Home Runs, Power Strikeouts and spectacular plays. Yes, they are fun. They sell tickets. But, they don’t win the World Series.
The inability to bunt, especially pitchers, is a travesty – in the NL. With the DH coming to the NL soon, forget pitchers hitting forever. Interesting baseball loses another happening.
Catchers suck. Yesterday, The Pirates Cervelli literally let a pitch directly hit the umpire behind him. They may hit… .270, but they can’t catch the ball, block balls, call games, run the field and help their pitchers get their rhythm. Everything I just wrote is becoming a memory.
First, Pitchers try to call their own game. Let your kids call their own dinners. They’ll eat candy until their teeth rot. Second, Catchers keep their free hand infront of their thigh. Great way to break your fingers on a foul tipped ball. Catching wins championships. Not anymore.
Base running. You might as well say – just keep running until you get thrown out. Runners are horrid. They never look for their coach coming to third. And they get picked off regularly.
The center fielder overrides all other fielders to catch a fly ball. Simple fundamentals because the CF is charging every play and has everything happening in front of him. Much like the catcher. This never happens. Call them collisions.
As long as the money and agents dictate, fundamentals will die in the MLB. Now college baseball is fundamentals Heaven. But it will die too soon enough.
If you are bored with what I just wrote, take a drink of coffee. And just wait until your team is missing the playoffs again this fall.
The Philadelphia Post 