Eight years ago, ESPN compiled its official list of the best sport movies since its inception. There are twenty-five movies on the list, baseball of course, is represented. There are quite a few memorable comedies that have baseball as the subject such as Bull Durham (no.4), A League of their Own (no.11), and Major Leagues (no. 14). As much as baseball pulls from its nostalgic roots, as is the case for Field of Dreams, it's also a topic to flex its comedic muscle.

   I believe that the leisurely pace of baseball gives it the perfect comedic timing. Football or boxing with its quick pace is more in line with the action movie; in boxing though there is more of a dramatic flair. Because baseball reflects a more realistic and endless stream of time, it seems that there is time enough to tell jokes. With baseball's pace thoughts do not always have to focus on the intensity of competition, but also, "cutting loose."

   One prime case is the classic Simpson's episode, "Homer at the Bat" which pokes fun at baseball while embracing it. The episode works within the culture of baseball from the quirks of Mr. Burns' baseball signs to more nostalgic references taken from "The Natural" to the use of signing the biggest names in the sport for tactical advantage. It eventually culminates in Homer's at bat. One where eight out of nine players go missing for various wacky reasons and he has to bat for (now) former Met slugger Daryl Strawberry. It's Homer's final do-or-die, as the game's now in his hands after being benched for superstars.

   There is real life basis for this kind of characterization as some of baseball's personalities have been known to have a goofy sense of humor. Four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux was known to wipe his snot on other players as a joke. Kent Hrbek, according to ESPN's Tim Kurkjian, would go camping and played tape recordings of his "best" farts. This doesn't just happen to individuals, but between organizations, such is the case when the independent Northern League traded one of their own players for sixty cases of beer.


   There are plenty of angles at work in the National Pastime as I've mentioned earlier: nostalgia and hope. But there is also the laughter that bridges the gap between innings and is a component that give baseball its unique identity. As famed Cubs announcer Harry Caray once said, "I'll tell you what's helped me my entire life. I look at baseball as a game. It's something where people can go out, enjoy and have fun. Nothing more."

DoS3: On the Farm

Scott Boras and the Rising Tide

   Since 1982, there has been no other man that can attain bigger record setting deals. The superstar-in-need of the big payday has him at his side. He is their weaponry against their employer, but a shark to owners. There are a bevy of All-Star players that have enlisted his services: Carlos Beltran, Barry Zito, Alex Rodriguez, and many more; not to mention those that will continue to seek Scott Boras.


   Even as owners and fans roll their eyes at some of these excessive contracts in the $200 million range, it is refreshing to note that this is not a corporate outsider working into baseball, but one that has a connection with it. Scott Boras received a baseball scholarship to the University of the Pacific in 1972, leading his team with a .312 batting average. Four years later, he would be named All-Star of the Florida State League, and had played four minor league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. Unfortunately, he would not make the majors because of knee problems; from there he has gone on to pursue a law degree and found the Boras Corporation, having been there for more than thirty years.


   If there could ever be a non-baseball candidate for the Hall of Fame, he would certainly be the first. The influence Boras has had in affecting the machinations of the sport are numerous, all in his role of a high-profile agent. His stratagems to secure the best, has forced the MLB to take counter measures in the free agency, salary arbitration, and the draft. He has manipulated the system by: secretly having a high-school client enter the draft pool, and having not been selected, becoming free to negotiate with any team; he has exploited some of the most obscure rules, such as in 1996, when after fifteen days, he had his clients declare free agency because their respective teams lost their rights to the players (a rule teams did not pay attention to). This eventually led to an immense bidding war, with baseball having to clean up the mess and close tight the loop hole. If anything, Boras has shown how much of a master he is at manipulating MLB's free market.

Carlos Beltran & Scott Boras

   To paraphrase journalist Hunter S. Thompson, just as it seems this great wave of free agent boom grows and grows, there comes appoint where it finally settles and crashes. Why organizations continue to chase down these kind of contracts is perplexing. These hundred million dollar contracts are not paid in one lump sum, but over a period of years, usually five or more. In the long run, it is a burning hole in any teams' fat wallet. It goes without saying that money may be flowing throughout Major League ownership, but prudence is a rare commodity. Players who sign these contracts are usually at or about to hit their prime, but by contracts end their production enters a steep decline. Some cautionary tales include: Carlos Beltran in 2005 ( seven years, $119 million dollars), or Barry Zito in 2006 (seven years, $126 million). The most ridiculous of these contract's is Alex Rodriguez's latest signed in 2007 for 10 years ($275 million) where he will be signed until he is 41, and just as his production starts to decline.


