In the meantime, CSKA without my help went 4-2 last week, dropping two games to the feared Red Devils while twice beating both MGU and CSKA-PVO (Regional Pistol Unit), the Red Army second team.
Except for the Red Devils games, which were noteworthy for being well-played and competitive, the games in general were more or less a demonstration of how the Soviet mentality can dominate the flow of sports contests here.
From the very first game on Friday night, I was struck by our seemingly illogical pitching rotation. One of our strongest pitchers, a Ukrainian lefthander named Sam, was brought in as a reliever against MGU, the weakest team in the tournament, in the fourth inning of a game that we were already winning by five runs. The following day, the team's top two pitchers, a 30-year-old fastballer named Yura and a young lefthander named Volodya, were sent in to pitch the whole game against CSKA-PVO, who we beat by 11 runs.
Then, Sunday, in the marquee matchup against the Red Devils, the league's strongest team, we sent in our three weakest pitchers to go three innings apiece.The process was repeated in the next three games. By Thursday, the date of the next matchup against the Red Devils, all three of the top throwers -- Sam, Yura and Volodya -- had pitched too many innings to play in the key game.
As it turns out the reason for this is rooted in money. CSKA has instituted a system of player fines not only for off-field behavior, like drinking or lateness, but for on-field performance. Batters are fined for strikeouts, fielders for errors, and pitchers for earned runs. But players can win money for getting hits, turning double plays or, for pitchers, throwing strikeouts. Thus, for pitchers it is most profitable to throw against weaker teams, where they can rack up better statistics.
The odd thing is that the coaches allow the pitchers to choose their opponents. In the unique logic of the army coaching staff, players must use their performance on the field to earn the right to avoid key games. The money is coming from far up enough that no one in a position to object really cares, and besides, the good pitchers really are producing wins, which looks good to the superiors.
The fine system affects the game in other ways. I won't say that there is definitely an unusually high number of bunts (to avoid costly strikeouts) or that fielders always avoid throws to home on close plays (to avoid errors). But it sure seems that way.
After three days of watching balls fly way high and low and wide for strikes, I noticed one other thing that I mentioned to the players."I don't get it," I said. "These umpires, they all have enormous strike zones. Why?"
The players laughed at me. It's simple, they said. "There's no competition for these umpire jobs," one of the older players, Nikolai, told me. "And most of these guys don't like long games. And, you know, walks take up a lot of time."
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