Baseball DIY

And now even bat boys are getting published.

Does it take any literary ability at all to get an agent and a contract or do you just have to say the magic words "Yankee" or "Red Sox"?

Anybody?

I know this is way off-topic, but, hey, it needs to be said. Sleater-Kinney's new album, The Woods, is beyond-description-awesome. If you have a daughter or son, husband or wife, friend or relative, etc who wants to maybe start playing guitar or drums or start a band, get them this record. Same goes for you, if you want to start playing guitar, drums, etc. Even if you have no musical ambitions, The Woods is a fine way to spend $13.

A Missouri summer begets the three “h”’s: “heat,” “humidity,” and good old-fashioned “hardball.” The River City Rascals, founded in 1999 and located in O’Fallon Missouri, continue Missouri’s tradition of family-friendly baseball that stretches back to the St. Louis Unions and Empires teams of the 1860s. The Rascals are part of the 12-team Frontier League, an independent organization that has produced such major league talent as former St. Louis Cardinal Jason Simontacchi. Though the Rascals’ 2004 campaign ended with a 51-43 record and a fourth-place finish within their division, the team finished second in the League in batting average and scored the most runs (592). The rip-roaring offense and good times attracted a record number of fans to the Ozzie Smith Sports Complex, as Rascals attendance totaled 185,333, the second highest total in the League and the team’s best ever. This season certainly will see increases both in the Rascals’ wins and fan attendance.

The 2005 Rascals come from far afield (California, Idaho, Florida, and North Carolina each have one or more representatives on the River City bench) and from the local area: Mike Conner, who ranked tenth in the League in batting average last season, hails from right here in Wentzville. Encouraging fan/player interaction, the River City Rascals’ Web site (www.rivercityrascals.com) gives fans the ability to “E-mail a Rascal,” so fans can ask their favorite players questions or just tell them “Way to go!” after a particularly well-played game.

Of course, there’s more to do at a Rascals game than watch the game. Ruffy the Rascal keeps the fans entertained throughout the proceedings, and the St. Louis Children’s Hospital KidsZone is a must for the young and young-at-heart. The KidsZone features playground equipment, batting cages, and hockey and soccer games. Throughout the season, the KidsZone welcomes various face painters, clowns, and magicians, so it’s always worth checking out.

As with all minor league teams, promotions figure prominently in the Rascals’ schedule. During a May 20 preseason game against the rival Gateway Grizzlies, the Rascals installed Mike Skorlich in center field. Fans would have looked in vain for Skorlich’s name in their programs, as he won the Rascals’ eBay auction for the right to be a Rascal for a day (all proceeds of the auction went to the United Way; Skorlich went 0-for-2 at the plate and played a…unique center field). July promotions include Century Tel Mini Bat Giveaway on Friday, July 8; Executive Tans Tuesday on the 19th; Domino's Pizza Wild Wednesdays on the 20th and 27th; and the TR Hughes Building Company/ Twenty-Four7 Sports Tribute to Negro League- t-shirt giveaway on Friday, July 29.

Though all River City Rascals games can be heard on 104.5 FM KSLQ, the best way to experience Frontier League baseball is in person. The Ozzie Smith Sports Complex is located just off I-70 at the T. R. Hughes Boulevard exit; designed by renowned stadium architects HOK Sport (the same firm that designed the new Busch Stadium), the stadium has everything except a bad seat in the house. Games played Monday—Thursday start at 7:05 p.m. (giving you plenty of time to get changed after a long day at work), while Sunday games begin at 6:05 p.m. Ticket prices range from $9 club seats to $5 general admission passes (bring a lawn chair!).

Remember: it’s only baseball season five months a year. Root on your Rascals before autumn sneaks in. And when you go, go orange!

The River City Rascals (3-1) notched their first home victory Sunday evening in front of a large holiday weekend crowd, beating the Windy City Thunderbolts 5-4 in a nail-biter that ended on a double play with the tying run at third base.

The going got tough from the get-go for the Rascals, as the Thunderbolts’ surged to a 3-0 first inning lead on consecutive home runs by Dave Gresky (a two-run blast) and Brian Baker. Rascals rookie pitcher Rick Wood (1-0) settled down after the first, not allowing a run in his remaining five innings of work and striking out five.

