Baseball. Just Baseball

More about baseball and its recent changes today.

The changes about how a baserunner slides into a base, or how a catcher now has to block home plate, I believe are good ideas. 

Sure, it can be fun to knock out a catcher or break a shortstops leg on a non-slide (right Muttley?) but there’s clearly a difference between playing hard and playing dirty. This sport has done a fairly decent job of cleaning up itself over the 140 years it’s been in existence. 

Two changes coming up next year were recently announced. The first is that it will no longer be necessary to throw 4 pitches wildly out of the strike zone to intentionally walk a batter. This is a great change for MLB. Seeing a pitcher throw one of these pitches so far out of the range of the catcher practically never happens and this will speed up the game. No one tries to steal a base during these things and no one ever tries to hit one while being walked. 

Good move, MLB. Leave it for Little League for the time being, maybe, but perhaps take it out of there too. 

The other change is in the strike zone. The bottom part of the zone is moving from right below the knees to right above the knees. This is an effort to increase offense. 

In 1969 the pitching mound was lowered because of the lack of offense in 1968 and now MLB believes this change will increase offense once again.

I’m not really a fan of this type of change because it does make a big difference in the game. It can practically change an entire era of the game. 

In 1969 the average runs scored per game jumped one half a run across the Major Leagues. But that was also an expansion year with what one could argue was watered down talent. 

1968 was an aberration though. At an average ERA of 2.99 there hadn’t been an average that low since 1919, the year before the ball was juiced up a bit because of the popularity of the homerun and Babe Ruth. 1919 was also the year of the Black Sox scandal and it was thought that the change in offense would lure fans back to stadiums.

Since 1968 there hasn’t been an average ERA lower than 3.49 in the NL and this year, currently, its at 4.10.

It seems that MLB is more concerned about the amount of strikeouts being compiled by pitchers. There is a very noticeable trend upwards in the amount of strikeouts per game. In the late 60’s and early 70’s the average number of strikeouts was roughly 5 per game. Then in the 80’s and 90’s it moved into the 6 and lower 7 range and now it’s in the high 7’s and in the NL so far this year pitchers are striking out an average of over 8 per game.

I have to imagine that polls suggest that offense still draws in more fans than defense. But who doesn’t appreciate a Clayton Kershaw striking out 300 in a year when limited to a certain amount of pitches per game? Who doesn’t appreciate Noah Syndergaard blowing away batters with 100 mph fastballs? That is just as exciting as watching a guy hit a 450-foot homerun to me. 

These changes make debates about who are the best players of all time much more difficult to have, too. 

We had a Deadball era, a Spitball era, a Wartime era, and a Steroid era, to name a few. How, then, with these changes in rules and changes in times can someone say that Christy Mathewson or Randy Johnson was a better pitcher? Who can say that Hank Aaron or Johnny Mize was a better hitter? Makes it tough. Not a big deal in the overall context of life, of course, but as a fan of the sport it makes a difference.

How about instant replay? What do you think of that? I find it annoying, frankly. It’s abused by managers already. I think the “Manager’s Challenge” needs to be removed. I believe that replay should only be used by an umpire crew which believes that they need to get something right.

For instance, take the game on June 2, 2010 when Tigers pitcher Armando Gallaraga was pitching a perfect game. With two outs in the ninth a groundball to the right side of the Tigers infield was fielded by Miguel Cabrera who threw to a covering Gallaraga. Pretty much everyone in the world, except the first base umpire, saw that the runner was out and that just the 21^st perfect game in MLB was just thrown.

https://youtu.be/j5HTFZainm4

However, he was called safe. 

The next day the umpire even apologized at home plate to Gallaraga for the call. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig refused to overturn the call which, was the correct call even though it was unfortunate. 

This would have been one of those times where the other umpires, who maybe had a better look at the play, could come over,  and said, “let’s just double check that one.”

As someone who referees two sports in my free time (volleyball and basketball) I can attest that there are just times when a ref gets blocked from a proper view or a boundary call of some sort is just so close or happens so fast that it’s difficult for the naked eye to see. For those cases I don’t have a problem with replay. Some of them are still difficult to call even with replay.

