Chipper and the Gang

The Baseball Writers' Association of America (you know - that elite group of writers and journalists who know as much about baseball as I do but whose columns aren't nearly as entertaining as my blog) just announced its newest class of inductees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  The class of 2018 includes Vladimir Guerrero, Chipper Jones, Trevor Hoffman, and Jim Thome.  I would have voted for three of these four guys, choosing Edgar Martinez instead of Hoffman.  But hey - three out of four is pretty good, and I'm confident that Martinez will make it in the next year or two (especially since they seem to be including a lot more statistics and analytics into the selection).  So what do I think of these four guys?  Well I'm glad you asked!

Chipper Jones was a shoo-in.  Whoever thought Jones wasn't going to get in on his first year of eligibility is an ignorant idiot.  With a career batting average of .303, 468 home runs, and 1.623 RBI, this eight-time All-Star has the most career RBI for a third baseman.  Chipper was part of those Atlanta Braves that I loved to hate that won 14 straight division titles and joins teammates Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine (and manager Bobby Cox) in the Hall.  Chipper is one of those guys who still looks like he's in his twenties, and I can actually tell my kids that I watched him play in person several times.  An interesting fact about Chipper is that he hit his first major league home run against the Mets at the old Shea stadium, and it's probably the reason why his oldest child is named Shea.

Vladimir Guerrero, a former outfielder who played many of his years with the Montreal Expos, could hit just about any pitch that was thrown at him.  He had the biggest hitting zone I've ever seen - he would get these wild and crazy pitches that only he could hit for a single or double, and I remember laughing several times and saying to myself "Did he seriously just hit that?"  With a career batting average of .318 with 449 home runs and 1,496 RBI, this latest pride of the Dominican Republic definitely deserves to be in the Hall.  Interesting to note, Guerrero's son, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., is an up-and-coming third baseman in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.

Then there's Jim Thome, an infielder who was always on my "badass" list.  He is currently eighth on the all-time home runs list with 612, and he was one of those guys who always stood straight up and pointed his bat at the pitcher right before getting in his stance.  I used to mention him a lot when I first started blogging, because I loved watching him play.  Thome will go into the Hall as a Cleveland Indian, so if they're not going to win a World Series, they might as well have a Hall of Fame member to cheer about.

Finally there's Trevor Hoffman, who was chosen in his third year of eligibility (I would have voted him in next year, but nobody asked me).  This reliever who entered each game to AC/DC's "Hells Bells" when he was with the San Diego Padres, had a nasty change-up that helped him earn 601 saves (which is only second to Mariano Rivera's 652).  Hoffman becomes only the sixth pitcher who was mostly a reliever to be inducted into the Hall.  Can you name the other five?  I was only able to come up with four before having to look the other guy up:  Dennis Eckersley, Goose Gossage, Rollie Fingers, and Bruce Sutter.  The other guy is some dude named Hoyt Wilhelm, who played for a bunch of different teams and was inducted into the Hall in 1985.  I feel dumb now for not knowing who he was!

So other than Edgar Martinez, who else was snubbed this year?  Why Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, of course!  And Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Manny Ramirez too.  Sorry dudes - you juice, you lose!  There are many who believe that these guys would have produced Hall-of-Fame-worthy numbers despite their use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), but to me that's not the point.  They cheated, so they don't deserve enshrinement.  One former baseball official even went as far as to say that these guys should be in the Hall because Babe Ruth is in the Hall, and Babe Ruth would not have been such a great player if he had faced some of the pitchers from the Negro Leagues.  What??? What does one thing have to do with the other?   That's like me saying that the meatloaf that I made for dinner wasn't tasty because it was raining outside.  Reading that got me so worked up!  But I took some deep breaths and am fine now; you just can't fix ignorant.

On a lighter note, pitchers and catchers will report to Spring Training in less than three weeks!  Yeay - can you believe it?!  But there are still some pretty good players (like Yu Darvish, Eric Hosmer, and Jake Arrieta) who haven't been signed yet - yikes!  Let's hope these guys find jobs in the next couple of weeks, because they're all players who still have some good years left in them.  If anything earth-shattering happens, you know I'll fill you in (despite not being a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America).

New Year, New Trades, and New Opinions

Happy New Year, baseball fans!  I took it upon myself to write a blog post today because it's a gazillion degrees below zero and I needed to think warm thoughts.  Realizing that Spring Training starts in less than 40 days instantly warmed me right up with thoughts of pitchers casually tossing to catchers, rookies seeking advice from veteran players, and Adam Wainwright in a Speedo - I mean, in a uniform.  So what has happened baseball-wise during the off-season?  It hasn't been as exciting as in years past, but it has definitely been productive.  Here's a run-down of who has been traded, who has been signed, and who is still unemployed.

