3 things about the World Series
Three thoughts on the world series:
1. The media are making a big stink about the Tigers' eight errors in the series, implying that the Cardinals didn't earn their victory. But consider that many of the errors came on bunts or bunt-like grounders--something that American League teams simply don't know how to deal with. That's because in the AL, nobody bunts; with the DH, their lineups are stacked up and down with power, and the bunt is classically the play made by a weak hitter (ie pitcher) who needs to move a runner over. It's also, in the NL, the play made by a fast runner who wants to make the defense panic, and so NL teams generally have complicated defensive schemes for fielding bunts in any contingency. AL teams...don't. Now, Jim Leyland has manged in the NL, and the Tigers practiced fielding bunts between the LCS and Series, but it looks like it was just too little, too late--the players weren't comfortable with the plays and weren't executing. And the Cardinals saw that and used it, bunting to force errors.
2. Also consider the roles of rookies in this Series. The Tiger's hot-shit rookies like Zumaya and Verlander did not live up to their billing; Zumaya in particular couldn't find the strike zone with those screaming fastballs, and he made the big mental error in Game 3. The Cardinals' rookies were mostly bandaids on a weirdly scrambled lineup: Chris Duncan as part of the Increadible Erratic Platooning Outfield of Doom, Reyes filling in for Mulder/Ponson/Marquis, Wainwright taking over for Isringhausen. But for the most part, these guys played amazingly well, and except for Duncan they did not make the big flubs. LaRussa put his trust in rookies, and they paid off big time. Leyland...not so much.
3. Finally, I would like to have a word with the sports writers who are calling this series "boring." In particular, I'm looking at R. B. Fallstrom, author of this article. The title in particular, but really the whole article, makes it seem like a shocking disappointment that Pujols wasn't hitting home runs left, right and center. In fact, nobody in this series was really hitting for power; it was a pitcher's duel in every game. And that makes it boring?
News flash, sports writers: you are a part of the steroid problem. If you consider good pitching "boring" and don't think a game is "dramatic" without a couple of bombs, you are feeding into the belief of the players, owners and league officials that their economic futures collectively depend on juiced-up goliaths hitting balls out of the park. If you insist that a good game requires super hitting, you encourage players to dope and to keep quite about other guys doping. If you dismiss a Series with "only" a .200 average across both teams, you tell the league leadership that cleaning up the leagues will destroy them, because nobody wants to come see people play genuine baseball anymore. When you tell the world that Albert Pujols carries the Cardinals, you tell the world that baseball is about hitting big ol' long balls--the rest is just details.
So the next time I see some sportswriter wail about doping or wag his finger at Bud Selig, I'm going to flip off my computer screen. Because they play their own part in the culture of power that's fed baseball's steroid issue, and if they're going to be part of the problem, they can't mock others for not solving it.
1. The media are making a big stink about the Tigers' eight errors in the series, implying that the Cardinals didn't earn their victory. But consider that many of the errors came on bunts or bunt-like grounders--something that American League teams simply don't know how to deal with. That's because in the AL, nobody bunts; with the DH, their lineups are stacked up and down with power, and the bunt is classically the play made by a weak hitter (ie pitcher) who needs to move a runner over. It's also, in the NL, the play made by a fast runner who wants to make the defense panic, and so NL teams generally have complicated defensive schemes for fielding bunts in any contingency. AL teams...don't. Now, Jim Leyland has manged in the NL, and the Tigers practiced fielding bunts between the LCS and Series, but it looks like it was just too little, too late--the players weren't comfortable with the plays and weren't executing. And the Cardinals saw that and used it, bunting to force errors.
2. Also consider the roles of rookies in this Series. The Tiger's hot-shit rookies like Zumaya and Verlander did not live up to their billing; Zumaya in particular couldn't find the strike zone with those screaming fastballs, and he made the big mental error in Game 3. The Cardinals' rookies were mostly bandaids on a weirdly scrambled lineup: Chris Duncan as part of the Increadible Erratic Platooning Outfield of Doom, Reyes filling in for Mulder/Ponson/Marquis, Wainwright taking over for Isringhausen. But for the most part, these guys played amazingly well, and except for Duncan they did not make the big flubs. LaRussa put his trust in rookies, and they paid off big time. Leyland...not so much.
3. Finally, I would like to have a word with the sports writers who are calling this series "boring." In particular, I'm looking at R. B. Fallstrom, author of this article. The title in particular, but really the whole article, makes it seem like a shocking disappointment that Pujols wasn't hitting home runs left, right and center. In fact, nobody in this series was really hitting for power; it was a pitcher's duel in every game. And that makes it boring?
News flash, sports writers: you are a part of the steroid problem. If you consider good pitching "boring" and don't think a game is "dramatic" without a couple of bombs, you are feeding into the belief of the players, owners and league officials that their economic futures collectively depend on juiced-up goliaths hitting balls out of the park. If you insist that a good game requires super hitting, you encourage players to dope and to keep quite about other guys doping. If you dismiss a Series with "only" a .200 average across both teams, you tell the league leadership that cleaning up the leagues will destroy them, because nobody wants to come see people play genuine baseball anymore. When you tell the world that Albert Pujols carries the Cardinals, you tell the world that baseball is about hitting big ol' long balls--the rest is just details.
So the next time I see some sportswriter wail about doping or wag his finger at Bud Selig, I'm going to flip off my computer screen. Because they play their own part in the culture of power that's fed baseball's steroid issue, and if they're going to be part of the problem, they can't mock others for not solving it.