One of the more interesting ballplayers to come along in recent years is young Billy Hamilton, outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds.  It’s not yet certain that he will reach base often enough to remain an every day player but, as Reggie Jackson once said about Rickey Henderson, Hamilton is a fast enough runner that, “…he could RUN .260.”  Hamilton batted .250 in 2014, his first full season, and through his first 21 games in 2015 was batting .204 with a lowly on base percentage of .260.  It is his ability to steal bases that excites Cincinnati fans, however, and he is also an excellent defensive asset.  Hamilton has 13 stolen bags in 14 attempts so far this season after 56 steals and 23 caught stealing attempts last year.  The native of Collins Mississippi will turn 25 years old on September 9.

Some of us are too young to remember another Billy Hamilton—“Sliding Billy” Hamilton, who played from 1888 to 1901 for Kansas City of the American Association and Philadelphia and Boston in the National League.  This Newark, New Jersey native had a career batting average of .344 and was credited with 937 stolen bases in an era when that aspect of the game was emphasized a bit more than it is these days.  Sliding Billy also cracked 40 home runs in his career, a pretty hefty total in the pre-Babe Ruth or so called dead ball era.  Ty Cobb, the most famous base stealer in history prior to the arrival of Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson, totaled 892 steals in his career.  So it was Sliding Billy Hamilton’s record that Brock surpassed with his 938 prior to Henderson zooming past everybody with his 1,406.

Here’s hoping that today’s Billy Hamilton sticks around long enough to accumulate at least half the numbers that his namesake from over a century ago accomplished.  He is fun to watch, unless you’re in the opposing team’s dugout.

Nelson Cruz of the Seattle Mariners has 13 home runs in his first 25 games of 2015.  Followers of this space may recall that, in my preseason prognostications I wrote that he would not, as he did for Baltimore last season, hit 40 home runs for the Mariners.  He is currently on pace to hit 81 this season.  That is NOT 40.

San Francisco Giants fans have pretty much enjoyed themselves the past few seasons but an ongoing issue that keeps many of them in a state of confusion is the decline in performance of their one time ace and Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum.  Little Timmy gets talked about a lot in the Bay Area.  Is his hair long or short?  Is his fastball fast or slow?  Who is his favorite catcher?  Is he any catcher’s favorite pitcher with his unpredictable command and wild pitches?  Something that doesn’t seem to get talked about like his mechanics, velocity, and choice of recreational drugs is his inability to hold runners at first base.  The guy has as much trouble holding runners on as Dick Cheney has telling the truth.  Throw in his propensity for wild pitches and you have the hurling opposite of a guy like Tim Hudson, who gets a lot of double play ground balls.  Now that home runs are not flying out of major league parks as they did in the recent past when balding incredible hulks dominated, it is a big deal to have a pitcher issue a walk when you are sure that a walk is as good as a double.  Some guys are slow to the plate and some guys have lousy pick off moves, but then there is Timmy, who seems to forget that the runner exists.  You would think that a young man capable of earning a gazillion bucks would have this brought to his attention but so far it’s all about his stuff and mechanics.  My theory is that many young pitchers are so dominant in high school, college, or the minor leagues that they don’t have to care about base runners and that scouts are so busy checking velocity or “stuff” that things like fielding the position and checking runners get overlooked.  That can be the difference between winning lots of games, which Lincecum used to do, and being a mediocre journeyman, which is what he has become.

Peckerhead.  That has long been my nickname for Pete Rose, whose banishment from baseball is possibly going to be reconsidered now that the old Chevy salesman retired from the commissioner’s office.  My disdain for Mr. Rose goes back farther than the did he or did he not gamble on baseball stuff.  First, I thought he became a media and fan favorite due to racism, in that in the sixties and early seventies the major leagues were dominated by so many great black stars that there was a need for a redneck favorite that “Charlie Hustle” filled. Then, when he took out Ray Fosse in an exhibition game and not only was unapologetic but also showered with praise for doing so, he symbolized to me the decline and fall of the empire.  He was a very good player at first but as time wore on he became an ugly self promoter who kept suiting up just to go for his hits record.  However, I must be mellowing with age, both his and mine.  He should be allowed back, just not in any sort of management or executive position, and he should go to the Hall of Fame as well.  To the new wing of the Hall, along with his idol Ty Cobb and a few others, the Flying Asshole Section.

