posted by Large

As you guys probably are aware, Manny Pacquiao threw out the first pitch at the Giants/Padres game last night at AT&T Park in San Francisco. I was there following Pac Man around for The Sporting News, and though I intended to write a piece for them about the evening’s events, it was such a chaotic and indescribable scene, and I somehow managed to finagle myself such intimate access to it all, that I ended up weaving together a video out of a bunch of clips that I shot over the course of the night.

Now I’m no videographer, or editor, as you will see. And, as I said, it was all shot on a Flip, so it ain’t exactly pro. Quite the contrary, in fact, almost embarrassingly un-pro. But hopefully it conveys at least a little of my experience of being an ad hoc member of Pacquiao’s entourage for an hour or so of a very strange event. Because I found it to be an exhilarating experience. There really is something kind of magical about the guy, such a tiny little dude in the center of all this Beatle-esque mayhem exuding an overwhelmingly mellow, pleasant, peaceful vibe. It’s hard to believe he’s such a ferocious fighter, and easy to see why he inspires such devotion. It’s exciting too as a boxing fan. Our sport lives and dies on these larger-than-life personalities, and Manny Pacquiao, all five foot six and a hundred whatever pounds of him, is larger than large right now, not to mention infinitely larger than Large.

The New York Post has reported that our man Freddy Sez, subject of the immensely popular short documentary Bangin’ Pots, is being denied his customary gratis entrance into the new stadium. I spoke to him just before this past opening day, and Freddy was afraid the Yankees wouldn’t let him into the stadium. I thought he was just being paranoid. Twenty years into his run as the self-described “unofficial Yankees mascot”, the guy is an institution. I figured even if the Yankees didn’t really want his somewhat ramshackle vibe corrupting their gleaming monolith, they wouldn’t risk the avalanche of bad PR they’d be certain to get if they shut him out. Obviously, I thought wrong.

Come now, young Steinbrenners. Do we really have to tell you the right thing to do here? In his more volatile days, your pop played the mean-spirited bully better than anyone, but he’s also an intensely sentimental man who prizes loyalty above all else. Does anyone honestly believe that Freddy was allowed to roam the stadium for twenty years without the boss’s blessing? If George was healthy and at the new stadium every day, he would never allow shutting Freddy out. It’s profoundly ungenerous, it’s bad PR, and worst of all–just ask a Cubs fan–it’s just the sort of thing that pisses off the baseball gods.

LET FREDDY IN!

Further reading: The Freddy Sez Q&A

As a tribute to the old Yankee Stadium (or the newer incarnation of the old Yankee Stadium) we made a short documentary last year about Fred Schuman aka Freddy Sez. On the way from his Upper West Side apartment to the Bronx for the Stadium’s last opening day, the eighty-three year old tells tells the story of his transformation into the Yankees’ pan-and-spoon-carrying unofficial mascot. We’ve saved it for this moment, and we hope you enjoy.

(No Mas has partnered with Paul Lukas of Uni Watch and the inimitable Reverend Vince Anderson on a campaign to call the new ballpark in Flushing, like the old one, Shea Stadium. As you may have surmised, there will be t-shirts, but our more glorious purpose is here explained by Reverend Vince, who will be performing his singular version of Meet the Mets before my interview with David Wright Tuesday night at 21 Mercer.)
I moved to Queens from California in 1994. I lived in a little apartment right off the 7 train, minutes from Shea Stadium. As a kid in California, I was raised believing that the American League was the league of the Devil, so there was never much of choice for me when deciding which New York team I would root for. I did give Yankee stadium a try and was not impressed. When I ascended the mighty escalator at Shea, to my seats in the Upper Deck for the first time, I felt like I was home.

As I got to know the history of Shea, the immediate connection I had grew deeper. I read about the baptizing of home plate with water from the the Hudson and East rivers, representing the Giants and the Dodgers, the legacy of the National League in New York City. I grew to admire the renegade spirit of Bill Shea, and his several attempts to bring real baseball back to the city.

Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of life hasn’t broken Fred Schuman’s way. As a nine year old in the Bronx, a stray bat in a stickball game destroyed his right eye. The injury relegated him to the sidelines in the schoolyard and for World War II when he was declared 4F,unsuited for military service. Freddy’s first marriage was a disaster. He started a jewelry business that went bust, followed by a bicycle business that went bust. He lost contact with his only son. He lost the building that his family owned in the Bronx. As Freddy will be the first to tell you, he was the quintessential loser, a failure at everything he tried. At his lowest point he was out on the street.

And yet in a highly improbable turn of events, Fred Schulman has become a highly recognizable symbol of the winningest franchise in American sports, the New York Yankees. Since 1988, Freddy has been a fixture at Yankee stadium during home games, inciting fans to cheer using decidedly old school, even weird school tools: hand lettered signs (‘FREDDY SEZ: YANKEES CAN IMPROVE!”), an old frying pan and a metal spoon.

That the Yankees answer to the San Diego chicken would turn out be a once homeless, one-eyed octagenarian stretches the limits of credulity, but Freddy’s association with the most recent Yankee dynasty (1996 , 2000) has conferred on him certified good luck charm status. Mayor Giuliani famously flew him to Phoenix for Game 7 of the 2001 World Series,a mission that was unsuccessful but only solidified Freddy’s celebrity.

I talked to Freddy a week before 2008 opening day as he prepared himself for another season in the Bronx, the last before the Yankees demolish the House That Ruth Built and set up shop in a billion dollar reinterpretation next door.

CI: What was the first reaction to you at the Stadium, when you started going in 1988.

FS: In the very beginning I couldn’t use the language of how they told me to, ‘Get the f–…Get lost”. They were interested in the ball game. Here is this guy coming up with a sign, with a spoon. And he wants me to hit the spoon and everything. It was pretty much, ‘Get lost.” Well fight, I can’t fight. I’m not a fighter. I’m a blind guy I don’t know karate, black belt and so forth. If I knew that I would probably have taken them on. Read the rest of this entry »

Like most boys, I imagine, who were ten years old in 1980, J.R. Richard was fascinating to me. I loved his name, I loved that he was 6’8″, and I loved the fact that he mowed motherfuckers down like it weren’t no thing. He was the most exciting pitcher in the majors, and I, a young power pitcher myself, idolized him. Despite the fact that he was black and I was white, that he was a righty and I was a lefty, for about a year there I was always J.R. Richard in our backyard wiffle ball All-Star games. “J.R. Richard starting for the N.L.,” I would proclaim, and only later would I morph into Steve Carlton, and that tells the story right there.

I remember getting teased by other kids when the Richard controversy began that summer, when he started leaving games early and complaining of exhaustion, when the rumors began that he was losing his marbles. “He’s just a lazy nigger,” I heard often from kids in the overwhelmingly racist white Philly suburb of my youth. Though I would never say such a thing myself, had been taught never to utter that word, I confess I started to think something along the same lines. I was embarrassed that I had liked him so much and now he was turning out to be a nutcase. I started to make fun of him too – I would take myself out of wiffle ball games as Richard and exagerratedly say, “Oh I’m too tired to pitch anymore, I need to go see the doctor…”

On July 30th, 1980, 26 years ago today, the world learned that J.R. Richard was not lazy, or crazy, but dangerously ill. He had a massive stroke due to an arterial blockage in his right shoulder and nearly died. His career was effectively over, and a downward spiral began in his life that would lead to homelessness and despair.

What happened to this man was an enormous tragedy, and what the public made of it was a heinous crime. I was only ten years old – what the fuck did I know – but nevertheless, J.R., I admit that I joined the cackling masses. You were my hero and I turned against you. This many years later, that makes me feel like a coward, and I apologize to you wherever you are.

New zip in the old game indeed. Shit is called cocaine, yo.

