The Draft Board Begins to Take Shape: One Week To Go

From the time I wrote my first article on the MLB June Amateur Draft back in the middle of April until my most recent Rough Draft, a lot has changed concerning the landscape of baseball in general and the draft we have come to know and love did not escape wrecking ball completely. This has caused many draft projectors to fall along the spectrum between the status quo/business as usual approach and the draft according to need/ fill the holes perspective; both of which could cause some confusion to the non-experts among us who will take these opinions and run with them, producing some spirited discussions between myself and other amateurs on the internet. I enjoy these discussions, but I am not going to lie they frustrate me to some degree because hardly anyone is really willing to own their opinions. I for one have no qualms with taking a risk and putting myself out there, even if it goes against the grain of one or more experts and/or scouts because they admit freely that they aren’t always right either.

For what it’s worth I feel like many opinions have bordered along the lines of the NFL Draft. In the beginning there are no quarterbacks worthy of the top picks, but by the end there are at least two that are vying for the top spots because that is what many of the teams near the top need. As we all know some of these work out, however it is not without risk and these decisions are often described as a “reach”. In these situations you are trying to fill obvious holes, possibly that coming year. In MLB your system may have weakness that need to be addressed, but no one would be crazy enough to try to use a pick to do this as a cure all; especially well above slot.

In my discussions with others this is all I have been trying to warn against. It is not saying that any player is not worthy of being chosen in the first round, but I am never going to condone moving a guy up several spots just because it is a position of need. These is especially true when the player being targeted during mocks is not clearly better than the next two or three players at that particular position. It has been and always will be my strategy to pick the best player available regardless of position and/or need. If you deviate from this blueprint, there is too much room for error in my opinion.

As the Pirates wait for the 7th pick of the draft there are limited number of combinations that can occur in front of them. In the end there are at most three players that could potentially fall to them and I would possibly still pass on two of them. That is just my honest opinion and it isn’t without hesitation or room for regret in on my part. The only goal I truly focus on with my train of thought is to minimize the level of each of emotions with each player chosen. Using this as a guide there are a finite amount of players who I feel comfortable drafting with the 7th, 31st and 44th picks; currently four at each spot.

Round 1 (Pick 7)

1) Emerson Hancock (RHP)-Georgia

2) Heston Kjerstad (OF)-Arkansas

3) Max Meyer (RHP)-Minnesota

4) Reid Detmers (LHP)-Louisville

Competitive Balance Pick A (Pick 31)

1) Dillon Dingler (C)-Ohio State

2) Jared Shuster (LHP)-Wake Forest

3) CJ Van Eyk (RHP)-Florida State

4) Alika Williams (SS)-Arizona State

Second Round (Pick 44)

1) Blaze Jordan (1B)-DeSoto Central (MS)

2) Carson Tucker (SS)-Mountain Pointe(AZ)

3) Masyn Winn (RHP/SS)-Kingwood(TX)

4) Sam Weatherly (LHP)-Clemson

I know right now that I may be weighing to heavily at the possibility of Dingler being available at 31, so I may need to add another catcher in the 44 spot. However, this is a minor adjustment that can be taken care of in the the next week. Overall I am pretty confident and happy with my current selections. What do all of you think?

Timing is Everything

A simple statement uttered often without much thought into how very true it is. That’s really where we are now in the negotiations, time is running out, and that directly affects the outcome.

Since I last spoke to the restart negotiations there have been proposed plans put forth by both sides and a slowing of the side chatter. The latest of which shows the owners migrating toward paying the players the full pro-rated amount as agreed upon way back in March while proposing a shortened season, perhaps as short as 50 games.

Some will say, why bother of course, but liking the plan is hardly the point. If you haven’t realized by now the fans aren’t the main concern for either side, you haven’t been paying attention.

Let’s face it, if there is baseball this season, it won’t be normal. Personally, I plan to embrace the weird and try to enjoy the ride. There are some things to potentially start thinking about. My biggest one, have we written off the possibility of fans too soon?

