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At the Intersection of Sports and Culture

Photo Credit for Header: Alex Foucre-Stimes

The San Francisco Giants Rotation Solves Serious Problems

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Last night during San Francisco’s NLDS clinching victory over the Washington Nationals Giants veteran Tim Hudson gave an interview where amongst other things he described the corner of the locker room he shares with fellow pitchers and men of the South Jake Peavy and Madison Bumgarner as being “pretty country”. Using as many readily available stereotypes as possible we were able to obtain a transcript of a recent conversation between the NLCS bound San Francisco Giants rotation.

Peavy: Way to make that curveball work for you the other night against the Nationals.

Hudson: Thanks, man. Same to you with that splitter. Pretty nasty stuff.

Bumgarner: So what do you fellas want to listen to: Jason Aldean or Blake Shelton?

Peavy: You got any Kenny Chesney on that there iPod?

Hudson: How about something a little different like Creedence Clearwater Revival?

Bumgarner: Who?

Hudson: Miranda Lambert’s good.

Peavy: Hey, you think the Cardinals will put up more of a fight than Washington?

Hudson: I would assume so. St. Louis has been there before just like us.

Bumgarner: Yeah, but what’s up with their fans man? Why so much anger directed at black folks?

Hudson: That is pretty unsettling what transpired outside Busch Stadium the other day.

Bumgarner: And yet we’re still the ones labeled as ignorant, why is that?

Hudson: Probably has something to do with history, you know like the Civil War.

Peavy: Yeah but I’ve played in cities like Boston and those people can be just as intolerant as folks down South.

Hudson: So you’re saying racism is a national issue?

Bumgarner: Like guns and tax reform?

Peavy: Alls I’m saying is that the vast majority of people, most of them from the North and Midwest, think that race is only an issue in the South when in reality the majority of ‘merica is still trying to overcome deep socio-economic and cultural issues that keep communities divided across the country.

Bumgarner: Have you guys seen my camouflage under shirt?

Hudson: Well, it’s not like we can do anything about it.

Peavy: But see that mentality perpetuates the problem.

Bumgarner: Seriously, where’s my camo?

Hudson: What do you mean exactly?

Peavy: For instance, what the one thing that all people in St. Louis black and white can agree on?

Bumgarner: Found it. Right next to my cowboy boots.

Hudson: I don’t know, the Cardinals?

Peavy: Exactly.

Hudson: What’s the point?

Bumgarner: Do you guys want to see me shotgun 5 beers at once?

Hudson: Not right now Madison.

Peavy: The point is, if Cardinals players were to take more of a public stand against those fans preaching hate outside the stadium and for what went down in Ferguson a few months back things might change for the better.

Bumgarner: Did you know Matt Holliday had a scholarship to play football at Oklahoma State?

Hudson: Isn’t that kind of a major oversimplification.

Peavy: It is. There are a lot more isssues at play in St. Louis and urban areas across the country than can be solved by a group of baseball players. Things like violence, crumbling of public education, etc… But their voices could help galvanize the community in a common cause.

Hudson: That’s a lot of pressure being heaped on those fellas.

Peavy: It is, but with fame comes responsibility and influence. Just look at what a differences athletes have made in the past. Jackie Robinson. Muhammad Ali.

Hudson: Yeah but those guys weren’t making as much money as players today and there’s just too much on the line sometimes to stick your neck out for a cause.

Peavy: True, but our ridiculous contract today are because 40 years ago a guy like Curt Flood was willing to challenge a system which perpetuated and inequality .

Bumgarner: Justice.

Peavy: That’s right. So athletes can make a difference when it comes to improving society.

Hudson: Maybe the three of us should organize something when we travel to St. Louis this weekend for the opening of the NLCS?

Bumgarner: Like a gun buyback program with the Ferguson Police Department?

Hudson: Something like that.

Bumgarner: Cool, cause in my home state of Texas they got these ginormous wildlife preserves you can hunt big game on the verge of extinction.

Peavy: Did you guys see that Bama game last weekend?

Hudson: Tough one. How about my Auburn Tigers?

Bumgarner: War Eagle!

Peavy: Roll Tide!

Baltimore And Kansas City Share A Classic Baseball Embrace

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If at the the beginning of the 2014 MLB season you had the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS then you’re lying. Either that or you should let it all ride in Vegas because you might be on the verge of a lucrative lucky streak.

