Stephen the Magnificent

Stephen Strasburg began his much anticipated major league career last night with a sparkling performance. The hype surrounding this game was so over the top that one wondered how the game could even begin to live up to expectations. It did. Not only did Strasburg throw 99 mph fastballs, but the slurve (his term) and the other off speed stuff was devastating. I pretty much expected that. What I didn’t expect was the control. He was always around the plate and after a while the home plate ump responded by giving him strikes on the edges.

The crowd was into every pitch at a level usually reserved for the bottom of the ninth in playoff games. Fans young and old who had a microphone thrust into their face all said they had been waiting for this since the young righthander signed last August. An added bonus was the return of Pudge Rodriguez from the DL who was the perfect complement to Strasburg at the other end of the battery and called an almost flawless game.

While all the special TV coverage droned on, the Nats post game ritual was unchanged. As Strasburg tried to respond to our local reporter's questions, he got the shaving cream pie in the face. A teammate thoughtfully wiped it off but only to make room for a second pie. And then the moment we Nats fans had been waiting for: Stephen got the giant gray Elvis wig and wore it throughout the rest of the interview. He’s a Nat at last.

Change We Can't Believe In

Orioles’ management is not doubt aware of how relieved we all are that they fired manager Dave Trembley. After all, Trembley has led the hapless Birds as they marched down the path of futility these last few years. Must be his fault that they keep losing. Can’t be that he’s been given players who don’t belong in the major leagues. Can’t be that they traded away his closer and replaced him with a guy who blew almost every save opportunity he was given and promptly went on the disabled list and has not been heard from again. Can’t be that the team is comprised of other team’s cast offs, utility players forced to play every day and a bullpen with nine saves all season. Must have been Trembley’s fault.

So last night we rang in the Juan Samuel era with a rousing 11-0 loss to the Red Sox. The game was essentially over in the first inning with young Chris Tillman on the mound for the Birds. I don’t know if Tillman belongs in the major leagues or not. He certainly didn’t last night, overmatched and struggling with his control. But hey, it must have been Trembley’s fault. Oh, make that Samuel.

What's Perfection Got to do with it

Armando Galarraga’s reaction to the blown call which ended his hope for a perfect game is nothing less than astonishing. A perfect game is a fragile gem, dependent on every pitch, every play, every swing going your way. Galarraga and the Tigers were perfect that day and he was on the verge of completing the last out and joining only twenty other pitchers who had done so. And then it was gone, A runner was on first who didn’t belong there and an umpire who didn’t believe in giving a guy the benefit of the doubt had blown the call. Turns out the umpires have to be perfect too.

What did Armando do? He smiled. He didn’t throw his glove down in anger and frustration and he didn’t get into the umpire’s face. He just walked back to the mound and kept throwing. I honestly don’t know how he did it. Nor can I imagine very many other players acting so gracefully. Instead, what comes to mind is the Nats center fielder who recently missed a ball and thought it had gone over the fence. He threw his glove down in disgust even though the ball had actually rolled back on the field a few feet away from him. Or players who throw their bats and helmets when they strike out or everybody’s favorite tantrum thrower Carlos Zambrano who specializes in destroying water coolers for reasons known only to himself.

So Armando Galarraga pitched a perfect game and Jim Joyce, by all accounts a very good umpire, blew what should have been the last call of the game. Galarraga’s comment was something like “I really feel for the guy (Joyce). Nobody’s perfect.” But that’s not true. Joyce’s apology and Galarraga’s reaction were nothing short of perfection.

Lima Time No More

It’s Lima Time no more here among us mortals. Those of us who haven’t won 21 games in a season or led a team to the playoffs and those of us who don’t talk to everyone we see, sign autographs for every kid and love to dance will miss him. Jose was one of a kind; he loved playing baseball and felt lucky to be in the major leagues. He stomped around the mound, pumped his fist, loved the limelight. But unlike some of the spoiled brats around baseball these days, he enjoyed every day and brought joy to everyone around him.