There have been several pitches made in the last year or so to have both major leagues adopt the designated hitter rule.  I would favor the leagues adopting the same policy toward the DH—that is, dropping it entirely.

In 1973, when the change was made in the American League, I was all for it.  These days, I don’t like it at all.

There were three reasons that the DH appealed to me in 1973.  First, I envisioned something that 42 years later seems laughable–that there would be lots more complete games by pitchers, since they would not have to leave games because they were lifted for a pinch hitter.  That, I thought, was going to result in another idea that is laughable today—teams could get by with nine or even eight pitchers on the rosters.  As Ralph Kramden used to say, har de har har.  The second reason was sentimental.  The DH rule would extend the careers of players I’d grown accustomed to admiring, such as Henry Aaron, Frank Robinson, Orlando Cepeda and Harmon Killebrew.  The third reason was that I still had a fairly juvenile understanding of the game.

Like many young players, my view was that every batter should try to hit one over the fence, every pitcher should try to strike everybody out. every throw from the outfield should try to nail the runner at the most forward base etc.  As people, particularly males, of that age are apt to do, I eschewed advice.  Bunting, hitting to the opposite field, the hit and run etc. were all the tactics of feeble old sucks who were recognizing limitations that I was not ready to recognize.  Damn it, if the guy can’t hit the ball get him out of there.  After I was 14, my organized league baseball playing days were over and it subsequently took a long time, until even my slow pitch softball days were gone, for me to begin to see the light.  I see it now, although I still cringe a little at the hit and run.

The idea in 1973, much like today with the “faster pace” idea, was to increase interest with young spectators by increasing the potential for scoring runs.  Admittedly, 1968 was a freaky season with its low scores and the balance needed to be tipped after that, but I would argue that only casual fans are truly bored by low scores.  It is the lack of appreciation for all of the things that are going on that causes boredom.  Often the same “boredom” occurs with people watching futbol (soccer) until they learn to play it or somehow are able to learn what is actually going on.  Conversely, many points are scored in an NBA basketball game, but that certainly doesn’t help make it interesting.  So, for better or worse, run scoring in the American League did increase in 1973 and it was a bit of a kick to see aging stars hang on for a few seasons.  The downside of DH took a while to get noticed.  There was now a marked difference in the two major leagues and that made for interesting conversations.

What are the problems with designated hitters?  Well, specialization is one thing when we are dealing with experienced, mature athletes at the top of their games.  The well rounded player who can do more things is more fun to watch (and to be) however.  After four decades plus of the DH, we not only have pitchers not developing their batting skills but we also have players not developing their fielding skills so that they can win a job playing every day rather than pinch hitting.  Even if the DH is to survive, it should be permitted ONLY in the big leagues so that young players are not categorized early on as “DH” types and all players have incentive to work on all aspects of their game.

From a spectator’s point of view, I find that the American League has become the relatively “boring” league.  There are pitchers like Zack Greinke and Madison Bumgarner who are better hitters than some of their non pitching teammates.  On the other hand, I can’t think of a designated hitter other than David Ortiz that I enjoy watching, and if he had to play first base in order to play he would no doubt be a better first baseman.

Let’s have a campaign to eliminate the DH so we can have better, more rounded benches in all of baseball.  Then we start whittling away at bloated bullpens.

We who are baseball experts are all over the place in April every year.  We are completely confident that we know how the new major league baseball season is going to unfurl and almost all of us base our assumptions on two things: how the previous season ended and how all of the off season player transactions and roster changes have fortified or diminished each team’s chances.  Of course, we are all wrong, every last one of us.  That’s why it’s fun.

