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2009 World Champion New York Yankees

What a relief. Watching these games has been stressful for an old guy like me. The Yankees defeated the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 2, and won their first world championship since the 2000 season when they defeated the New York Mets, 4 games to 1. What a great way to celebrate the opening of the new Yankee Stadium. The Yanks lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in '01 and the Florida Marlins in '03. Last year, the last in the old Yankee Stadium, they didn't make the playoffs at all. The first decade of the 21st century has come to an end with the Yankees and their arch-rivals the Red Sox having won 2 championships while the Angels, White Sox, D'backs, Marlins, Cardinals and Phillies each have won once.

The Series is obviously news that you can find elsewhere so I'm not going to recap the games. I know that all these star players are millionaires but I was still happy for them, especially the veterans, Jeter, Rivera, Posada and Pettitte. I'm grateful for all the entertainment they have provided during the course of the season. The first three have spent their entire career as Yankees. Matsui may not be a Yankee next year, but he sure went out in style as Series MVP after his 6 r.b.i.'s in game 6. He and Damon are at the end of their contracts.  Loved when Damon stole 2nd and 3rd on the same play in game four. I don't recall ever seeing that happen before.

I wasn't at the Stadium for any games during the '09 season but I saw most of them thanks to my Direct TV baseball package. I'm at the point now where viewing the games in the comfort of my living room beats the aggravation and expense of attending in person. I don't need to be there. I used to hate it when the forecast was for rain and I had a ticket. If I decided to stay home, the game would be played and I'd be out the ticket money. If I'd go, I'd have to endure the unpleasantness of me getting rained on and/or the game getting rained out. The rain check was small consolation. In the post-season, there's also the likelihood of cold weather to deal with. Besides the comfort factor, at home I can practically call the balls and strikes on every pitch and I see the replays at every conceivable angle, maybe even more times than I'd like.

My most memorable day at Yankee Stadium occurred during the 1961 season when the M&M boys, Mantle and Maris, were chasing Babe Ruth's 1927 record of 60 home runs.  It was a twi-night doubleheader in July against the White Sox. Roger Maris hit HR #'s 37 & 38 in game 1 and 39 & 40 in the 2nd game. Mantle hit his 38th, Clete Boyer hit 2 HR's and Elston Howard also connected. The Yanks won both games, a 5 - 1 win for Whitey Ford and a 12 - 0 complete game for Bill Stafford. You can check out the box scores on www.baseball-almanac.com. Click on history, teams, scroll down  to a box which reads "team by team items of interest" and click on schedules in the AL or NL column, scroll down to the date you're interested in and click for the box score. So if you find an old ticket stub you can check what happened. Like me, you may find that your memory is not as good as you thought it was.

I guess I've been a Yankee fan since I was about 10. At that age I was probably more interested in baseball cards than baseball games. Wish I still had the cards. I have vague recollections of the Yankees losing the '55 series and winning in '56, both against the BROOKLYN Dodgers. I remember that they lost to the MILWAUKEE Braves in '57 and beat those same Braves in 1958, winning the last 3 games to rally from a 3 games to 1 deficit. School prevented me from seeing these games because they were mainly day games back then. I recall hearing the last out of the '57 series on the car radio. Moose Skowron grounded out to Braves 3rd baseman Eddie Mathews to end it. My mother had picked us up from school and we were at 188th St and Hillside Ave in Queens when the game ended.

Strangely enough, though I'm a life-long Yankee fan, the first major league baseball game I attended was on August 4th, 1956 at Ebbets Field, the former home of the Dodgers. I think it was with a Cub Scout outing. The Dodgers beat the Cardinals 12 - 4. On August 26th, 1957 I also saw one game at the Polo Grounds which at the time was the home of the New York Giants (not the football team that now plays in New Jersey). The Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds that day by a football score, 17 - 3. In 1958, the Dodgers and Giants moved respectively to L.A and 'Frisco. My first game at Yankee Stadium was June 19, 1957, a 10 - 2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. I don't recall who took me. I was able to pinpoint the date from notes I wrote inside the cover of my oldest Yankee yearbook - the 1960 edition (the price was 50 cents). I wrote down the the scores and opponents of the games I attended that year, two doubleheaders and 6 single games, plus the scores and opponents of the 3 games I attended prior to 1960.  

