SINCE WHEN IS IT OK TO NOT HUSTLE?

I'm convinced that the winner of this World Series is going to be the team that hustles the most and Friday night's game solidified that notion for me, specifically in the bottom of the 7th inning.  That's when Jorge Soler's lackadaisical jaunt to first base, after he sliced a ball into the right field corner, made me lose faith in Generation M.  I believe, and I am not alone, that his slow motion exit from the batter's box toward first kept the Chicago Cubs from tying the game at one in the bottom of the 7th.

This may be the only time Joe Buck and I could agree on something.  I texted my faithful baseball compadre, my mother, in anger, "That should have been an inside-the-park home run.  He didn't hustle down the line.  He watched the ball.  Terrible!"  He got to third, and the at bat was officially scored a triple.  But he was stranded, just like all of the other Cubs that evening.  If he had hustled, we may have had a different outcome.

Fearless Cubs Manager Joe Maddon doesn't agree with me or other members of the media and I am shocked.  In his press conference, Maddon said this about the incident as reported by NBC Chicago.  “What happens sometimes, you’ll see a guy hit a ball and their head is down they don’t even know where it is,” he said. “When he saw it, from our perspective, it was in the stands and it kind of blew back. I’m not making excuses for him but the best he could do was get to third base, anyway.”

 Really, Joe?  I was taught, by another guy ironically named Joe (my father) that you don't watch the ball after you make contact.  You take off as soon as you hit the ball and ask your coach where you hit it later on.

According to NBC Chicago, "Soler, thinking the ball was going to be foul, got a slow break out of the batter’s box, but by the time he realized the ball was going to be fair, he started sprinting and ended up on third base on the play." And to my point, had he taken off from the start, I believe he would have tied the game with one swing of the bat.  He knows Wrigley Field has very little foul territory. He's a Cub and this is his home field.  No excuse!

With every play under scrutiny between instant replay and errors and low scores, the team that hustles the most will win.  You have to be gritty, you have to persevere and you have to take every advantage that comes your way, in baseball and in life.  Since when is it OK not to hustle? 

Since never.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
BYB Hot Stove Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof

THE FOUL BALLS OF LIFE HAVE A STORY TO TELL

There's no mystery that I am not a fan of Joe Buck.  As he called the Cubs-Dodgers game on Saturday night, Buck enlightened us that when a player slices a ball foul in Wrigley Field, watch out. Really, Joe?  Thanks.

I thought we should all just turn the other way.  All kidding aside, Buck says this dangerous situation is because the seats are so close together in that particular ball park.  I sat in Wrigley and did not experience that feeling but what do I know.  I do know that foul balls have a story to tell and when you reflect on these near misses, you learn something.

Saturday afternoon gave me the opportunity to watch my close to 19-year-old son, Chris, a sophomore at Syracuse University, start as catcher against Penn State in a three game series.  As a baseball mom, I am used to running out into foul territory to lasso up balls to re-use in the game.

After all, baseballs aren't cheap and the home team is responsible for supplying the game balls.  My son laughed as I ran out to grab a good many of them in the game on Saturday but in some ways, he and I were both reminiscing about his days in Little League and Babe Ruth.  It was those many days that brought him to be the player he is, contributing with his bat and glove in the win against Penn State.

Later on, there was his near miss, a foul ball in right field that would have started up a rally in the late innings.  "I thought it was going to be a fair ball," I said to him.  "Nah, it was pulling foul the whole time," he responded.  Maybe, he's right, but I remember always hoping, criss-crossing fingers, arms and legs, that he would get THAT hit.  You know the one that scored the walk-off or go ahead run. That, You're on the Mark Teixeira, key hit.  We can all relate, even if it's just from our living rooms. But then that blast slices foul and our hopes dim with the umpire's hand signaling away from fair territory.

Then there is the pop up foul that the catcher fields that gives the defending team a free out, as I like to call it.  When my son jumped up and threw off his mask today, my fingers and toes were crossed again, hoping he would make the play.  And when he does and it ends the inning and the chances of the opposing team from scoring a run, the story has a happy ending for the catcher but not for the batter.

The foul ball always has a story to tell.  Is it safety net for the extra base hit or the dream killer for the walk-off home run?  Is it the game ending pop up or the dive into the seats heroic catch?  The foul ball brings drama to an already dramatic game and it brings back memories of what could have been or perhaps, should have been.

