This, from Robbie Ross Jr., should put a smile on your face.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Baseball Today.
Maybe it's silly to be so excited for a spring training game (especially because they've already played one) but I'm looking forward to having baseball back on the TV. Hope springs and all that but this could be a special team.
1:05 Minny at Boston on NESN. Be there or be square.
1:05 Minny at Boston on NESN. Be there or be square.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Ghost Runner on Second.
Being a catcher on a professional baseball team is hard on the body, it's bad for the ankles, bad for the knees, bad for the hips, bad for the back, and with one too many backswings to the noggin--bad for the brain. Prime example: Joe Torre, who is apparently losing his marbles.
In rookie ball this year, Torre is instituting a policy for extra innings where teams start the inning with a runner second. Disregarding the oddities of how one would score any play involving said runner and the seeming advantage it gives to the home team, this is beyond a terrible idea.
One of the great things about baseball is that there are no namby-pamby, gold-star-for-everyone ties or super-duper special overtime rules. There is a winner and a loser and you play on, deep into the night, as necessary to determine the outcome. The tension and frustration, the sense of do or die, the hero or the goat, extra innings are the human condition played out before you.
And Joe Torre wants to scrap it all because "It's not fun to watch when you go through your whole pitching staff and wind up bringing in a utility infielder to pitch."
Maybe players don't like it but man is Torre wrong. Extra innings are glorious innings. I turn on games that I have absolutely no interest in otherwise because they've gone to extras. Maybe you pick a team to start but in the end, you end up rooting for whichever team is batting.
But because stupid ideas seem to prevail, we can all look forward to games that end more quickly in the future. Yay!
In rookie ball this year, Torre is instituting a policy for extra innings where teams start the inning with a runner second. Disregarding the oddities of how one would score any play involving said runner and the seeming advantage it gives to the home team, this is beyond a terrible idea.
One of the great things about baseball is that there are no namby-pamby, gold-star-for-everyone ties or super-duper special overtime rules. There is a winner and a loser and you play on, deep into the night, as necessary to determine the outcome. The tension and frustration, the sense of do or die, the hero or the goat, extra innings are the human condition played out before you.
And Joe Torre wants to scrap it all because "It's not fun to watch when you go through your whole pitching staff and wind up bringing in a utility infielder to pitch."
Maybe players don't like it but man is Torre wrong. Extra innings are glorious innings. I turn on games that I have absolutely no interest in otherwise because they've gone to extras. Maybe you pick a team to start but in the end, you end up rooting for whichever team is batting.
But because stupid ideas seem to prevail, we can all look forward to games that end more quickly in the future. Yay!
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
More Jerry.
NESN announced today that they have signed Remy to a new contract, for which he will serve as color analyst for 115 games per season. I enjoy his insights quite a bit, so this is excellent news. Dave O'Brien really does talk too much but I think that together they make a nice team.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
All in a Day's Work.
So I sat down today with the intention of writing something about how Rich Hill really ought to have Brian Bannister on his Christmas card list.
And then it turned out that Dave Dombrowski had gone and traded for Tyler Thornburg. In general, trading for relievers makes me nervous. Given his history of doing a really really bad job building a bullpen, Dave Dombrowski trading for a reliever is terrifying. So I did a little putter around the Internet looking for reassurance? something good to say? And Thornburg was very good last year and while it was the NL Central, (as was pointed out) there's a difference between being very good in the NL Central while playing for, say, the Cubs and playing for the Brewers.
I like Travis Shaw. He seems like a good guy. I hope that he can find his first half success in Milwaukee.
Pretty sure, though, that we can pencil Thornburg in for his lower arm to separate from his body by mid-June. That's just the way things work.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Dombrowski goes and trades Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, et al for Chris Sale. Chris. Sale. Chris Sale improves the rotation. Chris Sale improves the team. Chris Sale is, possibly, a spoiled brat. Chris Sale is an injury waiting to happen.
Moncada is a huge ball of potential and if he learns to hit a breaking ball, the kid could be serious news. He's a big loss. But I suppose having a farm system is not something that one values, if one hires Dave Dombrowski.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Dombrowski has gone and signed Mitch Moreland. Meh. Whatever.
And then it turned out that Dave Dombrowski had gone and traded for Tyler Thornburg. In general, trading for relievers makes me nervous. Given his history of doing a really really bad job building a bullpen, Dave Dombrowski trading for a reliever is terrifying. So I did a little putter around the Internet looking for reassurance? something good to say? And Thornburg was very good last year and while it was the NL Central, (as was pointed out) there's a difference between being very good in the NL Central while playing for, say, the Cubs and playing for the Brewers.
I like Travis Shaw. He seems like a good guy. I hope that he can find his first half success in Milwaukee.
Pretty sure, though, that we can pencil Thornburg in for his lower arm to separate from his body by mid-June. That's just the way things work.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Dombrowski goes and trades Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, et al for Chris Sale. Chris. Sale. Chris Sale improves the rotation. Chris Sale improves the team. Chris Sale is, possibly, a spoiled brat. Chris Sale is an injury waiting to happen.
Moncada is a huge ball of potential and if he learns to hit a breaking ball, the kid could be serious news. He's a big loss. But I suppose having a farm system is not something that one values, if one hires Dave Dombrowski.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Dombrowski has gone and signed Mitch Moreland. Meh. Whatever.
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Feeling Philosophical.
A baseball game can be an amusing, albeit expensive, afternoon of entertainment. There are good guys and there are bad guys and if the good guys don't win? Well, it's a shame.
If, however, we agree to engage with the game on a deeper level, the drama of a baseball game or a baseball season can show us who we are. It can reflect back to us what we value (and what we're willing is discard) in a way, perhaps, that might not be readily apparent in our hectic daily lives. In the way of all good drama, it can force us to examine ourselves and why we feel the way we do. If we can take those lessons that we've learned from the game, we can apply them to the wider world.
And so today, of all days, we attempt to embrace Lou Groman's philosophy: "The sun will rise. The sun will set. And I'll eat lunch."
If, however, we agree to engage with the game on a deeper level, the drama of a baseball game or a baseball season can show us who we are. It can reflect back to us what we value (and what we're willing is discard) in a way, perhaps, that might not be readily apparent in our hectic daily lives. In the way of all good drama, it can force us to examine ourselves and why we feel the way we do. If we can take those lessons that we've learned from the game, we can apply them to the wider world.
And so today, of all days, we attempt to embrace Lou Groman's philosophy: "The sun will rise. The sun will set. And I'll eat lunch."
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Ya Betts Believe.
Well done to Mookie Betts, who has won the gold glove for right field. He's really a fun player to watch. Here's hoping he can be here for a long time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