Umpiring problems in Major League Baseball

There was an excellent article by Bill Madden in today's New York Daily News about the poor quality of the umpiring in major league baseball. The problem has existed for quite a while but it gets a lot of attention when bad calls occur in the playoffs. In game 2 of the American League Division Series (ALDS) at Yankee Stadium, the left field umpire called Joe Mauer's fair fly ball down the left field line foul even though he was only about 20 feet from the play. It was clearly fair as all Yankee fans would admit. The replays left no doubt.

Mr. Madden commented on the amorphous strike zone and horrendous calls in the field that have people calling for instant replay reviews that commissioner Bud Selig adamantly opposes. Madden says that umpires for playoff games are still chosen based on politics rather than merit. Umpires are rated by their supervisors but why bother if no one ever gets demoted or kept out of playoff games for poor ratings. He points out problems about poor training, working conditions and pay in the minor leagues. Umpires in rookie leagues get paid only $1,900 a month and the highest paid at Triple A makes only $3,200 which amounts to $16,000 for 5 months of work. (According to a 2007 article on mlb.com, major league umps start at about $120,000 and make up to $350,000.) There are also few chances to advance to the majors because incompetent umps are not demoted and few retire until they are physically unable to work. How do you attract good candidates for a tough job under these conditions?

I'm in favor of a limited number of replay reviews per game on questionable umpire decisions (like the bad call on Mauer noted above), in addition to the existing rule allowing teams to appeal calls by umpires on home runs. As I pointed out in my Dumb Baseball Rule post of May 27th, the object should be to get the call right. Major League umpires are paid well. If their ego gets bruised by being shown up by an instant replay, that's too bad. Hopefully, with properly trained and supervised umpires, replays will make them look good.

My dumb rule post addressed a scoring rule rather than an umpiring decision - the scoring rule that you can't anticipate a double play. In yesterday's Dodger-Philly game with runners on first and second, Chase Utley made a terrible throw attempting to complete what should have been an easy DP. He only got charged with an error because the runner on 2nd scored as a result of his throw. If that runner had held up at third, no error would have been charged even though Utley's throw allowed the batter to reach first. My post also addressed the "team error" concept which could have applied in yesterday's Yankee-Angels game when the shortstop and 3rd baseman let a routine infield pop drop between them that either could have handled. The scorer probably should have charged the shortstop with the error but instead scored it a hit which resulted in an earned run charged to the pitcher. The team error concept would help scorers who don't have the guts to make the right call or, when it is not clear who should have caught a catchable ball, to give the team the error rather than penalize the pitcher.

I was talking about these matters with good friend and former St. John's University pitcher Larry Mushinske this morning. (Larry got to pitch in the 1966 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska and won a game with 3 scoreless innings of relief. SJU only has 6 wins combined in all their CWS appearances.) In addition to discussing the horrible umpiring - including a pitch way inside to Russell Martin that should have been ball 4 in yesterday's Dodger game - he pointed out that the umpires almost never exercise their discretion to allow a runner to score from first base on a ground rule double when the runner would clearly have scored if the ball hadn't gone into the stands. He's absolutely right, as he almost always is on baseball matters - a true student of the game. I've seen cases where a fast runner on first was held at third by the umpire, even though there were 2 outs and a full count on the batter, so that the runner was going on the pitch. The ump took the easy way out. Maybe better trained umps would have the confidence to make these tougher calls.

Designated Hitter

I read a book a few months ago called Hit Parade by Lawrence Block. No, it wasn't about the TV show from the 1950's. That was actually Your Hit Parade and the hits were songs. In the first part of the Block book, a designated hitter became the victim of a designated hitter. Baseball's Designated Hitter or DH is alive and well - except in the National League. Yankee DH Hideki Matsui hit a 2 run HR last night to tie up the game with the Blue Jays. With his bad knees, Hideki would be limited to pinch hitting duties without the DH rule.

It's time for the National League to adopt the Designated Hitter rule. Except for a few diehard purists, does anybody care about having the pitcher bat? I know. Tradition and Strategy. Tradition has taken quite a few hits since 1973 when the DH was introduced. Another level of playoffs has been added including the Wild Card. A team that doesn't even win its division is allowed a shot at the World Series - a radical idea for baseball. Expansion has brought us 6 additional teams. The NL has two more teams than the AL. We have major league umpires, not AL and NL umps. We have replays on HR's. We have all kinds of new stats - WHIP, OPS, holds, etc. Baseball has evolved. The NL has its head stuck in the sand.

As noted, the DH has existed since 1973. This makes it likely that any fan born from around 1963 doesn't really remember baseball without the DH. As far as strategy is concerned, how many fans think that even AL managers over-manage? We see needless changes of relief pitchers, starters yanked because of the pitch count. I recall a lefty brought in to face a lefty. He got his man and the next batter was a switch hitter. The manager yanked the lefty reliever and brought in a righthander. Did he gain some small advantage because the switch hitter is better from the right side? Please! Keep it simple and play the game.

Most people want to see offense. Soccer's a great sport that has never made it big in the U.S. because after 90 minutes of action the score is likely to be 2 - 1. The DH doesn't just provide more offense. It provides rest for key players without losing their bats. It prevents injury to pitchers since they don't have to hit or run the bases. Ask the Yankees about Chien-Ming Wang who injured himself running the bases in an interleague game. With the money some of these pitchers make and the scarcity of quality pitching, do teams really want to risk losing them to injury? Granted if I was a pitcher, I'd prefer to pitch in the DHless NL. Still, it's crazy that baseball continues to operate under two different rules. Imagine if the NBA decision makers had implemented the 3 point goal but only allowed it in games involving former ABA teams or allowed it only in the Eastern conference but not the Western conference. It would be considered stupid.

The NL would have little trouble in adopting the DH rule. Take a team like the Dodgers. They signed Manny Ramirez to big bucks so they have to play him in left field. Juan Pierre sits. Jim Thome could do some DHing if he stays. The Braves could rotate DH between oldtimers Larry "not so Chipper" Jones and Garrett Anderson or use it to rest Bryan McCann without losing his bat. The Astros could DH Carlos Lee or Miguel Tejada. The Rockies could DH Todd Helton or Garrett Atkins. If the Mets keep Gary Sheffield, he's a perfect candidate for DH. If he doesn't have to play the field, he'll have more time to complain. The Brewers could DH Frankie Catalanotto. They  may eventually look to DHing the Prince who's not such a good Fielder, but not as bad as Philly Ryan Howard and Redbird Albert Pujols who are vying for the league lead in errors by a first baseman. Nat Adam Dunn and Cub Alfonso Soriano should DH. It's time to have baseball operating under one set of rules.

Clemens

When you saw the title to this post were you expecting some juicy stuff about Roger? Sorry to disappoint you but this is about Koby, his 22 year old son who plays in a Class A Advanced league with the Lancaster JetHawks of Lancaster, California. While Roger stands about 6"4", Koby is only 5'11". According to MiLB.com, the kid has been tearing up the league with a .344 batting average, 38 doubles, 6 triples, 18 HR's and 109 RBI's in 372 ABs. His on base percentage is .419 and slugging at .624 while his OPS (on base + slugging) is 1.043. An article on the JetHawks' website says that he's had 3 walk-off HR's and 1 that put his team in the lead. The season has another 2 weeks to go. His problem may be finding a position. He started out his minor league career in 2005 at 3rd base and since has been used at catcher, leftfield and DH. DHing won't help him advance if he remains in the Astros organization. I would guess that he'll be moved up to Double A next year.

Don Mattingly's son Preston plays in the same league as Koby with the Inland Empire 66ers, a Dodger farm team in San Bernardino. Young Mattingly started out in the infield but now plays left field. Unlike his father Don, he bats and throws right handed and is  taller at 6'3" to Don's 6'0". Unfortunately, he's hitting a mere .235 in 396 ABs and has struck out an alarmingly high 137 times. He's stolen 22 bases but has been caught 10 times. 

