The Ongoing Saga of MadBum

The ongoing saga of MadBum (according to me, a Giant's fan who has umpired since the age of 9. I am pretty comfortable in distinguishing a ball from a strike)could be called, As the Umps Mess With the Kid.

Are the umpires messing with the kid?  Think about it, he joins the team midway in the season and nobody messes with him.  Then he does better than anticipated in the postseason. 

Giants win the World Series! Next to the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl, who saw this coming?

So the umpires do a little research. Upon further review, it is discovered that Madison Bumgarner (a.k.a. MadBum) had a moment that some might see as psycho and yet others might craft down to mere competitive edge. (My recollection is that MadBum, in his Fresno days, threw a ball into the centerfield bleachers from around the pitcher's mound. Because of little defensive support and shady umpiring.)

Do the umpires interpret this as disobedience?  As a fan I say, "Why do the umps think they are so special?"  Umpires seem to have this leeway where they can fuss with new entries into the major leagues. (How this came about would be good knowledge for the revision of this "umpire hazing." In other words, who initiated the need to do this, from the umpire's perspective?)

Baseball needs to eighty-six the umpire initiation faze of the game. Because it generates more reason to distrust the arbiters of the game. It does nothing to make the players better but it does disgrace the boys in blue. (In much the same way a borderline great ballplayer is judged by his demeanor, why doesn't this belief work for the umpires? And if they are totally separate in how things are run in baseball, could we please stop seeing the umpires who show up the players even though this is something the umpires abhor when it happens to them. The double-standard must stop, agreed?)

I mean, c'mon, how many ball/strike calls, or calls in general, do the umpires miss, in a game?  Bob Fitzgerald of KNBR680 has it right. It's these guys jobs to get the call right. Not sit on the laurels of their brethren and boast about how they are the best at officiating. Nowadays with baseball umpires it's more like the Get Smart phrase of, "Missed it by that much!"

It's bad enough that you cannot question a ball/strike call but to allow them to haze rookies in the MLB is a bit too much.

WE NEED TO STOP THIS DOUBLE STANDARD. 

Why? Because I'm not questioning a ball/strike if it's done once in a while. I'm questioning the inconsistency of why one inning it's a ball and another inning it's a strike. I am not asking because I'm questioning the umpire's authority, I am asking him because I need to have a better idea when it's my turn to bat of how I can make the pitcher's pitch work for me. 

Kevin J. Marquez

Fear the (Thought Behind the) Beard

I can recall back in the days when the San Francisco Giants called Candlestick Park home.

Back when Rod "Shooter" Beck toed the slab as the Giants' closer.

He had a look not many tailors could work with.  In fact, if memory serves me, when Dusty Baker was mulling over why so many players today are pulling muscles Beck's response was, "You can't pull fat."

He had a look that caused my imagination to wander back to the Wizard of Oz.  The scene where the Cowardly Lion was getting the treatment.  His hair was styled into lucious curls.  I always thought, since Beck had the fu manchu thing happening what it would have been like had he included the curls falling out from his ballcap.

I would have been so damned funny how in the world could the batter keep his concentration. Doesn't your vision get distorted when tears begin to form?)

Wouldn't a batter just bust-a-gut laughing at Shooter in dangling curls with the fu manchu?  And if so, would Uncle Bud promptly test him for some sort of illegal drug? Certainly not a performance enhancer. (Meanwhile, Shooter would only be weighed as he continued to look like the before model in a new fad diet advertisement.)

The idea of getting a batter to lose his focus simply by the look showed to him by the guy throwing the ball has to be as old as the game. But, to a fan of the game, I think originality always registers on the "taking one for the team" scale.  Any time a player takes one for the team it's a good thing. Being a team player is what made the 2010 San Francisco Giants World Series champions.

It's why Brian "Don't Worry, Baby" Wilson gets all the kudos afforded to him.  It's, well,  good vibrations.

