Reflections of Me : Baseball 2019, A Rant
As I have written in previous musings, baseball has been a major part of my life since I was a very young child. Today, nearly 70 years later, it remains as one thing I still look forward to every Spring. It isn't as large a focus now as it was lo those many years ago, but I still follow the teams and players as well as I can. Some I follow reluctantly, because they appear in what I do follow more than I'd like, but, like politics, it's something that is difficult to ignore.
As my formative years featured players who were active during the 40;s, 50's, and 60's, I consider myself somewhat 'old school' in how I view the game, in what I feel is right or not right as changes occur. Which they do, more frequently since the 70's than in the decades prior. Major League Baseball moves at a slower pace, which suits me just fine ; both the game, and the rules, really should not be heavily messed with.
One of the most difficult times of a year for me is the 'off season', when the 'Hot Stove League' is most active. Rumors, projections, pointless meanderings for the most part, designed to feed the fans who are hungry for baseball news and bored stiff with Winter and everything it brings with it. As Rogers Hornsby famously once said ( or didn't say ) when asked what he does during the Winter : " I stare out the window and wait for Spring. ". Precisely. That is, indeed, what baseball does during the Winter -- stare out the window and wait for Spring.
One of the things which occurs during the Winter break which drives me almost to insanity are the MLB Winter Meetings. Since the rise of free agency and the formation of the Players Union, these meetings scare the weeping wee willikers out of me. The results of some of these meetings have gone a long way to reduce my enjoyment and passion for the game, which is why they frighten me so much. Some things proposed involve minor changes, others of course involve major ones, many of which serve to ruin the game itself. Well, for me, anyway. Obviously, it is money which drives the professional game, which I both understand and abhor at the same time.
The 2019 MLB Winter Meetings have concluded ( I think ) and reading through some of the proposals gives me a sinking feeling about the future of the game. The reasons why don't matter ; I am at odds with most fans of the modern game anyway, so I expect not many will understand it. For example : in 1973, the American League chose to adopt the Designated Hitter rule. Prior to 1973, I followed both Leagues ; after that, the American League was dead to me. That is one example. Since then, there have been fans -- and some players -- who have clamored for the National League to adopt this rule, but so far, we have held out. Schedules were changed a few years ago to allow interleague play, which involved N. L. teams sometimes being forced to use the rule when playing in A.L. parks. Far as I am concerned, all interleague play should be done away with, and the real World Series played between the two top N. L. clubs. But, see, that's just me.
So, I am gonna spout here my own feelings on the latest meetings. If you are a fan of the modern game, want to see it sped up, like all hitting-no pitching or defense baseball games, you can stop here, cause you won't like some of the things I am about to say.
There is talk of again changing the pitching mound. This was last done following the 1968 season, when pitching dominated the game ( those were good times, folk! ). But lack of offense was attributed to a decrease in attendance, so, they lowered the height of the mound. I thought that was stupid, still think so -- baseball is like life, it goes in cycles, the hitters would have come back anyway ( my opinion ). I say : Do Not Do It! Strikeouts were up in 2018 ; so what? That's on the hitters, not the pitchers. Good hitters don't 'swing for the fences' every at bat, but in 2018, that is just what they were doing. Home runs are fun, I get that, but, for Pete's sake, hitting 4 or 6 per game is NOT fun! Get back to hitting for average, moving runners over, playing for one run at a time to get a big inning, not throwing your back out every swing. Heck, if a hitter is going to do that, even I could pitch, and I am in no way a pitcher!
The Designated Hitter rule. Ok, I hate it. I admit it. I simply do not enjoy games where it is used. If you are worthy enough to be out on the field on defense ( including the pitcher ) then you have a right, even a obligation, to take your turn at bat. It's a part of the game. Sure, use the DH on adult leagues, or leagues where it is difficult to field a team with more than one pitcher, but when learning the game, you should learn that aspect also. As a pitcher, it should make you better, because you understand what the hitter does much better if you have to do it yourself. But, I also understand why it was implemented ; there were two main reasons. One, it would allegedly bring more offense to the pro game ( it hasn't ). The other, it could lengthen the careers of older, veteran players who were still able to hit but had become a liability on defense. Money, basically. Hitters could play longer, and fans get to see their favorites for more seasons. So, just as in prior years, it has again been proposed that the National League adopt the rule. So far, they have resisted, which is great for me personally. I still have pro baseball to enjoy.
