The Major League Baseball season is halfway over, and my life has been so crazy busy that I haven't been able to blog very much. But that doesn't mean that I don't have a lot to say (shocker!), so here I go trying to catch up on the latest baseball topics:
1, Aaron Judge. If you don't know who this kid is, you clearly haven't been paying attention. Friends have been asking me when I'm going to write about Judge, and I've been putting it off (mainly because he's a Yankee), but there's no ignoring this amazing kid any longer.
First, in true Mudville Mom fashion, I have to give my shallow opinion on what this kid looks like. He is 6'7, resembles "Lurch" from "The Addams Family," and has teeth that qualify him to be a member of the British royal family. Not cute at all, but he's humble, seems friendly enough, and appears to have been raised well by good parents. He has great poise for being subjected to the ruthless New York media, but even the harshest of critics is in love with this guy. He is leading the Majors with 30 home runs, is third in the American League in batting average, and will likely be named the AL Rookie of the Year (as well as possibly the MVP). Despite being a Yankee, I have no problems with this kid - he seems legitimately talented, doesn't come across as a self-absorbed ass, and hey, he won the Home Run Derby this past week. so there's something to be said for that. And with a last name like "Judge," the puns have already started ("All rise for Judge!," Yankee Stadium is "the Judge's chambers," and "the jury is still out on Judge.") Stay healthy, Aaron - you may actually get me to become a fan of yours!
2. The All-Star Game. This year's All-Star game had five Nationals players in it (Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg, and Max Scherzer), so I was looking forward to it. The game did not disappoint, especially since my guy Scherzer pitched a scoreless first inning and showed the entire world what a badass he is (there were so many microphones around that you could actually hear Max grunting with every pitch). Bryce Harper made a very good catch in right field, so everyone in the world was able to see how good his hair looks even when his ball cap falls off his head trying to make a good play (according to the T-Mobile commercial, Bryce is always "perfectly coiffed!"). And Daniel Murphy got a base hit, so Nats-wise, I was happy to see my guys do well on the national stage.
The moment that had me all choked up and in an emotional mess was the tribute to Hispanic players in the Hall of Fame. Legends like Orlando Cepeda, Rod Carew, Tony Perez, Pedro Martinez, Roberto Alomar, and of course Iván Rodriguez simultaneously threw out the first pitch(es) of the game, and they each threw their baseball to a current Hispanic player. Pretty cool moment, especially when Roberto Clemente's widow and children were introduced. Nothing makes a Hispanic person more proud than seeing your nation's flag representing greatness. And we have no shame in saying we get teary - we don't blame it on allergies, Hillary Clinton!
3. The current standings. As of right now, the Dodgers and Astros look like the teams to beat. The Dodgers were the first team to reach 60 wins this season, and the Astros weren't so far behind. Can I tell you how sick and tired I am of the Dodgers? I know Clayton Kershaw is a beast, but I am so tired of hearing about how great he is and how wonderful Cody Bellinger is and how Justin Turner is all that. As hideous as the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks' uniforms are this season (think 1970s bell-bottom pants), I would much rather see them in the playoffs than the Dodgers. But knowing the Dodgers, they will make it to the playoffs (again!) and be totally wonderful. Whatever.
The Astros are another story. That team is chock full of raw talent, dedicated fans, and one of the best infields in the Majors. I want the Astros to not only make the playoffs, but make it to the World Series. Will they be facing the Nationals in October? Highly unlikely, since the Nats have terrible relief pitching that won't take them past the first round of the playoffs. Astros and Dodgers in the World Series? I guess. :-(
4. A-Rod. For the All-Star game, Fox Sports thought it would be a brilliant idea to send Alex Rodriguez onto the playing field to interview the players while they were getting into their positions. It was bad enough that A-Rod had already insulted Hall of Famer and fellow commentator Frank Thomas by saying he was getting fat and "growing sideways;" having A-Rod go onto the field just turned the whole thing into an A-Rod Fest. He said things like "I'm here in Miami, in my hometown;" (who cares?) "I remember my first All-Star game...;" (back when you were on steroids) "This is starting to remind me of my career a little bit." (which some of us would rather forget!) Shut up, Alex - no one cares about you anymore! Not even JLo, since you cheated on her (granted, she should have known that a guy who cheats in baseball is likely to cheat in a relationship!).
