The Great Debate Between Infield and Outfield

I’m tired of hearing how a Centre fielder is better than a third baseman.

Both last year and this year, Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Josh Donaldson of the Toronto Blue Jays have been compared to each other as the MVPs of the American League.  Both players are among the best in the game when it comes to offensive numbers and once again this year, their stat lines are almost identical!

So how does someone decide who the most valuable player in a league is when on paper they are basically the same?  Well in Major League Baseball, it’s not all offence (unless you’re a DH of course), there is defence as well.  With all of the new stats coming into the game to rank players, defensive stats are getting better, but they aren’t there yet.  Sure for Pitchers, there are a plethora of stats, but for the rest of defence, there just isn’t much. 

Comparing a Left fielder to a Right fielder or a Second baseman to a First baseman would be pretty easy.  How many errors have they committed, Wins Above Replacement, and those kinds of stats could tell you who the better player is. But what happens when you have to compare, say, a Centre fielder (Trout) and a Third baseman (Donaldson)?  Many people immediately say, “Centre field is a premium position.” I disagree!

A Centre fielder has a lot of ground to cover, even in the smallest of ball parks, so they have to be athletic and fast.  What major-leaguer isn’t athletic though?  Let’s break it down to two of the very basic fundamentals of baseball; throwing and catching.  In Centre field, you get line drives, fly balls, and grounders up the middle.  When you make those catches, more often than not, you throw it into the cut-off man and get ready for the next batter. Third base is a little trickier…

At Third base, many people think that there is not a lot of area to cover, and they would be right if we were talking about FAIR territory.  A Third baseman has a TON of area in foul territory to cover.  Also, many times, a Third baseman has to field bunts right in front of home plate and play Short Stop when infields move into the switch for left-handed batters.  They also have to deal with hard hit balls down the baseline, short hops, in between hops, different infield grasses, and the occasional broken bat to dodge!  That’s just fielding the ball.  When they do catch it, they have to make an accurate throw to First for an out, lead their Short Stop or Second Baseman for a double play, or look off a runner before throwing.    

My rankings for the hardest baseball positions to play defensively are:

1. Catcher – Physically and mentally demanding, involved in every play, knowledge of pitchers and batters

2. Short Stop – Cover most of the infield, turning double plays, able to play all infield positions

3. Third Base – See above

4. First Base – Catching errant throws from infielders, holding runners on

5. Centre Field – See above

6. Second Base – turning double plays

7. Left Field – Catching and throwing

8. Right Field – Catching and throwing

9. Pitcher – Only field balls that come directly to them

In my opinion, if you want to use where a player plays defensively to determine how much more valuable equal players are to their teams, a Third baseman is more valuable than Centre fielder.

Eliminate Money to Save Money?

Coin collectors across the country will cringe today as the last Canadian penny will be minted.

The Conservative Canadian government decided five weeks ago to eliminate the production of the penny at a savings to tax payers of $11 Million dollars! The explanation was simple; it costs around 1.5 cents to make the 1 cent coin.  So why wasn’t this done YEARS ago?

One has to wonder how the government of our country can spend so much on a coin that has long been lost couch cushions, used as betting chips, and tossed into wishing wells.  I mean, if it costs that much to produce the penny, how much are we spending on making the nickel, dime, quarter, and all currency for that matter!

How often to do pay for anything with cash? To be fair, there are many places that you HAVE to pay with cash (some local businesses, fairs, and markets for example), but whenever possible do we not, for the most part, pay for goods with either a credit card or debit card?

So why don’t we just get rid of the majority of money and go completely to plastic? 

Some people are afraid that without the penny (and all currency for that matter), items will cost more and we will eventually be unable to afford them.  This can all be fixed by using plastic.  The money you get paid from your job goes into your bank account without any actual cash being handled whether you get paid directly or by check, so why can the same principle work for purchasing items?  An uneven dollar amount comes out of your bank account and the cost of the product doesn’t go up!

