Continuation: don't want to be fouled, don't keep going

I'm not going to tackle the issue of the ridiculous continuation allowed in the NBA, which seems to be seeping into college basketball. I'm not going to get into the suspensions for physical play in the NBA playoffs, either, even though suspending Artest and Posey was the wrong decision. Last night, Raja Bell received a personal foul on a drive by Kobe Bryant. He also received a technical foul for knocking the ball out of Kobe's hands (or, possibly, fouling him again across the wrist) as Kobe continued to the basket and jumped in the air to shoot.

Bill Walton said something to the effect that when the whistle blows, the defense can't hit the offensive player because they don't want defensive guys taking free shots. I think Bill Walton is an idiot and shouldn't be on television. I'm sure many of you (if there are any readers) agree with me. If excessive contact occurs, call a technical. But, the play doesn't end when the whistle blows. This is NBA basketball, not football, where an offensive player can get an "and one" seconds after being fouled. If the offensive player can finish the play then the defense should be allowed to continue as well.

It's not Reggie's fault! Yeah right.

The dynamic PTI duo, on Monday, let Reggie Bush off the hook of any wrongdoing in the whole house situation. Wilbon led the charge saying that if Bush didn't know about it, and it was between his parents and the agent, he shouldn't be punished. However, improper benefits are improper benefits. The rule may be stupid, but it's the rule.

Big-time college athletes, for the most part, are taken care of during their stay on college campuses. Sure, they could be a little better off, but that's a whole different subject for a different day. Parents and families, they are left in the same place these athletes came from, for better or worse. What is the first thing a lot of pro athletes do? They take care of their families by buying houses and cars. Obviously, they take care of themselves too. So, if you can make things better for your parents earlier, why not do that? The athletes have those desires. It's against the rules though. Reggie Bush's parents, if they were involved in shady dealings, aren't getting something for nothing. They are receiving benefits in anticipation of directing Reggie Bush in a certain fashion when he becomes a professional.

Houses, cars, tractors (remember Blue Chips?), money, etc., parents need to know not to accept these sorts of things. I think, if rumors are true, taking the Heisman from Bush and awarding it to Vince Young would set a good precedent and make parents think twice next time ... at least you'd hope they'd think twice. Wait a year for your big house that you kid is getting for you! It's just too bad USC didn't win the Rose Bowl, it would have been nice to see the National Championship revoked!

Pedro, the Nats and HBP's

Pedro Martinez faces the Washington Nationals again tonight. In his first start of the year, Mets pitchers hit Nats batters 5 times. Pedro hit Nats OF Jose Guillen twice, bringing the total number of hookups between the two to five. Then, one Mets batter (Catcher Paul LoDuca) was hit by a pitch and the Nationals pitcher and manager were ejected and suspended, as per league rules. The rules are stupid! I understand the reasoning behind the rules: umpires can warn both dugouts and then eject pitchers subsequently, rather than just haphazardly ejecting pitchers, and get control of the HBP's, endless retaliation and bench-clearing brawls.

Unfortunately, more rules aren't the way to solve all problems. There are usually ways around the rules. In this case, if you want to throw at the other team, do it early in the game. Get yours early. Then, once warnings are issued, sit back and let the other team retaliate and get punished. That's what happened in the Mets - Nats game. If the Mets hit 5 Nats, warn the Mets dugout. Why are the Nats being warned, they haven't done anything? The Mets should have been warned after Guillen was hit for the 2nd time, even though it didn't look like Pedro was throwing at him that time.

I don't have a problem with a few HBP's. I understand Guillen's frustration, but it's possible that the first ball Martinez hit him with just got away. It was way inside, so I hope it got away from him. Otherwise, he was throwing at him. The second one just looked like an inside fastball that got in a little bit farther than Pedro wanted and Guillen didn't look like he did a good job of trying to avoid it. I have a problem with Nick Johnson being hit the second time. He gets hit once, then hits a HR, then gets nailed again. The pitcher who threw that pitch should have been ejected and suspended.

Major league baseball needs to recongnize that the system currently in place doesn't work. Obviously, it doesn't work ... look at the Mets - Nats situation! It may work in some circumstances, but that doesn't let MLB off the hook. Suspensions are handed out after the fact all the time. Fine, eject the Nats pitcher and manager, but don't suspend them. Suspend the Mets pitchers who created the problem in the first place. The umpires weren't protecting the Nationals hitters, so it's hard to fault the ball being thrown at the Mets catcher.

