What Baseball Means To Me AKA My second essay for MLB application

Hello Major League Baseball!  My name is Keely Flanagan, I’m a 20-year old college student.  I’m originally a Bay Area, California resident who currently attends USC in Los Angeles.  And no, this has NOT caused me to become a Dodger’s fan.  I bleed orange and black.

I remember vividly my first experience at a major league baseball game.  I’m sure every essay you’ve read probably starts with this exact anecdote, but that’s because the first time is so meaningful to so many people.  It’s a memory that people across the country cherish and share with family and friends.  My first game was the Oakland Coliseum when I was about 3 years old. I don’t remember the game at all; in fact, I actually spent the entire time with my mom looking for a playground in the ballpark.   I guess my love for the game would have to wait a few years.

This very moment occurred at my first ever play-off game.  It was Game 2 of the 2000 NL divisional series between my SF Giants and the NY Mets.  JT Snow, my all-time favorite player (originally because 7-year old me thought the name sounded cool), was up to bat in the bottom of the ninth.  We were trailing 4-1.  I remember clearly his one epic swing of the bat: a 3-run home run that cleared the seats on the right field side.  As I watched the ball go yard, the thought that it was, in fact, a home run never crossed my mind.  I thought for certain it was a foul ball – until my Dad lifted me up onto his shoulders, screaming and crying like a little boy.  That was also the first moment I had ever seen my Dad cry.

Baseball has empowered me in more ways than 500 words can express.  I have such a deep love and appreciation for the game and what it has done for me personally, this job would be a small token in which I can give back to the thing that has given me so much.  Baseball got me through some of the toughest challenges in my life.  Whenever I have felt down and out, baseball has always been there to inspire and pick up the pieces. 

But baseball has provided more than merely helping me to work through adversity: it has strengthened the bond I share with my dad, and it’s helped my love life as tremendously.  In all honesty, what guy doesn’t drool over a chick who can recite batting averages by heart, and can tell the difference between a change-up and fastball just watching from the third base side at AT&T Park?  Let’s just say I do very well. 

Let me end with this: I love baseball.  Pure and simple.  Every aspect of the game is perfect.  The subtle difference between a slider and curveball is poetry, how one millisecond determines whether a ball goes yard or foul, and the various curses and superstitions that have become paramount in American culture: all perfect aspects of the game I love.  This is an opportunity that I cannot pass up: I am willing to leave school and take a semester off, and I would do so a heartbeat if offered this dream job.  I am willing to give everything I have, body, mind, and spirit, to baseball.   It’s the least I can sacrifice for the one thing in life I am completely and utterly passionate about.  Baseball is my life.

Year of the Pitcher - AKA my first essay in my MLB application

Baseball has once again become a game dominated by the pitcher.  Yes, there are still the home run kings and power hitters of the early 2000’s – however, the 2010 season can confidently be labeled “the year of the pitcher.” Just look at the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants: they charged their way through the playoffs solely on the strength of their starting pitchers and lights-out bull-pen.

The necessity for teams to develop strong pitching staffs is made evident by the Cliff Lee saga that swept the headlines at the start of the off-season.  Where would the playoff proven left-hander end up?  The top two contenders appeared to be his former team, the Texas Rangers against the perennial big-spending New York Yankees.  However, seemingly from out of left-field (ha puns), Lee accepted an $11 million a year contract from another former team of his, the Philadelphia Phillies.

It’s no mystery that many top teams have worked to build an elite 5 and 6 man rotation in the off-season.  The Philadelphia Phillies are at the front of the pack in terms of creating a seemingly unstoppable force of all-star pitchers.  The combination of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels is unprecedented.  What is also unprecedented is the payroll: the combination of these contracts culminates in roughly $70 million a year for the four all-star starters plus #5 starter Joe Blanton.  With the addition of Cliff Lee, the Phills were forced to make the tough decision to pass on free-agent Jayson Werth, a power hitting, gold-glove worthy outfielder who signed with the up and coming Washington Nationals.

This decision is symbolic of the new trend that favors the pitcher.  Although Werth eventually signed a $126 million contract with the Nat’s, it’s interesting to note that he was dropped by the Phillies in favor of a star pitcher.

 Other position players have faced adversity in attaining lucrative contracts from teams, and teams they have provided equally lucrative service to.  Who could have predicted the resigning of Derek Jeter, the face of the Yankees organization, would turn as ugly and drawn-out as it ended up?  In the National League, the St. Louis cardinals were unable to meet the deadline set by first baseman Albert Pujols, a consistent MVP favorite and arguably the best position player in the game today.

This past season is the start of a new era, marked by the increased emphasis on pitching.  The story of 2011 will be a continuation of where 2010 left off, with the primary debate facing baseball pundits being what team has the best pitching staff, and how much of an impact will these power arms will have in lifting a ball club into the playoffs.  

Possible MLB job over the season?

Ok.  So I know this is really, REALLY reaching for the stars.  But hey, what do I really have to lose?

My mom (and sole official follower of my blog - yay Mommy!) told me today about an opportunity to be a correspondent/writer/viewer of the 2011 baseball season for Major League Baseball.  The dream job.  The only coveat is that I would need to live in New York City for the duration of the season, thereby take at least a semester off of school.

