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MLB: Pro Athletes Are Human? Who Knew?

By Ryan Grosman Laced June 29, 2017

“I just feel a little bit anxious, a little bit weird. I’m just not myself right now.” ~Roberto Osuna

Pro athletes are human beings.

As fans, I think we lose sight of this fact. And I’m just as guilty as anyone in seeing these people as more than human.

I mean, it’s hard not to, right?

They continually thrive in high-pressure situations. They succeed when success seems impossible. They repeatedly stare down the barrel of a gun and come out on top. They do what we can only dream of doing and they do it seemingly without breaking a sweat.

They appear larger than life – super human, even. But they are still human.

We forget that they have feelings and emotions just like the rest of us. That they have ups and downs just like the rest of us. And that they can feel lost just like the rest of us.

Case in point, Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna.

A widely successful, lights out closer with confidence beyond his years on the mound is currently dealing with anxiety issues off of it.

Having coped with my own issues, I can relate to his plight. That’s not to say I know what he’s personally going through. It’s different for everyone.

But what I do know is that it’s very, very scary.

Break your arm and they give you a cast. Recovery time: 2-3 months. Suffer from anxiety or depression and there’s no set remedy or timetable.

“I wish I knew how to get out of this”

I’m pretty sure I’ve said these exact words more than once. I have to say, it was a bit strange hearing them from someone of Osuna’s stature. But a welcome strange.

You can count on one tiny cartoon hand the number of times a pro athlete has spoken up about their mental state. It’s extremely rare and few and far between. But Osuna’s not alone.

MLB MVP and Canadian born Joey Votto immediately comes to mind.

Back in 2008, his father passed away. The following May, Votto went on the DL and no one seemed to know why.

Turns out he was dealing with depression and panic attacks stemming from his father’s death. All his feeling and thoughts came to a boil.

I’ve never been more impressed by a pro athlete in my life. And it had zero to do with what he did on the field.

Joey Votto, a tough as nails player who not only beat the odds to make it to the majors, but also turned himself into one of the best and most feared hitters in the league, fully opened up about his mental health issues.

When the hell does that ever happen?

The answer is, it doesn’t. I certainly can’t recall an athlete being so honest and frank about something affecting him mentally. On that day, my respect for Votto quintupled.

Helping others cope

Pro athletes are hard to relate to. Their speed. Their power. Their endurance. Their off the charts athletic ability. It’s far beyond anything we can imagine ourselves being able to do.

This goes back to seeing athletes as super human. The fact that they make more money in one day than a lot of us do in an entire year doesn’t help either.

But when Votto talked openly about his issues, I felt like I could relate to him. A pro athlete never seemed more human.

At the same time, it gave me some encouragement knowing an MLB phenom was dealing with similar issues. As I’m sure it helped others – both athletes and fans.

Osuna’s mega maturity

Who knows exactly what Osuna’s dealing with. Too much success too fast. Missing his family in Mexico. Relationship issues. It could be any number of things or a combination of all of these things.

It’s also a very long season. 162 games in 6 months, not including playoffs. No other sport has this kind of grueling schedule. It’s a grind and it takes a toll physically and mentally.

How can it not?

But Osuna has shown a level of maturity like very few other young athletes have. It’s been apparent from day one.

You have to have a certain level of maturity to do what he’s done in his 22 years on this planet. Dealing with tough times growing up in Mexico. Playing in a Mexican league at age 16. Earning the Jays’ closer job at 20. Closing out pressure cooker playoff games the last 2 seasons.

You also have to be sporting a huge pair of Rawlings baseballs to do what he’s been doing.

Sure he’s had some ups and downs over his young career. What good player hasn’t? But mostly he’s been dominant. And recently at 22 years and 134 days old, he became the youngest pitcher in MLB history to record 75 saves.

But he’s not just one of the best young closers in the game. He’s one of the best closers period.

So, with his uber maturity and supreme confidence, in a way, it’s not that surprising that he was willing to share what he’s going through.

A reluctance to speak

Both Votto and Osuna deserve applause for speaking so openly about what they’re going through.

I mean, neither one had to tell us a darn thing. In Osuna’s case, the Jays could’ve made something up.

Sid Seixeiro on Tim & Sid made a really good point. Sometimes we see players scratched from lineups due to shoulder soreness. Neck stiffness. Flu-like symptoms. Hockey’s very famous “lower body injury.”