On this day 21 years ago, baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn announced that pitcher Vida Blue would be suspended for the remainder of the season due to his conviction on cocaine charges from the previous November. Blue had missed the season to that point serving a jail term.

Vida Blue was Doc Gooden long before Doc hit the stage. As a 22-year-old phenom in 1971, Blue won both the A.L. Cy Young and MVP awards, going 24-8 for the A’s with a 1.82 ERA. He won 20 games in two more seasons, but he also lost 19 one year, and though he did not plummet with quite the trajectory of Gooden and the Straw, it was close. What once seemed like a certain Hall of Fame career was ravaged by blow.

Like Gooden and Strawberry, Vida’s problems with the high life have plagued him long past his baseball career. His most recent stint at rehab was in 2005, after violating his parole from a 2004 DUI conviction.

Words: Nick Strini and Chris Isenberg
Illustrations: James Blagden

1970 – Jim Bouton’s book, “Ball Four”, is published, exposing the public to the prevalence of drug use amongst professional athletes.

1970 – Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitcher Dock Ellis throws a no-hitter will tripping on LSD.
“The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn’t. Sometimes I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder. They say I had about three to four fielding chances. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. I jumped, but the ball wasn’t hit hard and never reached me.”

1970′s – “Sweet” Lou Johnson sells 1965 World Series ring to cocaine dealer for $500.

1971 – MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces a long-term Drug Education and Prevention Program. According to the Program: “unproscribed possession and distribution of amphetamines and barbiturates (including greenies) is a violation of federal and states laws. Discipline will be considered by the Commissioner’s Office in cases of illegal involvement. Such matters will be handled on a case by case basis.”

1972 – Cy Young winner Denny McClain is charged with racketeering and cocaine possession with intent to distribute.

1985- Denny McClain was found guilty of federal charges involving racketeering, extortion and narcotics and sentenced to 23 years before the convictions are overturned.

1996- Denny McClain is convicted of conspiracy, theft, money laundering, and mail fraud. He is sentenced to eight years in Federal Prison.

1976 -1967 MVP Orlando “Baby Bull” Cepeda is caught claiming baggage containing 150 pounds of marijuana in a San Juan, PR. Cepeda spends 10 months in a Florida prison. He goes on to become a practicing Buddhist and to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1978 – New York Ranger Don Murdoch is arrested for possession of cocaine. He is suspended for the1978-79 season but reinstated after 40 regular-season games.

1980 – Texas Rangers pitcher Ferguson Jenkins is suspended by Major League Baseball after he is arrested with cocaine, hashish, and marijuana, and convicted of narcotics possession in Canada. The Player’s Union files a grievance and the suspension is lifted.

1981 – Dr. Patrick A. Mazza, a former Phillies organization doctor, is cleared of criminal charges that he improperly prescribed amphetamine pills to Tim McCarver, Steve Carlton, Pete Rose, Larry Christenson, Larry Bowa and his wife, and the wife of Greg Luzinski. Mazza has his medical license suspended for one year.

1981 – “Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy” by Dallas Cowboys Pro-Bowl linebacker Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson appears in the December issue of Playboy.

1983 – Henderson is arrested and charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment after he admits smoking crack with two teenagers in his apartment. He serves 28 months in prison.

1982 – When N.L. East favorite Montreal Expos finish third, team president John McHale blames cocaine: “We felt we should’ve won in 82. When we all woke up to what was going on, we found there were at least eight players on our club who were into this thing.” Rookie All-Star Tim Raines, the only user publicly identified says, “I had it in little gram bottles that I kept in my pocket, when I carried it in my pocket, I’d go in head first.”

1982 – Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star pitcher Steve Howe leaves the team three times for drug treatment and is suspended by the Dodgers. Howe goes on to be suspended for drug use a MLB record seven times.

1982 – Three-time Knick all-star Michael Ray Richardson traded to Golden State amid drug rumors.

1983 – Michael Ray is traded back east to the Nets. In camp, Michael Ray goes missing for three days; he then enters a drug rehabilitation program at NBA partner Hazelden Life Extension Institute.