After his major league career was over, he kept right on playing anywhere he could – the Mexican League, the Golden League, the Independent League. His energy, good humor and love of the game will be remembered everywhere he played for a long time. And if there’s baseball in heaven, he’ll be throwing tomorrow.

While I Wasn't Watching

The Artful Dodger has been busy becoming a grandmother for the last few days and hasn’t watched much baseball. Now that the future Astro is safely delivered, here’s what I seem to have missed.

The surprising Cincinnati Reds keep winning. Guess who’s atop the N.L. Central. It’s the Reds, whose specialty this season is winning in their last at bat. Not surprising when you see that their everyday lineup has no one hitting below .250 and that their starters generally go deep into games.

The Dodgers continued their win streak. Despite blowing a three run lead, the Dodgers beat the Astros for their ninth straight win. With Andre Ethier going on the DL, and the blown lead, you’d think the streak was in jeopardy, but this was the Astros, who unlike the Reds hardly have anyone in the starting lineup batting above .250.

The Nationals have started losing. Don’t know whether to start worrying about them quite yet, but the Nats have dropped five in a row and the magic that was Tyler Clippard seems to have vanished. Clippard is a middle reliever who was an astonishing 7-1 until a few days ago when his habit of letting inherited runners score caught up with him. Now he’s letting not only the other guy’s runners score, but also his own. The Cardinals took advantage of that and edged the Nats 3-2 last night.

Bullpen Woes

It’s tough to be a starting pitcher when your team has no bullpen. Just ask Jason Vargas or Brian Matusz. Yesterday, Vargas took a two-hit shutout into the eighth inning and had a two run lead. He left the game after allowing a couple of cheap hits and the Mariner’s bullpen took over. Enter Brandon League, the same guy who blew a big lead a few days ago against Baltimore. This time he faced the Tampa Bay Rays and the result was the same. Vargas’ terrific effort was wiped out as both runners scored. Jesus Colome finished the job by giving up a walk-off home run in the ninth.

Fate or the bullpen was even crueler to the Orioles' Brian Matusz who also had a two run lead against Cleveland yesterday entering the ninth inning. In walked Alfredo Simon, who has been used as a closer since injuries sidelined Michael Gonzales who had been spectacularly ineffective in his brief stint as closer and Jim Johnson, the inconsistent set-up guy. Simon had been credited with five saves and had a 0.00 ERA. He promptly gave up four runs on three hits and a walk. The five saves and zero ERA were misleading. Simon has flirted with disaster in each outing; he falls behind hitters, issues walks, and has been saved by remarkable defensive plays behind him. This time no one could save him and he let Matusz’ effort go to waste. After allowing four runs, he was replaced by Cla (yes, that’s really how it’s spelled) Meredith who gave up four more.
The bullpen, charged with getting three outs and preserving a shutout, gave up eight runs to the Cleveland Indians. They say bullpen pitchers have short memories; that they can have a bad outing and come back the next day and do well. Let’s hope starting pitchers do too. And that they forgive quickly too.

Here's Why You Never Leave Early

A funny thing happened yesterday afternoon on the way to another mediocre loss for the Baltimore Orioles. They won.

And their victory was a perfect illustration of why you should never leave a game early. The Orioles were playing the Mariners and facing Felix Hernandez, one of the best pitchers in baseball. The M’s had a comfortable 5-1 lead through seven lackluster innings. It would have been easy to give up. But there’s no clock; the game wasn’t over, even if the outcome felt like a foregone conclusion. Because all of a sudden, the fun started. In the bottom of the eighth, King Felix was replaced by the oft-used Brandon League who gave up a home run, a wild pitch, a single, a walk and then a grand slam to Luke Scott. Suddenly, the score was 6-5 and the Orioles had the lead. The futility of the first seven innings was erased.

O’s closer Alfredo Simon opened the door for the Mariner’s in the top of the ninth but just as quickly the O’s defense slammed it shut. The game ended with a play at the plate. A strong throw from left field caught a runner trying to score on a single by Ichiro. Bang. Game over but not the way you’d expected.

