Joe Nelson

Time for Replay in Baseball

There was a lot of uproar when MLB decided to go ahead with instant replay in a limited fashion this season, just on rare boundary calls. Baseball is and always will be an old-timers sport, in the sense that past traditions are held in high esteem and change is generally opposed. Forcing teams to change by tearing down classic ballparks to bring in ugly commercialized revenue edifices is one change that is apparently welcome but not much else is.

The use of replay will increase in the coming years and one of the main reasons is that umpires are too stubborn and want too much control of the game. Umpires deserve a lot of respect and it is a very difficult job and many managers and players cross the line in today's day and age. But umpires need to recognize how difficult the job is and realize that there is a reason that four umpires are used in every game.

However, the current system does not utilize all four sets of eyes in the game as the extra umpires only come into play when the current base umpire asks for help, and few umpires are ever willing to do that. On plays involving a batter the home plate umpire is always in charge and he is never required to ask for help even in many situations where he should. The other umpires will never pipe up in those situations either, as it would break the code and step on the toes of the home plate umpire.

In Thursday's game in Milwaukee, with two strikes, Washington second baseman Anderson Hernandez fouled a ball off that bounced in the dirt and hit umpire Joe West in the chest. It was an ugly lunging swing and Hernandez lost his bat in the process but he very clearly made contact. You would think that West, who was umpiring his 4,000th game, would know that a ball bouncing in the dirt would not bounce that high unless contact was made with the bat or the plate but he signaled for the strikeout. He certainly did not call on the 3rd base umpire who might have had a better look.

Washington manager Jim Riggleman came out to protest and for the most part seemed calm and polite in his tone, asking for West to simply ask for help on the call. West refused and Riggleman eventually walked away but on his way back to the dugout he stopped over to the third base umpire, who of course refused to say anything even though the look on his face made it clear that he saw the foul ball. West quickly tossed Riggleman and then subsequently called a very generous 3rd strike on the next Washington batter in the next at-bat and made several other questionable strike calls on Washington batters in the next few innings. Situations like this are common as umpires are human and can not control their emotions at times any better than the players or managers even though their outward appearance conceals it.

Thus replay will need to come into the game at a greater level at some point as the technology is there to get the play right. Those that are concerned about the pace of the game should take a look at the tennis system, which is very quick and rarely takes anything away from the pace of play. Waiting for managers and umpires to walk around and argue hurts the pace of the game, not to mention sets a bad example for young players, and adds an unflattering theatrical element to the game. It also perpetuates the old-timers reputation that has cost MLB so many young fans and will have serious financial repercussions in the years to come.

Home Teams Shine

MLB home teams continue to win this season and although the road underdogs often deliver the best value there are very few teams that have losing records at home. On the season home teams are winning at an over 55 percent clip.

American League teams are winning at a 57.5 percent pace while National League teams are winning at just over 53 percent. Only two AL teams have losing records at home and they probably are not the teams you would expect, as Chicago and Cleveland are both sitting just under .500. If you were to take the Nationals out of the equation in the NL the numbers are much stronger as Washington is 9-21 at home this season, with yesterday's draft being the current highlight of the season.

The Rockies, Diamondbacks, Astros, Marlins, and the World Series champion Phillies are also losers at home so far this season. The Phillies lead the NL East and are one of the top teams in baseball thanks to an incredible 21-9 road mark. Obviously you always will pay a premium taking home teams but the numbers have justified it, particularly with American League teams so far this season.

All Star Manny

There is a lot of uproar with the release of the early standings for the All-Star voting in the National League. Manny Ramirez currently ranks 4th among NL outfielders. Ramirez trails Ryan Braun, Alfonso Soriano, and Carlos Beltran by reasonable margins and sits just ahead of Mike Cameron. This really should not be a big surprise, Ramirez is certainly the biggest 'star' among NL outfielders and no one else is really even close now that Ken Griffey Jr. is back in the AL.

It makes for good talk radio the speculate the prospects of Ramirez being voted in to the game despite his 50-game suspension but there is really is no disputing that Ramirez would be one of the top three offensive outfielders given his time on the field this year and last year with the Dodgers. Ramrirez is also an interesting persona and a polarizing figure with fans which certainly generates interest and votes.

There are no rules in place that stipulate a suspended player can not participate in the event and no such rule will be put in place in time for the game as it would have to be added to the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players union. The fuss is likely unfounded as well as Ramirez is unlikely to gain ground on the top three spots. Soriano and Beltran should be safe, playing for major market teams and Ryan Braun is having an outstanding season. Braun will be the most at risk however as the early results cetainly indicate an inflation for all Brewers players as Milwaukee must have had a greater proportion of home games during the period that these results reflect.