Kevin J. Marquez

Barry Finito, uh, Zito

Okay, he's the best fifth starter the San Francisco Giants have in their organization. Or is it that he costs so damned much that the team doesn't want to part ways with him just yet. Well, with the help of Lowell Cohn (of the Press Democrat) I would like to interject some thoughts as to why Giant fans cannot stand to see Seventy Five toe the slab.

The Giants do what they do because of pitching. When it's Zito's turn, you get to see how inept he is at getting ahead of hitters and finishing the hitter off. Countless times he'll be up 2-strikes and 0-balls and somehow either groove one or lose him to four out of the zone. Now, I know, the strike zones nowadays tend to fluctuate, from inning to inning but according to the over-dramatic Dave Fleming or psycho-babbling Jon Miller, these pitches "aren't close!" And, Zito is really friendly to his opposing pitcher. In the words of Casey Stengel, you can look it up! The collective batting average of pitchers lucky enough to face Barry Zito. 

Now I turn the topic of Finito, uh, Zito over to Lowell Cohn. In Monday's, (April 11) Santa Rosa Press Democrat, this is what Cohn had to say... On Bochy's flawed logic. You never save the bullpen with Zito. You save Zito with the bullpen. ... Call it the immutable law of physics: The speed at which Zito loses his stuff is always faster than his fastball.

Priceless stuff, eh?
(thanks to Lowell Cohn's brilliance for inspiring me to add my own two cents.)

Kevin J. Marquez

From the February 21, 2011 ESPN Magazine

The writer was Peter Keating. He speaks of Pittsburgh Pirates' catcher, Chris Snyder. Says Keating, Snyder has stolen zero bases, hit one triple and grounded into 43 double plays in just over 2,000 plate appearances. Now, if you consider that at its most stationary positions (1B, C, DH), baseball requires far less speed than any positions in any other Big Four sports (Football, Basketball and Hockey, aside from Baseball). Snyder may be the slowest pro athlete ever. He's slower than Bengie Molina giving Pablo Sandoval a piggyback ride. He's so slow, he takes 2 hours to watch 60 Minutes. (Keating reaching for the laughs, ya think?) If Chris Snyder were in the Olympics his sport would be plate tectonics. (Insert rim shot here.) Offensively his numbers have been solid and he's really known for his game-calling. "Speed always impresses but few can outrun mediocrity," says Keating. He goes on to state that the top career speed score ever was 8.8, belonging to Vince Coleman. From 1985-87, he swiped more than 100 bases each season. "Vincent Van Go" was a below-average hitter with a career OPS that was 83% of league average, and he made bushels of errors in left field. Secondly, speed is a measurable raw talent, and it's impressive to be the fastest at anything. But combining modest speed with discipline is almost always more valuable than flat out jets. Speed is cool. But sports don't just reward inherent abilities, they reward the intelligent application of those abilities on fields of play. (Keating closed on some good notes, I thought. Hope you did too.) Kevin J. Marquez

Cast of Characters Really Wants to Please Fans

I found it quite humorous reading about Pat Burrell's antics regarding his old college teammate, Aubrey Huff. Before Sunday's game, (the one in which Huff misjudged a couple of fly balls leading to a couple of runs for the Dodgers who would eventually win the game 7-5) Burrell had Brandon Belt lay down so he could do an outline like the police do for murder victims, only he used medical tape and put the number 17 inside the outline (Huff's jersey number). This cast of characters truly wants to win for their fans. But a couple players, namely Buster Posey, seem to be pressing. Anybody who has ever played the game has experienced the act of trying too hard. There's a fine line between giving your best effort and putting too much into what you are doing. When these matters get the proper attention and the necessary adjustments are made, due to a sort of natural selection, everything will be fine. Because what cannot be forgotten throughout this process is that you can never lose sight of the fact that you are playing a game and in being a participant you must first and foremost have fun. Enjoy yourself. Anything that gives the appearance of you pressing is just that. You must ask yourself, 'Am I having fun?' and if the answer is obvious that you are not, you sir, are trying way too hard. Relax, don't forget it's a game. Kevin J. Marquez

A Team to Be Proud Of

I'm reading the sporting News issue dated 2/14/2011 about the National Hockey League's greatest teams and Hall of Famer,Bryan Trottier, said something that made me immediatelhy refer to the 2010 San Francisco Giants.