I just have a problem with coaches running over to the phone on every single close play to check with their video crew to see if a fingernail came off of a bag while a fielder’s glove is still making contact with the runner. It’s particularly annoying when a guy slides into a base, seconds before a tag is applied, and while sliding a bit over the bag but not past it, his body lifts up a bit and he gets called out. That’s not even close to “the spirit of the game.” It’s one thing if a guy slides past a bag, for example, but clearly another in that other situation. 

Hopefully some of the annoying aspects of video replay will iron out over the next few years. 

What I really don’t want to see is what I have already seen suggested…robotic calling of strikes and balls. Umpires, officials, and referees are part of every sport and need to continue to be part of sports. Bad calls are part of games and, let’s face facts for a minute…umpires are needed to give players excuses for losing games. They also give reasons for fans to believe that the umps blew the game and not that their own team didn’t really do what it took to win the game. Umpires have to be right 100% of the time or they are vilified and charged with blowing games. A batter in MLB who successfully gets a hit just 30% of time (to hit .300) doesn't get blamed, as often it seems, and then goes to the Hall of Fame. 

A discussion of new baseball stats will be next. But for now I’m…

Done

Baseball and Guns

May and June are my busiest times of the year so there isn’t much time to devote to posting on here. But since I am in my car a great deal, and that is where I have found I have done my best thinking, I have lots to write.

Oh, where to begin?

My thoughts about the Orlando shooting will be written at the bottom of this post. I know that you have heard, seen and read everything about it (except, most likely, all of the facts) so since I know that everyone’s attention span is very short people will be out of here before that part comes up in this post.

Let’s talk about baseball, ok? It’s been a while since I’ve babbled about that.

Here is a cliché to recall…”Change is inevitable.” 

Baseball has changed throughout the years and continues to evolve today. Here are some of the changes that have taken place in baseball.

It used to take 8 balls for a base on balls.
Players played without gloves.
Catchers caught without masks.
An extra base taken on a single was considered a stolen base.
The pitching mound used to be higher.
Baseball was always outside.
Baseball was always at night because there were no lights.
Fans used to sit in foul territory.
There was just one league.
There were three leagues.
There were no minor leagues.
Blacks weren’t allowed to play in the Major Leagues.
You were allowed to spit on the ball before you threw it.
There was no DH.

Many of these changes have been for the better of baseball except, of course, for the DH, a horrible decision that only allowed physically failing players, or players who couldn’t perform a few of the basic baseball tasks such as field and throw, a chance to play baseball.

In the recent decades there have been other changes to baseball, some of which aren’t rule related, that are having major effects on the game.

Instant video replay.
The Buster Posey Rule, where catchers can no longer block the plate with their bodies.
The Chase Mutley Rule, where runners cannot jump onto defenders legs and break them while trying to break up a double play.

Side bar…I am a Met fan and Utley should have been arrested for that play. 

Pitch counts.
Bizarre statistical compilations.
Timed meetings on the mound.
Steroids.

Here are a couple of thoughts about recent changes.

The pitch count issue for pitchers is perhaps one of the biggest changes and challenges in the game of baseball right now. 

This whole concept began, in earnest, in 1981 when a 40-year old Nolan Ryan returned from a stint on the DL and was limited to 100 pitches per game. 

Think about that for a moment. Now we have 23 year old pitchers, with healthy arms, being pulled after that amount of pitches.

I know I have mentioned that in here before so that was just a refresher note.

I read an article recently which featured 3 or 4 guys who were pitchers in their lives who believe that a lack of pitch counts when they were coming up ruined their careers. Their contention was that these pitch counts were, as a result, totally necessary. In that same article a college coach was fired for having one of his starting pitchers throw 150 pitches in a very important playoff game.

One of a few things has to happen here.

There should be a real solid study about how kids, and older players, work to train their arms for the position of pitcher. 

There was a time when kids were growing up and pitching when they were told never to throw anything except a fastball and learn how to throw it to spots and to vary the speed of the pitch, only. This was to be done without twisting or snapping the wrist when they threw the ball. No curveballs, forkballs, sliders, screwballs, knuckleballs, knuckle curves, etc. The second pitch taught, when a person’s arm had become strong enough, was a change of pace (changeup) and then a curve ball. 

Is this happening today? Are kids being taught this or are they just more concerned about how many pitches they throw? Someone let me know…I don’t coach little league any longer but I do know from visiting the little league world series last year that there is a pitch counter on the scoreboard at the Williamsport, PA complex. 

