Opening Day(ish) Thoughts

After months of waiting, it's finally Opening Day for Major League Baseball!  Yeay!  You'd think that I would be over-the-top happy - after all, I would much rather watch baseball on TV than the "Roseanne" revival or the current season of "American Idol."  But admittedly, I'm just feeling "eh" about Opening Day, and here are the reasons why.

First of all, my Nationals aren't playing today because it's raining in Cincinnati.  So their Opening Day will be tomorrow, and their Nationals Park Opening Day isn't until next week.  I know - it can't always be 70 degrees and sunny without a cloud in the sky and Max Scherzer pitching at home with my husband and me sitting in the fifth row behind the Nationals' dugout, but the yucky March weather is giving me Seasonal Affective Disorder, it's cold in New York, it's raining in Detroit, and it's not fair that the Orioles get to open at home but the Nationals don't.   Oh, and I just found out yesterday that MASN won't be carrying any Nationals or Orioles games on local CBS stations like they have in the past, so I won't be able to catch any games on TV when I'm at work (because I'm too cheap to have cable in my shop).

"But wait, Mudville Mom," you tell yourself.  "Aren't you usually a 'glass half full' optimist?"  Why yes I am, my friend; (thanks for noticing!) so here's what I'm actually looking forward to this season (and it's going to be a very good season, I might add).  First of all, I'm looking forward to this year's All-Star Game being in my beloved Nationals Park.  I'm not dwelling on the fact that I gave up the perfect opportunity to volunteer at this year's "midsummer classic" because of work obligations; instead I'm looking forward to all sorts of tourists contributing to the local economy (and some even coming as far north as Frederick and potentially visiting my shop), a historic Home Run Derby (can anyone hit the parking deck behind left field?), and people around the world finally paying attention to that National League team that is consistently in first place in the NL East but constantly takes a back seat to the Redskins and that fool who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  So yeah - that will definitely be a fun few days in July.

Also worthy of noting this season is the duo of Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge playing together for the Yankees.  Now, I don't mind rolling my eyes about those who predict that the Yankees and Nationals will be in the World Series (there are 162 games to play before the post-season, and a LOT can happen before then), but I have to admit that having Stanton and Judge on the same team (especially one where the media is so vocal and has opinions about everything!) is pretty cool.  And staying in New York, I'm looking forward to Yoenis Céspedes having a good season for the Mets.  I'm a sucker for a man with a nice smile, and anyone who lets a clubhouse attendant drive his Lamborghini to go run an errand is just a nice guy.  Plus he has his annual "Céspedes Family BBQ" that has become a legendary tradition (feel free to google it); maybe I'll be invited someday.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Puerto Ricans Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa as two guys to watch this season.  Lindor is just so freakin' charming and charismatic, and Correa - well, come on, he proposed to his girlfriend on national TV after winning the World Series last year - he's just super cool.  When I grow up, I want to be just like him (though I can't help but wonder - if the Astros didn't win the World Series last year, would Correa have still proposed?).

And what's the position to pay attention to this year?  Definitely third base (sorry, Manny Machado - you should have stayed there!).  Anthony Rendón, Nolan Arenado, and Kris Bryant are badass (or is it "badasses?"), and if they can stay healthy, will be the game-makers who will (hopefully) take their teams to the post-season.  Schmidt and Chipper would be very proud of these guys (and they probably are - I'm talking like they're dead!).

So those are some of the players I'm looking forward to seeing this season (as well as a possible visit to a Mets game in New York?  This is the first my husband is hearing of this!).  Notice I made no mention of Shohei Ohtani, Bryce Harper, or José Altuve - these are guys who don't need me to keep an eye on them because they're just awesome without me telling you they are.  I also said nothing about Alex Rodriguez joining the ESPN Sunday night crew, because I want to end this post on a positive note.  So try to catch a game or two this weekend - whether on your local station, MLB-TV, or ESPN (as a last resort) - and keep checking in with me regularly, because surely I'll have plenty to say throughout the season.

LET'S PLAY BALL! :-)

Three Cheers for Ichiro!

I know, I know; it's been a while since I've blogged, but let's face it - February was just a crappy month.  But Spring Training has started, the days are getting longer, and I've almost come to terms with my hatred of Scott Boras (more on that a bit later).  Despite my snarky comments and harsh criticisms, I do try to be a positive person, so I've been waiting for something fun and exciting to happen in baseball in order to share the news with all of you.  My wish came true yesterday, when the Seattle Mariners signed Ichiro Suzuki for one year at $750,000.  Yeay!