Maybe these players are actually suffering from these ailments. But maybe sometimes it’s something else entirely.

One can only assume athletes are hesitant to discuss their mental health issues in fear of the ridicule they’d receive – from fans, media and, most importantly, their peers. That they’d be seen as not being able to tough it out. As less of a man. As not having any balls.

Well, I can assure you that Osuna’s balls are still firmly intact…I mean, as far as I know.

Perhaps they have a fear of appearing flawed in some way. As being a human person with human problems.

So again, I applaud Osuna for speaking up.

It might open the door for other players to talk more openly about their issues. Then again, it might not.

Here’s hoping it does.

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Blue Jays: Don’t You Forget About Small Ball

By Ryan Grosman Laced June 4, 2017 It’s no secret that the John Gibbons-lead Blue Jays rely on power and hitting fastballs more than James Bond relies on bad guys with shitty accuracy. Just ask the Indians. They’re an all or nothing team. And when the power is absent, like it was in April, the Jays find themselves up shit creek without toilet paper. But after the horrendous train wreck that was April, the Blue Jays have managed to turn their fortunes around in May, even with all-stars like Donaldson, Tulo and Martin on the shelf for long stretches. In their absence, the remaining stars, Bautista and Morales, stepped up massively. But perhaps more importantly, so too did the non-stars. Pillar, Carrera, Travis, Goins, Smoak and Barney don’t have a single all-star appearance between them, yet they helped lift the Jays to one of their best months in years. And, at least for the time being, they helped make the Jays relevant again. How did they do it? Through a little thing called small ball. Sure, the long bomb is a big reason for their newfound success. But it isn’t the only reason. That’s because a miraculous thing happened. Faced with a lineup full of Carreras and Pillars, Gibbons adjusted his approach – employing small ball baseball for the first time since…well, ever. Suddenly they were doing actual baseball things like stealing, bunting and hit and running. I even witnessed a double steal with men on first and third. Insert shocked emoji face here. You have to wonder if someone up top talked to Gibby about changing his game plan. “Hey, dude. We’re like 30 games below .500. All your mashers are either hurt or slumping. Maybe try something new. Just a suggestion.” But now that the big boys are back and hitting fifth deck dingers, the Jays are returning to their old ways – standing around, waiting for a big blast to save the day. Just look at the Yankee series they just finished. Yes, they won 2 out of 4 vs. the division leader. But they did so without a single hit with runners in scoring position. That’s actually pretty hard to do. The majority of their runs came on bombs with a tiny sprinkle of sac flies. That kind of offence is just not sustainable. They may have their hitting jocks on right now. But whether it’s 2 months, 2 weeks or 2 days from now, you know they’ll go through another huge power outage. And then what? Well, April happens again. That’s what. I’m not saying they should go full on small ball. That would be crazy, especially in the AL East. I’m also not saying that homers aren’t crucial to their success. Because they most definitely are. All I’m saying is to have sustained success in this league, and in the playoffs, a healthy combo of the two is needed. Here’s how the Jays turned their season around and how they should continue to play. We have contact You can only have so many swing and miss guys in your lineup. Last year and to start this season, the Jays had plenty. Somewhere Melvin Upton Jr. is striking out as we speak. Punch outs give you absolutely nothing. And when they happen with runners on, they can destroy innings. Guys like Carrera, Goins, Barney, Travis and Smoak have been making a ton of contact. They may not always get hits, but at least they put the ball in play. More balls in play, puts more pressure on the other team’s defence and will lead to more guys getting on base. So, too, does the hit and run, which was another surprising addition to Gibby’s repertoire during May. Making things happen Nothing plagued the team last year and the start of this year more than LOBs. Getting men on is one thing. But you have to get them over and get them in. I believe this is called “manufacturing runs.” It’s been so long since I’ve seen it, I kind of forgot what it looks like. In May, instead of waiting for the big blast (or much more likely, an inning ending double play), they Jays were starting runners and moving guys over with sac bunts and groundouts. These are called productive outs. Even more shocking – the Jays were also scoring on sac flies and the occasional safety squeeze. Speed kills Centre fielder Jarrod Dyson once said, “Speed don’t slump.” This is entirely true. The only way speed do slump is if you don’t use it. Pillar, Carrera and Goins can move their assess. And with speed, you can do a lot more things to win. During the early part of May, to my and probably everyone’s total surprise, there were a shit ton of steals and hit and runs – things you don’t ever see from the Gibby-lead Blue Jays. Needless to say, it payed off big time. Timely taters You can get on base. You can move guys over. You can thieve bags. You can even manufacture some runs. But, especially in the power heavy AL East, you still need to hit some timely round trippers. Bautista, Morales, Pillar, Travis, Smoak and even Go-Go Ryan Goins have been smashing homers at precisely the right times. And the infusion of Tulo and Donaldson back into the lineup has made this an even bigger strength. The return of the kings Now that Gibby has all his bashers back, they’re already going back to their usual all or nothing ways. But just because your regulars have returned, it doesn’t mean you should just abandon small ball like a drunk, out of control prom date. Especially since it got you back in the race. What’s that expression? Those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to get shut down by half decent pitching. If Gibby can't find a way to marry small ball and long ball, the Jays brass need to find someone who can.

