What a great spring!

Some fans didn’t care for the World Baseball Classic, but I loved it.  It was delightful to see a ballpark filled with oriental characters.  Baseball and cherry blossoms are suited for one another.  Moreover, the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Taiwanese play the game the way I like to see it played.  I am a huge fan of small ball.  It is the minutiae of the game which holds my attention. 

Those who think baseball is boring simply don’t understand the game.  A skilled batter is not simply attempting to hit the pitch.  He is attempting to hit the pitch with purpose.  Sometimes the intent is to hit into the gap, or behind a runner.  Occasionally the purpose is to wear the pitcher down. At other times the purpose is to probe weaknesses in the defense, or to discover what the pitcher will throw in a particular situation for future reference.  Often an at bat has multiple purposes, and varies depending on how the at bat unfolds, which is obviously dependent on what the pitcher, who also has his objectives, throws. 

Like the batter, the pitcher may be setting up his opponent for a future encounter.  I read once how Greg Maddux gave up a home run in a game which was out of reach simply to set up the batter for a situation down the road where the game was still in contest and he could do the unexpected.  Pitchers are sometimes tuning their control, finding out which pitches work for them.

So both the pitcher and the batter are pursuing subtle objectives with each at bat.  At no time is this more true than during spring training.  A pitcher might throw a dozen curve balls in a row, simply to work on his curve ball.  Competition is put aside for the sheer mechanics of the game.  And thanks to MLB, which has embraced the possibilities of the Internet better than any other sport in my humble opinion, everyone can now immerse themselves in the minutiae of the game that is the spring training experience.  –amn