Currently J.J. Hardy leads the race for NL shortstop, while Jason Kendall, Bill Hall, Rickie Weeks, and Prince Fielder are all in second place at their postions. If any of those players were voted in as starters it would be a much bigger travesty than Ramirez earning a spot. Fielder has had a nice season and will warrant consideration but certainly can not trump Albert Pujols, Weeks was having a great year until being injured but Kendall is hitting .211, Hall .223, and Hardy .234.

Raul Ibanez would have the biggest gripe of the NL outfielders as has had a simply amazing start to the season but if the fans want Ramirez, he should be there and he should play. With all that has happened regarding performance enhancing drug revelations in the last five years it is becoming more and more evident that fans are not as impacted as baseball purists think they are and if MLB really wants ratings for the mid-summer classic, Ramirez needs to be there, and a controversial vote-in would help the cause infinitely.

Another Legend Falls

Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez... and now Manny Ramirez. Sadly the list of legends now blacklisted from the Hall of Fame and the consciousness of baseball enthusiasts continues to grow.

Ramirez has never had a great reputation, he has often been criticized for being a bad teammate, for not being professional, for being goofy and childish, and for being greedy and selfish, but until now his shortcomings were forgivable. After hitting a low-point with his standoff in Boston last season Ramirez experienced a revival with his brilliant run with the Dodgers last season. The praise for him as a misunderstood hitting savant grew and his stature in the game appeared to finally be hitting the level that his numbers justified.

That has all changed now. The early excuses are being made but there really is no defense at this point, this far into steroid testing, and with the knowledge of how other players have been treated in similar situations.

After Alex Rodriguez was leaked earlier this year as one of the 100 or so MLB players that were caught in the trial testing period, Jose Canseco said he was 90 percent sure that Ramirez would also be in that group. As slimy and disreputable as Canseco is, he has been proven prophetic again and again in the steroid scandal revelation process. It's hard to blame players for lying and not coming clean about these issues when MLB did the same thing and when careers are at stake. Perhaps it is a greater punishment to live in guilt than to be exposed and eventually forgiven as these players probably will be down the line.

MLB Early Surprises

Which MLB team off to a solid start is the most likely to stay in contention all year long? There are several teams that may appear to be overachieving so far this season and in all likelihood order will be restored at some point, but through the first 14-16 games of the season there are signs that some teams may really have what it takes.

Those that love offense and runs will not like seeing the Royals and the Pirates both with winning records but both teams may have what it takes to stay in the mix, or at least push for an over .500 season. Both teams have had great starting pitching this season and there is reason to believe that it is not a 2-week fluke. With Greinke, Meche, and Davies the Royals may have the best top of the rotation in the division and Cleveland, Detroit, and Minnesota have really struggled with pitching. Chicago and Kansas City should have the best pitching in the division and the offensive numbers for both teams should be good enough to stay in the mix.

Pittsburgh has found an ace in Paul Maholm as he is off to a great start while Zach Duke and Ian Snell have showed promising starts after inconsistency in the past two seasons. The Pittsburgh bullpen has been among the best in baseball with Matt Capps off to a perfect start. Ross Ohlendorf and Jeff Karstens will be the determining factors to whether Pittsburgh can stay relevant and so far both young pitchers have been encouraging.

Toronto may appear to be a more legitimate contender among the teams off to hot starts but in reality the Blue Jays starting pitching has been decimated with injuries and will not hold up all season. Roy Halladay is as good as it gets but he can not carry this team. The hot start on offense is not likely to last and the Blue Jays have not hit the toughest parts of the schedule and inevitably the AL East games will take a toll.

Although Seattle is not likely to win at the same percentage that they have posted early in the year the Mariners probably have a better shot at reaching the postseason. Like the NL West last year the AL West could be an ugly group of teams fighting to stay above .500. The Angels have really struggled early and unless the pitching improves, Los Angeles could stay in the early season hole that they have dug. Oakland was a trendy pick in this division but the A's have not received the offense they expected and the young rotation will see some rough patches. Texas will struggle to hold leads and will burn through pitchers but the offense could carry the Rangers. Seattle has a great 1-2 in Felix Hernandez and Erik Bedard. Jarrod Washburn has looked great so far this season but the rest of the rotation is still  big question mark for the Mariners.

What was Izzo thinking?

Perhaps I'm just bitter about being on the 'under' in Monday's championship game, a pick that looked foolish pretty early, but why did Michigan State think they could run with the Tar Heels? For a team that dominated the Big Ten and was very adept at playing a slower pace game it seemed logical to try to slow down North Carolina and make the Heels play defense deep into the shot clock. Instead the Spartans threw up many bad shots with 20+ seconds remaining on the shot clock and created many easy transition opportunities for the Tar Heels.

