Unwritten Rules, Boo Birds and Playing to Win

Jun17

So, sunday june 13, 2010 was round 3 in the 6 round series of cubs-whitesox in interleague play. This was actually a pretty good game to watch. The White Sox had already won the friday and saturday game and the Cubs were obviously hoping to not get swept at home. In the annals of baseball, that would be a horrible thing to happen given the rivalry of the Series against the White Sox. Some of the excitement in this game was because the Blackhawks brought the Stanley Cup to the game and the team was in attendance to throw out the 1st pitch (an honor they gave to John McDonough who used to work for the cubs) and sing the 7th inning stretch (a tradition at wrigley that is long in need of retirement — another day another post).

Aside from the Blackhawks, there was quite the pitching duel between Ted Lilly and Gavin Floyd. They both had no-hitters going into the 7th inning. A no hitter is exciting, but to see a good old fashioned pitching duel where both pitchers were no-hitting the other team is like a wet dream for baseball purists. The Cubs broke through first in the 7th inning against Gavin Floyd with Soriano getting a double and then being driven home by Tracy to make the score 1-0. Lilly going into the top of the 8th still had a no-hitter and Gordon Beckham came up to bat. Beckham, being not so good this season decided to try and lay down a bunt to get on base. Immediately the Boo Birds at Wrigley came out in full force. Beckham said later he didn’t know why he was getting booed because he wasn’t thinking about the no-hitter, but was trying to get on base to help his team so they could WIN.

Why the Boo Birds? Well, because there is an unwritten rule that in a no-hit situation, after usually the 7th inning you try to hit yourself on base and not go for the “cheap” trick of laying down an bunt. Except, this typically only applies when the score is rather lopsided of say 3 or more runs. When you are only down by a run, all bets are off and you try to get on base anyway you can – including putting down a beautifully executed bunt. Even the Four-Letter Network announcers kind of chastised the boo birds and said it was a smart thing of Beckham to try and bunt to get on base. Yes, it would have been nice to see Lilly (one of the few likeable cub players for this white sox loving girl) to get a no-hitter, but winning the game is still important. (even if the white sox are not contending this year and if you pretend otherwise, i want some of your kool-aid).

Of course, I could use this as an example of people not truly understanding the game (more importantly cubs “fans” not knowing anything), but there is no point. People are entitled to their opinion (however dumb and uninformed it may be), but the unwritten rules in baseball can be quite confusing if you don’t truly follow and understand the game down to its fine minutiae (such as knowing there are times when an error occurs in a game and the pitcher can still be charged with all the runs that occur after the error occurred). In any event, I am glad that Beckham was not trying to play to help Lilly get a no-hitter but was remembering that his team was down by ONLY ONE RUN and that he should PLAY THE GAME TO WIN! As an aside, the white sox did lose the game 1-0, but they did get a hit in the 9th inning when pierre got a hit off Lilly. Then Marmol came in and made the game interesting where the Sox could have taken the game from the Cubs. Sadly, the White Sox went back to playing their kind of crap ball for the season and that was that. Lilly didn’t get a no hitter, but at least he got the win in a well pitched game.

Sandy K’s Brothers (or why i suck at fantasy baseball)

Jun12

Fantasy Baseball. Ah, that game that allows you the fan to play GM / Manager and put together a team that is the best in the majors. It actually took me a few years to get into fantasy baseball. Mainly because I had heard more about fantasy football and since I don’t make it a point to watch or keep up with football, I had no interest. However, a few years ago when starting a new job, one of my friends / co-workers was running a fantasy league and needed some new owners. He was surprised that I had not been playing fantasy baseball given how much I would end up talking about baseball. At one point he said “if i had a dime for every time you mentioned baseball, i’d be at least a millionaire.”

Anyway, I decided to give it a go and join the fantasy league. The initial players I had on my team were Johann Santana and Jim Edmonds. I could have gotten a team with a couple of other big bopper bats, but since I LOVE pitching and defense, I had to take the team with Johann Santana. Anyway, the league cost money to join and for some reason this didn’t stop me from crafting the worst fantasy team ever. I didn’t think I would actually win or come close, so I decided to put together the All Jewish Team. At the time that I joined fantasy, there were not many good Jewish players in the game that you would actually use in fantasy baseball. The ones available were on the back end of their careers.

