Baseball, Beer, and Whiskey

We have hit the fifty game mark. This is where the teams begin to separate. As of this writing, the St. Louis Cardinals sit at the top of baseball with the overall best record – with an astonishing 33 wins and only 17 losses (most of which came early as the bullpen was being adjusted) and a baseball leading (National and American) .660 PCT! In tribute to the boys in St. Louis, let’s go down memory lane and learn a bit about one of the oldest baseball teams…

The summer of 1883 seems to be the year modern baseball was born. 

The game was organized and they had professional teams that toured the country. The rules were similar to what we have today. There were 9 men on the team. There was a nationally organized association called the National League. Games lasted 9 innings. That is basically where the similarity ends.

No one wore gloves. The uniforms weren’t uniform. There were generally only two or three pitchers on each team. It was not uncommon for them to pitch several games in a row. The only player that had a glove would have been the catcher, and the glove was basically a modified farm glove.

The games cost the spectators 50 cents each for the game that would last an hour to an hour and a half. No alcohol sales were allowed at the game. Games were banned on Sundays.

The summer of 1882 was a horrible year for the St Louis Browns. They came in last place and were on the verge of extinction. A few businessmen convinced a Prussian born immigrant named Chris von der Ahe to purchase the Browns. He only agreed for two reasons: he loved the completely American sport, and he saw an opportunity to increase his beer sales. So, the marriage of baseball and beer was born in the summer of 1883 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Von der Ahe lowered the price of the ticket by 50%, while introducing beer sales at the ballpark. His hope was that with the lower price more people would be able to attend and afford to buy beer. The addition of  ladies night, and Sunday baseball were also to spur beer sales. Free admission for women on Thursdays brought out even larger crowds. Sunday baseball gave the immigrants something to do on their one day off. The result was the largest attendance in baseball history of any city in America. The love for their team, baseball, and beer continues to this day.

Nugget:  The term fan (from fanatic) is sometimes attributed to von der Ahe.

Shannonism: "Things are not always as they appear to be as." 

I thought I voted for the Rangers!

National League versus American League

The All Star Game is the  midway point of the baseball season. By this point each league pretty well knows the teams that will most likely see action in October.

Since 1933 baseball fans have been able to vote for their favorite players. This is our opportunity to see our dream team each season. The ballot has pre-selected players divided up by their league. Each league is made up of fifteen teams, divided into three divisions: East, Central, West. Each division has five teams.

Beginning with the 2003 season, the All Star game became important for home field advantage. The reason for this is that in 2002 All Star Game for the first time ever the game ended in a tie. The game went into the 11th inning. Managers for both teams were out of options for pitchers. They agreed to end the game in a tie in lieu of working someone longer than he was intended to be used. The backlash by the fans was overwhelming.

So, beginning in 2003, the team that won the All Star Game received home field advantage during the world series. This rule has changed the way the All Star Game is now played. Each player and manager now have a stake in it. This is no longer just a wasted game for the fans only.

Fans no longer simply vote for their favorite players, they now look at who they think will actually make a difference in the game. Players no longer treat it as a little league game and put out little effort, they play as if they are playing the 7th game of the world series. Managers no longer simply try to get every man in the game, they manage the game as though it is the most important game of the season.

"The only bad thing about winning the pennant is that you have to manage the All-Star Game the next year. I'd rather go fishing for three days" - Whitey Herzog

It's a lot of numbers...

True, baseball is about numbers. Baseball fans are all about the numbers. While watching a Driller's game with a couple of girl friends, I had to laugh when one of the friends exclaimed "Oh you're looking at the numbers on the scoreboard! I was wondering how you knew how much each guy weighed."

"Ten million years from now, when the sun burns out and the Earth is just a frozen iceball hurtling through space, nobody's going to care whether or not I got this guy out." - Tug McGraw.

Tug was correct on that matter. However, we are living here and now. Whether or not he gets the guy out really does matter. It matters for his record as a closer, it matters for the record of the guy he just replaced on the mound, and it matters for the team as a whole. But most importantly, it matters to the fans.

The Texas Rangers have one of the most deadly pitching staffs in baseball so far this season. The top three pitchers are Derek Holland with a 2.54 ERA; Yu Darvish with a 2.73 ERA; Alexi Ogando with a 3.09 ERA.

Derek Holland has won 3 games so far, and struck out 43 batters. Yu Darvish, in only his second season in the major leagues, has won an astonishing six games and has struck out 80 of the batters that he has faced. That is just two of the pitchers on their staff. The bullpen is able to keep the pressure when they take over. Every batter in the American League has a true respect bordering on fear when they face the Rangers.

