Go West

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/06/07/video-vin-scully-talks-d-day/

In 1958, two teams ventured out of the East and settled on the West Coast, the Giants of the National League in San Francisco and the same league’s Dodgers who settled into Los Angeles. Along with the Bums came their announcer, Vince Scully. And from that date, just 14 years after the Invasion of Normandy, baseball and the West settled into a love affair that has lasted for over a half a Century.

Baseball is played out West and of the eight teams West of the Pecos, four of them have .500 or better records this season, with one team a game under .500. But in the Senior Circuit, three are above .500 including the two originals. They play baseball out in the West.

For many, fans have long gone to bed when the West Cost games begin and end. It’s as if they don’t really exist in the East until those teams have to travel to the left coast. And when they get there, throw those team’s records out. This is the land of pitching. If you are in Seattle, the King resides up there and you don’t want to face the King. In San Francisco, it’s the home of Madison and Timmy. Down in LaLa, Clayton and Greinke rule. Further South, just North of North Island, James and then Kimbrel reside. In other words, when you go out West, young man, you better bring your hitting shoes.

On Saturday night, there was a game that proved this point. Both starting pitchers, Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, fired bullets. At one time during the game, Kershaw and Garcia had 0-2 pitch counts on 18 batters, 10 of those by Kershaw. With that kind of pitching, there is a good chance you will not get a good pitch to hit. And in fact, only the right fielder, Grichuk, got a single hit off of Dodger pitching on the evening. Garcia, beginning the bottom of the Seventh inning, had only thrown 77 pitches. But in the next five pitches, he gave up a double down the third base line which eluded the third baseman who moved over from Second base after the original third baseman, Carpenter, was hit earlier in the game and had to leave. Then, Kozma’s replacement at second, Wong, couldn’t handle a hot line drive which drove in the second run (this was after Puig had driven in the first with a double to the gap in right center). A game of inches? Yes. A game of what ifs? Yes. In five pitches the game was over. Garcia only threw 87 pitches in his outing, good enough to win most games, but in three games this year, the Cardinals haven’t scored any runs for him.

Throughout all of this, Vin Scully gave us all a delightful presentation of the game along with a history lesson on why this date is so important to Americans.

As Vin Scully told the story that wrapped in and out of pitches, in the Ninth Inning as the Dodgers were putting away the Cardinals and shutting the out, 2-0, he weaved his magic as he said, “a young man who waded ashore in Normandy on this date 71 years ago who was to become a great American writer…he pops up to the catcher for the second out…who had the first six chapters of his novel stuffed in his back pocket…and another guy who is trying to get noticed in the game…and the young man on that fateful day who was in the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division on Utah Beach was JD Salinger…a roller down the third base line, foul….and the great American novel was ‘A Catcher In The Rye’. ‘Poor guy’…now 1-2 on Matt Holiday who fouls it off again….who can ever forget Holden Caulfield…fast ball got him looking. Do us all a favor…please tell your children and grandchildren what June 6th is all about. 12 Cardinals strike out tonight and the Dodgers remain in first place, a half a game in front of the San Francisco Giants. Good night, everybody.”

And only those of us on the West Coast could hear this fascinating melding of a sporting event in the time of our lives, on a day with a Triple Crown winner became the 12th ever to accomplish that feat, and on a date with destiny that changed the world forever so many years ago.

For those of you back East, you missed one of the greatest story telling blendings in history by a Master of the Art who ventured West fifty-seven years ago. Good night, Vin.

Can’t wait until Sunday. He is the Gold Standard.

Play Ball!

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There Was Still A Chance.

The chance was still there and it was in their hands. But as the manager made the decision to insert a rookie in his first Major League start, brought up in the September call-up from Huntsville in AA ball, to play first, it seems as though it was not in their hands. On one of the easiest 5-4-3 double play opportunities, the newbie could not catch the very catchable throw from second. Error on the 1st baseman for dropping the ball. It was discovered that his glove did not work. Thus the reason he is called a minor leaguer. The door opened for the Cincinnati Reds to pull ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers in the fourth-to-last game of the season and they took a 3-2 lead which they never relinquished.

This was an important game.

In fact, it was one of the most important games of the year.

The manager again did something that has eluded him from past mistakes. When this team has more veteran first basemen than any other team, why start someone who isn’t even #5 on the depth chart? The manager continues to make moves to lose, not to win. But it isn’t just the manager and his coaching staff that are less than adequate.

The veteran second baseman committed yet another fielding error when he failed to field a pop up.

