Hello Fans,
The playoffs are in full swing now. We’ve already bid adieu to the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds as Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh eliminated them in the 2nd Year of the Wild Card round. So much for Ohio’s hopes of an in-state Classic. And Happy Trails to Dusty Baker, who was fired by the Reds’ brass. He built a nice club that has fixtures in many positions. Apparently, someone ran out of patience. The next guy is coming into a great situation. No one got swept in the Division Series and as of this writing, us fans have a chance to see three do-or-die Game 5s as the Dodgers closed out the Braves in four games. Clayton Kershaw pitched great a la Koufax in both games 1 and 4.
The game and its characters are featured so well this time of year between more media coverage and games on t.v. in late afternoons and evenings every day. As a result, I have begun to take notice of some things. You often read that a lot of players would not change much about the current state of the game, if anything at all. I typically agree with that on the larger issues, i.e. two sets of rules with the DH (love it, don’t change it) or replay (I’m fine with how it is, but hopeful of inevitable additions being small). However, this year I noticed that I would change a bunch of smaller items.
The first thing is Tampa Bay’s stadium. The Rays call St. Petersburg home in the strange and unqualified confines of Tropicana Field. The stadium is just too darn small. And I’m not talking about the outfield dimensions. That is correctable by building a higher fence. Unfortunately, I’m talking about the CEILING! It’s so low that there are specific ground rules for when a batted ball hits it. Yes, rules, as in plural. If a batted ball hits it in FAIR territory, it’s playable. But IF it hits it in FOUL territory, it’s automatically deemed a dead ball. The Bosox catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, caught a ball that was foul behind the dish in Game 3 while Ben Zobrist was batting. The ball went up, hit the light bar, continued back toward the screen a bit, came straight down, and ‘Salty’ made the difficult play. Zobrist ended up walking. Why is THAT a do-over, 3rd grade style? If you can play on between the lines, why not outside them? So, not only would I change those ground rules, but I’d give them a few years to get rid of the stadium all together. It’s ridiculous to have the same rules in MLB that I played under in limited off-season workouts in high school while it snowed outside.
While we are in Florida, Fernando Rodney inspires me to change another thing about the game. He’s a great closer with above average ‘stuff’. He’s animated and that is great for the game. However, I can’t stand watching a crooked cap. I don’t care what you do with the brim–slightly bent, folded like a rainbow, flatter than a pancake–doesn’t matter to me. However, the cap needs to look to the side when you actually TURN to the side. It can’t be doing a left a turn all night when you’re looking straight in for the sign. It looks ridiculous. I’d fine him for every appearance if I was running his team’s kangaroo court or his manager. There are others out there too, but he’s in the spotlight this week.
And since we’re talking uniforms, let’s talk about the jerseys specifically. To go to the plate, the ump will make you tuck in a jersey anytime it becomes untucked if you want to bat. It’s that simple. Well, if I was the opposing manager, I’d make the case for the jersey to also be buttoned up neatly by using the same reasoning umps make you tuck them in; it can cause a hit by pitch and is unfair to the pitcher. Fair or unfair, when a guy has two or three of the top buttons undone on his jersey, he looks like a slob for one, and this ain’t frat house softball. Look like a professional ballplayer out there. Use the buttons. In these playoffs, BoSox Mike Napoli and Jonny Gomes along with Dodger Hanley Ramirez really stand out here. It’s October and colder out now boys, button UP!!
Later Fans.