So what are the catch phrases you need to know? Here are the most important numbers for pitchers. We will tackle the batters in another blog. That is a completely different beast.

ERA - Earned Run Average
How this is calculated is not as important as how the pitcher earns it. Each pitch matters for the ERA. The more strikes he pitches the lower his ERA. If a batter hits the ball and gets out before making it to first, this also lowers the ERA. The more batters that reach base raise this number. Runs are the deadliest of all to the pitchers ERA. Starting pitchers have the longest time on the mound per game. They are at the mercy of the person relieving them if they leave a game in the middle of an inning. He is still responsible for whatever happens to those two men. If they score, the starting pitcher's ERA is hit.  "The two most important things in life, good friends and a strong bullpen." - Bob Gibson.


W - Wins
The second most important number for a starting pitcher. The ability for him to become his teams "Ace" depends on a low ERA and the most number of wins on his team.

SO - Strikeouts.
In the modern era of baseball, strikeouts are far more important than they were in the 19th and 20th century baseball. If a pitcher could get someone to hit the ball on one or two pitches and get out, that keeps his pitch count low enabling him to stay in the game longer. The catch 22 is that now strikeouts are factored into, well, everything. So, he is now trying to throw the ball harder and use more pitches, raising the pitch count and taking him out of the game sooner.

SV - Saves (bullpen)
This is pretty self explanitory. A closer that comes in with a lead, gets the guys out that he faces and the team wins the game. The closer that is not able to do this 99% of the time is in major jeopardy of losing his job.

Shannonism - "Everyone’s on a pitch count now, you people down on the farms don’t let major league baseball on your place or they will have the cows on a pitch count."

April Games...

April showers bring May flowers, translated into baseball-ese - April games create May teams. In April the teams are looking at a season that stretches 162 games through the hottest months of the year. The boys of summer thrive in the heat. April is the month that the cobwebs are dusted off and teams begin to gel.

May isn't necessarily the month that the baseball fan looks at and says oh my it's almost over, however, it is the beginning of the first full month of baseball. We have now played more than 20 games. Bullpens and starting pitchers are beginning to feel their groove, or not.

Cobwebs of note are in the pitching staff. The St Louis Cardinals have the best starting pitching record in all of baseball, and the worst bullpen record. How does this happen, and why is the bullpen so important?

The game has evolved to the point that the pitching position is highly specialized. A starting pitcher is the most versatile. He is expected to pitch deep into the game. He doesn't receive credit for the win unless he pitches a solid six innings and allows no more than three runs. The well stocked team will have a five man starting pitching rotation. A starting pitcher is generally pulled out of the game once he hits 100 pitches. The number of innings he pitches is directly related to his ability to get the batters out in three or fewer pitches. Pitch count has become so important that it is now shown on the score board along with the speed of the pitch.

In an ideal situation, the starting pitcher will leave the game after pitching in the 7th. At this point the bullpen steps in and tries to either save or win a game. The bullpen is filled with specialty pitchers. Each man with a different role. Some will only face one batter a game, others are there to work in the event that an extended innings pitcher is needed. The most important man in the bullpen is the closer.

The closer is equally as important as the starting pitcher. The difference is that he may have to play the majority of the games. He is used exclusively in the 9th inning of a close game. He will generally have one incredible pitch and one that he uses as a decoy. One of the best ever closers was Tug McGraw. The Philadelphia Phillies pitching staff knew that if they were within one run of winning going into the ninth inning, McGraw would save the game. Or if they were at home, he would get them into the bottom of the ninth with a chance for the offense to win it. They were almost unbeatable with McGraw on the mound.

In the case of the St Louis Cardinals this season, in April, their closer suffered a season ending injury during the first week of April. The man that replaced him, was unable to get the job done. Every time the Cardinals went to the bullpen in a close game, they lost. Almost losing a couple of games where they had a five run or more lead with the bullpen took over.

If your bullpen cannot be trusted to save a game, the result is working the starting pitcher more innings. This is not a good idea for the long run. You may win the game, but remember, their are 162 games in the regular season or 30 plus games per starter. If your starters have to pitch nine innings the majority of the time, by the All Star break they will be worn out. This could result in a disastrous second half. Tired arms are more susceptible to injuries. Losing the starting pitchers, even one of them, could cost the team a shot at the play-offs.

In the case of the Cardinals. Two of the pitchers from the bullpen were optioned to the AAA Memphis team and replaced by two rookies. This message was heard in the bullpen and the response was a six game winning streak and St Louis in first place in the NL Central.