Shouldn’t we find out how to strengthen a person’s arm so that they can throw more pitches?

I am certain it can be done. Personally, I tore the labrums in both of my shoulders. Ironically, I did it while lifting weights on a machine which torqued my shoulders the wrong way. I was told that I either needed surgery, which required a year’s worth of recovery time or, since I wasn’t an athlete, I could just rehab it on my own. The labrum doesn’t have a blood supply so it will never heal but the areas around it can be strengthened. 

I chose the latter option after witnessing, the very next day, a person who just had that same surgical procedure and was in horrific pain.

This was about 10 years ago now when I was 44-45. I am now lifting…and I do not exaggerate when I say this, 5 times as much ON THAT VERY SAME MACHINE that caused the initial injury and, yes, I am 54.

I did this on my own without any “expert” advice. 

So, just from my own personal experience, and anecdotal evidence, I am rather certain that pitchers arms can be strengthened for extended use and have even longer careers, if they train their arms the proper way. Now, I never could throw baseball any faster than 42 miles per hour and the elbow is a bigger problem with pitchers than the shoulder. So I don't know how the different exercises necessary to strengthen the area around the elbow would work. But it couldn’t hurt to explore this much more fully, speaking from the outside looking in to the dugout, of course.

I began to think even more about this. Suppose that these young baseball players are correct and that the SOLE reason arms and careers are getting destroyed is because they are allowed to throw too many pitches. Did Major League Baseball discover this as some sort of fact? Is there growing evidence to suggest that the decisions made by coaches have led to careers being ruined?

Has there been a conspiracy, like the one with the NFL and concussions, in MLB? Is there a possibility that we are going to find out that MLB in fact KNEW or knows this and has covered this up to the public and determined that pitch counts should be used at all levels of baseball? 

Is MLB potential liable for some massive lawsuits in the future?

I would think that the true and hard count would be a bit more than 100, of course. We see pitchers climb over that mark, although not very far, in box scores every day. What could it be? 125, 135, 150? Who knows? But its starting to get very suspicious. 

Look, these guys will never get to throw that many pitches or throw 200 innings on a regular basis because they hardly throw enough at the lower levels now. That only makes sense. You can’t take a guy who is a half-miler for all of his younger days and make him a marathoner overnight. But the strength in their bodies is greater when they of college age, when it comes to arm anyway, so I believe the tapering process has to happen much more quickly.

If something doesn’t change with that, there is going to be a need for a new rule change and that is an expansion of the 25-man roster. The bullpens are overworked too. Pitchers are throwing less in the minor leagues and it seems that more of them are relievers than they are starters. These guys, who have even less stress on their arms, because of the lack of work, are being asked to work more. Aren’t their arms getting blown out too?

There probably is a need for three more, if not five, roster spots on an MLB roster. Pitchers are routinely getting yanked after 6 innings and there are generally only 6 – 7 relievers on a squad. That means they have to pitch a great deal more and what if some of them just have bad days when they go out there? This happens a lot too, of course, and then other guys have to come in to pitch.

Ok, so that was a much longer rant about pitch counts than I thought there would be. So I’ll save more of my brilliance about baseball for another post here soon.

I suppose it’s obligatory to mention the terrorist attack in Orlando in some way. Since I did just spend 24 of my last 96 hours in the car listening to the radio I have heard pretty much every opinion about it. Not as many facts, but plenty of opinions.

I’ll just make this part very simple.

Once upon a time there were no guns. Then, one day, someone invented a gun.

So, those who believe that regulating guns, banning guns, or confiscating guns is going to work, are just wrong. The cliché, “when there is a will, there is a way,” is apropos here because someone else will just make new guns and won’t need a gun manufacturer to do it.

See how simple that is? 

Once upon a time when people were mentally ill and, say, had suicidal or homicidal tendencies, we had them committed in a mental institution…a State Hospital. 

We closed WAY too many of them. 

Let’s open up more of them and commit more people. A much tougher choice, of course, but people knew that the scumbag who shot those people in the South Carolina choice was one of those who should have been committed.

