Any baseball purist will tell you that ‘America’s favorite pastime’ has been changing over the past couple of decades…..and not necessarily for the better. With the game being so deeply mired in statistics, the supporting evidence is clear for all to see. Aside from habitual efforts to artificially alter the flight of the ball, doctor bats, steal signs, mask PED’s, etc., the assault on major league baseball is so widespread and imbedded that the average sports fan isn’t even aware it’s happening. Worse yet, the business of baseball all but ensures the game will continue on its present inexplicable course.

Two symptoms that are indicative of baseball’s current ill-advised path reflect that over a comparatively short period of time, batting averages have dropped by over 10% while the average number of strikeouts per game has nearly doubled. Taken together, these two combined statistics result in a marked decrease in on-base-percentage (OBP). Startling enough, beginning in 1999 when the league OBP stood at a stout .345, this significant downward trend now finds professional baseball sagging to an unsightly on-base-percentage of a dismal .312. That’s well in excess of a 9% reduction in just over the past twenty years. The average fan may believe that this apparent shift in player ability is all part of the ebb and flow of baseball. But this particular ‘ebb’ is especially worrisome due to its most illogical timing. Because just about the time batting averages and OBP began to drop off is when a guy by the name of Billy Beane arrived on the scene. As the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics, Beane proceeded to rebuild the small-market A’s by incorporating a statistics-based system called “sabermetrics”. Simply put, he set out to establish that OBP directly correlates to runs scored. The Oakland Athletics then went ahead and demonstrated their systemic success by setting the American major league record by winning 20 games in a row on their way to making a run at a championship title in 2002….all on a ‘shoe-string’ budget! Ownership across the league immediately took note with many instituting similar game plans to both cut costs and bolster their chances of winning a championship.

So then why, after bearing witness to the hard evidence that supported the notion that on-base-percentage equals runs (and subsequently wins), has OBP trended so sharply downward since that very point in time?

Meanwhile, the bottom line remains. Although many teams have adopted Billy Beane’s approach for assembling their organizations since the introduction of “sabermetrics” and “true player value”, Major League Baseball has done nothing to ensure that the talent pool they draft from year after year is stocked with the kind of diversely skilled and statistically superior players Beane relished…..athletes whose numbers tell the real story regarding results-oriented ability. The proof, as they say, ‘is in the pudding’ as one doesn’t have to look any further than at what’s happening (statistically) out on today’s baseball fields. While highlighting many examples of this phenomenon at all levels of play (originating from numerous sources), the book definitively points out documented cases where the current “system” fails in its endeavor to acquire the most highly skilled talent available and subsequently put the best possible product on the field of play. Even at the professional level, from a proven lack of ability to identify and harvest existing talent through the draft, to outright eliminating efforts that effectively succeed, the MLB seems decidedly bound and determined to ignore what’s happening throughout the ranks and play by their own rules…..so long as their pockets remain lined with profits. The crux of all this being that as configured, there is no recognizable system in place at the amateur level providing equal consideration for countless players who may put up far better numbers than their counterparts, but lack the built-in advocacy that’s reserved for the entitled. The end result being that under these adverse conditions…..scores of privileged, limited players continue to coerce their way into the “bigs”. And when I say “scores”, I‘m talking the vast majority.

Hence, this book is a factual representation of the misfortune involved with having been bypassed after outscoring, out-stealing, and batting nearly .100 percentage points higher than the competition…..after being highly touted by the most experienced coaches and trainers and demonstrating star quality play over and over….only to be discarded, losing out to inferior talent, time and again. But it doesn’t stop there because whenever this is the case, there’s absolutely nowhere to turn! Ultimately, it’s been my 1st hand experience that there is no responsible and/or accountable oversight anywhere to be found throughout the amateur ranks!

And therein lies the conundrum. Why? When it’s been proven that statistics reflect true ability, why hasn’t the MLB ensured that output is what counts and that statistics should be leading the way to the ‘promised land’? Although there are signs that Major League Baseball seems to be coming around, albeit slowly…..my fear is that generations of talent are and will continue to miss out in the meantime. At least one example of this reluctant coming-of-age recently materialized when the MLB actually began to implement statistical prowess as the primary factor in determining “Gold Glove” award winners. The reasoning as to why this has come about is that in most every analyst’s mind, (simply put) players like Derek Jeter shouldn’t have a closet full of them. As a matter of fact, when looked upon from one of the most relative stats for shortstops, Jeter ended up in last place during the years he was winning gold gloves. The bottom line being that the primary reason he won is that only 25% of the overall vote is based on statistics while the remaining 75% is based on whomever the managers and coaches “decide” should win.

Additional indications of this ‘baseball club’ approach in today’s MLB are plentiful. The data is all there waiting to be peeled back and examined. The good news is you don’t have to take my word for it. Anyone can do similar research on their own, it’s easier to find than you think!

Baseball scholars may offer up a number of reasons for the above-mentioned statistical decline, but my personal observations and research suggest there’s one underlying commonality that’s gone all but unnoticed, or worse yet…..ignored. While indications may present themselves in different ways, each is rooted in the same unfortunate premise…..the particular brand of player that’s now regularly taking the field in the MLB. Instead of focusing on what the game of baseball was originally intended to be - a grand meshing of teamwork through diverse, all-encompassing ability - they promote an ill-fated “all or nothing” mentality, one in which the HR is king which ultimately only works to further diminish the true beauty of the game. No one can deny there’s an overabundance of 1 and 2 tool players in the pro’s mercilessly slowing the game to a snail’s pace at the sole expense of the fanbase, while at the same time being paid an overly exorbitant amount of money to do so. Meanwhile, they seemingly wear a sense of entitlement on their sleeves like some kind of badge of honor. Whether it be refusing to run to first after putting the ball in play, lack of defensive skills and/or base-running ability or using their platform to declare their own unevolved politics (to name a few), each takes away from the experience that fans have come to appreciate and historically pay to see. Making matters worse, in response to ever-elongating game times, the league would rather alter the rules in an effort to maintain spectator interest by minimizing the amount of time they’re subjected to the product being put on display. Whether it’s the incorporation of shortened seven-inning games or starting extra innings with a base runner on second, such ‘bush-league’ moves are pushing our precious game of baseball ever closer to rendering it all but unwatchable.

“Winning the Day” is the true chronology of one boy’s quest to continue playing the game he’s grown to love (and one in which he happens to excel), only to continually run into the likes of agenda driven protagonists…..individuals and organizations alike…..throughout his journey. While this factual story more than sustains a case for ‘Bens’ continued presence at each level of play, it’s simultaneously laced with facts, anecdotes, and data (all the way up to and including the MLB) supporting the notion that something has indeed gone awry with the development of baseball as it exists today. As such, the narrative breaks away with some frequency to convey actual events that took place along the way (italicized), or to share historical real-life occurrences in support of the book’s theme. Intermingled among them are published ‘letters to editors’, with additional correspondence spread throughout amateur baseball’s expansive realm directed at coaches, player profile organizations, school committees, school Administrations, Superintendents, the AAU, the MIAA, the Dept. of Education, and even lawyer’s offices…..all amounting to a total lack of accountability at every level of amateur play.

All told, the story remains a truth-based account of the ongoing watering down of the level of talent that may otherwise be taking todays professional fields if it weren’t for the continual onslaught of players whose padded baseball resumes are primarily glazed with paternal grooming. Furthermore, it’s been my experience that this ongoing distortion of what should be natural progression based on diverse skillsets is much more common than one might expect…..something the book’s primary theme proves over and over in a multitude of incontestable ways throughout every level the game is being played.

And that, coupled with the fact that those adversely affected have no recourse…..none what-so-ever…..with the proof being carefully documented within the pages of this book.

Major League Baseball has a problem. Over the past couple of decades batting averages have slumped severely, strikeouts have doubled, and OBP has plummeted. Soaring costs and skyrocketing salaries are accompanied by widespread cheating, 1 and 2 tool players, elongated game times, and the emergence of an exclusive baseball “club” that has fans collectively dismayed.

“Winning the Day - Saving Baseball” is the true story of a young boy’s quest to continue playing not only the game he loves, but one in which he happens to excel. Supplemented throughout with actual events, the narrative chronicles not only his improbable rise through the ranks but the alarmingly disingenuous nature of the obstacles encountered throughout his 17-year journey. A mix of enlightening, exhilarating, and heartfelt storytelling laced with well-documented facts and first-hand testimonials ensure the reader is compelled to acknowledge the underlying reasons behind the current demise of ‘America’s favorite pastime’.

In the end, it's long past time to reclaim the game for the sake of every player that’s been unceremoniously pushed aside for lack of “connections”, and the countless others who are about to be. The proof is glaring and running rampant all around us. And it won’t stop unless something is done.

“Winning the Day: Saving Baseball” is not only a story that countless athletes can relate to…..but stands as the premier warning for what today’s youth are up against for all that follow. As such, it’s a tale that needs to be told if positive change is to ever take place.

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