Baseball Drama: There's NOTHING Better!

162 games.

There is no lengthier season in professional sports than that of Major League Baseball.  Starting at the beginning of April (or sometimes the last day of March), the season begins.  It comes to an end on or around the last day of September.  That's six months.

For those people who are not true fans of the game, 162 games seems excessive.  It seems like overkill.  For those that are not true fans of the game, shortening the season sounds like a brilliant idea.  After all, the games at the beginning of the season really don't matter, it's just the ones at the end that make the difference.

Tell that to the Atlanta Braves, who lost a "meaningless" game on April 21st to the Los Angeles Dodgers, losing in the 12th inning after blowing a one-run lead in the ninth.

Tell that to the Boston Red Sox, who started their 2011 season 2-10 in April, finally getting themselves back on their typical track.

Tell it to both the Braves and Red Sox, who saw their 2011 seasons come crashing down on the final day of the regular season.  Game 162.

Believe it or not, they all matter!

I've been a baseball fan since I was probably about six years old.  As a kid, you dream about playing baseball in the big leagues.  Some of my fondest memories are of playing catch in the backyard with my father.  I remember pitching in grade school, looking off to the side and seeing my grandfather leaning against a tree, watching me.  It's personal memories like that which make baseball such a special sports.

My first real memory of dramatic baseball came during the 1986 World Series.  I was just starting to truly understand the game and what it meant.  Being only eight years old, I had no real comprehension of what that World Series meant to the Boston Red Sox.  When I saw the Red Sox lose Game 6 after Bob Stanley blew a save opportunity, leading to the infamous Bill Buckner error, I knew something dramatic and memorable had just happened, and I was hooked!  It wasn't until years later that I truly understood the significance of that moment.

I had the great fortune of being in attendance at the Metrodome for the 1987 World Series, to see the Minnesota Twins win their first of two World Series championships.  I've never heard a building louder.  I was only nine years old at the time, but I knew that what I had just seen was something so unprecedented, so "special", that I figured out; only baseball could provide moments like that.

I remember spending a fall evening in October of 1988 at my grandparents' house.  I got ready for bed early so I could just lay in bed in the spare room and watch Game One of the 1988 World Series.  The Oakland A's, by all accounts, should have made quick work of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  But, a funny, amazing thing happened as I was laying there watching the game, even more amazing to me than the '87 series.  A hobbled, injured Kirk Gibson hit an improbable walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth off A's closer Dennis Eckersley, who was absolutely untouchable during the regular season.  As a ten year-old, I'd never felt goosebumps like that.

In 1991, the Twins reached the World Series again, and once again, I was lucky enough to be there for all four games.  I'm 13 years old now, and seem to already have a wealth of baseball history in me just in the past fives years.  And yet, it's about to get even deeper.  An amazing jumping catch against the plexi-glass wall in left center by Kirby Puckett, followed by a storybook walk-off home run in the 11th inning of Game 6 by Kirby himself sends the Twins and Braves into a Game 7.  There was no way to top the emotion from Game 6.  Not a chance anything could be more exciting than that!

Wrong.  Game 7 proved to be, what I still consider, the greatest baseball game ever played.  A game with everything riding on it, with a "win or go home" finale assured.  There would be no tomorrow.  Twins pitcher, Jack Morris, took to the mound for one of the most amazing, guttiest pitching performances in the history of Major League Baseball; a 10-inning, 1-0 Twins victory, giving them their second World Series title in five seasons.  In a word: Epic!

Over the last 20 years of my baseball-watching life, I've seen some amazing things happen, both live and on television.  I've seen a World Series clinching walk-off homer by Toronto's Joe Carter in Game 6 of the '93 World Series.  I watched the drama unfold in 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chased down Roger Maris's home run record of 61, with McGwire breaking it first.  I saw the Arizona Diamondbacks break the unbreakable Mariano Rivera to win the 2001 World Series in Game 7.  Seeing the 2004 Red Sox exercise their 86 year-old demons and win their first World Series since 1918.  I was in attendance at the Metrodome once more in 2009 for Game 163, a one-game playoff between the Twins and Detroit Tigers in which the Twins won a back-and-forth game in extra-innings on a walk-off single to advance to the playoffs.

I've seen quite a bit in my lifetime so far.  However, nothing I've seen rivaled what I saw Wednesday night.  Four teams; the Cardinals and Braves in the National League, and the Red Sox and Rays in the American League.  Two playoff spots; the Wild Cards.  One winner.  A season where 161 games all led up to this night.  Game 162.

The Cardinals made quick work of the Houston Astros, doing their part for the night, leaving it up to Atlanta to decide whether they'd be playing in the post season, or playing a one-game playoff against the Braves on Thursday.  Atlanta led Philadelphia 3-2 entering the ninth inning.

The Red Sox, needing a win and a Tampa Bay loss to secure the Wild Card, led 3-2 in the seventh inning before a rain delay kept them waiting, and watching, what was happening in Tampa.

The Rays trailed the Yankees 7-0 entering the bottom of the eighth inning.  Many fans in attendance had already left as it seemed an insurmountable lead to overcome.  They just needed to hope the Red Sox choked, as they'd been doing throughout September, in order to play a 163rd game on Thursday.

As the Cardinals watched from their clubhouse, the Braves proceeded to blow their one-run lead, allowing the Phillies to tie the game in the top of the ninth, ultimately sending them into extra-innings in Atlanta.  As this was happening, the Rays began mounting a minor assault on the Yankees, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth, allowing Evan Longoria to come to the plate with two runners on.  Longoria hit the first pitch he saw into the left-center field stands for a three-run homer, bringing the Rays to within one at 7-6.  The Red Sox could only sit and watch as the rain fell in Baltimore.

