Posts belonging to Category Teams

Other than seeing someone get kicked in the ballsack, there is nothing more hilarious than a quality baseball commercial. There is just something about seeing a professional baseball player reduced to the goofy child that he really is that makes me respect them in a unique way.  As a youngster growing up in the ‘90s, I was privileged to witness the rise of ESPN, their programming and the hilarious commercials that they produced to stay ahead of their competitors. Specifically, it was the commercials that they used for Wednesday and Sunday Night Baseball, as well as the occasional Baseball Tonight clip, that remain a centerpiece in my baseball recall.

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“Who hits the ball and makes it go? Dominic DiMaggio./ Who runs the bases fast, not slow? Dominic DiMaggio./ Who’s better than his brother Joe? Dominic DiMaggio./ But when it comes to gettin’ dough, they give it all to brother Joe.”

Growing up, my older brother Griff was always the baseball player of the family.  He was a badass while I pretty much sucked.  Luckily, I realized this from a young age and chose to pursue other interests.  And even if my parents had high hopes naming me after the great George Brett, they obviously recognized the vast talent discrepancy between us and never pressured me to play, either.  Things worked out alright, I found plenty of activities, sports and otherwise, to excel at in my own right and never had to live in the enormous shadow my brother cast across Farmington baseball. Never jealous of his talents or recognition, I’ve always had nothing but respect and admiration for what Griff did on diamond; I even found my own niche in the baseball community as a respected umpire.  The point is I know how it feels to be in the stands cheering for your older brother, listening to everyone talk about how great he is.

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After watching the USA claw back into a draw with some tiny Eastern European country this morning, I’m feeling a little proud to be an American.  With the College World Series set to begin tomorrow and Ron Ron’s single apparently dropping sometime in the near future, it’s a pretty fun time in sports.  The best part about this time of year for me, though, is that the sports world only has baseball to follow (and US soccer every 4 years) until the damn NFL season starts.  I personally hate football and don’t really care for basketball either.  Hockey is not a sport in New Mexico, but from what I gather, other places unfortunately seem to care about it.  To me, these other sports are simply a massive distraction to the public and divert conversation and concentration away from the one game that actually deserves to be followed.  What I am getting at here is that for folks who primarily/only care about baseball, get ready for the best 2 months of the year.

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Chad Qualls

It’s really a shame that the Diamondbacks’ season has gone the way that it has thus far because I actually enjoy watching them on tv and listening to Mark Grace’s drunken tangents.  Luckily I haven’t caught too many games over the past week, but based upon both the highlights I’ve seen and articles I’ve read, I’m sure that Gracie has been getting a little extra sauced.  I don’t blame him.  I know that I would be too if I were watching a bunch of asshole, “relief pitchers,” continue to blow leads.  Headed by the once-reliable-turned-atrocious Chad Qualls(4 BS, 8.46 ERA), the D’backs bullpen is currently leading the National League in appearances…appearances by assholes.  Entering Thursday, the bullpen had recorded only 13 saves while blowing 12– that’s right, they almost have as many blown saves as they do saves.  What assholes.

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It’s official.  Baseball is back in the nation’s capital.

A casual fan might point out that no, baseball actually returned to Washington in April of 2005, when the Nationals played their first game in DC after 36 years as the Montreal Expos.  Others might say that it came on March 30, 2008, when they played their first game at Nationals Park, a 3-2 win over the Braves on Opening Night that ended with a walk-off home run off the bat of Ryan Zimmerman. And those fans might have had a point before last night.  But on June 8, 2010, that all changed as former number-one draft pick Stephen Strasburg made his major league debut.

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