The season has ended. People are sick of the repetition, but I’ll say it again: every year it goes faster. No bats are hitting baseballs, neither are they swinging and missing. The television stays cool now except for night time streaming or maybe some futbol. Baseball in 2023 was pretty interesting and the post season, as we call it, was a lot of fun. Some of us like to poke fun at Texas but the state produced two of the the best this year and they both might stay that way for a while.

There were names prominent near the end that were new to the big stage: Adolis Garcia, Zac Gallen,Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, Kevin Ginkel, Merrill Kelly, Gabriel Moreno, Mitch Garver,Leody Taveras, Jon Gray, Jonah Heim, Josh Jung all became familiar to us as Halloween drew near. Other names were more familiar in the spotlight, like Corey Seager, Max Scherzer, Marcus Semien, Nathan Eovoldi, and Aroldis Chapman.

The best “new” name in the World Series was Bruce Bochy. After he was dumped as New York Yankees manager when they lost the 1960 World Series to a slightly better Pittsburgh Pirates team, Casey Stengel remarked that he had made the mistake of becoming 70 years old and many of us who were quite a bit younger at the time felt like it was time for senior citizens to step aside. Bochy won the World Series for the fourth time as a manager at the age of 68 after taking three years off from the game. Coupled with rule changes that invigorated the game and got games moving at a faster pace and resurrected “small ball” by increasing the use of sacrifice bunts and stolen bases and eliminating defensive shifts, the success of senior citizen managers like Bochy and Dusty Baker may have started a new trend that, while accepting what is called analytics, recognizes as well the value of veteran experience and human instincts. Now the Santa Ana Angels have hired 71 year old Ron Washington to try to right that floundering ship and it will be interesting to see how that works out as the career of Mike Trout enters its final phase and Shohei Ohtani decides whose checks he will cash next.

So it is time to rest the weary eyeballs and the worn eardrums that absorbed endless, repetitive commercials for insurance, new cars, and countless ads for pharmaceutical remedies for previously unmentionable ailments. That’s not to mention the ceaseless analysis of each and every pitch by John Smoltz, who is a good guy and was a great pitcher but still needs help in using the English language paired with non stop yakking by Joe Davis, who apparently thinks we like hearing the same stories over and over. The TBS coverage was so much better. But no more complaints, it’s great to be able to witness good ball, and we had a great lot of that. Thanks to the Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros ,Philadelphia Phillies and the Minnesota Twins for a really fun adventure. Okay, Los Angeles Dodgers too.

 

Summer is long gone. Juncos and sparrows have displaced the grosbeaks at the bird feeders and the winnowing of contenders for the Major League Baseball championship has left us with two very interesting teams to compete in the World Series. Just like you all guessed back in March, it will be the Texas Rangers versus the Arizona Diamondbacks after a lively and challenging set of playoff matches. These teams are led by managers who have proven their leadership skills and baseball intelligence, Torey Lovullo and Bruce Bochy. As happy as it made us to see Bochy back in the game and succeeding, as has become his habit, it was truly sad to witness the sorrowful end of Dusty Baker‘s managing career. And the gracious and capable manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, Rob Thomson,once again led his team to a thumping of yours truly’s pick to win it all, the Atlanta Braves for the City of Brotherly Shove. I cleverly chose to favor Baltimore and Atlanta to meet in the 2023 series not long after the All Star Game, but , if nothing else, I have become well acquainted with being wrong.

There were even more teams involved in the post season this year with two wild card teams in each league having a three game series to start the show and the new format proved good. For one thing, the noticeable absence of any New York teams made it easy to , if not root for, at least accept all of the teams involved, especially after The Dodgers disappeared.

The Minnesota Twins had won the “easy” division in the American League and that made them just about everyone’s favorite to be the early dropout, although the Diamondbacks no doubt got lots of votes as well. Carlos Correa and company proved themselves as formidable, however, as they eliminated a very good Toronto Blue Jays team. Jhoan Duran may have been the best relief pitcher out of all the ones we witnessed. Miami was dispatched quickly but one gets the feeling that the Marlins will be back. The days of Yankees and Red Sox dominating the A.L. are surely not gone forever but it’s good to see some competition.

