Golden Age of Baseball?

One of the more interesting and greatly debatable topics I like to bring up in conversations about baseball these days is the question of whether we now are in a golden age of baseball. Old timers have their arguments agaisnt this because of course nobody can live up to their heroes of the days of yore - Joltin' Joe, Pudge, the Babe, Lou Brock, the Say-hey Kid, et alii. Other modern fans point to the steroids problem of the last decade, which many believe extends to this day with newer undetectable steroids entering the game through player's bodies. Still another group of modern day baseball haters look at rhe financial monster that the sport has become - rising salaries with consequent lack of team loyalty due to free agency, owners trying to turn profits, more expensive seats and luxury box-filled stadiums, and the growing desparity beteen baseball's rich [Yankees 192 million dollar payroll] and poor [Marlins 17 million dollar payroll].

But lets look at some other facts that might sway the baseball fan more to the appreciation of what is going on in the game.

Record Attendance
We, for the past two years and likely this year again, have had record attendance throughout baseball. More fans are showing up to the parks and seeing the games. Kids are getting to go to parks with their gloves on hoping for foul balls to reach them, adults are able to see the emerald field and recall their youth, and everyone gets to have a fun time for just a few hours. As expensive as this might be one can still buy tickets in Yankee stadium for 10 dollars, and even less on certain promotional days. Other stadia all have similarly affordable seats as well, and twenty dollars for a father and son to spend a few quality hours today isn't so bad. You spend that much going to the movies these days, and thats not nearly as entertaining. The food and drinks can be expensive but most stadia also allow you to bring your own as long as it is in a clear plastic bag.

Great Players
Moreso than at any time in my lifetime, and perhaps more than any time in baseball's history we have a huge number of really all-time great players in the game today. Not only are these players putting up better numbers, but they are doing it against better competition from more locations due to baseball's growing worldwide popularity. Also these players are far more fit than many of their predecessors and thus contribute to a more exciting game. A quick look around the league shows us an example of the great that are around the league: Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Mariano Rivera, Greg Maddux, and Barry Bonds [who with or without steroids would be an all time great]. There are perhaps more than these, but it is too early to tell for some players and the steroid cloud hangs over others, but these guys are all no-doubters.

More Information
Not only do we baseball fans go to more games now and get to see a better product when we go, but we actually get to experience and follow the game in myriad more ways than at any other time in baseball's history. If we just look at following a single particular game we can see some of what I am talking about. We can follow any game we want on television, local radio for our home team, internet radio broadcasting, internet televised broadcasting, satellite radio, and gamecasters and real time box scores from a bevvy of sites. This is just following the game and keeping track of what is going on. It does not even begin to bring up the level of statistical analysis, baseball coverage and discussion, chat rooms, call-in shows, and yes -baseball blogs that are at the average fan's disposal too. Every baseball fan can because of all this information become just as informed as any coach or broadcaster involved in the sport. It is a great time to be a fan because we can literally be part of the sport.

Fantasy Baseball
Thanks must go out to those guys who were playing this game in the early eighties at La Rotisserie. If not for them the whole country would not be swept by the fantasy craze making it that much more interesting to follow sports and to feel like a GM. Before when your home team wasn't playing or wasn't in the hunt during the season anymore there was little point to pay any attention to baseball anymore except for the sheer enjoyment of it. Now with the fantasy revolution we have a vested interest in other games in the eague allowing us to not only appreciate the game more, but to be better informed about the league. Not only this but playing fantasy baseball is just plain fun. And it could not be played if baseball wasnt as great as it is.

So as I see it baseball really is in a golden age now. Sure there are some bad things, but there always have been. Owners have always looked for only profit. There have always been scandals and black eyes on baseball: the Black Sox scandal of 1919, the lack of integration until 1947, the cheating and greenies and red juice being used throughout the history of baseball, and the gambling of Pete Rose.We can't let these things take away from what is really good about the game though, and there is a lot of good to go around these days.

We're taking off for the Paschal Holidays. We'll be back up and running on Monday with a nice new post, enjoy!

Bob Sheppard: Voice of the Yankees

If there is one voice that can be associated with any team any event or anything in baseball at all, it is the voice of Bob Sheppard, the Yankee Stadium announcer. He has a particular gusto to his voice that is unparalleled. I can't say what it would be like watching a game at Yankee stadium without him announcing the names. That's because I'm only 24 years old. It's not that I haven't gone to games all my life, I 've gone as long as I can remember, and Sheppard has been announcing all that time. In fact, Sheppard has been announcing more than double that time, since 1951. I don't know if everyone grasps this so I will let it sink in.

