MLB

MLB Changes Its Pitch

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Spring has sprung in the lower half of the continental 48.  That means the sound of the crack of a baseball off of a Major League wooden bat will soon be heard in 30 parks around the US and Canada, and not just in spring training sites in Arizona and Florida.  All together now, “and its one, two, three strikes and you’re out at the old ball game.”

Well that one, two, or three strikes “thing” will be good for MLB pitchers through 2019 anyway.   But, when late Spring of 2020 rolls around a new rule will mandate that a pitcher, whenever brought into the game, must face a minimum of three batters.  Or, he must end the half inning unless he cannot due to an “incapacitating illness.”  If your job was a situational relief specialist, brought in to get one or two batters out (say lefty on lefty), the commissioner has some nice parting gifts for you.

So why the change?  MLB is on a mission to speed the games up by reducing the down times.  Down times occur basically anytime the ball isn’t in live play. A pitching change for one batter and then another change for another batter creates a lot of down time.   For 2019, for example, they are further reducing the TV timeout time between innings.  It’s only a whopping five seconds from 2:05 to 2:00, but two years ago there was no such stopwatch.  Mound visits by managers and/or catchers now max out at 5 per game down from 6 as well.

We applaud MLB for joining the 21st century, all be it, 19 years later than that frightening 2000 countdown.  But, why wait till 2020 for the three batter minimum rule?  MLB says that they want to give managers a year to adjust to the new strategy.  Maybe they should have thought about the new rule in 2018 then, and put it into play in 2019?  Or, in 2017, or 2016.  You get where we are going.

When Al Gore invented the internet 30ish years ago, after somebody invented computers, the world sped up.  Video games are action packed and high scoring.  Anything that you want you can “Google” it in milliseconds.  Amazon can deliver packages faster than Fed Ex can.  Baseball is isn’t playing catch.  It’s playing catch up.  In other words, its past time that The National Pastime look at itself to recapture a generation and a half of its youth that might be at the lost and not found.

Before you know it they might even address that silly DH in the American League, but not in the National League rule.  Can you imagine if the NBA had the three-point line in the Western Conference and not the Eastern?  Come on man!

The good old boys that ran baseball lost the good new boys (and girls) attention.  It’s all about the consumer if you are trying to build a brand to build market share, ratings, and sustainability.

We have mixed feelings about the three batter rule. And, if you are going to do it, do it now.   But we are glad baseball is trying to get off of the back pages of the three newspapers that still print daily.  Heck, soon they might even be trending on Twitter.

 

 

 

I Have Yet Another Story and a Moral Thereof

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In a baseball crazy family I might have been the craziest of all.  Boom Boom took a train in 1966 from New Orleans to Houston to attend the first ever major league baseball game (first ever anything) played indoors.  It was and is the Astrodome, labeled back then as the Eight Wonder of the World.  The Yankees were in town and Mickey Mantle hit the first home run ever hit indoors that evening.  But I digress.

It was an awesome memory that lead to an awesome moment 33 years later in 1999 when my son and I saw the Astros play the last major league game ever in that very same Astrodome.  It was in a losing effort that eliminated them from the playoffs.  However, on our way out of the stadium I shared with my son that his grandfather opened it and we closed it.  But I digress, further.

My baseball love reached a fever pitch during my high school years.  I watched a lot of it and played even more of it.  So, when we left on a two-week vacation in May of 1976 I was pumped for more than one reason.  The first was that was that mom, dad, and I were going to spend seven days in Hawaii.  The second reason was that the first seven days were in San Francisco and I had checked the San Francisco Giants schedule.  Yep, and there it was.  The Giants were playing in their home, Candlestick Park, the night of our arrival.  When rain turned to fog and rain the game v. the St Louis Cardinals was cancelled.  As we said back in the day, “I was bummed out.”

One day led to one week and the morning of our departure to Hawaii arrived.  I guess Hawaii would more than offset my baseball disappointment.  My parents were avid coffee drinkers and I was dispatched early in the AM to bring back two cups from the lobby.  As the elevator opened my eyes opened wider.  There he was.  Sparky Anderson, manager of the World Series Champion Cincinnati Reds managed a slight nod as I practically tripped on my chin walking in.

I said nothing, but stared in amazement.  As the door opened to the lobby I hit the jackpot.  Pete “Charley Hustle” Rose was sitting in a lobby chair.  My mind raced as I raced to get the coffee and tell Boom Boom what was going on.  “They must haven flown in last evening to play the Giants son.  Take a look at the schedule in the newspaper.”   Sure enough.  I wanted to head back down to try to star gaze and get an autograph or ten if I could.  “Let’s carry the bags down and head to breakfast, he said.  Maybe you’ll get lucky then son.”