Not having seen much of the Orioles all season, I had mostly a box score reader’s impression before the Rangers swept them, but they definitely appear to be strong and getting stronger. Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and company are for real, and the most important observation is that this organization knows how to build a team. The loss to injury of Felix Bautista hurt, but we all have learned that Texas was not to be denied.

The Atlanta Braves dominated all season but the same Phillies team that finished far behind them in the division got hot at the right time and blew right by them. Philadelphia’s only weak link was the former Brave Craig Kimbrel. For any team to face Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper to start their day requires courage and tenacity. Next year Harper will either have more experience at first base or he can return to right field and give the inconsistent Nick Castellanos a break. Their pitching was much stronger than I had anticipated. Relief dudes need to get better at holding base runners than burning holes in catchers’ mitts all around both leagues.

Houston battled all the way against the Rangers, Seattle, and even the Angels before slipping into first place at the end. We loved the way Dusty Baker worked Mauricio Dubon into just about an every day player and the continuing story of Jose Altuve‘s greatness. Jeremy Pena slipped a bit offensively after his big rookie season but is solid at shortstop, Martin Maldonado is an excellent player coach, and Alex Bregman is a player any manager would love to have . It is a roster full of stars, especially Yordan Alvarez, but the steady, nurturing hand of Baker will be missed. Don’t bet against them next year, though. In fact, despite the urging of Fan Dual and all of those other vampires, don’t bet.

What we liked best about the 2023 season was the emergence of the Arizona team. They are a bit old fashioned but in the best sense of the word. They run hard, steal bases, and chase down fly balls. They bunt effectively. They have youthful exuberance. They play defense well. They gave up a very good fundamental player in Daulton Varsho but got back in trade two gems in Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno. In other words, they have built a very good team and now the whole country has seen them at work. Corbin Carroll took a couple of games to get going in the LCS but watch out, he is rolling now.

Texas has power, starting pitching, and very good defense. Max Scherzer is a good addition and could, one way or the other, make the difference. They need a six run lead going to the seventh inning, but guess what? A lot of times they have it. Adolis Garcia, Jonah Heim, and Josh Jung have all become nationally known names now. We already knew about Marcus Semien, Nathan Eovaldi, and Jordan Montgomery.

This World Series could be one of the best.

What has been learned from watching major league baseball on television for the past six months? For one thing,we are reminded again that predictions made in April are almost always proven wrong by now. With a week and a half left in the regular season one merely has to look at the standings to affirm that. For another, I have learned that I should stay as far as possible away from Jim Beam bourbon whiskey or else I might find myself crooning “Sweet Caroline” with a room full of ugly people and thinking it was fun. So good, so good, so good.

Congratulations to fans of the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays who have watched their favorites climb to the top of the American League East. Here’s hoping that the Toronto Blue Jays can get in on the fun as well. Don’t worry, Yankees and Red Sox, ESPN and Fox still love you. It’s probably a safe assumption that Aaron Boone and Alex Cora will continue in their jobs as managers, but will they really want to?

Also, I have finally discovered an excellent way to keep my weight down. Just keep watching all of those fast food restaurant ads featuring unhealthy looking items of questionable nutrition. Also,I have learned that no matter what we are eating, there needs to be a dip of some sort to go with it.

Minnesota will be in the playoffs by not being as awful as the rest of the A.L. Central. They do have a reasonable facsimile of Carlos Correa.

It has really been fun following the A.L. West. Texas, Houston, and Seattle all have great rosters somewhat hampered by injuries and the competition has been exciting. A real race to the finish. I want all three teams to win it. The injuries to Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani have helped make the Bellflower Angels a sad story but Arte Moreno should have kept his word about selling the team. The Oakland story is the biggest bummer in baseball and it may get even worse before it gets better

Don’t you want to drive in a car commercial so that you can really be allowed to drive as fast as possible with no other cars on the road?

