“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart.”

Games 162 of the 2011 season defied any and all possible combination of words to quantify.  One wishes John Updike were still alive with an itch in his knickers and could somehow have warmed a seat in each of the three stadiums that hosted the severance between summer and fall.  The seasons changed, dramatically and with devastating abruptness for fans of the Red Sox and Braves.  The collapse was a long way down, failure wrapping its callused fingers with slow, tight assurance.  Yet the end came as a shock to fans, though one could feel it coming.  The aftermath of each team’s respective collapse is being dealt with differently.  Braves fans, as is their general nature, are far more somber and calculating.  They point to key injuries to the starting rotation (top two starters), an over reliance on three young bullpen arms, and disappointing seasons from several key offensive cogs (Heyward, Prado, Chipper).  There are some in search of a scapegoat: a passive manager, all of a sudden inclined toward risky, LaRussa-like behavior in the season’s final game.  But for the most part, they are stomaching the ultimate failure of a team with high expectations but without the necessary components to fend off the superior St. Louis Cardinals.

wOBA, WAR, and the MVP

Every boy in America dreams of one day winning an award with this man's face on it.

Around this time every year, children go back to school, the days get shorter, and baseball writers parse the meaning of the word “valuable.”  This can get tiresome, but it is not without reason.  The opening line of the letter sent to all 60 MVP voters states:

"There is no clear cut definition of what most valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the most valuable player in each league to his team." 

The letter goes on to say that pitchers and designated hitters should be considered (though they rarely ever win), that the winner need not come from a playoff team (although more often than not, they do), that offense, defense, number of games played, character, disposition, loyalty and effort should all be taken into account. How very nebulous.

"Slow it down by staying ahead of it to stay on top of it"

I set out to write a piece slandering Tony LaRussa, casting aside any pretensions of journalistic integrity or baseball pride.  With my support propped behind the scuffling Atlanta Braves, my attention has been forced, as so often seems the case, to the St. Louis Cardinals.  As a lifelong Cubs fan, despite my growing up just north of Atlanta, the Cardinals have always held a place in my rearviewmirror.  That is, only on the rare occasions that they aren’t glowering down from atop their enviable pedestal built on the tradition of quality baseball, and of course winning.  With the Cubs looking ahead to 2012 since the beginning of June, I have been forced to take pleasure in two things: the Braves putting together a fine season on the backs of young, exciting arms (though those arms are now bending under the weight thrust upon them from the rest of the team) and the Cardinals slow and steady demise at the hands of the Brewers.  Though of course, as it often does, September has changed things.  On the television (the retina of the mind’s eye, as Mr. McLuhan might say!) Tony LaRussa stands in the clubhouse after the Cardinals emerged victorious, surrounded by reporters clawing for his thoughts on the shrinking deficit in the Wild Card race.  Before the manager can provide a perfunctory answer, the cacophonious exclamations of a team united drown out the reporters.  Omar Infante of the Marlins has just launched a 2-run walk-off homerun off the beleaguered arm of Craig Kimbrel, handing the Braves another loss and moving the Cardinals within 2.5 games.  The face of the sixty-six year old LaRussa, a face that a few years ago would’ve looked at home hanging on a tannery line, stretches a bit further into a plasticine grin of exultation.  I’ve grown to loathe that face, because it is often a reminder of the Cubs’ futility.  But tonight, through the magic box, that face is filling me with love and excitement for this game and all that can happen in a very short amount of time.  Because it is a face that doesn’t simply reflect a reaction to good news, it is the face of a man who is making things happen.  Leading a team that, going into September was dead in the water, like the surviving floaters of the USS Indianapolis waiting for the sharks to pull the last bits of flesh from the bone, LaRussa was feeling the heat from all sides of the Cardinals family.  The fans, the media, and quite probably even GM Mozeliak had begun looking forward to LaRussa’s contract expiring at the end of this season.  As was I, until I swallowed my personal bias against the man and looked a bit deeper.

"I can't hit the ball until I hit the bottle."

Pete Browning

One of the greatest sluggers of the Dead Ball Era, Pete Browning played from 1882-1896, spending most of his time playing for the Louisville club in the American Association (derisively known as the "Beer and Whiskey League"). In an environment where run-scoring was severely depressed, Browning put up some extremely gaudy offensive numbers: .402/.464/.547 (.417 wOBA!) in 1887 playing for the AA Louisville Colonels and .373/.459/.517 in 1890 playing for the Cleveland Infants of the short lived Player's League. But it isn't just eye-popping stats and a well coiffed mustache that Browning is remembered for.  His presence is still felt in every Major League game to this day.

The Best of Waite Hoyt in the Rain

The Best of Waite Hoyt in the Rain Volume 1

Personality Records - 1963

The first athlete-turned-broadcaster, Waite Hoyt enjoyed a 20 year Hall of Fame career as a pitcher (Yankees, Dodgers, Giants, Athletics, Red Sox, Tigers), and then became the play by play voice for the Cincinnati Reds. In his 24 years calling games for the Reds, Hoyt was well known for his anecdotes (mostly recalling his playing days with the Yankees) during rain delays. Two volumes of selected anecdotes were collected on record albums. Bust this out the next time you are stuck in a rain delay.

Volume 1 - Side 1

Volume 1 - Side 2