DISOWNED

Three months after getting his dream job in early August, new Detroit Tigers’ General Manager Al Avila faced the kind of decision that could tear a family apart. With rookie James McCann establishing himself as a solid major league catcher last season, Avila had to figure out what direction to take regarding a seven-year veteran coming off an injury-marred season and heading into free agency.

That player just happened to carry his genes. The player was his son, catcher Alex Avila. “From a business perspective, it was kind of a no-brainer because we had a young player in McCann,’’ said the Cuban-born Avila, who replaced Dave Dombrowski and is baseball’s only Latino GM. “That’s what every organization wants, to bring up a young player to take over a guy who’s making money, as long as you feel he’s going to be a real good player. Don’t even bother explaining that to grandma Gloria. She’s still upset her son wouldn’t keep her grandkid around.

This is not the case of the prodigal son leaving home and behaving recklessly, but later makes a repentant return. The son signed a one year $2.5 million contract with the rival Chicago White Sox. As long as Dad is running the Tigers, the son won’t be calling the Motor City his home.

It was in the summer of 1960 that another family feud in baseball took place in Concord, MA. Mr. Stillman Baker went down to Emerson Playground to watch his two sons play. They were both excellent catchers on their respective teams and the playoffs meant bragging rights for the boys, Ronny and Bobby.

As the game was getting ready for the first pitch to be thrown, the coaches met at home plate. With only one umpire present, they asked for a volunteer from the stands to umpire the bases. After some coaxing by some parents, Mr. Baker volunteered to be that important second arbitrator.

Mr. Baker had grown up in Medford and had attended high school with the current Concord Athletic Director, John O’ Connell and the head football coach, Walter Carew. Stillman was just a fan like most parents. His son, Bobby had been the only schoolboy to not strike out when Belmont’s Wilbur Wood mowed down 21 batters in a high school game just one month prior. Wood debuted for the Boston Red Sox in 1961, playing 18 seasons in the major leagues.

The game moved along at a brisk pace. The first base umpire had watched his son, Ronny belt a double in the bottom of the first inning. His other son had been issued a walk and had singled to left field as well. All of the calls at first base had been relatively simple. There had been one close play at second base when a runner was thrown out stealing, but there were no issues through six innings.

Leading off the top of the seventh, Bobby Baker pulled a fastball in the hole between third base and shortstop. While Bobby was not fleet a foot, he clearly believed he had beaten the shortstop’s throw to first base. Whether the umpire had watched the batted ball, or his son hustling down the baseline, or gotten too close to the fielder to see the play is still a mystery.

After a brief delay, the right arm was raised and the batter was called out. The mild mannered oldest son went ballistic, screaming at his father and demanding that he “change the call.” Following a lengthy delay to pickup the hat and helmet that Bobby had tossed, the call stood.

After the game, Booby walked home while Dad and Ronny rode in the car. One week of not talking to Dad turned to two, three and then four. Having felt bad initially that he may have missed the call, the silent treatment from Bobby only strengthened Stillman’s resolve. Dad never made the mistake of volunteering ever, again. His umpiring career was over after one game.

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

BIGGEST LOSER

Having struggled to a career low in 2015 with a batting average of .245, Pablo Sandoval showed up for Boston Red Sox training camp, weighing in at an alltime high. The figures may vary from 280-300 lbs. The body fat percentage (BFP) of a human or other living being is the total mass of fat divided by total body mass; body fat includes essential body fat and storage body fat.

Pablo is in the second year of a five year, $95 million guaranteed contract, with no weight restrictions written in. According to San Francisco Giants' broadcaster Mike Krukow, Pablo Sandoval has a body fat percentage of 30. For Athletes, the rate is 14-20% for Women, Men is 6-13%. For the Average American, the rate is 25-31% for Women, Men is 18-24%. Obese for Women is 32%, Men is 25%. Pablo knocked that one right out of the park.

