Still Americas Pastime

A sincerest apology to my readers.  With everything going on in my life, I have not been posting consistantly.  While I hope to change this, be aware that as of right now, daily posts are unlikely.  Keep checking back though, because I should be posting every few days.

Sorry for the drought in posts.  Part of it was due to a trip down to Atlanta to see the Braves’ home opener.  It was a great game.  The Braves won it in the 10th inning after a long rain delay (two hours in my estimation) during the top of the 4th.

While I was there, I thought up a great idea.  Every week (starting this coming week) I’ll bring you my expert analysis of the “Random Game of the Week.”  This will be a game that I’ll either watch (in person or on TV) or listen to on the radio.  I’ll even score it myself.

Of course, the games won’t be totally random.  If I get a chance to go to a live game, I’ll probably pick that one.  Since I live in Cincinnati, that will probably mean there will be a fair number of Reds games.  Also, being a Braves fan, I try to catch as many of their games as possible.  Finally, I’m sure that the number of National League games will far outweigh the number of American League games because I care more about those teams.

The first Random Game of the Week will be when the Braves visit the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday April 25th.

Today is Jackie Robinson Day, the anniversary of his historic breaking of the color barrier in baseball.  It marked the beginning of integrated baseball, and therefore the beginning of the end for the Negro League.

One of the really cool things that has happened in baseball during Bud Selig’s reign as Commissioner is that Robinson’s number (42) was retired by all of the major league teams.  This I felt was a fitting tribute to the man who so greatly changed the face of the game.

It was also awesome when Ken Griffey Jr. asked for permission, and received it, to wear #42 on April 15 to honor Robinson.  The next year, one player on each team wore 42 to pay homage to Jackie.

Now, however, everyone on every team wears 42 on Jackie Robinson Day.  I really don’t like this.  I think it takes away from it being special, rather than working as a tribute.  I was fine when it was one person, but when #42 comes in to relieve #42, who was trying to finish the game for #42, with #42 up at the plate and #42 standing in the on-deck circle, it just gets ridiculous. 

In honor of Opening Day, I give you a four part I Call ‘Em as I See ‘Em this month!

The Designated Hitter (DH) is one of the most vile things ever invented in the history of the world.  No I’m not overreacting, it is truly that bad.  And if you stick around and read my four entries about this disgusting mark on the beautiful game of baseball, you’ll think so too.

I’m going to be breaking down my arguments into three categories: Historical, Statistical, and Emotional.  Hopefully the preponderance of evidence and logic of my argument will cause shockwaves through the baseball world and destroy the Designated Hitter forever.

First I’m going to make my emotional arguments against the DH.  The reason for this is twofold.  First, most discussions about the DH don’t get past this point.  It’s a logical starting place because many people just FEEL really strongly about the DH.  Second, we have to get through our emotions to move onto the more logic based arguments to get rid of the DH.

The DH makes baseball less fun.

Yes it does.  I mean, who wants to see a really old guy swing a bat and either strike out, homer, or lumber (painfully) around the bases?  I know some of you are going to say that offense is what makes the game more interesting, and the DH is usually a power-hitter, so more home runs, which means more offense, which means more fun.

Wrong!  Even great home run hitters average less than 1 home run per 3 games in a season (math: 50 home runs/162 games).  Plus, home runs are not the only way to provide offense.  Nor is it the only entertaining way.  Stealing a base, executing a hit and run, squeeze plays, etc. are just as exciting, sometimes more.  Plus, when the big hitter gets up, the defense doesn’t worry about these things, because the manager won’t risk it.

There’s not as much strategy when a DH is involved.

As I hinted at earlier, the power-hitting DH (and there are rarely non-power-hitting DHs) takes away many strategic considerations from the offensive side of the game.  However, it also takes away a number of defensive decisions.  Do you take out a starting pitcher in the 7th inning of a scoreless game for a pinch-hitter?  Should you make a double-switch?  Do you hope your right handed pitcher gets the left handed batter out so that you can pinch hit for him instead of bringing in a lefty for one batter?

All of these decisions not only give manager’s queasy stomachs, but contribute to the cerebral part of the game.  Plus, then you have more opportunities to second-guess the manager when it doesn’t work out how you’d like, and everyone loves to do that.

Room for one more assertion.  Don’t want to overwhelm you yet.

DHing is too easy.

This point basically writes itself.  I mean, who do you see DHing?  People who can’t play in the field because it will wear them out.  Yes, hitting is probably the hardest thing to do in sports.  But it’s much harder to play nine innings in the field, possibly diving for balls or getting taken out by a runner, and then trying to get a hit in the ninth, than having sat in the dugout all night (except for your previous at-bats) and coming up in the same position.  Baseball is one of the sports where a player needs to be able to play offense and defense.  The DH goes against this grain.

Where there you go.  You’ve now experienced some of my persuasive power.  Are you ready to go out and picket against the DH with me? 

A Can of Corn is a fly ball that is an easy catch for the fielder.

This is one of the first weird baseball terms I ever heard.  You don’t hear it often anymore, and I think a large part of that is that the term is an anachronism.  All of the reports I’ve heard point toward this term coming about because of the old practice of grocers storing cans of corn on the top of the shelves.  They would use long poles to knock the cans off of the shelf and then catch the can in their hands.

