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Commish for a day

I love baseball. I grew up rooting for the Atlanta Braves. Watched them on TV almost every night (I have their starting lineup from their 1995 World Series team memorized, as well as Greg Maddux’s earned run average that year). Never gave up on the game, even through all the controversies.

But, there are quite a few annoyances in the game of baseball.

So, let’s play a game called “I’m Commissioner For A Day” (yes, I just made it up). If I was made Major League Baseball’s Commish for one day, here’s what I would do:

One, scrap interleague play. Yes, this was cute when it first was introduced in 1995. But now? It’s just plain unfair. For instance, the Atlanta Braves (86-76) played the Boston Red Sox (95-67) six times and the New York Yankees (103-59) three times, while the St. Louis Cardinals (91-71) played the Kansas City Royals six times (65-97) and the Cleveland Indians (65-97) thrice. You’re telling me that doesn’t make a difference in each team’s record?

Two, remove the divisions. I’m sick and tired of horrible teams making the playoffs just because they won their crappy division. Here’s what I’d do. Move the Milwaukee Brewers back to the American League where they belong (so that each league will have 15 teams) and have every team play each squad in their league an equal amount of times to make the schedules fair. The top four teams will then advance to the postseason in the National and American Leagues.

Then, we won’t have to have a situation like 2006 again where an 83-win Cardinal team wins the World Series because they got hot at the right time. The best teams should be in the postseason, regardless of where they play their games.

Three, eliminate the designated hitter. This is the single-dumbest innovation in the history of sports. An equivalent would be if in the NBA’s Eastern Conference instituted a designated three-point shooter who got to stand in the corner and shoot three pointers if his teammates passed the ball to him. It’s just plain ridiculous. Have the same rules apply for each league.

Four, stop the All-Star game from deciding who gets home-field advantage in the World Series. It’s an exhibition game that means nothing. Starting pitchers go three innings max, hitters are lucky to get one at-bat in before they’re taken out and no one tries all that hard. How’s this for a novel idea — the team with the best overall record gets home-field advantage. Difficult to imagine, I know.

Five, never, ever, EVER, institute replay into baseball. Games are long enough already. And so what if an umpire makes a mistake. Guess what — nobody’s perfect. Players make errors. Pitchers throw balls. Managers make mistakes (quite often actually). Major League Baseball does not need replay to see if a ball actually went over the fence, or if a sliding player made it to the base under the tag, or if a pitch was on the corner or just off the plate. The human component makes it like real life.

Baseball is a great game for the weird quirks it has. Each stadium is a different size. There’s no salary cap. Coaches wear the same uniforms as the players do (imagine Phil Jackson sporting a Lakers jersey, or, better yet, Wade Phillips with pads on).
But these five things must go.

Underdogs to Wonderdogs, Part II?

It may be a little early to be making comparisons like that, but the Fresno State baseball team is giving new meaning to the label of “Cardiac Kids.”

The Diamond ‘Dogs opened the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament with a loss last Thursday night, but bounced back with four straight wins facing elimination to clinch their fourth straight WAC Tournament title. Read more

Diamond ’Dog Season Finale

When: Thursday and Friday at 3:30 p.m., Saturday doubleheader starts at noon
Where: Hornet Field (Sacramento)
Radio: KMJ-AM 580 or listen online at KMJ580.com
Fresno State Bulldogs
(24-27, 8-12 WAC)

Fresno State is in a very unfamiliar position heading into its final regular season series – last place.

The Bulldogs have not won a conference series this season, after winning all but two last year.

Mike Batesole’s squad sits at 8-12 in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and will head north to take on the Sacramento State Hornets in the final series of the season.

The Diamond ’Dogs took three out of five from the Hornets last season, including a 3-2 win in the first game of the 2008 WAC Tournament.

Playing in this season’s WAC tourney in Hawaii may be a longshot, though, if the Bulldogs don’t take care of business this weekend.

Fresno State will need to win three out of four of the games if they hope to have a chance at defending its national title.

A four-game sweep would guarantee a spot in the tournament, as fellow cellar-dweller Sac State is 8-10 in conference play.