North Carolina took advantage and cruised to a blowout win and a National Championship. Even when it was clear that Michigan State was out of control and playing with panic, Izzo failed to use his timeouts to gather his team and stop the bleeding. North Carolina's defense has shown at several points in the season that they can be scored upon and Michigan State had a good enough defense to make the Tar Heels work for points but a combination of turnovers and poor early shot selection created the exact opportunities that North Carolina hopes for.

Congratulations to the Tar Heels, they clearly were the most talented team in the field and they will likely will be remembered as one of the more dominant championship teams in history. North Carolina certainly could have been had with the right match-up and game plan. North Carolina never had to face a fellow #1 seed but it was a great finish for an immensely talented team and great respect should be shown for Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Tyler Hansbrough, players that could have gone pro but knew they had unfinished business in the tournament.

How incredible is what happened in Arizona yesterday for opening day of the baseball season. Both Felipe Lopez and Tony Clark homered in the same game from both sides of the plate. Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams actually did this in 2000 but this has to be one of the rarest things to happen in the storied history of baseball. Big name pitchers proved to be big busts on Monday with C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Justin Verlander, Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy, Roy Oswalt, and Francisco Liriano all being hit hard. Don't be afraid to go-against big-name, big-price, pitchers early in the year, like anyone else they take time to find their form and the value can be exceptional.

Between the Lines 11/12

We warned that the three top teams were all serious upset risks last week and Penn State, the biggest favorite of the three went down on a last second field goal. Alabama needed OT to hang onto the top spot but the biggest surprise was the complete domination from Texas Tech as the Red Raiders had no letdown at all. The game in Norman in two weeks between Texas Tech and Oklahoma will be a huge game and essentially a conference championship game elimination game.

The BCS rankings will be the tiebreaker (should head-to-head results still leave a tie) in the Big 12 South standings. A tie-breaker is a strong possibility with the most likely scenario being that Oklahoma beats Texas Tech and then beats Oklahoma State, Texas Tech then beats Baylor, and Texas beats Kansas and Texas A&M leaving all three teams at 7-1. Oklahoma would have the edge in that scenario as a win over Tech would give them the ranking jump they need.

Missouri appears to be in a good spot in the North standings though the Tigers still must play Kansas at the end of the year. Keep in mind the title game will be in Kansas City, so Missouri will have a dramatic location advantage over any possible opponent. Texas Tech can eliminate and controversy by winning out but the Red Raiders could create a great deal of controversy should they lose the Big 12 title game after an undefeated regular season.

The SEC is a much simpler equation as Alabama and Florida should meet in the title game with the winner earning a slot in the BCS championship game. USC, Texas, and Penn State appear destined to be one-loss teams on the outside looking in for the championship game. Alabama will have to play two more SEC games and Florida has two tough games with South Carolina and Florida State remaining so either team could open the door for one of the other contenders.

The likelihood of an undefeated non-BCS team is very strong so that will mean just three open positions for teams that do not win the automatic bids. The SEC title game loser will likely get a spot, but determining the Big 12 team to make it will be the big challenge, particularly if Missouri pulls off the upset for the automatic bid leaving just one spot between Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech. Ohio State will be a big Missouri fan in the Big 12 title game as they likely stand to be the next team in line as no conference can have more than two bids, that is assuming that Michigan State does not knock off Penn State, which could change the Big Ten picture quite a bit.

Errors Dominate Division Series Games

It’s very exciting to see baseball resume after an odd Wednesday with no major sporting event action. You could have wagered on exhibition NBA games but it was a rare fall day with no football, baseball, or regular season basketball or hockey taking place. The WNBA is even wrapped up as well. Normally just the two days surrounding the MLB All Star game offer such a break in the action but with none of the MLB division series going five games the day off came up.

Although there were some great games and excellent moments in the division series this season they will be remembered for sloppy fielding. Errors and defensive misplays have been prominent so far this postseason and hopefully that will change in the division series games as too much is at stake to have teams losing on plays that should be made.

The most egregious mistake was in the Boston/Los Angeles series with Torii Hunter and Howie Kendrick both backing off a pop fly with two outs and the bases loaded, leading directly to three runs in game 3. The Angels wound up winning that game but Los Angeles had several mistakes on the base paths and in the field that proved costly. Hunter, a gold glove center fielder also had a drop on a routine play.

Milwaukee gold glove center fielder Mike Cameron also had two critical drops on catches that were tough plays but plays he is expected to make. The Cubs had a game with an error by each infielder and Milwaukee second basemen Rickie Weeks played out of the lineup with a critical drop on a play covering first base. All in all there was a lot of suspect fundamental baseball in the opening round of the playoffs.

