On Mr. T, homer announcers, and more

Despite my employment in another professional sport, baseball has enjoyed a rejuvenation of sorts as my first love and passion this year. That’s thanks in part to the MLB Network, which got me pumped for the season and helps keep me updated when Baseball Tonight gets pre-empted for crap like NBA Live and other sports programming. With a fortunate day off on Memorial Day, I had a day full of baseball, so here we go:

College baseball

I watched the NCAA selection show at 11:30, and here’s what I came away with:

1. Rice got a slightly raw deal, but I’ve been saying all year this team is not that good, so I can’t really feel too offended. I haven’t been following the college game closely all year, but Rice was mentioned as a potential No. 8 national seed, yet it somehow got paired with No. 3 national seed LSU for a potential super regional. That would indicate a No. 14 national seed. Seems a little odd. But again, Rice lacks pitching depth and (a) probably does not deserve a particularly high seed on a national level and (b) therefore is better suited for super regional play (two wins needed, three games max) than regional play (at least three wins needed, five games max). That could give Rice a fighting chance if it gets past the regional, where Kansas State is very solid. I was pretty impressed with LSU, however, in the little bit I saw on TV.

2. Biased selections throughout the bracket. As many Parliament posters have pointed out, a Big XII bias was fairly evident (the committee chair was a deputy commissioner from the Big XII and WAS allowed to discuss his own schools, in a departure from past protocol) from the inclusion of bubble teams Oklahoma State and Baylor and some other decisions. I did think the committee chair made a fair comeback to the ESPN guys by saying Rhode Island didn't win the regular season or tournament titles in its conference, but it's not like the regular season champ, Dayton, fared any better. Anyway, I may see through mid-major glasses due to Rice’s status in other sports, but I really get a bit tired of seeing the seventh- and eighth-place teams from power conferences.

3. Flat out illogic. UC-Irvine, ranked No. 1 in most major polls, won the Big West championship (no postseason tournament) by five games over Cal State Fullerton. Five games! That’s a lot in conference standings. And Irvine lost only two games in a strong conference that included another tourney team in Cal Poly. Yet Fullerton got a No. 2 national seed and Irvine a No. 6. I know there are other factors, but when you have two teams head-to-head, don’t you have to favor the team that finished higher in the standings and won the season series? Bizarre, especially since Irvine's strength - conference play - is more recent than Fullerton's strong start.

Recreational baseball

Feeling a need to do something – anything – outdoors on such a beautiful day and badly in need of physical activity, I called on CPL and suggested a friendly game of catch. Here’s what I came away with:

1. Wow, have my skills deteriorated. Almost as much as the inside lining of my favorite glove. Throwing the ball on target was a task. Repeating my mechanics was a task. Running after the ball if I missed it was a serious chore. Pretty depressing.

2. There’s something to this repetition thing. It’s not enough to know how to do something, you have to do it over and over until it’s natural and easy. As an example, I need only to hearken back to college softball my senior year. I think I made six errors in the first two games, which we lost. But having gotten the repetitions out of the way, I was error-free in the next two games, and we won. There’s no substitute for practice.

3. I really like playing catch. That was always one of my favorite parts of playing baseball: the relaxed nature of warming up, as you did something that is actually pretty difficult (as I remembered today) but was easy, casual, and second nature for you. Just hanging out talking and playing catch, even with the lack of skills we displayed today, is a blast.

4. I’m getting old. I can’t believe it’s been four years since I took groundballs during a professional batting practice with Yakima and three years since I shagged flies in a professional outfield in Alexandria. I really could use some sort of recreational baseball team to play on.

Baseball on TV

We also went for about a mile run, by the way, so I feel good about having done something active on the day. Naturally, I came home, showered, ordered a pizza, and plopped on the couch for the evening. Lo and behold, I turned to baseball, and here’s what I came away with:

1. I hate homers. Not home runs, but biased hometown broadcasters. You may think this odd, since I am one, and since almost all local radio/TV broadcasters are employed by their respective teams. But there are lines I feel should not be crossed, and the use of the term “we” is one I feel strongly about. Everybody listening or watching knows you’re in the camp of the team you cover all season. It’s pretty much an unavoidable consequence of spending 76-144-162 games with that team. But somehow using “the Owls” or “the Aces” instead of “we” makes the broadcast sound immeasurably more professional. The White Sox TV guys are the worst, as I heard when their broadcast was picked up on MLB Network. Not only does their home run call include the celebratory “Yes!” (no cheering in the press box!), but I heard them repeatedly say “we,” even out-cueing an inning with “we’re up by four as we go to the second.” Ugh. Couldn’t listen to them. So I switched to the Cubs-Pirates game on WGN, which brings me to …

2. Bob Brenly doing color. Yikes. It’s a sad day when Bob Brenly is the better option at just about anything. But a fun game (Freddy Sanchez went 6-for-6 and made a great grab in right field), a close game, and announcers who don’t say “we.”

3. Mr. T. Doesn’t seem relevant to baseball, right? And it really isn’t. But he was pretty hilarious. The Cubs had him for the ceremonial first pitch and to sing “Take me out to the ballgame” at the seventh-inning stretch. He basically yelled it, more or less staying within the rhythmic confines of the music and the fans’ singing (He should have said “three strikes, you’re out, fool!” but didn’t). He joined the Cubs’ broadcast team for the bottom of the seventh and constantly sounds like he’s playing a character. He grunted any time something went good or bad for the Cubs, just with a different intonation to let you know he was alternately pleased or pumped. He told a charming story about getting booted out of Prairie View A&M even though he was on the Dean’s List because he was homesick for his mother (huh?). But he was pretty endearing. Very earnest about being a celebrity with a positive influence, which you have to appreciate.

The bottom line

What I really came away with from Memorial Day: I love baseball! (Insert MK-style chortling here). From Little League to high school to college to the minors to the majors, I really do love the game. It’s there for you every day, the little things add up over the course of a season, there are endless opportunities for debate and disagreement, and the routines are great. Those are just a few of the things I love about the game.