Monday, April 5, 2010

Baseball Brings Hope To The Weary

I have said every year that I have two religious holidays that I celebrate. First is the opening Sunday of the NFL season, and the second is obviously Opening Day for MLB. This year the Twins are playing in LA, so I have the privilege of watching the first four games on TV here. I will also be venturing towards the land of Mickey on Wednesday to see the game, which means that all is well in the world of Gellman. Funny enough, though my wife is VERY pregnant, she was the one who wanted to go more than anyone.

Other than that, Im glad there are a slew of games today, and I have the opportunity to watch each and every one on demand, thanks to my purchase of 1 month of MLB TV. See, this is the part of the season when I am so interested in baseball that I would sit and watch any game that is on. The feeling quickly wears off about 50 games in, where I switch modes to paying attention to only the Twins. I have the feeling that this particular season will try my patience with the Twinkies, especially after the Target Field new car smell wears off. This is the first season in a long time where pitching is the hole rather than hitting, and everyone knows that pitching is always more important. There are also teams like Detroit who made as many moves as the Twins, slating them atop many lists as a contender for the AL Central Crown. However, with good improvements made to the infield due to the signing of Orlando Hudson and JJ Hardy, as well as Jim Thome to fill the ever fluctuating DH slot on occasion, I still think the Twins have a good shot at a run into the post season.

I still think its kind of odd that despite my lack of interest in baseball cards and most things baseball that come extra, I still pay very close attention to what is going on for most of the season. I follow the stats more than anything, and I get awfully heated when the all star rosters and season ending awards come around. I hate undue recognition in Baseball, mainly because of the outdated stats used to determine success. With last year's awards being the first in a long time to pick the right players, I felt somewhat vindicated in my hulabaloo. This year, I hope the trend continues as dumb ass sports writers move away from stats like Wins for Pitchers and RBIs for Batters. Baseball has long shown that the good players excel at getting on base and hitting for both average and power over knocking in runs, and that Wins are about as meaningless of a stat as Holds or something similar. I can see that maybe people like Joe Morgan, Woody Paige and Mike Celezic are finally becoming part of a growing minority now that Sabremetrics are finally making their way to the top of player measurements.

Lastly, because Baseball is here, we know that nice weather isnt far behind. Baseball is a constant in our lives and I expect it to be for as long as I am around. It’s a long, long, long season and its tough to not get caught up in early hype and small sample size success. At this point I don’t care, as its obvious that the Yankees are slated for 162 losses if they continue on their current pace. Hopefully this statement turns out to be true as the season moves on, but right now, everyone is in first place, and everyone has the shot at being world champs. I cant help but wonder who will rise to the challenge this year, and Im praying to the baseball gods that my Twins will be the ones to raise the trophy when all is said and done.

2 comments:

  1. I'm picking the Twins to win the very weak AL Central division. They are VERY lucky to have the unbalanced schedule and not have to play the teams in the East and West as often. Target Field looks beautiful on TV. Have fun at the game in Anaheim, and good luck to your wife and upcoming newborn! Have you bought any little Twins or Vikings outfits for him yet?

    Oh, and I totally agree with you about the prominence of outdated stats. Next year, we should start a fantasy league that only uses meaningful stats ... no more batting average, RBIs, or Wins, but uses things like OPS and FIP, etc.

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  2. I just bought him a Vikings mobile for the crib and he has two things from each team. He is gonna be my little minnesota sports fan - living most of his life outside of Minnesota. Hopefully that works out.

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