It's been real interesting in the last couple years as I've watched how the importance of statistics has taken over how to analyze a baseball game. I used to play for an old time manager named Dick Williams who used to tell me, "The situation will dictate what happens." He used to call me to his office and say, "I should never have to give you a sign. You should know this is a bunt situation, you should know this is a situation where you need to take a trike, you should know the situation calls for getting the man over. I should never have to give you a sign, the situation dictates what happens."

But what I've been witnessing while I've been a broadcaster is everyone using these stats to try and explain the game of baseball. Not all statistics work. Some do, some don't. And one of the stats that has become real popular is OPS. On-base plus slugging. All of a sudden, it's this stat that defines whether a guy is a good ball player or not. And the fact of the matter is, if you're a power hitter then the situation will dictate what a pitcher does with you - either walk you or pitch you real careful. So more than likely you're going to end up on base and therefore your on-base percentage goes up. This in my mind has become the stat the everyone thinks is the be all and end all. It is not. If you have a ball club that's a great offensive team then that changes everything. But if you have a guy like Adrian Gonzalez, for example, his OPS is going to be high - he's got a lot of home runs and walks a lot...because you're not going to pitch to him. Power guys like Giambi and Dunn have always had high OPS because no one wants to pitch to them. But it takes two hits to score them from first.

This is how the game has changed. Dick Williams is pulling his hair out. This is not something people have reinvented in the game. You can go all the way back to Dave Kingman. When Kingman was hot, you didn't pitch to him. If he wasn't hot, you pitched to him. Big power hitters swing and miss and strikeout. Or they hit home runs and walk. And at the end of the year their OBP is always going to be higher than most of the other guys on the team because they clog the bases.

A few years ago this stat grabbed my ear when someone said that Ichiro doesn't walk enough. So I said, "What do you mean?" And they said his OBP could be so much higher if he walked more. The guy gets 200 hits a season! And he scores over 100 runs. I think that speaks for itself.

So as the old, wise Dick Williams used to tell me, "I should never have to give you a sign. The situation dictates what happens."

My mindset hasn't changed, I still think the draft is for the worse teams to get better.  If you look back through the history of turning franchises around, if the Mets weren't able to sign Darryl Strawberry, then what happens to that organization? If the Mariners can't sign Ken Griffey Jr, what happens to them?  Roger Clemens?  That's the purpose of the draft, the best players go to the worst teams and the worst teams have a chance to get back to the top.  What has happened recently is that you don't always have the worst teams getting the best players because of "signabiliy".  Signability?  What kinda word is that!  To me, If someone is not "signable" then he doesn't want to play baseball.   At the end of the day, if you're any good at all in this day in age, you are going to make $50-$100 million playing baseball.  And everyone now thinks they're supposed to make that right out the gate.  There's a reason that you have a three-year process of arbitration, a reason for free agency and a reason they're getting paid the money they get paid because they've gone through all the trials and proven their worth.  Part of that is putting people in the seats, part of that is having a following and part of that is taking an organization back up to the top.

 Where are the Yankees if they don't get to draft Derek Jeter?  Where is Tampa Bay is they don't get to draft many of the guys on their current roster?   That's the purpose of the draft.  Sure, teams miss on some players.  Injuries happen.  But where are the Twins if Joe Mauer was not "signable"? 

All of this leads up to this years draft and Strasburg being the #1 pick.  All of a sudden there's a price tag out there that is unreachable for the Nationals.  Although they say they're going to draft him and sign him for what I hear could be about  $50 million, how can the Nationals justify that after they just signed one of their top players, Ryan Zimmerman for about $45 million AFTER he has established himself.  That's the most anyone has ever made in franchise history.  I don't get it, I don't understand it, they're not going to sign him at that price.  Telling you now, it won't happen.  And at the end of the day he'll be going somewhere else because someone's going to say they can afford it and that's the sadness of the draft.   

It's a great day with a lot of excitement but it's meant for the worst teams to get the best players, and if the worst teams don't get the best players then the draft has not been successful.



 

When I watch Jon Lester, I see a unique left-handed pitcher.  Traditionally, most lefties are softer throwers and if you see a guy throwing 90 MPH's it's usually an exception to the rule.  The traditional lefty is a guy who throws mid-80's - look at guys now like Tom Glavine or Jamie Moyer and throughout history with guys like Bruce Hurt, John Tudor and Fernando Valenzuela - they relied on a change-up that floated away from right handed hitters or a fastball that tailed away.  So when someone like Lester comes along it changes the whole mental approach of how to hit a left-handed pitcher.  Now all of a sudden he's coming in on your hands and sinking that fastball.  He has changed how a batter approaches a lefty pitcher.  And when you start throwing 95 MPH like Randy Johnson you're getting into that category where you just haven't seen lefties throughout history like that.  When you throw 95 AND you can throw a cutter in on the hands and a slider like Lester does and still be able to hit the outside corner against a right-handed batter, you've got the complete package. 

I think his unique ability - pinpoint control, assortment of pitches - set him apart from most pitchers in today's game. 

Across MLB, I think it's a better brand of baseball right now.  Not as much power as far as sit back and wait for it.  Teams are trying to make things happen, they're running a lot more, going base to base.  Defense is going to become a premium and I like what I'm seeing.  I still think a lot of managers have to adjust, some are being exposed by not moving runners over in certain situations because I don't think they're grasping the fact that the game has changed.  Clearly the veteran managers who has always managed that way - Piniella, LaRussa - are not affected by the lack of power that might be in their lineups.  They've always made great adjustments on the fly and as the season progresses that's going to be the tell-tale sign of which managers are going to be able to get their teams an extra 10-15 wins based on the style of play.