Perfect Magic

How ironic that Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game. Braden was the young pitcher who dared to take offense when Alex Rodriguez ran across the mound after fouling off a pitch a few weeks ago. Rodriguez dismissed Braden as someone who wasn’t important enough to respond to. Since then we have been treated to dozens of tiresome comments on who was right and whether there really is an unwritten rule that a batter doesn’t run across the pitcher’s mound.

Yesterday, Braden joined a small group (he’s the 19th) of pitchers who’ve thrown a perfect game. It’s such a fragile thing and not in one’s control. Theoretically, a pitcher can control whether he gives up a hit or a walk. But no errors? Wow. Eight other guys have your game in their hands and as the outs mount up, the tension builds. By the time Gabe Kapler grounded out to shortstop, you’ve been holding your breath for three innings.

Naturally, the Yankees were asked for their reaction. On the surface, their remarks seem congratulatory. But look again. Rodriguez and his buddy AJ Burnett’s remarks are flip and classless. It was Mother’s Day. What did Mom teach you? If you can’t say something nice…

Congratulations, Dallas Braden and the Oakland A’s.

How Many Pitches is Enough?

Last night a funny thing happened to 22 year old Mat Latos on the way to pitching his first major league shutout for the Padres. His manager took him out after the eighth inning. This despite the fact that he had cruised through the game, had a 7 – 0 lead and had given up only two hits.

Half a continent away, Jamie Moyer also had a shutout going He too had given up only two hits and would win the game 7-0. At age 47 he would become the oldest pitcher to throw one because his manager let him finish the job. Besides, there probably would have been a riot in Philly if Moyer had been removed.

So Moyer made history and Latos pitched eight innings and was done. Are managers becoming slaves to the concept of pitch count? In some cases, I think they are. Now, I have nothing against bringing young guys along slowly. It’s a lot better than leaving guys out there too long, or using guys out of the bullpen day after day until their arms go dead. But when reaching your pitch count supplants throwing a complete game as the goal of a pitcher, something’s wrong. Latos had thrown 107 pitches, the Astros weren’t hitting any of them. He should have been allowed to finish.

New and Improved

Don’t look now but the Washington Nationals are no longer the doormats of the National League. Sporting a respectable 15-13 record they have won 5 series thus far and these guys have an attitude: they hate to lose and are having fun winning. And they are not afraid to show it. After each victory, the TV guy interviews the player of the game. Instead of the usual mumbling and “aw shucks” the guy wears a giant silver Elvis wig throughout the whole interview. It’s not the fact that it’s outlandish, outrageous and makes them look ridiculous. It’s the fact that they all do it. They are a team.

I think the change from no so loveable losers to “let’s find a way to win this thing” started last year with the departure of Manny Acta and the promotion of Jim Riggleman as manager. Both are good baseball men but Manny seemed to accept losing with a little too much grace. Maybe that’s a good thing because his new team, the Cleveland Indians, is pretty good at it. Riggleman practically wears an “I hate to lose” decal on his uniform and the guys who play for him got the memo-- even though they go on TV in silver Elvis wigs.

Will the Real Barry Zito Please Stand Up

I am fascinated by the career of Barry Zito, the left-handed pitcher whose fortunes seemed to plummet when he moved across the Bay from Oakland to San Francisco. Well, at least his pitching fortunes. His actual fortune was something like $126 million over seven years. In 2007 when the Giants signed the Cy Young award winner, they assumed they were getting a top of the rotation guy and Zito’s numbers in his seven seasons with Oakland justified that belief. His curveball was widely regarded as the best in baseball.

Alas, his first two years with the Giants were pretty awful. He struggled mightily with control, lost velocity on his fastball and his ERA ballooned. After a mediocre 2007, with the litany of excuses: new ballpark, new league, pressure because of the huge contract, 2008 started off even worse. Zito went 0-6 in April with a 7.53. He was relegated to the bullpen and got his first win of the season in late May.