Time was my enemy.  But soon enough we were down and into the beautiful atrium breakfast area.  My radar was up.  As the hostess steered us to the right side I saw a table of pure gold to the left.  Sparky Anderson, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, and a non recognizable fourth were sipping coffee.

Pen and hotel pad paper in hand I made the move.  Boom Boom always told me to ask for what I wanted.  “What’s the worst someone can tell you son?” he often asked me.

As I approached I needed a plan.  Where to start?  I decided on Johnny Bench, reigning MVP and multi-year All Star catcher.   Bench, seated, was reading the newspaper held straight out in front of him double wide with both of his massive hands clutching either side.  There I was.  Only a thin section of a newspaper separated me from his greatness.   “Mr. Bench, Mr. Bench, can I please have your autograph?”  Bench ever so slowly pulled the paper down.  We were face to face.

“No!”  And there it was.  With one word and one very unemotional word only he delivered his answer.  If I was stealing second base he had just thrown me out by 20 feet.  The paper ever so slowly rose back to its reading position.  I couldn’t even look at Rose nor Anderson.

Speechless and down trodden, I headed to our table.  “What did he say son?”  “No.”  “That’s all he said son?”  “Yes.”  “Look at the menu.  We need to order and get to the airport.”  Eggs sounded terrible.  Everything did.

What’s the moral of the story?  The worst thing someone can tell you is “no.”  Believe me, I know.

 

MLB is a Numbers Game. Catch the Fever.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Do you remember the old MLB slogan?   It was “Baseball Fever.  Catch It!”  As the leaves are turning this Fall 2018 if you don’t like what’s going on in the MLB as it heads to the season’s final games on Sunday, you might not ever catch the fever.  More than a few numbers below explain how, after 157 of 162 games per team this year, much and little has been decided.  It’s a tale of two leagues.

In the American League the Boston Red Sox have clinched the best regular season record giving them the home field advantage as long as they are in the playoffs.  They could win 111 games.  Fear the boys from Beantown.

The defending World Series Champion Houston Astros clinched their division and won their 100th game last evening.  They became the first team since the Oakland A’s in 1990 to have a triple digit win season the year after their WS win.  Unless Correa, Springer, and Altuve kick it up a notch (thanks Emeril!) in the postseason they will go only as far as their league ERA low pitching will carry them.

Speaking of the Money Ball (thanks Brad Pitt!) A’s, they now have 95 wins and counting this year.  That’s the most wins by a team owning the lowest opening day payroll in MLB in the last 30 seasons.   Their reward for this productivity per dollar spent is very likely to travel to the city that never sleeps (thanks Frank!) to face the New York Yankees.  The Bronx Bombers have spent huge at 180 million to the A’s frugal 80 million.  In a one game wild card match up the A’s have a punchers chance to  continue to defy the baseball gods.

Then there is Cleveland.  There they quietly sit by the lake the city was founded on.   The Indians have a starting pitching staff that is very dangerous in a first round, five game max, divisional playoff.  They’ll have to win one in Houston to win three of five. They certainly can.   Houston has only been above average at home, but excellent on the road.  Coin flip anyone?

And, then there are the Tampa Rays, winners of not less than 87 games.  They’ll sit home this post season.  They have tons of young players yet finished 20-9 at home v. the five playoff teams and were only eliminated officially a couple of days back.  They are very deserving of an honorable mention.

And to think the AL was called the Junior League for many, many years.

Meanwhile over on the Senior Circuit as it was called for many, many years, the National League is filled with drama.

Atlanta has clinched their division but will not have home field past round one.  They are an exciting team to watch.  They are young and they play aggressive and loose.  That’s a good combination.  It might be a year too soon for this team that gutted their organization, a la the Astros five years ago, to stash draft picks and prospects.  The payoff is coming soon however.

Now to the quagmire.  Five other teams will fill the remaining four playoff spots available in the next five days.  The possibilites are far too great to list.  The Cubs, Brewers, Dodgers, Rockies, and Cardinals (in that order of win/loss percentage) are separated by just a game or two.  One of Chicago and Milwaukee is in as the division winner.  One of Los Angeles and Colorado is as well.  Going into last night there was even a scenario that four of these five could end with identical records.   Try untying that pretzel.

On paper (a too often used term that never pans out) the Dodgers and the Cubs have the bigger payroll that usually equates to the better talent.  Usually.  It hasn’t yet distinguished itself.  Expected the unexpected.

The Rockies and Brewers are sneaky good.  Just a hunch.

Are you feeling warm on your forehead yet?  Did all of the numbers make you dizzy? You caught the fever.  Take it easy in your recovery.  Recline in your La-Z-Boy and watch it all unfold.