Said Trottier about his successful New York Islander teams,"It was just a group of guys who always found a way to win... Everyone chipped in on defense, made themselves responsible. It was a good time to be part of a great team."

Look up and down the Giants' roster and you will see familiar names but more than that you see a team that enjoys playing baseball together. This team knows how to win and will do whatever it can to put themselves in the best position to defeat their opponents.

They may not get the notoriety other players or ball clubs get but they know all too well that they are good enough and this may bear repeating. (Wouldn't that be something? Wink wink.)

When the 49ers won their first Super Bowl did they take their Lombardi trophy home, thank the fans, and bask in their glory? No way. They got down to business and when it was all said and done there were four (4) more Lombardi's to hoist above their collective heads.

My,your, San Francisco Giants aren't happy with ONE ring. They've got the ingredients for a flavorful existence no matter how torturous it may appear to some. They have a chance to surpass those Atlanta Braves' teams whose pitching staff got the best damn strike zone ever in major league baseball. (Although, much like the killer B's of Houston, once the post-season began neither the Astros or Braves got their favorable zones.)

Those of you fortunate to make it down to Scottsdale, Arizona enjoy your time in the valley of the sun. Take in all the positive energy because it's not something that will enrich or nourish you forever. It's your time to bask in the glory of fandom and your 2010 San Francisco Giants thank you, very much.

Mike Krukow says it was the fans who gave the team a second wind as they blew past their opponents for an 11-4 postseason won/loss record. You contributed, now enjoy the fruits of your labor.

And,oh yeah, GO GIANTS!!!!!!!

Kevin J. Marquez

Ken Burns, 7th and 8th innings...1960s...

When I was in the army I was lonesome, I missed baseball. There was a World Series. I went to the PX to listen to the World Series game on the radio. And I was sitting there feeling a long, long way from home. Hot climate, no sense of autumn, the Fall Classic. And an old sergeant came in. He's sitting down in front of me and he took out a cigar and lit it and that cigar smoke drifted back into my face. And I could smell the Polo Grounds. I felt at home. It smelled. It smelled of urine, it smelled of cigar smoke, it smelled of stale popcorn but it was my place.
- Robert Creamer

Ted Williams was called Toothpick Ted along with the more popular Splendid Splinter. I thought this was an awesome nickname and now after seeing the Toothpick Ted, I'm thinking it was more of a ribbing on his build.

Anywho, in 1941, his .406 season, he finished the season in Philadelphia against the A's. Going into his last game(s) (a doubleheader) his average was .39955. Which would have rounded off to .400. But people would always point to that if he decided against playing the season-ending doubleheader.

The A's catcher told Williams that Mr. Mack (Connie) said we're going to pitch to you today.

"Just before the pitcher was ready to pitch, Bill McGowan, did like all home plate umpires do, turned his rear-end toward centerfield and brushed off home plate and he said, 'in order to hit .400 you got to be loose.' I'll never forget that."

(Williams got 6 hits in 8 at-bats that day.) -Ted Williams

Larry McPhail, was the Cincinnati Reds general manager the night of May 24, 1935. He arranged with Franklin D. Roosevelt to turn on lights for the first night game in major league baseball (between the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds).

McPhail was a champion of radio. He was sure broadcasting would increase ticket sales while other owners thought otherwise. In 1938, when McPhail left Cincinnati for Brooklyn he took Red Barber with him.

