Super Bowl… FINALLY!
I pause here to give thanks that the Super Bowl is FINALLY getting played… so we can at last get on to BASEBALL!!!!
Apprentice2Jesus
Ramblings of a Confessing Pentecostal
Archive for the category “Baseball”
Reason Number 563 Why Baseball is Better
Because you can have a body that looks like THIS:
And you can still play the game!
Reason Number 632 Why Baseball is Better Than Football (or anything else)
“Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.” (George Will)
Spring training beckons!
Reason Number 733 Why Baseball is Better Than Football
While “all star” games are just not that important, baseball’s showcase is always better than the slop fest the NFL slaps together to try and get one more ratings push out of television.
My Favorite Thought on the Upcoming Super Bowl
Now that we will have that out of the way, it will then only be two weeks to spring training!
Why Baseball is Better Than Football
As I watched part of the Lions/Bears debacle yesterday that some would call a “football game,” I reflected on why baseball is better than football.
Seeing the refs have to pile on to break up numerous fights in this game (which the typical Bears fan will now rage about the nastiness of the Lions, and the Lions fan in turn will predictably rage about, “HEY! That’s how you play the game!”), I am even more a fan of baseball. Refs in football need to train in the WWF to handle the pile ups on the football field these days. Plus, even in baseball they give the homeplate umpire protection.
But my favorite all time quote of why baseball is better than football comes from the great George Will:
Football combines the two worst things about America: it is violence punctuated by committee meetings.
Let the football whiners now commence their HGH rages…
The Beauty of the Game
I am a baseball fan at the core. I love sports in general, and it is NOT that I hate football. I LOVE football. I got to watch the Gophers beat Iowa yesterday and it was glorious!
But I truly love the game of baseball. This World Series really restored a lot of that fun. I will not disagree that baseball has its problems. That’s a given. But all pro sports do.
Ben Witherington outlines some great thoughts on the beauty of baseball over and against pro football.
As much as I do love football, I still contend it is only a matter of time before someone is killed on the field. We are not coaching to tackle anymore. We are coaching to maim. Hopefully we learn to teach and coach better. But as long we have a bloodsport mentality, I doubt it.
Anyway, let the raging debate begin. I know I’m in the minority and know I’ll get lots of comments on steroids, etc. Baseball has issues. Football does as well. And we all like our sports.
WHAT a Game!
Game 6 of this World Series just may be the greatest Series game I’ll ever get to see. The Cardinals were down to their last strike… TWICE… and they carried it all the way to the 11th inning to WIN.
THIS is why I love this game.
FINALLY… A Decent World Series
The Series may end tonight with the Texas Rangers taking the game. But it has been a fun Series to watch. It’s been awhile since I could say that. If the Cardinals rally tonight and it goes seven, this will REALLY be a fun Series.
There are certainly the goof-ups. Tony Larussa making HUGE mistakes in bullpen calls is simply unprecedented. Is he ready to hang it up, or what?
That said, baseball NEEDS some changes. This column makes some great suggestions. I still don’t favor instant replay in the game, but at the beginning of this season, I said basically the same thing about the number of games. The schedule could be trimmed back to 154 or 148 games and the playoffs shortened. I’d still like a 7 game World Series, but 7 games in the League Championship Series is getting crazy.
The Series winner this year will be deserving. Far more than the typical Yankees/Red Sox juggernaut, these two teams were far more prepared for the run through the season and simply the best teams left on the field. I am pulling for the Cards because of the phenomenal way they pulled themselves up and stormed into the post season. But the Rangers are a GREAT story and irritating Democrats by having President Bush in the picture for a couple of games in Texas is always an added bonus. 
Quick Thoughts on Baseball
Every once in awhile I just can’t leave baseball alone. It’s my favorite sport.
I grew up in Kansas City. Those were the days when they actually made the playoffs. Then, there were the World Series years of 1980 and 1985. Then… they vanished. Just like Bobby Fischer.
I have lived in Minneapolis since 1997. Since the Twins are in the same division as the Royals it was tough at first to cheer for them. However, they were a good organization and began to ascend out of their post 1991 doldrums into a competitive team.
I emphasize “were.”
A few years ago I was so fed up with the Royals and their constant rebuilding, I quit checking on them. That lasted maybe two years. I realized I am a doomed Royals fan and can find solace in the fact that while I may be a Royals fan, I am NOT a Cubs fan. (Nor do I root for any team from Cleveland, which hasn’t managed a championship in any sport for several generations.) So, I embrace my sickness and root for the Royals. Though, I honestly, HONESTLY, like the Twins.
So, out of my hope for the Royals and my concern for the Twins, I offer this up for the Twins: Fire your general manager ASAP.
The Twins are quickly becoming what the Royals were and there is no reason for it. The Twins have a new stadium, new revenue, and incredibly loyal fans (only to the new stadium, but they better ride that fanaticism while the gravy train is still hooked up).
The Twins are in last place today. By 1.5 games. This is the division with the Royals in it.
But look at these September rosters. The Royals are chocked full of their prospects. Highly ranked prospects. Their infield has their future. The pitching line up has their future.
The Twins have the equivalent of IV tubes hooked up. Their only hope for next year is to have their same players healthy. They don’t have the depth in the farm system they were once famous for.
The Twins lost their greatest asset: the farm.
This is why I say fire the general manage ASAP. While they can say there is a “team” of people who make the calls on who to draft, etc., the final decision rests with someone. And that man is Bill Smith. He is not Terry Ryan (the former GM). He may have learned under Ryan, but he is NOT Ryan.
And when the Twins fire him, they don’t need to promote from within. This was the mistake the Royals made for decades. They kept promoting from within. Things finally had a chance to change when they went outside the organization to get the GM they truly needed. (Ironically, that man was trained by the GM the Royals had in the 80s when they knew what they were doing, but let him get away to Atlanta.)
Forget “family” loyalty. Go get a GM that can shake it up, make the owners fork over some of that fabulous money they are sitting on from the stadium revenue, and get back to building a winner. Don’t be in the wilderness as long as the Royals! There is no need!
Also, while I love Gardy, I think he’s a playoff manager, not a World Series manager. At some point there needs to be a tough decision on him as well. We need to quit playing to make the playoffs. We need to start playing to make the Series.
Enough for now. On to the fall… without the Twins in it.
CEB
