Watching Major League Baseball games this year has been interesting to baseball purists as individual and team batting averages continue to decline with only four National Leaguers hitting over .300 and just two in the American League! As a matter of fact only fifty players are hitting over .250. It used to be that if you weren’t hitting at least .250 you worried about your job security for the following season!
A few reasons for the lowered averages as explained by the “so-called” experts:
—Pitching dominance with more pitchers throwing around and over 100 mph. Also advanced analytics with high spin rates and batter tendencies that make pitches harder to square up (hard to do with a round ball and a round bat!).
—Relief pitching with batters facing fresh, hard-throwing relievers instead of seeing a tired starting pitcher for a third or fourth time.
—Hitting philosophy and strategy with launch angles that optimize swings for home runs and extra-base hits rather than simple contact. Batting average is no longer as valued as teams focus more on OPS (On-base Plus Slugging).
—Finally, striking out is no longer viewed as a major negative if it comes with power or a walk.
As an example of the latter, Wednesday night’s game between Cleveland and Cincinnati saw sixteen (16!) Reds walk back to the bench with bats in hand. In comparison, one of the greatest games in World Series history was the seventh game of the 1960 Fall Classic as Pittsburgh’s Bill Mazeroski hit a lead-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Yankees 10-9. What was especially impressive is that while 19 runs were scored and 24 hits were recorded across 77 total batter plate appearances there was not a single strikeout by either team!! Great friend and former Greenville head football coach Randy Reed provided this information while we were visiting the Reeds in northeast Ohio this weekend. Always a walking book of baseball and sports trivia Randy is one of the most knowledgeable fans you’ll come across!
Staying with baseball, here’s today’s trivia question—how many present major league stadiums feature bullpens that are located in the field of play?
High school football squads had their first day of official practice Saturday. The regular season schedule begins August 21st (a few games will be played on the 20th) and concludes with the state championship games in Canton the weekend of December 4th and 5th, the playoffs beginning October 30th.
Locally, there are a few head coaching changes, with former Versailles coach Ryan Jones taking over at Troy, to be replaced by Versailles Athletic Director Scott Broerman. Meanwhile in the WOAC, Chris Goodwin takes charge at Bradford while Ricky St. Augustine assumes the reins at National Trail.
In the Big Ten there are four new head honchos this fall, veterans who have combined for over 500 head coaching wins at different schools. Kyle Whittingham takes over a troubled program at Michigan after a long tenure at Utah; Matt Campbell, after successful stints at first Toledo and later Iowa State, will guide the Penn State Nittany Lions; Pat Fitzgerald assumes the head role at Michigan State after a strong seventeen-year run at his alma mater Northwestern came to a halt following hazing allegations a few years ago; and Bob Chesney ventures west to UCLA after a successful two-year run at James Madison. And who preceded Chesney at JMU? Curt Cignetti the head coach of those defending national champion Indiana Hoosiers!
One of my favorite potato chips is the Utz brand of products based in Hanover, Pennsylvania. From humble beginnings in 1921 when Bill and Salie Utz began making chips out of their home with an initial investment of $300 and with hand-operated equipment used at the time could produce about fifty pounds of chips per hour the Utz name has become well-known. Over the years, the company was passed down through family members with increased annual sales that amounted to over $100 million by the mid-‘90s.
In 2011, Utz began acquiring smaller companies and expanding throughout the country and overseas to such a point that last month the company was sold to German snack manufacturer Intersnack for a cool $2.6 billion!
Kettle Chips and regular chips of all flavors and varieties are available, with a few of my favorites being the Sweet Maui BBQ, Heluva Good French Onion, and Salt and Vinegar, among many others. If you haven’t tried Utz you don’t know what you’re missing!
On-field bullpens located directly in foul territory are nearly extinct in MLB, with Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays, the only such stadium. The last two prior to this year were the Oakland Coliseum until the Athletics’ departure and, of course, Wrigley Field in Chicago until 2017.
Less than three weeks to the start of the Great Darke County Fair! Where did the summer go?
