The Joy of Baseball

Baseball Writings

Jul

2023

Yankee Fandom

Dunkirk NY – I follow this blog primarily to read Hart Seely’s writing, whose prose style I enjoy. I don’t comment because, generally speaking, the comment section has a devoted clique that tends towards the negative – everything always sucks. So I would like to make the following observation: Yankee fans display a great deal of passion but too little rationality. In my time as a fan, I know the game has changed, and I have changed my expectations accordingly. But too many fans, I fear, do not.

I read in the NY Times the other day a column containing a story about G.K. Chesterton. When the Times of London asked of its readers the general question “What is wrong with the world today?”, Mr. Chesterton responded, “Dear Sirs, I am.” Mr. Chesterton’s point was that, before we start blaming the problems of the world on others, we should check in with ourselves first. I think, as we ponder the problems of the Yankees, we should take this ASB to check in with ourselves as well.

I have found I’ve had to change my expectations of the NY Yankees in proportion to the changes in the game. As a boy, I do not recall having expectations of the Yankees to win a championship every year. They just seemed to do that. It was George M. Steinbrenner, a man I came to despise, who, over his years of misrule, set the now-unreasonable expectation that every year was a failure if we didn’t go to the World Series, and a failure if we got there and did not win. This concept, in the modern game, is unreasonable, and died with the 2009 championship.

Yet it seems the average Yankee fan cannot get over this ideological hump. This “World Series or bust” garbage is the last vestige of the G. Steinbrenner years that must be jettisoned, and the sooner the better. It’s the same kind of mentality we see in our society today that makes our national political discourse an intellectual cesspool. Mr. Steinbrenner was never at all interested in making the Yankees #1. He was only interested in making himself Public Celebrity #1, and he used the Yankees to do that. He was a rich bully who never wanted the spotlight to shine on anyone but himself. A convicted felon who had to be suspended from daily baseball operations, he poisoned the Yankee environment as CO2 emissions poison the air we breathe.

More than being a Yankee fan, I am a baseball fan. I came of age with the losing records of 65-67 and 1969. I think it’s great that I am a fan of a team that hasn’t had a losing record since 1982. I’m amazed that the Yankees have missed the playoffs only 4 times since 1995. The game has changed so much since then, and every change has added a new layer of difficulty to achieving success. Yet here we are, at the All Star Break of 2023, with a winning record of 49-42, and a reasonable chance of making the playoffs yet again. And people still complain.

I’ve changed my expectations for the Yankees from those Mr. G. Steinbrenner relentlessly beat into us during his megalomaniacal reign of terror. Even when the team looks as bad as it is, my mind reels at the fact that the Yankees have a winning record in a division where every team has a winning record! I want to suggest that, as Mr. Chesterton so humbly observed about himself, that what’s wrong with the Yankee world is, perhaps, not the Yankees, but we the fans. There’s no one out there to make us check into our own expectations but ourselves. Perhaps, given all the changes in the game over the years since Mantle and Maris pursued the Babe’s home run record, we need to re-set the bar, jettison the poison fed to us by King George, and enjoy the game and the season as it unfolds. Is this team flawed? Yes. Does this team and organization need changes? Yes. Will it be a complete and unmitigated disaster, a failure, if we don’t make the playoffs? No. That’s baseball, Suzyn. And it’s great. -twl

Jun

2023

RIP Gerry Maher

Gerry and me – Romeo and Juliet 2015

Dunkirk NY – Yesterday I attended the memorial for one of the finest actors – and finest people – I’ve ever known. If ever there was a person who fully embodied the Stanislavski quote “There are no small parts; only small actors,” it was Gerry. He was no small actor. He turned every role he ever got into a masterpiece. There was nothing small about Gerry: not his roles, not his talent, not his heart. You might get me to concede he was small in stature, but that only made everything else about him seem that much bigger.

As Henry IV in Henry IV, Part 2

I cannot recall exactly when I first met Gerry, but my first strong recollection of him was in the audition session for the production of Henry IV Part 2 that I directed for Shakespeare in Delaware Park in 1999. He spoke the language eloquently, with a clear affection for it. He was not someone I had initially conceived of for the part of Bolingbroke/Henry IV, but there was something about his bearing on stage that echoed Henry IV as an older man, years apart from the person who deposed Richard II. “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown” is the last line of Henry IV’s opening monologue, and it seemed to be living in Gerry. So I cast him in the role, and he, of course, delivered, as he always did. His embodiment of an older king, regretful of his past, worn down by his obligations, and concerned for his seemingly miscreant son, was exactly what I wanted, without clearly knowing it at the time.

