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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

The "Designated" Topic for Today

Oh my goodness!  The baseball season is over three weeks old and I haven't blogged ANYTHING on here since Opening Day!  What is WRONG with me?  Nothing really; other than the fact that I've been busy with my day job, Tupperware business, weekly blog posts for my local paper, spring break (which included a trip to Nationals Park), kids' activities, and life in general.  Oh, and the fact that my Nationals have lost 8 of their last 11 games has been a bit of a downer.  Buy I'm a pretty optimistic person, so I won't let their current .500 record get me down.

So what have been some of the surprises so far this year (aside from the Nationals leading the Major Leagues in errors)?  First I have to mention the Toronto Blue Jays.  They're in last place in the AL East with a record of 8-13 despite having star players like Melky Cabrera (who still hasn't hit a home run), José Reyes (currently on the Disabled List), and last year's Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey (who is 2-3 so far with a 4.86 ERA).  As much hype as the Blue Jays got during the off-season, you'd think they'd be solidly in first place (kind of like the hype the Nats got... yeah.)  Then there's the Yankees, who are 11-8 despite not having Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, or Alex Rodriguez in their lineup.  And how about that Justin Upton?  He's leading the Majors with 11 home runs and is helping the Atlanta Braves maintain first place in the NL East.  It's annoying how good he is!

One thing I do want to focus on in today's post is the Designated Hitter.  Now if you're a regular reader of this blog, you probably know that I am not a fan of the DH.  In fact, I believe I have said before that if I were ever to become Commissioner of baseball, the DH is something I would eliminate.  Well in last Sunday's Baltimore Sun, columnist Kevin Cowherd (What is it with that newspaper having columnists with funny last names?  First it was Schmuck and now Cowherd?) said that the Designated Hitter needs to be made universal.  Is Mr. Cowherd on crack?  Does he not like when a pitcher happens to hit an unexpected extra-base hit?  Does he not appreciate the double-switch?  Does he just want managers to sit there and not manage?  I had a hard time digesting Mr. Cowherd's justifications.

First of all, Mr. Cowherd can't tolerate when a pitcher stands there looking at a few fastballs just to end up striking out.  Clearly he missed Stephen Strasburg's double a couple of weeks ago or the home run hit by Gio Gonzalez in his first start of the season.  Has he seen switch-hitting Carlos Zambrano lately?  How about the Rockies' Micah Owings, who in only two seasons has 5 home runs, a .316 batting average, and is often used as a pinch hitter?  Clearly not. And what's wrong with the sacrifice bunt?  Some pitchers like current free agent Liván Hernandez are masterful bunters.  I'm no braniac, but the name Babe Ruth seems to come to mind right about now when thinking about pitchers who could hit... I don't know why.

I do agree with Mr. Cowherd in that having the DH does extend the career of some players (like that of David "Big Papi" Ortiz).  But if Ortiz was in the National League, he could still pinch hit; it's not like pitchers always bat for themselves and the guys on the bench never play. Au contraire - this is when the double switch comes in and the game becomes more strategic (which Mr. Cowherd does not appreciate).  He just wants to see big-muscled guys hitting home runs instead of having to "watch a pitcher flail away like a blindfolded kid hacking at a piñata.  Problem is, being an Orioles fan, he has not seen a lot of National League pitchers who can actually bat.  Check out Dontrell Willis, Jason Marquis, and even CC Sabathia - they can all hit.  And now that there are interleague games being played almost daily, it's time for pitchers in both leagues to take batting practice and help their teams offensively.  Even if it's with a sacrifice fly, a bunt, or a surprising extra-base hit.


Monday, April 1, 2013

Twice as Nice for Bryce (even though I wasn't there to see it)


Opening Day of the 2013 Major League Baseball season brought a lot of fanfare (and fans!) to Nationals Park today, where the Washington Nationals shut out the visiting Miami Marlins by a score of 2-0.  And while it was my first time in several years not attending an Opening Day game at Nats Park (don’t cry for me, Nats fans – I will be there this Thursday afternoon with my family), I was able to catch all the action from the warmth and comfort of my living room.

The day started with the unveiling of the “2012 National League East Division Champions” pennant.  This particular sign is not pennant-shaped but rather rectangular and large, welcoming fans into the main center field gate of Nationals Park.  After the unveiling, players were presented, the National Anthem was sung by an Army quartet (sans the traditional fly-over, probably due to sequestration), and the 2012 awards were doled out.  Adam LaRoche received the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, Ian Desmomd and Stephen Strasburg received Silver Sluggers as well, Davey Johnson was given the 2012 Manager of the Year award, General Manager Mike Rizzo was awarded the Executive of the Year award, and Bryce Harper was given the National League Rookie of the Year award.  It was a ceremony that seemed to take forever – we were all definitely ready for some baseball to be played.  (As a side note, I wanted to indicate how they gave away baseball caps at the ball park today.  What are they going to be giving away when we go on Thursday?  Nothing!  But that's not why I go to the ball park, is it?  I guess not!)  Once again, I digress...

OK, back to Bryce Harper (I WAS talking about him, wasn't I?)  Well the kid ended up hitting two home runs during today’s game.  The first one was cool, but the second one was just unbelievable.  I found myself thinking “Are you freakin’ kidding me?  What does this mean?  Is this some sort of omen?”  It was kind of surreal, even though I wasn’t there to experience it.  We Nationals fans spent so many years watching mediocre baseball that it’s still hard for all this good baseball to sink in.  But we’ll take it!

And speaking of good baseball, the Nationals’ starter, Stephen Strasburg, pitched seven stellar innings, allowing only three hits while striking out three.  Strasburg threw only 80 pitches and did not walk a single batter - are they ever going to let him pitch more than seven innings?  Probably not.  He could have a no-hitter going and Davey would take him out of the game just because that's the way he's always done it.  Anyway, today Strasburg was replaced in the seventh inning (shocker!) by Tyler Clippard, who did not disappoint by giving us one of his usual stressful outings.  In typical Clippard fashion, he walked a guy and then took forever to get the next three batters out.  New Nats’ closer, Rafael Soriano, closed it out in the top of the ninth by striking out two out of the three batters he faced.  I found it odd that Soriano un-tucked his shirt as soon as he recorded the final out – I wonder if that’s his “thing” at the end of a game.  I’ll have to notice to see if that’s something he does when he earns a save – I honestly didn’t pay that much attention to him during his days as a Yankees closer.

Now the Nationals have earned their first win of the season and did not disappoint the 45,000-plus fans in attendance.  It was a very quick game – only 2 hours and 10 minutes, but they still found time for the traditional Presidents’ Race (with new member William H. Taft in the mix, though he fell over in the beginning of the race and was unable to finish).  They also played a little bit of “Take On Me” during the seventh-inning stretch as a little tribute to former Nationals’ outfielder, Michael Morse.  It was an “awww!” moment for me, especially when all the fans joined in the singing.

So what does today’s victory and Harper’s two home runs mean?  Nothing really, other than the fact that the Nationals are picking up where they left off last year, playing solid baseball (though it would have been nice if they’d had a few more hits), showing excellent team work (that double play in the seventh inning was anything but routine), and giving it their all at every at-bat.  I’m not putting all my eggs into the Nationals’ basket just yet (as much as I’d like to!); this was just one game of 162 – a lot can happen between now and then, but for now it’s nice to root for the team that is solidly in first place!