Manny being Manny, Dodger fans – or a future vacancy?

Offseasons are difficult to weather for baseball addicts. Sports are a wonderful distraction amid the hustle, bustle, and hum drum of everyday life. Nothing soothes the baseball nut like baseball season. Fans know that Manny Ramirez has great skill and talent. But an off-the-cuff statement from the besmirched slugger could be bad news for Los Angeles Dodgers fans in 2011. It will mean extra cash for the franchise, however, which I’m sure owner Frank McCourt (not the “Angela’s Ashes” guy) can use after his nasty divorce.

“I won’t be here next year,” he told ESPN.

Is this for real, or is he experiencing gonadotrophin withdrawals? As reported by the sports network,

“I won’t be here next year, so I just want to enjoy myself. I don’t know [if I'll play next year]. I just know I’m not going to be here. When the season is over, I will see where I’m at.”

In 2011, he’ll be turning 39

That’s young in the real world, but when it comes to professional sports outside of golf and auto racing, it’s nearly time for the glue factory. 2010 will be the last season of Manny Ramirez’s two-year, $ 45 million contract. He’s coming off a difficult season that was interrupted by a 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy. He never did find his timing after that.

He might be turning into a DH

Mobility in the field is typically one of the first things to go for a baseball player, which commonly means a trip to first base or a one-way ticket to the American League to be a designated hitter. For his part, Manny Ramirez told the media “From the waist down, I feel 15. From the neck up, I feel 43. I feel good.” This begs the question of his midsection, although the use of pharmaceuticals may have him fixed up like the torso from “Re-Animator.” Did Lou Merloni see the same thing in the Red Sox clubhouse?

“I’m an employee here,” says Manny Ramirez

True, a baseball player is beholden to their organization, but much less so than in the days before the demise of the reserve clause and the start of free agency. Superstars make waves in sports, and in baseball it has everything to do with batting averages. Manny only hit .218 after September 1, so his future could be in doubt. Reed Johnson and Xavier Paul are there too, though neither of them are the offensive talent Manny was in previous seasons, or at least they aren’t yet.

Expect Manny Ramirez retirement talk by the end of the 2010 season. He may be running out of steam, and professional baseball takes a toll on people. He probably has some extra cash somewhere.

Before you can ever play your best game of baseball you need to be aware of the lingo used in the game.  Just as with other sports like volleyball and basketball there are certain baseball terms that players use to communicate with their coaches and teammates throughout the game.  These are the most commonly used terms in baseball and those you should be familiar with.  The first is the term ace, which you’re probably used to hearing in the professional games.

Ace is a term used to describe a team’s best starting pitcher, the pitcher which the coach typically puts in at the beginning of a game.  Backdoor slider is a pitch thrown that may appear to be going out of the strike zone but which can then break back over the plate.  This is a tricky pitch that can catch hitters off guard and cause them to strike out.  The term bing-bang play is commonly used when a fielder catches his ball with a glove and it lands near his waist or belt level.

Another critical baseball term is caught looking.  The term fungo is used to refer to a ball hit to a fielder during practice.  This is one of the most basic baseball drills in practice which helps to warm the players up and get them ready for a game.The term homer refers to a home run and in some cases you can tell it’s a homer before the ball has even gone to ground.

When a player hits a ball that goes so far it’s automatically a home run, the term homer is used.  The term pepper is used when a player bunts grounds to teammates who are standing about twenty feet away.  To pepper, one player stands and bunts grounds to teammates who should be standing about ten to twenty feet away.The common term that is used for left-handed pitchers is southpaw.

These are just some of the different baseball terms that are used.Once you know these terms you can start conversing in baseball lingo with your coach and team and feel much more a part of the game.  Every player needs to be able to communicate properly with their coaches and team members.These baseball terms will help you to get along with your teammates during the game and have your best game every time.

For more information about baseball and the Wilson Little League Baseballs please visit my website.

The 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame inductees will be announced shortly and the list of possible players that may well get themselves on that list is full of classy baseball men.  Still, the jury is still out on whether or not any of that quality is Hall of Fame valuable. 

Roberto Alomar seems to be getting the the majority of the media regarding who is significant on the list of 25 qualified players.  He is one of thirteen first instance ballot players being measured.  One of his strengths is the fact that he has big offensive numbers when compared to other mid infielders of his era, but there is no obvious reasoning whether or not those offensive numbers are superior enough to get him in Cooperstown. 

This year’s list is full of several of the most excellent gloves of the past decade, which isn’t weighed nearly as heavily as the figures at the plate. 

Several of those celebrated gloves include Alan Trammell, Don Mattingly, Edgar Martinez, Barry Larkin, Andres Galarraga, Roberto Alomar, RObin Ventura, Todd Zeile, and Ray Lankford.

There are also a handful of staff aces who will try to get in the Hall since they played for bad teams or in trivial markets.  Amongst those aces are Pat Hetgen, Kevin Appier, and Jack Morris.

Fan favorites also sprinkle the list, but that isn’t enough to win the approval of the baseball writers. Don Mattingly is possibly the darling player on the list, but his lack of great figures through his 13 years hurts his likelihood.  Although he had a significant run from 1985 to 1990, beyond that, his statistics dwindled due to back troubles. 

At any pace, the list of inductees will be fascinating.  Don’t imagine a lenghty list of men this year as the class across the board is not elevated enough to get numerous of the players on this list over the hump. 

Possibly this is at long last Bert Blyleven’s year.

On a brighter note, we’ll be discounting Every of the hall of fame inductees starting on January 7th, the day following the list is announced.  That’s correct, 50% off all new Hall of Fame inductees in our stock of half a million sports cards. 

For great deals on sports cards search our inventory of almost half a million cards.  We are a Beckett Top 100 online dealer and eBay Power Seller.  You can look through our vast inventory here: http://www.beckett.com/store/FESPORTS/