Category: MLB

Injured Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts said Thursday he still doesn’t know when he’ll return to action.

"The doctors have got me on a great physical therapy program. We are working and making progress. Unfortunately, I just don’t have a final date right now," Roberts told the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network in an interview during the team’s pregame show.

"My back is feeling a lot better, but unfortunately, the disk injury and the nerve injury is something that they say will really just heal over time, and there’s really nothing that you can do to speed the process up."

Roberts strained his abdomen and aggravated a back injury on April 9. He has been on the disabled list since. There have been reports he could be out until midseason.

"Right now, we’re just trying to be patient, trying to work hard, trying to keep my body in shape enough that when the time is right, I’ll be ready to get back out there," Roberts said.

What to expect in the major leagues today:

Andre Ethier was one of the many Dodger thorns in the Rockies’ side last season.

Kick ’em when they’re down

The Rockies’ late-season surge in 2009 — what had been a six-game deficit on Sept. 26 was trimmed to a single game by Oct. 2. — earned them the wild card but not the NL West title, which went to the Dodgers. Things would have been different if the Rockies hadn’t gone 4-14 against the Dodgers last season, and that is why they would love to make a statement at Dodger Stadium this weekend. To do so, Colorado must find a way to contain Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier, who hit .349 with five homers and 18 RBIs in 17 games against it last season. Meanwhile, the Dodgers would like to continue their mastery of the Rockies and escape the NL West cellar.

Tamed Tigers

The Tigers brought a five-game winning streak to Target Field earlier this week and had a chance to claim sole ownership of first place in the AL Central. However, Detroit was swept out of Minnesota and must claw its way back toward the first-place Twins. Good news for the Tigers: They will open a three-game series at Cleveland tonight. Detroit is 3-0 against the last-place Indians this season, and Jeremy Bonderman, tonight’s starter, held Cleveland to one run in five innings for his only win of the season. Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera is 4-for-9 against Indians pitching this season and 12-for-22 in his past six games overall.

A’s want to be the Rays

The first-place A’s will welcome the first-place Rays this weekend, and Oakland would love to make a Tampa Bay-like run from worst to first this season. However, the A’s will have to pitch better than they did last week at Tropicana Field, where the Rays outscored them 18-9 in a two-game sweep. Oakland hitters struck out 21 times in that series.

Stan McNeal analyzes three hot topics in Major League Baseball:

Ken Griffey has struggled mightily at the plate this year.

STRIKE 1: Mariners have been offensive
Milton Bradley needs help to deal with emotional issues. His team needs help, too. And soon.

The Mariners entered the season as a media favorite following a 24-game turnaround in 2009 and after making big move after big move in the offseason. All of those moves were made with a focus on pitching and defense. Now the Mariners find themselves in desperate need of offense. They need a slugger, or their next big turnaround will be one in the wrong direction.

Seattle isn’t interested in dealing prospects, partly because it doesn’t have many. The team’s best chance is to trade for a highly paid thumper from a team going nowhere that is looking to cut its losses.

Paul Konerko would be a great choice, though the White Sox probably think they still can get in the AL Central race. Kansas City’s Jose Guillen is another option, though his ability to maintain his early production is no certainty. Same goes for the Orioles’ Ty Wigginton, whose salary is reasonable enough ($3.5 million) that he might cost too much in terms of prospects. That likely would be the case with the Marlins’ Dan Uggla also.

Obtaining the bat is the first challenge. The next would be even more difficult: What would the Mariners do with Ken Griffey? If MVP awards were given for clubhouse presence, Junior would be a shoo-in. But as a DH, he is hurting his team as much as Bradley.

Griffey is hitting like he is every bit of 40: .212/.268/.242 with no homers. Time soon will be up on the "it’s early" excuse, and the club insists the knee problems that limited Griffey last season aren’t an issue. But he has about as much chance as hitting 19 homers — which he did last season in what was considered a mildly disappointing output — as Cliff Lee.

