Review No. 3

Of the three baseball magazines I bought, Street and Smith’s, “America’s Baseball Bible,” has always been my go-to publication.  Somewhere in the basement are copies dating back to the 1970s.  It’s not so much “The Good Book” as an interesting read.

 

Cubs’ fans won’t like it, though; their team is picked out-of-the-running, at third in the NL Central.  That makes them no better than the White Sox in the AL Central, which is OK by me.  But what really sets this baseball preview above the others is the quality of its feature stories.  Street and Smith’s actually dares to rock the proverbial boat.

 

“Overhyped and Overpaid” questions the amounts of money being spent on Cuban players.  The piece might have gone further to consider the possibility that present-day, Cuban-style baseball is predicated on Bobby Knight basketball—the system works at the expense of the individual players.  Name a Knight alum who flourished in the NBA outside of Isiah Thomas, and he only spent two years at IU.  The same could hold for baseball in Castro’s Cuba.

 

“Ready and Willing” details the frustration of top minor-league players waiting to be called up while their teams play the service-time game; the Cubs Kris Bryant in particular was ticked off having to wait, and he doesn’t seem willing either to forgive or forget.  The story notes that Bryant is not the only talent who’s been made to wait.

 

“Where to Next?” considers the top spots for expansion (Answer: no place in particular) while “Progress or Pansies?” is a much better piece than its title suggests, about the trend to have starting pitchers throw ever-fewer innings.  The story is definitely old school, showing a real reverence for guys who went nine.

 

Lastly, at least for me, is “Shifting Views,” on the way hitters respond to shifts.  Some can’t go the other way; others won’t try; and still others try to hit “over” the shift, as in home runs.  Sox hitting coach Todd Steverson, of all people, has some interesting observations on the difficulties in getting hitters to consider counterstrategies.

Oh, and just like the other magazines, Street and Smith’s includes comments by an anonymous scout.  As for the White Sox, “This feels like a team that’s on the rise with a bullet.”  As my father-in-law says, from your lips to God’s ears.