A sportswriter recalled: With no drinks he was brilliant. With one he was a genius. With two he was insane. And rarely did he stop at one.
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The Dodgers at Ebbets Field had a band known as the Dodger's Sym-phony. It was coined by announcer Red Barber. He says, "with an emphasis on PHONY because they didn't play music. They just made noise."

In December 1944, a Japanese ship was torpedoed off the island of Formosa. Among those on-board was 26-year old, E.G. Salamura, who once struck out Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth in an exhibition game.
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Female League.
Sophie Curry, nicknamed Tina Cobb, averaged 100 stolen bases a season. One year she stole 201 in 203 attempts.
Annabelle Lee, whose nephew Bill "Spaceman" Lee pitched for the Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos, once threw a perfect game for the Minneapolis Millerettes.
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There is no rule, formal or informal or any understanding, unwritten, suberranean or sub-anything against the hiring of Negro players by the teams of organized ball. - Kenneshaw M. Landis

He had helped restore the game's integrity after the 1919 Black Sox scandal. He had also done all he could to keep it white.

When the Pittsburgh Pirates had sought permission to hire Josh Gibson, in 1943, Landis bluntly refused. 'The colored ballplayers have their own league. Let them stay in their own league."

When Bill Veeck, Jr. attempted to buy the eighth place Philadelphia Phillies and re-staff them with stars from the Negro Leagues, Landis made sure the team was sold to someone else.

And when Leo Durocher told a newspaper man that he'd seen plenty of blacks good enough for the big leagues, Landis forced "the Lip" to claim he had been misquoted.

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On July 6, 1944, a young Army Lt., Jack Roosevelt Robinson got on a bus. The driver ordered him to go to the back of the bus, 'where he belonged.' Robinson refused and was court martialed. But the Army judges found Robinson fully within his rights and acquitted him.

A few days later, Kenneshaw Mountain Landis died at the age of 77.

February 1, 1947... I know the real reason Josh Gibson died. I don't need a doctor's report for confirmation either. He was murdered by big league baseball. - Pittsburgh Courier

Gibson was 35-years old when he died of a stroke. There was no money to pay for a gravestone.
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"I think losing is what baseball is about, in the end. We think it's about winning but as we go on as fans and even as players I think we discover that's really what it's about. There's much more losing in it. Afterall, the batter only succeeds one-third of the time, at best. And this runs very deeply in baseball.

A season goes along and the fans realize that their hopes are not going to be fulfilled. Once again, they're going to be heartbroken at the end." - Roger Angell

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"Branch Rickey is a con man. Brilliant, fascinating, aerodyte but still a con man. I've been listening to him for 25 years. I've always been impressed, seldom been enlightened. The trick of the con man is to weave a spell. In this, Branch Rickey stands alone. Not since the days of William Jennnigs Bryant and Billy Sunday has any man fallen so deeply in love with the melodic quality of his own voice." - Joe Williams, New York World Telegram

"They picked him because of who he was and what he was. Sure the baseball skill was important but there were other skilled players. Monte Irvin was who everyone expected to be the first. But Robinson had a determination, an ability to, on the one hand turn the other cheek, but on the other hand, as he turned the cheek he let the person (who was his antagonist) know that he would come around again. - Daniel Okrent
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Said Curt Flood: I was told by a general manager that a white player had received a higher raise than me because white people required more money to live than black people. That is why I wasn't going to get a raise.
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Willie Mays...born in Westfield, Alabama. Only 19 when he signed with the New York Giants in 1951. In the outfield, he recorded the stunning number of 7, 095 putouts, most in major league history.
Joe DiMaggio once said Mays had the best arm he'd ever seen.

