 |
| |
|
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Derby love Homer-hitting contests and baseball fans make odd couplePosted: Monday July 14, 2003 11:56 AMUpdated: Monday July 14, 2003 7:18 PM
CHICAGO -- As bad as baseball's All-Star Game finally turned out to be last year, its Home Run Derby, held in front of a packed house the night before the really big show, enjoyed its highest television ratings ever. Which just goes to show you that some people can never get enough of bombastic, hyperventilating announcers, bulked-up millionaires and a completely and shamelessly manufactured sporting event. Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby, sponsored by somebody or other whom I am not compelled to mention here, no matter how many millions this particular real estate company shells out, takes over the public sporting consciousness again Monday night, like it or not. It's a funny thing, this Derby. We love it, evidently. Last season, it was a huge hit on ESPN, with an average of about 7.7 million people tuning in to see Sammy Sosa and Jason Giambi go at it. At the same time, there are lots and lots of people who want to knock it every chance they get. Especially this year.
You have to figure that's probably for the better, after that whole corked bat thing. Barry Bonds, who made the NL team as a starting outfielder, won't participate in the Derby either. His reason? He doesn't want to. Wanna make something of it? So that leaves Giambi, the likeable Yankees slugger and last year's champion, to battle it out with St. Louis' Albert Pujols and his teammate, Jim Edmonds, American League slugger Carlos Delgado and a few other guys. It's not exactly the stuff legendary home-run hitting matchups, or good TV ratings, are made of. But it will have to do. The biggest knock against the Derby, though, is not against who is in it this year, or not in it, as much as it is against the whole idea of the Derby itself. And, truthfully, that's when the critics hit closest to the heart of the matter. Let's face it. Glorifying something in a game that makes a point of prizing its subtleties is a little on the strange side. It's like handing the librarian a megaphone. It's like painting the Mona Lisa on the side of a skyscraper. It's like putting hot sauce on a French pastry. There is nothing subtle, or charming, about a bunch of musclemen teeing off on batting practice fastballs. Finesse has nothing to do with this. They don't let finesse in this ballpark. But that, like it or not, is the Home Run Derby. And fans, judging by last year's TV ratings, continue to eat it up. It's a bit of a mystery, really. Maybe this is the year we start yawning, considering the lack of star power in the field. Maybe this is the year we start tiring of all the moonshots, all the big swings, all the countless balls sailing endlessly into the stands. For sure, the hyperventilating announcers outlived their usefulness a couple of years ago. Maybe this is the year that the Home Run Derby starts to slip, like the All-Star Game itself, which last year had the lowest ratings of any All-Star Game since Nielsen started tracking viewers back in 1968. If that happens, expect the critics to light their torches and sharpen their scythes and call for the Derby's death. There are a lot of anti-Derby folks out there. Nielsen just doesn't count them. And if the ratings fall this season, for whatever reason, we can only hope that somebody keeps Bud Selig from trying to fix things.
• Hey, if Randy Johnson doesn't make it back full strength, or Curt Schilling continues to throw like he did the other night, Bob Brenly oughta pencil himself into the starting rotation. Nice arm, eh? • On the trade front: Armando Benitez to the Giants, Juan Gonzalez to the Yankees, Rafael Palmeiro to the Dodgers and Carlos Beltran to the Braves. OK, I made that last one up. But who would know? • Ken Macha's due a haircut, now that his A's have won five in a row. Please, Ken, stay away from Piniella's stylist. • If Albert Pujols stands around and watches one of his homers in Monday's Home Run Derby, should his hand-picked pitcher plunk him?
