As the weather starts to get nicer, we are getting to the point where games are not being cancelled or postponed any longer. That means most of my evenings are spent in front of the TV watching the streams of my nieces playing softball. Either that or I am loading up the lawn chairs to watch my other niece play soccer.
On top of that, the niece that plays soccer is also on a travel volleyball team, so @mrsbozz and I will be heading down to Detroit before too long to catch one of her tournaments. It's a hard job being a supportive aunt/uncle!
Last night my nieces varsity softball team was in action against one of the local teams in the greater Columbus, OH area. It was a much better game than they had the night before, but they still had a lot of mental errors in the field that cost them the game.
My niece hit 2 for 3 and you can see in the photo above one of the bullets she hit to left field to get on base. She actually had a triple in the game too, but both times she got on the bags her team wasn't able to get her in.
They ended up losing 3 to 0 which is too bad given the offensive potential that the team has.
Today I get to watch my other niece's college team play. They have a double header on the schedule that I should be able to stream if I am lucky.
MLB
On the Major League Baseball side of things, the Tigers actually pulled out a win against the Blue Jays yesterday. In case you missed the title above, the score was 3 to 1.
There's actually a couple of MLB stories that caught my attention today. The first has to do specifically with the Tigers. It appears a player on Tuesday has some pretty detrimental mental errors in their game against Toronto. In a move I can't say I have seen in a while, the coach actually benched the player.
Benching a starter is kind of ballsy move these days. I guess basketball and hockey would be the one exception. I can think of a number of teams at all levels where players should have been benched long ago, but they aren't because coaches are worried about the backlash or hurting someone's feelings.
Much respect to AJ Hinch for benching Javier Baez for his missteps. I also have to give a hats off to Baez for taking it so well. He understood the decision and he fully accepted that. Taking responsibility for your actions is something that is severely lacking these days.
Finally, it seems there have been some unforeseen side effects from the implementation of the pitch timer in major league baseball. I've seen people complaining that games are going way too fast now. Where alcohol sales usually stop at the end of the 7th inning, they have started to push that into the 8th inning due to games going so quickly.
Additionally, I think a lot of people used to see baseball games as more than just a sporting event. It's a whole experience for them, and the reduced time is making that experience shorter for them. The quote I saw in the article was specifically talking about how the writer used to be able to get up in between innings, go to the bathroom, get a beer and a hotdog, walk around the stadium a bit and come back to the middle of the next inning.
They were lamenting how now they come back from doing the same things only to find they have missed three full innings. I am sure it is a bit of hyperbole, but the sentiment remains the same. While a pitch counter may be speeding up the game, it may also be taking away from the atmosphere of attending a major league game.
What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments, let me know!
Tigers start a series against the Giants tonight. Hopefully they carry the momentum from last night forward into this weekend!
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