When the second amendment was written the US Military didn't have tanks, planes, assault rifles, bazookas, and the like. They had single-shot rifles and pistols.
The second amendment was written so that citizens could protect themselves...from a tyrannical government.
Now the US Military has all of the above...and nuclear weapons.
I'm not saying every citizen should be allowed to carry nuclear weapons, but we need more of a fighting chance if that day ever comes when there is another revolution or civil war in this country to protect our families.
Clearly I have a stand on this issue. Surely that will upset or offend some people. I just tell it as I see it.

That’s all for now.

Done.

Making Better Use of My Time

A family I knew when I was in my teens lost one of their members yesterday to cancer. She was 52 with two 20-something daughters who is also survived by her parents and two sisters. 

They were told just a few weeks ago that she had 6 months to live but didn’t make it two. 

So my thoughts are with them this day.

This woman also happened to be my very first real girlfriend. 

I was 16, nearly 17, at the time and was recently out of high school. I didn’t have any relationship at all until I met this girl. Any time which I spent with a girl never went longer than a week or so; something to which I am sure everyone can relate. 

I lost contact for quite some time and reconnected through a social media site about 7 years ago. We spoke and texted from time to time and saw each other a few times over the years on a friendly basis, one which had that old bond as a base. 

When I reconnected with her she told me she was a breast-cancer survivor and told me a couple of stories about her ordeal with that. 

When I got the news that she was in the hospital again and of the prognosis it was certainly very sad. After the concern for her family, and what they were about to endure, all sorts of thoughts and feelings ran through me. But there was one thing I had to do for sure and that was visit her in the hospital before she was transferred into hospice care where I might not have had the chance to visit.

Everyone is so busy these days. I see and read how our time passes and the time that we could, and should, spend with our friends and loved ones passes by us; great opportunities to create new and lasting memories whisk past us because of whatever ultimately-poor reason we conjure. Then there are these final opportunities to make important visits, and say important things, and our list of priorities is arranged in such a way as to miss these chances. 

I am no different. My priorities can be misaligned just like anyone else. Fortunately, not this time.

I took advantage of a small opened window of time and went to visit my friend. Her mother was by her side. She was probably someone who wasn’t one of my biggest fans back then, but who could blame a mother of a teen-aged daughter for that. It took a second for her to recognize me and a few more seconds before my friend could. 

The visit was short…just about an hour or so. She was heavily medicated and really needed to sleep as she tried her best to be alert and attentive to her visitor. 

It was very, very sad and very painful to watch. But any of that for me was secondary to what else was going on there. Her mother stood vigil by her side and was there when she passed yesterday.

I was asked a couple of times after my visit how I was doing. How was I doing? I wasn’t in pain…I wasn’t dying…I wasn’t watching the life of one of my daughters fade away. Ultimately, all I could really think was that I was feeling helpless because there was nothing I could do to help.

Her mom knows I am a hypnotist. She asked me if I could hypnotize her to take away her cancer. It was the second time this year I have been asked that. Believe me if I could do that I would travel around the world doing nothing but that every day for the rest of my life. But I had to stand there and try to articulate the inevitable answer to her without allowing the words to spill over my quivering lips. 

I just wanted my friend, and her family, to know that I was there for support. I was there because she was an important part of my life and that I wanted her to know that. I wanted her to know that because she was in my life my life was better and hopefully that provided some happiness and comfort for her. 

As it was obvious she was falling asleep, I told her mom I was going to go and to keep me up to date, etc. As I started walking out she reached out to me…I had a chance to hug her for what would be the last time and whisper one last thing to her. Then it was time to say goodbye to her mom. 

I am glad I had that chance to make that final visit and say those last few words and leave a card behind, which I hope someone read to her. I hope that she had a bunch of people come by to wish her well.

As I reread what I just wrote it still somehow sounds selfish of me…as if this is about me in some way. I hate that it sounds like that and it’s because it is true in some way. Had I not gone I would have felt great regret…that is about me. But I guess that had some stupid excuse kept me from visiting that, ultimately, would have been much more selfish of me....which I guess is also selfish just to ponder.

I suppose it just has to be that way and I can’t worry about it. Death affects everyone…it's part of life. It is affecting her family in a much deeper way and, yes, it has brought grief here also. 

On that day I had to make a decision about going there or to another friend’s father’s viewing and funeral. I am sorry that I couldn’t attend that ceremony. So sorry…it’s all so sad.

I just have to make better use of my time…every day. But now I can’t write any more.