Easier said than done.

The Bulldogs haven’t swept a series this season after winning two four-game sets last year.

Fresno State opened WAC play at the losing end of a four-game sweep to Louisiana Tech and has split every WAC series since.

The main difference from last season: inconsistency from the pitching staff and defense.

The Bulldogs surrendered 36 runs last weekend to Hawaii and committed five errors.

This doesn’t bode well coming into Sacramento as the Hornets hit .320 as a team.

Fresno State’s team ERA is 5.95 and is tied for last in the conference with only seven saves.

Offensively, Fresno State has been solid thanks to Alan Ahmady’s current hot streak. The junior first baseman hit .333 in his last six games with eight runs scored, nine RBIs and three roundtrippers.

Tom Mendonca leads the Bulldogs with 22 home runs and 67 RBIs.

Projected Lineup

C Trent Garrison, Fr.
1B Alan Ahmady, Jr. (RIGHT)
2B Danny Muno, So.
3B Tom Mendonca, Jr.
SS Isacc Vivas, So.
LF Dusty Robinson, Fr.
CF Gavin Hedstrom, Sr.
RF Brennan Gowens, Fr.
DH Kenny Wise, Fr.

Starting Rotation

Thurs. – Matt Morse (2-2)
Fri. – Derek Benny (2-3)
Sat. – Cody Kendall (2-1)
Sat. – Holden Sprague (5-3)

Sacramento State Hornets

(27-23, 8-10 WAC)

The Sacramento State baseball team has a chance for revenge this weekend at Hornet Field.

Fresno State defeated Sac State in last season’s conference tourney and what better way to return the favor than knock out the defending national champs.

The Hornets are on a hot streak, taking three of four games from Nevada last weekend at Peccole Park in Reno.

Sac State is led offensively by senior first baseman Blake Crosby, the younger brother of Oakland A’s infielder Bobby Crosby.

Blake Crosby is batting .403 this season as the Hornets’ cleanup hitter and has 46 runs driven in.

The true superstar, however, is center fielder Tim Wheeler, a projected first round draft pick in June.

Wheeler is a five-tool player who can hit for power and average and is a superb defensive outfielder.

The junior has 18 homers, 69 RBIs and has stolen 15 bases. He’s hitting .396 on the season.

Sac State’s table-setters are both hitting over .350 as well.

Leadoff hitter Hunter Martinez is batting .369 with 14 stolen bases and No. 2 hitter Josh Powers is batting .360 with 37 RBI.

Similar to the Bulldogs, the Hornets’ pitching staff has been the weak point of the ballclub.

The team’s ERA is 6.05 and opposing batters are hitting more than .300 against Hornet pitchers.

Fowler native Jesse Darrah has been the unofficial ace of Sac State’s pitching staff this season.

The freshman right-hander is 9-2 on the season and leads the team with 53 strikeouts in 76.2 innings pitched.

This weekend’s series should be interesting as both teams are offensive juggernauts, but lack depth and experience in their pitching staffs.

The battle for the final spot in the WAC should come down to the final pitch in Saturday’s doubleheader.

Projected Lineup

C Brent Hottman, So.
1B Blake Crosby, Sr.
2B Hunter Martinez, Sr.
3B Josh Powers, Jr.
SS Derrick Chung, So.
LF Ivan Otsuka, Fr.
CF Tim Wheeler, Jr. (LEFT)
RF Justin Mezzaneras, Jr.
DH Justin Lamb, Fr.

Starting Rotation

Thurs. – Tommy Elrod (4-3)
Fri. – Jesse Darrah (9-2)
Sat. – Jeff Roth (2-2)
Sat. – Brandon Sandoval (5-4)
WAC Standings

Team WAC record

San Jose State 11-7
Louisiana Tech 11-9
Nevada 10-9
New Mexico State 10-10
Hawaii 11-12
Sacramento State 8-10
Fresno State 8-12
By the Numbers…

FS Sac

Avg. .279 .320
HR 70 62
Runs 365 379
SB 39 59
ERA 5.95 6.05
K 322 288
BB 180 175
SV 7 11
FPct. .962 .971

Sports photos of the year

Down, but not out

’Dogs split with Wolf Pack and keep postseason hope alive

It may be a steep climb, but the Fresno State baseball team’s ascent to qualify for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament is still alive.

