Sports

The Biased Observer^©

Sports Commentary

Bat Sales Are Up

Thoughts from the Subway Series

Roger Clemens pitched a great second game of the World Series. He pitched eight strong innings of shut out baseball against the National League Champions. He should have pitched one inning and watched the rest of the game from the Yankee locker room. I don't say this as a Mets fan or National League fan, but as a baseball fan.

The media build up to the first Clemens-Piazza at bat after Piazza had been beaned by a Clemens' fastball earlier in the season was probably overplayed. Getting hit by a pitched ball is as much a part of today's baseball as is taking out a second baseman to break up a double play. Throwing a bat at or near another player, especially while play is in progress, is just inexcusable. Bats fly onto the field, into the stands, and shatter with greater frequency today than ever before. This is a natural byproduct of today's equipment. Bats are made so hitters can keep up with pitches that approach one hundred miles an hour. Density and weight are sacrificed from the handle to the trademark so batters can get the main part of the bat through the strike zone. Bats will continue to break and their debris fly onto the field unless speed limits are established for pitchers--not likely. On occasion, an entire bat will fly onto the field. A hitter looking for a fastball inside will swing awkwardly at an outside curve, sometimes loosing control of his hitting instrument. All things considered, most batters would rather have had the good swing at the inside heat over the embarrassment of losing the bat because the pitcher bested him.

Infielders have come to accept the fact that the better their pitcher is, the more likely the chances that a bat will come their way. For the most part, fielders play around this modern day nuisance and once the play is made, they simply toss the bat or what's left of it to an open area where a batboy or base coach can evacuate it. Throwing a bat in anger has no place in baseball.

I have heard repeated commentaries on professional sports that the officials don't want to determine the outcome of a contest by penalties and ejections. I believe that this burden is inappropriately placed on the officials. Professional players receive top salaries and bonuses. Such compensation should include a share of the managerial risk, specifically risk for unprofessional conduct. The greatest risk is that the player will be disqualified from the contest and perhaps future contests. One of the criteria for a profession is that it is self policing. In baseball, this should not be the sole domain of the commissioner. Players and teams that have lost the services of one of their own due to unprofessional conduct should be the first to police the profession by peer pressure.

Whether they like it or not, professional athletes are role models. Officials should have a near zero tolerance for unprofessional behavior among professionals. Such professional behavior is not incompatible with the rhubarb traditionally associated with baseball or the general banter that accompanies all sports. In fact, such banter is always much more colorful when conducted among professionals.

To end on a positive note, bat sales are up.

Rocker's Woes

Backlash from His Own Tongue Lashing

John Rocker--you have to love the guy. Until a few months ago, I might have been able to find a few people that would agree with me about this. Then came his interviews, followed by his apologies, apologetics, more apologies, more justifying explanations, and more interviews. OK, I'll qualify my initial statement, if you're a comedian in need of new material daily, you have to love this guy.

I have always loved baseball. It is America's Pastime. Those that make it to the big leagues must combine talent, training, and discipline just to have a chance. So how does a big league player that is apparently among the best at what he does dig himself such a big hole? The muscle Mr. Rocker has yet to train and discipline is the tongue. Master of the Obvious, you say? Perhaps, except it is that same muscle that gets most of us in trouble as well, albeit with less media attention. I'll forgo my parallel thinking tools in this epistle for a piece of counsel that has been around about two thousand years.

The third chapter and fifth verse of James tells us, "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark." Young Mr. Rocker has certainly ignited a forest of his own, but most of us have burned some timber unintentionally as well. Once that fire is started, the effort required to extinguish it is wholly disproportionate to the initiating words. So you say my hindsight is twenty-twenty, but how do we avoid the same mistakes. The same book of the Bible also provides this preventive guidance. Verses nineteen and twenty of James tell us, "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."

I sometimes have to laugh when I read Covey or watch some highly acclaimed counselor on television address listening. Yes, we should listen to understand, but isn't that what James is telling us when he says be quick to listen and slow to speak. When we are quick to speak, there is no time or effort allotted to listening. We simply lash out with whatever thoughts are at the forefront of our mind without regard to what has been said before. The next time you cut off someone in a conversation, ask yourself if you have really listened to what they had to say. I used to like some of the political commentary shows, but now they seem to have evolved into regurgitation fests. Each participant just spits out his standard lines hoping to interrupt the opposing viewpoint enough times that it makes as little sense as his own. What a pity it is that so many with such a wealth of knowledge are gathered together, either in person or electronically, and none of them do any real listening or thinking.

The last part of James's admonishment is pretty straightforward. There is nothing that our anger is going to do to set things right. In fact, our anger only fuels the situation and gives the one that ignited the spark some tentative grounds from which to defend his position. While John Rocker may be in hot water for a while longer with baseball fans and the media; we could certainly take his high profile example as a spark to review and practice the counsel found in the book of James. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. These few words will provide a significant return on investment. As for Mr. Rocker, I recommend that instead of showing antagonism towards reporters, he simply tells them that his tongue is still in training, come back when it's ready for the big leagues.

Books by this Author

Tom Spence