For the love of the game IV

This summer, during the Beijing Olympics, I will root, not for a man or a woman, but for a team. It would have been easy to cheer on record-chasing Michael Phelps, scantily clad Misty May or Kerri Walsh or I could have chosen to cheer on the so-far impressive “Redeem team.” But I won’t. I choose to cheer for Team USA, the baseball team.

Made up of young minor leaguers and prospects, our team will try to dethrone reigning gold-medalist Cuba. To me, though, I want to root for this team not because this is my favorite sport, but because this may be the last chance, I get to see this sport in the Olympics. The IOC voted to eliminate the game along with softball from the 2012 London Olympics, a move that I don’t agree with but understand.

The loss will not be as significant, mostly in part because the every three-year World Baseball Classic competition will take its place as the major international baseball competition. In addition, the WBC will give a chance for major leaguers to appear on the international stage. (Because it’s baseball season, and money beckons, all major leaguers stay with their parent clubs through the Olympics.) The absence of the best players in the world only lessens the importance of the event and subtract from what is one of the missions of the Olympics: a showcase of the best athletic talent in the world.

However, I disagree with the decision for a few reasons. For most of these players, winning a gold medal will be their only shot at success in their careers. For most of these players, they will never make the majors, Kurt Ainsworth for example. But on the other hand, it can showcase the young prospects who will make a statement in the future, Ben Sheets for example. It gives us the chance to the best the US can possibly offer. Most importantly, I don’t think this sport can be dismissed for the simple reason that it is a world sport. Not only is the game popular in the Caribbean and most of Latin America, not only is the game American at it’s heart, but the sport is developing in all Asian countries, Japan, Taiwan, China and the Koreas.

If for nothing else, keep the sport, because it’s just that, a legitimate sport.

For the love of the game III

I have a fetish. I have spent well over $1200 to satisfy my desires. I sneak away at lunch breaks to visit stores that sell these items. I spend nights in my room staring at them, feeling them and dreaming about them. I have boxes of them and hide them from my parents.

The fetish is with little pieces of cardboard paper, plastic and ink.

I love baseball cards.

Ever since my cousin first gave me her box of old, worn baseball cards, I have been a very avid collector and enjoyer of the hobby. However, it’s different for me. I simply collect for the fun of it. I do check the prices on the cards and occasionally I’ll be deluded enough to consider myself a serious dealer. (My modest collection hovers around $750 in value) But, I know my limits and I won’t spend more than a certain amount of money each time I visit The Strike Zone, a small card shop in Novato.

This small hole in the wall is the only place where I buy cards. The owner, John Yon, is a genial man whose lived in the Bay Area all his life. He has rows of collectibles, signed jerseys, paintings, cases of cards of every sport, individual cards on display and his finest memorabilia welcomes each new customer. Every time I visit, I ask him what the newest and hottest stuff that he has is. It’s always the same reply.

“It’s all about what you like and what type of collector you are,” he tells me.

I think about it every time, but it’s always the same result. I collect to get closer to the game of baseball. I tell him, if his store were in San Francisco, I’d spend every hour of free time I had simply staring at his collections. I know then, it’s not about the cards, it’s about immersing myself further into my favorite sport. So, while I spend what my mom calls “wasted money,” I collect to enjoy the game and the cards themselves because of my love for baseball.

In the future, I hope to expand my collection. I want to be able to proudly display my best and priciest cards in a glass case in my home when I grow older. But, it will always be about the game, never about the money.

For the love of the game II

It sits on my bed stand in an airtight glass container. Late at night, just before I go to bed, I take a glance at it and smile. Nothing brings me more instantaneous happiness than this object. It is a round cork covered in yarn and wool fibers with a leather covering held together with 108 stitches of red-waxed cotton. On it are two blue stamps, one the Major League Baseball insignia, the other, a stamp authenticating the item by Commissioner Bud Selig.

The most important thing among this random collection of raw materials is a scribbling made in a black sharpie marker, practically illegible save for a small number 55. It is Tim Lincecum’s autograph, and it both was a fun adventure acquiring it and quite the revelation to me.

