If you listen to the Ranger’s broadcast, you might hear ok I am making a call. Well TAG, here it is I am making a call. I think the Rangers are going after Derek Norris of San Diego Padres. T…

Source: OTOGH: To Catch a Catcher – Cleat Geeks

Its Friday, the weekend is coming, i love spending Saturdays with beer and hot dogs watch baseball all day long. The other thing i love, Blowouts! I was on my way to bed when I saw on Twitter 13 run inning, I had to watch. Its times like this I love my MLB.TV. It was crazy, you just had to laugh, I mean I am sure the Giants aren’t laughing but I sure was. Here is a recap of the 13 run inning.

Josh Ravin broke my heart. He seemed like such a nice guy, posting nice things on Twitter and being open about his broken arm. He had a positive attitude, and I was happy to follow him. Key word WAS. Turns out the only thing positive about him was the PED test.
The storm is coming. More PED suspensions are on the way. When does it end? For the fan sitting on the couch with a baseball cap on her head and a pennant in her hand, it is unsettling. Will it be someone on my team, and who? I am taking the news to mean that it is going to be more than one player suspended. I am not wasting GOD’s time praying it’s not a Ranger. I have had that prayer broken before.
All this got me thinking, what about us, the fans. What are we supposed to do? You see, baseball needs us. Baseball needs the fans to spend the money. Major League Baseball talks about how it’s a business. Well, you know what? MLB, you may be a business, but I am a shareholder in the game of baseball, and I want to know what is going on.
I forgave Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro. I had hoped the steroid era, a black mark on baseball’s past, was over. And I’m not surprised, and halfway expected, that some young minor leaguers would do it as a push to get in the big leagues. All this testing was supposed to get rid of all this. Now, as it turns out, it’s not a new steroid era. IT’S STILL GOING ON!
No, I take it all back. We cannot forgive until the problem comes to an end.
I got real lucky while in college. I got a $30,000-a-year job. The company had a drug policy. If you tested positive, you were out. I told my pot friends, sorry guys, I got this job. And they didn’t care. That meant more for them. When I went out, you better believe I didn’t eat the brownies. I mean, come on, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out. So for a 30,000-a-year job, I watched what I did and made sure there were no drugs in my system. Now, if I had a $500,000-a-year job, an amount that is the new league minimum, you better believe I would know what went into my body.
The list will be out. I don’t know if it’s going to have one or 100, but it is time for fans to take a stand. I cannot forgive past users. Not with the problem so great. So I take back any forgiveness I once had. Now is not the time to forgive. Now is the time to get mad.
PED: It Stops Now campaign starts now
I will boo any and all past or present steroid users
I will hold up an * sign
I will not buy products the steroid user endorses
I will not support any charity the steroid user supports.
I will go to one less game of the team the steroid user plays for.
I will buy one less product of the team the steroid user plays for.
Two of the greatest baseball players who ever played, Hank Aaron and Nolan Ryan, with some of the most phenomenal feats in baseball, never touched a PED. They did it, ballplayer, and you can, too.

I had some serious concerns about the Rangers because during the White Sox series they struggled with the bats only scoring 4 runs in the 3 games where they were swept. Then back home in Globe Life Park the hope would be the Rangers’ bats would wake up but on Monday there was a new […]

via OTOGH: Bats Alive — Cleat Geeks

http://m.mlb.com/video/v633653483

Dee Gordon tested positive for PEDs. I wrote this in December of 2015 and it is still true today. It is not the steroid era, this is a WAR! Like with any WAR, MLB must find a way to stop this. Player’s Union needs to take a firm stand on this. Fans even us we must not let up. We can not continue this way.

 

I like Ken Rosenthal. Usually, I am in the choir singing along as he tells us his wonderful stories in the church of  baseball. Today, I stopped singing and cried out, “WHAT!” To further the metaphor, I made him stop and tell me what the hell was going on. He said it again. I knew I had heard right, but I was hoping, praying that he had misspoken or was making some obscene joke. No, it was true. He voted for Bonds and Clemens for baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Now, as the shock has worn off, I help the nice lady who has fainted back on her feet. Ken explains a message of nonjudgment. That it was a personal struggle to make this choice and a struggle all the way to the mailbox to send in the ballot. A message that the players have been punished enough, that like the “The Scarlet Letter,” the letter “S” is on their records forever and will probably prevent them from ever truly getting into the Hall of Fame. That it was time to stop and let go.

Ken, it was a wonderful article. I know because I read it three times, and you know what else I read was “The  Scarlet Letter,” and in end, the “A” no longer meant an adulterer but an angel. Baseball is coming up on a dangerous time. With enough time, people forget the impact this has on the game. It has already happened with Pete Rose. People make their justifications. Do we make some more? Yes, there is no “proof” that anyone did anything.

It’s already happening in the Steroid Era. Bonds is a hitting coach, and McGwire is a bench coach. Without saying a single word, MLB and the teams that hire these guys are saying to young players everywhere it’s OK to break the rules. We will forgive you. If you play good enough, there will be no consequences for your actions.

