Author: Matt Bell

by Matt Bell

THE FINAL SEASON

The Final Season

 

The Polo Grounds.  Ebbets Field.  Comiskey Park.  Tiger Stadium.  Forbes Field.  All of these venerable stadiums are relics from the past.  They are all part of baseball history, where great games have been played, championships have been won, and traditions have been created.

 

All of them are now gone.

 

There are only three left.

 

At the end of the season, the list will dwindle to two.

 

This is the final season that baseball will be played at Yankee Stadium.  Built in 1923, it has hosted 37 World Series.  The Yankees won their first championship during the Stadium’s inaugural season.  Three All-Star games have been played there.  This year, its final season, it will host the All Star game.

 

Ruth. Gehrig.  DiMaggio.  Mantle.  Maris.  Where does it start, and where does it end?

 

I’m definitely in denial, because it still hasn’t hit me that this is the final season.  I’ve been to Yankee Stadium three times, and each time was special.  The first was in August of 1966, when my Father took me and Danny Hollywood, who was my best friend at the time.  We sat behind the first base dugout, and saw the Yankees play the Detroit Tigers.  Al Downing pitched against Earl Wilson, and Mickey Mantle hit a massive home run.  I was 7 years old, and it was the first time I had ever seen a professional baseball game.  There were 14,856 spectators, and the Yankees won 6-5.  This occasion was truly the most special and memorable for me.

 

The 2nd occasion was 10 years later, in 1976.  I sat behind home plate with my Father and cousin, and watched the Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins.  It isn’t as memorable, because I don’t remember who pitched, but I do remember that we had fantastic seats.

 

The third and final occasion was in June of 1982.  I had just graduated from college, and three friends and I drove all the way to New York City from Atlanta, Ga.  We sat in the upper deck in right field and watched the Yankees play the Orioles.  The game went 15 innings and took 4 ½ hours to play.  The Yankees won 4-3. 

 

There are so many baseball fans that have similar memories of Yankee Stadium.    Change is inevitable, but for kids who grew up in New York City, it didn’t get any better than being taken to Yankee Stadium by your Father.

 

I guarantee you that something will be missing in 2009.  They plan on turning Yankee Stadium into a parkland.  I think that it’s a big mistake.  Yankee Stadium is THE CATHEDRAL for baseball.  It should not be torn down, and we will one day regret it.  There is too much history, and centuries from now, historians will only be able to point and say, “That is where the House that Ruth Built stood”.

 

I really hope that Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, the two other remaining baseball relics, continue to stay open and operate long into the future.

 

 

by Matt Bell

FANTASY FUNDRAISING: MANAGE YOUR WAY INTO ‘COOPERSTOWN’



Herts Baseball Club has teamed up with Scotthall Watford MINI to commission a Fox Sports Fantasy Baseball League with a very valuable prize for the 2008 Champion.

The HBC Fantasy Baseball League is your chance to run your very own MLB Ball Club.  You draft and trade your players, pick your best line-up and manage your team to glory…or failure.

But you must hurry.  The 2008 MLB Opening Day is less than 6 days away and all participants must sign up in time for the LIVE online draft at 9pm this Sunday, 30 March, when all the team owners will be online to select their 24-man roster from the entire spectrum of MLB players (American League and National League).  The clock is ticking so don’t miss out.

(Don't worry: if you can't make the draft the Fox Fantasy system will select a team for you from all the available MLB stars based on their 2007 season performances.)



For details of the winning prize and how to join the League please click on the link below:

http://www.hertsbaseball.com/fantasy/

The cost to enter the race is £15.  All proceeds go to the Herts Development Fund, and will be used to further the building of a second diamond and permanent outfield fence.

Join the League now.  The League Commissioner is waiting to register your MLB franchise and the Live Online Draft looms large.

by Matt Bell

HSL OPENING DAY – YOU GOTTA MOVE WITH THE TIME

Everyone connected with the 10 teams participating in the 2008 Herts Spring League (HSL) is hoping that the snow storms of the last few days have signalled the end of Winter and the arrival of Spring.