What can the Mariners do? Cutting the franchise’s all-time great player is out of the question. Releasing fellow clubhouse stalwart Mike Sweeney and moving Griffey into his pinch-hitter role would be difficult. Would the Mariners have the nerve to ask Griffey to step aside? Griffey most likely wouldn’t go for that. You don’t become a sure Hall of Famer without having a lot of pride.

But first things first. And the first thing the Mariners need to do is find a bat.

STRIKE  2: Rays are the new road warriors
Manager Joe Maddon spent spring training stressing the importance of a strong start for his Rays. With a majors-best 20-7 record, it seems the Rays listened to their manager. His words might not have been needed, though.

"We saw what happened last year when we got off to a slow start (9-14 in April) compared to the year before," righthander Jeff Niemann says. "It wasn’t a very good feeling to point back to that slow start in April as the reason. We wanted to come out of the gates good and get those April woes behind us."

In doing so, the Rays have overcome their other Achilles’ heel of a year ago: playing on the road. They won 14 road games after the break last season; they already have 11 road wins this season.

"I’m not sure you can really put your finger on a reason, but the comfort level is different," Niemann says. "A lot of these guys, including myself, have been around the league for a year longer and been to all the stadiums. The second and third time around to a stadium, you get a little more comfortable and that helps a lot."

STRIKE  3: It’s a pitcher’s world so far
Stats to confirm your suspicions that the first four-plus weeks definitely have favored the men on the mound:

• Through May 5, 35 starters had a sub-3.00 ERA this season. Through May 5 last season, only 16 did. In that same span, 19 starters averaged at least a strikeout per inning this season. Last season, only 12 did at this point.

• Through May 5 this season, the majors’ average batting average was .257, down six points from this point last season. On-base percentage, homers and runs also are down.

Don’t blame the weather because this season has seen much warmer temperatures across the land, and that would benefit hitters. It can’t be the ballparks because the only new one is Target Field, where the .270 batting average is higher than the MLB average.

Testing for performance-enhancing drugs must be working then, right? That is what many scouts and executives believe. But how does that take into account the fact that pitchers used performance-enhancers as much as hitters?

My take: Drug testing has improved defenses. The one-dimensional slugger types have been replaced by more athletic baseball players. The better the defense, of course, the better the pitching.

Stan McNeal is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at smcneal@sportingnews.com.

Astros first baseman Lance Berkman told the Houston Chronicle that if he were running the team and it was out of contention by the All-Star break, he would try to trade the veterans, including himself.

"As a player, if they came to me and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a deal to go to a contender,’ I’d take it," Berkman told the newspaper. "Heck, it’s only a three- or four-month deal. It’s not like I’m signing on for 10 years with another team."

Berkman added that he ideally would retire as an Astro but would accept a trade. "I would say yeah," Berkman told the Houston Chronicle. "I think it would benefit the organization, and in the end, it would be a benefit for whoever it is — whether it’s me, or Roy (Oswalt) or Carlos (Lee). I’m not saying we’re at the point where they should start pulling the plug on us, but they need to start thinking forward. If this thing keeps going like this, they’ve gotta do something."

Astros general manager Ed Wade told FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal that Berkman called him afterward to explain what he meant.

"I told him, ‘Don’t worry about it, players have every right to make whatever comments they want to the media. Focus on showing up and winning tomorrow,’" Wade told Rosenthal.

"We need Lance to not be hitting .220 or whatever. The same with (Carlos) Lee and (Hunter) Pence. Take advantage of the pitching we’ve had and get back into this thing.

"His quotes are timely because they just came out, but they aren’t timely as far as I’m concerned. We’re trying to be the best club we can be."

On Thursday, Berkman tried to further clarify his stance.

"I’m not demanding to be traded," he told repoters. "I’m perfectly content to be a Houston Astro. We were just talking hypothetical."

The Astros are an NL-worst 9-18 and in last place in the NL Central. They have endured two eight-game losing streaks already this season.

