Still Americas Pastime

On December 2nd, I posted my Baseball Resume as a regular blog post.  The reason for this was to show people why they should visit this blog instead of some other baseball blog.  After all, there happen to be more than one baseball-themed blog out there on the Internet.  But you should definitely keep coming back to mine.  And the why was located in that resume. 

Now that that post is well in the past, I have decided to add it as a static page in order to keep it readily available to those who wish to view it. I’m also planning to refine and update it soon, so I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated.

So, for those of you who haven’t yet read my resume or for those of you who want to reread it, check it out.  It’s located right next to the “About” page along the top of my blog.

In unrelated news, it is now less than a week until the Major League Baseball season starts.

Some of you might be wondering if I ever planned on mentioning that poll about Spring Training records again.  Here’s the story.

I was hoping to have a wonderful post about my views on Spring Training records, and compare them to other’s views, and see what other people had to say, and it was basically a great idea.  My lack of internet vigilance destroyed this plan.

I thought that the poll on the site would close when the poll on my blog did.  I was wrong.  So then I figured that I would wait until that one closed and I would be able to make a wonderful post about it.

Unfortunately, I never got back around to checking the site after the post closed…until it had been closed for about ten days, and then it was gone, like I had never created it.  Oh well.

I remember most people felt that the records were kinda important, but I don’t have any of the data for you.  However, I expect to be using more polls in the future (and checking them daily).

I’m totally shocked I haven’t said anything about the World Baseball Classic yet!

Ok, not totally.  I mean, I haven’t posted for awhile, and I’ve only had time to watch a few of the games.  Still, to have ignored talking about it for so long is unforgivable in my opinion.

The big news right now is that Team USA has advanced to the semi-final round.  Why is that such big news?  Because last time (’06) the US was bounced in the second round, after believing they would walk right over everyone to win.

This year Team USA realized that in this World Baseball Classic they would be up against world class competition.  Glad it only took us 3 years to figure that out.

Well, although the match-ups haven’t been fully set yet, the four teams heading to the semi-finals are Venesualla, USA, Japan, and Korea.  Japan and Korea are playing each other tonight to determine their seeds in the semi-finals.

Big surprises in the WBC?  There were two in my book.  First is that the team from The Netherlands beat the tournament favorite Dominican Republic in the first round.  TWICE!  That sent the DR home faster than anyone predicted.  The other is that Cuba, which has won like 33 of the 40 international tournaments its been in (maybe it was just appeared 33 of 40 times in the finals, its still good) heading home after the second round.

I’ll keep you posted on how the tournament is progressing.

Well, time for me to see how well February went with my new goals.

25 Posts?  Nope, only 6.  In all fairness though, I only started these new goals midway through the month.  But on the other hand, I was trying to post consistantly before, so this is a no go.

I Call ‘Em as I See ‘Em?  Yes, but again this is before the goals were set.  Still, happy I did it.

Non-MLB Posts?  Nope, didn’t do it weekly.  You could argue that Role Models? was a non-MLB post (I think it is).

So, 1 out of 3.  Not bad for a day at the plate, but I could do a lot better.

Well, it’s late, but I wouldn’t want to prevent you from getting your monthly fix of I Call ‘Em as I See ‘Em.

Unfortunately, the label given to the last two decades of baseball is the Steroid Era.  I say unfortunately because while a number of athletes have confessed or are under heavy suspicion of using performance enhancing drugs, an even larger number of ballplayers (who I firmly believe are clean) have now been linked to steroids, seemingly irreversibly.

I can understand why people started using the phrase “Steroid Era”: Jose Conseco’s book, the outburst of home runs, MLB players testifying before Congress, the list goes on.  But lets look at just how fair this label is.

Yes, some players have “juiced.”  There just is no escaping it and baseball shouldn’t want to try to sweep it under the rug.  But it is only some players.  The SI report, when it outed A-Rod, said he was 1 of 104 players to test positive.  104 is a large number, but there are 750 players on MLB rosters at any given time.  That means 646 players didn’t test positive.  The label of “Steroid Era” makes the average person who doesn’t really follow baseball believe everyone is doing it.

A-Rod’s confession was a big blow for baseball fans everywhere.  He was a first ballot Hall of Famer and basically the player of the decade in the “Aughts” (00’s).  His admission spread the doubt around further because everyone was looking to him as an example of what a clean player can do. 

I still think this is too much attention on only one guy, but so many people used him as an example of a clean player it really hurt baseball.  Luckily I’m even more confident that the player of the 90’s, Ken Griffey Jr., is clean than I ever was of A-Rod.  But if he should fall (not likely), perhaps I’ll be recanting this post.

But for now, let’s try to stop referring to this as the Steroid Era.  Do it for the players who are clean, and don’t need every swing of the bat scrutinized for performance enhancing drugs.