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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2004)
Manning shouldn't have made efforts to 'manipulate' draft By Steve Kelley Seattle Times (KRT) SEATTLE — Eli Manning picked a bad week to manipulate the draft. In the same week former Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman made the ultimate selfless sacrifice — surren dering his life fighting for his country — Eli Manning was the ultimate in selfishness. In the same week Tillman was killed in the hellish desolation of Afghanistan, Manning whined to the Chargers that he wouldn't play for them. He said he'd sit out the season and make himself eligible for the 2005 draft rather than play for San Diego. So when San Diego took Manning with the first pick in Saturday's NFL draft, he refused to smile and petu lantly held the Chargers' jersey as if it were toxic. 1 le ignored the offer of the Charg ers hat and looked as uncomfortable on the midtown Manhattan stage as Rosie O'Donnell in "Grease." An hour later Manning was all smiles. He no longer was a Charger. The New York Giants drafted Philip Rivers and traded him and a gaggle of prime draft picks for Manning. And Man ning's smile beamed across the coun try as if he were named the winner on "American Idol." "I don't think so," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren answered when asked if he would have let the Man nings — Eli and his father Archie — manipulate him as they did the Chargers. "And after I got off my ini tial shock and maybe my stubborn ness, well, I can't imagine that hap pening. I really can't. "I'd think there would be some way I could fix that. I think I'd kind of dig in my heels. I don't know the whole story on this one, but on the surface I don't understand this one too much. 1 would think San Diego would be a pretty cool place to play." Yo, Eli. A little perspective here. Pat Tillman died Thursday and his death touched every American, foot ball fan or not. He believed in his country's war on terrorism so much he gave up the good life, gave up his three-year, $3.6.million contract with Arizona to be part of that war. Tillman believed in something oth er than himself. "Every time you see a player get bust ed for drugs or a player getting arrested for beating his wife, I believe it reflects on all of the NFL," former NFL quarter back Hugh Millen said Saturday. "But now we take so much pride in what Pat Tillman has done, his sacrifices. He is the best the NFL can offer. "People will remember him. Peo ple will know about Pat Tillman. I have kids who are 1 and 3, and I'm going to put a picture of Tillman on my desk and tell them he's the finest example this league has ever had." Tillman believed in loyalty so much he once turned down a five year, $9-million contract offer from the St. Louis Rams and accepted the Cardinals' $3.6-million deal because he thought he owed allegiance to the team that drafted him. The draft meant something to Till man. He understood how important it has been to the league's success. The draft has helped make the NFL enormously profitable and, in part because of the draft, you will be of fered a $15 million signing bonus by the Giants. Before you take your first snap, you and your family will be secure for life. A little perspective, Eli. Turn to KELLEY, page 12 Fewer visa ‘slots’ in U.S. creates problem for MLB If Major League Baseball and the U.S. government do not come to an agreement, it could hinder international signings By Kevin Baxter Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) MIAMI — The national pasttime and another defining element of American society, the national bureaucracy, are at odds over one of the hot-button political issues of the day, immigration. And unless the two sides can work out a compromise in next few weeks, baseball may have to change the way it does business. For years the U.S. government has granted the 30 major league organizations approximately 1,400 visa "slots," which the teams have used to bring foreign-bom players to the United States for spring training, instructional camps and the minor league season. And if a player got hurt or wasn't performing well, the club could send him home and use that "slot" — essentially the same tempo rary work visa — to call up another player. But a Congressional mandate that quietly went into ef fect this year has changed all that. Under the new directive, the Department of Labor cannot issue more than 66,000 temporary visas for 2004,13,000 fewer than a year ago and a limit it reached in early March. Many of those went to agribusiness, the construction trades and other traditional employers of seasonal workers, and the government says no new visas will be issued until Oct. 1, after the minor league seasons have ended. And that has clubs who have invested considerable time and money in their international operations concerned. "If Major League Baseball does not reach an agreement with the government, then all international scouting this year will be for naught," says Charlie Wilson, manager of minor league operations for the Toronto Blue Jays. The new rules do not impact major league players such as Luis Castillo, Pedro Martinez or Ichiro Suzuki, who are on their team's 40-man rosters and have P-1 visas, reserved for individuals deemed by the government to be "out standing in their profession." But