sports

The Goal Was Parity

~ latskojerry ~ Leave a comment

The most noticeable thing about the 2024 major league baseball season so far, other than the high number of broken bats and strained hamstrings, is the absence of many teams from the races for first place. Coming into this weekend, eight of the fifteen American League teams had winning records, but four of those were in the Central Division. There,the Cleveland Guardians held a five game lead over Kansas City. Both of those clubs are considered pleasant surprises by the National Committee of Baseball Know It Alls but, as the opthalmologists say, we will see. The fifth team in that division, the Chicago White Sox, are not in contention for anything other than 122 defeats at their current rate of play. In the A.L. West, the Costa Mesa Angels are in a race with Oakland for fifth place and Seattle is the only team that has won more than it has lost. Baltimore and the New York Yankees are the only teams above .500 in the East, and they are the two teams clearly superior to the rest of the league. In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, and Los Angeles Dodgers are your three good teams out of fifteen –so far, I have to add, since we are only a bit more than a third of the way through the schedule. It is no doubt fun to be a follower of those successful franchises, but success in competitive sports associations (business) is dependent on, well, competition. When the people know who is going to win most of the time, the interest in each individual game sags to a dangerous low and not even television can adequately compensate.

Back in the days of Elvis, Ed Sullivan, and ubiquitous movies about World War II, the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers dominated the post season, which consisted of the World Series only unless there was a tie for a pennant. So all of us got to be familiar with Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and Whitey Ford. Those were very good teams but the sad sack teams like the St. Louis Browns, Pittsburgh Pirates, and any team from Philadelphia were usually not really worthy opponents. Things began to change as the sixties appeared, and the lords of the diamonds made an admirable leap toward progress, otherwise known as parity. The amateur draft was instituted in 1965. Rick Monday was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics and the team with the worst record each season would get that first “draft pick” followed in order by each of the other teams in reverse order of the standings. The goal was to help the losers catch up to the winners and, to a certain extent, it helped. Before long, teams like Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and, yes, even the expansion teams won pennants and World Series.

Years later, free agency came along and it was very good for the players as far as salaries and other conditions of employment. Expansion and subsequent widening of the post season participation helped the game become more popular and television contracts enriched all teams and increased the money available. At long last, we may have reached the point that, like most big businesses, MLB had so much cash at its disposal that some teams, like some corporations, had a whole lot more to spend on things like free agents than others. That may account for today’s disparity. Now is a good time, by the way, to tell all baseball commentators around North America that a “ton” equals 2,000 pounds, although Webster says that it can also mean a great quantity, but I would not use it a “ton” of the time.

OTHER MATTERS: May 26 marked the 65th anniversary of one of the weirdest baseball games ever. On that date in 1959, Harvey Haddix of the Pirates pitched 12 perfect innings against the Braves in Milwaukee. He lost the game in the 13th when Felix Mantilla reached on Pirate third baseman Don Hoak‘s throwing error. Eddie Mathews sacrifice bunted Mantilla to second base. Henry Aaron was then intentionally walked. Joe Adcock then delivered a home run except it wasn’t. Adcock passed Aaron between second and third base because Aaron stopped, thinking the ball had landed inside the fence. The umpire ruled Adcock out (correctly) and said the Braves won 2-0. Later, National league president Warren Giles ruled Adcock’s hit a double and the score therefore 1-0. Lew Burdette was the winning pitcher with a 13 inning 12 hitter (all singles). The question is, how many pitches did they throw? They were not counted. Haddix walked one (Aaron) and Burdette none.

More trivia:Who were the first Most Valuable Players to wear glasses at the time? Jim Konstanty of the 1950 Phillies in the National League and Dick Allen of the White Sox in the 1972 American League. You needed to know that, right?

Reduce Fun, Add Revenue, Then Play

~ latskojerry ~ Leave a comment

We might just be reaching the peak of the Era of Analytics, emphasis on the first two syllables of that word. Everyone has studied and learned the catechism: loopy, launch angle swings, pitchers throwing as hard as they can for as long as they can, buying Tommy John insurance, miles per hour obsession whether hitting or throwing, on base percentage et cetera ad infinitum.

Heretics are beginning to assemble, however. His Eminence Justin Verlander is a skeptic. We are not teaching pitchers to pitch the whole game anymore. That’s old school rubbish. Pitchers batting is way long ago now. Bunting might make a comeback, but I don’t think it is being taught anymore. Home runs are losing their luster as spectators yawn waiting for walks and strikeouts to be reduced. Runners are being stranded after reaching third base with fewer than two out. Things got better last season with the “speed up”, although pitchers aren’t getting much rest between pitches, batters, innings, or seasons. If your child can’t learn to hit balls over the fence or throw 100 mph, send him or her to med school to learn arm, shoulder, or elbow surgery. This is the 21st century, nimrod.

There are a couple of things I’ve noticed in the first quarter of the 2024 major league season that have me bothered a bit. Oh, I’ve noticed that the Philadelphia Phillies are kicking ass and taking names and also that Shohei Ohtani apparently does his own bookkeeping, but, no these are other, perhaps less significant things. One is, why do batters always have something in their back pockets now? What would Ted Williams say about that? I didn’t play anything close to professional baseball, but when I was trying to hit a pitch I needed to relax, feel comfortable and have some balance. I didn’t want a wallet or car keys or loose change upsetting the balance. Now nobody minds that. Maybe it’s part of the “speed up”, which has never affected between innings commercials. They don’t want a batter reaching base to have to wait for someone to bring them the oven mitt, even though it would be an opportunity to say that “…this oven mitt delivery and shin guard retrieval is brought to you by Door Dash.” More important than that, this marriage of MLB (and other pro sports too) with the gambling vampires is outlandish and dangerous and no one seems to care. There is now even ESPN Bet. We can see the odds not only of Kansas City overcoming a 12-1 deficit after six innings but also the over/under on how many Jack in the Box ads we’ll see by the seventh inning stretch. Genuinely disgusting.

The thing that is most bugging me though is another thing that has been spawned by the analytic bunch. Patrick Bailey has been one of the bright new talents to come along in baseball. He is a gamer, a smart player, and infinite fun behind the plate. The “smart” people, who are kind of like “smart” phones, “smart” doorbells, and “smart” vacuum cleaners, have convinced baseball management that having catchers creep closer to batters and catch on one knee is smart. The motivation is to “steal” strikes for the pitcher by “framing”. That is probably worth 2.346 runs per season so it’s “smart”. Patrick Bailey is just one of several catchers who have been drilled by 100 mph foul tips and served time on the concussion injury list more than once. I don’t have a degree in physics but it is becoming obvious that this tactic is too dangerous and needs be outlawed. Careers are in jeopardy. Ask Mike Matheny.

On a brighter note, congratulations to, besides the Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, the Chicago Cubs, the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians and the Kansas City Royals for giving their fans lots to cheer about so far. Dodgers fans have been busy with their GO FUND ME account raising money to get a “smart” calculator for their designated sitter.

We’ll Miss Tito

~ latskojerry ~ 1 Comment

 

In 2024 major league baseball will have to proceed for the first time in a very long while without the on field presence of one of the best managers in its history. It’s a good thing that Bruce Bochy came out of retirement last season so that he could win another World Series because we are faced with the retirement of Terry Francona. We like Francona because, while he was very successful as a manager and as a player, he also has been a leader with about as positive an attitude as could be imagined and he is a good sport, something that seems to be in short supply these days.

In his eleven seasons managing Cleveland, his teams won 921 games and lost 757, a nifty .549 percentage. In 2016, they made the World Series and lost to Joe Maddon and his Chicago Cubs. Francona was manager of the year that season, as he was selected also in 2013 and 2022. His record over a 23 year managing career was 1950-1672 (.538). He had managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1997 to 2000 and then, perhaps most memorably, the Boston Red Sox from 2004 to 2011. The Sox won it all in 2004 and 2007. There are countless ups and downs throughout any baseball season just like there are at your house, but Terry Francona was never one to look for scapegoats or make excuses. That’s why he had the support of his players and did well.

2004 was the most fun season for those of us who are fond of beating the Yankees. New York won the American league East division by three games over Boston and, after being shut out by Johan Santana and friends in the first game, won the next three division series games while Boston was sweeping Anaheim. The League Championship Series opened October 12 with the Yankees routing Curt Schilling and the Sox 10-7. New York’s Jon Lieber bested Pedro Martinez the next day, 3-1, and then it was off to Boston. Fenway Park was no help at all as the Yankees totally thrashed Boston, 19-8. Was it over? Not quite. The Red Sox won the next two at home, two more in the Bronx, and then four straight over Tony LaRussa, Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals to rid themselves of the Bambino Curse as World Champions. Terry Francona could have been governor of Massachusetts after that triumph but he had a better job.

From 1981 to 1990 Terry Francona was a pretty good outfielder for the Montreal Expos, the Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland and the Milwaukee Brewers. He was among the league leaders in batting average after 58 games in 1984 when he twisted a knee trying to avoid a John Tudor tag. He and his .346 average were finished for the season and Terry was never the same, losing much of his speed. He pitched one scoreless inning for the Brewers in that final ’90 season.

Terry was the son of John Patsy “Tito” Francona of New Brighton, Pennsylvania, who died February 13, 2018, and is frequently called Tito as well. Terry was born in April of 1959, which just happens to be the best year of his father’s major league career. Papa was born in Aliquippa, Pa. , not far from New Brighton. The elder Francona played for Cleveland in ’59 and, in 122 games, tore up the American League for a .363 batting average with 20 home runs. He stayed with Cleveland through 1964. He, like his son, played outfield, first base, and pinch hit a lot in the days before designated sitters. Both Franconas ended their careers playing for Milwaukee, father in the American League and son in the National. Another interesting fact for Tito the elder is that, before that big ’59 season, he was traded to Cleveland by Detroit in exchange for Larry Doby, who is famous for many important things such as winning a pennant in 1954 and earlier becoming the first black player in the American League.