It was the Giants 2008 Fanfest. I had told myself all winter that I was going to go. It was my last spring in San Francisco, and my last chance to catch one of these events since I had not been to one since 1997. It was a big event. The Giants were going to be a bad team and the only way to bring people out to the event was to draw them with big names. In years past, most marquee names would stay away, but this year, rookie phenom Tim Lincecum, the Giants’ ace pitcher would be there, along with Matt Cain.

The morning of the event, I called my friend several times. He didn’t pick up and assuming his parents had grounded him, I decided not to wait and find out. I was out in front of the park with over an hour before the event began.

Unfortunately, the line had already wrapped around pretty far. Sneaking into line, I decided to go over my gameplan until the gates opened.

I was aiming for these two pitchers: Cain and Lincecum. I would NOT stop for anyone else or anything else on the way. So, as the usher pried open the squeaky monstrous gates, the lines began moving and people started storming in.

I knew what I wanted and I was going to get it. There were several stands lined up for players to sign cards, baseballs and anything else. I started from one and worked all the way around. None of the signs said what I wanted to see. Finally, after having walked all the way around the park, passing all the long lines and all the booths, I arrived at the centerfield area. The Make-A-Bear workshop had been transformed into an autograph station. I checked the sign and immediately stood in line. Half an hour of waiting later, I was staring a short, skinny boy of a man with a mop on his head next to a big, built southerner, Lincecum and Cain.

I handed Cain one of his cards to sign.

“Dude, it looks like I have makeup on…” he joked. I laughed.

Next, I gave Lincecum a baseball that I had caught from a game. He signed it and proceeded to roll it back to me.

I stuttered and mumbled something about how good he was going to be this year.

He smiled and said, “Nice to meet you, bro.”

The rest of the day was a blur. I skipped lunch and walked around listening to players talk and watching interviews.

I got home that night and went over the day’s events with my friend who couldn’t go. After finishing the description, he asked what it was like to be that close to those players.

“Dude, they’re so normal,” I replied to him.

It was true. They were just as human as the rest of us. I realized how crazy the whole day actually was. I waited an hour outside gates, ran around a baseball park and stood in line for nearly an hour to have two people scribble on a card and a ball. It was absurd; they were both only about five years older than me.

While that put things in a bit of a better perspective for me, each time I look at the autographs I smile and say to myself, “But this is just a part of the game. And I love the game.”

Peavy vs. Webb

Jake Peavy is better than Brandon Webb

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I feel like we need to have a full out debate on this issue. I think there is a clear difference between the two pitchers and in my opinion; I think Peavy is a much better pitcher, though I can see the other side. At this point, I want to present my argument on why Peavy is better than Webb is.

Clearly, over their respective careers, Peavy has been a much more dominant pitcher in any given season, save 2006, the year he started playing in the World Baseball Classic. Since his rookie season, not once has Webb been able to keep his ERA under 3.00 or his lgERA under 4.40. Peavy has accomplished both with significant margins twice under 2.60 ERA and 3.90 lgERA, again save for 2006. Both have held ERA+s of over 130 three times, but Peavy tops Webb in strikeouts by 123 percent while issuing walks at a five percent lower rate in their careers.

Also, if you take the years in which they won their Cy Young awards, respectively, you will notice, Peavy was much more dominant, and if it were not for the WBC, Peavy may have given Webb a very significant run for his money in 2006.

In 2007, Peavy was able to hold his ERA under 2.00 until late June and not once did his ERA spike to over 2.50 until the last game of the season. Webb, meanwhile was over 2.00 after his second game pitched and never returned to below 2.00. In addition, beginning in late August and carrying into September, Webb’s ERA hovered around 3.00.

If you believe ERA is an overrated stat, consider this: Peavy dominated in both 2006 and 2007 when comparing sabermetric stats. (2006 was an aberration, yet when paired with 2007, his stats are very comparable to Webb’s) Peavy in 2006-2007 had 21 games in which his WPA (which calculates win probability of player, a negative number means the player hurt the team’s chances of winning) was a negative percentage, with nine of those being less than -10 percent. Webb on the other hand, had 26, with six being less than 10 percent. When you consider that 2006 and 2007’s NL West was decided by a total of 1.5 games, (tied one year, 1.5 games back of AZ for SD last season) it is a significant difference and the stat can show how many games the player cost a team.