The biggest news of the off-season was the signing of Japanese "phenom" Sohei Ohtani.  This kid can both hit and pitch, so he was annoyingly being called "the next Babe Ruth."  Don't do that, people - there's only ever going to be one overweight, difficult-to-get-along-with, womanizing alcoholic who was amazing on the field but an absolute mess in his personal life.  I didn't fall for the Ohtani craze, because I think the kid has a lot of "proving himself" to do; not that Japanese baseball is inferior to Major League Baseball talent-wise (their players are just as good), but just because you kick ass in one league doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be the best in another one.  The rumors of which team would sign Ohtani were all over the place - the Mariners need someone exciting, the Cardinals and Giants could use him as a pitcher who could actually hit, the Tigers could use him as a Designated Hitter... The kid ended up surprising everyone and signed with the Los Angeles Angels, so now he will team up with Mike Trout and Albert Pujols to provide some excitement to the American League fans in LA (by the way, do any of you still refer to this team as the California Angels or Anaheim Angels?  I know - I'm old!).  I'm OK with Ohtani being out west and I'm probably not going to see much of him because of it; I just hope he stays healthy, easily adjusts to life in the US, and if he really is as wonderful as they say he is, I hope it gives the sport of baseball a positive and uplifting boost.

Let's see... what else?  Oh, Derek Jeter decided to become CEO and part owner of the Miami Marlins, and he's not being well received by the Miami media, the fans, or the players themselves.  Those Marlins are going to be really really good... twenty years from now.  To say that this will be a "rebuilding year" for the Marlins is quite the understatement - they got rid of MVP Giancarlo Stanton (welcome to the Yankees, Giancarlo!), second baseman Dee Gordon is now a center fielder for the Mariners, and Marcell Ozuna was sent to the Cardinals.  Next on the trading block?  Rumors point to Christian Yelich and J.T. Realmuto, and many Marlins players (current and former) have let their disapproval of these trades be known (gotta love when athletes tweet!).  So who will make up the Marlins' roster this season?  Let's hope they have a lot of young talent coming up for Spring Training, otherwise they'll have to ask one of the hot dog vendors at Marlins Park to grab a glove and play the outfield for a game or two.  I personally think that Jeter secretly wants to come out of retirement as a Marlin and is getting rid of all his players in order to make room for himself.  I say bring back Ozzie Guillen as manager, but I think I'm the only human being who wants that.  Hey, Ozzie was a passionate guy - there's no denying that!

Then there's the soap opera of Manny Machado.  The Orioles' best third baseman since Brooks Robinson is rumored to be either a Yankee or a Red Sox - both "Public Enemy Number One" teams of the Orioles.  The Yankees claim that Machado wants to to be on a contending team, and the Red Sox just want him because the Yankees do.  Machado reportedly wants to move to shortstop, but will Orioles fans allow him to achieve greatness at the position that will always belong to Cal Ripken?  Here's another issue:  Machado will become a free agent at the end of the 2018 season.  What does that mean?  Well, if I was the Orioles' GM, I would keep Machado at third base, trade him before the July 31st deadline to a contending team (since the Orioles have no pitching to contend and their closer, Zack Britton, ruptured his Achilles tendon last month), and get a bunch of prospects for him (so that us Frederick Keys fans have some up-and-coming players to watch in the Minors).  I'm not bashing the O's season before it's even started; I'm just trying to be realistic.  And Machado can be like Yu Darvish was this past season with the Dodgers - go to a contending team for a couple of months, play in the World Series, and then use your free agency to get yourself a hefty contract with another team right after that.

Oh wait!  Yu Darvish is one of those free agents who hasn't been signed yet!  He joins pitchers Jake Arrieta, Lance Lynn, and Alex Cobb, as well as J.D. Martinez, Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, and Mike Moustakis in the list of top free agents who have yet to be signed by anyone.  And for those of you who think that free agents never re-sign with the last team they played for, pitchers CC Sabathia and Brandon Kintzler signed to continue with the Yankees and Nationals, respectively.  And rumor has it that the Nationals want to keep Bryce Harper even after he's eligible for free agency at the end of the 2018 season.  So there you go - "franchise" players are still a thing!

