behindthedish

[behindthedish]

Full 162!

Folks we have a baseball season!! Not some weird sixty some game season like we had last year but a full season. Last year I was lucky enough to get to see one of the final spring training games before the Pandemic really took hold, and although Spring training is an awesome experience, it probably was not a very good trade in hindsight. But thankfully, this year, the players association took none of that shit to the bank, we have a full season babe. Lets go!! 

The first weekend of the season was wild, there was a little bit of a scuffle, props to Castellanos for having the balls to piss off Yadi Molina, dude is the youngest of three brothers that played the toughest position in baseball at the highest level, I am going to guess the dude can scrap.... I agree tho, Yadi, if you ever read this, which you probably won’t, I will take a right hook to the face for a signed jersey... or some Jordan catchers equipment, without the signature, either or. 

Now, onto the real baseball talk. I am going to concentrate on three teams majorly, The Pirates, the Yankees, Indians, Padres and the Blue Jays. Those last two teams are the most fun teams in baseball in my opinion, yesterday I was lucky enough to catch the Padres game on MLB network, and MAN they are an electric baseball team. Good luck against the Dodgers, because whoever wins that NLDS, is going to the World Series. 

There are also going to be random things I touch on, like above with Catellanos... On that fact, Did y’all see what Otani did last night? I happened to be scrolling twitter and listening to the game when he made contact with that ball, the sound of him connecting with that baseball was just different, I looked up with the speed of Billy Hamilton to see how far that ball went. Oh, did you know he was pitching too? It may be early in the year but the big fella had the hardest hit homerun of the year as well as the fastest pitch by a starter, IN THE SAME DAMN GAME. That’s special, and for my east coast I get up for work at Five AM ass, I hope he gets some primetime ball games. We are literally witnessing history. 

On to the team coverage, lets start with the Buccos, the (lack of) PRIDE and JOY of Pittsburgh, RAISE IT! Or don’t, the Owner sure as fuck doesn’t care. The Pirates have already placed their young star power on the Injured list, which what probably is a hamate issue, poor fella can’t catch a break, Ke’Bryan, I hope you didn’t snap your hamate, but at least you are going to get to reap the major benefit of a baseball player in this city, Great healthcare. The Pirates started the season against the Cubs, and in a promising way, they were above .500 at one point, and for the sake of Buck night, I hope its not the only time that they are above that mark. I am guessing the Pirates win between 55-60 games, at most, unfortunately, most of the division got stronger while the Pirates signed, Todd Frazier, WHO WASN’T even on the opening Day roster, after hitting a mere .640 something in the spring with multiple homeruns and doubles in spring training. As long as Bob is at the helm, this team will be more or less mediocre. Bob saw in the mid 2010s that winning doesn’t mean your team will be more profitable, and since then, why spend the money, Right Bob? I imagine somewhere that king of all jackasses is nodding in a agreement, and he doesn’t even know this blog exists. Small large side note, RIP to all you can eat seats, I guess the only thing that is going to bring fans out to the ballpark is the desperate need to get out of the house after a year of pandemic. If you want to watch some baseball in Pittsburgh, and see some teams given some support by more than just fans, go watch some NABA, DNL, or take the trip dahn to WASHPA and watch the Wildthings. 

The Yankees and Blue Jays traded blows in the first weekend of the season. In my humble, not humble opinion, those are the two heavy hitting teams in the American League. The only problem, at least for the Jays is the lack of pitching, it might and probably will bite them in the ass, but I sure hope not. The Blue Jays are a fun team to watch, lots of young talent, who got a taste of the league in the shortened pandemic season. If their bats hold up, lookout for a wild card clinching performance, and as long as they don’t run into a team with a better starting staff, make some noise in October. Honestly, I could watch that team play baseball every day, young, fast, fundamentally sound, and lots of heart. That’s a tough thing to beat. Their adversaries in Pinstripes are going to be quite dangerous this year, as long as they stay healthy. Unfortunately, the injury bug already bit Luke Voit, who is a dark horse candidate for MVP as long as he gets back quickly. With all of the talent in that lineup, they’re going to have to find someone to throw to, and LUUUUKE just might be that guy. With the signings that the Yankees made, I find it hard that they will fall off this year. Starting pitching is strong, and so is the bullpen. I look for the Yankees to be the one or Two seed with a strong Potential to get to the World Series. Gerrit looked a little rough in the opener, and eventually calmed down.... although if you asked his glove, they had a really bad day. A big apology to my Indian’s fans reading this.... I think Kluber is going to have an awesome year as well, even though that’s what fans come to expect, I still hate to see it. 

