It's mid-April and Major League Baseball is in full swing. All 4 of my fantasy baseball teams are looking good and already had to make some DL moves. However I do have some thoughts as 1 week of the season is in the books.
1) So far my biggest complaint is about the umpires during the Red Sox/Yankees series. Umpire Joe West criticized both teams, saying that they are "pathetic" and "embarrassing" regarding their slow play. West, telling the Bergen Record (a New Jersey based newspaper) that the Yankees and Red Sox are the only 2 teams that take their time and don't even try to speed the game up. On average, a game lasted nearly 3 hours in 2009, while Yankees/Sox games average about 4 hours, just like what we saw a week ago. Curt Schilling wrote on ESPN's website saying that the games take long because of TV ad revenue as well as the powerful offenses between both clubs. Dustin Pedroia and Mariano Rivera both answered back, saying that both of the offenses are both deep and takes their time. Pedroia also said that if the umpires have a problem with slow play, including rejecting time-calls from batters, they should go to the umpires union and ask not to work Sox/Yankee games. I agree with Pedroia's comment because the rivalry does feature a lot of intense action and that the lineups are tough and you never know what's going to happen.
2) As a subscriber of MLB.tv, I'm able to watch as many games as I can (FYI I watch about 4-5 games a day). What I have noticed during the games, whether it's a Saturday afternoon or a Tuesday night, I have seen ballparks empty, or a minimal amount of people at these games. One example comes from the Tigers-Royals game last Tuesday at Kaufmann Stadium in KC. The game went into extra innings and the Royals won by a strange play. The camera showed maybe about 100 people in the stands. Yes it was a night game, but it was embarrassing because ticket prices on some games are cheap and fans don't really spend a lot of money. Other stadiums I've seen less crowds include the Rogers Centre and Coors Field. Even when the BoSox were in KC over the weekend, there were empty seats. If your favorite team is playing, go catch a game. It's a great experience.
3) So far, some of my predictions have been right. One of them includes the Astros, who are 0-7 so far in the season and have had trouble getting off to a start. Yes they do have a new manager in Brad Mills and I'm sure that club will improve as the season progresses. The Angels have also struggled so far this season. They do have a great lineup, but they have had trouble offensively to produce runs, but another reason I see their troubles is the loss of John Lackey, now with the BoSox.
4) The team that stands out to me to be a surprise right now is the Giants. Right now they stand at 6-1 and with a great lineup and pitching rotation, including Lincecum, Zito and Cain, they have done a good job so far. Pablo Sandoval and Aaron Rowand have stood out to be good players who can contribute during the season, even though we're a week into the season. Honorable mentions go out to the Yankees, the A's and the Tigers.
Like I keep saying, this is a long season and anything can happen.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I don't think you can completely blame the fans for not going to games. Its hard to pay boatloads of money to see a team lose. And the Astros will be in for a long season. Hopefully Astros' management lets Brad Mills see this through. Good Luck Millsy
ReplyDeleteAdding onto Will's comment -- I was at the Red Sox game last Friday which got postponed and later suspended during the bottom of the 9th. It was incredibly frustrating to have invested so much time and money into going down to Boston, paying for parking, food, and even the tickets (which I was forced to pay more than face value for via AceTickets), only to see the next night's crowd watch the conclusion of the game! I think I would have had an easier time swallowing the pill if the umpires had just allowed the Sox their at bats during the bottom of the 9th, and then if it was still tied and had to move into the 10th, then put it in rain delay/postponement. As a fan, I felt cheated and ripped off since I did not even get so see the entire game. Beckett pitched a gem, but the defense and base-running didn't allow them to pull ahead. The Ray's pitching was outstanding during the entire series, so the Sox lack of run support was not exactly surprising given the injuries. Point being, why did the umpires have to ruin the night for all of the hardcore fans not afraid to get a little wet??
ReplyDelete