Millionaire Babies, or Regular Guys?

One thing I pride myself in is being able to be such a huge baseball nerd while still making an attempt at being a feminine woman who wears dresses and matching jewelry.  But being female seems to put me at a disadvantage when it comes to trying to figure out a male baseball player's psyche and how his childish mind works.  Case in point is when a player charges the pitcher's mound after being hit by a pitch.  Is such violence necessary?  According to most men, yes - it is.

Bench-clearing brawls have been a regular part of baseball for as long as the game has been played, and despite not being as popular as they were in the PED-days of the 1990s, they are still part of "America's Pastime."  Several intense ones come to mind - Orioles reliever Armando Benitez hitting Yankee Tino Martinez in 1998; Manny Ramirez trying to go after Roger Clemens in 2003 (Clemens was a punk during his career and was involved in many brawls); and of course, who can forget Robin Ventura and Nolan Ryan going at it in 1993?  That's personally my most memorable one, because I used to think Ryan was a god who could do no wrong, and then I learned that he was one to intentionally hit batters all the time.  Who DOES that?

So I guess there are two separate issues here.  First is the intentional hitting of a batter by a pitcher who seems to have a particular issue with a certain batter or just his team in general.  Then there's the issue of whether said hit batter should charge the mound to go after the pitcher who hit him or not.  According to my husband, who is the nicest, sweetest, and most non-violent person in the universe, intentionally hitting a batter is ok if you have a good reason to do so.  Cole Hamels hitting Bryce Harper on purpose as a "welcome to the big leagues, kid!" in 2012 is not cool (Harper ended up stealing home plate after that).  But if a batter is successful against you and seems to have an attitude about it, it's perfectly OK to plunk that batter whenever he comes up to bat.  But in my husband's defense, he says he would never do that - pitchers do it because they're jerks.  OK then!

This was the case this past Memorial Day, when the Nationals' Bryce Harper went after the Giants' Hunter Strickland after Harper got hit on the buttocks by a 98mph fastball.  Now, if you read my previous blog post, you saw how I said nice things about Harper and how he's all grown up now and has a better temper.  Yeah.  Harper didn't just charge the mound and push Strickland around; he took a few legitimate swings with a right hook akin to the kind Billy Blanks used to teach in Tae Bo classes.  Now, there's history between these two players - in the 2014 NLDS, Harper hit two home runs against Strickland, and after the second one, he glared at Strickland like "In your FACE, dude!"  Now, that was the childish and immature Harper of 2014; I would have assumed that almost three years later, he would have been over it.  But apparently Strickland wasn't over it either, which is what most of Harper's teammates seem to have issue with.  Daniel Murphy, who seems almost as nice and sweet an non-violent as my husband (rumor is he doesn't ever swear, which cannot be said about my former-sailor husband!) and Jayson Werth were both surprised that Strickland had not gotten over what happened almost three years ago, and most Giants players (including manager Bruce Bochy) said that Strickland did what he had to do.  This is where I shake my head in confusion.

What I can't understand is how grown men who make millions of dollars can act like such babies.  My husband agrees that Harper was right in charging the mound - if someone intentionally hits you, what are you supposed to do?  However, he thinks the pitcher was a jerk and should have gotten over what happened almost three years ago.  Hubby also brings up the point that as a teammate, you HAVE to join the melee and at least pretend to shove somebody from the other team, otherwise you're not a team player and you're unofficially black-balled.  I don't get this either - the benches clear, the bullpens empty, and everyone is pushing and shoving.  Oh my gosh, grow up, guys!  And to make it worse, my 13-year-old son thinks this is the coolest thing ever!  Oy!  Violence has consequences, son; wait until Major League Baseball issues fines and suspensions - it won't be cool then!

So yeah - according to my wonderful husband, I just don't get it.  And apparently I never will.  But as long as there's baseball, there will be pitchers intentionally hitting batters and hitters charging at the pitcher without any rhyme or reason.  And since when do Mormons act violently?  As a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, Harper should have just shown up at Strickland's house and given him a copy of the Book of Mormon while wearing a white shirt and skinny black tie.  I'm sure things will get interesting in August when the Giants visit DC for a series against the Nationals; in the meantime, let's hope everyone can play nicely in the sandbox and no one runs with scissors.