I forgot to tell y’all, the Blue Jays took the series, my god can those boys hit. They are probably going to end up playing at least the first half of the season in minor league or loaned ballparks, but I cannot wait for the electricity that is the Rogers Center in October. 

See y’all tomorrow. I got your Indians and Padres first weekend breakdown coming. 

Cheers 

PS - the baseball GIF selection on here blows harder than Bob Nutting blows up a 98 win team 

[behindthedish]

The GOAT SS: Omar Vizquel

Growing up as a kid in NE Ohio who loved baseball, the Indians were my life blood. I mean, my mother seriously recorded games on VHS so I could sit there and watch games throughout the winter. This was probably viewed as bad by MLB but whatever. As a child, I definitely needed to be able to watch baseball in the winter, or I was literally going to make my mother’s life hell. All I wanted to do was play baseball, to the point where I got this little fake baseballs made of foam that I used to throw off the walls. When I was younger I played middle infield, you know, before I became the fat kid and got put at catcher because I could hit. My favorite players were Sandy Alomar Jr., whose trade from the Indians led to me being a Yankees fan (I’ll explain someday,) his brother Roberto, and Roberto’s double play partner and GREATEST SHORTSTOP OF ALL TIME Omar Vizquel. There you go, there is my edge, Omar is the best shortstop to ever step foot on a field, and to me, it is a National treasure equivalent robbery that he is not in the Hall of Fame.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKNSHiiNdNI incase you need an intro* 

Listen, I hear all of you out there arguing Ozzie Smith, and we’ll get there, because you’re wrong. Maybe because you never… never mind, we’ll get there. The reason we’ll get there is simple, because Ozzie is the only other answer that I will even generally consider, but it is still wrong.

First I would like to touch on the arguments from my generation: Derek Jeter, Nomar, and Arod. The easiest of the three for me to Argue would be Nomar, who was absolutely amazing in his own right, quirky, and fun to watch. But due to injuries, he cannot be compared to Omar, his career just was not long enough, or stellar enough. I considered using the overshadowed argument, but after further review, if I wasn’t a kid in NE Ohio, Omar would have probably been overshadowed by the other two as well.

The second contender, and second easiest to put down, at least for me, is Arod. Who was the best shortstop of the three, but because of his respect for the game, the Yankees, and DJ, moved to third base and really didn’t spend enough time in the 6 hole to really give an argument. Was Arod a better athlete, probably, was he a better hitter, definitely, a better shortstop, maybe for a short time. Then again, I can’t really say he was better. To this day I hear people talk about “bare handing something like I was Omar Vizquel,” you don’t hear that about Arod.

Last but not least, Jeter, who is the toughest for me to argue, and also probably right there with Nomar, but for different reasons. Jeter was limited in range, limited at the plate, and didn’t win a gold glove until Arod was his teammate. What DJ has that none of the others do, is the fact that he was the face of the Yankees and the face of baseball. There are not many other players I would pick to have up to bat in a game deciding situation, Jeter was just ice fucking cold. But when you are the second best shortstop of the three ‘top’ shortstops in your generation, you’re not better than Omar, cap.

Anyone in the game today, I just can’t see being considered a better shortstop than Omar. A big reason for this is the fact that the bat means more to the position than it ever has before. If your glove is the better skill for you, you are not going to be a big league shortstop for a long time, example Jordy Mercer, who is also silky smooth. Tulo could have been up there, but injuries shut him down. There are great shortstops in the game right now, but I will leave it to two, Francisco Lindor (sorry for the pain Cleveland fans) and Javy Baez. I would say that the others are either two young, Tatis, or too reliant on the stick Story, to be in the conversation. I am even a bit biased to Story, we share a birthday, but also a little anti Javy, I live in Pittsburgh. Lindor is the total package, and truly might be the best shortstop in baseball. He is the only guy in the game today that I would just watch the game to watch him play, if there is somehow a Mets game on in Pittsburgh, I’ll watch just for him. Maybe we’ll come back to this in a couple years, but it is too early to compare the two.