On the pitching side, Doug Drabek's son Kyle has gone 8 - 2 with a 3.39 era since moving up to Double A Reading, PA of the Eastern League. His name was mentioned as one of the players the Bluejays wanted from the Phillies to get Roy Halladay. Dad Doug started out with the Yankees but had his best years with the Pirates.

In addition to checking on the sons of former Yankees, I use www.MiLB.com to see who's doing well on the Yankee farm teams and, when I'm watching a game, to check the stats on players for other major league teams who have just called been called up from the minors. The website is also good if you're taking a trip and want to see if there's a game you can see since it has all the schedules and links to team websites. I've seen minor league games in Colorado Springs, Sioux Falls, Asheville, NC, Albany, NY, Binghampton, Long Island and Nashville.

63rd Yankee Old Timer's Day

Yesterday marked the 63rd Annual New York Yankees Old Timer's Day and first at the new Yankee Stadium. John Sterling and Michael Kay alternated the introductions which included brief Yankee career highlights for each former player. They were introduced in this order: Ron Blomberg (baseball's first DH), Lee Mazzilli, Pat Kelly, Lindy McDaniel, Rick Cerone, Dave Eiland, Jesse Barfield, Jim Coates, Mike Easler, Jerry Narron, Oscar Gamble, Homer Bush, Al Downing, Horace Clarke, Hector Lopez, Ken Griffey, Sr., Aaron Small, Gene Michael, Chad Curtis, Bucky Dent (a fav of Red Sox fans), Joe Pepitone (famous for introducing the hair dryer to baseball clubhouses), Roy White, Mickey Rivers, Jeff Nelson, Charlie Hayes, Mel Stottlemyre, Joe Girardi, David Cone, Dwight Gooden, Luis Arroyo, Dr. Bobby Brown, Bob Turley, Bobby Richardson, Don Zimmer, Don Larsen, Moose Skowron, Graig Nettles, Ron Guidry, Mike Mussina, Goose Gossage, Reggie Jackson, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra. Following the former players, Yankee widows Arlene Howard, Helen Hunter, Kay Murcer and Diana Munson were each introduced wearing Yankee jerseys and lined up on the field with the players. Although his widow was not in attendance, the ceremonies on the field and a book made me think of the Mick.

A few weeks ago my brother Chris gave me the book, Sports Illustrated Presents Mantle Remembered, stories excerpted from the pages of SI. The book's first printing was November 1995, a few months after the Mick's death at 63. The book is only 95 pages with a lot of pictures. It's basically broken down into 3 sections, Early Years, Prime and Later Years. It's well worth reading for any Yankee fan, especially for those around my age who grew up idolizing Mantle - my first baseball hero. It wasn't a puff piece. Some of the articles addressed his night life activities and alcoholism as well as his lack of dedication to physical rehab after injuries that ultimately cut short his career.

Reading the book got me to take another look at Mick's career stats in Baseball-Reference.com. He accomplished a lot considering the fact that those injuries finished him before his 37th birthday. Mantle's last season with 500+ official at bats was 1961 when he was 29. His last productive year was 1964. He failed to drive in as many as 60 runs his last 4 seasons and those last four were the first four of a Yankee decline that would last about a dozen years. His last two seasons he had to play first base. Even in his injury diminished capacity, Mantle was still of value to the Yankees.  They needed him to put some fannies in the seats since he was the team's only real attraction.    

THE All Star Game

Baseball's All Star game will take place tomorrow night in St. Louis. Does any All Star game matter other than Baseball's? Football's takes place after the season is over. Does anybody care? The Superbowl champ has already been crowned. Basketball's All Star game is showtime.  It's mildly entertaining but it's not exactly big news  whether the eastern or western division all-stars are victorious. I'm a New Jersey Nets fan but I don't care if the east wins or loses. I enjoy the 3 point shooting contest and the slam dunk contest more than the game. I can't say anything about hockey because I never watch it. I went to a few Islanders games in the early 70's but just couldn't get into the sport. Hockey will probably remain the least viewed of any major team sport. Could soccer someday surpass it in popularity in the U.S.?

