Upper Deck drops offer for Topps!

Since collecting baseball cards has been near and dear to my heart for close to 30 years now (and since I'm a very small potatoes shareholder, thanks to a great Christmas present from my wife several years ago), I've been following the Topps saga fairly closely. There are a few offers to buy the company, and the strongest financially was a hostile bid from Upper Deck, essentially the only baseball competition Topps has anymore. While the baseball card hobby survived for many years with just one major manufacturer for decades, I still found the offer from Upper Deck hard to swallow personally. It's not that I don't like Upper Deck. In fact, I collect quite a few of their products as well. I just didn't want to see them as the "king" of the baseball card industry. I was glad to read the report on Sports Collector's Digest's website today (it also provides a nice summary of the goings on over the past several months):

BREAKING NEWS: Upper Deck drops offer to buy Topps Upper Deck announced Tuesday evening that it has dropped its offer to buy rival card maker Topps, ending a hostile takeover attempt that became even more contentious in the last two weeks.

In a press release issued last night, Upper Deck said “the actions of Topps made the conditions precedent to the tender offer incapable of being satisfied.” The statement was released 12 hours after Topps released the contents of a letter it sent to Upper Deck chairman Richard McWilliam in which it outlined potential concerns about Upper Deck’s ongoing tender offer, including allegations about changes to the terms of Upper Deck’s tender offer and demanding the company “own up to your true intentions” about whether it was serious about purchasing Topps.

The cancellation of Upper Deck’s tender offer means Topps shareholders now have only one offer to consider for the company – a $9.75-per-share offer from two equity firms headed by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. That offer was agreed upon by the Topps board last March, but has been the subject of criticism by some shareholders and a handful of members of the company’s board of directors. Shareholders are scheduled to vote on the offer Aug. 30.

Upper Deck launched its hostile takeover attempt in June, a move that spawned reactions ranging from curiosity among licensors to apprehension from some hobby retailers about how a merger of the industry’s two largest card makers would impact sales. While some had assumed the deal would never pass government regulatory approval, the government issued no objections or concerns about the offer during its review period that expired earlier this month.

In the weeks since the antitrust concerns were erased, the companies have exchanged press releases accusing the other of not being forthright about their intentions. Topps accused Upper Deck of launching a tender offer it believed the company could not, or would not, complete. Upper Deck accused Topps of misleading its shareholders into accepting an inferior offer.

In its statement issued Tuesday, Upper Deck said it decided to pull its offer because, “It is now abundantly clear that Topps will attempt to impede any and all reasonable efforts to consummate the UD merger, which thus cannot possibly be consummated under the current circumstances. Accordingly, UD is left no choice but to immediately terminate its tender offer, as well as all merger discussions with Topps.”

The company left open the possibility of pursuring legal action “against Topps and those responsible for the collapse of this transaction,” saying its attempts to purchase Topps “would have been in the best interest of Topps’ shareholders.”

Earlier Tuesday, Topps accused Upper Deck of displaying a “willingness to risk judicial and regulatory sanctions” with what Topps describes as a “disingenous” tender offer of $10.75 per share. Among the most significant accusations is a claim by Topps that Upper Deck has stated in conversations between the two firms that it will only complete its tender offer based on an acquisition of 90 percent of outstanding shares, not the 51 percent stated in the original tender offer. Topps said such a stipulation leaves its shareholders with “less certainty and greater risk.”

I don't think I've ever been as happy losing at least a dollar per share!

Inman traded...

My guess is if Linebrink reports tomorrow or before the game on Saturday then Balfour might be DFA’d (he would have to clear waivers to go back to the minors, and I don’t think he would despite his major league numbers this year). If it’s after the game on Saturday, he might just replace Parra, which would probably be an unpopular move but Parra wouldn’t be available for four days anyway.

