Anticipation

You know it's bad when every single post I feel like apologizing for not posting often. It gets tough, trying to find things to write about, and usually I take the smallest thing that pops into my head, and as I think about it, it gets bigger and something OK to write about.

Right now, July is coming to an end, and it's about three weeks until school starts up. Now, I'm not too excited for school, but sometime in September, baseball practice begins. I love summer ball, but I like the organization of playing for a school. I love the BP before games, the IF/OF. I was thinking how easy it is for me to get pumped about school starting because anyway, I have just 20 something games to look forward to. Everyone knows how a professional season is such a grind and it gets tough to stay focused.

I remember, way back in March, Jamie Moyer said he woke up a few times in the middle of the night, right before Day 1 of spring training. Keep in mind, he is 46 years of age, playing in his 23rd Major League season. Pretty crazy, but I guess it makes sense, to play that long you must love it. If you didn't love it, you would take the money and run, once your numbers begin to decline.

One of my favorite baseball movies is The Rookie. A great part of the movie is when Jimmy Morris gets into that "bored" funk while in the minors and he contemplates quitting and going home to his wife and kids. Well, the scene goes, he leaves the bar, wanders around and finds himself behind the LF fence of a little league ball game. Somehow, it awakened the kid in him, and he began to love playing again. The following scene, which is the next day in the locker room, he walks up to his friend and says, "You know what we get to do today, Brooks? We get to play baseball."

Playing so few games a year, I can't imagine not being excited going to play baseball. It just can't happen too easily. But I guess, with the aches and pains that go along with the season, and traveling and the slumps, everyone could use a break. Hopefully I'll get some sort of chance to play a season like that and see for myself.

Perfect

It was the last word muttered by Samurai Katsumoto as he convinced the American Samurai, Nathan Algren to help him kill himself. (Clip. Start from 6:25) But lately, perfect is the game Mark Buehrle threw against the Rays yesterday.

He struck out just six batters over nine innings, and obviously had 27 go up, and 27 down. Of course, you can't mention Beuhrle's gem without showing the catch by Dewayne Wise, CF. It's just probably one of the best catches you'll ever see, under the circumstances. I'm sorry, I know you've heard that line a million times already, but it's the truest fact right now.

What is actually amazing is the Dewayne Wise did not start the game. Scott Podsenick started in CF, and not to say that he wouldn't have made the catch either, but Wise was put in for the ninth inning only. First batter, Gabe Kapler gives one a ride, but oviously, we all know what happened. Ozzie Guillen, maybe you got lucky, but you look like a genius anyway.

This isn't the first time Buehrle surrended zero hits in a game. He pitched a no hitter back in 2007. I was thinking about it, and trying to imagine the pressure of really knowing you are so close. I mean, every single pitch is such a risk. Broken bat single, a hanger, anything could ruin it. As a Yankee fan, it pains me to to talk about Mike Mussina's gem. He had a perfect game into the ninth, two outs on the batter with two strikes. Of course, Carl Everett hit a single to break the perfect game and the no-no.

Sadly, as I do some research, I see a whole list of pitchers who lost the perfect game on the 27th batter:

On nine occasions in Major League Baseball history, a perfect game has been spoiled when the batter representing what would have been the third and final out in the ninth inning reached base. Unless otherwise noted, the pitcher in question finished and won the game without allowing any more baserunners:^[38]

• On July 4, 1908, Hooks Wiltse of the New York Giants hit Philadelphia Phillies pitcher George McQuillan on a 2-2 count in a scoreless game—the only time a 0–0 perfect game has been broken up by the 27th batter. Umpire Cy Rigler later admitted that he should have called the previous pitch strike 3. Wiltse pitched on, winning 1-0; his ten-inning no-hitter set a record for longest complete game no-hitter that has been tied twice but never broken.^[39]
• On August 5, 1932, Tommy Bridges of the Detroit Tigers gave up a pinch-hit single to the Washington Senators' Dave Harris.^[40]
• On June 27, 1958, Billy Pierce of the Chicago White Sox gave up a double, which landed just inches in fair territory, on his first pitch to Senators pinch hitter Ed Fitz Gerald.^[41]
• On September 2, 1972, Milt Pappas of the Chicago Cubs walked San Diego Padres pinch hitter Larry Stahl on a borderline 3-2 pitch. Pappas finished with a no-hitter. The umpire, Bruce Froemming, was in his second year; he went on to a 37-year career in which he umpired a record 11 no-hitters. Pappas believed he had struck out Stahl, and years later continued to bear ill will toward Froemming.^[42]
• On April 15, 1983, Milt Wilcox of the Tigers surrendered a pinch-hit single to the White Sox' Jerry Hairston, Sr.^[43]
• On May 2, 1988, Ron Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds gave up a single to the Montreal Expos' Wallace Johnson. Robinson then allowed a two-run homer to Tim Raines and was removed from the game. The final score was 3-2, with Robinson the winner.^[44] (Robinson's teammate Tom Browning threw his perfect game later that season.)
• On August 4, 1989, Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays gave up a double to the New York Yankees' Roberto Kelly, followed by an RBI single by Steve Sax. Stieb finished with a 2-1 victory.^[45]
• On April 20, 1990, Brian Holman of the Seattle Mariners gave up a home run to Ken Phelps of the Oakland Athletics.^[46]
• On September 2, 2001, Mike Mussina of the Yankees gave up a two-strike single to Boston Red Sox pinch hitter Carl Everett.^[47]

Terrible, just terrible. Hey, it happens. Better luck next time.