While All Star games are exhibitions and don't count in regular season statistics, they do establish bragging rights for the competing leagues. In baseball, the argument as to which league is superior, the American or the National, has been going on for over a hundred years. Prior to the playing of the first All-Star Game at Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1933, bragging rights depended solely upon which league won the World Series. Since All Star games supposedly involve competition between the best players of the entire respective leagues rather than just the two best teams, some may consider it a more accurate barometer of the strength of the leagues. The stakes went beyond bragging rights in 2003  when it was decided that the game would determine which league gets the home field advantage in the World Series. The American League has been dominant of late however overall, the NL holds a 40 to 37 All Star advantage. The AL's early dominance occurred before my time. I suffered through a long period of NL victories which made the game a painful experience. Since 1997, interleague play has added another element in determining the relative strength of the leagues. The American League has dominated interleague play but has only won 5 of the 9 World Series since 2000.

I only care for the game itself and generally don't pay much attention to the player introductions and other pre-game hoopla and analysis. I may watch the HR hitting contest tonight but won't be chagrined if I miss it. Sadly, the All Star game is still carried by fox so I have to suffer through Buck and McCarver or make frequent use of the mute button. The only other bad thing about the baseball's All Star break is that it's the only game to follow for three days.

I suppose that fan voting for the starters is here to stay but I have always been against it. The players should vote. I would have AL players vote for the AL All Stars and NL for NL with the exception that they can't vote for their team mates. This year's worst fan selection has to be Josh Hamilton who has been injured most of the year and doesn't have good numbers for the short time he's played. Although I'm a Yankee fan, I have to admit that Mark Teixeria does not deserve to start over Justin Morneau. The starting lineups for this 80th All Star game are not very impressive. The only scary hitter is in the NL - Albert Pujols. Although I'll root for the AL as usual, this may be the year the NL breaks its drought.

baseball substitute - playing softball

I love baseball but my days of playing organized baseball ended after one year of riding the bench on a Babe Ruth league team in Bayside, NY. I think I got to bat about ten times and struck out nine. Wisely, I saved myself the embarrassment of not making the high school baseball team by not trying out. Being short was not an excuse. I just wasn't near good enough.

I don't mean to demean softball players but many of them are guys like me who couldn't cut it at baseball. They're not all big slobs with beer guts. Some are terrific athletes. I recall seeing the great Eddie Feigner of "King and his Court" fame, probably  on Wide World of Sports in the 1960's. He was still terrific at about age 60 when I saw him while on vacation with my wife and kids at Cape Cod in the late 1980's. For those unfamiliar with him, he was probably the greatest softball pitcher ever and he played with only a catcher, first baseman and shortstop. Give him a google.

I doubt that there are many male softball players who took up the game as kids. To my knowledge, there are no junior high, high school or college male softball teams. Those few softball players who never played baseball likely took up the game with the bigger ball in their late teens or early twenties.  There are probably many guys who played college baseball but weren't pro material who then began playing softball with friends from the neighborhood or work. Some played in leagues below their talent level for the camaraderie of playing with friends. Fact is, there are many levels of softball play and the leagues I played in were far from the best. While I primarily played slow pitch, there are also fast pitch leagues and windmill. I could not have played windmill. I played about every position, not all of them well, except first base and catcher. I did have a lot of fun, a few memorable experiences and my fair share of embarrassing ones, not all of them occurring during the games.

The softball game had ended and a few of the guys on the team were hanging around to grill hotdogs on the hibachi, have a few brewskis or sodas, chew the fat about the team's playoff prospects, etc . We had found a good spot and had the charcoal going when we were approached by two cops. They were very apologetic that they had to ask us to leave because that section of the park, known as Alley Picnic, was being closed down at sundown because of problems with drug dealing. They couldn't let us stay because the young kids would complain about double standards. They told us we could move over to the area where the main ball fields were, a few miles away and continue our grilling, etc. there. The cops had a job to do, they were nice about it, so what was the point of arguing. We agreed to move.