Well, I feel better now that I got all that out! Phew! What do we have to look forward to in the second half of the season? Let's see... Adrián Beltre reaching 3000 hits, the upcoming trade deadline (where contending teams try to strengthen their rosters for the post-season, usually with players who will become free agents at the end of the season, so they will only be with their new teams for a few months), and the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies at the end of this month (I'll be watching on TV; not in person, but I whined about that in a previous blog post, so I'll be quiet about that). There is still so much to look forward to - Wild Card races, new young talent coming up from the Minors, and our trip to yet another ballpark this year. Stay tuned, my friends; Mudville Mom will still have plenty to say for the next few months!
Showing posts with label Houston Astros. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Houston Astros. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Sunday, March 26, 2017
"The Perfect Ballplayer"
I started this blog six years ago out of impulse. Major League Baseball was seeking volunteers who wanted to spend the entire 2011 baseball season living in a "fan cave" in New York City watching baseball games and blogging about them. The occasional baseball player would stop by and hang out at "the cave" with the residents and you and your "cave-mates" would be on TV and the Internet talking baseball. What red-blooded die-hard baseball fan wouldn't love that opportunity? All you had to do was apply online and submit a writing sample. Knowing full well that I could not conceivably (and in good conscience) leave my husband, kids, and job for six months, I applied anyway. But a writing sample? I hadn't written anything since my graduate thesis on the history of baseball litigation, and even I thought that was too much of a snoozer to submit. So I created this blog so I would have some baseball stuff to submit, and of course I wasn't chosen (surely not because of the caliber of my writing - probably because it wouldn't look cool for a forty-something-year-old female to live with some twenty-something-year-old men).
I started out writing almost daily, reporting scores from the previous day's games and piping in my opinions on certain occurrences here and there. Then life got busy, my job got more demanding, and I blogged less frequently, focusing on baseball in general - the rules, the players, and of course, my opinions on just about anything baseball-related. Now that I own my own business (a kitchen store in Frederick, Maryland called "The Kitchenette" - stop by and say hello if you're in the area!), I barely have time to cook a decent meal, let alone write a well-thought-out blog post. But just because I write less frequently doesn't mean my passion for baseball has faded - I still scour the sports pages daily, check the MLB app on my phone constantly, and count the days until the start of the regular season (just seven more to go!). But if something majorly important, super-exciting, or rather controversial is happening in the Majors, I will certainly find some time to write about it and give you my take.
The most recent blog-worthy event in baseball was the World Baseball Classic, which ended last week with Team USA beating Puerto Rico 8-0 in the final of what was an exciting and much-talked-about series that started out with 12 teams from all over the world - a true "World Series." Unfortunately, long nights spent watching WBC games and busy days tending to my business and family did not allow me the opportunity to share my excitement with you (good thing, because I was downright obnoxious rooting for "Team PR"), and many news outlets have already reported on the WBC's playoff-like atmosphere, the national pride, and the fact that blond hair color was sold out all over Puerto Rico because all the PR players (and most of the residents of the island) chose to color their hair blond as a sign of team and island unity). Even The Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck, whom I have criticized here in the past, wrote a nice piece about how the WBC games brought so much enthusiasm to fans and players from all over the world. In media standards, the WBC is old news - why keep talking about it when Gonzaga is going to the NCAA Final Four and the Washington Wizards and Capitals will both be in their respective playoffs?
