Jersey Fouls

Tonight's Sunday Night ESPN game between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds pretty much sums up one of the things that drives me nuts about the game.

The third jersey. Yep, I know, weird that this would bug me so much...

When I was a kid watching the Blue Jays the uniforms were classic. At home the uniforms were solid white with a coloured stripe, on the road they were grey.

When it boils right down to it, I think that the third uniform by and large looks like a softball uniform.

Back to my point - the Cincinnati Reds were wearing their classic road grey tonight:

While the Atlanta Braves were sporting uniforms that made them look like contenders in the Georgia Co-Ed Champions League:

Baseball is a business, and I'm aware that third jerseys create new revenue. But I don't know any rational fan who doesn't still live in his mom's basement that strives to own all the uniforms of his favourite team. If you're reading this and that strikes a little close to home, I'd like to introduce you to craigslist. This is both the place you'll find a woman that finds your extreme obsessive love of baseball paraphernalia sexy and a place where you can sell your uniforms for more than you paid for them by calling them "game worn". Just don't mention that "game worn" means you wear them to play MLB 11 The Show because you think it's good luck.

*As an interesting side note to this post, trying to grab screen shots off MLB.tv has never proven so difficult. I've never actually noticed how cluttered the screen gets when ESPN puts new stats up with every new camera angle. Perhaps the ticker at the bottom of the screen could be better utilized with stats?

My Thoughts on Buster Posey's Injury

Last year, one of my favourite players to watch was Buster Posey. All I can say is I’ve taken full advantage of my MLB.tv subscription and enjoyed watching his dominance in the woeful National League West.

Last night, Buster Posey was absolutely drilled at home by Scott Cousins of the Florida Marlins.

See it happen here

Now, I don’t want to get up on a soapbox and preach too much. Admittedly, I’m a fan of violence in sports. I love hitting in hockey, quarterback sacks and catcher collisions. But just like the new War on Head Hitting in the NHL and NFL, last night’s events now gives the MLB and MLBPA a chance to step up and set an example.

With both the NHL and NFL’s new policies, they put an emphasis on making a play for the puck or ball FIRST. Scott Cousins makes no initial effort at the plate last night, and in fact could have scored on the play without the impact. There wasn’t a Marlin player behind the plate signaling this to Cousins, so it’s hard to claim that he was trying to injure Posey, nor do I intend to take that stance. But I see this as a great chance for the MLB to make a statement that base-runners must make an effort at the base they wish to occupy (in this case, home), before initiating intended contact.

This is the second instance this season where a player has gone out of his way to try to initiate contact to break up a play and resulted in major injury. Twins infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka had his leg broken by Nick Swisher while turning a double play last month. While Swisher wasn’t called out by Twins management or the league, it was noted in just about each report of the play that Swisher went well out of the baseline to make contact.

This is a dangerous precedent for the MLB to be setting. I don’t think we’re even close to the recklessness that lead to the new rules in hockey and football, but I ask, how many more plays like this will it take for baseball to make some changes? Posey had NO CHANCE to defend himself, and the contact happened when he wasn’t even looking at the runner. Shouldn’t the runner assume some responsibility here?

Preaching over! I wish Buster Posey a speedy recovery and I hope that the San Francisco Giants can tread water in the NL West while he is on the mend.

Tip of the Cap to Dustin Parkes for the photo.

Clutchy-ness

“In sports terminology, "clutch" means performing well under extreme pressure. It often refers to high levels of production in a critical game, such as Game 7 of a best-of-seven series, the last hole of a Major Championship golf tournament, or the final minute(s) in a close match. Being "clutch" is often seen by sportswriters and fans as an innate skill which some players have while others do not”

There’s a lot made out of a player’s ability to hit, pitch or field their position in “clutch” situations. It’s pretty easy to track too. Did x player drop/hit the ball or run the bases effectively? Did he/she do this more than once over the course of the season? He/She is either “Clutch” or not.

I’m amazed that in the game of baseball, where statistical analysis can tell us everything from the pitch a player hits the hardest, to what his favourite ice cream flavor is that this touchy-feely, anecdotal type of thought process still exists.

The idea of “Clutch” as I see it with the game of baseball is that it’s perceived that certain players try harder when there’s more at stake. This implies that the other players try less hard and are more susceptible to failure. That is a complete crock of shit if you ask me. That would be like saying drivers try harder to not get in accidents when they’re closer to their destination, plumbers try harder to do a good job when they’re quickly approaching a deadline or classical musicians try harder to play the right notes when the critics are in the audience.

Perhaps the idea of “odds” is what’s perceived as “clutch”? If a manager plays the “odds” with a bunt, steal or sacrifice fly to move a runner into scoring position then he is lauded by the fans/press/pundits as doing the right thing. I call this results based criticism. This is where the concept of “clutch” comes from IMHO. By reflection, the player who executed this play is considered “clutchy” because he/she “got the job done”.

Baseball is a game that remains important in our society because every generation has stories and anecdotes that are passed down through generations. Whether you played, your father played, you have seasons tickets or bought MLB.tv, we all invest a little bit of ourselves into different teams and players. The idea of “clutch” gives us an emotional reaction to what we perceive as a big play at a big time. But really…when John McDonald hits a walk-off home-run was he trying to do anything different then he does during any other at bat? Or was the result just inherently more positive?

Was Michael Jordan trying any harder to make the baskets for all those NBA moment clips? No the goal is to do your job….his job was to hit the shot, just like McDonald’s was to get on base.