Roll with me here a bit, since mid-March much of the country has been on lock down, isolating and listening to doctors and government officials. The unrest toward quarantine was already growing, but the protests some staged for this went up like a lead balloon. Fast forward to this weekend where millions across the country gathered to protest in nearly every major city. The causes are not the point, the gathering is.

It won’t be long before someone more important than me points out how these protests did or did not lead to a reignition of the plague. So, if this many people can gather together and not get sick, why can’t we have fans? Why can’t we eat IN restaurants?

I’m no doctor, clearly, but these are legit questions that will come up. As the protests continue the news cycle continues to shift further away from COVID-19 and on to the next.

I don’t say this to trivialize the situation or the meaning of the protests, I’m simply pointing out something that will come up. It’s possible that in an effort to fight for equality and fair treatment, the protesters could also pull our country out of the hermit shell we put ourselves in at the same time. And before you hit me with all the “what about the vandalism” takes, of course that’s awful, its also not coming from the main organizers, nor does it speak to the point I’m making.

Another timing aspect is the progress being made by the other leagues. The NHL has made real progress toward a return, the NBA has most of the foundation laid, and the NFL decided long ago they’d bully their way through this anyhow. MLB, while moronic at times, is not stupid enough to be the one on the sidelines. Even if the two sides planned on continuing to snipe for another week or so, nobody is listening right now, and I’m sure they realize it. In other words, even if it isn’t genuine, the beautiful silence of real negotiation is setting in.

Timing is indeed everything, next question, are the two sides smart enough to cease the moment, my gut says yes. There is no timing quite as powerful as a deadline, and it’s coming.

I Couldn’t Bring Myself to Write About Baseball Yesterday

Craig and I launched this site right before Spring Training started, it seemed perfect timing for launching a baseball site as news comes every day and Craig being a prospect expert, yeah, perfect timing. Craig planned a trip to Bradenton to gather interviews and write daily from the scene.

As many of you read, he was at his first game of the trip when the announcement came. I was texting him updates about the wave of postponements and cancellations even as he was texting me updates about the game itself. None of us had a clue how long this would last and just how difficult it would be to keep baseball topical, let alone interesting. The point is not to seek pity for our decision, the point is that we kept going the entire time, only missing one other day since we launched the site.

Saturday, the city I grew up in and love had a peaceful protest hijacked by outside groups looking to serve their own agenda. It’s sad on every level, and the destruction of downtown property just as some of these companies were about to see Green status allow them to open is devastating.

2020 has been an absolute nightmare, really breaking news here huh.

Every road I go down writing right now seems wrong. I’m not qualified to write about the underlying race issues we face as a nation, and I don’t believe that is our place as a baseball site anyway. I can’t write about the negotiations anymore, until they make news beyond snipes at each other, I’ve exhausted all the space I care to take up with my opinion until there is more. Even the player’s recent rebuttal is sure to be painted as non-starter by some.

I didn’t feel appropriate putting out a Sunday Service, just felt too cute for the mood and time we were in.

There is one common theme that could help many of these situations, good faith and listening. Listening without good faith will do nothing but placating. Good faith without listening will do nothing but virtue signal.

The greatest nations in history have fallen because they believed themselves too great to do so. A nation, or league, divided, cannot stand.

Listen to each other but do it with real understanding. You don’t have to agree, you just have to respect. I can tell you one thing for sure; I’m not qualified to speak to the complexities of the situation we face as a nation. As a middle-aged white guy, I can tell you from my childhood until now, I’ve seen open racism nearly disappear from daily life. Now, I’m not ignorant to the fact it still exists, but it is no longer proudly flaunted as it was in my youth.

I’ve always taken that as a good sign, but clearly there is more work to do. We’re going to get back to business today. Baseball business. If you don’t feel right reading it, I understand, it might be a while before I feel completely right writing it too.

A Rough Draft

Over the next week and a half there will be a little bit of normalcy brought back into my baseball life, as the annual MLB June Amateur Draft is almost upon us. Sure a lot has been changed, much to my dismay, but some of the same intrigue that has fascinated and drawn me in over the years still remains. The scouting reports, the player highlight videos, the rankings, the mock drafts, the discussions with people on all different forums and making my own predictions as to who the Pirates will take with their first few picks of the draft.

