It's My Last Day: Yunel Escobar

In preparing to write this piece, I made a quick study of my writing career. Nothing too elaborate, mind you, I took an account of the number of years I wrote about life, people, events, sports, baseball, and other various things. I made writing "my thing" after a meeting with my English professor in 2004; his name was Mr. Jacobs, and he encouraged me to write, because he thought I could be very good at it. That was really BIG for me, because up until that point I didn't think I could write at all o_O

Moving on, I decided to list the number of years, give or take, I spent writing and separated them by field and/or topic since 2004:

Academic writing: 4 years
Sports writing: 4 years
Baseball writing: 5 years
Life writing: 5 years

Blue Jays shortstop Escobar NOT wearing eye black.

That's eighteen years worth or written work o_O I'm surprised I don't have carpal tunnel LOL All kidding aside, there are a few times when writing became really difficult. For example, when I wrote about abortion about three years ago, I did not experience or feel like my life was under threat, praise God, but I worried I would lose my ability to write professionally. I am still writing, which is great, but I am constantly under threat that my words could harm someone emotionally or physically. Yes, it do receive feedback, both positive and negative. Sometimes, I receive feedback within a half hour of posting what I wrote (Hi Nichole LOL). I am happy for the positive feedback, but I must admit it isn't all roses and daisies; I lost friends over things that I wrote as well, from times I took a stand for what I thought was right according to my faith, beliefs, and so forth, to times when I was a complete jerk for which I spent many weeks and months apologizing for afterward. It's that last point I want to dwell on, because when you take the time to think what to write about, find a writing utensil, find a piece of paper or fabric to write that thought out, and then showcase it for many dozens and hundreds of people to see you are bound to run into problems.

Case in point: Last Saturday, the Toronto Blue Jays were losing another home game to the visiting Boston Red Sox during their weekend series. The game would take on added significance when a fan's photos of Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar revealed an inflammatory, controversial, and derogatory slur written in his native Spanish on his eye black. Toronto is a multicultural city, and the largest city within a country proud of its multiculturalism and diverse population; to call out any particular group of people with a written, derogatory term, take a public stage, and transmit that image to many thousands of people paints the person (Escobar), his teammates, his coaches, his team (Blue Jays), his management, his organization (Rogers), his city (Toronto), his province (Ontario), and country (Canada) in a bad and inaccurate light.

Since the leaking and duplication of the controversial photo on the internet and the story's publication on various social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, The Toronto Blue Jays organization and Yunel Escobar came forward, and Escobar publicly apologized saying it was "a joke", and it was "not meant to offend anyone". Escobar received a three-game suspension for his conduct from a "collective" of baseball people such as the Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, coach John Farrell, commissioner Bud Selig, and Public Relations officials, according to AA on Canadian radio hours after the press conference, but to many critics and fans of the game it is not enough.

No Laughing Matter: Escobar received a three game ban
for displaying an inflammatory slur on his person during last Saturday's
game against the Red Sox.

This morning, I posted on my Facebook wall that I could forgive Escobar for this incident, but anything less than suspension for the year would be unacceptable, and I stand by those words. Contrary to preceding and comparable incidents (See Ben Chapman, John Rocker, Delmon Young), Escobar thought, planned, and executed this act, and to make matters worse did it in 2012 with Facebook and Twitter and Google+ and Pinterest and nationwide television audience and so on...! My reaction and judgment would be the same had another player write the N-word on the baseball cap: If anyone did the same thing in their line of work, whether he was the world's greatest CEO or the assistant to the junior mail room executive, he would have their things in a box taking them out to his car! The debacle that was the press conference, the less than appropriate three game ban handed down not by the GM, but a "collective", and the weird apology Escobar made without taking proper ownership of his actions probably made me angrier than I was this morning, hence all the exclamation points and run-on sentences >_<

I'm sorry you had to read this. I would rather discuss other things baseball, or rant about the precedence of the WHIP statistic over win-loss record, but I must write about the hot topic issue of baseball at the moment. It saddens me, too, because when the Toronto Blue Jays traded for Yunel Escobar from the Atlanta Braves two years ago I was excited. He did a lot of highlight reel things on the diamond, when he started playing here, and although 2012 was a rough year I was more than willing to give the Blue Jays a pass. Now, I'm not so sure anymore -_-

No doubt you noticed there are no pictures of Escobar doning the controversial eye black in question. I did that on purpose; I thought about, planned, and executed it with the purpose of not transmitting those  images on my blog. No, I'm not sorry.

Beckett Decked

I don't know what is more embarrassing for the Dodgers' recently traded, 2003 World Series MVP Josh Beckett; actually, I listed some here that all occurred in the past year.

• 5-12 record with 5.23 ERA in your last year as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox :(
• Being booed by your fans after leaving the mound with an injury in your last home game as a member of the Boston Red Sox
• Traded out of the American League with another high priced free agent signing to the only club with new found money, and looking to spend it in the midst of a postseason run.
• Picked off at first base on a ground ball to *cough right field.
• Returning to the Dodgers bench after the event to find your teammates laughing at you.

In Josh Beckett's defence, the hit to right field rolled directly to 2012 All-Star, and three-time gold glove recipient Carlos Beltran. The thirty-five year old outfielder played shallow during Beckett's infamous at-bat, and his throw to first baseman Allen Craig was on the money.

Call it what you will, but for a man that some compared with Roger Clemens for his fiery approach and take care of business attitude to undergo an embarrassing series of events this season would be more than most people could take. When he broke into the league with the Florida Marlins in 2002, and manhandled the Yankees on the way to winning the Marlins' second World Series title in 2003, the way seemed clear for another pitching ace to take over the game.

Josh Beckett (LAD) winds up for the Dodgers, strikes back at his critics.

However, this was still "steroid era baseball", and the home runs and statistics are clear evidence of that. Nowadays, kids as young as high school need breaking pitches and curveballs to get ahead of the batters, but they also need delicate number of pitches and inning counts. Individually, they may prolong careers like those of Stephen Strasburg, whom the surprise playoff contender Washington Nationals shut down (again) earlier this week. Nevertheless, the new science behind pitching should improve the game, yes? Should we not see this generation's pitching phenoms winning 30-games in a season like Denny McLain? How about the Bob Gibsons, Sandy Koufaxes, and Don Drysdales pitching close to 150 pitches in a 2012 Major League Baseball game? Josh Beckett and other like him were next in line for that future, but it wasn't to be.

Beckett has alright stats for the Boston Red Sox since joining the club in 2006 with ten or more wins in five of his first six seasons with the baseball club, as well as another World Series championship ring he won in 2007. 2012 was not kind to him, however: If an inflated ERA of 5.23 in twenty-one starts doesn't move you, then a .266 OBA and 1.33 WHIP will o_O His highest totals in those categories since 2010. With playoff aspirations for Boston in the dust, and amidst terrible in-fighting and managerial controversies with the embattled Bosox lead man Bobby Valentine, the trade would help Josh Beckett's numbers, and they have...I guess. What he doesn't need is a "Welcome to the National League" message sent direct from right field, and then forwarded from his club house by his new teammates T_T

Beltran made a heads-up play, and didn't give up just because the ball made its way into the outfield; that's what you preach to kids on the practice field to "play to the whistle". However, for Josh Beckett, one would hope someone would blow the whistle on 2012.

Statistics and footage provided by MLB.com. All rights reserved.

