Baseball Eye Candy

I’ve been talking and writing (at least on this blog) about infrastructure because it seems obvious to me that rebuilding and upgrading our nation’s structural foundation is essential—economically for sure—but also to stave off literal collapse and disaster.

I’m not in the business of reading tea leaves. Occasionally, however, something happens that lends an air of prescience to some posts—like when a train goes off the rails on one of our busiest rail routes between Washington, DC and New York City.

As a writer, my hope was to parlay some of this interest and research into paying gigs on the topic. Alas, like the lack of spring rain, my freelancing has hit a dry patch.

It’s always disappointing when you think you have something to say about an issue, but instead, editors only seem interested in the same old claptrap re-purposed with new ribbons and colorful bows—offering nothing new about politics, economics, and the way the world works.

The local news used to be a morning ritual. Lately, however, as soon as I get my weather forecast, I’m tuning into last night’s baseball highlights via MLB Network’s Quick Pitch with old Boston friend, Heidi Watney. It’s less stressful than being fed lies, obfuscation, and outright propaganda about the world.

Baseball highlights, Heidi-style.

Baseball highlights, Heidi-style.

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Following Baseball’s Wages

Americans pay mega lip service to the notion of work being sacrosanct. The Bible, the good book of the Jeebus lovers says that “if a person won’t work, he shouldn’t eat,” (the JBE version paraphrase). But what about those working two and three minimum wage jobs and still finding it hard to buy groceries, pay rent, let alone having any money left over for a movie and a bag of popcorn? God help them if they happen to have a health crisis.

Does Christianity speak to the issue of justice and wages? If a man (or woman) is working, providing services to  others, shouldn’t they at least receive a wage they can live on, and not have to work 75-80 hours each week merely to survive?

Some of the largest and most profitable companies in the U.S.—we’re talking McDonald’s and Wal-Mart—cost taxpayers nearly $153 million a year, according to the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Information.

Wednesday was Tax Day, and a group called Fight for $15 staged their largest action to date. They chose Tax Day to highlight taxpayer largesse going to companies that can afford to pay workers fair wages, rather than pocketing profits while receiving corporate welfare.

Rallying for wage increases, Ellsworth, Maine.

Rallying for wage increased, Ellsworth, Maine.

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Speed It Up

I’m watching the replay of this afternoon’s Red Sox home opener as I prepare to post tomorrow’s (Tuesday) blog post. NESN rebroadcasts each game shown on the New England-based television home of Boston’s professional baseball franchise. They call it, Sox in 2. The beauty of these reruns is that they get condensed into a two-hour time frame. I’m watching what was originally a 3:01 affair won by the Sox, 9-4.

There was a time when pro baseball games averaged slightly over two hours per contest. Now, even a pitcher’s duel is apt to approach the three hour mark. Back in the day, no one had to tell pitchers to “speed it up,” and there was no need for the baseball equivalent of a shot clock, either. Any pitcher worth his salt knew that the defensive players behind him benefited from his working quickly. In fact, the highly successful Atlanta Braves rotation, which included Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz, followed the adage of their pitching coach, Leo Mazzone, who preached a variation on the original “work fast, throw strikes, change speeds” preached by Ray Miller, when he was pitching coach for the Baltimore Orioles, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His Baltimore staffs were successful ones, and included another HOF-er, Jim Palmer, along with other successful pitchers Mike Flanagan, Dennis Martinez, and Steve Stone.

Clay Buchnolz has nice hair.

Clay Buchnolz has nice hair.

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The Value of Instruction

When do we reach the age when we stop learning—or perhaps better—stop accepting instruction? Is it 50? 60? I think some people cease being open to advice and constructive feedback much earlier than that.

When I was in my 20s, I didn’t really know much about mentoring. Actually, the fundamentalist theology that informed my life during that period didn’t really value mentoring at all. Edicts came down from on high and there was little give and take.

Being a late-bloomer, I’ve learned to value instruction and picking up things on the fly. Whoever coined the adage, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” has perpetuated a myth that education and instruction is the exclusive right of the young, and off-limits to anyone past the age of say, 25. It also furthers a societal lie that we can’t continue to learn and grow until the end of our lives. Continue reading

Some Fans Are Better Than Others

Umpiring is more demanding than most people realize. I’ve umpired before, the last time being 2002, yet I don’t remember having to run as much as I have when working the bases in a two-man system, which is what most amateur leagues employ (as well as lower-level pro leagues, too). The plate is an entirely different and demanding experience.

After working back-to-back doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, I was back behind the plate last night. My lower back, calves, and hamstrings are tight this morning, and I’ll be out there again tonight, my seventh game in the last five days. Continue reading

Throw the Ball!

As we cross the seasons of life, we make observations on our journey. The longer we live, the more experience we bring to the table. Sometimes our observations become nostalgic longing for the “better days” of the past. Other times, our assessments indicate that a structural shift of some kind has taken place.

I get to watch a good deal of baseball these days. I am a baseball umpire, after all.

In this age where quantification is king, my qualitative assessments about baseball skill may not impress members of the scientific crowd—the research types. However, it has been clear to me during the 13 games that I’ve officiated, from middle school, up through junior varsity that today’s players don’t throw as well as similar age groups in the past. Continue reading

Spring’s Arrival

A month ago, some of us had our doubts that spring would ever arrive. As the calendar turned from April into May, those concerns have abated.

In Maine, the transition from snow and cold, to something more tolerable happens rapidly, as if someone flipped a switch. In a mere week’s time, the temperatures have jumped 20 degrees, the grass is greening, crocuses are in bloom, and school-based baseball is in full swing. Continue reading

You’re Out!!

After seeing my blog stats crash and burn over the past week, it might be time to get back to bread and circuses. Seth Godin says blog stats don’t matter, but I’m not as self-actualized as Seth is. I guess writing about education, post-industrial collapse, and even food is way too controversial for most people. While I don’t plan to start tackling certain kinds of pop culture subject matter—like zombies and meth-dealing science teachers—baseball is a sport, and one of the circuses I’ll still buy a ticket for and write about.

Longtime readers and old friends know that I played the game, coached it, and even ran a semi-pro college league for five summers—heck, I even wrote a book about baseball. What many don’t know is that I once was an umpire and given the nature of the free agent lifestyle, I’ve decided it’s time to get back behind the plate again.

The boys in blue.

The boys in blue.

I was a member of the Western Maine Baseball Umpires Association (WMBUA) from 1998 to 2001. After four years, I had worked my way up from 7th and 8th grade junior high games to getting some varsity high school action. Then, Mark graduated from high school and I wanted to see him play college baseball at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, a three-hour drive I got used to making two or three times each week; when he came home in the summer, I started coaching a team in the Twilight League and it wasn’t long before I was running a team, running the league, and even writing a column on the league for the local weekly newspaper. Umpiring got pushed aside. Continue reading

In training (again)

Mathias Steiner of Austria completing a lift @ Athens Olympics (photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

Mathias Steiner of Austria completing a lift @ Athens Olympics (photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

I’m a big guy. By that I mean that I’m 6’3”. I am a mesomorph and generally look athletic.  I generally carry excess weight well, perhaps too well.

Like many people, as I got older and passed into my late 30s, I had gained a considerable amount of weight compared to what my weight was in high school. A more sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise were major contributors, as well as an American-style diet tilting towards processed foods. Heck; I like to eat, what can I say? Continue reading