For me it is process I enjoy almost as much and sometimes even more than any other analysis of players, particularly MiLB prospects, and every imaginable metric under the sun. I can and have gotten lost for hours just reading about every draft prospect that could possibly selected. In the end I know nearly as much about them as I do my own children.

I have my favorites, which often change from day to day and sometimes hour to hour, there are players that I want to avoid like the plague and then there are the players that I want the baseball gods to bestow upon my team. For the most part it is more of the first two categories that exist in drafts, so there is not much praying involved. As of right now I am in the middle of the yearly process, which involves a lot of writing down names that fall in to each of the three, but mostly two, categories.

Round 1 (Pick #7)

Favorites

1) Heston Kjerstad (OF)-Arkansas 2) Max Meyer (RHP)-Minnesota 3) Reid Detmers (LHP)-Louisville

Avoiding

1) Nick Gonzalez (SS/2B)-New Mexico State 2) Garrett Mitchell (OF)-UCLA 3) Patrick Bailey (C)-NC State

Praying

1) Emerson Hancock (RHP)-Georgia 2) Zac Veen (OF)-Spruce Creek (Florida)

Comp Pick A (Pick #31)

Favorites

1) Dillon Dingler (C)-Ohio State 2) Jared Shuster (LHP)- Wake Forest

Avoiding

1) JT Ginn (RHP)-Mississippi State 2) Slade Cecconi (RHP)-Miami

2nd Round (#44)

Favorites

1) CJ Van Eck (RHP)-Florida State 2) Blaze Jordan (1B)-DeSota Central (MS) 3) Alika Williams (SS)-Arizona State

Avoiding

NO ONE

This of course is just a rough draft, with a lot of analysis going on behind the scenes. For the draft nuts like myself, these names are ones that you can talk about endlessly. For the causal fan amongst us, you may be wanting a little bit more. Don’t worry, that will definitely becoming. Until then you can always check out my original, off the cuff draft piece from over a month ago; some things have changed while others have remained the same. Or if you like, ask me to talk a little bit more about my current train of thought because I am always up for the conversation.

Friday Focus – A Leak is Worth a Thousand Plans

If you were to take a canoe out on a pond in your backyard and it sprung a leak, you could probably paddle back to shore and get it fixed. Even if you miscalculated, chances are you could swim back to shore and worst-case scenario you lose a leaky boat. Lake Erie, yeah, you might want to be pretty sure it’s watertight before you take a vessel out.

From day one of the shutdown, one thing has dominated the conversation, leaks. Each side is doing it and each of them have one main reason for doing so, public opinion and public pressure. Typically, campaigns like this have a defined end game and they ultimately cause little sustained damage to the opponents. What we’re seeing here is a multi-faceted leaking effort that will leave permanent bruising on all parties involved.

The reporters are hungry for content, that’s true, but please don’t blame journalists for reporting, it’s after all what they do. For instance, if someone leaked to me that player X knew what Filipe Vazquez was up to and kept their mouths shut, I’d have, in my case, a self-imposed duty to report it after fact checking of course. That should not be confused with trying to create drama or attempting to embarrass the organization.

The players have leaked primarily responses to the plans put forth by the owners. The owners have leaked strategic parts of their plans. Each cause a reaction in the public eye because again, journalists are going to ask questions and seek reaction, that’s kinda the gig.

Now, if nothing was leaked all along by now, we sure would have some questions, like are you guys even trying? Here is where it gets out of hand though, see they’ve responded, on both sides, so poorly to the leaks that again we are forced to ask, hey are you guys even trying.

Two and a half months have passed, and after all the leaks and plans and rouge statements, our question is exactly the same with the added bonus of badly bruised reputations and speculation of levels of greed at play.

At some point, this all turned from health and safety and became a mini CBA negotiation. In fact, the only nugget we’ve really heard about health and safety was the ridiculous no spitting rules. Even that silliness was met with Bryce Harper saying spitting is part of the game. He isn’t wrong, but how he said it aloud without feeling like a complete moron is beyond me. That said, proposing it seems just as stupid. Bluntly put, if this is that dangerous that a guy standing in left field spits on the ground and other players are at risk, screw all this. If it’s that dangerous why are we even discussing it?