   The wave might just break. There is a new trend in baseball management which tries to stem the flow of these aggressive contract hikes. Organizations are now quickly paying extensions to their star players in order to avoid a bitter bidding war. Some of the new beneficiaries of these extensions include: two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum and 2010 National League MVP Joey Votto. This is incidentally, also is a way of coping with the long economic recession as well.


   Just like all good history, it remains to be seen what will cool the fires of free agency. I'm sure that when Curt Flood made the first step towards free agency in days-gone-by, none could have figured the gargantuan offers that are thrown around to day. Who knows if this will be the beginning of smarter contracts, but if there's a way through the tightening of the purse strings, then it remains to be seen if Scott Boras is still worth his salt in the final negotiation.

   Religion and sports have co-mingled since early civilization. From the first ancient Olympic games to Medieval jousting (where prayer was prohibited lest one should gain an advantage) to the New York Jets. Tim Tebow has arrived.
   It's funny to see that most of the skill that Tebow has, or what he even makes due with, is lost to the public. In its stead, is a hot, white light of religious discussion. Many have gone on to love and support him solely for this reason, and just as equally hated because of it. It gives one to question: why is so much attention being given to him based on religious grounds?
   In a society where cynicism is increasing; Tebow's sign of religious profession is what polarizes people; it has also become popular within the youth culture. This is called Tebowing.

   The public showcasiing of faith is also among the MLB's Latin Players, most famously Sammy Sosa.

   Before the steroid scandal that destroyed his career and his legacy, Sosa was the most popular player in baseball. In his heyday with the Cubs, he was a six-time Silver Slugger winner who was known for his own unselfishness (1998 Roberto Clemente Award winner). According to a 2005 Sports Illustrated article detailing Sosa's return to the big leagues: "attendance at Wrigley Field increased 50% from his first season to his last." And yet as he crossed himself before his at-bats or after his lengthy home runs, he was never as heavily scrutinized as Tebow.

   If one were to look at Census records, the statistical analysis for religious affiliation is ever-present. In today's legal culture, there is ever the emphasis of separating Church and State; this argument cannot be deemed as new. Since the period of the Enlightenment, the issue of how much role religion can play in politics and the legal sphere has been debated, but with the new modes of information which include a twenty-four hour news cycle and the high-speed of internet, the spot light on said debate has narrowed into a white-hot blaze. It would seem that it is a battle between snarky secularists and outraged defenders. It seems that the stats would point likewise as there are a growing number of the non-religious from 14,331,000 (1990) to 34,169,000 (2008). This is far more than Sammy Sosa's time. The population shows that there has also been an increase in the Christian population as well and that they are still the overall majority.
   The increase of the non-religious has always been seen by Christians as a sign of decline; could it be that the secularist movement is the beginning of the end? Has religious tolerance shifted so much since Sosa's prime? Even though the "non-religious" increase probably helps make Tebow a star, the fact that there are so many Christians make it look as though it should be a smaller issue.
   Maybe there is a more broad issue at work than religious divide. In an insightful article by Daniel Foster, circulated by the National Review, he dissects what's at the core. Foster deems Tebow the "last boy scout." It's not so much a religious struggle as it is a skepticism of authenticity. There are many athletes and high-profile people who have thanked God, but all of them seem trite and insincere. People who have celebrated Him, have gone on to disparage His image with their actions (a very human thing to do). Foster final paragraph encapsulates his message perfectly: 

   For the faithful, Easter is a reflection on the life after. It seems that even if it is right to assume that the division between Church and State is widening, there is still a religious zeal. A zeal, which in sports at least, has found a center in Tebow. If anything, at least, it will open the average sports fan to the philosophical challenges of metaphysics and that the worth of a man is in his deeds.