After dropping both games in Saturday’s doubleheader to Nevada at Pete Beiden Field, the Bulldogs needed a Wonderdog-esque performance from someone on Sunday to stay relevant in the conference race.

Turns out junior first baseman Alan Ahmady still has some of that magic dust on his jersey from last season.

Ahmady hit a walk-off homer over the left field scoreboard in the bottom of the ninth inning in Sunday’s first game, to give the Bulldogs an 8-6 victory.

Fresno State trounced the Wolf Pack, 12-5, in the nightcap on Sunday to earn the 2-2 series split.

The Bulldogs are now 6-10 in conference and tied with Sacramento State for last in the WAC. Only the top six of seven teams in the conference get to go to Hawaii for the WAC Tournament.

“It was hard to stop us today because we had a chip on our shoulder,” Ahmady said. “Coming into this season we had a lot of high hopes, but now we’re in this position so we gotta keep moving forward.”

The Bulldogs were forced to play two doubleheaders this weekend due to a rainout on Friday. Fresno State lost by scores of 15-11 and 16-4 on Saturday.

The 16-4 defeat was the first time Fresno State has lost by the mercy rule in school history.

Coach Mike Batesole said the pitching staff and defense will need to start clicking more if they hope to be in Hawaii for the WAC Tournament.

The Diamond ’Dogs made seven errors over the weekend, including five in the first game on Saturday.

“By getting two [wins] today that gives us hope again,” Batesole said. “If we play like we did [Sunday] it’s right there for us. Until somebody kicks us out of there and we’re eliminated, we’re going to keep fighting it out.”

Senior pitcher Holden Sprague will need to keep pitching like he did on Sunday if the Bulldogs hope to have a chance during the stretch run.

The veteran right-hander picked up both wins on the mound on Sunday, including a complete-game effort in the second game.

His other win came in a relief appearance in game one when he pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
Success against the Pack is nothing new for Sprague.

He beat the Wolf Pack in last season’s WAC title game in Ruston, La. to send the Bulldogs to Regionals.

“We haven’t put any extra pressure on ourselves,” Sprague said. “These two games give us good momentum going into next week. Finishing strong is always something that we do.”

This season may be a different story though if the Bulldogs don’t start winning some series in the WAC.

The Bulldogs have split three series and got swept by Louisiana Tech in the other. With Hawaii and Sacramento State remaining on the schedule, the Bulldogs will need to changes things fast.

“We needed to win three out of four the last three weekends,” Batesole said. “We got two this weekend so that means we need to get three out of four and a sweep [in the two remaining series].”

The Bulldogs will host Hawaii for a four-game set starting on Thursday night and close the season at Sacramento State.

That final series against the Hornets could very well determine the Bulldogs’ postseason future, or lack thereof.

“It will be tough, but we had our backs up against the wall a bunch of times last year and we overcame it,” Sprague said. “There’s no difference from this year to last.”

The Collegian’s REDWAVE podcast: Baseball splits with Nevada

In this episode, Fresno State baseball hosts Nevada for our game of the week. Logan and Jimmy discuss Fresno State’s chances of making the WAC Tournament and give an outlook for the rest of the season. We have exclusive interviews with Sunday’s heroes, first baseman Alan Ahmady and pitcher Holden Sprague. The Red Wave guys will also discuss the softball team’s 10th WAC Championship Title, men’s golfer Grant Doverspike, and the women’s NCAA Tournament hopes. As always we’ll have our fans of the week and release our newest question of the week!

Play-by-play
Game of the Week: Baseball hosts Nevada: 00:02:00
Alan Ahmady: 00:10:45
Holden Sprague: 00:12:30
Where the Diamond ‘Dogs Stand: 00:14:05
WAC Softball Champs: 00:21:00
Grant Doverspike: 00:25:55
Women’s Tennis: 00:28:45
Fans of the Week: 00:32:50

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