We’d be more inclined to believe you if this were the 1980s and parachute pants ruled over skinny jeans. Back then the American League was aligned differently, the gap between markets large and small much less defined. Long are the days of Whitey Herzog and Earl Weaver. Believe it or not, this is the first time since 1997 that the ALCS hasn’t featured one of four teams: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers or Los Angeles Angels. Ironically, ’97 was the last time Baltimore played in the ALCS while Kansas City hasn’t made it this far since 1985.

The Orioles and Royals have many similarities and differences. Baltimore hits home runs while Kansas City steals bases. Both have lock down bullpens, young lineups, solid starting pitching and play above average defense. Each team is built to win now. Next season the Orioles may be without Nelson Cruz, Nick Markakis and JJ Hardy while the Royals will in all likelihood lose staff ace James Shields. Buck Showalter traditionally manages laps around Ned Yost but the Royals have belief especially since their Wild Card comeback against the Oakland A’s.

Home field advantage is a real, palpable thing especially for crowds unaccustomed to October baseball. You won’t find many fans in either Camden Yards or Kauffman Stadium who have been spoiled by success. BBQ and crab cakes aren’t the only reason to root root for the home team and for two cities where the NFL has been king, this ALCS will be a refreshing reminder of the once proud yet too often overlooked tradition of both franchises.

Non partisan baseball fans will enjoy watching Baltimore/Kansas City because of the nostalgia while fringe fans will appreciate the novelty of this once in a generation ALCS. If not, there’s always football.

Royal Logic

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The Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland A’s in spite of manager Ned Yost. This seems to be the prevailing logic the morning after a wild American League Wild Card game that went to extra innings and took 5 hours to complete. Yost is being ridiculed for a couple of curious choices most notably his decision in the top of the 6th to replace starting pitcher James Shields with rookie Yordano Ventura. With two on and nobody out, Ventura fell behind the first batter he faced Brandon Moss 2-0 before serving up a belt high fastball which Moss deposited over the center field fence for his second home run of the game putting the A’s up 5-3. Ventura would exit after recording just a single out and the A’s would tack on 2 more runs in the inning.

Kansas City would comeback to even in the score in the 9th, thanks to some aggressive base running (a hallmark of this Royals team), before winning in dramatic fashion in the 12th. However, the biggest questions is why Yost, and other baseball managers, manage games differently in the playoffs compared to the regular season?

The best way to explain Yost’s decision to replace Ventura with Shields is pressure. The pressure of a win or stay home Wild Card game is enormous especially for a franchise that hadn’t been to the postseason in 28 years. In the fervor of the moment Yost must have felt that Ventura was his best bridge between starter Shields and late game studs Herrera-Davis-Holland. But Ventura is a rookie who had been a starting pitcher for 30 of his 31 appearances in the regular season. As Ron Darling said on the telecast, expecting a pitcher to perform in an unfamiliar role, especially in the postseason, is asking a lot of that player, especially a rookie. If last night were a regular season game then Shields would have pitched to Moss before turning the game over to the pen in the 7th. So why didn’t Yost stick with the plan that had led to so much success during the regular season?

Maybe Shields was tired and facing the middle of the A’s lineup for the third time in the game was asking too much? Maybe Yost didn’t want to stretch out the H-D-H three headed monster that performs so well in part because they all have clearly defined roles?

There are many reasons why Yost could have managed last night’s Wild Card game the way he did but the pressure of the postseason is the one that makes the most sense.

Derek Jeter Must Retire Now

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Derek Jeter must retire now. Effective immediately. Before these final four home games against the Baltimore Orioles. His season and career over. For good. No more farewell tour. No more parting gifts. No more self indulgent sports drink commercials. No more out of character photo essays in local magazines. That’s it. Time for everyone to move on. Jeter. The Yankees. And the fans. Because at this rate, if he plays out the final week of the season then someone is going to get hurt. Like seriously. We’re talking broken limbs, fractured skulls, bruised egos you name it. And it it can all be avoided if manager Joe Girardi does what’s right, what’s required, and keeps his legendary shortstop out of the lineup.

