down.
MLS could theoretically expand to 40-50-60 teams with two divisions, as long as all teams shared TV and other swag.
Relegation is part of soccer's charm. Remember 2006-7, when Juventus was penalized for buying favor from refs, etc. (All those favorable 89th minute calls) Juve went to Serie B for a year, losing 7 stalwarts (Cannavaro, Thuram) but keeping other stars (Buffon, Del Piero).....won Serie B and were back in Serie A in 2007-8.
As an old NL fan, I hate to see two great old river towns, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, at the bottom as "small=market" teams, when I think of Clemente/Bench, etc. But there are no independent AAA teams worth promoting, and fans with memories, like me, are happy to see their ballparks by the river and their uniforms...continuity!

Ed Martin

12/11/2019 06:17:40 pm

Hey guys, I’m older than dirt, but did nobody else remember Hank Greenberg, Detroit slugger. Here is a quote from David Halberstam,

“ 1965, when World Series television ratings were three times higher than they are today, Los Angeles Dodgers ace Sandy Koufax was scheduled to start Game 1 vs. the Minnesota Twins.

XXX KOUFAX_WORLD SERIES TWINS DODGER KOUFAX_7150.JPG S BBN USA CA [image : 32552605]

But the day of the game (Oct. 6) also was Yom Kippur, a high holiday of Judaism, and Koufax, like Hank Greenberg 31 years earlier, chose not to play.

Not to dampen the golden celebration of Koufax, now 79, but baseball on Yom Kippur really belongs to Greenberg, a fellow Hall of Famer.

“I wasn’t the first (Jewish star to sit out a Yom Kippur game). Hank Greenberg did it,” Koufax said at the time, deflecting the attention his decision received.”

bruce

12/11/2019 07:53:25 pm

ed,

i'm getting to older than dirt, but i knew about greenberg. forgot about him until you pointed it out.

small correction....you took five years (as of dec. 30) off koufax's age.

bruce

Hansen Alexander

12/17/2019 03:28:58 pm

George,

Nice rift on the management woes of New York teams. I don't know anything about Cohen, but his appearance seems to coincide with the revival of the Mets. The luck finally seems to be on the side of the Metropolitans with excellent moves, including Ric Porcello, an important innings eater

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Knicks and Mets Scions Need New Careers

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