Sports

Old-style baseball died long time ago

Cougar Pause

Tom Carpenter

One of professional baseballis greatest remaining attractions is its distinct and colorful eras, each possessing its own trove of priceless treasures.

This era will be remembered for two gems: an embarrassment of home runs and the ridiculous parade of professional baseball players who charge the mound after a pitcher plunks them with a fastball.

In the latest episode of "The Revenge of the Hit Batsman," St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Tino Martinez charged the mound and attacked Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Miguel Batista after Martinez was forced out at second base on a fielder's choice. 

Give Martinez credit for originality. The timing of his charge against Batista was a bit peculiar, adding a new twist on hit batters charging the mound: the delayed charge.

Martinez was awarded first base before the incident when Batista smacked him with a fastball on a 1-0 count.

In what has become a monotonous ritual, Martinez made his way slowly down the first base line as he glared at Batista and mumbled vague threats. What drama, what anticipation.

Martinez was forced out at second on J.D. Drewis groundout and was trotting off the field before he suddenly made a right turn to attack Batista.

Whatis more ridiculous than bulked-up professional baseball players throwing a few ineffectual punches at the back-pedaling opposing pitcher as the teams pour onto the field in a laughable show of support for their teammates?

Iill tell you what is more ridiculous: The made-for-television scenes of steroid-enhanced professional athletes leaping on top of each other and committing acts that would get them arrested outside the base paths.

When the umpires finally break up the mob and regain control of the game, everyone spits tobacco juice and grabs their groins as play resumes.

Iim not picking on Martinez; Iim complaining about the ridiculous theatrics that has evolved from the age-old territorial challenge of home plate.

Another Cardinal, Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean, one of the original members of the Redbirdsi famous "Gas House Gang," would probably shake his head and laugh at the antics of the modern-era players.

Dean used to say that whizzing a buzz saw past a batteris ear was a pitcheris way of establishing who owned home plate. But then, ballplayers werenit worth millions of dollars a year in 1934, the year Dean went 30-7 and won the MVP.

When hitters stepped up to the plate back in Deanis era, shaving a hitteris chin with a fastball was a cheerful greeting. It was nothing personal, because 162 games offered splendid opportunities for base runners with slashing spikes to even the score.

Dean was somewhat of an authority on pitching and baseball in general.

He won four consecutive strikeout titles, led the National League in complete games for four consecutive seasons and won two games in the 1934 World Series when the Cardinals won the championship.

He died July 17, 1974, right around the time major league players began the steady procession of storming the mound after being hit with a "brush-back" pitch.

Iim not saying the evolution of the game killed Dean, but it is killing baseball.

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