Steroids

What's a baseball blog without a post about steroids? I may have spoken a bit in a previous post, but I read an interview with Mickey Rivers and he was asked what he thought about all the juice.

What an honest man Mr. Rivers is. He said that if there was something like that way back when, something to prolong his career, he would have done it- and so would have his friends.

Obviously! Is it a surprise? I'm surprised we don't hear more about people being tested positive. These guys play so much ball, they work out so much, the juice makes it so much easier, and you'll be more successful, which means way for money.

Now, you have to understand both sides in the steroids issue. You have to understand why players will do anything for an edge. You are basically raised from a young age that to compete and advance in the ranks of the game, you need your edge. Anyway, you have to understand why it's illegal. It is unfair to the record books to allow performance enhancing drug users to suddenly take over.

Like I said, the only thing to do is note whoever tested positive, and now stricter testing must be enforced. Simple as that. No taking names out.

Basically, I loved to hear the honesty that Mickey Rivers showed. I kind of hear it like this - If there was something out there to help my team win, I'd have taken it.

Obviously there are ways to spin everything. Bottom line- you make yourself better. Get that edge.

Results

OK, its been a very long time. I apologize to those who actually check for updates and I will try to get a couple in today and get going on a consistent basis.

Anyway, part of the reason I haven't been writing is because I really couldn't find anything to talk about. For now, I'll give a bit of an update on my new "not overswinging" swing. The results.

Basically, it started from just realizing- I'm not playing as well as I should. I'm not hitting like I can. So, almost in an act of desperation, I just wanted to hit the ball, nothing monstrous. So I wasn't swinging out of my shoes anymore.

Well, right away, to sum it up, I'm making much better contact, much more consistently. I'm putting the barrel on almost every pitch I've been swinging at. My average has been going way up in both leagues I'm playing in.

Still though, sometimes I see ML players swing so hard, they fall down or both legs come off the ground. How do they do it?

Well, either way, I'm going to stick with what works. I still have plenty of work to do with my swing, but for now, I took a huge step in a good direction.

Showing Emotion

I love to watch baseball games and see the emotion that players have. I also love to watch baseball games and see the emotion that players don't have.

I think in one of my other posts I touched on this a bit (Old Pirates), but I'll use this post to get into it. Here are a few scenarios that we see often and note emotion shown by players:

• Pitcher gives up a lead by surrendering a big fly
• Batter gives his team the lead by hitting a bomb
• Fielder makes a sensational web gem, saving the pitcher's tuchus

See, I think players are mostly taught to only hide emotion when things are going badly for them. The only exception I know to that is Joba Chamberlain's crazy fist pump after an inning ending K. He was heavily criticized from the likes of Derek Jeter and Goose Gossage.

Other than that, players today are granted free parking passes to sit in the batters box after a home run. I haven't heard much critique for that, and I don't know when it has become acceptable. I know in olden times (probably even just 10-15 years ago) if you stood up a pitcher, you knew that a pitch was coming at you high and tight.

Pitchers tend to have different reactions when they are saved by an outstanding effort from a fielder. Check out the "atta boy" from Phil Coke to Brett Gardner.

There are definitely times that its hard to stop the emotion from showing. You can try to conceal it, but I'll share a story of mine that got me pumped.

I'm catching, man on third and the batter walks. Our coach had made us practice this play in practice a few times and when I recognized the situation, I walked slowly to my pitcher, not wanting to totally leave home plate vacant. I told him that if the batter jogs around first and turns for two, he runs to cover home. Sure enough the batter takes off and I sprint towards the batter (now past first base) as the pitcher covers home. As I close in on him, my middle infielders yell "four" to let me know that the other runner broke for home. I turn, throw home and nail the runner at the plate. I got down nice and low to the ground and almost punched a hole right through it. Well, almost.

The trend in modern baseball is definitely veering towards more emotion-showing and showboating, but I just hope it doesn't get to that point where a pitcher pulls out a sharpie and signs the ball as his celebration. Or something from one of these.

Yankee Stadium

Well, I finally went. I actually held off a few weeks ago from breaking the bank to sit in the Legends Seats, and today I had free tickets which were awesome, just below the press boxes, in the Delta 360 suite.

First off, the stadium is awesome. It is spacious, clean, and full of great Yankee pictures and whatnot on the walls. The field is obviously gorgeous, and they have the most jumbo of trons, it is amazing. And, I was on it. All props go to the cute girls two rows above me. Bless them.

Yanks did win, 10-8, yet another come from behind win. There were four home runs total, two from each club. If there's something I'm addicted to, it is home runs. I have recently admitted that I probably do swing for the fences too much. Not necessarily for the lift, but just swinging too hard. I'm working on finding the right balance, because I don't want to be just a singles hitter.

Anyway, I got to the ballpark early enough to see the end of the Jays' BP. What is amazing is, they'd take these hacks, what looks like 80%, and hit beautiful line drives, a real línea, and then the ball just goes. And goes and goes. Boom! In to the seats. Granted, sometimes they popped it up, didn't get it right, or it didn't clear the wall, but I love watching the sheer awesomeness of major leaguers.

Hopefully one day Met fans will experience it. Zing!