The proof that something seriously wrong could and will happen if the situation is not resolved immediately is in the posh Yankee Stadium stands and bleachers where several incidents have already occurred demonstrating the severity of the threat. Fans, ushers and vendors are in jeopardy of a catastrophic injury every time Derek Jeter comes to the plate. Since it was announced way back in spring training that this would be Jeter’s final season in pinstripes, people have been lining up to grab a slice of history and in recent weeks the most prized piece of memorabilia has not been an autograph or picture but a foul ball off the bat of the Yankee captain.

Innocent bystanders have turned to cautionary tales as this battle for super fandom has been raging for some time now. Two weeks ago when the Yankees hosted the Kansas City Royals a man nearly lost both life and limb in pursuit of a Derek Jeter foul ball. The incident occurred during Jeter’s 5th inning at bat when on a 0-0 count he fouled a fastball straight back over the screen towards the broadcast booths. The ball ricocheted off the facade of the Delta Sky Suites directly into the outstretched hands of a husband and wife who were visiting Yankee Stadium with their two kids for the first time this season. As the happily married couple secured the baseball, their beautiful children rejoicing at their good fortune, another man, perhaps 45, with headphones covering his ears, body slammed the husband to the ground and pried the baseball from the wife’s hand. Boos rang through out the section as this overzealous man-child retreated to his seat with his new prize tucked safely in a fanny pack while the family of four was reduced to tears as they gently bandaged the husband’s bloody knee with leftover napkins from a Lobel’s roast beef sandwich. The Yankees did their best to cover up the ugly affair by offering the family the alleged baseball Derek Jeter warmed up with before the game, which was a nice gesture yet will not make up for the pain and suffering associated with coming this close to history only to have that memory dashed like the 2014 Yankees playoff chances.

And just think, all of this could have been avoided if Joe Girardi and the Yankees front office did what was right and kept their captain on the bench. Baseball writers and some disgruntled fans have been calling for Jeter to play less due to on field performance which is not enough of a reason especially when the roster was so clearly overmatched and outclassed by more formidable teams like the Baltimore Orioles. No the only reason why Derek Jeter’s farewell tour and illustrious career must end now is because the longer he plays the more likely it is that some fan, perhaps a father, maybe a mother, gets seriously injured while trying to catch a foul ball.

It’s the right thing to do, for the fans.

Baltimore’s Getting Back to the Baseball

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It’s about time Baltimore got back to being about the baseball.

Move over Ravens, time to share the tree branch. The Charm City’s isn’t just button hooks and goal line stands, this town’s got baseball in it’s blood once again.

Save the Old Bay for the crab cakes and potato chips, this fall season’s going to be all about Orioles baseball as the Birds make their second trip to the postseason in three years. And so what if this is the first time since 1997 that the team has won the AL East, Fort McHenry wasn’t built in a day and to all those fans who stood patiently by as the team floundered like the fish in Baltimore Harbor, congrats to you because without your loyalty and passion throughout those lean years Camden Yards would have felt even more like a graveyard, haunted by Orioles legends from the past like Ripken, Murray and the Robinsons.

To the national media still hesitant to sing the Orioles praises due to the roster’s apparent flaws like a starting rotation without a star or an injury/suspension riddled lineup missing all-stars Machado, Wieters and Davis, those fireworks exploding in the sky above the Warehouse may not be bombs bursting in the air but if Francis Scott Key were around today it’s hard to imagine that tucked between some line or stanza of our National Anthem wouldn’t be some reference to the Birds because while the Stars and Stripes still fly prominently next to Boog’s BBQ so too does the orange pennant nesting comfortable a top the AL East.

So let’s move the conversation beyond ‘The Wire’ already. With all due respect to David Simon the only corners that Orioles fans care about this fall are occupied by guys with the last name Pearce and Paredes. Yes, the Inner Harbor is still a great place to take the family, but when’s the last time you saw a bottle nose dolphin at the National Aquarium take back a home run like Adam Jones? Or the canons on the USS Constellation fire a strike like Chris Tillman and Kevin Gausman?

To all you young ones out there that never heard of the Oriole Way, whose grandparents call them ‘Hon’ and still yammer on about the good old days of Memorial Stadium, buckle up because moments like this can be taken for granted. Appreciate this team and opportunity and make sure your family brings you back to the yard. Because Baltimore was built for baseball.