The Coming Of ‘Him’.

‘Him’

The stands were full as the anticipation of ‘him’ coming to the plate was a long-awaited event, second only to the unveiling of the Bud Selig statue the previous year. But this anticipation was for someone who could actually do something ON a baseball field, not conspire against the players by collusion with the owner down on the South Side of Chicago.

Many had their first brat of the season, fully dressed with kraut and Secret Stadium Sauce from the middle stand on the third base side of the main entry. That’s where you get the good ones. It is dipped and smothered with the magic sauce. It went down smoothly with that cold Miller Lite as all eyes were on the first base dugout.

As he appeared to go onto the on-deck circle, picking up the rosin bag and tapping it on the handle of his black bat, there was a heightened murmur rolling throughout the stands as he was grasping it with both hands and pulling it over his head, waggling it back and forth over the back of his head to loosen up the kinks of a long winter wondering if he could play without assistance. The fans watched in near quiet as Gomez, last year’s Gold Glove winner in centerfield, led off the game for the home team against the team that left the Cream City so many years ago, breaking hearts of a generation of fans in the hinterland where beer and sausages go together like peanut butter and jelly, not chicken and grits.

The practice swings he made took on new meaning as last year’s All-Star, Jean Segura, batted second. Then, taking the bat upside down, grabbing the barrel of the stick, popped the bat to the ground, releasing the bat ring which weighted the bat for practice swings, he stepped out of the on-deck circle and riding a wave of applause and fans standing in ovation of their fallen star, Braunschweiger stepped across the batters box, across home plate and took his practice swing facing third base before he stepped into the box where right-handed hitters stood, politely acknowledging the crowd’s moving welcome with a slight upward motion by his right hand, bat resting and tapping home plate, before he took his stance.

Why?

Why this acknowledgment of by those who are, all that is, right and good, to a fallen hero who not only took PEDs but lied about it to everyone he had ever met…family, friends, workers, fellow players from his team and opposing teams, partners in business…everyone?

The understanding here, Milwaukee is an extremely parochial town. It is, from the very beginning, built upon hard-working, blue-collar folks who went to school to be educated  and to church on Sundays and were taught the Golden Rules of life. The town is Catholic, not unlike Boston or Chicago or Baltimore. Yet this is a community filled with deep conviction that you do have a second chance to redeem yourself and people are entitled to redemption.

That won’t happen in Philly or Cincinnati, Pittsburgh or Los Angeles. It’s not that they are bad. It is simply that they are not this parochial. It absolutely will not happen in Phoenix where they still believe that it is better to shoot someone than allow them to explain what they did and why they did it. After all, the Zona is only a bit over 100 years old. It is also the home of the Sherriff who puts his prisoners in pink and has them stay outside all year-long in Tent City.

What will be interesting is to see how he is greeted in one of the most respected baseball towns in the country, St. Louis. The bitter rival of the Milwaukee nines throughout most of the later half of the Twentieth Century, St. Louis has a reputation not unlike Milwaukee. It has seen some of its own disgraced and ashamed. How will they welcome the latest Black Sheep from the other beer city up North?

On Monday, April 28th, we will find out. That will be the fourth game of the year between the Brewers and the Cardinals and the first visit of the Cerveceros to the Land of Busch to play the Cardenales.

Then we will see. Then we will learn the depth of the disgrace. Let’s hope his thumb gets better before then.

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!

If It’s Milwaukee, It Must Be Kielbasa

Doctors may say that the quickest way to solve a psychological condition is to eat. It’s comfort food time. It’s ‘get better’ time. It’s like ‘when the child is sick, give them some chicken soup’ kinda thing. The baseball team from the Cream City needs some chicken soup. Or….a Kielbasa.

This year the Brewers have had three major issues: 1. The psychological hurdle of AP;  2. The calamity of the Bullpen and #3. The problem of having an inexperienced manager at the helm.

The Psychological hurdle of AP

The Milwaukee Brewers this season are a team in transition, from the dynamic youthful bunch who came up through the farm system to AP, an era known as After Prince. For years, the Brewers have had great First Basemen. It all began with the popular Mike Hegan, a member of the original Seattle Pilots from whence the Brewers came. He carried on the Milwaukee tradition of big banging first sackers that was set in the days of the Braves with Joe Adcock/Frank Torre/Nippy Jones fame. George “Boomer” Scott followed up and set a new standard of banging the ball around the park, with his 36 home runs with 109 RBI in 1975 being the hallmark. Then St. Cecil of Cooper (32 home runs with 121 RBI and .313 batting average in 1982), the man who brought the Brewers into the 1982 World Series with one of the greatest clutch hits of all time to win the American League pennant over the California (nee Los Angeles, Anaheim, of Anaheim) Angels.

But the great first sackers didn’t stop there. John Jaha hit .300 with 34 home runs and 118 RBI in ’96. Richie Sexton is still legendary for hitting some of the longest home runs in the game hit 45 home runs in 2001 and 2003. Then came Lyle Overbay, who hit the cover off of the ball with more doubles (53 in 2004 while hitting .301) than any other Milwaukee first baseman before him or after. But he was just keeping the sack warm for the kid who everyone knew was the center of the first base universe storming up from the minors.

Prince Fielder was born to be a Milwaukee Brewer. He was everything a Milwaukee first baseman was all about. But Prince brought a new dimension to the game. He was an enthusiastic crusher with youth going for him. Here was the pillar of the young Brewers (50 home runs in 2007, 141 RBI and .299 batting average in 2009) and were everything the Milwaukee club was looking for ever since the great Robin Yount came up and spent the next 20 years making the Brewers a serious contender each and every year. He, along with Weeks and Hart came up through the ranks pounding the opposition with their youthful style and power (230 home runs as a Brewer). Prince was fun. Prince was the leader. Prince was the soul. Prince was the Man.

Then nothing.

If 2012 is remembered, it was for the silence of the void that was created when Prince left.

They wore Brewers on the front of their jerseys, but they simply were not the Milwaukee Brewers. Their Prince had left. Long live the Prince.

Then something very strange happened. Like the Autumn Spring, false hope gave way to a new and wonderous happening. The next ‘coming’ came and quickly went on the DL for the season. This created a nightmare of a lineup. But someone in the very mold of Adcock and Cooper moved into the outfield from his All-Star position in Right and after 2/3rds of the season, the Brewers began to look once again like the Milwaukee Brewers. Prince, for many diehards, was merely taking a vacation. And now Cory Hart took his position, not his place, but his position at first. Cory, long a favorite of the Keilbasa Krowd, began to hit the long ball once again, and did that crazy little shake of his hips to his teammates in the dugout when he banged a double time and time again.

With the help of the other corners, Aramis Ramirez at third, Norichika Aoki in right and of course Ryan Braun in left, along with the brilliant rookie catcher, Martin Maldonado, solid clutch hitting along with a couple of young rookie arms, brought back the excitement of the past few years where Milwaukee was averaging over 3 million fans at the gate. From way back, 14 1/2 to be exact, they began their move with an impressive sweep over the league leading Cincinnati Reds. Then came Houston.

The Calamity of the Bullpen

A microcosm of a season was in evidence in one single game this past Friday evening. Good fielding, good timely hitting. 24th blown save. K-Rod (Francisco Rodriguez) is finished. His $8.5 million isn’t worth the paper it is written on. John Axford is useless. If you cannot get a breaking ball over the plate, you are finished in The Show. After a tremendous seven innings pitched by rookie Mark Rogers, K-Rod came in and promptly served up a home run in the 8th inning to the lowly Astros. Then Axford’s walked the lead-off batter and flummoxed his was to the minors to lose the game in the 9th. The Houston Astros this season have NEVER had a walk-off hit before Axford showed up on a humid, air-conditioned evening before the big train on the wall of a ballpark. Axford became the Enron of Minute Maid.

The Problem of Having An Inexperienced Manager At The Helm

After the game, Ron Roenicke the Brewers manager, was downright lost for words. He visibly had lost all confidence in the team. He had visibly lost confidence in himself. Most important, it appeared that he didn’t have any answers. He appeared to be on the verge of tears. He knew he had not learned a thing from the past failures that the Brewers earned throughout this Season AP. Here was a guy who seemingly prides himself on following baseball’s crazy tradition of backing the veterans until their wheels fall off. Wake up, Scioscia’s puppet. The wheels have fallen off. They fell off when your silly decision to keep Cesar Izturis as a backup shortstop ended the progress Edwin Maysonet was making earlier in the season. The wheels fell off when you insisted K-Rod had something left in the tank. He doesn’t. It’s empty. (NOTE: He took arbitration because he couldn’t get anything close to what he was making with the Brewers.) They fell off when you continued to use Axford. Tell Milwaukee’s President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, Doug Melvin, John Axford needs to go back to the minors and work on getting his curve and screwball working again. It’s called ‘getting it over the plate’. He can get work on it down there and it won’t affect the big club’s record. Then take whatever you can get for K-Rod and save the last month’s salary for new hot water bottles for you to sit on or something. Anything but K-Rod.

You cannot fire this bullpen coach. You already did that as a miserable excuse for your inexperience in evaluating what was going on around you, Mr. Roenicke. When the fans in the stands begin to moan and get up to leave the ballpark when you walk out of the dugout and pull your ‘baseball veteran’ scam by taking out the starting pitcher and bring in the dynamic Blown Savers, you have to know, that we all know, you are going to a dry well. There is no more water in that well. It’s dry. That well dried up when the season began. You just didn’t believe it was dry because these two could still walk in from the bullpen. They are the ‘Walking Dead Arms’.

