Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Bernie Carbo—Topps Company—1980 (No. 266)
Pictured here in his last Topps trading card, Bernie Carbo epitomizes the caricature of the 1970s flake. With his unusually permed hair and his slightly dazed look, Carbo appears to be preoccupied with thoughts that have nothing to do with baseball. (And I’m not sure what Carbo did to the pictured bat, which appears to have been slathered in mud from bottom to barrel!)
Like many fans of the game, I usually perceived Bernie Carbo as I viewed this card—with amusement. Recently though, Carbo offered some sobering revelations about his life during a lecture in Worcester, Massachusetts. Not surprisingly, the roots of at least some of his bizarre behavior could be found in a habit that is something other than amusing, specifically a steady drinking problem that evolved into full-blown alcoholism by the time that Carbo reached his 19th birthday.
For those not familiar with the life and times of Bernie Carbo, he compiled a long list of "eccentricities" during a baseball career that spanned the decade of the 1970s:
*After an early-career trade that sent him from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox, Carbo received a stuffed gorilla from former Cardinals teammate Scipio Spinks. Carbo’s new friend earned the name "Mighty Joe Young," in honor to the legendary film character from 1930s cinema. When on road trips, Carbo did not like to travel alone; therefore, he usually took his "companion" with him. In order to ensure that his pet "gorilla" would remain by his side, Carbo often paid for an extra ticket. For Carbo, it was well worth the expense.
*Shortly after joining the Red Sox, Carbo gave $20 to an older gentleman who was in the Boston clubhouse and asked him to fetch a cheeseburger and fries. Carbo thought the older man was a clubhouse attendant. He didn’t realize that he was actually Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey. Ah yes, that’s the way to make the boss feel important.
*Playing on June 26, 1975 in a game against the rival Yankees, Carbo made a daring catch at the right-field wall at Fenway Park, robbing Chris Chambliss of a home run. Carbo crashed into the wall, somehow escaping injury but managing to lose the chaw of tobacco he had in his mouth. Carbo then asked umpires for time, so that he could search the outfield for the missing chaw. After holding up the game for nearly ten minutes, Carbo finally found the tobacco lying on the warning track. He picked up the filthy chaw and put it directly back into his mouth, most likely to the disgust of the fans watching from the right-field stands.
*Carbo was one of the few major leaguers who harbored interest in becoming a professional hairdresser. (Please don’t think that I harbor any ill feelings toward the profession of hairdressing; it just seems a bit unusual for a major league ballplayer.) Following the end of his baseball career, Carbo went to cosmetology school and operated a hair salon for eight years. During his playing days, Bernie coifed his hair in a permanent, which was certainly not out of the ordinary for 1970s culture but was fairly uncommon for ballplayers of that decade.
At the time, many of Carbo’s habits were considered quaint—some still are—but some of his on-field mental lapses were likely influenced by his addiction to alcohol and drugs. Carbo managed to keep his drug problems quiet for much of his career, but talked openly about them after his retirement from the game. "I was a drug addict and alcoholic for 28 years," Carbo first told The Sporting News in 2001. "I started drinking when I was about 16 or 17, started on marijuana when I was 21, did cocaine when I was 22 or 23, and got into crystal meth, Dexedrines, Benzedrines, Darvons, codeine. There wasn’t much I didn’t do."
In 1989, Carbo’s problems escalated. His mother committed suicide. A few months later, his father passed away. Carbo himself then went through a divorce. He contemplated suicide. "I did not want to live in this world," Carbo admitted.
Fortunately, two of Carbo’s former teammates with the Boston Red Sox learned of his plight. Ferguson Jenkins and Bill Lee, both of whom had experienced their full share of personal problems, placed calls to Carbo. They convinced him to address his drug problems by entering rehabilitation. During his time in rehab, Carbo learned about Christianity. Embracing the values of the religion, Carbo became a Christian minister while also performing as a motivational speaker.
Though his ascent from depression and drugs has been laudable, Carbo’s travails have not ended. In addition to losing his mother through suicide, Carbo watched his three daughters land in prison because of their involvement with selling drugs. One of the daughters remains behind bars, which explains why Carbo is attempting to adopt three of his grandchildren, all under the age of ten. Carbo’s efforts to gain custody of the children has stirred debate on some internet baseball sites, with some dissenters claiming that his past involvement with drugs and alcohol should preclude the adoption.
I have no idea whether Carbo should be allowed to adopt those children. I simply don’t know him that well. But I have to admit I’m rooting for him. He was a good role player, an underrated hitter with power who sometimes walked more than he struck out. He was a likeable and fun personality who brought life to clubhouses in Cincinnati, St. Louis, Boston, and a few other ports of call in the 1970s. He has also overcome serious drug and alcohol addiction—at least for the moment—and has come back from the verge of suicide to do some meaningful work as a counselor and social worker.
I hope that Carbo can make that final step and complete the transition from caricature of the 1970s to reliable grandfather in the new millennium.
As far as his grandchildren... if he is truly 'Clean and Sober', and has been for a while, he should get the kids. Many people have gone through rehab. Some make it and some don't. Those that truly make it, are often better people for it, as they have seen their own mortality and survived it.
Bernie was not a superstar, but he had great potential. I believe he had 2 critical HRs in the Sox WS, and he had as much to do with keeping the Sox in until the 7th game as any player. However, he seems to get little or no historical credit for how he played.
He was definitely a ballplayer. I always wondered why he wasn't more successful. I didn't know about the drinking/drug problems... so I guess that explains it.
It's a terrible shame. The guy was very talented and fun to watch.
His departure in '78 is noted by his friend Bill Lee as both a key element in their monumental collapse that year and the beginning of the end in Boston for the Spaceman.
Classic card; the hair, the bat, the mug.
What is Carbo thinking in that picture?
Maybe he's looking at Gary Carter and figuring "I still lead the league in perm."
http://tinyurl.com/29aob4
Pavano hasn't pitched since April 9. "I think I need to see Dr. Andrews. It's possible there's another step I need to do," Pavano said. "I've had elbow problems before, but this is definitely something new to me. Whether rest is going to be the answer, we're going to find out. We'll let the doctors make those decisions."
UGH. I mean, to me, that says it all about the biggest mistake in Yankee free-agent history. What pitcher says, "I NEED" to see Dr. Andrews. You got guys like Mark Prior pitching with a shredded shoulder for 2 years and he keeps trying to fight through it. Guys like Jaret Wright and Kerry Wood constantly trying to pitch through pain and reconstructed shoulders. Hell, you could even see Hughes telling the guys at the mound the other day, "it's not that bad." Now I'm not suggesting that ANY pitcher try and pitch through pain, but usually the LAST thing any pitcher wants to do is see Andrews. If he ever does pitch again for the Yanks, they should make him wear a pinstriped skirt.
By the way, I heard Cashman on the radio the other day talking about Pavano. Obviously, he said that he trusts the assessments of Pavano and and the doctors that he's injured. But he also talked about Pavano's broken ribs last year. He said that Pavano was completely wrong to lie to them about it - but that, beyond that, what he did was exactly what Karstens had done. With a couple of broken bones, he kept pitching until the pain made him realize that he couldn't.
MattPat and others will ridicule this, since every single thing about Pavano must be ridiculed. I'm just quoting Cashman.
Good one, Sliced.
Didn't Don Sutton finish third in VORP (Value Over Replacement Perm) that year?
And frankly, I stopped listening to a word Brian Cashman said in regards to Pavano three months ago. Its obvious he refuses to admit a mistake there.
Trash him, and you don't even get a bag of balls from in independent league. Cut him, and you're still responsible for the rest of his contract. I'm not counting on Carl at all for this year or next, but I'm also not on the hook for his salary. If there truly is a need for surgery, just maybe you get something for him over the winter. (even if it's a 25 y.o. low A ball player).
I don't believe in coincidences. I don't think the date that Pavano chose to report his injury is a coincidence.
I don't believe the players Cashman chose to trade and those he chose to keep this offseason are a coincidence either.
We kept holding on to this man because we wanted some kind of equal value for what we mistakenly paid him. Since Pavano had shown over and over and over and over and over again that he's an injury prone puss that isn't any good when he deigns to pitch, that leaves me with two options.
1) Brian Cashman is an idiot who thought Carl Pavano would re establish himself as a front line starter
2) Brian Cashman is a stubborn fuck who put impossible demands for a bad player so he wouldn't have to admit he made a mistake buy authorizing the worst transaction in team history.
I don't think Brian Cashman is a stupid man.
