PLAY BALL! (Finally!)

Opening Day!  Finally!  I feel like I've been waiting for this day since last October!  Only 6 games were on tap for today, (and actually the sixth game just started), but I have watched more baseball today than I have in a long, long time.  The first 2 games were at 1:05, so I tried watching them both simultaneously.  While the Nationals hosted the Braves on one channel, ESPN was showing the Tigers visiting the Yankees.  I must admit that the Yankees/Tigers game was more exciting, even though the Yankees won.  (Boo!).  In that game, Derek Jeter didn't get any hits, but he did walk and scored on Mark Teixeira's 3-run homer in the third inning.  I was bummed that my buddy Justin Verlander had a rough outing, but it was nice to see him striking out Robinson Canó.  The Yankees won that one 6-3.  Boo again!

In the Nationals/Braves game, Liván Hernandez pitched a heck of a game, except for one pitch to Jason Heyward in the second inning, which he hit for a home run.  Chipper Jones proved that his knee is fine by hustling for a nice double to start the game, and I had to laugh at Dan Uggla (who I'm used to seeing as a Marlin) when he struck out on a 62-mile-an-hour curveball.  Heck, I think I can throw faster than that!  But poor Liván got no offensive help, so the Nationals were shut out 2-0.  At least it wasn't as bad as last year's opener, when they lost to the Phillies 11-1.  In defense of the Nationals, home plate umpire Tim Welke is getting too old to be back there, because he made a couple of pretty bad calls in the Braves' favor.  Hopefully the Nats can win the next 2 games and win this series against what looks to be a very good Braves team, even without Bobby Cox.

Another game I watched was the one between the Cardinals and Padres.  That game went into extra innings, with the Padres winning it 5-3.  In my opinion, if a game goes into extra innings, it should end in "sudden death," as soon as either team scores a point.  Why do they need to finish the inning once a team has scored?  That's silly!  Also silly was the fact that Albert Pujols grounded into three double-plays.  I bet this was the worst game of his life.  Still, I don't feel bad for Albert.

In the game between the Reds and Brewers, there were a total of 6 home runs, with each team hitting three.  One of them was hit by last year's National League MVP, Joey Votto.  Every time I say his name, I have to say "How you doin'?"  I don't know why; I guess it's because it's such an Italian-sounding name.  Just like when I order a Georgia Peach-flavored Italian Ice at the local Rita's I have to say it with a Southern accent ("Jawja paych").  The Reds won that one, by the way, 7-6.

A game I did not get to watch because it was not televised here was the one between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (the stupidest name I've ever heard - pick a city, will ya?) and the Kansas City Royals (who have not had a good team since 1922).  Torii Hunter (yes, mother, it is spelled with two "i"s) went 2 for 5, and even though he's normally a center fielder, he played at  right field today.  I remember when he started out with the Twins, taking over for Kirby Puckett after Puckett had to retire early due to eyesight problems resulting from Glaucoma.

The last game today, which is still going on, is between the Giants and Dodgers.  Tim Lincecum is pitching for the Giants, with last year's National League Rookie of the Year, Buster Posey, as his battery mate.  Let's see how Don Mattingly does in his managerial debut with the Dodgers.

So that is a wrap-up of the first day of the 2011 baseball season.  The Red Sox, Phillies, and Orioles are among the teams that will be starting their seasons tomorrow.  Let's hope for another day of exciting baseball, and may this season be full of good pitching, even better hitting, and continued excitement.

***Update:  (it is now Friday morning)  Just wanted to let you all know that the Giants lost to the Dodgers 2-1 last night (it was 1-0 LA when I went to bed).  It is also worth noting that Puerto Rican Wil Nieves (who just went to the Brewers after spending a few years with the Nationals) went 2 for 4 last night, and New York-born Puerto Rican (we call them Niuyorricans) Mike Avilés went 1 for 5 for the Royals, with that one hit being a home run.

More baseball today!  Yippee!!!

"Whenever you want me, I'll be there!"

