The Game of Baseball

Major League Baseball needs to get its head on straight, and start thinking about the situation that it is putting itself in with playing World Series games in East Coast cities in the middle to late days of October. Wednesday night for the first time since 1996, the WS had a game called due to rain. If things go as expected, there is a very real chance that tonights game four between the Tigers and Cardinals may also be rained out. That would push the entire series back at least one day, with a possible game seven pushed already to Monday with another rainout tonight.

As if things in St.Louis were not bad enough, the forecast for Detroit over the weekend, when possible games six and seven are to be played, don't look like Indian Summer. Temps are supposed to be in the 40's as highs, and again there is a very high chance of rain. Why MLB does not have any backup plans in place for these late October games is beyond me. They do have options, the most obvious of which is to shorten the regular season a bit that way these games are not pushing Halloween.

Baseball is supposed to be a summer sport. A sport that is supposed to be enjoyed in shorts and tank tops, not winter coats and mittens. That theory must be out the door from those that run the sport, as take a look at the stands for those early April games in cities like New York and Philadelphia. If they are going to start the season that early, how about doing the first two weeks of the season with just sparse games in the East and the rest in either domes or West coast cities?

Then there is the case of making the season two weeks shorter. Do we really need 164 games to decide who the 8 best teams in the game are? If they had there thinking caps on, they would make the season 150 games, and the season would this year have ended on September 17th. That way you would have had the playoffs start on the 19th, with the World Series starting on October 1st, and a game seven would have been on the 15th - which this year was game one of the series in Detroit.

Need any more proof - how about the temp in Detroit on October 1st, which could have been game one of the series - 69 for a high - 48 for a low. As for two weeks later when the series really started - 54 for a high - 36 for a low. That's a full 14 degree difference. This is a matter that MLB should take seriously, as they are turning people off from not only wanting to sit though these frigid games, but also are losing viewers who are tired of waiting for a game to be played that could be better off getting played with snowballs instead of baseballs.

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:34 AM | Permalink | Comments

Greasy fingers and all, Kenny Rogers took the gamble on Sunday night in Detroit of having to step up for his team, and in doing so was the main reason why the Tigers will head to St.Louis with tied at one up instead of being down 0-2. Yes, Rogers will have to be questioned even further after it appeared he had a substance on his throwing hand that was pointed out by Cards manager Tony LaRussa after the first inning. The substance on Rogers hand turned out to be dirt - at least according to Rogers. "It was a clump of dirt, and I wiped it off," Rogers said. "I didn't know it was there, and they told me and I took it off. It wasn't a big deal." Maybe it wasn't a big deal to Rogers, but the substance puts a bit of a taint on the Tigers 3-1 win that ties up the series. You know full well that this series will go at least six games, and with it another start from Rogers on Saturday night in Detroit.

Tony LaRussa was in silence mode in the postgame about the substance - "It's not important to talk about." You know that his Cards were upset after coming out and putting up a strong offensive show on Saturday night, and Sunday night getting shut down until a mini-rally in the 9th off of closer Todd Jones fell short. Jim Leyland, Tigers manager, spoke to the umps as well about the Rogers substance, and got it cleared from head ump Steve Palermo. "Dirt is not a foreign substance," Palermo said. "That's what we play on, that's the playing surface."

If Rogers cheated his way to a game two win or not is now water under the bridge. The bigger story now is that the series is going back to St.Louis, and the Cards got what they wanted with splitting the first two in Motown with the next three, and a chance to actually end the series, sitting in front of the Redbirds. St.Louis will have the distinct advantage in game three on Tuesday night as their ace - Chris Carpenter, will go up against a Detroit team that despite having the series tied seem a bit out of sync at the plate, putting up four runs in two games at home. The gamble Sunday night for Rogers and the Tigers paid off, now they must play their cards again as they head to St.Louis needing to win at least one to get the series back to Detroit.

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:57 AM | Permalink | Comments

Three managers have already been shown the door in Major League Baseball, just one day after the season has ended, and all three are National League managers whose teams underachieved this past season and the past few years in general. In Chicago, Dusty Baker is now collecting unemployment after his Cubs claimed the worst record in the NL, limping to a 66-96 record, third worst in the entire league. The team was so bad, it couldn't even hold off the Pirates for 5th place in the NL Central, and took its rightful spot as the 6th place team in the division. The Cubs were something special four years ago, when they were just 5 outs away from going to the World Series. They looked like a team on the rise, but since then have been nothing more than the sad Cubs that the city of Chicago has come to know over the years.

In San Francisco, Felipe Alou will not be back for a 5th season after his squad finished 76-85, a half game ahead of the 4th and 5th place Diamondbacks and Rockies in the National League. The Giants were in the race for awhile this summer, but faded fast, and with all the problems that come along with having to answer non-stop questions about Barry Bonds, the decision for Alou not to return was an easy one for the 71-year-old and the team. Alou also had his best season in his first year in San Fran, when the Giants won 100 games and made the playoffs. They were usually competitive, but it looks as if the team may have to rebuild now that they have already said that Bonds will no longer be the "centerpiece" of the organization.