Batters are going to get hit. One game I pitched in HS, I hit the same guy (Greg B.) two times in a row. I had fairly good control and wasn't trying to hit him, although I also played basketball against him and didn't particularly like him. Perhaps, subconsciously I was throwing at him, but it wasn't my intent to hit him. MLB should look at balls that hit batters and make a determination as to whether or not they were intentional. They should also consider where "intentional" balls are thrown. Obviously, Craig Biggio taking another HBP to get on base isn't the same as Johnson being thrown at for hitting a HR. Also, Johnson getting plunked in the rear end is much better than if he'd been drilled in the head. Perhaps, MLB could institute a policy for seemingly intentional HB's (hit batsmen) ... say a 5 game suspension for the 2nd intentional HB and a 5 game suspension for each intentional HB after that. That's a policy with teeth that still allows pitchers to work inside. Also, I would put in a policy for "unintentional" HB's as well. Maybe a 5 game suspension for every 3rd unintentional HB except for the 3rd and 6th ... so the 9th, 12th, 15th, etc. This allows an unintentional hit batter every 4th start without an repercusions (assuming about 32 starts during a season). The reason for the 5 game suspension is that is equivalent to one start for a starter. Additionally, game checks during the suspensions will be withheld and given to charity.

Walking Bonds

Barry Bonds is one of the best baseball players ever to lace up cleats. He's also one of, if not the class of, the premier hitters in MLB. Unfortunately, his AB's have been few and far between early in the season. After torching pitchers in spring training, Bonds has 1 hit in 7 AB's in the Giants first 3 games. Yes, the great Barry Bonds is hitting a meager .143. However, his OBP is .455. Why? His 3 BB's and 1 HBP makes him 5 for 11 reaching base. Pitch to him ... maybe he's mortal this year.

What happened in today's game? It was 2-2 in the 3rd with 1 out and Ray Durham on 2nd when Bonds strolled to the plate against Jorge Sosa. Sosa threw two pitches that weren't even close to the strike zone. Then, Bobby Cox called for the intentional pass ... the 2nd to Bonds in as many plate appearances. After Moises Alou and Lance Niekro reached, Pedro Feliz made the score 6-2 with a bases clearing triple and Sosa's day was finished. Pitching to Bonds couldn't have been any worse, and maybe if Cox showed some confidence in his starter Sosa could have worked through a rough inning.

Albert Pujols is the reigning NL MVP. He's hitting .500 with 3 HR's already. Yet, he's only walked 4 times (at least as far as I can tell from the stats I've been able to find on-line). It's time to pass the torch from Bonds to Pujols. Intentionally walk the Cardinals slugger 100+ times a year, to go along with 100+ of the normal variety. Bonds isn't the player he was a couple years ago. I think it's time for him to be treated like a good player ... that's what he is. Bonds, Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, Derrek Lee, Carlos Lee, Andruw Jones ... they're all in the good-great range. Any one of them can single-handedly hurt you consistently if you make bad pitches.

Teams need to make a better effort to get Bonds out. Nibbling on the first two pitches and falling behind 2-0 isn't going to cut it. Try to make quality pitches ... if you happen to walk him, you walk him. Moises Alou hit .321 last year. His slugging % was .518. Those are quality numbers and are in-line with his career numbers. If teams continue to walk Bonds so consistently, and Alou is healthy, Moises is going to have a good year.

HR Parks

On the Cubs v. Reds broadcast on ESPN today, a list of the parks where the most HR's have been hit over the past 3 years was shown. Conspicuous in its absence: Coors Field. The home of the Rockies was not among the top 3, which included Texas Rangers home park Ameriquest Field and the Reds' Great American Ball Park. What's the significance of total HR's? Not a whole lot. The number of HR's hit in a ball park has a lot to do with the park, but it also depends a lot on the hitters stepping to the plate and the pitchers on the mound. A much better statistic would be something normalized to the hitters and pitchers ... Roy, can you give me something? I bet the statistically relevant list will differ from the absolute HR list.

Looking at the Rockies and Reds from 2005, the Reds' Great American Ball Park compares favorably to the Rockies' home, Coors Field. The Rockies averaged 1 HR every 32.8 AB's at home, compared to 1 every 42.5 AB's on the road. That means, it takes 29.3% more AB's on the road to hit the same number of HR's. The Reds' numbers are 1 in 21.8, 1 in 29.4, and 34.6% more AB's on the road. Thus, it appears that the Great American Ball Park is a slightly better HR park than Coors Field. However, it appears that they are in the same echelon of hitter friendly yards. The Reds are significantly more powerful, as a team, than the Rockies. This is a main reason for the discrepancy in HR's at the two parks.

04/08/06
Unfortunately, the analysis is not that simple. The unbalanced schedule, not to mention interleague play, skews the road stats. For instance, the Rockies have to play more games in San Diego than the Reds do. The Padres' home ball park isn't exactly a launching pad. However, if the Rockies have less of an advantage on the road (playing a lot of games at SD, LAD and SF), Coors Field should rate better relatively. So, perhaps the Great American Ball Park is the optimal place for stepping into the batters box. But, it's not just a matter of absolute numbers. They don't tell the whole story about the field ... players in the games help determine the numbers! Why else would George shell out $200 million to try to buy a championship?

