It’s Time for Baseball To Come Back

The crack of the bat is one of the best things about baseball. Especially when a batter gets a hold of one. Excited fans stand up in anticipation of the ball clearing the fence for a home run. Broadcasters get pumped up calling it.

Ah. On this hot summer day in June that commemorates D Day, it feels weird not to have baseball on to watch. Sure. They wouldn’t quite be back yet due to the Coronavirus. However, it’s about time the two sides put their pride aside. The owners and players need to reach agreement for at least half a season. Not 40 games as the owners are pushing. Not 114 like the players want. But a cool 81 would do the trick.

If only the owners weren’t such cheapskates. The players are right about wanting their salaries to be prorated. If they play X amount of games, it should be 162 divided by said number equaling what they should get paid. End of discussion.

I think the owners are being stubborn due to the uncertainty surrounding where the games would be played. No attendance or concessions with different destinations likely hurt the bottom line. However, the players make up the game. They’re the product fans cough up money to go see. Why shouldn’t they get their fair share? If Mike Trout is the game’s best player and would normally get a shade over $37 million from the Angels, then he should get half that salary if he plays 81 games in an abbreviated season.

That’s how it should be. The longer the two sides go without agreeing to a deal that would allow there to be a season, the less likely there will be baseball. That would be devastating to the sport. If they thought 1994 was bad, think again. The damage that was done when that potential great season was canceled following the players strike on August 12 was astronomical. It took scabs (replacement players) for the two sides to come together and end the dispute on April 2, 1995.

The appeal of the home run brought fans back. Even though MLB turned a blind eye to the cheating going on with Herculean superstars using performance enhancing drugs (PED’s) to increase their power and numbers. It hit its peak in the Summer of ’98 when Mark McGwire outdueled Sammy Sosa to break Roger Maris’ single season record of 61 homers hit in 1961 for the Yankees. One half of the M&M Boys featuring the great Mickey Mantle, Maris bested legendary Babe Ruth’s 60 dingers hit in 1927. He did it without any help. Plus Mantle missed the final week of the season to end with 54 homers. You can still hear Phil Rizzuto saying, “Holy cow. He did it!”

In 1998, McGwire crushed 70 home runs while Sosa finished with 66. Both were later revealed to have done it with PED’s. So much attention was given to their home run race that it influenced the game’s best player Barry Bonds to cheat. Even though he was never caught, it was painfully obvious to everyone that he used performance enhancers when he shattered the record with a jaw dropping 73 homers in ’01 for the Giants.

The thing about Bonds is he never needed steroids to be great. He already was a three time National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) winning the award twice as a Pirate and once as a Giant within a four year span between 1990-93. He was a Gold Glove left fielder who also joined Jose Canseco as a 40/40 member by hitting 42 homers and stealing 40 bases in ’96. Despite that accomplishment, he finished fifth for MVP. Admitted cheater Ken Caminiti won it by slugging 40 dingers and knocking in 130 for the Padres as a third baseman. Mike Piazza was runner-up with Ellis Burks third and Chipper Jones fourth. If you’re wondering, Bonds had a higher OPS with a 1.076. Only Gary Sheffield was better winding up at 1.090 on the Marlins. Bonds also led in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) with a gaudy 9.7. Caminiti received all 28 first place votes to easily outdistance Piazza, who was unbelievable for the Dodgers as a slugging catcher before winding up a Met.

It’s funny looking back on that Era now. You sure had your share of great players such as Bonds, Ken Griffey, Jr, Albert Belle, Frank Thomas, Juan Gonzalez, Chipper Jones, Piazza, Sheffield, a young Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez, Mo Vaughn, Tony Gwynn, Edgar Martinez, Jim Thome, Roberto Alomar, Manny Ramirez, Barry Larkin, Cal Ripken, Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra. Your dominant pitchers like Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens (PED’s), John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman.

Baseball has always boasted plenty of star power. Even with more of an emphasis on launch angle and exit velocity, you still have Trout, who does everything right including play a great center field. A three time American League (AL) MVP, who’s dominated the sport since running away with Rookie of the Year at age 20 in 2012, Jersey Mike is by far the best player in the sport. He can hit for average, power, steal bases and drive in runs while playing outstanding defense. Unfortunately, he’s never won a Gold Glove due to stiff competition. Maybe Mookie Betts moving to Los Angeles will finally change that. The AL has always boasted plenty of great outfielders. Jackie Bradley, Jr isn’t a consistent hitter, but he’s a remarkable center fielder.

Aside from Trout, who certainly takes his share of walks, Aaron Judge is a terrific athlete who is a superb right fielder for the Yankees. He’s never won a Gold Glove either despite being able to make great plays with the glove and throw out runners with a huge arm. Injuries haven’t helped since his monster 2017 when he set a rookie record with 52 home runs. Pete Alonso broke it last year for the Mets by slugging 53 to easily win the NL’s top rookie. Both popular New York righty sluggers strike out a ton. But that’s how the game is these days. At least each draws walks. It’ll be interesting to follow each during their careers.

I’d much rather be talking about who’s on the schedule for the Yankees than racial injustice or a pandemic that’s been ignored due to the last week. It would certainly be more fun and positive. Sports are great. As good as the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs is, baseball still is great during the summer heat wave. For 162 games, you go through an emotional rollercoaster. It would be nice to have America’s pastime back.

We are looking at playoff hockey starting in mid July with it probably not concluding until late September due to the 24 team tournament with preliminaries that include the Rangers battling the Hurricanes in a best of five series. There will be NBA basketball at the end of July with Game Seven of the Finals not until October 12. That’s absurd. But this is the reality due to COVID-19. No league wants to lose that all important revenue.

Imagine if you have all four major sports going on at the same time this Fall. It could happen. If football starts on time and baseball returns, you really could see it. It sure would make up for lost time. That doesn’t include tennis, which I badly miss. Hard to believe there’s no Wimbledon. What a bummer. Will the rest of the season get wiped out including a later US Open and French this autumn? Who knows.

You do have Nascar back without fans. Golf will return soon. It’s gonna be weird. However, without baseball during the hot days of July and August, it wouldn’t feel right. They need to swallow some of their pride and get it done. Do the right thing.

We miss those web gems and the great pitches from the likes of Jacob de Grom, Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, Stephen Strasburg, Clayton Kershaw, etc.

Who wants to miss a entire season? Not me. The fans need it back.

Bill Madden’s baseball predictions

Bill Madden is a renown baseball columnist for the New York Daily News since 1989. Originally, he grew up in Oradell, New Jersey. A former high school graduate of Bergen Catholic, Madden went onto stardom after getting hired by the Daily News in 1978. Originally, he covered the Yankees before graduating to a columnist for New York’s hometown paper.

With a enormous resume that includes several books along with serving on the Baseball Hall of Fame Historical Committee in 2005, 2007 and 2008, Madden is an accomplished sports writer. Since players usage of PED’s has become public knowledge, he’s been an outspoken critic of voting for any former player into Cooperstown. That even includes Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Along with many other ballplayers, they used performance enhancing drugs to gain a competitive edge.

The steroid or juiced era was the responsibility of Major League Baseball. Former league commissioner Bud Selig turned a blind eye to it following the end of the strike. Instead, baseball rode the “Chicks Dig The Long Ball” campaign which featured Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa shattering Roger Maris’ single season home run record of 61 in 1961. It wasn’t until the BALCO scandal that things came to a head. Eventually, star players Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro were forced to testify in front of Congress. Most denied usage or pleaded the fifth which only cast more doubt. It forever tarnished McGwire’s legacy despite slugging a single season record of 70 home runs in 1998. Only Giambi admitted to steroid and human growth hormone (HGH) use in front of a grand jury in December 2003. Of course, Palmeiro embarrassed himself by defiantly saying he never used steroids only to get caught red handed.

It’s interesting to note that during this era, writers benefited from covering the sport. Madden’s former coworker Mike Lupica wrote a book entitled Summer of ’98. It was based on the 1998 season which featured McGwire and Sosa chasing history. It also details the Yankees special season en route to their 24th World Championship. The book is also a family affair with Lupica discussing his relationship with his son who also was a huge baseball fan. So, it wasn’t just about McGwire and Sosa but that was a prominent theme that season for fans and media. Nobody knew what was happening off the field. In retrospect, it came off hypocritical because that book made Lupica money. Of course, he and other baseball writers went back to bashing these players which is all part of what makes the media vultures.

Fast forward to the present and it’s only gotten worse. With Alex Rodriguez revealed as a steroid cheat who was caught twice including for his role in the Biogenesis baseball scandal, he served a MLB record 211-game suspension that included all of 2014. A-Rod returned to the Yankees in 2015 ready to put the past behind him. With so much uncertainty about what he would have left after being away from the game for a year and a half, some prognosticators doubted him. Could an aging Rodriguez who would turn 40 on July 27 still produce at a high level? He’s certainly answered that defiantly with 32 home runs and 83 RBI’s. The 32 dingers lead the ball club and the 83 base knocks trail only team leader Brian McCann (87).

Before the season started, the Daily News had its annual Baseball Season Predictions. Among the notables was how many homers would A-Rod hit. Madden, who has made no secret of his disdain for Rodriguez voted for a mystifying 9. Every other baseball writer had A-Rod in double digits. This is the same columnist who took three teams out of the NL East including his World Series pick the Marlins with Jose Fernandez winning World Series MVP. That was a reach with Fernandez needing time to recover from Tommy John surgery before returning to the mound in July. He’s only made eight starts and has posted a 2.06 earned run average (ERA) with a 5-0 record. Miami is without Giancarlo Stanton who’s been out since June 26 since surgery on a broken left hand. He’s been taking batting practice and could finally return before season’s conclusion.

While Madden was way off on the Marlins and White Sox who he took to win the AL Central which I also shamelessly did, he did nail the Mets to win the NL East. They lead the Nationals by 7.5 games with 16 games remaining and have a magic number of 10. But he also predicted Matt Harvey for 20 wins and the NL Cy Young. A bit unrealistic considering Harvey’s return from Tommy John. The Dark Knight has performed admirably going 12-7 with a 2.88 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 171-plus innings. He’s made 26 starts and will get two more before the postseason. Even with controversy surrounding him due to egotistical agent Scott Boras, who wanted Harvey’s innings limited. At first, Harvey toed the company line which didn’t sit well with Mets fans. But he sat down with management and straightened everything out. With him starting to wear down, how effective will he be in the postseason?

Madden also nabbed the Cardinals, who always defy logic. He also got the Dodgers. So, he did well in the NL. But his AL picks are a mess with the Orioles, White Sox and Mariners failing to live up to expectations. His AL wildcards weren’t much better with the Angels a long shot and the Tigers way out after selling David Price to the Blue Jays at the trade deadline. Baseball predictions are hard. So much factors in including injuries and how well teams jell. You also can’t predict which teams will be buyers. Who had the Jays getting Price and Troy Tulowitzki? No one had the Mets acquiring Yoenis Cespedes after nearly dealing away Wilmer Flores and Zach Wheeler for Carlos Gomez. Still, you would expect a knowledgeable and respected writer like Madden to do better than 3 out of 10.

I’ll admit to erring with the White Sox and not sticking to my guns with the Royals. I also felt the Mariners could contend in a wide open AL West. Instead, they’ve flopped with Robinson Cano having a second straight down year. Instead, it’s between the Rangers and Astros with Texas holding the upper hand after taking the first three of a big four-game series to go in front by a game and a half. Texas went out and acquired Cole Hamels. A pitcher I didn’t want the Yankees to get due to the Phillies’ asking price. Brian Cashman stuck to his guns holding onto prized prospects Luis Severino and Aaron Judge. Severino has pitched solidly improving to 4-3 in a road win over the Rays. A good response after his worst outing in a blowout loss to the Jays. I felt the AL East was wide open due to no team really having a decided edge. It wasn’t until Toronto went out and got Price that they took over. The Yanks led the division most of the summer. They’re still in solid position for the first wildcard despite the losses of Mark Teixeira (31 HR) and 14-game winner Nathan Eovaldi.

My NL picks were the Nats, Cards, Dodgers, Pirates and Giants. So, I got three right. I can’t remember who my AL wildcards were. I think I had the Royals and Angels. It just goes to prove that no matter how much of an expert you are, making predictions can make anyone look bad. Including Madden, who might not want to review his own.