Play the Game

Watching some of the outstanding games from the World Baseball Classic it suddenly hit me.  Here is a metaphor for the real world, not the fake one we are being dragged into, kicking and screaming.  Make America Great again?  If the WBC doesn’t demonstrate what the REAL world is like because of this country’s greatness (well, up until now), then nothing will.  Here is THE AMERICAN PASTIME which has been adopted throughout the world and not on a half-hearted basis, but with the commitment and zeal that some would have you believe is a uniquely American trait.  Just look at the nations represented in addition to the United States: Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.  Yes, most of the players are those already in the US Major or Minor leagues, but it shows the diversity of what baseball has become, with implications for world economics as well.  The nationalistic agenda of the present administration not only denies this reality, it also unrealistically seeks a time that has long passed.  We will never see that world again.  Life progresses.  One needs to adapt and not seek refuge in a past before Jackie Robinson stepped up to the plate at Ebbets Field.

And look at the enthusiasm the WBC has generated.  This is truly a world series.  I think the game between the Dominican Republic and Colombia, with Jose Bautista throwing out Oscar Mercado by a hair at home plate, is one of the best games and plays I've ever seen: https://youtu.be/ikKHwbajnbE

If he had scored, Colombia would have won the game, but the favored Dominican Republic finally won in an extra-inning game by a large score.  The DR beat the US the night before, US blowing a five run lead.  We are merely competitors at our own game.

What also struck me about the DR – Colombia game is that every one of the 37,000 seats in the Miami Marlins stadium was occupied.  Contrast that to a typical Marlin’s ML game which would have only about a little more than half of that.  It is no surprise given the large Spanish population in the area.  But that is the point.  We are a multinational country now.  We need to embrace it.  Not run from it.  And Baseball, as well as the capitalist forces of the world economy, is of our own making.  No doubt, I will root, root, root for the home team (US of A) and if they lose it will be a shame, but we have to play the game. 

Ballpark of the Palm Beaches - Play Ball!

Amazing.  What was a landfill last year has been transformed into a beautiful spring training site shared by the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals.  The whole training complex is so well done it seems as if it has been there forever.  

When our friends John and Cathy asked whether I’d be interested in seeing a Red Sox game there I jumped at the chance.  Cathy is a die-hard Sox fan and I’m a Yankees fan so the back and forth banter is fun.  I’ve already conceded this season to the Sox though as they have even further improved their roster for this year, especially with the acquisition of Chris Sale from the White Sox. He only had to change socks, so maybe that’s why New York failed to get him (actually, never really tried – guess they conceded the season as well).

As the laws of serendipity prevailed, yesterday’s spring training game at the new facility between the Sox and the Astros highlighted Chris Sale’s first outing as a Red Sox, throwing 37 pitches over the first two innings, giving up four hits, one earned run and notching two strike outs.  He looked rusty but he seemed to have his stuff, the scoreboard routinely recording his fast balls around 95 mph with one at 97. Not bad for the first outing.  He’s a tall sting bean but when he whips his long left arm toward the batter I can imagine the split second decision making at the plate, particularly for a left-handed batter.  He was a joy to watch.  Too bad he’s on the wrong team : - ). Judging by the grip on the ball (photo 3), think he's throwing a change up here...

The Sox are playing three games on the east coast of Florida, facing the Nationals today at the same park and up to St. Lucie to face the Mets tomorrow.  From what I understand, there are 9 players, mostly minor leaguers who will be at all three games, and there will be three buses, one for each day shuttling name players back and forth from the Sox training facility in Ft. Meyers.

Two of the big names other than Sale for the first day were Pablo Sandoval…

and Hanley Ramírez

They bring with them big expectations for 2017.

I enjoyed seeing ex-Yankee Brian McCann again.  Sad to see him go, a ballplayer great talent and a true gentleman...

One only hopes that the City of West Palm will now land a minor league team for these incredible facilities.  Would be nice to have more teams nearby in addition to the Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins Class A+) and the Palm Beach Cardinals (Cardinals Class A+).   Nonetheless, we’ve already booked our season’s tix for their “silver slugger” program at Roger Dean Stadium.

The game itself had a little bit of everything, home runs, stolen bases, double plays but after three and a half hours they played to a 5-5 tie.  End of game, but being out there in the cool breeze, taking in the cadence of baseball, was a nice change of pace. 

Play ball!  Life regains a semblance of normalcy with baseball again.  

Tabula Rasa

Time to veg out, wipe my mind clean of Donald and Hillary, Brexit, the mere existence of the gun lobby, personal finances, medical issues and appointments, logistics of packing for the summer and caring for the house, all that “stuff” that clatters in my brain.  Turn off the computer and CNN, MSNBC and Bloomberg, don’t look at email, run from the phone, and flee the endless advertisements and robo calls. Take the boat and go off to Munyon Island and be alone with a pelican.  Swim in the 80 plus degree water of the Intracoastal.  Watch some fish swim by.  Don’t move at times, sitting on the sandy bottom.  Let the water lap up to ears and nose. Shut off the mind and let quiet envelop.

Then in the evening: baseball.  See a relatively small (5’11”) lefty on the mound for the Palm Beach Cardinals, Ian McKinney, take on the St. Lucie Mets.  Over nearly seven innings he struck out five and walked one, giving up just an unearned run.  Not overpowering, he relied on his curve and change up, setting up his fast ball, in the high 80s, maybe 90. 

Watching a crafty lefty work is mesmerizing, a ballet in my mind, and a perfect end to a day without the disquiet of modern life.

If It’s Spring, Then….

The Boys of Spring are back and this Old Boy of Spring is once again attracted to the diamond of my dreams, formed by four bases each 90 feet from the other.  But in my mind’s eye, I see the interior, 60’6” from home plate, the long expired vision of my playing years, replete with fantasies of facing that last batter in my perfectly pitched game, the World Series tied three games each, my Yankee teammates urging me on.  I’m behind in the count, facing a right-handed slugger (I’m left-handed).  My catcher calls for a fastball inside, but I shrug him off, favoring my secret weapon, rarely thrown today, a screwball which looks like it’ll be down the middle of the plate, breaking away from the batter at the last second.  Strike three!  Poof, there goes the dream, but when I return to the Roger Dean Stadium to see the Class A+ ball there, it’s a testimony to the one thing in my life that has essentially remained the same: baseball.

I’m convinced though that minor league games are better than going to any major league game. We have TV for the latter and IF you can get tickets to a critical MLB game, be prepared to shell out $$$ for any decent seat.  Otherwise, you are in the stratosphere watching a postage size game.  Much better on HD TV.

So, last night we went to our first “Silver Sluggers”night, a “deal” for us aging fans.

And last night had a special treat for me, seeing a left-handed pitcher who really impressed – Austin Gomber.  He’s a big guy, 6’-5”, so you'd think he'd have a blazing fast ball, but no, “only” about 90 or so. But his breaking stuff, especially his curve, and placement was great.  He pitched a shutout during his 7 plus innings and he looked more like a major league pitcher, thinking strategically in his selection of pitches, relying on his dipping curveball and an occasional slider and change up to get guys out. Usually down here in the minors they just hurl the ball, but he's already a thinking pitcher.  In the past I had signaled out other lefties for the majors, including Andrew Heaney (now with the Angles) and Justin Nicolino (now with the Marlins).

The way the New York Yankees are playing, perhaps they could use him today?  Make a trade!

Unfortunately, Roger Dean Stadium has now erected netting in front of the seats where we normally like to sit, so photographs suffer, although not the enjoyment of the game. Ah, baseball is back.