1986 – Richardson fails his 3rd drug test He is banned from the NBA.

1987 – Richardson is denied reinstatement, a year later he moves to Europe to play professionally for the next 13 years. In 2003 Richardson returns to the U.S. and is named Denver Nuggets Community Ambassador.

1983 – The NBA introduces the first professional sports drug policy. The policy is aimed at stopping use of cocaine and heroin. According to the policy, Players who test positive in “reasonable cause” tests are banned from the league for a minimum of two years, when they may apply for reinstatement.

1983 – Utah Jazz forward John Drew misses 38 games for drug treatment.

1984 – John Drew voted “Comeback player of the Year” runner up.

1986 – Drew attempts to buy cocaine from an undercover police officer. He becomes the first player banned from the NBA under the leagues new drug policy.

1983 – Kansas City Royals Jerry Martin, Willie Aikens, and A.L. batting champ Willie Wilson plead guilty to attempting to buy cocaine and are sentenced to 3 months prison.

1983 – MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspends convicted Royals, Martin, Aikens, and Wilson, from baseball for one year.

1983 – Montreal Canadiens Ric Nattress is suspended for the 1983-84 season for possession of marijuana and hashish. Nattress is reinstated after 40 games.

1983 – Chili Davis tells the New York Times he was approached by the FBI and Giants coaches, “The coaches whisper, ‘Hey, they think you’re on cocaine. You’re not getting mad when you make outs any more.’”

1984 – Pitcher Pascual Perez serves three months in a Dominican Republic prison after a conviction for cocaine possession.

1984 – A year removed from playing in the NBA All-Star game and a stint in drug rehab, Dave “Skywalker” Thompson falls down a flight of stairs at Studio 54 disco, effectively ending his career.

1985 – Curtis Strong, a Pittsburgh caterer, drug dealer, and friend to baseball players is tried on 16 counts of distributing cocaine in Pittsburgh from June 1980 to May 1984.

Players Lonnie Smith, Keith Hernandez, Lee Lacey, Enos Cabell, Rod Scurry, Dale Berra, Dave Parker, John Milner, Jeff Leonard, Tim Raines, Al Holland, Lee Mazilli and mascot Kevin Koch, known to keep cocaine in his beak during his work as the “Pirate Parrot,” are listed as government witnesses and granted immunity.

Parker tells the court he had made it possible for his “primary supplier” to get into the Pirates’ clubhouse at Three Rivers Stadium and to fly on the same plane with the Pirates when they traveled to other cities to deliver drugs.

Hernandez tells the court: cocaine was “the devil within me.” He recalls using cocaine, including playing a game high. Berra, subject to defense attorney Adam Renfroe Jr.’s questions during cross-examination, tells of drug use as a Pirate:
Q. “Where did you get them [amphetamine pills, or, ‘greenies’)?”
A. “From Bill Madlock. You could get them from Willie Stargell.”
Q. “So Willie Stargell gave you amphetamine pills?”
A. “Yes.”

Lonnie Smith tells the court, “The majority of the time, I hid it on me, had these Playboy socks with pockets in them and I’d stick it in there. I had ways of folding my clothes, 10, 12 pairs of pants in a suitcase. I learned it from a Latin friend in Venezuela. People who wanted to check wouldn’t take the time. We Federal Expressed it back and forth, I Federal Expressed the money, he Federal Expressed the stuff. He would use a phony address for his address. I thought it was kind of creative in a way. He’d send me newspapers from Philadelphia and tape the stuff inside the papers.”

In cross-examination, Milner testifies regarding his tenure as a Met: “Willie had the red juice.”
Q. “Willie who?”
A. “Mays.”
Q. “Willie Mays?”
A. “That’s right, the great one, yes.”

Strong is convicted on 11 counts and sentenced to twelve years in fed-eral prison.

1985 – John “Hot Rod” Williams is acquitted of charges that he took money and cocaine to fix Tulane basketball games.