The Solution

It is time you faced the facts of the game in Milwaukee. When in doubt, eat a kielbasa. You need to understand the ‘Power of the K’. Do the honorable thing, Mr. Roenicke. Do what Max Surkont did. He ate himself out of The Show by dinning at those South side Milwaukee fans homes in the ’50s every night. That, plus a few of Milwaukee’s favorite brew, became his ticket out of baseball. But, let it be said that Big Max was more than just an expert on Polish sausages. He also was a bit of a linguist, a man of, one might say, unusual phrases. He once said, “Baseball was never meant to be taken seriously. If it were, we would play it with a javelin instead of a ball.”

So sayeth Max.

Eat, Mr. Roenicke. Don’t mess with the javelin. As they say on the South Side, ‘Eat them kielbasa and wash it down at the bubbler.’.  It is the honorable thing to do.

Then, when the urge comes to give that vet one more shot, forget it. Call in anyone except K-Rod or Axford. It is his time. And as you do that, just say, “Long Live Axford. He was the proverbial flash in the pan.”

Mr. Roenicke? Eat a Kielbasa! We will all be better for it.

Play Ball!

Spring Training Is Over For The Umps

One of the great characters of the game, Leo Durocher, set the standard in umpire description when he said, “I never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesight, yes.”

We move at a faster pace now that it is May. The spectacular plays of April will become more commonplace in May. So hopefully will the calls by the umpires. Safe or out will always be contested calls by the men in blue or now in black. Endless finger-pointing and screaming ‘Get the bum outta there’ will run its course throughout the season. The question that burns most of us is the pitch calling behind the plate. And that is a matter of concern.

Red Barber said, “Whenever you have a tight situation and there’s a close pitch, the umpire gets a squawk no matter how he calls it.” That is not what we are talking about in this column. What we want to understand is the lack of consistency in the calling of balls and strikes.

Mike Winters was behind the plate during Tuesday night’s game in San Diego as the Padres met the Brewers. Petco Park has never been a friendly hitters park and at the end of the game, there were only 8 hits, 5 by San Diego and 3 by Milwaukee. The game was tight with a former Brewer, Mark Kotsay banging a double off of star relief pitcher, Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) and driving in the winning runs. With heavy air and a bite of chill on it at 65 degrees, San Diego is a different place to hit at night. Low total run games are part of the fabric of playing in San Diego.

Yet what caught nearly no attention was the inconsistent strike zone Winters set throughout the game. To be a really good umpire, consistency is the key. If a ball seems to be a bit inside in the first inning and it is called a strike, a good umpire calls that same pitch a strike in all of the other innings. Pitchers respect the consistency in setting the zone. Hitters appreciate the consistency in the zone being established. So when a pitch is called for a strike on a fastball that was a bit inside, both the hitter and the pitcher understand the limit the umpire is establishing for the game. The inside of the zone has been established.

Thus, when the ump calls a pitch a strike on the black over the outside of the plate, the far reaches of the zone is established. Now only the top and the bottom of the strike zone needs to have limits set.

The consistency that an umpire establishes are the unwritten rules of the game for that day or night as long as he is behind the plate.

Padre pitchers threw 130 pitches during the game in question, 82 of which were strikes. Brewer hurlers threw 120 pitches, 76 were strikes. This was on the surface, a well pitched game. In fact the starting pitcher for the Padres, Edinson Volquez had the same percentage of strikes (63 strikes out of 99 pitches) that Jered Weaver had in throwing a no-hitter for the Angels last night in Anaheim against the Toronto Blue Jays, 63.6%. Weaver threw 77 strikes out of 121 pitches in 63 degree weather in Southern California.

This is where the game becomes very interesting. It isn’t about the percentage of strikes. Weaver was incredibly right on Wednesday evening. But on Tuesday evening, Volquez was getting called strikes all over the place. As the game progressed, balls that were thrown outside of the ‘established’ strike zone were being called strikes. Balls above the letters were being called strikes. Balls further inside the ‘established’ strike zone earlier in the game were being called strikes. Then all of a sudden, a ball in the same place would be called a ball. Go figure.

The problem most fans have in looking at a game on television is the problem with the centerfield camera not being exactly behind the pitcher to get a 100% perfect view of the strike zone. It is off-center to give a clear view of the plate and to be out of the batter’s eye. Understood. That is why the establishing of a strike zone is so important.

On Tuesday evening, although the stats say no, the eye said differently. The umpires have to be consistent. Then the game is fair.

Jaun Marichal, the great Giant pitcher of the past said, “You had to pitch in and out. The zone didn’t belong to the hitters; it belonged to the pitchers. Today, if you pitch too far inside, the umpire would stop you right there. I don’t think it’s fair.” Problem is, what would Jaun think about the zone moving all over the place throughout the game?

Play ball.