From that point on we developed a great friendship, one steeped in a friendly rivalry. Both of us are character actors, and often we were up for the same roles, but he always had so much more “character.” Gerry had a far more interesting character face that I’ve ever had. It looked like a face that had been dragged through 100 miles of bad road. He had a craggy look, with character lines on top of character lines. And he could turn that face into a thousand different emotions, from the sorrows of an old man whose life had been hard, to the impish joy of a sly devil who just pulled a fast one on you. I always thought he was the re-incarnation of the famous Irish actor Barry Fitzgerald. His mastery of Irish dramatic literature was well-known in Buffalo, and as I learned yesterday, he appeared in 45 productions at the Irish Classical Theatre Company in Buffalo, several of them as the classic Irish character down on his luck whose ambition was always just a little out of his reach.

Trinculo/Sebastian – The Tempest 2008

He was a fan favorite at Shakespeare in Delaware Park as well. Perhaps our biggest “rivalry” was who could play the Gravedigger best. We’d have a good time throwing barbs at each other after seeing one another’s performance of the role. We failed, however, to achieve our shared dream of playing the two gravediggers together, alternating Gravedigger 1 and 2 each night. But we did have great fun playing Sebastian/Trinculo in The Tempest, and Pistol/Fluellen in Henry V. I think he enjoyed just a little too much giving me that leek to bite into every night in that show.

What went unspoken at his memorial, however, and which was a love shared by us both that went beyond the theatre, was our mutual love of baseball. Gerry was born in Philadelphia, and was a die-hard fan of the Phillies, dating back to the Whiz Kids era. I grew up with Mantle and Maris and the NY Yankees, so we both had baseball memories that stretched far into the past. He didn’t much like the Yankees, but he didn’t hold that against me. After a time we got into the habit of wishing each other a Happy Opening Day as each new baseball season began. During the 2009 World Series, which featured the NY Yankees against the Philadelphia Phillies, we spent the entire series texting with each other as the games were played. Last year, when the Phillies played against the cheating Houston Astros, I lent him my full support, became a temporary Philly Phanatic, and texted with him as the games were played and I ducked in and out of rehearsal to check the score. My final communication with him was just this past April, as the Yankees opened the season with their second series against the Phillies. The Yankees took that early series, two games to one. We texted a bit, and of course I had to get his opinion about the pitch clock, which he did not like at all. Here’s his response:

You can watch on YouTube game 7 of the 1952 WS (Yanks Dodgers) and to a man no hitter stepped out of the batter’s box between pitches. It was and should be the way the game is played. Fuck rules that screw with the game’s natural rhythm. Television took care of that. I think I mean that “they” keep trying to make it a TV sport when it just ain’t.

He had a deep respect for the timelessness of the game, its rhythms and flow – a reverence that matched my own. It was the last message I received from him – classic Gerry.

It’s rare to find someone in life who shares the same depth of passion for the things you revere as well. Gerry’s passion for the theatre and its rituals, and baseball and its beauty, were what we shared together. I shall miss Gerry tremendously. The knowledge that I’ll never see him on the stage again, or work with him in a show again, or text “Happy Opening Day” to him again, weighs heavy on my spirit. The greatest hardship of getting older is not the aches and pains of the body, but rather the heartaches of the soul as, one by one, you begin to lose those deep friendships that matter, knowing that they can never be replaced. My solace will lie in the fact that, when I come to work at the Irish Classical Theatre Company again in 2024, I will be able to see the ghost light that was gifted to the theatre in Gerry’s memory. It’s a fitting tribute to a man whose light shone on so many others and gave to them the gift of theatrical joy. To paraphrase Stanislavski, “There are no small lives; just small people.” Gerry’s life was a shining example of how all of us should live, taking whatever smallness we have measured against the vastness of this dark universe, and giving it a great bright light. -twl

Jan

2023

On This Rainy Day

Dunkirk NY – I had thought over the past two days that I might write a baseball essay, something on the state of the Yankees at the mid-point of the hot stove season. But after watching the Monday Night Football game on January 2, 2023 between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, wherein Damar Hamlin, a 24-year-old backup safety for the Bills, playing due to an injury to starter Micah Hyde, suffered a death-threatening injury, it seemed more appropriate, on this rainy day with AML still laid up, to write about why I seldom watch football anymore.