1986 – Borje Salming of the Toronto Maple Leafs is suspended for the season for admitting use of cocaine in a newspaper article. Salming was reinstated after eight games.

Draft Class of ’86
#2 Boston Celtics – Len Bias (Maryland) dies of cocaine induced heart attack in his University of Maryland dorm room on draft night. Bias allegedly smoked “a pure form of cocaine free-base” with teammates, one of whom is reported to have said, “Hey Len, you’re hitting the pipe too hard.”

#3 Golden State Warriors – Chris Washburn, (NC State) is banned from the NBA for life in 1989 after failing his third drug test. 1991 Washburn is convicted of cocaine possession and sentenced to three years in prison. 1996 Washburn is shot by someone to whom he allegedly owed money.

#6 Phoenix Suns – In 1987 William Bedford (Memphis State), is named in an indictment that charged he either witnessed or knew of drug transactions by Sun teammates. In 1988 Bedford enters rehab, and returns to play in the NBA until 1993.

#7 Dallas Mavericks – 10/17/1991 The NBA bans Roy Tarpley (Michigan) for life after refusing a drug test, his third drug violation of league drug policy. 10/1/94 Tarpley is reinstated. 12/94 Less than a year after signing a six-year, $22 million contract Tarpley is banned again for drinking alcohol, violating his after-care agreement. 11/19/1997 Tarpley is arrested and charged with burning his girlfriend’s stomach with a clothes iron.

1987 – Dwight “Doc” Gooden’s friend and teammate Darryl Strawberry tells the New York Times, “I saw on TV last night that people were saying he had a drug problem in 1985. It’s not possible. As far as having a serious drug problem now, that’s not possible, either.”

1987 – In a voluntary drug test to “end the gossip” Mets pitcher Dwight “Doc” Gooden tests positive for cocaine and checks into rehab for 28 days.

1994 – Gooden is suspended for 60 days for violating his aftercare program and failing two drugs tests.

1994 – Dodgers announce Strawberry has a substance abuse problem and place him on the disabled list.

1994 – Gooden fails additional drug tests and is suspended for the 1995 season.

1995 – MLB suspends Strawberry for 60 days after he tested positive for cocaine.

1996 – Gooden throws a no-hitter in a comeback with the Yankees.

1999 – Strawberry is charged with possession of cocaine and soliciting a prostitute. Strawberry allegedly solicited an undercover officer for sex for $50. When searched, police find 0.3 grams of powder cocaine was inside of his wallet.
2000 – A Florida Department of Corrections report says Strawberry tested positive for cocaine on Jan. 19. Strawberry is suspended for one year, his third cocaine-related suspension from baseball in five years.

1987 – Waltergate: FBI gambling investigation leads to indictments for ten Phoenix Suns players on drug charges. James Edwards, Jay Humphreys, Grant Gondrezick, Garfield Heard, Mike Bratz, Don Buse, Curtis Perry, Walter Davis, William Bedford, and team photographer Joseph Beninato. Walter Davis, the key prosecution witness is “forced to turn on teammates.” No charges result in a trial.

1989 – Bob Probert of the Detroit Red Wings is suspended from the NHL for life for smuggling 14.3 grams cocaine into the U.S. Probert is reinstated in 1990.

1994 – The Chicago Blackhawk’s suspend Probert and he enters an NHL rehab center in California.

1991 – Phoenix Sun Richard Dumas tests positive for cocaine and suspended by the team.

1995 – Dumas is banned from the NBA for violating an aftercare agreement prohibiting alcohol.

1997 – Dumas tells the New York Times “If they tested for pot, there would be no league.”

1991 – USC star Todd Marinovich, groomed by his father, former Raider lineman Marty Marinovich, to be an NFL quarterback, is pulled over after barhopping in Newport Beach. Police find a half gram of cocaine and marijuana.

1996 – Marinovich is arrested for growing a marijuana plant in his house.