Nevertheless, here I go with my outlook for 2015.  The smart thing to do is not to save this until Halloween.  In the National, or superior, League, the consensus among certified pundits is that the Los Angeles Dodgers are once again a cinch to win the Western Division, the Washington Nationals will easily repeat in the Eastern Division, and the all new Chicago Cubs will be the eventual winners in the crazy, mixed up Central.  The lovable Cubbies sport an excellent new manager in Joe Maddon, have a fine nucleus of young talent led by Anthony Rizzo, and have added to their pitching staff the apparently invincible Jon Lester, so they are the trendy chipotle IPA team of the spring.

In the league where pitchers don’t bat,you don’t hear much about the New York Yankees any more, especially since Derek Jeter’s farewell tour finally ended.  Instead, we are welcoming the Seattle Mariners back to the favorites’ circle in the maladjusted West while the Detroit Tigers are favored to hold off that other improved Chicago team, the White Sox, in the Central, and the Boston Red Sox are chosen to ride that roller coaster back to the top in the formerly formidable Eastern Division.

Horsefeathers, I say.  Well, maybe not horsefeathers, but quite possibly bat guano.

In the National West, the Dodgers may very well have a 20 game lead by Memorial Day because, as manager Don Mattingly has said, they are more like a team now.  Howie Kendrick and Jimmy Rollins give them a much better infield, comparable to the Orioles if not the Royals or Rockies.  Since you can’t strike everybody out, although that keeps getting easier, that’s important to their pitchers.  If Joc Pederson is the center fielder they think he is, the Dodgers have a much better defense all around and a more balanced offense as well.  I expect big things from Yasiel Puig this season.

If the defending world champions win five or more games in April they will eventually work their way into the race again.  The starting pitching is shaky beyond Bumgarner and Hudson but the bullpen is solid and this team just knows how to win.  Afull healthy season from Brandon Belt would help a lot and I think Buster Posey will be better offensively than last year.  San Diego probably represents the biggest threat to L.A. but as much as their new outfield improves the offense, there are no gold gloves out there.  Loads of pitching on that team, however.    There are a lot of ifs in Colorado, as in how many games Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez can play and how well any pitcher on that roster can compete. They could be the surprise of the division but don’t expect it. Arizona is doing what they never did in their early days, that is: look to the future.  Goldschmitt is golden, Pollock is good, and upcoming young hurlers give them hope beyond 2015.

The Central NL is a bit of a tossup as it has been the last few years.  One should never count out the St. Louis Cardinals but I am feeling good about the Pittsburgh Pirates this year.  The loss of Russell Martin had me counting them out at first but I have to think that the coaching staff will be able to lead those young pitchers to success despite that.  McCutchen is at his prime, Mercer seems to have improved defensively, and I especially like the move to first base for Pedro Alvarez. It was disappointing that Starling Marte did not improve his strikeout to walk ratio last season but the rest of his game is still great.  If Josh Harrison plays anything like last year, this is a very solid team.  The Cardinals do not have the tightest infield defense by far, but Kolten Wong’s development allowed Matt Carpenter to go back to third and Jhonny Peralta is adequate , as is Matt Adams, plus all of these guys can hit.  Jason Heyward is a great addition to the lineup and the outfield and, let us not forget Mr. Yadier Molina and about 23 hard throwing pitchers.  The Cubs could finish as high as third but remember, their shortstop is still Starlin Castro.  Lester is overrated, but they are assembling the beginnings of a reputable team.  People were bad mouthing Cincinnati over the winter but their situation is a bit like that of the Phillies last year, except that the chances of  Votto, Bruce, and Brandon Phillips returning to good form are a bit better than were those of Utley, Howard, and Carlos Ruiz last year.  Plus Billy Hamilton doesn’t just steal bases–he’s a very good center fielder, and Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco are still young and improving.  I’m picking Milwaukee for last because even though they have Jonathan Lucroy, Carlos Gomez and Jean Segura, they also have Ryan Braun, ugly uniforms, and a P.O.N.Y league ballpark.

