Ryan Braun

Our Ryan Howard garden gnomes went off on e-Bay last night with a $34 and $34.33 bid from the same person. Whether it's a dealer or an obsessive fan, I don't know, but let's say we were paid handsomely to see the game. Now, we'll have to wait for our Cole Hamels garden gnomes and the Carlos Ruiz "CHOOCH"ing owl.
Yep... this is real.
So money, money, money... we live in a world that is consumed by it. Some of us earn our money, some of us don't earn enough of it, and others of us flaunt it so that other people feel entitled to it. It's an endless cycle of what makes the world go round, and when it's there, we feel entitled to talk out our asses about whatever stupid thing we believe in in a way that makes us feel we're entitled to run for President of the United States as a Republican... even if the Republicans and all sane people don't want us. In the end, Trump represents a choice so bad that he makes the Obama we know look better (but still not good).
But all the same, it's nice when good people wake up with lots of money for doing what they have to do, day in day out, and representing the face of their company, and for that, it's nice to see the 5year $105million extension of Ryan Braun to stay with the Brew Crew until 2020 represents a team making a decision to reward and identify their team long beyond the current now. Off to a .359 start in the obscurity of the land of Laverne and Shirley, Cheeseheads, and not much else that doesn't have good fur for insulation, there are a lot of guarantees from Mr. Braun. In his last 2 years, he's done 100 runs a season (but not the first 2). He's missed 100RBIs once, 30 home runs once, and .300 once. In this, he's not Albert Pujols, but who is? He's soaked a mascot in beer as many as 37 times a year, while he's also stole 20 bases in a season (never dropping beneath 14). And while he's good for over 100 whiffs a year, he's young and he's likable - kind of a Richie Cunningham with a big stick and a trio of MVPs and Silver Slugger awards since he beat out Troy Tulowitski for the Rookie of the Year in 2007 (and people figured out who he was, which just goes to show what East Coast bias (or not playing in a major metropolis on either coast) will cause you not to do... (after all, Joey Votto only went as a final vote winner and Carlos Gonzalez didn't go at all).
But that's the nature of the game... we sell our stories that the most possible people will buy. We sell the ones that we've sold forever. After all, Big Sluggi did end up on the All Star team and the beginning of his season last year was worse than the beginning of Punch Drunk Love (didn't care to see what happened at the end of either of them). And as we're sold the stories, we stick with them... even if there are better stories yet to come... from more obscure places. And for this, when the World Series (or whatever sporting event we are into) doesn't yield Yankees vs. Red Sox or either of those guys vs. the Phillies, nobody watches because they don't know how to follow a game that doesn't have stars that they have to like the game to know.
I was in a discussion with my dad last night regarding this. He's a Dale Jr. fan that shuts off NASCAR if Junior isn't competitive, and for years, that's what it's been. And I get that Dale Jr. is a popular driver. His dad was great, but so was Kyle Petty's dad Richard, and let's be honest, you can't sell Petty memorabilia if your life depends on it, so we need drivers that we can push - because some day, the guy we're pushing is going to be gone, and then where will we be (see Baltimore and Cal Ripken if you have any questions. They haven't been competitive since 1997, and he stuck around for 4 more years and held down a spot that could have been given to a younger player on a 162-game basis for another full year). Where will NASCAR be if Dale Jr.'s losing streak continues? Will we see more editorials like the one he was talking about where both drivers get credit for a win if they tandem draft together?
It's the same for baseball. We have 30 teams with 25 players on each. Some are old. Some are young. Some are having breakout seasons. Some are crapping the bed. We need to give everyone who is good a moment in the light. How else are we going to sell our mid-season game?
Let alone an expanded playoff scenario.