While his stats in 2009 were nothing to write home about, Zito seemed to settle into the middle of a Giants rotation led by Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. Once again, like in Oakland, the pressure was off. And this season, Zito has started 6-0, with wins against some decent clubs (as well as some light-hitting teams).

So what is the explanation for the roller coaster that is Planet Zito? I don’t buy the change of league excuse. Even I, a genetically determined National Leaguer, admit that pitching there is easier than in the DH-ridden American League. And while no park is easier to pitch in than Oakland, with its acres of foul territory, San Francisco’s ballpark, (whose name has changed so often I won’t even guess what it is this morning) isn’t a place pitchers go to die. I think Barry Zito was never a number one starter and we just didn’t know it. In Oakland, he had Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson surrounding him in a low-expectation environment. In San Francisco during 2007 and 2008 he was supposed to be the second coming. Didn’t happen. He wasn’t that guy. Now he doesn't have to be.

Voices of the Game

Baseball lost Ernie Harwell yesterday, one of the last great voices of the game. I’m sure you could tune in to any game being played yesterday and hear broadcasters reminisce about Harwell’s kindness and enthusiasm, the great stories he would tell and how he was once traded by the Georgia Crackers for a player. Harwell, like all the other great broadcasters, had that special voice. Unmistakable, relaxed, natural, sounding like he was doing exactly what he was meant to do.

When will the national television stations that broadcast baseball tap into the few remaining voices? Why can’t we hear Vin Scully the next time ESPN carries the Dodgers? I have nothing against the nice young men in suits who can barely speak English and know little or nothing about pre-1985 baseball. I just don’t want to listen to them call a game.

Of Time and No-Hitters

My local baseball announcers, commenting on Ubaldo Jimenez’ no-hitter the other day, opined that “fluke” no-hitters are more likely in April when the hitters are lagging behind pitchers than they are later in the season. Sounded plausible to me so I checked. Turns out that there are “fluke” no- hitters throughout the season, and that mediocre pitchers have thrown no-nos in August just like they have in April. To clarify, by “fluke” no hitters we mean no hitters thrown by pitchers who seem to have had a lucky day but generally unspectacular careers.

But almost every no hitter, no matter how great the pitcher, seems to have at least one terrific play, a diving catch in the outfield or a shortstop going deep in the hole and making a strong throw to first, which saves the day. Chris Bosio is an example of most of this. A career .500 pitcher with an ERA just below 4.00, Bosio pitched a no hitter in April of 1993 against the Boston Red Sox. The no hitter was “saved” with two outs in the ninth inning by Omar Vizquel who made a fantastic bare-handed grab at shortstop and threw over to first to record the last out.

Bosio was a good but not great pitcher. But two Cardinal rookies, Bud Smith and Jose Jimenez, define the term fluke no hitter. Bud Smith threw a no hitter against the Padres in September 2001 in his rookie season. The next year, his ERA was almost 7.00 and he quickly disappeared from major league baseball. His total won-loss record was 7-8. It’s hard to decide whether Smith or the other Cardinal rookie, Jose Jimenez, who threw a no hitter against the Diamondbacks in June of 1999, is flukier. Jimenez had a 24-44 record in five major league seasons with an ERA of just below 5.00. Yet he ended up as a decent closer with Colorado and his no hitter was against a lineup that featured Matt Williams, Steve Finley and Luis Gonzales, all terrific hitters.

Some days the baseball gods just shine their light on you.

Of no-hitters and hitters who can't hit

Two remarkable performances took place yesterday in baseball. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies history with his fastball reaching 97 mph against the Braves in their final at bat. Jimenez is the type of pitcher who you expected would one day pitch a no hitter. Not only does he have terrific stuff but, at least when I’ve seen him, the competitive fires burn bright. He looks like someone who cares about winning. Perhaps with this latest accomplishment the TV baseball mavens will carry a Colorado game every now and then. But only if Ubaldo is pitching, of course.

