REFLECTING ON 'OPENING DAY' and STATE OF BASEBALLl

REFLECTING ON 'OPENING DAY' and BASEBALL

Even before the pandemic, baseball attendance was in a free fall

Baseball is not what it was.

Take for example just this week... Baseball's never been this  bad where two teams and four umpires could overlook that there were only two outs in an inning, not three, as players left the field . This happened  on March 26th in The game between the San Francisco GIANTS and Oakland A's. Long-time Giants announcer John Miller  said he's never seen this before in his long career 'and hope (he) never will again' . HERE Not one or two But 18 players and four umpires didn't  keep track of the outs and walked off the field  prematurely. It was someone in the media , reportedly, that noticed the miscarriage. Does this reflect a lack of interest or what- by players themselves on the brink of opening day?

 In an effort to improve the game,

'Baseball' HAS MADE IT WORSE. Baseball has greatly altered the  traditional game, changing rules that once gave managers and players more flexibility but not any more, perhaps one reason for the above seemingly indifference. No excuse for not paying better attention but a reflection on the  'new' game.

Then also Reliance on ANALYTICS has now all but removed the human element from the game, giving it a more generic quality. Teams are now almost interchangeable in many ways,  playing that same 'style' of 'computerized' baseball . One noted that the manager hardly matters anymore- also interchangeable. Robot umpires MAY BE next .

Is Nothing sacred anymore? The great game of baseball-' mom, America and apple pie'-  has allowed steroids and cheating to become acceptable, much like we see in much  of society today. It's true that baseball may not be as reflective of the current 'aggressive' society  as football and basketball, but there still was a large base of fans- but much of that base is dwindling due to these new digital ('artificial' if you will) changes and non-common -sense changes. Thought maybe baseball, at least, could be saved from 'wokeness,' if you will- which also includes politics entering baseball, e.g. the great All Star game move from Atlanta for 'racist' reasons later proven false and the result a $100 million loss to Atlabta businesses.

 Now they're greatly altering a proven sport that needed little, if any, changing. No surprise Baseball is losing  a lot of its older ,  traditional fans while not gaining  many  new ones.

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Baseball is losing its old personality-and personalities- which once made it  stand out among sports. 

Today it's more about science, money and gambling than NATURAL competiton and human interest. In addition, 

It is becoming a foreign sport.  we welcome Japanese, Venezuelan and Korean and other foreign players  much at the expense of American kids who are now opting for football and basketball. Blacks were once synonymous with baseball but  Today Less than 6.7% of players are AfroAmericans and the great majority of players are immigrants.   (MLB saw its highest-ever Black representation IN 1981 at 18.7%, according to SABR.)

Maybe the current baseball  'boycott' will make powers that be rethink and bring baseball back to more of it what it once was- but more likely, with so many changes, including those in general society, it may be too late.  

most recent pre-pandemic stats

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BASEBALL IS BACK - GET 'SOLD OUT' GIANTS TICKETS only $10

BASEBALL IS BACK -  GET 'SOLD OUT' GIANTS TICKETS  only $10


- and against the hated Dodgers No. 1 Rival no less!


The San Francisco Giants are trying to bounce back into the World Series.
They've purportedly sold out the past 150+  games but you can -amazingly - get tickets NOW
for this big game and others  for a remarkable price of $10. Click above banner or here, then scroll down one or two offers until you see the banner as above


INSTANT REPLAY BIG NEWS
Baseball season is back.  The big news this season will be   the instant replay that will finally make it into this last bastion of major league sports  after being a big part of football for many years .  Teams awill be  given one option per game to challenge   umpire  calls.  If they get the call reversed in a team's favor, they are allowed a second such challenge.


