Why Ladies Prefer Baseball

A week or so ago, I had a conversation debating whether baseball was truly an athletic sport.  Of course, being the stubborn, hard-headed gal that I am, I argued my side til the end, when we just had to agree to disagree.  However, when I got home, I got to thinking.  What is it about baseball that makes it so great?  Is it really as much of an athletic sport as I had built it up to be?  After a hot bubble bath and some serious soul-searching,  I came to a final conclusion.  Yes, it is.

Reason number one why baseball is great:  The season of play is better than that of any other sport.

There is nothing at all that anyone looks forward to in the middle of a cold winter than Spring.  Spring weather is much nicer,  sunnier,  and everything is brighter.  Count down to Spring Training is a reminder of the good things yet to come.  The season runs through the warm, sunny seasons of Spring, Summer, and early Fall,  there’s no nasty snowy weather and frigid temperatures like there are with football.  Nobody looks forward to the grey winter skies,  but from the first day of winter, everyone is already daydreaming of Spring break and Summer Vacation.  Baseball is just a warm game, that feels like a relaxing day off anytime you can make it out to the ball park.

Reason number two:  Home runs.

No other sport has them.  Sure, seeing your favorite team score a touchdown, or a lucky half court shot at the buzzer go through the net is exciting,  but there is nothing that can compare to the crack of the bat as the ball soars through the air and into the stands.  The feeling is indescribable.  It brings even the least interested spectators to their feet cheering.  The thing about a home run is that ANY member of the team can hit them.  There’s nothing more exciting than to see a pitcher or a rookie knock one out of the park.  The strongest team players may or may not hit them every game.  There may be games where no one hits one.  Its like one of those moments that you go into the game anticipating, and when the moment arrives it is absolutely euphoric.

Reason number three:  The All-Star Game

For one game, fans get to put aside all team preference and watch the greatest players of the game come together and play a great game of baseball.  Players are voted on by the fans, and it is a real treat for everyone.  The NFL has the ProBowl, but those players are too worried about getting injured and they don’t even try.  There is no excitement there.  That’s probably why the ratings are going lower and lower every year.  The NBA All-Star game is the same.  The MLB All-Star game is always played from the heart.  You can tell that these players are excited to be a part of the teams selected.  You can tell that they WANT to be there and WANT to win.   It’s not just about recognition, it’s about the game.

Reason number four (and also my reason to confirm it as a real sport):  Skill level

No, every player on the field doesn’t run back and forth the entire game, and yes a lot of the game requires that they stay in one area and wait on a ball to be hit toward them.  However,  it takes a TON of skill to hit a small ball flying toward you at 70+mph.  It takes tremendous hand-eye coordination to execute the swing at just the right moment and just the right angle to send that baby outta the park.  It takes a good sense of judgement to know how to react and recover when you don’t quite hit the ball the way that you wanted.  Sometimes, it takes a little acrobatics, like Ryan Freel exhibited quite often when he played for the Reds.  He wasn’t above leaping over a second baseman trying to make it to third on what really should have been a double play.  These guys are athletes.  They aren’t cross-country runners, but they are still playing hard.  To say that baseball isn’t a real sport because the players stand around a lot would be like saying football isn’t a real sport because the players aren’t good enough to catch a small ball being thrown at them at around 100mph (Sports Science estimated a well hit line drive off a wooden bat to be around 120 mph) from a distance of 250 feet ( The closest the fences can be is “a distance of no less than 250 feet.” – Major  League Baseball rule book Sec. 6.09 (d).)

There are probably at least twenty more reasons that I could give to support my belief that baseball is a great, and athletic sport, but the rest are more opinion based than fact supported.  For those who know me, it doesn’t do any good trying to argue or reason with me,  my views are set in stone.  There is however one opinion that I will share with you.

The reason that women love baseball (other than the men in uniforms): Diamonds

That is all.

