Happy Opening Day, baseball fans!
Here’s Aaron Judge hitting the very first home run of the 2023 season!
I’m watching the Rangers and the Phillies right now. At the end of the second inning, the Rangers are down by two runs. I think we can still come back though. It’s never over until the last out!
I’m so excited that baseball’s back!
The 2020 regular season of Major League Baseball is going to start on July 22nd and it’s going to last until September 27th. The teams will play 60 games and the World Series will be held in October. It’s an abbreviated season but there was no way to avoid that. I’m just happy that there will at least be some games played this year.
Of course, as excited and happy as I am, I can’t deny that baseball almost always breaks my heart. Just a few years ago, I was so excited when a Texas team finally won the World Series. Later, we all found out that the Astros won because they cheated, which will forever taint both the legacy of the team and the MLB. It breaks my heart to say it but, as far as I’m concerned, no Texas team has yet to legitimately win the World Series.
And then there’s the Rangers. I’m a Rangers fan. I love the Rangers. I was so excited the two times that they made it to the World Series and I’ve never gotten over their loss to the Cardinals. (Their loss to the Giants I can accept because the Giants were a great team and they earned their wins. The Cardinals, on the other hand…) Ever since 2012, though, the Rangers have always broken my heart. It’s been a while since we’ve had a great Rangers season. At the start of every season, though, I say, “This is our season!” And no matter how badly things end, I always say, “Next season, we’re going all the way!”
I guess that’s why I love Major League.
Major League is the ultimate underdog baseball movie. It’s a film about a fictional version of the Cleveland Indians. Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton), the new owner of the Indians, wants to move the team to Miami but to do that, she’s going to need to have the worst season ever, one where the team plays so badly and breaks so many hearts that even the most loyal fans stop coming to the games. It shouldn’t be too hard since the Indians have’t even won a pennant in over 30 years. But to make sure that it happens and that the team only wins 15 games over the entire season, Phelps recruits the worst players she can find.
The team that she puts together is made up of has-beens and never-weres. Some of them have raw talent but none of them know how to play as a team. Ex-con Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) has a killer fastball but is so near-sighted that he’s a danger whenever he steps on the mound. Catcher Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) is a veteran team leader but his knees are so bad that he can barely walk. Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes) is fast but can’t hit worth a damn. Pedro Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert) can hit home runs but only if the pitcher throws him a fastball. Just as Rachel expected, the team struggles at first. Even when they start to show signs of improvement, she cut back on their budget and sells their equipment, all to try to make winning impossible. It’s only when their manager, ex-drywall salesman Lou Brown (James Gammon), tells them that Rachel wants them to lose that the team comes together and starts to win.
Everything that’s great about baseball can be found in Major League. I love all the scenes with the fans slowly coming around to believing that maybe the Indians actually could win it all. I’ve been through that so many times with the Rangers that I know exactly how they all felt. I love the interactions between all the players on the team, from the new players eager to win to the veterans who just want to survive another season. I love the scenes with the play-by-play announcer (Bob Uecker) trying to put a good spin on the way the team plays. (All together: “Just a bit outside!”) And mostly, I love that the film treats the game and its players with the respect that they deserve. So many other films would have turned a character like born-again pitcher Eddie Harris (Chelcie Ross) into a punchline. Instead, in Major League, he gets a standing ovation after he pitches his last game. The best thing about Major League is that it loves baseball, both the games and the players.
Since Major League was a success at the box office, it was eventually followed by a sequel, Major League II.
Major League II picks up the season after the first movie ended and it tells the exact same story as the first film, just not as well. Almost everyone from the first film is back (though Omar Epps takes over the role of Willie Mays Hayes from Wesley Snipes) but the charm and the chemistry from the first movie just aren’t there. The players have to set aside their egos and learn how to play like a team all over again. The main difference between the two movies is that it takes a lot longer for the Indians to start winning in the sequel than in the first film. Plus, the sequel just isn’t as funny.
Even if the sequel is a let down, the first Major League is still one of the best baseball movies ever made. If the Indians could win the pennant in Major League, maybe there’s hope for my Rangers yet!
I miss baseball!
I know that the regular MLB season being delayed (or even — gasp! — cancelled) is hardly the worst thing that we have to deal with right now but I still really miss watching baseball! I miss the swing of the bat, the sounds of the stadium, and I even miss getting upset over the Rangers having a disappointing season. I’ve been dealing with my grief by watching old games and a lot of baseball movies. It’s not the same as getting to watch a real game but I guess it’s as good as things are going to get right now.
When the quarantine stated, one of the first baseball movies that I watched was The Rookie. Starring Dennis Quaid (who gives a really good performance), The Rookie is based on the true story of Jim Morris, a former minor league pitcher who retired from playing the game after injuring his arm and took a job coaching baseball for Reagan County High School in Big Lake, Texas. In 1999, Morris promised his players that if they managed to win the district championship, he would try out for a major league baseball team. When his team went on to win the championship, Morris honored his side of the bargain by trying out for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Even though no one expected Morris to make it onto the team, he was given a chance because it was felt that it would be good publicity. The 35 year-old Morris shocked everyone by throwing a 98 mph fastball. The team started Morris out in the minors and then, when the roster expanded in September, called him up to the majors. At an age when many other players were calling it quits, Morris made his major league debut at the Ballpark in Arlington and struck out Royce Clayton.