Berkman, 34, is in the final year of his contract, though the Astros have a $15 million option on him for the 2011 season. He was a first-round draft pick by Houston in 1997 and has spent his entire 12-season major league career with the Astros.

The switch hitter is batting .213 with two homers and seven RBIs in 14 games this season. He didn’t debut until April 20 because he was rehabbing knee surgery.

MLB: RIP, Ernie Harwell. Lots of misty-eye-making coverage of the Comerica Park viewing in the Free Press and in the Detroit News.

• More sad baseball news … Phillies HOFer Robin Roberts has died. We’ll have more on the baseball page as we learn more.

Don’t expect to see the latest golf title among these.

CBK: No confirmation yet, but Zach Klein, sports director for the Atlanta ABC TV affiliate, tweets: "Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Hewitt is now an assistant coach!!! assistant for the USA Men’s U18 National team that is."

CFB: Yeah, but can they sing? College football coaches Rich Ellerson (Army), Chip Kelly (Oregon), Tim Murphy (Harvard), Tommy Tuberville (Texas Tech) and Ron Zook (Illinois) are going on an eight-country, nine-day tour of Germany and Southwest Asia with the USO later this month. "This visit to our troops will be very inspiring," Zook said in a statement. "If in some small way our visit can help to motivate them, our time will be very well spent."

Golf: The Joslyn James adult DVD that, er, "portrays" her "relationship" with Tiger Woods is due out May 17. We would link out to a press release from Vivid Entertainment, but there’s an NSFW line that Fly’s uncomfortable crossing. Kinda like, you won’t see "The Eleventh Hole" pop up in your Netflix recommendations just because you like "Caddyshack," "Bagger Vance" and "Tin Cup."

PHILADELPHIA — Robin Roberts, the tireless Hall of Fame pitcher who led the Philadelphia Phillies to the 1950 National League pennant as part of the famed "Whiz Kids," died Thursday. He was 83.

Roberts died at his Temple Terrace, Fla., home of natural causes, the Phillies said, citing son Jim.

"He was a boyhood hero of mine," team president David Montgomery said. "Then I had a chance to meet him personally. I remember pinching myself knowing I was talking to Robin Roberts. His career and stats speak for themselves. But first and foremost he was a friend and we’ll miss him badly."

Robin Roberts topped the NL in wins from 1952 to 1955.

The right-hander was the most productive pitcher in the National League in the first half of the 1950s, topping the league in wins from 1952 to 1955, innings pitched from ’51 to ’55 and complete games from ’52 to ’56.

He won 286 games and put together six consecutive 20-win seasons. Roberts had 45 career shutouts, 2,357 strikeouts and a lifetime ERA of 3.41. He pitched 305 complete games, but also holds the distinction of giving up more home runs than any other major league pitcher.

"Workhorse is a weak description," Philadelphia Daily News writer Stan Hochman wrote about Roberts in 2003. "He was a mule, stubborn …. and willing to toil from sunup to sundown."

Long after his career ended, Roberts followed the Phillies closely and was still popular in Philadelphia, drawing boisterous applause from fans each time he came back. A statue of him outside the first-base gate at Citizens Bank Park was adorned with a wreath Thursday, one of several tributes the Phillies planned.

Roberts’ No. 36 jersey, which the team retired in 1962, was hung in the dugout before an afternoon game with St. Louis. It will remain there the rest of the season, at home and on the road. Players will wear No. 36 on their sleeves, starting Friday night.

"He was still really close to the organization and he loved this current team," said Larry Shenk, the vice president of alumni relations. "He was a special human being."

Roberts was the leading pitcher on the 1950 squad that won the franchise’s first pennant in 35 years. Roberts put together a 20-11 season with a 3.02 ERA and five shutouts.

The team, with several 25-and-younger stars such as Roberts, Richie Ashburn and Del Ennis, was dubbed the "Whiz Kids." It marked the end of a three-decade span in which the Phillies were mostly awful.