Again, the veteran second baseman committed his second error, and the team’s third in the game, by making a wild throw to second.

The second year shortstop who brought us so much hope before this year, stayed on the ground rather than rush to the ball to control the game. A mental error.

The season ended at Great American ballpark on the banks of the Ohio River.

The catcher was left in the game to see if he could hit some sort of record double, again leaving the backup catcher sitting on the bench. The catcher, who has been attempting to get this double for a week, would break an existing record of a catcher leading his league in doubles. Hasn’t been done for quite a while. Let’s go after some records rather than try to win a game that could keep you in the hunt.

The right fielder looked tired. For the first time in his career, his bat looked too long…too big for him to catch up to a 95+ mph heater. In a season which greeted him with catcalls throughout the games wherever the team went, he progressively broke down physically at first with a hand injury and a hammy, a this or that which a season is made of. But this season, in an effort to blow all of the negative thoughts out of his head, it became clear to his loyal fans, he no longer was the player he used to be. The center fielder, playing with more heart and soul than anyone on the team gave his all, that Go Go spirit, played hurt down the stretch, and just hit pop ups, no more slashing singles turning into doubles as he had early in the season to bring him All-Star status. Scooter just hit shallow pop flys. Rickie, at bat, hit. In the field, he was not such a hit.

Why all the concern over a baseball team? When one follows a team and a home town with a team for most of their lives, an attachment grows. It boils in the blood. It reaches the heart. It possesses the soul. There is a bond of escape filled with moments of joy and wonder that are the adrenaline of the spot. But if you are a Milwaukee Brewers fan, if you are one of the faithful of the Cream City Nine, it has been 57 years since the City was presented with a World Champion in baseball from its team. Two owners. Fifty-Seven years. In dog years, that’s more than four dog lifetimes. It is almost incomprehensible that a team, outside of those hapless loveable Northsiders of Chicago, can go through such a drought with players like Joe Torre, Tony Cloninger, Roy McMillan of the old Braves and Cecil Cooper, Jim Gantner, Paul Molitor, Don Money, Robin Yount, Ben Oglivie, Teddy Higuera, Gorman Thomas, Ted Simmons, Rollie Fingers, Ken Sanders, Jerry Augustine, Sal Bando, Dante Bichette, Chris Bosio, Jeremy Burnitz, Mike Caldwell, Jeff Cirillo, Craig Counsell, Rob Deer, Billy Hall, Darryl Hamilton, JJ Hardy, Tommy Harper, Cory Hart, Mike Hegan, Larry Hisle, Trevor Hoffman, Geoff Jenkins, Sixto Lezcano, Mike Methany, Davey May, Bob McClure, Charlie Moore, Jaime Navarro, Juan Nieves, Lyle Overbay, Dan Plesac, Darrell Porter, Francisco Rodriguez, George Scott, Richie Sexson, Gary Sheffield, BJ Surhoff, Fernando Vina, Pete Vuckovich, Greg Vaughn, Ben Sheets, CC Sabathia, Prince Fielder, Yovani Gallardo, Aarmis Ramirez, Carlos Gomez, Zach Greinke, Ryan Braun, Jonathon Lucroy and a host of other fine players. Perhaps Fred Haney was the only real manager this City ever had. Most of the rest were losers. OK. Even if Bambi and Harvey didn’t bring us the World Championship, they did bring us near the pinnacle once. Once! That’s it. One League Pennant which was brought home when Coop did a Jeter.

There can only be one conclusion. And it is one that rips at the heart of everyone who cherishes Cream City.

It’s the water.

To many that is a sacrilege. ‘Go to the confessional immediately.’ they say. ‘Blastphemer’, they can be heard yelling. ‘Step on his face and twist’, they shouted. ‘Don’t say that. You’re making our city look bad’, others murmured under their breath honoring the guiding word of Sister Ramegia.

But consider this. When the Milwaukee Braves won the World Championship in 1957, Schlitz was the #1 beer. Enough said.

At one time the water in Milwaukee was great. Grandma would say, ‘Just drink from the tap. Its that good.’ City fathers would point with pride to their many beers brewed with the great water. There was Fox Head 400, Blatz, the city’s favorite (‘Blatz is Milwaukee’s finest beer.’), Pabst Blue Ribbon, Gettelman, Miller and many, many more.

