The role of commissioner is not an easy task. It is often regarded as the most difficult position in all of sports. Attempting to collaborate with owners while trying to keep the players happy is not a job I would ever want to tackle. Without question, being a commissioner is a full time job. So what happens when a commissioner takes on another full time job? Simply, one has to suffer. In this case, it is the Badass Cowboys who are suffering and no one in the organization is happy about it.
Michael Marcinkus, the well-respected commissioner of MRLB, may have bitten off more than he can chew this year. Not only is Marcinkus the commissioner of the league, but he is also the owner of the Badass Cowboys, a franchise that is mired in last place with no sign of turning things around anytime soon. This once proud franchise, previously known as the Isotopes, finished third just last year. Marcinkus is wearing too many hats these days, though (also acting as the GM and coach), and his lack of time spent around the team is not going unnoticed.
Recently acquired third baseman Troy Glaus had these candid things to say about his current owner: "I respect what Mr. Marcinkus has done for MRLB. He's taken it from a fledgling 'play for fun' league with 7 active teams and expanded it into a 10 team fee based league with two of its own websites. I don't knock him as a commissioner. As an owner, though, I feel like he's let us down a little. He rarely visits with his players anymore. Hell, I've been here almost a month now and have only seen him once. We need to right this ship fast, and we can only do it if we have someone at the helm who is dedicated to us 100%."
Glaus hasn't exactly sailed the ship in the right direction either, however. The slugger is hitting just .162 since coming to the Badass Cowboys. Richard Hidalgo, the other player acquired in the deal for Mussina, isn't faring much better, hitting just .240 with 3 home runs with the BCs. Why are the results so poor for the BCs? Are the players underachieving because of the lack of discipline coming from the management, or is management (namely Marcinkus) getting blamed because the players simply are not performing to their standards?
The answer lies somewhere between the two extremes. There is no doubt that Marcinkus's players should be performing better, but he needs to make himself a stronger presence in the clubhouse. A horrible rash of injuries have added extra fuel to the fire. You have to give the commish credit for one thing, though: he has always gone out and got the players the team needed. Things just haven't worked out right for him this year. With McGwire on the shelf longer than expected, Marcinkus recognized the need for a first baseman and realized that Mientkiewicz wouldn't stay hot forever. The first move was trading away Darryl Kile for Frank Thomas, a move that looked good on paper but backfired when Thomas was lost for the season one week later.
"Trading away our number 3 pick for what amounted to nothing was just demoralizing for this team," clubhouse leader Einar Diaz said. "Other teams are calling us the 'Weakass Cowgirls' for crying out loud! That just isn't right, and we need to step it up as a team to make up for the injuries we've had. We don't want to use that as an excuse, so we just have to keep playing hard until we turn this thing around."
Marcinkus's other transactions haven't proven as disasterous as his first, but none of them have helped the team escape last place. Marcinkus is holding firm on his decisions and says "there is plenty of baseball left to be played." The makeup of the current Badass Cowboys is drastically different than the team that started the season. Once a pitching heavy squad, the BCs now boast a lineup that can hit with any team, but the pitching staff lacks a true ace and desperately seeks consistency. In other words, with some decent pitching, the Badass Cowboys still have a shot at a respectable season, but it will take total dedication from the owner and management. If Marcinkus wants to prove his critics wrong, now is his chance to prove that he can fit all of his hats on his head at the same time.
