The special “Baseball ’96” section of the Tribune had baseball (or was it Uncle Sam?) pointing a finger at me and proclaiming “Baseball wants you!” Well, I’d like to point my finger at baseball. I want you to do something about improving baseball!
Start with hustle. Let’s see the batters go all out on every ground ball. Put some pressure on the infielder. Is it too much to ask the batter to run as hard as he can for 90 feet three or four times a game?
Stop standing at home plate to watch the expected homer and then winding up with a single. Run the bases the same way on a fly ball or infield popup with two outs. I’ve never seen such lazy players.
When I see these lazy players today, it only annoys me more that Pete Rose isn’t in the Hall of Fame. He wasn’t called “Charlie Hustle” for nothing.
