By KYLE ADAMS
Staff Writer
I’ll be honest, it’s tough to write about baseball and just ignore the things that transcend the game. This past week pitchers and catchers reported to their team’s Spring Training facilities, all except two. For the Miami Marlins and the Kansas City Royals, well they had teammates missing.
In late September, Jose Fernandez passed away in a boating accident, which substance abuse was later revealed to have been the cause. Fernandez was one of the best young pitchers in the game, and a CY Young contender. The day after his death, the Marlins somehow played the Mets and on the second pitch of the game, Dee Gordon hit the most dramatic home run that I’ve ever seen in my life. The empty locker of the 6’3’’ right handed Cuban Defector is going to serve as a reminder of how life can be turned inside out in the blink of an eye, just from one bad decision. Fernandez was 24 years old.
The Kansas City Royals ended their 2016 season with an even .500 record and missing the playoffs, coming off of their 2015 World Series season. However all their players were intact and looking forward to a fresh start in 2017. On January 22nd of the New Year, that would change. Yordano Ventura was involved in a car accident in the Dominican Republic; however that isn’t what killed him. After crashing, Ventura was then robbed and left for dead. The double tragedy of the circumstance and of humanities’ flaws only lead to more, unanswerable questions. Ventura was 25 years old.
Through tragedy, baseball has always been there for us. Mike Piazza was there for New York and the world, after the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001.
David Ortiz, Daniel Nava and the Red Sox were there for Boston after the bombings at the marathon in 2013. Now it’s time for us to be there for baseball. Go to games, buy some overpriced soda and try to catch a foul ball.
The game of baseball that we grew up watching isn’t here anymore. The new generation of players has taken over. The voice of baseball, Vin Scully, is now enjoying retirement. On Mother’s Day, Derek Jeter will have his number 2, retired by the New York Yankees, and his wife, Hannah Davis, pregnant with their first daughter will be at his side.
Justin Verlander will be seeking vengeance for his upsetting CY Young loss in 2016, to Rick Porcello. Mike Trout will continue to prove that he’s the best player in the game, probably on his way to the largest contract of all time. Aroldis Chapman, returning to New York, is going to continue to shatter the radar gun and Gary Sanchez is going to try to build off his incredible rookie half-season. Will the Yankees look to unload their newly acquired farm hands in exchange for a starting pitcher or a third baseman or will they see what their prospects can do?
The Boston Red Sox have revamped their pitching, with the addition of Chris Sale, joining David Price and Porcello, having the potential to be the best starting rotation since the 1998 Atlanta Braves. However, as the injury plagued Mets rotation assembles again, they will look to challenge Boston for the best rotation in the game.
I am most looking forward to seeing some Giancarlo and Harper bombs and maybe a little tension afterwards over how far they flip their bat. However the elephant in the room is the Chicago Cubs. In 2016, they won their first World Series in 108 years. Will they be able to do it again or will they have to wait until 2124 for their next and fourth ever World Series Championship?
Pay attention to the Cleveland Indians… they still have something left to prove.