LaRussa and Rollins

People are saying Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa told P Adam Wainwright to throw a strike on a 3-0 count to Jimmy Rollins in the 8th inning of the Cardinals win over the Phillies on opening day. What's the uproar? This isn't a manager telling his pitcher to pipe fastballs to someone going for a home run record. The Cardinals were way ahead (8 runs, I think) at the time. Walking a player with no one on and two outs (which was the case) is the cardinal sin, not giving up a double. When you are up big late in the game, you try to get the hitters out, but you do so without walking people. Wainwright would have been at fault for walking Rollins not because he would have ended Rollins' hit streak, but because he would be giving an opponent a free pass up big late in the game. Good for LaRussa for telling his pitcher to do what any decent manager would ... it's really not that complicated!

Deceiving the umpire

If baseball wants to provide positive role models for the nation's youth, it should probably be worried about performance-enhancing drugs. But it should also be concerned about basic sportsmanship. After all, steroids are just one among many ways of cheating.

In the season opener between the Mets and the Nationals, Alfonso Soriano should have scored to tie the game at 3. Instead he was called out at the plate. Watching the replay, I was left wondering two things:

• Why was the bat lying in the base path? I can understand the catcher not removing it, though in the interest of the sport as a whole he should have, but at least the umpire could have kicked it aside.
  
• Why did Paul Lo Duca present the ball to the umpire as though he had held onto it through the play when he knew he hadn't?

It is this second question that really gets at the issue of sportmanship. Major League Baseball should officially frown upon that kind of manipulation. In my opinion, deceiving the umpire is far more unsportsmanlike than, say, a jubilant end-zone celebration.

It's only from an idealistic standpoint that I blame Lo Duca for the outcome of this play. The true culprits are the umpire and the league. Plays at the plate are relatively rare, and are of tremendous significance because of the difference between a run and an out. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the umpires get these calls right. And yet, this seems to be among the most difficult calls in baseball to make. When it's a bang-bang play, it's not much better than a toss-up. Why do we put up with this?

MLB's Stance

It hit me last night, just about the time the rain started falling in Chicago, resulting in a delay in the first game of the season: Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, values the integrity of the career home run record, not the integrity of the game itself (although, it's hard to believe Selig ever really cared about the "integrity of the game"). This investigation (witch hunt) to determine what happened with steroids (deface Barry Bonds even more) moves us from "cheating's fine as long as you don't get caught" to "cheating is fine as long as you aren't challenging records." It's sad, but that's the position Selig is taking - although he may be too foolish to realize it.

Ban the Dunk

Banning the dunk was one of the changes Dick Enberg said John Wooden would like to make in order to make basketball better. That's a fantastic idea. While we're making this easier for shot blockers, why don't we allow goaltending too. Just let Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas stand in front of the basket and swat away shots all game.

Enberg went on to qualify Wooden's feelings towards the dunk by saying that it wasn't necessarily the act of dunking, but the me-first attitude the dunk can engender, that the Hall-of-Fame coach had a problem with. That sentiment is understandable. Unfortunately, players showboat on dunks, blocks, and three-pointers. Why didn't Wooden just say "Ban showboating!"

The No Fun League (or is it the National Football League) is cracking down on end zone celebrations. ESPN reported that high school and college officials were calling for the NFL to take action because young players were looking at the pros and following in their footsteps. Making changes to the NFL rules is not the ideal solution. In fact, it may not have much positive impact. High school and college officials should just apply the rules correctly. It shouldn't take many unsportsman-like conduct calls to rectify the solution. If players continue to break the rules, keeping flagging them. I'm not sure why college players still dive into the end zone (and, inevitably, draw flags). If I were a coach, I'd put a stop to it quickly.

Getting back to basketball, a local high school basketball game was prolonged by an idiotic, unsportsman-like play. Norman HS was up 2 points with about ten seconds left in overtime. Norman North HS had the ball but, subsequently, turned it over. So, Norman was up 2 with the ball and almost no time on the clock. One of the teams called timeout. On the way to the bench, one of the Norman players grabbed his jersey and did the flicking thing that all the college kids do, showing "Norman" to the crowd. He got a technical, which resulted in him fouling out of the game (he already had 4 fouls) and Norman North getting two FT's and the ball. Norman North made both free throws and the game went into double overtime.

SIDE NOTE ON JOAKIM NOAH (because I'm watching George Mason v. Florida):
Noah is a fantastic athlete, obviously. He's tall, he's long, he's quick, fast and agile for a 7-footer. Unfortunately, he can't shoot. Isn't Kwame Brown also tall, long, and athletic. I'm not saying Noah is Brown, but Noah isn't a LeBron James like ballhandler and passer and he doesn't have a good jump shot. I also haven't seem him make any real outstanding post moves. Wasn't Jonathan Bender a 6'11" athletic player with good ball skills coming out of high school? How did he turn out? Similar things can be said about Tyrus Thomas, who is an amazing athletic specimen. I bet the Hawks would like to go back in time and take Chris Paul, rather than Marvin Williams, the big-time athlete coming out last year. Basketball isn't just about athletic talent (or UConn would have beat GMU last Sunday). Quit drooling.