Still unsigned and therefore unemployed are old men Jayson Werth and Ichiro Suzuki.  Now, as much as I like Werth (my son dressed as him for Halloween one year, bearded mask and all), it's time for him to go and enjoy retirement (but don't drive too fast, Jayson; remember how that landed you in jail for a couple of days several years ago!).  But Ichiro?  Really?  No one wants a 44-year-old right fielder who batted .255 with 3 home runs in 196 at-bats for the Marlins last year?  Hey, the Marlins don't have ANYONE in the outfield - they may want to take this guy into consideration!  If the Marlins don't want him, then someone should sign him just so he can retire with dignity and every team he visits can give him a proper farewell.  Come on, Seattle Mariners - show some love to the guy who brought fans to your ballpark for many years and is likely to wear your cap in Cooperstown!

So there you have it, my friends - a recap of what has happened and what is to come for the 2018 baseball season.  If Manny Machado ends up with the Yankees, make sure to check back with me because I will surely have plenty to say about that.  In the meantime, stay warm, and please continue to pray for the people of Puerto Rico, who still suffer from plenty of power outages almost 4 months after hurricane María ripped through the island.  Gracias, amigos! :-)

Goodbye to #2

In case you've been living under a rock and didn't know that Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees is retiring at the end of this season, let me be the first to tell you (of course, if you've been living under a rock for over 20 years, you may not even know who Derek Jeter is, so stop reading this now and go take a shower!).  Jeter has had a storybook career full of personal and team accomplishments and free from scandal, gossip, or inappropriate tweets.  Look up "All-American boy" in the dictionary, and there is a picture of Derek Jeter.




Much has been hyped about Derek Jeter's retirement; not only because he announced it about six months ago and has had a whole season to milk it wherever he goes (he has received numerous retirement gifts at each city the Yankees have visited), but because Derek Jeter is pretty great.  Yankees fans idolize him, and even us Yankees dis-likers who have followed his career ("hate" is too strong a word, reserved for liver and onions, dental work, and my first marriage) have to admit that he's a pretty cool dude.
 


Born in New Jersey and raised in Michigan by a substance-abuse counselor father and accountant mother, Derek was drafted by the Yankees in 1992 and has exclusively worn pinstripes ever since.  Among his accomplishments (I can't include all seven hundred of them) are 14 All-Star game appearances, five World Series championships, the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1996, and over 3,460 career hits (sixth in the all-time hits list).  He has had many "storybook" moments, like when he hit his 3000th hit for a home run and had a walk-off single in his last game at Yankee Stadium.  He is also very philanthropic, starting the Turn 2 Foundation to help teens with substance abuse.  His jersey number, 2, will most likely be retired by the Yankees in the near future, leaving no more single-digit numbers for future Yankees players to use.



Off the field, this "golden boy" had cameo appearances in a handful of TV shows and movies (my favorite was in the movie "The Other Guys"), and he endorsed many different products from the typical ones like Gatorade and Nike to more interesting ones like his own "Driven"cologne by AVON.  And I'm sure he's not done - we will surely be seeing Derek Jeter's pretty face on TV for decades to come.  I'm OK with that, as long as he has a self-deprecating sense of humor and doesn't come across as having no personality.



How "great" is Jeter's legacy?  It depends on whom you ask.  Some say he's better than Babe Ruth, while others say he was just an OK shortstop who happened to play for a long time.  While Omar Vizquel will always be my favorite defensive shortstop, I will always admire Derek Jeter for his offensive talent, his leadership as the Yankees' captain, and for his ability to keep his nose clean and scandal-free in New York, which can be a tough city to live and work in if you're a celebrity.



So now that Derek Jeter has played his final game at Yankee Stadium ("the house that Derek built"), let's get excited about playoff baseball - WITHOUT the Yankees! :-)

From Mudville Mom to Proud Mom

(Warning:  "Mudville Mom" is taking a break from her snarky, tell-it-like-it-is, opinionated views to bring you a heartfelt account of her life as a baseball mom.)

Hello, baseball fans!  It's been a while since I've blogged, because honestly, there hasn't been much worth blogging about lately.  I was going to write about Nolan Arenado's hitting streak, but it stopped at 28 games.  Yu Darvish's no-hitter?  No, it was broken up in the bottom of the ninth inning.  José Fernandez being on the DL?  That's just so devastating for baseball that I don't even want to think about it.  So instead of blogging, I've been enjoying my son's Little League baseball games and beaming as a proud mom.

