Mail Time: Emptying out the bag before the stretch run
The following letters have been edited for brevity and grammar.
• Your recent column on the MLB’s $1 million contribution to the Negro League Museum in Kansas City, gave me reason to write to you. The Negro Leagues must be properly revered, recognized and praised, with their history being preserved for all to see and appreciate. The issue that your column raises is why this museum isn’t a part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown?
While I have not yet been to Cooperstown it seems to me the most appropriate place to recognize all major leaguelevel baseball leagues in the history of the game would be at the National Baseball Hall of Fame rather than having a separate museum for the Negro Leagues in Kansas City. I’m sure this museum in Kansas City is a wonderful testament to the best players of the Negro Leagues and the leagues themselves — and I completely understand the cultural and economic argument for it being in Kansas City.
My point and contention is that the NATIONAL Baseball Hall of Fame is not just the official museum for the American and National Leagues but for the entire history of the top professional baseball leagues that ever existed. It should have a separate room for the Negro Leagues (and a permanent display for the 1800’s American Association, Union Association and Players’ League, 1910’s Federal League and the 1960 Continental League for that matter). I would hope there would be some way to share the Negro League artifacts between the Kansas City museum and the National Baseball Hall of Fame museum in Cooperstown. Sincerely, John Covello Lawrenceville Mr. Covello:
The baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., does have a Negro Leagues exhibit as well it should. It also has exhibits about Latin American baseball, 19th Century baseball and women in baseball and I believe all of these exhibits play important parts in telling the history of the game.
However, the Cooperstown structure could not possibly provide space for all of the material that is on display in the Negro Baseball Museum in Kansas City.
Probably the two most successful Negro League teams were the Kansas City Monarchs and the Homestead Grays. The Grays shuttled between Pittsburgh and Washington and had to share both cities with major league clubs. The Monarchs had a huge, permanent fan base in Kansas City, where there was no major league competition.
Kansas City also has a large African-American cultural area centered at 18th and Vine, which is where the museum is located. I can’t think of a better spot for it.
• While reading your commentary I felt my innards clench when I read about the “automatic baserunner” foolishness. Call me old fashioned, but one of the beautiful symmetries of the game is that everything adds up just so — if you count how many batters came to the plate, you can subtract the runs and outs and derive the left on base, and so forth. Like an algebra equation, it all balances out. Artificially planting a runner on base would shatter that symmetry, the way an extra syllable ruins a Haiku.
And I love that baseball is the only game that — Japanese leagues notwithstanding — cannot end in a tie.
I have a better solution, if we truly need one. If MLB is worried about young arms and depleted pitching staffs, attack that issue directly. In the 11th inning, have every batter start with a 1-0 count. In the 12th (and thereafter), each batter should start with a 2-0 count. The pitchers who are good enough shouldn’t have a problem with it. The ones who aren’t will just save time and effort reaching the two-ball count they were likely to start with anyway.
This would preserve the game’s mathematical purity, and reduce arm abuse, and result in fewer marathon games. For a handful of cases, pitchers will see some skewed base-on-balls stats, but bullpen rotations should spread the pain around. Closers are the only ones likely to feel greater impact, and they often get used in the 9th or 10th inning anyway. — Bill Donnelly
Bill,
Let me first explain to the readers that you sent me this letter after my June 15 column so I’m a little bit tardy in responding.
Your love of the purity and the balance of baseball is shared by a number of people and, for the most part, I’m one of them. I agree with you that starting an inning by artificially planting a runner or runners on base is gimmicky and takes something away from the game. However, I think starting the hitter with a favorable count, as you advocate, would also be gimmicky.
What I advocate, and you obviously disagree with me, is putting a cap on the number of innings played in a regular-season game. If that cap is reached without a result, the game would go into the standings as a tie. I understand why the thought of having tie games in the standings is abhorrent to some people, but I think having a few tie games is preferable to having games that end long after most fans have turned off the television and gone to sleep. The best and the worst — Dodgers +201, Padres -139; Average: Red Sox .291, Padres .235; Red Sox .503, Giants .378;
Red Sox .355, Padres .301; Astros 184, Giants 91; Reds 31, Blue Jays 4; Astros 248, Padres 159; Red Sox 709, Athletics 534; Dodgers 454, Royals 266; Indians 784, Brewers 1129; Angels 100, Orioles 25; Royals .833, White Sox .609;
Padres 70, Blue Jays 121;
Rockies 44, Astros 7; Astros 47, Brewers 14; Dodgers 3.09, Reds 5.24; Red Sox 2.93, Tigers 5.12; Dodgers 113, Reds 185;
Astros 1120, Twins 784; Dodgers 294, White Sox, Reds 427 each; Royals 46, Athletics 95;
Astros 22, Athletics 70; Rockies, Padres, Brewers 122 each, Yankees 70; Cardinals 36, Cubs 88;
Indians .544, Astros .871;
Cardinals 36, Athletics 73.
differential: Doubles: into: Walks: Strike outs (by hitters): Stolen bases: Stolen base percentage: Double plays grounded Sacrifice bunts: Sacrifice flies: Bullpen ERA: allowed: (by pitchers): Errors: allowed: Triples: ERA: Run Slugging: On base percentage: Home runs: Singles: Homers Strike outs Walks issued: Unearned runs Double Plays: Stolen bases allowed: Opponents’ stolen base percentage: Wild pitches/passed balls:
Hall of Fame voter Jay Dunn has written baseball for The Trentonian for 49 years. Contact him at jaydunn8 @aol.com