Baseball is back baby! America’s sport (just don’t look at football revenues or TV viewership…) Yeah! Cracker jacks, apple pie, “That’s going back, back, WAAAAY back… IT’S OUTTA HERE!!!” I love the spring, I love baseball, and I am glad that we have it back.
This year we have no lock out, so things are right on schedule. Things are stirring in Florida and Arizona. Pitchers and catchers are packing their leather and their golf clubs, leading the way on the annual pilgrimage before the 162- game march to October. New rules are coming in like the pitch clock and banning the shift. They even made the basepaths bigger and oh boy, do those baseball writers love a nice large, supple, white base… just look at them…
Put me in coach, I’m ready to play.
New Rules
I think they actually got the rule changes correct this time. There is a part of me that yearns for the old days, when men were allowed to be men. Drinking and smoking in the dugout at they ran over every player that got in their way like the Kool-aid man. Or when the All-Star game meant home field advantage in the World Series… But I do agree that baseball is just being left in the dust. Pitch clocks should keep the games closer to two hours (good) and I think banning the shift along with larger bases will be a great way to balance out offense. Keeping a more traditional spacing in the infield but also working in a larger base to accommodate for the “neighborhood” double play balls sounds like a recipe for better looking infield plays and also, loosening up batters at the box.
Let’s not forget, the shift wasn’t just something that players could simply “hit around.” Up there with some golf shots, I would say that hitting a baseball is one of, if not the hardest thing to do in professional sports. Round ball, round bat, deciding what pitch he threw and where in fractions of a second… The number of variables and mental games that go into it are unmatched. Not to mention, these teams have alllllll of the data on these guys, so if they know you have a tendency to pull the ball, they will load up that side of the infield and pitch you to hit in that direction.
Also, sure they should know how to bunt if they have played baseball as long as they have. I love situational small-ball and the manufacturing of runs. The existence of the Home Run is fun and exciting for all fans. After all, chicks dig the long ball…
And I do think it’s important to have that kind of power in your line up where the momentum of a game can flip at any moment with just one swing. But if you ask me, it’s the teams that can get a guy on, put the ball in play, move him around the bases and get them in that just wear teams down and win games. I’m thinking of the latest Dodgers or Astros teams where they have guys up and down those line ups that have a proclivity for putting the barrel on the ball. Those teams wear you down and are just more successful at offense. So, I think we can hope for some more traditional offense and small ball if we open up the infield because it will completely change how each at bat is approached from the batter to the pitcher and defense. Good move baseball.
Don’t Ask Me Where Anyone Plays…
We have a lot of “new” faces for basically every team out there as this post season seemed like an exodus of players from the places they played and cemented their place, some more interesting than others. Carlos Correa seems like a move by Minnesota to try and really spark this line up into a more competitive playoff contender against the explosive White Sox and Mariners lineups. Dansby to the Cubs and Benintendi to the White Sox were probably both heartbreaking for their respective fan bases that had to say goodbye.
There are also a couple of older guys being moved around and those are the trades that I think have the greatest possibility to make (or break) their respective teams’ chances. The Mets replaced one Cy Young pitcher in DeGrom with none other than Justin Verlander. Who is coming off the heels of his 5th Cy Young Award while helping lead the ‘Stros to another World Series Win… He’s still got the talent to win awards, but he is 40 now. Time will tell if he is as endless as it appears. I really like Nelson Cruz to San Diego, he’ll hit bombs alongside the likes of Soto, Tatis, Machado, and Bogaerts… Decent bullpen out there too could the Padres make the leap?
I applaud a lot of these deals as I’ve mentioned. San Diego is looking DANGEROUS if they can all stay healthy. Those Dodgers/San Diego games are only going to get even juicier this year… Like, Bash Brothers juice levels (I do not much small ball in those games…) The Rangers added a couple of really exciting young guys in the middle infield with Seager and Simien, but let’s not forget they also got Jacob DeGrom… All of the sudden the AL West looks like it can be anyone’s race this year. Speaking of DeGrom, I actually really like the Verlander trade to the Mets. Selfishly because, I don’t want him in the AL playoffs anymore, but I also think he is still going to produce for that team who seems more and more willing to spend it all and try to make their dreams come alive.
Football Rules, but Baseball Is Love
On top of spring training, college baseball started this month and I for one really appreciate the product that college baseball has become. I have always watched it and followed it. Which helps being from Tallahassee and having a premier college baseball program like FSU right in my hometown. I think I will do a separate blog on FSU/college baseball and the antics behind it. Metal bats, bull pen celebrations, student sections, and at some of these stadiums home field advantage is a real thing. It’s an incredible thing to root for if you’re looking for something to watch in the purgatory between march madness and college football.
My love for baseball could be biased since I basically grew up with it instilled in me by my father, former FSU and MiLB player. I also had a grandfather who loved taking me to FSU baseball games, but I believe there is something in the water here in our small-town state capital because the baseball culture is strong…
Maybe you’ve heard about a guy named Reggie Jefferson?? (Who like me, is a Lincoln High School Alum, Go Trojans). Or maybe you’ve heard of Dean Palmer?? If any of my readers are over the age of 40, they’ll know who those guys are. A couple of former teammates of mine from growing up are current Big-League pitchers, shout-out to Bowden Francis and Tyler Holt (another LHS Trojan). A few other buddies were drafted but several guys at least played college baseball (one of my them was on the 2017 UF National championship team). If you ask me, that’s not too bad for a town of less than 200,000 people if you ask me.
And with that, here we are. Spring has sprung. We are just weeks away from seeing what happens in the world of baseball this year and we even have the return of the World Baseball Classic. Let’s get excited, shall we?
Play ball!
Goosing with G 
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