I've already discussed in previous posts how the catcher is the most important position player on a baseball team.  I've also mentioned the importance of hitting the cutoff man when catching a ball in the outfield to get someone out, and the importance of the well-executed double play.  Well, another player with an important role in any successful baseball team is the Utility Player.  A "utility" player is someone who can play many positions and can do so very well.  He doesn't play every day, but when needed, he is there to provide consistent offense, and can defensively play wherever they put him.  He is dependable, consistent, and is happy to contribute whenever and wherever.  Many players have lengthened their professional careers by learning to field in new positions, and usually they do so very well.  Two former players who come to mind are Tony Phillips, who played just about every position with the Tigers, and fellow Puerto Rican José Oquendo, who played EVERY position during his professional career - even pitcher.  Because of his success as a utility player, Oquendo is now a well-respected coach for the Cardinals.  Currently, notable utility players include Ryan Theriot of the Dodgers, Mark DeRosa of the Giants, and Brandon Inge of the Tigers.  Not a lot of utility players make it into the Hall of Fame, though some would say that Tony Gwynn could have been considered one since he played in different parts of the outfield.  Alberto Gonzalez of the Nationals has been their best utility player for the past few years, and trade talks involving him make me a little sad, because he's been so consistent both with the bat and on the field (plus I got to meet him last year and even got my picture taken with him).  The A's, Astros and Braves have all shown interest in Gonzalez, and if he does go to one of these teams, he will be greatly missed.  I guess the Nationals figure that now that they have geriatric Matt Stairs, they don't need another utility guy (especially a young one!).  Maybe the trade will fall through...we'll have to wait and see!  One trade that did happen yesterday was when the Nationals sent Nyjer Morgan to the Brewers for some cash and a minor-league prospect.  I KNEW Nyjer would lose his job with the Nats; he had a lousy year last year and an even lousier spring.  That will put Ankiel at center field, which is fine with me.

It is interesting to note that the minor-league prospect that the Nationals obtained for Morgan is Cutter Dykstra, son of former Met and Philly outfielder Lenny Dykstra.  I hope Cutter is not an idiot like his father (not only is he an idiot for naming his son Cutter, but he's done steroids, sexually abused a housekeeper, committed credit card fraud, among other things), and I wish him well with the Nationals.

Speaking of idiots, you know who looks like a total fool?  The Giants' Brian Wilson.  I know he's injured and I know he had like 98 saves last year, but dude, trim that beard!  The ZZ Top look does not look good on a pitcher's mound!  I'm glad to see that he's feeling better and doing some light tossing though; I don't wish injury on anyone.  (Oh, and one more tidbit of useless information:  Iván Rodriguez got married last week, and it wasn't to me!).

So, Spring Training is almost over - some teams like the Giants and A's have already packed up and are preparing for Opening Day, which is only 3 or 4 days away (depending on the team).  Other teams still have one or two games left, and will be rushing to get things ready.  I'll be back on Thursday evening, to give you my perspective on the first day of the 2011 baseball season.  Until then, feel free to check out what's going on in basketball and hockey (go Caps!), and make some paper crafts or air planes with your sure-to-be-inaccurate NCAA brackets (I know mine went out the window after round one!).

"I'm not brave enough to pitch to you!"

My least favorite thing about baseball is the intentional walk.  Whoever invented it was a sissy, and whoever the Commissioner was at the time should have told him so.  For those of you unfamiliar with the intentional walk, here's how it usually goes:  You have one or two men on base, a very good hitter at the plate, and a so-so hitter waiting on deck.  The pitcher walks the good hitter on purpose, because he'd rather fill the bases and face the so-so hitter than actually pitch to the good hitter who is likely to drive in a run or two (or three).  This has always said to me:  "I'm sorry, good batter; but I'm not confident enough in my pitching abilities, therefore I'm going to walk you so you don't hit a home run against me."  What I do like is when the bases are loaded and the so-so hitter ends up with a base hit, therefore scoring at least one runner, which is what the other team wanted to avoid in the first place by walking the good hitter.  (That's when I say "HA-HA!")  I don't think they keep statistics of whether walks are intentional or not, but I bet they work way less often than managers think.  One of the things I don't like about the intentional walk is how it's done.  The batter is in the box, standing at his stance, then the catcher stands up and the pitcher throws 4 pitches to him WAY outside, totally out of any strike zone.  If you don't want to mess with a good hitter, throw him low pitches that you know he's not going to hit; don't make it so obvious by having the catcher stand up and catch your four pitches that can't even be hit with a six-foot bat!  Don't make it so obvious, because that usually results in getting boo-d (and I'm always one of the "boo-ers").

