You Play to Win the Game

What is so great about sports in general, and baseball specifically, is that everyone knows the objective and everyone is forced to feel their way through the path leading to that objective. Although he has received some flak for "faking" an HBP last week in Tampa, Derek Jeter proved in his acting why he is a future hall-of-famer. Acting is simply part of the process, just as is stealing signs off of second or trying to catch a pitcher tipping his pitches. While not the most athletically challenging of our mainstream sports, baseball remains our national pastime because it requires these little things that make us think.

Acting is not cheating. Trying to fool an umpiring crew is as integral to the game of baseball as the sacrifice bunt or the hit and run. From catchers framing borderline pitches to the first baseman immediately throwing the ball around the horn after a close play, having the ability to pander to the umpiring crew is just one of those intangibles that great baseball players all possess.

On the same token, so is Joe Maddon's objection to the call. He has every right to argue Jeter's being given first and in fact, one of the joys I get in watching baseball is in watching the managers come out to argue their case. Those who dont appreciate the game of baseball in a pure sense cant comprehend the value of the argument in the way the game is played. Since the game's early days, the "humanity" of officiating has been a part of the game. Trying to get the umpires in one's favor is something all teams try to do and something that the great teams have down to an art. The casual baseball watcher may see the argument as a waste of time as it rarely leads to a tangible change, but it is far from irrelevant. The points made and the manner in which they are conveyed have an impact on the umpires themselves as well as the players a manager may be trying to motivate. Because the game is more about a daily grind than about the single day hype of the NFL, a manager's best means of keeping players motivated is to have them ride in his emotional footsteps. Tight games require the calm of a manager in thought so that his players might not get over-hyped for just a single game or a single inning. On the same token, blow-outs often lead to ejections because managers know they need to send that wake-up call to their team ASAP before a string of losses results.

Baseball's greatness lies in its intangibles, the little things that often go unnoticed in the box score found in the morning paper. Acting and arguing are certainly among these. There is a craft to these matters that goes far beyond the images seen through a camera lense and the calls that result from a given action. So brace yourself because here it is: Way to go Jeter. Thank you for playing the game the right way and although I still hate your guts, I respect the way you play the game.