Tony Gwynn

Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Always really good, but never good enough. For example, on Sunday, Dale Jr. lost for the 99th time in a row. Sure, he won that 100th race before that, but that race on June 15, 2008, was a rain shortened event, and while a win is a win, it's not a true win. That said... he came close - leading down to the near end when Kevin Harvick passed him and then Kyle Busch, who he had passed for the lead, almost passed him for 2nd. In the end, Jr. nudged him out for second, but a loss is a loss, and second place is the first loser. On Monday night, in a battle of who wants to lose the least of the "great" men's basketball teams, and let's say - it was close, Connecticut pulled a rabbit out of their butts and got the win against Butler. How bad was it? Two teams haven't scored this few of points since 1949. Back then, Truman was in office, Korea wasn't a war, and my mom wasn't born. Butler shot 18.8%, which sucks so badly that they couldn't even get into the paint in the time I watched the game (up until the last 8 minutes or so when I couldn't justify any more time on it and for the fact that I still had to drive home from my parents' house). To this, there came a point where they literally stopped trying to drive in. They couldn't get offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds. When their defense held off UConn, they still gave up 2nd and 3rd chance points. In all honesty, UConn wasn't that good either with a 34.5% shooting rate. And tonight, Notre Dame women came close but no cigar as they lost to Texas A+M, ruining my first cousin, once removed's chance to be national champion for a second time. That said, whooping on TN and UConn means something - just not the trophy. Better luck next year, Moffet. In football, the Buffalo Bills were playing well enough to be in the Superbowl 4 years running, but they lost every year. Eventually, the run and the opportunity ended, and they haven't been back since. And baseball is no different. Sometimes, we go our whole lives and wait for the chance to get in there, and when it happens, we lose 4 straight (Houston) or get beat both times we get in there (San Diego). And what happens for the great players who gave their all to make it happen (Tony Gwynn), but can't get the ring? Do we see them as less, remember them a little duller in the spotlight? Tony Gwynn is in the hall of fame, but he's not wearing the jewelry. To this, there's something about getting the job done... and if we can't seal the deal, no matter what famous pedigree we have or investment there is in the team, eventually we become Kyle Petty or see the team broken up into aging parts for resale. It happens... just ask the Cleveland Indians.

Jake Taylor

Sadly, there is no game in baseball that rivals the Daytona 500. There are no parties that serve as the culmination of 2 weeks of hype. There is no excessive practice, time trials, and multiple contests that don't matter leading up to the big game. Past MVPs don't get to come back to compete one more time (at least since Bill Veeck died). Past winners don't automatically get a spot in the order regardless of how poorly they run. There is nothing in baseball that lives up to the hype. Sure, there's an all star game, but it hasn't mattered since Bud Selig called the game a tie. Even before that, it wasn't Pete Rose vs. Ray Fosse.
But Daytona is everything baseball could be if it didn't invite the Counting Crows to the All Star Game as the representative music of the game (sure, August and Everything After is great, but it's not rockin' or anything). Daytona got it right for their audience. Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley. Now, I'm not a country music fan in that I wear a cowboy hat and boots, but I know that this is what their fans like. Hell, Chris Daughtry would work, too. The point is that you please the fans.
Opening day is great for baseball, but it's not the tone for the season. It's 1 game and done. It's not a once and done chance for a rookie. It's not all or nothing. It's the beginning of a 162-game marathon. Sure, all games matter to stats, but you can recover in baseball. In NASCAR, it's about being sponsored and given a chance to ride constantly. Case in point - Trevor Bayne.
It's not quite a home run in the first at bat. Sure, that's a great starting point, but alas, this wasn't a first at bat. The first and only at bat before this was a single 17th place run (out of 43 drivers) at some point in the end of the last season by a 19 year old up for a cup of coffee.
Here's a man who never won in the NASCAR minor leagues (Nationwide series).
Here's a man on a team who hasn't won in 10 years.
Here's a man on a team with history - a history that many fans who are under 30 never got to see.
Here's a man on a team that hasn't won the Daytona since 1976. My wife was still in diapers at the time David Pearson won the race at 30mph after a crash.
Their last 3 winners are gone from racing altogether (Morgan Shepherd, Dale Jarrett, and Elliot Sadler).
And then a guy who is 20 years old and a day comes to race. He doesn't have a full season ride. He looks to be pre-pubescent. Nobody knows who he is, but he runs strongly all day.
In the end, a crash takes out Dale Jr. on the 10th anniversary of his father's death race. The front is lined up for 2 and done. A young kid who hasn't restarted well all day is in the lead and he gets a push from Bobby Labonte, a grizzled veteran who doesn't even belong at the race, but who is still up front because he's running well and because he was a past NASCAR champion. He's bump drafting Bayne and pushing him to be as great as he once was. He's in the lead. He's going for gold. It's like Tom Berenger as Jake Taylor in Major League... he's willing the youngsters to win by forcing his legs to make it to first on an improbable bunt (he'll finish 4th) and somehow, improbably, Carl Edwards who is getting pushed by David Gilliland can't get around him in the final stretch of the race and the kid wins.
He has to be told that he wins.
"I just feel unworthy …"
But it's not the humble young guy who won...
"they gave me a rocket ship."
He's thanking God and completely overwhelmed.
He has to be told how to get to Victory Lane.
Something in the moment is geared towards the end of a movie. It's fantastic. It's the start of something good... hopefully, it's a sequel that's better than Major League 2 (and much better than 3).
Baseball doesn't seem to offer up stories like that unless you watch really closely. When they do happen, they have to be in the playoffs or result in some degree of perfection (Dallas Braden's gem on Mother's Day), but we don't watch that live. We see the highlights - unless we have MLBTV and we're somehow fatefully there (like I was).
If only it could be that way again.
Here's to 2011 - 38 days.