Flop Sweat

Baseball is a game of averages. It is pretty easy to gauge how a player or a team will perform as averages usually don’t lie. After all, the marathon tends to even things up.

Opening Day in Cream City showed exactly how the averages work. In 2016, the Milwaukee Brewers were the worst fielding team in Major League Baseball. Only the Minnesota Twins came close, but the Twinkies were still a distance from their Southern neighbors. The illustrious Brew Crew committed 136 errors last season. In all honestly, they also probably led the league in mental errors. Their fielding average was .978.

In pitching, they had the third worst record for striking out opposing batters. Only the Angels and Rangers had fewer. In relief pitching, they had the fifth worst record for striking out opposing batters. Only the Angels and Rangers, who where joined by the Giants and the Tigers, were less effective.

This led the management to stress fielding and pitching in spring training. Let’s concentrate on fielding. While they let their second baseman go on waivers, and traded away both of their catchers, their strength up the middle would be at a premium this season. It didn’t work that way. One of the new catchers they obtained as one of two second stringers from other teams (remember, they traded away their All-Star catcher who also was an excellent hitter, a rare combination in the game of baseball), committed two (2) errors in his first game. Both were on throws. Then the eclectic Jonathan Villar, who now plays second, gave an over enthusiastic throw in a critical situation into the home team’s dugout, striking the back of the Double Bubble plastic pail with such authority, the reserves thought it was Halloween, thus allowing runners to advance and eventually score the go-ahead and winning runs.

As for pitching, their Opening Day starter, Guerra, suffered a pulled calf in the bottom of the 3rd while batting and running to first. Then the bullpen came in and gave the game away. Well, to be specific Jhan Carlos Mariñez gave it away. Get this, after 1/3rd of an inning, he gave up 2 runs and 3 hits, walked a batter for an ERA into infinity, or in Mr. Mariñez case, an ERA of 27.00. He will have to pitch a zillion innings to find respect.

OK. It’s only the first game. But familiarity is ever present.

While Miller Park was packed, new food venues were opened with local goods, and Big Jim West was behind the plate as the Hot Dog won the Sausage Race, the team on the field looked the same.

It is good to love mediocrity if you live in Milwaukee. After all, with one of the lowest payrolls (‘Managable’ as the owner said on television on Opening Day) in The Show, the Pigsville Nine will always perform to their averages. And that means it will be a long, long season in the ‘Gathering place [by the water]’. Gemütlichkeit!

#WatchingAttanasio

Play Ball!

Bogie Said It Best

Let The Games Begin.

The first part of Spring is over. The fields are vacant all over Arizona and Florida where the Show put on its previews-before-Broadway best for the past month and a half before opening tonight. Kinks were worked out. Arms got stronger. Hitting got in sync with mid-season form. The routine of the marathon called a season began. Umpires appeared to be under special scrutiny as the new rules of challenging calls came into play. Pitchers pitched. Hitters hit and Aramis Ramirez hit doubles and didn’t slide once. And if he does, fire the idiot third base coach. Now its time. As Humphrey Bogart said, “A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz.”

Tonight the season begins but without one of the best pitchers in baseball. Clayton Kershaw was placed on the DL on Saturday. He looked so very sharp during Spring Training. Hyun-jin Ryu is starting tonight in his place. Mike Trout of the Angels just signed one of the biggest contracts for easily the best young player in the game. Miggy signed a huge contract with the Tigers because he is Miggy and has back-to-back MVPs under his belt. But, without Prince, will he be pitched around? But enough about hitting.

