Meet The Fans - Stuart Hughes (Part Two)

By Diane Stanley
February 14 2003

All of the interviews I have done before have all been posted in a single article. Today I'm pleased to bring you the 2nd part of my interview with our own Stuart Hughes. Together, part 1 and 2 form a more in depth interview than usual. Enjoy!

Do you have a favorite team? If so give reasons for your choice.
Well I guess after cheering the Padres on to victory in Qualcomm Stadium I'm always going to have a soft spot for San Diego, and if asked I'd say the Padres are my team, but I don't know if I'd go so far as to say I support them.

In football (soccer) terms I've grown up supporting Derby County and I've seen their games, enjoyed the good times, cried at the bad, and their history is a part of my life.

It's hard to feel the same way about baseball teams playing on the other side of the pond, that I see only occasionally on television during Channel 5's twice weekly live game spot. So I like to think I'm more of a neutral, baseball fan.

Having said that, we do seem to see the same teams fairly regularly on Channel 5: Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, St Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros all seem to get a lot of coverage.

Of those I have soft spots for the Indians, the Cardinals, and the Astros but I'm afraid the team I have the biggest soft spot for are the New York Yankees.

You see, as I've explained earlier, I really love the history of the game of baseball and the history of baseball organisations doesn't come any bigger than the New York Yankees. I was really into the history of the game before Channel 5 started it's excellent coverage so I guess it was only natural that I should follow the New York Yankees once the tv coverage improved over here.

The first year I really got into baseball big time and watched all the World Series games live was 1999. The World Series was billed as the battle to decide the team of the decade between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees. Because of their history, I really wanted the Yankees to win. Add to that the fact that Joe Torre (pictured) was seriously ill at the start of the season, Luis Sojo and Scott Brosius both lost their father's in the later stages of the season, maybe even during post season itself, and Paul O'Neill's father died the day before the Yankees clinched game 4 to sweep the series, and the emotional scenes when the Yankees won were something else.

Do you follow the career of any single player? If so who?
I haven't really been following the game long enough to build up that affinity with any particular player, although I think I will always look out for how my hero Trevor Hoffman is doing.

Of course, due to my interest in history and the Avalon Hill game, I am researching the careers of many retired players and it's interesting to see how players like Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn (pictured), Mark McGwire and Eric Davis etc. compare to the All-time greats. I'll suddenly become interested in the stats of any player who announces 2002 will be his last season, whether they're a Cal Ripken or a Jim Morris.

During the season I keep an eye on the performances of the outstanding players like Barry Bonds last year with his home run chase, but I'm more likely to check out the performances of the teams, and then the players' performances are a follow on from that.

On the other hand, now that I've been following baseball for a few years I think I am starting to take more of an interest in active players and will start to follow their careers more closely. My current favourites are Trevor Hoffman, Ryan Klesko, Mike Mussina, Randy Johnson, Billy Wagner, Jeff Bagwell, Jim Thome, Derek Jeter, Chuck Knoblauch, Roberto Alomar, Andres Galarraga and next season I'll be very interested in how Albert Pujols, Alfonso Soriano and Ichiro Suzuki get on.

Apart from Jackie Robinson which player do you think has done the most to change the face of baseball?
This might sound like an obvious choice but I'm going with George Herman Ruth (pictured). The Babe is probably the only baseball player, non baseball followers in the UK will have heard of. Quite simply he was awesome, and revolutionised the art of hitting, becoming the first "real" slugger by taking power hitting on to a new level. In 1919 Babe Ruth hit 29 homers, breaking Ned Williamson's record of 27, but the following season the Babe hit an incredible 54 to smash his own record and then in 1921 he hit 59 to smash it again. Babe Ruth continued to hit homers and in 1927 he set a new record of 60.