it could threaten the ca reers of nearly half the 6,117 minor league players under contract with U.S. clubs since those players cannot come to the United States without the H-2B temporary work visas the government is now limiting. "It hurts those foreign players because instead of being able to get over here and be able to show what they can do here in the States, they're going to be restricted," says Tim Purpura, the Houston Astros' assistant general manager and director of player development. And it virtually rules out the signing of Japanese profes sionals, Cuban defectors or other foreign-bom free agents. Major League Baseball is currently lobbying the govern ment for relief and hopes to have some sort of exemption in place before the new law disrupts June's amateur draft. Canadians, as well as Puerto Rican and U.S.-bom players, must register for the draft before they can sign professional contracts, and as many as 45 Canadians are generally se lected in an average year. But since Canadians need visas to work in the U.S., some clubs appear unwilling to spend a draft pick on a player they can't use until the winter in structional leagues — if then. "It looks to us like we won't be able to sign Canadian players," says Wilson, whose team, through based in Cana da, must adhere to the same U.S. immigration rules that govern the other 29 teams. "We can draft and control, but at this stage we can't sign a Canadian kid or have him get involved this summer." The biggest change, however, will be in how teams eval uate players, mostly Latin Americans, already under con tract. In the past, clubs have used their academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela to audition raw prospects, then used visas to bring the most promising of those to the LJ.S. for closer inspection. It was also common for teams to release players who had failed in their minor league trial, then use that visa to check out another prospect. That, too, has been eliminated by the new law. "It will make us evaluate quicker when we start to put our roster together for spring training," says Wilson. "Sometimes we would wait to see how some of those play ers did in winter ball. Now we won't be able to do that." A Major league Baseball official in New York confirmed that heavy lobbying is underway and says the commis sioner's office is "cautiously optimistic" a compromise with the government will be reached. And so is Rafael Perez, the manager of baseball's Dominican operations, who is refusing to push the panic button yet. "It is still too early," says Perez, who will meet with international scouts early next month to brief them on the new law. "My understanding is that baseball is thinking about different alternatives to make sure that those guys that are supposed to go to the States, but for some reason or another couldn't, that something is done on their behalf." (c) 2004, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. ‘Streaky’ Thome is enjoying quick start to season The Phillies’ first basemen has had a productive first month after breaking a finger By Todd Zolecki Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) ST. LOUIS — Jim Thome doesn't know exacdy why he's enjoyed such a nice April. Maybe he was due. Maybe it was his broken finger. "I've had some Aprils when I've hit home runs," Thome said. "I've had some Aprils when I've hit. 100. But I've always said you want to stay on water in April. A hit a day. If you can get a hit a day you stay on water." He's on water, and without the help of water wings even. Thome is hitting .344 with a .429 on-base percentage, five home runs and seven RBI. His early numbers certainly are no table. Consider: Thome broke his right middle fin ger after the first Grapefruit League game in Florida early last month, and had just 17 spring-training at bats. Thome said at the time that he had no idea how much the injury might affect him, but he always said he liked having around 50 at-bats every spring to get himself tuned up and ready to play. He still can't completely bend the finger. He still wears a small splint for it. He also has had what he termed a "deep bruise" on his left thumb ever since Cincinnati's D'Angelo Jimenez ran into him at first base during a double play. Bowa said it bothers Thome more than he lets on. Thome has a reputation as a slow starter. He entered the season with fewer career home runs (40) and RBIs (133) in April than any other month. His .268 average in April is slightly better than his .260 average in September. "To explain it? I don't know," he said. "But I'm glad that it happened. Because you always want to get off to a nice start. But would I give up a nice start personally for a good start for our team? Yeah. That's what you want." Back to the busted finger. Bowa has said recently that it might have been a blessing in disguise for the big man. Perhaps it shortened his swing. Perhaps it slowed him down. "I think so," Thome said. "Maybe a little bit, yeah. I'm an aggressive hitter anyway, but maybe it did slow me down a little bit. I'm glad it did, if it did." (c) 2004, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Need a Great Place to Live? If you haven’t stopped by lately, it’s time to check out Duck’s Village today! 1, 2, 3 & 4 Bedroom Furnished Apartments, and so much more .... 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