The Western Division of the National League will be different this year. The challenger, Arizona, will be working without its opening day starting pitcher, Patrick Corbin and its top reliever, David Hernandez. Both will be out for the entire year with Tommy John surgery, which Corbin had perfumed a few days ago. Pitching wins pennants. The D’Backs won’t be that fortunate this season. They will begin the season with Brandon McCarthy taking the mound on Opening Day. Then on Tuesday, Wade Miley starts. Trevor Cahill will start on Wednesday. Then there are the Giants. They win the World Series every two years. Last year they didn’t. Starting on Monday, left hander Madison Bumgarner takes the Opening Day mound against the D’Backs in Phoenix. Matt Cain, the big right hander will start on Tuesday. Tim Hudson will begin game #3 on Wednesday and the incomparable, right hander Tim Lincecum will start on Thursday. Guess who is in the driver’s seat now? As for the Padres, Andrew Cashner will be the starting pitcher tonight against the Dodgers, his first Opening Day starting assignment. On Tuesday, Ian Kennedy, the former D’Backs ace who was traded to San Diego last year at the deadline, love Petco Park. He is 7-2 in it and a great 2.41 ERA. Then on Wednesday, Tyson Ross is on the mound for the Padres. He has a terrific slider. All right-handed, they play in a pitcher friendly big park. As for the Dodgers, now its Hyun-jin Ryu, Zack Greinke and Dan Haren. On Monday night in Miami, the Colorado Rockies open the season with Jorge De La Rosa on the mound. On Tuesday, a second left hander, Brett Anderson, will take the mound. On Wednesday, a right hander, Tyler Chatwood, starts. Then on Thursday, another right hander, Juan Nicasio will start for the Rockies.

Why highlight the Western Division? You know, the California teams plus two? This is where the battle will be the greatest. With the biggest payroll in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers are EXPECTED to win everything this year. Arizona is expected to be challenging all the way. San Francisco is always tough. The San Diego nine is up and coming. And the Colorado Rockies play a mile high. It is a tough place to play especially for visiting pitchers who try to throw breaking balls.

So, the guess for this season’s team out of the West will be the San Francisco Giants. Pitching wins and they have the pitching.

Play Ball!

Money, Money, Money

On this day in 1927, Babe Ruth became the highest paid player in major league history when the Yankees announced the Bambino would earn $70,000 per season for the next three years. The historic deal is struck when the ‘Sultan of Swat’, who had asked for $100,000, met with Colonel Jacob Ruppert, the club’s owner at the Ruppert Brewery in the Yorkville section of Manhattan. The Colonel got his money’s worth. On the 15th of April, Babe hit the first of his historic 60 home runs off of Howard Ehmke who would go on to win 12 games that season and only give up 13 home runs all season long for the Philadelphia A’s. On May 31st, Babe hit another off of Ehmke on his way to #60 which came off of Tlm Zachary of the Washington Senators on September 30th. If you would like to see it, click on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOt0Tmwc2Rk.

George Herman ‘Babe’ Ruth scored 158 runs that season; drove in 164 RBIs; 29 Doubles; 8 Triples; he hit .356 and had a slugging percentage of .772 with an OPS of 1.258. In the World Series that season, he hit .400, had 2 home runs and the Yankees won the Championship. All in all, Mr Ruth earned his $70,000 and more.

The Yankee’s payroll was $250,000 that year. The Bambino’s salary was 28% of the entire team’s payroll.

Let’s take a look at what some teams are paying their top player and see if it can guarantee what the Colonel got from Babe’s contract.

The team that has a player who was closest to what Babe was paid in terms of percentage of payroll this coming season the Twins, the Mariners, the Astros and the Mets. First the Minnesota Twins have an estimated team payroll of $82.5 million. Joe Mauer, playing First Base this season will be paid $23 million or 27.9% of the team’s payroll. All Mr. Mauer has to do is hit 60 home runs, drive in 160+ RBIs, have his team win the pennant AND win the World Series. Can he carry his team to the heights to reach the playoffs? That’s what he’s paid to do.

In the Northwest, the Seattle Mariners this season will have a team payroll of $87.5 million and Robinson Cano, their newly acquired Second Baseman will earn $24 million or 27.45% of the team’s payroll. We all know what he has to do to equal and earn this Ruthian salary. All Cano has to do is have his team perform like they haven’t since….well, years and jump over the Angels, the Rangers and the A’s to get into the playoffs. But that’s what Cano is paid to do this year.

Down in Houston, they have a payroll of $49 million. This is the second lowest in the Major League this season. They have good reason for such a low salary. They are in a dispute with their local cable vendor who reportedly have not paid them since the middle of last season. It seems that the affiliate of Comcast, the media giant, has put its affiliate into bankruptcy. What a mess. Therefore, their highest paid ballplayer, a starting pitcher, Scott Feldman, will earn $12 million or 24.5% of the teams entire payroll. If he pulls off his Ruthian equal, that achievement in 2014 will be classified a ‘miracle’.