The Rascals scored a run in the third thanks to Windy City miscues, but third baseman Stacey Bennett’s one-out single sparked their three-run outburst in the fourth. Hits by catcher Jon Williams and right-fielder David Arnold pushed Bennett, shortstop Tony Calderon, and second baseman Justin McKinley across the dish and put the Rascals on top 4-3. A sixth-inning home run by McKinley provided the Rascals with all of the insurance they would need.

Nifty defense and timely strikeouts helped the Rascals stave off the Thunderbolts’ comeback attempts. In the top of the sixth, the Rascals rebuffed a possible Windy City rally by turning a double play and striking out Rich Daly looking after the first two ‘Bolts reached base safely. Double plays in the seventh, eighth, and ninth kept the lead in River City hands.

River City southpaw sidewinder Joe Thatcher pitched the ninth, striking out one and earning his first save of the season. Thunderbolts starter Josh Glenn suffered the loss.

The Rascals and Thunderbolts (1-3) finish up the series Monday at 2:05 p.m. Fans who present their military ID at the game will receive two free tickets.

Continuing with the discussion Eric opened yesterday about performing in the "clutch", I have to say that I'm a firm believer of the concept although I agree that it is used far too often as a descriptive term. I became a believer when I watched Kirk Gibson limp out to take his swings in the 1988 World Series for the Dodgers. Gibson was so injured that he had been unable to play and everyone knew it. The only way he could really contribute was to hit a homerun because he was one hell of an easy out. But he came through hugely in what had to be one of the bigger clutch scenarios in baseball. I don't even really like the Dodgers and I was screaming along with everybody else when he nailed it.

Now should Gibson have come through on every other at bat? Of course he should. But there are always moments when the game is on the line or the plane is about crash or the baby needs to be fed NOW and those are clutch moments (albeit some far more critical than others). To me, coming through in the clutch is rising above the pressures of the moment, ignoring the intensity. That's a very hard thing to do on any level and some of us are far better at it than others.

Kirk Gibson's home run is one of my favorite sports moments of all time and proof positive that movies like The Natural are more grounded in reality than any of us might think.

Now I'm back to working on my book about Alaska flying. If you want to know about some more scary-ass clutch moments, feel free to ask.

Patrick Jennings has a new book, Out Standing in my Field, about what it's like to grow up as the son of Ty Cobb's greatest fan. Let's just say it isn't an environment that makes a kid love baseball. And John H. Ritter has a book about urban sprawl and why baseball fields matter in The Boy who Saved Baseball. This one carries a lot of the Southern California influence over into the storyline and raises questions about how we live, both on and off the field.

Summertime is coming, and the kids are going to need something to read so check 'em out before everybody else does!

For no particular reason, I was thinking at the gym today. My thoughts centered on "clutch ability," "intangibles," the psychostuff that writers use to pump up certain players' on-field performance (the best example of a media-proclaimed clutch player, one who has those nebulous "leadership qualities," is Derek Jeter). For a long time, I believed in clutch ability, used a player's stats with runners in scoring positions for or against him. Then I read Moneyball and had my mind ripped open by Bill Jamesians (not to be confused with Ellen Jamesians), experiences which made me question not only the existence of clutch but also the natural order of the universe.

I think I'd like to believe that humans have it in them to perform better when it matters desperately. Coincident with that thought is this one: why wouldn't they try just as hard in the first inning with no outs and a four-run lead as they would in the bottom of the ninth with two outs down by one? Shouldn't all plays mean just the same (that is, everything)? That, my friend, is the punk rock attitude.

According to the Bill Jamesians, there is no statistical evidence for clutch ability. The argument for clutch ability negates this lack of evidence: "Of course, there's no statistical evidence. It's intangible." Well, in that case, I want to posit that aliens currently inhabit the Earth, but you can't see them. Due to their alien nature, they are intangible.

This really isn't so much about my belief in clutch as my belief in belief, I guess. Have I turned into the kind of person who needs proof-on-paper to accept something as true? Is that a good or bad thing? Would I want to pass on this skepticism to a child, or would I rather tell him or her that Derek Jeter is an example of a person excelling in adversity and towing his team along for the ride? Should I be like the nun at the end of White Noise, who believes (or pretends to believe) so that other people can allow themselves to believe?

Oh well. I guess what's really important is that the Cardinals currently have the best record in the National League and Yadier Molina's batting average is up to .252 (which is remarkably close to his batting average in "Close and Late," or clutch, situations: .250).