Other people are concerned that without cash, how can you pay the young kid who mows your lawn or shovels your driveway.  The answer is simple.  Cash money will still exist.  We should just stop MAKING it.  Leave all of the hundreds of thousands of coins and bills in circulation until they are unrecognizable and then take them out.  I’m sure it will take CENTURIES before all the cash money is gone!  And by then, who know what kind of world we will live in, we might have switched back to the barter system!

Now maybe this plan is in the works and I’m just years ahead of myself, but to me, it just makes sense to stop production on all of our currency and then maybe our government wouldn’t be so cash-strapped.

What do you think?

A Buck a Call From a Pay Phone?

If Bell Canada and Bell Aliant Inc. gets its way (which is almost ALWAYS does), a call from a payphone will cost $1.00.

The phone company is asking the CRTC to approve a doubling in the cost of cash calls from 50 cents and calls from a calling card or debit card from $1.00 to $2.00.

This is another gouging at the expense of hard-working Canadians who are forced to call using pay phones because they can’t afford a landline or cell phone.  But, if the cost of pay phones continue to go up, it might be cheaper to have a cell phone.

It was back in 2007 when they raised the rates from a quarter to 50 cents saying that they hadn’t raised the rates in 25 years and fewer consumers were using the pay phones so many of the units were not generating enough revenue to cover their replacement cost.  

Now, the company says the new increase is needed to keep up with the Royal Canadian Mint who is changing the loonie, which would force them to change their machines to accept them.

The emergence of cell phones has severely hurt the bottom line of pay phones and landlines but that is a good thing in my opinion.  In my travels, and hearing for others who travel the world, most of what we call “less-developed countries” work on a network of cell phones because it is cheaper than running phones lines across their lands.  This make total sense to me and wonder why we don’t do the same and take out the phone lines and completely go to a cellular way of communication.

If the CRTC allows them to increase the pay phone rates, I have a feeling they might lose the pay phone industry all together.  And if they think that will boost their cell and landline sales, I doubt it, because people know who was responsible in forcing them to shift from pay phones and with the competition in the cellular market today, I feel Bell could miss out.

More Canadians Choosing Wine over Beer?

The numbers are out and apparently Canadians are losing their taste for beer.

Statistics Canada released the numbers for alcoholic beverages sold in the 2010-2011 fiscal year and it shows beer over 5 litres per person since the turn of the century.

Wine, on the other hand, now has a 30 percent market share of the alcohol purchasing market, 7 percentage points higher than in 2000.

So could it be true?  More people here in Canada are choosing wine over beer? I wonder why?
With so many deals on beer in the summer time, the fact is that it’s cheaper to grab a cheap bottle of wine and it actually leads to lower alcohol consumption per night of drinking.

Or is it that we are becoming more aware of wine, in its many forms, and how it can be deliciously paired with different foods.

The magazine put out by the LCBO always has a wide range of food and wine combinations that are really good on a nice summer day.

So what is it for you? Are you still drinking beer on the same schedule as 12 years ago, or have you slowed down and maybe bought the occasional bottle of wine instead of a six-pack?

For me, it continues to be beer and whiskey as my poison, but if that runs out…there’s always a bottle of wine somewhere in the house I’ll crack after a long hard day of work!

Did We Just Skip a Season?

Tomorrow is spring; do you have your sunscreen and beach towel ready?

That’s right, Ontario is breaking records all over the place so far this year and with a forecast of 25 degrees Celsius for the first day of spring, the records are getting SHATTERED!

It’s hard to believe that on the last day of winter, I’m wearing shorts and flip flops and most of the ice on the lakes is gone or just a slushy mess on top of the water.

Could this be a side effect of global warming or is it just a cycle the world is going through?

More and more people and governments are really starting to take action against global warming like cutting carbon emissions and preserving our natural resources while others, including me, are looking to the past.

I’m a firm believer that history repeats itself and taking into account that the earth has been around for BILLIONS of years and gone through numerous ice ages, it would have likely gone through a few warming periods.