The answer is simple, MLB leaked things like this to show how deep they were thinking about safety, and to force the players to respond, just like famous bait taker Bryce did by the way. Force the players to say some of the safety proposals were too aggressive and they lose the right to say MLB didn’t try to protect them should someone get sick.

Next up is leak a preliminary proposal of revenue sharing. Why you ask? Again, simple, to get players to publicly start making this whole thing about money. Along comes Blake Snell following the lure like a Bass to a spinner. He took it further than the owners could have ever hoped, saying he didn’t want to play for one penny less than his contract. Dream come true right here if you’re MLB, the players (even if just one vocal fella) took the bait and now it’s all about greed. Sure, some will deflect back on the owners, but they were no longer on an island when it comes to money.

The latest leak showed a tiered breakdown of player salaries. Very fair on the low end, in other words if you are on the 40-man and make under a million, this is a pretty appealing offer. More than a million and it starts to look worse. If these negotiations were being held in good faith, this proposal would have been taken as a first step and the two sides would hammer out their differences. No, this leak too had intentions and I’m waiting to see if it worked. See this proposal was intended to start a Civil War (Sorry for stealing your comparison Craig but it applies) within the ranks of the MLBPA.

I’ve done this before but let’s go over it again so it’s clear. 10% of the players, make 50% of the payroll in MLB. The other 90% make up the other half. So, it stands to reason there are a whole lot more on the low end of pay scale than the top end. If MLB can get something close to this up for a vote, it could very well have a chance of passing simply because a bigger percentage of players fall into the group of those who come close to the pay, they expected on a pro-rated basis. Don’t think it’s possible? Please do see the NFLPA events that literally just occurred. That’s exactly what the NFL did, they pitted immediate gains for lower paid players against less potential gains for top tier players. Guess which group has more members? Guess who won?

What they want is someone to speak up and say it. Now, MLBPA does a much better job of shutting up that level of player than the high-priced guys, so it won’t be as easy. And Tony Clark won’t ever let this go up for a vote unless there is an overt ground swell from the underlings.

Nothing in this entire event has been straight forward, and when both sides shut their mouths, that’s when you know the “real” negotiating is happening. This leak game is as old as time and the internet has helped it become more effective than ever. Leaks now spread like wildfire and no longer require duping compliant journos into doing the distribution.

I still believe they will find a way to get through this, there is just too much to lose if they don’t. I mean a golf match with two aging pros and two NFL QBs just pulled a 5.8 rating. Any sport that doesn’t sense the hunger and move mountains to take a slice probably doesn’t deserve to expect jumping back in next year. That said, I’m anxiously awaiting the eye of the storm. The quiet sanctity of real negotiation when the leaky faucet is finally turned down to at least a drip. Each side has been beaten up enough, time to start healing.

5 Thoughts At 5…AM

Sometimes we are all stuck up late or waking up early thinking about baseball because we are fans. These are the things that are on my mind right now, which lead to more questions than answers.

1) If the NL and AL teams are pretty much split up, why is the universal DH still a thing? To save pitchers? There are only 82 games and you have a “taxi squad”? Who does this benefit? The players of course, who want it as part of a compromise.

2) Posturing. That is all each side is doing, especially the owners. Do you really want a season this year? I think the do. There is too much money to lose.

3) Hey MLBPA, stop pretending you represent all players! You never have! Are you more in the right now? Yes! Have you protected cheaters (Steroids, Astros, Etc.) and made sure the top players get theirs, while others struggle and totally forget the MiLB players exist? Yes! You are not innocent!

4) The Media is the worst right now! Everyone has an agenda! If I am a professional baseball writer, the owners are my best friends because they will help me keep my job, so they are in the right and the players are unreasonable! If I just want a story I will play every angle and use everyone along the way, mostly for click bait.

5) If baseball comes back this season it won’t be because America needs it to. It will be because of the almighty dollar. Could it help us? Yes! However, don’t think we are involved in this equation whatsoever!