The National League East certainly did not go the way New York Mets fans and a number of experts planned, did it? We need to recognize the fact that the Atlanta Braves organization has been really good at assembling talent and brains. Philadelphia is plucky and strong but it’s hard to picture another strong finish like last year’s. Miami is up and coming but I really wish they would move to Havana. While we’re at it,let’s send the Rays to Puerto Rico. That would be really fun, and then we could change the the division name to the Roberto Clemente Division. Wait a minute, they are in different divisions. Bit of a geography lapse there.

The N.L. Central had a good race for most of the year. Milwaukee’s pitching helped them pull away as did the return of Willy Adames. Cincinnati, Chicago, and Pittsburgh all gave glimpses of how good things can happen if you develop young ballplayers as opposed to gambling on free agents.

In the N.L. West, the Dodgers proved again that money walks while BS talks, or is it the other way around? Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy almost do it all by themselves. The Arizona Diamondbacks are looming in the very near future however. They have put together a real team with speed,defense, and pitching. The Giants are confused and stumbling toward ineptitude. The Padres lost the contest to the Mets and Cardinals to see who would be the most disappointing team in 2023. The Rockies don’t seem to care.

Here’s an October prediction:the playoffs are going to be very interesting and will include no games in New York. Also, a lot of bad pizza and beer will be consumed.

Do not trust a man with half of a beard. Such people tend to spend too much time thinking, particularly about themselves. Also, that’s a lot of mirror time over the course of an adult lifetime. San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler is a good example. The stupid patches that the Giants now display on their uniform jerseys are advertisements for taxis without drivers, which is about as anti-union short of physical violence as you can get. Kapler not only sports the patch but also took time from analyzing his roster to make a video commercial for the company. The company’s taxis, meanwhile, continue to clog the streets of San Francisco by breaking down. In true 21st century spirit, company executives blame other things. Acts of God you know. For this reason alone, I will henceforth have a very difficult time believing anything Gabe Kapler has to say. His managing success cannot be denied: the 2021 Giants won 107 games to the surprise of many, and when teams win more than they are expected to, the manager tends to get some of the credit. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the Giants have not fared well since that ’21 season and , while some of the fault for that can be directly aimed st injuries and the retirement of Buster Posey, management has been confusing to their fans and , one has to suspect, to the players.

Platooning can be a good thing . Casey Stengel worked for a ball club, the Yankees, that had more money to spend on players than most other teams were either willing or able to spend. If the Yanks needed a lefty for the bullpen or a right handed hitting outfielder to bolster the attack against southpaws they could, and did, find what they needed on another team’s roster and exchange some cash to secure one. Stengel, who was wildly successful between 1949 and 1960, could use, for example, Bobby Brown at third base and Gene Woodling in left field against right handed hurlers and then Billy Johnson at third and Hank Bauer in the outfield against lefties. However, there is a difference between using that strategy with veteran players who are secure in their roles and just massively doing the automatic switcheroo with young players just up from the minors or out of college. The way Kapler does it, he in effect is saying “I know you can’t do this. You are not good enough and I can’t afford to let you develop your skills.” Some of the players who have faced this crisis of confidence are David Villar, Joey Bart, Mauricio Dubon, and Brett Wisely. Kapler is showing how smart he thinks he is by the way he also jerks around his pitching staff. Would a free agent starting pitcher want to sign with a team that uses him for one, two, maybe three innings two or three times a week? I know, this is the New Age but if I was an agent, I would advise going elsewhere.

As for those Yankees, they continue to do their best to keep barbers employed. Facial hair has been banned ever since the felonious boss, George Steinbrenner, ruled . It’s kind of embarrassing to see grown men have to toe that silly line. It reminds me how, back in the day (as they say) defense lawyers would strongly advise their clients to be sure to show up in court with a suit on or at least a tie and be well groomed so as not to offend the judge or jurors. It serves no other real purpose. So the Bronx Bongers sit in last place with a 62-68 record as we head toward the finish line.