Furthermore, in 2007, Peavy had a total average game score (Bill James stat for evaluating success of a pitcher’s start) of 62, a K/BB of 3.53 and an OPS of .584, while Webb had 58, 2.69 and .630.

Next I’d compare the repitoire of both pitchers and this is where I’d like input from Arizona fans. I don’t have the best grasp of Webb outside of his sinker, but from what I understand, he doesn’t throw other pitches often, as he has no need for them. However, Peavy can depend on four pitches, yet throws his fastball in line with league averages (61 percent of the time) while he throws his strikeout pitch, the slider 33 percent of the time. His slider and change-up are on average about ten mph slower than his fastball, and this is what makes him so deadly. The change-up he throws breaks in the opposite direction of his slider with very late deception. At the same time, his slider varies from a sharp cut across horizontally and a more slurve action slider. With so many directions and variations on a pitch that may come out looking identical, it is very hard to adjust to Peavy. Throw that in with his 95-97 mph fastball, I feel like it could top anything Webb has to offer.

Coming in for a crash landing

Roger Clemens is one of the most decorated and the most respected pitchers of all-time. Unfortunately, his name was connected to the steroid scandal of his era. It is an unfortunate occurrence because, in my mind, he is without a doubt the best pitcher of the '90s and early '00s.

In my esteem, he holds the same place as Barry Bonds. With the revelation of steroids, I no longer feel I can compare him outside of his time. By being connected to this issue, he is now only comparable within a certain time frame, and that time frame is the steroids era. Had he not been connected to this issue, he would hold a place with all the greats of the game, and his numbers in such an offense-centered time, would without a doubt have placed him in contention for the greatest of all-time. At this point, however, I must take a step back and in realizing that he is a byproduct of the science of this time, he doesn't deserve comparison to the greats of the 20's and the like. His connection to the discussion of HGH and the like has already tainted his name in a comparison with the greats, however, he still holds a place as the greatest of his time, just as Bonds does. He dominated the mound and the batter's box well into his 40s. In a time when the homerun is king, he did his best on the mound to be truly great. This era will be remembered for the new homerun king and the prolific power years, but he stands out as one of the greatest pitchers of all the players to come from this time.


The question of whether or not he took steroids is a completely separate issue. I fail to trust Brian Mcnamee so at this point, I do not believe he took steroids. Mcnamee's past includes troubles with the law and perjury in criminal cases. I find that this tarnishes his reputation and the amount of trust I place in his word. In addition, Clemens' phone conversation revealed to me that he did not really have a strong conviction in what he believed happened in those locker rooms. However, reporters like CBS's Mike Wallace are right when questioning what Mcnamee actually has to gain from leaking his name, and saying that it is possible he is only doing this to clear his conscience, in which case, Clemens is the liar. From what I know of the case, I don't think Clemens has taken steroids, but there is always room and time for shocking revelations.

Venezuelan Ozzie also a musician and artist

I watch the game of baseball to be thrilled. I take each play as part of the entire experience and the sport never lets me down. Excitement rages through each and every game. Every second of the game can produce something magical; each player can turn ordinary into extraordinary. One of the most exciting players in the game, one of the most talented to ever play, Omar Vizquel can make the impossible, the possible and the ordinary, the incredible.

Every time I see a Giants game, wherever I sit, Omar is always a focus of mine. I know if I take my eyes off the game, I could miss a play that can only cement himself even more as the greatest shortstop to play the game. Nothing is out of his range. His creativity turns impossibility into just another night. He never seems to lose a throw to a speedy runner. Never panicking, he beats all base runners by the same half-step, over and over again. He has it all in his arsenal. The backhand pick, the barehand pick and the glovestop make the game look good. Turning two has never been more of a piece of artwork before. Laying out on crushed brick and backhanding the ball never looked better. Sprinting full steam into the shallow outfield and then pirouetting and slinging the ball across his body to get the runner at first was never more exciting. His footwork is quick, his dives effortless. No wasted motion or energy seems to come out of his play. Everything has a purpose, to get the runner.