But today's blog post is not about the WBC - I want to talk a bit about baseball history (please don't yawn!) and what makes "the perfect ballplayer." When you ask a non-baseball fan to name a famous baseball player from the past, they may come up with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, or Joe DiMaggio (around these parts, people may mention Cal Ripken, Frank Robinson, or Earl Weaver). Ask someone who follows the game and they might name Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, Roger Clemens, or Derek Jeter. Then of course there's Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier and is deservedly one of the most respected athletes of all time. Ask any Puerto Rican, whether or not they currently live on the island, and he/she will inevitably mention Roberto Clemente.
Now, I've mentioned Roberto Clemente many a time in my blog - in seventeen different posts, to be exact. But like current Houston Astros outfielder Carlos Beltrán mentioned in a 2016 article he wrote for "The Players Tribune," Roberto Clemente's legacy is something that is taught as part of the history curriculum in all schools in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, as baseball continues to evolve and the years pass, more and more people (including baseball players) go through their entire lives without knowing the impact that Clemente had both on and off the baseball field. As more players reach the 3,000 career hits milestone, Clemente gets pushed lower and lower down the list of all-time hiters, now sitting at 30th with Adrián Beltre surely pushing Clemente to 31st sometime this season.
So why is a guy who has 29 other guys ahead of him on the all-time hits list considered to be "the perfect ballplayer?" This is not a quote from a regular Puerto Rican person - it was actually said by a former player, an African-American Hall-of-Famer by the name of Willie Mays. I know Willie is super-old and may not currently have all his faculties, but he said this a while ago, and the fact that he picked Clemente instead of his godson (Barry Bonds) says something. Sportscaster Bob Costas likes Clemente too, but I don't like Bob Costas, so he's not worth mentioning further. And if you ever visit Pittsburgh, those fans know their baseball history, and they know the former Pirate like he was one of their own.
Need some numbers to convince yourself that Roberto Clemente was the best baseball player ever? Here are a few numbers to note: 1966 Most Valuable Player for the National League, NL batting champ (1961, 1964, 1965, 1967), World Series MVP in 1971, eleven-time Gold Glove winner, 12-time All Star, and National League leader in triples in 1969. Oh, and he has an award named for him - the Roberto Clemente Award, which is given every year to a player with outstanding baseball playing skills who is personally involved in community work.
Oh, this Clemente guy did stuff for charity? Don't many baseball players do that? Yes, they do (and they should). But Clemente went above and beyond to help those in need throughout his career, providing sports equipment to the needy, offering free batting clinics in his native Puerto Rico, and taking relief supplies to Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake on New Year's Eve, 1972. Well, actually, he and the supplies never made it to Nicaragua, because the plane carrying Clemente was overloaded with too many supplies, had an incompetent flight crew, and crashed into the Atlantic ocean off the coast of Puerto Rico. So yeah, poor Clemente died without finishing his baseball career - had he played for another year or two, he would probably be between Tony Gwynn and Alex Rodriguez at 19th of all time.
So was this guy better than Ruth, Rose, or Rodriguez (Iván, not Alex - you all know I truly dislike A-Rod!)? Yes. Not only did Clemente have impressive career numbers and was a great humanitarian, but he demanded respect, let his bat and glove do the talking, and made a permanent impact on the game and how to play with intensity, discipline, and dedication. He's the type of guy who, when mentioned to baseball experts, elicits an instant sigh of admiration not given to current stars. They use words like "hero," "legend," and "class act" to describe him. They don't argue that he was the best right fielder ever. And his legacy needs to be explained to all current baseball players - this is how you play, this is how you behave, this is how you help others (except for the plane crash part).
Alright, friends; thank you for letting me rant about "the perfect ballplayer." Some people think I'm too "rah rah Puerto Rico," but this is my blog and I can write about whatever I choose. But seriously, the 2017 season is getting ready to start, and I'm looking forward to writing about great baseball players - whatever country they're from and whatever team they represent. Watch out for the Houston Astros, the Boston Red Sox, and yes, the Chicago Cubs (again!). This promises to be a season of milestones, magic, and lots of home runs (Trout, Stanton, Machado...). So keep checking in - I will do my best to keep you updated on all things 2017 - including Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in July (gee, did I mention who is being inducted?), Adrián Beltre's chase for 3000 hits, and maybe the coming of a new "Perfect Ballplayer."