Anyway, my first team had the few Jews in the game and a bunch of guys with names that might be mistaken as possibly Jewish. The craziest thing I did was to draft Adam Stern (where is he now?) in the 3rd round. The guys in my league (and i do mean guys; it was a league of 12 teams, me and 11 men playing) were beyond puzzled and just couldn’t understand how i got in to play. In honor of the concept of my team, I decided to name them Sandy K’s Brothers in honor of the great Sandy Koufax, only one of the greatest pitchers ever and a Jew! Needless to say, with the team I drafted, I managed to set league lows. My team was son bad, that many of the guys in the league thought that my friend who got me into fantasy baseball put me in on purpose so that he could win because we were in the same division. They also were annoyed because they assumed I was a “typical” girl severely lacking in sports knowledge, let alone baseball knowledge.

The second season it took me a while to draft any jewish players and they were wondering what was up. Some had come to realize over the first season that I actually did know something about baseball, but they were still skeptical. I actually came pretty close to making the playoffs but the fact that I was able to prove I knew baseball was even better.

Fast forward a couple of years, I am now the commissioner of the league. The guys know I actually do know baseball because of pulling off some trades that they saw as ridiculous only to later realize were brilliant. However, I am still unable to get to the playoffs and actually win. There is a good reason for this. It is because, when I play the game, I think about it more in terms of some of my favorite players, pitching and defense (things I value greatly, but in fantasy only in certain ways) and because I refuse to draft or pick up players that have played for certain teams.

The last reason is the biggest problem. I refuse to put anyone who has played or currently plays for the cubs on my fantasy team. I’ve also done this with players from the Yankees as well, but I have not done that in recent years anymore. In fact, my current team has 4 Yankees on it (Swisher, ,Gardner, A-Rod, Sabathia). With the cubs, this presents problems because a LOT of players on other teams who are fairly decent have cubs stench as i like to call it on them. This automatically disqualifies them from being a member of Sandy K’s Brothers. In past years, some of those players could have helped get my team over the hump and into the playoffs and possibly winning.

Generally, I enjoy playing fantasy baseball because I can put together a team and see how it would do. And it has forced me to learn more about other teams and in particular the NL since I mainly watch AL teams given where the Sox play. One drawback though for me is the joy I feel when I see a player doing well in my fantasy lineup, but then being irritated if he is on the team opposing my white sox that day. This was the case early on when I had Johann Santana and he played for the Twins. My hope was usually for a great pitching performance for 8 innings of 0-0 baseball and then in the 9th when the twins would have to bring in someone else, the White Sox would go to town and win. That would be a win-win in fantasy, even though i wouldn’t get the fantasy win, i’d get the stats. Some day I hope i can get over my cubs aversion as i did with the yankees, but something tells me that just won’t happen. I have gotten over the opposing player thing however.

Interleague Play

Jun11

This weekend begins the annual fest of AL teams playing NL teams. There was one Interleague Series Weekend in late May, but the real “fun” begins today. Frankly, I hate it. This could be because I live in Chicago and the White Sox play the Cubs in 2 series. When Interleague started, it was to help drum interest in the game because attendance was down and fans were going to the park. In cities that do not have 2 teams, it is a good way to see how the other league plays ball. If you live in a city with 2 teams or teams that are very close that are in different leagues (San Francisco, Oakland), you can easily see how the other league plays if you are inclined to watch.

Personally, I think this doesn’t work because if I see an NL team playing at US Cellular Field against the White Sox, I don’t really see how that team REALLY plays. I see an NL team attempting to play the AL game. This is not interesting to me. Additionally, I really do not like seeing the white sox cubs series (aka the crosstown classic). The games are horrible to go to because passions run so ridiculously high and the fans are beyond ridiculous behaving. Behavior is so bad that the games are generally during the day, except the last couple of years, ESPN has taken a few games and this year, FOX is taking one of the games for primetime as well as ESPN taking a game for the sunday night broadcast. The last of these games I went to was in 2006 and it was the game when AJ Pierzynski got into a fight with Michael Barrett. It was bad and then I decided the best use of my tickets for those games was to sell them.