The race to that line is looking like fun in several places. Arizona has a pulse again, Seattle and Toronto are really interesting, and Tampa Bay is alive and well. I don’t bet, but, if I did, Baltimore and Atlanta would be my choices.

Since the All Star Game has been played, we can still wear white for another few weeks but it really is now universally considered to be the second half of the major league baseball season and it looks like we are definitely in for some thrills and chills along the way. Such as: Will the Baltimore Orioles or the Toronto Blue Jays or the New York Yankees be able to catch the suddenly faltering Tampa Bay Rays? Yes, the Bronx Zombies have a shot. Can Aaron Judge pitch? That might help. No reason for Shohei Ohtani to get all the attention. Boston has a winning streak going but that’s what happens when you play Oakland/Vegas. Baltimore is looking more legitimate all the time. I favor the Jays because they have Brandon Belt and my favorite announcers outside of San Francisco, Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez. That’s a good reason, right? Like the Rays, all that is lacking for the Jays is a good yard to play in with. like, grass. How can we get rid of Rob Manfred, man? I mean, what a piece of work this guy is! The mayor of Oakland,Sheng Thao, responded to his Snidely Whiplash remarks about her fine city by asking for and receiving a private meeting with the commissioner last Sunday in Seattle. She presented A’s owner John Fisher’s mouthpiece, I mean Manfred, with bound copies of a report on all of the hoops that Oakland officials had agreed to jump through in order for the A’s to stay where they belong–for him and all 30 team owners to see as proof that serious attention was being paid to the heir to the jeans fortune’s demands. Two days later, he went right back to the same blatantly dishonest gripes about Oakland not wanting the A’s. That behavior gave me a great idea. Manfred could be made Donald Grump’s running mate (Mike Pence is busy)! Grump and John Fisher are so alike! They are of the I was born rich so why can’t I get more?ilk. And Manfred is on television a lot. Perfect! The pants on fire ticket.

It really is a bummer that Mike Trout has joined Aaron Judge and Edwin Diaz on the nasty injury list and with Anthony Rendon hurt again too What will happen with Ohtani now that the Angels’ goose is in the oven? Every team wants him and he needs a solid contender to play for. He would look good in a Giants uniform but it’s more likely that the Dodgers, Yankees, or Mets will win the auction. Then all it will take is for the Saudis to buy the A’s and move them to Qatar and I can stop caring altogether and take up pickleball.

The Cincinnati Reds have become another fun story and we wish them and their capable manager David Bell continued success. Somebody has to win that division. The American League Central has the same issue but my money ($1.38) remains on Cleveland.

We have been liking the faster pace of the games but it would help even more if they eliminated the replay review. Sorry, it’s good to “get it right” but maple syrup in January is quicker. Put a clock on that stuff too.

Two more gripes and then I’ll hose down the infield. One is those “city connect” uniforms. Some are okay, but, other than yet another bid for money from sales of ‘gear” I can’t figure out why they’ve done this. And have you noticed the advertising patches on uniforms? Yuck, pretty soon they will catch up to pro soccer. Two, attention ESPN, Fox and everybody else broadcasting baseball: I’m looking for an athletic contest, not a talk show. Most of these are great athletes. I really don’t give a damn what they have to say, especially while they are playing. Can you imagine Bob Gibson or Will Clark wearing a microphone on the field? Nope, but Yogi might have been fun. In the slow pitch league I once played in, one guy had a great shirt. On the back of the shirt were these words: SHUT UP AND PLAY BALL.

What are the big news items as we head for Memorial Day? Once upon a time it was set aside as a day to honor those who were killed in wars before it became the opening day of barbecue season and what the retailers, especially automobile dealers, call the beginning of the Summer season. Scientists say that Summer is almost a month away, but what the hell do they know?

One item that has Major League Baseball followers somewhat excited is the effect of all of those new rules on the game. Games are faster, no doubt about it. Pitchers who were once labelled “deliberate”, like Camilo Doval, have been making their catchers and managers nervous as they yin with high speed fastballs and yang with syrupy deliveries. Left sided batters have much less trouble keeping their batting averages above the Mendoza line without the vaunted/hated infield shifts. Base stealers dig the diminishing number of tosses that are meant to keep them closer to the bag. Beer guzzlers watching at home have less time to run to the bathroom as batters stay in the box. One thing that hasn’t changed for the better is the number of strikeouts. As of May 21,there have been 12,063 strikeouts for an average of 25.6 per game whereas last season the average was 25.2 per game. So the average hurler is still Sandy Koufax. The “automatic” runner at second base is , to this observer, about as useful as hoop earrings on a basset hound but the rest of the stuff is okay. If the shifts were not enough incentive to get more batters to learn to put the ball in play somewhere then I guess we should just give up.

Noteworthy items in the first quarter of the season include strong starts by the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore orioles and surprisingly slow starts by the St. Louis cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, and San Diego Padres. The Cardinals seem to have snapped out of their funk (where’s Yadi?) and look ready to contend in that mysterious National League Central except that Adam Wainwright has been looking more like Donovan Osborne this season so far. Paul DeJong is hitting again, though. Pittsburgh lost their promising young shortstop, Oneil Cruz, to injury but they have become interesting with old man Andrew McCutchen helping the youngsters along with another old man, Carlos Santana.

Luis Arraez is having fun reminding everybody of Tony Gwynn and helping Miami Marlins fans stay awake. The Houston Astros appear to have some competition this year, perhaps even including the Santa Ana Angels, but we have said that before. Texas has to be taken seriously, especially if Jacob degrom actually pitches. Atlanta has become a strong favorite to win their division but rumor has it that Steve Cohen is in negotiations to purchase half of the tampa Bay Rays roster, which might help the Mets. It has been delightful to see the Arizona Diamondbacks in the chase in the National league West with their new brand of old school baseball. Zac Gallen and Merill Kelly help them not miss Madison Bumgarner on the mound and Geraldo Perdomo and Corbin Carroll have talent,youth, and speed. Were the Padres better without Fernando Tatis, Jr.? Probably not, but something is wrong and it’s not Bob Melvin.

Since we have no stock in pharmaceuticals and venture capitalists are not feeding bloggers the way middle class folks are instructed to feed their lawns by that pushy Scot guy, we can’t afford to attend games in person much. Consequently, we have become more and more dependent on the television to see games and are thankful for the opportunity to see many games at a pretty low cost. it also affords us the opportunity to see and hear the work of the best comedy writers in the land who have, more and more in the last few years, worked for the various insurance companies that help us all in our times of need. After all, if you are in the loathsome business of extracting wealth from folks fearful of losing everything they have and thus becoming a passive observer of commercials, it helps to have an emu or duck or gecko comic character to get people grinning. Also, we’ve been able to keep our weight down by looking at large images of greasy fast food items as they jump or are dumped onto a sturdy paper plate that holds large portions. Plus we get to see all of the smiling faces of people taking drugs for their often serious health issues . They all seem to be thriving despite the possibilities of serious side effects. After Memorial Day, it’s never too soon to get ready for the 4th of July. Have fun!

The sun is, at least occasionally, shining. The ice is melting. Maybe one of the wars will end. Maybe that nice person that you waved at a couple of weeks ago will wave back next time. Maybe the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks will stay in first place and the Pittsburgh Pirates will contend all season long. Maybe the Oakland Athletics will stay in Oakland.

Spring puts the emphasis on youth, which is why old farts like it so much. It may not be delusional to believe that the American League division races will all be competitive this season. In the East, the only team that I would rule out at this early date is Boston. If the New York Skankees ever get all of their starting pitchers rolling they could run away with it but every season it seems like, for all teams, the question of consistent health and effectiveness for pitchers seems to remain unanswered. So far it has been Gerrit Cole and then try to score as many runs as you can. Adley Rutschman and the Orioles look to finally be relevant and that , of course, is dependent on the pitching. Tampa Bay and Toronto both look very solid so far.

The outlook for the Central Division shows me so far that there is one potential World Series team in there and that is Cleveland. After the Guardians, mediocrity rules.

