If my uniform doesn’t get dirty, I haven’t done anything in the baseball game
The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros went “back to the future” at Arlington Ballpark yesterday to mark their respective anniversaries. In a growing trend of uniform changes, both teams adorned their 1986 colours. I’m not sure that this really adds to the game and may argue that it takes something away from the serious business of baseball. Later in the season, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Arizona Diamondbacks will wear “ethnic heritage” uniforms in Italian and adopting the colours of ‘il Tricolore’. The Brewers have already worn Spanish and German language shirts in the past. My team, the Tampa Bay Rays, are also adopting a similar principle by wearing their 1979 uniform. Students of the game will point out the franchise wasn’t around then, which is correct, but the Rays marketing department have accounted for this with the ridiculously tenuous, and definitely pretentious, “faux-back” label. I’m not a fan of this outright fan manipulation but modern sport businesses won’t pass up such an opportunity.
Matt Cain added his name to baseball history last week when he pitched the 22nd perfect game in MLB history against the fashion conscious Astros. Whilst Tim Lincecum struggles, Giants pitcher Cain’s 125 pitches guaranteed his place in the record book. Cain will be indebted to Melky Cabrera and Gregor Blanco for two pieces of exquisite fielding to ensure the Astros remained hitless. The quirkier fact to surface from Cain’s perfect game was that umpire Ted Barrett became the first umpire to call 2 perfect games. He was umpire when New York Yankees’ David Cone threw the 16th in 1999. This season has already contributed 5 no hitters, which includes the 2 perfect games, and we haven’t got to the All Star Game yet!
On the subject of pitching, there are currently 18 pitchers on MLB rosters that are waiting or have had ‘Tommy John’ surgery in 2012. The surgery repairs the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow joint which can fray, stretch or tear from repeated throwing. Current thinking suggests that the action required to throw a ‘slider’ causes the most stress on the elbow joint. Although it’s positive that such surgery can yield a greater than 85% chance of recovery, it’s a worrying statistic that 18 pitchers this year are requiring surgery. Is it an occupational hazard or is it time to look at the workloads of pitchers?
Finally, I thought I’d share a website each week that I’ve found, or had recommended, that help my understanding and knowledge of baseball. This time, it’s the copiously statistical MLBDepthCharts.com. I subscribe to their ‘magazine’ option which sends roster projections, injury reports, transaction trackers, projected starter / organizational depth charts and prospect reports. These get sent in PDF format but the roster projections are in Excel so you can play with the data. They also have a fantasy forecast subscription to help with your fantasy baseball team. It’s all sent by email and, if you want to pay, can get this information in your inbox on a daily basis! It was said that “baseball fans are junkies, and their heroin is the statistic.” If that is the case with you, MLBDepthCharts.com will be your dealer….
