Writers Bloc: Fair ball

Updated: July 10, 2003, 11:07 AM ET

Email Share

STAY AHEAD OF THE GAME Become an Insider Today

By By Jim Baker

Ken Daley of the Dallas Morning News has an extensive look at which teams are in the market for players and which teams are marketing their talent as the trade deadline looms three weeks from today.

Have you even been in a situation where people have been kvetching about problems for so long, it's part of the routine. Then, suddenly, the problems go away and it leaves a void. Baseball is like that, isn't it? People seem to love talking about its myriad problems. What if they all went away? What would we do then? What if the All Star Game selection process were perfect? What would we do? Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald writes that baseball's biggest problem is that people focus on baseball's problems to a greater extent than they do in other sports even though they are no greater than those that face those other sports.

I can't remember if I ever wrote this or just discussed it with friends, but I used to think that Mark Grace would someday be baseball's first player-manager of the 21st Century. With his talent evaporating by the day, that will not happen. In fact, he himself feels his playing career could end any day now as the Diamondbacks start to get various players back from injuries and look to their push for the postseason. Dan Bickley thinks releasing the veteran first baseman would be a mistake and explains why in today's Arizona Republic.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

ESPN The Magazine subscribers

Activate your Insider account »
Need more information?

View Insider Benefits »

ESPN MLB