Then there are the New York Mets. With a team payroll of $82 million, their top player, David Wright who is their Third Baseman, will earn $20 million or 24.4% of the team’s entire salary. If Wright does earn the Ruthian standard set in 1927, the Met’s still will have a struggle to reach the playoffs this season. But that is what Wright is paid to pull off.

As for the other 26 teams, the Indians have a payroll of $80 million and Nick Swisher will make $20 million (18.75%); The Rays with a modest budget of $75.5 million will have David Price making $14 million (18.55%); the Rangers with a payroll of $131 million will have Prince Fielder earning $24 million (18.3%); Pirates payroll is $71.5 and Wandy Rodriguez will be earning $13 million of that or 18.2%. The Cardinals will have a payroll of $108.5 million the most in the Central Division of the National League and they will be paying Adam Wainwright $$19.5 million equal to 18% of the team’s payroll. The White Sox will have a payroll of $89 million and John Danks will be paid $15.75 million (17.7%).

The Rockies have a payroll of $91 million and their All-Star Shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki will make $16 million or 15.9% of the Colorado payroll. In Milwaukee, they will have the third highest payroll in the Central Division of the National League, just north of $100 million  and Third Baseman, Aramis Ramirez will make $16 million or 15.9% of the Brewers team payroll. Washington will have a team payroll of $130.5 million and Jayson Werth, their Right Fielder, will be paid $20 million, 571 thousand, 429 Dollars or 15.75% of the National’s payroll. Meanwhile those mighty Marlins will have a team payroll of $42.5 million and one of the best ballplayers in the Show, Giancarlo Stanton, will make $6.5 million or 15.3% of the Miami payroll.

Then there are the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Their estimated payroll of $151 million dollars, the sixth highest in the Major Leagues and fourth biggest in the American League, will have to pay Albert Pujols, their aging First Baseman $23 million or 15.25% of the team’s payroll. Can he pull off a season of Ruthian standard and carry his team to the top?

For the remaining 15 teams, all of them will pay their top player 15% or less of their team’s payroll. And it appears as though this is where the World Champion will come from. The top salary in baseball this season will be $26 million and will be paid to Zach Greinke of the  Dodgers who will have a payroll of $223,000,000. He will only be 11.7% of their payroll. For that amount of money, they better win the pennant, the World Series and a trip to Disneyland, by the bus that will take them there and give everyone FREE Dodger Dogs in the City of Angels for the next year.

Newton’s Theory of Relativity is absolute. What goes up must come down. This bubble will burst. It simply cannot go on forever. Baseball teams are playing with funny money. Television fees are paid because of content that gains eyeballs. Eyeballs bring advertisers. And advertising brings sales. If eyeballs leave, for whatever reason, prices for advertising come down and rights fees decrease. But some of these teams have long-term cable rights for 20-30 years. What if a cable network can’t get the advertisers to pay the teams what they have contracted for? Will it be a giant, Houston Astros v Comcast all over again, but this time on an avalanche sized financial rush downward?

Look, no network pays for boxing rights today. At one time, boxing was the biggest draw on television. The audience left boxing and turned to something else. The Pabst Blue Ribbon Fight Night no longer exists. Neither does the original Pabst Brewing Co.

Money, money, money. Can today’s players really earn the money they are being paid this season? Can their clubs with the pennant?

Play Ball!

A Year In The Minors

No matter who you root for this coming baseball season, more than likely you will be cheering for a minor league caliber team. The New York Yankees signing of Tanaka, giving them a powerful starting pitching lineup along with one of the best catchers in the game, gives them a battery no one else can match. Even with the loss of Cano and Granderson, they will be overwhelming favorites to win the American League pennant. Across the country, the Los Angeles Dodgers have similar talent. Powerful pitching wins games and pennants.

What does talent do to a team? If we are judging baseball teams, talent is everything, especially when you consider pitching. So if you are not a Yankee, Dodger, Nationals, Cardinals, Tigers, Rangers and perhaps a Giant fan, you are an also-ran fan. At least, at the very best, you are an always-hopeful fan. If you are an A’s fan, you are always hopeful. If you are a Pirates fan, you are hopeful another miracle can happen. If you are a Rays’ fan, you have talent and a manager. If you are a Red Sox fan, hope is a built-in principal of life. If you are a White Sox fan you are hopeful the new guy can do what that Dodger kid did last season. To the rest of baseball, there is no hope.

