sports – Threeunassisted

Tommy Pham Needs a Team

This past offseason featured much speculating about where the “big” free agents were going to land. For the majority of the time, we kept wondering if and when Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, Jordan Montgomery, Cody Bellinger and Sonny Gray were going to sign with a new team. All but Montgomery have found destinations and with the regular season less than a week away, we are no closer to finding out his new home. The guy I am waiting for to sign and for whom a contending team really could use is Tommy Pham.

A playoff contender needs to sign Tommy Pham. Phot from the Cincinnati Enquirer

Pham could be working on his eighth team in 11 years. There could be a myriad of reasons to this but perhaps two reasons that seems to make the most sense is that he speaks his mind and that he is intense. I’ll venture to say certain organizations are uncomfortable with a player being so open, honest and serious. However, all I know is that the guy is a winning player. Look at the Arizona Diamondbacks from last year. Is there any doubt that Pham made a difference to the D’backs after he arrived from the New York Mets? He brought leadership and intensity to a team in desperate need of both. If you doubt that he is not a good teammate, do you recall Game 2 of the 2023 World Series? Pham went 4 for 4 in that game, yet when he had the opportunity to tie a record with a fifth hit, he gave up that chance in order to have Jace Peterson get a World Series at bat. Former reps from previous organizations, among them Buck Showalter and Francisco Lindor, have praised Pham as a teammate and leader. This was even after Pham called Showalter’s Mets, “the least-hardest working group of position players I’ve ever played with”. These two articles from the Athletic and the St. Louis Post Dispatch are wonderful resources if you would like more reading on what makes Pham tick.

Any team that is in a position to have a playoff year should want Tommy Pham on their team. I want the New York Yankees to sign him. The Yanks could use someone like him to stir things up. Pham has simple requests: play hard and win. That should be the unofficial motto for every Major League team. Unfortunately, not all organizations subscribe to that philosophy. The one that signs Tommy Pham will not regret it.

MLB in South Korea Brings Pandemic Flashbacks

On Monday morning, I was watching an exhibition game between the Los Angels Dodgers and the South Korean national team. Professional baseball at 7 AM in South Korea? I and millions of other fans saw this movie four years earlier. While viewing Max Muncy hit a run scoring double, my mind flashed back and I couldn’t help but remember that it was at this very spot on the couch that we were introduced to pandemic baseball.

Daniel Palka played KBO baseball in 2020. Photo from si.com

Back in that May of 2020, my kids and I would have the same routine as began our new lives. We would eat breakfast in the living room and watch live baseball from South Korea. During those early days of the pandemic, this was was the only live sporting event to watch. Not only did we see the best of South Korea in a nearly empty stadium, but we saw some familiar faces playing in the KBO. Aaron Altherr, whom we watched at Citi field hit his first New York Mets’ home run, became one of the best power hitters in the KBO with 31 home runs. There was former Arizona Diamondbacks’ prospect turned Chicago White Sox first baseman Daniel Palka trying to work his way back to the Major Leagues. On the mound, former Philadelphia Phillie David Buchanan posted a stellar 2.54 ERA in 31 starts.

Back then, it didn’t matter if there were MLB players in Korea or not. We were just excited to watch professional baseball. Seeing names we recognized was the cherry on top. It was a new world with a lot of confusion and sadness. Being able to watch three innings of baseball before departing to our respective areas for work and school made this new reality a little bit more bearable. It allowed us to bond a little bit more over our love for baseball. Four years later, we will be watching professional baseball under much better circumstances: Opening Day!

Bobby Witt, Jr.: Foundational Signing

I’m a little late to the party on this one. This blog did not begin until March and by then, one of my favorite offseason stories took place at the beginning of February. Bobby Witt, Jr., the young, superstar shortstop with the Kansas City Royals, signed a massive contract extension with his team that lasts well into the next decade. For a franchise that has struggled since their 2015 World Series victory, this signing represents the building block to the next great Royals era.

Bobby Witt, Jr. is the face of the Kansas City Royals. Photo from the Sporting News

OK, so a lot still has to go right for Kansas City, which is coming of a rough 2023 season. It is still a smaller market franchise that will not spend lavishly on free agents. However, the Witt signing is just another indication that the Royals will spend money on their own players. A decade ago, it was Alex Gordon. More recently, it was Salvador Perez. The extension with Witt is by far the richest contract in the organization’s history and it shows their fanbase that they are committed to start the process of becoming competitive for the next ten years. This offseason, in addition to the Witt news, Kansas City signed a number of proven veterans such as Seth Lugo, Hunter Renfroe, Michael Wacha and Will Smith (the pitcher). They will most certainly improve on their 56 win season from a year ago but will it elevate them to playoff contender?

With 30 home runs and 49 stolen bases a year ago, Witt is one of the most exciting players in Major League Baseball. At the end of this contract, he may be considered no worse than the second best player in franchise history behind George Brett. If he leads the Kansas City more than one World Series title, maybe we can debate who is the greatest Royal of them all.

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!