This week, comments on the All-Star Game, the international flavor of the game and -- I'm stepping up to take my medicine here -- the Phillies as a first-half disappointment. Hoo boy, did I hear about that one … Twins and White Sox? I'm with you. Phillies!?! Disappointing a bit to be sure, but let's take a look. Biggest disappointment with the Phillies is no question Pat Burrell. He looks clueless almost every game this season. Almost as big a disappointment -- the Phillies' inability to play fundamental baseball: lay down a sacrifice, move runners along by hitting the opposite way, or (God forbid) steal a base. In other words, they are bad at everything Larry Bowa was good at as a player. Despite all of this, they are winning. Why? Pitching, defense and the bats look like they may finally be coming around (Burrell and Bell aside). Who would have thought the Phils would have the starting and relief pitching they have gotten this season? Not me. So, as a Phillies fan, am I happy about where they are? No, I had hoped they would be closer to Atlanta at this point of the season. But after a decade of hideous baseball (actually, two decades with one freakish season thrown in), do I view this season as a disappointment? Not yet. -- Joe Erhardt, Sellersville, Pa. Joe, your points are all well taken, and thanks for going easy on me. Not everyone did. I agree with you completely on the Twins, somewhat on the White Sox and not really at all on the Phillies. They are only one game back of the Diamondbacks (who have been playing way above their heads, with up to 10 rookies contributing). How does this mean "they have almost no chance?" Yes, you said that in the context of the NL East, but the wild card is a perfectly valid way (as long as Bud is in charge) of getting into the playoffs. The Phillies have not played all that well of late, but they have not been a complete disappointment in the manner of the Twins. The Phillies are trying to catch the Braves, a team that has won its division for the last 500 years (it seems). They have just gone through a bad patch, but to label them a disappointment is short-sighted. If they tank for the rest of the year, and don't provide a good race for the wild card, then we can call them underachievers. But let's wait a bit. No, I'm not a Phillies fan. I could not care less about them, other than I like some of their players and can't stand Bowa. -- Matthew Davidson I'll explain more on my thinking in a bit, but the e-mails start to get a little more venomous from here on. Still waiting for an explanation of your addition of the Phillies in your "Stooges" category. I think you missed the boat. A public mea culpa will be fine. Just set the record straight for all of us in an upcoming article. -- Jim Prendergast, Wilmington, Del. Wait, wait … What do you want from the Phillies? They are on a pace to win 90 games, and are one game behind Arizona in the wild-card race. You can't punish them for being in the same division as the Braves, who own the best record in baseball. Lay off the Phillies, will ya? -- Rob Hastings, Berwyn, Pa. They're coming … How can a team that's tied for the wild card, and 11 games over .500 be considered one of the three biggest disappointments of the year? As a fan, I consider this a year of great progress. I would think you were from Philly with such a negative attitude. Yes, they need to start hitting, but who would have ever thought a Phillies team would have the second best ERA in the NL? You, sir, are an IDIOT; I can't believe they pay you for this garbage. -- Jason Foultz Ouch. That one connected. I'll agree that Burrell and Bell have been a disappointment, but as a team, I think you've been sniffing Wite-Out too much. -- Greg Otterson, Houston All right. I labeled the Phillies a disappointment largely because they had fallen out of the race for the National League East (how quickly everyone jumps onto the wild-card lifeboat these days) and they were coming off a terrible series against the Marlins. Of course, just to make me look like I was sniffing office products and stealing from my employer, the Phils go off on a great streak to end the first half. Other than Burrell and Bell and maybe a couple of others, they are playing well and have been for a couple of weeks now. At least. So, slap my hand and call me names. I knew I would take some grief for this, but considering all that offseason maneuvering -- Thome, Bell, all of that -- there were a lot of people, not just me, who expected more. Like an NL East pennant, or at least to be closer to the Braves. Still, I cry "uncle" already, OK? Back off. You're hurting me. It's funny what a difference a couple of good weeks makes. I'm still not sure the Phils can catch the Braves, but it's possible. Atlanta is far from invincible. If the Phillies can avoid those lapses like they had against Florida, I may really have some tap-dancing to do at season's end. As a native of Minnesota, I want to thank you for your comments. In all reality you were perhaps a bit too nice in your description of the Twins' current situation. They really do suck the big one right now. Hopefully a few of the players will read your article, but I sort of doubt those boys are reading too much press these days. I know I wouldn't be. -- Herman Allmaras, Chico, Calif. Yeah, I didn't get a whole lot of complaints from Minnesota when I called the Twins underachievers. I did not see the video, but from what I heard and read this was not an accident. Who is this jerk that thinks it is okay to swing a bat at anybody? Reggie Sanders' comment about the costumes being "top heavy" made the incident "look worse than it really was" is ludicrous. Simon swings a bat at a 19-year old woman and the costume is the bad part. If I had anything to do with the Pirates' organization, Simon is off the team -- shred the contract -- and Reggie Sanders is getting disciplined. It should never be OK for this to happen. Period. You guys who cover these overpaid punks should be coming down on and exposing this behavior for what it is -- criminal. Think about it. What if it's your daughter, your sister, your girlfriend who this guy takes a swing at? Is