Consider the Brewers. Pitching you have Vonnie and the rest. That’s a 12 win season. They were still playing the buyer’s remorse game with Garza on Sunday morning. But, as of 2P on Sunday, the Brewers signed Garza (for details go to: The Brewers signed Garza. http://www.facebook.com/overtheshouldermedia). Thus pitching would have been same-ol, same-ol if he hadn’t signed. That’s one hole filled. At catcher you have Lucroy. He is a very good craftsman with a good bat. But his arm is not there. At first you have nothing but the largest group of has-beens and wannabe’s in the history of first base. At second, you have a young hopeful. At shortstop, you have a legit All-Star. At third, there is a tiring veteran player on his way out of the game in the last of his contact years. In left you have a young hopeful…untested but a young hopeful.  In center, you have a gifted defensive player who you hope can hit like he did in the first half of last year’s season all of this season. In right you have a guy who one will have to hope he can play without his meds. Watching a fallen star will be brutal in opposing ballparks. Watching in Miller Park will be a lot of shaking of heads and wondering what would have been. You don’t know what his season will be like . How long has it been since he didn’t play with some assistance? That’s on the field. In the dugout the Brewers have average managerial talent and the worst third base coach in baseball. If they get hot at the early part of the season, then perhaps the owner will give the GM the monies to pull off a bold move. Let’s hope it is not for one of their young pitchers or their shortstop. That’s a lot of hope.

Consider the Cubs. Here is an ownership family that says all the right things but simply are very conservative when it comes to spending their money. They have a new ballpark in Mesa for Spring Training. They have a good starting pitcher. They have a hopefully good first baseman. They have an erratic but hopefully improved shortstop who is All-Star quality. Yikes! Its been a long time since Gabby took the Cubbies to the land of dreams.

Consider the Mariners. They have Cano. They have one of the best pitchers in the game. They have an unknown in Cory Hart. They have, however, missed out on one guy who could have put thrill back into the Northwest. Tanaka. They have a new President. When will this management learn not to give up on their great players? When are they going to stop letting ‘The Kid’ go away? A-Rod escape? Johnson let go? And the idol, arguably the best player in the first decade of this Century traded away to the Yankees…Ichiro? Hey…how about another manager? It is time this management stops playing Nintendo and begins understanding that baseball is a game of professionals. Welcome to Peoria this spring.

Consider the Angels. Tanaka was simply too young for them to acquire. They want to give the Arte billions to old, over-the-hill players. Understand A.J. is available for behind the plate duties. Isn’t it time to trade the best young player in the game to the Yankees? He may be too young to keep around those gray hairs who pack the halo’s lineup.

Consider the Padres.

Consider the Rockies. Talk about tight. This ownership’s idea of building a team is in building a party deck in right field. They have a 40-year-old relief pitcher in LaTroy. Doesn’t he understand that the air is thin up there in Denver? Pitchers can’t throw curves in that atmosphere. To win they need to have hammers…big hitters who can win the game 15 to 14 in nine innings.

Consider the Diamondbacks. It is just too bad they couldn’t pull off the deal with Tanaka. They brought in Goldy to assist in convincing the young Japanese star to make the Valley of the Sun his home. It could have given new hope to a team that has disappointed many during the past season or two. Here was a team on the verge of dominance with one of the best coaching staffs in baseball. Now there is no great young outfielder to chastise. Two great coaches in Baylor and Williams have left. They have overpaid an underperforming catcher. And they still have no #1 pitcher. Bullpen? What bullpen?

Consider the Braves. No catcher. No money. Could be a decade of doom for the transplanted Milwaukee nine.

Consider the Orioles. Their manager has done what he has always done in the past. He takes nothing and pushes them to the almost-near the top. He is there again. Can he finally do what he has never done before and win the pennant and World Series? Davis and Hardy need more pitching.

Consider the Indians. Wow! When you get Axford and call that an improvement, I have a bridge I want to sell you. Back to the minors.