The coals on the hibachi were hot and ready to cook. It would be a pain in the butt to throw out the hot coals and start over again so I came up with a brilliant plan. The hibachi was small and lightweight. Why not have two of the guys sit in the back seat of my brown chevy malibu, each holding a hibachi handle. There was no visible flame and we'd have the windows open for ventilation. So I started the car and the guys got themselves situated in the back, carefully holding the grill. I headed out of the parking lot, hung a right towards Union Turnpike and drove to the Springfield Boulevard side of Alley Pond Park. Small problem - the heat from the coals started to melt the synthetic fabric inner lining of the roof. My hibachi bearers advised me of the problem as the material started to shrivel up creating a hole in the middle. With the damage already done, I saw no point in stopping so I kept driving to the other field. Luckily, the material didn't actually catch fire. My wife was not too happy.

Another time, I drove to a game at the Peck Avenue fields near Fresh Meadows, pulled into a space at the curb and shut off the engine. Then I tried to get out of my seatbelt and was unable to open it. I had been having trouble with the locking mechanism. I would press down as hard as I could sometimes and still couldn't release the belt. It had gotten to the point where I was hurting my thumb so I carried a beer opener and used the point of it to press down the mechanism. You could see the scrapes and dents in it. This time all my efforts were to no avail. Guys on the team were looking at me and wondering why I wasn't getting out of the car. They were yelling "hey, the game's about to start". I didn't want to let them know I was stuck but finally they came over and the truth was out. One of the guys told me "only the passenger seatbelt was supposed to get stuck so your girl couldn't get away". Luckily, one of the them had a knife and cut the belt so I could get out of the car.  

In all the years I played, almost exclusively in Queens and Nassau counties on Long Island, I only had two major run-ins with umpires resulting in my ejection. In the first instance, also at Peck Avenue, I took first base as a courtesy runner for a slow team mate who had just singled. On a hit to right, I raced around second and slid hard into third, knocking the third baseman over so that he fell on top of me. I was clearly safe. The umpire from his position behind the plate called me out. He had made no effort to get closer to the play. I was livid. After a few "are you kidding me's" and other comments, I went right up to him, held out my glasses and said, "here, you need these more than I do". I was gone. In another game, this time at Victory Field I got tossed again. After a few horrendous calls by another stationary umpire, I called him the "worst f---in' umpire I had ever seen." I didn't offer him my glasses but that game may have occurred after I had switched to wearing contacts.  

I was strictly a slap hitter. I could go an entire season without an extra base hit. There was no bunting allowed in slowpitch but somehow I was able to hit quite a few slow rollers which I was able to beat out, especially when I switched to hitting left-handed, giving me a 2 or 3 step advantage over a right handed hitter. Some of those dribblers probably were because I pulled off the ball as my feet started towards first base. I never hit a ball over a fence for a home run, even in little league.  My little league home run was a ground ball that somehow got by a daydreaming leftfielder. I only recall two softball home runs in about 20 years of playing. One HR came because a rightfielder stumbled and fell going back on a ball he normally would have caught. Another came because an outfielder played me way too shallow and I hit a line drive directly over his head.

Once at Cantiague Park in Hicksville, I got a good pitch and thought I crushed it. I'm thinking the ball is over the right fielder's head. It will carom off the fence and I'll have a triple. As I ran toward first base thinking three bases, I saw the right fielder come IN to catch the ball. Which reminds me. One evening, I'm playing right field and a guy hits a line drive at me. I lose the ball in the lights and hear it whiz by my head - for a triple. In another game at Cantiague, my speed got me in trouble. I was on first and there was a runner on second. The batter hit a seeing eye single to center so I assumed the runner on 2nd would score easily. Head down I cut the bag at second and raced for third, sliding in well ahead of the throw. Unfortunately, my team mate had held up at third - not exactly heads-up ball on my part. Despite the misplays and embarrassing moments, softball for me was a great substitute for baseball.