The Phillies led by 7 1/2 games with 11 to go but struggled to hang on as injuries – especially to the pitching staff – took their toll. On the final day of the season and just after his 24th birthday, Roberts made his third start in five days and pitched the Phillies to a 4-1 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers to clinch the pennant.

Roberts started Game 2 of the World Series against the Yankees and held New York to one run on nine hits through nine innings. With the score 1-1 in the top the 10th, Joe DiMaggio led off with a home run, giving New York a 2-1 win. The Yankees would go on to sweep. Roberts, who pitched in relief in Game 4, finished the series with a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings.

Roberts spent 14 of his 19 seasons in Philadelphia and was the stalwart of their rotation from 1948 to 1961. His 234 wins as a Phillie are even more impressive considering the team lost more games than it won in that stretch. His best statistical season came in 1952, when he went 28-7 with a 2.59 ERA.

He signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles and spent 1962-64 there before winding down his career with the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs.

Roberts was a control pitcher who relied heavily on his fastball. He threw strikes, sometimes to his detriment. He gave up only 1.3 walks per game over his career, but also gave up at least 40 home runs in three straight seasons.

The Phillies retired Roberts’ No. 36.

"I had a high fastball and I either overpowered them or they overpowered me," he once said.

Roberts started five All-Star games and was placed on the team seven times. His best years came before the Cy Young Award, but Roberts twice was chosen pitcher of the year by The Sporting News. He also was the publication’s player of the year in 1952.

Roberts was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. He remains the franchise’s career leader in games pitched, complete games and innings pitched. He was the leader in wins and strikeouts until Steve Carlton eclipsed those marks.

Robin Evan Roberts was born Sept. 30, 1926, in Springfield, Ill. His parents, Tom and Sarah, had moved to central Illinois from Wales in 1921. His father was a coal miner and Roberts grew up listening to the Chicago Cubs games on the radio.

Roberts played baseball, basketball and football at Lanphier High School in Springfield before going to Michigan State, where he starred in basketball and baseball.

During the summers of 1946 and 1947, Roberts pitched in the semiprofessional Northern League for Montpelier, Vt. He signed with the Phillies for $25,000 following his college graduation in 1947. He spent little time in the Phillies’ farm system before being called up.

After retiring from baseball, Roberts was a stockbroker and worked as baseball coach at the University of South Florida.

Best-selling author James Michener, who lived outside Philadelphia, once summed up Roberts’ career in The New York Times.

"For two generations of fans, he symbolized the best in athletic competition," Michener wrote. "Day after day he went out there and threw that high, hard one down the middle, a marvelously coordinated man doing his job. If he had pitched for the Yankees he might have won 350 games."

Roberts is survived by four sons, one brother, seven grandchildren and one great-grandson, the Phillies said. His wife, Mary, died five years ago.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

In two separate incidents the past few days, fans went on the field at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia. The first incident led to a 17-year-old boy being subdued by Taser, while the second fan was detained without use of weapons.

The events in Philadelphia have led to a new round of questions about how to ensure the safety of fans, players, umpires, and coaches. One man intimately aware of the need to keep fans in the stands and off the field is Tom Gamboa, best known as the Kansas City Royals first base coach who was attacked by two fans during a game in Chicago in 2002. Gamboa joined Into the Night with Tony Bruno to talk about the issue. To listen to the interview, go to Sports Radio Interviews.

A 17-year-old boy was subdued by Taser at a Philadelphia Phillies game on May 3, 2010.

What does Gamboa think about the fans running on the field in Philadelphia?

Gamboa: I’m on a golf vacation and didn’t know anything about this. I hadn’t seen TV or heard radio until at the golf course today, a sports radio guy came up and he filled me in on what happened. And then only just prior to your show did your producer tell me what happened tonight, and I just cringed when I heard that because that is so reminiscent of my situation, when I was in Chicago in ’02.

The next time we went to Chicago in April of ’03, there were tons of security people, and I said to the security director, "What is all this for?" And they said, "Well, because your team is back in town, and the last time you were here, the incident occurred." And I laughed and said, "Gee, did they really think lightning was going to strike twice?"