Another proposal featured a change to the active rosters. Currently set at 25, even I have to admit that the modern game could use a change here. There are proposals of increasing to 26, or even as high as 30. Okay, I can accept this. It gives a manager more to work with in heavier parts of the schedule, plus opens up roster spots for young players who may be ready for the Majors but cannot advance because some veteran fills the spot. Many of these young players deserve the chance -- and the Major League minimum salary, which is more than they make in the Minors. It also allows a team to carry more pitchers ( a boon the way the game has gone to using so many bullpen pitchers ) and even position players.
So, I came up with a idea I could accept and remain as a fan of what I deem pure baseball ( yeah, does such a thing even exist? Why, yes, it does! ). Expand the regular season rosters to 30. Do away with the current DH rule, and instead, consider this: allow a team to designate, at game time, one player to be used as a pinch hitter -- up to 4 plate appearances per game -- whenever the manager feels a pinch hitter is called for. Could be for the pitcher, or a defensive lighter-hitting player, what ever. The only other restriction would be that this player cannot be used in a position during that game. You'd still be free to use other bench players as pinch hitters, but you could have one you can re-use up to 4 times a game. I could accept that, in both leagues. It would still keep the same nine players in the field also appearing at bat, but allow teams to hang on to veteran players whose defensive usefulness is behind them. It opens up chances for young players to get into the majors when they are ready, rather than having to wait until veterans retire or get injured too badly to play.
There is a move afoot to change extra inning games so that the offense begins a inning with a runner at second base. I am against that, but if you are going to do it, also make the inning start with the offense losing a out. Do that, I could perhaps still watch/listen. Otherwise, I am going to drift off to other interests. Baseball fans are like that. They do have other interests. Baseball may be entertainment, but it is also life. Some of us take it seriously. Turn it into a fantasy, there are other fantasies that are a lot more fun. Politics, for example.
Before I go, one other little thing that barks my shins. The free agent market, yet another large part of the Winter meetings. Also, yet again, another large part of the business aspect, the part of the game I do my best to ignore. This year, there are really no players on the market that are really worth considering. Most are good players, a couple slightly better than average, but none worth contracts approaching 10 years and $300 million. I don't believe any player ever was worth a contract like that, even the greatest of them, and none on the market this year even come close to being among the greatest. I grew up following players with names like Mantle, Berra, Aaron, Mays, Snider, Hodges, Musial, McCovey, Rose, Banks, Clemente, Robinson ; pitchers like Roberts, Spahn, Ford, Drysdale, Koufax, Friend, Gibson, Seaver, McClain, Marichal, Ryan. So many, many others. Some I got to see in person, all I got to watch over TV broadcasts and listen on radio and read each day's boxscores. None of them, in my opinion, were worth more than $1 million per season, and for no more than 2 to 3 years at a time.
Today, though, we have two players still holding out for long term, high money contracts. Two players whose careers thus far are only slightly better than average years of the players I have listed. Listen, it is a tough game at that level, both mentally and physically. The players have changed. But the game itself still wears down the skills of even the best of them, and no matter how well conditioned one is physically, erosion will happen. Fact of life. Neither of the two players I refer to are worth near what they are asking ; neither are 'game changers', neither will turn a losing team around just by being present. Truthfully, one player seldom is. How many championships did the Cubs win during the Ernie Banks years? And, he was truly one of the best to ever play the game.
It's a team sport. One player can, yes, make a difference in team spirit and camaraderie -- one example, Hunter Pence in his years with the Giants -- but it doesn't have to be a great individual player. In fact, the two seldom go together ; sometimes yes, usually no. 40 home runs a year seems nice, right? But, that's only 40 runs. Give me the player who can move runners over in crucial situations, who can take the extra base when needed, who can drive in 80 to 100 runs and score 60 to 80 runs, who makes the fewest mental errors on the field both offensively and defensively, and whose attitude is always positive and cheerful. Give me 4 or 5 of those players over the long, grinding 162 game season plus playoffs, and I'll give you a championship team 50 per cent of the time. Those who cheer the power game can sit at home during the Winter and relive those majestic home runs in losing efforts, while their favorite players vacation in Bermuda and buy expensive real estate and complain they aren't being paid fairly. You know--like some politicians.