This is everything that has been on my my mind recently as each side has tried tried to play the victim in the court of public opinion. Ultimately I believe that each side should present their case based on the all the information gathered, either in support of or against their cause. In the end each side will win or lose to a degree, but more than likely more people will be left wanting and waiting for a baseball season that may never happen.

The Very Future of Baseball is Not Considered

Yesterday, news broke that the Oakland A’s had decided they will not continue to pay MiLB players after May 31st. I don’t know who exactly broke the story but I read about it here from Stephanie Apstein at SI.

Much of what I’ve seen since has been the expected excoriation of the A’s and I completely understand that thinking. Some have even done the math showing paying them the $400.00 bucks a week they were receiving would only cost the organization roughly 1 million dollars. Then came the abundance of “Billionaire, won’t spend XX to do the right thing” or “Hey, why should they be paid to do nothing”.

Look, I’m not here to say anyone SHOULD do anything, it isn’t my money and I’m about 99% positive the A’s won’t be the only one. Unless MLB steps in to say all teams must continue with these payments it will be the same slow-motion landslide that paying administrative employees and in-stadium staff was.

It’s a bad look to say the least and I’m sure it wasn’t done without some kind of conversation with league officials. If not, the A’s have really picked a terrible thing to trailblaze on, I can’t see this being met with the same enthusiasm as Moneyball, which is horribly ironic.

I’m much more concerned with the future of baseball. Not that I don’t care about MiLB players being left in the cold, I do feel for them and have been pretty vocal about the fact they were scarcely considered in any negotiations regarding restarting MLB. I’ve dumbed it down to “screwed”, and I still find it an accurate description of what has gone on here. This is just the latest opportunity to show them how little they matter to the parent organization and the ramifications could be dire.

Last year we saw Kyler Murray choose a career in the NFL as opposed to MLB. This was before all the faceplants of this godforsaken extended off-season and even at the time he was wise beyond his years. Now, Kyler is a special athlete, one who could quite literally play any number of sports and no doubt experience success. He’s also a sorely missed component in the game, a young black man. If Bobby Bonilla were starting his career today, is there any way he chooses baseball?

Specialization of sports at the high school level is a fairly new predicament. It used to be typical for some to play 2,3, even 4 sports as athletic ability at that age translates well to other sports, today it’s rather becoming a rarity to see a kid play more than 1 let alone 4. Now, if you’re a top tier athlete do you look at baseball? Sure, love of the game will be very real for some and we’ll still have people choose the sport, but we don’t base long term health on outliers, we base it on the masses.

Chiding the minor league players seems harmless to many who don’t really see the game beyond the major league roster. And make no mistake, that’s most fans realistically speaking. I’m not here to shame anyone for that, I’m a huge hockey fan too and I could maybe name 5 players in the minor league system for the Penguins and have no clue how or even if they’re being paid right now, I get it.

Here’s the thing though, the players today who seem so greedy as I hear constantly, went through much of what happens today. In other words, when they finally get what they have been working toward, a big contract, it is the culmination of 10 to 15 years of faith. They’ve probably had family members openly question if they should give up and get a “real” job, they’ve in some cases started a family, a family they aren’t quite sure how to provide for yet. No, I’m not talking about Bryce Harper or Gerrit Cole, but Kolten Wong, or Jose Osuna.

Put another way, most of the players that constitute the membership of the union have all been through the ringer on the way to MLB, now why again should we expect them to have a soft spot for the owners?

The path to getting paid in MLB is quite literally a gauntlet, just as I’m sure amassing wealth was for many of the owners, but the long term health of the game needs to start with enticing kids to pursue baseball as their chosen path, and the constant shelfing of concern for how MiLB players will survive let alone thrive is at the heart of the issue. On top of this popularity of the sport is at an all time low, and yes before you ask, I was alive in 1994.

I’ve constantly referred to MLB as a coastal sport and it certainly has become apparent over the past couple decades. People often confuse the overall revenue figures (at least the figures we get reported to us) with a league that is doing just fine and as an overall entity, yeah, MLB is rich. Attendance, not so much. Ratings, again, not so much. Youth participation, you guessed it, not so much.