Consider the Reds. Why is this team located near one of the biggest package goods manufacturers in the world without funds to rebuild their incredible past? P&G…buy this team and give them some money to make they one of the greats again. Baseball needs it. This is the team who really started it all in the city where pro baseball began. Goodyear will be a terrible place to watch this Spring Training.

Consider the Royals. George Brett must be put into a position to do what John Elway has done in Denver. Ownership has to unload its pockets and provide Brett the monies that can rebuild a once proud franchise. Aoki is a monumental trade improvement. Watch him hit against Darvish and Tanaka. There is hope in KC. Surprise will be a great place to watch baseball this spring.

Consider the Astros. It is a few years off before they will be a power. But will they be able to compete without being paid for their television contract. It seems Comcast owes them monies from last July, August and September. The local Comcast is declaring bankruptcy. The Astro’s are saying Comcast is doing a slight-of-hand. No money…no power. They have the money to improve. We all know they have the city to attract top players.

Consider the White Sox. Money? They have it in spades as they are part owner of the same cable network that carries the Cubs. They are making money hand over fist but can’t seem to do anything to improve their team except to extend their manager’s contract. Yet they did add one key player from Cuba, first baseman Jose Abreu who may be the next big thing in baseball. By sharing Camelback Ranch with the Dodgers this spring, the crowds should be large and boisterous. Unfortunately, there is little shade at Camelback Ranch.

We are only a couple of weeks away before the pitchers and catchers report. Arizona is going to be a great place to begin the season to find out what’s shaking for 2014. Besides, the first games are only a month away in AUSTRALIA. Yep. The D’Backs and Dodgers open the Major League Baseball season Down Under.

Thanks Commish. Great job. Do you have any idea what that gate would draw in LA or Phoenix?

Play Ball!

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One Down, Three To Go

It is that time during every marathon to take stock in how the race is going. We have just reached the quarter-mile post of this years great seasonal march to the crown jewel…  the World Series Championship.

As the second leg begins, in the American League, the New York Yankees are on top of the Eastern Division. So what else is new? They are ahead of Boston, Baltimore and Tampa Bay, all of whom are .500 or better.PREDICTION: Yankees pull away when their big guns return.

In the Central Division, Detroit is the team to beat as they have been for the past few seasons. They have the best 3-4 batters in baseball’s lineup and their pitchers are once again on top of their game. Cleveland, the surprise team is one game back. But, can they keep up with the American League champion all season long? PREDICTION: Detroit will win this division again.

Once again in the Western Division, the Texas Rangers are on top, as they should be. But once again, the Oakland A’s, with a cast of near nobodies, are the only other team over .500 in this division. PREDICTION: This time the Rangers will actually win the division and not collapse completely.

In the National League, the marathon continues with more of the usual suspects atop their divisions. In the Eastern Division, Atlanta has a good lead over the Washington Nationals, the only teams over .500 in this division. PREDICTION: Atlanta moves on again hoping to reach the final rung.

In the Central Division, St. Louis is atop with Cincinnati close behind. Along with Pittsburgh, all three teams are playing plus .600 baseball, the only division playing at this high level. PREDICTION: St. Louis continues in its traditional position.

In the Western Division, the biggest battle looms with three teams, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants are all tied with a .551 record. This year pitching will once again separate the teams as the race enters its second stage. PREDICTION: Arizona Diamondbacks will pull an upset win over the World Champion Giants.

Who do you think will win the marathon?

One down, three to go. The marathon is just getting interesting.

Play Ball!

This Is The Week

For a number of springs, the son of Jill and Kerry from Scottsdale, AZ, has attempted to make his dream come true. In 2003, he became the first round draft choice of the Angels. It was a golden future that laid ahead. While this trip is never easy, few have been more difficult. It takes a special person to continue to believe in ones self so strongly that after another strike out or another word from a manager that says, ‘Sorry. We’re going to make room for someone else on the roster.’ you continue to hold your head up, practice harder, turn down invitations to play in the World Baseball Classic for Australia and continue that dream of landing on a big league roster again and make the magic come alive.