I started out writing almost daily, reporting scores from the previous day's games and piping in my opinions on certain occurrences here and there. Then life got busy, my job got more demanding, and I blogged less frequently, focusing on baseball in general - the rules, the players, and of course, my opinions on just about anything baseball-related. Now that I own my own business (a kitchen store in Frederick, Maryland called "The Kitchenette" - stop by and say hello if you're in the area!), I barely have time to cook a decent meal, let alone write a well-thought-out blog post. But just because I write less frequently doesn't mean my passion for baseball has faded - I still scour the sports pages daily, check the MLB app on my phone constantly, and count the days until the start of the regular season (just seven more to go!). But if something majorly important, super-exciting, or rather controversial is happening in the Majors, I will certainly find some time to write about it and give you my take.
The most recent blog-worthy event in baseball was the World Baseball Classic, which ended last week with Team USA beating Puerto Rico 8-0 in the final of what was an exciting and much-talked-about series that started out with 12 teams from all over the world - a true "World Series." Unfortunately, long nights spent watching WBC games and busy days tending to my business and family did not allow me the opportunity to share my excitement with you (good thing, because I was downright obnoxious rooting for "Team PR"), and many news outlets have already reported on the WBC's playoff-like atmosphere, the national pride, and the fact that blond hair color was sold out all over Puerto Rico because all the PR players (and most of the residents of the island) chose to color their hair blond as a sign of team and island unity). Even The Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck, whom I have criticized here in the past, wrote a nice piece about how the WBC games brought so much enthusiasm to fans and players from all over the world. In media standards, the WBC is old news - why keep talking about it when Gonzaga is going to the NCAA Final Four and the Washington Wizards and Capitals will both be in their respective playoffs?
But today's blog post is not about the WBC - I want to talk a bit about baseball history (please don't yawn!) and what makes "the perfect ballplayer." When you ask a non-baseball fan to name a famous baseball player from the past, they may come up with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, or Joe DiMaggio (around these parts, people may mention Cal Ripken, Frank Robinson, or Earl Weaver). Ask someone who follows the game and they might name Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, Roger Clemens, or Derek Jeter. Then of course there's Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier and is deservedly one of the most respected athletes of all time. Ask any Puerto Rican, whether or not they currently live on the island, and he/she will inevitably mention Roberto Clemente.
Now, I've mentioned Roberto Clemente many a time in my blog - in seventeen different posts, to be exact. But like current Houston Astros outfielder Carlos Beltrán mentioned in a 2016 article he wrote for "The Players Tribune," Roberto Clemente's legacy is something that is taught as part of the history curriculum in all schools in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, as baseball continues to evolve and the years pass, more and more people (including baseball players) go through their entire lives without knowing the impact that Clemente had both on and off the baseball field. As more players reach the 3,000 career hits milestone, Clemente gets pushed lower and lower down the list of all-time hiters, now sitting at 30th with Adrián Beltre surely pushing Clemente to 31st sometime this season.
So why is a guy who has 29 other guys ahead of him on the all-time hits list considered to be "the perfect ballplayer?" This is not a quote from a regular Puerto Rican person - it was actually said by a former player, an African-American Hall-of-Famer by the name of Willie Mays. I know Willie is super-old and may not currently have all his faculties, but he said this a while ago, and the fact that he picked Clemente instead of his godson (Barry Bonds) says something. Sportscaster Bob Costas likes Clemente too, but I don't like Bob Costas, so he's not worth mentioning further. And if you ever visit Pittsburgh, those fans know their baseball history, and they know the former Pirate like he was one of their own.
Need some numbers to convince yourself that Roberto Clemente was the best baseball player ever? Here are a few numbers to note: 1966 Most Valuable Player for the National League, NL batting champ (1961, 1964, 1965, 1967), World Series MVP in 1971, eleven-time Gold Glove winner, 12-time All Star, and National League leader in triples in 1969. Oh, and he has an award named for him - the Roberto Clemente Award, which is given every year to a player with outstanding baseball playing skills who is personally involved in community work.
