baseball

(Don’t)Take the High Ground!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Recently this writer took a one hour guided tour of the Battle of Franklin (Tn.) that took place in the very late stages of the American Civil War on November 30,1864.  When asked who won, the tour guide responded, “it is always said that the side that stands on the ground the next morning won. So it was the Confederates who won.”

Last evening and well into this morning the Mississippi St. Bulldogs and LSU’s Fighting Tiger baseball teams fought for 17 innings before the (damn) Dogs prevailed 6-5.  The teams combined for over 600 thrown pitches,35 strikeouts, 30 hits, and 40 men left on base in the 6 hour and 43 minute “war.”  Afterwards, the Bulldogs ran off into the night with victory while LSU stood silently on the “battlefield” wondering what hit them.  It was the Tigers who stood on the ground, but it sure wasn’t victory.

The Confederates lost over 6,000 brave men while the Union lost over 2,000 in the five hour battle that at times was savagely reduced to hand to hand combat.  The Union’s main goal was to build a bridge to allow them to cross the Harpeth River to get to Nashville where warm food and warmer beds awaited. And, in the day before and day of the conflict, build it they did.  The Confederates stood on the high ground on December 1st, but it sure wasn’t victory.  The Union (damn Yankees) was in Nashville by then.

When real wars, or bombings, or tragedies hit we are correctly reminded to not compare sports contests to the actual. “It was a war out there.”  “We fought and fought.”  “It was just going to be the last man standing.”  We ugly Americans cannot help ourselves though.  We marvel at the intestinal fortitude, authentic passion, and unyielding desire of our teams and their opponents.  Along the way, we drink cold beer and eat warm food.  Then we go to sleep in warm beds (sometimes at 3:15) wondering in amazement how our battalion won or lost.  Make no mistake though, we always feel better when we are on the winning side and hold the high ground.

Which brings us to General Pelosi and General Schumer and Commander in Chief Trump.  Yesterday, minutes before they were scheduled to meet to further discuss a big spending bill on American infrastructure, General Pelosi threw a very public, verbal, hand grenade at the Commander.  “We believe that no one is above the law, including the president of the United States. And we believe that the president of the United States is engaged in a cover-up,” she said.

President Trump, enraged, countered by “blowing up” the planned peaceful meeting saying that when they wanted to end the phony investigations and work with him they could go about repairing the nations highways, airports, and bridges.  And so the war for power in DC had quite the battle yesterday.

Somehow LSU has to pick themselves up by the boot straps just 10 hours after they lost, and play an elimination game at 1 PM today.  Elimination?  That sounds permanent.  There is that war/sport comparison again.

Permanent too was the loss of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the north and south who fought and died like the 8,000 did in the Battle of Franklin over 150 years ago.

Washington DC could learn a lot by watching young adults play baseball into the morning hours.  Washington DC could learn a lot taking a one hour Battle of Franklin tour as well.

It isn’t always about the high ground.  Sometimes its better to lose the battle and win the war.  Washington DC continues to lose the war trying to win the battle.

 

 

 

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.