Summer Lessons from First Base o_O

I'm genuinely sorry things on this blog were dry this past summer, but work and extra curricular things got in the way of writing on here. One of those extra-curricular things was another season of baseball (slo-pitch) in my hometown ^_^

During the spring, more than a few of my friends talked me out of retirement to play one more year in a coed slo-pitch league. I thought my knees couldn't take the strain, after what happened to them last year, yet reluctantly I decided to give it one more go. As the season progressed, I decided to ditch the knee pads, and I was in much better shape over the course of the summer than I was last year. My arm, however, had other ideas o_O

Bill Buckner: Pressure and Forgiveness

One night after practice, our team decided to meet at a Vietnamese restaurant ^_^ I remember that trip, not because the moment we all entered "Pho Mi 99" a thunderstorm erupted outside casting billions of raindrops and knocking the power out in the restaurant, but my elbow seized up on the drive. I told my teammate Brendan, who was with me in the car, and he said "Uh oh". Quick note: If you tell a baseball dude that you feel the muscles in your elbow are tightening or you feel it's in pain, and he responds with "Uh oh", that's not good o_O Up until that point, I returned to form as a stalwart left-fielder (What's wrong with stalwart? Nathan, stop laughing), but I was throwing a lot more than I did last year. So our team captain Tony switched me to first base.

I played first base twice before in the last four years, but there is a lot resting on your shoulders. I remember my first game as a starter at first base, o_O and yes, I did make that face. The fortunes of the infielders, the team, and even the season hinge on one's performance; the ability to make your teammates all-stars and give them big time assists on plays, which come from nothing, and then simply catch the ball when it's thrown is quite a burden to bear o_O Our record was 1-5 up until that point in the season, so there was little room for error with only six games left to play. When our team takes the field, to relax and support the infielders, I went to each one and touched gloves. It's a trick I picked up from my days at shortstop, and knowing "the gun wasn't at our heads" I did it to calm down, and not think about...you know o_O Shockingly, the first ball hit came off the end of the bat right to me! The ball surprised me as it skipped along, so I chose to knock it down and keep it front of me. A second later, I picked up the dead ball and stepped on first for the out ^_^ Phew!

The second batter hit a grounder to our third baseman (Hi Marcus...Ivan...and Brendan LOL). The joke was use in practice is "Six foot four", which is my height; it's also a hint to our fielders about throws in the dirt. Unfortunately, when Marcus threw to me, I was still nervous o_O and it skipped past and hit the fence behind me O_O As the batter rounded first, I ran to the ball which was closer than I thought it was, so when I turned to throw to second the runner wasn't even halfway! A rundown ensued, and we tagged the runner out for out #2 ^_^

Buckner, from his Cubs days

A couple more pitches later, I caught a pop fly for out number three, and that was that ^_^ We escaped with our first three up, three down (-ish) inning in recent memory, and that started us off on our run to the championship game. In our next eight games, we only dropped one, and we became "a team of destiny" ^_^ I was never on a "team of destiny" before, so I didn't know quite how to react o_O All I could think about was Bill Buckner.

There are majestic names in baseball like Babe Ruth, heroic names like Jackie Robinson, and even some scumbag names like Barry Bonds. As in every avenue of life, unfortunately, there are tragic names like Bill Buckner. Part of my fear about playing first base was thinking about not being "the goat" or "that dude that cost us the game" or "the reason we sit at the runner's up table and not at the champion's table". It was wrong to envision me not playing like someone because of an unfortunate incident, which never should have happened to begin with (Neyer, Rob. "John McNamara Falls Asleep" in Big Book of Baseball Blunders, P.226-229).

The first baseman I should admire and wish to play like is Bill Buckner: 2715 hits (more than Hall of Famers Ted Williams (2654), and Ernie Banks (2583)), NL batting title winner in 1980 with the Cubs (BA .324), 1981 All-Star, and part of two league pennant winners (1974 Dodgers, 1986 Red Sox). Forget baseball, save for a moment, but if we approached baseball and life like Bill Buckner, with the forgiveness, grace, and humility that he gave us after what happened that night at Shea Stadium, in New York in 1986, I think we would all be better people.

In the meantime, my arm is a little better. I don't plan on wearing a giant pad over it when I play next year (Yes, my friends, I'm playing next year. Kevin, stop clicking on the like button so much LOL).