Bob Hille at the Sporting News has a column set to music that looks at the early standings across MLB. It doesn't seem like it should work (even Hille asks that you stick with him), but read the piece through and it's a beauty.

And hell, if Ken Burns could make movies about jazz and baseball then the least we can do is read about them at the same time.

Stretch your minds people...stretchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I attended a River City Rascals pre-season game tonight in my capacity as freelance game summary writer.The Rascals are part of the Frontier League, and there opponents tonight were the Gateway Grizzlies, who are managed by former Cardinal Danny Cox. The game was scheduled for ten innings to allow more players time on the field; had the game gone eleven or twelve innings, the Grizzlies might have overcome the Rascals. As it stood after ten, the Rascals escaped with a 13-8 victory.

Mark Skorlich provided the real story of the game, which was, after all, just an exhibition. Skorlich won the right to play an inning with the Rascals in tonight's game via eBay (that's how business is done these days...actually, I think that's where the Rockies picked up this guy). For some reason, the Rascals put him in center field (I assume he told the coach he was ready to play...today). When Skorlich entered the game in the fifth, the first pitch soared over his head, though he did an admirable job of getting it back in. His time in the field was otherwise uneventful, as were his trips to the plate: two strikeouts looking. Still, he got the most applause of anyone on the field.

William Cook has an interesting book out on the gambling scandal of 1877...yeah, 1877. It involved the St. Louis Grays (the who?) and resulted in several players being banned for life for throwing games.

And yet again, proof that gambling and professional ball do not mix.

Ever.

There's a new magazine out (and on the web) about all things New York and baseball: Gotham Baseball. I'm not a big Yankees or Mets fan myself but I did like Chip Armonaitis's column on Bud Selig.

Everybody's got an opinion, it would be nice to see the guy do something.

I guess I never thought about it but someone did invent the modern batting helmut. Charlie Muse just passed away at the ripe old age of 87.

Go take a swing in his memory.

Issue Two of Baseball DIY is now available. John Eagleson, Colleen Mondor, John Earp, Joe Pernice, and Daniel Schottenfeld all pitch in. You might ask: "Where's your piece, Erik?" Hey, don't make me post my paper on Hawthorne and Melville. I'll do it. I'm crazy. I'm a machine. I know no right from wrong.

Oops, almost forgot: This issue's devastating.

My band, Prairie Rehab, will play its first concert this Sunday at Cicero's, located on Nelly's Loop in St. Louis's University City district. Gig time is 3:30 pm (it takes a real band to rock in the mid-afternoon). I'll be the one behind the drums.

As I think I've stated before, I'm currently reading Three Nights in August by Buzz Bissinger (well, I'm reading it at the gym; I'm reading George Will's Bunts during free time around the house). I've been really surprised to see how much national media attention the book has gotten; this surprise is probably due in large part to my assumption that anything concerning the Midwest would not register anywhere else. I guess Tony LaRussa's managing style elicits strong enough opinions in either direction to make a book on the subject newsworthy.

I've come to the second game of the three-game series chronicled in the book, and I'm pretty sure that I attended this game (I'll know for sure if Kerry Robinson hits a game-winning home run...Buzz has already dwelt a lot on K-Rob, so it's not improbable). Though I'm only halfway through the book and any worthwhile book review is written after reading a book's entirety, I've got a few small complaints:

1) Bissinger's insists on calling Albert Pujols the "great Pujols." I've read The Old Man and the Sea; you either say "the great DiMaggio" or nothing at all. This isn't to say that Albert's no DiMaggio; rather, Bissinger is no Hemingway.
2) For some reason, Bissinger italicizes "hit-and-run" every time he uses it.
3) I'm on page 140 of a 278-page book, and Bissinger has yet to mention how much Cardinals pitching coach resembles Yoda.

Slate.com has a positively Fox News-esque review of the Selig administration. Among the many points I found fault with:

Selig's "admirable handling of baseball's steroids crisis": Admirable? It's been a problem for at least a decade, we're just now starting to get some kind of a handle on it, Bud looked as helpless as my grandma with a remote control at the Congressional hearings, and he's handled the situation "admirably"?

Selig's implementation of "interleague play and an expanded playoff system...pleased the fans": I, for one, was obviously excluded from participating in this poll, which probably consisted of voters whose names started with "S" and ended with "elig."