Bob Sheppard has announced every openeing day from 1951 until last year's 2005 home opener. This year he missed because of a serious injury we all hope he comes back from soon. What this means for those of you out there who stil don't grasp how long his tenure has been, is that Sheppard announced the Yankee stadium debut of every Yankee from Mickey Mantle, to Thurman Munson, to Reggie Jackson, to Don Mattingly, to Derek Jeter, to Robinson Cano. Every Yankee. He was announcing during the great Home Run race in 1961 and was still announcing during the second and thrid home run races of 1998 and 2001! That doesn't impres you? How about this? Sheppard was announcing three years before Hank Aaron ever stepped onto a ballfield, let alone hit his first of 755 home runs. He is still announcing as Barry Bonds, a player who didn't come to the majors until ten years after Hank Aaron retired, is approaching Aaron and Ruth's home run marks himself. The history this man has seen and been a part of at Yankee stadium is unbelievable. His announcing skills are obviously great too.

Here's hoping he gets well soon and we can here that rich deep voice over the loudspeakers shaping the words "Derek Jeter" the way they are supposed to sound, the only way anyone has ever heard them sound in Yankee stadium before yesterday.

Big Contracts for Big 1Bs

Two big-time highlight reel baseball players signed huge contracts with their historically popular clubs yesterday to extend their stays with their teams 4 and 5 years respectively. More coincidentally both of these players were MVP runners-up last year, had solid- though not overwhelming careers in the years leading up to last year, both came into the league in 1997, both are 30 and both are first basemen [we'll give Papi the benefit of the doubt on this one and allow him a real position]. There seems to be a story here: A tale of two 1Bs.

Derrek Lee before last season was someone that many of us remembered as being part of that corps of Florida players acquired after their first fire-sale in 1997 who then went on to be a significant offensive impact in leading the Marlins to their second World Series championship in 2003. We knew him among a group of players, as part of a team, but not a top-of-the-game player.

David Ortiz is a slightly different story. We knew him well before last year. He was fresh in our memory as one of the players who led the Red Sox to their first World Series chamiponship since before the time that the Yankees won their first of 26. He had very impressive numbers in 2004 to go along with his ring. But just one year before that Ortiz, big as he is, was not on many people's radars.

Both these players had good careers before the past few years. Ortiz had, in his three full seasons played, hovered around a .280 BA, a .360 OBP, averaged a .510 slugging percentage and had very good, though not necessarily notable, power numbers for home runs, doubles and RBIs. Lee had, in more full seasons, averaged .280, got on base at a .360 clip, slugged .500, and had virtually identical numbers to Ortiz in doubles. He outhomered Ortiz a bit in this time and also had a few more RBIs. Neither of these players were slouches and both made a sizeable contribution to any lineup, but it wasn't until last year that Lee broke out adn brought his game to the next level. Ortiz beat him there by a year, but even he crushed his previous year's stats with last year's MVP- eligible performance.

Lee crushed opposing pitching batting .335 last year while getting on base nearly 42% of the time -thats good. While Ortiz only hit .300 he still reached base safely 40% of the time he came up to the plate. Lee obviously wasn't hitting dribblers and bloops sneaking by infielders to get on base according to the evidence, because he slugged .662 last year hitting 50 doubles and 46 HRs. Ortiz followed suit in keeping up with the Joneses, er, Lees. He slugged .604 with 40 doubles and 47 HRs. Though it would appear Lee kept up with and then surpassed Ortiz, lets not forget that Ortiz knocked in 148 runs last year while Lee knocked in just 107. Overall the contributions of these two men offensively were pretty equal last year as they have been throughout their careers. Both men also only gained notability upon settling into a new surrounding after a season that brought them onto a bigger stage. People also really began to see their value when each was a big part of their team's World Championship run.

One has to wonder if these two players' fates are inextricably linked somehow. Not only are all the preceeding similarities the case, but despite the great seasons put up by each of these guys, each finished as runner up to a better and more established player. Both of these guys could consistently end up being the second best hitters in their leagues for years to come because Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez, two legends in their own time, are entrenched playing for each of these 1B's rival teams.