Getting rid of Frank Robinson in Washington was a no-brainer. Unless you like tons of empty seats at RFK, the team is going to have to get better quick, and getting rid of the old cranky Robinson was the best thing to do to start that process. The Nationals finished 71-91, the second worst team in the National League. Robinson never got along with players as a manager, and his "my way or the highway" style was a major turnoff in the modern game of baseball. His feud with Alfonso Soriano was a lowlight to the awful Nationals season.

With three managers already gone, there are rumors of more to come. With teams looking to make moves and start housecleaning, these three men being shown the door was just the first step in teams trying to better themselves for 2007.

Posted by Matt Loede at 6:39 AM | Permalink | Comments

On a day when the game of baseball should be doing nothing more than looking forward to its first three playoff games, instead it is looking at the ugly backlash of a player calling out others to the FBI for taking Human Growth Hormone. Jason Grimsley, who for some reason seems to have a bone to pick with everyone these days, called out other MLB players like Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Brian Roberts, Jay Gibbons and Miguel Tejada. Grimsley had admitted in the past to using HGH, along with steroids and amphetamines, and the FBI raided his home in June. It was at that time that the names were thrown out there, and now the report was put out Saturday by the LA Times.

Monday the report, which already was in doubt due to the former player that shot his mouth off, became even more interesting as San Francisco U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan released a statement saying the report contain "significant inaccuracies." Of course the moment the report came out the media slammed Clemens and Pettitte with questions about the claims, and both denied the report.

While there is no question that baseball is still tainted by all the allegations of steroid as well as HGH use, it seems odd that once a player like Grimsely, who has had more trouble during his career that one cares to mention, makes a claim, that the media jumps on the backs of players trying to find out if the allegations are true. I think that the media ought to take a closer look at who is making the claims, than who the claims are made against.

If the reports at some point in the future turn out to be true, than so be it. For now, it looks as if Grimsley is playing the blame game, and trying to rat out his fellow players, true or not, instead of trying to look at the problems that he has brought upon himself.

Posted by Matt Loede at 6:22 AM | Permalink | Comments

After a crazy last week of the season that saw some teams almost collapse right out of the playoffs, its time for the final 8 teams in the league to get down to business. In both the American and National League, the favorite has to hail from the Big Apple, and the Mets and Yankees look to be headed for a late October showdown. Here is my picks for the four divisional series that will begin tomorrow.

American League
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Oakland vs Minnesota - The Twins were unreal over the last few months of the season, and finally overcame the Tigers for the division on the last day of the season. They will be counting of the offense of Joe Mauer, who hit .347 and Justin Morneau, who led the team with 34 homers and 130 RBI to lead the way for the Twins. Johan Santana will need to pitch well for them to advance. For the A's, at 93-69 they did with with the rebirth of Frank Thomas, who hit 39 homers and had 114 RBI. Barry Zito, Joe Blanton and Dan Haren combined for 46 wins against 35 losses, and will need to pitch well to give Oakland a shot. Prediction: Minnesota in 5

Detroit vs NY Yankees - As if things were not bad enough the last two weeks for the Tigers, now they have to start the ALDS on the road vs the best 1 through 9 lineup in baseball. Detroit lost their last 5 and gave the division to the Twins on the last day of the season. Carlos Guillen, Craig Monroe, and Magglio Ordonez will all need huge numbers in order to lead the Tigers past New York. For the Yankees, they simply are the best team in the AL and the league right now. Derek Jeter hit .344, Jason Giambi slammed 37 homers, and Alex Rodriguez knocked in 121 RBI. Not too shabby. Their pitching is not as strong as in the past, but with this offense, they should be able to get the job done. Prediction: New York in 4

National League
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New York Mets vs Los Angeles Dodgers - The wild card Dodgers will have their hands full with the Mets, and will need some big games from Derek Lowe, who went 16-8, J.D. Drew who lead the team with 20 homers and 100 RBI, and Nomar Garciaparra, who hit .303. The Dodgers had some thirlling wins down the stretch, which could give them momentum into the playoffs. The Mets were dealt a blow when it was announced that Pedro Martinez would be out for the playoffs, but they still have enough to make it to the World Series. David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Paul Lo Duca and Jose Reyes lead a diverse offense, while they will count on Tom Glavine and Steve Trachsel to lead the starters. Prediction: New York in 4

St.Louis at San Diego - The most interesting of all 4 series, the big story will be what St.Louis team shows up? If the one that came very close to blowing the division shows up in San Diego, the Padres will find themselves in the NLCS. Albert Pujols is the wheel that makes the Cardinals run, and if they want to move on, they need a huge series from him. The pitching staff also needs to pick it up, and they need at least a split in San Diego to make this interesting. San Diego is led by Adrian Gonzlaez, who hit .304 with 24 homers, and the pitching staff is lead by former Cardinal Woody Williams, who went 12-5. This one is almost certain to go five games. Prediction: San Diego in 5

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:47 AM | Permalink | Comments