The Mets-Cardinals marathon, which I confess to watching on Fox yesterday was the flip side. Sure, there was some good pitching, especially the starters for both clubs. But mostly the no-hits, no-runs were the result of awful at bats. Usually a shut-out brings admiration for the pitching performance; this one brought groans as the hitters struggled no matter who was on the mound. Each team had only one hitter the other team feared. The Mets walked Albert Pujols four straight times to get to Matt Holiday. It worked each time. The Cardinals worked around David Wright to get to Jason Bay who is slumping even worse than Holiday.

And so it went until La Russa had used up all his available pitchers with his incessant lefty-righty mix and matches and stuck with Cotton Mather’s boy Joe, his center fielder, third basemen, emergency pitcher. Mather, has obviously seen someone pitch before. He knew where the mound was and how to stand on it. And then he aimed. Mostly his heaves were nowhere near the plate. Occasionally someone swung and missed. What was really amazing was that the Mets only scored one run in each of poor Joe’s innings. Seven hours of sheer futility.

Year of the Old Guy

In Washington D.C., home of the Washington (we’re not as bad as you thought) Nationals this season has been the year of the old guy. The battery on Friday was Pudge Rodriguez, the 38 year old catcher and pitcher Livan Hernandez, listed as 35. They took the youngsters to school. Livan threw a shutout against the Brewers, working his 48th career complete game with ease. He’s allowed exactly zero runs in his two starts this season. His fastball never breaks 90 but he’s a pitcher, not a thrower and so it doesn’t have to. You only hope the young guys watch how relaxed he seems and how often the first pitch is strike one.

His battery mate, now in his 21st season, is simply amazing. Having the chance to see him play almost every day is a lesson in passion for the game. Pudge has nothing left to prove. He’s a no-doubt Hall of Famer, with accomplishments to die for. During one ten-year stretch, in addition to being the game’s premier catcher he batted .300 for nine of the ten years. The tenth year he only hit .297! So there he was at age 38, playing for a team that was the worst in the majors last year and catching a day game after a night game, hitting over .400 and driving in the winning runs. Did I mention that he stole a base? Pudge is making baseball fun around here.

Winning Sure Beats Losing

Accidents of geography are conspiring to keep me writing about losing. I’m an Astros fan who lives in the mid-Atlantic region, making the Nats and the Orioles my new home teams. Not fun. All three are off to miserable starts this year. And despite finding different ways to lose almost every day, losing is getting pretty boring. The Orioles and Astros simply don’t hit while the Nats hit but can’t hold a lead. Having the jolly giant, Adam Dunn, at first base doesn’t help. He pretty much just watches the balls go by him and his power production has been limited to drawing walks with no one on base.

Nobody’s Watching

Here are some attendance figures from last night:

In Seattle: 15, 978. This is a team that’s been in the conversation for winning the AL West playing the team that is leading the AL West.

At Florida Marlins: 14,390. Guess the fans only show up when the Mets are in town.

At Toronto: 10,610. Still hockey season.

At Baltimore: 10,248. Beautiful day and at least the Rays are fun to watch.

Point being, in a lot of ballparks there are a lot of empty seats.


And finally, Michael Gonzales, ace reliever of the Baltimore Orioles, took his 18.00 ERA and his blown saves and headed for the D.L.

The Early Days

The season is barely a week old and a few teams are struggling mightily. The Astros and the Orioles have combined for a total of one win, the result of bats that are largely silent and pitching that’s been well below par. To be fair, both have faced stiff competition in teams like the Phillies, Giants and Rays but it already feels like a long season if you live in Houston or Baltimore.

On the other hand, there have been some pleasant surprises, especially in the American league. Leading in the AL East, at least for now, are the Toronto Blue Jays, widely assumed to be cellar dwellers this year. I’m afraid the Orioles will have a lock on that position. In the West, the Oakland A’s are leading the pack with a 6-2 record. That’s the mirror image of the rival Seattle Mariners who are expected to contend but for now are in last place in the West.