Does this discount the belief in clutch ability...probably not. But odds based solutions in key situations are easier to quantify than saying that John Farrell continues to let John McDonald hit in key situations because of his ability to hit in the 9th inning. There's either a good reason to let him hit or there's no other options on the bench. And that's a topic for another day completely.

Evan Longoria is Awesome

Recently Evan Longoria has catapulted to new levels of popularity with his advertising campaigns. I've linked to a few of my favourites below:

Managing for the Save

So there’s been a little bit of a lull here at Relay to Home. There’s been a vacation, an audition and a generally insane week of activity in real life.

But yesterday I finally had a chance to sit and watch a little baseball without having a million other things to do. I watched the last half of the Rockies/Giants game and I was particularly struck once again by the failure to use your best relief pitcher in a high leverage situation.

In the 8^th inning, with runners on 1^st and 3^rd with none out the Giants went to Javier Lopez. Lopez has been fantastic against Left-Handed Batters all year. Prior to yesterday’s game they were 3-30 against him. But in a situation that needed strikeouts, arguably their best strikeout pitcher, Brian Wilson was sitting on the bullpen bench.

Wilson, who hasn’t pitched for a week (much to the demise of my fantasy baseball team), should have had loads of “gas in the tank” to give them the pitching they needed. Of course where this argument fails is that it’s completely speculative. Bruce Bochy played the odds and got burned by them. But on a macro level he (theoretically) got burned by MLB managers tendency to pitch to the save statistic. I’ve written about this before (insert link), but it seems that the mystique of the “Closer” and the “Save” have clouded the league’s need for high-leverage relief pitching.

Yesterday’s win for the Rockies came on a big hit by Carlos Gonzalez. One that could be called clutch. More on the idea of the “clutch hitter” or “clutch pitcher” tomorrow.

A Look Back - Morrow for League

Right before Christmas 2009 the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays made a straight up one-for-one deal. The Jays sent relief pitcher Brandon League to the coast and got back the middling pitcher Brandon Morrow.

Morrow had started 2009 as the Mariners closer with a solid degree of success. He'd converted his first 6 save opportunities, but then two straight blown saves in May lead to his demotion. The Mariners sent him down to the minors to stretch him out. He would return to the Majors on June 13th and be forced to learn on the job while the Mariners tried to figure out what his role would be.

League made 67 appearances for the Jays in 2009, and would finish the year with a 1.24 WHIP an a K/9 of 9.2. While his role wasn't in question as a bullpen pitcher, his consistency was constantly in question. His much talked about velocity was inconsistent and his control seemed to be in a constant state of flux. He was, however, a good relief option with the kind of raw "stuff" that could lead to him being an impact closer.

Looking back, it seems that the general consensus was that the Mariners won this trade by getting the proven commodity. All the signs were there too, a move to a grass field which would be easier on his body, pitching in one of the largest fields in the league, and on an up and coming team in a weak division.

But, what the Jays got was a potential ace who would begin to work with the same coaching staff that made Roy Halladay, Pat Hentgen and Roger Clemens into Cy Young Award winners and made careers out of the arms of countless others.

Upon Morrow's arrival in Toronto he was said to be a starting pitcher and nothing else. In 2010 he would finish with 178 strikeouts in 146.1 innings and come within one out of a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays. So far this season he's posting similar numbers with 29 strikeouts in 21 innings.

League began this season as Seattle's closer. He would convert his first 9 save opportunities before running into some of the worst luck I've ever seen a closer have. Over the last week he's appeared in 4 games...and lost them all. Last Sunday he entered in an extra innings game and got the loss. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday he would blow three consecutive saves. His four losses in five days appears to be an unmatched level of bad luck. That said, he's shown the ability to get guys out and lock down games in the 9th. Seattle will have a tough decision to make when David Aardsma comes off the DL. Fortunately for League, that's not for awhile.

So is there a clear winner in this trade? To use a fantasy baseball way of logic...the Jays traded away the best PLAYER in the original deal, but got back a prospect with upside. Toronto has made themselves the winner here, with how they've handed Morrow the job and let him find his way. Good closers are tough to find though, and if League can find his winning ways again he'll provide stability to the back of the bullpen.

Rant of the Week - Gear for Big People

Welcome to the first rant on Relay to Home.

For those of you that don't know me...I'm 6'5 and I have size 15 feet. I rarely buy new shoes because they are really hard to find. This becomes even harder when looking for baseball cleats.

This morning I went to Toronto's biggest and best baseball gear store hoping to get myself a pair of cleats as my 10 year old Reebok's are worn out. I was told at this store that manufacturer's don't make cleats any larger than size 13, even though there were several pairs of larger ones on clearance that didn't fit. I asked him how players in the Majors with large feet got cleats...I already knew the answer and just wanted him to admit that it's too expensive to keep shoes in stock that might not get sold.

10 years ago, when I bought my Reebok's it took my mother and I four days of shopping to find a pair that fit. We found them at National Sports...in the clearance bin.

In the last decade I've noticed a lot of things...but in this case, I've noticed that there are quite a few athletes that are my size. I have friends that are my height, with my shoe size. I also know from going to school in the US that there are a lot of people that play baseball...and they are all over 6'3.

My point being - Is it so friggin' hard to keep a pair of size 15's in the stock room. They could be 7 years old, bright pink and $200...if they fit, I'll probably buy them.