Washington breezed to a division title last season but then inexplicably faltered against the Giants in the playoffs, thanks in part to the questionable decision to remove Jordan Zimmerman from a game he’d been dominating .  The Nats are spoken of as almost the perfect team but I’m not so sure.  Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg lead the majors in ink and screentime, but they really haven’t done a whole lot yet. It could be that they will miss Tyler Clippard and Adam LaRoche but a healthy Jayson Werth makes them very tough.  They should win a relatively easy division again–maybe that’s their problem.  Miami is the favorite to challenge and I agree.  There are some very good young players in Cuba North and a lot of them pitch.  Giancarlo Stanton is for real and here come Christian Yelich and Adeiny Hechavarria.  The Braves are being written off after last year’s plunge but they usually figure things out and Nick Markakis will help.  Trading Craig Kimbel was a bit odd but so called closers are vastly overrated in my opinion.  The Mets keep trying to get interesting but somehow they thought P.O.N.Y league field (Yankee Stadium) slugger Curtis Granderson was no slugger across town and he’s no leadoff hitter either with that strikeout rate.  Meanwhile, David Wright’s youth is disappearing.  Speaking of disappearing youth, the Phillies may now be realizing that it is time to revamp but it may be a while before we hear from them again. Jimmy Rollins is no doubt a happier fellow these days. They should trade Cole Hamels to the Giants for John Bowker and a boatload of sourdough.

For all of you youngsters out there, the P.O.N.Y (standing for protect our nation’s youth) was for 13 and 14 year old players back when I was that age.  Hence, shorter fences.

The best team in the American League is a lot like a National League team—the Kansas City Royals.  Sluggers tend to rule between Memorial Day and Labor Day but teams with strong pitching and defense that can use speed and the so called “small ball” thrive in the cooler weather before and after that.  The Royals played seven World Series games last season and might well do it again in 2015.  They have not just good but tremendous defense and speed.  They lost franchise saver James Shields but seem to have plenty of good young arms to continue the work.  They do not bash home runs but they do score and that is still what counts.  Detroit bashes more with Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez and, as of last year, J. D. Martinez, but those guys run more like my ’83 Volvo than  K.C.’s Maseratis.  The Tigers have to hope that glove dude Jose Iglesias can play a lot of shortstop this season and that starting pitchers other than Anabel Sanchez can throw enough effective innings to stay away from their shaky bullpen.  Cleveland could surprise if the young pitchers in addition to Cory Kluber can progress and if they suddenly start catching and throwing the ball a lot better.  The White Sox can bash (that seems so weird to someone who grew up in the 50s) but I still think that they lack enough to really contend, although Avisail Garcia might make a big difference.  Minnesota has Paul Molitor, but he can’t play every day.

The Orioles did not get stronger but benefit by their division rivals, with the exception of Toronto, getting weaker.  Good pitching, an improved season from Chris Davis, and Buck Showalter will help them repeat in the East.  They would like to have Matt Wieters back and they would like Jonathan Schoop to get on base more often but the return to 2013 type form by Davis  will make them forget about the loss of Nelson Cruz to Seattle.  People got excited when Boston acquired Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval but, to me, the very strange divorce from most of their starting pitchers last summer is a bigger issue.  And what, as they say, is up with Clay Buchholz and his Jekyll Hyde routine.  What they really need is Jacoby Ellsbury.  That brings us to New York, which will finish fourth.  Here’s hoping that Alex Rodriguez plays good enough to stay in the lineup, assuring them plenty of defeats.  Why did Ellsbury join this team?  I know, I know.  Brett Gardner is a good player, and Didi Gregorious is a much better shortstop than the aged Jeter was but he will probably get booed out of town because he doesn’t hit much.  Screw them anyway.  Toronto could get higher than third with the good additions of Russell Martin and Josh Donalson but the loss of young pitcher Marcus Stroman will hurt.As I used to say about Tampa Bay, love the team, hate their yard.  Speaking of the Rays, they will miss Joe Maddon and David Price, but they will really miss Ben Zobrist.