DISCLAIMER *stats are going to be used going forward. All gotten from Baseball Reference*

Now, the moment that most baseball fans have probably been waiting for, Ozzie smith is lesser of a shortstop than Omar ever was. There I said it, by the time I stop writing blogs I might be baseball’s king of hot takes, and this might be my hottest, but I am steadfast in my belief here.

Here’s my biggest point, it’s a whole lot fucking easier to field a ground ball on artificial turf than it is on a grass, or even the newer age turf. Guess what friends, Ozzie played on a whole lot of fields that used old school artificial turf….. AND HE WAS STILL A WORSE FIELDER THAN OMAR. “But dude Ozzie won 13 gold gloves…. IN A ROW,” yes he did, and it’s top of the line. Ozzie gets Omar in the gold glove category, 13 to 11, and a previously mentioned duo probably got in Omar’s way of winning more (see DJ ad Arod.) Omar got Ozzie in age though, winning his final gold glove at the age of 39, compared to Ozzie’s 37. The only other category I looked at where Ozzie outshined Omar on defense, was assists. Both of these men were wizards in the field, there is no doubt. It my honest opinion, Ozzie is thought as better to Omar simply because he shined more, he was on better teams, was more of a showman, and outshined the other shortstops of his time.

Both of these dudes where known for their gloves, although both were switch hitters, which is such an advantage as a player. Ozzie played less time than Omar, so the batting stats probably aren’t as important, but I am going to list them anyway. Ozzie had less strikeouts and more stolen bases than Omar, he was caught fewer times, and he was on base .01% more of the time than Omar, which is pretty negligible. Doubles, triples, homeruns, RBI, total bases, the often ignored sacrifice, and hits are all places where Omar takes the cake. Now, Omar played in five more seasons than Ozzie, but of his final five seasons, he only played more than 65 games twice. So I am going to say that the more season’s argument is pretty null. To prove this point, in those final 5 seasons Omar had 3 homeruns, 6 triples, 40 doubles, and 279 hits, all of which would still outrank Ozzie. So, take a hike on your argument there.

Was Ozzie Fantastic, yup sure was. Was Ozzie one of the best ever, yup sure was. Was Ozzie better than Omar, no, he sure wasn’t. Ozzie is the iconic Shortstop in most people’s minds, and a first ballot hall of famer. There’s no way you can tell me that Omar shouldn’t be in there with him. Let’s not get started on the hypocrisy and idiocy of the hall of fame voters, because this is just one of the MANY misses that they’ve had, and will continue to have.

If you have ten minutes, enjoy the highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhfDLyKmzHs

[behindthedish]

RIP Hammerin Hank

I would be so off base as a make believe hope to be baseball blogger if I weren’t to drop a little blog on Hank Aaron.

My last blog here could probably be labeled as blatant disrespect to whom many consider The homerun King. I am just going to be completely honest and tell you that I am not one of those people, Hank is number two, behind Barry Lamar Bonds. That’s life man, I didn’t see Hank Aaron play, I saw Barry play, and as I stated previously, I don’t care whether or not he was juicing. That was his era.

To be honest with all of you though, I think Hank was more important to baseball than Barry was. Both absolutely changed the face of the game, in different ways. Barry put the death nail in small ball, he had help though, and Hank basically gave a big ol’ FU to all of the people that thought baseball was a “white man’s” game, fuck those people by the way. Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s homerun record, and did it all while getting death threats because his skin was the wrong color. Aaron grew up in the south, played ball in the south, and was an activist until his last days. A true Icon, both on and off the field.

Today I learned more about Hank Aaron than I have at any point in my life. The records that this man holds, most extra base hits, most RBI, and most consecutive hundred run seasons, just to name a few stand out. In the New York post Article on his death, I read an astounding stat, if he were to never hit a homerun in his career, Hank Aaron would have still had 3k hits. That’s an absolutely unbelievable stat line.

An Argument that I have heard was that Hank Aaron was the best to ever play the game, after learning what I have today, I would have to say there is a very likely possibility that that is true.

Rest in Peace to a true Legend, and a man who was just as, if not more important off the field as he was on it.

[behindthedish]

Barry LAMAR Bonds

A lot of y’all aren’t going to like this. Barry should be in the Hall of Fame. I’m not wrong, and I’m not sorry. 