Though each were paid relatively well up to this point, Ortiz at 5.5 million/year, Lee at 7 million/year, they now both have great new contracts which recognize the type of player they are. Lee has 5 years and 65 million awaiting him with the Cubs now averaging out at 13 million per year, while Ortiz is getting 4 years and 52 million averaging out at...lo and behold 13 million per year. And people say there's no equality in baseball. The end of the story for these two men lies years in the future, we can only wonder and hope that their careers continue to mirror each other in two of the most legendary cities and ballparks in the MLB.

Whither Johan Santana?

Before all you fantasy owners who went out and wasted a first round pick on Johan Santana get all nervous and in a tizzy, remember, it is still early and he has at least 33 more starts to go if he is healthy. But Johan Santana has sure not looked like the Cy Young winning pitcher of 2004 and the should-have-won-the-Cy-over-that-pig-Bartolo-Colon-pitcher of 2005. In fact he has not even looked close.

Santana has lost both of his first two decisions. This much most of us will have realized by now. But we should acknowledge that a loss isn't always necessarily a pitcher's fault, in fact it is often not [Exhibit A: Tom Glavine]. But there are more disturbing numbers below the surface on these losses that might be a cause for concern if they continue. Santana's ERA for the first game was 6.35, which is fine if you're... well scratch that that just isn't a good ERA in any league or at any level. Thankfully in his second start Santana improved, though not by much, he posted a 5.06 ERA. We can say this, at least he is headed in the right direction, but our expectations were to have a Santana ERA closer to one than to seven, and that hasn't happened yet either.

Beyond those ERAs, which some people might chalk up to fluky play or exceptionally mean official scorers we can look at some other stats over those two starts. Santana threw 98 and 100 pitches in each of his games, which is about what managers and pitching coaches are limiting their pitchers to these days. But when he reached these counts is more of a concern. He wasn't pitching into the 7th and 8th inning, and actually hasn't even finished the 6th yet, yikes! His innings pitched have been 5.1 and 5.2 respectively. Santana has also given up a home run in each of his outings, which is okay as long as he doesn't give one up in his next two, then there is serious cause for concern. The other really frightening numbers, I'm talking Albert Pujols at the plate with the winning run on second -frightening, are his batting average against and OPS against. Facing lefties Santana has been respectable though not stellar with a .250 BA and .690 OPS against. But righties seem to have Santana figured out batting .324 agaisnt him with a .910 OPS. To put that in perspective righties are making a collective early run at the MVP when batting against Santana.

The two encouraging things to report are that Santana allowed only four hits in his second start, and hasn't been walking many people. Also these outings were against Toronto and Cleveland, which, though not the strongest, are not the weakest lineups in the league. Here's hoping JoSa gets better real soon.

Surprising Beginnings in the Mid-West

Though I use my now regular cautiously optimistic voice when making this proclamation... has anyone noticed how great two teams that have struggled for years are doing? I speak of one team, roaring back into contention in their division from the cellar of the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers. I mention another, slowly regaining its strength through a good farm system and fine pitching, the Milwaukee Brewers. These two midwestern facotry towns- one for automobiles, the other for beer- have regained new life following much of the same philosophy. They have both been steadily developing yound pitching and a few good young players in their farm systems, while making good trades and free agent signings to fill the holes. One should not underestimate the success that these teams will have over the next few years by following these clear plans. After not finishing with a .500 record for over ten years the Brewers did so last year and look to improve this year. The Tigers have had the same trouble and still not resurfaced from the sub-.500 abyss but look to do so this season. In the next few years both these teams will be competitors, and for doing nothing more than following a very simple philosophy and getting good coaching together. Of course they may not get to the playoffs for a couple of years, and may never win World Series rings, but these two teams will have made leaps greater than any other team this season. Its about time someone noticed these two cities with fine baseball traditions that have fallen by the wayside in recent years.

Bombers Living up to Their Name

Its a new rite of spring. Every year for the past three the Yankees have gotten off to an incredibly slow start. This year appears to be going the same for them. I will admit we are only four games into the season, but to have only won one game is depressing. They are truly earning the name that jeering Yankee-hating fans use: the Tankees. Well the one solace I have is that its still early, and the rite of fall that has followed this depressing rite of spring is that they always end up working it out in the end. I just hope the pattern continues itself so we can complete the drive for number 27.