Here's how it works: The savvy shortstop who dekes a runner into confusion on a hit-and-run play, looking skyward for an imaginary popup at the crack of the bat and creating just enough doubt to prevent the runner from getting to third base on a sharp single to right field, is Good For Ball. Said runner falling for this gorgeously subtle and simple ploy, however, is Bad For Ball. In failing to "peek" into the plate after breaking for second to make sure the ball's been put in play, he's broken one of baseball's strategic cardinal rules, so he deserves to be embarrassed.
It works outside of sports, too. That Britney Spears, who performed a five-song set Tuesday at the San Diego House of Blues, appears to have gotten her life together via rehab is Good For Ball. In that sense, she's the entertainment industry's version of Josh Hamilton.
This likely means we'll soon be subjected to a teary Barbara Walters special on the former Mrs. Federline, however, and it'll almost assuredly be timed in conjunction with the release of a new album. That's Bad For Ball. Hamilton is a five-tool talent. Bless her heart, Britney's still pretty much just a tool.
It's simple, really. Everything in baseball and life can be labeled in one of two ways: Good For Ball or Bad For Ball. With that in mind, let's take a spin around this great -- and sometimes not-so-great -- game of ours and break it all down.
Break up the Brew Crew The Brewers haven't had a winning season since 1992, and it's been 25 years since their last trip to the playoffs. But after winning nine of 11 games through Wednesday, the Brew Crew had the best record and biggest division lead in the game.
How the heck did that happen? Well, having a healthy Ben Sheets certainly has helped. When he's on, his curveball is one of the best in baseball, and he's that rare guy who makes a team feel like it's going to win every time he straddles the slab.
But Sheets works once every five days. It takes a cast of productive regulars to do what Uncle Bud's old team is doing, and the nucleus of terrific young talent -- shortstop J.J. Hardy, second baseman Rickie Weeks and first baseman Prince Fielder -- is complemented by the underrated Bill Hall, a resurgent Geoff Jenkins and the steady hand of manager Ned Yost.
Only time will tell if Jeff Suppan and the rest of the rotation have enough to help a surprisingly stable bullpen of relative unknowns hold off what looks like the National League's most top-to-bottom competitive division. But when Kevin Mench is batting north of .330 this deep into the year, it just might signal the end of a too-long drought. Good For Ball.
Joe must not go Yankees manager Joe Torre hasn't missed any games due to injury, he hasn't made any errors and he hasn't given up any walk-off home runs to .050-hitting utilitymen. Yet less than a month into the season, he had to endure yet another wave of stories about job security.
Six Yankees pitchers were on the disabled list early, including starters Chien-Ming Wang, Moose Mussina and Carl Pavano, and the top pitching prospect in the American League, Phil Hughes, pulled a hammy while working on a no-no just this week. All-World shortstop Derek Jeter, who hasn't made more than 15 errors in a season this decade, had a six-pack of boots in April. And All-Universe closer Mariano Rivera didn't get his first save of the year until the final weekend of the month.
That's Torre's fault? Ridiculous. Yet the notoriously knee-jerk New York press has suggested as much.
Perhaps Torre's a victim of his own demeanor in this case. It truly seems as though he's unaffected by anything thrown his way, and that might lead some to believe that he's lost his fire.
But there was a time when that quality was cited as one of the reasons for his success, and it still should be. Everyone needs to relax and get off the man. If the Yankees were healthy, they'd be right there with the Red Sox.
Bad journalism, Bad For Ball.
Big, bad Beckett Speaking of the Red Sox and Yankees, remember when Josh Beckett burst onto the national scene with his World Series-clinching gem for the Marlins at Yankee Stadium?
You probably do, but the memory has certainly faded. Now it should be coming back into focus, because the Beckett who's breaking bats for the Red Sox these days looks a lot like that brash young fireballer who shut down the Bronx Bombers to close out the Fall Classic way back when.
For a variety of reasons, we haven't really seen that Beckett for quite some time. Injuries, and perhaps a little arrogance, seemed to rob Beckett of the dominance that once prompted comparisons to fellow Texas-bred aces Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens.
But now that Beckett is back, and with a few years of maturity under his belt, not to mention a little less weight, he looks better than ever. So the comparisons are back, too, and with them is a restored luster on what not very long ago looked like a rusty Red Sox team.
Gyro-balls and splitters and finesse are all very nice, but baseball needs pure power pitchers, too. You might not like Beckett or Boston, but you have to admit that their return to prominence is Good For Ball.
Stick to what you know This isn't the best time in the world to assail anything Cardinals, since the team has all of the baseball world's sympathy in the wake of a second tragic blow in six seasons, but what Tony La Russa did last week before the tragedy can't go unchecked.
After a St. Louis columnist wrote a column that detailed his theories as to why the Cubs will never again be world champions, La Russa, in a show of support for Cubs manager Lou Piniella, took it upon himself to stage a one-man media boycott against all Cardinals writers, calling the column "uncalled-for."
Now, by most accounts, La Russa is a very bright man. And a good man, too. He saves animals and stuff. But there comes a time in many a man's life when his sense of import grows a tad large, and this was one such time for La Russa, who looked ready to go all Charlie Manuel on the columnist at a press conference, getting in the scribe's dish on his way out of the room.
Note to Tony the Tired: A column is a long-form opinion. It doesn't need to be called for. It's a product of our freedom of speech. Your silly little boycott was nothing but silly. It didn't accomplish anything, and it made you look petty. Bad For Ball.
Speed round Rockies first baseman Todd Helton flipping the ball with which rookie shortstop Troy Tulowitzki turned an unassisted triple play into the stands: Bad For Ball. Tunnel vision is great, Todd, but you need to grasp the moment from time to time. ... The sports-talk radio host who caught the ball giving it back to Tulowitzki: Good For Ball. See? They're not all self-righteous jerks. ... Giants lefty Barry Zito bouncing back from an 8.18 ERA in his first two games with four rock-solid starts: Good For Ball. But he's still not wearing No. 75 on his back. For now and forever, it's No. 126, as in $126 million. ... Johan Santana reportedly turning down a two-year, $36-million contract extension from the Twins: Bad For Ball. You can't blame him, really, because he'll get more than that as a free agent. But he is the Twins, is he not? ... Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee, back to beating up the NL: Good For Ball. That smile, that swing, that class -- one of the game's true role models. ... And finally, John Kruk's hair: unbelievably Bad For Ball. Just because it works for Eric Byrnes doesn't mean it works for everyone. Stick with the buzz-cut, JK.
-------------------- Bill Gates, Donald Trump and James Dean, Willie Nelson, John Lennon and Neil McCoy Posts: 1102 | From: Sometimes Honolulu, Sometimes Laguna Beach, today in the Valley | Registered: Aug 2006
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