Overall 16 errors were made in the 15 games with the Tampa Bay/Chicago series being the only series that did not feature multiple errors. The Cubs made six errors in just three games but also keep in mind that the error count does not account for several plays that could have been made. Let’s hope for some better play overall in the next round.

Huge Win for the Twins

After several weeks of blown leads and rocky bullpen outings the Minnesota Twins came up with might be looked back on as a season-saving propel-to-the-playoffs type of win Thursday night. Down 8-6 in the ninth, Minnesota tied the game with a 2-run home run from Alexi Casilla to tie the game. Then with runners on first and second and no-one out in an obvious bunt situation Adam Everett showed bunt then delivered a double off the wall to put the Twins ahead. Evan Longoria had a chance to hit a fourth home run in the game getting an at-bat in the ninth but Joe Nathan delivered a redeeming save.

Now just a game and a half back with the White Sox losing again in New York, there will quite a finish with nine games to play for Minnesota and ten remaining for Chicago. The Sox will have a tougher journey with six of the remaining games on the road but they do have the lead at present. Red hot Kansas City, winner of seven straight games entering a home series with Chicago, could hold the key as the Royals play both teams. Minnesota will host Chicago for three exciting games next week.

In other baseball action there was scary moment in Arizona as the Cy Young favorite in the NL Tim Lincecum had his hand hit by a Randy Johnson fastball on a bunt attempt. Fortunately Lincecum appears fine and continued to play in what turned out to be a great NL West duel. Lincecum's numbers are incredible this season and he is likely to lead the NL in strikeouts and ERA. Win/Loss record is generally an overated statistic but posting the record he has with a rather lousy Giants team is a remarkable accomplishment.

Both Cy Young races appear well settled in my mind with Cliff Lee also having an incredible season on a marginal team. The MVP races will be much more interesting however as there is not a clear cut winner in either league. Albert Pujols has to be the favorite in the NL and it would be deserving with some simply amazing numbers if you break it down. In the AL it is likely to be a close race and the final games could likely matter as Dustin Pedroia and Justin Morneau will have the opportunity to deliver big numbers in leading their teams to potential division titles. An argument could be made for a half-dozen or so candidates. The batting title race in the AL will also be a close finish with Pedroia and the past two champions, Magglio Ordonez and Joe Mauer, all with nearly identical averages.   

K-Rod to 50

Even though there has been a renaissance of reverence for the original MLB closers in recent years with Bruce Sutter and Goose Gossage recently earning Hall of Fame enshrinement there seems to be a growing disenchantment with the save and with the value of closers in baseball among baseball fans and followers. In 1989 Dennis Eckersley was one of the most popular players in the game and there was little second thought about how he not only deserved the Cy Young award but that he could and eventually did win the MVP award in the American League. Eric Gagne’s tremendous Cy Young season in 2003 and his consecutive save streak captivated baseball as well.

This year Francisco Rodriguez has reached 50 saves faster than any player ever has and he is on pace to break the all-time single season save record yet there is little interest and attention given to that chase. Rodriguez reached save 50 in the 129th game for the Angels breaking Gagne’s mark of 143 games. It took record holder Bobby Thigpen 145 games to reach 50 so Rodriguez is well on track. Rodriguez had a little help from umpire Brian Gorman as he appeared eager to catch his next flight with several questionable ninth inning strike calls but perhaps he was just caught in the moment.

When Barry Bonds was about to break the home run record some conceded that their lack of interest was due to their dislike of Bonds. Rodriguez has done nothing to paint a negative image upon his character so the lack of interest may be due to the lack of respect for the save. Many can question the value of the big contracts given out to closers and the constant cycle of closers run in and out on many teams is frustrating as well. Another reason this record is not being concerned with as much as some other statistical milestones would be is that Bobby Thigpen is the record holder. No knock on Thigpen as he had a nice big league career but he does not command the legendary respect that many record-holders have. The fall from grace that some of the more prominent closers like Gagne and Trevor Hoffman have also endured also has hurt the appeal of closers and the value of the save.

Rodriguez has also not been that dominant this season so maybe the minimal interest is warranted. He has blown five save opportunities and his ERA and strikeout numbers are good but not great. Five blown saves is an average to pretty good figure for most closers in this day and age but puts him a notch below some of the more dominant closers of the season that have just had fewer opportunities such as Joe Nathan and Mariano Rivera. Rodriguez also plays for a team that has had one of the best records in baseball all season long so many can argue the record will be his just because he is in the right place and not because he has been doing anything that remarkable. Perhaps the attention or lack thereof fits Rodriguez perfectly as the Angels have been that type of story all season, dominating but typically an afterthought in a season dominated by Cubs coverage and the rise of the Rays.