Fantasy Friday: Revenge of the Injuries

    This post is the first of (hopefully) a weekly post for all my baseball-loving followers. I will be discussing the ever important, life-altering activity known as Fantasy Baseball. If you care little for either of those words, then by all means, read over older blog posts, play some video games (what I will be doing after this), or go be not like me and go be social/ have friends.
      For this post, I will discuss each of my teams and then give some general advice. Next week, I would prefer to make the players/teams I discuss to be based on your teams, not mine. Please email me at timnicodemus3@gmail.com or find me on Facebook or Twitter (@timnicodemus) to ask questions or names you want me to vet for you. I will say my one weakness is evaluating trades, especially if you do not provide enough background info (ie what type of league, how many teams, points system, etc.) If you ask a trade question, please provide gratuitous information. Keep in mind, my strength is pitchers and random hitters. Use that information to your advantage!

Alejandro De Aza- "I Knew Him When..."

    Realizing that the last few blog posts have gotten intense, personal, and heavy in tone and focus, I want to send out a blog post reprieve-- one that focuses on the statistical side of baseball, that will be enjoyed by several (like, one or two?) of my loyal readers. Today and tomorrow will have baseball-related blog posts, followed by another discussion of my previous post, and then later next week I will begin to discuss some business-related topics. For now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the trip into the world of sabermetrics.

Comfort Zone Religion

    "Passion without action is pity." It is amazing how one sentence can rock your world. The quote was said during my time at Rockbridge, a week long camp for chapters of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and it profoundly changed my view on racial reconciliation and my tendencies towards classism. I want to devote several blog entries to my changing views on those issues, but I want this one to talk about one step I have taken and the ramifications on my view of the Church.

    To make a long and detailed story short, I left Rockbridge with a feeling of discontent. I knew change needed to happen in my life. From viewing the giving of money as an acceptable substitute for caring about those who are marginalized (passion without action?) to my horrible heart attitude on topics like diversity and the global church. The knowledge of my need for change had been a long time coming-- reading great books, such as Radical or Don't Waste Your Life, or having deep talks with friends had begun to show me the error in my ways. Rockbridge, however, drove all the points home. It was time for me to stop saying the right things, and start doing the right things.

The One Where I Celebrate My Mother

    If you know me at all, you know that I am a momma's boy. Always have been, always will be. Her loving guidance has made me into who I am (or, at least the good parts of me) and it is because of her that I have avoided a lot of potentially huge life mistakes. Do not get me wrong, my father is one of my two biggest heroes (my grandfather is the other, in case you actually care) and if I am 1/10th of the man and father he is when I am older, I will consider my life a smashing success. He is absolutely a driving force in my life, but this post is about my mother, so I will focus on her.

Beyond Unfair

  If there is one piece of advice I remember that my mother taught me growing up is that life is not fair. Sometimes 'things' happen. Sometimes life seems to spin out of control beyond our desires and reach. Baseball is not immune to the sad, depressing happenings of life.
   Unless you are totally in left field (wordplay!) you have heard of Mariano Rivera. Greatest closer of all time. "Enter Sandman." Cutter of death. Postseason hero. Simply put, as cliche as it sounds, there will never be another Mariano. Fans of all teams love his professionalism, his work ethic, and his devotion to baseball, family, faith and heritage. Opponents rave about how incredible his on-filed presence is, while also participating in his off-field charity work. Mr. Rivera has been the New York Yankees closer since 1996, wracking up save after save after save, not to mention all the World Series rings. He came into the 2012 season mentioning that it might be his last season. The Yankees were positioned as one of the best teams in Spring Training. Yankee fans began to dream; Could one of the Core Four (Derek Jeter, Andy Petite, Jorge Posada and Rivera) end his career at the pinnacle?

Jackie Robinson Day

‎"A life is not important except the impact it has on other lives."    -- Jackie Robinson   

   Today around the MLB, every player is wearing a jersey with a 42 on it. If you happened to catch a game, you may have wondered if the jersey manufacturers had gone on strike or if there was some freak mishap. After all the Nationals did, once, have to wear jerseys with 'Natinals' on it....   
     But no, the reason everyone has the same jersey number is to recognize the work of Jackie Robinson, who played his first game in the Majors 65 years ago today. Even non-sports fans know who Jackie is; the first African-American player to play in the Majors. Crushing the door open to all races and leading baseball into a more fair- and competitive- sport. The impact that Mr. Robinson had on baseball, sports in general, and the culture cannot be overstated. More importantly, we can all learn from his example, especially in today's interesting culture. What I want to do in this post is to examine his impact on baseball, especially with a sabermetric perspective, and then examine his role in society today.

Beyond Baseball

   With most Opening Day games occurring this week, I was recently pondering all that had happened in the off-season. I have already addressed the issue of Josh Hamilton's relapse, but certainly many other events jump to mind. Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder both signed asininely large contracts. We saw Ryan Braun improbably found innocent on a publicized drug test. Frank McCourt sold the Dodgers to Magic Johnson (and others) for a lot of money (~$2 billion) only to declare that he was keeping a few parking lots for himself. All of these events generated lots of press, pundits talked ad nausium about the implications of each action, and fans argued over which side was correct. While all these events held my interest, there was another event that continues to intrigue me. This story goes beyond petty squabbles over money, fame, or success. It was literally a matter of freedom and security. I am, of course, referring to Wilson Ramos and his amazing story of survival and rescue.

     For those who do not follow baseball, that probably sounds overly intense. How can a baseball player, who gets paid tons of money to play a game, have a rough life? Can his life of leisure and fame really teach us anything and/or grow our appreciation for what we have in the USA?