A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

chase utley

What has happened to baseball?

It was only a matter of time.

The blue-ribbon society has taken baseball, too.

As many of you know, I love baseball. I truly do. It’s a big part of my summers. But I’m a fan of the game. Of the history. How it’s played.

I’m not a fan of making it … not baseball.

I can’t stand the DH (pitchers should hit).

The only time there should be inter-league play is the World Series.

If a catcher is in the way, he should know he might get plowed over.

A takeout slide is a wonderful thing.

Brushback pitches, or a fastball in the back is an equalizer and a way for players to police themselves.

Instant replay sucks.

That’s just the start. I could go on for quite a while. I’m old-school. When I watch a game live, I keep a scorebook. I watch the game. I’m not worried about all the games and things. I want to watch baseball. I like picking up nuances of players in certain situations.

It’s how it should be.

Last year, in the National League playoffs, Chase Utley (now a Dodger)took out Ruben Tejada with a slide that was offline (but watch it, his hand is still in range of the base…). The play ended with Tejada  having a broken leg. Bad luck for sure and it magnified a slide that has been done for decades.

Utley, of course, was with the Phillies for 12 seasons – so Mets fans hate him. The ire of the play came from all over. In fact, MLB in the offseason made a rule adjustment about slides.

That comes on the heels of the change a few years ago banning collisions with catchers (when Buster Posey got rocked – the start of that rule).

So on opening day this year, Utley had an interesting slide coming into home with the Padres. Apparently, the way the rule is written it was illegal. But there are some fans and columnists and writers basically calling for his head over this.

Seriously.

The slide wasn’t even that bad.

I’m glad I have true fans I can talk to about things like this and we all agree that all these changes are ruining the game. One of those fans is a Met fan – who even said last year was just bad luck.

Alas, with the onset of bloggers and people like that who feel they know it all, Utley is the top on the public enemy list.

Full disclaimer – I am a massive Utley fan. I always have been and always will be. He plays hard and plays to win. That’s how it should be. This isn’t tee-ball. It’s baseball. And it’s adults making millions of dollars to play the game. Risk is part of it.

When I covered minor league baseball, one of the coaches I dealt with was Bill Monbouquette. He was a colorful character who never held back opinions on the game. In 1962, Monbo pitched a no-hitter for the Red Sox against the White Sox.  I remember having interesting conversations with him about the game and how it’s gotten softer (pitch counts, not playing through any injuries etc.) and how players get hurt more now than when he played. It’s an interesting thought, if you think about it.

When covering the Hall of Fame one year, I remember Bob Feller – one of the greatest pitchers of all time – bash pitch counts because it made people think more about how many times they threw the ball rather than pitch.

The modern fan isn’t like an old fan, I don’t believe. There are so many things to take the attention away from the game. Writers don’t always have the background of the game and with the lack of funding, some “beat” writers don’t even travel with the team anymore. Bloggers add to things with opinions etc.

The internet has made it easier for people to be experts. Fans and “columnists” (I use that term lightly, as many “professional” sites hire out people cheaply to fill their sites – and the quality is often not where it should be). Comment sections are full of people spewing things they’ve “heard” or assumed, not having a clue about what they are saying.

For example, when this Utley thing happened, somebody wrote about it and one comment talked about how Utley was a “rich boy playing baseball for the Dodgers.”

I didn’t realize only snotty rich boys played for the Dodgers? Must be they never saw the clip of Utley when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008 – the “World F’N Champions” clip. Blue collar.

Back to the situation at hand, though.

It’s truly sad to see the game being made softer. Some fans seem in support of it, others don’t. I sometimes wonder, when fans cheer for changes that alter the game from what it is and its history, if they ever actually played the game. I don’t mean tee-ball or local little league where their parents coached and they all got blue ribbons. I mean actually play.

On one thread of comments, I saw people bashing Utley saying he’ll get his! Somebody will throw at him etc. (Ironic that people like the takeout slide rule … yet apparently also like somebody being thrown at?) These people make it sound like that’s something new.