NO CHANGES IN DRUG TESTING*
The 'bad news' for baseball purists is that there was no tightening of baseball's PED testing
for the new season.  As last year, testing is given as little as one time during a season.
With designer drugs' ability to leave the system quickly and no new advanced tests,
players using such PEDs  will likely continue to skate free and rack up big numbers -
while pulling down escalating salaries.(*The day after this writing MLB did make changes
to baseball drug testing and penalties for convictions, however, from our understanding
these new modifications don't amount to a hill of beans.See updated blog, above

To the best of our knowledge no players were suspended from MLB last season,
after five were suspended the prior season including two San Francisco Giants
Commissioner's office will point to this as evidence that baseball has cleaned up,
but, in fact, nothing in the drug testing has changed  - and we know from the prior
year when the few players WERE caught by simply being stupid and not following
'the plan.' Former steroid lord Victor Conte calls those players ' dumb and dumber
for not getting away with such a beatable test.  The Biogenesis fiasco in Miami was not
a matter of players being caught by drug testing but the commissioner's office paying off
a disgruntled employee of  Tony Bosch  - thereby getting Bosch to name names.
There were some 20 players there who passed baseball's tests in 2012 so we imagine at
probably a lot more around the country who continue to use. Just look at the world series
teams the last three years and you will note aberrations  in players numbers - eg older players
suddenly raising numbers  after down years. We can name names but we won't at this time.
We've been over this many times in these pages.


Much like the world at large, living in an unreal universe of genetically modified food and
supplents we put into our bodies ,  we approach a time when our lives will be fully artificially run by comp uters-robots-drones.Why should people care about some drugs in the system.  Performs lip synch to computer-refined vocal tracks. Why not ball players get a little help, too? 


PLAYERS SALARIES THROUGH THE ROOF
Players are now signing 10 year contracts into their 30s for tens of millions of dollars. Take the most
recent one, Miguel Cabrera of Detroit, signing for just under $300 million for 10 years.
He'll be 42 at the end of that contract and likely in a figurehead position at that point just to fill
out his contract , long after the body gave out. But, who's to say that  a little 'help' might keep a
player going a  few extra years. It worked for Barry Bonds, who played to age 42 with some of
his best years at the end. That's why the players take the drugs - to extend their playing day (with
greater performance) .  Perhaps MLB  is all too aware of this and thereby teams are willing
 to sign players to longer contracts knowing the 'effectiveness'  of such PEDs in not only
improving player performances but extending careers. (But then, there are those players who
suddenly break down as we've seen this season with the Giants and other teams...  Not to say it's cause and effect,


'NO NAME'  A's May Be Stronger Than Higher-Salaried Giants

No longer does money necessarily buy success. Witness last year's Yankees not finishing the playoffs- or the Dodgers for that matter, getting cut down two rungs below the finals, Then
you have a low-salaried team like Oakland, finally playing up to it's 'Money Ball'
reputation, nearly going all the way while their cross-Bay rivals, the San Francisco Giants-
it's team salary $100 million higher than the A's - not even making the playoffs. Perhaps
Giant 'strategy' of over-paying and  keeping players too long is taking it's toll now, as well
as, perhaps , the affects of aging and so-called- magic coming off the bloom.

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The latest San Francisco Giants news, trade rumors, scores, live coverage, free agent updates, power rankings, mock drafts 
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DiMaggio's Ghost is Back in Oakland - A's Play It Old School, Hard Nosed Baseball

Video of As 1st playoff vs Detroit shows strong fan contribution

 A’s Fall Short in First Playoff Game vs. Detroit Despite Fans’ ’10th Man Effort

The Scrappy Oakland A’s were the underdogs in the first American League playoff Game against Detroit  and   Cy Young  Pitcher Max Sherzer.  Their own ace, 40 year old wonder Bartolo Colon was, perhaps affected more by the five day  layoff  after the end of the season and gave up three runs in the first inning. But, after that, the A’s were the winners, scoring the only other runs of the game in the sixth inning  on Yeonis Cespedes’ two run homerun that  put them only one run down. With 48,000 screaming fan exhorting the A’s on almost every pitch one almost expected A’s Magic to happen again as it has so many times during the season. But the top pitcher in the American League and Detroit’s bullpen was just a little more than the A’s could handle; perhaps the layoff and first game jitters could account for part of their weak hitting performance ( only 3 hits on the night for a team with a .295 average against Sherzer; of course, the other side had to contend with the same layoff and jitters though it might have been harder for a 40 year old pitcher and an A’s team of younger players.  The second game on Saturday will truly show what the A’s have in them, if they can bounce back – but it won’t be easy with another top pitcher, Verlander , going against them.  
But, this game has to go down as one of the more exciting games for the home fans, despite the loss. As a   fan next to me said, the enthusiastic A’s fan base may have gotten Cespedes’ juices going to hit the big home run that brought the A’s back to within one run.  But one player’s performance a game does not make – Cepedes had two of the three hits – and the A’s needed fewer strikeouts and better performances from some other players this night. Our guess is that the A’s will show definite improvement in Game 2 with the first one under their belt.
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            OAKLAND A'S Official On-field Caps and Tshirts and Playoff Souvenirs  ON SALE NOW