Now, if you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that I love Ichiro; not like I love Max Scherzer and DEFINITELY not like I love Iván Rodriguez - it's more like a "this guy is super-cool and has charisma and is just so darn likeable!"  When Ichiro became a free agent at the end of last season, I told my husband that the Mariners should sign him so that he's able to finish his career with the team that originally signed him over twenty years ago out of Japan.  Well I'm glad someone finally listened to me, because having Ichiro in Seattle is absolutely storybook perfect (I know most people think of Derek Jeter's career as "storybook," but I've always liked Ichiro better!).  

Last season, Ichiro appeared in 136 games with the Miami Marlins, hitting .255 (with an On-Base Percentage of .318 and Slugging Percentage of .332) across 215 plate appearances - more than half of them coming as a pinch hitter.  Over the past five seasons, split between the Marlins and New York Yankees, he hasn't been able to replicate the success he enjoyed in Seattle, hitting .263 in 725 games.  Still, the Mariners are very happy to have Ichiro on board (time to sell more jerseys!), and they insist (as does Ichiro himself) that this is not just a "swan song" thing - he's going to play regularly, and he's going to make a difference for his team (which I believe to be true, because the guy can still hit).  Ichiro is not planning a retirement tour this season akin to those of Jeter and David "Big Papi" Ortiz - he just wants to play, and if you ask him, he'll tell you that he wants to do so until he's at least 50 years old (you GO, Ichiro!).  The only downside of having Ichiro in Seattle is that he won't get much TV coverage unless the Mariners make it to the playoffs, but hey - it's just nice knowing that a decent guy like Ichiro will be around for at least one more year.

Sigh!  Now about Scott Boras...  For those of you who don't know him, Boras is a greedy, selfish, money-hungry and arrogant sports agent with clients such as Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, and yes - Iván Rodriguez.  He's a "player's agent" - the guy who will get you the lucrative contract and will "show you the money".  But the downside to that is when you put a price tag on a player and that price is too high (especially when the player is a pitcher).  This is the case with Jake Arrieta, a free agent who is currently unemployed.  This former Oriole and Cub has a Cy Young award, a championship ring, and All-Star game appearances.  At the age of 32, his fastball has slowed down just a tad, but not enough for him to be unemployed at this point in the off-season.  Yu Darvish (also 32 years old) was able to sign as a free agent (even after Tommy John surgery and a not-so-stellar job in the playoffs with the Dodgers).  Why was Yu able to get a job and Jake is still sitting around waiting for Boras to do something?  I just think that Boras is asking for way too much money.  Teams don't want to spend a lot on a pitcher when they know that players like Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, and Clayton Kershaw will become free agents at the end of the upcoming season (and no team wants to pay the luxury tax).  So why not lower the price on Arrieta?  Because Boras is an idiot!  The Nationals, Phillies, and Brewers have all shown interest in signing Arrieta for less than what Boras is asking, so why not lower the price on the poor guy a little?  This is what annoys me about professional sports - when they're treated like cattle!

Oh, and one more thing about Boras:  He has a Doctorate in Pharmacy and a law degree.  There's nothing wrong with that (says the woman who has a Masters in Sports Management but owns a kitchen shop!), unless you use both degrees to work defending pharmaceutical companies against class-action lawsuits.  I won't even GO there or tell you about the many cases he defended and millions of dollars he made for pharmaceutical companies - let's just say I have very strong opinions regarding pharmaceutical companies, and now that I know that Boras was involved, I'm not surprised.

So what do us die-hard baseball fans do to not get disheartened by the ugliness of the business side of baseball?  Well I, for one, have been listening to Spring Training games during the workday, and that has me excited for the upcoming season.  We have a lot to look forward to - the All-Star game being played at Nationals Park, Manny Machado trying his hand at shortstop, Shohei Ohtani making his US debut with the Los Angeles Angels, and the Miami Marlins trying to put together a team now that most of last year's players are gone (I'm guessing J.T. Realmuto will play all nine positions at once!), Adam Wainwright just being his hot and sexy self...  Whether it's Ichiro making $750,000 or Darvish making $21 million, we just want to watch these guys play.  Just a few more weeks to go until we hear "Play ball!"