The baseball season is here, sooner than you think. (Sooner, too, than the sporting gods, who prefer that the boys of summer hold off until April, would like.)
Such eagerness to begin, with six games on tomorrow, is understandable. Despite the best efforts of its administrators at times to muck it up, America's former national pastime - ousted by the runaway train that is professional football - has stumbled into a good place on the sports spectrum.
Let's take a leisurely jaunt around the bases, stopping at each one to admire the view.
• First base. Like no other sport, baseball lends itself to eccentric personalities, and we were treated doubly by the champions, the San Francisco Giants, last season.
Tim Lincecum owes his nickname, The Freak, not only to a violent pitching motion that seems to subject his limbs to snapping like twigs. With long, stringy black hair and a vampire's complexion, Lincecum looks as if he wandered out of a Goth convention. If the stadium janitors misplace their mops, they can turn Lincecum upside down and use him.
Lincecum is Mr Normal next to Brian Wilson, the Giants closer, who wears orange cleats, a Mohawk (on occasion) and a beard bushy enough in which to hide a baseball.
Among Wilson's claims: he can levitate, his dog speaks two languages (including Russian) and he aspires to dress up as himself or a vampire (or Lincecum) for Halloween. (Behind the antics is a brainiac. Wilson can knock off a crossword puzzle within minutes, so maybe he belongs in the category of mad genius.)
Baseball also offers such characters as Dirk Hayhurst, the Tampa Bay Rays pitcher (who sketches a fire-breathing cross between a giraffe and a moose, called a "garfoose," with his autograph), Nick Swisher, the New York Yankees outfielder (who offers a different home-run handshake to each teammate) and Ozzie Guillen, the Chicago White Sox manager (whose profane rants are typified by one about the alleged rats at Wrigley Field, so large "that they must lift weights.")
Then there is Jeff Moutzas, the Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen catcher, who will eat anything (except for two substances that will go unmentioned here) and any amount on a bet. What a blessing that, in baseball, flakes are found in places other than in Moutzas' cereal bowl.
• Second base. The team owners' puppet Bud Selig, the commissioner, is blinded by a wrong-headed system of payroll disparity that tilts the playing field toward the big spenders.
The Yankees, projected to dispense checks worth US$207 million (Dh760m) to players, have missed out on only one post-season since 1994. The Boston Red Sox, spending $162m to keep up with the team in pinstripes, have reached six of the past eight play-offs.
The Philadelphia Phillies, fourth among the free-wheelers at $142m, have won four successive National League East titles. Fans of those teams can block out October on their calendars, certain they will experience some bonus baseball.
In Pittsburgh, they can now safely book Justin Bieber concerts, motocross events and Steelers autograph shows at PNC Park for October. The Pirates have devoted about $35mto payroll, all but assuring them of outside-looking-in for the play-offs.
Somehow, though, the stars align each year for a tight-fisted team to make the play-offs, even if it barely has any stars in uniform. Last year, the Texas Rangers overcame a No 27 payroll ranking, pinching enough pennies with its $55m roster for a World Series run, which ended when the Giants made Texas toast out of them.
The delightful anticipation: which low-budget team will step up this time to crash the upper-class party?
• Third base. The ongoing trial of Barry Bonds is a bittersweet reminder of the steroid era. Bitter, that it ever happened. Sweet, that it is fading in the rear-view mirror.
Pitching ruled last season, with 15 full-time starters south of a 3.00 earned-run average, the most since 1992.
But rising young (and, presumably, drug-free) sluggers - the Atlanta Braves' Jason Heyward, the Florida Marlins' Mike Stanton, the Cincinnati Reds' Drew Stubbs, for starters - are helping restore the balance.
• Home plate. As the NFL locks out its players while suspending business and an NBA labour dispute brews, there is peace and love in baseball. Well, mutually grudging respect, anyway.
Though the owners-players agreement soon expires, the only mention of strike involves a swing and a miss, and collective bargaining means you and your buddies negotiating with ticket brokers for cheaper seats.
In October, when America's four major sports overlap, baseball might be the only game in town this year not played on ice.
After we cross home plate, may we accept high-fives from our low-payroll teammates, one of whom sprays us with shaving cream. And none of whom has a Barry Bonds big head.
Also, may an absence of rain storms allow the World Series to end, as scheduled, in October for a change. Avoiding that November creep will get baseball back on the good side of the sporting gods.
sports@thenational.ae
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Specs
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Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
'Ghostbusters: From Beyond'
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace
Rating: 2/5
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
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