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!

Have You Seen Goldie Play?

Too often for those of you who live in the Eastern or Central time zones, ball scores and box scores from teams in the West simply are not available for a couple of days in the local newspapers. In the case of USA Today, it may not show up until Monday’s edition. Nothing that finishes past 8PM in the West rarely makes the Eastern or Midwestern papers.

That’s a shame because there are a number of things that are happening in the West this season that are really exciting stories. There’s a kid who was just called up for the Dodgers  this past week who is leading off, becoming one of only two players ever to hit 4 home runs in their first 5 games and is batting .435. His name: Puig…Yasiel Puig.

Then there is a fellow from the Valley of the Sun who is making everyone understand that this is the cornerstone of the Arizona franchise. And his team is leading the Western Division of the National League. His name is Goldie: Paul Goldschmidt.

It seemed nearly improbable that the San Francisco Giants would pitch to Paul Goldschmidt in the bottom of the 8th on Friday evening. They had just relieved a masterful Matt Cain for Jeremy Affeldt and proceeded to pitch to the National League’s RBI leader and potential MVP with runners on 1st and 2nd base. Miguel Montero was in the on deck circle. Montero was suffering with a .199 batting average and surely the Giants would pitch to Goldschmidt but with great care, probably walking him to load the bases and with a one run lead, hope that Miguel would hit into a double play.

But just when you think you have this game figured out, baseball managers more times than not, have brain cramps. Bruce Bochy, raise your hand.

On a 1-2 pitch, instead of tempting the odds, Affeldt released the pitch and (cue up the ‘The Natural‘ soundtrack) over the right centerfield fence the fastball landed in D’Back Heaven. Goldie then led the National League in RBI’s with 57 and the Diamondbacks padded their first place position in the Western Division.

Goldschmidt is batting .327, 74 hits, 15 home runs and 58 RBI’s.

This is the third season for the 25-year-old first baseman of the D’Backs, who came up with the team on August 1, 2011. The numbers he is putting up is no fluke. He led the minors in home runs before he was called up (30) and in his first game, coincidently against the Giants and Tim Lincecum, he blasted his first home run. Last night he batted in his 58 RBI which was the eighth straight game in which he has driven in a run, tieing the Diamondback’s record set by St. Luis Emilio Gonzalez (his miracle came on that beautiful November evening 2001, driving in the World Series, game 7 winning run off of New York Yankees great Mariano Rivera).

Paul Goldschmidt is the real deal. For all of you back East, put the name Goldschmidt on your All-Star ballot. He’ll be this years National League MVP early season leader.

Play Ball!

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!

EBL. The Key To Success.

The battle in baseball is centered around pitching, especially relief pitching. It is a treasured position. Just as the Milwaukee Brewers found out this past season by having their relief pitchers fail with 28 blown saves, the most in the entire major leagues, it is all about that guy coming in out of the bullpen late in the game to preserve the lead and save the game. These guys are a different breed. They think differently. Hall of Fame relief pitcher, Rollie Fingers, probably said it best. “I focus on making that one pitch. That’s what I tell myself, “One pitch.” You can’t worry about the next one. Even with a good hitter, he’ll get out seven times out of ten. I want to make sure that this is one of those seven.”

This off-season, especially in the Western Division of the National League, it is completely about that…finding the guy who can concentrate on that one pitch that will make a difference and take their team to the World Series and win it. Of import is the knowledge that in order to win the World Series, teams first have to defeat the San Francisco Giants and their amazing bullpen which will only improve with the return of one Brian Patrick Wilson. With his four-seam fastball, slider and cutter, teamed with Sergio Romo’s slider, two-seamer, change-up and three World Series saves against Detroit this past season, the team that resides in The City is once again the team to chase.

Arizona Diamondbacks made the first move to beef up their bullpen by signing closer Heath Bell. GM Kevin Towers was able to release him from Miami Marlins hell and bring him into the world of Gibson, which is much different from the world of Ozzie. Gibby will grunt where as Guillen simply blows his top with expletives. Look for Bell to reclaim his old form that was his calling card in San Diego two years ago.

The Dodgers made their big move in strengthening their bullpen by re-signing their top reliever this past season, Brandon League. General Manager Ned Colletti understood League’s importance to his team’s rise to the top of the NL West was resting on the guy he traded for last July 30th from Seattle. League went 6 for 6 in closes after succeeding Kenley Jansen who went on the disabled list with an irregular heartbeat.

In San Diego, they are set through 2015 with their closer, Houston Street. With an excellent ERA of 1.85, Street, the former Rookie of the Year in 2005 for Oakland, finished last season with 23 saves in the 40 games in which he appeared. He earned All-Star status for the first time in his career last season.

For those who live in the East, you may be in a bit of a time-warp. Not everything in baseball revolves around New York and Boston. What may appear to be a little late for many in the Eastern time zone to see, fabulous play has been going on this decade West of the Rockies. It’s understood that you can’t read about it in your morning newspapers anymore (but who reads the newspaper anymore for news?). In those early Eastern slumber hours, when head hits the pillow, they are playing baseball out West, good solid baseball. In fact, the last three champions have come out of the National League and in two of those years, the Western Division champion became the champion in all of baseball.

The key this coming season will be to find out which team in the NL West can come up with the bullpen that can deliver the save, especially on the road. Tom House, the former Atlanta Braves reliever stated, “When I’m on the road, my greatest ambition is to get a standing boo.” That’s what the rest of this division is hoping they have on their staff…the ‘on-the-road boo leader. Look for it this coming season as the newest stat in baseball, the EBL, Earned Boo Leader.

No. Don’t look for that stat in your newspaper. This is the season to look for it on your mobile. It’s under “E” as in Earned Boo Leader.

Play Ball!