Bryce Harper, Money, and Loving Your Mom

It's been about a month since my last blog post, and there have been a lot of things to write about during that time.  I started a post about Manny Machado sliding into Dustin Pedroia (not on purpose, if you ask me!), but I wasn't able to finish it because I had to go to my daughter's track meet (those kids always get in the way of my writing, I tell ya!).  Then I was going to write about Adam Jones having racial slurs yelled at him by Red Sox fans at Fenway Park, but I have such strong feelings about racism and ignorant people saying ignorant things that I wasn't able to put together a good post in true Mudville Mom style (and I would have mentioned the standing ovation that Jones got from Red Sox fans the day after that incident happened).  Then yesterday, the Washington Nationals announced that they avoided arbitration with Bryce Harper by offering him a $21.6-million contract for 2018 (with a bonus if he is chosen as the MVP that year).  When I heard the news, I knew I couldn't keep my mouth shut.

I have been pretty tough on Bryce over the years - he started out as a nineteen-year-old man-child with a bad temper and no regard for the toll his body would take if he ran full-speed into outfield walls or slid into a base hands-first.  He played hard, but was a bit reckless.  He reminded me of the "Bam Bam" character from "The Flintstones" - a muscular kid who knew nothing but how to hit a baseball really hard. 

Fast-forward five years, and little Bryce has grown up.  He can now formulate full and coherent sentences when interviewed, he has gotten married, and he has realized that injuries suck and it's better to take care of your body than play way too hard ALL the time (but he still hustles to first base faster than Pete Rose, and I appreciate that).  Bryce has made a pretty good name for himself, and here are just a few of his accomplishments so far in his short career:

Four-time National League All-Star
2012 Rookie of the Year 2015 NL Most Valuable Player 2015 ESPN MLB Player of the Year

So is Bryce Harper worth $21-million for one year?  Absolutely not - nobody is.  I don't care if Roberto Clemente is reincarnated or Nolan Ryan suddenly drops 20 years (and 20 pounds) and comes back to pitch seven more no-hitters - no one is worth that kind of money.  How much IS $21-million, anyway?  I know it's a 21 with six zeroes after it, but I, being a reasonably intelligent person, have no concept of how much money that actually is.  I can't even tell you how many pairs of shoes I could buy with that much money!  And what's this extra million for being named as the Most Valuable Player?  If I could vote for that award, I purposefully would not vote for Bryce just so he wouldn't make even more money!  But Bryce thinks he's deserving of that much - so much so that right after he signed the deal, he hit a walk-off home run to lead the Nationals to a come-from-behind victory against the Phillies.  The kid makes it hard for me to resent him.  And have you seen his T-Mobile commercial?  He looks so cute (and "perfectly coiffed!")!  And he always flashes the universal "I love you" sign to his mother when he crosses the plate after hitting a home run, so how can you hate this guy?  Yes, he has a terrible beard, but he truly loves baseball, really appreciates his fans, and genuinely plays hard and wants to win every day.

Still need some convincing that Bryce Harper is a decent guy?  Check out this video where he's reading a letter he wrote to his mom (you may have to cut and paste into your browser):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzFNT5at8Qk

Isn't that the cutest thing?  He even threw in a few big fancy words to prove that he's all grown up!  So on this Mother's Day, let me wish a happy Mother's Day to Bryce Harper's mom, and to my mother as well, who proudly shares my blog with all her Facebook friends, emails me the list of Puerto Rican players in the Majors every spring, and mailed me my own Puerto Rican flag when I was going to meet Iván Rodriguez so he could sign it for me.  Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there who drove their kids to Little League practice, cheered for them at track meets or dance recitals, and drove their kids to countless medical appointments, sleepovers, and dances.  And thanks to my kids for making me love being a mom - without them, I would just be "Mudville," and since it's the name of a fictitious town, that would just be boring.