Its a fair question and supposition. It could be he had a sexual "in" as it were that kept him around. But I tend to think it was what I call the "handling the road" ability.
Going on the road/constantly traveling for work is difficult. You get exhausted and worn down, you don't sleep well, etc. While it might be exciting at first, you be…
Its a fair question and supposition. It could be he had a sexual "in" as it were that kept him around. But I tend to think it was what I call the "handling the road" ability.
Going on the road/constantly traveling for work is difficult. You get exhausted and worn down, you don't sleep well, etc. While it might be exciting at first, you become numb to each new city and town. As Steve probably might agree after his book tour, its fun for a while, but exhausting.
Add to that the temptations of a rich young celebrity ball player: groupies banging down your door nightly, luxurious food and drink, alcohol, club partying, other celebrities wanting to hang with you, drug dealers, gambling, interviews media fights, strip clubs, brothels, financial scammers, gold diggers, and people generally trying to scam you for everything else. Most guys can't handle it, get distracted and wash out. So athletes need to show not only that they can do the job at a major league level, but also that they can handle the pressures, depression, and distractions of the road as well; they are really 2 separate jobs, and pro athletes need to able to do both.
When you hear phrases like "crafty old veteran" or "veteran leadership" to explain why Team X just hired some jabroni guy with crap stats, understand he may be there to offer a calming influence on younger guys, yank them out of strip clubs before closing time so they can be rested for the game the next day, and himself be able to show up every day on the road and be able to give you consistent performance, even if subpar.
Gay Bean may just have been able to handle the road well enough to be kept around. Not being interested in sleeping with females likely helped a lot, and I've never heard of "gay groupies" for baseball, especially not during that time. Gambling is more of a straight male thing (higher T), Gay Bean probably kept the media at arms length to keep himself closeted, and so Gay Bean's distractions were minimized to drugs, alcohol, finance, and the wear and tear on the road. So teams likely kept him around for that.
In addition, it seems fairer to say that Bean and Beane had "mediocre *major* league talent." If 60 Wins Above Replacement makes you Hall of Fame material, then the middle 68% of the curve must be bounded by -6 to +6 WAR. Or something. With career length factored in. Does anyone know?
Pre-MeToo'ed Garrison Keillor notwithstanding, all major leaguers can't be above average for a stat like WAR.
Edit: WAR distribution has to be quite skewed; much better players return next year while much worse players don't. For each season, average WAR must be zero, but over time, there should be many short-termers with modestly negative numbers balanced by fewer veterans who are solidly in the black.
Its a fair question and supposition. It could be he had a sexual "in" as it were that kept him around. But I tend to think it was what I call the "handling the road" ability.
Going on the road/constantly traveling for work is difficult. You get exhausted and worn down, you don't sleep well, etc. While it might be exciting at first, you become numb to each new city and town. As Steve probably might agree after his book tour, its fun for a while, but exhausting.
Add to that the temptations of a rich young celebrity ball player: groupies banging down your door nightly, luxurious food and drink, alcohol, club partying, other celebrities wanting to hang with you, drug dealers, gambling, interviews media fights, strip clubs, brothels, financial scammers, gold diggers, and people generally trying to scam you for everything else. Most guys can't handle it, get distracted and wash out. So athletes need to show not only that they can do the job at a major league level, but also that they can handle the pressures, depression, and distractions of the road as well; they are really 2 separate jobs, and pro athletes need to able to do both.
When you hear phrases like "crafty old veteran" or "veteran leadership" to explain why Team X just hired some jabroni guy with crap stats, understand he may be there to offer a calming influence on younger guys, yank them out of strip clubs before closing time so they can be rested for the game the next day, and himself be able to show up every day on the road and be able to give you consistent performance, even if subpar.
Gay Bean may just have been able to handle the road well enough to be kept around. Not being interested in sleeping with females likely helped a lot, and I've never heard of "gay groupies" for baseball, especially not during that time. Gambling is more of a straight male thing (higher T), Gay Bean probably kept the media at arms length to keep himself closeted, and so Gay Bean's distractions were minimized to drugs, alcohol, finance, and the wear and tear on the road. So teams likely kept him around for that.
Great perspective on "handling the road."
In addition, it seems fairer to say that Bean and Beane had "mediocre *major* league talent." If 60 Wins Above Replacement makes you Hall of Fame material, then the middle 68% of the curve must be bounded by -6 to +6 WAR. Or something. With career length factored in. Does anyone know?
Pre-MeToo'ed Garrison Keillor notwithstanding, all major leaguers can't be above average for a stat like WAR.
Edit: WAR distribution has to be quite skewed; much better players return next year while much worse players don't. For each season, average WAR must be zero, but over time, there should be many short-termers with modestly negative numbers balanced by fewer veterans who are solidly in the black.