I know, not my usual rant sprinkled with humor, but I have this thing about baseball. For me, it's serious. It's a personal thing, and just my opinion, but not one I will change. I may have changed in other areas -- I have been called a liberal more than once recently -- but when it comes to my entertainment, I remain a staunch conservative. And I can live with that.
As my formative years featured players who were active during the 40;s, 50's, and 60's, I consider myself somewhat 'old school' in how I view the game, in what I feel is right or not right as changes occur. Which they do, more frequently since the 70's than in the decades prior. Major League Baseball moves at a slower pace, which suits me just fine ; both the game, and the rules, really should not be heavily messed with.
One of the most difficult times of a year for me is the 'off season', when the 'Hot Stove League' is most active. Rumors, projections, pointless meanderings for the most part, designed to feed the fans who are hungry for baseball news and bored stiff with Winter and everything it brings with it. As Rogers Hornsby famously once said ( or didn't say ) when asked what he does during the Winter : " I stare out the window and wait for Spring. ". Precisely. That is, indeed, what baseball does during the Winter -- stare out the window and wait for Spring.
One of the things which occurs during the Winter break which drives me almost to insanity are the MLB Winter Meetings. Since the rise of free agency and the formation of the Players Union, these meetings scare the weeping wee willikers out of me. The results of some of these meetings have gone a long way to reduce my enjoyment and passion for the game, which is why they frighten me so much. Some things proposed involve minor changes, others of course involve major ones, many of which serve to ruin the game itself. Well, for me, anyway. Obviously, it is money which drives the professional game, which I both understand and abhor at the same time.
The 2019 MLB Winter Meetings have concluded ( I think ) and reading through some of the proposals gives me a sinking feeling about the future of the game. The reasons why don't matter ; I am at odds with most fans of the modern game anyway, so I expect not many will understand it. For example : in 1973, the American League chose to adopt the Designated Hitter rule. Prior to 1973, I followed both Leagues ; after that, the American League was dead to me. That is one example. Since then, there have been fans -- and some players -- who have clamored for the National League to adopt this rule, but so far, we have held out. Schedules were changed a few years ago to allow interleague play, which involved N. L. teams sometimes being forced to use the rule when playing in A.L. parks. Far as I am concerned, all interleague play should be done away with, and the real World Series played between the two top N. L. clubs. But, see, that's just me.
So, I am gonna spout here my own feelings on the latest meetings. If you are a fan of the modern game, want to see it sped up, like all hitting-no pitching or defense baseball games, you can stop here, cause you won't like some of the things I am about to say.
There is talk of again changing the pitching mound. This was last done following the 1968 season, when pitching dominated the game ( those were good times, folk! ). But lack of offense was attributed to a decrease in attendance, so, they lowered the height of the mound. I thought that was stupid, still think so -- baseball is like life, it goes in cycles, the hitters would have come back anyway ( my opinion ). I say : Do Not Do It! Strikeouts were up in 2018 ; so what? That's on the hitters, not the pitchers. Good hitters don't 'swing for the fences' every at bat, but in 2018, that is just what they were doing. Home runs are fun, I get that, but, for Pete's sake, hitting 4 or 6 per game is NOT fun! Get back to hitting for average, moving runners over, playing for one run at a time to get a big inning, not throwing your back out every swing. Heck, if a hitter is going to do that, even I could pitch, and I am in no way a pitcher!
The Designated Hitter rule. Ok, I hate it. I admit it. I simply do not enjoy games where it is used. If you are worthy enough to be out on the field on defense ( including the pitcher ) then you have a right, even a obligation, to take your turn at bat. It's a part of the game. Sure, use the DH on adult leagues, or leagues where it is difficult to field a team with more than one pitcher, but when learning the game, you should learn that aspect also. As a pitcher, it should make you better, because you understand what the hitter does much better if you have to do it yourself. But, I also understand why it was implemented ; there were two main reasons. One, it would allegedly bring more offense to the pro game ( it hasn't ). The other, it could lengthen the careers of older, veteran players who were still able to hit but had become a liability on defense. Money, basically. Hitters could play longer, and fans get to see their favorites for more seasons. So, just as in prior years, it has again been proposed that the National League adopt the rule. So far, they have resisted, which is great for me personally. I still have pro baseball to enjoy.