Do some research.

Utley has been hit 180 times in his career. He doesn’t shy away from it. He takes it and runs down to first. Why? Because he’s a player. Oh, by the way. Do you know how Utley got on base to start that whole sequence where he had the slide at home?

Hit by a pitch. Do the research – the more you know!

The game is truly beautiful.

Take-out slides are brilliant. Sandlot baseball when you threw at your buddy because he jacked a home run off you last at-bat is part of the game.

Salaries keep going up. Prices, too. And that means rules change. It’s not the game it was 20 years ago. I’m glad I grew up in a time to watch Pete Rose (my all-time favorite) and players like that. Utley was a throwback. It’s a shame that a mass of today’s fans (not all) don’t understand the history of the game and what “dirty” really is.

Allow me to leave you with the clip of Utley’s slide. You can form your own opinion.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Thanks, Chase

Chase Utley throwing a runner out. I took this photo in 2010.

This one hurts.

Many of you know how much of a baseball fanatic I am. Closer friends know my love of the Philadelphia Phillies.

As things have gone for the worse the past few years, I always knew players could be traded, though I thought one or two were basically untouchable. They’d been here for their careers … they won’t be leaving, right?

Baseball is a business, though. And it’s times like this when I question many things about the game.

For you Yankee fans, imagine a non-playoff year a couple of years ago … and imagine them trading Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera. How would you have felt?

It’s how I feel with Chase Utley.

Utley was traded to the Dodgers last Wednesday night in a move that feels like somebody kicked me in the gut.

Utley personified Philadelphia. He was a blue-collar player, hard-nosed and played the game the right way. He wasn’t afraid to do what he had to do to win. Needless to say, he was by far one of the most popular players in Philly.

He was definitely my favorite player. Still is. Even if he’s been cast off by an inept general manager who shouldn’t be making any moves at this point. This team doesn’t get better until he’s gone. This is a GM who took over for a Hall of Fame front office person and destroyed it.

And now, this is what happens. In the span of eight months, two franchise players (Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley) have been cast off. By franchise players I mean two who looked to play their careers with the team. Cole Hamels – another franchise face signed for a few more years – was traded in July.

Yet, Ruben Amaro is still making moves. Makes me shake my head.

But this isn’t about a GM who has destroyed something that took a while to build, this is about a 36-year-old second baseman who wanted to remain in Philly and is now being sent to the west coast. Yes, he had to approve the trade. But as I’ve noted to others – when your name comes up in the talks all the time, eventually you are going to look at the writing on the wall and agree to go somewhere, as long as it’s a spot where you would like to be. It’s not like he forced his hand to be traded here, by all accounts anyway.

Chase Utley gave Phillies fans a lot of memories. It’s going to be disgusting seeing him wear blue and white. I’ve seen him once since the trade — his final at-bat in his first game with the Dodgers, when they were no-hit by the Astros.

The game is a business and this proves it. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, that’s for sure.

Thanks for the memories, Chase.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Baseball cards and Rapid Robert

In honor of opening day, I thought it would be a good day to share the rest of my stories from the baseball card show I went to last Sunday.

Yes, I know that Thursday was the official Opening Day for baseball, but today is when the Phytin’ Phils open, which, to me, is opening day!

When looking for baseball cards, I’ve come to the conclusion there are basically two types of people — the collector and the investor. A collector can be split off into a couple different versions — one looking for certain players, teams, types of cards etc. But for the most part, the collector knows what he or she wants, has a certain price in their head and can walk away from a deal if needed. After all, eBay is a wonderful friend to the card collector.

Then you have the investor. These are the people who usually buy things with the idea of reselling, or something along those lines. They spend a little more freely. They want to be able to turn things around into a bigger profit, or have the chance to do so.

Me? I’m a collector.