It’s my bad luck to live in the Buffalo region, where the Bills reign supreme. Not to be able to discuss the Bills’ season is tantamount to having nothing to talk about (of course, there’s always the snow in a pinch). The Bills are the pinnacle of culture in the area, and the so-called “Bills Mafia” is known nationally. So I keep tabs on the Bills for the sake of having the ability to make small talk about them when the occasion requires it.

But I am not the football fan I was back in the 60s and 70s. Although I grew up in the NY metropolitan area, I became a Dallas Cowboys fan, partly because I went through a quick “Western” phase of my life as a teenager, and partly because I admired “Bullet” Bob Hayes, billed as the “fastest man alive.” Speed was my one great skill as an athlete, and Bob Hayes had come to the Cowboys from a track and field career where he had won Olympic Gold in the 100m dash. I watched the Dallas Cowboys to watch Bob Hayes do his thing, and that carried over into becoming a fan of the team under Tom Landry. But now, under Jerry Jones, the Cowboys are something of a clown show, and as they became “America’s Team,” I dropped out and became less and less a fan of both the team and the sport.

The phenomenon that finally turned me away from the game, however, is what I call the “cult of celebration.” It is now common in the NFL for players to celebrate every single thing that happens on the football field. Get a first down, celebrate. Get a touchdown, celebrate. Hit a player especially hard, celebrate. But the most galling celebrations of all are the ones that come after hard and punishing hits by defensive players. The sack of a quarterback calls for shows of strength by flexing arm muscles, growls, screams of fierce pleasure, and all other sorts of displays of “emotions.” It is expected. It is not conceivable to fans or players alike these days for a lineman who has just sacked a quarterback to get up, perhaps adjust a helmet or pad, and simply walk back to the huddle, having accomplished his objective. The requisite intimidating gestures and rituals must be performed, intended to show the opponent (but mostly the crowd) how fierce and tough the player is.

To me, it is the fact that attention and praise is heaped upon those who commit the fiercest violence that is at the heart of what’s wrong with the NFL as a sport. The hypocrisy on display right now by all concerned is blatant. You can’t have it both ways: you can’t glorify the vicious hits, the level of injuries, the crippling aftermath that happens to retired players later in life such as CTE or other debilitating conditions, and then turn around and feel bad for one player whose heart stopped while on the field of play, and lies in critical condition in a hospital. If the NFL, its players, and its fans are truly serious in their concern for Mr. Hamlin, then they all should immediately cease the mindless celebration of the violence inherent in the game.

Football is a violent game, and if you choose to play it or watch it, all well and good. But the excessive glorification and celebration of the violence is unnecessary. The game was a fine game when Bob Hayes played it. The violence was there, but not unduly celebrated. I don’t remember Bob Lily or Jethro Pugh or Randy White ever performing excessive displays of celebration while they played. It’s a mindset that only feeds on itself and demands ever-increasing attempts to top that last hit. Eliminating the celebration of the inherent violence in football lies at the root of creating a mindset where the game can be played well and skillfully, but without any undue reveling in the violence.

Aug

2021

As White As The Ball

Dunkirk NY – Back in 2017, I found a NY Yankees blog I thought at the time was fun. It appeared to be written by a couple of baby boomer Yankee fans like myself, as it referenced teams and players going back to the late 50s/early 60s. The writers are the type of Yankee fans who are caustically critical when the team is losing, and ecstatic when the team is winning. They have generally unfavorable opinions of the GM Brian Cashman and field manager Aaron Boone. On the whole, they favor baseball played with more contact hitting, base stealing, bunting, productive outs, sacrifice flies, etc. Perhaps most significant of all, they favor the clean-cut, button-down, no-facial-hair (except mustaches), short-crop haircut look. They do not like any flash or flair, preferring instead the old “unwritten rules” that encourage a lack of celebration, showboating, enthusiasm, emotion, or any other display that would either indicate you’re having fun or showing up your opponent. They have a fairly consistent list of commentors who display the same attitudes and outlook about the game.

I began to add my voice to the list of commentors, and was slowly gaining some acceptance. The commentors are a clique, so gaining acceptance was not guaranteed. And I admit, it was fun while it lasted. Many of the commentors, as well as the authors themselves, are very clever writers, mixing their predisposition for pessimism with a blend of acknowledgement of the good times, however begrudgingly (such as when Cashman makes a good trade). And they know their Yankee history. But a particular incident opened my eyes to a number of things about both the Yankees, and this brand of Yankee fan (and to repeat, I was once this brand of fan), and that was when Manny Machado was heading towards free agency, and the Yankees were one of the teams that he indicated he wanted to sign with.

