It's The End of the World As We Know It

REM, of course...

Tonight is a tough night for me. Sadly, the New York Yankees finished their season during the ALDS, which is a series or two short from the expectations of Yankees fans. (Sidebar: luckily, I taped Game 4 (a Yankee victory) for when Jacob is demanding that we watch baseball. He loves watching baseball so much, I can't break his heart to tell him that baseball season ever ends.) What happened tonight was a microcosm of the entire ALDS: the heart of the order simply did not produce much fruit.

Alex Rodriguez is supposed to protect Robinson Cano, but he put up numbers that were an atrocity- even for A-Rod. He went 0-4, with 3 Ks tonight, leaving him with a paltry .111 AVG (2 for 18), 3 RBI with 6 Ks for the series. Hardly the number you expect for a man with the highest salary in baseball. The numbers don't do his performance any justice. He did not look comfortable at the plate for most of the series. He simply looked confused did not have any confidence swinging the bat. There were instances where Tigers pitching made him look downright foolish. Mark Teixiera and Nick Swisher didn't offer much more for the Yankees either. Teixiera .166/1 RBI/5 Ks and Swisher .211/2 RBI and 5 Ks for the series. These 3 men left enough men on base to make the Weather Girls blush (queue the song, "It's Raining Men?") The heart of a lineup cannot perform like this if you expect to progress in the postseason.

CC Sabathia did not pitch well either. His Game 3 performance was less than spectacular, and he also gave up a run in relief tonight. Considering that he is not used to coming out of the bullpen, he kept it close enough for one of the Yankee hitters to pick him up tonight.

Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson both had a stellar postseason. Cano was amazing at the plate hitting .318 with 9 RBI while looking smooth as silk in picking it in the field defensively. Granderson produced offensively as well, but his defense proved to be the best of any player in the series. He stretched out to make an inning-ending catch that saved 3 runs in the 1st inning of Game 4 and another amazing diving catch to end the a later inning and saved 2 more runs. Without his leather in Game 4, A-Rod would not have had a chance to kill the Yankees in Game 5.

The brightest spot for the Yankees in this series must be the emergence of Brett Gardner. Gardner (in the 9th spot) had a .428 AVG and accounted for 8 runs (5 RBI and 3 runs scored). When he is on first, it isn't long until he ends up stealing 2nd and has his eyes on 3rd. Gardner is looking like the player I wanted him to become- a speed demon that gives the Yankees an opportunity to manufacture runs instead of simply relying on the long ball.

Finally, I do have an issue with Joe Girardi's decision-making tonight: not one pinch-hitter the entire evening. Russell Martin did not have great ABs tonight, why not throw Jesus Montero a bone? Girardi also had Andruw Jones on the pine who could have taken swings for Swisher. As poorly as A-Rod was swinging the bat tonight (much less the entire series), was there an opportunity to pinch-hit for him? ThereI realize that the NY sports writers would have likely had a field day with it, but I would have like to seen Eric Chavez with an opportunity at the plate. What's the worst that could happen: Chavez to make the final out of the season instead of A-Rod? That would have made it easier for A-Rod over the next few days, Instead, the season ended the same way it did last year: with A-Rod striking out swinging and a bunch of question marks heading into the offseason.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman has a lot of work to do this offseason. The Yankees will likely lose Jorge Posada, and they will be looking for starting pitching once again. Who really thinks that Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia will have a repeat of this season's success nest year? Finally, CC Sabathia is likely to opt-out of his contract with the Yankees next year. That will be a huge blow to the AL East Champion Yankees' chances of repeating and progressing further in the postseason if he is not re-signed. It figures to be a tumultuous time in New York over the next few days as the ire of fans turns to the anticipation of the Hot Stove of MLB Free Agency.

Vacation

The original girls of rock, The Go-Go's provide the classic title to this post.

Last week, the Tennessee sect of the Rogerson Family made their annual pilgrimage to the land of my fathers, Virginia. We decided to drive through North Carolina in order to stop in Kill Devil Hills to first visit my sister in her new home.

North Carolina treated us quite well- the days were long, hot and enjoyable. The ocean was not so accommodating. I had been waiting since I was pulled out to the water to go to the hospital regarding Jennifer's abdominal pains to make a return to the ocean to surf. For the last 12 months, I had been waiting for the moment I could take a longboard into the ocean and ride the waves. As I gazed upon the coast, there was something lacking- waves. It was as flat as the Florida Gulf Coast. My heart was completely ripped out of my chest and rested alongside the locker of Davy Jones. Every day was more of the same. I would have no surfing this trip either.

The best source of fun in North Carolina came by way of my sister's boyfriend, David. We decided to spend the evening on the beach hunting ghost crabs. I was the spotter, Michelle held the bucket, David was the catcher and Gabriel was leading the charge to get that next crab. Once I spotted the crab with the flashlight, David would take off like Michelle's border collie in a crab frenzy. He would pounce on the crab like a cat, locate and close the claws, and toss them into the bucket.

We caught several little crabs early as the daylight waned. As the night progressed we were catching numerous crabs with ease. David had continued to try to get Gabriel to pick up the crab himself, telling him that they wouldn't hurt him. After several attempts, he simply could not bring himself to do it. Just as Gabe backed down, the crab clamped down on David's thumb and he wimpered like a school girl. It was the funniest moment of the trip by far. David didn't think it was as funny, but he was able to laugh about it after a few moments.