Umm.. No We Don’t

You can really learn A LOT about your favorite baseball team while waiting for opening day.   Today, while looking back at post game interviews, I was reminded of the many misfortunes that the team faced through the year. I was reminded that the Reds at one point had a few players out with the flu, and were also plagued with a few back injuries.  Today, I also learned that Dusty Baker can not complete an interview without saying “..you know..” at least 3 times per question.  Now, I can understand him using it when answering a question with an obvious answer,  but really?  Dusty, if WE KNEW, we wouldn’t have to ask.  While watching an interview by Danny Knobler on youtube, I kept a tally of the number of times he said “you know”. By my count he spoke the phrase 17 times in the 5 question Q&A. It reminded me of a certain Miss Teen USA contestant from South Carolina in 2007.  Instead of “..you know” she chose “…like, such as” .  She looked like a total airhead.  She was obviously just trying to take up extra time to make it appear that she had at least a fathom of a clue of what she was talking about.  Now, I admit, Dusty Baker can do some pretty bone head things, and sometimes his line ups can make absolutely no sense- but there’s really no reason for him to stall his answers to the questions being asked. Just sayin…..

If I Were A Betting Woman……

Today, April 14, one of , in my opinion, the greatest, most exciting men in baseball, was born in 1941.  In today’s world- when you hear the name “Pete Rose”, you probably think more about gambling than the game he played.  So what, he bet on baseball while managing the Reds??? Big deal!! The guy appeared in 17 All Star Games, in a whopping 5 positions!  He ran to first base when a pitcher walked him.  He surpassed Ty Cobb’s  records for most hits and most games played.  He had amazing drive.  You could feel the energy watching him on the field…. I was only a few years old when he was in the later years of his career.  I watched his games via VHS and ESPN Classic Sports channel.  I never got tired of watching the Big Red Machine!  Pete Rose and Johnny Bench were like Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen, in my most uneducated opinion.  It is a great loss to baseball that his ban has not been lifted.  It is a sad time when players like Barry Bonds and countless others have been found out to “cheat” by using steroids, and still be allowed into the Hall of Fame, and Pete Rose, who never drank, smoked, or used performance enhancing drugs, who accomplished everything that he did with pure talent and drive, can not be acknowledged for his great efforts.

Today, I would absolutely love for the ban to be lifted.  I would love to see him come back to Cincinnati, and manage the Reds again.  I think his drive is just what the team needs to pull them together, to motivate them to play more from the heart than from the pocket.  Teach them to “want to win” and how to effectively use and further develop their talent to make it happen.

So- here’s to you Pete.  I have great respect for you as a player, as a manager, and as a person.  Happy Birthday my friend.  You have been a great inspiration to me, and I’m sure to many, many others.

Pete was a switch hitter in the game, but he always stayed true and bet FOR his Reds.

For the record Pete, I am with you,  give me $100 on the Reds!

Playboy Supsends Playmate After Findings of Breast Implants

As you read the title above, you are probably thinking, “What?? Don’t most playmates have implants??”  Yes, in fact they do.  Why do we care?  Because to many viewers, bigger is better.  These girls go to work and make their living by displaying their body, and, for lack of a better word, their skills.  The statement made by the heading is obviously bogus.  So, what does women modifying their body to increase their appeal at their job have to do with the price of eggs in China?  Only that they are striving for the same results that major league baseball players that use steroids.

Now, don’t misunderstand me, I don’t agree with the use of performance enhancing drugs, but should a player’s reputation be tainted just because he is trying to improve his strength and ability to do his job?  I mean, to be in the  majors in the first place, the player has to have incredible talent.  You just don’t quit your job at McDonalds one day, and sign on to be a relief pitcher for the Red Sox the next.  There are no ” Major Leage Baseball Talent” supplements at GNC. The player has to be good to begin with, that requires years of training, and playing.  In my opinion, the reason baseball players take steroids is to set them apart from their fellow team mates.  So they just aren’t one of the better players in the club, but the best player on the team.  The one that the opposing team fear.

Don’t we all do that?  Strive to be the best? To excel beyond the people we work with? Of course we do.  We do it when we show up for work 15 minutes early everyday.  We do it when we bring coffee or breakfast for the boss.  Some even go to such extreme measures as sleeping with our boss in order to skip a few steps of our climb up the corporate ladder.