Let me digress for a little context. Younger players today, and particularly players with Latin American heritage, do not subscribe to the “unwritten rules” concerning on-field behavior. They play with flair, style, and a joy that baseball had not seen for most of its mostly whites-only history. All the “unwritten rules” of baseball were “unwritten” by white players, and non-white players, once they were allowed to play in the major leagues, were expected to follow these “unwritten” rules. And for the next 40+ years, they did, until Ken Griffey Jr. broke the “rules” by wearing his cap backwards and celebrating key moments.

Today, “the kids” (as in Junior’s expression “Let the kids play”) play with flair, something brought to the game emphatically by Latin players. When I attended the 2017 World Baseball Classic quarterfinals in San Diego, CA, it was the first time I had ever watched teams completely composed of Latin players. The joy, abandon, and emotion with which they played, not to mention the flair and style, was unlike anything I had ever seen on the baseball field. In particular, the Puerto Rican team, with players like Carlos Beltran and Javier Baez, was incredibly stylistic and colorful. They dyed their hair bright gold, celebrated everything possible, and without the restrictions of “unwritten rules” concerning on-field behavior (due to the complete lack of white people on the team), played the game with abandon. I loved it.

Back to the story. I’ll cut to the chase – Manny Machado was deemed by many on the aforementioned blog to have a “bad attitude.” He didn’t “hustle.” Having seen what I saw at the WBC, my eyes were opened to the reality that all the negatives mentioned about Manny’s play were, on the whole, dog whistles for the idea that he did not follow the “unwritten rules” – again, rules written by white players in the all-white era. He didn’t fit the “Yankee mold.”

I argued in the comments that the Yankees should sign Machado, as he had indicated he wanted to play in NY for the Yankees (Aaron Judge even said he’d “look good” in pinstripes). The Yankees needed a shortstop (or 3B, wherever they could slot him), and he was the best player available. Bryce Harper was also a free agent that season, but again, he was brash, with long hair and a beard, flipped his bat, and there was a question as to whether he’d be a good fit. In short, the consensus opinion on the blog in question was that neither was a good fit for “the Yankee mold.” The Yankees eventually signed Giancarlo Stanton. Both Machado and Harper have gone on to have far better careers than Stanton, and either would have been cheaper than what the Yankees currently pay Stanton. But that’s hindsight – or maybe not.

I wrote a somewhat scathing comment suggesting that the reasons offered for not signing Machado were tinged with racism, and of course got the usual answers that race had nothing to do with it; it was all about “behavior” and “attitude” and that there was a “right” way to play the game. It never dawned on the blog’s writers that the “right way” to play the game has been dictated by the white players who dominated the game for the vast majority of its history, and that these “unwritten rules” were pretty much forced on the non-white players coming up.

I abandoned the blog after that, and hadn’t been back since until recently, when for some reason a Google search brought it back up. Lest you think the blog has changed its attitude, let me pull two recent quotes for you:

Odor is a much better player while clean-shaven. The beard, coupled with his bald head and oversized headband, made him look like a bad Disney genie. (8/22/21)

Really? In his best year with the Texas Rangers, when he was not clean-shaven, his slash line was .271/.296/.502, with an OPS of .798 and an OPS+ of 105. His current slash line is .216/.297/.404, with an OPS of .701 and an OPS+ of 91. His 8-year career OPS+ of 89 makes him a slightly below-average player, beard or not. I don’t see how being now clean-shaven he’s a “much better player.” I rather suspect what the writer means is that it makes him a “much more acceptable” Yankee player.

Needless to say, Odor plays with intensity, bat flips, and the like. He even has a bat flip when he walks. He is a player of extremes: he’s gotten some big hits and home runs as a Yankee, and is usually the first one out of the dugout to congratulate a teammate. He is ever-present on the field, and has learned on-the-fly to play 3B. Yet the author seems to feel the need to mention he’s a “much better ballplayer while clean-shaven.” One can only hope Joey Gallo, who is now minus his beard as a Yankee, will also become a “much better ballplayer.” No mention has ever been made of how much better a pitcher Gerrit Cole is, who sported long hair and a shaggy beard with both Pittsburgh and Houston, now that he is also a clean-shaven Yankee. And then there is this gem:

Set the Wayback to December of 2018, when the free agents Bryce Harper and Manny Machado were both sort of campaigning to join the Yankees, or at least lure them into a bidding war. (In both cases though, I believe they were sincere: For years, Harper had made no secret of his desire to play for the Yankees, and Machado’s wife – a native New Yorker – wanted to go home.)…And here’s the current rub: Both Harper and Machado are having great seasons. (Harper with 22 HRs and .290, Machado with 21 HR and .278.) We could end up playing either guy, and he might just have something to prove. (8/20/21)

The implication here is that, if we had gotten either of these two “bad attitude” players, the Yankees would be in far better shape now. Remind me again what your take was on these two guys in 2018?