I don’t think Melvin is going to move Turnbow or Wise. Turnbow just might be the closer again next year, since the other viable candidates (CoCo and Linebrink) are free agents. I’d like Balfour to keep getting his work in as another possibility for next year, but it’s tough now that the pennant race is tight. Wise—I just don’t see him going anywhere. He’s a very effective reliever and losing him means weakening what is now a strength. With that in mind, if you were the Padres and you were in a pennant chase, would you trade an effective reliever? Just food for thought…

When I first read about the trade I was extremely upset. I like Inman a great deal, both as a potential #3 or #4 starter and as a person. Not only that, but giving up on Thatcher, to me, was astonishing. Yes, the guy is 25, but he’s a lefty reliever in AAA doing outstanding work and last year in the Hawaiian Winter League I believe went the entire season giving up something like one run. Strike three was Garrison, who at the age of 20 is young for High A and yet is still dominating the league. All for a guy who won’t accept arby and will be gone after 25-35 innings with us. I’ve calmed down a little (no, really, I have), knowing that if the Brewers lose Linebrink and CoCo then we will essentially have five of the top, oh, 40 picks in the draft next year. Perhaps a couple of those picks can be used on college arms that are as close to ready as these guys are.

I’m not used to the “win now” mentality. Since I started following minor league ball, my focus has always been on accumulating prospects “so we’ll be good soon”. This trade cleaned out the cupboard quite a bit, but maybe Linebrink is just what we needed for the “now”.

Don't invite to tailgate party...

Oh, the rigors of Competitive Eating.

Apparently the reigning Nathan's Yellow Mustard Belt holder, Kobayashi, has overtrained for the event and is suffering from an arthritic jaw. The much anticipated match up between Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut on July 4th may not happen. Chestnut set a new world record a few weeks ago by downing nearly 60 hot dogs in 12 minutes.

I've watched the hot dog eating championship for the last couple of years now. The sheer gluttony and disgust level apparently appeals to me. I like the fact that the organizers of this "league" don't take themselves very seriously and it's done just for the fun of it. I guess that's all well and good until somebody loses an eye. And eats it.

Rare Brewer Performances

I know this is about a week late, but I thought it was interesting enough to pass along. Using the 50 years of play-by-play data available from Retrosheet, SABR member John Jarvis created a histogram showing the number of times a team has been no hit, one hit, etc. The data shows 129 no hitters, or about 2.6 per year on average. What is interesting, though, is that the 22 hit performance the Brewers had against the Rangers is actually more rare than the no hitter! A team has blasted 22 hits in a game only 111 times during the last 50 years.

So, if you are still embarrassed about your team being held without a hit by a guy with positively nasty stuff, perhaps that little tidbit can cure what ails ya.

Oh, on the other end of the hit spectrum is an August 28, 1992 game in which Milwaukee pounded out 31 hits while beating Toronto 22-2. That's the highest total in the Retrosheet data. If you are interested in the complete breakdown, just let me know.

Steve Dalkowski

Minor league baseball history is a passion of mine. The fact I just spent a perfectly fine three-day weekend writing about 10,000 words on the 1886 and 1887 seasons of Eau Claire baseball probably bears that out a bit. The sheer volume of minor league teams and players throughout the years means there are thousands of fascinating stories out there, and thousands more to be told.

My favorite minor league story is the sad-but-true tale of Steve Dalkowski. I first read about him in the early 1990's when this man who once had a lightning bolt in his arm was now scraping by working intermittantly as a field laborer whenever he was sober enough. The Hardball Times has an article here that tells Dalkowski's amazing tale. Like the article says, if you've heard of him, it's still good to be reminded of his amazing feats. If you haven't heard of him, just be prepared to be in awe of the stats and the stories. I love the attempt at timing his pitches--93.5 mph on flat ground after throwing at his maximum for 40 minutes AND following a 150+ pitch game the night before.

Don't miss the tail end of the article (after the references) for "something you may not know".

The Price is Right

In about a month, Bob Barker will tape his last "The Price is Right" episode. Most people reading this probably do not know TV without Bob Barker, who has been hosting the show for nearly as long as the Brewers have been in existence. I know I am not alone when I say I don't think I even want to know "TPIR" without Bob (I call him "Bob" because it feels like he's a member of the family). TPIR doesn't rely on glitzy lighting, dramatic music, or contestants that are complete lunatics to bring in millions of viewers every day. It's a simple show that takes the contestants for who they are. Sure, producers interview the audience ahead of time but the chosen ones still seem to represent the "common person". And there's Bob, presiding over it all and expertly conducting an entertaining hour of TV time and time again.

Hank Stuever at the Washington Post writes a great story today on Bob and the show. I think it hits on the reasons why many of us love the show to this day.

Oh, and my favorite game was "Cliffhangers".

