John Miller, player/coach of the Brussels Kangaroos and a reporter for a major American newspaper, is back chronicling his team’s 2009 season in his weekly column that will appear every Monday on mister-baseball.com.
This writer has always been a better writer than hitter. Even when 12 and putting out newspapers for family and school, he was the catcher and pitcher hitting second or sixth, never the crusher launching bombs into the girls’s soccer game. And so over a lifetime playing baseball, he has hit .180 with wood and .300 with metal, rarely better.
Still, he had never slumped as bad as the past month. I started the season 0-for-20. The streak – no strikeouts – included a 9-3 assist by the right fielder (I am slow), a perfect bunt I couldn’t beat out (slowest), a warning track shot into the wind, hard groundballs, line drives, and three or four errors.
I’d check the scorecard and note the “E’ scribbled in by the elderly lady Belgian scorekeeper. I’d call her nasty names reserved for evil ex-girlfriends. You, dear reader, will understand. I found comfort in looking up the o-fer runs of the famous and rich. Cal Ripken once went 0-for-29. So there.
Fans cheered Washington Nationals’s Ryan Zimmerman’s 30-game hitting streak. I took solace in his teammate Alex Cintron’s 0-for-19 skid.
This weekend, we faced the Namur Angels, still undefeated. They still are, after sweeping us, 15-2 and 13-5. But on Sunday, in my first at-bat, I lined a single up the middle. Ain’t no centerfielder gonna throw me out at first. A voice yelled “Oh my God.”
Meanwhile, we continue our list of 100 reasons why baseball is better than soccer.
From Salvador Arias, a reader from Tucuman, Argentina:
11. Box scores. You can review each play of the game if someone keeps score. From a classic World Series game to a kids game. And just with a piece of paper!
12. Baseball fans can enjoy games at any level.
13. Perfect games.
14. At the end of the eight, the game is 0-0, you know that the game was full of emotions, and now you’re ready for the last inning drama. Even if it is a regular season game.
15. Every team has exactly the same opportunities as its rival, 27 outs, on offensive and defensive play.
16. Pitchers and hitters parks.
17. You can have baseball computer simulations without graphics.
From Thorsten Zocher, a reader from Munster, Germany:
18. Uniforms. Is there anything better looking than a baseball player in his full dress? I think not. Clean appearance. A soccer player however rips his jersey out of his pants as soon his foot touches the field. Goalkeepers with long pants look hilarious.
19. Community. The European baseball community connects. I think they relate because they represent a sport that is clearly a minority here in Europe. I can’t remember the last visit to a ballpark where I did not meet at least one person who I knew in some kind of way. You’re a welcomed guest everywhere! You visit a soccer game and you are with up to 50.000 complete strangers.
20. Hooligans.
21. Kids/Youth. Baseball playing kids are a lot more fun to watch. They try to execute what they learned. All those techniques like hitting, pitching and fielding. Just last Saturday I watched a kids (probably 8 to 10 years old) soccer-game right next to our ballpark and all I saw was 20 boys chasing that soccer-ball.
22. Hot Dogs. They taste great. Never had a chance to buy one at a soccer game.
More reasons why hardball tops roundball? Email oldworldpastime@gmail.com
Well I know how you feel John,
In the last 4 games I’ve gone 0 for 12 or something. It’s so depressing I’ve stopped checking. Heading over to the batting cages this week to get some practice swings in, seems to be the only way I can get out of a slump like this. All the best for the coming weeks and I hope the hits keep coming to you.
PS, how is the little league experiment going?