Oh, this Clemente guy did stuff for charity? Don't many baseball players do that? Yes, they do (and they should). But Clemente went above and beyond to help those in need throughout his career, providing sports equipment to the needy, offering free batting clinics in his native Puerto Rico, and taking relief supplies to Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake on New Year's Eve, 1972. Well, actually, he and the supplies never made it to Nicaragua, because the plane carrying Clemente was overloaded with too many supplies, had an incompetent flight crew, and crashed into the Atlantic ocean off the coast of Puerto Rico. So yeah, poor Clemente died without finishing his baseball career - had he played for another year or two, he would probably be between Tony Gwynn and Alex Rodriguez at 19th of all time.
So was this guy better than Ruth, Rose, or Rodriguez (Iván, not Alex - you all know I truly dislike A-Rod!)? Yes. Not only did Clemente have impressive career numbers and was a great humanitarian, but he demanded respect, let his bat and glove do the talking, and made a permanent impact on the game and how to play with intensity, discipline, and dedication. He's the type of guy who, when mentioned to baseball experts, elicits an instant sigh of admiration not given to current stars. They use words like "hero," "legend," and "class act" to describe him. They don't argue that he was the best right fielder ever. And his legacy needs to be explained to all current baseball players - this is how you play, this is how you behave, this is how you help others (except for the plane crash part).
Alright, friends; thank you for letting me rant about "the perfect ballplayer." Some people think I'm too "rah rah Puerto Rico," but this is my blog and I can write about whatever I choose. But seriously, the 2017 season is getting ready to start, and I'm looking forward to writing about great baseball players - whatever country they're from and whatever team they represent. Watch out for the Houston Astros, the Boston Red Sox, and yes, the Chicago Cubs (again!). This promises to be a season of milestones, magic, and lots of home runs (Trout, Stanton, Machado...). So keep checking in - I will do my best to keep you updated on all things 2017 - including Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in July (gee, did I mention who is being inducted?), Adrián Beltre's chase for 3000 hits, and maybe the coming of a new "Perfect Ballplayer."
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
"Well I'm Proud to be a Puerto Rican, Where at Least I Know we can Play Baseball!"
The 2012 Major League Baseball Player Draft is upon us, and while it doesn't get the hype that the NLF draft does, it's still an exciting time for sports fans. This year's draft has been a particularly thrilling one for us Puerto Ricans, since seven Puerto Rican baseball players have been selected so far.
The first overall player to be drafted by anyone went to the Houston Astros (that's the perk you get for finishing dead last and having the worst record in baseball last season). They drafted seventeen-year-old Carlos Correa, a shortstop who just graduated from the island's Baseball Academy High School and is so young he still has traces of acne on his face. He hails from the small town of Santa Isabel, where they gave him a hero's welcome yesterday. He had already signed a commitment letter to play at the University of Miami, but I think the only trips he'll be making to Florida will be to play for the Gulf Coast League.
Other Puerto Ricans selected in the first round of the draft include the fourteenth player, Nick Travieso (he wasn't born on the island but his grandparents were, so we'll gladly claim him as a "native"), who was picked by the Cincinnati Reds and pitcher José Berríos who was thirty-second and picked by the Minnesota Twins.
In the second round, Jesmuel Valentín was picked 51st by the LA Dodgers (speaking of Dodgers, did you hear that Tommy LaSorda had a mild heart attack yesterday? He's 84 years old, though to me he's looked old ever since I was a kid); Edwin Díaz was picked 98th by the Seattle Mariners, Avery Romero was selected by the Miami Marlins as the 104th player, and Bryan De la Rosa was the Atlanta Braves' selection at 116th.