Brandon Wood is a rarity in sports. A really good guy who can really hit the ball a mile if given the chance to be himself and not a version someone else sees in the former ‘5 tool guy that can’t miss’. He turned down a scholarship at the University of Texas to grab the chance within the Angels system to play shortstop. At Rancho Cucamonga in the California League he played in 130 games, hit .321, hammered 43 home runs with 51 doubles and 4 triples and smashing in 115 rbi. He was 20 and was the #3 major league prospect according to Baseball America. The next season, he hammered 25 home runs in Double A while generating a .907 OPS and then hit 23 dingers the following season in AAA at Salt Lake, again having an impressive .835 OPS. The following year, again in Salt Lake with the Bees, he smashed 31 home runs with a .970 OPS in only 103 games. He became the first known minor leaguer to have more than 100 extra base hits in one year. That was 2008. In 2009 he joined the Anaheim-Salt Lake City train, back and forth…forth and back. In 2010 the Angels finally gave him an opportunity to earn the starting job at third. Forgetting he was a shortstop that earned All-Star status on a number of occasions while in the minors, it was a new position. He struck out a lot. But that’s what power hitters do. In the infinite wisdom of management, they had everyone and their brother giving him advice on how to hit. HOW TO HIT? He was perfectly fine before all of the ‘pro’ advice from the ‘experts’ in Angel management. It didn’t work out well. He hit .146 and was sent down again. After a cup of coffee in early 2011, he was cut by the Angels. The golden boy of their organization, the bright new shining star, was cut loose. Baseball is a cold, heartless business.

But it is also a forgiving business. Second and third chances abound. The lowly Pittsburgh Pirates grabbed him. But in 99 games, he could not bring the Pirates from losing 90 games and hit only .220 with a .347 OPS in limited action. They released him after the season.

Third chance. In 2012, the Colorado Rockies  signed him to a minor league deal. Like the Angels in the past, they had their hitting coach tell him exactly what it was they saw to correct him. HE KNOWS HOW TO HIT. But experts are experts. In 16 at bats in spring training, he hit .438 and had an OPS of .813. As his manager, Jim Tracy said, “He’s a very intriguing guy. Rest assured what Brandon Wood has done: He’s played himself into the picture. He’s gone from below the radar to playing himself onto the radar.” Despite all of those nice words, Brandon never saw the light of day in The Show with the Rockies in the entire 2012 season. The radar Tracy was using must have broke. Tracy finally resigned.       In five previous seasons, Brandon had been at bat in the Major Leagues 700 times with 130 hits for a .186 batting average but with an OPS of .513. Most players would quit at this point. But not Brandon Wood.

This is the week to see if the dream will finally be realized whether he can make yet another Big League roster, this time for the talent loaded Kansas City Royals, and fulfill the promise those scouts raved about all those years. “Can’t miss.” “Great 5-tool player.” As of today, he has been to bat 31 times in this Spring Training in 17 games. He has 10 hits with 2 home runs and 9 rbi while putting together a most respectable .323 batting average and an amazing 1.021 OPS. Not many can do that. Not many have done that. But Brandon knows, life’s journey’s sometimes takes unexpected turns.

Will he make it? This is the week we will all find out.

Here’s to Brandon Wood. Baseball needs a great guy like this. Come on, Kansas City. Let’s see how ‘up to date’ you really are. All Brandon Wood needs is a chance to play regularly and the promise will show through. Ned. It’s up to you.

Play Ball!

It Was A Season To Forget For 29 Others

The San Francisco Giants are champions of baseball, once again. Their sold out season at home was a testament to their power in the West and throughout all of the game. The center of attention come spring will be Scottsdale. That is where they will begin to defend their title this past season and second in the past three years. For other teams it was a season to forget.

In Miami, what should have been a season to remember, became a nightmare quicker than you can say Fidel Castro. Of course when Ozzie said those two words, the beginning of the end began. Ozzie is no longer the manager of the Miami Marlins. He’s out of the fish tank. Now he can spout off about the aged dictator in Cuba all he wants with his profanity laced vocabulary. Así que lo siento. Me encanta el béisbol.