Another proposal featured a change to the active rosters. Currently set at 25, even I have to admit that the modern game could use a change here. There are proposals of increasing to 26, or even as high as 30. Okay, I can accept this. It gives a manager more to work with in heavier parts of the schedule, plus opens up roster spots for young players who may be ready for the Majors but cannot advance because some veteran fills the spot. Many of these young players deserve the chance -- and the Major League minimum salary, which is more than they make in the Minors. It also allows a team to carry more pitchers ( a boon the way the game has gone to using so many bullpen pitchers ) and even position players.
So, I came up with a idea I could accept and remain as a fan of what I deem pure baseball ( yeah, does such a thing even exist? Why, yes, it does! ). Expand the regular season rosters to 30. Do away with the current DH rule, and instead, consider this: allow a team to designate, at game time, one player to be used as a pinch hitter -- up to 4 plate appearances per game -- whenever the manager feels a pinch hitter is called for. Could be for the pitcher, or a defensive lighter-hitting player, what ever. The only other restriction would be that this player cannot be used in a position during that game. You'd still be free to use other bench players as pinch hitters, but you could have one you can re-use up to 4 times a game. I could accept that, in both leagues. It would still keep the same nine players in the field also appearing at bat, but allow teams to hang on to veteran players whose defensive usefulness is behind them. It opens up chances for young players to get into the majors when they are ready, rather than having to wait until veterans retire or get injured too badly to play.
There is a move afoot to change extra inning games so that the offense begins a inning with a runner at second base. I am against that, but if you are going to do it, also make the inning start with the offense losing a out. Do that, I could perhaps still watch/listen. Otherwise, I am going to drift off to other interests. Baseball fans are like that. They do have other interests. Baseball may be entertainment, but it is also life. Some of us take it seriously. Turn it into a fantasy, there are other fantasies that are a lot more fun. Politics, for example.
Before I go, one other little thing that barks my shins. The free agent market, yet another large part of the Winter meetings. Also, yet again, another large part of the business aspect, the part of the game I do my best to ignore. This year, there are really no players on the market that are really worth considering. Most are good players, a couple slightly better than average, but none worth contracts approaching 10 years and $300 million. I don't believe any player ever was worth a contract like that, even the greatest of them, and none on the market this year even come close to being among the greatest. I grew up following players with names like Mantle, Berra, Aaron, Mays, Snider, Hodges, Musial, McCovey, Rose, Banks, Clemente, Robinson ; pitchers like Roberts, Spahn, Ford, Drysdale, Koufax, Friend, Gibson, Seaver, McClain, Marichal, Ryan. So many, many others. Some I got to see in person, all I got to watch over TV broadcasts and listen on radio and read each day's boxscores. None of them, in my opinion, were worth more than $1 million per season, and for no more than 2 to 3 years at a time.
Today, though, we have two players still holding out for long term, high money contracts. Two players whose careers thus far are only slightly better than average years of the players I have listed. Listen, it is a tough game at that level, both mentally and physically. The players have changed. But the game itself still wears down the skills of even the best of them, and no matter how well conditioned one is physically, erosion will happen. Fact of life. Neither of the two players I refer to are worth near what they are asking ; neither are 'game changers', neither will turn a losing team around just by being present. Truthfully, one player seldom is. How many championships did the Cubs win during the Ernie Banks years? And, he was truly one of the best to ever play the game.
It's a team sport. One player can, yes, make a difference in team spirit and camaraderie -- one example, Hunter Pence in his years with the Giants -- but it doesn't have to be a great individual player. In fact, the two seldom go together ; sometimes yes, usually no. 40 home runs a year seems nice, right? But, that's only 40 runs. Give me the player who can move runners over in crucial situations, who can take the extra base when needed, who can drive in 80 to 100 runs and score 60 to 80 runs, who makes the fewest mental errors on the field both offensively and defensively, and whose attitude is always positive and cheerful. Give me 4 or 5 of those players over the long, grinding 162 game season plus playoffs, and I'll give you a championship team 50 per cent of the time. Those who cheer the power game can sit at home during the Winter and relive those majestic home runs in losing efforts, while their favorite players vacation in Bermuda and buy expensive real estate and complain they aren't being paid fairly. You know--like some politicians.
I know, not my usual rant sprinkled with humor, but I have this thing about baseball. For me, it's serious. It's a personal thing, and just my opinion, but not one I will change. I may have changed in other areas -- I have been called a liberal more than once recently -- but when it comes to my entertainment, I remain a staunch conservative. And I can live with that.
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