After serving the Boston Red Sox in various capacities for 62 years, only four Boston Red Sox players showed up for the August 22, 2011 funeral of Johnny Pesky: David Ortiz, Clay Buchholz, Vicente Padilla and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The team had even provided bus service, but 21 active players were too tired from the team's long road trip so they slept in. Two busloads of other Red Sox employees and front-office officials -- numbering more than 100 in all -- also attended the funeral held in Swampscott, the same North Shore town in which Pesky, 92, lived for decades.

Johnny Pesky joined the United States Army in 1942. He was paid $21.00 per month. He sacrificed three years of his major league baseball career to serve his country. Pablo Sandoval has zero chance of passing the physical to join the Armed Forces, and he gets paid $ 1,583,333.33 per month.

It was seventy one years ago that Albert "Red" Schoendienst began his remarkable career in Major League Baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals marked the 70 year milestone by honoring Red with a special pre-game ceremony prior to the season opener against the Cincinnati Reds. In addition, the team launched a season-long campaign encouraging fans to demonstrate their affection for Red by sharing a video message via social media using the hashtag #LoveRed2. The team wore a commemorative number 2 "70 Years in Uniform and Counting" patch on their sleeve.

"We wanted to mark this amazing milestone by letting Red know how much he means to the entire Cardinals family," said Bill DeWitt III, President of the St. Louis Cardinals. "We encouraged fans to join us in showing their affinity, affection and appreciation for number two as he celebrated seventy years and counting in Major League Baseball."

The 2013 World Series won by the Boston Red Sox over the St. Louis Cardinals in six games is an aberration. There is no logical explanation as to why a team can finish in last place three of the past four years, yet win the whole thing in the other.

The biggest loser is the diehard Boston Red Sox fan. "Let's go, Cardinals."

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Restoring The Family Name

Aboard the Lexington was U.S. Navy fighter pilot Lt. Edward (Butch)O’Hare, attached to Fighting Squadron 3 when the United States entered the World War II. As the Lexington left Bougainville, the largest of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific (and still free from Japanese control), for Rabaul, ship radar picked up Japanese bombers headed straight for the carrier. The Japanese were now in prime striking position for the Solomon Islands, next on the agenda for expanding their ever-growing Pacific empire. The Lexington‘s mission was to destabilize the Japanese position on Rabaul with a bombing raid.

O’Hare and his team went into action, piloting F4F Wildcats. In a mere four minutes, O’Hare shot down five Japanese G4M1 Betty bombers–bringing a swift end to the Japanese attack and earning O’Hare the designation “ace” (given to any pilot who had five or more downed enemy planes to his credit). The Lexington blew back the Japanese bombers, the element of surprise was gone, and the attempt to raid Rabaul was aborted for the time being. O’Hare was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery–and excellent aim.

Butch was the son of famous Chicago attorney, Edward O’ Hare. The lawyer made a fortune representing Owen Smith, the inventor of mechanical dog racing and commissioner of the International Greyhound Racing Association. His contacts led to his involvement with gangster, Al Capone.

A fallout with Capone led O’ Hare to assist the Internal Revenue Service in working to convict Capone of tax evasion. O'Hare directed investigator Frank Wilson, helping break the code used in the ledgers by Capone's bookkeepers. At the start of Capone's trial in the court of Judge James Wilkerson, O'Hare tipped the government that Capone had fixed the jury. Thus alerted, Judge Wilkerson switched juries with another federal trial before the Capone trial began. Capone was found guilty and sent to prison in 1933.

Having helped eliminate Al Capone, a favor to Edward O’ Hare helped him get his son Butch, accepted to the Naval Academy. Edward was hoping the son could bring honor to the family after a decade of underworld activity.

Just one week before Al Capone was to be released from Alcatraz , Edward O’ Hare was gunned down on November 8, 1939 after leaving Sportsman's Park racetrack in Cicero, Illinois. The two shotgun-wielding gunmen were never captured, and the case remains unsolved.

