Opening Day is tomorrow (Yankees play the Giants) so now seems like a good time to talk about what baseball fans can look for this season and we’ll start with a story about me being a dope.
Yes, yes, yes!! You wrote EXACTLY what I am thinking about home run balls. The Royals have moved the fences in and there are going to be all sorts of homers now, but that will not translate into a great season. I yearn for “small ball” games, but I fear those days are over. Thank you, I’m loving the Watching Baseball series!
I hope moving the fences in works, but it didn't when they tried it in the mid-1990s. They seem to forget the other team will hit more home runs, too. Glad you're enjoying the series.
Damn. Great post. Thanks for the Durocher quote. They didn't call him The Lip for nothing. I'm totally stealing that quote for an essay I'm writing about the difference between baseball and classical music. That's sounds really weird when you say it out loud, but the quote applies to both.
So interesting! I love the level of detail. If the mind games between a pitcher and a batter in the will-he-or-won’t-he throw a fastball in a traditional fastball situation are complex, can you imagine a veteran pitcher like Verlander or Scherzer up against a veteran batter? They’ve probably faced each other hundreds of times. Mind boggling. After reading this column I watched the final spring training game for the Dodgers where they traditionally mic up third base coach Dino Ebel. So we got to listen to his take on everything happening on the bases in that game (not much) but he also talked about specific plays from the World Series that involved base running. And a few plays he witnessed during the WBC he was involved in. It’s been an educational 12 hours. But I love it! Keep them coming Lee! And agree on the fact that we need more small ball. And all hail Tony Gwynn!
According to the internet, Tony Gwynn faced Greg Maddux either 103 or 107 times and hit either .415 or .429 AND NEVER STRUCK OUT. Tony wrote a couple books about hitting in which he talked about wanting to let the ball travel, make contact as deep as possible (which meant he laid off the pitches that only looked like strikes for the first 75 feet) and then hit the ball to the opposite field.
Tony told everybody in the whole world what pitch he was looking for and still got that pitch, which taught me that good hitters don't make a living hitting good pitches; they make a living hitting mistakes.
I once watched a lengthy at-bat where Maddux was trying to jam Tony and Tony was fouling off pitches, but then Maddux left one out over the plate and Tony singled.
When Tony was standing on first base, Greg turned and looked at him and put a hand up by his neck: he was asking Tony, "Was it up?" Tony nodded; "Yes." Greg nodded, then went back to work. Two geniuses sharing information.
Re: your closing question I absolutely do not want any friend who can't appreciate the significance of things like the count and that's because I believe they have no appreciation for detail and subtlety and for idiot me life is all about having an appreciation for detail and subtlety.
I always surprise myself when I say this, but I have more respect for Clint Hurdle than anyone I can ever recall being involved in the game and that statement has absolutely nothing to do with his individual playing stats, which were mediocre at best.
I have never had the inclination to engage in fantasy baseball: the thought of doing to bores the hell out of me.
Throughout Human History, a whole bunch of people have reached the same conclusion: Life is about noticing and appreciating the Small Stuff because there just ain't enough Big Stuff to keep you happy.
Clint Hurdle is definitely a guy who took lemons and made lemonade and taught me a ton of baseball and made me appreciate the game. You should get his book "Hurdle-Isms."
I have never been tempted to play fantasy sports, the real stuff is entertaining enough and last I heard Rusty (another guy who taught me a lot about the game) was still working for the Royals in some capacity.
Yes, yes, yes!! You wrote EXACTLY what I am thinking about home run balls. The Royals have moved the fences in and there are going to be all sorts of homers now, but that will not translate into a great season. I yearn for “small ball” games, but I fear those days are over. Thank you, I’m loving the Watching Baseball series!
I hope moving the fences in works, but it didn't when they tried it in the mid-1990s. They seem to forget the other team will hit more home runs, too. Glad you're enjoying the series.
Damn. Great post. Thanks for the Durocher quote. They didn't call him The Lip for nothing. I'm totally stealing that quote for an essay I'm writing about the difference between baseball and classical music. That's sounds really weird when you say it out loud, but the quote applies to both.
Leo's dead and I don't care, so steal the quote. He summed a lot of things with that one.
So interesting! I love the level of detail. If the mind games between a pitcher and a batter in the will-he-or-won’t-he throw a fastball in a traditional fastball situation are complex, can you imagine a veteran pitcher like Verlander or Scherzer up against a veteran batter? They’ve probably faced each other hundreds of times. Mind boggling. After reading this column I watched the final spring training game for the Dodgers where they traditionally mic up third base coach Dino Ebel. So we got to listen to his take on everything happening on the bases in that game (not much) but he also talked about specific plays from the World Series that involved base running. And a few plays he witnessed during the WBC he was involved in. It’s been an educational 12 hours. But I love it! Keep them coming Lee! And agree on the fact that we need more small ball. And all hail Tony Gwynn!
According to the internet, Tony Gwynn faced Greg Maddux either 103 or 107 times and hit either .415 or .429 AND NEVER STRUCK OUT. Tony wrote a couple books about hitting in which he talked about wanting to let the ball travel, make contact as deep as possible (which meant he laid off the pitches that only looked like strikes for the first 75 feet) and then hit the ball to the opposite field.
Tony told everybody in the whole world what pitch he was looking for and still got that pitch, which taught me that good hitters don't make a living hitting good pitches; they make a living hitting mistakes.
I once watched a lengthy at-bat where Maddux was trying to jam Tony and Tony was fouling off pitches, but then Maddux left one out over the plate and Tony singled.
When Tony was standing on first base, Greg turned and looked at him and put a hand up by his neck: he was asking Tony, "Was it up?" Tony nodded; "Yes." Greg nodded, then went back to work. Two geniuses sharing information.
I love that shit.
Glad you're enjoying the series, Mandy.
Oooo, that’s good. Thanks for that.
Re: your closing question I absolutely do not want any friend who can't appreciate the significance of things like the count and that's because I believe they have no appreciation for detail and subtlety and for idiot me life is all about having an appreciation for detail and subtlety.
I always surprise myself when I say this, but I have more respect for Clint Hurdle than anyone I can ever recall being involved in the game and that statement has absolutely nothing to do with his individual playing stats, which were mediocre at best.
I have never had the inclination to engage in fantasy baseball: the thought of doing to bores the hell out of me.
Rusty Koontz, Rusty Koontz, wherefore are thou?
Throughout Human History, a whole bunch of people have reached the same conclusion: Life is about noticing and appreciating the Small Stuff because there just ain't enough Big Stuff to keep you happy.
Clint Hurdle is definitely a guy who took lemons and made lemonade and taught me a ton of baseball and made me appreciate the game. You should get his book "Hurdle-Isms."
I have never been tempted to play fantasy sports, the real stuff is entertaining enough and last I heard Rusty (another guy who taught me a lot about the game) was still working for the Royals in some capacity.