In the Central Division, Minnesota is ahead. There’s something unique about that team. They always find a way to compete, whether constrained by payroll or injuries. Joe Nathan goes down and Jon Rauch steps in and already has five saves. There’s also something very appealing about the way they play the game, without fanfare or false drama and with a sense of calm confidence. Yesterday they played for the first time in their new, small, baseball-only, outdoor stadium. Even the grand opening –with ESPN coverage, hall of famers and the Commish in attendance seemed understated. The Twins played well, beat the Red Sox and finally, after years of playing in that oversized baggie, had a new home.

Two Debuts

Today two promising young pitchers make their debuts. One is Stephen Strasburg of the Nats, drafted number 1 last year. His club received seventy five requests for press passes for the game this afternoon. The other is twenty-two year old Mike Leake, also a first-round pick in last June’s draft selected by the Cincinnati Reds. There’s just one difference. Strasburg’s start is in Altoona, Pennsylvania for the Nats Double A affiliate while Leake is starting on the big stage, on the mound in Great American Ballpark facing the Cubs.

The Reds decided that Leake was ready for the majors without any minor league experience, a rare move even in these days of instant gratification. No player, let alone a pitcher, has done it in ten years. And of the 20 players in baseball history who have tried, I’ll bet you haven’t heard of quite a few. And one or two whose names are familiar (think David Clyde who the Texas Rangers rushed to the majors) are known for flaming out.

Today’s games will tell us nothing about the future of these two pitchers. But it will be interesting to see whether the risk the Reds are taking in rushing Leake to the majors or the patience the Nats are showing in sending their young phenom to the minors works best. Perhaps both are right but if you had to bet, the safer bet is on the Nationals.

This and that

The Houston Astros: celebrating 45 years of futility. The Astros started their 45th year by losing three straight at home to the Giants and one last night to the Phillies. While it’s still very early, many of their pitchers sport double digit ERAs. During spring training they announced that their starting catcher would be J.R. Towles, who I thought had proven that he didn’t belong in the majors last year. I know nothing about young J.R. except that he cannot hit major league pitching. Rod Barajas a veteran catcher with a good track record was available until late this spring when the Mets picked him up. Considering that the Astros lost Pudge Rodriguez in the off season, getting Barajas would have made sense. Last night Barajas blasted two home runs and called a great game for the Mets. Last night J.R. Towles was batting .083 as the Stros lost 8-0 to Philadelphia.



Can’t anyone around here spell? After last season’s embarrassing spelling error which saw several Washington Nationals walking around with “Natinals” on their chests (including third basemen Ryan Zimmerman who was educated at the University of Virginia) this season was two days old when it happened again. A young San Francisco Giant paraded around in a uniform sporting “San Francsico”. I’m not a great speller either, but I usually get my name right.


There’s been a lot of talk about how slow the games are. Games involving the Yankees and the Red Sox are the slowest. One reason that’s been documented is that Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia are among the very slowest pitchers, taking much longer than others between each pitch. One reason that I’ve observed in Yankee games is that every time A-Rod so much as sneezes manager Joe Girardi jogs out to check on him, usually bring a trainer or two with him. The Yankees don’t have players, they have investments.

Opening Day 3

The third and last opening day unfolded last night featuring an exciting game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles. It was played at the Trop, the last indoor domed stadium in major league baseball. During the player introductions the home team set off fireworks, which lingered in the outfield as smoke for most of the game. Indoor baseball, there’s nothing like it.

They’ve only played one game but it’s already clear that the Orioles have some real problems and here I am ready to solve them. The Orioles lost the game because they didn’t do the little things – e.g. failing to score with runners on second and third with nobody out. The batters who stranded those runners were Garrett Atkins and Cesar Izturis, both of whom looked over anxious and impatient at the plate. It was relatively early in the game, they had James Shield, the Rays starting pitcher on the ropes and they let him off the hook.

Exhibit B is Felix Pie, the left fielder who couldn’t make a decent throw to the plate to cut down a slow runner. The runner scored and the game was closer than it should have been. Pie also looked terrible at the plate, letting pitches go by as he stood with the bat on his shoulders. I swear this guy sometimes looks like he isn’t sure what game he’s playing. What is he doing in an outfield with Nick Markakis and Adam Jones?