The reason I mention the intentional walk is that I saw the Cardinals use one in yesterday's game against the Nationals.  They preferred to walk veteran Matt Stairs and pitch to Brian Bixler, which loaded the bases.  Bixler hit a sacrifice fly to right field, which scored Alex Cora from third.  HA!  So instead of pitching to Stairs (who could have grounded into a double play), they walked him and gave up a run.  Doesn't make sense, does it?  Plus, who uses the intentional walk during Spring Training?  I know that at this point the managers are running things like if they were playing regular-season games, but for goodness' sake, make your pitchers do their job!  Sigh!

Today I get to watch a game between the Cubs and the Rangers.  I will root for the Cubs, because they need all the help they can get.  I watched a lot of Cubs games as a kid; back when Ryne Sandberg and Andre Dawson played, as well as a guy named Shawon Dunston (I remember him because he wore number 12, which was my favorite number at that time).  I remember Don Zimmer as their manager back then, and Harry Caray trying to do the play-by-play.  I did stand in front of Wrigley Field once, but the Cubs were not in town.  It's one of the ball parks I would love to visit someday, hopefully when they're giving away something free to all the fans in attendance.

Opening day is only 5 days away!  Now if only the weather would get a little warmer...

"I'll trade you my Jeter for your Puckett!"

One of the pre-requisites to being a Baseball Nerd is having an extensive baseball card collection.  I started my collection back in the mid-80s, when the stars were George Brett, Robin Yount, and Don Mattingly.  Though the only TV networks that televised games in Puerto Rico back then were home to the Braves, Mets, and Cubs, I learned all about players from the other teams by reading the back of their baseball cards (plus being in high school, I liked seeing who the cute ones were...Ron Darling...Craig Biggio...mmm!).  I remember having a lot of Willie Randolph cards as well as lots of Kirby Puckett ones.  At the time, I wasn't too sure who Puckett was (other than knowing he was the center fielder for the Minnesota Twins), but since I had so many different Puckett cards and he was such an interesting-looking fellow (I won't call him ugly, out of respect for the deceased), I decided to focus on collecting Puckett cards.  As Kirby became more popular and I realized what a good player he was, I bought Puckett cards exclusively, at card shows and on eBay.  My collection now has over 300 different Kirby Puckett cards, though it is certianly not complete.  The problem is that at one point there were about a dozen different card makers out there (it wasn't just Topps anymore), and each company had "special" cards for the really good players ("Kirby Puckett All-Star," "Kirby Puckett Diamond King," "Kirby Puckett Dream Team...") and it was very hard to keep up with the different kinds.  Now that Kirby has died and was inducted into the Hall of Fame, his baseball cards are worth a little more (though they're not going to pay for my kids' college education, like I once thought).  So I have set my Puckett cards aside, and am now focusing on building my Iván Rodriguez collection.  I have about 250 cards so far, with a long way yet to go.  Luckily, many of the card companies have stopped printing baseball cards, because Major League Baseball decided that the business was getting too carried away, so they now allow only Topps to print baseball cards that are officially licensed.  Fine, except Topps has their regular cards, "Premier" cards, "Heritage" cards, and many other subsets.  I will keep collecting my "Pudge" cards, and will hopefully have most of them by the time HE makes it into the Hall of Fame.

My hobby of collecting Rodriguez cards isn't exclusive though; in my ultimate nerdiness, I subscribed to the "baseball card of the month" club about a year ago.  Each month, I receive 5 or 6 packs of cards in the mail, and today was one of those days.  While I could cheat and just wait for the full sets of all the cards to come out, I prefer the excitement and anticipation of opening every pack and seeing which players I got.  While they no longer contain that nasty, stale piece of gum (thank goodness!), they are still fun to read and look at.  This batch of cards contained way too many Phillies players, but I did get a Yadier Molina and one of my pal Chris Carpenter. 