My son is 10, and by no means is he the next Babe Ruth.  He tried machine-pitch baseball in first grade, but thought that he was better-suited to play soccer, which he has played since Kindergarten.  I can honestly say that he's lightning-fast, but he's way too nice on the soccer field.  The competitive Puerto Rican in him has not come out yet, and he's more of a "No, it's OK; YOU go ahead and kick the ball!" type of kid.  But he's been with the same teammates since first grade, and he genuinely likes to play soccer every fall.

This spring, Son decided to give baseball another try.  He has always enjoyed watching baseball with me, and now that he has a good understanding of the game, he figured he could give it a shot.  So we took him to tryouts and were disappointed to find out that Son was placed on a machine-pitch team again, while his best buddy was moving up to the Minors.  Son was devastated, and I thought "Boy, this is going to be a LONG season!"  I thought he would whine about having to go to practices and we would have to drag him to all his games.  Well, putting my kid in machine-pitch turned out to not be such a travesty after all.

For those of you not familiar with Little League rules, machine-pitch is a level where they focus on instruction, skill development, and fundamentals.  They don't officially keep score at the games (though there is always someone keeping very detailed track of each at-bat, hit, out, and run), and each game lasts less than two hours.  You also aren't allowed to heckle (gone are the days of "go batterbatterbatter, SWINGbatter!" and "We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher!"), and all the parents had to take some sort of oath on Opening Day promising they weren't going to be obnoxious potty-mouths and were going to behave themselves appropriately while spectating (they clearly haven't seen me during a baseball game).  Now I must say, I've been pretty good so far, though I have questioned two plays with the coach and have asked if the infield-fly rule is used in Little League.  I'm sorry; I know the game, so I'm going to question!

So why has my son had such a good experience so far?  First of all, he's one of the biggest kids on the team (since he's on the older side for machine-pitch), so he's naturally beyond the "playing with the dirt in the infield and looking at the birds in the outfield" phase.  He always plays hard, and because he knows the game, he knows where to stand, who to throw the ball to, and how to get someone out (when playing first base one time, he decided against trying to make a leaping catch because he figured it would get him off the bag, and as the catcher at last night's game, he made the last out because he knew he had to cover the plate and tag the runner coming from third base when the ball was thrown to him).  He also has a very good coach, a parent-volunteer who stresses fairness and good sportsmanship and has even called out a few opposing coaches who have not played nice.  His kid is not the best on the team, which my son finds refreshing, and he genuinely likes to teach little kids how to play good baseball.

My son still has a long way to go - remembering not to slow down as he's reaching first base (he's afraid of running into the kid covering the base); working on catching fly balls; following his swing all the way through so his hits can someday leave the infield - but he's already come a long way, and whether he decides to play baseball in coming years or not, at least I know I'm raising a kid who plays hard, can think under pressure, and gets along with his peers.  I may consider myself a die-hard baseball fan, but I am a mom first and foremost, and my kids make me proud every day.

The "Designated" Topic for Today

Oh my goodness!  The baseball season is over three weeks old and I haven't blogged ANYTHING on here since Opening Day!  What is WRONG with me?  Nothing really; other than the fact that I've been busy with my day job, Tupperware business, weekly blog posts for my local paper, spring break (which included a trip to Nationals Park), kids' activities, and life in general.  Oh, and the fact that my Nationals have lost 8 of their last 11 games has been a bit of a downer.  Buy I'm a pretty optimistic person, so I won't let their current .500 record get me down.

So what have been some of the surprises so far this year (aside from the Nationals leading the Major Leagues in errors)?  First I have to mention the Toronto Blue Jays.  They're in last place in the AL East with a record of 8-13 despite having star players like Melky Cabrera (who still hasn't hit a home run), José Reyes (currently on the Disabled List), and last year's Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey (who is 2-3 so far with a 4.86 ERA).  As much hype as the Blue Jays got during the off-season, you'd think they'd be solidly in first place (kind of like the hype the Nats got... yeah.)  Then there's the Yankees, who are 11-8 despite not having Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, or Alex Rodriguez in their lineup.  And how about that Justin Upton?  He's leading the Majors with 11 home runs and is helping the Atlanta Braves maintain first place in the NL East.  It's annoying how good he is!