I’m going to conclude this post by saying this. The writers of the blog in question still think it’s 1961. They want baseball to be played the way it was played in 1961. They want all players regardless of race, color, or creed, to adhere to the “unwritten rules” of field behavior dictated by “traditions” established when the game was whites only (have they ever even seen videos of Negro League players warming up?). And I admit, for most of my adult life, that’s what I wanted to see. But since that eye-opening experience watching the Puerto Rican team play in the 2017 WBC, I don’t believe that anymore. The Yankees are a team steeped in that white tradition, a system with a systemic racist foundation. George Weiss was a notorious racist, and held out as long as possible before being practically forced to sign Elston Howard (and then trying as hard as possible to keep him on the bench). None of the post-Robinson black players who came up (such as, oh say, Willie Mays) fit the “Yankee mold,” as Weiss put it.

But it’s not 1961. It’s 2021, and for the Yankees to become a better ball club, it’s time they ditched their repressive attitudes and throw away the “Yankee mold” created by Weiss, George Steinbrenner, and perpetuated by Hal. It’s time to get rid of the “white as the ball” attitude. It’s time to let Odor, Cole, Gallo, and anyone else have whatever facial hair they want. It’s time to add some color, life and flair to the Yankee brand. It’s time to stop insisting that players conform to a particular dress code. I don’t see that letting players have style and fun has in any way hurt the talent of such players as Fernando Tatis Jr, Vlad Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, or yes, Manny Machado. It’s clear some younger Yankee players are trying, however possible, to add some personality and style in imperceptible ways. Stanton has grown as much of a mustache/goatee as permissible. Odor tucks his jersey flap inside his chest rather than a complete button-up. Luke Voit also leaves a few buttons undone, as well as having his sleeves cut a little bit shorter to show off his biceps. Aaron Judge has a strong shoe game going. We need more of this – we need the Yankees to bust open and loose and let the dogs out. We need to clear the air of the musty ghosts of Yankee tradition that will haunt the club if they are not purged. We can respect the past and honor tradition in many ways (Judge’s retired numbers spikes e.g.), all of which can be creative without being disrespectful.

Traditional Yankee fans of the sort I was will not like such changes. There will be the type of resistance seen when Jackie broke into the game. But if an old dog like me can convert, then it’s not too hard to do. I hope before I shuffle off this mortal coil, I will get to see a new, modern, more exciting and excited Yankee team. Let’s hope I get to see braids, hair frostings, colorful headbands, and orange-colored spikes. Let’s hope I see multicultural expressions of pride and ways to play the game. Let’s hope I see the dog whistle attitudes disguised as “tradition” and “the Yankee way” that permeate so much of Yankee fandom disappear. I don’t think we’ll win another World Series until that happens. -twl

May

2020

On KBO Baseball

I’ve been watching some of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) games that have been televised since the league began play on May 5, 2020. I started out watching the ESPN broadcasts of the games, but soon gave that up, as the quality was pretty poor overall. I have turned to watching the games on Twitch via the KBO Twitch channel. While the games are broadcast completely in Korean, the experience has been much more fulfilling. The ESPN broadcasters seemed to be more interested in interviewing their various guests than calling a game, while the Korean broadcasters are clearly interested in the game itself. While I cannot understand anything beyond the English used for certain events in the game (a home run is a “home run,” and the ball-strike count is always given in English), the enthusiasm and excitement for the game comes through clearly. The broadcasters are invested in the game itself, and that is a much more satisfying experience. Continue reading →

Mar

2020

No Joy in Mudville

This morning I noticed on my newsfeed that The Hardball Times, one of the best baseball sites out there, is closing up for the duration. Along with that, the related baseball stats site Fangraphs has asked for additional subscribers to help compensate for lost ad revenue due to decreased traffic so it can keep running. With no baseball going on, visits to the sites have decreased sharply. Each day, it seems, brings a further diminution of what we once called reality.