YOu can make a case that Pavano is a distraction/clubhouse pain/or whatever, but I jsut don't see thzt as a real problem for this team, and I really don't think trading him/cutting him would have meant the Yanks signed some other crappy pitcher like Lilly etc...The plan was/is to start brining up youth...
17 If Cashman legitimately thought Carl Pavano would do anything but this, he's a moron. Fool Me once, shame on you. Fool Me twice, shame on me. This would be the THIRD TIME he got fooled by Carl Pavano.
I just don't see what we gain by desperately hanging on to the laughing stock of baseball. He's a bad pitcher with a miserable attitude. At some point you cut your losses and take whatever the hell someone's willing to offer you. Its better than stubbornly waiting out the contract and getting nothing.
Let me put it this way: You are GM of a major league club, would you trade for Carl Pavano?
I also never would have signed Gil Meche, Adam Eaton or Jason Marquis. I wouldn't have traded for Jaret Wright.
Major league teams tend to be stupid like that. Someone would taken Pavano if we weren't looking for an unreasonable return.
The date doesn't concern me as much as it does MattPat. Of course he revealed it when he was about to pitch in a real game, because at that point he couldn't hide it anymore. I'm not condoning his hiding it - that was stupid and wrong. But he hoped he could pitch through it, and he was wrong.
Oliver Stone should make a movie about Pavano. Can anyone believe these are coincidences? Back and to the left, back and to the left.
But I, as noted, do not run a baseball team
I just think you are trying to make something out of a lose lose situation for Cashman. Given the choice between tradding/cutting Pavano and getting nothing and still having to pay his salary, vs hold out hope that maybe he could give you something, as small as it might be, who wouldn't take the second? And as for him being a joke or whatever euphamism is tossed around, as I said before, if that actually affects this team, well, shame on this team.
Cashman made his own bed. I didn't make him sign the bad injury prone pitcher. I didn't make him keep him after 2005.I didn't make him keep him after 2006. Its no one's fault but Brian Cashman's that we're stuck with him.
And if he really thought things were going to be different this year, even a small chance, he hasn't been paying attention.
29 No.
And Mattpat11, the "I don't run a baseball team" is a lame copout.
Now, I actually could see some place like KC taking Pavano, if the Yankees picked up all his salary and rehab costs. In exchange, the Yankees would get a bucket of used spit.
The least costliest option would be to cut Carl -- does anyone know if the CBA allows a team to cut a player simply for being injured all the time (acknowledging the team is still on the hook for his salary)?
The first is that maybe Cashman really did want to trade him this year, but wanted a few decent outings to build value. He got one and then Pavs got hurt. Everything he says about wanting Pavano is necessary under such circumstances.
The second is that something may be institutionally wrong with the Yanks, Cashman at the helm or not. Most people believe he even brings stability to the organization. But institutionally, I mean, how can you can your fitness director "Director of Performance Enhancement"? That's ridiculous. On that same note, perhaps the team doctors are not the right guys. I'd say it could be akin to when the Mets traded Kazmir. Philips was quoted later as saying they had "too many cooks in the kitchen" and couldn't make proper decisions.
And I'm pretty sure the team can cut a player if they don't like his shoes. They have to pay him though.
And how the heck is cutting him the "least costliest" option? The Yanks would still have to pay him regardless. Medicine costs are negligible.
Heck Jeff Weaver still has a job, but if your option is Pavano for Weaver, I think I'll take what's behind door #3.
My point is, we don't know what Cashman tried to do with Carl, what the market for him was like (I suspect it was drier than the Sahara desert) and if he actually was making progress in rehab. Now, Cashman did stockpile a lot of young arms, so I suspect he wasn't really going to rely on Pavano (Wang, Moose, Pettitte, Igawa, possibly Clemens after the ASB) all that much.
Now, I will fault Cashman for hiring Miller 1) with such a skimpy resume and 2) far too late in the year.
he stayed.
If I ever say anything like "trade him" then it's fine to put me on the spot and ask "for whom."
If Brian Cashman was holding out to get guaranteed value for this bad, injury prone pitcher with an awful work ethic and miserable attitude, he was a fool.
A trade could have gotten us something by accident. Waiting out his contract will get us nothing.
And also, TJ doesn't mean that Pavano isn't a puss.
And I'd weep.
Then any team can sign him for the major league minimum. As you say, the Yankees would have to pay the rest of his salary for the next two years.
