January 30, 2021 Posted in  Amateur Sports, Baseball

One more month until the start of spring training. Less than that until pitchers, catchers, and injured players report. Baseball, even without fans in the stands to start, is back. To fully get what baseball should be, one must study the game, present and past.

The smell of the grass. The smell of the wood and pine tar. What about the leather? In wintertime, tropical countries become the focal point of on-field action while in temperate countries off-field activities commence, like scouting, signing, cutting, and trading players.

Baseball is unlike any other sport. There are games every day/night for several months, with limited exceptions. So a team starting 2-15 won’t be out of postseason contention at that point whereas a team that starts 15-2 won’t be a shoe-in for the playoffs.

January 14, 2020 Posted in  Baseball, PSAs

Sign stealing in Major League Baseball.

The Astros got caught using technology to steal signs of catchers designed for the pitcher’s exclusive use. A runner on second should be the only one authorized to relay the sign to the hitter, not a centerfield camera or someone in the hitters’ team’s dugout whacking a trashcan. The integrity of the game is in question.

The penalties for illegally stealing signs are in this case a one year MLB ban. The team subsequently let the offenders go and as of the time of this writing there is one more hammer to drop.

The penalties are harsh, warranted, and insufficient at the same time. Harsh because the punishees didn’t themselves engage in the activity. They were warranted because the punishees should have put a stop to the practice yet they didn’t...

April 24, 2019 Posted in  Baseball, Hockey, NBA, NFL News

Ah, the old TV blackout. The source of frustration for all local sports fans as far as the local teams go. Let’s face it, world; Sports blackouts are so twentieth century. The population of metropolises has become too great to justify allowing blackouts to exist.

Well, then, how are teams going to fill up their stadiums? First off, run heavy promotional offers, like half-price admission, free hot dog and soda, bobblehead, free programs to the first X number of customers, etc… Teams can also require a viewer to fork over a monthly or annual fee for watching the games. But blacking games out is a huge PR nightmare.

Last I checked, the time machine has not been invented. It never will. Blackouts should not be around in the twenty-first century.

Game on, fans.

June 20, 2017 Posted in  Amateur Sports, Baseball, PSAs

Ahh. Baseball, America’s pastime, is currently a topic rarely shown at the top of sports analysis or sports news shows, so what can be done to rectify the situation? I have three steps.

1. Install a game clock to run continuously for three hours with exceptions for extra-curricular activity like slowing the game down in any way. Nine innings have to be completed at a minimum. If, after nine innings, regardless of score, there is still time on the clock, the teams should continue playing until time expires.

2. While the NFL and NHL have a frequent issue with caving in each other’s brains, baseball is like a field full of crops waiting to be harvested...

May 16, 2016 Posted in  Baseball, PSAs

Let’s talk about the worst form of human nature, revenge. In baseball, a batter sometimes gets hit with a pitch for any of the following reasons: the batter before him flips his bat when he hits a home run, the same batter does likewise (gets plunked next time up), an opponent gets hit by a pitch and his team retaliates, or the Skipper orders his pitcher to plunk the current batter.

This is one unwritten rule that needs to be thrown in the garbage. First of all, it is a safety issue. Remember Ray Chapman? He died as a result of being hit by a pitch. Batting helmets won’t always save you. Let’s put an end to this rubbish of intentional hit by pitch. The last thing we want to see is a MLB or minor league game turn into a WWE event. Fans didn’t pay to see that nonsense.

Please govern yourselv...

April 7, 2016 Posted in  Baseball

Baseball is back. The sounds, sights, and smells of the game make us all reminisce. Sure, millennials with their technology intruding the sport have changed the procedures of playing the game. Some of it is detrimental, but a lot of it is very productive. One change I’d like to see: Get rid of replay. We are already enough like robots we no longer need our umpires to be one. That’s what replay is doing. If there is a controversial call, get the umpires to gather about and decide it in one minute, as opposed to much more with replay. The mistakes are part of life. An umpire blowing a call shows us that they, like us, are human beings, not robots. Future generations can learn from this.

Now that my rant is over, here are my 2016 MLB predictions

AL East Champion: Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central:...

October 9, 2014 Posted in  Baseball

As a lifelong Dodger fan, I am disappointed in the team for yet again failing to reach the World Series. Who is to blame? Some have said the manager, which I agree with. Others have said the pitcher who was left in the game too long on three days rest. Yet others say the front office is culpable for the team for having such a horrible bullpen, causing the manager to leave the starting pitcher in too long.

The window of opportunity won’t remain open forever, L.A. Dodger players, coaches, and executives. Get it together or you might go down in baseball infamy as a team who is great in the regular season but can’t stay focused on the big prize; the World Series Championship.

October 6, 2014 Posted in  Baseball

Are you ready for the MLB Postseason? FOX Sports 1 and TBS have the games leading up to the World Series.

The classic potential matchup in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) would be the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. The San Francisco Giants. The Yankees and Red Sox of the West Coast. Right now in the NLDS SF leads Washington 2 games to 0 and LA is tied with St. Louis 1 game apiece. If LA and SF meet in the NLCS, I expect LA to win in six games if their manager handles things correctly. They are far more talented than the Giants. The only way for the Giants to win is if the Dodgers leave their starting pitcher in too long, like in Game 1 of this year’s series vs. STL. I don’t see that happening again.

Who will win if these two teams matchup in the NLCS? LA defeats SF in six or seven ...

September 25, 2013 Posted in  Baseball

I hoped this wouldn’t surface in the press.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/09/24/some-dodgers-may-have-peed-in-the-chase-field-pool-during-their-celebration/

September 22, 2013 Posted in  Baseball

Congratulations to the L.A. Dodgers for coming from the dead in June (30-42) to win the NL West.

As far as their impromptu pool bash behind the right-center field wall at Chase Field (or whatever that stadium’s called now), they got even for the Diamondbacks trying to go Royal Rumble on the Dodgers at Dodger stadium.

Arizona had requested the Dodgers not celebrate on the field, so they didn’t. Instead, they hopped the right-center field wall to get to the swimming pool. Then they acted like most of us did during our college years. Like a bunch of frat boys. As long as they didn’t deface the pool or pee in it, I have no problem with their conduct.

As far as potential retaliation is concerned, Bud Selig should suspend the next pitcher that throws at any batter...