Archive for the ‘Baseball’ Category

In a very competitive game where the Indians were leading The Yankees 3-2, a deep drive went toward right-center field off of the bat of Jorge Posada.  Trevor Crowe backed up onto the warning track and began his ascension to rob Posada of the go-ahead pinch homer.  As his glove cleared the wall, you can blatently see the glove of a fan blocking Crowe’s attempt at catching the ball.  Whether or not Crowe would have made the catch is irrelevant.

In the rules of instant replay according to Major League Baseball, fan interference on a ball that can be caught shall result in an out for the batter.  I was unsure as to exactly what happened until the play was shown a couple more times.  The umpires then huddled to discuss the controversy.  Then they disappear to the box down in the tunnel (pictured at top).  Eight and a half minutes later the umpires reappear and call Joe Girardi and Eric Wedge to conference the decision behind home plate.  The video replay must not have been enough evidence because the homer counted. Watch the video provided above and decide.

Upon my own review, Crowe was close enough to the ball when his glove stopped because of the interfering fan sticking his glove over the wall and preventing him from making an attempt on the ball.  I am not saying he would have caught the ball, but I am saying he has every right to attempt catching that ball without a fan physically denying him that chance.

In my opinion, this systems needs revamped fast if MLB is going to be serious about using it.

First of all, put a microphone on the umpire to explain the call so the fans know what the official ruling is determined to be.  The NFL does it successfully and if you didn’t understand why a play is or isn’t overturned, you at least learn what the officiating crew decided the rule should be interpreted as.

Secondly, speed it up.  Did they eat a couple of sandwiches and have a smoke before they decided to return?  Eight minute delays are too long.  Five minutes should be the max, and if that is unfeasable, drop the system now.

Finally, expand its uses.  Brandon Phillips got away with one today in The Reds-Astros game when he scooped up a ground ball and tried to tag Hunter Pence advancing to second before throwing to first for a double play.  Phillips missed Pence by a good foot-and-a-half, but Pence was called out and the double play was turned.  Replay would have clearly shown the umpire crew how bad they blew this call, and rapidly.  If Sportscenter can show it in 20 seconds, the umpires can manage to see the replay and deliver the proper call within five minutes.

I hate when props are added to anything and remain largely ineffective due to fear and ignorance.

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The New York Yankees opened the doors to their new home for the first time.  The Cleveland Indians were supposed to be the sacrificial lamb to help aid the baptism of a new park.  Cleveland turned out to be the rudest of guests, scoring nine times in the 7th inning and riding their best pitching start of the year to slap the Yankees,  10-2.

Cliff Lee looked sharp for six innings giving up just a homer to Jorge Posada.  Lee gave up seven hits and struck out four lowering his season ERA to 6.75.  Other than Posada’s bomb, Lee seemed to have good stuff and bent but didn’t break.  This has to be, by far, the best effort by a starting pitcher for The Tribe in all ten games.

Grady Sizemore had a grand slam and Victor Martinez homered for Cleveland as well.  Martinez is batting .381 and has been consistently productive.  Kelly Shoppach tacked on a couple of hits.

First Bank of Steinbrenner investment known as CC Sabathia, an overweight and overpaid baseball pitcher who happens to be worth half as much as the entire Florida Marlins roster, went 5 2/3 giving up five hits and walking five.  Sabathia didn’t figure into the decision.

Few things should make Cleveland sports fans happier than what happened in New York today.  The Indians, playing with their backs against the wall, played a complete game against the financially secure bullies.  This may well be the wake-up call Eric Wedge was hoping for. 

I’m sure Yankee fans everywhere will be making excuses, they have gotten really good at that in the last few years.  “What do you expect, we didn’t have A-Roid“, will be a popular one.  Here is one for the Yankee faithful from me.  One of your worst investments in recent times, and there have been plenty, failed to pitch his team to victory today.

Baseball is penciled up to be a great day at the ballpark for a family, a couple, or some buddies watching their team.  Hecklers have been ruining trips to the ballpark for years.  Last season at an Indians game, I watched a family of five leave because the guy sitting directly behind me kept dropping “f bombs” in nearly every sentence.  By the third inning, the father turned around and explained that none of his three children were ten yet and he would appreciate it if they could tone it down.  At this point, I think they poured it on more as they made the whole section uncomfortable.

