Opening Day & what to wear to your pickup game

I took a minor hiatus the past few weeks to go out east for a wedding, recover from the ensuing sickness I picked up while traveling, do fantasy baseball stuff, etc. Since then, most of March Madness happened, the Pistons finally stopped losing JUST in time to miss out on a top draft pick but not soon enough to get a playoff spot (with 5 games left they would need to win out and the 4 teams in front of them would need to lose out, so...), and the Red Wings decided to do the exact opposite and have nearly played themselves out of the playoffs... But none of that stuff matters. It's April, and baseball is here!

The last time I went downtown for Opening Day was 2008. Following the Tigers' first World Series appearance since 1984, expectations were HIGH. Dombrowski traded for Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Edgar Renteria, and Jacque Jones. Everyone thought they'd score 1,000 runs, win the World Series, and take a lighter to the record books (this very much didn't happen, in case you needed me to tell you that). If you've never been downtown for Opening Day, do it at least once. You can walk into one of 500 parking lots with a beer tent set up, or go to either the Fillmore or the State theater to watch the game projected on a big screen while drinking cheap beer and eating cheap nachos. It's a lot of fun.

Unlike the 2008 Opening Day, the Tigers opened 2015 with a win. David Price was lights out, new guy Yoenis Cespedes debuted with a double and a triple (and robbed Kurt Suzuki of a HR), and both JD Martinez and Alex Avila homered. There was a bit of controversy at the end - Price wasn't able to get the final out in the 9th, so Joe Nathan came on to get the save (how you can get a save with a 4 run lead and 2 outs in the 9th is beyond me). Torii Hunter, now back with the Twins (sorry Torii), pulled off on a hack at a ball out of the strikezone. It was close, but not that close. He checked his swing in time. But homeplate umpire Joe West called it a strike, game over.

West is not one of the most-loved umpires in baseball. He's very opinionated, which isn't a good characteristic for that profession, and his handling of in-game situations leaves MUCH to be desired. What West should have done was checked with the 1st base ump (who has a better view), or at least allowed Torii to appeal to 1st base, which is his right. One of my biggest pet peeves in baseball is the unaccountability of its umpires, but that's a-whole-nother post that I'm not going to get into right now.

Back to the game - things I liked:

• Offensive production from players not named Miguel Cabrera or Victor Martinez. 9 of 10 hits and all 4 runs and RBI came from other players. 
• Cespedes made his presence felt behind the plate, in the field, and on the base paths.
• Good defense in general - Iglesias provides better hitting from the SS position than we saw last year, and a MUCH better glove, and the OF defense is greatly upgraded by moving JD to RF (his better position anyway, and where Torii was an absolute butcher last year) and replacing him in LF with Cespedes
• Pitching was REALLY good.

There wasn't really anything I didn't like. I wish Price had been able to finish the game, but it allowed Nathan to get his feet wet. Pitching is going to be crucial to the Tigers' season. They are going to need Price to return to form (he's trended down the past 2 seasons), they need Anibal Sanchez to stay healthy for once, they need Verlander to be at least a #3 guy, and Alfredo Simon and Shane Greene need to at least hold serve. I expect a lot more than that from Greene, who had a REALLY nice rookie year with the Yankees last year.

The main concern is the bullpen. Nathan HAS to be better than last year, or else Ausmus has to be quicker to pull him for Soria. Nathan was the worst closer in baseball in 2014. After that, the 'pen is kind of a mess. I have no confidence in Joba Chamberlain, whose numbers dropped drastically after the All Star Break last year. Al Albuquerque was actually the Tigers' best relief pitcher last year, but he has no consistency. He'll be lights out for a couple of games, and then his slider won't be there and he's very hittable. If a couple of vets can return to form and one or two of the youngsters (Albuquerque, Ian Krol, Rondon, Angel Nesbitt) can step up, the bullpen won't be the weakness it's perceived to be. But don't expect great things.

***

I was recently doing some online window shopping for sports gear (my basketball shoes are starting to lose their edge) and came across some really cool stuff. I was watching a Q&A with DreAllDay, and when he was asked which basketball shoe is the most comfortable, my ears perked up. He mentioned the Jordan XX9 (which is prohibitively expensive to me), as well as his personal favorite, LeBron's Nike Zoom Soldier VIII. This sent me on a quest that ended up leading to some pretty cool gear.

1. It's all about the shoes.

 

Prices vary depending on the store. I already included the link to Foot Locker, which has the best price at $95, but these range as high as $140. If you can get a basketball shoe with a player's name on it for under $120, you're doing good. A lot of these are gaudy messes (Shaq & Kobe had a LARGE number of hideous kicks), but the ones that aren't are usually the best shoes on the court. I tended to get the more generic Nikes (by far the best brand for basketball shoes) to save $, but the extra $30 it takes to go the next step up is worth it.

2. It's also kind of about the socks.

Like the shoes sock technology has come a long way from the early days of basketball. Unlike shoes, it took a LONG time before anybody produced anything that was little more than a tube of cotton. The best sock out right now is either the Nike Hyper Elite or Under Armour's Undeniable Crew socks. Both feature extra padding in the toe & heel, arch support, seamless toes, and moisture-wicking fabric. The right sock can help reduce blisters and other foot or ankle injuries, so get something that works. Also, socks are more specialized now. The 2 socks I mentioned are best for basketball. They work for pretty much anything, but don't use a socker or baseball sock for basketball unless you double up with something else.

3. Shorts & underwear.
Shorts are probably the least important. Just get something that is light-weight and doesn't retain water. I wore a pair of shorts when training for the marathon last year that were made out of something that soaked up my sweat like a sponge. The last 5 or 6 miles I had to periodically wring them out as I was running. So, get yourself some dri-fit shorts or something with moisture-wicking fabric. Don't spend more than $25 on a pair.

As far as the underwear goes, you want something that will keep you dry (general rule for any article of workout gear, especially if you sweat like I do) and will minimize chafing. I like Under Armour's boxer briefs, like the HeatGear BoxerJock. This stuff changed my life, because I had constant problems with chafing as far back as high school.

4. Shirts - just get something comfortable.
Again, dri-fit is a good way to go. For basketball, I like the sleeves to be not too long, and it should be loose but not too loose. Again, both Nike and Under Armour have good shirts but Nike's are cheaper. Now, you can also get into compression gear, which helps you with endurance and muscle fatigue, or if you play a lot of ball and crash into people or hit the floor a lot, they have padded undershirts & shorts. I'm not Dwyane Wade, so I don't go that route, but I guy I play with does. If you want to look cool though...

...this is the sweetest shirt I have ever seen in my life. Had this existed back when I was in high school, there is a 100% chance that everyone on my football team would have one (we were the Waverly Warriors & our colors were black & gold). For some weird reason, it's really hard to find in a size other than small, but there are a couple of places where other sizes are available.

Under Armour also has some superhero-themed compression shirts in their Alter Ego series. The Superman one is my favorite, but the Venom one is pretty sweet too, and of course the Punisher one. I like the new Spiderman shirt too, but the earlier version looked like some Halloween USA stuff.

If you really want to look good, nothing looks better than doing some crunches, some cardio, and hitting the weights. It's cheaper than getting some $70 superhero compression shirt (which isn't going to look good anyway unless you're fit). I've just started training for running a half marathon this fall, and if I get my weight back down to where it was, I'll be running it in that Wu Tang shirt. As far as basketball goes, wear whatever feels comfortable, but get yourself some quality socks and the best shoes you can afford. It's not going to make you shoot straighter, but your body will handle the pounding a lot better.