1993 – Tennis prodigy Jennifer Capriati is arrested in Coral Gables, Florida for marijuana possession. She agrees to six months of drug counseling. Capriati returns to form and wins the 2001 Australian and French Opens, earning the USTA #1 ranking.

1993 – Robert Parish, the oldest player in the NBA is arrested when police find marijuana in his home and in a FedEx package addressed to him. Parish and Alaa Abdelnaby are rumored to be called “Chief and Chong” by teammates.

1993 – Cincinnati Reds pitcher Tom Browning is arrested for possession of marijuana.

1995 – Former Houston Rocket Vernon ‘Mad Max” Maxwell is found with marijuana when he is stopped for running a red light.

1996 – Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin is arrested with former Cowboy tight end Alfredo Roberts in a motel room with cocaine, marijuana and two topless dancers. Irvin is charged with felony cocaine possession. Prosecution witness Rochelle Smith described drug use and group sex with Irvin. Dallas police officer and Smith boyfriend Johnnie Hernandez is arrested when he attempts to hire an undercover police officer to kill Irvin. The NFL suspends Irvin for five games.

1996 – Portland police see Isaiah Rider smoke marijuana from a soda can and arrest him on possession charges.

1998 – NBA career leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is fined by customs officers in Toronto when found with marijuana.

2000 – Abdul-Jabbar is arrested in Los Angeles for driving under the influence of marijuana.

1998 – Lawrence Taylor is arrested in his New Jersey hotel room when police find a butane torch and other materials commonly used to smoke crack.

2002 – In his autobiography, “L. T.: Over the Edge”, Taylor admits he smoked crack cocaine before games and before his introduction to the NFL Hall of Fame.

2000 – Kevin Stevens of the New York Rangers is arrested for possession of crack cocaine and is admitted to the NHL’s treatment program.

2001 – Former Dallas Cowboys and 6 time Pro-Bowler Nate Newton is arrested in Louisiana when police find him driving a van containing 213 pounds of marijuana in a van he was driving.

2001 – While on bail Newton is arrested when police find him driving a van containing 175 pounds of marijuana. In 2003 Newton is sentenced to five years in federal prison.

2001 – Boxer Pernell Whitaker, a former champion in 4 divisions, is arrested on drug charges in Virginia Beach when police find cocaine among the boxer’s belongings when he is sentenced to four days in jail after pleading guilty to speeding and driving without a valid license.

2001 – Former All-Star Shawn Kemp checks himself into a drug rehabilitation program for cocaine abuse.

2002 – Damon Stoudamire is charged with felony possession of more than 150 grams of marijuana after police respond to a burglar alarm at Stoudamire’s house. Search later ruled illegal.

2002 – Stoudamire and Rasheed Wallace found with marijuana during a traffic stop.

2003 – Stoudamire sets off an airport metal detector carrying more than an ounce of marijuana wrapped in aluminum foil.

2003 – Zach Randolph faces a DUI charge after a police officer said he smelled a “strong odor of burning marijuana” coming from his Cadillac.

2003 – Qyntel Woods is found with marijuana and driving without a license or insurance during a traffic stop.

2004 – Former MVP and admitted steroid user, alcoholic, and abuser of painkillers Ken Caminiti dies in the Bronx, as a result of what the New York City Medical Examiner calls “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and opiates.”

We read the interview in the Post today. It seems like you are suffering, but that your suffering is helping you think clearly and well.

We just want you to know that we are thinking of you. That we accept you and embrace you with all of your flaws and all of your mistakes. We want you to know that the fact we have seen you struggle and fail has only made you more important to us.

When we first knew you as a young man, you were a figure of fantastic beauty in your ease and grace and effortlessness. But you were a faraway beauty. In your struggles, we think we have come to know you better. We can see ourselves in you, see our own mistakes, see ourselves struggling against our own best interests. And as we watch you climb up after each fall, you are once again our hero.

Dwight, we send you our very best wishes.

Please take care of yourself.

We miss you.

Love,

No Mas