The Man In White - You Play To Win The Game

If you ain’t Cheat’n you ain’t Try’n.

So now there is "Spy-Dome". Really? Really? Even if this is true I don’t see much of a story here. I understand that if you are on the field of play and you can intercept signs then more power to you. I suppose that there is another one of those unwritten rules in baseball that stealing signs is wrong, or is it? If you are smart enough or have the ability to steal another teams signs then that is an advantage you have. Just like having better players then the other team will give you an advantage. It does not mean you will necessarily win but it may give you an edge. Into the
alligations to the Blue Jays having a "Man in White" getting signals from another guy in center field and relaying them to the batter who has to focus on the pitcher who is going to throw a ball between 84 and 98 MPH and giving you a fraction of a second to react? Sound tough? Yeah, that is some kind of engineering, and that might just be giving Blue Jays batters too much credit to just how quick and/or smart they are. That is an awful lot to happen in a very condensed time period. Maybe there was someone doing what the "anonymous" bull pen sources from the unnamed team did. But maybe it was just a fan in the stands. Maybe it is no different then the 2 guys that sit in on home games at Rogers Centre with the umpire gear and mimic the actions of the home plate ump. Are they tipping balls a strikes to the pitcher? Stealing second or third base is stealing too, is that as bad?

J.P. Arencibia had a good line when asked about it and basically he said that if they had a method to steal signs and it was making a difference he wouldn’t be batting .200 right now. I say if you are going to use signs then it is on you to protect them. Catchers use a series when there is a man on second base. If they are that worried about stealing do that regardless of the situation.

If it happened cool, if not whatever, but chances are if they were cheating they should be a better team. if you are gong to cheat the least you can do is win.

The True Beautiful Game - BASEBALL

I love baseball. Some people call it slow and boring and I can see their point. If you just look at it superficially i can see your point. I, however love the game and I watch it as not only a fan but also a someone who played the game.

When I played, and admittedly not at a super high level but played and played hard. I tried to pride myself on the details. I played the game with competitiveness and for a true passion for the game. Regardless of the level of play, be it Fastball (or windmill) Hardball (traditional baseball) or just a Men’s League Lob Ball (that one is self explanatory). I loved to think the game on the field. As a defensive specialist and Short-Stop I played it as the captain of the infield. I would remember what players did during past at bats, tendencies from past games and align players in positioning and any shifts that needed to be made. It was also a point of emphasis to know where to be at various times during game play. No matter where the ball was hit there is always a place for each player to be. It may be backing up a base or rotating around to cover possible angled throws. I would try to put myself in those positions and also other players as well. There is nothing more annoying when you know you could have gotten an out if a player had they just been in the right position and had their head in the game. It is these nuances that make me appreciate the game both playing an watching. For those who do not have that level of appreciation for the game I can see how watching an entire game may become tedious. Granted a nice cold beer and a hot dog while sitting in the stands does enhance the live experience.

TV slots games to fall into a 3 hour window. Usually a typical game will run about 2 1/2 hours. Get a good pitchers duel or a game with a Roy Halladay type and you can shave nearly a half hour off of that. Those are the games that are fun to watch and are wrapped up into a tight little package. Those are the games that you wish would go longer because they have good pace and are compelling. The better the flow the better the show. It seems that for whatever reason a Red Sox vs Yankee’s game can not go less then 4 hours. It is just the way it is. When those two teams play it is like watching paint dry... but not, that is what makes it strange. The games are usually fun and entertaining and it may not feel like the game is dragging but it still seems to take a ling time to get a game in. Heaven forbid the game goes into extra innings like it did Sunday Night and ended near 12:30am in the East. Maybe it is two many trips to the mound, two many big name players stepping out every pitch so they can be on camera more or longer. Sure it is usually two of the best teams scrapping it out in a fight for first place in the division but that should mean the game should go quicker with the best players available.

I hope that it does not become a trend that baseball losses its young fan base based on games that take to long to be completed. Kids and now even grown ups are in an instant gratification cycle now and everything has to be fast. This ADD/ADHD mentality (TWITTER and TEXTING i am looking in your direction) could be harmful to this beautiful sport and the fate of this great pass time.