This is a very exciting time for us Puerto Ricans, because baseball talent on the island had been dwindling in the past few years. Major League teams have spent millions of dollars in training facilities in both the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, where labor laws are more lenient and "buscones," or scouts, can easily groom little boys to believe they can make it in the big leagues (though many of them don't). So while there had been a slight lull in the development of Puerto Rican baseball players in the Majors, hopefully in the next few years we will see a new batch of talent comparable to that of the Alomar and Molina brothers, Benito Santiago, José Oquendo, Iván Rodriguez (you knew I had to fit him in somewhere in this post!), Orlando Cepeda, and who knows - maybe a new Roberto Clemente-like Puerto Rican will emerge in the coming years. So "play ball, fanáticos" - it's going to be a fun and exciting time to follow Puerto Ricans in baseball!
(Also worth mentioning is the second-round draft pick for the Baltimore Orioles, right-handed pitcher Branden Kline out of the University of Virginia. Kline was a 2009 graduate of Governor Thomas Johnson High School, which happens to be the school where I work. Hopefully we will see Branden play for our local Orioles' minor-league affiliate, the Frederick Keys, in the next year or so).
The first overall player to be drafted by anyone went to the Houston Astros (that's the perk you get for finishing dead last and having the worst record in baseball last season). They drafted seventeen-year-old Carlos Correa, a shortstop who just graduated from the island's Baseball Academy High School and is so young he still has traces of acne on his face. He hails from the small town of Santa Isabel, where they gave him a hero's welcome yesterday. He had already signed a commitment letter to play at the University of Miami, but I think the only trips he'll be making to Florida will be to play for the Gulf Coast League.
Other Puerto Ricans selected in the first round of the draft include the fourteenth player, Nick Travieso (he wasn't born on the island but his grandparents were, so we'll gladly claim him as a "native"), who was picked by the Cincinnati Reds and pitcher José Berríos who was thirty-second and picked by the Minnesota Twins.
In the second round, Jesmuel Valentín was picked 51st by the LA Dodgers (speaking of Dodgers, did you hear that Tommy LaSorda had a mild heart attack yesterday? He's 84 years old, though to me he's looked old ever since I was a kid); Edwin Díaz was picked 98th by the Seattle Mariners, Avery Romero was selected by the Miami Marlins as the 104th player, and Bryan De la Rosa was the Atlanta Braves' selection at 116th.
This is a very exciting time for us Puerto Ricans, because baseball talent on the island had been dwindling in the past few years. Major League teams have spent millions of dollars in training facilities in both the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, where labor laws are more lenient and "buscones," or scouts, can easily groom little boys to believe they can make it in the big leagues (though many of them don't). So while there had been a slight lull in the development of Puerto Rican baseball players in the Majors, hopefully in the next few years we will see a new batch of talent comparable to that of the Alomar and Molina brothers, Benito Santiago, José Oquendo, Iván Rodriguez (you knew I had to fit him in somewhere in this post!), Orlando Cepeda, and who knows - maybe a new Roberto Clemente-like Puerto Rican will emerge in the coming years. So "play ball, fanáticos" - it's going to be a fun and exciting time to follow Puerto Ricans in baseball!
(Also worth mentioning is the second-round draft pick for the Baltimore Orioles, right-handed pitcher Branden Kline out of the University of Virginia. Kline was a 2009 graduate of Governor Thomas Johnson High School, which happens to be the school where I work. Hopefully we will see Branden play for our local Orioles' minor-league affiliate, the Frederick Keys, in the next year or so).
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Why Can't we Just Leave Well Enough Alone?
One difference between baseball and football (and there are many, just ask George Carlin. Oh wait, he's dead, never mind!) is that football has one game to determine the team that will be the champion for a particular season - the Super Bowl. Baseball has the World Series, which is a best-of-seven series as opposed to just one game. If the World Series was reduced to one game only, not only would it make the Series more exciting (actually it wouldn't be a "series" anymore so you'd have to change the name), but more people would watch, more advertisements would be sold at ridiculous prices, and more chips and beer would be sold all over the country. But I don't generally like change (and it would bring up the dilemma of who would be your starting pitcher for that one game), so Wild Card games (best of 5) and two League Championship Series (best of 7) are OK with me. Well, apparently Major League Baseball owners don't agree with me, because they have decided to expand the playoffs starting possibly next year (because no one sees anything wrong with baseball being played until Thanksgiving). Wait, actually it's only one game, which seemed easier to fit into the schedule than a best-of-three first-round series, so there WON'T be baseball played until Thanksgiving. OK, I get it.
