Baseball

Baseball is the coolest of games!  It's fun to play and fun to practice.  It's fun to debate and analyze.  Bopper and I take BP two or three times (sometimes mor) a week.  Tonight, after a full day of yard work (ugh!), we played catch in the yard for about an hour.  We pitched and "robbed" hitters of home runs, the remaining pile of cedar mulch serving as the outfield wall.  Bopp was running and even diving into the pile, coming out covered with cedar.  Grandma wasn't too happy and made him undress in the garage before coming into the house.  Those Grandmas!

When my dad was in the hospital dying, we watched ball games many nights and weekends.  As often as not, he'd bring up stories of when I played, way back when.  I think my recollections of games and plays were frequently a bit different than his, but it was fun to hear anyway.

It's great fun to watch a game with someone like one of my former coaching colleagues.  Just little things, a placement of a fielder or watching the flight of a thrown ball to see how the fielder had gripped it, help make this a thinking game.  Take a long crossover step to steal a base, but a short open step to fake stealing.  Lead off third in foul territory, but return to the bag in fair territory--for reasons!  Pick up a stopped or very slowly rolling ball with a bare hand, not a glove.  Go to get a ball off of a fence/wall with "the meat hand" leading. 

I know they are great athletes, but I watched some guys trying to bunt this week while watching the Tigers with Bopper and Grandma (she turns them on more than I do!).  Can't someone tell them it's much easier to successfully bunt with the bat in front of the plate than behind it?  The Tigers lost a game, too, when a fielder (in more ways than one) forgot to crow hop when he threw to home--the throw in the dirt and allowing a run.

I know the closers are getting big, big bucks to close.  But, if I was a batter coming up in the ninth inning, I'd much, much rather face Papa Taco Bell than Verlander, even if Verlander has thrown 120 pitches.  My guess is opposing teams breathe a sigh of relief whenever the Tigers' manager (you know, right now I can't remember his name!) takes out Verlander.

But so much of this is subjective and open to great discussion.  Why is defensive play so often overlooked in favor of offensive stats?  Who was the best CF ever?  How about the best hitter:  Cobb?  Ruth?  Williams?  others?