Speaking of Wily Mo

I don't remember the thread, but shortly after the trade, someone asked how
Wily Mo got from Cincy to Boston. The consensus at the time was that he was
picked up as a free agent.

Actually Boston thought enough of Wily Mo to trade Bronson Arroyo for him,
according to my Dad, a lifelong Reds fan. I know that the braintrust in
Boston is considered to be uberprescient, but how'd you like to have given
away Bronson Arroyo for what eventually became "a player to be named later"?

I'm not saying that Wily Mo will ever live up to his potential, but I'd much
rather have him roaming the outfield than most anyone else the Nats put out
there. Who knows, maybe the pressure being off will help him. In Cincy, he
was the second coming of (fill-in-the-blank) and sought by nearly every
major league team. In small market Cincy, he was expected to be the guy who
basically carried the team. Then he goes to the pressure cooker of Boston,
which becomes more like NY all the time (read the great article in ESPN the
mag's issue last week). Now he comes to Washington as a guy who finally,
for the first time in his life, may be undervalued, and to a team that isn't
expected to do anything anyway. Maybe with the pressure off, some of Lenny
Harris' advice will be heeded. Frankly, I think if he was given a chance to
start everyday and just adjust to life it would help him. Time will tell.

CJB

"CJB" <colonyparkwagon DeleteThis @excite.com> wrote in message
news:n1XDi.6373$es2.1156@trndny09...
>I don't remember the thread, but shortly after the trade, someone asked how
>Wily Mo got from Cincy to Boston. The consensus at the time was that he
>was picked up as a free agent.
>
> Actually Boston thought enough of Wily Mo to trade Bronson Arroyo for him,
> according to my Dad, a lifelong Reds fan. I know that the braintrust in
> Boston is considered to be uberprescient, but how'd you like to have given
> away Bronson Arroyo for what eventually became "a player to be named
> later"?
>
> I'm not saying that Wily Mo will ever live up to his potential, but I'd
> much rather have him roaming the outfield than most anyone else the Nats
> put out there. Who knows, maybe the pressure being off will help him. In
> Cincy, he was the second coming of (fill-in-the-blank) and sought by
> nearly every major league team. In small market Cincy, he was expected to
> be the guy who basically carried the team. Then he goes to the pressure
> cooker of Boston, which becomes more like NY all the time (read the great
> article in ESPN the mag's issue last week). Now he comes to Washington as
> a guy who finally, for the first time in his life, may be undervalued, and
> to a team that isn't expected to do anything anyway. Maybe with the
> pressure off, some of Lenny Harris' advice will be heeded. Frankly, I
> think if he was given a chance to start everyday and just adjust to life
> it would help him. Time will tell.


Since when has the braintrust of the Red Sox been considered
"uberprescient"? This is a group that thought Roger Clemens was through
back when he went to Toronto. They got schnookered by the Yankees of all
people with ARod. And let's not even talk about "Who's your daddy"
Martinez. As far as American League teams, the Red Sox are my favorite (my
sister's family are in Massachusetts), but that doesn't mean I think their
brain trust is even above average.

As for Wily Mo, he was sold for cash just like a pitcher turned outfielder
of note back in 1920. He hits 5 homers in a fortnight. How does that
average for a whole season? Sixty. That's right, the big six oh.
Coincidence? .

--
Brian J. Whiting
CompAid DeleteThis @rcn.com
Brian_Whiting_2006 DeleteThis @yahoo.com