Baseball already had a problem getting kids interested and they’ve gone into overdrive adding to it, here are a few fairly recent self-inflicted wounds.

  • Athletics announce ending of payments for MiLB players
  • Shortened draft with signing bonus restructure will send players running for college

MiLB is represented by only an advocacy group rather than a union, and only players on the 40-man roster are represented by the MLBPA. Here is a quote from the Advocates for Minor Leagues directed to MLB as they decipher how or if they will pay the players at all beyond the initial stipend “You and your teams are better positioned to absorb the impact of this cost than the Minor League players. Paying the salaries of the Minor League players will likely cost each MLB team less than $300,000 per month. We hope that the MLB teams can use some of their record profits from last year to continue to invest in players this year. After all, they are your employees, and they are the future face of this game.”

Can you imagine being a professional yet your very ability to stay afloat is reliant on little more than a charity? If you’ve listened to the podcast lately you heard Craig Toth talk about tossing his hat into the “Adopt a Minor Leaguer” program. I applaud him for doing it, really, it’s truly putting your money where your mouth is, but it’s disgusting anyone felt the need to create a program such as this.

Part of me does desperately feel terrible for the plight of minor league players, truly, but a larger part recognizes first and foremost creating a damn near guaranteed 4 or 5 year beat down where some days are spent worrying more about what you’re going to eat instead of what’s wrong with your delivery or swing is a foolish way to entice players to want in, let alone actually achieve the stated goal of developing talent.

Know what, I’d have a chip on my shoulder by the time I made it too. I wouldn’t give you one red cent back willingly, and I’d probably have a hard time shedding a tear because you might for the first time in countless years not make money.

When I really think about this whole situation one thing is clear, MLB is its own worst enemy. They’ll have the convenience of blaming a virus right now, but rest assured the disease killing baseball started long before COVID-19 reared its ugly head.

The Pittsburgh Pirates Top 5 Managers of All Time

In times like these these, both off and hopefully on the field at some point, we need strong leaders to get us through. Now everyone who knows me is aware that I don’t talk politics, at least I try to avoid the topic, so I am not going down that rabbit hole. I also don’t feel the need at this moment to address the MLB and MLBPA negotiations, as we all have our feelings on this situation and it is not my goal to change anyone’s mind. With Monday having been Memorial Day I choose to look inwards, reflect on the past, focus on the positive, hope for the future and as always thank the men and women of our military who have given the ultimate sacrifice to protect all that we and they hold dear.

All of this introspection and rumination made me start to look back on all of the Pittsburgh Pirates managers I have observed over the years and the ones that came before them. I also began to think about the type of manager Derek Shelton will be, but that discussion is meant for another day. For now I would stick to examining the list of the previous 45 Pirates mangers, behind the scenes of course, in order to provide all of you out there with the Top 5 of All Time, which was a lot harder that you might imagine since I have actually only seen one or two of greats in action.

5) Bill McKechnie

For any of you that have been to Pirates Spring Training game or a Bradenton Marauders home contest, the name McKechnie should sound pretty familiar, as the field was named after him before becoming LECOM Park in 2017. Born in Wilkinsburg, he became a Pirates player to start his career and got his first shot in MLB as a manager in Pittsburgh; a position he held from 1922-1926, bringing a World Series to the city in 1925. After a dispute between his players and management in 1926, 3 veteran players were removed from the team, ultimately costing the team the season and McKechnie his job. In 5 seasons as manager he posted a record of 409-293.

4) Chuck Tanner

The New Castle native returned to Western PA in the off-season prior to the 1977 season having been part of the trade that sent Manny Sanguillen to the Oakland A’s. Within 3 years he would bring a World Series back to Pittsburgh, their last one to date, as the leader of the 1979 “We Are Family” Pirates. Unfortunately for Tanner he would not experience the same level of success, eventually being fired after a 104 loss season in 1985. He finished his time with the Pirates career with an overall record of 711-685.