I don't see what the Yankees gain by it. They don't save enough money to make any difference, and he's not taking up a roster spot if he's on the DL.
On another note, I think if Pavano really is done, which is pure speculation, it will mark the end of an era for the Yanks, no? The high priced free agent/traded for unreliable/non-NY friendly pitcher era. Gone are the Weavers, Vasquezs, Browns, Johnsons, and finally, Pavanos, and in their place are the kids, the Pettittes, and, hopefully, the Santanas :)
A rotation in two years of Santana, Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy/Clippard/Ohlendorf/ DeSalvo etc. would be very very awesome indeed. And that still elaves us plenty of room to trade a few of our minor league guys for position players/CC or whomever...
If we cut him, we'd gain the satisfaction of telling Carl Pavano to go fuck himself. And if we're going to pay him and get nothing out of it anyway...
With all due respect for your feelings, I think a little perspective is called for. In the spectrum of evil human beings, Carl Pavano doesn't even register.
Ideally, what I would like to happen is for Pavano to ask for his release, then sign a minimum level contract laden with incentives. To me, that would be the honorable thing, though I doubt the players' union would go for it. (A-Rod couldn't lose $2 mil/year in a trade.)
If by some mircle he gives us some games this year or next, so be it. If he gets healthy enough to be part of a trade, great. Whatever happens, we consider Pavano a pure loss. So if he ends up giving us anything in the next 2 years... well, it's more then we expected.
Even team has average to below average players. Just about every team has guys who are overpaid. Just about every GM makes deals that he knows could go either way (J.D.Drew anyone). This is baseball. Nobody bats 1.000, not even GMs. This does NOT maket them stupid or lazy. Its part of the way baseball operates.
I'm trying to figure out how Sidney Ponson still has a job...
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As for Pavano, he was hurt in the Sox organization, he was hurt as an Expo, he was hurt as a Marlin. Why anyone is suprised he is injury prone while with the Yanks is beyond me. Wish he was traded after the '05 season.
62I watched Hideki Matsui apologize for breaking his wrist. I then watched Carl Pavano state he wasn't "committed" to coming back from injury.
Its not the injuries themselves (although, in Carl's case, the bullshit injuries are infuriating too, but thats neither here nor now.)
Its Carls whole attitude throughout. Its "I can't believe I get paid to do this" its "I'm not committed" its the lies and the smug attitude and every statement he's released since this started where he's played the victim.
I always go by the motto "you can never have too much pitching -- or potential pitching."
Let's wait on what Dr. Andrews has to say. If after that visit, there's a statment that Dr. Andrews couldn't diagnois Carl's problem, then by all means let's lead Carl into the woods leaving him a trail of bread crumbs. On the other hand, if he sets up a surgery appointment within the week, then let's let all the Carl is a wuss talk die.
And yeah, I'm going to call missing a month with an ass bruise a bullshit injury. Same thing with the mystery shoulder ailment that somehow went from day to day to a season ender despite never actually getting a worse prognosis. I don't have to play baseball professionally to figure out that something's not kosher.
1995: Was disabled from June 22 to July 8 with right shoulder tendinitis.
1997: Began the season on Pawtucket disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis... Was placed on the disabled list July 1-13 with right elbow tendinitis.
1998: After shoulder tendinitis in Spring Training and seven minor league starts, made his Major League debut on 5/23 vs. Philadelphia.
1999: Placed on the 15-day disabled list on 7/12 with right elbow soreness... Underwent an MRI and was examined by Dr. James Andrews on 10/12, revealing tendinitis.
2000: Saw his season end on 6/24 due to soreness in his throwing arm... Placed on the DL on 6/25 with tendinitis in his right triceps... Examined by Dr. James Andrews on 7/5 and received a cortisone injection behind his right elbow... Underwent surgery on 8/22 in Birmingham, AL to remove bone chips from his right elbow.
2001: Was placed on the disabled list on June 27 with tendinitis in his right triceps... On July 5, he was examined by Dr. James Andrews and received a cortisone injection behind his right elbow... Finally had surgery on August 22 in Birmingham, AL, to remove bone chips from his right elbow.
2005: Was placed on 15-day disabled list on 7/7 (retroactive to 6/28) with right shoulder tendonitis... was re-evaluated by Team Physician Dr. Stuart Hershon and Dr. James Andrews and was diagnosed with rotator cuff tendonitis and associated pain in his humerus...was prescribed at least six weeks of rest and rehab for the condition...was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on 8/30.
