Talking Baseball

Yes, folks, it is that time again. Time for another one of my famous rants on the sport of baseball. This time my rant covers the basics. The basics of the game, the greatest game on this planet, America’s past-time.

Isn’t time we get back to the basics in baseball. It all comes down to fundamentals. Watching a select five games yesterday I was sick to my stomach with the lack of fundamental baseball being played in the Majors today.

Major League Baseball players need to play fundamentally sound baseball to be successful and for their team to be successful but the fundamentals of this great game have disappeared this season. They are non-existent.

I know that this was a rant of mine earlier in the season but it is time to make it known again how upset and ticked off I am with people who get paid to play the greatest sport known to mankind.

Hard difficult is it to run out a ground ball? To run out a pop up? To not swing at the first pitch? To work the count? To sacrifice a runner over? To hit a fly ball to score a runner?

It is becoming a plague throughout the league. Players not being able to play the game fundamentally sound and it needs to stop. It needs to stop right now because, as role models, they are setting a bad example to the millions of kids that watch them play everyday.

Too many times last night, and even today, I saw players swinging at the first pitch of an at-bat in a key situation only to end the inning. The most frustrating time it happens is when the pitcher walks the previous batter. Work the count for once! It might lead to something productive.

What also has bugged me lately is the lack of discipline at the plate by leadoff hitters. Stop swinging at the first pitch of the ballgame and grounding out, thus giving the opposing pitcher an easy start to the contest.

When it comes time to use situational hitting to your advantage and bring in some runs, do it!

Come on folks, it’s time to start laying down sacrifice bunts, pulling the ball to the right side to advance a runner to third and then hitting a fly ball deep enough to score the game-tying or go ahead run in the middle to late innings.

It’s time for managers and coaches alike to stand up and say something. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said it in the news the other day that the Phillies don’t have situational hitting. It’s absolutely non-existent.

It is fairly simple to put the bat on the ball and lift a fly ball, or lay down a bunt, or pull the ball to the right side to advance a runner, or work a deep count after a pitcher has just walked one, two, or maybe even three batters in a row.

These are the nuiances of the game that irk me to no end when they are not properly put into place.

So, Major League Baseball players, when it comes time to move the runner, drive in a run, take a pitch, or simply work the count, please do so. It will put your coaches at ease as well as the fans. You will also be setting a good example for the millions of kids that watch you play each and every day.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS