COMMENTARY

By Ken Rosenthal

updated 2:28 p.m. ET March 22, 2006

Ken Rosenthal

Time to play ball. Real ball, not the mutant, pharmaceutically enhanced monstrosity that supposedly saved the sport.

Some call it small ball. Others call it a return to fundamentals. Still others call it a pitching-and-defense revival. Whatever catchphrase you use, it translates to winning baseball.

Three of the past four World Series champions -- the 2005 White Sox, the '03 Marlins and the '02 Angels -- played the game the old-fashioned way and became greater than the sums of their parts. The '04 Red Sox were more of a new-age offensive machine, but they evolved into a champion only after improving their run prevention through a series of midseason trades.

Derek Jeter talks wistfully about the Yankees' four championship teams under manager Joe Torre and recalls that they did all of the little things right. The World Baseball Classic drove the point home once more, with the Asian teams in particular demonstrating the value of execution over physical talent, of brains over brawn. Play ball. Play it right. The fans won't go away.

Chicks dig the long ball, always will, and so does everyone else. But the notion that fans are power junkies, too simple to grasp the game's subtleties, is an insult. Major League Baseball isn't alone in dumbing down its product; virtually every sports, entertainment and media company does it. But what baseball fans want most is to see their favorite teams win. The way to win isn't by combining breathtaking slugging and questionable pitching, a formula that again will make the Yankees formidable in the regular season but vulnerable in the playoffs. It isn't by making a series of moves at the expense of your rotation -- the way the Mets did this offseason. It isn't by spending a ton of money but still fielding a defensively flawed club, an approach that figures to doom the Blue Jays.

Why are teams such as the Braves, Cardinals and Angels successful year after year? Not because they score the most runs, although their offenses usually are strong. No, they succeed because they play the game properly and rarely beat themselves.
In an age of increased parity, the little things become even more important. As any statistical analyst will tell you, the big things matter most. But a game, even a pennant race, can turn on a well-timed bunt or a well-executed relay.

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Jim Tracy, the Pirates' new manager, has spent much of the spring talking to his hitters about taking smarter approaches by adjusting to situations. The Cubs, by acquiring players such as center fielder Juan Pierre and right fielder Jacque Jones, have mimicked the White Sox by improving their athleticism and speed. A's general manager Billy Beane, a leading proponent of offensive efficiency, has built a contender -- once again -- around starting pitching.

The season begins with yet another steroids uproar, but the game -- by every quantifiable measure -- never has been healthier. It is widely accepted that the home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998 fueled the sport's comeback from the strike of 1994-95. That notion also gives fans too little credit. People love this sport, can't get enough of it. In time, the fans would have come back anyway.

And so a new season begins, a season of baseball, not powerball. MLB is returning to its roots not because of more stringent drug testing -- some players still will use performance enhancers -- but because teams are returning to the time-honored methods of success.
To small ball. To smart ball. To playing the game right.

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