Baseball Predictions

Considering my wife and seven year old son fared better than I did on the annual family NCAA bracket contest, my predictions for the upcoming baseball season probably shouldn't be something you take to the bank as collateral for a loan. Nonetheless, here goes:

In the NL Central, it seems obvious there is no one dominating team. The spread between first and fifth (and possibly even sixth) place will be such that a hot two week stretch could vault any club three or four spots in the standings. Conversely, a cold snap could take a first place team down the cellar in a hurry. The key, I think, will be to avoid the long cold streaks and play consistent ball. And of course, the way to do that is more often than not on the shoulders of the pitching staff. The Brewers have the depth in starting pitching that no other team in the division can touch. I hate sounding like I have beer-colored glasses on here, but I think the Brewers have just enough to win this division with 86 wins. I wouldn't be surprised to see the sixth place team have 72 wins. It's going to be a roller coaster year, so hang on.

Elsewhere, I like the Braves to slug their way back into an NL East title and the Dodgers will grab the NL West. Wildcard goes to Philly. I think the Mets' pitching staff is going to completely offset the incredible offense they have, and they will drop to third in the tough East. In the AL, I like Boston to ride its pitching staff to the East crown. The A's might slip a bit, but still should have enough for the West. And the Royals will shock the world and win the Central. No--April Fools. I like the Tigers to repeat, with the wildcard going to Cleveland.

So there you have it--that and about $.60 will buy you a refreshing can of soda.

Random Thoughts

**I was a big fan of Eddie "The King" Feigner of "King and His Court" fame. The first new glove I ever had was an Eddie Feigner model my mom bought for me when I was in fifth grade. Many years later, I tried to arrange to bring the Court to Eau Claire. I found his address and mailed a request, along with the hang tag from that old glove of mine for his autograph (unfortunately for a glove collector like myself, the glove was left at the park on the last day of my last Little League season, and I haven't seen it since. One just went for $70 on eBay a few months ago--too much for me). I was stunned to have a large box come to my home a few days later from Eddie himself. He wrote me a long letter and told me some stuff about his tour, some of his favorite places, the glove, etc. He sent along a bunch of old "Court" yearbooks, all of them signed, along with a press kit and some other photos that were all personalized. He also gave me his home phone number and asked me to call him. So I did. We spent about a half hour on the phone, just shooting the breeze and talking about softball. Unfortunately, the time he would be in Western Wisconsin didn't work on our end, so we just sort of left it there. We tried a few other times in subsequent years, but I'm not connected enough in the community to get things rolling and I didn't want to shoulder the responsibility myself. It never worked out.

Of course, Eddie passed away just a few months ago. He had a book out called "From an Orphan to a King", but I never ordered it for one reason or another. After Eddie died, I ordered the book, hoping that it might help out his wife who was struggling with the medical bills. I wanted to report here that the book is a phenominal read full of amazing stories. Well, I guess it is. But I don't know that it's not full of something else, too. The stories, by and large, just sound like they were the work of someone who had an awful lot of travel time to think of things. I have no doubt that Eddie had a number of incredible, unbelievable experiences in his years of touring. I just don't believe everything the book says. One example: he recognized some Olympic pole vaulter or something like that at a hotel, but didn't recognize later on that weekend he was riding in an elevator with Harry Truman. It's still a nice read, and proceeds of books bought at kingandhiscourt.com will help out "The Queen", Anne Marie. But I suggest you read it with some skepticism.

**I recently volunteered to do preliminary judging for a few presentations and posters for the upcoming SABR convention in St. Louis. I was given abstracts from nine different projects and asked to score them on a 50 point scale. Now, those of you that know me (all two of you) know that I'm not a huge stat-based person. I belong to SABR for the stories, not the numbers. That said, of the nine abstracts I was given I only gave one perfect score. It was for a presentation titled "How Valuable is Strike One?". Of course, it's widely known that getting ahead in the count on the first pitch is important. The abstract mentions a 1986 Stanley Katz article that supported this. However, it was noted there were several factors that couldn't be studied due to small sample size, such as game situations. Now there is available data from over 30,000 games since 1988. This new study will show the effects of pitch sequence including situational analysis, ballpark factors, pitcher "types" (predominantly ground ball or fly ball, power or finesse, etc.), hitter types, etc. Stuff like this could turn me into a numbers guy after all. Once I get the study, I'll post here about it. Or better yet check out www.sabr.org for yourself and consider joining this wonderful organization. There's something for everyone in SABR.