He makes baseball beautiful by playing his position the way it's supposed to be played. His glovework is incredible. He has hands that one can only describe as heavenly. At times, it seems to me like he plays without a glove, the fielding, the transition and the throw. The fluidity is beautiful. He is as graceful as a ballet dancer and as elegant as a ballroom dancer. Unselfish, team-oriented and damn good. I'd pay money to see him play.

Overlooking the Dominican Dandy

Juan Marichal, for all his esteemed accomplishments, the great numbers he has set, may be underrated for a hall of famer, if there is such a thing.

Often overlooked during his career for certain awards, he took it all in stride and continued to dominate the NL West despite heavy competition from the great Sandy Koufax. Many don't consider him one of the greatest pitchers of all-time let alone one of the greatest post-world war II pitchers. His high leg kick was often surpassed by the feats of Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens during the 1950s and afterwards. Because he pitched during a very deadball era and pitched during the same years as the intimidating Gibson and the much praised Koufax, Marichal never won Cy Youngs and often lost out in postseason races to the Cardinals.

Upon closer inspection, his stats were as good as Gibson's and his demeanor on the mound, equally intimidating. When asked whether to face one or the other, the choice is impossible. Both were known not to take anything from anyone. Due to rough luck, he was always one to finish runner-up in any sort of race. He lost six times in close Cy Young races, thrice to the Dodger lefty, once to Dean Chance, once to the Cardinal great and once to the Met, Tom Seaver. He was never able to come away with the trophy. I think it must have been very tough for him to always finish behind someone else. It takes not only courage to continue working without ever being truly rewarded, but persistence and determination. His grittiness also shows me he played the game because he loved it and enjoyed it, not letting second-place be a deterrent. His devotion to the game is missing in many players today.

As such, with the lack of hardware to prove his feats, many don't consider him to be on par with some of the greatest of all-time. Rest assured, in my opinion, he is. Often considered second string to others in estimation in the Hall of Fame, his high leg kick will always be considered one of the best in my thoughts.

For the love of the game

To save the game of baseball from its current state, full of players on steroids, it will require players to take it on themselves to clean the game. These players make millions upon millions of dollars. They need to play the game, the way it was meant to be played. Today's players are lazy, resort to cheating and petty demands for an extra 30 million dollars to satisfy themselves. Anyone doing this for a career should be happy enough with the job they have. They are doing what millions of kids can only imagine of doing for life. They play a game that is part of American culture and are a privileged few.

A player today needs to show grit, determination and full effort whenever they step on the diamond. Any less is an insult to those watching and the fans who truly enjoy the game. Players like Alex Rodriguez, while he did work out a contract outside of Scott Boras, are being paid yet often fail to hustle and show the sportsmanship. Americans give these players the right to play the game. We watch them and let them entertain us because of the gift of talent they have. They do not have the right to sit on the sidelines demanding money or complaining because of any faults on their team or of their teammates.

A player I admire is Grady Sizemore, a player who plays the game the right way. The sport of baseball is in lack of such talent and such heart. He plays with full effort no matter the situation and no matter the point in the season or game. You don't hear complaints or demands from this kid. He harks back to the days where guys needed to keep a second job during the offseason to stay afloat. He plays because he loves the game. He realizes he's privileged, and he plays to entertain the crowd. He dives because it's fun; he runs because he wants to make that extra effort. I'd rather have one of him than ten players of Alex Rodriguez's attitude and talent.

Just scratching the surface

Today's game is riddle with drug abusers, HGH users and other anabolic steroid users. The recent Mitchell Report only has scratched the surface of what is no doubt the most damning part of the game. The report by the owner and senator, however, was unclear in its determinations, weak in citing sources and lacking in actual cold hard facts and straight forward answers. It neither gave real reasons for the cause of the many problems in today's game, nor did it give real solutions. In the end, more questions were raised and left unanswered than ever before.

My approach to cleaning the game is four-fold.

