Southern Fried Specials Arizona Style

Today, the Arizona Fall League, the premier winter league for Major League prospects, announced their rosters today. It is a very high honor for a player to be selected to play in this league. Here are the Mississippians, or those with Mississippi connections that made the league.

• Mitch Moreland, outfield for the Texas Rangers- Amory High School and Mississippi State
• Lance Lynn, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals- Ole Miss
• Cody Satterwhite, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers- Hillcrest Christian High School and Ole Miss
• Zack Cozart, shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds- Ole Miss
• Jason Heyward, outfielder for the M-Braves
• Freddie Freeman, first baseman for the M-Braves
• Brandon Hicks, shortstop for the M-Braves
• Lee Hyde, pitcher for the M-Braves
• Craig Kimbrel, pitcher for the M-Braves
• Jeff Lyman, pitcher for the M-Braves

And one more tidbit- MLB.com released their top 50 prospects for all of baseball today, and Jason Heyward of the M-Braves was named the #1 prospect in all of baseball.

Tips on Tipping Pitches

This Sunday, John Smoltz had a markedly improved performance against the weak-hitting San Diego Padres. Nonetheless, striking out nine hitters, including seven in a row, over five innings and allowing zero runs and only three hits is pretty good for a rehab start- or any start. So, how did Dave Duncan work his magic this time? Well, according to Tony LaRussa, the Cardinals manager, they made some slight mechanical adjustments, but the thing that I found really interesting was that they believed that Smoltz was tipping his pitches.

As baseball fans, many of us have heard about pitchers tipping pitches, but many don't know exactly what the pros (and everyone else) are looking for. Well, today, I'm going to talk about some very common ways that pitchers tip pitches. Of course, a pitcher could literally do any little thing and tip a pitch, but there are some things that are more common than others. And I also need to make note that in some rare instances, tipping pitches may not be that bad of a thing. Case in point- Sandy Koufax used to tip that he was throwing his curveball by snapping his wrist before his wind up. The thing was, his curve was so good that even though the hitters knew it was coming, they still couldn't hit it. It was almost to the point where Koufax used his pitch tipping to intimidate hitters- "Here it comes, let's see if you can hit it." Case in point, here is a quote from Joe Torre, who had to hit against Koufax-

"There were some coaches who were good at picking things up. You always look for it," he said. "Then you had a guy like Sandy Koufax. You could call his pitches, but it wouldn't do you any good." - Joe Torre

But that's the exception rather than the rule. But anyway, here are some common things that players look for with pitchers that tip their pitches:

• How the pitcher holds his glove. This is fairly self explanatory- sometimes pitchers will hold their glove vertically, like Johan Santana is doing in this picture for their fastball.

And then they will hold their glove horizontally for a curveball, like the pitcher in this picture is doing.

• Another common thing that pitchers will do to tip pitches is noticeably wiggle their fingers in their glove. What the pitcher is trying to do is line the seams up so that he can get his fingers on the ball correctly to throw a certain pitch, usually a breaking ball.
• Along those same lines, sometimes a pitcher will widen his glove when throwing a certain pitch.
• And tipping pitches can sometimes be just from the wind up or just from the stretch. Andy Pettitte of the Yankees was known to bring his hands straight down in the stretch for a fastball and when he was going to throw a curveball, his hands would go in a more circular motion to his waist before going to home plate.
• One of the most common, and potentially amusing is a pitcher's body habits. There was a pitcher that would wag his tongue before throwing his fastball. Dwight Gooden would wiggle his index finger on his glove hand before throwing his curveball.

So, what are these poor pitchers supposed to do? Well, pitch tipping can go unnoticed for a long time- often years. A lot of times what will happen is someone will get traded to the team that the pitcher is on, or vice versa, and they will inform the pitcher. At that point, it basically becomes a matter of breaking habits, which can sometimes be very difficult. Sometimes it can be rather simple- to fix Gooden's pitch tipping problem, the Mets had someone put a cover over the index finger hole in his glove. Problem solved.

In closing- pitchers, watch your habits. Because it might come back to haunt you one day. Unless you're Sandy Koufax, of course.

Conner Powers Doesn't Wanna Be Your Monkeywrench

OK, MSU fans, let's rewind to June. Russ Sneed was going to play first base. Jarrod Parks was going to play third and the coaching staff really liked him. Cody Freeman days behind the plate were done, and he was definately going to be either a corner outfielder, or a first baseman, and Conner Powers was gone thanks to the draft- but wait.

All right, we now know that Conner Powers was not only drafted lower than he expected in the 11th round, but we later learned that he couldn't come to terms with the Dodgers, and ended up going back to the Cape Cod League to prove his mettle. Powers started off slowly, but recovered won the Cape Cod League Home Run Derby, and eventually never came to terms with the Dodgers.

Don't get me wrong, I am very fired up that Conner Powers is coming back to MSU, but it certainly creates some other issues at other positions. Powers has to play. There is no doubt about that. He is a bona fide possible All-SEC and maybe even All-American at first base. He has the potential to hit 20 home runs and hit .350. That's certainly not a problem, especially given the fact that Powers plays very good defense as well. The problem is everyone else's defense. In particular, Russ Sneed and Jet Butler. We'll get to them later, but I'm going to start at the catcher position.

OK, word on the street is that John Cohen loves JUCO transfer Wes Thigpen from Meridian CC. Fair enough. Thigpen was signed out of high school by LSU, so he obviously has some talent. Ironically, he went to Nicholls State, a team that MSU had some issues with last year, this off season for summer school, but that's neither here nor there. Despite Thigpen's crdentials and Cohen's endorsement, he has no SEC experience. And the back-ups have even less. Kolby Byrd is a True Freshman, Carlos Leal is a True Freshman walk-on, and Jet Butler is learning how to catch with very mixed results to say the least. Ryan Duffy has experience behind the plate, but his defense was so atrocious that Cohen benched him in the middle of an inning last year and he has not seen any more action behind the dish since. Then you have Cody Freeman. Freeman has had some injury issues since he has been at MSU. Last year, I do not believe he was very healthy either. Cody was a very good catcher at high school super power West Lauderdale in Meridian, and he has had some success at the plate while at MSU- particularly when he was healthy. I sincerely hope that John Cohen looks at Cody Freeman at catcher this fall. I don't think that Cohen has seen what he can do when he's 100%. And the depth issues and the current Conner Powers situation may force him to give him a long look, which I think might be beneficial to MSU. And I'm not necessarily knocking Thigpen. I personally believe that any team should have at least two capable catchers that they can depend on becuase of the physical demands of the position. I'd rather have two capable juniors than a junior and a freshman.

Now, on to the infield. Conner Powers has first base locked up. The other positions are very unsettled. Jet Butler is the incumbant at second base. While he is not exactly a great defender, and is an even worse baserunner, he can hit and has pretty good power. I really wouldn't be shocked if he hit 10 home runs next year as a senior. The other options are Frank Rawdow, who can play defense, but is still learning how to hit, and JUCO transfer Johnathan Ogden, who is more of a defensive specialist. I wish there were a way to morph Butler and Ogden, but that would probably screw the scholarship situation up too much. Powers coming back also probably throws Russ Sneed back to third base, where he had a fielding percentage below .900. Sneed is similar to Butler in that he can hit for power and average, but he is a better baserunner than Jet. I think Sneed can put up similar numbers at the plate as Butler as well, maybe even a little bit better. I would have to think that Jarrod Parks would come in as a defensive replacement late in games, as he has not shown that he can hit SEC pitching yet. State's shortstop position is the only one that has no one with any real experience at the postion in the SEC. I think Nick Vickerson, a Florida State, Shelton State CC, AND Meridian CC transfer is going to likely get the nod there. The scary thing, according to someone who has seen him play is that he "airmails every four throws to first base". I expect some of the glove players like Ogden and Rawdow to get looks at short as well. If I were John Cohen, I would really, really, really focus on infield defense. They were not good last year, and it was overshadowed by the lack of a pitching staff. But if State can shore up their defense, they could five more games this next year. Remember, the old saying is pitching AND defense win ballgames.

Finally the outfield, with the DH position thrown in. The outfield is every bit as crowded as the infield, but there are players that are a little more established. Ryan Collins is a very good outfielder, and I think he has to start. He could have a very good junior season next year. The centerfielder is probably going to be former Reds draft pick Jaron Shepherd, the son of former Toronto Blue Jay outfielder Ron Shepherd. I expect Collins and Shepherd to be at the top of MSU's lineup next year. Left field is a lot more crowded. Luke Adkins has a lot of experience, and had a pretty good year last year. Then there's JUCO transfer Trey Johnson and Brent Brownlee, another Cohen favorite. I like Adkins, but I think he might be the odd man out here. I think it's going to be either Johnson, who showed some pretty good power last year in JUCO, and then Brownlee, who is developing as a hitter and is a very good defensive outfielder with speed. The designated hitter for State is probably going to be senior Ryan Duffy, who may be the best clutch hitter on the team.

So, that's what State is looking at right now going into fall camp. And then there are going to be some players that are going to get cut, so that's going to answer some questions right there. As for me, I'm ready for October and some banana splits.

Captain Obvious Playoff Predictions

OK, I know these picks are going to be hardly Earth shattering considering that the season is almost over and the fact that most of the pennant races this year aren't that close. But one of my friends asked me who I thought would make the playoffs, and I thought it was a good enough topic.

Here are the picks:

National League

East- Philadelphia Phillies- No Roy Halladay, but it's not going to matter. Cliff Lee and Pedro are more than enough to pad their lead and get them in to the playoffs.
Central- St. Louis Cardinals- This team is one of, if not the hottest team in baseball right now, and they have a very favorable schedule the rest of the way. They play the Cubs three more times in St. Louis.
West- Los Angeles Dodgers- Their hot start has carried them over, and while the Giants and Rockies are making runs, I think they have enough to hold them off. If someone is going to fade in the National League, it will probably be the Dodgers.
Wild Card- San Francisco Giants- I like the Giants pitching over the Rockies, and I think that could be the difference. Not only that, but the Ginats also play the Rockies nine more times- including six in San Francisco. And the Giants actually have a pretty legit shot at the Dodgers as they play them three times in San Francisco as well and could do some damage there.

American League

East- New York Yankees- If the Cardinals aren't the hottest team in baseball right now, it's gotta be the Yankees. They have built a solid team with probably the best defensive infield in the game. They've found answers to any questions that they might have had in the bullpen as well.
Central- Detroit Tigers- I'm picking them over the White Sox because I think that their schedule is a little bit easier, although they have a big stretch next week with the Angels on the road and the Rays. If they can navigate through that stretch well, I think they win it. And something to look out for- the last series of the year for them is against the White Sox in Detroit. That could be for the Division.
West- Los Angeles Angels- They have a fairly comfortable lead in the West, and they have more than enough to hold off the Rangers.
Wild Card- Texas Rangers- My main reason for picking the Rangers is because they have a much easier schedule and the fact that the Red Sox are struggling right now, and I think that they lack confidence. The Rangers are young, and they're just having a good time. I think that's going to keep the pressure off of them.

John Smoltz a Cardinal

Some things are just hard to accept. For example, Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker's father. Right now, I'm having a hard time accepting former Atlanta and M-Brave (rehab assignment, OK, I'm stretching it) John Smoltz as a... Cardinal? Some people, especially those that know me may have a hard time understanding why I'm in such a state of flux over this. I mean, I know how the "business" side of baseball is- players change teams very frequently. Very few baseball players spend their entire career for one team. It's all part of it. But, as a Cardinals fan in the South this is very, well, weird.

It's not that I think this is a bad move or anything. I mean, the Cardinals do have Dave Duncan after all, and he has salvaged many a pitching career through the years. Smoltz has shown that he can start and relieve, and even the talking heads on MLB Network are talking about what a good move this is for the Cardinals. Smoltz has also appeared in more postseason games than any pitcher in Major League history, something that will serve the Cardinals well in the postseason should they get there. The Redbirds are basically asking him to be a fifth starter, and he can be a good mentor for some of the Cardinals pitchers like Jason Motte and is well respected by Adam Wainwright. And yes, I know that Smoltz is 42, has struggled this year in Boston, and has an arm that has had just about every known surgery known to man.

But it's none of that. It's that growing up as a Cardinals fan in the 90's, the Braves were the bane of my existance. Early in the 90's, the Cardinals were very cheap until a group led by Bill DeWitt bought the team and started to resurrect the franchise. They did this by getting Tony LaRussa, and essentially a bunch of new players and renovating Busch Stadium II. This was 1996. Ever since then, the Cardinals have enjoyed a good bit of success and continue to today. Now, when the Cardinals were building up, there was one team in the National League that they had to go through. The Atlanta Braves.

The Braves were the class of the National League in the 90's. I liked them in 1991. After that, I loathed them. I think a lot of it had to do with their snide announcers like Don Sutton, and remember at this time, there were very little baseball watching options, and it was either Braves, Cubs, or hope that ESPN would show someone other than those two. All you would ever hear about was the Brave's pitching- Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery, and Denny Neagle/Pete Smith/Kent Merker or whoever. ALL THE TIME. Then you would hear all about basically how the Braves did "everything right" and it came across as everyone else in baseball was basically a big ship of fools. And here I am a Cardinals fan hoping that my team can get five solid innings from Rene Arocha. And then I got to watch the helpless Cardinals hitters take every pitch that was five inches off of the corner and the Braves get the call every time. I think if MLB Network had been around, I would have had fewer annoyance issues towards the Braves.

And then there were the bandwagon Braves fans. I loathed them worse than the actual Braves themselves. They're the people that would go out and buy Braves gear circa 1991, and ditched it all for Yankees gear circa 1996. I like REAL Braves fans though- like one of my very best friends from Tupelo. The bandwagon Braves fans were easy to identify- they usually try to disguise themselves with a Dale Murphy reference, but then ask them about Bob Horner, Rafael Ramirez, Rick Mahler, Andres Thomas, and then Biff Pocoroba, and you could spot them fairly easily. And for the record I don't like any bandwagon baseball fans. I can respect fans of any team- even Cubs fans. But bandwagon baseball fans don't have to suffer through hard times like other "true" fans of teams.

So, for the Cardinals that were trying to re-emerge, the Braves and their pitching staff were the team that they had to go through. The Braves were the bad guys. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz were the main bad guys for me. It's just the way it was. Heck, there was even the now infamous "Chicks Dig the Longball" commercial where it showed Mark McGwire, the Cardinals main star of the late 90's, hitting home runs and girls going nuts over him, and the Braves pitchers- Maddux and Glavine shaking their heads and learning how to hit home runs to try to impress the women. That's just how the Cardinals and Braves were in the late 90's. The two did meet in the playoffs, with the Braves winning in 1996 4-3 and the Cardinals winning in 2000 with a three game sweep. And now, here we are and one of the main bad guys is now a good guy? I just can't process it.

Let me put it this way- This is like Ernie Banks becoming a Cardinal and Stan Musial being a Cub. It's like Willie Mays being a Dodger. It's like Ted Williams being a Yankee. It just doesn't seem right. For me, this is like the cowboy in black joining forces with John Wayne. It's just crazy.

I'll bet I get over it though- especially if Smoltz helps lead the Cardinals to the World Championship. Until then, I'm doing double takes and shaking my head.

Southern Fried Special

Bill Hall of Nettleton, who was released by the Brewers recently, has been picked up by the Seattle Mariners. I think this is a great fit for both teams, especially since the Mariners are likely to lose their current third baseman, Adrian Beltre, to free agency in the offseason. Seattle is an awesome city and they do a great job with their baseball at Safeco Field. I recommend going for those of you trying to plan a vacation for next summer.

No Olympic Baseball (Or Softball) For Now

Recently, the IOC voted to not include baseball or softball to the 2016 Olympic Games. Of course, I find this very disappointing. The Olympics main reason for not including baseball has a lot to do with the fact that Major League Baseball does not send the best players to the Games, but rather sends minor leaguers (and Stephen Strasburg) to represent USA. Some leagues, such as the Nippon (Japan) League did send some of their pros to compete. Essentially, the Olympics want a baseball "Dream Team" like basketball.

Baseball has their reasons for not sending their players to the Olympics, though. These include the fact that the summer games take place in August, which is in the middle of the pennant race. August is also a time where Major League teams want to have good crowds, and sending some of their top players overseas could impact attendance. The biggest issue has to do with the pitchers- which is not surprising considering the crys from the World Baseball Classic and even the All-Star game where teams are afraid that their prized commodities will be injured in something that doesn't involve their team. I think both sides have compelling arguements. There just seems to be no middle ground here.

So, I'm going to arbitrate between the two because I think baseball in the Olympics has a lot of potential- I remember watching Ben Sheets and Tom Lasorda beat the Cubans for the Gold in 2000, which was awesome.

So, what's the solution? I think it's actually fairly simple- if you think outside the box. But I think I've found it. Baseball should be played not in the Summer Games, but...wait for it...the Winter Games.

OK, now take a deep breath and let me explain myself.

And now for the inevitable questions- Why should the Boys of SUMMER play in the WINTER Olympic Games? What in the name of Brian Boitano are you thinking?

First of all, there are some very tangible reasons for this. First of all, when is spring training for baseball? February and March. When is the World Baseball Classic? The earliest WBC games began on March 5th, less than a week after February. And now for the clincher- when are the Winter Olympics held? According to their website Feb. 12- 28th. This would be a pretty good for Major League baseball because there are no meaningful games in February and it wouldn't interfere with any pennant race, although it might interfere with PFP- pitcher fielding practice, but I think the pitchers will survive. The players would have to start getting ready a little bit earlier, but I don't think that would be that big of a deal. Especially if they get promised big time endorsement deal like the basketball Dream Team. And speaking of that, with the Winter Olympics having fewer sports, baseball would get more of a center stage position to show itself off. This would help Internationalize baseball even further, and also take into consideration that the Olympics would be bringing baseball to a place where baseball is not played very much- like Sweden.

Oh yeah, and the Olympics would benefit from this to. How? Because it would be another major sport added to the Winter Games and it would add the participation of countries like Cuba, the Dominican, Japan, and etc., which would help their ratings world wide.

Uh, Todd. That sounds great, but don't they play the Winter Olympics in places like Norway? Won't it be, uh, you know...cold?

Yep. It'll be cold all right. But baseball doesn't have to be played outside. Just have the Vikings build a dome and there you go. This is not the time to go all purist on everybody. We're talking about a week long tournament or so. We put up with Montreal and Olympic Stadium for how many years? I doubt a domed stadium in Helsinki would be any worse than that.

OK, but what are they going to do with a baseball stadium after that?

Who cares? They'll probably turn it into apartments or a parking lot like every other country does when the Olympics leaves.

Like I said, have an eight team tournament and play it the last week of the Olympics with two four team pools. For example for 2010:

Pool A:

USA/combined with Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic
Mexico
Canada/host country which is variable. I picked Canada because they are hosting in 2010.

Pool B:

Cuba
Venezuela
Japan
Korea

The pools play three games round robin to decide seeding for the medal round, which will be single elimination. If someone wants to make the arguement that the medal round should be best two out of three, I could buy that. But if that was the case, the top two teams in both pools should advance, which I have no problem with either. Under my plan, the winners of the first round of the medal round then go on to the second round. The winners of the second round play for the Gold Medal, and the losers go on to play for the Bronze. Also, World Baseball Classic pitch count rules will be enforced, and there will be a DH. To further ensure that pitchers are protected, three will be 30 man rosters for all teams. Major League and other professional umpires will be used.

So, now all someone has to do is forward this to Bud Selig and the IOC and then we can play some baseball!

Draft Deadline Southern Fried Specials

• The big news to me, is that Conner Powers is going to return to Mississippi State after turning down the Dodgers offer. Powers was drafted in the 11th round, and is one of the best power hitters in the SEC. Last year, Powers hit 19 home runs for State with 63 RBI's and hit a career low .301 for the Bulldogs. He will make State's lineup drastically different next year, not to mention senior laden in terms of postion players.
• David Renfroe, who many considered the top prospect in the state last year out of South Panola, and the son of former Ole Miss and Chicago Cubs pitcher Laddie Renfroe, has signed with the Boston Red Sox for 1.5 million dollars. David was a Ole Miss signee. I actually had the pleasure to meet David Renfroe at the MHSAA State baseball Championships in 2008, and I must say that he was a really nice guy, and I will be rooting for him. As long as he doesn't hurt the Cardinals, of course.

Today's Southern Fried Specials

• Rhyne Hughes, the former Picayune High School and Pearl River Community College standout, as well as former Ole Miss signee, was traded from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Baltimore Orioles to complete and earlier trade. Hughes is am outfielder and first baseman, who could also be a DH, and probably has a better shot at making it to the Big Leagues with the Orioles, so congrats to him. He will be assigned to AAA for the time being.
• There was a great story on former Ole Miss standout Lance Lynn on MLB.com. Lynn is currently with the St. Louis Cardinals AA team in Springfield, Missouri and was called one of the Cardinals top pitching prospects in the article. I expect Lynn to pitch in Memphis next year, so all you Ole Miss fans that are in that area, be sure to make it a point to see him once again.
• Cody Abraham, who recently committed to the Mississippi State Bulldogs has an interesting background. And no, I'm not talking about the fact that he is related to Jimmy Abraham the well-known MSU faculty member. Abraham has played in the Little League World Series, which to my knowledge Abraham may be the first player in MSU history to have played in Williamsport.

Something For You Left Field Loungers to Think About

I know that supposedly something like this (video included) happened to Seth Smith a few years ago at Dudy-Noble Field.

Without knowing the specifics of what happened to Seth Smith, I think the difference is the Cubs fan threw beer on Shane Victorino of the Phillies while the ball was still in flight. I could be wrong on that, and the dousing of beer on Seth Smith could be urban legend all together anyway.

Anyway, the Cubs fan- who was a 21 year old- turned himself into the Chicago Police and we'll see where it goes from there. If I were Victorino, I would drop the charges because I wouldn't want to fool with it in the offseason, and the fact that the guys Mom probably bought him the ticket anyway. Also, Kudos to the Cubs fans for booing the guy who threw beer at Victorino. I hope the guy got the Steve Bartman treatment from ya'll.

So, Left Field Loungers, the lesson here is obvious- if you're going to pour your beer on some outfielder, make sure that the ball is NOT in the air when you do it. But I don't have to tell ya'll that- you're the best!

Southen Fried Sushi

In case you haven't noticed, and if you're not from Japan you probably haven't, but Kaz Matsui (above #3) of the Houston Astros is about to join an exclusive club- the Meikyukai. Basically, the Meikyukai is an exclusive club for professional baseball players in Japan. It is a great honor and has very specific criteria- 2,000 hits, 200 wins, and/or 250 saves which can be between Japan and the USA. So, guys like Ichiro and Hideo Nomo are eligible to be in it. However, you apparently have to be a native of the Orient because there are some players- such as Larry Parrish, who have attained the needed numbers, but they are not allowed in. The club chooses who to extend the invites to. If you are in the Meikyukai, you receive some sort of jacket and are then allowed to attend meetings that the group has. I have no clue what they talk about, but it's probably man stuff. Some players, notably Hideo Nomo, have even refused to be in the Meikyukai. And for before I go any further, I need to mention that there is a Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, which is housed at the Toyko Dome, and it is a separate entity from the Meikyukai. The legendary Sadaharu Oh, he of 868 home runs, is the "head" of the Meikyukai at the present time. If and when Matsui, who is considered one of the greatest shortstops in Japanese history, gets his 2,000 hit, he will be presented with his jacket after the game.

When I found out about the Meikyukai, I thought, maybe the Nippon (Japanese) Baseball League has it right in some ways as opposed to the American Hall of Fame. At least with the Meikyukai, there are set standards for membership. There are no politics. You're Barry Bonds, you get 2,000 hits, you're in. Here in America, we have arguements over whether players deserve to be in becuase of the most trivial things. "He was mean to the press", Well, he got into a brawl one time", and on and on and on. It is not a coincidence that there has never been a player ever unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame. The player with the highest percentage was not Babe Ruth or Willie Mays, but Tom Seaver of all people- no offense to Tom, but he did not have the impact on the game that a Ruth did and he was not as great as a Willie Mays. One thing that bothers me about the Hall of Fame is that it is voted on by people who have never played the game at the Major League level, did not have to put in the work to get to that level and realize just how hard it is to not only make it to the Big Leagues, but to excel at a high level. And I have yet to understand why these sportswriters fail continuously to separate what the players did on the field vs. their personal lives off of the field. The Hall of Fame is supposed to celebrate people who had phenomenal talent for playing the game, not a place to drag people through the mud. Never mind that these sportswriters do many of the same wrongs that these baseball players did.

And the sportswriters comeback is- "Well, you don't want to go to the Hall of Fame and have your son looking up to a (insert wrongdoing here)." (Awww....You care about the children! How sweet!) My retort is this- when I go to Cooperstown and walk around there with my son, I'm not going to go through every plaque that's up there and say- "Hey, Junior, there's Babe Ruth. He was a womanizer, a glutton, smoked, he got kicked out of a few games, and he was overweight. There's Ty Cobb, son. He was a racist and a dirty player, Oh, and there's Sandy Koufax, he really only played 12 seasons, and was really only good for six or so. He probably should have played a little longer. Ah, Gaylord Perry. Cheater." NO! I'm going to talk about what they did on the field. I'm not going to fly to Albany, New York, rent a car and drive to Cooperstown, New York all the way from Jackson, Mississippi to give my son a morality lesson.

The other thing about the Meikyukai is since it is a separate entity from the Hall of Fame, you have to wonder if someday Pete Rose is going to come up with some similar club. In Japan, you can be in one or the other, or both. This is kind of a novel idea, I thought. It would be an interesting way for Rose to stick it to the Hall of Fame. I think such a club could co-exist with the Hall of Fame. And let's face it, those old players aren't doing anything. They love hanging out with each other at Cooperstown. A few of them, like Yogi Berra, may hang out at spring training as "spring training coaches", but aside from that, they're pretty much open. I think they would be open to hanging out some more and talking about man stuff.

Until next time, Sayonara!

Happy Trails (for now)

Happy trails for now to Bill Hall, a Nettleton native, who was designated for assignment today by the Milwaukee Brewers, along with JJ Hardy, a former All-Star shortstop, and pitching coach Bill Castro was fired as well. Hall, known for his power has struggled this year while only hitting six home runs while hitting .201.

Hopefully, Bill will get picked up by someone very soon. I think he is young enough that he can rebound from this bad season, and maybe a change of scenery will do him some good.

Belated Congratulations

Belated congratulations go to the Talahatchie Rascals, who won the Cotton State League Championship a week ago.

Please forgive me, my life stopped with the recent Yankees and Red Sox series because ESPN told me so.

Prince Goes Jerry Springer?

This is the bad thing about West Coast games- you miss things like Prince Fielder trying to rush the Dodgers clubhouse and take out Da' Bums.

Since the South is in the Central and Eastern time zones, here's what happened- the Brewers were getting blown out, and eventually lost 17-4. Brewer's pitcher Chris Smith then hit Manny Ramirez. Probably not intentionally based on the highlight that I saw- Smith is a guy who at this point in his career is a AAAA pitcher with a couple of cups of coffee in the Big Leagues, and is hardly Greg Maddux. Then Brewers pitcher R J Swindle, a pitcher very similar to Smith except with an even worse ERA, hit Juan Pierre. OK, so now it's the ninth inning and Prince Fielder is at bat, and his team is getting blown out. He gets hit in the knee by Guillermo Mota. That's baseball as Ron Polk would say? Well, it doesn't stop there. It turned into That's Jerry Springer really quickly. After the game, Fielder decides to charge the Dodgers clubhouse. Now, as you might imagine, a MLB team is going to have some security at the door for common sense reasons. Well, Fielder wanted in the Dodgers clubhouse, and the security guard earned his paycheck and wouldn't allow it. Fielder then tries to force his way into the clubhouse, prompting the police to get involved and the rest of his Brewer teammates to restrain him. And to make matters even worse, all of this was caught on video. The funny thing about it was the Dodgers had no clue what was going on outside. It's a good thing none of them opened the door. Of note, Mota used to pitch for the Brewers and was a teammate of Fielder, but prior to last night there had never been any reported problems between the two. Just to throw that theory out the window. Mota was ejected from the game by Mississippi's own Lance Barksdale, who was the home plate umpire that night.

I don't know what Prince was thinking. He certainly was not looking for a raspberry baret. What would he have done if he had actually gotten in the Dodgers clubhouse? Seriously. There are twenty-five Dodgers. There is one Prince Fielder. Now, Fielder is a big guy, but so is Jonathan Broxton of the Dodgers. And remember baseball teams are very clanish. If someone on another team attacks one of their teammates- it's on. And with no umpires to break it up, and odds on slightly better than Custer, Prince probably should be thankful that he didn't get in the clubhouse. If he did get in, I think the end result would have looked something like this: (Not safe for work because of explicit language)











Now, John Kruk of ESPN weighed in on this and his opinion was that Fielder was way out of line (duh), and that Mota did it the right way because he didn't try to hit him in his head. He had some good clips of the "right" and "wrong" way to hit a batter, which is becoming a lost art. To sum it up, basically, if you're trying to hurt someone or end their career, then that is the wrong way to do it. If you hit someone in the leg, or their rear end, that's the right way. And he also pointed out that you don't necessarily even have to hit someone to send the message. He showed a pitcher who throw one pitch outside to get the hitter to lean over the plate and subconciously look for an outside pitch, and then come up in on the batter. In his example, the batter was not hit with the purpose pitch. According to Kruk, the pitcher should have stopped there. Instead the pitcher threw the same sequence two more times before finally hitting him with the sixth pitch. It was a good piece by Kruk- who has been thrown at before (cough, Randy Johnson, cough).

I sincerely hoped Prince Fielder watched the piece by Kruk, and I have a feeling that he's going to get a chance to watch a lot of baseball on TV very soon, so he'll get his chance. I think Fielder is a great player, and I think this was simply a moment of weakness for him, and I hope he learns a lesson from this.

Baseball's Greatest Urban Myth?- The Fielder's Balk

Is this the Loch Ness Monster, or perhaps an umpire calling a balk on a third baseman?

Yesterday on sixpackspeak.com, perhaps the greatest thing on the Internet save pictures of Brooklyn Decker, a question was posed about whether anyone had ever seen an umpire call a balk on a player other than a pitcher. According to the person asking the question- the infamous Coach34- an umpire called a balk on a third baseman in a game. I'm not really sure what kind of league this was, it sounded like a youth type league, but I could be totally wrong about that. Another poster stated that there had been a balk called on a catcher for relaying signs to a pitcher before the pitcher was on the rubber. Someone else stated that there are some leagues that call balks on position players if they are not in fair territory- for example, a third baseman having one foot in fair territory and one foot in foul territory.

Now, I have been watching baseball for 25 years now. I have seen a lot of things. To this day, I have never seen a balk called on anyone other than a pitcher. That said, there is a saying in baseball- "If you go to the ballpark, you may see something that you've never seen before". And just because I haven't seen it happen, doesn't mean it can't, and it also doesn't mean that it's in the rule book.

So.....what does the Major League rulebook, section 8.05 say? Well, it's a long-drawn out statement. But wikipedia has summed it up pretty well.

"Most basically, a pitcher is restricted to a certain set of motions and one of two basic pitching positions before and during a pitch; if these are violated, a balk is called.
With a runner on base and the pitcher on or astride (with one leg on each side of) the rubber, it is a balk[2] when the pitcher:

• switches his pitching position from the windup to the set (or vice versa) without properly disengaging the rubber;
  
• while on the rubber, makes a motion associated with his pitch and does not complete the delivery;
  
• when going from the stretch to the set position, fails to make a complete stop with his hands together before beginning to pitch;
  
• throws from the rubber to a base without stepping toward (gaining distance in the direction of) that base;
  
• throws or feints a throw from the rubber to an unoccupied base, unless a play is imminent;
  
• steps or feints from the rubber to first base without completing the throw;
  
• pitches a quick return, that is, delivers with the intent to catch the batter off-guard or defenseless;
  
• pitches or mimics a part of his pitching motion while not in contact with the rubber;
  
• drops the ball while on the rubber, even if by accident, if the ball does not subsequently cross a foul line;
  
• while intentionally walking a batter, or at any other time, releases a pitch while the catcher is out of his box with one or both feet; this is rarely called, though, especially on an intentional walk;
  
• unnecessarily delays the game;
  
• pitches while facing away from the batter;
  
• after bringing his hands together on the rubber, separates them except in making a pitch or a throw;
  
• stands on or astride the rubber without the ball, or mimics a pitch without the ball; or
  throws to first when the first baseman, because of his distance from the base, is unable to make a play on the runner there." (from wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balk)

OK, after reading that, you'll notice that ALL of the balk rules apply to the pitcher in some way, shape, form, or fashion. And even the situations that involve the catcher and the first baseman, the pitcher, is involved.

That said, it has been brought to my attention that some youth leagues call a balk in some situations that I previously mentioned- ie, a player that is not totally in fair territory, or a catcher giving signs before a pitcher is on the rubber. This is known as a "Fielder's balk."

But perhaps we have a fielder's balk sighting!

Here is the rule accordoing to a man named Jorge- (Hey, my sources aren't any less credible than the people that claim to have seen the Loch Ness Monster).

"The rule (1-1-4 or in the HS rule book or 4.03 in the college one) requires that all defensive players except the catcher be in fair territory at the time of pitch. By definition, at least one foot must be in fair territory to comply with this rule. Here is the high school rule:Rule 1-1 Art. 4 At the time of the pitch, all fielders shall be on fail ground except the catcher who shall be in the catcher's box. A fielder is in fair ground when at least ONE foot is touching fair ground.Consequently, there is no balk. If the fielder were to have both feet completely outside of fair territory with a runner on base, that would be a balk". (Source- "Jorge")

However, like the Loch Ness Monster, Aliens, Big Foot, and ghosts, there are always skeptics.

Like a man who calls himself DelawareBlue.

"All fielders other than the catcher must have both feet in fair territory (touching the foul line counts). The balk under 4.03 applies to part (a) of the rule. That is the catcher standing outside the "catcher's box" during an intentional base on balls, commonly referred to as a "catcher's balk." There is no "fielder's balk." It's a don't do that. If you tell a player several times to stop doing it and he continues, your only course of action is to eject him. Seems like a harsh penalty, but that's about it. I'm sure a few words with the coach would help solve the problem." (Source-Delaware Blue)

So, the debate rages on. My take is this- I agree with DelawareBlue. It's common sense. If a player is trying to postion himself in foul territory, there is no need to punish the team so severely. Make the fielder go to fair territory. Tell him not to do it again. End of story. And then what do you do if there are no runners on base? Tell the team that's batting to send someone down to first base? I see this as no different than when a position player is late going out to his position. The umpire should just yell at the dugout "Hey, you need a left fielder". Then someone sheepishly trots out, zips up his fly because odds are he was in the bathroom, and play resumes.

But alas, somewhere out there in some youth league there is an unsuspecting position player with one foot on the line, and one foot fair, and he is about to believe in the "Fielder's balk".

Never Too Soon to Look Ahead

The MSU baseball schedule is unofficially out. AND here it is!

February 19-20-21 Rhode Island

February 23 UAB

February 26-27-28 Southeastern Louisiana

March 2 South Alabama

March 5-6-7 Michigan State and Southeast Missouri (BankFirst Challenge)

March 10 Western Kentucky

March 12-13-14 Oklahoma, UCLA and TAMCC (Corpus Christi, Texas)

March 16-17 Mississippi Valley

March 19-20-21 at Florida

March 24 Memphis

March 26-27-28 Georgia

March 30 Ole Miss (Governor's Cup)

April 2-3-4 at South Carolina

April 6 Jackson State

April 9-10-11 Arkansas

April 16-17-18 Tennessee (Super Bulldog Weekend)

April 20 Alcorn State

April 23-24-25 at Alabama

April 30-May 1-2 Ole Miss

May 4 Jackson State (Trustmark Park)

May 5 Southern Miss (Trustmark Park)

May 7-8-9 at Auburn

May 12 Northwestern State

May 14-15-16 Vanderbilt

May 18 at Southern Miss

May 20-21-22 at LSU

May 26-27-28-29-30 SEC Tournament (Hoover)

Now my thoughts:

• The first thing I noticed was that the Governor's Cup has been moved up a couple of weeks or so. I think this is a great idea by whomever came up with this. Personally, that's Easter Week- or around that time- and it can get pretty stressful for me. This is about the time that the Governor's Cup/Mayor's Trophy had traditionally been held anyway, so I like that to. But aside from my personal drouthers, this is good for everyone else to. The M-Braves use this as a huge promotional event for the upcoming season. Now they will have people coming out from the get go instead of having some people coming to smaller events/games here and there and then the "big game". I think it's good for MSU and Ole Miss to because with the game later in the year, it kind of lingers on the schedule. Many times, it has been so late in the season that State and Ole Miss have already played their season series, and the game is better served being played before the season series. Also, should State or Ole Miss have "bad" or "disappointing" seasons, however they define that, at least this game will be played before all hope is totally lost. It means that those fans with that sliver of hope are just a little bit more likely to go to the game.
• Sticking with my Trustmark Park theme- I'm happy to see MSU and USM play a game in Pearl, and I'm also happy that MSU is playing Jackson State in Pearl. The fact that the games are back to back is a pretty good idea to. MSU will be staying in town, I assume, and that will provide an opportunity for outreach to the MSU fans in Jackson, and MSU baseball needs support right now. And yes, I know the issues behind MSU/USM playing football, but there's no reason why the shouldn't play baseball in the Jackson area. I would be really, really worried about the USM game if Ron Polk was still the coach because I know that he would pitch MSU's top midweek pitcher against Jackson State and then some walk-on against USM.
• Super Bulldog Weekend is against Tennessee next year. I think this is pretty good scheduling. UT is a team that is probably going to be beatable in baseball, and of all the SEC East teams, I would say that UT is the most "natural" rival for MSU. Greg Byrne- Game. Set. Match.
• A lot of people will notice that there are a lot of SWAC teams on the schedule- Jackson State, Alcorn State, and Mississippi Valley State. Again, good scheduling if you're coming off of two losing seasons and need to win to help rebuild your program. Yes, State may have some RPI issues next year because of this, but at this point wins take precedence over style points. I'm also betting that the SWAC schools will play in whatever conditions are present. Including sunshine- unlike Nicholls State. Some of the Polk croonies will talk about how Polk "scheduled good teams", but he certainly had his share of Belhaven's and Mississippi College's through the years to. And if anyone worries too much about RPI and stength of schedule, check out the University of Virginia's schedule. It seemed to work out OK for them. And remember for some unknown reason that can not be explained, they did not put in a bid for a regional, much less a Super Regional. Maybe Better Than Ezra was in town.
• Hey, it's not like State has all cupcakes. Good move again by getting MSU into the Corpus Christi Tournament. Oklahoma and UCLA are hardly teams that should not be taken lightly, and will help the RPI. Also, the (insert name of bank here) classic has Michigan State and Southeast Missouri State, which are two teams that are probably going to be decent.
• Enough of the preseason stuff, what about the SEC season? First things first, Kentucky is replaced by Florida. As would be expected, it's a pretty tough slate. Ole Miss, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, and Vanderbilt is a pretty good home schedule. State has to go to LSU to end the season, and that could be tough depending on if something is on the line- like a SEC Tournament berth.

All in all, I would say it's a pretty good schedule, and I think it's a schedule that will be challenging for MSU, but there are also some respite type games that could help- especially the young pitchers. As always, I'm looking forward to it.