But one should not forget what the native Potowatami’s called this special place, remembering that the Milwaukee area was originally inhabited by the Fox, Mascouten, Potawatomi, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) native American tribes. The name “Milwaukee” comes from an Algonquian word ‘Millioke’, meaning “Good”, “Beautiful” and “Pleasant Land”. That’s what many natives believe and they all follow the Chamber of Commerce pledge: ‘Never give St. Louis the opportunity to hold one over on us. They make rice beer…pretend beer.’

Yet there is a rumor, buried along side of Jacob Best in the Forest Home Cemetery that there is a piece of paper which says that when he talked to a native in Juneautown when he began to brew his first frothy drink, that the name ‘Millioke’ meant: land of stinking water.

Come on. Monks made beer because the water was bad. Boiled water with some wheat, barley and hops purified the drink. Have no idea what rice does to it. Never drank that stuff from the Mississippi River.

So kids, take heart. The former Brewers who make up a good number of the Kansas City Royals, escaped the plight of Cream City and are now in the playoffs. Congratulations to Nori Aoki, one of the best right fielders we ever had is tied for the second best hitter on the Royals. Congratulations to Alcides Escobar, one of the best young shortstops we ever had, is tied for the second best hitter on the Royals. Congratulations to Lorenzo Cain, one of the best outfield prospects we every had and is the best hitter on the Royals and the third best base stealer on the Royals. Congratulations to Dale Sveum, the Royals hitting coach, former Brewer and the best manager the Brewers ever had. Congratulations to Nedly Yost, a former player and manager of the Crew who almost did it, guiding the Crew to two winning seasons, their first in 11 years, before being relieved of his duties 16 games above .500. Sixteen games ABOVE .500. Oh, Mike Jirschele, the Royals third base coach, is from Clintonville. Doug Henry, the Royals bullpen coach, a former Brewer, lives in Hartland. They no longer have to drink the water. They are in the playoffs. The Brewers aren’t.

Play Ball.

But not in Milwaukee this post-season.

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!

Magnification Of Blunders

With the wind whirling all around us, the center of the storm is often calm. We are in the center of baseball’s annual storm. The playoffs, where pitchers dominate and star hitters rarely come through in the clutch, was best described in Ernest Thayer’s legendary poem written in 1888 “Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888”, first published in The San Francisco Examiner on June 3^rd in that year. While we no longer have the Mudville Nine to worry about, today’s game during the baseball’s playoffs, still are dominated by good pitching.

Take for example game #1 of the NLCS: The visiting Dodgers put multi millionaire, Zach Greinke on the mound. With a 1-2 post-season record, his only career win coming against St. Louis for the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2011 NLCS, he responded with ten strikeouts and only one walk. However, that one walk would come back to haunt him as the runner scored on a double that should have been caught in centerfield. You might question, ‘should have caught’ statement because it was a ball, high off the wall, which would have been a good catch. But it was a catch that was possible to make. It was simply misjudged by Andre Ethier. Yet little is said about that play. Rather, the emphasis for pointing fingers is that Dodger manager, Don Mattingly, pulled his star first baseman and one of its best hitters, Adrian  Gonzalez, who had singled to put the lead run on first while the game was tied 2-2 and was hitting .333 in post season. No one knew that this game was going to go 13 innings and this was only the eighth inning. Dee Gordon came in to run and was quickly retired by a weak ground ball by rookie sensation, Yasiel Puig. One of the Dodgers star hitters was now out of the game. The point here is that he was ONE of the star hitters, not the only one.

“Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;                                                           It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;                                                                         It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,                                                         For Casey, might Casey, was advancing to the bat.”

There were other hitters in the Dodger lineup to do what Gonzalez had done so well. There was Hanley Ramirez, Carl Crawford, Puig, Uribe, Ethier and Mark Ellis to deliver. But this game, during this time of the season is not about the hitters. It’s about the pitching.

The Dodgers were no longer calm in the center of the storm.

“The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;                                       He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.                                                           And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go.                                                       And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.”

On the St. Louis side, steeped in tradition with one of their greatest marked by a symbol on their sleeves with the number 6 set in a circle, and legendary pitcher, Bob Gibson in the dugout before the game, did what every winning team has done from time in memoriam in the post season…they won the game with tremendous pitching.

You can’t forget the work of Joe Kelly, a Los Angeles area native, beginning the game with six solid innings coming off a 7-2 record since August 11^th with a 2.32 ERA. Don’t forget, he struck out all of the Dodgers in the first inning and then struck out Gonzalez with runners on in the second and Puig with runners on in the third. It’s not the time to forget Randy Choate and Seth Maness for their combined shutout inning of work. Carlos Martinez had a good inning and then came Trevor Rosenthal, who struck out two in his great couple of innings.

