Once upon a time major league baseball players cared if they struck out. Striking out was the sign of a weak, inept hitter. Striking out, in short, was embarrassing. No more.

In this new era of baseball, better to swing and miss but have a chance to hit a home run than have no chance at all.

Players have adjusted their swings to uppercut the ball, giving them a better chance to hit the ball over the wall or into the stands. There is, however, a downside to that approach, and that results is more strikeouts.

That is not to say that the increase in strikeouts is attributable entirely to …

Keep reading...

When I woke up the morning of April 2, looked outside and saw snow falling, I instantly thought of April 1982. We don’t normally think of snow falling in April or during the baseball season, but snow fell in April 1982 and deposited its pretty white flakes in the same month 36 years later. In both instances the snow that fell was enough to force postponement of the Yankees’ home opener. The Yankees have to hope that snow was the only similarity between that season and this one. That season was a disaster for the Yankees.

The previous season, 1981, the Yankees won the American League pennant and played the Dodgers in the World Series, losing in six games.

There were no post-season games in snow-disrupted 1982. The Yankees spent most of the season …

Keep reading...

The 2018 season has arrived, and there isn’t a legal bookmaker in sight, unless that is, you’re in or traveled to Las Vegas. Legal sports betting is very likely on its way to baseball and other professional sports, even college football and basketball, but it still has a couple of hurdles to clear.

First, the United States Supreme Court has to rule unconstitutional the existing law that limits legal betting to Nevada or tell Congress to give other states the same right as Nevada has. Then the states have to enact legislation creating sports betting at casinos and race tracks.

The high court has been expected to take its step in the process in its current session, which runs into June. At least half of the 50 states have been working on legislation that would take a handoff from the Supreme Court and create betting guidelines.

A Major League Baseball official told me recently that baseball has been working on contingency plans to be ready when …

Keep reading...