Baseball

Ever since I can remember, I have been a fan of baseball. I cried when Tony Pena was traded. I probably cried when Johnny Ray was traded, too.

Looking back at old baseball cards a while back, I saw lots of names I had never seen or recalled. They had terrible numbers, yet became immortalized on a card. I found myself wondering, why did the suck so bad if they were good enough for the majors.

Chad Hermansen comes to mind. He never panned out. He got to the majors and never did much beyond strike out a lot. He lost the mojo or something once he got sent back to AAA.

Adam Hyzdu wasn't hateful but he didn't have much of a career.

Regardless, baseball is a team sport with a lot of individual players that aren't at all alike. The variables for baseball stats to be relevant beyond traditional stats was made into movie, right?

I personally believe most managers are irrational. Jim Leyland was a genius in his day, yet had Jay Bell lay down a sac bunt regularly in the 1st inning ahead of Andy Van Slyke. The same line-up had Barry Bonds batting 5th, being protected by Sid Bream.

I believe pitching is overrated. Having a script to get to closer is flawed if you rely upon a guy who could get injured in the wink of an eye.

I heard that Kevin Cash had a reliever start a couple games in a series. Novel idea, but very practical considering starting pitchers are expensive and only pitch once or twice a week.

I love the NL. Pitchers who can hit amaze me. Position players who can mop up by pitching humor me.

Data exists that running the numbers for best matchups for each game of each opponent can be done without having the regular 8 penciled day in and day out.

I dream of the day a pitching staff has 8-9 pitchers who all log 162 innings for the season while each position has a left and right handed hitting variable to insert into the lineup.

Fielding, speed, bunting for base hits and pinch hitting abilities would dictate line-ups beyond the opposing pitcher's particular dexterity.

Some hitters are good fast ball hitters. Some feed on offspeed pitches.

So many ball games are decided by a few runs or less... I believe managers cause more losses from mistakes than the stats reveal.

I dream of a expansion team drafting from subpar players who have various skillsets that mesh into a winning team concept. No fanbase wants their team to be blownup and be used as theoretical enterprise employing nobodies....