Once we made it to Virginia, we were able to visit with cousins and newphews, enjoy the waterpark nearby, and eat at some of my favorite locations. The best moment came when Gabriel, Dad & I went to a Norfolk Tides game- one of Gabriel's vacation priorities. It was 50 cent hotdogs, drinks, and popcorn at the ball park. Our seats were about 8 rows behind home plate- behind the protective screen. We ordered a ridiculous amount of food and drink on the cheap and watched the Tides boat race the Iron Pigs. During the top of the 9th inning, a foul ball went staight back behind us and hit the luxury suite wall. As it returned to earth, I noticed the ball was coming right toward me. I didn't even have to move my feet: It was on a collision course with my head. I raised my hands in the air and caught the ball as if I was an outfielder catching the final out of a game. I looked toward Dad and Gabriel to celebrate and hand the ball to my son, in a moment of pride. Gabe was not there. As I look down, I noticed Gabriel in a ball under the our seats! Dad and I finally coax him out and as I place the ball in his hands, the fans cheer as he lifts it triumphantly in the air. Best moment of the vacation, no question.

We had a great time and both North Carolina and Virginia treated us well. Can't wait to get back soon. Hopefully, next year the ocean will be more forthcoming of its bounty. We may not plan a vacation next year. We'll just come with the waves are 4-5 feet. Mayble we should plan using a Farmers' Almanac...

This Used To Be My Playground

Madonna's hit single is quite appropriate for this blog post...

For the past couple of weeks, Gabe and I have been going out in the backyard to practice hitting baseballs while there is still a bit of daylight left. He is turning into such a good hitter that he has now hit two balls over the rightfield fence (into my neighbor's backyard and more recently one over the leftfield fence (into the empty lot behind us). He is also starting to try to hit the ball from the right side of the plate and looks pretty good doing so. Baseball season is still 6 months away, but we are trying to retain the skills we developed last year.

On Saturday, the weather in Murfreesboro was beautiful. Bright and sunny, there was a soft breeze and the sun was warm on the skin. Gabe and I decided that we would go practice at a baseball field to practice hitting, fielding and catching. We had all of our gear in the car and headed to the ball field close to the house. Unfortunately, they have put a chain link fence around the entire premises and used padlocks to keep people off the field. We went to several other fields and found ourselves on the outside looking in on each field that we saw. We finally gave up on our search and played in a field beside 8 locked ball fields.

When I was a kid, this was not an issue. Most of the time, I would play baseball with several others in the middle of the street by bouncing a tennis ball in lieu of a pitcher. The tennis ball wouldn't break windows, so it was always the safe play. Yet there were still many occasions where the kids in the neighborhood would go to the park and play baseball after breakfast only to return as required by the streetlights, which was the third parent that told a child to get home on a summer evening.

What a disheartening world we live in for children today. Children have less time during a school day to play, exercise, and have fun in PE because we are pushing more academics. Most parents will no longer allow their children to play out of sight like generations past. Moreover, kids no longer play in sports in front of the house like we did either. Most children don't even have a playground in their own neighborhood because the developer's greed requires them to build 4 more houses built to maximize their profits. Other locations that have baseball fields are so afraid that a child will be hurt and a lawsuit will be filed for negligence.

I felt so horrible that Gabriel and I could not find a baseball field to play in this weekend. It is very unfortuntate that we cannot find a suitable place to practice ground balls on the infield dirt. Heck- I would have been happy finding a backstop in the middle of a field so that we would have to chase all of the passed balls that missed Gabe's bat. The children of our current generation have so many things that we did not have: electronic gadgets, video games, and portable DVD players. They don't have the things that help boys grow into men: open spaces to ride bikes and most improtantly, baseball fields.

Baseball fields are where boys learn the most important things to become men. Boys learn how to practice and play hard even if they get bumps and bruises along the way. They learn responsibility for their actions. They learn how to communicate with teammates and play as a member of a team. They learn victory is a reward worth all the time practicing. They learn that as long as they perform their best, they can be proud of their effort in defeat. They learn that each boy wins and loses as a team, not by the actions or faults of a single individual.

I guess for now, Gabe and I will have to continue playing baseball in our back yard. At least I'll know that he is learning the rules of manhood that schools don't have time to teach and our communities are not offering to our children.

Gabriel and Baseball

With the daffodils making their first appearance this year, it is also time for us to talk to Gabriel about playing sports this spring. Once again, Gabriel has chosen to play baseball instead of that wretched sport that does nothing but inhibit hand-eye coordination (known as soccer). Fortunately, it was an easy sell this year! Baseball laid a beat-down to that other crappy activity. It really wasn't a fair fight- that other crappy activity didn't stand a chance! Initially Gabriel said he wanted to play baseball because, "Dad loves baseball." While I did not disagree with his logic, I did want him to formulate a better reason for his motives. I left the room to allow for Jen to discuss the matter with him in an unbiased forum. After about 3 minutes, he came out and told me that he wanted to play baseball because it was fun and he like to hit the ball and run the bases. I was happy with his reasoning wither way, but better his mother to hear the newest reason for his intent to play rather than his initial logic.

This year, we moved Gabriel from the kids' league that doesn't compete to a league that does promote competition, keeps score, tallies winners and losers and builds self-esteem and rewards hard work and practice. We went to signups and talked to one of the administers of the league. He advised us that the birthday cut-off was April 30. That means Gabriel will be playing as a 6-year-old for most of the year in a 5-year-old division. As big as he is right now (50 inches tall, 68 pounds), he is going to be an absolute monster in this league. Recognizing this, the administrator asked if we have a copy of his birth certificate. Immediately, it dawned on me that this would be something that I would probably want to carry with me every Saturday in case some crazy parent challenges his age in the league. I advised the admin that I would carry it with me in his baseball bag from that point on.

Both the 5 & 6-year-old leagues are T-Ball, something that Gabriel is not accustomed to any longer. He has been able to hit pitches tossed from about 20 feet since he was 4. Going back to a tee is not something I am terribly happy about, but that won't stop me from tossing him a few while in the backyard away from practice....