Granted, the seats we were in were not field boxes or anything.  However, I had to endure a ruthless comment every pitch.  A friend of mine took his wife to the Indians opener against Toronto this past Friday.  He almost got into a fight because the three drunk idiots behind him were screaming their opinions on every single pitch.  It came to a head in the sixth when they spilled a beer everywhere and got some on him.  The usher asked my friend and his wife to leave to avoid “confrontation”.  Sorry, but I am either telling the usher to breathalize these losers or I am swinging, but I let my friend have it for not sticking up for his rights as a fan.

Don’t think I am picking on Indians fans because I know it is ten times worse in Boston where hecklers are the norm and the quiet fan is the oddball.  I do not want people to think I am blaming it on alcohol either because plenty of folks can go to a game and have a few beers without causing chaos. 

I blame it on the mindset of people who go to games knowing they will be screaming profanity laced tirades around women and children.  If you can’t act proper in public then stay home and swear at your television.  Creating a disturbing atmosphere to feel like you got your moneys worth is a horrible way to think.  Boo when you disagree with a call, yell that a guy is a bum on his second error or third strikeout, or yap when the pitcher should have come out.  But dont try to scream at the home plate umpire from right field about a ball or strike.   

Josh Beckett has been suspended six games by Major League Baseball for intentionally throwing at Bobby Abreu.  That will probably be appealed and served much later in the year.  Look for Beckett to probably only miss one start.

The anger started when Abreu was batting, called timeout, which the umpire granted, and stepped back in to see the Beckett fastball coming right for his head.

The Angels, fighting emotions over the passing of Nick Adenhart, reacted strongly as the benches emptied Sunday.  Hitting Coach Mickey Hatcher was also suspended for one game and Torii Hunter and Mike Scioscia were fined for their actions in the chaos.

One of the finest catches I have ever seen!  I do not know many major league players who could make this kind of a catch.  The reaction of the left fielder is priceless, a must see video!

The Cleveland Indians got drilled by Texas in their opener, 9-1.  Cliff Lee, the reigning Cy Young Award winner, got shelled.  The powerful offense could only manage to score one run, a gift passed ball.  The funniest part about it is that Indians fans I have talked with are disgusted already.  Lighten up folks, it was one game. 

I must have heard conversations that I was not a part of three times yesterday where people were discussing how bad the Cleveland Indians are going to do this season.  “They stunk all spring, now it carried over to the regular season”, was one dandy I caught.  “They will always be bums, look for Shapiro to start trading guys next week”. was probably the one that made me laugh the hardest.

161-1 is probably out of the question, but they are playing in arguably the weakest division in baseball.  90 wins might be good enough, and I believe they have at least 90 wins in them. 

Few things in life gave me more pleasure than listening to Harry Carey sing Take Me Out To The Ballgame.  WGN was pretty much a cable staple in the 1980’s, so I watched more than my share of Cubs games.  Carey would start yelling and slobbering in the middle of the seventh as several video shots of the crowd are panned through the air.  The Chicago people went nuts everytime I ever watched, singing along with Harry.

To analyze a bit, being taken out to the ballgame is going to require a stop at the nearest ATM machine.  Parking around most stadiums usually runs between $15-$20.  Tickets, depending on a seating preference, are widely varied.  $35 is a fair average for a ticket before all of those taxes and fees make it a $45 expense.  So if a man takes his wife out to the ballgame, he is looking at a $100 bill before he can even watch batting practice.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks…  a few bucks for these snacks.  Figure on a hot dog and a couple of beers each.  Another $35, easily pitched away.  Food and beverage prices at live sporting events is totally outrageous.  The markup is usually about three times of what a decent restaurant would charge. 

Root Root Root for the home team…  as the owners count up what we are throwing at them.  Don’t forget that the average commute to a major league stadium is about 45 minutes.  Gas is definitely not cheap.  Figure on using at least three-quarters of a tank to get there and back.