 

The HSL Opening Day is this coming Sunday, 30 March 2008, which coincides with the arrival of British Summer Time.  At 1am on the same day the clocks go forward by one hour. 

 

The Herts Spring League (HSL) will offer plenty of game time for the participating teams with some of the games taking place late in the afternoon.  With clocks moving forward teams will have 1 extra hour of daylight and when the HSL schedule was prepared the league organisers wanted to make full use of this.  The last HSL game on Opening Day will end at 18:55 and there will be sufficient daylight as the sun will set at 19:31.

 

So don’t forget to set your clocks correctly and be on time for the start of the 2008 HSL.

 

The weather forecast currently indicates that it will be partly cloudy with sunny spells.  Most importantly no rain and temparatures of 13oC.

by Matt Bell

IS IT A PROMOTION OR A LATERAL MOVE?

Is it a Promotion or a Lateral Move?

 

There is an unwritten rule amongst journalists that you never write about a colleague, but don’t tell that to Peter Vecsey of the New York Post, who is continually baiting Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News.

 

The newsroom of today is much different than the newsroom of yesteryear, which was filled with cigar smoke, old noisy typewriters, and the ubiquitous cantankerous editor, who was constantly screaming at us to get our copy in before the deadline.

 

Now it is much more of a virtual newsroom.  Given the advances of technology, I can write my column from pretty much any location.  That has its inherent advantages and disadvantages.  However, in this new environment we still constantly wonder about our colleagues.

 

I took a quick look at the Falcons home page, and noticed that my good friend and colleague Marty Cullen is no longer listed as a Syndicated Columnist. It now says he is “Voice of the Falcons”.

 

Does that mean that we are no longer colleagues?

 

Did I miss the inner office memo congratulating and offering him our best wishes?

 

Marty, we hardly knew ye!

 

I really enjoyed his column on the DH, and was waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for more, but it never came……

 

Now that he’s moved on from a print to an electronic correspondent, he’s open game.

 

Maybe now that he’s an electronic journalist, he’ll become really arrogant and won’t talk to us print guys!

 

Maybe he went on the DL with writer’s cramp?

 

Maybe I should quit while I’m ahead, because I’m ruining my chances of being his co-host on Falcons PTI!!

 

Was he paid by the column or did he get a flat fee?  If so, I’ve got to find out who his agent is.

 

Was he promoted based on the one column he wrote??  If so, what am I doing wrong??

 

Maybe with his new gig of bench coach, he was way too busy and didn’t have much time to write.

 

By the way, by being a bench coach and voice of the Falcons, isn’t that a conflict of interest??

 

Am I asking too many questions, and will I be unceremoniously beckoned to the Falcons front office, where I will be asked intrusive questions about MY latest column??

 

Ask him who get the biggest laughs at the Awards Night!!

 

I hope he finds this column entertaining!  Maybe he’ll enjoy it more than Profiles in Courage, which I hope someone read!

 

Who’s the Falcons HR director?  I’m thinking about going to a tribunal because my work here has been unappreciated and others are being promoted over yours truly.

 

Memo to Marty.  Congratulations on your promotion!

 

Both of them!

 

And please remember this humble scribe when you’re auditioning for Falcons PTI!

 

Anyway, it’s Bank Holiday Monday!! (I’m a dumb American, did I say that right?).

Enough silliness!  I look forward to Marty’s electronic contributions as Voice of the Falcons, and I hope everyone had a Happy Easter.

 

BD

by Matt Bell

A FUTURE HERTS STAR IS BORN

A few minutes ago we received confirmation from Australia that legendary Herts slugger, John del Borrello and his wife, Natalie, have had their second child.

Luke was born at 4.04am on Valentines Day (Feb 14th) 8 pounds 6 ounces.  Both he and Nat are fine.

The Herts Newswire takes the opportunity, on behalf of all its readers, to congratulate Natalie and John (not forgetting Jade who now has a little brother). 

It is unclear why this information is reaching us with a month’s delay.  We will have to appoint a new Newswire reporter Down Under.

by Matt Bell

THE YEAR OF THE PITCHER

The Year of the Pitcher

 

The baseball establishment has always favoured the hitters over the pitchers.   Over time, the rules have been altered to give the hitters an advantage.  Presuming that the fans would prefer seeing a home run than a strikeout, a major rule change was implemented at the start of the 1969 season that has altered the game significantly. 

 

1968 has been dubbed the year of the pitcher.  Pitchers dominated that season.  Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers went 31-6.  Five pitchers in the American League had ERAs lower than 2.00, and Bob Gibson won the NL title with an unheard of 1.12 ERA and 13 shutouts.  Juan Marichal of the Giants won 26 games and led the NL with 30 complete games out of 38 starts.   The team batting average in the AL was an anemic .230, and only one player in the league hit over .300 (Carl Yastrzemski, .301).

 

Fearing that a lack of offence would drive away the fans, the Rules committee lowered the mound from 15” to 10” and also graduated the slope of the mound.   The changes altered the game and fundamentally gave the advantage to the hitters.  The AL team ERA rose from 2.98 to 3.62.  It has risen consistently to its 2007 level of 4.50.

 

There has been one other major rules change that has discriminated against the pitchers.  The strike zone has shrunk.  It is supposed to be the armpit to the knee, but most umpires will not call anything above the belt a strike.

 

If those two obstacles weren’t enough, pitchers have other factors working against them.  Batters are now allowed to wear protective armour that enable them to crowd the plate and take away the advantage the pitchers had of throwing on the outside corner.  The balls are also livelier and the ballparks are smaller.  The game of today resembles softball more than baseball.

 

It is a bit specious to presume that fans prefer offence.  In the American League, the attendance in 1968 was the second highest between the years 1961 to 1971. 

 

There is always a buzz in the crowd when a power pitcher is on the mound.  I only saw Nolan Ryan pitch once in person, but I’ll never forget it.  He was 42 years old, and he was pitching for Texas against the Baltimore Orioles on August 5, 1989.  48,776 fans jammed into Memorial Stadium to watch him.  He threw 7 innings, struck out 8, and lost 2-1 to Bob Milacki.  Even though there were only 3 runs scored, the fans were on the edge of their seats the whole game.  I’ll never forget it.

 

Another game I’ll never forget was between the Yankees and the Red Sox on May 28, 2000 at Yankee Stadium.  Pedro Martinez vs. Roger Clemens.  Both pitchers pitched complete games.  Clemens struck out 13 and Martinez struck out 9.  There were only a total of 9 hits between the two teams, and the Red Sox won it in the top of the 9th on a two run HR by Trot Nixon.  The final was 2-0, and the 55,339 fans who attended were treated to a classic.  The millions who watched on ESPN did not soon forget it either.

 

Given the rules alterations, I never really respect the current era batting averages.    Todd Helton’s .372BA in 2000 or George Brett’s .390BA in 1980 were significant accomplishments, but what would they have hit if they had to face a 15” mound and a “normal” strike zone?  We’ll never know, but we can always speculate.

 

by Matt Bell

FIRST EVER BRITISH SPRING LEAGUE READY FOR TAKE-OFF

Spring is here, which means that baseball is back.  This year Herts Baseball Club has added a new event to the British baseball calendar with the first ever Herts Spring League (HSL). 

 

One of the most exciting times of the baseball season is Spring Training. After a long and cold winter everyone connected with baseball is eager to get back to the baseball diamond. Teams start to put into action their master plans to win the league. Players are jostling for a position on the roster. Pitchers are competing for a starting spot in the rotation. It is a first chance for managers and players to see new players which have signed up with the clubs. These are just some of the reasons why Spring is a special time for baseball.

 

The 2008 HSL line-up has just been announced and it will certainly provide exciting baseball action over the next three weeks.  The 10 participating teams are split into two divisions, HSL1 and HSL2. 

 

HSL1 includes Hertfordshire’s top team the Falcons, the Burgess Hill Colts, Northampton Baseball Club who impressed at the 2007 London Tournament and the ASL Eagles.  The Eagles will add an element of suspense to HSL1.  They are very much an unknown quantity as they do not compete in the BBF leagues.  The ASL Eagles is a team representing the AmericanSchool in London, which is expected to bring an all-out American baseball mentality to the diamond.  

 

Looking at the HSL1 schedule one game stands out as a must-see clash.  The Herts Falcons meet the Burgess Hill Colts for the first time since the 2006 Premier League Playoff game which the Colts won in extra innings to sink the Falcons down from the Premier League to Division 1.  Revenge will be on the minds of the Falcons after that heart-breaking game.

 

HSL2 includes the Herts Hawks, Sidewinders, Richmond Dragons, Bracknell Blazers, Milton Keynes Hurricanes, and the newly created third Hertfordshire team, the Herts Raptors.  The MK Hurricanes go into the league as the favourites, but, with other teams strengthening their rosters over the winter, it could prove to be a very competitive league with almost all of the teams having a realistic chance of taking the HSL2 title.

 

Over the next three Sundays 23 games will be played at 4 baseball venues in and around London.  Some of the venues will host as many as 6 teams on the same day which is expected to create a great baseball atmosphere.  This is the perfect opportunity for baseball enthusiasts to enjoy a Spring day out watching a game of baseball and having a first glimpse of the teams as they gear up for the 2008 Opening Day.

 

For more information about the teams, game times and venues you can visit the official HSL website.  The HSL website has linked up with the Herts Baseball Newswire to provide extensive coverage of the HSL including game reports, video news, stats and much more so stay tuned.

RELATED LINKS

Official HSL website: www.hertsbaseball.com/HSL

by Matt Bell

FIRST IN WAR, FIRST IN PEACE, LAST IN THE AL OR NL

First in War, First in Peace, Last in the American or National League

 

On September 30, 1971, the expansion Washington Senators concluded an abysmal 11 year run in the nation’s capital with a loss to the New York Yankees.  They finished the season with a 63-96 record, 38 ½ games out of first place.  During their stint, they finished in last place five times, lost the most games, and had by the far the lowest attendance in the American League.  The franchise was an unmitigated disaster.

 

Like any astute businessman, owner Robert Short assessed the situation, decided to cut his losses, and moved the team to Texas.

 

Despite the fact that this was the second time baseball had failed in the nation’s capital, by committing this transgression, Short was vilified in the press.  How dare he have the audacity to move the national pastime out of the nation’s capital?  Despite being in an untenable position, he then became DC’s persona non grata

 

This wasn’t the first time this had occurred. In 1960, fed up with a losing team and a non-existent fan base, owner Clark Griffith moved the Senators to Minnesota.  Congress intervened and mandated that an expansion team be created.  This time, perhaps preoccupied by the Vietnam War, no such legislation occurred.

 

Over the next 30 odd years, there was hand ringing on a massive scale.  The Washington establishment, led by businessmen, the press, lobbyists, and assorted hangers on made it their personal crusade to bring back baseball to Washington.  There were Congressional hearings, local rallies, mandates, etc.  Every year, Thomas Boswell, the esteemed baseball writer for the Washington Post, would justify his position.  It didn’t matter, he would argue, that baseball had failed twice in the past. The demographics had changed.  DC was the 3rd biggest market, near the top in disposable income, etc. etc.  There was a massive yearning for baseball, and it just had to be accommodated.

 

I didn’t buy any of their arguments, but no one listened to me.

 

In 2005, they got their wish.  The Montreal Expos moved to Washington and became the Nationals.  After a 34 year absence, baseball was back in the Nations Capital.  Hip Hip Hurray!!  There was euphoria and the locals celebrated.  There were still minor issues to be resolved related to public financing would for a new stadium, but, the most important issue was that BASEBALL was back!

 

Now that the team has finished their third season and the euphoria has died down, let’s assess the situation.  Their three year won lost records have been 81-81, 71-91, and 73-89.  They have finished last, last, and next to last in their division.  The most worrying stat has been their attendance.  In three years, out of 30 MLB teams, their attendance has dropped from 11th to 21st to 25th.

 

25th out of 30 is very worrying, particularly for a city that supposedly was yearning for baseball for 34 years.  However, the apologists and justifiers have come back in full force.  The reason, they claim, for the low attendance is RFK Stadium.  It’s a dump, and once the new stadium is ready (2008) the fans will come back in droves!

 

Build it and they will come!

 

I’m not holding my breath.

 

The reality is that Washington DC is a one sport town.  It all revolves around the Redskins, and everything else is second fiddle.  There used to be a famous saying in DC that the second most important job in town was the President of the United States, behind the quarterback of the Washington Redskins.  The city has always had a passion for the team, and has only given lukewarm support to any other sport.

 

Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it.  Unfortunately, there are two instances of baseball failing in Washington DC.  Congress intervened the first time, and despite that, the failure occurred again.  I grew up in DC and understood the pulse of the city.  Despite the fact that I was a huge baseball fan, I believed that based on history, Washington did not deserve a team.  This was harsh, but was my humble opinion.

 

Three years in to the third era, it’s not looking good.

 

I hope I’m wrong, but we’ll see if the Nationals succeed, and more importantly, if the city supports them.

 

 

by Matt Bell

ACT I

ACT I

 

They’ll play 18 in the regular season, but only once during spring training.  Yesterday’s 8-4 Yankee win over the Red Sox could be inconsequential, or it could be a harbinger for what is to come.

 

Both teams enter the season with question marks, particularly with pitching.  Bartolo Colon, who was offered a non-guaranteed minor league contract, pitched well enough to keep his team hopeful.  He will probably take the place of Curt Schilling, but at 35, with shoulder and elbow problems, who much does he have left?

 

With Josh Beckett nursing an ailing back, and Tim Wakefield’s favourite battery mate (Doug Mirabelli) recently released, the Sox will give the opening day start (in Japan) to Daisuke Matsuzaka.  The team is expecting more from him than 2007, when he went 15-12 with a 4.40 ERA.  John Lester is expected to be the fifth starter, and hopefully he is fully recovered from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

 

The Yankees also have question marks with their pitching staff.  Is 39 year old Mike Mussina washed up?  He had career lows in wins (11), a very poor .311 BAA and a career worse ERA of 5.15.  If he can’t contribute and Andy Pettitte’s elbow problems flare up, the only proven starter is Chien-Ming Wang.  The other two prospective starters are extremely green.  Phil Hughes is 21 with 13 MLB games under is belt.  Ian Kennedy is 23 and has only pitched 3 times in the big leagues. 

 

The Yankees everyday lineup is relatively intact.  They will score runs, and the only health concern is Hideki Matsui, who has fully recovered from off season knee surgery.  Bobby Abreu reported to camp in great condition, and is one of three Yanks who drove in more than 100 RBI, along with A-Rod and Derek Jeter.  Jorge Posado, Robinson Cano, and Jason Giambi are also expected to contribute.

 

The Red Sox scored 101 fewer runs than the Yankees, and both David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez had major dips in their 2007 offensive production.  Ortiz HR’s dropped from 54 to 35 and Ramirez 20HR and 88RBI were quite ordinary, particularly for a player who was earning $20 million.  Perhaps at the age of 36 Ramirez is on the downward side of his career.  Ortiz was slowed by a bad knee, so we’ll see if the surgery he had in the off-season can alleviate his low production.

 

Many prognosticators are claiming that this is the year that the Blue Jays will overtake one, if not both teams.  It is very evident that the Yanks and Sox do not like each other.  When Julian Taveraz drilled Derek Jeter in the forearm with a fastball, was it retaliation for what occurred last season when Joba Chamberlain threw two 98MPH fastballs over Kevin Youkilis’ head?  Joe Girardi has a take no prisoners approach, and his hitters will definitely be protected.

 

With these two teams, it is always high drama and high theatre.   Now that the curse of the Bambino has been lifted, and the Sox have won two of the last four World Series, they are the team to beat.  The 20th century belonged to the Yankees, and their last World Championship was in 2000.  Maybe the 21st century will belong to the Red Sox.

 

They will play 18 times in 2008.  Both teams should contend, along with the Blue Jays.   The Yanks will score more runs, but the Sox have an edge (on paper) in the starting rotation.  The bullpens are relatively equal.  With Joe Girardi at the helm and Hank Steinbrenner providing a lot of bulletin board quotes, the 2008 AL East campaign should be quite interesting.

 

 

 

 

by Matt Bell

DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFT

Demographic Shift

 

Gary Sheffield was recently lamenting the dearth of inner city kids who are playing baseball.  Recognizing the fact that baseball and American football are much more popular to underprivileged kids, Sheffield and Dontrelle Willis both conducted a baseball clinic for kids from an economically deprived area.  Sheffield reminded them of one important fact.  “Remember”, he said, “the colour of money is the same regardless of which sport you play”.

 

The times, they are a changing.  International players now comprise 28% of major league rosters.  The percentage of African American players is down from 29% 25 years ago to a current level of 8%. 

 

Baseball is both growing in popularity across the world while dying a slow death in the inner cities of the States.  In the 2007 All Star game, of the 66 participants, 20 were born outside of the U.S., including the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Canada, and Japan.  Latin America has been a feeding ground for MLB for quite awhile, but now we’re seeing an influx from Asia and South America.  The Dodgers and Padres recently played an exhibition game in Beijing, and MLB officials believe that over 150,000 people currently play baseball in China.  The most recent World Baseball Classic was won by Japan.  The time is soon coming where the United States will be surpassed as the country that produces the best baseball players.

 

I’m reminded of the outrage in the U.S. in 1988 when we did not win the Gold Medal in basketball.  Americans always believed that we were the dominant country in this sport, and it was our birthright to bring home the gold every four years.  We couldn’t quite comprehend the outcome when the team finished a dismal third, and came home with a bronze medal that resulted in some brutal criticism.  The U.S. Olympic Committee then decided to send the NBA “Dream Team” to the 92 Barcelona Olympics so that we could restore our rightful place at the top of the basketball world.  This did occur, but ironically, the move backfired.  The Dream Team was so popular that it started a basketball revolution around the globe.  Now, 20 years later, although the Americans still have the best individual players, we have been surpassed by other countries and can no longer win either the Olympic Gold or any other prominent international tournaments. 

 

As a kid growing up in New York City in the 1960’s, stickball was the most popular game played in the summer.  Because there were so few playing fields, the game was played in the streets, in between parked cars, with tennis balls and broomsticks.  Hitting the ball with a broomstick was a fantastic way to improve your batting eye.  Now, 40 years later, when I venture to the neighbourhood of my youth, not only is stickball no longer played, the youngsters do not even know what it is.

 

I have to admit that baseball is no longer America’s pastime.  It’s not even the second most popular sport in the country.  In many suburban high schools, baseball is not even the most popular spring sport.  Many kids would much rather play lacrosse, which has seen an incredible expansion in the last 25 years.

 

Europe now produces quite a few professional basketball players.  Latin America, Asia, and South America are the most prominent breeding grounds for baseball.  In America, with so many diversions, it will be interesting to see what happens in the next 20 years.  If so few kids are interested in baseball, the result will be a more pronounced demographic shift.  The 2027 All Star Game will undoubtedly have more foreign born players than American players.

 

What will then happen to our National Pastime?