Today my soon-to-be four-year old told me: "Baseball is boring."
I have to admit that I'm beaming at pride with the intelligence of the boy. After all, he's only ever attended one Major League game (Phillies vs. Rockies at Coors Field in July of 2005), he has never seen a Grapefruit League game and hasn't had to watch a team grind the season to a close when its 10 games out in Septmeber. So in that regard he seems to be ahead of the curve. Baseball's potential blandness is evident in his unwired brain.
His dad, on the other hand, hasn't yet figured it out. After trying to sell the kid on watching the ballgames from Cincinnati in a frozen moment in time that would surely look just like something Norman Rockwell would conjure on a canvas[1], I gave up. If the kid believed Buzz Lightyear and piles of Legos were more interesting than the Phillies vs. Reds, I wasn't going to argue. It was a lose-lose situation all around and forcing matters would only make it worse, I reasoned. Besides, I have to choose my battles wisely. Let the kid watch Buzz and play with Legos...
So off I went to find another TV to catch a few innings before we rolled down to the Baltimore touristy spots for another Rockwell moment.
"Baseball is boring," the kid taunted as I trudged upstairs to sit in front of the TV by myself.
Clearly the kid didn't get to watch Brett Myers face the Reds on Sunday. There was nothing boring about that particular outing. Are fireworks displays boring? How about watching a chimpanzee attempt to button up an Oxford shirt? Even though the monkey doesn't have opposable thumbs, nor does he look all that stylish in a button-down shirt (though that Lancelot Link was pretty smooth), you still sit there watching with the belief that he'll figure it out.
No such luck.
Against the Reds for a couple of innings Myers' lead shoulder seemed to fly open like a screen door on a windy day every time he threw his fastball. But when he threw his breaking pitches Myers' delivery was more efficient and precise. Look, the only thing I ever really knew about pitching in baseball is that I had no shot at hitting it. Besides, I was just a guy who was about to load up the family truckster and drive an hour to the so-called "Charm City" in order to stare at some fish like a slack-jawed yokel. But I know what I saw in the second inning of the Reds-Phillies game on Sunday.
And if I saw it, what did the Reds see?
Anyway, Myers' line (5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 HR) wasn't too good, though he says his stuff was improved from his first outing of the season. In that one, Myers also lasted just five innings and gave up four runs. He didn't give up any homers, but said his fastball and curve were, "crap." Yet despite Myers' thoughts that his fastball was located better in his second outing than during the Opening Day loss, skipper Charlie Manuel wasn't so sure.
As the manager told the scribes in Cincy:
"I'm sure he wants to pitch the best he possibly can, but in his last two outings, I've seen him have much better stuff, let's put it like that. I've seen better velocity on his fastball. He was throwing breaking balls, splits, a change-up every now and then, mixing his fastball in, but he didn't have the velocity or the command on his fastball that he usually has."
Needless to say, it won't be boring to see how Myers pitches during his next outing on Friday night against the Cubs.
It also won't be boring to watch the Phillies and Mets go at it for three games at Shea starting tomorrow.
Other observations:
- Pat Burrell (3 HR, 9 RBI, .435 BA) is off to a nice start.
- The Phillies have not had a winning record in April since beating the Mets on April 18, 2005 to improve to 7-6.
- It was fascinating to listen to Gary Matthews and Tom McCarthy talk about Cincinnati's The Freedom Center and the regions' role in the Underground Railroad during Saturday afternoon's broadcast. It wasn't quite like eavesdropping on a conversation between National Parks guides who were talking shop, but it was damn close.
- Less fascinating was Harry Kalas' insistence on calling the Reds' Norris Hopper, "Dennis Hopper."But, truth be told, Dennis Hopper would be a fun addition to a Major League Baseball club. Actually, Hopper's Frank Booth from Blue Velvet, would blend right in to any clubhouse.
- Speaking of Dennis Hopper and apropos of nothing, a few years ago I had a dream that the Phillies fired then manager Larry Bowa and replaced him with Larry David. A few of the players that I told this to said it would have been a good move.
- Last year's top draft pick Joe Savery made his debut for Single-A Clearwater last Thursday and it went fairly well. The lefty allowed just three hits and no runs in five innings with seven strikeouts. However, he did walk five.
- The final home opener at Shea Stadium is tomorrow.
[1] I've said it before and I'll say it again: the old David Letterman bit on the "lost" Rockwell paintings always kills me - "Turn Your Head and Cough." It never gets old.