3) Jim Leyland

I am partial to Leyland because he the manager of my childhood, but there is no denying that he is one of the Pirates all-time greats. With a career record of 851-863 in Pittsburgh, he is the only on this list who fell under .500. However, with three straight NLCS appearances (1990-1993), as well as two Manager of the Year Awards (1990 and 1992), he deserves to be on this list just as much as the men ahead and behind him.

2) Fred Clarke

Clarke was the manager for the Pirates from 1900 to 1915, along with being a player for all but one of those years. As the leader of the club both off and on the field, he led Pittsburgh to their first World Series victory in 1909 and four of their nine pennants in the team’s history. He hit .299, while helping his team to a 1422-969 record, both records for the Pirates, as is his .595 winning percentage. It also be discussed that it is possible that Clarke was possibly responsible, at least partially for the Pirates World Series victory under McKechnie in 1925, due to the fact that he was an honorary bench coach and McKechnie’s right hand man.

1) Danny Murtaugh

Murtaugh had four separate tenure with Pirates from 1957 to 1976, leading the Pirates to two World Series victories; most famously in 1960 over the heavily favored New York Yankees. During his time with the Pirates he compiled 1115 wins and 950 losses, both good for second all time behind Clarke. It should also be noted that on September 1, 1971, Murtaugh was the first manager in major league history to field a starting lineup consisting of nine black players.

With 45 Managers in their history, there were some tough decisions concerning the managers that had to be left of this list, as well as the eventual order of the Top 5. However, that is half of the fun of writing articles like these. The other half comes from the discussion with all of you that always follows.

Baseball Was Imperfect Perfection

There are times when I wonder what baseball could look like if not for one event. One egregious error, a terrible call that would instantly become a stain on baseball and set in motion an effort to take all human error and grey areas out of the game.

I’m referring to Armando Galarraga’s perfect game that never was. There he was, pitching for the Detroit Tigers against the Cleveland Indians and after retiring the first 26 men he faced, then Jason Donald stepped to the plate and hit a weak ground ball. The play was close at first, but he was obviously out, for a half second celebration looked primed to erupt when Jim Joyce, veteran umpire with almost four decades of distinguished work under his belt raised his arms and called him safe.

After the game, and after seeing the replay, a tearful Joyce would apologize profusely to Galarraga. The next day, Jim Leyland, Tigers coach at the time knowing that Joyce would be the Home Plate ump asked Armando to deliver the lineup card. Three men, all did the best they could to move past a terrible situation and show they could find a way to unite in the imperfect perfection of baseball.

I heard Dan Zangrilli talking about this on 93.7 The Fan over the weekend and it really brought home the downward slide replay has wrought since that fateful day in 2010.

Baseball had already succumbed to instant replay review in 2008, they stuck their toe in the water. Replay at the time could only be initiated by the crew chief and only for fan interference or homerun that were not called homerun on the field but might have been.

In 2014 the current replay system was implemented. None of this was done with bad intentions, but let’s look at what it has brought about in the interest of fairness and getting it right.

  • Stealing a base is now akin to sticking the landing in gymnastics because you no longer have to just beat the throw, now you have to end the slide with precision Simon Biles would envy.
  • Every close play at first is now met with “wonder if this will get reviewed” as opposed to cheers and gasps.

Now, does this mean I wouldn’t have liked to see the umps get it right when Spanky clearly tagged Sid? Of course not. But the spontaneity is half the joy in sports. The human element, aka the imperfection of sports is itself part of the game.

The replay train won’t stop, there is always something else that could be reviewed. Here’s one, how about allowing a review to catch a pitcher with a balk? Get it right after all. I bet there are a handful of pitchers who if called by the letter of the law balk 10 times a game.