This long-talked-about expansion of Major League Baseball's playoffs could be incorporated as soon as this coming season. The new format will expand the Wild Card to a pair of additional teams, one each in the American and National Leagues. The two Wild Card teams will meet in a one-game playoff prior to the three-tiered postseason, which will remain the same. Are you following me? Good! The only good thing about this is that the Washington Nationals have a better chance of making it to the playoffs now, but it also means that 10 of the 30 teams will be in the playoffs. It kind of makes it not-so-special anymore if 1/3 of the teams can make it to the postseason.
The expanded playoffs are linked to the sale of the Houston Astros to some rich guy named Jim Crane and their move from the NL to the AL, effective for the 2013 season. The Commissioner's Office and the MLB Players Association collaborated on those developments during some collective bargaining negotiations, and I must say, I don't really care in which league Houston plays. If Texas fans want both their teams in the scaredy-cat league where the pitchers are too sensitive to bat for themselves, then that's their problem. This does mean that the Astros' shift from the NL Central to the AL West will give each league 15 teams, with five clubs in all six divisions. That actually makes sense now that I think about it, because in the past few years, the AL West only had four teams and the NL Central had 6, while the other divisions each had five. So now every division will have 5 teams and it will look much nicer and more even in the newspaper and on the Internet when we look at the standings.
Adding another Wild Card addresses a common point that baseball players like to bring up, which is that teams dominating over 162 games should be rewarded more and teams clinching a berth at season's end should have a greater obstacle. Sorry, I'm not buying that. If your team wins 100 games in a season but is not first in its division, then too bad. I bet you it was the owners of the Red Sox who came up with that idea, since they would have been in the playoffs this year if they had instituted this expanded Wild Card thing. Those Red Sox fans just can't settle for 2 World Series championships in the past 7 years, can they?
So there you have it (if I haven't lost you already). 15 teams in each league, 5 teams in each division, one 1-game Wild Card for the loser teams, best-of-five Wild Card games for the good teams, one League Championship Series per league and one World Series. If you're still lost and just can't wrap your head around it, just keep reading my blog and come October I will tell you for which team to root. In the meantime, keep reading the newspapers along with me while we play "Where in the world is Albert Pujols going to end up?".
This long-talked-about expansion of Major League Baseball's playoffs could be incorporated as soon as this coming season. The new format will expand the Wild Card to a pair of additional teams, one each in the American and National Leagues. The two Wild Card teams will meet in a one-game playoff prior to the three-tiered postseason, which will remain the same. Are you following me? Good! The only good thing about this is that the Washington Nationals have a better chance of making it to the playoffs now, but it also means that 10 of the 30 teams will be in the playoffs. It kind of makes it not-so-special anymore if 1/3 of the teams can make it to the postseason.
Adding another Wild Card addresses a common point that baseball players like to bring up, which is that teams dominating over 162 games should be rewarded more and teams clinching a berth at season's end should have a greater obstacle. Sorry, I'm not buying that. If your team wins 100 games in a season but is not first in its division, then too bad. I bet you it was the owners of the Red Sox who came up with that idea, since they would have been in the playoffs this year if they had instituted this expanded Wild Card thing. Those Red Sox fans just can't settle for 2 World Series championships in the past 7 years, can they?
So there you have it (if I haven't lost you already). 15 teams in each league, 5 teams in each division, one 1-game Wild Card for the loser teams, best-of-five Wild Card games for the good teams, one League Championship Series per league and one World Series. If you're still lost and just can't wrap your head around it, just keep reading my blog and come October I will tell you for which team to root. In the meantime, keep reading the newspapers along with me while we play "Where in the world is Albert Pujols going to end up?".
