“Shohei Ohtani went 2-2 at the plate including his Major League leading 40th home run. He walked twice. Stole a base. Scored 2 runs. Drove in a run. Struck out 4 batters. And threw 4 shut out innings. And the Angels lost 5-3 on a 9th inning Grand Slam.” Baseball. Wow.
My favorite hat
At any one moment in the period between April and November it’s dangerous to ask me how the Washington Nationals are doing. Thirty minutes later you’ll be looking at your watch and wondering why you asked. You’ll get my opinions on current Nats players and management plus a rundown of my notions about other teams as well. Pretty sure at least a quarter of my brain time is spent on baseball. To whit:
At the beginning of the season I texted my SIL or tweeted (I can’t remember which) that I was paying attention to the following teams this year because I had high expectations: the Padres, the Angels, the Marlins, and the Rangers. All had been polishing and spending on their rosters. And of course everyone was interested to see if the Mets spending spree would pay off.
Well here we are at the beginning of August with eight weeks of regular season left and the Mets are on the ash heap of history – didn’t win a single series in June, the Padres and the Angels think they still have a shot (spoiler: they don’t), the Marlins are hanging in there but the Phillies are biting at their heels, and the Rangers look as bright and shiny as ever. Maybe shinier with the addition of Max Scherzer. Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly went to the Dodgers, Lucas Giolito went to the Angels (really this is not going to help).
My prediction: the Dodgers, perennial whiners, will overcome the Giants (deserving but not quite there yet) to face the Braves (who will bulldoze everything in their path) in the NLC pennant race. At that point, I don’t know – I’d like to see the Dodgers win so they would shut up whining (Cheaters stole from us – yeah they stole from everyone, 2019 was sooo painful – that defeat at the hands of the Nats really stung, so what if 2020 was only 60 games – we won. Say all that in a whiny tearful voice.). The Braves, however, tomahawk chop notwithstanding, are magnificent. This is a team built with thoughtfulness and patience from the ground up. They let their stars walk – Freeman’s a Dodger and Swanson’s a Cub and I bet they both regret it. The Braves ENTIRE outfield made the All Star game. They’ve maintained a lock on the NL East championship this entire season. No team in either League has won more games. With 69 wins (excuse me, while I was writing this the Braves became the first team to 70 wins and then went on to 71) and eight weeks to go, they will likely have a better than 100-win season and while it’s probable the Dodgers will also taste that rarefied air, the youthful Braves seem, well youthful, compared to the Dodgers.
So I would lean toward the Braves in my betting, but you know what they say: Age and guile can always overcome youth and skill.
Meanwhile in the American League, THINGS HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF HAND. The Rangers are looking good but the Astros are keeping them honest and then there’s the AL East – the winningest division in baseball. The AL Central first place Minnesota Twins cry themselves to sleep at night wishing they could have the record of the 5th best team in the AL East which is the…Yankees. The Yankees are not much better than the Twins but think about it, the cellar of the AL East is better than the peak of the AL Central. And the height of the AL East is the Tampa Bay, err – checks notes – the BALTIMORE ORIOLES.
In April nobody saw that coming. The Rays were winning like they were opening fire hydrants of beer in Boston. What the hell kind of thing is that to say? Go write your own blog. And then week by week, game by game, the Orioles crept past the Yankees, the Blue Jays, the Red Sox until there they were: 67 wins and on their way to a 100 win season. Didn’t they lose 110 games in 2021? That’s not just a turnaround that’s a neckbreaking 180 degree swivel. It’s like the Angelos family was paying them to win so they could sell the team on a high note. And yeah I know that sounded funny but what else can you say.
So who gets the ALC win? The Rangers? The Orioles? The Rays? The Astros (they just re-acquired Verlander after all)? A player to be named later?
So why are the Orioles, the Rangers, the Dodgers, and the Braves at the top with the Astros, Mariners, Rays, Giants, Marlins, and Phillies close behind? Why can’t the Brewers, Padres, and most of all the Angels, get it together?
In the dark hours of the night between 1:00 and 3:00 I’ve pondered this and I’ve come to a conclusion: those first ten teams really like to play together. They play as a team. They play for each other. Oh they love their fans, but they play for the respect of their teammates. No one star sucks all the joy and glory out of the game. (Bryce Harper appears to have learned his lesson with the Phillies plus the Phillies could leave him at a rest stop on a road trip and nobody would miss him.)
Baseball is not like basketball or football. You can’t win a championship on the backs of one or two star players. For starters (funny word choice there) a team needs a minimum of three great and two competent pitchers for a winning rotation and a deep bullpen to even contemplate a playoff appearance never mind nine all-star caliber hitters. And don’t get me started on fielding. The Nationals walked off the Brewers when a ball was overthrown at home plate. Which made me wonder about Craig Counsell. What’s in his mind when he comes to Nationals Park? Does he think about October 1st, 2019 when Trent Grisham didn’t catch Soto’s single to right field and handed the Wild Card game to the team with the least good record in baseball? And does anybody find it funny that both Grisham and Soto are Padres right now?
Dave Roberts (Dodgers), Bruce Bochy (Rangers), Davey Martinez (Nationals), Brian Snitker (Braves), Astros (Dusty Baker) seem to understand this philosophy. Brandon Hyde (Orioles) cut his managing teeth with the Marlins and the Cubs, Skip Schumaker (Marlins) learned with the Dodgers. You see where I’m going with this?
I’ve long maintained that the best thing that ever happened to the Washington Nationals was Bryce Harper leaving in March 2019. His famous misspeak at his Phillies press conference, “We want to bring a championship back to D.C.” was so humorously prescient.
When one player on a team is valued more highly than the others it can have a chilling effect on the clubhouse atmosphere. Superstar Bryce Harper is one example. But how about Anthony Rendon’s paycheck with the Angels? (Shohei Ohtani rebuffed Rendon’s offered fist bump in the dugout recently and nobody knows what that’s about. Uh huh.) And how about the Padres – it’s like they picked up all kinds of random players around the league and thought they could play together. Remember Grisham and Soto are both Padres and I’m not saying there’s bad blood – baseball is baseball – but every time Grisham looks at Soto how can he not remember one of the worst moments of his career?
I’ve come to the conclusion that, at least with baseball, team chemistry is a real thing. Mastering it might be the edge of luck that pushes a team to win a League Championship or the World Series.
Finally, one last thought: MLB just posted the first increase in attendance since 1998 according to MLB.TV’s Jon Heyman. Matt Sndyer at CBS Sports reports that as of May 31, the average time of a nine-inning game is a reasonable 2 hours 39 minutes down from more than 3 hours previously. That pitch clock, the limit on first base pickoff attempts (I particularly love this one), and limits on the outfield shift have not only speeded up the game but brought more action which makes it more fun.
And that’s why we bought the ticket in the first place.
Now go watch some baseball – there’s only 8 weeks of regular play and 5 weeks of post-season left. And then we have to go stand by the window and wait for spring.
Forced Perspective 