Steroid use is cheating.  It is very bad for your health.  I don’t advocate their use in sports, but I’m not sure I agree with the way they handle the players that have been users.  I am okay with the 50 and 100 game suspensions, as long as the offender sits out all of the games.  Not just sitting out for some, and then playing in the minors for the remainder.  What does that accomplish?  That is like breaking a rule at your job, and being sent home for a week without pay, and on the drive home the boss calling you to say that you can work at their other location across town to keep your skill and morale up.  If they refuse to let players be elected into the MLB Hall of Fame, then in a few years there will just be nothing.  Only the plaques and artifacts of the baseball of yesterday.  Maybe they will continue to allow their admittance, but just put them in a designated area known as the Hall of Shame. The Billboard Music Awards didn’t strip 50 Cent of his award of Album of the Year in 2003, for Get Rich or Die Tryin‘, when it was discovered that he was using steroids.  Tyler Perry didn’t have to give up his 2010 Chairman’s Award for the NAACP Image Awards when he was caught.  Other entertainers such as Wyclef Jean, Mary J. Blige, and Timbaland have been suspected of using performance enhancing drugs.  Why are baseball players under more pressure and being watched and punished so much harder?

I say- let’s just play baseball.  Let’s just gather around the tv with our family and root for the home team.  Let’s cherish that beloved crack of the bat and the smell of hot dogs, popcorn and beer in the air.  Let’s rise to our feet when our favorite player hits a fast ball deep, and cheer wildly as it goes into the stands, becoming a souvenir for a lucky fan.  Let’s just love the game for what it is, what it always has been, America’s favorite game.  If a player can deal with the weight of cheating, and the many health risks of using performance enhancing drugs, then that’s their prerogative.  Let’s not let the steroid era cast a dark shadow on this wonderful sport.  Let’s continue to wait, and hopefully one day very very soon, steroids in baseball will be going, going, GONE!

sources: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/russell-shaw/why-baseball-players-take_b_5278.html   ,   http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/14/entertainment/main3708092.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3708092  ,  http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/24/sports/sp-plaschke-manny-ramirez24  ,  http://www.aceshowbiz.com/celebrity/tyler_perry/awards.html

Fantasy Baseball For Women

This time of year, the common topic of conversation around the water cooler at work is almost always one of three things. Number one, who sang, who sucked, and who went home on American Idol.  Number two, NCAA Brackets and Predictions. Finally, number three, and my personal favorite, fantasy baseball.  People plan, discuss, and come together to form a league, and spend break time preparing for the draft.  No wonder baseball is America’s favorite past time!

I love discussing who would be on my team.  However, I base my selections on very strict criteria.  Stats, home run count, or star power mean NOTHING to me.  I am very selective.   I won’t let just anyone…..ahem……cover my bases.

I select my candidates based on 3 characteristics.

The first one- their face.  There is nothing sexier than a pair of dark eyes, filled with passion and confidence, peering out from underneath a batting helmet.  There is also nothing better than a player flashing a beautiful smile as he steps into the batter’s box.

Second- Uniforms.  No, not the colors or numbers, but the way the fit the player.  You know what I am talking about.  There are some players that look like they are dressed up for a costume party, because the “look” of the uniform just doesn’t flatter their figure.  On the contrary, there are some that look so amazing in those dirt stained uniforms, that you would think that they had been created by a master sculpture.     When one of those players are standing in front of you, and your seeing him from the back side, it’s very difficult to keep your eye on the ball.

Three- Attitude.  Sometimes players can be real divas.  I mean, not signing a contract for a team that you have a bond with, and with the camp that are your friends and colleagues, just because they won’t agree to pay him  $35,000,000 that a rival team is offering, where’s the loyalty in that??

So when I pick my roster, you can expect to see Ryan Braun, Lance Nix, Paul Janish, Joey Votto, Cole Hamels,  Mark Kotsay, Grady Sizemore, Johan Santana, Curtis Ganderson, and maybe a little bit of Ryan Hanigan for good measure.

When picking your fantasy roster, take my advice- ignore those batting averages and choose those who are far beyond an average Joe.  No matter how poorly they perform on the field, you are always a winner!