The A.L. West is a division full of question marks like The Riddler’s wallpaper. Houston is once again very deep and definitely the strongest pitching team, but will Jose Altuve come back strong? The positive effect of his injury will be consistent playing time for Mauricio Dubon. I will root again in vain for Seattle because they are fun to watch. The addition of Luis Castillo made them credible as contenders and they play good defense. Scouts talk as though Kolten Wong is over the hill at 32 but is he? Everyone is tired of reading and hearing about the failures of the Buena Park Angels but really all they need is for Anthony Rendon to be at his 2019 best, another Patrick Sandoval, and for Arte Moreno to either sell them or move them to Oakland, where a pretty good AA team is still boring loyal fans. Texas has Bruce Bochy now and is acting like they mean it while paying Jacob deGrom $45 million per inning pitched. What the analytical geniuses tend to do is over analyze the past and perhaps underestimate the future, as in potential. More than a little bit, young players seem to not be given the opportunity to develop their skills because the computers are telling us that they can’t hit right handed pitchers (or left handed pitchers) or they can’t field their position, or this, or that. Texas might be a team that gives people that opportunity and succeeds as a result.

Philadelphia became the off season favorite in the National League East but as of now I am saying it will be between the Mets and Braves with a slight edge to Atlanta. Both teams have superior pitching but the Mets lost their reliable closer and that might be the difference. Phillies might get hot after Bryce Harper returns but they will eventually discover that, no matter how many runs they score they will never be able to relax and that can sour the hitters.

Why are the Brewers in first place in the Central and the Cardinals in last? It’s unclear to me so far but the Cubs and Pirates might keep things interesting. This whole division is a mystery to me until I see more. Like the American League Central, the National League West seems to have one good team so far. That would be the San Diego Padres. The Giants are a good example of analysis paralysis. There is a different lineup daily, slavery to lefty-righty matchups, and a real challenge to young players to get comfortable with ever changing roles and roster moves. They need fewer coaches and more players. The Dodgers look a little too comfortable as a contrast to San Francisco. Arizona is a good sleeper choice but Colorado has apparently given up.

Now that the television is back in continuous use,we are reminded that nothing insults our intelligence more than one of those devices. The leading example so far this season is the MLB mascot races. I would wager that there are folks who bet on those.

Most of us realize by now that no, you can’t always get what you want. If you try some time, however, you might get Mike Trout versus Shohei Ohtani for all the marbles. That was, indeed, a spectacular finish to what is called the World Baseball Classic, and it was great fun. Now it is Opening Day for Major League Baseball and 2023 promises to be great fun as well. As usual, the consensus among the well fed experts is that an East coast powerhouse team, probably from New York but perhaps from Philadelphia will win it all after all the chalk dust settles. One suspects, however, that Dusty Baker and the Houston Astros might be around at the finish, but let us not get too far ahead of ourselves. I mean it’s not even April Fools Day yet.

Predicting the future is more fun for young people than it is for those of us who are old enough to remember fender skirts and fifteen cent hamburgers, and yours truly has been a member of the latter group for a little while now. So I will refrain from my usual habit of acting like a know it all now that I am what they call long in the tooth (what tooth?). At least, that is, insofar as it pertains to pennant winning. I will venture a few baseball predictions, however, to get us going and here they are. First, Trea Turner, barring injury, will steal 94 bases this year. Shohei Ohtani would match that if he played every day or hit fewer home runs. Second, ballpark sales and consumption of beer and what used to be called snacks but now have apparently become “dining options” will fall off considerably since the pitch clock and other changes are shortening game times so much. This will result in owners chucking all the “new rules” before the season ends. Third, the boring tendency to hire beefy, slow long ball hitters that strike out almost half the time as designated sitters will ultimately trend toward the hiring of speedy runners who make frequent contact with the baseball when they have a bat in their hands as designated sitters. The first and last of those predictions , if accurate, will improve the game.