Another reason I hate interleague is because of effect it has on the schedule and potential playoff implications because of the number of wins a eam will get. Because the powers that be think these so-called “natural geographic rivalries” (mets-yankees; cubs-whitesox; dodgers-angels; giants-a’s) need to see each other so much, it forces other teams to play teams that they probably shouldn’t. For instance, the Philadelphia Phillies might end up playing the Baltimore Orioles 6 times. No offense to the Orioles, but they are a bad team and it would result in 6 relatively easy wins for Philadelphia. However, the Atlanta Braves might have to play the Boston Red Sox 6 times as well. This could result in 6 losses for Atlanta. Obviously, those 6 losses would have a huge effect since the Phillies and Braves are in the SAME DIVISION. And the Braves might not get to play an opponent that many times resulting in 6 easy wins to balance things out due to the way scheduling is in baseball where it is division weighted (i.e., playing the teams in your division more than in other divisions). If it came down to the end of the season that those 6 wins / losses respectively made a difference, how is that really fair? (and I know life is not fair). I can’t say I have an answer for this, but it is something that at times can be annoying. Not to mention that for the 5th straight year, I have to see a White Sox – Pirates game and no offense, bu the Pirates are a bad team and I don’t need more bad piled on more bad. The White Sox are terrible now.

If MLB really feels the need to keep interleague around, then the least they could do is change the rules so that the game is played with the visiting team’s league rules. Then you would really see how an NL team plays baseball instead of watching them try to play with AL rules. I’m not the only one who’d like to see this. Bob Costas and Alyssa Milano would also like to see interleague played this way as well. Not to mention, it would be fun to see an AL team playing NL ball and not just when it is in an NL ballpark for the World Series (i don’t count the all-star game because i have issues with the all-star game; another post for another day).

Victory

Jun10

The Blackhawks win Lord Stanley’s Cup!!!!! The Blackhawks win Lord Stanley’s Cup!!!! On June 9, 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup finals by a score of 4 – 3 in OT. Crazy goal by Patrick Kane that no one was really sure went in initially, let alone could find. The game was amazing with both teams coming out ready to play and play with some desperation as if life depended on it. For the Philadelphia Flyers, it literally did because they were down 3-2 in the best of 7 series. If the Flyers didn’t win, their season would officially be over.

Watching the game, was incredibly intense. The back and forth scoring that occurred (not rapid fire like in earlier games, but still not fun when it would get tied), the missed calls, the insane penalties (both those you could see as stupid and the ones just completely missed). It was enough to make a person chew your nails off or possibly gain about 20 pounds from stress eating. I think the only reason I didn’t do either was 1) i’ve never been a nail biter and 2) while i had food (nachos) it was the worst ever so i wasn’t inclined to eat it. Additionally, while at a bar to watch (i yell too much to watch at home; my elderly neighbors might want to call the police on me for making so much noise yelling at the near goals), I just was too nervous to want to drink.

Of course, the OT goal was the most insane. It was such a crazy play in that the camera lost sight of the puck, both the NBC and CBC broadcasters lot sight of the puck and had a delayed reaction. It seemed the only person who knew a goal was scored was Patrick Kane (KANER!). Watch the last couple of minutes leading up to the win here.

Overall, this was a great series to watch. Unexpected players stepped up while the top line of Toews, Kane and Byfuglien were mostly absent. Congratulations to the Flyers for making it a series, but the best team won this one. CONGRATULATIONS to the Chicago Blackhawks!!!! They were spectacular and it felt like destiny for them to go the distance. The way the guys on the team thanked their fathers after was amazing. They achieved their ONE GOAL. I can’t wait until the 2010 -2011 hockey season to begin. now to find the guy to hang out at the games with me. . .