it macho dugout stuff? No joke. Simon's actions cannot be tolerated or overlooked. -- Jorgen Well, Jorgen, I know there are lots of people out there who think like you. I respect that. But I happen to think this whole thing is overblown. Here's another viewpoint … I wish the media would not try and vilify the Pirates player for taking a swing at the Brewers mascot. Since I was a kid in Philadelphia growing up, mascots and opposing team players have always engaged in pretend battles for the fan's enjoyment. Anyone who thinks the Pirates player did anything but that is CRAZY. If he wanted to take out the mascot, he could have mustered up a stronger swing and came at the Hot Dog from the front. Fact is, point blank, it was NOT intended to knock the mascot over. Maybe it was a bad joke or one that went over poorly, but that is it. Surely it is not assault. He's already paid for it in my opinion. People who think he was wrong are probably pretty boring people in their own right with nothing better to do than make big deals out of NOTHING. Please do not add to media backlash this guy is enduring. I do not want to live in a society where people are afraid to joke around and at least try to have fun. Hearing people make a big deal of this gets under my skin a little, if you couldn't tell. -- Tom Parker Tom, I agree with you. If the powers at MLB had any sense of humor at all -- yeah, like that's gonna happen, ever -- they would have punished Simon by putting him in the Italian sausage suit and making him run a few races in front of the Brewers' fans. Maybe give some of them whiffle bats. Instead, MLB overreacted by suspending him. Look, Simon wasn't thinking. Obviously. Total knucklehead on this. Absolute brain freeze. But there was no intent to hurt anyone. He was just goofing around. The only person in the whole mess who had any sense of humor about it at all was the young woman in the costume. The whole thing is just too ridiculous to go on. So I won't. Greetings from the country of Finland. I am an Énglish teacher here, and recently at a conference I met an American colleague and started talking baseball. To make a long story short, I found out that he manages a team in an adult league here, and he agreed to let my 17-year old son play for his team. In addition, I later learned he manages the Finnish national team -- yes, they have one! My son and I ordered some equipment from the Netherlands and started throwing and hitting at a local playground. So, keep an eye out for Finnish players showing up over there one day! -- Tim Fowler I'll do it, Tim. Think you guys could use a Canadian team looking for a home? John, I agree, everyone needs to appreciate the All-Star Game for what it is, a mere exhibition. I think the voting process was great this year. There was nothing to complain about as far as the NL goes. As far as the AL is concerned, Frank Thomas is not an All-Star. He can't play defense or run anymore. As for the Rocket, I think a lot of fans want to see him hit Piazza again, but Piazza isn't there so why should Clemens be? Switching topics now, I am a big Braves fan, but moreso a baseball fan, I root for a lot of different guys. I am a smart baseball fan, I know all the stats but don't draw conclusions solely based on numbers. I go to games and watch closely. I watch BP and pay special attention to situational base running and hitting. Albert Pujols is not all that the media is making him out to be. There is no way he can be compared to Bonds. Bonds has kept himself healthy for 15 years and plays in a pitcher's park. Pujols is arguably surrounded by the game's best offense. Bonds is a five-tool guy and has been his whole career. Pujols has had offensive successes for 2 1/2 years. More so than ever, the media needs to take a closer look at the game and refine the finished product. -- Mark, Walla Walla, Wash. I'd bristle if I were Bonds, too, against people trying to proclaim Pujols the next great player. Let's give him a few years. But you have to admit, Mark, he looks pretty good so far, eh? Maybe not the next Bonds, but pretty good. John, am I the only one around who thinks they should actually keep the rule that says every team must be represented in the All-Star Game? If I were a fan of a lowly team like Detroit or Tampa Bay, knowing that someone from my team might play would be greater incentive for me to watch. Yes, people complain that someone who deserves to go is going to be left off the team, but I have news for them: It's going to happen, anyway. -- Ray Kim, Clifton Park, N.Y. Ray, I like the idea, too. The problem, quite simply, is that Major League Baseball has no idea what it wants its All-Star Game to be. If it's meant to be something meaningful, with home-field advantage in the World Series attached to it -- "This Time it Counts" and all that -- then how can you let in lesser players? It doesn't make sense that guys who might not otherwise be All-Stars should be allowed to play in a game that decides something that is, supposedly, so important. You'd want the absolute best you can get to decide that, wouldn't you? If it's meant to be an exhibition, then let every team have a representative. Play the game hard, manage to win, but let it be what it is -- an exhibition. If you try to have it both ways, everything gets muddled and you end up with Lance Carter, All-Star. John Donovan is a senior writer for SI.com.
Comments? To e-mail Donovan, click here.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Let's not get into the whole Dusty Baker thing again, shall we? It gives me heatstroke. Here's the thing: The Pitch doesn't object to what Baker had to say as much as the fact that he said it at all. Race is a touchy subject. Don't people get that? So this word goes out to all athletes and coaches. Don't go off the cuff or off the top of your head when it comes to topics such as these. Think about what you're saying. Think about the ramifications of saying it. If you want to proceed, proceed. But know that you're setting yourself up for a world of grief.
"The home-field advantage in baseball, to me, I don't understand. I had to play as well on the road as I did at home."