Dumb Baseball Rule 10.12(d)(3)

I like the new rule allowing teams to appeal calls by umpires regarding home runs. The umps check the replay to see whether a home run ball is fair or foul or above or below a HR line in some parks. While we don't want the games delayed unnecessarily, the goal should be to get the call right. Video replay is used in basketball and football so why not take advantage of the technology in baseball.

Changes in baseball should not stop with the replay policy. There are some rules that almost every serious baseball fan knows are dumb and should be changed. My biggest scoring pet peeve is the concept that you can't anticipate a double play. According to MLB.com Official Info, errors are dealt with by Official Rule 10.12.  Specifically, Rule 10.12(d) states that "the official scorer shall not charge an error against: ... (3) any fielder who makes a wild throw in attempting to complete a double play or triple play, unless such throw enables any runner to advance beyond the base such runner would have reached had the throw not been wild." (a comment follows that an error will be charged if a good throw which would have put the runner out is dropped.) So, as long as the batter/runner doesn't advance to 2nd base, no error is charged to the fielder making the wild throw in an attempt to complete a double play.

Hey, this is not little league, high school or college ball I'm talking about. Major League ball players are supposed to make all the routine plays. When they fail to, they should be charged with errors. I can understand not charging an error if the fielder was about to be taken out by the runner and had to rush his throw. But when there's plenty of time, an error should be charged if in the scorer's judgment the batter would have been out.

Situation: Runner on first with 1 out and slow runner at the plate. A hard hit ball just to the left of second base is fielded cleanly by the shortstop. He steps on second and, despite having plenty of time, throws wildly to first, allowing the batter/runner to reach safely. The runner on first base was not bearing down on the shortstop.The batter/runner would have been out by ten feet with a good throw. If the next batter hits a home run, the pitcher is charged with 2 earned runs even though the batter/runner should have been out. If the rule is changed to allow the official scorer to charge the shortstop with a throwing error, the pitcher is only charged with 1 earned run if the next batter homers.

In the above situation, if the shortstop's wild throw to first enabled the batter/runner to reach 2nd base, the shortstop gets charged with an error. This doesn't help the pitcher if the next batter hits a HR. Since the error was charged for allowing the runner to advance an extra base rather than for failing to get the out at 1st base, the pitcher still gets charged with 2 earned runs. Earned Run Averages are much higher than when I started following baseball in the mid 1950's. According to espn.com stats, after 45 games this season the A/L teams are averaging a 4.59 era while the DH-less N/L is at 4.39. The hitters haven't needed any more help since the pitching mound was lowered for the 1969 season. Since I don't believe there's any movement to restore the height of the mound, maybe some changes in official scoring rules would give some small solace to pitchers with soaring era's.

Another change that could help a bit would be to allow the official scorer to charge a  "team error" where a play should have been made but it's difficult to assign the error to one particular fielder. This concept has been proposed before and rejected but I still believe it has a lot of merit. A pitcher makes a great pitch that the batter pops up. The ball drops between 2 or 3 players, any one of whom could easily make the catch. If the scorer can't decide who to give the error to, he takes the easy way out and gives the batter a hit. Giving the team an error would solve the problem. It seems to me that in most cases, if there's a questionable call as to whether a batted ball is to be scored a hit or an error, the call usually favors the batter. 

 

Tito Horford Day

Today is Tito Horford Day. I think it's the 24th anniversary of that famous day. You don't know who Tito Horford is? Then you're either young or not a serious college hoops fan. Tito back in 1985 was a 7 foot, high school basketball player who was about to announce the name of the lucky school who would enjoy his services for the next four years (or less - as it turned out). He played 2 years for the University of Miami and had a brief and undistinguished NBA career. Tito isn't his real first name. He's Alfredo William Horford born in the Dominican Republic in 1966. His son Al Horford, who played his college ball under Billy Donovan at Florida, is in his second year with the Atlanta Hawks and doing well. You could google for the particulars on father and son's stats, etc. so I won't include them here. 

Quiz: Without googling or scrolling down, name another professional athlete with the nickname "Tito".

