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Tuesday, June 20, 2017

THE MANY FACES OF SPRING TRAINING


THE MANY FACES OF

Spring training

A Q-Tip bucket thing*

Paradise
Where everybody wants to be
Or at least see
Spring break 
Backed up traffic-miles
Glad to park
In St. Pete for a week

THE GAMES

Mets versus Tigers
Vernal equinox at easy-to-access
Lakeland’s Joker Marchant Stadium
New renovations fresh

Big names rest
But we’re up close and in the shade
Tigers win, the best

Busing back
Waylaid
By an angry serpent-
-ine belt
Moderate snafu
Responded to
By a 7-11 with restrooms
And parking shade

Clockwork Orange?
Dystopia?
Canterbury Tales a better fit
We rallied and shared stories with our travelers

Game two
Travel to
Tampa’s Steinbrenner Stadium
Red Sox beat the Yankees
A first for me
No recognizable Yankees’ names

Highlight
Grounds crew acting out “YMCA”
Dragging the infield, mid game

Game three, Port Charlotte
Yankees visit the Rays
Game tied, end of the ninth
End of game
Spring rules

What’s up, NYC?
Many Mets and Yankee fans in our group
Disappointed

Special find 
An official spring training baseball   
Hiding near the entrance grass

Check your Easter basket, Blake

THE COACH

Recruiting baseball hopefuls

Bill Matthews must convince moms
Their sons will get a good education
At Eckerd College
And . . . the sons . . . to pursue one
The chances of making it to the majors
Slim or none

Equipment
Evolves
Wooden bats, those used by the pros
Now hollowed, lacquered and scientifically designed
But may not last more than one swing

Ceramic ones for the amateurs
Expensive but guaranteed for a year
A lively batting experience
Too dangerously so for the pros

Rules and equipment both evolve
Making sliding into defender with spikes
Pretty much a thing of the past




Ethics and Baseball

Signs get stolen
Batters get thrown at
As do umpires
Intentionally?
Rarely
But no case can be made for it

Recruiting, stealing players, poaching
Always a concern for the ethics of baseball

All get modeled for kids

Batting order strategy

Speed first, hitting power second
Then a place
For those whose job it is to defend

Was that a hit or an error?
Wild pitch?  Passed ball?
In seconds, Bill Matthews must define umpires’ calls
And be immune to the controversy
That comes with being the Rays’ official scorer

THE LAWYER

Michael Allen, baseball fan
And law school dean:

Baseball and the law learn from each other
Each contain basic elements and required sequences

First, second, third and home
Bases
Passed in that order
To score a run

Legal tort law
Duty, breach, causation, harm
No legal harm without each



Judges and umpires  
Are needed to make decisions 
When the application of rules is ambiguous
And “the game” must be advanced

In a number of arbitration and anti-trust cases
They have made decisions
That actually altered “the game”

Umpires are a part of the game
Not the ones people come to see
But are needed and committed to advance the game

Judges, too
Become involved in people’s lives
And are equally as passionate about their work


THE UMPIRE

Retired ump, Rich Garcia

Does not like the visual technology
Used to define strike zones
That home plate square you see on TV
Is two-dimensional
And cannot show the path of the ball over the plate

Nor are radar guns accurate
Operated by non professionals
They are easily compromised by interference
And do nothing to help the batters

Getting to know coaches and players
Helps umpires anticipate and understand their behavior

In the past
Fraternizing with the other team
A taboo
Today most players know each other
And make so much money
It’s what friends do



OWNERSHIP


Dick Crippen
PR man for the Tampa Bay Rays
And former sportscaster
Gave us a tour of Tropicana Field

We saw the new infield being installed

Then went behind the scenes
To see
Press boxes
Scorers’ tables
Workout rooms
Executive clubs   
Even the loading dock
With its stored crates for opening day

Viewing baseball’s history on display
At the Ted Williams museum
Ended our tour

The message
Stadiums are like cities
And must produce more than baseball games
Diverse needs must be met
To accommodate a variety of fans during the games
And an external presence must be made
In the community
Through charitable, education and welfare programs


FROM THE MINOR LEAGUES

Imagine the challenges

Operating multiple teams in different cities
And Caribbean Academies
To meet the developmental needs
Of professionals at different levels of ability
While maintaining a consistent training program
Throughout

Moving players across country
Their equipment and families
Often on a moment’s notice

Advising players on
Equipment contracts
Nutrition and sleep needs
ESL and culture classes
Life skills planning, laundry and budgeting

All a part of baseball


HEADING BACK

Paradise
Put on hold

Linda at home in Georgia
Naylor near Valdosta
Making pre-op preps
For back surgery next week

Chance to get reacquainted with nephew Philip
His wife Nichole and their two charming daughters
Braylin and Ryleigh

Billy and Jo at the farm in Lax
With Howell and Tish
Fellowship and a Polaris tour --  
Renovated ponds and buildings

Sent home with a baked chicken recipe

HEADING NORTH

Enjoyed the redbud
Traveling through
Tennessee and Kentucky

Target -- Hilltop Farm
Bedford, Kentucky
Try to find it without GPS

Somewhere along Ralston Road
Betsy, Charlie and son, Jeff
Share eighty acres of woods
A clearing containing two homes
Auxiliary buildings
And numerous gardens
Spectacular long distance view
Overlooking the Ohio River

A multi decade review
Of careers and retirement years
Long overdue

Silversides Plus One
Charlie’s guitar and voice
Resurrected in retirement
Now performing duets with a friend
At nursing homes
When he is not writing
For the local newspaper
Engaging his Rotarians
Or parading kids in his
Thirteen-barrel kiddy train

Betsy, an only daughter
Immersed in sorting several lives
Of acquired family heirlooms


FINAL PUSH

Back roads through southeast Indiana to Fort Wayne
Avoiding rainstorms
To return home a day early

DRK
Road Scholar Trip
3/15/17 – 3/28/17

* Some Floridians refer to senior citizens as “q tips”              

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