First and foremost, the commissioner of the Major Leagues must be removed from his position. His tenure as both an owner of a club and as the head honcho of the Major Leagues leads to inevitable bias and one-sidedness in his approach to problems such as steroids. No matter what he says, bias is existent. He treats the game as a business and rightfully so. While his approach to raising money and improving fanfare of the game is working, the national pastime should not only be treated as a company that raises revenue, but as a special business. It is a game Americans cherish. If the fans lose their trust in such a sacred part of American history, not only is it bad for business, it is bad for American culture. His approach to removing steroids from the game and implementation of stricter testing policies have been insufficient. It took him way too long to place a ban on HGH, and while I applaud him for doing so and realize that nothing can be done for a past mistake, testing is still not strict enough.

Secondly, the US government should not be standing as idly as they have recently. Though this Mitchell report is a start, too much money was spent inefficiently in this report. The report failed to produce results or solutions. The game is cherished by fans and it has taken its place in American culture, embedded forever as our sport. The government should be more proactive, telling baseball to clean up the game, placing pressure on Bud Selig and his crew. The approach that needs to be taken by the senate and house should be along the lines of, "clean up your game, or we'll come over there and clean it up for you." American culture is being eroded by illegal usage of steroids.

Furthermore, testing policies need to be much stricter. A long 162-game season is plenty of time for players to juice and avoid being caught several times throughout the season. Monthly testing should be arranged for teams, by teams. Surprise off-season testing should be much more applied. The game has raised enough money through fan revenues that they have the power to implement such a system. Next, punishments should be stronger. Following the three-strike system of baseball, each offense should account for more. The first time around, a half-season ban, 81 games should be placed on the player. A following offense should account for an entire season ban, and lastly a third offense should be a permanent ban from baseball.

Lastly, I feel more research should be placed into determining whether or not a player is illegally enhancing his game. A huge amount of money is going to study of sports medicine and enhancing the body, but it is unequal to counter efforts. This is a key to ending steroid cheating. More and more, players are turning to improved systems of hiding the fact that they are enhancing their game. Those who keep track of cheaters need to be on the same page, and not enough money is being poured into counter-research. Baseball has a lot on its plate to clean. With the system they have in place currently, players will continue to cheat and the steroid era will never end.

Barry Bonds: Polarizing the game

Barry Bonds is the most polarizing player in the game of baseball since Pete Rose and his gambling controversy. Most fans of the game believe that Bonds neither deserves his records nor does he deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame. My opinion on him and this issue is that Bonds not only deserves his records but also a spot in the Hall of Fame as a first ballot inductee.

Barry Bonds has had his reputation placed on a stake and burned. Some consider it racism, but whatever the actual reason, he does not deserve having his name dragged across the mud. Barry Bonds accomplished a great deal with or without the help of steroids. Nothing gives the public the right to insult him and tear his name apart.

In my opinion, the Major Leagues is now on a new level of competition. Those who do not take steroids are falling behind. So many of the game's best are already juiced and to say that all of Barry's records are irrelevant because of this fact is not fair. The only fair way of clearing the record books of Barry's accomplishments is to toss out all of the records of the new "steroid era." If you say Barry's records are tainted, you must then include that all of the records from this era are tainted. Barry's seven MVPs are in my estimation no different, now, than any of Clemens's Cy Young awards.

The most educated of the game's followers will take these numbers and at the same time consider the era in which these records were accrued. Asterisks will not taint his record, they will taint the game forever. To those casual fans, who believe a star is needed next to all of the juiced, do not understand the game. There is no fair way to compare records from era to era. Even if they never took steroids, this era is an offensive era. Barry Bonds would not have accomplished the offensive feats he has in a more pitcher friendly time. This era should and will go down as the steroid era. A true fan can take these numbers and his knowledge of the time and accurately compare them to records and accomplishments from times like the deadball era or the post-war era.

I do not consider Bonds to be the greatest offensive player of all-time. I found it difficult to label any player in such away. Instead, however, I consider Bonds the greatest offensive player of his generation from the mid '80s to the mid '00s.

Those sports writers who vote on the Hall of Fame eligibility of each player should not take into account anything but accomplishments, records and numbers. Seven MVPs and all the new homerun records speak for themselves. His induction would only be fair to him and his fans. If such outside considerations were taken into account by many of the voters, I feel they are too biased to fulfill their duty. Voters should take information as it is and take what matters into account. Numbers and accomplishments bring players into the Hall of Fame. Numbers and accomplishments should be all that keep a player out of the Hall of Fame.