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
"Lo mismo!"
Growing up in Puerto Rico, there used to be a TV commercial for a fast-food chain that featured identical hamburgers moving along a conveyor belt. Throughout the commercial, they used the phrase "lo mismo," which means "the same old thing." After studying yesterday's Nationals vs. Mets box score, the first thing that popped into my head was "Lo mismo! Lo mismo!" Why? Because the game was a mirror-image of many of last year's games for the Nationals. The starting pitching sucked, and the bullpen had to keep the team alive. In 3 innings, Chad Gaudin allowed 5 hits and 2 earned runs, including a home run to the Mets' Angel Pagán, who is trying to take away the job of fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Beltrán (they're both from my island, so I don't really care who gets to start at center field at this point). Luckily, the Nationals had plenty of offense, including 2 home runs by Michael Morse and 2 hits each from Ian Desmond, Roger Bernadina, and Wilson Ramos. I must admit I don't like the fact that Wilson Ramos had a good game, because he's going to be sharing catcher duties with my man, Iván Rodriguez, and I don't want Ramos stealing the spotlight from the future hall-of-famer. Yes, you're going to see a LOT of Iván in my blogs, because I think he is the best catcher ever (and yes, he's super handsome too!).
So anyway...what else? Oh, another game of note yesterday was the one between the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros. The Braves won that one 13-3, thanks in part to multiple hits from Venezuelan shortstop Alex Gonzalez, first baseman Eric Hinske, and third baseman Brandon Hicks. Could Hicks be the Braves' next Chipper Jones? Oh, Larry Wayne Jones, Jr; how I will miss thee! I remember back in 1999, halfway through the season, I predicted that Chipper would be the National League MVP. And hey, I was right! (Don't worry, I will also blog about many times in which my baseball predictions were wrong, like thinking the Texas Rangers would win last year's World Series). But back to Chipper. First of all, he's only 3 months younger than me, so he's NOT OLD! Second, I think it's great that he didn't retire after his season-ending injury last year. He, like Mike Schmidt, wants the fans to remember him as a good player, not as an injured one. So hopefully he has rehabbed his knee appropriately over the winter and can be back at third base this season, even if at a limited capacity.
One last note from yesterday's action: The Nationals' first round draft pick, 18-year-old Bryce Harper, had 2 at-bats and struck out both times. Hah! Have yourself a piece of humble pie, Bryce, and enjoy your time in the minors. You're not going to move up in the ranks as fast as Strasburg did. Wait a minute...Strasburg is still recovering from Tommy John surgery... sheesh! Those Nationals have a lot of work ahead of them!
So anyway...what else? Oh, another game of note yesterday was the one between the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros. The Braves won that one 13-3, thanks in part to multiple hits from Venezuelan shortstop Alex Gonzalez, first baseman Eric Hinske, and third baseman Brandon Hicks. Could Hicks be the Braves' next Chipper Jones? Oh, Larry Wayne Jones, Jr; how I will miss thee! I remember back in 1999, halfway through the season, I predicted that Chipper would be the National League MVP. And hey, I was right! (Don't worry, I will also blog about many times in which my baseball predictions were wrong, like thinking the Texas Rangers would win last year's World Series). But back to Chipper. First of all, he's only 3 months younger than me, so he's NOT OLD! Second, I think it's great that he didn't retire after his season-ending injury last year. He, like Mike Schmidt, wants the fans to remember him as a good player, not as an injured one. So hopefully he has rehabbed his knee appropriately over the winter and can be back at third base this season, even if at a limited capacity.
One last note from yesterday's action: The Nationals' first round draft pick, 18-year-old Bryce Harper, had 2 at-bats and struck out both times. Hah! Have yourself a piece of humble pie, Bryce, and enjoy your time in the minors. You're not going to move up in the ranks as fast as Strasburg did. Wait a minute...Strasburg is still recovering from Tommy John surgery... sheesh! Those Nationals have a lot of work ahead of them!
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