Let’s get back to the WBC now. The idea of a baseball world cup type tournament is a very good one, and this year was a lot better than previous attempts. Like the rest of the planet, things were still set up largely in favor of the United States, but that’s what glorious empires do. There were some drawbacks, of course. The USA team looked unbeatable, didn’t it? Mexico and Japan were not intimidated though, were they? And it was a bit embarrassing to see US2, US3,and US4 mixed in. Those were Italy, with 24 players born in the USA, Great Britain, with 20 players born in the USA, and Israel, with a whopping 30 USA born players. Still, there were some terrific contests once pool play was completed and there were a lot of heartening , feel good stories. So let’s have more.

Better yet,let us indulge ourselves in a bit of fantasy. What if it became truly a World Series every year? Traditionally, colonial powers extract resources and other forms of wealth from the conquered nations: steelworkers and miners from relatively impoverished nations, for example, or, more recently, baseball players from Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, etc. Would it not be great fun if each of these other nations, including Cuba, had their own Major league teams playing in their own cities? What a boost for all economies that might be! The understanding and acceptance of other cultures could bolster the idea of peaceful international relations and understanding to a level that seems unreachable today except in rhetoric from phony politicians.

Opening Day has always been for optimists. This thought will sustain me for now. Congratulations to Team Japan and their venerable manager Hideki Kuriyama. Thanks to Kazuma Okamoto, Munetaka Murakami, Lars Nootbar and the rest of the champions It was good to see Johnny Cueto, Camilo Doval, Rafael Devers, Wander Franco, Ketel Marte, Manny Machado and Team Dominican Republic do so well.Cuba did well with the help ofYoan Moncada, Luis Robert, Jr., and Moenis Cespedes. I was rooting for Mexico to beat japan in the semi-final with Patrick Sandoval, Taijuan Walker, Austin Barnes, and the Cuban who floated away, Randy Arozarena, but it was good that Japan prevailed because we got that Ohtani- Trout finale. Mexico had edged a very fine Puerto Rico team managed by Yadier Molina with Francisco Lindor, Martin Maldonado, and Alexis Diaz. Diaz was the unfortunate one who was lost for the season with injury and his teammate, Jose Altuve, also was seriously injured. Venezuela’s great team was led by Salvador Perez, Miguel Cabrera, and Ronald Acuna, Jr.

Let’s do this more often!

The image that many folks have of Las Vegas, Nevada is quite possibly a bit different from reality. Oh sure, at any given time there are present show business folks, gangster types, hookers, drug dealers and visiting losers anxious to part with their money. Also, however, there are regular folks who work jobs , have families, go to school and stuff like that. I know because I’ve been there a couple of times. I wasn’t there to gamble or to see Wayne Newton, although I did once drop a nickel into a slot machine. Two nickels came back so I put in a dime and lost. I’ve been telling people I broke even in Vegas ever since. My purpose here today is to compose a sort of open letter to the baseball lovers who reside in that burning hot desert locale. This is a warning to all such people:beware. There exists now a shifty, slippery person that owns a major league baseball team and he is running a bit of a con game.

His name is John Fisher and the baseball team that he owns is the Oakland Athletics. Fisher and his lieutenants have been stubbornly working the city of Oakland and the county of Alameda California to provide funding and legal shenanigans for a 12 billion dollar real estate development that just happens to include a one billion dollar stadium for what he thinks is his team to play their home games in because another shifty and slippery rich guy coaxed the city and county into ruining their present locale to get him to move the Oakland Raiders (indeed!) back from Los Angeles so they could then move to Las Vegas. I’m not kidding.