I am actually picking the Angels from California via Los Angeles and Duarte to win the A.L West despite the fact that Josh Hamilton is still on the roster.  I think that Albert Pujols has one more monster season in him and that that will carry this otherwise messy looking crew through to get trounced in the playoffs. Mike Trout blah blah blah.  The A’s have better almost everything but something tells me they won’t get it together, even though they have Ben Zobrist and a very fine manager.  Nelson Cruz is good but he will not hit 40 home runs for the Mariners.  I wish Seattle would finish first but I don’t think they will.  They do have most of the ingredients and youth to boot.  Texas will struggle to be ahead of Houston if that makes sense–I’m referring to the Rangers of course.  Big black cloud over that team has now taken Yu Darvish.  Houston continues to improve but more seasoning is probably in order.

Now I have to hide this from myself but the game is what’s fun, ain’t it?

There are changes coming with the new major league baseball season that started last Sunday.  Apparently, the big push is to speed up the game.  Stay in the batter’s box.  Get ready to pitch or hit when the beer commercials end.  I read a sociological study of why baseball is apparently dying again that claims that the youth of America want action, all the time,see?  That what keeps people interested these days is something beyond the thirteenth pitching change of the game.  The game is losing popularity to other sports, especially football, and the thinking seems to be that, after the baby boomers die off, attendance and, more importantly, television viewing of what used to be called the national pastime will revert to 1898 numbers.

It made me think of a movie from 1975, Rollerball.  There is not more action in football, really.  When you see a game in person, there is an awful lot of standing around.  Huddles.  Timeouts.  More huddles.  Futbol, however, is non stop action, but we’ll  cover that some other time.  What football does have, however, is carnage.  Cracking helmets, cracking bones and cartilage, lots of yelling.  Smashmouth, they call it.  This is what Americans seem to have an insatiable appetite for, as we also see in pseud wrestling, hockey, and even basketball and car racing now.  I don’t think that it has spread yet to golf or tennis.  So that’s what baseball is up against, even though it can be as dangerous as you might want it to be if you are the third baseman with the infield in and Miguel Cabrera at bat.

The crucial difference in attitudes toward sports in the 21st century is that they have become spectator events that a good number of spectators have never actually engaged in themselves.  That makes it easier by far to become bored with it, much as I might become watching people sew or plant their gardens.  When I was young lad, baseball games were rarely on television although radio had every game.  The advertising and general comments and descriptions were, for the most part, aimed at people who already understood the game, it seemed to me. People who went to games , it seemed to me, had played some and identified with the players and the coaches.  Today, the announcers, writers, and “fans” seem to identify more with owners and their management teams while depending on the insights of scouts and ex-players to help them understand what the hell is going on.

So what should the baseball hierarchy do to “save” their millions of spectators?  Encourage beanballs and brawls?  Maybe for the short term, but if anyone out there is interested in the long term success of baseball, we need to get more people PLAYING the game.  I have played baseball and football and baseball is much more fun.  My football experience was that, when I was little, I had to block for the big guys so they could run and pass and score.  This was in pick up games, often tackle ball with no pads or helmets.  Then, when I became one of the bigger guys, in 9th and 10th grade, I had to block for the little guys so they could run and pass and score.  Blocking was fine but I wasn’t much for tackling.  The only way to get into that shit was to muster up some big hate for the other guys and that was hard for me.  I was never frightened on a football field but in baseball, well, it wasn’t just fear of failure.  A hard thrown or hit baseball will make you pay attention.  In backyard ball, I threw one that hit my friend Davy Turco right in the Adam’s apple.  He didn’t want to kill me or anything and was actually really nice about it while I was scared to death.  To this day I am grateful to him for that.  So sometimes scary,yes, but so much fun even if, like me, you weren’t very good at it.

Speed up the game?  That’s not the idea of baseball.  No, my cure will never be adopted, but here it is anyway: 1) more day games and absolutely no night games in the postseason; 2)cut the regular season back to 154 games and end the postseason before mid-October so more kids can watch and conditions are more autumnal than wintry; 3) provide space and equipment for young boys and girls to play and otherwise ban adults from involvement with the possible exception of a coach or two not related to any of the kids.

I can dream, can’t I?