Relative Speed

The benefit of slowing down

Welcome to Warning Track Power, a weekly newsletter of baseball stories and analysis grounded in front office and scouting experiences and the personalities encountered along the way.

“Run hard,” I urged from the third base coaching box.

My daughter pulled in safely at the bag and looked at me smiling. It was a more expressive smile than I had expected — one of joy and pride and elation, one that delivered all of those emotions to me in greater proportions.

“I don’t know what run hard means,” she said. “I run as fast as I can!”

It was a perfect statement. The combination of her reactions — both spoken and expressed — in that moment taught me more about letting a child be herself than I had learned in an entire season.

She’s happiest when running the bases. She’s unfazed by the misfortunate of genetics as it relates to foot speed. I type much faster than I have ever run. I’m what a scout would call a base-clogger. My father was described by his high school lacrosse coach as “deceptively slow.” Underway, she is very much my daughter, very much my father’s granddaughter.

She runs as though she doesn’t want to disturb the dirt beneath her cleats, yet rounding third and heading home, she achieves a buoyancy. The excitement of putting a run on the board is a propellant, no deception required.

Unfortunately, my daughter wasn’t the only one heading home more quickly than anticipated this week. Mark Weidemaier was relieved of his duties as manager of the Saraperos de Saltillo only 12 games into his managerial tenure.

I know people who stay in Mexico on vacation longer!

On Wednesday night, the Saraperos (I really want to call them the Sarah Palins) lost to Monterrey, 11-1. That setback evened their record at 6-6. The next morning, Weidemaier was sacked. I have confirmed that our beleaguered skipper has arrived home safely in North Carolina, where he’s enjoying the company of his wife and his dogs. And in case you’re wondering, the team is 1-1 in his absence.

In related news, the WTP Mexican baseball trip has been postponed indefinitely.

That fickle franchise south of the border isn’t the only team trying to accommodate a restless fanbase. The Yankees have been keeping their heads just above .500, performing inconsistently as a result of significant injuries and imperfect roster construction.

Now that we are about one-fifth of the way into the season, I’m wondering if the Rays’ 27-7 start is actually to the benefit of Bronx Bombers?

At 18-16, the Yanks are in last place of a highly competitive AL East. While one team could run away with a division, the third Wild Card spot doesn’t mind waiting until late September to find a mate. All the Yankees can (or should) do at this point is focus internally.

This isn’t 1984, when the Tigers’ 35-5 start put an end to several team’s seasons before June 1. Without Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Rodon and others, the Yankees can realistically only play so well. And in the Wild Card Era, only so well can be enough.

An old baseball adage contends that you can’t win a World Series in April, but you sure can lose one. While that’s still true today, the implied parameters around losing have relaxed greatly.

And that’s the best way for all of us to enjoy the game.

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