Ken, I do appreciate where you are coming from. It’s unfair to convict a player of a crime without any evidence. If this were a law case, I would be on your side. But this is not about the law; this is about public perception. The Steroid Era makes it sound like some dark thing in the past, but it is not something in the past. It is a terrible problem NOW. And now it’s a battle, now it’s the Steroid War. In war, it is a constant battle between good and evil, between fair and unfair.

According to Baseball America, there were 6 minor leaguers this MONTH who tested positive for PEDs. More than 30 for the whole year. Ken, you might have conceded a battle, but the war still goes merrily along.

It’s Our Game Too. What does that mean? When I started writing Miss Baseball, I wanted to prove myself, that I know baseball. Along the way, another voice kept popping in my head. It was the voice of inclusion. I would be in the world of baseball and would see women having to defend their baseball-dom. I never saw a man do that. And believe me, there are plenty of men who know jack shit about baseball. Just ’cause you wear a jersey don’t mean you know anything. However, I and my fellow female baseball fans for some unknown reason have to prove our fandom to be accepted into the baseball world. Megan Brown posted a wonderful response to a demand for proof of fandom.

it's so insulting when dudes try to quiz me about sports soooo i had a little pun fun ⚾️❤️ pic.twitter.com/s1X0qJagrp

— megan brown (@thatgirlondeck) March 29, 2016

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

We have to suffer through humiliating rites of passage, all to watch the game we love. Megan is not the first woman, nor will she be the last woman, to have to prove her fandom. I only hope I will have as witty of a response when it is my turn.

It’s Our Game Too started as a motto, but now it’s a battle cry. We are 42% of the fan base of baseball. No other company in the world would ignore 42% of its fan base, and yet major league baseball has treated women as second-class fans. Well, no more. Ladies, gals, girls, women, whatever is your moniker, it is time to take a stand. You are a fan of this game, by no one’s standards but your own. Are you the casual fan? Then you are a fan! Are you the die-hard? (Fist bump.) Then you are a fan. Only here for the hot guys? (Oh yes, can I get the highest of high fives?) Then you are a fan. Are you in it for the stats or the history or all of the above? Well then, you are a fan. You are a fan of the wonderful game of baseball. It doesn’t matter how you cheer, all that matters is that you cheer. It’s Our Game Too.

Welcome to the new Miss Baseball. We’ll be up and running shortly – thank you for your patience!

Dear Readers,
Changes are a coming. In the next few days Miss Baseball is going to be all sorts of messed up. Please be patient but when it is done. I will have a great site and bring a much needed female voice to baseball. In the meantime you can catch me on Twitter and Facebook.
Sincerely
Miss Baseball
“Its our game too”

Confession time. I have been trying to write this article for weeks now. I would go to my computer and type up my thoughts, but I could never hit the publish button because I didn’t say what I wanted to say. It began with a strong retort of the pseudo cheerleaders from the Houston Astros, girls in tight white costumes dancing around and handing out prizes as some sort of ambASSador for the Astros.

I am not offended by cheerleading. Turn on ESPN, and you can see some real athletic skill, but these AmbASSadors are not cheerleaders, but a reminder that MLB and the owners have forgotten one very important fact: Women are half the fan base of Major League Baseball. Now, I don’t have the exact numbers, but you get a group of people, and chances are half of the group are going to be women. A family of four, a company outing, a group of college students, half of those are going to be women.

Now let’s take a trip to the MLB store, where the lack of consideration is huge when it comes to the merchandise available to women.  Now, the current trend is to have a woman’s jersey be shorter and tighter. While I like the feel of a man’s jersey on me, I understand, and my female friends have said they prefer this style. But I think we can all agree that when it comes to other things offered by MLB, clearly, no one asked a woman or thought of what a woman wanted to wear or purchase.

There are some wonderful things to buy. A Dooney and Bourke purse. Yes, I have a thing for purses, and I really, really want one. This is a definite plus for me, but then the negative.

The image of this pops on the screen. 

This tiny piece of fabric with the Texas  Rangers logo can be yours for $34.99. Or if you are into thongs, they have something for you as well.

.

I go to the man’s side to see if there is something for Channing Tatum’s character Magic Mike, but all that is is the very tame boxer shorts.

And last and certainly not least, let’s thank MLB for perpetuating the ideal woman image. In the swimwear, get a little Ranger T and  A.

Now, in a moment of fairness, MLB did a little ideal image on the male side of swimwear. 

However, this is available in sizes up to 4X, while the itty bitty bikini is only available up to a large.

It is simply time for MLB to be aware about the women in the stands. Many women I have come to know are real baseball fans. They know players and the game of baseball. We want to celebrate our team, but not have bouncing boobs or asses in our faces. Also, when we come to a game, not being made fun of. Last year, a group of  sorority girls came to an Arizona Diamondbacks game and were selfie shamed by guys in the press box. These ladies full of class turned down free tickets for themselves and instead asked that the tickets be given to a charity that help victims of domestic violence.

Again, what MLB and owners and, in this case, guys in the press box are forgetting is that these are potential long-term fans, paying money to see the game, buying merchandise and food.  While I am not negating their wonderful charity act, if it was me and my friends and we were treated this way, I wouldn’t go back.

MLB needs to show respect and consideration to the female fan’s needs and wants. This is our game, too.