But the shock of shocks, was John Axford’s second lifetime entrance into post-season play. The boy from Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, was traded by the Brewers to St. Louis (that’s another story for another day) after being counted on to be able to loose more TV viewers than NBC. When he came into a Brewer game this season, fans would change channels just to miss the predictable debacle that would surely follow. But here he was, banging his fastball and making an inning interesting. Giving up a hit and walking another, he came in with a fastball of old to strike out the not so mighty Casey of the Dodger Nine, former Cardinal Nick Punto, to allow the game to continue. This game didn’t end suddenly as most had previously when ‘Ax’ entered a Brewer’s game. It left many in Milwaukee wondering where was this performance a few months ago for The Crew? There’s ‘beer pride’ here. This moment of past glory now resided on the hill at Busch and not at Miller.

To put the exclamation point on this note of post season pitching importance, Lance Lynn’s work for two innings wrapping up the game and the win cannot be over looked nor over stated.

“Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;                                                The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,                                              And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children should,                                         But there is no joy in Mudville – mighty Casey has struck out.”

It’s not the magnification of blunders that decided this game. It wasn’t Ethier’s late start and misplay in center or a managerial decision that would do in the Dodgers on this long, long evening in St. Louis. It was pitching, namely for ‘Dizzy’ and ‘Daffy’s’ and ‘Bullet Bob’s’ legacies that brought victory to the team that plays under the Arch. And that was Friday. Same goes for Saturday’s games in both St. Louis and Boston.

Play Ball.

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Smelling The Rosin Of Spring

The off-season is filled with visions of money stacked tall and wide. It is that time to make THE haul in a baseball players career. Today’s top pitcher on the Market for a new contract is Zach Greinke. He may not be the best pitcher, nor even the best pitcher on his new team. But he will be one of the best paid pitchers in baseball.

It is all built on hope. The hope of the Los Angeles Dodgers is to win a pennant and another World Series. The hope of Zach Greinke is to have the biggest bank account in whatever neighborhood he decides to land in. But there are severe problems in achieving both of these hopeful goals. First, there is the champion San Francisco Giants. Second, there is chemistry. Third, there is history.

The San Francisco Giants have won the World Series two of the past three years. Here is a team that has the players in place with an understanding that it takes all 25 to make a successful season. They also have one of the deepest pitching staffs in baseball. They also have the best pitcher in the National League, Matt Cain. Plus, they have an excellent manager of the game. Nobody today manages crises better than Bruce Bochy.

Chemistry is an important ingredient in making up a championship ball club. It is the glue that holds a team together in tough times and the power behind the bonding that makes the good times even greater. Greinke has some interesting issues when it comes to this particular element. Can the highest paid pitcher on your staff be only the second best on your staff? Can the introverted guy meld into the blend that is La La? Sure, the news that will be coming out of Camelback Ranch this spring will be full of hope and how well Grienke will be fitting into those Boys In Blue. He’ll be shown laughing with what’s his name, Matt Kemp, in Center Field. He’ll be throwing down a few with what’s his name, Adrian Gonzalez, who just got here from Boston at First Base. He’ll be seen in a picture, smiling, alongside what’s his name, Clayton Kershaw, the 24-year-old, number one pitcher on the staff. But there will be Donny Ballgame attempting to manage it all. And there will be exhortations from Tommy saying that the second coming of the Dodgers to Los Angeles is well on its way and that he will shout from the top of his lungs, “Bleed Dodger Blue, Baby”.

That brings us to number three: history and Grienke’s six year, $147 million dollar deal in the National League. Zack’s history in the N.L. with the Milwaukee Brewers was spectacular at home. He never lost a game at home in Milwaukee. But on the road, it was a different story. What happens on the road when he hits his non-winning bumps, far away from the palm lined driveway in the Hills of Southern California? Could anguish set in behind the doubts he will have to live up to because of the immense amount of money he is making? No one will be able to console him because no one knows how to talk to him. He doesn’t really do that. But the real doubt that will haunt him is that he is not a #1. He was number two in Milwaukee. He was number two with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Yet he is being paid #1 salary by a desperate team.

Why are they desperate? San Francisco is the king. L.A. is the pretender. L.A. hates to be second to any city, especially to the City By The Bay. Least we forget, it takes more than just a great home field starting pitcher. The San Francisco Giants have a bullpen besides great starting pitching and a proven manager with a team loaded with chemistry.