Under Selig's rule, "the sport cleverly centralized www.mlb.com, turning it into the country's greatest tool of workplace procrastination": ESPN.com's baseball page provides more information in less time. Baseballthinkfactory.org, baseball-reference.com, and, heck, even a few independent baseball sites are much more fun than the "official" source of MLB news and info.

Massachusetts writer (and American icon) Jack Kerouac made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame last week with a bobblehead toy. Kerouac was from my father's neck of the woods and French Canadian to boot (very cool) and wrote about baseball and New England throughout his life. He was not, certainly, a sports writer but still he made his mark by recalling memories of growing up in the area, playing the games and of course changing the face of literature as we all know it.

It's all part of the icon stuff you know.

I think it is very cool that Kerouac is in the Hall, it shows that baseball is more than just a game to Americans, it's part and parcel of the country's literary history.

Anyone feel like a road trip?

And I'm sorry, but in that same article does John Rocker really compare himself to Jackie Robinson and say that he has suffered a more difficult time than Robinson?

No one could be that arrogant and stupid could they?

Yeah, he's really grown up...

John Rocker is an idiot, always has been, always will be.

Have you seen John Rocker lately? He looks like someone you'd see on the 7 train...

Okay, there's a new book due out this Fall, Women Characters in Baseball Literature. It's a good idea I think and long overdue. It is especially annoying to me how women are so rarely portrayed as decent fans of the sport, let alone players or management. One of the things I liked about Field of Dreams was that the wife was onboard with the idea all along and loved to watch the games as well - she was a real fan (Amy Madigan did a great job with this role in the movie.)

But.

When you read the publisher's description of Women Characters it sounds a little heavy on feminist theory. Now I could be totally off base here, but still, it has lots of buzz words that I usually shy away from. Not that I don't support equal rights and all that (I am a woman after all and yes I vote!) but feminists can get a bit heavy handed sometimes and lose sight of the main point. It can become "go women everywhere men suck" instead of "let's talk about women players in literature."

Who knows, maybe I'll be surprised when this title hits the stands, I hope so. Like I said it's an important idea, I just hope they didn't screw it up.

The NY Times asks today why Bud Selig and all his buddies at MLB don't just hand over the steroid issue to an independent drug testing organization (like the US Olympic Committee uses). No word from baseball, but the lines are open if they're interested.

I can't imagine why they would want to give up any control though. Unless, of course, Congress makes them.

There's a thought.

That is all.
John Mabry, I apologize for every bad thing I ever said about you. And I was just kidding when I said, "Don't you *&&$ing swing at the first pitch!" (Seriously, though, I need to look into this...maybe it just feels like every Cardinal swings at the first pitch.)

I'm building up my last paper for class (a stirring comparison of Hawthorne and Melville...I ripped off the title from my Literary Retro-Bermanisms) and listening to the Cardinals get their collective ass kicked by the Cincinnati Reds (you know it's bad when Wayne Hagin says we might need Stan Musial's help). Things could be worse, though. Compared to the offseason, an ass-kicking is a pleasure.

Spot the Real ESPN.com Headline (Not the Actual Story Headline...Just the Tag They Use to Get You to Click on the Story)

Boog Powell Nonplussed by Steroid Use in Baseball
Brooks Robinson Troubled by Steroid Use in Baseball
"Wee" Willie Keeler Dissatisfied With Death
Mike Cuellar Unenthused About Steroid Use in Baseball

The new issue of Elysian Fields Quarterly is out with Images of Fenway, a look at the numbers game and a slew of book reviews. Among the more than 400 pages of great comics in the new collection Flight Vol. 2, there is a story about Cuban ballplayers, Beisbol, by Richard Pose. Do your friendly local comics store a favor and buy yourself a copy of the book; mine is sitting right here by my computer and I'm loving it. Tom Swift over at Baseball Almanac has an important column about science writer Stephen Jay Gould, who passed away in 2002 (far far too young). Gould was a baseball fan and wrote about the sport, and Swift is clearly a fan of Gould's. If you have any interest in natural history at all, Gould is your man. Finally, October will bring us Jinxed, the final word on all the little paranoid things a player will do to win a game.

Just in case you want an excuse to wear the same pair of underwear for an entire season, you might want to plan on picking that one up.