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NBA Playoffs: Pop Making the Unpopular Decisions

By Ryan Grosman Laced May 20, 2017 Let me just set the scene for a second. So it’s game 3 of the Western Conference Finals versus the Golden State Warriors. You’re playing on your home court in front of your loyal, die-hard fans. It’s a nationally televised ESPN game – prime time Saturday night. In the previous game, you had your ass not just handed to you, but shoved down your throat. It was beyond embarrassing, but totally understandable given you were facing an all-star team without your MVP candidate. You’re the head coach. Do you play your ailing all-star to offer up somewhat of a challenge and maybe, just maybe, steal a game? Or do you rest him to save him from possible further injury and risk another beat down? What do you do? This is the decision Spurs head coach, Greg Popovich, was faced with today. Where many other coaches in his spot would’ve played Kawhi Leonard, Pop has decided not to. Making tough decisions is what Pop does best. Well, it’s one of the million things Pop does best. And like 100% of his decisions, it is the correct one. I'm, of course, not with the team. I don’t know the extent of Leonard’s ankle injury. But I’d bet the gold-plated farm that Leonard could play if he needed to. But Pop knows he's the present and the future of this franchise. So why risk further injury? They're down 2-0 to a goliath of a basketball team. What's the point? Pop has taken a step back and looked at this decision from a loss-gain perspective. What can be lost or gained by playing Leonard in game 3. Pop doesn’t concern himself with optics or what the fans think. Hell, he doesn’t even give an elephant’s ass what the NBA thinks. His decisions are often very unpopular. But he always does what’s right for his team – now and for the future. That’s because all his decisions are made with an eye on the prize – the prize being the Larry O’Brien trophy. Leonard and his gargantuan hands are the key to that prize. Just not this year.   I mean, it’s no fluke that Pop’s lead the Spurs to 20 straight NBA playoffs and 5 championships, while racking up 3 Coach of the Year honours. You don’t have that kind of sustained success by accident. It’s because he’s the best. And he continues to prove it with each and every decision.

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Put Them in the Hall Already, You Hypocrites

