Tag: baseball

MLB Spring Breakout: Showcasing the Next Generation

Starting on Thursday, March 14, MLB Network will be be broadcasting a series of games called MLB Spring Breakout. These games will feature two MLB teams playing against one another, with each team made up of the organization’s top prospects. This is the first time Major League Baseball has conducted such an event and hopefully we will get to see more of this in the future. The full list of games can be found by clicking here.

Paul Skenes will be a part of the first ever Spring Breakout. Photo from Yahoo Sports.

Spring Breakout is similar to the Arizona Fall League, which showcases six prospects per organization, making up six teams, and playing a six week season in October and November. This is another great way for MLB to showcase their future stars and get fans excited about the next generation of players. Guys from the NBA and the NFL are tracked long before they make their professional debuts thanks to the popularity of college basketball and college football. It also helps that these athletes play right away once they are drafted. That’s not the case in baseball where a high schooler could be taken in the first round but not debut until three years later. Events like the Arizona Fall League and now the Spring Breakout allow fans to not have to wait as long to see top prospects play meaningful games.

MLB is starting out strong on the first game of the series as the previous two #1 overall picks will face off against one another. Paul Skenes, last year’s top selection will have his Pittsburgh Pirates take on Jackson Holliday and the Baltimore Orioles. In order for this to be considered a success, both players must be featured for a large segment of the game. Skenes needs to pitch at least two innings while Holiday needs to bat at least twice. Every game will be shown on one platform or another with the Pirates-Orioles being broadcast on MLB Network at 7:05 PM EST.

I hope Spring Breakout becomes the Spring equivalent to the AFL. The more we see these future starts, the less we will want to wait to catch them during the course of the regular season.

Joey Votto Goes (Almost)Home

Big news out of Spring Training today. Longtime Cincinnati Reds’ star Joey Votto has agreed to a non-roster invitation deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. What makes this a big story is that one of the greatest players born in Canada has a chance to (potentially) finish his career in his hometown of Toronto. Given his decline in production and injuries over the last two years, it seems like the odds are against him. However, with the Oscars looming over us, how great of a script would it be for Votto, at age 40 to break camp with the Blue Jays?

Hopefully, we see Joey Votto in Toronto in 2024. Photo from Cincinnati Enquirer

With Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. entrenched, we wouldn’t see Votto playing his customary position of first base. He may get a start or two per month there but his at-bats would primarily have to come as a designated hitter. There is some competition in that spot with Daniel Vogelbach and Spencer Horwitz also in Jays’ camp. Toronto is a team with playoff aspirations so I do not believe this signing of Votto is a way to generate goodwill with the fanbase. If he doesn’t make it out of Spring Training, so be it. They want to see if the six-time All Star has more ball in him and how he could help the team. Him making the roster would be an added bonus that maybe would generate additional fan interest.

When I’m at lunch with friends, one of the topics brought up this question: is Joey Votto a Hall of Famer? That .409 career on-base percentage is certainly his biggest asset, with his biggest seasonal number a staggering .474 in 2012. He led the league in that category six times. Votto was the National League MVP in 2010 and finished in the Top 10 four other times. He had good power, hitting over 30 home runs three times and finishing with 29 on three other occasions. The only negative about his career would be a .244 batting average in limited playoff action. If that is the argument for keeping him out of Cooperstown, we will see him enshrined five years after his retirement.

Here’s hoping Canada’s great baseball hero has one last run in Toronto. May his next milestone come in a blue uniform, similar to his last one in a red one. Raise a Labatt Blue to Joey Votto coming home to Toronto!

Appreciating Ed Ott and U.L. Washington

Sadly, two men from my baseball childhood passed away earlier this week. Ed Ott, a catcher who played the majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, died March 3rd at age 72. U.L. Washington, an infielder who played primarily with the Kansas City Royals, died the same day at age 70. I was sad to hear of their untimely passing as they were part of an era in which I came to love the game of baseball at a very young age.

U.L. Washington with the toothpick. Photo from Yahoo.

Here is why they matter to me. Ed Ott was the starting catcher on the 1979 Word Series Champion Pirates. It was the first World Series that I remember watching, so long ago that one or two of the games were actually played during the day. “We Are Family” is more than a song by Sister Sledge, it was the anthem for that team. To this day, whenever I hear that tune, I am transformed back to more carefree days….and of course, baseball. As for U. L. Washington, he was an important part of the best rivalry in the game at that time, the Royals vs. the New York Yankees. One of his more famous moments occurred in 1983 when he was the runner on first base when George Brett hit his infamous “Pine Tar” home run. Of course, you can never picture Washington without that toothpick dangling from his mouth.

Ed Ott in the 1979 World Series. Photo from TSN

Neither man will make the Hall of Fame. That’s not the point. Any one of us would gladly take their accomplishments Ed Ott was the starting catcher on a World Series champion. He had nearly 1,800 at bats over an eight year career. U.L. Washington stole 132 bases over 11 seasons. They are examples of why I could never be a talk show host. I could never publicly say someone stinks or shouldn’t be on a team. They are men who reached the highest level of their profession with varying degrees of success. Those who reach the Major League level, no matter how they perform once they get there, are to be commended for their hard work and not the scorn that comes with each failure. We could only be so lucky as to reach Single A ball, never mind the Major Leagues.

Now that you got through this initial post, I will let you know that this will generally be a blog that will (mostly) have fun while touching on more serious topics such as the one you just read. As you may have gathered, I will not be in the business of bashing players for their performance. Privately, maybe. Publicly, no way. They hear it enough from fans fans and media. I am not interested in contributing to the negativity. Most topics will come right off the top of my head, drawing on all of my years of following the great game of baseball. I hope my love, passions and yes, nerdiness comes through each one of my posts!