COLUMN: MLB got it right, and local catcher comes in No. 1!

   Count me in as one of those “mostly” old school baseball guys: not a fan of the DH, don’t care about exit velocity or wins above replacement. And most of all, I am against the shift.

   Thankfully, last week MLB decided to eliminate the shift. I believe I mentioned this before in a previous column how much I was against the shift. Now I won’t have to worry about it. Most lefthanded batters will be happy to see the shift disappear as well.

   I’m also in favor of a timer between pitches. I’ve seen it in action at an Iowa Cubs game and it did speed up the pace of play. There are a few pitchers out there, especially in the relief corps, that just seemed to think that time didn’t matter and constantly screwed around with all sorts of oddities between pitches.

   Kenley Jansen would be one relief pitcher that comes to mind. He averages 25.2 seconds with no runners on base and 30.6 seconds with runners on. The slowest pitcher as of now is Giovanny Gallegos of the Cardinals, averaging 26.3 and 32.8.

   Now the new rule starts with the clock at 15 seconds with an empty base and 20 seconds with runners on. The catcher must be ready to retrieve the ball with 10 seconds left, the batter completely in the box with 8 seconds left and the pitcher in motion by the expiration of the clock.

   The votes are in. One of my good friends passed away unexpectedly last Friday. Kevin “Muskie” Melsha grew up in Monticello before getting married and moving to CR. For many years we played baseball together for the Monticello Cubs.

   Away from baseball we traveled, hung out with our wives and friends and always enjoyed being around each other.

   One of the last things he talked about a couple of weeks ago was putting together an all-time list of Monticello Cubs players at each position. I laughed when he mentioned it because I too have often thought of doing the very same thing. (See Darcey and Angie, great minds do think alike).

   So, in honor of my good friend Muskie, who was our catcher, I have decided to name the top Monticello catchers, and catchers only, of all-time. Muskie, you win this by a landslide, I’m not even going to mention anyone else. RIP brother, I love you and I’ll miss you. Until we meet again!