White Sox Tweet Up

Jun9

On Tuesday, June 8, 2010, the white sox had a tweet up at the ball park where people from the social media industry spoke on uses, etc of social media. This was the first time i had ever gone to a tweet up. I’ve only been on twitter since september of 2009 and that was because of . . . something to do with the White Sox. Yeah, I know you are shocked that I would do something because of the white sox. Anyway, I didn’t actually start tweeting until I saw something about for every hashtag mention of #beatcancer, money would be donated for cancer research. It was a Friday night and needless to say, being that I lead an incredibly exciting life on the weekends, I spent tons of time tweeting “#beatcancer”

So why is how I started tweeting relevant? Well, one of the speakers on the panel was part of the #beatcancer project. She had even stated that one of her success moments in using Twitter was that project. Also on the panel was Amy Jo Martin who was involved in the twitter battle between White Sox fans and Cleveland Indians fans (sox fans won that battle).

The event was held on the Club Level at US Cellular Field (very shi-shi) and it was a pretty cool view from there. I also got to meet someone I follow, StateStreetSports and if you aren’t following you should because will make you crack up and if you dig sports, why would you not follow them? I also met a few other fans of the white sox and baseball in general. I even got into a few “debates” about the merits of Scott Podsednik vs Juan Pierre (not much of a debate of more me disliking someone very strongly) as well as Robin Ventura’s lasting memory.

Overall, it was a great evening, despite the white sox loss. I am now feeling more inclined to go to another tweet up (and for those wondering, it is a big old hanging out of people who are on twitter, but actually in real life and not on twitter). Of course, if it involves baseball or sports in general, even better because, who can’t talk sports all day long?

Scapegoating

Apr25

“FIRE GREG WALKER! and while you’re at it, get rid of Ozzie and Kenny Williams as well.” This is basically the company line of the white sox fan base at the moment. The team now was a win-loss record of 7-11 and most likely is just about the worst team in MLB at present (not really — there are actually worse teams, but you’d never know it listening to White Sox fans). While that all sounds good in theory, firing Walker is not the issue with the team and those who call for his firing really don’t get the purpose of a hitting coach or understand some things about the game. (in my crazy opinion). When a hitting coach is fired it is 1) he is being used as a scapegoat because others around him are feeling heat for a bad team, 2) it is done to appease the fan base (bad idea in my opinion) or 3) the guy really does suck and just shows up to the park to collect a paycheck and does absolutely nothing. Reason number 3 IS a legitimate reason to get rid of a hitting coach.

Yes the White Sox are currently bad. Yes, US Cellular Field can play like a band box in the summer when the temps are up. Yes, you need some guys to hit the ball out of the park on your team because the other team will have those guys. But first, you need guys to hit the ball period. The hitting coach can and does provide the information to a GROWN MAN, make sure that man is doing what he needs to, etc. And that same grown man can be locked in and hitting amazing bombs with BP fastballs. Don’t forget, guys have usually been playing baseball their entire lives and are pretty locked into whatever habits they have for hitting a baseball LONG before getting to the majors and dealing with new hitting coaches, etc. However, once you are facing a real live pitcher who is pitching to get a WIN for HIS team, all bets are off. As Ted Williams once said, “the hardest thing to do in baseball is to hit a round baseball with a round bat, squarely.” Why do you think it is such an amazing accomplishment for a guy to be hitting .300? If it were as simple as getting a new hitting coach, don’t you think teams would replace them all the time when their guys are batting at all? How can you expect that a hitting coach is going to solve the unknown variable of what the opposing pitcher is going to do?

Sadly, it is a lot easier to fire one guy than it is to fire 25. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that all is well in White Sox land at the moment. I’m just saying that going after an easy scapegoat is just dumb if you truly get what is happening. The guys just aren’t “getting lucky” so to speak with the hits. Don’t believe? Check the stats of teams who have fired the hitting coaches. Usually, the new guy makes a difference for a couple of weeks and whatever issues the players had previous to the replacement show up again. Personally, I think there are too many guys who are too into their own heads and letting whatever demons they have get in the way. Other guys are just unfortunate souls who hit the ball at someone. These are the guys who I think will break through soon as they are making solid contact with the ball, it is just finding someone on the opposing team to make an out.

