Take me out to the Ballgame . . .
. . . just not right now, please.
By John Doyle, Sports Writer to Be
Another baseball season is upon us, and this columnist will break with tradition. Here you will not read about what a joy baseball brings, how every spring fills me with excitement and how I just cannot wait to get to the old ballyard. As I write this screed in my Dover office, I look outside and see miserable weather. It has rained non-stop in New England for four days, with two more being forecast. There is even talk of snow tonight and a messy early morning commute tomorrow. The Red Sox and Orioles are set to start their 2004 campaigns in just a couple of hours, and the Fisher Cats and Sea Dogs kick off their home schedules in eleven days.
This is not to say that I am not excited about baseball. I love baseball--it is, hands-down, my favorite sport, and I love it for all of the reasons any American sports fan loves it. I am just not ready for it. I am a true New Englander, who loves baseball mostly because it goes hand-in-hand with every New Englander's favorite season, summer. It just isn't summer yet. It is early spring.
Baseball in New England in April means high school players shagging flies in the parking lot. It means college teams taking long weekend trips to Georgia and Oklahoma. It means helicopters hovering over Hadlock Field, Gill Stadium and Fenway Park, desperately trying to disperse the water from leftover snow, in time for season openers. It means fans packing Fenway for the Sox' first home game, and sporadic crowds, bundled from head-to-toe, the rest of the month. It means starting times of six o'clock on weeknights. It means the indescribable sting of hitting a baseball with a metal bat in cold weather.
Get back to me in May. Sure, I will brave it for a couple of games in April. But I hit the ballyard in full-force when the warm weather swings by our six-state region. I, with the rest of New England, will have the Sox and the voice of Jerry Trupiano booming through my radio when I can sit out on my porch when I can wear sandals instead of socks and shoes. I will be there when I do not have to grab my coat. I will be there when the beer is refreshing, not the same temperature as the air I breathe. I will be there when the lazy summer afternoon sun turns to a soft, cool, inviting twilight. When the full power of the lights does not catch on until the middle of the fifth inning, you will know where to find me.
More baseball notes:
--The Red Sox made their final 25-man Opening Day
Roster public today. There are only six players on the Sox younger than me: Bronson Arroyo, Jamie Brown, Byung-Hyun Kim, Scott Williamson, Gabe Kapler and Dave Ortiz. That is refreshing news for a man about to enjoy the last baseball season of his 20s.
--Weather for Baltimore tonight: windy, showers and cold.
--
Boston.com, one of my favorite websites, unveiled a
new Red Sox page this weekend. I think it is excellent. It features links to the most recent baseball columns by Dan Shaughnessy, Bob Ryan, Jackie MacMullan, and Michael Holley. It also features Eric Wilbur's weblog, plus the mailbags of Jerry Remy, Tom Caron, and Sox beat writer Gordon Edes. I urge everyone to go there for up-to-date information on the Olde Towne Team. It is better than the official Red Sox site, which is nothing but a propaganda machine.
John Doyle will frequent Gill Stadium and Hadlock Field this summer. He will also go to the beach.
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IT'S THE SEEDS, BABY
By John Doyle, Sports Writer to Be
Final Four is upon us and once again, the most attractive matchup, Duke vs. UConn, appears to be in the first round. And the debate rages, for what seems like the nintieth year in a row, as to whether or not the Final Four teams should be re-seeded in order to provide the possibility of a more attractive matchup in the final game.
Let's just get this out of the way right now. I am against the re-seeding of the Final Four, for a few reasons. Most importantly, to me, it would add a new and unwelcome dimension to one of my favorite rituals of spring: filling out my bracket as soon as the field of 65 is announced. How would this be accomplished if there was a chance the Final Four teams would be shifted? Would I also have to predict who would play whom, in addition to who would win?
Secondly, re-seeding would be completely phony. Look, there are three hundred and twenty-six teams in Division I. When you get to the last remaining four (once again, out of three hundred and freaking twenty-six), I think you could make the case that each of those four is pretty damn good. Perhaps a certain matchup would provide more drama, given the storylines and history behind any two given teams, but with regards to this particular Final Four, I think Duke and Connecticut are in good company with Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech.
Finally, what happens if you do re-seed the Final Four, and then one of the two "less attractive" teams pulls an upset? Then the two "more attractive" teams do not meet at all--a classic case of "if it ain't broke . . . "
But do not give me any of this garbage that the teams should not be re-seeded because it couldn't be done. It would not be that hard to do. In the case of this year's finalists, it would be simple. Duke is a #1 seed--they would face Georgia Tech, a #3. UConn and Oklahoma State, both #2s, would slug it out in the other semifinal. If there are three or four of the same seed in the semifinals, then break the tie by referring to the RPI or Sagarin ratings.
Even simpler, rank all tournament entrants 1 through 65, get rid of the ridiculous regions, and re-seed the teams when they get to the Final Four. Or, better yet, re-seed the teams after each weekend. The latter scenario would radically change the office-pool tradition if not eliminate it altogether, make it virtually impossible for a lower seed to go deep into the tournament, and be a nightmare for tournament organizers. But it would provide for a more perfect tournament and keep open the possibility that any two teams could possibly meet in the national final.
*****The Sports Writer to Be is back from a couple of days in Vermont. Here are some picked-up pieces while having my fill of maple, cheese and maple cheese . . .
--I cannot believe I actually did better picking two Final Four teams correct in the basketball tournament but only one correct in the hockey tournament. Duke and Oklahoma State (my eventual national champion) made me proud in roundball and BC is my baby in pucks. I had Minnesota winning their third straight Frozen Four, and I had them beating BC in the final. Since the Gophers will be at home in two weeks, I will go with BC to win another title at the Fleet. I just hope it's not Maine. Please, please, not Maine. Not at least until UNH wins one first.
--Had a good time watching the Yankees lose to the Devil Rays in Japan this morning, while enjoying my breakfast (homemade waffles with real Vermont maple syrup!) at my hotel in St. Johnsbury. Yeah, yeah, I have heard all the arguments against taking the sacred American Tradition of Opening Day overseas to Japan, and frankly, I do not buy it.
Yes, it is an inconvenience for the players to have to travel halfway around the world to do their job. It is certainly inconvenient for fans to have to get up at five a.m. to watch their favorite team on Opening Day. But the Japanese love it. America exports its culture better than any nation on Earth. Any chance our great country has to share something it does best with another nation cannot be viewed negatively.
--I saw one of my favorite sportswriters at the Verizon--Michael Holley of the Boston Globe! He looked good--about the same height as me, and a class act all the way. Told him I love his work, he replied "Thanks, man." Made my day.
John Doyle will not wear his hair like Michael Holley