Fangraphs did offer one terrific suggestion, which may be worth the price of a subscription. MLB has released through its At Bat app the entire 2018 and 2019 seasons for viewing. Fangraphs’ suggestion was to choose a team that is not one you’d normally watch, and follow its 2019 season as if it were happening in real time. It also offered some suggestions as to which teams to follow based on their 2019 stats. After looking all the possibilities over, I have decided to take in the 2019 Minnesota Twins. As a backup for when the Twins aren’t playing, I am going with the Oakland Athletics.

Update 4/4/20 – I have decided to switch teams and follow Oakland more regularly than the Twins. Why? The Oakland TV broadcast team is far better and more entertaining than the Minnesota team. Sorry, Justin Morneau, but you’re just very tough to listen to. Dallas Braden is way more fun!

I decided to follow the Twins for a number of reasons. The first is that they were a playoff team in 2019, losing to the Yankees in the ALDS. They hit the shit out of the ball all season, leading the major leagues in total home runs. They were a very balanced team all year, with decent pitching to go along with a powerful offense. They play in Minneapolis, a city I would love to live in if it weren’t so cold in the winter. Target Field seems to be a very cozy and attractive ballpark. And I have always admired the kind of players and type of teams and managers Minnesota has had throughout its history. Players like Kirby Puckett and Joe Mauer, along with managers like Tom Kelly, Ron Gardenhire and Rocco Baldelli, have made Minnesota, in my mind, one of the classiest organizations in MLB.

Oakland became the backup because their current team is a scrappy bunch of guys who, as a team, play slightly over their heads. They are always underdogs, and that makes them so much more interesting as a team. They have so many interesting and talented players, from Matt Chapman at 3B to Fernando Rodney (of all people) in their bullpen. Billy Beane continues to do so many interesting things with that team, and they are always in the mix for the post-season. While they have had little success in getting there, they always make other teams nervous. Nobody really ever wants to face the As because they can be so dangerous. And their fans are so interesting! I don’t know of any other fan base in MLB that is so colorful, loud, devoted, and loyal. I have got to get to a game at the Coliseum just to be able to sit near those fans and absorb their complete fan-ness.

This allows me to watch one baseball game a day. The beauty of this setup is that, because I did not watch either team much at all last season other than when they played the Yankees, it feels as if I am watching everything live. While I know what is going to happen with the Twins, I believe I will enjoy watching it unfold day to day as if it were in real time. Oakland will fill in the days off. And because the games are recorded, I can even buzz through commercials to make the games shorter to watch.

And yes, there is still some cricket to fill in any other spare time. The international cricket scene is just as delayed as MLB, so there have been no additional matches to watch for the past three weeks. I have taken in the 3 ODIs played between South Africa and Australia (very disappointed in the Aussies), and am cruising Willow to see what else might be next. Unfortunately the Ashes tournament from 2019 is no longer available, and there are relatively few test matches available for viewing. But there’s still some worthwhile matches to watch as I continue to learn the players and teams. Sri Lanka v. Bangladesh, and I believe West Indies v. Pakistan are still on tap.

This is the plan to get me through the stay-at-home mandates we are all living with. I think the most difficult aspect of this whole situation is finding things to keep you busy while at the same time realizing that things on the outside are a mess. While it’s not much, doing my part by staying indoors, not traveling anywhere, and staying healthy so as not to clog the health system is what I – and many others – need to do right now. Having a plan to make the baseball season feel as real and alive as possible is a good way for me to pass the time and enjoy the National Pastime. My thanks to Fangraphs for the tip! -twl

Feb

2020

A Defensive Compromise

Dunkirk NY – My son is very good with sabermetrics. Whenever we discuss baseball together, eventually it gets down to him pulling out some new metric that I hadn’t heard of yet to make his case. Two days ago it was the Pythagorean W-L record, which is a measure of how well or poorly a team is doing based on statistical expectations (how much luck a team is having, good or bad). I’d never heard of it, but there it was. It turns out that the Yankees had enough luck going for them in 2019 that, statistically, they should have been the 4th-best team in baseball, when they were actually the third-best team; they won four extra games due to good luck. So he does not like the idea I am about to propose, sabermetrically speaking. I got this idea from watching cricket, and while I think it’s an interesting idea, it certainly would shape the flavor of the modern game a bit. Continue reading →

Jan

2020

On the Houston Ass-tros

Dunkirk NY – The fallout from the Houston Asstros sign-stealing debacle has been extensive. As spring training approaches, it will be interesting to see up close the fan reaction to the whole mess. So far we haven’t seen that, and won’t see it until we see the various signs that will appear in stadiums across the country as the season begins. The Asstros have hired Dusty Baker as their damage-control expert (can’t really call him a manager, since Houston is managed by analytics) to protect their players and re-build the team’s reputation. As of now they haven’t hired a GM.