However, this is really the opportunity of a lifetime.  My mom assured me that she would support such a venture: school isn't going to go away.  I am blessed to have the means to take school off and come back later, to have supportive parents who always allow me to follow my dreams, and a family who has bestowed upon me a love and passion for the game of baseball.

Working for Major League Baseball is just that: a dream job for me.  There is not much that would propel me to leave school and take a semester off, but I am not thinking twice about applying for this.  Baseball is my lifeblood - as illustrated by my last blog post, I would not be the same person without baseball.  It has taught me and provided me with so much in my life.  I'm getting emotional just writing this, thinking about the profound effect this past season especially had on me.  In all honesty, the Giants winning the world series this year was more than I needed.  It saved me in many ways.  I was going through one of the hardest periods of my life, and just when I was ready to throw in the towel and spiral out of control, there was baseball.  There was my team, the plucky underdog throughout the playoffs, grinding it out everyday against "superior" ball clubs.  They beat the odds and won their first world series ever in the city of San Francisco - this inspired me more and touched me in ways other people may never fully understand or even be able to comprehend.

The ability and opportunity to surround my life, even if just for a season, with the game that has saved me over and over again, that has picked me up when I have been down, that has stayed with me through both the good times and the bad, that has never for an iota of a second let me down, would be a dream come true.  I would relish the opportunity to give back to the game that has given me so much.

So...look for updates on my application!  It's a real shot in the dark, but nothing in life isn't worth a good 'ol try.  :)

I Miss Baseball Season

Ok, so I know the NHL is in full gear, and the super bowl is fast approaching, and college basketball is just starting to heat up, and the NBA is flashier than ever.

But I miss baseball.

I'm trying to get through this difficult time.  Really, I am.

But I miss baseball.

Maybe that's why I haven't been able to update my blog in so long.  Every day I go to MLB.com to check the hot stove reports.  But honestly, even the hot stove is burning out.  Pretty much all of the all-star contracts have been signed off on; Cliff Lee to the Phillies, Derek Jeter's contract finalized by the Yanks, the Red Sox signed nearly everyone else worth mentioning - I'm not saying the Pujols controversy is completely uninteresting, nor am I succumbing fully to the off-season baseball hibernation.

Let's just say the headline on MLB.com is how the Mets plan on hosting the 2013 all-star game., followed by how Chipper Jones remains hopeful in returning to the field in 2011.  No offense, but YAWN.

I miss checking the SF Giants page every day, I miss the facebook statuses in favor of Posey or Heyward for ROY, I miss the debate over who has the best pitching staff, I even miss listening to the Giants get constantly stepped on and underestimated by the "experts."  Because all the controversy and action and speculation evokes a passion within me I'm missing.  Right now, I feel lost.  Whereas during the baseball season I procrastinate by reading Buster Olney make magic out of random statistics on ESPN, now I've been forced to start a twitter page so I can keep up with Chad Ochocinco.

I miss baseball.

When the going gets tough........QUIT.

So after reading all the stuff about Jay Cutler and his critics, saying he lacks toughness and what not, all I can think about is the twitter comment tying Urban Meyer into all of this.  If you don't know, Jacksonville Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew took a stab not only at Cutler, but former coach at the University of Florida Urban Meyer by tweeting ""Hey I think the urban meyer rule is effect right now... When the going gets tough........QUIT."  In response, he received death threats from hoards of Chicago Bears fans (they root for a Chicago based team - can't blame them for being bitter...) .  


Yes, that's right.  Death threats.  Because Cutler was compared to Urban Meyer.


Hey, if my QB was put in the same category as Urban Meyer, I'd be pissed too.


Thus begins my rant against Urban Meyer and the SEC.  Hey, I waited until my second blog post.  That's an accomplishment.


Maybe I'm just bitter because Urban Meyer is responsible for the fucking train wreck that is Alex Smith, or the fact that he's an integral part of the SEC aka most overrated conference in college football.  But I will gladly swallow my bitter pill.  The SEC is overrated, pure and simple.  Urban Meyer is an overrated coach, pure and simple.  He's a nice guy, a family man, well-liked in the college football Universe blah blah blah.  And yes, he supposedly quit in light of the physical stress coaching a top-ranked program - the guy lost 25 pounds because of it.  Still, there's got to be some tough-love here, I mean, this is the game of FOOTBALL we're talking about.  


Where was this stress coming from?  While at the University of Florida, Meyer won BCS championships in both 2006 and 2008.  He coached superb athletes such as Heisman trophy candidate Tim Tebow, was heralded in the media as one of the greatest college football coaches of all-time, and was the darling of the BCS rankings computer.  But like his prodigy Tim Tebow, Meyer probably suffered from vaulted expectations and an overexposed, overrated image given to him by the media.  It's no wonder bitter USC fans like myself don't like him: we have to hear about how GREAT he is 24/7.  How PERFECT and WONDERFUL and GENIUS and BRILLIANT he is. I used to blame Meyer, but it's not entirely his fault.  The guy could literally do no wrong: even when he pussied out of ever playing USC and instead scheduled such blistering opponents as Central Florida High School (a slight exaggeration - emphasis on the slight), his team still enjoyed the lofty #1 ranking in the country.  Sorry Boise State, your schedule just wasn't as tough as the University of Florida's was - you're not in the SEC.  Tough break. 


