ROCKTOBER!

As I noted on opening day, I'm not the world's biggest baseball fan. I've fully jumped, however, straight on to the Rockies bandwagon. These guys are a lot of fun. They remind me a lot of the 1987 Minnesota Twins.

Both teams approached the game fully bought in to their manager's "one game at a time" mantra. The Rockies manager even claimed tonight that the Rockies have never had anything more than a one game winning or losing streak. Neither team was expected to do much. Both teams were (are) very young. And with both teams it was and is easy to forget that the players were (are) highly paid professionals. The players simply have too much fun and have too good of an attitude to be Major League Baseball players.

Baseball played closer to heaven

The lead story in Sunday's Denver Post is a column by Mark Kiszla. It is the story about life, death, family, sibling rivalry and baseball. It is the story of the aftermath of the death of Mike Coolbaugh, a coach for the minor league Tulsa Drillers who became the first player or coach killed by a baseball in a pro game since 1920. It is a column worthy of the lead and worth the time it takes to read it and you can find it here. http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_7107832

Another Baseball post

I'm getting into baseball a little bit. I have no idea why. I haven't been a baseball fan in years. I've actually watched parts of two games already this season. I hope this wears off soon.

With that, Go Rockies! Go Twins!

Mayor Bloomberg hits a foul ball

I have a lot of respect for NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg. There is no mayor in the country who has been as strong on public health as Bloomberg. Today, however, he hit a foul ball.

The mayor vetoed a bill that would have outlawed the use of aluminum baseball bats in all NYC high school games. The bill was passed because it is believed that balls hit off aluminum bats may be more dangerous to players in the field, especially pitchers. Kids are able to swing an aluminum bat faster than a wood bat and there is a bigger "trampoline" effect for the ball coming off an aluminum bat. As a result, the ball comes off the bat at a much higher rate of speed.

Opponents of the bill say the data just isn't there to support the idea that more kids get hurt when aluminum bats are used. I say, so what?

Here's the thing. Smart Little League, high school and college teams that use aluminum bats in games practice with wood bats. Why? Because you learn to be a much better hitter with wood bats. With an aluminum bat you can hit the ball in on the handle and still get a relatively good hit. With a wood bat you really need to focus and concentrate on getting the "sweet spot" of the bat on the ball. Make kids use a wood bat as they learn the game and you'll create better hitters.

So I say, let's make baseball a better game and if we make it a safer game at the same time then that's a nice bonus.