I’m in the camp that believes the Asstros have been punished enough. There are a ton of “unwritten rules” in baseball, and this particular caper violated a whole lot of them. There will be things going on behind the scenes that the average fan will never see. Endorsements may be lost. A lot of the swagger may be lost. Anyone who ever pitched against the Asstros might be doing a little headhunting. All of this may possibly take its toll, and that is punishment enough in this game. We shall see.

I wish I knew what drives already talented and elite athletes to cheat. What is it about the makeup of a competitive pro athlete that makes winning so critical to their personality that they feel they have to cheat to get there? Why is the fun of the game, the love of the game, not sufficient? Why are the multi-million dollar salaries not enough reason to play the game fairly? I mean, essentially these are young men making shit-tons of money playing a sport, a game. Could it be that the values they learned while learning the game have warped them so badly that they feel no personal self-worth unless they win it all?

I do think our sports subculture (and by extension our American culture) of winning it all is probably at the root of this scandal, as no doubt it was during the steroid era. Getting an edge by any means possible simply seems to be the prevailing thought process. Morality and a sense of ethics does not appear to have any meaning at all in the 21st century. A generation of ballplayers (and again, by extension, American youth) has been raised, not with the notion of “do your best fair and square”, but rather “win at any cost, with any edge you can get.” This particular scandal is another one of those road markers that has as much to say about where we are heading as a society as it does about the game of baseball and sports in general. At this point in time, I think anyone who watches any sport at all has to assume that someone, somewhere, somehow, is cheating. It’s the new normal. -twl

Dec

2019

The Joy of…Cricket?

Dunkirk NY – My youngest son and I have for years bonded over baseball. He loves the sport and follows it closely. Quite often we have discussions (some might say arguments) over many aspects of the game. He is a much better sabermetrician than I am, and he’s really good at analyzing the business aspects of the game. We attended the 2017 World Baseball Classic tournament held in Petco Park in San Diego in 2017. We talk baseball quite a lot.

My oldest daughter was at one time a big baseball fan as well, rooting for the Yankees and idolizing Derek Jeter. But her attention to the sport has drifted off as she has moved to the Olympia WA area, and her partner is more into football, so now she’s a big Seahwak fan. We did enjoy an outing to T-Mobile Park to see the Mariners play while I was out there last year, though.

My middle son has never been into sports all that much. He always enjoyed the atmosphere and the food in a ballpark, but never became a true fan of the game. He knows more about the game than he admits, but I believe he’s always been a little envious of how much my youngest son and I talk and bond over baseball.

Well, we seem to have found a solution to that situation. He has become a fan of cricket, and during a phone conversation he mentioned I could fill a lot of my retirement time with watching cricket, since it’s so close to baseball. I had been looking for a sport to fill up the off-season. I started with soccer but was unable to keep that up. I’ve grown terrifically disenchanted with American football and no longer am truly interested, although I will watch a game here and there. Cricket, however, has begun to fill that space. I find myself more and more watching cricket matches, and I am becoming a fan of the sport. The pace of the game is very much like baseball (leisurely, pastoral), and the sense of throwing and striking a ball is a rhythm I can easily fall into. My son has been teaching me a lot about the game, and we’ve really begun to form a bond over it. It’s added a whole new dimension to our relationship, and I’m pretty happy about that.

Cricket is a game full of tradition and history much like baseball, and there are many fascinating aspects to the game. I really can’t go too much into cricket laws here, since they are involved and complicated, but here are the basic similarities which attract me to the game:

There is a bowler (pitcher) and a batter (hitter). The bowler throws the ball to the batter from 60′ away, and they are allowed to bounce the ball.
The objective of the bowling side is to get 10 wickets (outs) for the least amount of runs allowed. The objective of the batting side is to score as many runs as possible before 10 wickets are recorded.
Singles, doubles, triples and “home runs” (boundaries) exist. Boundaries can be for either four runs, or six runs when the ball clears the boundary on the fly.
There are always two batters on the pitch (field) at any time, and they score runs by running safely between the wickets. There is a defined “safe ground” much like a base.
Once a batter is dismissed, they are out for good. You only go through a lineup once. There are 11 players to a side, but you need only 10 wickets (outs) to end an innings (a team’s batting session is called an innings, and it’s always plural).
Batters are dismissed (out) if a struck ball is caught on the fly, if they are run out, bowled out, or stumped. The latter three involve breaking the wicket before a batter has reached their ground (gotten on base).
There is no “strike zone.” A batter may choose to strike the ball or not. If they hit the ball, they may choose to run or not. The batter’s most important goal is to defend the wicket from being struck by the bowler. If that happens, the batter is “bowled out,” and dismissed (“He’s/She’s got to go!”).
Bowlers throw 6 deliveries, and once they’ve done that, another bowler can come in (and usually does) for another 6 deliveries. Each delivery of 6 balls is called an “over.”
Bowlers generally are categorized in two types: fast bowlers, and spinners. Fast bowlers are known for speed, while spinners throw breaking balls. The top speed of the best fast bowlers is around 90 MPH/145 KPH for men.
The entire field is shaped like an oval, and there is no foul territory. The batter is free to strike the ball in any direction at any time.
Only the wicket keeper (catcher) is allowed to wear gloves. All other fielders play barehanded. The cricket ball is somewhat similar in makeup to a baseball. Imagine catching a fly ball in baseball with your bare hands.
There is no clock in cricket. A test match, the longest form of the game, can take 5 days to play.
There are three basic forms of the game: test, T20, and ODI.
- Test cricket is the oldest form of the game, the longest form, and most traditional
- Twenty20 (T20) consists of twenty overs per side, with each team getting one “at bat.” This is a popular league format for professional players, and lasts about as long as an average baseball game.
- ODI (One Day Invitational) consists of 50 overs per side, with each side getting one “at bat.” It generally takes a full day to play.
There are professional leagues for women in cricket, and they are quite popular. Women also do play-by-play and analysis, called commentary.

I could go on, but I think I’ll stop there. It’s really not my purpose to explain the game here, but rather to express my growing affection for the game, and for the new relationship it has engendered with my middle son. Right now I am watching a test match between Australia and New Zealand via an app called Willow. The difference in time zone means I watch a delayed replay of the match, so I can watch almost any time I like. As I watch, my son and I exchange information, comments, and I ask questions when I don’t understand something. It’s actually quite a simple game once you get the hang of it, but learning all the terminology can be daunting. I keep a cheat sheet next to me as I watch.

I recommend the sport. It’s added a new dimension to my baseball off-season, as well as a new dimension between me and my son. I now have one son for baseball, and one for cricket. It’s a nice set-up to carry me forward in retirement. Howzat? -twl

Nov

2019

How About Kim Ng?

Kim Ng

Dunkirk NY – The SF Giants are looking for a new general manager for their club for 2020. So why not Kim Ng? Why don’t I see her name floating about?

Currently the Senior VP of Baseball Operations for MLB, Kim is a perfect candidate for the job. She has been an assistant GM for the Yankees under Brian Cashman and with the Dodgers as VP and AGM. She’s interviewed for the GM positions at Seattle, San Diego, and the Angels. Her name is often brought up when new GM positions open.

I think the San Francisco opening is the perfect slot for her to step in and break the gender barrier. Farhan Zaidi, who is president of baseball operations at SFG, has been operating without a GM since he was hired, and it’s not likely he will be hands-off when a GM is chosen. He won’t hire any of the experienced GMs out there, who would probably want more autonomy.

Ng is a good fit because this would really be an opportunity for her to get her feet wet as a GM with Zaidi working closely with her. Her selection would go over well in a liberal multicultural city such as SF, especially with its high Asian population. She is not inexperienced, and would come with an inside perspective on all of MLB from working under Joe Torre. She has as much or more experience than any of the names being tossed about now as speculative candidates. I don’t see how this doesn’t work.

Baseball’s gender barrier is very high, and the recent episode with Brandon Taubman of the Astros and his taunting of female reporters is just another indication of the heavy male prejudice that exists in baseball. Zaidi, who is a Pakistani Muslim, should have some sensitivity to breaking barriers (first Muslim GM). If there’s one thing baseball does not need at the moment, it’s another white male GM. San Francisco should seriously consider Kim Ng. I’ve been pulling for her to get a GM job for a few years now, and if she manages to break through, I’ll be very pleased to see another barrier broken in baseball. -twl

The Joy of Baseball

Yankee Fandom

RIP Gerry Maher

On This Rainy Day

As White As The Ball

On KBO Baseball

No Joy in Mudville

A Defensive Compromise

On the Houston Ass-tros

The Joy of…Cricket?

How About Kim Ng?

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