Posts belonging to Category Major League Baseball

In the game of baseball it is common place to hear somebody talking about “playing the game the right way.”  The right way means a few things.  It means not taking a single pitch off.  It means conducting yourself like a professional.  It means that as a player, you are willing to sacrifice your body for the team’s success.  Today, on ESPN.com, I watched Buster Olney’s video blog and could not believe what I was hearing come from his mouth.

In talking about the Indians rookie phenom catcher, Carlos Santana, Olney began to question the value of catchers blocking home plate.  I get that he is talking about managing investments.  From a business stand point, it makes logical sense.  If this is the most important part of my organization, I need to protect my asset.  In a day and age where first year professionals are touted as the greatest thing since sliced bread, owners have become much more conservative in their approach to player development.  Just look at Stephen Strasburg.  Shoulder stiffness, straight to the 15 day DL for you.  Or look at the debate surrounding pitch counts.  Are they throwing too much?  Are they not throwing enough?

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A few months ago, someone I barely knew asked me what I want to do before I die.  As common a question as that may be, it was one I’d never been asked before.  So naturally, as I often do in situations where I don’t know what to say, I blurted out the first answer that popped into my head.

“I want to visit all thirty major league ballparks.”

My questioner was impressed and satisfied with my answer, and as I thought more about it, I decided I was too.  After all, as any of my friends (or any of my family members, co-workers or ex-girlfriends) can tell you, I am a die-hard fan of not just the Colorado Rockies, but the game of baseball itself.  And reflecting on the question later that night, I couldn’t come up with a single good reason why I should not visit all thirty major league ballparks before my time here comes to an end.

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One of my favorite things about baseball is the array of characters that have played the game over time.  In a sport where refined technique is as valued as raw athleticism, there is much more opportunity for people outside of the typical “jock” to excel.  Anyone with an oversized pituitary gland can dunk a basketball or run and make a leaping catch, but it takes more than just physical skills to understand the mechanics of effectively swinging a bat at something moving so fast you can hardly see it.  And while all sports require some amount of strategy, baseball is much more of a thinking man’s game due to its endless situational possibilities and therefore many more intellectual athletes seem to be drawn to it as opposed to other sports.  Finally, baseball is inherently much more of an individual game than any other team sport.  When a batter strikes out he cannot blame his teammates and when a team completes a perfect game it is only the pitcher who gets recorded credit for the statistic.  These nuances, along with the overly-conservative rigidity of MLB, make baseball the perfect sport for unique personas to stand out, and no character has ever shined brighter than baseball’s one and only Spaceman, Bill Lee.

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The 2010 Major League Baseball trade deadline has come and gone and once again ended with GMs shouting out deals back and forth as frenetically as Wall Street floor traders. The two biggest names dealt before today’s deadline were pitchers Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt. Lee has turned into quite the vagabond as of late, heading from Cleveland to Philly to Seattle and finally to the Texas Rangers all within the last two seasons. Seattle got switch hitting first baseman Justin Smoak and three minor league prospects out of the deal.

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Winning Major League Baseball’s Triple Crown is arguably the noblest distinction an offensive player can receive. To hit dominantly for both power and average is a tremendous feat and even if someone manages that, a good bit of luck is still necessary to provide the base runners necessary to bat runs in. As prevalent as offense was throughout the steroid era, it still never happened. In fact, the feat is so rare that it was last accomplished by the Boston Red Sox’ Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. That season, the Yaz hit .326 with 44 home runs and 121 runs batted in. But we are now past the halfway point of the 2010 campaign and there are presently four different players still in the running for this most illustrious of baseball awards.

The first and most likely candidate to keep up the consistency needed to win the Triple Crown is Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera. The four time All-Star first baseman is currently second in the majors in batting average, hitting .349, and considering he is a career .314 hitter it is definitely within his capabilities to maintain such a high mark. At the moment he is also second in the American League in home runs with 24 and leading the AL in RBI at 88. Prior to this season the once wild-partying Cabrera entered treatment for alcoholism and followed up with a promise that he has so far delivered on to be more focused this year. The Tigers are currently three games back in the AL Central division and with lead-off man Austin Jackson hitting well over .300 there should be ample opportunity for Cabrera to drive home runs. If he doesn’t fall off the wagon down the stretch either personally or professionally then Miguel Cabrera is by far the most probable contender to become MLB’s first Triple Crown winner in over forty years.

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