John is a Fisher of dollars, not men. His most important lieutenant at the moment is Rob Manfred, otherwise known as the Commissioner of baseball. Fisher doesn’t talk much to the peasants who cover baseball for the various media but every once in a while his Manfred does. One gets the idea that the commish practices for this in front of a mirror after watching clips of the Robert Duvall character in The Godfather although he can’t quite pull it off. He comes across more like an assistant principal threatening tardy students with detention. He said in December that he would soon be speaking with Oakland’s new mayor, Sheng Thao but his definition of soon is apparently longer than two months. After all it is merely a topic that concerns billions of taxpayer dollars and significant alteration of the local geography. “I think the best way for me to answer that is to say that I think the focus since I spoke to you in December really has been on Las Vegas, ” he said last week. Notice that he didn’t say that his answer was the most truthful. Rather, it was the best. There was no accompanying laugh track when he added, “I think the focus in Oakland has been on the funding, particularly of the infrastructure side of the project. That needs to get solved in order for that process to go forward,” In other words, you people who work for a living need to understand that Forbes 500 dudes never spend their own money.

So beware, Las Vegas. Oakland sports fans are loyal and true. Folks who bought tickets to watch really good teams with Sal Bando, Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue, Dagoberto Campaneris, Dennis Eckersley, Dave Stewart and several versions of Rickey Henderson also hung in there with teams like the 104 game losers of 1979. The last few years, these fans have had to endure John Fisher’s extortion as he hoards his vast wealth while claiming he can’t afford a shortstop or a pitcher until he gets what he wants and a new stadium to boot. The real danger is that he might succeed. If he does not, and if the threats that he and Manfred continue to bluster and condescend about become reality, just remember this: if he did it to them, he could do it to you.

The dark and dank days of Winter persevere but we have finally reached the month that brings us baseball. In fair weather climes, some college and high school teams are already playing games and, very soon, the major league teams of North America will be reporting for Spring Training. Since it’s one of those pleasant years that the billionaires and millionaires are not “locked out”, we can reasonably expect that things will progress on schedule.

Despite some inanities like the apparent permanent adoption of the rule that places an artificial runner on second base when games go into extra innings, baseball is still the best game going, although international futbol is creeping closer day by day. Following the English Premier League helps get us through the dark days and it gave me an idea the other day. In that league, where American players pop into view occasionally at about the same rate as Hondurans make the MLB rosters, the bottom three teams by won and lost and drawn records are relegated out of the league after each season and replaced by top teams from what we would call the “minor” leagues. So, since MLB continues to enact bad ideas, I feel entitled to propose good ideas that stand no chance of being adopted. A retaliation of sorts, shall we say. Why should the miscreants who run the show in Oakland, Pittsburgh, and Colorado be allowed to pretend to care about winning while frustrating their followers by only occasionally getting serious? Kick them out. Get somebody in there that gives a damn about providing some quality competition more than once every other decade. Going through the motions just to collect easy money from television and sales of “gear” is just the sort of lazy socialism that most of these owners love to gripe about. Put in some work, Chumley.

The arguments against this idea would be easier to shoot down than a Chinese balloon by a multi-zillion dollar fighter jet if excellent competition were the goal but we allow ourselves to be distracted by headlines about jumbo sized bases and how much money everybody is making, Just as the big pharmaceuticals load up cargo planes with cash after taxpayers pay for all of the research and development that enables it, the Lords of the Diamonds want to continue the process that pays well if you lose and maybe a bit more if you win. That’s not exactly a Bill Russell or Jackie Robinson way of going about life.

Soon we will delight, however, in seeing Myles Straw chasing down flyballs or running bases, Hunter Greene firing pitches that can be heard easier than seen, Shohei Ohtani blasting home runs and shutting batters out, and Ke’Bryan Hayes playing third base like Pie Traynor. Spring is, indeed, the best season of the year. It will also do the heart good to see Andrew McCutchen back in a Pirates uniform at age 36.

There is another rule change that comes to mind as well. In retaliation for pitchers being limited in how frequently they can throw to first base in order to hold potential base stealers, let us put a strict limit on how frequently speculation can be made on what players will be traded or sold by the trading deadline by announcers, pundits, and otherwise unemployable wretches Once in April, twice in May, three times in June should work.

While I’m solving all of these earth shaking problems, here is one last one that is especially aimed at the middle aged men and women out there. Play ball! Do it as well as you can for as long as you can. Because the day will slowly but surely come that you can’t any longer and, most assuredly, you will miss it.