Corked Bats

I have an idea to eradicate the corked bats that might be in use in today’s MLB. First of all, let me say that I don’t think it is a huge problem in baseball, but if my plan is implemented, I don’t think anyone would be stupid enough to try cheating again. The last 2 episodes that come to mind are Sammy ‘Steroids’ Sosa, and Albert ‘Bogus’ Belle.
There should be a small container attached to the foul ground area behind home plate. Any time a bat is broken, which all baseball fans know happens multiple times a game, it should be placed in the container with a label on it. The labels should have the player’s number or name placed on it and be available before the game so as not to slow down the game while the umpire has to write it down.
After the game, the bats could be sawed down the barrel to see if there is any cork in it. Not only does this catch the cheaters after the fact, but it also prevents player’s from trying to cheat in the first place. If caught, I believe a 10 game suspension should apply. Let me know what you think.

Safari Before You Die!

I have been blessed with the opportunity to have been on a safari when I was 16 years old. I was on a trip to Kitale, Kenya to see my parents’ good friends LeRoy and Judy Curtis who were missionaries there. Part of the the trip included a small plane ride with much turbulence to Masai Mara. We arrived on a small strip of dirt lined with locals selling souvenirs to tourists. When I say locals, I mean a small group of tribesmen and women. We were in a very remote area. I had no idea what to expect. We made our way to our lodge, which was incredibly classy. We were truly at a resort. I later saw this very same place on the reality show Survivor as a reward for Big Tom and tatooed Ethan.
Once we put our luggage in our glorified tents, my Dad and companions joined me for a tour of the surrounding area. Not more than 20 yards away there was a muddy river full of sun basking hippos. There had to be 20 adults and 15 young “water horses.” As we watched them play, several monkeys climbed down trees to observe us; they were within 5 feet of us. At this point I realized we were truly on an expedition.
We stayed 3 days and 2 nights at this wonderful location. The first night we arrived we dined under a large tent in the middle of nowhere. I saw more stars there than you can possibly imagine. The food for the entire stay was quite tasty for a carnivore like me. Before bedtime we played a card game of hearts where LeRoy taught me the best technique for shooting the moon. Off to sleep anticipating an early rise to see the animals.
Loaded up in 2 jeeps, our tour guide was equipped with a rifle in case of ornery lions and wildebeast. I will never forget the fantastic scene I saw as we turned the corner around some brush. It was more awe-inspiring than anything shown on National Geographic. There were animals of all shapes and sizes as far as the eye can see. My epiphany was that if you saw this magnificent field of nature and don’t believe in God, then you never will.
Our good friend David Miller recorded it all on his state of the art video camera. We saw warthogs, zebras, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, antelope, monkeys, rhinos, lion packs and wildebeast herds, which are considered the most dangerous animal among tribesmen there. When we arrived at the rhino pack we were invited by the tour guide to step out of the jeep to walk closer. My dad got extremely bold and walked within 15 yards of them! I don’t know what he was thinking!
All in all, it was one of the best few days of my life, and my plea to you is: go on an African safari whenever you have the money to spare. It is one of the most unique and wonderful things you can do in your entire life!

How To Fix Baseball: Interleague Play

All true fans of baseball have at least a few aspects of the game they would like to change. I have several. First of all, I love interleague play. There needs to be more of it. Traditionalists will argue that NL and AL teams shouldn’t play each other until the World Series, but that is an antiquated system that will hopefully never be revisited. The majority of fans prefer to see every team and every player each year; this can be proved by looking at attendance since the recent inception of interleague play. There is a noticeable spike in turnout at the gate when AL teams visit NL cities and vice versa. Personally, I would love to watch my home team, the Atlanta Braves, play, for example, superstar Josh Hamilton and his squad the Texas Rangers every year. Unfortunately, under the current system I will only get this opportunity as often as Haley’s Comet comes around! MLB needs to take a page out of the NBA’s book. In the NBA, Eastern Conference teams play Western Conference foes twice a year: one at home and one on the road. They play their own conference 4 times per regular season. This way fans can show up to see their favorite superstars play at least once a year and still have a weighted system to make sure the best teams make it to the playoffs.
So, here is my plan. I would have the Braves play every AL team one 3 game series every season taking turns at home field advantage. This would make sure you can watch in person every other year or at least watch it on TV every single season. Next, I would have teams battle their division rivals 12 times per year in four 3 game series. Having extra games against division enemies makes for an exciting race down the final stretch. The other franchises in the same league but not same division would battle it out in two 3 game series. At the present time there are 16 teams in the NL and 14 in the AL; this presents a scheduling problem for my plan. However, I have it all figured out. To start, one of the 6 NL Central teams should be moved to the 4 team AL West. This way every division has 5 teams. Not only does this solve the schedule snafu, it also levels the playing field for teams in those 2 aforementioned divisions to make the playoffs. With an odd number of teams in each league, there would be at least one interleague matchup at all times. I believe the TV networks that cover MLB would enjoy this opportunity for better ratings, and it would probably make more revenue for MLB. So let us tally up how many games this leaves us with: The Braves would play a total of 45 games versus the AL. They would play the 4 other NL East teams a total of 48 games and non division same league teams a total of 60 games. This gives us a grand total of 153 games, short of the current 162 game schedule. I, for one, believe that is plenty long enough a season to decide who makes the playoffs. With this strictly 3 game series format, teams would only have to play 6 games a week every week. There are so many nagging injuries for baseball players that I think 1 day off a week would be good for the game. The day off should be a Thursday or Monday as it currently set up, however, sometimes teams are now playing 4 game series and 7 day weeks. So, that is my plan for making the schedule more fan friendly. I also have thoughts on the DH, All-Star game, bad umpires, corked bats, instant replay and steroids. More to come from this die hard fan. If you have any comments, questions or snide remarks I would love to hear from you. I can be reached at jbred30605@yahoo.com

John Baldwin