As an avid fan of the St. John's Redmen (the RedStorm since the 1994-95 season in the name of political correctness), I was always interested in who they were recruiting. Back on that day in 1985, my buddy Jim Seal called to give me the news that the Johnnies had landed this prize recruit. I was so excited. My thoughts ran to NCAA championships. With a shot blocking and rebounding center, the sky was the limit even if the kid was a work in progress offensively. Jim, a Georgetown grad and fanatical Hoya fan, went on and on about his ability. Then after stringing me along and highly enjoying it, he brought me down with the question "What day is this?" It took me a few seconds but then it dawned on me that I had been had. It was April Fool's Day. Now every April 1st I think of Tito Horford.

Answer to quiz: "Tito" Francona, father of Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "Tito" (real name John) was a major league outfielder who had his best years with the Cleveland Indians, mainly in the early 1960's. See www.baseball-reference.com and other websites for more info.

Rooting for a losing team

It's been a tough basketball season so far with little hope that things will improve in the remaining months for the teams I root for. The St. John's University Red Storm are not going to be a part of March Madness, the NCCA tournament. They haven't been there since a first round elimination in the 2001/02 season. The New Jersey Nets of the NBA would not make the playoffs if the season ended today. I'm happy to say that neither team has fired the coach, although 7 NBA coaches have already gotten the ax. (Make that 8 - the Suns just fired Terry Porter.) Don't know how many college coaches have been fired. Basically, I think that the effort has been there for both of my teams. If SJU had Coach K to start the season I doubt that the record would be much better considering the talent level and injury situation. If Phil Jackson coached the Nets, they would still be struggling. 

The New Jersey Nets, after a surprising start, had a stretch where they lost 8 of 9 games and find themselves 5 games under .500 at the all-star break. Before the season started, I predicted that they would finish with between 26 and 28 wins. With 24 wins so far, they should easily surpass my expectations. Sports Illustrated picked the Nets near the bottom of the Eastern conference. The good start was due in large part to the emergence of Devin Harris, the guard they obtained in the Jason Kidd trade. It helped overcome the loss of Richard Jefferson, traded to Milwaukee. The return to earth could be because other teams have adjusted and don't take them lightly. There also have been injuries, though no worse than other teams have suffered. Rookie Brook Lopez is averaging 12 points, 8 rebounds and almost 2 blocked shots through 53 games but the numbers have been higher lately, a good sign. Rookie Ryan Anderson has teased us with an occasional outstanding game but consistency has been lacking.

The St. John's University Red Storm are near the bottom of a very tough Big East conference. If the intent in playing a fairly weak pre-conference schedule was to build confidence that might carry over to the Big East games, it hasn't worked. The Storm now has a record of 12-13 overall after starting out 9 - 1 and only 3 - 10 in conference play. The loss to Marquette the other night was their 4th in a row. A sub .500 season is a virtual certainty since there are 6 games left on the regular season schedule with only 2 that look remotely winnable. Their big win against Notre Dame at the Garden last month doesn't look as big now since the Irish lost 7 straight before upsetting Louisville a few days ago. The bright spot has been the play of soph Paris Horne. Will next year's newcomers, Omari Lawrence and Dwight Hardy, be impact players? I'm not getting my hopes up (maybe I have the timidity of hope). But after following them for over 45 years, I can't see switching allegiance now.  

Rooting for a losing team can have some bennies for the fans. You're more likely to get good seats if you go to the games. Lower attendance should make it easier to park. A losing team may be less likely to raise ticket prices. I remember going to Yankee games in the early 70's and being able to park in the street a few blocks from the Stadium and get good seats on the day of the game. When you root for a losing team, you look more to individual achievements of the players and occasionally experience the joy of spoiling the playoff chances of a better team. On the pro level, there's also the hope that a bad season will result in a great draft pick that will turn the team around. Sometimes you find yourself rooting for your team to lose to get that pick. On the college level, it doesn't seem to work as well. I would think that having a bad team might induce some really good players to sign up with the chance of starting immediately. It seems though that the top programs continually get the best players. Everyone loves a winner.