By Ryan Grosman Laced May 12, 2017 Steroid talk has cropped up a few times this year as guys like Eric Thames and Aaron Judge have mashed the ball to bits. But with extensive testing now in place, the juice discussions have all but dried up. Well…at least until Hall of Fame voting rolls around. The questions that always come up are, should suspected juicers like Bonds get in? Should McGwire? Sosa? Roger Clemens? The answers are yes, yes, yes and, even though he’s a giant jerk, yes. They should all get in. They should all already be in. Why? Well, I’ll tell you why. It’s a giant guessing game Listen, as a huge baseball fan, I get the fact that drugs ruin the integrity of the game. And it sucks that players weren’t all performing on a level playing field. But during the steroid era, how do we know who was juicing and who wasn’t? Yes, okay. There’s very little doubt that Bonds, McGuire and Sosa juiced. But they were also batting against juiced up pitchers. And yes, Clemens likely hit the roids hard. But then again, he was facing beasts like McGuire. So maybe there was more of a level playing field than we thought. Steroids saved baseball Sad to say. But it’s true. After the 1994 strike, baseball was in shambles. Cal Ripken’s iron man chase in ’95 brought fans back to the game, but it didn’t totally save baseball. The homerun race in ’98 did. That unforgettable season saw 2 hulking sluggers, McGuire and Sosa, go toe-to-toe to out-blast Roger Maris – with Big Mac ultimately reaching the 62 homer milestone first. There’s no question that these guys saved baseball. And we all cheered and watched in awe as ball after ball cleared fences, heads and stadiums. It was 19 years ago, so my memory might be a tad foggy. But I don’t recall fans, writers or MLB vilifying these guys back then. Why? Fans were entertained, writers always had something to write about, asses were in seats and eyeballs were glued to TV sets. Everyone was happy and excited. That’s why I’m absolutely sickened by the hypocrisy and moral high ground that fans, Hall voters and league officials are currently taking. Were you not entertained? I also think everyone forgets why they watch baseball in the first place. It's very simple—people watch to be entertained. Yes, baseball is a form of entertainment. Find me one fan who wasn’t enthralled by Clemens punching out 20 batters. Or McGuire and Bonds launching 500-foot dingers. Trust me, it’s not just chicks who dig the long ball. Sorry. Did you prefer watching Jamie Moyer lob in 78 mph fastballs? Or the Tony Fernandezes and Omar Vizquels of the world beating out infield singles? No. You wanted to see, and still want to see, 98 on the radar gun. You want to see hitters knock the seams off the ball. You want Big Mac, not those things you get at White Castle. You want Pudge Rodriguez, not Puny Rodriguez…which leads me to my next point. A suspected juicer’s already in The whole argument against electing suspected steroid users is moot. Why? Because one is already in the Hall of Fame. Ivan Rodriguez was recently elected to the Hall on his first ballot. You can’t tell me he didn’t stick a needle or 200 in his ass. Or was it just coincidence that once MLB started testing, he slimmed down to the point where he was practically unrecognizable? Let’s just say, for the last few years of his career, it felt really odd still calling him Pudge. C’mon. Just think about it. Dude squatted behind the plate every day for 12 seasons in the sweltering Texas heat while still pounding the ball every chance he got. I’m not trying to take anything away from Pudge. He belongs in the Hall 100%. I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy of letting him in without question, but not the others. MLB’s convenient blind eye And what's even more hypocritical is MLB and their steroid witch hunt. In the past 10 years or so, the league has formed commissions and penned studies that have chased down and called out these steroid users. But perhaps MLB should take a long look in the mirror. And not just a washroom mirror. I mean one of those full length bad boys. You’re telling me they had no clue what was going on? Please. But they kept quiet because they had gigantic dollar signs in their eyes. So maybe leave the Sosas and McGuires alone. They made you a shit ton of money for a long time. And you just looked the other way. So where do we draw the line? It’s actually pretty easy. Once testing was fully in place and the rules were the same for everyone, anyone who got caught after that should not be in the Hall of Fame. This applies most notably to guys like Manny Ramirez – one of the greatest and most feared hitters in the history of baseball. But he continued to take banned substances long after testing was established. Or perhaps he was just trying to get pregnant. I mean, why else would one take female fertility drugs? Let’s wrap it up So am I missing something here? Is it just me? Why are fans, writers and MLB being so hypocritical? It makes me sick that these players are being dragged through the mud now after being our heroes not too long ago. Again, I'm not condoning the use of steroids. Not at all. I'm just saying the steroid era happened. And we all couldn't get enough of it. So why is everyone so up in arms about it now?

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A Letter to the Worst Coach in the NBA