In 1920, the American baseball fans were left reeling by the revelation that 8 White Sox players had thrown the 1919 World Series - supposedly baseball was the one honest sport - and Babe Ruth, in his first season as a Yankee, smashed his own record of 29 homers on the way to setting a monumental total of 54 for the season. It was an unprecedented, incredible feat and the Babe's home run onslaught did more than anything else to keep attendances up and restore faith in the good old American game of baseball.

As a writer if you could interview any player past or present who would you choose and why?
Of course it would have to be the Babe, a larger than life character both on and off the baseball field.

After the Bambino, I'd go for Jim Bouton. I read his book "Ball Four", a diary of the 1969 season when Jim pitched for the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros. The book is both charming, humourous and heart warming and, whilst it doesn't appear particularly controversial today, it made him a baseball lepper for daring to "tell it how it is." I'd really like to know how Jim feels about that.

Who is your all time favorite player and why?
Derek Jeter (pictured), not only is he such a great player, but he always has time for his fans, often stopping in the park and spending a couple of hours playing ball with local kids. Jeter is still young with, hopefully, many great years ahead of him.

Who do you think was the most impressive player of the 2001 season and why?
I don't think there's any argument here, it has to be Barry Bonds (pictured). His achievement in hitting 73 homers to beat McGwire's record of 70 was sensational, but he also averaged .328, had an OBP of .515, a SLG of .863, walked 177 times, scored 127 runs and had 137 RBIs. According to Bill James, Barry's 2001 performance was the greatest season by a hitter ever, and I'm not going to argue with that.

When Barry had reached about 40 homers, I remember an interview with Mark McGwire where he was asked if Barry Bonds could beat his record of 70. Big Mc's answer was typical: "Come talk to me again when he's got 60." Well, Big Mc, Barry Bonds hit 73 - breaking your record.

Of all the moves made so far this off season which one do you think will have the biggest effect?
I know it was the worst kept secret in baseball, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how Jason Giambi (pictured) gets on with the Yankees. In the final analysis last season, the Yankees lack of hitting, particularly power hitting, was the telling factor. For $120 million over 7 years, Joe Torre will be hoping Jason improves on his 38 homers for the Athletics last season, and it will be interesting to see if he does. Yankees versus the Athletics for the third season running in post season, now wouldn't that be something special?

There are still talks of future contraction within the Majors. Please give your thoughts on this subject.
This all seems very strange to me. After all, it's only a few years ago that the MLB created expansion teams and now they're trying to contract them. That means either they made a mistake in expanding or there's no need to contract now.

Even more strange, is the fact that one of the teams targetted for contraction are the Minnesota Twins, a team steeped in baseball history and tradition.

Of course, Bud Selig's timing was immaculate wasn't it, announcing his plans to eliminate 2 teams the day before the collective bargaining agreement expired, only to find his plans almost immediately stalled by legal roadblocks, including a grievance filed by the players union that claims management violated the expired agreement.

Basically, I have a British mentality to sports, believing that a team belongs to it's fans and should stay in one location for those fans. The concept of an owner selling its franchise and moving to the other side of the country or, worse, folding the team all together because of the wim of one man is an alien concept to me.

Of course, it seems that with American Sports, and baseball in particular, the owners can attempt to do whatever they like and in the majority of cases they succeed. The players now have more influence than ever before, but what about the fans? Who cares about them?

With spring training camps opening next month which teams do you think will be "The" teams of the 2002 season? Please give one for each division.
That's a tough one, Diane. Okay, let's see:

In the AL East, the Yankees have lost O'Neill, Brosius, Knoblauch, Martinez and Sojo, whereas they've made some good acquisitions, including the returning Wells, Giambi, White, Santengelo and Ventura. They look stronger, particularly if Giambi adds the expected power. The Red Sox have added Burkett and Damon but still have a host of free agents who are undecided. None of the other AL East teams have done much so it's perm 1 from 2 again.

Prediction: 1 Yankees, 2 Red Sox, 3 Blue Jays, 4 Orioles, 5 Devil Rays.