Joe DiMaggio once worked with the Oakland A's and Charlie Finley in the 1970s/80s and would be proud of the current team,  which plays much in the style of the old Yankee Clipper....good old, hard-nosed, no nonsense , smart baseball. There are no big name stars, just a lot of eager, aggressive, intelligent fun-loving 'lower paid' players who are playing for the love of the game as much as anything. There is also a manager, Bob Melvin, who has upset GM Billy Beane's old theory that the manager doesn't make a difference, who took over a team that revolted against it's previous manager - and the coaching staff is second to none. They've gotten the most out of their young team.  No help from modern technology, ie PEDs, like the cross Bay team.  This is good old, real  Golden Era Baseball like when DiMaggio played.

FORGET MONEYBALL - WHAT MONEY? 'Low  Paid'  2013 A's The Real Hollywood Story
by Mark Purdy, San Jose Mercury News

OAKLAND -- The Hollywood producers blew it. Completely.

Perhaps you saw "Moneyball" a few years ago, the movie about the 2002 Oakland Athletics team supposedly composed of inferior players that shocked the baseball world with the killer combination of creative strategic thinking and Brad Pitt's extremely evocative close-ups.
Mundane stuff, compared with 2013.
The current A's team is the one that really deserves to have a film made about it. Maybe that will happen if the month of October becomes a rousing final reel. We'll see if that happens, beginning here Friday when the A's face the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
To be sure, the A's of 2002 were intriguing.

Oakland Athletics players and fans exult as the last out of the game is made against the Minnesota Twins, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. (D. ROSS CAMERON)

They had a 20-game win streak and did break ground when general manager Billy Beane (portrayed by Pitt in the film) started using statistical data to make personnel and lineup decisions.But come on. Those A's did not feature a stadium that leaked raw sewage; or an uncertain future in their home city; or a relief pitcher from Australia who screams a lot and grew up playing rugby; or a right fielder nicknamed "Hillbilly Jesus"; or a powerfully exotic slugger from Cuba who obliterated the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game. The A's of 2013 have given us all of the above. And then some.
"We do have some interesting guys," A's manager Bob Melvin conceded this week.
Not that many casual sports fans in the Bay Area would know.  MORE


                         OAKLAND A'S PLAYOFFS CENTRAL

Braun Suspension Window Dressing - Baseball Drug Testing Not Improved - Nobody's Been Caught This Year

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We're still not clear if #Ryan Braun is being suspended for this year or last year. As far as we know,baseball's still weak drug testing has even suspended anyone this year after only a handful were suspended last year.   We see the Braun suspension as more of a political play by Selig and Co to try to scare other players by suspending one of the biggest names for something he did LAST YEAR! Old news. Get the many culprits still out there cheating and ruining the game! Two of the last three World Series winners got there through because of PEDs.

There are a number of players who have been suspended and come back with no scorn, such as  Bartolo Colon, who is doing as well as ever. Not sure that lots of fans  really care about PEDs... though many do like us.

Even though good 'ol #Bud  Selig and others think they're cleaning up the PED mess, testing has   hardly changed, as we explain here @ http://wheredidyougojoedimaggio.blogspot.com with probably as many players still using PEDs as last year. One must look to telltale signs beyond beyond just homeruns as we explain.

