Posted on: March 15, 2010 by admin
Swinging for the fences seems to be the thing to do now in the MLB. For the last couple of decades, the focus for many hitters has been hitting home runs. Some even have sacrificed their own bodies by taking steroids in order to achieve greater home run numbers. But the ones that are not breaking the rules still try and hit more and more home runs every year. But is it really wise? Certainly there are many power hitters in the game. Better yet, there are hitters with consistently high averages that can still hit over 20 homers a year. But what caused the US to lose in the World championships a few years back was just good old fashioned error free ball by Japan. They won the game with no power hitting, just amazing fielding, smart base running and good get on base hitting. They knew if their pitching could keep them in the game, they would need very few runs to win. Every batter that got on base was precious, no matter how they got there. Home runs can be great, but a bit over-rated at times. What is your opinion, would baseball still be as exciting with half as many home runs per year?
Posted on: March 9, 2010 by admin
Off topic somewhat for this post, did you or possibly even your kids ever play little league baseball? What was your experience with the coaching? It seems within youth ball that the coaches range from the very inexperienced to the strict and dedicated coach. Certainly the discipline that baseball can provide young kids can be beneficial for some. It can teach them concentration, agility skills and good eye/hand coordination. But what happens when coaches go just too far. Certainly most people would be fooling themselves if they did not say they wanted their kids to win. Yet if they lose, it should never be the end of the world, only that they try their best. But when teaching children, coaches must find that fine line between great coaching and not becoming an over bearing tyrant. It can be good if your child is taught by such a great coach, but just because they may be experienced does not make them good. It can also be really tough on kids to end up with coaches that have no business being on the field.
Keep in mind, baseball should always be fun for the kids no matter how hard they must work at it. If they have lost the joy in playing, then maybe they are ready to move on to other things.
Posted on: February 28, 2010 by admin
The MLB has its share of injuries and issues. It may not be a full contact sport, but players tend to get knocked around quite a bit either way. Pitchers end up at some point with arm or shoulder injuries due to throwing so many pitches and just wearing their arms out. Catchers tend to get knee problems from squatting behind the pate for so many games and so many pitches. Infielders and outfielders can tend to stay much healthier than most. If they do experience some arm issues, they can usually shake them off. They do not throw near as many balls around as the pitcher. Batting can be painful at times to some players. Some have been hit extremely hard by wayward pitches. These can sometimes put a player out for some time. There is only so much safety gear a ball player can use. If they are over suited up, they could not run nearly as fast and be as flexible as they need to be.
With time and experience though, injuries can be greatly reduced. Children for example that have played much must be careful before stepping out onto a real ball field when balls are being hit and thrown around at will.
Posted on: February 22, 2010 by admin
The steroid issue with the MLB is not only tied to the man rosters on the teams, but also heavily in the minor league system. The Rangers just had one of their pitchers test positive for illegal substances and was suspended 50 games for the incident. Fifty games doesn’t seem too heavy of a penalty in one sense. If it is wrong and a huge issue within the MLB, why not more? The tougher the consequences of breaking the rule, the fewer the players there may be that try it. This is especially true with an issue that has really had a huge negative impact on the game. Steroids have really given the MLB a black eye. When players continue to ignore the rules with drugs the fans will continue to question the integrity of the game. It can be tough to watch something as some fans have and find excitement in it when you know that the players could be using drugs. Imagine the thrill of watching some of the past players break records but who have now admitted using steroids. It’s only years later we realized they did it on illegal substances. It’s very disappointing. It seems the MLB still has along way to go with this issue.