I’m still hopeful the boys will turn things around and I still stand on the sidelines of the Panic Bus that is rushing through town. There is hope. After all, the last 2 games played, the guys did get walk off wins in the bottom of the 9th. A few more of these as well as getting leads and holding them with some added insurance runs and hopefully the panic bus pulls over to the side of the road and stays there permanently. What I hope doesn’t happen is that the Twins get too far ahead where the Sox will need for the Twins to go on a 30-game skid (because we all know that is a wild fantasy) and the Sox go on an incredible tear.

Let’s Go Hawks

Apr18

This evening is game 2 of the first round of Lord Stanley’s playoffs. The Blackhawks lost on friday due to a fluky goal that allowed things to get tied and then a strange play to allow for the go-ahead goal against the Predators. Of course, many in Chicago saw that there were Cubs players at the game and immediately started with demanding they stay away from the games because they are bringing their Cubs curse-stench to the Blackhawks and the ‘Hawks don’t want it. I found that pretty funny, mainly because I have a feeling a lot of those professing it was the Cubs’ players fault might have been White Sox fans.

In any event, I won’t pretend to know everything there is to know about hockey. But I do know, the defense hasn’t been stellar for the Blackhawks. Early on in the season, the defense was playing so spectacular and at such a high level, that it made for the only weakness to talk about with the team being the Goalie situation. Well, once the D-men came back to earth, the goalie situation started to show it really was as bad as many thought. BUT, friday’s game was not because of the goalie. Niemi was good. However, I think the Blackhawks may have run into a hot goalie (kiss of death in the playoffs) in Rinne. Please let him not get hot and let the Blackhawk D get back to spectacular. Oh and can the team as a whole stop trying to be too cute with the puck possession. When they get too cute, they aren’t at their best. I get their game is puck possession, but too much cuteness isn’t good.

Here’s hoping for a win tonight so they ‘Hawks go into Nashville this week with some momentum on their side.

It’s only been a few weeks People!

Apr18

So, we are now 13 games into the season and White Sox fans are going ballistic. The “small ball” that Ozzie Guillen has clamored for is not working to perfection. Thus far, the team has NOT BEEN SHUT OUT, but they haven’t won many games either. There have been a lot of close games (some of 1 run and a few of 4 run difference), but for the most part the team has been in the games. Our first few opponents have been the Indians, Twins, and Blue Jays. The way we are playing the Indians, you’d never know that Cleveland was in a “rebuilding” mode. They have owned the White Sox save opening day when they were blanked 6-0 by Mark Buehrle. The Sox split with Toronto, but that led to the Chicago Sun-Times’ beat writer and other commentators to speculate that Toronto should lose its baseball team because no one was at the park. (Comments on that in another post). Just one win against the Twins and that hurts because, well, I do not like them against the White Sox. Don’t get me wrong, they are a good team and I like their style, but they are a divisional rival and thus not liked.

In any event, the pitching is doing what it is supposed to do and the offense, not so much. The Royals have a better team and slugging percentage than the Sox (but how long can THAT really last?!?). Because the offense is not clicking, everyone is up in arms that there is not a legitimate DH. There are also a very vocal group of Scott Podsednik supporters who are angry he is not still in Chicago as the lead-off guy. Oh and there is the griping about not having kept Jim Thome because the team is missing a strong lefty bat in the lineup. And finally, there is still the grumbling that Gordon Beckham should play SS and not Ramirez and Mark Teahen needs to go because he is not a 3B. All of this just makes me laugh. I am not happy about not winning so many games, but I am also not crazed about it at this time. 1) it is a long season and 2) there is time to turn things around. No one ever wants to lose those early games because they can always come back to bite you in the butt later in the season. If it were June and this were still happening, then I’d be worried and up in arms. However, it is only the start of the 3rd week and there seems to be mass panic. There are even some calling for the manager to be fired now. Personally, I prefer to let this play out a bit before jumping on the panic bus. Not to mention that I feel like many fans just can’t handle change. Either that or they don’t know what they are talking about. Can’t we just enjoy it, love that the team is in these games and start panicking in a couple of months if things don’t turn around??? Hopefully today will be the start of something good.