And finally, the alleged closer. After some very good work by the middle relievers, Matt Albers and Jim Johnson, Mike Gonzales was brought in to finish the game. He imploded in a matter of minutes. Ever watch a pitcher who is throwing crap, getting hit hard and doesn’t seem to know it? Mike Gonzales. Oriole fans will be very nervous next time he’s trotted out there and given the ball. I would be happy if that never happened.

So here’s my prescription: get rid of Pie and Gonzales. Teach Atkins and Izturis how to sacrifice and let Jones, Millwood and Markakis win the games.

Spring Training and Opening Day

It’s finally here. Opening Day, that is. Only this season it’s been spread over three days beginning with the Yankees-Red Sox teaser, continuing all day yesterday and concluding with a few “opening day” games today. Thanks to ESPN we saw a few teams who were absent from the spring training coverage and who we will seldom see again –Cincinnati, Houston, the White Sox.

But before we get to the opening day splashes, let’s say a few words about spring training. I made a brief trip to Arizona which has turned into baseball paradise every March. I saw teams only a mother could love-- the Royals, the Oakland A’s. What caught me up short was the fans: completely thrilled to be there. Maybe it was the harsh winter many of us had, or the general nastiness of what passes for political debate. But whatever the reason, there was, it seemed to me, a palpable sense of relief at work among the fans. They were just happy to be watching a game. The fact that it was a split squad or that the players wore numbers more appropriate for football and that half of them would be sent down next week didn’t seem to matter. It was warm, it was sunny, it was baseball.

Back at home we were treated to a spring training game on ESPN every afternoon which seemed like fun until it became clear that virtually every game featured a team with the words “New York” in its name. A crew of new ESPN color commentators were initiated and headed back to Bristol. Thank goodness for the Gary Thorne’s of this world who simply know how to call a good game and don’t start every sentence with “when I was playing…”

Day 2 of opening day(s) featured some terrific starting pitching, --Lincecum, Buehrle, Halliday and Buehrle’s acrobatic between the legs flip that will doubtless become part of baseball lore, some hitting heroics by the amazing Albert and Braves phenom Jason Heywood and some abysmal pitching out of the bullpen. No matter. It’s a long season and it’s here.

Winter's Last Gasp

Last night the wind blew hard all night and the temperature was only in the 20s. I woke up almost every hour in part because it was hard to believe it could blow that hard for that long. But it did and this morning, just before dawn, the power went out. And now a cold, grey day with gusts of 50 mph out here in the country.

Luckily, the power came back on quickly and the reports from spring training were bland. No one confessed to taking drugs, swapping wives or disliking the health care reform bill. No one was seriously hurt during the first workouts and harmony and confidence ruled on every team. General managers expressed optimism and managers couldn’t remember when the players looked so ready to play. While the chatter was par for the season, reports were that the weather in Florida was unseasonably cold.

And then the mail came and a glimmer of sunshine here in the battered mid-Atlantic. My tickets arrived. In two weeks, I hope to be in Phoenix watching the Athletics in row four, complaining about the heat.

The Artful Dodger Returns

The Artful Dodger could barely wait until pitchers and catchers reported to resume the blog. With the forty inches of snow on the ground here in northern Virginia, it helped to buy tickets and plan a trip to Arizona for spring training. After a winter like this, the games can’t begin soon enough.

But while I may be looking forward to the season, a few players arrived in camp and immediately started talking about their future after the 2010 season. On his first day, Manny Ramirez announced that this is his last year with the Dodgers. Now that was appropriate. In the Astros camp, Lance Berkman contemplated his status in 2011. Could we maybe play a few games before leaping to the next season, guys? Or is it always and forever all about you all the time?

And then there are the injuries. Josh Hamilton managed to bruise his shoulder on day one. Brian Roberts arrived at Orioles camp with a herniated disc. And one bright young prospect sustained some sort of injury making a TV commercial. Ah, bring on the MRIs. And the games.