One thing I do want to focus on in today's post is the Designated Hitter.  Now if you're a regular reader of this blog, you probably know that I am not a fan of the DH.  In fact, I believe I have said before that if I were ever to become Commissioner of baseball, the DH is something I would eliminate.  Well in last Sunday's Baltimore Sun, columnist Kevin Cowherd (What is it with that newspaper having columnists with funny last names?  First it was Schmuck and now Cowherd?) said that the Designated Hitter needs to be made universal.  Is Mr. Cowherd on crack?  Does he not like when a pitcher happens to hit an unexpected extra-base hit?  Does he not appreciate the double-switch?  Does he just want managers to sit there and not manage?  I had a hard time digesting Mr. Cowherd's justifications.

First of all, Mr. Cowherd can't tolerate when a pitcher stands there looking at a few fastballs just to end up striking out.  Clearly he missed Stephen Strasburg's double a couple of weeks ago or the home run hit by Gio Gonzalez in his first start of the season.  Has he seen switch-hitting Carlos Zambrano lately?  How about the Rockies' Micah Owings, who in only two seasons has 5 home runs, a .316 batting average, and is often used as a pinch hitter?  Clearly not. And what's wrong with the sacrifice bunt?  Some pitchers like current free agent Liván Hernandez are masterful bunters.  I'm no braniac, but the name Babe Ruth seems to come to mind right about now when thinking about pitchers who could hit... I don't know why.

I do agree with Mr. Cowherd in that having the DH does extend the career of some players (like that of David "Big Papi" Ortiz).  But if Ortiz was in the National League, he could still pinch hit; it's not like pitchers always bat for themselves and the guys on the bench never play. Au contraire - this is when the double switch comes in and the game becomes more strategic (which Mr. Cowherd does not appreciate).  He just wants to see big-muscled guys hitting home runs instead of having to "watch a pitcher flail away like a blindfolded kid hacking at a piñata.  Problem is, being an Orioles fan, he has not seen a lot of National League pitchers who can actually bat.  Check out Dontrell Willis, Jason Marquis, and even CC Sabathia - they can all hit.  And now that there are interleague games being played almost daily, it's time for pitchers in both leagues to take batting practice and help their teams offensively.  Even if it's with a sacrifice fly, a bunt, or a surprising extra-base hit.

"Play Ball!"

Today is February 28, and the Washington Nationals will be visiting the New York Mets at their Port St. Lucie facility for the first baseball game of Spring Training.  It has been four months since the San Francisco Giants won the World Series, and this avid baseball fan has been starving for some good old ball to watch on TV.  We also recently bought our tickets for our first visit to Nationals Park this year - a Sunday afternoon game against the Atlanta Braves in April.  Why do I love baseball so much?  It is an easy game to follow - you throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball.  The fact that it's much slower than, say, football or basketball allows you to see the emotion on the players' faces; you can see when they're deep in thought, when they're upset over an error, when they're pleased with a good at-bat.  You anticipate every pitch, and you react to every swing of the bat, as well as to every missed opportunity.  You celebrate with the winners, and sometimes feel bad for the losers.  Baseball is a microcosm of life; you work hard, you try to get along with your coworkers so you can work together toward a common goal, you do your best, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, and in the end, you hope that you left a lasting impression and are remembered for your dedication and for the quality of your work (unless you're Barry Bonds or Pete Rose, but I won't go there on my first blog!).

So...why blog about baseball?  Because my kids get tired of me talking about it, and as supportive as my wonderful husband is, I don't want to bore him with my constant baseball-related observations and useless statistics ALL the time!  I have to share my latest instance of baseball nerdiness with you; it happened yesterday.  So a good friend is talking to my husband and me after church, and he tells us that his son's baseball jersey number is #32.  "Can you guess why he picked that number?", asks my friend.  Knowing that his son is a big Derek Jeter fan, I immediately answer "Well, the 3 is for Babe Ruth, and the 2 is for Derek Jeter."  He looks at me in a stunned silence.  I had to follow it with an eye-roll and a "DUH!", just to prove that I am truly a baseball nerd.  His son, too, was impressed.

It's moments like yesterday's Babe-Jeter reference that make me proud of not only being a big baseball fan, but being a FEMALE baseball fan.  Yes, I check out the players' physiques and make a note of who looks best in baseball pants.  But I also know that Nolan Ryan pitched seven no-hitters, I know that the Designated Hitter was adpoted into the American League in 1973, and I can explain the Sherman Antitrust Act and how it relates to baseball.  I can rattle off the starting lineup of the 1988 New York Mets, and I can do so while wearing stillettos and helping my kids with their homework.  I love being a wife, a mom, and a baseball fan.