On January 27, 1945 the United States Navy named a Gearing-class destroyer USS O'Hare in his honor. The ship was launched June 22, 1945 with his mother, Selma O’Hare, as the sponsor. On September 19, 1949, the Chicago-area Orchard Depot Airport was renamed O'Hare International Airport. In March 1963, President John F. Kennedy did a wreath-laying ceremony at O'Hare Airport to honor Butch O'Hare.

Like his father, Butch’s death is still a mystery. He may have been killed by "friendly fire. " Butch O’ Hare exceeded the dreams of his father, earning a Purple Heart, Navy Cross and Medal of Honor.

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Pardon Me

As granted by the Constitution (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1), Presidents have the power to grant clemency in one or more of the following ways: the ability to grant a full pardon, to commute a sentence, or to rescind a fine. Pardon is the postponement of punishment, often with a view to a pardon or other review of the sentence. Our first president, George Washington used his presidential forgiveness to issue the first pardon to the Whiskey Rebels in 1795. A President has also pardoned a President.

In 1858, President James Buchanan pardoned Brigham Young as part of a peace compromise with the federal government. In the Utah War, Young’s followers participated in a year-long standoff with the U.S. Army. The affair was highlighted by a September 1857 incident in which a group of Mormons killed over 100 civilian members of a California-bound wagon train.

On November 25, 1862, Union General Fitz John Porter was arrested and court-martialed for his actions at Second Bull Run. By this time, George McClellan had been relieved by President Abraham Lincoln and could not provide political cover for his protégé. Porter's association with the disgraced McClellan and his open criticism of General Pope were significant reasons for his conviction at court-martial. Porter was found guilty on January 10, 1863, of disobedience and misconduct, and he was dismissed from the Army on January 21, 1863. In 1878, a special commission under General John M. Schofield exonerated Porter by finding that his reluctance to attack General Longstreet probably saved Pope's Army of Virginia from an even greater defeat. In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur commuted his sentence and restored him to the military, and President Grover Cleveland later followed up with a full pardon. Fitz' brother, David Dixon Porter spent 62 years in the United States Navy.

On May 26, 1874, John Wesley Hardin was celebrating his 21st birthday when he got into an altercation with a man who fired the first shot. Hardin fired back and killed the man. A few years later, Hardin was tracked down in Florida and brought to trial. Because it was one of the more defensible shootings on Hardin’s record, he was spared the gallows and given a life sentence. Hardin had killed in excess of 40 people during a six-year stretch beginning in 1868.

Infamous gunslinger John Wesley Hardin was pardoned after spending 15 years in a Texas prison for murder. Hardin, who was reputed to have shot and killed a man just for snoring, was 41 years old at the time of his release.

Ernest Cary Brace was the longest-held civilian prisoner of war (POW) during the Vietnam War. A decorated Marine Corps fighter pilot and mustang, Brace was court-martialed in 1961 for attempting to fake his own death. He flew as a civilian contract pilot before being captured in Laos in 1965 while flying supplies for USAID. He spent almost eight years as a POW and upon his release received a Presidential Pardon in light of his good conduct. Brace, captured as a civilian, was nominated for the Prisoner of War Medal and the Purple Heart by Admiral James Stockdale. Because Department of Defense regulations prohibit civilians from receiving military awards, the nominations were denied four times. With the help of fellow former POW John McCain, the medals were finally awarded in 2011.

President Richard Nixon pardoned Teamsters' boss, Jimmy Hoffa and boxing promoter, Don King. In his last official act in office, President Jimmy Carter pardoned Peter Yarrow(Peter, Paul and Mary). In 1970 Yarrow was convicted of, and served three months in prison for, taking "improper liberties" with a 14-year-old girl who went with her 17-year-old sister to Yarrow's hotel room seeking an autograph.

New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner was pardoned in 1989 by President Ronald Reagan. The pardon was granted after Steinbrenner admitted to criminal counts for obstruction of justice and conspiring to make illegal contributions to President Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign.

