Love at First Sight

Trying to think back to my first baseball memory the one thought that comes up was either ’85 or ’86 watching the Braves play a double header vs the Reds. One thing I remember was my dad pointing out Pete Rose to me. I just thought that was cool. Living in the south it’s pretty natural to be a Braves fan. I do pull for them every time I can, but I’m a Red Sox guy. People always say “Oh you started following them when they started winning.” I tell them “No, I started to follow them back in the ’80′s when a guy name Clemens was coming up.”

You see, I’m not a casual baseball guy. I’ve always loved the game. I did have my time after the strike of ’94 where I got away from the game, but I always loved the game. My family has ties to the game. Frank “Pig” House is a cousin. If you know baseball trivia, he was the first “bonus baby” in baseball. I think he got $18,000 and two cars, pretty funny now days. I remember watching Clemens as a kid on ESPN and watching guys like Oil Can Boyd, Spike Owen, Mike Greenwell, Dwight Evans and Wade Boggs. I know there were a ton of other guys during that time but that is who stands out to me.

So you know who my favorite team is but I guess you are wondering who are some of my favorite players over this time. Well one that comes to mind is Dale Murphy. Again, being in the south I saw a lot of Braves games and went to a bunch. Will “The Thrill” Clark, guy was just a baseball player. I always loved to watch Lee Smith come in and save a game for the Cubs. Why is he not in the Hall yet? Rickey Henderson was another favorite, do I need to tell why? Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace, I just loved how these guys played the game. Did I mention Bo, Smoltz, Glavine, Maddox or what about my guy Dustin? The three pitchers I just named are all smart and know how to pitch. The thing I love about Dustin is the all out way he plays. Big swings and has a motor that won’t stop.

This is just a little insight to my love of baseball and please feel free to share some of yours. As I write this on fathers day I have to say I’ll never forget the days of my dad and I playing catch or going to the field or a batting cage to hit some balls. So dad, thanks for introducing me to this grand ole game!

Getting in the Groove

As I have had the MLB package for a few years I’ve noticed a lot of different things in the game of baseball. One is which players play every play and which takes a few plays off here and there. I think if we all think we know a few on each list. Also I’ve noticed the players who never really get talked about but play solid ball. And lastly, I’ve always been confused by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

So, you may be asking me why. Well a few weeks ago on Twitter I tweeted the Arizona Diamondbacks confuse me with there line-up day in day out. I started noticing this last year. You always had your regulars like Stephen Drew at short and Snyder at catcher(unless he was hurt) and that was pretty much it, well besides Chris Young in center. Now, I do have to say they did have a few injuries but not enough that I thought warranted the line-up changes made day in day out. You would see O-dog one day and then Augie Ojeda another at second, and Chad Tracy or Connor Jackson at first. You never knew who was going to start. The out field was like musical chairs it seemed.

So, at the end of the year I thought it was just due to injuries. Well not the case. I saw the same thing to start the season off this year. One day Eric Byrnes or Connor Jackson in left or right, Parra or Young in center or throw Upton in the mix as well. I would see Eric go 2-4 or 3-5 and then the next day he sits. Same thing as last year, musical chairs.

To me, I just can’t see how a guy can get in a groove. In baseball that’s what it is about. Getting in a groove. Look at the teams that do well. They have usually 6 guys that are always in the line-up with one spot getting some rotation. Some times you just gotta stick with guys through rough spots but you know, most every time they find their groove.

What’s Done is Done

Last week on the 2nd of June, the Yankees were playing the Rangers. Padilla, hit Teixeira in the rear to load the bases. On the next play, A-Rod hit into a ground play. On the play Tex took out Andrus in a hard slide. In unwritten baseball rules the deed was done. Well to AJ Burnett it was not done. He decided in the next inning to throw at Nelson Cruz. A few days later AJ was suspended for six days. 

I agree with the suspension. AJ was out of line. Tex took care of the issue when he took a hard slide at Andrus. AJ took it one step further and that was an unnecessary step. Then on the lines of Padilla. I think this guy needs to grow up. He has had a history of hitting guys that hit him hard or hit people in an inning when he is getting shelled. One, just play the game, make good pitches and get guys out. Also, if I was on a team with this guy, I’d take him out back and give him a good beating. Play baseball, if you want to load the bases so you have the opportunity to make a force play, then walk the guy, don’t bean him. this opens up so many things that could happen. If Tex would have hurt Andrus, what would Padilla done? Nothing, he’d do it again in the future. 

So, play the game and what’s done is done.

First Pitch

Well here am I starting blog number 2. This blog is strictly devoted to baseball. I’ll talk about different story lines and my thoughts about them. So, with out further adu here we go. First pitch time is 6:26pm and it’s a strike.

Yesterday Tom Glavine was released by the Atlanta Braves. I saw one comment yesterday saying “karma’s a bitch Glavine!” Well yeah sometimes it is, but I think that is off base in this count. When Glavine left Atlanta for New York, the Braves had an opportunity to sign him. They didn’t. They let him walk and play else where.

Now, fast forward to last year, Glavine re-signs with the Braves to finish his career with the Braves. Unfortunatelyhe got hurt during the season which required surgery this past off season. Well in February the Braves re-sign Glavine to a one year deal knowing he would have to re-hab and would be availablesometime during early to mid season. He pitches in the minors for a few games and he’s ready as of yesterday to come back to the majors. Well the Braves site lack of velocity , then told him to retire or get cut.

Here’s my issue, they knew he was going to have to re-hab. They knew there would be some side affects. Glavine is a smart pitcher. He didn’t win 305 games out of luck. He knows how to pitch. They never gave him to opportunity to show his stuff. Has he lost velocity, yes but does he know how to move the ball, change speeds…yes. The move was financial and it stinks. I think Tommy could have been a great influence on the pitchers there this season and could have added a nice fifth starter to the rotation.

It seems like to me that Frank Wren gets caught up in the moment and makes decisionsthat are off base. You saw how he treated Smoltz, he also said earlier this year they would never sign Derek Lowe but when it came crunch time he did. I wish someone would make him eat those words. I think the Braves will suffer in the fifth starting spot and you have Frank Wren to blame.

Over the weekend I’m going to touch on the Yanks/Rangers game from Tuesday night that lead to AJ Burnett getting suspended for six games.