I guess I can thank Joe Buck and even my mom who sat in foul territory watching the Syracuse game with me Saturday, for reminding me that foul balls not only intensify the game of baseball but allow fans and players alike to reflect on them.  Whether you think you just have to straighten your swing to will that line drive into fair territory or hustle harder down the line to make an incredible catch, the foul balls of life have a story to tell you.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
BYB Hot Stove Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof

CALL THE GAME FAIR OR GET OFF THE AIR!

Of course, as a Yankee fan, we all love it when the Bombers make the post season.  I mean it’s exciting for God’s sake.  But, what I can’t stand is when the national announcers take cheap shots at the Yankees for all the world to hear on network television. At least, as Yankee fans, that's how we hear it.  I was awakened by this notion while watching ABC’s coverage of the USC vs. Notre Dame game.  Brent Musburger made a ridiculous comment two plays into the very first Irish possession.  He said, “The Irish are experiencing their first wrinkle of the game.”  Really?  A wrinkle?  They just picked up a first down in three plays, how is that wrinkle for a team that has gone undefeated?!  Then, like a shot deep to left, my brain immediately rushed to my file on Fox Sports Announcer Joe Buck and his blatant lack of respect for the Yankees.  He and his sidekick, Tim McCarver seem to blast into their Yankee digs way before first pitch.

Now, in their defense, no one can call a game like our home team announcers Kay, Ken Singleton, Paul O’Neill, Sterling and Waldman, who know our guys and know our city, but Buck and McCarver could tone it down a bit and stick with the game on the field. 

“One suggestion would be flanking a play-by-play guy with a color commentator who works for each team during the regular season. It would increase the knowledge of the teams and the personalities while balancing out any claims of bias between the two sides,” said reporter Josh Alper in his 2009 article Do Joe Buck and Tim McCarver hate the Yankees? The article takes it a bit further by delving into  Buck’s psyche a bit.  “More often than not, he seems to dislike just about everything about his job which he tends to approach with a smug (or professional, depending on your point of view) detachment that is antithetical to the way die hard fans feel about their favorite teams and sports. A good example is his flat call of David Tyree's unbelievable catch in the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl."

As a graduate of the Boston University’s College of Communication, it was drummed into me in course after course that you must balance passion with objectivity.  Joe Buck must have missed that course, or he buried deep within his archives.  Now, John Sterling may not always get it right, but he certainly has passion for the game.  He makes the game exciting, even if you yell back at him every chance you get.  And Kay keeps it real as well.  They are with the team, and when they get critical, it is not a bashing like certain announcers... are you listening Joe and Tim? “They are with the team all season and want it to win. They all swear their job is easier when things are going well as opposed to watching the Bombers squander a 10-game AL East lead,” as reported by the New York Daily News in early October our our guys (HERE). 

The Wall Street Journal (HERE) recently conducted a 30-team study on television baseball announcer bias. “The conventional wisdom in sports is that TV announcers should strive to call the game straight down the middle. It's a philosophy that's been embraced over the years by most of the famous baseball voices.”  The article went on to state that “by the rules of our study, anyone with a microphone who used a pronoun like "we," "us" or "our" to describe the home team was given a citation. Obscure pet names for players were also flagged: The Detroit Tigers announcers, for instance, referred to backup catcher Gerald Laird as "G-Money." Additional penalties were given for things like excessive moping after miscues or unrestrained glee after big moments. (A Miami Marlins broadcaster marked the end of a lengthy scoreless drought by screaming "Hallelujah!").”

I guess by these rules, long time great Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto’s “Holy Cow!” would be flagged as well and since this was just television announcers and not radio, Sterling and Waldman get a buy.  As for our local television announcers, they placed 26th with the Mets’ announcers Keith Hernandez , Gary Cohen, and Ron Darling placing least biased at 30th .  Number one on the list was White Sox announcer Hawk Harrelson (Read HERE).  He applauded his number one status.  He is a lover of the sport and lover of his team! 

(In Photo: Mel Allen)
Like it or not, baseball announcers are here to stay.  Many of the greats have space in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown. Our very own Mel Allen is there along with Harry Caray and Jack Buck, not to be confused with Joe.  They gave baseball a voice and life and someone to yell back at when things weren’t  going so well.  Today, baseball announcers continue this legacy while bringing humor and excitement into their signature calls.  But, what they should never do is beat up on the local team in such a way that fans feel the insult deep in their own core from their living room.  Those announcers need to take a hard look at their calls and keep it real, fair, or get off the air!

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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