You can learn a lot from reading the back of a baseball card.  That's where I learned that Chipper's real name is Larry Wayne Jones; I learned that in 1986 (his rookie year), 6'5 Mark McGuire weighed only 215 pounds (before steroids, you think?); and I discovered that Jeff Bagwell played college ball for the University of Hartford in Connecticut.  So if you see a display of baseball cards at Target, WalMart, or at your local pharmacy, pick up a pack (just one, since they're no longer 65 cents each), read the backs so you can learn a thing or two, and then give them to your kids.  And if you get an Iván Rodriguez card, let me know so we can negotiate a trade!

"Can't we all just get along?"

One of the things that definitely makes the highlight videos each time it happens is a bench-clearing brawl during a baseball game.  In football and hockey, they get all violent and bloody, but in baseball, especially since the decline of steroid use, fights between two teams are more psychological than physical.  Many times, pitchers hit batters on purpose, usually in retaliation for something that happened earlier in the game.  Nolan Ryan says it's very common, and if one of your guys is hit, it is your duty as his teammate to make sure that if your catcher calls for an inside pitch, you throw it REALLY inside.  I'm sure there will be a handful of bench-clearing episodes this season, and I will give my expert psychoanalysis of each one (I sharpened my psychoanalysis skills by trying to figure out my ex-husband, but I digress...).

Yesterday, during the Nationals/Cardinals game, Nats' soon-to-be-unemployed center fielder Nyjer Morgan was a little too aggressive running to first base, and ran into Cardinals' first baseman Albert Pujols.  Albert shook his wrist very dramatically, letting everyone know that he was "hurt."  (Whether he was really hurt or not is not known; he did what a lot of players would do and played up the injury.  That is when the psychological game started).  So after that inning was over, the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter (who I've mentioned in prior posts) decides to hit Laynce Nix.  He says it was unintentional, but whatever.  Then in the inning after that, the Nats' Liván Hernandez hits Colby Rasmus.  That probably didn't hurt, because Liván's fastball is about 30 miles per hour, but he hit him nonetheless.  So after that, the Cardinals send reliever (and former Nationial) Miguel Batista to the mound, and HE his a batter (Ian Desmond, who I would probably hit too, so he could stop committing so many errors at shortstop).  That's when both benches cleared, and both managers (Tony LaRussa and Jim Riggleman) had to be separated.  Now, I know it's the manager's job to defend his players, so I'm sure Tony and Jim were just acting, probably discussing where they would go out to dinner that night.  Only Batista was ejected, because even though both benches cleared, no one threw any punches and no one went into a "'roid rage."

As a die-hard baseball fan, I take bench-clearing brawls with a grain of salt.  They happen, and then life goes on.  What annoys me is when the media just won't let the incident go.  After yesterday's game, Tony LaRussa ended his press conference after only 2 minutes, because all anyone wanted to talk about was who hit who and why.  Never mind who won (the Nationals, 7-2), who hit well (Adam LaRoche and Matt Holliday), or who hit a home run (no one); all the talk was about the "brawl" that wasn't.

There's no avoiding scuffles and bench-clearing drama in baseball - that's what some would say makes the game "exciting."  Heck, these two same teams got into it at the last game we went to at Nationals Park last season, and it WAS kind of exciting being there and booing at the umpires!  But when the arguing is over and the guilty players have been ejected, let's sit back and enjoy the rest of the game, because chances are that after that episode, the players will play with such competitiveness and emotion that they will provide their own excitement until the game is over.

The Best Home Run Hitter Ever***

Just a quick note this afternoon to let you all know that Barry Bonds' perjury trial starts today.  Most people don't care (and I really don't either), but I thought I would be a responsible blogger and keep you informed of what goes on off the baseball diamonds.  It's not a trial to determine whether Mr. Bonds took steroids or not while he was breaking Hank Aaron's all-time home run record; it's a trial to determine whether he lied or not when he was asked by a grand jury back in 2007 if he knowingly took the steroids.  Bonds swears that he had no idea that steroids were being given to him by his trainers - just like I had no idea that the Pope is Catholic and that Ricky Martin is gay!  For the past few years, people have been debating whether Barry Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame with an asterisk next to his name, because we don't know how many of those 762 home runs were hit while under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs.  Currently, most lists have Barry on top, with no asterisk and no explanation.  I'm OK with that, because then you'd have to go back and see how many other players on that list (Mark McGuire) may have hit home runs while taking steroids.  A "home run leaders list" - whether in Cooperstown or on the Internet - is only a list; that's not such a big deal to me.  The "big deal" is having a plaque in the actual Hall, where only one or two players a year get inducted into the exclusive club of Hall of Famers.  Just like I don't think Pete Rose should be in the Hall because of his admitted involvement in betting on baseball, I don't think Bonds should be there because of his drug use (plus his arrogant attitude doesn't help him any).  Leave Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, and Mark McGuire on their respective "Leaders" lists, but don't induct them into the Hall of Fame.