Since catching a lazy fly ball is (or at least should be) easy, people started saying that it was as easy as catching a can of corn.  The term stuck and has been floating around ever since.  However, as I mentioned earlier, there aren’t many people who use it anymore.  This is probably a result of the combination that nobody knows why it came about and the situation that gave birth to the term is obsolete.

This year I’ve signed up to play in a Fantasy Baseball league.  I’m really excited and anxious to see how I’ll do.

My only experience with Fantasy baseball came four years ago, when I participated in a postseason league.  I didn’t really follow it too closely then, and finished middle of the road.  This year, I plan on following much more closely.

We had our live draft a couple of weeks ago, and it was much more intense than I thought it would be.  I had a good idea of who my first couple choices were in each position, and if everyone had shown up for the draft, I think it would have worked smoothly.  However, only 5 of the 10 owners showed up (2 showed up late), so the computer would auto-pick for the absentees.  This lead to situations where there were as many as 7 computer picks in about 5 seconds, and then I had 90 seconds to see who all was taken and what that did to my options.

As the weeks have past, only one other owner besides me has made any roster changes (plus, one guy dumped almost his entire team, but he hasn’t picked anybody up yet).  It makes me wonder if I just don’t have a life, if everyone else is really happy with their team, or if a few people forgot about their teams.

I noticed a couple of biases with my drafted team.  I knew that I preferred the National League to the American League and I am a huge Atlanta Braves fan.  I ended the team with only 7 of my 25 players being from the AL.  And I had 8 Braves on my team. 

I’m pretty sure that this is because of two things.  Although I tried to eliminate any emotional bias, I’m sure it got in there (I do have a Yankee or two, so emotions couldn’t have played a huge role).  I think the bigger thing was I know the NL players a lot better, so when in doubt I went with a known player rather than a straight statistical projection.

I also noticed that when I drafted players I didn’t always have the fantasy stats in mind.  There where one or two players who are great team guys, but being able to lay down a sacrifice bunt doesn’t help me in the fantasy league.

Still, it will be interesting to see how well I’ll do.  Maybe you can pick up some hints for your league…or at least avoid my mistakes.

After going 1 for 3 in February, let’s see if March improved.

25 Posts?  No.  In fact, I went down in March (5) from Feb. (6).  However, things are looking up again in April, as it’s only the 3rd, and this is post number three.

I Call ‘Em as I See ‘Em: Yes I posted, but it was late.  So this doesn’t really count.

Non-MLB Posts?  Nope, didn’t do it weekly.  I did have one on the WBC though.

0-3 this month.  Which makes me 1-6 during Spring Training.  Let’s hope that the start of the season improves my average.

The WBC ended 9 days ago with Japan defeating Korea in 10 innings.  After taking about a week to digest it, I’ve come up with my top five Final Thoughts on the ‘09 WBC.

1) Other countries play the game the right way, and do it well.

Japan and Korea were teams that won without the long ball.  They did the little things: moved runners, went first to third, etc.  They proved what everyone in the Major Leagues is preaching (but not worrying about following through on), that pitching and defense win championships.

2) There is no time what would work better than March, so people should stop complaining about it.

Yes, it means that it’s early in Spring Training for Major leaguers, but that’s better than in the middle of the season or after the World Series.  So that means the big leaguers who are selected to play need to start getting into game shape earlier.  It’s a price you’ll have to pay to play for your country.

3) The US is not the ultimate baseball country in the world.

After Korea taking the latest gold medal and Japan winning the Classic in ‘06 and ‘09, it’s pretty obvious that we aren’t the #1 baseball country in the world anymore.  This is something we need to decide whether we should work on changing or not.

4) If the US wants to win the World Baseball Classic, we have to start believing that it matters.

I know the players who played believed it mattered.  And the coaching staff knew it mattered.  But what about the MLB owners?  Or the country?  It was embarrassing that Team USA had less fan support at the games played in the United States than the teams from Japan, Korea, Cuba, etc.

 5) The World Baseball Classic does matter!

This goes with part 4.  I failed at covering the World Baseball Classic.  Why does it matter?  First, the game of baseball was invented here.  It should be a matter of pride to be among the world’s best, if not actually the world’s best.  Second, it will help the game grow internationally.  This is especially important as it seems that more and more American kids pick football over baseball (or worse, don’t pick any sport at all and just sit around all day).  Finally, it showcases talent from around the world.

Hopefully, as the WBC grows, Americans will realize just how important and wonderful it is. 

The baseball season kicks off this Sunday and I’m having a lot of trouble waiting.  I’m ready for Opening Day to be tomorrow.  Or today even.

I’ll wait though.  There are a number of good things (in my opinion) about how this season is going to be opening up. 

The first game of the season is Sunday night at 8.  The Atlanta Braves are playing the defending World Series Champions, the Philadelphia Phillies.  This will be broadcast on ESPN 2.  I’m really excited that the Braves are opening the season because ever since TBS dropped them, it’s been really hard to catch Braves games in the Cincinnati area.

Also, that Friday, the Braves are holding their home opener and I have tickets to the game.  This is only my second Braves home game I’ve attended, and if it’s anywhere near as exciting as the first, it promises to be a great game.