I have two Tar Heels on my fantasy league (where shep. is already soundly kicking my ass) team this year. Two! And if BJ Surhoff hadn't gotten old, I would have three. I have a great love for the Weej, as my high school boyfriend called him. I miss him and his old-man knees and the fact that he caught until his knees got too bad, then he played third base until his knees got too bad, then he played in the outfield until his knees got too bad, and then he DH'd for a while after that, until he couldn't stand up anymore. That's dedication to the game, man.
... Wait, what was I talking about? Right. Tar Heels on my fantasy league roster. I have two Tar Heels on my fantasy league team, Andrew Miller (RP, Detroit) and Chris Iannetta (C, Colorado Rockies). This pleases me, because it speaks volumes for Carolina's baseball program.
My point was: this year, the Tar Heels baseball team has a starting pitcher who pitches out of the bullpen on his off-days, just because he can, who lists Guitar Hero as his favorite video game, and who was a chess champion in middle school. Seriously. Is there anything not to love about this baseball team? I THINK NOT.
The joy of watching this team this year hasn't been that they're good (which they are) or that they win (which they do) -- it's been how they win. On Friday night, against Duke, they won 7-0 on a complete game shutout by Robert Woodard, and they had one extra base hit, a late-game solo homerun by Chad Flack.
One. One extra base hit. They scored six runs on the strength of walks (good eyes at the plate, because the Duke pitchers were good), singles, and smart, smart base-running. It's a textbook definition of small ball -- solid hitting from everyone in the lineup (well, not really; Tim Federowicz is slumping, and slumping bad, lately, and it was really the very very top and the very very bottom of the lineup that won the game on Friday night), smart baserunning and a quick (read: lots of stealing) starting lineup, and solid if not inspired pitching. Woodard gave up a bunch of hits, but it didn't matter, because the defense was good and he never got rattled. (He does, however, have the weirdest motion on the face of the Earth, and Dontrelle Willis, I'm looking at you -- Woodard kicks, pauses, and finishes delivery, when there's no one on base. It's supremely strange to watch, makes him look like a robot.)
Carolina Baseball has been fun to watch this season because they're playing smart baseball. To steal a line from the White Sox, they're playing grinderball. Play hard, play smart, play fundamentally solid, and trust your pitchers. And you'll win. (I still think that Benji Johnson has better rapport with his pitchers than Federowicz -- Johnson is a smart, gentle sort of catcher, who knows exactly how to call for each of his pitchers, and knows how to adjust on the fly -- but Federowicz hits better and has a better arm, so I guess it's a trade-off.)
Grinderball -- it's the kind of baseball that looks boring on paper but turns out to be a hell of a lot of fun to watch.
(Photos, such as they are, are here.)
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