In Boston there was a tea party like only Beantown can deliver. They had fired the most successful manager in their history, who won not one but two World Series supposedly because he had lost control of his team. Guys were actually drinking beer in the clubhouse. Imagine that. Baseball players drinking beer in the clubhouse. After that horrible discovery was blabbed throughout New England on every fish wrap and sports talk mediums, there was a long debate between the candidates they would select as the next great Red Sox manager. Suffice to say the guy they should have taken grabbed the job with the Cubs before the Red Sox decided on Bobby Valentine. Yikes!

In Philadelphia and Milwaukee, great pre-season pitching staffs do not materialize to automatically put them into the playoffs. In Minneapolis, they found out that you can’t have a team built around one high-priced catcher. On the North side of Chicago, Dale Sveum is facing, like others who have taken over that franchise before him, another losing season which must be followed with a winning season or Sveum will have swum. On the South side of Chicago, they let a season of great leadership by one of their own disintegrate in September. St. Louis, Atlanta and Cincinnati had hopes crushed by the tidal wave known as the Giants. Arizona’s owner showed how he knows more about baseball than anybody because he has all the baseball cards Topps has ever printed. That makes him an authority. Unfortunately, Gibson can’t manage cardboard players. Houston was seen rushing over to the American League. They forgot to play ball in 2012.

Seattle had a season to remember. They gave up the greatest player in the game to the Yankees but had more great pitching performances at their stadium than anywhere on the planet ever. They are smiling in Seattle. Same with the fans in Washington, DC, where they were rewarded with a team that brought the city their first divisional championship. Quite an accomplishment for a City that had not seen a title winner since 1933.

Pittsburgh did it again. After a hot start, they faded badly. What do you expect from a team  that is managed by Clint Hurdle. Cleveland was never in the papers the entire season. Nor were the Padres. The New York Mets were non-factors this past season. Colorado disappeared in their own thin air plus their manager left after the season. Kansas City’s only claim to fame this season was hosting the All-Star game. The two ‘T-Towns’, Toronto and Tampa Bay had flashes of brilliance but not enough to put them in the big dance. On top of that, the Blue Jays lost their manager who became the head dude of the Boston Valentines.

Then there were the New York Yankees. The rapid loss of skills of A-Rod and the physical loss of The Captain, doomed the pinstripers this past season. In Dallas, the almost unexplainable coldness of Hamilton’s bat late in the season doomed the Rangers third attempt to win it all in three straight seasons. This franchise still hasn’t realized it needs pitching to win. Did you hear that Nolan Ryan? Remember what you did better than most? It wasn’t hitting. And what can you say about Detroit that hasn’t already been said?

That brings us to Baltimore. What a magical season Buck Showalter brought to baseball. 93 wins. Finally, Buck got his due. After rebuilding the Yankees and then getting fired; after building the Diamondback from scratch and setting all of the pieces together to win the World Series and got fired; after rebuilding the Rangers before he got fired; he took over a team that had won only 66 games the year before he got there and in two short years took them to the door of greatness.

Then there is Oakland and Billyball. The Athletics won the American League West title. And they played for the Championship of the American League. Go ahead. Name three players on the A’s besides Coco Crisp. They won an exciting 94 games. This was one of the most amazing stories in baseball. Billy Bean for President. He is the star of this franchise. Nobody understands the game better…on how to get the most out of talent like Mr. Bean.

On the other side of the equation is the Battle for LA. On one hand there is a billionaire who  bought a pig in a poke and thought he could win the American League pennant and finished third. On the other hand there are billionaires who not only  have to improve a team on the field but a stadium they play in and make it once again safe to go and see games. The Pujols Angels were only exciting because of one rookie. Their manager finally showed what he is made of. Arte has to take a look at his manager if he hopes to capture a title soon. As for the former LaLa Dodgers, they have gotten rid of all that has been bad over the past couple of years by taking out of the game the battling McCourts.

Which leads us to the Giants of San Francisco. Jack Elliot once said “Baseball is grown men getting paid to play a game.” In the City by the Bay, men enjoyed playing baseball this season like few before them. The had food fights before the games. One of their biggest boosters was an injured pitcher who played Ernie Kovacs routine of The Nairobi Trio in the dugout during the game. There were more than smiles. There was laughter and joy of being in a game they love to play. Pandemonium ruled. They put new gas into the gashouse gang. Think of them as the laughing gasers. They have all winter to smile the smile of victory.

Play Ball!