By Ryan Grosman Laced May 3, 2017 Dear Dwane. Can I call you Dwane? There are a lot of other names I'd love to call you. Stubborn comes to mind. So do names that would make Louis C.K. blush. I'll just stick with Dwane. I hope this reaches you before game 2 vs. the Cavs. Because I have some much-needed advice for you. Now I can't profess to know as much about basketball as you do. Not even close. I've watched the NBA since the early 90s. And I’ve followed the Raptors since that fateful day on November 3, 1995. So I've seen some shit. But you’ve played...well you played college ball. You have a ring coaching with Dallas. And you've been coaching longer than I've been sucking air. However, it's stupid shit like continuing to start JV, among a zillion other things, that makes me think you don't know all that much. Like coaching 101 stuff. If you didn’t get it by now, I ran out of patience with you long ago. If it was up to me, your head would’ve rolled long before losing game 7 to the Nets after being up 3-2. The series shouldn’t even have been close. Don’t get me started on that Washington series. You’re like a cockroach. Sorry, let me explain. They say cockroaches can survive anything – even a nuclear holocaust. Somehow you just keep on surviving. How you’re the 4th most tenured coach in this league is beyond me. You say you want your players to play well at 7pm, not 7:15. Well then maybe start the right fucking players at 7 instead of subbing them in at 7:15 when you're already down by 15. Defence is going to win you this series. Speaking of defence, how the fuck was every Pacers-Cavs game close when the Pacers don't have our defence? Ujiri has gifted you some of the best defenders in the league – Ibaka, Tucker, 2Pat. Yet you somehow get blown to shit in game 1. It's like you didn't have 3 whole days to prepare. What was your strategy? Plan of attack? Did you even have one? Maybe I should define “plan” for you since you clearly don’t know what it means. Now, I’m well aware it's an almost impossible task you’ve been given. As long as James is breathing, this Cavs team ain’t losing. But you don't have to get embarrassed, and yes “dominated,” like you did in game 1 this year and 4 out of 6 games last year. And don't expect the Cavs to gift you 2 games at home again this year. They now know the value of rest. So, if you actually want to make this a close series – because all signs tell me you don’t – this is how you should play the Cavs: 1.     No JV. Not one more second. Pretend he's dead. His ass is stapled to the bench for the rest of the series. He's too slow and too dumb for this series. And he's not out-working Thompson. No way. Nor can he stop him. He doesn't provide any help defence. Actually, because he's so fucking awful, his teammates are the ones bailing him out, leaving their guy wide open for 3. 2.     You start Powell. He's one of your best 2-way players. He's another ball handler who can actually handle the ball (unlike DeRozan). He’s a slasher. He can get to the line. He can hit 3s. He can cause problems for James on offense and defence. And he’s saved your ass time and time again. 3.     You start Tucker. Not Carroll. Tucker. Defence wins playoff games. I don't care that Carroll was the big free agent signing 2 years ago. That’s Ujiri’s problem, not yours. He's not cutting it on offense or defence. Tucker is your James stopper. 4.     Play your young guys, Poeltl and Wright. Yes, I know. They're not vets, so that means they can't help you, right? Wrong. They give you energy and much-needed athleticism. Wright offers ball movement, as well as length and defence, which leads to steals. Steals lead to fast breaks. Fast breaks lead to baskets. Sorry, kind of went all Yoda there, but you get the point. And Poeltl has already surpassed your supposed experienced vet, JV, in usefulness. He can move his feet, get rebounds and score in the paint – all without pump-faking 10 times. He can guard stretch bigs like Love and Frye. Think what Kidd did with his rookies. If it were up to you, Brogdon and Maker would’ve never seen the floor. Kidd doesn’t care if you’ve played 1 year or 20. If you were drafted 5th or 46th. If you can help the team win, you’re in. 5.     Make James a jump shooter. Not an easy task, I know. Guard him tough, but don't double him. Doubling him means there’s a 3-point sniper open somewhere. Easier said than done because Cleveland will set screens to get shooters open. And, well, he’s James. Raps will have to switch on screens. I don't care who has to guard these 3-point shooters. Just cover them. It’s when James gets others involved that he's most dangerous. 6.     Forget the offensive rebounds. You're not winning that battle. Just concede them. What you don't want to concede is a fast break the other way. That's playing right into the Cavs’ hands. Send one guy for the rebound and the other 4 back on defence. Like as soon as the shot is released. No watching. No trying to get position your players can't get anyway. Just run back. Trust me. You’ll thank me later. 7.     Use your timeouts wisely. As soon as you smell any sort of Cavs momentum, call a timeout. History tells me you wait too long. Actually, waiting too long is a theme of yours. Don’t wait too long. 8.     Finally, MOVE THE F’N BALL. No more hero ball. I saw you do it in game 5 vs. Bucks. It can be done. It's how you avoid traps and a stagnant offense. Every time your team sees any sort of pressure, it’s hero ball. It’s like the worse default setting in the world. If a player doesn’t want to move the ball, find one who will. I don't care if their initials are DD or how many all-star appearances they have. It doesn't mean shit when you’re down 30 points. It's about winning, not making your players happy. Just ask Pop. You know what, never mind. You don't deserve to be in the same area code (or zip code) as him. Like I said before, I don’t know as much as you. I don’t have the experience. I’m not with this team on a daily basis. And I don’t have the insights or access to the numbers you do. I'm just using my eyes and my brain to give you this much-needed advice. I hope you listen. Or you can continue to get embarrassed. It’s up to you. Sincerely, Ryan Grosman