Robo umps, which we may very well get to see this season sound wonderful on the surface but let’s play this out a bit. The best hitters in the world understand the strike zone so well they can take a pitch two inches off the corner on a 3-2 count. Partially because they can get the call from the ump who trusts their veteran eye almost as much as their own, and partially because they know they can’t do anything with the pitch. Now imagine two years of robo umps have played out already, the hitters who used to swing at those pitches 2 inches off the plate now easily let them go. There is no unknown as taking that pitch becomes muscle memory. No fallible umpire is going to give that call to Clayton Kershaw. Over time the strike zone consistency forces more pitchers to leave balls in the zone and the hitters have more incentive to sit middle-middle in all counts. Sure, hitters will still chase a slider 6 inches off the plate, of course batters will still take a hack at a curveball in the dirt, but the good ones will adapt and learn. Walk totals will skyrocket if hits don’t beat them to the punch.

If it benefits the offense, hey no harm no foul right Rob? If somehow it benefits the Pitching, we’ll hear arguments to augment the strike zone. But it will be right. 100% accurate.

The charm of the game of baseball is in its very imperfection. A player who fails 60% of the time to get a hit is a god. 70% a mere Hall of Famer. Umpires have never been given that much room for error, nor should they, but somehow, we have decided every event in the game must be fact checked and up for question before fans even have a moment to react.

You’ve all heard of the 3 true outcomes, right? Homerun, Strikeout or Walk, now I don’t really think that’s accurate, but we could very well be approaching a time when none of those three are entirely debate free.

Baseball history sheds a tear every time one of these new edicts comes down. I shudder to think how many times Ricky Henderson slid past the bag at second. I wonder how bad Greg Maddox would have been if he didn’t consistently establish and get calls on the fastball two inches outside. Maybe I’m weird but I think about these things more than whether Sid was out.

As Dan Zangrilli said yesterday on his show, what happens on a baseball field teaches us lessons that directly apply to life. There have been calls recently by Galarraga and seconded by Joyce to go back in history and give him credit for the perfect game. I agree with Dan completely, this is a big no. This is a lesson that nobody is perfect, but everyone involved rose above it and found a way to forgive and move on. While he doesn’t get to be in the record book as having tossed a perfect game, he does get to be the guy who said and did everything right in the face of adversity.

Sanitizing history doesn’t work, it simply breeds ignorance. If you don’t document mistakes, how can you learn from them?

I’ll always remember that night in 2010 as the perfect game that should have been. I’ll also remember it as the beginning of the drum beat that still rings on to eliminate human error from a game that itself is built upon the premise.

When changes like this come to baseball, I hope all the ramifications are played out and people realize a bit of error is part of the charm. Be careful what you wish for folks, you just might get it.

Join Us Live for Bucs in the Basement – Every Monday at 9:00 PM on PodBean

When we write about baseball we like to keep things in the realm of realism. You know, we won’t suggest the Pirates trade Colin Moran for Mookie Betts, because we know that won’t happen and its a waste of energy and for some who believe everything they read a beacon of false hope.

These times have created some opportunities though, one of them is really having some fun with a completely virtual version of your Pittsburgh Pirates using MLB The Show 2020.

We can do anything we want to the team and the guys have already made some moves the real world would never allow. They have signed Yasiel Puig and Scooter Gennett, played Bryan Reynolds at CF and in general navigated the over and under hyping of players that The Show always does.

Kevin Newman sitting on 4 homeruns through two weeks of play isn’t the most ridiculous thing that’s happened if you want to know how crazy its gotten. Mitch Keller thus far is quite possibly the worst pitcher in the league.

One of the arbitrary rules put in place by our fake commissioner and GM by the way which must violate some virtual CBA somewhere, Chris has decided the Pirates can make trades but only those suggested by the simulation.

Well, it happened, and he jumped all over it. Miguel Sano was acquired from the Twins for Derek Holland, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Gregory Polanco.

Hey if you don’t like it you should have called in and stopped it. The dude is reckless! That said he quite literally only cares about 2020. Fake 2020, but at least we can go to stores and stuff virtually!

This Monday night we will be calling our “game of the week”, with the Virtual Bucs in the Basement Pirates sitting at 26-26, currently 5 games out of the NL Central and looking to win the 4 game series against the San Francisco Giants. Remember in game moves are very much so up for debate, so call in or give us your thoughts in the live chat. With some of the moves being made, it’s fair to say you’re our only hope.

See you there!

Bucs In The Basement LIVE!