But, this is what the Hot Stove is all about, isn’t it. You can talk about hope forever. You can talk about the pros and cons of paying Greinke whatever. All the time you are doing this, you can almost smell the rosin of spring. It’s only a few weeks away.

Play Ball!

Blame It On San Francisco.

 

At the beginning of the season, here were the predictions:

National League Playoff Teams:  Atlanta, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Milwaukee.

American League Playoff Teams: New York, Detroit, Texas, Anaheim, Boston and Chicago.

“It ain’t over ’till it’s over”, rings in our ears, Yogi. I can’t tell you what happened with Philadelphia. In Milwaukee it was the bullpen or lack thereof. Or it might have been the Prince factor. But there might be another reason. Blame it on San Francisco.

Why blame it on a team from “I Left My Heart Town”?

On April 2, 2012, San Francisco Giants signed Matt Cain to an eight year, $139.75 million contract, where in 2018, he will receive $21 million, which is a team option. For this season, he went from $7.3 million to $15 million and from 2013 thru 2017, he will be paid $20 million per year. He will be eligible for free agency in 2018. The Giants could buy that season out for $7.5 million.

Zach Greinke began the season with the Milwaukee Brewers and made $13.5 million. He was in the final year of his contract. Prior to the season, his disdain to have an agent was evident. He said the Milwaukee owner was one of the best in the world. He loved Milwaukee. In fact, he never lost a game on the mound at Miller Park. All was Brew City glow until Matt Cain signed his contract making him, the top paid pitcher in the National League and the biggest contract for a right-handed pitcher in the history of the game. Greinke immediately signed an agent who must have made it clear he wanted to test his proverbial waters before any more contract extension discussions could take place. As a known recluse, he made it clear he would not talk about contract during the season. Although 9-2, the Brewers had no decision to make except to get the most they could for one of their top pitchers. They were not going to pay Greinke $20+ million per year.

For the next several months, the team that was already feeling the void of their biggest slugger and lacking the presence of Prince Fielder, was swimming in a quandary of unknown. How would Greinke pitch? What effect would this ‘transition’ have on the entire pitching staff? Why not just pay him the $20 million and move ahead? On July 27th, he was shipped off to Orange County and back to the American League.

Sure. The Brewers made an incredible comeback this season from way under .500 to four games above, through Saturday with a starting pitching staff of unknowns plus Vonnie. But without the cable car Cain contract, what would the result have been for the Pigsville Nine?

If the season ended today, neither the Brewers or the Angels would make he playoffs. What would have happened if San Francisco didn’t sign Cain to a new contract until after the season ended and Greinke would have stayed in Milwaukee?

It’s all part of the fabric of the cloth of baseball which makes this game so great. The ‘what if’ is usually more interesting than the ‘what has been’.

Play Ball!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From The Navy Yard To Pigsville And Beyond

In case you are living under a rock, baseball fever is at an all-time high due to the expanded playoff spots now up for grabs. It is pandemonium in the parks. All you have to do is watch the Fightin’s and the BrewCrew to see what’s happening. Both teams, picked to finish near or at the top of their divisions before the season began, struggled to find their bearings throughout the summer. But now when the window is closing fast, both Philadelphia and Milwaukee are putting together winning streaks that are defying the odds.

As of this morning, both teams are closing in. The Phillies are only one game behind in the loss column and the Brewers two games behind because the Dodgers pulled off another great 9th inning rally to beat St. Louis and tie the Cardinals for the wild card spot. That leads us all to the next question: if you tie for the Wild Card at the end of the season, do you have a one game playoff? And, where would that game be played? How is it determined? Let’s not forget the D’Backs. There are only 4 games out in the loss column.

Wild Card fever is not only limited to the National League. In the American League, there is an insane rush  for the playoffs going on as well. The Amazing A’s not only are in the driver’s seat for the Wild Card spot, they are only 2 1/2 games behind the mighty Texas Rangers for the top spot in the AL West. Baltimore, behind their Manager of the Year candidate, Buck Showalter, are three games ahead of the payroll laden Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the unbelievable Tampa Bay Rays and the powerful Detroit Tigers. For everyone who wants a final half month of the season to be up for grabs, you’ve got it this year.

The Angels are another interesting story in all of this. With a payroll that is bigger than most, along with an amazing AL Rookie of the Year candidate in Mike Trout, they continue to stumble when they need it the most. The latest Scioscia Slip occurred last night in Kansas City where former Royal’s Cy Young Award winner, Zach Greinke, the former Brewer earlier in the season, took the mound and was Greinkesque. He masterfully shut out his former team for 8 innings. Then Scioscia, as only he can do, decided to let him go  back out to the mound for he 9th. With the pitch count running into the low 100s, Greinke had not finished  a complete game in years. But if Big Mike wills it, it will happen.