Once their game resumed, the Red Sox attempted to hold their 3-2 lead, learning that the Rays had just tied their game with the Yankees at 7-7 with a two-out, two-strike, pinch-hit home run by Dan Johnson, a guy who hadn't hit a home run since April.  The Red Sox entered the ninth inning leading 3-2.

As the drama unfolded in both Baltimore and Tampa, the Braves succumbed to the pressure of the moment first, allowing a run in the top of the 13th inning, and falling to the Phillies 4-3.  The Cardinals were going to be the National League Wild Card winners.

Back in Baltimore, the Orioles start the bottom of the ninth trailing 3-2, facing the ever-intimidating Jonathan Papelbon.  After their first two hitters struck out, the Orioles get a double, ground-rule double, and a single from the next three hitters to win the game 4-3, sending the Red Sox into waiting mode to find out if the Yankees could beat the Rays to create the need for a one-game playoff on Thursday.

Boston wouldn't be waiting long.  Within three minutes of the Red Sox losing, Evan Longoria comes to the plate for Tampa Bay with one out in the bottom of the 12th inning, and lines the 2-2 pitch over the wall in left field for a walk-off, Wild Card-clinching 8-7 victory.

The drama within those 90 minutes was, as far as I'm concerned, unmatched in baseball.  Having all four games taking place at the same time, having two of the four go into extra-innings, having three teams (Braves, Red Sox, and Yankees) all blow ninth-inning saves with two-outs, having three incredible clutch home runs hit by Tampa Bay in the 8th, 9th, and 12th innings...having it all happen within 90 minutes, on the last day of the regular season.  Words can hardly describe it and give it justice.

If you're somebody who thinks the regular season is too long, and that baseball is boring, there are some people that might agree with you.  For me, however, I couldn't imagine it being any other way.  Wednesday night WAS baseball.  Nights like that may not happen often, or ever, for that matter.  But, when they do, they're nights you will always remember!

Enough Is Enough! It's Time To Be A Man, Joe!

The Atlanta Braves have played a total of 88 games thus far in 2011.  Brian McCann has played in a total of 76 of those games.  With the Braves playing in the National League, McCann hasn't had the luxury of playing any of these games at the Designated Hitter position.  He's played each of those games behind the plate as the Braves' catcher.  Only three times this season has he taken two days off within the span of five days.  His season totals thus far: .314 BA, 14 HR, 48 RBI.  After six seasons in the big leagues, there are no stories out of the Atlanta area asking for McCann to shift down the line to play first base.

Joe Mauer came into the league with high expectations, primarily because of his hometown hero status amongst those in the state of Minnesota.  He's been one of the best catchers in baseball over his seven year career.  As we all know, Joe's biggest challenge has been to stay healthy.  That's always been the big question in Minnesota.  But, when you see numbers like those put up by the Braves' Brian McCann, the bigger question in Minnesota should be, why can't we expect those kind of numbers from Joe?

Joe's knee problems started early, so it's not a surprise that the Twins, namely Ron Gardenhire, are trying to protect his body by giving him days off.  No one is angered or outraged over that fact.  As I just stated, McCann has had 12 days off thus far throughout the first half of the season for the Braves.  What many like myself are irritated with is how many days off behind the plate Mauer seems to get.  Here are Joe's last 10 days:

• June 28th - DH
• June 29th - C
• June 30th - No game
• July 1st - C
• July 2nd - DH
• July 3rd - C
• July 4th - C
• July 5th - C
• July 6th - PH in 9th.

So, here's my next question: Understanding the idea of giving Joe a day off behind home plate every now and then, why was he given three days off from catching (28th, 30th, 2nd) in a span of five days?  If he's not able to catch five days a week, then why is he off the disabled list?  That would indicate to me that he's not fully healthy.  I think we'd all be very happy if he caught five days a week, and then was given a day off.  Instead, he's catching two days, then either DH'ing or being taken out of the lineup all together.  Gardy might be making out the lineup card, but if a player of Joe's caliber wants to play, he finds a way to play.

Some are saying part of the reason Mauer is struggling this season after returning from his stint on the disabled list is because the Twins rushed him back when he wasn't ready to return this spring.  What people should be more angered and outraged over was why he wasn't prepared to start the season in the first place.  Mauer's thought process from the beginning after he had his knee operated on was to "be ready for Opening Day," rather than to be ready for Spring Training.  What that meant was that, rather than using Spring Training to fine-tune his game like most players, he was using Spring Training to more or less rehabilitate his knee.  It's been stated by some that Mauer was conducting his own rehab during the offseason after the surgery.  As we can see, that meant "taking it easy" and not pushing anything too hard.  In fact, he didn't start playing in games until half-way through the Spring Training season.  The question is, had the Twins been running his rehab, would he have been ready to do that fine-tuning in Spring Training instead of trying to get healthy?  We'll never know that answer.

Joe needs to take a lesson from Brian McCann and keep himself in the lineup, whether that be catching, DH'ing, or playing first base.  For the record, I don't agree with moving him to a different position permanently, but on a one-off basis, it makes sense to keep his bat in the lineup.  But again, if Gardy is telling Joe he's not playing today, Joe needs to tell him, "Yes, I am," and get himself in there.  His teammates deserve it, the fans deserve it, and, for $23 million a year, the Twins as an organization deserve it.

The talk of Mauer and his three batting titles as a catcher being the foundation of a solid Hall of Fame-type resume is valid.  But, looking at the following...what does that make McCann?  Right now, I can tell you where I'd rather spend my money.

Career Stats

• J. Mauer
• 6'5", 235 lbs, 7 years pro, .324 Average, 81 HR's, 479 RBI's, .996 Fielding %
• B. McCann
• 6'3", 230 lbs, 6 years pro, .291 Average, 126 HR's, 513 RBI's, .989 Fielding %