You see, I was a lucky kid, I had a TV in my bedroom. If I wasn’t watching ‘Eight Men Out,’ I was probably watching something baseball oriented. Baseball tonight, after Sunday night baseball, bet your bucket I was watching the highlights. I remember when I was a kid, sitting there watching Barry launch the equivalent of ICBMs into the bay in San Francisco. It was some of the most amazing baseball I had ever seen, and not to mention the absolute electricty that surrounded every at bat. Monday morning... any morning, before school, SC. Bonds was hitting baseballs into international waters in SF, and I loved it. I wasn’t the only one though, the baseball world loved it too. After the homerun battle of Sammy and Big Mac it was obvious that people wanted to see homeruns, chick’s dig the long ball as they say. So did some kid in Youngstown Ohio who was either playing videogames, or watching baseball.

Most blogs about the Hall of Fame are here to argue stats, and I thought about taking that route, but the fact of the matter is, the stats speak for themselves, Barry was one of the best hitters in history, and everyone was afraid of his bat. I mean WHO GETS INTENTIONALLY WALKED WITH THE BASES LOADED? Fucking Barry Bonds, that’s who. I am going to speak about the real issue Barry isn’t in the Hall, because it was the steroid era, and Barry was pretty much the poster child.  

So, that’s it, best hitter of all time, “fuck him” because he may have used steroids. Alright, I get it, but you’re an idiot. We have players from other eras who admit they used whatever they could to get a competitive advantage. Shit, I live in Pittsburgh, and one of the most prevalent baseball stories around here is that Doc Ellis through a no hitter well he was “HIGH AS A GEORGIA PINE,” (this video is pure greatness, enjoy https://vimeo.com/18603661.) Like y’all, Doc flat out said that Greenies were rampant in baseball, for those of you who don’t know what greenies are, think Adderall but like, more wild and less controlled. That is just one of the many instances out there where dudes are like, “fuck yea buddy, I wanted to win.” 

That isn’t a standalone era either. There are tactics for pitchers that have been made illegal because they gave a competitive advantage, think of all the pitchers from the dead ball era that are in the hall, guess what friend they were cheaters. Should we just forget that Cincinnati won the 1919 World Series because some ballplayers for Chicago were on the take, no we shouldn’t, that was common around the 1910s. You know what was common from the late 1980s until shit, now? Steroids. Look at the sweet swinging Robbie Cano, caught again. 

Barry played in an era where steroids were absolutely rampant in baseball. Many players have went out and said that more people were on steroids than weren’t on steroids. Just like in the 60s and 70s more people were on greenies than weren’t. Barry was head and shoulders the best hitter of that generation. Maybe he wasn’t an outstanding fielder in his later years, but he was still one of the best hitters. He brought more eyes onto the sport than anyone else during that time. Y’all may not know me, but it takes a lot for me to say that someone was more important to baseball at this time than Derek Jeter. That person was Barry. 

Barry was a hall of famer before he went to San Francisco. One thing that I have in Pittsburgh is a lot of baseball memories, because well, the Pirates organization has become a joke, plain and simple. I hear the stories of how good Barry was all of the time, and even better, the video is out there to support it. Barry was a baseball God, shoot, for me, he is a baseball God. Find me someone on his level, I’ll wait. Dude had it all. As I believe Mark Madden Said “Barry Bonds would have struck out Sid Bream, would have came out of the bullpen in 92 and won the game” I am probably butchering that, but I bet he at least could have. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IinBKKmJZtw - Absolutely ICON stuff right here. 

Barry Bonds was the best player of a tainted generation. Whether he did steroids or not, that is beside the point. He was the best player, and the Hall of fame is for the best player, regardless of what was going on during his time. People will sit there and call on this nobility clause, but that is just an excuse. Steroids don’t help you hit a baseball. If you don’t believe that, go down to your local gym and find the juiciest dude you can, take him out there and see if he its 3 of 10 baseball over 350ft. If steroids were what made Barry hit, then why are teams clamoring to have him around, why did Christian Yelich take tips from Barry? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgj66qwaw9w) The fact of the matter is, everyone is focused on the situation surrounding Barry, and not the fact that He was the best player of a generation that may have saved baseball. In thirty years, the same people that argue against Barry being in the hall, are going to be the same people arguing that everyone had to play with Juiced baseballs. 

You can’t pick and choose which baseball scandal gets a pass and which doesn’t, its a sport that is as dysfunctional as America itself. People did steroids, people did greenies, and people threw spitballs, and yet people associated with each scandal are in the Hall of Fame. Barry should be too.