Once of the reasons this rivalry is so great is the simple fact that David Ortiz is popping off just before the Yankees got to town and he's basically warning Joba Chamberlain not to throw inside. This is headline locker rood fodder that everyone wants to talk about.  But, from a baseball standpoint, it all sparks a lot of offense because if the umpires warn the pitchers not to pitch inside - and I'm not talking about throwing people's head or hitting guys like Joba did with Youkilis - I'm saying just pitching inside to brush guys off the plate, then we're going to see a lot of offense. 


It's going to be one of the most exciting weekends for the players new to the teams.  Teixiera, CC, A.J., to experience the Red Sox  - Yankee rivalry amped up to another level is really cool.
 
This is a great rivalry, second to none, and I look forward to watching it.  

Seattle - their outfield defense is one of the best in the big leagues.  I love what I'm seeing from Endy Chavez, Gutierrez in center and now Ichiro back in right.  I wouldn't be surprised if the Mariners lead the league in double plays this year based on the fact that they can keep a double play in order cutting off balls in the gap, getting them back and holding runners at first base.  Those little things like that don't show up in the box score.

The Yankee offense - not very impressive.  I think when you compare it to other Yankee lineups the past 10 or so years, this one is very bleak.  You can clearly see the loss of A-Rod, but even if he was in the lineup I don't think it's very deep.  One of the things that the Yankee lineup used to have is 1 thru 9 when you can have Posada hitting 7th or 8th and hitting 25 home runs, that showed the depth of that lineup. That's just not there right now. And I don't know if it will be at all this season.

Ian Stewart - as I have been raving about the last year, this guy needs to play more.  This young man has tremendous upside - Larry Walker-type potential.  If they cut him loose I think he has a chance to hit 30 home runs, drive in 100+ and be a big time player.

 

Huge impact so far on the Florida Marlins hitting at the top of the order. His speed has transformed that team that was long ball or nothing.He's changed the dynamic - even if he doesn't get a hit or goes into a slump by bunting, moving the pitcher off the mound, little things like that have changed the offense.  And the biggest benefit is when he's on first base. You hit a gapper, this guy is going to score.  

From a fan perspective, it is incredible.  Beautiful! They have huge columns as you walk through the corridor and the best way to describe it is, when you were walking in old Yankee Stadium everyone was shoulder to shoulder.  Now you have enough space for everyone to walk through and move freely. And they have  great big photos of the all-time greats with amazing action shots, each one probably 30 feet tall. It reminds you of being in the Roman Colosseum, it's truly amazing.

The playing field - we're seeing what can happen on the diamond.  The ball is jumping out there, particularly to right field.  There's a little open area in right center where you can see the train - their effort to keep things as true to the old stadium as possible - but in that area where you can see the tracks is where the ball flies the most.  You hit a ball in that direction and it's going to carry. And I don't see anything ending that any time soon unless they decide to change the dimensions.  Until then, the ball will continue to carry out of Yankee Stadium.

 

Always love opening day.  It's one of the most fun times of the year - I believe it should be a National Holiday!  When I was a kid, the season didn't start until the Cincinnati Reds played that day game. I'm kind of disappointed we lost that tradition in baseball, where the Reds played a day game and then the rest of baseball starts. It was the tradition that always got it going.  

My personal memories of opening day always have to do with the 25-man roster.  For instance, 1985 - I had a good spring, it was the first year I broke camp with the big club. It was the Sunday before the season and there were 26 men on the roster.  Darnell Coles and I were roommates.  We roomed together starting in 1981, all the way through the minors.  1985 was the first year I really had a chance to make the club out of spring training.  We broke camp and  went to Seattle, played all the exhibition games there and it was Sunday night - Monday is opening day, the rosters have to be set. We're in our room and the phone rings - we know one of us is going down.  I still think to this day whoever answered the phone they were gonna say "you made the club" and whoever didn't was going down. So he's on his side of the room, I'm on mine, and we're diving across the beds to get to the phone in the middle - we fight, roll on the ground, I get the phone...

"Hello??"

"Who is this?"

"It's Harold."

"Congratulations, you made the team."

"Alright!!."

It was bittersweet because I knew Darnell was going down.  But, lo and behold, the way things were working back then in Seattle, we're playing in Boston a couple months later and all of a sudden Darnell is walking into the clubhouse.  He comes in and I say, "Alright, DC!, What's up?".  This guy was the best man at my wedding, my good friend my whole career, and he walks in and says:

"You're going to triple A."

I get sent down, he gets called up.  We were on that roller coaster with each other for quite some time. 

 

What a golden opportunity for someone to pick up one of the premier players in baseball - not just hitter, but player.  The fact is here's a guy who broke into the big leagues as a shortstop, almost won the triple crown as a third baseman, moved to the outfield, and can play first base.  He can steal bags, hit with power, drive guys in and catch the ball: So when the Tigers say they released him to provide the team with more versatility, I'm confused.  I think it's a proven fact through the years the impact that Gary Sheffield can have on a team - he's going to play with fire, he's going to push guys that he plays with and he's always been on winning clubs and been about winning.  So I think it's a great opportunity for someone to pick up a player like Gary Sheffield.

There's two things that are real interesting here. #1) He struggled all last year with the shoulder surgery but, if you watched him in spring training, has come back healthy.  The way he has been swinging the bat, you see the force, you see the Sheffield bat waggle - that's a clear indication that his shoulder is healthy.  #2) And he can still play the outfield if you need him out there, he's a good enough athlete.  Or you can even put him at first because he's a proven defender.  

He's going to be a difference maker for a club that's interested in winning.