"Willie Mays was not the first black ballplayer but he had his own barrier to break. A kind of gentle good-natured racism but racism nonetheless. You remember when he came up people would say, 'What an instinctive ballplayer he is. What a natural ballplayer he is. What childlike enthusiasm... Well, thirty years on we can hear, with our better trained ears, the racism in that. He was wonderfully gifted. Yes. Great natural gifts, yes. But no one ever got to the majors on natural gifts. Without an awful lot of refining work. Sure, he was a great instinctive ballplayer. But he was also a tremendously smart ballplayer. As a rookie, he'd get to second base, watch two batters come to the plate and he would go back to the dugout having stolen the signs and decoded the sequence he'd known the indicator signs from the other signs. Willie Mays, natural ballplayer? Sure. Hardest working ballplayer you ever saw." George Will

Casey Stengel, the "Ole Perfessor," according to Robert Creamer.
I think Stengel is the most interesting man, except for Ruth, who ever appeared in baseball. Unfortunately, his methods became that of a clown, a man who talked stengelese, double-talk. He knew more about the game than anyone I ever talked to. He was the smartest man, I think he had a tremendous basic intelligence. Not much education, barely got through high school. And went to dental school for a couple of years studying the mechanical skills of a dentist, and he would have been a dentist if he hadn't played baseball. But he had this intuitive intelligence. He would look at things, he would see things, he would sense things. Anyway, he would talk if he didn't want you to understand him, he would say, 'Well, this thing and that thing or the other. He'd talk this way and that way. He also sometimes panicked. He couldn't stand dead air. And if somebody asked him something he just wouldn't stand there and say, "Um," he would start to talk. And say, 'Well, this guy...you talk about that fella there he's pretty good..And you take the other guy out in left field and I could bring him in and use that fella back there...And he just jumbled it that way. But he knew what he was saying. And sometimes the things came out. He's a man who said,"there's a time in every man's life and I've had plenty of them." And that's a marvelous expression.
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Stan "the Man" Musial finished his Hall of Fame career with 3,630 base hits. 1815 on the road, and 1815 at home. How about that?
(on the Ken Burns Baseball documentary. George Will made mention of it. Segment, was 7th & 8th innings...1960s.)

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Sandy Koufax, when asked, "What is your thought about the loss of income?"
"Let's put it this way... if there are men who did not have use of one of his arms and you told him it'd cost a lot of money and he could buy back that use he'd give them every dime he had, I believe. That's my feeling. And, in a sense, maybe this is what I'm doing. I don't know. I've got a lot of years to live after baseball. I would like to live them with complete use of my body. I don't regret one minute of the last 12 years but I think I would regret one year that was too many."
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"My father and I had nothing in common, sad to say. Nothing 'cept baseball. My father took me to Yankee Stadium in 1959. I was 7-years old. Yankees lost to the Orioles, 7-2. Mantle didn't play, he was hurt. And at that time after the game was over you could leave by way of the field. They would open up the bullpen gates and you could walk around the warning track. Take in the entire, majestic, enormous ball park. And then walk out the back of the bullpen into the street. The game was over and my father took me by the hand and walked me past the dugouts, looked into those dugouts and thought to myself, at age 7, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, sat in there. And I was careful. Careful not to disturb anything. Looked down at the red clay of the warning track. But it wasn't my place to kick it, to move it around! I was a visitor, I was being allowed to see this. And we got out to dead centerfield to the monuments...Where Ruth and Huggins and Gehrig were... And I stood there at 7-years old and started to cry. And part of that was just the surroundings. So impressive. The facade, the enormity of the place. A 7-year old kid literally could not see over the mound from that distance. Home plate looked like it was a mile away. Place was so imposing. But also, I really thought that these guys were buried there. I thought that this was a sacret Yankee burial ground. And surely when DiMaggio passed away, when Mantle passed away, they'd be buried there too. And my father tried to explain to me, 'Yes, these men are dead, but they're buried someplace else.' I would have none of it. I was convinced that that was their tombstone.

If you asked me, what is the happiest memory of your father? To me, that was it."
-Bob Costas

(There still is a little more tape left for the 7th & 8th innings. We shall see if there's more to add to this blog. Thanks to the job well done by Ken Burns. And his orator, John Chancellor.)

Kevin J. Marquez