And there were actually three incidents in one game of people copycatting, and the third one was where the guy tried to tackle the first base umpire. So it’s a shame, I just wish the fans would understand their only place is in the stands, and never any reason on the field of play to take away from the enjoyment of what everyone is there for, which is the competition on the field. But it just seems like we’re in a society where people are looking for any kind of what they think is fame or infamy at any cost. And once somebody does it, then you got people jumping on the bandwagon trying to be copycats. It’s really a shame.

What is Gamboa’s opinion on harsher penalties for fans going on the field?

Gamboa: Certainly, after my attack, Major League Baseball did a great job of really coming up. You look at every stadium now, they’ve got guys sitting back to back near the dugout, and down both lines, and the ushers between innings will come down right near the rail to act as a detriment for people to do this.

But you’re right, if there’s 40 or 50,000 fans, they’re always going to outnumber the ushers and the security people. So it’s virtually impossible to keep ’em, and I wish I had an answer for it. But I agree with you wholeheartedly, the penalties are not stringent enough.

My God, in my case the guy was given probation, and after violating it on four more occasions, the judge continued to give him probation because he said we had to understand this guy had an alcohol and a drug problem. I mean, it just seems to me like society makes excuses for people’s behavior rather than the more stringent thing of holding people accountable for their actions. And maybe a stiffer first offense, some mandatory time – whether it’s a week or 30 days, I don’t have the answer – but some time incarcerated to deter other people from following suit.

What did Gamboa take away from the 2002 incident, when he was attacked by a father and son on the field?

Gamboa: My only question in court was, "Why me?" The thing that I got was, "We were on drugs when we got to the park, then we drank beer throughout the game, and then we made a decision to get attention so when we got on the field, you were the closest one to us and your back was turned, so you were an easy target."
So, basically I was just at the right place doing my job at the wrong time with these two wackos. But having to coach third base with the Cubs prior to my tenure with the Royals, I can tell you, I loved going into Philadelphia. Like Chicago, they are die hard fans that support their team, and there’s an electricity in the ballpark there. I would hate to see, like I said about Chicago, I would hate to see Philly get a bad rap because of a couple of stupid people doing a bad act, because it doesn’t reflect to me, the city or the sports fans that they have. And I hope that gets across as this story goes around.

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Mariners right fielder Milton Bradley packed up his bags and left the stadium after being benched during Tuesday’s game, according to The Seattle Times.

After striking out in the sixth inning, Bradley reportedly returned to the bench and told manager Don Wakamatsu something similar to this: "I’m done. I’m not helping the team."

According to The Seattle Times, Wakamatsu followed Bradley into the tunnel between the dugout and clubhouse to talk to him, and he eventually convinced Bradley to return to the dugout. However, Bradley soon left again — while the game was in progress — when he saw that Ryan Langerhans had replaced him in the outfield.

General manager Jack Zduriencik wouldn’t comment on the report, other than to tell The Seattle Times, "If there is an issue, it will be dealt with internally."

According to the newspaper, Bradley has been frustrated by his poor play (.214 batting average, .313 on-base percentage) and is believed to be putting a large amount of pressure on himself to produce and fit in with his teammates.

The Mariners acquired Bradley this past offseason from the Cubs, who suspended the outfielder late last season for conduct problems.

Outside of another slow April (.136 batting average), Teixeira’s career as a Yankee couldn’t be going much better. He has the huge contract and a World Series ring, and he is coming off a second-place finish in the A.L. MVP voting. Teixeira also is making his presence felt in the community. As part of his new role with Harlem RBI, a youth-development organization, Teixeira recently talked with Sporting News’ Stan McNeal.

‘The Yankees are built to win a lot of games,’ Mark Teixeira says.

