He lacked the flamboyance of some of his contemporary stars, let alone the baseball stars of the present.
To keep the dynasty going, the club bought up baseball stars, front-loading its payroll with a handful of big names, some of whom (Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina and, soon, Clemens) are past their primes.
Unlike the Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens case, in which both baseball stars testified before a federal grand jury and Congress and were accused of lying under oath, Armstrong was not questioned by federal authorities under oath, and therefore was not exposed to potential criminal perjury charges in the Los Angeles case, the source said.
Unlike the NBA and a handful of top stars from the NFL, baseball tends to produce marketing stars that shine in their respective local markets more than they do on the national stage.
Baseball and gridiron stars rely on their playing contracts for the bulk of their earnings.
And they continue to pay their executives better than rock stars or baseball players.
Baseball's batting stars often struggle during the post-season because they are pitched around or struggle from the burden of trying to do too much.
"This gathering of baseball's brightest stars will be an outstanding platform to grow the game internationally, " said Commissioner Bud Selig of a tournament that will in fact include such top names as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza.
If Major League Baseball wants to ensure the top stars show up in this day and age, then they need to use financial rewards and punishments to impact player incentives.
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Starting in the mid-1990s, a long lineup of batmakers new to the game--from carpenters to Amish craftsmen--got approval from Major League Baseball, and began stealing away stars and the more lucrative minor-league and amateur markets.
Blame the league's strict salary cap, which keeps football stars from being paid as much as their counterparts in basketball and baseball--plus, those pesky helmets keep most NFL stars from being well recognized, except pitchman extraordinaire Peyton Manning, who just missed our list.
He lacked the flamboyance of some contemporary stars, let alone the baseball greats of the present.
Granted that baseball still pales in comparison to football in terms of ratings, so this limits what baseball players can command relative to football stars.
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Hicks owns baseball's Texas Rangers and the Dallas Stars of the NHL, while Gillett owns the NHL's Montreal Canadiens.
For the fourth season in a row, Major League Baseball clubs will mark the day by featuring Stars and Stripes caps as part of their game day uniforms.
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Two decades ago, the Jays were the toast of baseball, with a roster of All-Stars put together by Hall of Fame general manager Pat Gillick that won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.
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Japanese baseball, unable to stem the tide of top stars moving to the states for top dollar, "post" available players who are still under contract to their teams, as a way to collect cash compensation for departing players.
He is also President of the Midland Rockhounds, the Huntsville Stars and the Connecticut Tigers (minor league baseball teams).
Baseball's economic system allows teams to pay their young stars at or close to the major-league minimum for the first three years of their careers, in most cases.
Age restrictions have seldom been an issue in baseball or hockey for that matter, in part because top young stars are often paid at or slightly above the league minimum.
Despite arguably fielding the best team in the Majors this year, the Rays finished the season with 1.8 million in attendance, 22nd in baseball (the front office gave away 20, 000 tickets to a late season game after stars Evan Longoria and David Price called out fans for lack of support).
After the color line broke in baseball, when there was still chiding by the fans and some players and there were already black stars like Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, the black players were often isolated socially.
Baseball fans, though, tend to identify more with teams than with players, making it tough for stars to break out of their local markets as pitchmen.
The timing of the announcement comes the day after the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced that no former players were selected for induction from a ballot that included some stars who have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
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