When I go to a show, I usually am looking for a few things — cards of a player I am collecting (though I do most of that on eBay), players on the Phillies (game-used/autograph), players I used to cover in the minor leagues, or something quirky that really catches my eye.

Being I hadn’t been watching things a lot lately, my goal this past weekend was to pick up a few players and see if I could find something kind of fun.

But before I get to the cards, allow me to show something that was incredibly cheap — 15 bucks — of something I’ve wanted for a while. A signed photo of Bob Feller. For those who don’t know, Feller, or “Rapid Robert,” was one of the best pitchers of all-time and one who gave away four years in his prime to serve the United States of America in World War II with the Navy. This is something he often spoke about as his proudest moments.

I got to deal with Feller twice during my time at the local daily newspaper — both during Hall of Fame events. I found him to be an extremely amazing individual. He spoke candidly and honestly. He had his views and his thoughts and stuck with them. His memory, too, was impeccable. The first time I sat to speak with him, I told him where I was from and the first thing he did was ask me about the former owner of a local minor league team. Incredible.

But, in the line of being a newspaper reporter, you can’t (and shouldn’t) ask for autographs. Most of the people I covered, I took the memories of that and went with it.

Dealing with Feller was quite amazing. Though I got to see him throw to a couple of batters in the Legend’s game at the Hall, I can only imagine what it would have been like to see him in his prime. He went 266-162 with a 3.32 ERA and 279 complete games. He had three seasons with 25 or more victories and six total with 20 or more victories. He finished with 2,581 strikeouts, including 348 in 1946. He was an All-Star in eight of his 18 seasons.

At this card show, however, was a wonderful signed photo of Feller. It was certified, so I felt like it was worth and it listed for just $15. (Even though Bob died this past December at age 92, his autos might not be worth as much as some because he was an avid signer. His autograph is readily available, which is a wonderful thing for a Hall of Famer to do).

Here’s the photo:

Bob Feller autograph

That started the day. What a way to start, eh?

I already blogged about my Konstanty find, so here are a few others.

Rauuuuuuuuuuuul!

Raul Ibanez is one of the only Phillies starting eight (not including pitchers) that I didn’t have an autograph of, so when I saw this I had to nab it as quick as I could. What an ugly autograph though, eh? He’s in the final year of his contract with the Phils and I’ve always been a Raul fan, so hopefully he can have a solid season and help the Phils to another World Series title.

Chase and his bat

Though Chase Utley is starting the season on the disabled list, I have a hard time passing up a sweet Utley card when I see it. This one was really nice and was a really good price, so I nabbed it. Hopefully, Chase will be back in the lineup as quick as possible (as long as he’s healthy) and help the Phils to their fifth straight NL East title!

A quirky find

As I said, I like certain things.

I have seen these before and wanted one. It really didn’t matter the player and this one was, I believe, five bucks. I liked that it was the patch and the autograph. Jeff Kobernus is in the Nationals organization, so maybe it’ll be worth money some day if he makes it big, eh?

Speaking of quirky…

Joe Pepitone!

I’m not a Yankees fan.

Never have been, never will be. But I love the history and tradition of the team. And there’s something about Joe Pepitone. I don’t know if it’s the name, the way he played or what, but I like Joe Pepitone. And I loved this card. Add to it that it was in a half-off bin and I ended up making a bargain to get two cards from that bin for $10 instead of $12, and I was a happy camper!

I picked up a few other cool cards at good prices, too — including two game-used cards of Mike Schmidt and Cole Hamels.

As per normal, too, I broke a box at the show. Me and Rod went half-and-half on a box with three guaranteed hits. Unfortunately, the hits were all game-used and nothing major. Would have been nice to get something really sweet out of it. It’s the 2010 Allen and Ginter, so there were some interesting cards. One in particular I was really happy to get, but I’m going to save that for another time as its own post.

Anyway, the Phytin’ Phils are about to start their season and I’m going to settle into some baseball. Go Phils!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.