The science behind my assumptions (for what I understand it to be, please don’t quote me) is that ice ages were created, in part, by the slowing or stopping of the main Atlantic Ocean current that controls Europe’s and some of North America’s weather; the Gulf Stream.

Waters in the Atlantic near the equator are pushed north to warm the waters in the north Atlantic while colder waters are pushed downward. 

I’ve learned that if global warming was to melt the polar ice caps, the waters in the Atlantic would cool initially, but because there isn’t a large ice mass reflecting heat out of our atmosphere, the sun will warm the north Atlantic waters which could make the Gulf Stream obsolete.

So if you are following me, if the Gulf Stream slows or stops in preparation for this weather event, we cold head for an ice age.

Just one of many theories surrounding the coming years for our earth, but in the meantime, grab some sunglasses and sunscreen and enjoy an elongated summer in North America!  

If Everyone's Not There, Don't Open the Chips?

I’ve never had a surprise birthday party nor have a planned one, but it’s interesting to see the etiquette involve in attending one.

On the weekend I went to a surprise 30^th birthday party for a baseball friend and arrived about 45 minutes prior to her coming home from dinner with her husband.  Everything was already decorated and 80% of the people who would eventually show up were already there.  So, once we got there and met with people, we immediately opened a drink and began to “socialize”.

At a party it is customary to bring your own drinks and engage in conversations and be apart of the fun. What I don’t understand is the food portion of the surprise party.  At the party on Saturday night, there was a lovely array of chips and party mix, numerous other snacks, and of course, the cake. Why is it that those snacks are not opened prior to the guest of honour arriving?

It doesn’t make sense, the party has essentially started and you have already begun drinking. I understand the cake. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying present the birthday girl with a half-eaten cake, but what does it matter about the chips and other snacks? Is opening a beer and getting an early start on the drinking only okay because you brought it yourself whereas the party planners where the ones in charge of the snacks?

Additionally funny was when I mentioned this very point to others at the party they didn’t know why either, yet as soon as we surprised the birthday girl, the chips were IMMEDIATELY opened but there were no bowls. Apparently, the planners had to wait to get the bowls in case the house-owner (the birthday girl) got suspicious because there were bowls missing?!  That’s not the first thing I do when I get home from dinner, check the cupboard to see if my bowls are still there! I would be more apt to be suspicious to find my fridge full of 12 different kinds of beer chilling in there without me putting them there…

But regardless, the party went off without a hitch, the husband led her right downstairs to where her friends and family were waiting to surprise her and she WAS surprised.  I just wish I could have had a couple chips to tide me over until the cake was cut that’s all!

1% vs. 99% or Justification?

I came across this story this morning and was intrigued by the title, but upon reading it, I felt the title was misleading.  Check it out for yourself:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/banker-insulting-tip-incites-class-warfare-between-1-164624882.html

The story jumps to a lot of assumptions.

I have worked as a server and a bartender in Canada and while tips are a big part of income surrounding the industry, my belief is they are something earned...not expected!  We don't know how well this waitress performed her job. Maybe she only deserved a 1% tip.

I agree, the writing on the receipt is overboard but it's my belief that we have become a very lazy 99% in that we think that just because the 1% has more than us, we should be able to sit back and have things given to us.  I am in no way part of the 1% and have tipped a server less than 15% and in some cases nothing at all. 

Working in the industry I have witnessed servers completely ignore some patrons in favour of others who are known as “big tippers”, leaving the bulk of the work to the other staffers who rush around their whole shift waiting on their own tables as well and some others and still come in with less in tips at the end of the shift.

Just because someone has more money to spend, doesn’t mean they should be forced to give it away to someone who is not going to do their job to an acceptable level.  That is why I’m opposed to “mandatory gratuity”. It’s a licence to slack off.

If, in fact, this business man just does this regardless of the quality of service, than it is completely out of line. But, knowing what I know about how the system works, I’ll reserve my judgment until I know the WHOLE story.

What do you think?