I think the AL Central will be much tighter this season. The Indians have gained a few, lost a few and the Twins, if they're still around, have done very little. The White Sox have shown little activity, whilst losing pitchers Embree and Pulsipher, and still have undecided free agents. The Tigers and Royals have both made good acquisitions and will be more competitive.

Prediction: 1 Indians, 2 White Sox, 3 Twins, 4 Royals, 5 Tigers.

The AL West could be an interesting division. Suzuki will be looking to impress again and the Mariners have strengthened in the off-season to give them a much more balanced roster. The A's haven't just lost Jason Giambi, but they've also lost Damon, Isringhausen and Santangelo and look the worse for it. The Angels also look stronger, but I'm picking the Texas Rangers to be the surprise team of the season. The Rangers have completely revamped their pitching staff off-season and the acquisition of Chan Ho Park is massive for them. I expect A-Rod and Pudge to bring it on offensively and if Rocker and Everett don't self explode, the Rangers will be pushing for a Wild Card.

Prediction: 1 Mariners, 2 Rangers, 3 Angels, 4 Athletics.

The NL East looks tight to me with any of last season's top three capable of winning the division. The Braves have made some good offensive acquisitions, but the loss of Burkett may hurt them. Will Smoltz join the rotation or remain the closer? The Phillies have lost pitchers Cook and Hunter and it's a big ask for a largely unstrengthened young team to repeat last season's high standards. The Mets have lost Nitkowski, and have taken a number of gambles with their trade acquisitions, most notably with Mo Vaughn (pictured). Inspired or foolhardy? The Marlins and Expos haven't done enough to plug the gap.

Prediction: 1 Mets, 2 Braves, 3 Phillies, 4 Marlins, 5 Expos.

In the NL Central the Astros look like they're really going for it with some great acquisitions and the Cardinals have strengthened too. After last seasons performance, even Big Mc's retirement strengthens them. The Cubs haven't done enough for me, and the Brewers, Reds and slightly improved Pirates will be fighting to avoid the wooden spoon.

Prediction: 1 Astros, 2 Cardinals, 3 Cubs, 4 Pirates, 5 Brewers, 6 Reds.

And finally, the NL West which, I expect, will be the most competitive of all. The World Champion Diamondbacks have lost Lopez and Sanders without really strengthening a great deal, although a fit again Mantei would be a big asset. Barry Bonds has accepted the Giants offer of arbitration and looks set to stay in San Francisco. This is a huge boost for the Giants, who have also acquired Christiansen, Santiago and Schmidt. Losing Chan Ho Park could hurt the Dodgers, but they've acquired Nomo and Orosco and will be hoping Shawn Green (pictured) continues to step-up big for them. My adopted Padres haven't done a great deal in the off-season, but they've kept the players they wanted to keep. The Rockies haven't done enough for me.

Prediction: 1 Giants, 2 Diamondbacks, 3 Dodgers, 4 Padres, 5 Rockies.

The baseball labour talks start next week. What do you think the outcome will be?
It's difficult to say at this point as I don't really know enough about the new collective bargaining agreement to know what the issues are here.

It seems to me, however, that baseball's owners and players have always been at logger-heads over something and if it wasn't the collective bargaining agreement it would be something else. Going all the way back to 1919, the root cause of the 8 Chicago White Sox players agreeing to accept gamblers' money to throw the World Series was because they felt they were being unfairly treated by the White Sox owner Charles Comiskey - who put on expensive banquets on gameday for Chicago's VIPs, but paid his own players peanuts.

My concern is that this issue will become ensnared with the contraction issue and that messy law-suits will prevail, significantly disrupting this coming season and possibly even the one after that.

I really hope common sense prevails because if the players repeat their strike action of a few years ago, the only people that will really suffer will be the fans.

Thanks for taking the time out to do such an in-depth interview for us. I've really enjoyed it.
My pleasure.