**I want to send my congratulations to Al of Al's Ramblings fame on the amazing weight loss so far. It's Gleeman-esque!

I, too, am on a quest to get into better shape. At one point, I was planning on hitting LA Weight Loss but decided if I could do it on my own I would put the money that would cost into something fun, like partially funding a trip to Brewer fantasy camp or something. Well, I've dropped 28 pounds--nearly 10% of my starting weight--since the beginning of the year. I've enjoyed lifting weights for quite some time, so I make sure to incorporate weight lifting in with my cardio. I've never been stronger or had more endurance with my cardio--even when I was lighter. One day I watched the NFL combine and saw some lineman doing 22-25 bench press reps at 225. I went down to my bench, without warmup, and did 24.

I'm happy with my pace, too. It's not fast, but that has to do with my dietary choices. I'm very light for the work week--around 1,000-1,200 calories a day. On the weekends, I usually let go a little bit and one of the weekend days I go all out with whatever I want. It helps me mentally because I know I'm never more than six days away from my favorite foods. Plus, it jolts the system and reminds my body that maybe I'm not starving myself. So far, so good.

Congrats!

A big congratulations and good luck go out to the Eleva-Strum Cardinals, who are heading to state for the Boys High School Basketball Tournament this week. The Cards were there last year, but lost in the first game. It will be a tough road again this time around, as the other teams in the field appear to be absolutely loaded with offense. E-S prides itself on shutting down the opponent, though, so hopefully they'll be up to task.

And yes, of course, E-S is my alma mater (1990--incidentally, the last time E-S won a game at state. I'm sure it had something to do with the wonderful stat guys they had!)

Sorry For Being Away

I really thought I'd get into this blogging stuff, but I guess not. I'll try to update a little better as we go along.

Updates:
*Still haven't heard for certain about the publishing of the Burleigh article. It's actually probably a good thing--no news is good news. I'm 95% sure it will be picked up either in this edition or next.

*Finally have started actually writing down some Eau Claire baseball history rather than just researching. I'm nearly finished with the 1886 season. My goal is to finish all pre-Northern League seasons by the end of the year. Not a very aggressive goal, but it's a lot more progress than I've made in the last few years.

*I've been able to get a few images of some of those 19th and early 20th century players through a source familiar to me--baseball cards. I've never really been into the vintage cards, but I found a great site that now has me hooked: www.oldcardboard.com . Go into the "VBC Forum" and you find a whole bunch of collectors that are willing to help out with images. I've got a few nice ones of some obscure players that I plan on using in the book when it's ready.

*Shifting gears--there's a nice little fluff piece on Cuban defector and Brewer prospect Yohannis Perez here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BBN_BREWERS_PEREZ?SITE=WIMIL&SECTION=SPORTS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

*The Eau Claire Baseball History Committee is in the process of raising funds for refurbishing the area around the Hank Aaron statue. It's going to be a nice addition, with a "Walk of Fame"-type thing for other major leaguers who played with Eau Claire and a "Wall of Fame" honoring the people that made Eau Claire baseball happen through the years. I guess I consider the wall to be out "true" Hall of Fame, as without their contributions to baseball there is no way the history of the sport in our area would have been as rich. If you wish to contribute to the project, go to www.eauclaireexpress.com and click on the "Eau Claire Baseball Hall of Fame" brochure for more information.

*Lastly, snow sucks.

Burleigh Update

After checking through some census records, I have found that Burleigh's father did not die "when he was a lad", as his write up in "Spitballers" said. Charles Clark told me that his dad would send Burleigh slippery elm bark from Wisconsin when he was playing in the majors, and I believe him. The census shows he was still alive in 1920, which was several years after Burleigh made his major league debut. I don't blame the authors of the "Spitballers" book at all, as it was a minute detail overlooked in what is otherwise an incredibly great read.

Thus, I left some stuff in the article that Charles had told me. I also included a blurb about Happy Felsch, who played shortstop in the only exhibition game Eau Claire had in 1912. He failed to make the team (and interestingly enough, Burleigh didn't play and still made his pro debut with the team a few days later--playing shortstop). Yet, Felsch's obituary in the Sporting News referenced the "brief trial" in Eau Claire, so it must have had some sort of impact on him.

The article is with SABR now, and hopefully I'll learn the fate of it relatively soon.