Or not.

Greinke got the first two out before he gave up a single into left. Now Mike the Merciless jumped out of the dugout and immediately called for a reliever who promptly gave up a game tying home run and then the winning home run, back-to-back. If you could have seen Greinke’s face in the dugout when Billy Butler slammed the game tying home run, you would have been whisked back to an earlier few days in the season when he had the same experiences while a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. Deja Vu all over again.

How quickly we come full circle back to Pigsville’s favorite ball park. Last night the Crew unloaded against the Mets only to see Scoscia’s disciple, Ron Roenicke bring in Axford in the ninth inning with a big lead. Axford promptly made the game interesting as he gave up his usual runs in the 9th. But unlike what happened in KC or in Dodger Stadium, the game at Miller Park ended with no more runs scoring.

We’re in for a great final few weeks in September. As Jim Murray said, “The charm of baseball is that as  dull as it may be on the field, it is endlessly fascinating as a rehash.”

Play Ball!

The Day Sam Holbrook Ate A Pickle

It was a beautiful day in Houston, with the roof closed at Minute Maid Park. The Houston Astros were hosting the Milwaukee Brewers. Four pitches into the game, Milwaukee’s starting pitcher, Zach Greinke, who was going for his 10 victory of the season before he All-Star break, with a runner on third, raced to the first base bag to take a toss from Hart. The ball, Greinke and the runner arrived at the base at the same time. “SAFE!” came the call from the first base umpire, Sam Holbrook.

Thus began one of the strangest plays in baseball history. Greinke, upset at himself for not getting to the base in time, threw the ball down in disgust. The first base umpire ejected him from the game. Greinke had said nothing. It was the umpire’s interpretation that Greinke had thrown the ball down to disgrace the umpire’s call.

Truth be told, there must be a story of tremendous proportion behind all of this. Why else would such a thing happen? Umpires are not supposed to affect the outcome of a game.

Back in the day, Sam Holbrook was raised a good student who earned his bachelor’s degree and his Master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University. He came up to the Major Leagues as an umpire in 1996 after spending time in the Appalachian League, Midwest League, Carolina League, Texas League and the International League. He played the game while in college. With a nod to Woody Allen, “Those who can’t play …. umpire.”

Through the years, Sam has had a bit of a rep. Of import is that Sam Holbrook lead all umpires in ejections in 2006 with 11 tosses. He now has, with the eviction of Mr. Greinke,  44 ejections in his career in The Show.

But what few people know is, Sam can’t help himself. Even the higher ups in the baseball establishment find all of this hard to believe. You see, it seems Sam is a pickle fanatic. His preference: kosher dill. The more sour the better. ‘He loves them sour dills that make your face perk all up and purse the lips tight while fightin away the bitter taste. Them’s good eatin, Sam.’

It’s just a guess, but he probably went over to The Swinging Door after the game Friday and instead of chewing on the peppers that are in the bowls on the tables, he chose instead to munch on a fresh kosher dill…but this was a Texas Pickle. Pucker power. The Swinging Door down in Sugarland, across the railroad tracks, is a CzechMex barbeque joint of tremendous reputation. Note I said, CzechMex as in Czechoslovakia. It seems immigrants from that land came to Texas and loved TexMex so much they put their own twist on things. The Texas Pickle is a result of all that. They are just pickles revisited. You take a large container of dill pickles, drain, add copious amounts of sugar, lots of tabasco, add garlic slices and ‘re-pickle’ them. Voila! Texas Pickles.

Sam can probably tell you all about the pickle. Did you know that cucumbers were probably first pickled 4,500 years ago in Mesopotamia? Sam would know that. Asia consumers more pickles per capita than any other region. Sam must know pickles. Pepperoncini is a pickled pepper, also called Tuscan pepper. Sam knows.

Sam, Sam, Sam.

What you eat is who you are. Sam must have eaten a sour pickle on Friday (hopefully he didn’t eat it for breakfast on Saturday). How else could you possibly imagine what he did at Saturday’s game in the first inning after four pitches. Umpires are not supposed to affect the outcome of a game. By throwing out Greinke after four pitches of Saturday’s game, he violated the basic rule of an umpire.

No more pickles for you, Sam. No mo.

The next time you see Sam at a ballpark near you, please, do not give him the pickle. Trust me.

Play Ball.