Though I’m sure it probably takes a lot of liberties with Morris’s story, I really like The Rookie. It’s a really sweet movie that was filmed on location in Texas. It’s one of my favorite baseball movies because it captures everything that I love about the game. It’s about more than just who wins or who struck who out. It’s about teamwork and healthy competition and fairplay. (Or, at least, that’s what baseball should be about. That’s one reason why the Astros cheating scandal hurts so much. For me, it’s not just that the first Texas team to win the World Series did so dishonestly. It’s that what they did goes against the spirit of baseball.) I liked that the movie is as much about Jim coaching his high school team as it was about him eventually getting to play a few games in the majors. The whole reason that Jim even tried out for the Devil Rays was to keep a promise to his high school team and, in a perfect world, that’s what baseball would be all about.
The Rookie is not just a baseball movie. It’s also a movie about never giving up on your dreams. Jim Morris may be happy coaching high school baseball but he’s never stopped thinking about how he once dreamed of playing in the major leagues. Even he’s surprised when he discovers that he’s still a good pitcher. (My favorite scene is him throwing a baseball at one of those radars that tells how fast you’re driving. He only thinks he’s throwing a 78 mph fastball and it’s only after he drives off that the full sign lights up and reveals that he was throwing 98 mph.) When Jim makes his major league debut, it’s real stand up and cheer moment.
Here’s hoping that we’ll all be back at the ballpark soon!
Today is the day that I look forward to every year. It’s the opening day of the 2018 MLB season! For nearly 150 years, baseball has been America’s pastime. Long before Andre Beltre and Mike Trout thrilled baseball fans with every swing of the bat, there were players like Hardy Richardson.
From 1875 until he retired in 1892, Hardy Richardson was one of the best players in major league baseball. He played for 14 seasons and for 6 different teams. When he was playing for Detroit, he led the team to victory in the 1887 World Series. He played every single position and his stats would make any player proud. Richardson appeared in 1,331 major league games, compiled a .299 batting average and .435 slugging percentage, and totaled 1,120 runs scored, 1,688 hits, 303 doubles, 126 triples, 70 home runs, 822 RBIs, and 377 bases on balls.
Richardson was also one of the first players known to have appeared on a baseball card. In 1887, if you bought a pack of Old Judge cigarettes, you could also get a baseball card celebrating the career of Hardy Richardson.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
It’s been over a hundred years since Hardy Richardson last swung a bat or stole a base but both his legacy and the legacy of everyone else who has ever played the game will continue today as the teams hit the field for the first time. Good luck to all the players on Opening Day!
GO RANGERS!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HOUSTON ASTROS, THE 2017 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!
It wasn’t always an easy journey. When the Astros made the switch from the National League to the American League, it was not always a smooth transition. But this season, the Astros have again and again proved themselves to be the best team in the American League.
And tonight, they are the best team in major league baseball.
It took them seven games to win. The Los Angeles Dodgers proved to be a tough and worthy opponent. Of all the World Series that I have watched, this has been one of the most exciting and unpredictable When the Astros lost Game 6 on Halloween, no one gave them much of chance to win Game 7. They were playing in Los Angeles and everyone said that the Dodgers couldn’t be beaten at home.
Tonight, the Astros did the same thing that they did during the regular season. They played good baseball and the proved the doubters wrong. Tonight, the Astros won their first World Series. For the first time, the World Series has been won by a team from Texas.
Just as people underestimated the Astros this year, people have also underestimated Houston. When Hurricane Harvey flooded the city, it was said that Houston and the people who lived there would never recover. Just like the Astros, both Houston and Texas are proving the doubters wrong.
Congratulations to the Houston Astros! Tonight, the Astros showed the world what it means to be Houston Strong!
Two years ago I celebrated the San Francisco Giants winning the team’s first World Series title since they moved to San Francisco from New York. Tonight they do it once again and it is a fine time to be a sports fan in the Bay Area. Looking like a mini-dynasty in the making I’m so very proud of this team and solidifies why my first sports love will always remain baseball and the Giants as the top sports team in my heart and soul.
So, congratulations to Sergio Romo for shutting down the feared Detroit Tigers line-up and for sporting one awesome beard. Congratulations to our city’s own Kung Fu Panda in Pablo Sandoval. No one’s talking and complaining about his weight problem now. He has achieved his inner peace and let this Dragon Warrior do what he’s good at even if it means eating and eating. Congratulations to Buster Posey who now has two World Series title under his belt and barely two full seasons of work as a major league baseball player. He’s the cornerstone of what looks like the team of the NL for years to come. Finally congratulations to Bruce Bochy. Let no one ever dispute whether he’s a Hall of Fame manager or belongs in the company of baseball’s great managers past and present.
Finally, congratulations to the rest of the San Francisco Giants, it’s fans, the City that has supported it and the rest of the Bay Area all the way down to San Jose who have supported the champs through thick and thin. Now let the celebration begin and let the parade of Champions start on Halloween.
Through the Shattered Lens 