For the love of the game

Mar2

“The Cubs make my ass tired,” said my Grandmother one summer afternoon while at her house. I spent many of my childhood days at her house and as usual, watching the Cubs. My Grandmother is a baseball fan and when she wasn’t watching her stories (read, soap operas), the tv was tuned to Cubs baseball. I am sure they were probably losing and not going anywhere, as usual, but I fondly remember her saying this. She unfortunately is a long suffering cubs fan.

I suppose my love of the game came from just watching it at her house and eventually catching any games I could find on television. No one really ever explained anything to me, other than listening to the guys call the game. And while I am a crazed White Sox fan, I did see a fair number of cubs games. And Cardinals as they were and still are the biggest rival for the cubs (save chicago city bragging rights). Most people usually say they had a relative teach them about the game, but I think I just absorbed it. Watching on tv, listening to things that happened and having them explained, and eventually playing the game myself.

Theoretically, I should be a cubs or cards fan because of where I grew up. In east central Illinois, you either root for one of those teams for the most part. Rarely does anyone root for the White Sox. However, I feel it is perfectly fine and acceptable that I became a White Sox fan because of some of the games I saw as a child. For some reason, I saw a ton of Cincinatti Reds games growing up as well. (maybe i should be a reds fan). There was a TV station out of Indiana that would broadcast the games and somehow, my house was able to get the channel. When I wasn’t at my grandmother’s house, I would watch these games. Of course, when we got cable tv and ESPN was on with the games of the week, that opened up a whole new world of baseball for me. So many games, so little time. I actually did fight with others in the house to watch the games.

Over the years, the love affair with the game itself has just grown deeper. More of an appreciation for different teams, in addition to the first love of the White Sox. An appreciation for suffering that may occur in other towns with bad teams or teams that truly disappoint. In any event, now in for the long haul of the season and what it will entail.

Pitchers and Catchers Report

Feb22

February 21, 2010 and my boys in black are in Glendale, AZ to get ready for a super fantastic season. This is always a super fun time of the year because, pardon the cliché, the grind is about to begin. So, I decided to start blogging about baseball and running because that is what I live for. And while some may think running – no way, well, in order to play the hit and run and steal bags, you do need a tad bit of speed from RUNNING in addition to base running smarts.

It took a while for me to get excited about the White Sox this year because they are definitely different, however, I really like it. Even though I am not THAT old, at times I feel like a curmudgeon because I lament the days that baseball was more of a defense game and you would see the guys out there taking as many bags as possible and not trying to hit as many bombs as possible. And who would dare doubt that “Ricky Ball” was awesome to watch. This also hurts a bit because US Cellular is a hitters ballpark. When New Comisky Park was built, it was actually a pitcher’s ballpark, which being a huge fan of pitching and defense was a dream. However, the renovations to the park (which, let’s face it, made the park more enjoyable to watch games in) made it more homer-happy.

It will be sad to not see some true class acts on the south side this year coming and going from the 3rd base dugout (Thome – he is so going to kill me now playing for the piranhas; Jermaine – wherever he may end up), but I am looking forward to seeing a team on the field that doesn’t rely on the homerun. I can actually say that in the past few years, when I would be at games and see balls flying out of the park, I never thought of it as a good sign. Sure, scoring runs is always great, but when it happened via the long ball, I would feel like the team just wasn’t going to go far in the post season if they got there. It will be different this year, but I am looking forward to it. Can’t say I was beyond thrilled with the off seasons moves by Kenny & Co, but he hasn’t really let me down, so I will continue to trust what he does. And, if things don’t work super well, they can always make a mid-season move.

Anyway, this is just the first of many, many musings on baseball, running and the occasional hockey comment. Speaking of Hockey, HOW ABOUT TEAM USA! Unbelievable game against Canada. Too bad NBC blames women for its choice to show figure skating as opposed to Olympic Hockey. Huge NBC fail, but with them, what is new?

In any event, here is a post by one of the tweeps I follow, Victor Rojas (who is the play-by-play man for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) about what baseball is. Pretty well sums up what I am looking forward to now that Pitchers and Catchers have reported. Let the grind begin.