I will continue to follow Barry Bonds' trial (which they're saying should only last a couple of weeks), and if there's anything exciting to talk about, I'll let you know.  In the meantime, I'll keep watching the last week of Spring Training games, and continue to count the days until Opening Day (10, in case you're counting!).

5-4-3

Sundays at our house are quiet, yet usually productive.  While my husband works on some sort of home improvement or woodworking project, I get all the week's laundry done, plus whatever housekeeping chore wasn't done during the week.  Plus we have to fit in a run, since we're training for a Fall marathon.  Today, however, I realized that it's hard to be a productive and responsible adult while watching a 3-hour baseball game.  I made it work though, running to the washing machine between innings and getting the vacuuming done while trying to watch the TV.

The only televised game I could find was between the Nationals and the Tigers.  I was fine with that, since I watch a lot of Nationals games, plus I wanted to see good ol' Magglio Ordoñez.  Well, Mags wasn't in today's lineup, but hard-throwing right-hander Justin Verlander was, and he's always a treat to watch ("Pudge" reference of the day:  Iván Rodriguez caught Verlander's no-hitter back when Iván was with the Tigers back in 2007; the second no-hitter he's caught in his career.  The first was for Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers, obviously not the same Kenny Rogers who was left by Lucille with four hungry children and a crop in the field.  But I digress...).  Anyway, Verlander did not disappoint, pitching 5 very good innings.  "Resident Drunk" Miguel Cabrera went 0-3 with two strike-outs, and I actually feel bad for him because personal problems aside, he's a very good ball player.  I hope he gets some help for his "issues."  Also nice was seeing the Tigers wearing the name "Sparky" on their uniforms, in honor of the late Sparky Anderson, who managed the Tigers for what seemed like 50 years.

One of the best parts of the Nats/Tigers game was the perfect execution of a 5-4-3 double play.  For those of you who read this just to be nice and aren't familiar with this fundamental yet fun-to-watch play, here's another tidbit for you to learn (I hope you're finding these useful!):  The third baseman (in this case the Nationals' Jerry Hairston who is not their every day third baseman), made a diving catch after the ball was hit, caught the ball, threw the ball to second baseman (and Puerto Rican!) Alex Cora, who then threw the ball to first baseman Adam LaRoche (which I think is Italian for "the big ugly insect").  Since there was a runner going from first base to second, he was out at second because Cora caught the ball before the dude could reach the base.  Then the guy who hit the ball to the third baseman is out at first, because LaRoche caught it before the runner got there.  So there you go - a perfect double play!  The most common double play is the 6-4-3 double play, where the shortstop is the one who makes the initial catch instead of the third baseman.  When a double play is perfectly executed, I go "Nice!", and when the second baseman overthrows and the ball goes over the first baseman's head, I say "Aw, man!" (or any four-letter word that comes to mind).

Two other games of interest today included the Yankees beating the Phillies 8 to 1, and the Cardinals beating the Red Sox 10 to 3.  In the Yankees/Phillies game, both A-Rod and Curtis Granderson went 2 for 3, and CC Sabathia pitched 6 and 2/3 innings (too many innings for a spring training game, if you ask me).  This will hopefully be one of the very few times I mention A-Rod in my blog, because I was taught that if I have nothing nice to say, I shouldn't say anything at all.  For the Phillies, Jimmy Rollins went 3 for 3.  Regarding the game between the Cardinals and Red Sox, Boston's second baseman, Daniel Descalso, went 2 for 4.  "Descalso" means "barefoot" in Spanish, but I'm sure he was wearing shoes today.

So there you have it; my wrap-up for today.  In a few more hours it will officially be the first day of Spring, which means Opening Day is just around the corner!  I can't wait!