Selig, who we like as a person, is nearing retirement and certainly wants to go out on a positive note. Braun and Biogenesis is old news... What's being done about rampant PED use this year?

There are many more players out there who aren't being caught due to ineffective drug testing as per none other than #Victor Conte, in our opinion...http://wheredidyougojoedimaggio.blogspot.com/

Commissioner of Baseball, #Bud Selig did a number of interviews during the All Star break, including appearing on Late Night with David Letterman. He expressed is pleasure in how , in his opinion, how improved #drug testing  has been cleaned up  baseball 'more than ever' and how attendance has been up, except this year, due to a lot of 'rainouts,' according to Selig

We counter this by asking Mr Selig, 'How many players were caught this year? '

Zero is the answer

Mr Selig, we like you . Youre an old school guy like us and want to see baseball cleaned up but

We don't think  testing has improved . Last year at least you nabbed four  or maybe seven including a few marginal/minor league players. And we know there are still plenty of users especially with the new synthetic testosterone which can be out of one's system in hours .  Nothing has changed about this with your drug testing. Yes, you test for HGH now, but your tests still are not fool proof as even #Victor Conte explained to us earlier this year (which can be found in these pages)where players can have testosterone out of their system within hours - and usually players are given ample notice prior to testing.

And just how many tests have been done this year? Maybe one? None.  Haven't heard of any or anyone getting caught. You and the players union agreed on a minimum of only one mid-season test, which is the only real change, along with the HGH test, in the past few years. 

You say you've tested players over and over - primarily in the minor leagues
yet nobody's been caught - not surprising as  the drug tests have not improved, other than
the addition of the HGH test. You say the owners are not to be blamed , despite teams like the
Giants, who seem to repeat the same 'mistakes' over and over (four  players caught and suspended in three years - Cabrera, Mota twice, Guillen ) which enabled them   to go to the World Series. Without those players the Giants would  not have even made it to the Series.

We have outlined how certain players on one team in particular have continued to play  over their career numbers - and this for several well beyond their prime having had career years last year, ie Scutaro, Sandoval, Blanco, Pagan, Vogelsong, Castilla, Mijares. Yes, we're talking about the San Francisco Giants here, who have been leaders in the field of PEDs, in our opinion. Certainly many other teams are implicit as well.  The Giants are down now but think where they might be without a little help from their 'friends.'

Last year Melky Cabrera single handedly made the difference in bringing the Giants to the World Series. Scutaro,  a mid season acquistion ,  picked up where Cabrera left off, post suspension,. with a unlikely .350 average since coming to the Giants (after never hitting over .299). That's but one example. You can see more examples elsewhere in these pages. (Our main site was inexplicably removed by Google/? earlier in the year and this one may, too, soon, so read it while you can). At least four other Giants have suddenly been hitting    30 points or more above their career averages or pitching well under their career ERAs. 

We are pointing all this out to help you, Mr. Selig. The numbers are there. We know it's hard dealing with the Baseball Players Union but we must 'tell  it like it is,' as Howard Cosell liked to say. All the research is

available on the internet. Just look at pitcher FX velocity and other stats and hitters higher averages and

lower strikeout totals, indicative of PED usage - as compared to previous seasons  and career numbers.

Attendance in baseball HAS been up in recent years as there's more population in the country and   the many new ballparks are  magnets for attendance  the first few years plus a new era  of promotion and extraneous peripheral activities and free tickets given away.  Just because homeruns aren't up as in the Bonds era, things are different now. Look at Melky Cabrera, for example.  Low homerun numbers but high average and RBIs.  Different PEDs and emphasis today. It's no longer as much about homeruns as hand-eye coordination and not striking out . With more balls in play there will be more hits.

So, you're an old school guy, Mr. Selig. Good, so our we, though we have adapted to email and use of the computer, which we find critical in doing our research. A little worried when we read that people in important places, like yourself, and Homeland Security Chief Napolitano don't use email.  http://mobile.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-16/mlb-s-bud-selig-proudly-joins-the-executive-no-email-crowd Hope we've been of some help in your efforts to stamp our drugs in baseball. That's why we write this 


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