Holy Torpedo! What is this?
In their opening weekend the Yankees outshone the Bronx Bombers of yesteryear with an awesome display of power. In three games against the Milwaukee Brewers, they scored 36 runs, and that included 15 home runs. Observers noticed that many of the players were wielding oddly shaped bats — something that was dubbed the “torpedo bat.”
Were they cheating? Absolutely not.
The torpedo bat complies with major league rules in every way. It is the result of some — uh —Yankee ingenuity. It was invented by a University of Michigan professor named Dr. Aaron Leanhardt, who earned his postgraduate degree at MIT. He first created the device three years ago while spending his summer as a roving batting coach for Yankees minor league teams.
Leanhardt figured out how to re-distribute the weight of the bat. He expanded the size of the “sweet spot” and tapered the end, giving it the shape of a torpedo.
No doubt, players on other teams will rush to get their own torpedo bats. In fact, Ellie De La Cruz of the Reds used one on Monday homered twice.
It should be noted that one Yankee declined to use the torpedo bat. Aaron Judge said he was more comfortable with conventional lumber, which is what he used to blast four home runs in 11 at bats. The Brewers finally gave up and walked him intentionally — with the bases empty.
Afterwards, Brewers manager Pat Murphy said he didn’t want to hear any of his pitchers using the torpedo bat as an excuse.
“It ain’t the wand,” he said. “It’s the magician.”
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George M. Steinbrenner Field (originally called Legends Field) has been the Yankees spring training home for 29 years and has been the site of hundreds of exhibition games. However, the Yankees have never played a game there that counts in standings.
They’re going to do exactly that on April 17 when open a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. They won’t use their spring training clubhouse. Instead they’ll dress in road grays and do it in the visitors’ clubhouse. When the game begins, they’ll bat first. They’ll be the road team in every sense, even though they own the ballpark.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Steinbrenner Field is in Tampa — just across the causeway from St. Petersburg, which is the permanent home of the Tampa Bay Rays. At least it was their permanent home before this year.
The Rays were founded in 1998 and have spent 27 years playing home games inside a miserable dome called Tropicana Field. They’d be playing there this year as well except for the fact that in October a hurricane blew the roof of the dome and rendered them homeless. The Yankees offered them the use of their spring training facility and the Rays accepted, even though it created a very awkward situation.
No decision has been made about where the Rays will play next year and Commissioner Rob Manfred is urging them to make a decision.
Everything is complicated.
Before the hurricane struck the Rays had a plan in place to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg. They agreed to share in the cost of construction with the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County. The three were harmonious partners until the hurricane struck.
With devastation all around, the politicians on the city and county governing bodies began to have second thoughts about spending money on a stadium. Everybody wanted the roof of the old park repaired, but everybody wanted somebody else to pay for it. Currently the stadium deal is officially dead and The Trop remains a pile of rubble. The Rays homeless and friendless in their own city.
Perhaps the best move would be to take the team elsewhere.
St. Petersburg was never an ideal location for a team. The Rays have always lagged in attendance. Last year, for example, they were 28th among the 30 major league teams. Much of their natural fan base are retirees — people with roots elsewhere and not lifetime Rays fans.
St. Petersburg is right across a causeway from a larger city — Tampa — which is the winter home of the Yankees, baseball’s most storied and most popular franchise. Tampa is also the home of the Yankees’ Florida State League affiliate and a place where extended spring training activities occur regularly. The team in St. Petersburg must frequently compete for media attention in its own market.
Now there’s another problem that’s more sensitive.
The politicians in Florida are waging a war against what they call “woke” activities. Some people see “woke” as a code word for anything that smacks of inclusion or anti-discrimination. One major civil rights group has gone so far as to suggest that African American travelers avoid Florida. That’s far from an ideal atmosphere for a sports franchise and it’s likely to get worse.
There are other American cities looking for major league baseball — cities that would probably be more hospitable than St. Petersburg.
A FEW STATISTICS (Wednesday’s games not included): The Phillies have scored 25 runs and 18 of them have come in the seventh inning or later. They are batting .227 in the first six innings and .389 thereafter … Starling Marte of the Mets was hit by three pitches last year in 370 plate appearances. This year he’s been plunked three times in his first 10 PAs … The Dodgers have become only the second defending world champion to begin the season 7-0. The only other team to do it was the 1933 Yankees, who eventually finished seven games behind the pennant-winning Washington Senators … Riley Green of the Tigers is 2-for-5 when batting with a full count. One of the hits was a home run … The Phillies and Giants are the only teams that have not committed an error … Wyler Abreu of the Red Sox is 7-for-11 and has walked five times. That gives him a .750 on base percentage … Scott Alexander of the Rockies has faced only seven batters in his two appearances, but he already has two holds to his credit … White Sox starting pitchers collectively have an 0.63 ERA. The bullpen is 4.96 … Nick Fortes has caught 36 innings for the Marlins. Opponents have attempted to steal 14 bases and been successful 13 times … Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers has scored 10 runs in seven games … The Angels are 3-0 in one-run games.
Former Hall of Fame voter Jay Dunn has written baseball for The Trentonian for 57 years. Contact him at jaydunn8@aol.com
Source: Berkshire mont
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