Former Giants GM Sabean belongs in the Hall of Fame
You wonder about Brian Sabean these days. The Giants’ big decisions are in other people’s hands, his name is rarely mentioned, and like all those other people who have devoted their lives to baseball, he’s experiencing a spring like no other.
If he could use a cheerup, it comes from “The Big Chair,” Ned Colletti’s book about his life in the game. “Sabean wasn’t just good as a general manager,” Colletti wrote. “He was great. So great, in fact, I think he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.”
Here’s seconding that motion. I can’t imagine anyone building a strong case to the contrary.
Colletti is hardly an impartial observer, having served as Sabean’s righthand man in the Giants’ front office from 1994 to 2005. But Colletti understands the game’s inner workings as well as anyone: the ecstatic highs, the crushing lows, how a socalled genius can become a bum overnight — at least in the public’s eye. Giants fans recognize Sabean as the driving force behind three World Series titles, and when you examine the breadth of his career, it has a very Cooperstown look.
Before he came to the Giants in 1993, Sabean was responsible for the Yankees’ draft and player development, his picks including Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte, with a crucial international signing in Mariano Rivera. The Yankees went to six World Series from 19962003 and won four of them, which means that Sabean played a major role with 10 World Series teams in 19 years (don’t forget the ’02 Giants), including seven world champions.
Sabean would be the first to point out his invaluable associates over the years: Dick Tidrow, John Barr, Bobby Evans, Joe Lefebvre, Steve
Balboni and a cadre of veteran scouts who embodied Sabean’s insistence on watching the players, getting to know their personalities and how they performed under duress, instead of relying strictly on analytics and computer printouts. There’s room for both methods in baseball, and as much as Sabean valued eyetest evaluations, he never forgot about the numbers.
There’s no need to run down Sabean’s best and worst moves; suffice it to say that the latter category (think Joe Nathan, Sidney Ponson, A.J. Pierzynski and Zack Wheeler) marks a trifle in Sabean’s big picture. Better to consider this: In one key window from 2002 through ’07, he drafted his entire 2010 postseason rotation — Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, Jonathan Sanchez — plus closer Brian Wilson without ever holding a pick higher than 10th.
It’s not often the Hall of Fame honors a team president or general manager. There are only six: Pat Gillick (with several teams), John Schuerholz (Atlanta and Kansas City), Branch Rickey (Cardinals and Dodgers), Larry MacPhail (wideranging accomplishments on the executive level), and two architects of past Yankee dynasties, Ed Barrow and George Weiss.
A number of candidates seem eminently qualified, including Theo Epstein — who led the Red Sox and Cubs out of an eternal wilderness — and A’s masterminds Billy Beane and Sandy Alderson, each credited with innovative frontoffice methods. Whenever the next Hall of Fame voting committee gets around to executives, they should know this: Sabean is next in line.
Reaching for answers in the great unknown: France, Argentina, the Netherlands and Belgium have shut down their toplevel soccer seasons for good. (Among other developments, that hands France’s
Ligue 1 title to Paris SaintGermain, the world’s most starstudded club with Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Edison Cavani, Angel Di Maria and goalkeeper Keylor Navas.) Italy and Germany are holding out hopes for resumption at some point, as is the Champions League. And the English Premier League is hoping to return in June, despite COVID19related resistance from a number of deeply concerned players. Michel D’Hooghe, FIFA’S medical committee chairman, told Sky Sports he believes play should not resume anywhere until September at the earliest, because “The world is not ready for a contact sport. One of the first things that everybody says is that you should avoid contact for the moment. I hope this can change very quickly, but today, you need more patience.”
Worth considering for your TVwatching weekend: Saturday, 210 p.m., NBC Sports Bay Area: The Warriors’ four victories over Houston in the 2018 Western Conference finals (Games 1, 3, 6 and 7) . ... Saturday, 59 a.m., NBCSN: a festival of “greatest goals” and classic matches from the Premier
League . ... Saturday, 10 p.m., NBA TV: a onehour recap of the Warriors 201617 championship season . ... Saturday, 911 p.m., NFL Network: A twohour retrospective on the 49ersDallas Cowboys rivalry . ... Sunday, 4 p.m., Tennis Channel: Rafael Nadal’s epic fiveset win over Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final, considered by many to be the finest match ever played . ... Sunday, 3 p.m., MLB Network: Game 7 of the 1991 TwinsBraves World Series, featuring the classic Jack MorrisJohn Smoltz pitching masterpiece at the Metrodome . ... On the subject of television: After six years leaving more than half of the L.A. market in the dark, the Dodgers reached a settlement that finally brings SportsNetLA to all AT&T platforms, including DirecTV. It’s refreshing news, but also a complete embarrassment for the Dodgers’ filthyrich organization. Nice timing, too: All set for a season that might not be played.