Category Archives: Baseball

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.

Talkin’ Baseball…

Today, March 31, is Opening Day for baseball. How exciting is this… not?

I love the game. I’m completely out of step with everything else, I know. I wish I had grown up in the 50s, but I didn’t. Deal with it.

Nevertheless, the game needs a couple of changes.

1. Cut the season. This is ridiculous. It’s 29 degrees in Minneapolis and they’re calling for snow (AGAIN) tomorrow. MLB is starting the season today so they don’t have playoffs in November like last year. Well here’s a thought: SHORTEN THE SEASON! Nothing wrong with a 132 game schedule so we can start in the middle of April and still have fall classics in THE FALL, not winter!

I understand Mr. Selig wants to expand the playoffs because it’s the major league sport with the fewest teams in the post season. I say keep it that way! Make it worth something to make the playoffs! What do you think this is, the NBA?

2. Get the collective bargaining agreement done by May 1. Don’t repeat the mistakes of 1993-94. While the NFL is playing around like a bunch of idiots, step up and show them how to get things done. People are really tired of millionaires suing billionaires and crying about plantations and slavery and all that stuff. Be decent. Get the deal done and go on.

3. It’s still a human game with human errors. I know we’ve already let the replay in. Please keep it where it’s at. This is a futile request, like the other two, but I’m a preacher and I need three points.

Let’s play ball!

 

Monday Thoughts

Some great thought-provoking posts and articles are surfacing this Monday.

Bill Mounce over at Koinonia has some thoughts on the Ted Haggard situation. His big question is: “Why was Haggard removed from his church? Why were they not allowed to at least attend?” He readily admits he doesn’t know the entire situation, but he asks the question anyway. I find it a question posed in ignorance. He should have done his homework first. That situation poses several issues, but what did NOT happen was the removal of Haggard from the Body of Christ. He was simply removed from that church and offered other places of healing.

A new book by Barbara Ehrenreich is one of those liberal books that begs the question: “Do you think this is something new?” She pokes fun at the positive confession movement in the Church. We’ve been doing that for years. Yet, she gets to write a book and make money! (Okay, I admit I’m jealous on that count.)

A more lengthy article on Christianity Today’s site focuses on the sports worship of our culture and how the church is not handling it so well. That’s one of those article where I go, “Oh, me!” I love sports. I can’t wait for spring training in baseball. The Super Bowl is only a page turned so I can get to baseball season (with March Madness to placate me in between). Yet, this article painfully hits some things for me I need to face.

Belief as Dementia, Evangelicals as Wimps, and HOW ABOUT THOSE TWINS

Leave it to The New York Times to equate religious belief with mild dementia. Check that. What they are really offended at is the thought of an intellectual having a Christian worldview. This must drive them nuts.

We live in a day when David Letterman can confess on air to having multiple affairs with staff women and there isn’t one peep from women’s rights groups. In fact, his first show after that confession was a ratings gold mine! But actually hold a Christian worldview as an intellectual, and you’re branded as loony. Go figure.

What else doesn’t figure is the lack of moral fortitude on the part of evangelicals concerning the healthcare reform debate. They have plenty of moral fortitude when it comes to funding abortions. Yet, there is no moral outcry over the current Bacchus bill and how it will bankrupt the middle class.

To be fair, we as evangelicals also aren’t very vocal when it comes to the healthcare debate outside very narrow parameters. If it doesn’t have to do with abortion or legalizing homosexual marriages, we just don’t seem to have an opinion.

We have officially passed the one trillion dollar point on war funding. Eight years. One trillion dollars. I support our troops. I’d love to win this thing. But I can’t help but noticing a couple of things:

1. Oil company profits and private contracting firm profits that do business over there are through the roof. We’ve done some favors in some areas we just didn’t need to help out in.

2. One trillion dollars is about what we’re going to fork over for healthcare.

Does anyone notice this huge hole in the ground? Anyone?

But that’s just too much to think about. What I REALLY want to talk about is the best baseball game that will be played this year. Game 163 of the regular season: Detroit and Minnesota. Twins win in 12. The Dome lives on for at least another game or two!

A Pause for a Baseball Note

I love baseball. It’s been my lifelong passion as a hobby. Unfortunately, I grew up in Kansas City. It wasn’t unfortunate when I was growing up. We had pennant chasers back then. Three years running in the 70s we took on the Yankees every October… and lost. But we were THERE. In 1980 it was the World Series… and a loss against the Phillies. Who cared? We beat the Yankees! Then, 1985… WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS. (Yes, courtesy of a bad call in Game 6. That’s why I am personally against instant replay in baseball.)

Since 1985? Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. Losing seasons all the time.

Last year, I finally gave it up. I hadn’t lived in KC for years, why was I languishing with this team? So, after another predictable losing season, I declared my allegiance to my new hometown (of 12 years), the Minnesota Twins. A lot of good that has done. We have Joe Mauer, who is Uber Player. But they keep giving away games.

I’m in for the Twins anyway.

But I can’t help but looking over at the Royals trainwreck of a season from time to time. They have a new GM who has tried to get them on track. He has learned from the Atlanta organization, so there was hope this guy could lead KC out of the wilderness. So, what does he do as this miserable season limps to a close? He says the manager will be back next year!

I am thankful I am letting this team go! The GM is nuts! Here’s to looking forward to a 2010 trainwreck in KC. Here’s to looking forward to a new Twins stadium on 2010.

Monday Thoughts

Some random thoughts from the weekend, last week, etc.

Obama and the Supremes

President Obama will get his first appointment to the Supreme Court. Souter is retiring and now the hand-wringing begins. Conservatives are worried he will find someone even more liberal than Souter. Liberals are worried Obama may not get someone liberal enough. When some media outlet speculates as to whether or not Obama will find someone “liberal”, I just want to go: “DUH!”

Twins, Royals, and Torn Loyalties

In the middle of last season I determined to swear off my boyhood team, the KC Royals. I am a HUGE baseball fan and grew up in the days of George Brett, Frank White, Willie Wilson, Amos Otis … (okay, I could name the entire team if I wanted).

From that glorious World Series in 1985 (Thank you, Don Dekinger!), the Royals have done ZIP. I mean NOTHING.

And I cheered them on. I witnessed a Brett Saberhagen no hitter (thanks to the hometown scorer that night and Kirk Gibson being in left field). And even though I’ve been in Minneapolis for 11 plus years, I kept hoping against all hope that franchise would finally wise up. After another horrible season last year, I threw in the towel. The Twins would be my team! GO TWINS!

Then… the Royals come to town and take two of three from the Twins. The Twins actually handed it over… twice. On Sunday, Baker had a no hitter against the them for six innings. (He did that a couple of years ago, too!) Then… it all collapsed. A four-run Twins lead vanished and the Royals won.

I honestly think teams need to start paying me NOT to cheer for them!

Genius at Work

I must be in a rambling mood. This post is too long.

David Brooks has a column on “Genius.” It’s not so much the divine spark or IQ.

“The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not IQ. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) practicing their craft.”

The simple fact of the matter may be that practice pays off. It’s not that practice makes perfect, but PERFECT practice makes perfect. You practice the practice.

Russian tennis schools will practice returning volleys without the ball. They concentrate on the technique.

The mind wants to turn deliberate. It wants to form habits, even bad ones. We allow ourselves to get sloppy. By practicing slowly, we force the brain to break down the skills. Examine the rules. Examine the tiny parts. The brain can then internalize a better pattern of performance.

It kind of takes the magic out of great achievement. We just want to think, “Well, I can’t play well because I’m not Tiger Woods.”

Well, it may be you just don’t work as hard as he does at his game. And the man works hard. He wins tournaments with one good leg! That’s not magic.

While it’s said we’re creatures of habit, we may need to learn we can become BETTER creatures of habit.