Sporting News: How did you become involved with Harlem RBI?
Mark Teixeira: Major League Baseball and the RBI program have had contact with all major league players for a long time, so I knew about the program nationally. But it wasn’t until I got to New York and heard about what Harlem was doing with the Harlem RBI program. We had some meetings in spring training and I wanted to become involved when I learned about the education side of it, the DREAM Charter School and all the great things they’re doing getting kids going to college.

SN: How have the Yankees been able to overcome a lack of production from their top two sluggers, you and Alex Rodriguez, early in the season?
MT: The Yankees are built to win a lot of games, and built to have every hitter in the lineup and the entire pitching staff contribute. Baseball is not a game where one or two players can carry a team for a whole season. We’ve done a good job of building a great roster and because of that, everyone on our team contributes.

SN: How do you assess the hitting of Robinson Cano, the team’s best hitter so far?
MT: From a pure hitter’s standpoint, he’s one of the best I’ve ever played with. He has some of the best hands I’ve ever seen. He’s continuing to get better and better. Everyone knows his talent.

SN: You’re known for slow starts and, sure enough, as soon as the calendar turned to May, you suddenly heated up offensively. Coincidence?
MT: It just takes a while for me to get going. I don’t know when that will be. I just go out there and play one game at a time. If you try to worry about an entire season or what month it is, you’re not going to be able to do your job very well.

SN: Do the slow starts get frustrating?
Teixeira: We play 162 games. There’s going to be a lot of ups, there’s going to be a lot of downs. Stats don’t matter to me until the last game of the season. Hopefully, the stats say I had a good season and we’re in the playoffs. That’s all that matters.

SN: Do you think switch hitting is part of the problem?
MT: I’m sure that has something to do with it. I don’t make excuses, but at the same time, there’s twice as much work that I have to put in. A baseball swing is hard enough from one side of the plate. You add switch hitting and it complicate things. But it’s a challenge I have loved my entire career. I’ve had a great career so far having my work ethic. Every single day I’m out there working on both sides of the plate.

SN: When did you become a switch hitter?
MT: I started at a very young age messing around with it. If we were beating a team by a lot, I’d switch to the left side. Then at 13, my dad and I decided I was going to become a full-time switch hitter. By my sophomore or junior year of high school, I really kind of got it from the left side and knew it was something I could stick with and be a switch hitter full-time.

SN: Pretty good decision, huh?
MT: Yeah, my career numbers will tell you I have more power from the left side and a better average from the right side. It’s a good combination.

SN: The other night in Philadelphia, police used a Taser to subdue a fan who ran on the field. Was that a little too much force?
MT: It doesn’t really matter to me how the police or security do their job. They should do whatever they have to do to do their jobs. I can say as a ballplayer, I don’t feel unsafe on the field. I feel completely safe on the field.

Below is the late Ernie Harwell’s famous essay on baseball, "The Game for All America," parts of which he read at his Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1981. Reprinted in its entirety, from the April 13, 1955, edition of The Sporting News:

Baseball is President Eisenhower tossing out the first ball of the season; and a pudgy schoolboy playing catch with his dad on a Mississippi farm.

It’s the big league pitcher who sings in night clubs. And the Hollywood singer who pitches to the Giants in spring training.

Babe Ruth, the man who launched those 714 home runs.

A tall, thin old man waving a scorecard from his dugout — that’s baseball. So is the big, fat guy with a bulbous nose running out one of his 714 home runs with mincing steps.

It’s America, this baseball. A re-issued newsreel of boyhood dreams. Dreams lost somewhere between boy and man. It’s the Bronx cheer and the Baltimore farewell. The left field screen in Boston, the right field dump at Nashville’s Sulphur Dell, the open stands in San Francisco, the dusty, wind-swept diamond at Albuquerque. And a rock home plate and a chicken wire backstop — anywhere.

There’s a man in Mobile who remembers a triple he saw Honus Wagner hit in Pittsburgh 46 years ago. That’s baseball. So is the scout reporting that a 16-year-old sandlot pitcher in Cheyenne is the new "Walter Johnson."

It’s a wizened little man shouting insults from the safety of his bleacher seat. And a big, smiling first baseman playfully tousling the hair of a youngster outside the players’ gate.

Baseball is a spirited race of man against man, reflex against reflex. A game of inches. Every skill is measured. Every heroic, every failing is seen and cheered — or booed. And then becomes a statistic.

In baseball, democracy shines its clearest. Here the only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rule book. Color is something to distinguish one team’s uniform from another.

Baseball is Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin, asking his Brooklyn hosts to explain Dodger signals. It’s Player Moe Berg speaking seven languages and working crossword puzzles in Sansrkit. It’s a scramble in the box seats for a foul — and a $125 suit ruined. A man barking into a hot microphone about a cool beer, that’s baseball. So is the sports writer telling a .383 hitter how to stride, and a 20-victory pitcher trying to write his impressions of the World Series.

Baseball is ballet without music. Drama without words. A carnival without kewpie dolls.

A housewife in California couldn’t tell you the color of her husband’s eyes, but she knows that Yogi Berra is hitting .337, has brown eyes and used to love to eat bananas with mustard. That’s baseball. So is the bright sanctity of Cooperstown’s Hall of Fame. And the former big leaguer, who is playing out the string in a Class B loop.

Baseball is continuity. Pitch to pitch. Inning to inning. Game to game. Series to series. Season to season.

It’s rain, rain, rain splattering on a puddled tarpaulin as thousands sit in damp disappointment. And the click of typewriters and telegraph keys in the press box — like so many awakened crickets. Baseball is a cocky batboy. The old-timer, whose batting average increases every time he tells it. A lady celebrating a home team rally by mauling her husband with a rolled-up scorecard.

Baseball is the cool, clear eyes of Rogers Hornsby, the flashing spikes of Ty Cobb, an overaged pixie named Rabbit Maranville, and Jackie Robinson testifying before a Congressional hearing.

Baseball? It’s just a game — as simple as a ball and a bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolizes. It’s a sport, business — and sometimes even religion.

Baseball is Tradition in flannel knickerbockers. And Chagrin in being picked off base. It is Dignity in the blue serge of an umpire running the game by rule of thumb. It is Humor, holding its sides when an errant puppy eludes two groundskeepers and the fastest outfielder. And Pathos, dragging itself off the field after being knocked from the box.

Nicknames are baseball. Names like Zeke and Pie and Kiki and Home Run and Cracker and Dizzy and Dazzy.

Baseball is a sweaty, steaming dressing room where hopes and feelings are as naked as the men themselves. It’s a dugout with spike-scarred flooring. And shadows across an empty ball park. It’s the endless list of names in box scores, abbreviated almost beyond recognition.

The holdout is baseball, too. He wants 55 grand or he won’t turn a muscle. But, it’s also the youngster who hitch-hikes from South Dakota to Florida just for a tryout.

Arguments, Casey at the Bat, old cigarette cards, photographs, Take Me Out to the Ball Game — all of them are baseball.

The Say Hey Kid’s catch in the ’54 Series.

Baseball is a rookie — his experience no bigger than the lump in his throat — trying to begin fulfillment of a dream. It’s a veteran, too — a tired old man of 35, hoping his aching muscles can drag him through another sweltering August and September.

For nine innings, baseball is the story of David and Goliath, of Samson, Cinderella, Paul Bunyan, Homer’s Iliad and the Count of Monte Cristo. 

Willie Mays making a brilliant World’s Series catch. And then going home to Harlem to play stick-ball in the street with his teenage pals — that’s baseball. So is the husky voice of a doomed Lou Gehrig saying, "I’m the luckiest guy in the world."

Baseball is cigar smoke, hot-roasted peanuts, The Sporting News, winter trades, "Down in front," and the Seventh Inning Stretch. Sore arms, broken bats, a no-hitter, and the strains of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Baseball is a highly-paid Brooklyn catcher telling the nation’s business leaders: "You have to be a man to be a big leaguer, but you have to have a lot of little boy in you, too."

This is a game for all America, this baseball.

A game for boys and for men.