So my theory?  Meyer was crushed under the weight of the world.  Sometimes being placed on a pedestal that's too high creates the inevitable fall back to earth.  Unfortunately for Meyer, his Gators had a disappointing season only made brighter by a BCS win against Joe Paterno and his old school (albeit irrelevant) Penn State Nittany Lions.  It was a sight to see - the octogenarian Paterno wishing the far younger Urban Meyer a healthy retirement.  


You see, that's really what sepearates the good coaches from the mythological ones, and why Paterno's legacy will live on while Meyer's hype will eventually fade.  Paterno slogs it out on the field day in and day out.  he will probably die before he retires from the game he has given his entire life to.  Meanwhile, Urban Meyer will not watch on the sidelines, from from the comfort of his living room couch.

Yes, I'm a sports fan. Take me seriously.

First and foremost, my name is Keely, I'm a 20-year old college student studying film at the University of Southern California.  I'm also super interesting, so it's totally worth your time to keep reading.

So, everyone I know seems to have a blog now.  Which basically means I'm riding the trend.  I'm not usually such a follower...except I guess I follow a lot of people on twitter.  I don't know.

But I do have a legitimate reason for starting this.  I like to think of myself as an opinionated person, yet I doubt anyone who knows me fully grasps this fact.  I have strong opinions, especially when it comes to...wait for it...sports.  I know I know I KNOW that's such a cliche, everyone says they're "the ultimate sports guru."  Well, I don't claim to be that at all.  I don't sit and memorize statistics, I'm not part of a keep league for fantasy baseball, and I've never even BEEN to an NFL game.  Although both Steve Young and Steve Bono (notice I put Steve Young's name first) are my neighbors.  But yeah.

What I do claim, however, is I put all my heart and soul into the teams I follow.  In particular, I live and BREATHE the San Francisco Giants (WORLD SERIES CHAMPS BABY).  Baseball is my oxygen, and I give my G-Men all the time, love, and dedication one would give to their child.  Ask my roommate Lindsay, who gets to see a life-size poster of Giant's closer Brian Wilson hanging up in our room.  (Hence the title of the blog - tricky, right?)  So yes, this is a blog about my various random opinions on sports and athletes, but it's also an homage to the team that is my life-blood.  Sorry Dodger fans, this isn't the place for you...while I'm on the subject, sorry about that McCourt bull shit, it's really a disgrace.  Karma for worshipping a fake idol aka Manny Rameirez?  I think yes.

Which leads me to my first rant.  The Steelers just won the AFC championship (duh).  Which is fine, I like Pittsburgh fans, they're like Philly fans...the difference being they have souls.  But ranting about the Phillies is a whole other can of worms I'll get into later, probably multiple times.  For now, I'll leave it at this: I'd be an asshole too if I had to eat cheesesteak as a point of pride.  'Nuff said.  My problem with the Steelers rests with two words: Ben Roethlisberger.  Now, a lot of professional athletes are involved in sexual assault cases.  And I don't know enough details to say he's guilty of the charges placed against him by the young woman in Georgia.  HOWEVER, to me, Roethlisberger is representative of the blatant yet thinly veiled racism in sports today.  His case in 2010 garnered so much attention because the issue of race was finally brought up in the media.  Roethlisberger was suspended for 6 games in response to his actions.  Michael Vick, meanwhile, was all but black-listed from the NFL (until recently making a comeback) for his involvement in dog-fighting.  I love dogs, but which is worse: mistreating dogs or sexually assaulting a 20-year old college co-ed.  As a 20-year old college co-ed, maybe I'm just a little biased.

The Roethlisberger situation also brings up the issue of sexual assault being almost acceptable behavior for professional athletes.  I remember when the Kobe Bryant case was in the news, and the person I was watching it with got visibly angry at the TV screen saying "he's innocent, that girl's lying."  I was shocked.  But then I got to thinking - that's what most people are akin to believe in these cases.  It's too unbelievable a notion to think any girl would ever say no to engaging in sex with a professional athlete.  Well, let me set the record straight: I sure as hell wouldn't have sex with Ben Roethlisberger.  Just because he's a famous quarterback on a super bowl caliber team doesn't make up for his overall unattractiveness.  And seriously, give the female gender some credit - the majority of us have more self-respect than just throwing ourselves at men just because they're famous.  And yes, there are the occasional fame-whores who cry wolf to get on TV.  And those people are the most despicable of all, because due to their lies the actual victims aren't able to come forward.

To be fair, I don't damn Ben Roethlisberger for the society we have created.  Unfortunately, the mere mention of his name just indicates to me all the warped perceptions of sexual assault victims in relation to professional athletes.

IN OTHER NEWS - gotta love that Vernon Wells trade.  The Jays finally made a trade worth putting on the MLB.com home page. :)