2006: Missed the beginning of spring training with lower back stiffness... Was placed on the 15-day disabled list on 3/29 with right shoulder tendonitis... Underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone chip from his right elbow... Made his final rehab assignment start of the season with Triple-A Columbus on 8/25 vs. Indianapolis, allowing 2ER in 6.0IP to earn the win... Left game because of soreness under his right armpit and revealed that the injury occurred in a car accident on 8/15... Was transferred to the 60-day disabled list with right rib fracture on 9/5.
See, I've always felt that phrase needs to be amended. You can never have too much good pitching. Too much bad pitching can sink you.
Yep... How many of us remember the 1989 Yankees?
By Buster Gunning
Question: What do Elton John and Yankee Baseball have in common? Two answers: 1) Nothing whatsoever. 2) You are about to find out.
Yankees fans, baseball lovers and music historians of all ethnicities will converge in the Bronx for a very special day. Locker Talk has learned that the Yankees, in partnership with the potent Y.E.S. Yankees Entertainment and Sports (Y.E.S.) Superchannel, have already begun to prepare a heartwarming tribute to the Pinstripers' fallen young star, Philip K. Hughes … a man who went from a boy to a man (back to a boy and then back to a man) and a hero to us all.
Phil Hughes, at a tender age and with all the natural gifts any 20-year-old male could hope to possess … struck out in his prime, taken from us far too soon, just as he was beginning to dazzle America with his talents …. Texas does it again.
Fortunately, Elton John and musical collaborator Bernie Taupin live on the upper west side of Manhattan and are HUGE fans of the Yanks. During the upcoming homestand at The Stadium, Elton will appear from behind homeplate donning a sequent Bombers cap and perform a moving adaptation of his world-famous ballad during a breathless 7th Inning Stretch. Michael Kay will MC while Suzyn Waldman accompanies the rock legend at the piano although sources tell Lockertalk that she will not play a note. A blue-ribbon panel appointed by GM Brian Cashman has started to explain what baseball is to Elton John and has made all necessary and appropriate arrangements to carry Elton to the ballfield for this momentous day in Yankee history.
Locker Talk has obtained a confidential excerpt of Elton's touching adaptation of the tribute originally written for Marilyn Monroe and then for Princess Diana.
?
Goodbye Yankee ace
Though we hardly knew you at all
You gave the Bombers one quality start
While those around you failed
And it seems to me you threw your curve
Like a veteran on the mound
Never giving in with the fastball
Even when behind in the count
And your pitches will always paint the corner
From Monument Park to Tampa's hill
Your hamstring blew out long before
Your legend ever will
Hammy in the Wind
Music by Bernie Williams
Lyrics by Steve Swindal
Available on the album Goodbye Yankee Wins
The preceding article is a piece of satirical fiction.
So yeah, it was dumb to sign him in the first place, we all know that, and a smaller, cheaper contract would have been great, but that was about the going rate for pitchers.
Just about anyone who's pitched at the ML level would be worth taking a shot at for league minimum. See Small, Aaron.
You have to go in realizing most of the time it isn't going to pan out, but once in a while it does. And if the Yankees having Carl Pavano on the team is the worst thing going on in your life, to consume that much hatred and energy, then you've got a pretty sweet life.
;-)
I'm a very petty man. If you contribute, I couldn't give a crap if you moonlighted as Jack the Ripper.
If you don't, all your flaws come rising to thr surface.
And then I found the horror of a Carl Pavano thread.
Sigh.
Dude!
Holy Shit Dude!
HOLY SHIT DUDE!
Can you PLEASE DROP IT?
Please Dude... I'm already 53 and you ARE AGING ME!
I wish to put forth an innitiative to move the:
"Pavano Is Barely Human and It's Questionable If He Even deserves to Live"
discussion... in it's entirety, including all and any words the begin with "Pav" or any initials that start with "C" and end witn "P"
.... into the "DEAD HORSE DEPARTMENT"
any seconds?
104 Seconded.
The funny thing about Carbo's HR in '75 was the previous swing he took from Easwick. Quite ugly. I think Bill Lee mentioned it looked like he was trying to swat a fly.
http://tinyurl.com/2atd42
2:45 is where Carbo's AB begins
Thanks for the interesting story. Don't know how I overlooked this character during the 70s.
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