Patti Hearst had her seven year prison sentence commuted to 22 months in 1977 by President Carter. A full pardon was granted by President Bill Clinton in 2001. The list of pardons is very long and almost all United States Presidents have participated in the process. January 20, 2017 will most likely be the next date for presidential pardons. I hope the 44th President will include United States Navy Captain Charles B. McVay on his short list.

The July 30, 1945 sinking of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) by the Imperial Japanese submarine 1-58 has been called the last, great naval tragedy of World War II. It is the stuff of legend: after delivering the atomic bombs to Tinian, the Indy was torpedoed, sinking in 12 minutes. At least 800 crew members survived the sinking and went into the water. On their rescue after five days, only 320 still were alive.

The Indy’s survivors fought sharks, deprivation, and the elements, and now they fight to get their captain exonerated. Their commanding officer, Captain Charles B. McVay III, is the only captain ever to be court-martialed for having his ship sunk out from under him during time of war.

The recommendation was that Captain McVay be court-martialed for hazarding his vessel by failure to zigzag, but Admiral Chester Nimitz disagreed and instead issued the captain a letter of reprimand. Admiral Ernest King later overturned Nimitz’s decision and recommended a court-martial, which Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal later convened.

The real issue was that Admiral King wanted to make a name for himself and be in line for a promotion to five star Admiral. His squabbles with Captain Mcvay stemmed from an incident at the Naval Academy. The lesson here is that a decision on the court-martial can be legally correct and still be unjust. McVay's conviction rendered him legally culpable for the deaths of his shipmates. Captain Charles McVay committed suicide in 1966.

General Dwight Eisenhower called Admiral King "a lightweight." He believied that King's actions placed the blame on one sailor, exonerated the Navy for any possible discrepancies in not knowing the whereabouts of all their vessels, and weasled a fat promotion to Fleet Admiral.

One of Captain McVay's defenders was Mochitsura Hashimoto, commander of the Japanese submarine that attacked the Indianapolis. He testified at the court-martial that the torpedoes would have found their mark even if the Indianapolis had been zigzagging. 'Our peoples have forgiven each other for that terrible war,'' he said. ''Perhaps it is time your peoples forgave Captain McVay for the humiliation of his unjust conviction.''

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Higher Love

The death of Supreme Court Justice Anthonin Scalia has created confusion and conspiracy theories. The Republican party appears more concerned with naming his replacement than honoring the longtime Associate Justice. Appointed to the Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, Scalia was described as the intellectual anchor for the originalist and textualist position in the Court's conservative wing.

Four out of the past seven funerals for a Supreme Court justice have either had the president or vice president in attendance. Vice President Joe Biden will attend Scalia's funeral at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. President Obama and the first lady will pay their respects on Friday when Scalia's body lies in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court building.

Scalia joined the majority per curiam opinion in the 2000 case of Bush v. Gore, which effectively ended recounts of ballots in Florida following the 2000 US Presidential election. “We were the laughingstock of the world. The world's greatest democracy that couldn't conduct an election. We didn't know who our next president was going to be. The lengthy transition that has become standard when you change from one president to another could not begin because you didn't know who the new president was going to be.”

Not a whole lot has changed. The Republicans want President Obama to sit this one out, and they will make the call next January for a replacement to the nation’s highest court. On February 17, 1986, Scalia's nomination was confirmed him 98–0, creating the first Italian-American Justice.

The president shall nominate a replacement, and the Senate, through its powers of advice and consent, should approve or disapprove that nominee based on his or her merits.

Six Republican presidential candidates faced off for a debate in South Carolina Saturday night. The only thing missing was a boxing ring. It is a lock that the confirmation won’t be unanimous. It will be a miracle if there is a vote taken at all.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Welcome Readers!

Hello Everyone,

My name is Paul Murphy and I have been a freelance writer for over 10 years. I wrote for New England Patriots Life (nepatriotslife.com) throughout the Patriots most recent Super Bowl run in 2014. Over the years, I have written many articles on sports, music and history. I hope that you enjoy some of articles and personal blog posts. Enjoy!

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy