2026 Midsummer Classic

About every summer growing up my family would take a vacation at a small resort in central Tennessee.  My Dad became good friends with the owner.  In 1970 we watched the All-Star Game (ASG) in our cottage.  The game was being played in our hometown, Cincinnati, and at our two-week old ballpark, Riverfront Stadium.  Tied 4-4 going into the bottom of the 12th inning, the game ended when the Cubs’ Jim Hickman singled to centerfield and Pete Rose of the Reds came charging toward home.  The ball beat Rose to the plate but Pete bulldozed the AL catcher, Ray Fosse of the Indians, who dropped the ball allowing the winning run to score.  The next morning at breakfast the resort owner sat down at our table and remarked that Rose was “one hard-nosed guy”.  None of us knew then that the game-ending play would be one of the more controversial moments in ASG history, an All-Star catcher suffering a career-changing injury in a seemingly meaningless game.

Tomorrow night the American and National Leagues face off in Philadelphia for the 96th edition of the All-Star Game. One can’t actually deem it the “annual” game. Just six years ago, due to the pandemic and travel restrictions, there was no ASG at all, the second time that the game wasn’t played since the first game in 1933 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.  Travel restrictions during World War II also played a part in cancelling the 1945 game. Two All-Star games were played each season from 1959 to 1962.  Amazingly, the AL holds a slim 48-45-2 advantage in the 95 games played.  All-Star wins have come in streaks.  The American League won 12 of the first 16 encounters.  From 1950 to 1987, the NL ruled with a record of 33-8-1, including 19 of 20 wins from 1963 to 1982.  The AL has turned the tables since 1988, including a 13-game unbeaten streak from 1997 to 2009. Out of the 95 games played to date, the American League holds just a 388 to 380 run advantage.

The early years of the Midsummer Classic featured star players playing for the pride of their respective leagues.  The only other times when AL and NL players would match up against each other before the modern era of interleague play were during spring exhibitions and the World Series.  The AL’s adoption of the designated hitter rule in 1973 threw a wrench into the All-Star Game with its new breed of player, the DH. It wasn’t until 1989 that an official DH role was  adopted by MLB into the ASG format, but for several years, until 2010, only in games where the American League was the host team.  Nowadays, the DH has its rightful place in the game since it serves as an easy means to get more pitchers and position players involved. 

In 2002, the All-Star Game, due to the shortage of players, most particularly pitchers, available to continue play, was called a tie after 12 innings by Commissioner Bud Selig.  The decision caused a great uproar at the Milwaukee ballpark that night and a reckoning in baseball.  Were the players and managers still competing for league pride as in the past?  In order to give ASG encounters a competitive boost, it was decided shortly thereafter to give the winning league’s representative the home field advantage in the World Series.  Thinking that this incentive had run its course, MLB abandoned the practice in 2017.

There have been some classic All-Star Games, but two marathons stand out.  During the last season of old Yankee Stadium, 2008, the NL and AL All-Stars battled it out in New York in a back and forth game that lasted 15 innings.  In the 10th and 11th innings, three AL players were thrown out at the plate attempting to score the winning run.  It was not until the bottom of the 15th inning that the American League was finally able to break through with a 4-3 win, as Twins first baseman Justin Morneau raced home on a sacrifice fly.  It tied the 1967 All-Star Game as the longest one played, another 15 inning, low scoring affair.  The ’67 game was one of my earliest images of watching ASG, probably because Tony Perez of the Reds was the MVP.  He hit the game-winning home run as the NL triumphed 2-1.  The pitching stars shone bright that day, as Don Drysdale of the Dodgers got the win and a young New York Mets pitcher, Tom Seaver, recorded the save.

Following the tradition established in 1934, this year the NL will be managed by Dave Roberts, the World Series champion Dodgers skipper, and the AL will be led by pennant winner Toronto Blue Jay’s manager John Schneider.  One interesting exception was in 1965, when Gene Mauch of the Phillies and Al Lopez of the White Sox were tagged to manage their league’s All-Stars, since the 1964 World Series managers (Yankees’ Yogi Berra and Cardinals’ Johnny Keane) left their jobs after their pennant-winning seasons.  The player rosters today (34 players on each roster) are selected in this way:  two phases of fan voting for the starters (8 position players and 1 DH); players vote for 16 players (eight pitchers that includes 5 starters and 3 relievers, and one backup player for each position); and the MLB Commissioner’s office selects 9 additional players for each league, ensuring that every MLB franchise has at least one All-Star player to be showcased. 

Both the AL and NL teams this year are pretty top heavy. The Yankees, Blue Jays, and Rays dominate the American League roster, while the Dodgers, Braves, and hometown Phillies players comprise half of the NL squad. That’s nothing compared to what we’ve seen in the past. In 1957, Cincinnati fans were able to elect 7 Reds players to the NL starting lineup, with the only non-Reds players being Cardinals great Stan Musial.  After a quick investigation by the Commissioner’s office concluded that over half of the fan voting came from Cincinnati and pre-marked ballots were used, MLB removed 2 Reds players and gave starting slots to Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. MLB also removed fan voting for starters until 1969 when it was reinstated.  More recently, Kansas City Royals fans came out in full force with internet voting in 2015, with all eight of its starting position players leading in voting prior to the release of the final vote tally.  MLB stepped in, and cancelled 65 million votes deemed to be fraudulent, and the final AL starting roster included just 3 Royals.

The venue for All-Star Games is another interesting topic.  MLB chooses the site based on a variety of factors – whether there is a new or renovated ballpark; how often and when the team has hosted a game; and until recently, what year it is, odd or even.  Historically, AL teams host in odd-numbered years and NL teams in even.  That has changed somewhat in the past decade, given that the NL hosted four straight games from 2015 to 2018 and will do so again this year, in Philadelphia, and next year, fingers crossed, in Chicago. The Cubs last hosted the ASG in 1990 and its fans outside the ballpark on Waveland Avenue are looking forward to the Home Run Derby in particular. That is, of course, if a 2027 player lockout doesn’t intervene. 

And then there’s the matter of the uniforms for the players. The longstanding tradition has been for the players to sport the uniform of his own team, a display of pride for every fan to know that his or her team is represented in the All-Star Game. The “Tradition Era” began in 1933 and ran to 1996. As MLB apparel sales became a big focus over the past thirty years, game-specific uniforms were made for other ASG events, such as the Home Run Derby. In 2021 we entered the “Nike/Fanatics era” where teams sported themes based on the city locales (the worst was the Arlington, Texas sand/blacked sets). Thank goodness the “Tradition Era” returned last year and going forward.

For me, the All-Star Game is about the big moment, the game or play to remember.  In my mind that’s the 1979 All-Star Game in Seattle and one play in particular. There were 2 outs in the eighth inning with the Angels’ Brian Downing on second base.  The Yankees’ Craig Nettles lined a single to right field, Dave Parker of the Pirates fielded the ball, and Parker threw an absolute rocket to the plate, nailing Downing.  This was just an inning after Parker threw another arrow to third base, retiring a surprised Jim Rice of the Red Sox.  Parker showcased his arm that night, and won the Most Valuable Player award for his defensive efforts. It’s like yesterday to me.  Let’s see what tomorrow night’s showcase of stars brings.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

P.S.  What’s your favorite All-Star Game moment?

Building Memories

You probably have seen the term “stadium chaser” recently, a fan whose goal is to visit all 30 MLB ballparks. I admit that I have chased some ballparks over the years, but I like to include minor league ballparks on my list as well. In fact, years ago I planned three separate, Midwest baseball trips for each of my three daughters when they became ten years old. Oh, the memories we made, much of it placed in a journal for each of them as a keepsake. Most recently, my ten-year-old grandson and I embarked on a trip of our own. Follow us as we build memories together.

The first stop was in Cincinnati, my hometown. Our afternoon tour of the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum next to Great American Ballpark was memorable. The Reds are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1976 World Champions. As you enter the front corridor of the museum, you see many displays about the ’76 team as well as its predecessor world champs, the ’75 squad. Featured are stories about the “Great Eight”, the Reds lineup that dominated baseball during this era. Ascending the staircase to the third level, the arrangement of 4,256 baseballs on the walls is striking. That is the total number, of course, of all-time hits by Pete Rose, a record that is doubtful to be broken. On the third floor you can interact with many of the displays – calling a game from the broadcast booth, building your own electronic baseball card, and listening to advice of former players. Jim Maloney, who was my pitching hero as a little boy, made it very simple in his taped recording – always hold the ball the same way and throw it in the zone.

It was soon time to “play ball”, as the Reds took on the Brewers in a night game at GABP. Our seats were six rows behind the Cincinnati dugout, a fabulous view. My grandson loves to get autographs so he snagged the signature of Reds second baseman Matt McLain about fifteen minutes before first pitch. The proximity of our seats to home plate allowed us to see how important William Contreras, Milwaukee’s All-Star catcher, is to the first place Brewers. He is one of the most baseball savvy players in the game. The Brewers took an early 3-0 lead and seemed to put the game away in the seventh inning when Andrew Vaughn hit a bases clearing three-run pinch hit triple. Down 6-1, the Reds began to chip away and trailed just 6-5 going into the bottom of the ninth. With bases loaded and one out, the Reds hit into a double play to end it. It was the story of the game. The Reds had left 18 runners on base. The result didn’t matter though. We loved every minute of the experience.

The next day we rode to Louisville and toured the Louisville Slugger Museum in the afternoon. It was the highlight stop of the trip. Our guide took us and just four others on a “sweet spot tour” through the baseball factory to see firsthand how bats are made. We learned so much. Louisville Slugger bats were the first to be used by MLB players over a hundred years ago. Although Louisville Sluggers have been made at other spots in the country, nowadays every single one of them is made at the Louisville factory. And get this, it takes only 28 seconds now to make one. Players contract with Louisville Slugger on an exclusive basis or sometimes have other manufacturers make their models as well. The “Bat Vault” holds the 3,000 original, player-model bats. Since Babe Ruth was the 43rd player in MLB with a last name beginning with R who had a Louisville Slugger bat, his model is “R43”.  I could go on and on about this topic, but perhaps will save it for a future blog. It’s a can’t miss tour for baseball fans.

That evening we took a short walk from our hotel to see a Triple-A game between the Louisville Bats (Reds affiliate) and St. Paul Saints (Twins affiliate) at Louisville Slugger Field. Our tour guide at the museum told us to look for Bats employees with red shirts upon entry into the gate so that my grandson could nab a kids on-field activity at the game. We found one, and she selected him as the first ball delivery guy to the mound prior to first pitch.  He was thrilled, but unfortunately the first pitch never happened since the game was called after a two-hour rain delay. We had a blast in any event. My grandson once again did some autograph seeking and secured one for the Saints starting pitcher, Grant Hartwig. The staff entertained the crowd during the rain delay with on top of the dugout dancing and giveaways galore. We received a Bats baseball and jersey launched into the crowd. No game, but a visit to Ehrler’s Ice Cream Parlor (established in 1867) on the way back to the hotel made the evening a success.

Next stop, St. Louis! We arrived early afternoon for a tour of Busch Stadium. Our tour guide took us and about 20 others onto the field for a photo, a visit to the Cardinals dugout, a stop at the Mike Shannon broadcasting booth, and a walk through the Cardinals suites that contain several of the St. Louis world championship trophies. We took a photo in front of the 1982 trophy since I actually attended the series winning Game 7 game 44 years ago. We also visited the Cardinals Hall of Fame museum and listened in on a presentation given by Jeff Suppan, former Cardinals pitcher who was the guest speaker. Suppan was incredibly gracious, signing an autograph for my grandson and discussing pitching with him. His theme was throw strikes, sound familiar?

We waited anxiously for night to fall, as rain storms again threated the start of a Cardinals game vs. the Miami Marlins. Miraculously, the system moved on and first pitch was right on time. Our seats were in the 15th row behind home. Miami was on a hot streak (they led MLB in winning percentage in June) and started one of their aces, Max Meyer. He threw seven shutout innings. We also got to see Otto Lopez for Miami, who leads MLB with a .332 batting average. The Cardinals countered with one of their own top starters, Michael McGreevy, and their star rookie second baseman, JJ Wetherholt. The game was very well played, a pitcher’s duel, going into the eighth inning with no score. Suddenly, we witnessed the grounds crew sprinting onto the field to put the tarpolin on as a downpour came. After a less than 30-minute delay, the teams were back on the field. The storm seemed to turn the tide of the game, as Miami struck for four late inning runs. Another wonderful night at the ballpark.

The next day we took the last leg of our 1,000 mile road trip back to Chicago (with side trips to St. Louis’ famous Arch and the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL, my personal favorite).  We talked about all of the fun we had in the past four days, and I asked my grandson the proverbial question, “what was your favorite part of the trip?” My heart was warmed when he simply responded “being with you”.  If you’ve never done a baseball trip with one of your loved ones, think about doing one. There’s nothing better – baseball, bonding, and simply being together. I’ve been blessed to have had that feeling many times over.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Baseball and Dogs

I have three passions in life – baseball, dogs, and coffee, in no particular order. I was drinking my morning coffee this past week while our new golden retriever watched me turn on my laptop. It was time to write my weekly baseball blog but I felt that my pen (or mouse) was running a bit low. I turned to her, “any ideas”? Her warm gaze clearly expressed, “write about me”.  Okay then, let’s give it a shot, “Baseball and Dogs”!

Let’s tackle the subject on the diamond from a pure baseball perspective. There have been a handful of great MLB players with dog nicknames. How about the best of the pack, Fred “Crime Dog” McGriff, a perennial All-Star first baseman who played for six teams (1986-2004).  Nicknamed after “McGruff the Crime Dog”, McGriff was a prolific power hitter, driving in more than 80 RBIs for 15 consecutive seasons. His all-time playoff stats are outstanding – batting average of .303 with 10 HRs and 37 RBIs. Lifetime, he maintained a .284 average while belting 493 HRs and 2,490 RBIs. He had a quite a few tricks in his bag, completing his career third overall in fielding double plays and ninth in assists as a first baseman. McGriff was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023.

A dog who made the Hall for his pitching exploits was of course Greg “Mad Dog” Maddux, who pitched in 23 seasons for the Cubs and Braves. His overall career was truly remarkable, highlighted clearly by a four-year span (1992-1995) when he won the Cy Young each season, had a 75-29 win-loss record, and recorded an ERA of 1.98. The 1995 season culminated with an Atlanta world championship. Mad Dog (named that for his aggressive style) is only one of ten pitchers who ever achieved more than 300 wins (355) and 3,000 (3,371) strikeouts. Not known as a power pitcher, his crafty way of working pitches around the plate baffled not only batters, but caused home plate umpires to widen the zone often to his benefit. He too was not a one trick show dog, as he won a record 18 Gold Gloves on the mound. Maddux is in the Cubs, Braves, and MLB Hall of Fames, and has his number retired (31) by both the Cubs and Braves.

There are a number of MLB players with strong attachments to their dogs, most notably Shohei Ohtani and his dog “Decoy”, a Kooikerhondje. The Dodgers have made Decoy a fixture at Dodger Stadium, naming him the team’s Most Valuable Pet. You might recall Ohtani receiving the MVP award in 2023 with a young pup Decoy sitting in his lap. Decoy has gone on to have his own line of merchandise and even received an honorary visa by the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. Decoy has “thrown” a ceremonial first pitch, and was also the subject of a bobblehead giveaway day. I guess you might say he is clearly a Top Dog. 

We even have seen some famous bat dogs. My dog’s personal favorites are Chase, Derby, Rookie, and Dash, four generations of golden retrievers with a minor league team, the Trenton Thunder, formerly a Yankee affiliate.  The dogs are trained to perform all sorts of tasks – retrieve bats from the home plate area; get water for the umpires; and play catch with the fans. Chase, the first of the breed, has always been the most famous. Before his retirement in 2013, Chase was honored at Yankee Stadium. The Thunder threw him a retirement party with the first 2,000 fans receiving a Chase bobblehead. Chase’s offspring have now picked up the pace as bat dogs in his honor.

And then there’s the dog you actually didn’t want to see on the playing surface, “Schottzie”, a huge Saint Bernard who was the Reds mascot during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Schottzie was the family dog of Reds then owner, Marge Schott, who made her money in the car business and came upon the MLB ownership scene with lots and lots of fluff, shall we say. Schott was often seen smoking a cigarette in the on field ownership seats and proudly watching her pup on the field. While Schottzie was cute, there was way too much of him, as he was eventually banned from the game by MLB executives due to complaints from players. Who let the dog out? I guess Marge did.

Nowadays, many ballparks, including MLB ones, host “Bark at the Park” or “Pups in the Park” games, where fans are invited to bring their beloved dogs to the game. It’s always a big hit at Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark and Chicago’s Rate Field. The games include pet-friendly seating areas, dog parades, giveaways, and pre-game on field activities. My favorite one happens to be at nearby Impact Field, which is the home of an independent league team, the Chicago Dogs. The team opened its gates in 2018 to the fans and dogs, but interestingly, wasn’t named after a dog but rather a hot dog. It’s an easy mistake to make.

Speaking of “hot dogs”, is there a better smell in the world than the aroma of a hot dog freshly made on the grill at a ballpark? I don’t think so.  A couple of the more famous ballpark dogs are the “Chicago-style hot dog” at Wrigley Field and the “Dodger Dog” at Dodger Stadium. The Chicago hot dog has seven toppings with a poppy seed bun – mustard; onion; relish; peppers; tomatoes; pickle; and celery salt, but most importantly, NO KETCHUP! The Dodger Dog is a 10-inch hot dog wrapped in a steamed bun. And please don’t forget the famous sausage races in Milwaukee where Brewer fans are treated with a mascot race among Brat, Polish Sausage, Italian Sausage, Hot Dog, and Chorizo!

So this summer when you are having one of those “dog day afternoons”, think of me and shoot me a topic that you would like me to discuss in an upcoming piece. My dog and I would be grateful.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Error Free

My scan of the box scores each morning often focuses on how many earned runs a pitcher gave up or whether there was a key error that changed the game. I’m a huge believer in defense wins or loses games. I think it goes back to a city tournament game I played in at age 11 when I made a throwing error on a critical play. I still hear my manager saying “we just can’t beat ourselves”. If you take a close look at the error column in today’s box scores, you might be surprised about how few errors are made in MLB now. This year MLB teams are on a pace to set the all-time record in fielding percentage. It’s been a trend over the last several years that errors are decreasing in the game. Let’s take a look at error free defense.

It hasn’t always been that way. On May 6, 1903, the White Sox and Tigers combined for a record 18 errors in a game played at South Side Park in Chicago. The Sox tied the team record that day with 12 errors and despite that, still won the game 10-9. Historians look back and discount the number of miscues citing that the gloves used by the fielders were modest and that the baseballs themselves were uneven due to overuse. Yet, that still is a lot of errors and will easily be a record never to be broken. The Chicago Daily Tribune called it “the craziest game that ever disgraced a major league diamond”.

An historical look at most errors by players at their respective fielding positions focuses on names in the early to mid 1900s, most of whom are unknown to me. The 20th century record of a whopping 711 errors is held by Rabbit Maranville, a shortstop who played for 23 seasons with the Braves, Cardinals, and Pirates. Rabbit also happened to be elected to the Hall of Fame in 1954. I was surprised to see Ty Cobb on the all-time position lists, 271 errors as an outfielder. On the flip side though, Steve Garvey, first baseman, holds the record for the fewest in a season, zero.

Why has baseball been more error free in recent times? There are a handful of obvious answers. Baseball fields today provide much better playing surfaces leading to truer bounces. I’m constantly amazed at how well the grass is maintained at Wrigley Field. Of course, the modern baseball glove helps as well. There is no comparison between the mitt you used as a youth to the gloves of today – wider, softer, and deeper. With advanced analytics, the defense is provided with an assortment of charts suggesting the tendencies of hitters and where the ball will most likely be hit.

MLB players today think it is more than that, pointing to official scoring as making a difference. When the rules changed in 2023 not allowing extreme shifts (two infielders need to be on each side of second base), some players, especially pitchers whose ERA is impacted, believe that scorers have leaned too much on granting hits. Angels’ then pitcher Patrick Sandoval in 2023 went so far as saying: “I have a little conspiracy about it: That they (MLB) are telling the scorers to be more lenient with the hits so they can be like, ‘Oh, the new rules work. You have more hits.’” Chris Marinak, MLB’s chief operations and strategy officer, denies the theory and maintains that what qualified as routine in 2022 prior to the rules change was no longer routine now, and when in doubt scorers default to leniency. 

Most of the excellence in team defense is recent. Fielding percentage is basically the rate at which fielders successfully handle defensive chances without making an error. Last year’s Texas Rangers are the best ever with a fielding percentage of .99112, followed by the 2013 Baltimore Orioles (.99104), and the 2025 Atlanta Braves (.99102).  A story is developing in Los Angeles as the 2026 Dodgers are on pace to set an all-time defensive record with a current fielding percentage of .993. The Padres and Royals are following on their heels, both with fielding percentages of .991.

As I often do, I like to look back and compare the Big Red Machine of the 1970s in some key categories. Just like the Dodgers of today, you think of that team as an offensive powerhouse but not necessarily defensive wizards. But they were, especially up the middle with catcher Johnny Bench, second baseman Joe Morgan, shortstop Dave Concepcion, and centerfielder Cesar Geronimo. The 1975 Reds team had the fewest errors in the NL that season, along with a team fielding percentage of .984. Bench himself maintained a .989 fielding percentage, best ever by a catcher. Yes, defense wins games.

Defensive excellence in today’s game is not just measured by fielding percentage. There are all sorts of comparative standards – defensive runs saved; how often a team turns a ground ball or bunt into an out; how often a team turns a ball in the air into an out; and outfield arm runs saved. I’m sure there are others as well. And of course it’s not a surprise which 2026 MLB team leads in all those categories, the Dodgers!

Another indicator of winning baseball is having a pitching staff that limits walks to opposing batters. Now, more than ever with the kind of team defense we are seeing, it makes sense for pitchers to focus on having the batters put the ball in play. As my manager years ago would say, “we just can’t beat ourselves”.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Droughts Along the Great Lakes

While sailing in the Great Lakes this past week, I had little access to streaming baseball games. Yeah, I missed them.  It’s not a good sign for me personally when baseball might be in a lock out next year with no baseball at all. I looked longingly ashore and imagined baseball being played at some of the ballparks along the lakes. When I took a closer look it hit me that the teams had something very much in common, a drought at some point along the way, some longer than others. Here’s what I found:

Toronto Blue Jays (Lake Ontario). The club was founded in 1977 and is owned by Rogers Communications, one of only two teams in MLB under corporate ownership (the other, Atlanta). Since 1989, the team has played at Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto. You will probably recall the heyday of the team, its two world championships in 1992 and 1993, featuring star players like Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter. What you might not know is that following those seasons, Toronto failed to qualify for the playoffs in 21 consecutive seasons. Finally, the Blue Jays won the AL East in 2015 and have sustained success for the last ten years. Last season, they battled the Dodgers in a seven game World Series only to fall short.

Travel Tip: Journey 128 km on the Queen Elizabeth Hwy to breathtaking Niagara Falls!

Cleveland Guardians (Lake Erie).  When the American League was founded in 1901, Cleveland landed one of the original franchises, the Cleveland Bluebirds. For a decade they were the Cleveland Naps (named after team manager Nap Lajoie). In 1914 they became the Cleveland Indians, and they won the World Series in 1920 and 1948. The ’48 team featured the greatest Indian of all time, fireballer Bob Feller. While the Indians, now Guardians, landed some AL titles since then (1954, 1995, 1997, and 2016), let’s just say Cleveland is in the “mist” of a huge World Series drought, the longest active one among all 30 MLB teams.

Travel Tip: Visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame while you are there!

Detroit Tigers (Lake Erie).  Another AL charter member, the Tigers are the only founding American League team with their original name. They have captured four world titles, 1935, 1945, 1968, and in 1984 behind the leadership of manager Sparky Anderson. They have had some baseball names in Tiger uniforms, crossing the spectrum in terms of integrity – the controversial, ruffian Ty Cobb and the greatest baseball gentleman of all time, Al Kaline. It’s been a long 42 years since the last world title. Fans in downtown Comerica Park are hoping that two-time Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal, might lead them to another one.

Travel Tip: Explore the Henry Ford Museum in nearby Dearborn.

Milwaukee Brewers (Lake Michigan).  Milwaukee has its baseball MLB heritage in the Braves, which left for Atlanta in 1966. This franchise began in 1969 as the AL Seattle Pilots, as part of the MLB expansion in 1969. After just one season, the team moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers. The Brewers only World Series appearance was in 1982 against the Cardinals, losing in seven games. In 1998, the team moved to the National League and it wasn’t until 2011 when it won its first NL division championship. While the Brewers have never won the World Series, the recent squads are highly competitive, winning the NL Central the last three seasons. American Family Field is Milwaukee’s home ballpark.

Travel Tip: Get on your bike and motor around the Harley-Davidson Museum.

Chicago Cubs (Lake Michigan). Chicago finds its NL roots in 1876, a founding franchise named the White Stockings. Over the next three decades the North Siders had several names, Colts, Orphans, before officially becoming the Cubs in 1903. While another name for the team has been the “Lovable Losers”, the Cubbies actually had much success in the first half of the 1900s, winning 10 NL pennants and two world championships, 1907 and 1908. The most known Cubs player is Ernie Banks, “Mr. Cub”. Of course, the long World Series winning drought spurred by the “Curse of the Billy Goat” lasted 108 years until the 2016 edition, led by Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, ended it.

Travel Tip: In front of Wrigley Field snap a pic at the Marquee, Chicago’s second most popular photo.

Chicago White Stockings (Lake Michigan).  Also an AL founding member in 1901, the White Stockings won the first American League pennant that year. The South Siders had early success, winning the World Series in 1906 and 1917. Unfortunately they may be best known in the early years for the Black Sox Scandal in 1919, losing the Series to the underdog Cincinnati Reds as gambling charges abounded. One of the greatest players ever, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and seven other players, were banned from baseball as a result. The 1959 team, known as the “Go-Go White Sox”, captured baseball fans’ attention, but lost to the Dodgers in the Series. The White Sox 88-year drought ended in 2005, when the team, led by Frank Thomas, swept the Astros for the world title.

Travel Tip: Venture into the Loop and visit the Bean, Chicago’s top photo.

The fortunes of these six teams have been quite treacherous, much like the waters of the Great Lakes that surround them.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Back on June 15!

The Baseball Bench Coach will be back on June 15.

Until then,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Cooperstown

Twenty years ago I visited for the first time the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York (HOF). I spent parts of three days in the Museum reading all of the plaques in the historic, first floor Plaque Gallery, and viewing, often twice, the exhibits on all three floors of HOF. This past week I made a second pilgrimage to baseball’s promised land. I was invited to participate in the 37th Annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture (Symposium). It was one eventful, action-packed day, a once in a lifetime type experience. Let me share it with you.

Where did American baseball find its beginnings?  In 1905 the president of the National League, Abraham Mills, chaired a group to answer the question. The Mills Commission Report, issued in late 1907, concluded that baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown, New York, in 1839.  Most baseball historians have depicted the Report’s conclusion as a myth.  Indeed, Doubleday, a Union general in the Civil War, never made the claim in his lifetime nor do his memoirs even mention baseball.  Most historians believe baseball is based on a game British children played called “rounders”, involving a pitcher, batter and four bases.  In “New York town ball”, just like in cricket, there were no actual foul lines such that every batted ball was in play. Outs could be made by simply fielding the ball on one hop.

The origin of American baseball can indeed be traced to New York state. I found an exhibit on the second floor of HOF explaining that the United States Congress on June 3, 1953, officially credited Alexander Joy Cartwright, a bookseller in Manhattan, with inventing the modern game of baseball. Cartwright founded in 1842 the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York, baseball’s first organized club. By 1857 there were sixteen area clubs, forming the National Association of Base Ball Players. Teams played the “Knickerbocker Rules” requiring fielders to tag or force the runner to record an out. To commemorate baseball’s beginnings, HOF was established in 1939 at Cooperstown by Stephen Carlton Clark, who was an heir to the popular Singer sewing machines. His idea was to make the town a tourist spot. While the town remains today quaint in every sense of the word, HOF is the home to thousands of visitors annually.

My day this past week at HOF began as a moderator for a panel discussion at the Symposium. One of my panelists presented a paper on the Bud Harrelson—Pete Rose fight during the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1973 NLCS. She was a lifelong Mets fan, and her favorite all-time player is Harrelson. We joked about how differently I, as a 14-year old Reds fan, saw that fight than she did. The teams split the first NLCS two games in Cincinnati with the Reds scoring just two runs due to New York’s dominant pitching. Harrelson remarked to the media that the Reds were hitting like him (.236 lifetime batting average). This fueled the tension between the teams in the fifth inning of Game 3 as Rose slid hard into second base to break up a double play, resulting in a bench clearing brawl. A second panelist shared the touching story of Reds third baseman Todd Frazier delivering on a promise to hit a home run for Reds batboy Teddy Kremer in 2014. Teddy and I went to the same high school in Cincinnati. It was a perfect panel for me to moderate.

After the Symposium panel, my wife and I had several hours to visit the Museum. We started in the Plaque Room on the first floor. The centerpiece, of course, are the plaques of the first class of inductees in 1936 -- Ty Cobb; Honus Wagner; Babe Ruth; Christy Mathewson; and Walter Johnson. What you might not know is that Cobb received the most votes and Wagner the second most that year. The plaques are placed around the room in the order of the induction year grouped in five-year periods. I spent most of the time reading about the players that I grew up idolizing – Mays; Aaron; Clemente; Banks; Koufax; Gibson; and Marichal, just to name a few. In one corner the plaques of Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan were placed side by side. I proudly took a photo there. This summer baseball will add three more players to the Plaque Room, Carlos Beltran, Andruw Jones, and Jeff Kent.

At the Museum entrance you could get a scorecard of your favorite teams and players and where they are referenced in the HOF. I chose the Cubs and Reds, of course, and marveled at how up to date the Museum was with exhibits mentioning Shota Imanaga and Elly de la Cruz. My favorite spot at the Museum was clearly the trip through baseball history on the second floor, called “The Game”.  I experienced the joy again of a journey through baseball’s early history and all of the decades since. I basically lost track of time exploring the Dodgers and Cardinals NL teams in the 1960s, Oakland and Cincinnati dominance in the 1970s, Whiteyball in the 1980s, and on and on. I relived my baseball life, and it brought tears of joy.

After the Museum closed at 5:00 p.m., it was time for the annual baseball game in the adjacent park. I was prepared for my first game in twenty years, wearing a 1914 Chicago Federals jersey, 1915 Chicago Whales baseball cap, and knickers. There were about 40 players participating, and we counted off by two’s to choose sides. Our umpire, Peter Young, wore a top hat as he explained that we would be playing “The Rules of the Massachusetts Game, Town Ball, as of May 13, 1858”.  At that time in New England, teams had not yet adopted the Knickerbocker Rules of New York. Every inning, called a hand, was marked by a single out. To get an out, a fielder had to catch the ball on a fly or throw the ball at and hit the baserunner before the runner reached one of the sticks (bases). A batter could not strike out. I pitched one inning with no “tallies” scored and had three hits in my three plate appearances. The game only ends when one side has 100 tallies! We called the game with my team leading 18-10. Everyone had a blast. One of my teammates saw me on Main Street the next day passing by and said “great game”.

That night we assembled for the annual dinner, a night of great food, laughter, and sharing of stories. The dinner was held in the Plaque Room which I found almost sacrilegious. We were gathering in the most sacred place in baseball. I had an overwhelming feeling of happiness knowing that I was with people who share the same passion and love as I do. My people! At the conclusion of dinner, we sang all five verses of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and were entertained by a longtime Symposium attendee with his version of “Casey at the Bat”.

Before I left for Cooperstown, I had friends tell me that “you are going to be like a kid in a candy store” and “this will be right in your wheelhouse”. It was all of that and more. I felt like a 14-year old boy again, if not just for a day. To steal a question from a famous baseball movie, “is this Heaven?” No, it’s Cooperstown!

I’ll be back in two weeks!

Until June 15,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Tools of Ignorance

Years ago, I coached fast pitch softball with a good friend who just loved the game of baseball. He was a former catcher and spent a lot of time working with our catchers, including my niece. I can still hear him say when there was a pop up behind home plate, “get that pot off your head”. The pot, or protective mask, is part of the equipment a catcher uses to play his position, along with shin guards, chest protector, and a mitt. In baseball terms, catching equipment is often affectionately referred to as the “tools of ignorance”. You need a lot of courage to crouch behind the plate with a high speed missile coming at you. Let’s take a look back at the art of catching, some great catchers in MLB history, and the evolution of the position.

In the early days of baseball (circa 1850), pitchers threw the baseball underhanded to home plate. Catchers stood about 20 to 25 feet behind the plate and did not have any protective equipment at all. In 1858 with the advent of the called strike, catchers were forced to move closer in since a strikeout could only happen if a catch were made. By 1870, when pitchers began to introduce curveballs to the game, catchers were forced to move even closer in to catch the pitch. Catchers began to use padded, fingerless gloves and protective masks. It wasn’t until the 1880s when padded chest protectors became popular. In 1907, shin guards were introduced and completed a catcher’s tools of ignorance.

Catching is much more than just receiving the pitch and throwing it back to the mound. Most agree that the catcher needs to have the best understanding of game strategy than any other position player. From his position he sees the entire field. Importantly, he sees firsthand the speed and spin of the pitches from a particular hurler. Calling the game used to be the biggest skill for a catcher, although input from the dugout and now PitchCom has chipped away at it. The art of framing pitches is a talent as well. The pitcher’s best friend is a batterymate who can make a pitch look better than it really might be. The toolset of a catcher is multifaceted – blocking pitches in the dirt; signaling the infield what play is on; throwing to the bases; tagging a runner at the plate; and oh, I forgot, contributing to the offensive side of the game, hitting!

We’ve seen some great catchers in MLB history, each exhibiting one or more of these special skills. On the top of many lists is Yogi Berra, who spent 19 seasons in the MLB (1946-1965), all but one of them with the Yankees. Those who saw Berra play credit him with having a great feel for calling the game and situational play. He holds the all-time record for shutouts caught with 173, among those Don Larsen’s perfect game and Whitey Ford’s remarkable 45 of them. Berra could also flat out hit with a lifetime batting average of .285 with 358 HRs. Yogi, most of all, was a winner, a 13-time World Series champion. Like many other catchers, Berra ended his career as a manager, serving on the top step of the dugout for both the Yankees and Mets.

On the top of my list is Cincinnati’s Johnny Bench who spent his entire career with the Reds (1967-1983). He received his NL Most Valuable Player awards in the two seasons he had monster home run and RBI seasons (1970 – 45 HRs and 148 RBIs; and 1972 – 40 HRs and 125 RBIs). Bench was so much more than that. His defensive prowess was remarkable – blocking pitches; catching foul balls at the screen; and throwing to the bases. My Dad used to take me to Reds games early so we could watch fielding practice and see Bench throw bullets right on the bags. To illustrate his arm, during Lou Brock’s record-breaking 118 steals in 1974, Brock made four attempts against Bench, only one successful one!  And in one of the highlights of my life, he hit a game-tying home run off Dave Giusti of the Pirates in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 1972 NLCS into the green seats at Riverfront Stadium 12 rows in front of me. He was the best!

A little later in life I had the pleasure of also seeing in person Yadier Molina play numerous games for the Cardinals (19-year career spanning 2004 to 2022). While “Yadi” did bat over .300 in five seasons and was known as a clutch hitter, the bulk of his acclaim concerns his defensive skills. He won nine Gold Gloves, and in doing so, put up some amazing numbers. He ranks first all-time in putouts for catchers and second overall among catchers with 130 defensive runs saved. Remarkably, he threw out over 40% of runners on steal attempts during his career. Together with his longtime fellow Cardinal, pitcher Adam Wainwright, he has the record all-time for most games started and won as a battery. Molina absolutely mastered the skill of framing pitches, something that Wainwright and other St. Louis pitchers took great comfort in.

Many catchers have gone on to become great MLB managers – Bruce Bochy, Mike Scioscia, and Bob Melvin, in most recent history, to name a few. What you might not know is that one of the greatest managers in MLB history, Joe Torre, started off as a catcher for the Braves. Torre’s baseball talent though was clearly at the plate, not behind it, as he maintained a lifetime batting average of .297. In his NL MVP year In 1971 with the Cardinals as their third baseman, he led the league in hits, RBIs, and batting average. His first few stints as a manager (Mets, Braves, and Cardinals) ended with disappointing records, but as the Yankees skipper, he won four World Series titles and two Manager of the Year awards (1996, 1998). Torre went on to become a special assistant to the MLB Commissioner.

With the advent of ABS this season, there is another task for catchers – deciding whether to challenge a called ball. In addition to having an educated feel for the strike zone, a catcher needs to have a good understanding of game situations. Since you only get two wrong attempts, you need to challenge during the right spots. Some catchers are better at it than others. With a league wide average of 53% correct challenges, the Tigers are setting the standard at 83% correct challenges from their catchers and the Cubs are close behind at 71%.  Indeed, the Cubs Carson Kelly was correct in 18 of his first 20 challenges. Kelly has gotten eight strikeout calls so far with successful challenges. Shea Langeliers, catcher for the Athletics, ranks high on the list as well. Is it a new skill? Kelly’s skipper Craig Counsell and Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon credit Kelly for having a good feel for it and adding this new dimension to the team.

I’ve always thought of the “tools of ignorance” to be a complete misnomer. Catchers add a layer of on-field strategy, direction, and steadiness under pressure like no other position player. We often joke about “Yogi-isms”, Berra’s fun expressions that had an element of contradiction. My favorite one has always been: “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” With catchers in mind, that makes perfect sense.

Until next Monday,

Your Baseball Bench Coach

Small Ball

I’ve never been a fan of home run baseball. You know what I mean, batters/runners going from station to station, playing it safe, and waiting for a slugger to drive them home with the long ball. For me, the most exciting play in the game is when a hitter lines a ball down the right field corner or in an outfield gap, sprints for a triple, and arrives safely with a headfirst slide. I also just like manufacturing runs – hitting behind the runner, stolen bases, and gasp, even bunts! In today’s game with the low batting averages and flame throwers from the mound, a team needs to find ways to score somehow. After the first quarter of MLB play this season, we have seen that many managers are returning to small ball!

Whitey Herzog, the late manager of the Cardinals during the 1980s, revolutionized baseball with his focus on small ball. The star of “Whiteyball” was of course Ozzie Smith, the “Wizard of Oz”, who started his career as a weak hitter but soon matched his defensive play with a high on-base percentage, stolen bases, and runs scored. Outfielder Willie McGee used his speed to the max, hitting line drives into the outfield gaps for triples, and stealing bases. Speaking of base stealing, how about left fielder Vince Coleman, who came to the squad in 1985, and set an all-time record for stealing 100+ bases in each of his first three seasons. The line drives were plentiful, but the HRs, not so much. In 1982, “power hitting” cleanup guy, George Hendrik, led the team with just 19 HRs.

So far this season we’ve seen an emphasis on bunting for the first time in decades. The bunt rate is 40% higher than it was in 2023. There have been some great bunters in MLB history. Brett Butler, whose 17-year career spanned six different MLB teams from 1981 to 1997, is widely thought of as the best bunter in modern history. Butler led off for most of his career and played center field. He led the National League in triples and runs scored in two seasons, batted .290 overall, and garnered 2,375 hits. 188 of those hits were bunt hits.  Most notably, Butler reached base on a bunt hit in just less than 50% of his attempts.

Also on the modern day list of top bunters is my second favorite Dodger of all time, Maury Wills (my first is Sandy Koufax). In watching LA in the 1960s, you needed to be a fan of speed and defense. Wills embodied both. In his 14-year career, Maury stole 586 bases (setting the season stealing record at one point with 104 in 1962), batted .281 with 2,134 hits, and won two Gold Gloves at shortstop. Wills was known as a master craftsman of bunting. His 124 career bunt hits were gained with a success rate of 47% attempted bunts.

On the not so great bunter list is current Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts. In 2004, Roberts attempted to reach base via a bunt 33 times and was only successful in seven of them. In his 10-year playing career with five different MLB teams, he batted a modest .266 and stole 243 bases. Roberts’ MLB success, of course, is helming LA for the last eleven seasons. The Dodgers have won three World Series (2020, 2024, and 2025) with Roberts as manager. While his teams are known for hitting, pitching, and exceptional defense, they are in the bottom of the league in bunting. Of course, the Dodgers feature an expensive lineup of the top sluggers in the game (Ohtani, Freeman, Betts, Tucker, and Smith) and can score without small ball.

Which teams in 2026 top the MLB list in bunting? It’s mostly the lower payroll lineups. Brewers, Rays, White Sox, Athletics, and Diamondbacks lead baseball in sacrifice bunts. And don’t look now, but they are all near the top of the standings in their respective divisions. It makes sense in a lot of ways as the game continues to change. It’s certainly a lot easier to bunt a 100 mph + fastball than hit one. With what many believe to be a league-wide deficiency in defensive fundamentals, why not put more pressure on the defense by putting the ball in play. It’s hard to score when position players are now sporting batting averages at a rate lower than we’ve seen in the modern era (.243).  Use small ball to score some runs!

A couple, somewhat unknown players have stood out so far. Milwaukee’s second baseman David Hamilton is leading the way by putting down successful bunts (bunts for a hit and sacrifice bunts) in about half of the games he’s played in 2026. Hamilton attributes his success to hard work and team emphasis. In the last three years playing for the Red Sox, he attempted just 11 total bunts in 204 games. In his first 30 games with the Brewers, Hamilton had 14 bunt attempts, all successful. He saw honing his bunting skills as a way to keep him in the major leagues, and made great strides in the offseason and spring training to perfect them. He credits his manager, Pat Murphy, for encouraging him to contribute to the team in this way.

In the American League, White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters is quickly establishing himself as the next Brett Butler. Peters has an interesting background, coming up through the Milwaukee system and also spending time with the Savannah Bananas. He finds himself on a White Sox team that is doing everything possible to win some games and turn around their dismal win-loss records of the past few seasons. Despite having some big bats in the lineup with power, Murakami, Montgomery, and Vargas, Chicago has turned to small ball when the games are on the line. Peters’ contributions have included game winning RBI bunts.

Like everything in life, if you want to be good at something you need to practice it. The White Sox, Brewers, and the other low payroll teams have emphasized bunting and small ball this year to compete. Chicago manager Will Venable noted: “We’ve been talking about bunting as a weapon starting in Spring Training and how important that was going to be for guys in certain slots.” Milwaukee’s David Hamilton emphasized the point: “It was Murph (skipper Pat Murphy) in spring always telling me to bunt and use the speed and just practice it every day.” You never know, the renewed focus on small ball may lead to the same kind of success Whiteyball experienced 40 years ago!

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Blame the Manager

I must be the last one who can complain about managerial firings. You see, in October 1969, as a ten-year-old, I wrote to the Reds then general manager, Bob Howsam, to state my dismay about the firing of manager Dave Bristol. Mr. Howsam replied three weeks later that while he appreciated my fan interest, his new hire, Sparky Anderson, would be a capable replacement in 1970. He was clearly right; I was clearly wrong. But late last month, two managers, the Phillies’ Rob Thomson and Red Sox’ Alex Cora, were both relieved of their duties less than 30 games into the season. Talk about a short leash!

The late April dismissals of Thomson and Cora were surprising. They were not, however, the earliest firings in recent history. In 2018, the Reds dismissed skipper Bryan Price after just eighteen games. Their 3-15 start was their worst one since 1931. The Tigers management in 2002 acted even more quickly.  Phil Garner, a major leaguer for 16 seasons, managed the Brewers for eight seasons prior to helming Detroit in 2000.  After an 0-6 start to the 2002 season, Phil was given the heave-ho. Last month’s cannings of Thomson and Cora were the third and fourth earliest in an MLB season.

We saw a similar story in Philadelphia in 2022. The Phillies fired manager Joe Girardi after the team’s 22-29 start. Girardi was in his third season as the Philadelphia skipper. Joe, a former major league catcher, started his managerial career in 2006 with the Florida Marlins, leading a team with the lowest payroll in baseball to playoff contention and his Manager of the Year award. Girardi also led the Yankees to the 2009 world championship. But below .500 was not good enough for the Phils’ GM Dave Dombrowski in 2022 and he gave Rob Thomson the early nod. Thomson then led Philadelphia to the World Series in 2022. Now, as Phillies president, Dombrowski hopes his lack of patience pays off again this year. He’s called on former Yankee great Don Mattingly, the 2020 Manager of the Year (also with the Marlins), to lead the team on an interim basis. Interestingly, Mattingly now reports to his son, GM Preston Mattingly.

Yes, some crazy goings on in Philadelphia, especially when Dombrowski admitted that his first choice, Alex Cora, had declined the position. Cora had been dismissed two days earlier by the Red Sox and already had made it to the top of the manager in waiting list. Why so? Many in the baseball world think of Cora as one of the top skippers in the game. After a 14-year playing career ended in 2011 with the Nationals, Alex turned to coaching. In 2017, he was the bench coach for the Astros when Houston won the World Series, and then managed the Red Sox to the World Series championship in his first season as a manager in 2018. His .534 winning percentage as a manager is top notch.

In Boston, in addition to losing Cora at the helm, most of the coaches were let go as well. Reportedly, Boston chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke to the players briefly about his spring cleaning in a clubhouse meeting before introducing new manager Chad Tracy. Unusually, the players reacted harshly and went to the media with their concerns. Star shortstop Trevor Story questioned the direction of the franchise. Pitcher Garrett Whitlock noted that “they made it very clear that we get paid to play baseball, and we need to just focus on playing baseball”.  Rising star Roman Anthony, just 21 years old, had this to say: “At the end of the day, when we take the field, it’s on us. It’s not AC’s (Cora’s) job to go out there and do the things that we’re expecting to do as players”.

From the front office perspective, blaming the manager is the name of the game. Both the Phillies and the Red Sox were pre-season favorites to contend for their respective division crowns and two of the top five highest paid teams in the game. A dreadful April needed some short of a shake-up. In a 2025 article written by Will Leitch called “Skipper Review: In Baseball, Blame the Manager”, Leitch takes a deep dive into the history of managerial firings in baseball. He notes that the very name of the position, “manager”, suggests the “inherent powerlessness” of the position. Baseball managers, in Leitch’s view, are essentially middle managers carrying out the whims of the owners and executives. If there are more losses than wins, show the middle managers the door.

Leitch makes another interesting point about the change in who now oversees managerial moves. The trend in baseball is to fill front offices with college-educated analytics, the so-called Ivy League GMs, instead of former players or those with scouting backgrounds. Gone are the days where managers answered directly to owners. One of the most controversial skippers in MLB history, Billy Martin, helmed six different MLB teams in his 20 years of managing, including five separate stints with the Yankees.  Billy’s Yankees had a winning record in all five of his stops with New York, but each time he was fired or resigned under fire due to a dispute with Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. Midway through the 1978 season he was forced to resign when he said this about Yankees star player, Reggie Jackson, and Steinbrenner:  “one’s a born liar, and the other’s convicted.”  Shortly thereafter, the Yankees announced that Martin would return as manager someday.  He managed the New Yorkers four times during the next four seasons, all for less than one year. 

It's also interesting how a manager gets to keep his job under the right circumstances. The two longest tenured managers in the AL today are Kevin Cash, Rays (since 2014), and Aaron Boone, Yankees (since 2017). Cash led Tampa to the 2020 World Series against the Dodgers, and by all accounts made a critical mistake by pulling his star pitcher, Blake Snell, after only 73 pitches in an elimination game. Cash withstood the clamor, and is noted today as a manager who gets the most out of a squad with payroll deficiencies. Boone got the nod to manage the Yankees in 2017 due to his astute commentary on Yankees broadcasts. He had no prior managerial experience. Boone’s Pinstripers have never won it all despite having one of baseball’s highest payrolls. It’s just impossible to know why and when the axe might fall.

The colorful, late Yankees and Mets manager, Casey Stengel, summed up managing the best: “If you don’t win, you’re going to be fired. If you do win, you’ve only put off the day you’re going to be fired.” Yes indeed, blame the manager!

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Challenge Me!

I remember that evening well. I was 15 years old and reporting to the pre-season umpire meeting for my first paying job. After a talk by the lead supervisor, I received a face mask, t-shirt, indicator (to record balls, strikes, and outs by hand), and scorecards (an umpire’s version of time sheets). One of the more veteran kids told me something to the effect that “remember, you get paid by the game, not by the hour”. Good advice. From that day forward, I always made sure that when I served as a home plate umpire, I called, when possible, a fair amount of strikes. Some might call it a wide zone. I thought of it as my gift to those attending youth baseball games.

In the early days of  baseball, there was no such thing as a “ball”. Pitchers were instructed to make sure the batters hit the baseball. Since pitchers didn’t always comply, organized baseball soon began to penalize a pitcher for throwing three unhittable pitches and deemed it a ball. A pitcher was allowed only three “balls” per batter.  In effect, it would take nine errant pitches to advance the batter to first base. By 1880 eight unfair pitches became a base on balls, and in 1884 six were required. It wasn’t until 1887 when the National League and its companion league, the American Association, actually agreed to a strike zone. In 1889, baseball finally mandated that four balls outside the strike zone would constitute a walk.

For a pitcher, it’s so important to throw strikes. I still remember the words from my managers in the dugout when I walked a batter, “we can’t help you if you walk them”. Indeed, how many times do you find yourself grimacing when your favorite team’s pitcher walks a leadoff batter to begin an inning?! Statistics bear out the importance of it. A key metric in “The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball” authored by three baseball historians is “run expectancy”. The metric looks at the 24 possible baserunner/out scenarios, for example, bases empty with no outs. In that case, a team has a 46.1% chance of scoring a run in any given inning. When the leadoff batter walks, the run expectancy jumps to 83.1% and the anguish for the fielding team begins.

With the advent of the automatic balls strikes (ABS) system this year, we now have a new dynamic in calling balls and strikes. No longer is the pace of the game solely in the hands of whether a home plate umpire is a “pitcher’s ump” or a “hitter’s ump”, but technology is literally looking over our shoulders. MLB has had to rewrite the strike zone to accommodate ABS. The Official Rules of Baseball has long maintained that the strike zone is from the middle of a batter’s torso to just below his kneecap, leaving much discretion in how an umpire sees the zone in the batter’s stance. Now, it’s much more precise. The zone starts at 27% of a batter’s height and stretches to 53.5%, top to bottom. In width, the ABS zone is, of course, 17 inches wide, matching the width of home plate.

What’s the impact of the new ABS strike zone? In April batters took walks in historic numbers. Walk rates were around 10%, a 16% hike over 2025. The trend indicates that in 2026 we may see the highest walk rate in 75 years. Some teams are clearly taking advantage of the new zone, including the Yankees, Brewers, and Angels, which are averaging over 12% of the team at-bats. And the craziest numbers are the individual ones. These MLB stars are walking an unbelievable amount of times to the plate – Mike Trout, Angels (73.9%); Ben Rice, Yankees (62.2%); Munetaka Murakami, White Sox (59.8%); and Nick Kurtz, Athletics (57.8%). 

What is the player’s reaction to the new strike zone? It depends on whom you ask. James McCann, Arizona’s catcher, believes that the zone is “tighter than usual” because umpires are receiving much feedback on whether a pitch is a strike or a ball.  Pitcher Paul Sewald, also of the Diamondbacks, admitted that “it is a tough time to be a pitcher”, joking that there are “balls flying everywhere”. The hitters see it a little differently. The Yankees’ Cody Bellinger calls the April increase in walks a “short sample size”. The Cubs’ Nico Hoerner noted that hitters are benefitting short term by laying off pitches at the top of the zone but adjustments will soon be made.

Have we seen a rules change similarly impact the game before? Most definitely. Reacting to the dominance of pitchers in the 1960s era, most particularly Bob Gibson’s record 1.12 ERA in 1968, MLB lowered the mound for the 1969 season. The walk rate increased from 7.6% to 9.1%. We all remember the effect of the new pitch clock rule in 2023. Stolen bases skyrocketed in 2023 and remain high, even after teams have had three years to adjust.

What’s interesting about the new ABS zone is that it seems to run counter to the MLB objective that triggered the pitch clock rule – speed up the game!  The early numbers, based on April play, show that games are being played on an average of 2 hours, 42 minutes, about six minutes more than the 2024 and 2025 pace. Yes, it’s slight, but something to be mindful of, especially when baseball is doing all it can to spur fan interest.

I’ve seen most recently a couple videos of home plate umpires responding to dugouts disputing called balls and strikes with the words “challenge me”! Yes, if the team hasn’t run its course on the number of challenges it has that game, the batter, catcher, or pitcher could have certainly challenged the call. But, for me, it seems like umpires are thinking of the ABS system as overreaching and they are more brazen than usual.  Maybe the new advice to umpires is not that you aren’t paid by the hour, but rather call the game in a way that they won’t challenge you.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Upside Down

Yeah, I’m still one of those. I get the newspaper delivered to my driveway each morning. Every good day starts that way. Sometime during my second cup of coffee, I make it to the Sports section, and in particular, page 4. You see, that’s where I find the NL and AL Standings, the pitching lineups for the day, and many of the box scores from the night before. It’s not a casual glance, mind you, but 15-20 minutes of poring through the material, thinking about the what ifs, and finding my favorite teams in the standings. After the first month of MLB play, it seems to me in many ways those standings are upside down.

One of the fun stories at my happy place, Wrigley Field, is the history of the team flags flying on what looks to be a ship’s mast on top of the manual scoreboard. Those flags, or pennants, are placed in order based on the current standings. Prior to 1962, when there were only 8 National League teams, the four teams on the left side were in the “first division” (first four places) and the four teams on the right side in the “second division”.  Five flags on each side proudly flew when the NL expanded to ten teams in 1962. Then in 1969, division play began with six pennants on the left exhibiting the NL East standings, and six teams on the right, the NL West. Nowadays, with 15 teams in the league, there are five pennants on the left (NL West), five in the middle (NL Central), and five on the right (NL East), all trying to reach the top spots. This is how the term “pennant race” in baseball was coined.

With the Dodgers’ 15-4 start, it’s been no surprise which pennant has remained atop the left side for most of this season. It’s difficult to keep your pennant flying at the top for the entire season. Indeed, there have been only five teams in MLB history that have gone “wire to wire”.  The first such team was the 1927 Yankees, widely considered the best team ever with their “Murderer’s Row” lineup and a roster that included nine future Hall of Famers, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig among them. The ’84 Tigers are on this list as well, along with the 1995 Brooklyn Dodgers, 1990 Reds, and 2005 White Sox. I know that much of baseball is hoping that the Padres continue their hot streak of the past two weeks and replace LA at the top of the NL West.

Does a hot start mean a stand-out season and a championship awaits in October?  Sometimes, but certainly not always.  Of the ten hottest starts in MLB history, two were by American League teams that set regular season win records, first by New York in 1998 with 114, and then topped by Seattle three years later with 116. The ’98 Yanks won the World Series, but the ’01 Mariners fell short.  My favorite two hot starts had one thing in common.  Both the 1970 Reds (starting 22-6 with a 70-30 record at the All-Star Break) and the 1984 Tigers (starting with a blistering 35-5 record) were managed by Sparky Anderson.  While Detroit captured the crown in 1984, a very hot Orioles team dominated the Reds in the 1970 Series.

Positioning the pennants in the NL Central race so far this season is driving the Wrigley manual scoreboard operator crazy. All five teams have been over .500 for much of the season and essentially switching spots at the top (and bottom) of the standings daily. Before the season, most experts predicted the Cubs to win the division, but the Pirates and Reds were given some of the ink as well. One should never count out the Brewers. All four teams show much promise. And what about the Cardinals?! My St. Louis blog followers are basking in their early season surprise. No division race has ever ended in MLB history with all five teams above .500. Maybe this is the year!

The NL East? Clearly upside down. In March the question baseball analysts discussed was whether the Phillies or the Mets would win the division. Now the discussion turns to which team will finish in last place. New York, with baseball’s highest payroll at $364 million this season, just came off of a 12-game losing streak and Philadelphia almost matched it with ten straight. The Mets have clearly missed Juan Soto who just returned this past week, while the Phillies’ pitching staff has been decimated by injuries. At the top of the division with the only winning record sits Atlanta whose winning ways have featured clutch hitting, team defense and speed, and a solid bullpen. Their flag is faltering a little this week with the news that their closer, Raisel Iglesias, was placed on the Injured List.

Moving to the American League, it’s topsy turvy as well. How many of you would have thought that four weeks into the season the teams in last place in the division races would be Boston (AL East), Kansas City (AL Central), and Houston (AL West)? There is only one team in the American League that appears to be separating themselves from the others, and of course it’s the Yankees. The Pinstripers have the league’s best record, eight games over .500 at 18-10.

I heard a commentator say recently that you can’t win a division during the first month, but you certainly can lose one. In my mind, the outcome of each game, whether in April or September, has the same impact on the standings. It’s a long 162, and may the best pennants rise to the top. 

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Tommy John

I attended my grandson’s baseball game last week and overheard that his pitch count was 38 after two innings. What that means nowadays is that during the next inning he would need to be replaced since the 50-pitch limit would be enforced. The care and concern for youth pitchers today is on high alert. When I was about his age, there was no such thing as pitch counts or innings limits. If you were the team’s pitcher, you got the ball. The only care we received was through home remedies. I recall my Dad putting in a chin up bar in our basement so that I could stretch out after outings. I didn’t care for that bar very much. In addition, I would take salt pills to restore the weight I lost pitching in a game during hot summer days. One name changed the rules for all of us who have had the enjoyment of pitching – Tommy John.

In 1974, after years of study by Dodgers’ team physician and orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Frank Jobe, Dodger pitcher Tommy John became the first patient of Jobe’s to undergo ulner collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction (now known appropriately as “Tommy John Surgery”).  Dr. Jobe took a tendon from John’s wrist, drilled holes into his ulna and humerus bones, and grafted the tendon in a figure-eight design held together by anchors. It was truly experimental surgery meant to counteract John’s persistent pain in his left, throwing elbow. It wasn’t until 1978 when the next Tommy John Surgery would be performed by Dr. Jobe.

The surgery was very meaningful in John’s pitching career. In 1961, at 18 years old, Tommy John was signed by the Indians because of his dynamic curveball. He debuted in the MLB with Cleveland in 1963, and then was traded to the White Sox. 1965 was his first year as a full-time starting pitcher. His career took off in 1968 when he was named an AL All-Star and posted a 1.98 ERA.  Traded to the Dodgers in 1972, John led the National League in winning percentage in 1973 (.696) and 1974 (.814) before his ’74 season abruptly ended when he tore his UCL. You might recall another Dodger pitcher with a terrific curveball a decade before whose career prematurely ended with elbow ailments, Sandy Koufax. Dr. Jobe often remarked that if the surgery had been developed years earlier, it would have been known as “Sandy Koufax Surgery”. In any event, the 1974 surgery prolonged Tommy John’s career for 15 more years, as he retired in 1989 with a career 288-231 win-loss record, 3.34 ERA, and four All-Star nods.

Tommy John Surgery has been a career saver for many MLB pitchers. Foremost among them is Hall of Famer John Smoltz. Smoltz played in 21 MLB seasons, all but the last one with the Braves. Smoltzie began his career in 1988 as a starter, one of Atlanta’s dominant three along with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. The threesome led the Braves to the 1995 World Series championship. The next year Smoltz won the NL Cy Young with a record of 24-8. In 2000, he underwent Tommy John Surgery. His mound comeback in 2001 saw him outside the Atlanta rotation and in a new role as the team’s closer. Close, he did, recording 55 saves in 2002, becoming only the second pitcher in MLB history to have both a 20-win season and a 50-save season. Dennis Eckersly is the other one.

Another HOF’er who had successful Tommy John Surgery was actually a position player, Paul Molitor. Molitor’s 21-year playing career (1978-1998) included fifteen years with the Brewers, but also three years with both the Blue Jays and Twins. Most of his acolades occurred after his Tommy John Surgery in 1984. Molitor was a 7-time All-Star and the World Series MVP in 1993. Throughout his career he was known for his hitting prowess (lifetime batting average of .306) and speed (504 stolen bases). The only other Hall of Famer who had Tommy John Surgery was relief pitcher Billy Wagner, who starred principally for the Houston Astros.

While rare, some players unfortunately never recovered from Tommy John Surgery. Jose Rijo of the Reds tops that list. From 1988 to 1993, Rijo was one of the supreme pitchers in baseball, on the leaders’ lists in ERA, strikeouts, and wins each year. He is most known for leading Cincinnati to an upset, four-game sweep of Oakland in the 1990 World Series, where Jose’s Games 1 and 4 dominance secured him the Series MVP award. Elbow injuries sidelined him in 1995 and he had the surgery in August that year. While Rijo came back to pitch in portions of 1997-2001, he was never the same.

Since the first Tommy John Surgery in 1974, almost 2,500 professional baseball players have undergone the procedure. Indeed, approximately 38% of active MLB pitchers today have had it. The percentage continues to grow; about 27% of MLB pitchers a decade ago had it. Those numbers don’t even including the individuals who have had more than one procedure. 30% of the patients need a second one along the way. While those are alarming statistics, the prevalence of the surgery on our youth is staggering. Around two-thirds of Tommy John Surgeries are performed on athletes between 16 and 20 years old. Some patients have even been in Little League.

The rise in these surgeries is the result of many things, but mostly due to the intensity of higher velocity pitching. Throwing a baseball, especially pitching one, is not a natural motion. In one of the leading medical articles, “What Doctors Wish Patients Knew about Tommy John Surgery”, Sara Berg in 2024 points to the prevailing research that the harder one throws a baseball, there is more torque and stress on the elbow. Yet, we keep upping the game and demanding that pitchers throw harder and harder. And the fix just can’t be to just have the surgery. Dr. Vasilios Moutzouros, an orthopedic surgeon at Henry Ford Health and a leading expert, says this in Berg’s report: “It’s not the easiest surgery because the elbow is a really difficult joint to operate on.” While the success rate is high (90% get back to throw), outcomes are worse with each additional procedure and the recovery time is lengthy (12-16 months).

How does baseball prevent the injury? For our youth, warming up properly, rest, limiting pitches and innings, and playing other sports are part of the recipe. At the professional level, the careful development of pitchers through the system is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Yet, the injuries continue to mount and seasons are lost. Most recently, the Cubs’ pitching phenom, Cade Horton, underwent his second Tommy John Surgery and is projected to be out of action until sometime late next summer. It’s a plight that many pitchers and teams at all levels continue to have.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Worst Feeling

Umpiring is a tough job, especially behind the plate. Keeping your concentration for 250-300 pitches a game is very difficult. As chronicled in prior blog pieces, I’ve been in those umpiring cleats. Sometimes, you just miss a pitch. And when you do, you know! You can see it in the reaction of the players and coaches. Believe me, you know. It’s one of the worst feelings in the world. For the first time in MLB history, umpires now have some added corrective lenses in the automatic balls strikes (ABS) system. Just a couple weeks into the season, it’s clear that ABS is here to stay.

MLB and the Major League Baseball Umpires Association have always seemed to resist video review of calls on the field. Indeed, the NFL, NBA, and NHL all had some sort of review system in place before MLB developed instant replay during the 2008 season. Beginning that season, only the umpire crew chief could initiate a review. The umpiring crew would huddle on the field, review a video feed, and then decide whether to uphold a call. Of course, it wasn’t just any call. Only home run calls could be reviewed.

It wasn’t until 2014 when the current replay system was instituted to include more than just home run calls. Managers are given one challenge a game (which you do maintain if you are correct) on a wide variety of plays (fair/foul calls, tag plays, catch/trap calls, etc.).  From the eighth inning on, the umpire crew chief can also initiate a review. With the expansion of the replay system, baseball fans and commentators began to offer criticism on which plays are reviewable and how much time it takes to make a review decision. In addition, in view of today’s HD television and the imaged strike zone, umpire performance has been scrutinized more and more each season.

TrackMan, a radar-based system to call balls and strikes, came onto the baseball scene less than ten years ago. In 2019 the Atlantic League tested the technology for its college player summer league. While the new system had some mixed reaction early in the season, it seemed to gain favor as the season wore on. Later that year, the Arizona Fall League adopted TrackMan with even greater success. ESPN baseball insider Buster Olney opined that technology would replace home plate umpires calling balls and strikes by 2023. 

Over the past few seasons minor league baseball has experimented with the ABS system. ABS does not utilize robot umpires, as Olney predicted and others feared, but rather technology to assist umpires in calling balls and strikes. TrackMan’s radar tracking has been replaced by camera-based tracking, called Hawk-Eye. Hawk-Eye has been found to be more accurate for determining the strike zone. High-resolution cameras are mounted in 12 different locations in each ballpark. During spring training play last year, MLB used the new technology at a handful of Cactus and Grapefruit League ballparks.

ABS will be in place for the entire MLB 2026 season. The system sets up a strike zone box for each player based on a natural batting stance. So if you crouch as a batter, it’s to your detriment. Each team gets two challenges that are triggered by a touch of the head by the batter, catcher, or pitcher. If your challenge is correct, you maintain it. What we see in the early days of ABS is that managers are allowing catchers and batters to use the system, but not often pitchers. We also see a trend developing that teams are saving their challenges for the later innings to make sure they are available when the game is on the line. One important feature stands out – the calls are made in a timely fashion.

So how have the teams been faring with the challenges? The early numbers suggest an overall MLB success rate of 55.9% (based on the 542 challenges made in the first two weeks of the season). Fielding teams are winning 59.7% of the challenges, while batters are winning 49.8%. There have been only 13 challenges by pitchers, six successful. If you are a fan of the Tigers, you have to be pleased with ABS since Detroit is winning challenges at the highest rate of any team (75%), followed by the Diamondbacks (71%) and the Orioles and Reds (both at 67%).

Home plate umpire accountability is at the heart of the matter going forward. Last season, without ABS, analysts determined a 94.2% accuracy rate on balls and strikes for MLB home plate umpires. With 100% accuracy seemingly now in play, some umpires are feeling the heat. Maybe ABS outcomes will influence fall playoff assignments for umpires. It’s hard to know at this point.

By an assortment of standards – fairness, accuracy, timeliness – ABS is a big success. MLB has to be especially pleased with fan reception. The reaction in the ballpark when the video board shows whether the pitch is in the zone or not has brought a new dimension to fan attendance. Unfortunately, home plate umpires have taken the brunt of the novelty of the new system. Since some umpires are getting more calls overturned than others, they indeed must be having the worst feeling of all.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Dark Cloud

The MLB season is ten games in, but I must say that I’m still feeling the euphoria of my spring training adventure in Arizona. Oh, how I yearn for those sun-drenched days without a cloud in the sky. That is especially true given the cold and rainy weather of the Midwest during baseball’s opening week, a story for another time. Looking ahead though, a dark cloud looms over spring training in 2027 and the regular season. You see, the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between MLB and the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) is scheduled to expire on December 1, 2026. Most everyone in baseball is counting on some sort of work stoppage in 2027, threatening once again the game we all love.

The history of baseball strikes and lockouts goes back to the first one in 1972, a thirteen day strike by the players in early April of the season. The strike concerned the players’ pension fund, and resulted in the cancellation of 86 games. None of the cancelled games were rescheduled. Crazily, since the Tigers were able to play one more game that season than the Red Sox, Detroit won the AL East over Boston by a ½ game. The 1970s saw two other work stoppages – a February, 1973 lockout and a March, 1976 lockout of the players, both of which were for eighteen days and during spring training. No regular season games were impacted. The major characters in these labor disputes, Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and MLBPA union director Marvin Miller, would be at center stage for some difficult times ahead.

For many of us the 1981 MLB strike is the first one we remember. At issue was free agent compensation. The owners wanted some sort of compensation for losing a free agent to another team, while the players argued that any limit on free agency would affect its value. The strike began on June 12 and ended on July 31, resulting in the cancellation of one-third of the season. The compromise was that teams who lost a “premium” free agent could grab a player left unprotected from all MLB teams, not just the signing team. The strike though left a scar on the game. MLB decided to play two split seasons with the division winners of each split getting into the playoffs. Unfortunately, teams such as the Reds and Cardinals won the overall records in their respective divisions but neither one of the split seasons, and were left out of the postseason. More importantly, the strike hurt the game itself as fan discord was reflected in decreased attendance at MLB ballparks.

The 1990s was also a decade of labor turmoil and fan discontent. In 1990, MLB locked out the players for 32 days beginning in February, basically eliminating spring training. The season began a week later than scheduled, but this time MLB accommodated a 162-game schedule by ending the season three days late. The owners called for a revenue sharing plan where 48% of the players’ salaries would be paid from, and also for the first time proposed a salary cap on all teams. Ultimately, the parties agreed to form a committee to “study” revenue sharing. Just four years later, baseball experienced its longest work stoppage ever as a strike began on August 12, 1994, and was not suspended until April 2, 1995, 235 days later. 948 games were cancelled, including the 1994 World Series, and the 1995 season was reduced to a 144-game schedule. The core issue concerned the owners’ continuing desire to impose a salary cap, which was never resolved and remains at the center of the conflict between the owners and players today.

The most recent work stoppage is the 2021-2022 lockout. When the CBA ended at midnight on December 1, 2021, the owners immediately locked out the players after months of stalled negotiations. Interestingly, in the month prior to the lockout, owners scrambled to sign the premiere free agents at a record total of $1.9 billion. At the crux of the dispute were compensation for young players and the owners’ demand to narrow the disparity of each team’s combined salary with a minimum of $100 million per team and an incremental luxury tax beginning at $180 million. The lockout, which began on December 2, lasted over three months, shortening spring training and rescheduling the first two weeks of the season to later dates. In the settlement, league minimum salaries were increased by 23% but the ball was essentially pushed down the road on teams’ combined salary concerns. An incremental luxury tax was instituted at a higher level, topping off at $242 million this year. If you have kept track of free agent signings during the past offseason, you know that many teams seem unfazed about the luxury tax. Many say that the Dodgers signing of Kyle Tucker for four years at $240 million will be the contract that pushes MLB owners over the edge.

With that as background, a dark cloud at midnight, December 1, 2026, seems almost inevitable. Baseball will come to a standstill on the issue of a salary cap. In July 2025, Commissioner Rob Manfred toured the clubhouses of many MLB teams and was confronted quite harshly by Phillies’ star Bryce Harper who in essence suggested that a salary cap is a non-starter and would be worth 162 games to fight off. While the MLBPA opposes a cap, the union seems to support a salary floor. A salary floor would force lower revenue teams to spend more. To put this all in perspective, other U.S. professional sports have caps in place. Both the NFL and NHL have a strict hard cap, an absolute maximum limit that teams cannot exceed.

Is there a possible solution to baseball’s dilemma? Maybe we explore a hard cap and floor at the same time. I’ve heard several experts propose that baseball institute, in today’s dollars, a maximum cap of $280 million and a floor of $140 million per team. Looking at the available numbers from 2025, this kind of cap would only impact the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, and Phillies, while the floor would push 12 teams, almost half the number of MLB teams, to spend more and hopefully be more competitive. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the Dodgers dominating the payroll and World Series landscapes.

In the past week or so, I think we are seeing some owners plan ahead for a work stoppage. Young, future stars are being signed by the lower revenue teams to long term contracts. The Brewers signed future star infielder Cooper Pratt to an eight-year deal through 2033. Seattle followed suit with an eight-year, $95 million deal for its top prospect, shortstop Colt Emerson. And just last Thursday, the rumor hit the market that the Pirates are close to signing MLB’s #1 prospect, Konnor Griffin, to a nine-year, $140 million deal. The owners are getting firm commitments from players before the possibility of a work stoppage. Maybe there are some partly sunny skies ahead.

If there is a prolonged, work stoppage in 2027, what am I going to do? What will be there to write about? In late June 1981, my wife and I honeymooned at a luxurious (smile) family resort in central Tennessee. We began our drive back home to St. Louis while the 1981 strike was just three weeks old. She knew then that baseball would always be a big part of my life when I persuaded her that we stop for a night in Peducah, Kentucky, to watch a low minor leagues game. I was already missing baseball and in need of a little fix. Ominous, storm clouds lifted that night right around first pitch. Hopefully, in 2027, the dark cloud won’t be there to stay.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Spring Training Observations

Your Baseball Bench Coach is back for the blog’s eighth season! Over the last several weeks I did another spring training jaunt to Arizona. This spring I did not attend all of the Cactus League sites like last year, but I did see a lot of baseball at Sloan Park and a handful of other ballparks. I thought I would concentrate on some topics I hope you will find of interest when you plan to visit. For fans the goal of the games is to relax and soak up the sun. It truly doesn’t matter whether your favorite team wins or loses. My guess is that while you are reading this, you probably have no idea which team “won” the Cactus League this year. For the players, especially those who know they will be on their team’s MLB roster, the idea simply is to get some work in prior to the long 162. Let’s reflect on Spring ’26 before we tackle the regular season that is upon us.

Early spring training games present a test for a fan’s loyalty. Don’t count on seeing your favorite players in the game for more than three to four innings, if at all. I saw the Athletics play the Guardians in the first week at Hohokam Park and two on field items stood out. The A’s starter, Luis Severino, pitched the first two innings and left the game after just 15 pitches. Amazingly, his first pitch was recorded at 99 mph. Pitchers do a lot of offseason work now and can easily fall into form. Their goal is to build up their innings as the spring moves forward. The term you often hear is “stretching” them out. On the hitter’s side, the Athletics power hitter, first baseman Nick Kurtz, led off so that he could quickly get 2 at bats before leaving the game in the third inning. Don’t miss the first part of the game in a concession stand line! You might be sorry.

It was unseasonably hot in Phoenix this spring, so finding the right seat is so important for your fan experience. I made the mistake in past years of not checking beforehand where the “shaded” seats are at the training sites. On this late February game at Hohokam it was 87 degrees at game time so I was glad I had done the quick research and found the perfect seat in the upper section behind home plate in the shade. For the most part, stay away from the lower sections in the Cactus League where your best friend needs to be sunscreen. There are parks, like Goodyear where the Reds and Guardians train, that it is almost impossible to get shaded seats. Of course, you can always sit in the outfield berms where ticket prices are more affordable. Bring a blanket to sit on and enjoy the afternoon in the sun.

The ballparks themselves you might find interesting. Some of them, such as Scottsdale Stadium (Giants), Tempe Diablo Stadium (Angels), and Hohokam Park (Athletics), are very old school. The two newest ones, Salt River Fields (home of the Diamondbacks and Rockies), and Sloan Park (Cubs), are modern in every way and draw better crowds than some MLB ballparks do. The dimensions of the parks (sometimes you will see 430 feet to dead center) are larger than MLB sites. The baseball carries better in the hot weather so the designers adjusted accordingly. And the best part of it all is that there is clearly less glitz in the Cactus League ballparks – smaller scoreboards; no constant feed of statistics; and less over the top promotions. Just sit back and enjoy the day!

That is not to say that the food offerings at Cactus League ballparks are disappointing. Quite the opposite. It seems like each park has its wonderful, feature foods. Sloan Park offers Chicago style hotdogs, making Mesa the Wrigleyville of the West. (Note: you can also find Lou Malnati’s and Portillo’s throughout the Phoenix area.) Hohokam Park features pretzels shaped like a mustache, clearly giving the fans a throwback moment to the Athletics of the 1970s and their facial hair. Goodyear features Skyline chili dogs for the many Reds fans who visit. My favorite though is lemonade at Scottsdale Stadium. The vendors love to say, “lemonade, lemonade, just like your Grandma made.” It just makes you feel good about being there.

The baseball topic this spring of course is the advent of the ABS (automated ball strike) system. It was tried at a couple Cactus League ballparks last spring and throughout the minor league systems over the last few years. ABS will be in place for the entire MLB 2026 season. The system sets up a strike zone box for each player based on a natural batting stance. Each team gets two challenges that are triggered by a touch of the head by the batter, catcher, or pitcher. If your challenge is correct, you maintain it. The word around the league is that only catchers and certain batters will have the license to challenge. I’ve heard a couple managers muse that “pitchers think every pitch is a strike”. So far, it has been a great success! Not only does it catch erroneous home plate umpire calls, but it is done in an expeditious way. ABS is here to stay.

About halfway through this spring’s games, the World Baseball Classic had its impact. MLB filled the rosters of the many international teams, including Venezuela, the eventual winner. While the WBC did create opportunities to play for those who weren’t invited, managers struggled with how much work pitchers should get before and after the competition. Inevitably, there were a handful of injuries at the WBC, including the one suffered by Cubs’ All-Star hitter, Seiya Suzuki, who starts the season on the Injured List.

When the spring games entered the final week, the focus shifted to the soon to be opening of MLB 2026. Starting pitchers had longer outings, positional players took more at bats, and some players fought for the last few spots on the roster. What I found very interesting is that there were many split squad games played in the last two weeks. That’s where half of your team plays a home game while the other half travels to a road site. This allows ample playing time for all. In addition, you find starting pitchers getting pitching assignments against the other league’s teams, not their own league or division opponents. You never want to show too much of your stuff if you don’t have to.

Spring training baseball can be summed up in a single word, “relax”.  If you haven’t gone on a spring break outing to the Cactus League or Grapefruit League, or it’s been too long between visits, put it on your list. You won’t regret it. 

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Playoffs 2025

The 2025 Wild Card playoff games begin tomorrow and start what baseball fans hope to be an October to remember. The final seedings were not decided until just yesterday. Let’s take a look at all 12 entrants this year sorted through their respective seedings:

Milwaukee Brewers (NL).  The Brew Crew won their 4th NL Central title in five years and had the most wins in the entire MLB. Every year I doubt this team, but they seem to find a way to win like no other team in baseball. Led by Christian Yelich and William Contreras, both the offense and defense are really solid. Their pitching strength is in the bullpen. If you are trailing them late in the game, Trevor McGill and Abner Uribe will shut the door. Their Achilles heal is starting pitching. With Brandon Woodruff and Jose Quintana on the IL, Freddy Peralta and Jacob MIsorowski need to come up big for Milwaukee to go deep into the playoffs.

Toronto Blue Jays (AL).  I’ve only seen Toronto play a handful of times all season, but they are truly fun to watch. They have a powerful lineup with the likes of George Springer, Dante Bichette, and Vladimir Guerrero in the 1-3 slots. Don’t get in a high scoring game with this bunch. Their starting four pitchers, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Chris Bassitt, and Max Scherzer, are formidable but a little unpredictable. Who knows, there could be a little “Max Magic” in the air just like the 2019 Nationals experienced.

Philadelphia Phillies (NL). The Phils’ starting lineup is packed with some big names – Harper, Realmuto, Bohm, and Castellanos, but how many teams can also boast the NL batting champion (Trea Turner) and NL HR and RBIs leader (Kyle Schwarber). Powerful is the word. It’s hard not to put their starting staff in the elite category when on any given day Christopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, Aaron Nola, or Jesus Luzardo will take the hill. Philadelphia’s bullpen was bolstered by the trade deadline acquisition of Jhoan Duran from the Twins. The Phillies are primed to make a serious run at the title.

Seattle Mariners (AL). The Mariners got hot at the right time, sweeping the Astros in Houston in a key 3-game series down the stretch. Their offense has excelled all year behind the power of Cal Raleigh and all around play of Julio Rodriguez.  Throw in the acquisitions of Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor at the trade deadline and this team thrived in August and September. You have to like their pitching too with Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby. Grab some Seattle coffee and enjoy them in the playoffs.

Los Angeles Dodgers (NL). Yes, the 2024 World Champions won the NL West this year again, but for whatever reason, I’m just not sold on them this year. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking. Their lineup too is full of stars headed by Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman. And maybe their starting staff is ranked at the top of list, featuring Yamamoto, Glasnow, Snell, and Kershaw. While it would be a good story if Kershaw turns his playoff performances around with a solid 2025, I just don’t see it happening. Ohtani on the mound in some fashion is certainly a wild card. Don’t count them out, but also don’t count them in.

Cleveland Guardians (AL). Cleveland has been the surprise team of the second half! On July 9, they were 15 ½ games behind Detroit. Going into September, they were still 9 ½ games back. While they needed a series win over the Tigers this past week and a Tigers collapse to win the division, they won the AL Central and go into the AL playoffs with tons of momentum. So who is on this upstart team? Two of my favorite players, the most consistent third baseman in the game, Jose Ramirez, and one of the top left fielders and leadoff hitters, Steven Kwan. Despite having no big names on the mound, consistent starts in the last four weeks have led them to the September promised land. Will that continue in October?

Chicago Cubs (NL). Full disclosure, I’ve seen this team play 90% of its games this season, and have truly enjoyed the ride. The first half of the season was remarkable with an offense matched by no other team. Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Carson Kelly and Seiya Suzuki led the way, but were certainly assisted by Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner (who finished 2nd in the NL in batting), and Dansby Swanson. Rookie third baseman Matt Shaw had a solid second half. The Cubs withstood injuries to its starting staff all season, and now look to them for some clutch October outings. Lefties Imanaga and Boyd have been stalwarts, and rookie Cade Horton has been sensational but is now on the IL. The bullpen has been good for most of the year, led by Brad Keller and closer Daniel Palencia. The bullpen and health of Kyle Tucker will be the keys to their October success story.

New York Yankees (AL). It’s difficult not to start with anyone other than Aaron Judge, the leader of the team and the best player in the AL. He is surrounded by a star-studded lineup, including Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Ben Rice, and Jazz Chisholm. The trade deadline acquisition of Ryan McMahon from the Rockies clearly helped. The bullpen was bolstered mid-year with David Bednar.  The fortune of last year’s AL champs will rest upon the starting staff. While Max Fried and Carlos Rodon give the Pinstripers a one-two punch on the front end, looking for a quality 3rd and 4th starter will be the challenge. It’s difficult to see this team repeating as AL champs.

San Diego Padres (NL).  The Padres went all in at the trade deadline, landing a closer in Mason Miller and some help at first base (Ryan O’Hearn) and left field (Ramon Laureano). These additions supplemented the incredible core of Tatis, Arraez, and Machado! The Padres put on a late season surge but couldn’t catch up to the Dodgers. Their starting staff has some big names, Dylan Cease, Nick Pavetta, Michael King, and Yu Darvish, but only Pavetta and King starred this season. When San Diego visits Wrigley Field this week, they will provide a formidable test for the Cubs.

Boston Red Sox (AL).  This is another AL team that was pretty well counted out in the first half, but came to life in the second. It seemed like they were cashing in their chips when they traded Rafael Devers to the Giants, but in an odd way the trade seemed to ignite the club. They have some names in the everyday lineup you will know – Trevor Story; Alex Bregman; Nathaniel Lowe; and Wil Abreu. What makes them a threat in the postseason is that their ace pitcher, Garrett Crochet, is surrounded by some quality, veteran starters, Lucas Giolito and Dustin May.

Cincinnati Reds (NL). I watched a lot of Reds games too along the way this season, and not in my wildest dreams did I see their surge to the playoffs in the last two weeks coming. Their lineup lacked power until recently when Spencer Steer got hot. Their best player, shortstop Elly De La Cruz, had a tough year from the right side of the plate and certainly in the field. And yet, they kept afloat around .500 for most of the season, and their winning streak in the last two weeks got them the final playoff slot. What makes this group a team that other NL teams would just as soon not play is its deep starting staff, headed by Hunter Greene and his cohorts Singer, Abbott, and Lodolo.

Detroit Tigers (AL). I had the Tigers penciled (maybe, penned) in the number one overall AL slot for most of the year. Their September fall caused Detroit to fall back into the #6 slot on the AL side. They are still a formidable team, with a lineup of Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene, and Spencer Torkelson. Where they are really dangerous is on the mound with the 2024 AL Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal, leading the way. Casey Mize is a quality #2 and veteran Jack Flaherty fills out the rotation. It will be interesting to see if this team rebounds in October.

Until next season,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Realignment

Note: Some of the history in this article comes from a prior blog piece “Balanced Schedule” published in April 2023.

While there are AL division races still to be settled and wild card spots in both leagues up for grabs, all eyes after this week will turn to October playoff baseball. The current NL and AL teams, scheduling, and playoff formats are understood by baseball fans, but times may be changing soon. In an interview on Sunday Night Baseball on August 17, 2025, Commissioner Rob Manfred discussed the possibility of a revamped landscape in terms of league structure, scheduling, and playoff formats. The long tradition of storied franchises in the National and American Leagues playing in the World Series might even be in play.

Why is realignment an issue at all? Currently, MLB has 30 teams, 15 in the NL and 15 in the AL. MLB is looking at expansion by adding two more teams and making it a perfect rounding of 32. The possible expansion cities most talked about today include Nashville, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Montreal. What this would do is create for each league two divisions of eight teams or four divisions of four teams. Manfred has maintained that realignment should focus on grouping teams geographically to minimize travel distances. He has stated: “We could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel.” That’s a hard take for me given the chartered jets teams travel in nowadays. The pessimist says that Manfred is looking at ways to revive baseball if there is a work stoppage in 2026.

There’s a lot to sort out here, but let’s first look at the history. For me, the history of MLB scheduling starts with the early 1960s – two leagues (AL and NL) and no interleague games.  The World Series was just that, a time that the AL and NL pennant winners would face each other for the first time in the season.  In 1969 MLB introduced divisional play, two divisional winners playing in league championship series with the winners meeting up in the Series.  The first MLB regular season interleague games did not take place until 1997.  For the next fifteen years, interleague play consisted of one division in each league playing a division in the other league.

Up until 2012, baseball attempted to keep interleague play from deciding pennant races.  All interleague games were played prior to the All-Star Game.  What happened though is that interleague play reduced the number of games played by each team against non-divisional league opponents. Indeed, each team was playing between 16 to 20 games annually against each divisional opponent, making up nearly half of each team’s regular season calendar.  As the playoff format introduced additional wild card entrants in each league, the better teams in divisions that were top-heavy had a greater chance in making the playoffs since they could beat up on the also rans.  Something had to change.

Enter the 2023 balanced schedule. The schedule now in place reduces the number of games against division rivals to 13, totaling 52 games; adds more same league games, given that each team will play six games against six opponents and seven games against four opponents in the same league, a total of 64; and 46 interleague games.  It’s the same 162, except spread out more evenly.  The playoff impact, of course, is that strength of schedule within one team’s division becomes less of a factor.

The biggest change has been the number of interleague games, where teams have gone from 20 annually to 46.  The spirit of the balanced schedule was to make the game more fan-friendly, providing fans with the opportunity to see more opponent matchups. Natural interleague rivals, such as the Angels-Dodgers, Guardians-Reds, Yankees-Mets, and White Sox-Cubs, include home and away series, while the other interleague games are at the respective teams’ home ballparks on alternating seasons. Of course, the concern has been that the storied, long-time rivalries have been reduced from 19 games to 13, such as the Cubs vs. Cardinals NL rivalry.

All of this may take an abrupt right turn if Manfred’s vision of realignment becomes reality. In terms of geographic realignment. I’ve seen many proposals, most of which have the two teams in the three cities with crosstown rivlaries, NYC, Chicago, and LA, facing off in the same divisions. The crazy piece is that the city rivals will land in divisions in either the AL or NL, upending a longstanding tradition for one of the city rivals. Most of the proposals find the natural rivalries, Red Sox vs. Yankees and Cubs vs. Cardinals, maintained in the same division, but more than one proposal breaks up the Dodgers vs. Giants rivalry if there are eight, 4-team divisions. One proposal has the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies all in one division, kind of a top heavy, big spending grouping in today’s game. Even crazier is a proposed structure which lands both the Pirates and Reds, two of the longest tenured NL franchises, in the “AL South”.

Scheduling, including the length of the season, will be in play. If there is indeed an eight division format, a 156-game season might make most sense since each team might have 12 games against division rivals (36 games), six games against the other intraleague teams (72 games), and three games against teams in the other league (48 games). Sounds easy right, but nothing has ever been easy in MLB scheduling. It’s difficult to imagine the owners and MLB Players Association agreeing to a reduction in games.

As to playoff action, I would be a proponent of just four division winners in an eight team per division format or eight division winners in a four team per division format getting into October action. We could return to the days of having teams competing for the division titles on an in or out basis. Owners though are not going to let that happen with all of the revenue on the table in the playoffs. We will see at least 12 teams get in just like the MLB today and hope that 16 teams, like the NBA and NHL, do not. Maybe the landing spot will be 14 teams in the playoffs, and similar to the NFL, the NL and AL teams with best records getting a bye. Your head begins to spin just thinking about all of the possibilities.

So here’s to the 2030 World Series where the AL Reds face the NL White Sox!

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Curveball

One of my fondest memories is attending a baseball fantasy camp in February 1999, a chance to spend an entire week in Florida playing a slate of games with my new-found 72 baseball friends and forming teams coached by former Reds players. My coach was Pat Zachary, a pitcher who helped Cincinnati win the World Series in 1976. Pat’s Texas drawl and sense of humor kept me laughing through a series of weekday doubleheaders in which I was the starting pitcher for the morning games. Late in the week I was clearly tired and couldn’t seem to get my fastball by a hitter who fouled off five consecutive pitches. From the dugout I heard Pat yell, “Hey Gieseke, give him the hook.” Knowing that the entire ballpark had heard his comment, I decided anyway to abide by his wishes and serve my curveball to the plate. About 300 feet later, I knew it was the wrong choice. Pat belly laughed from the dugout.

A curveball is a pitch designed to keep hitters off balance by creating downward spin as the ball approaches the plate. It can go by many names – hook; breaking ball; deuce; No.2 (the catcher signals the pitch by putting two fingers down); Uncle Charlie; and nowadays a slurve or sweeper. What you don’t want to throw is a “hanger” which I did back in 1999 that has little downward movement and seems to be served up to the batter on a silver platter. The physics of the pitch is called the Magnus effect with the goal of delivering it to the plate with topspin, creating a pressure zone on top of the ball that causes it to move downward in flight. The most common way to grip a curveball  is to position your middle finger along one of the seams and snap the ball downward on release. 

The history of the curveball is an interesting one. Many point to Candy Cummings, a pitcher in the 1860s and 1870s, as the inventor. John Thorn, who is the official historian of MLB, credits Joseph McElroy Mann of Princeton University as the first college pitcher who threw one. Crazily, when pitchers started to master the pitch, they were considered to be too deceptive. Harvard University actually banned the pitch for its team claiming that it was a dishonest practice unworthy of its players. Pitchers soon though adopted the pitch as part of their arsenal, since it created  lots of swings and misses, and of course strikeouts. As for me, I fell in love with it as a 12-year old pitcher. It was my out pitch, and little did I know or care how much stress it placed on my shoulder.

There are some all-time great pitchers who are famous for their curveballs. At the top of the list is Sandy Koufax, who pitched for the Dodgers from 1955 through 1966. What is often untold is that Koufax was just an average pitcher in his early years, described by sportswriters as one having a great but wild fastball. Until he perfected the curveball. From 1961 to 1966, Koufax had the best six seasons on the mound than anyone in baseball, ever! His achievements include – 3 Cy Youngs (1963, 1965, and 1966); five times NL ERA leader (1962-1966); four times NL strikeout leader (1961, 1963, 1965, and 1966); two times World Series MVP (1963 and 1965); four no-hitters and a perfect game. He was simply unhittable, mostly because he had a curveball that would move close to 20 inches as it arrived at the plate. Unfortunately, his career came to an untimely end after the 1966 season when he experienced chronic pain in his left elbow.

Around that same period another pitcher picked up the curveball gauntlet who experienced much more longevity, Nolan Ryan. Ryan began his career in 1996 with the Mets and ended it in 1993 with the Rangers, with two other stops along the way (Angels and Astros). Most think of Ryan as this dominating, 100+ mph fastball pitcher, which he was, setting the all-time strikeout record of 5,714 Ks. He was also known for perfecting the 12-6 curveball, dropping his curveballs straight down at the plate at a high velocity. He simply overpowered batters, setting the all-time batting average against record of .204. Ryan recorded seven no-hitters in his HOF career, yet never threw a perfect game and even more amazingly, never received the Cy Young. 

Today, another Dodger, Clayton Kershaw, is the one most known for having an unhittable curveball. Kershaw began in 2008 with LA, and has remained a Dodger for his entire career. Just this season, Clayton recorded his 3,000th strikeout. His career numbers are outstanding – first pitcher to lead MLB in ERA for four consecutive seasons; a 3-time NL wins and strikeouts leader; and a 2.52 career ERA, the second-lowest in baseball history. His win-loss record is an amazing 221-96!  Yet, many see him now as the pitcher who hasn’t fared well in post-season play (4.49 ERA) and now struggling to baffle hitters with an assortment of breaking balls thrown at different arm angles and speeds.

In baseball today, curveball usage has seen a steep decline. The statistics are overwhelming. The overall MLB rate dropped from 10.7% in 2019 to 8.1% last year. Indeed, there were 22,962 fewer curveballs in 2024 than five years ago. The Athletics, making it sort of a no-no mantra for its pitching staff, has seen their pitchers use curveballs at a rate of just 2.5% this season.

So why the huge drop off? In short, it’s all about velocity nowadays. Average four-seam fastballs (throwing the fastball across the seams for an upward motion) are clocked at 94.4 mph this season up from 91.9 mph just fifteen seasons ago. Indeed, they are now used 22.6% of the time, compared to 15.6% in 2008. And basically, almost every pitch in the repertoire of pitches today are thrown at high speeds to overpower the hitter. The new motto on the mound is throw hard for as long as you can until the next fireballer replaces you. Yankees star pitcher Gerrit Cole said it best: “As you’re an amateur going to the big leagues guys are looking at velo. Velo is important and it pays.” 

One of today’s only true curveball pitchers, Charlie Morton, received much attention at the trade deadline (traded on July 31 from the Orioles to the Tigers) because of his consistency in taking the ball every fifth day as a starter. He actually leads MLB in curveball usage at 39%. Morton often tells the story of learning the pitch at an early age from his dad, saying that “you basically throw it like you’re re-throwing a knife”. The knife image is way too vivid for me, since I’ve had the wonderful experience of having two replacement shoulder surgeries in the last fifteen years. Advice from your Coach to the children and grandchildren out there: don’t throw the pitch until you are at least 18 years old and do so only 2.5% of the time!

Until September 22,

your Baseball Bench Coach

Female Umps

• Note: Portions of the historical content of this piece are from a prior blog article, “You’re Out”.

My first managerial job was in 1993 when I led my oldest daughter’s fastpitch softball team. The team’s leadoff batter and one of our pitchers was a quiet, yet confident, girl named Kelly. She was the perfect leader – attended each practice and game, hustled on every play, and cheered with and encouraged her teammates. It was a joy to coach her. Years later I attended a game umpired by a young woman with a long ponytail who was definitely in charge and in the correct position on every play. It was Kelly! She had become an umpire to earn a few bucks on the side. We both smiled as we chatted after the game and caught up a little. Kelly, I’m sure, is smiling broadly today.

On August 9th Jen Pawol became the first woman ever to umpire an MLB game. She was the first base umpire in the first game of a doubleheader between the Marlins and Braves in Atlanta. With 50 family members and friends in full support in the stands, her first game by all accounts went smoothly. Braves manager Brian Snitker said simply: “You can tell she knows what she does.” The umpire cap she wore that day is on its way to the Hall of Fame. And on the next day, Pawol manned home plate in the series finale. In her words: “The dream actually came true today.” 

Jen’s path to the big leagues is an interesting one. In college she starred as a softball catcher for Hofstra University while umpiring softball games on the side at $15/game. As a player, she was a member of the gold medal winning U.S. team in the Women’s Baseball World Series. She continued to umpire softball games part time for 11 years.  In 2016, she attended formal umpire training in Vero Beach, FL, and her performance landed her an umpire spot in the Gulf Coast League the next year. She migrated her way through the minors, landing a job at the Triple-A level beginning in 2023. Jen became the first woman umpire at AAA in 34 years.

Pawol also has a right to smile in securing a spot in the MLB this season. An MLB umpire is one of the highest paid officials in professional sports.  A first-year umpire starts in the $100,000s while veteran umps often earn three times that annual salary. In the playoffs an MLB umpire can make around $20,000 per game, a little more than Jen’s $15 per game umpiring softball. Turnover is low, which is good for those who have made it to the big leagues and bad for those struggling in the minor leagues to get there.  For umpires toiling in the minor leagues the road is long, the pay is barely adequate, and most often there is a dead end sign ahead.

I wish I could say that I have followed the careers of MLB umpires.  Yes, some last names ring a bell, especially when they span across two generations and 50+ years of service, such as these father and son combinations – Ed and Paul Runge; Tom and Brian Gorman; and Shag and Jerry Crawford.  But just like everyone else, my memory of umpires concerns bad calls.  In Game 1 of the 1970 World Series between Cincinnati and Baltimore a controversial call made by home plate umpire Ken Burkhart is still painful to remember.  As the Reds Bernie Carbo ran home avoiding the tag of Orioles catcher Elrod Hendricks, Burkhardt raised his fist in the air signaling an out. Fifty years later I can still hear Reds manager Sparky Anderson screaming “there’s no way possible” at Burkhart.

And then there was “The Call” in the 1985 World Series that decided the Missouri interstate match-up between St. Louis and Kansas City.  The Cardinals led 3 games to 2 with a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 6.  Jorge Orta, the Royals leadoff batter, hit a bouncing ball toward Cardinals first baseman Jack Clark who tossed it to pitcher Todd Worrell, clearly beating Orta to the bag.  Yet, instead of raising his fist for an out, first base umpire Don Denkinger signaled safe.  The Royals won the game 2-1 and dominated Game 7 in 11-0 fashion, setting off a celebration on the wrong side of the state.

The 1970 and 1985 World Series calls would have been most probably overturned in today’s replay review.  When the system expanded in 2014 to include more than just disputed home run calls, baseball fans and commentators have offered endless criticism on what plays are reviewable and how much time it takes to make a review decision.  Since we have state of the art technology available now, I contend that we should be able to correct as many missed calls on the field as possible. The issue is putting in place a system that is fair, transparent, and timely. 

Over the past few seasons minor league baseball has experimented with an Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system with much success. ABS does not utilize robot umpires, as some feared, but rather technology to assist umpires in calling balls and strikes. During spring training play this year, MLB incorporated a challenge system. Challenges to calls can only be made on the field by the pitcher, catcher, or batter, and needs to be done so quickly. MLB is working toward implementing ABS next season. 

ABS doesn’t and shouldn’t replace umpires, especially the likes of Jen Pawol and other female umpires arriving someday soon in the big leagues. Let’s keep Jen and Kelly smiling.

Until next Monday, 

your Baseball Bench Coach