Now comes the worst part.  Major League Baseball can’t seem to decode the secret combination.  If you have a couple of kids with the wife, it turns into about a $300 day.  Airfare from Youngstown to Florida is cheaper.  The stadiums that draw sellouts could care less.  The small market teams who draw an average of 20,000 could do a better job marketing packages for families.  So you sell four seats for $10 apiece.  Wouldn’t that make more sense than seeing the bright paint of all those empty upper deck seats?

So, if you are planning to go to a game this season, plan on spending some serious cash, or its One! Two! Three! $trikes You’re Out At The Old Ball Game!

For years now, I have attended games at both Municipal Stadium and Progressive Field (The Jake) when the New York Yankees come to town.  One of my biggest headaches in life is looking around at the crowd and wondering who the home team is.  No matter which way I turn, there is an overabundance of Yankee merchandise in the stands.  Hats, shirts, pennants, babies dressed in one piece pajamas, posters, gold chains, and keychains ~ the stuff is blinding.  The applause for the Yankees is even close to the crowd noise on behalf of The Tribe.

The Average Joe would pin this on a loyal fan base, people who traveled West to see the ballgame and maybe go to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame afterwards.  Unfortunately, on many occasions, I run into people I know wearing the stuff, and they are from the Greater Cleveland area.  They are devout Yankee fans.  here are a few observations I have made of this group.

• Most Yankee fans like the LA Lakers in basketball, they root for the Dallas Cowboys in football, the Detroit Red Wings in hockey, and will tell you that Rocky Marciano was the greatest boxer of all time.  What all of these “favorites” have in common is that they are winners.  These are the Cleveland area fans who just can’t accept losing, so they manipulate the system at a young age and root for traditional winners.  Let’s face it, the Cleveland Sports Faithful have not had much to scream about for the past 50 or so years.  However, the loyalty of a Cleveland sports fan is so much more praiseworthy to me than the local bandwagon jumping fans of teams that win.
• The argument that Cleveland teams refuse to spend money to keep athletes gets old.  Just because the Yankees have so much more to spend does not mean that the Browns, Cavs, and Indians, do not pay well.  Let me put it to you this way:  When you play monopoly with your friends, give the Yankee fan half of the deeds and three quarters of all of the money that comes with the game.  We will call the other players Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Cleveland.  They have what is left to divide amongst themselves.  This is why baseball sadly needs a salary cap.

This debate has caused grief for many years.  I have friends and relatives who are diehard Yankee fans.  They will argue that George Steinbrenner spends money to assemble these All-Star caliber teams.  I find it ironic that New York has not won a World Series for awhile.  I also encourage those who surround me in pinstripes to go pay the $1,000 price to sit behind home plate at the New York Yankees new stadium.  Sadly, some will.

I once went to one of those Indian pow-wow deals when I was in high school. I was wearing a Cleveland Indians ballcap and never realized it meant anything until we left when I mentioned to the friends I was with that the people seemed rude and cold toward me. It was then brought to my attention that I had Chief Wahoo on my head. Obviously, I may have offended some of the people participating. I did not do it intentionally and nobody asked me to remove the hat or to leave.

I do not feel that the artwork on the current Indians logo is racially offensive. I have a friend who is part Sioux who I asked (he is an Indians fan). He explained to me that the Washington Redskins name and logo are much more offensive because it is a generalization that stereotypes skin color. Without getting too controversial, many races would go nuts over a team name that did that.

A few more things to ponder:

• While growing up I played Cowboys and Indians. Nobody corrected me saying it was wrong, so I kept playing.
• I was raised to believe that Thanksgiving was a holiday that the Pilgrims celebrated with their friends, the Indians who occupied their fair share of the land. Kids in school still make head dresses out of construction paper this time of the year. If that would seem racially offensive, I’m sure schools would halt the gestures.
• Indians had more controversy with each other than with the early English settlers. Had they banded together, history would surely be different in a few ways.

Bottom Line: I am sorry to all people that this logo offends. I have spoken with a few Native Americans about it over time and they say the minority cries about it. Most are not offended and could care less. I am also sure that over the next twenty or so years that the logo will be changed because a new politician from Oklahoma will feel he is doing his job by creating new laws about racially insensitive sports names.