All Things BASEBALL

[woodworker]

Now... back to baseball. 

I'm not young and remember baseball when there were 3 teams in New York City.  To me, the men who played the game back then relied on exceptional natural physical skills.  Now, with supplements (both legal and illegal) and year round conditioning programs, the men who play are bigger, stronger and faster. 

Is the game better now than it was?

No,.. Because if it were just about brute strength, then it would only be a matter of time when some scout or some owner would draft a trained gorilla into his team, and it just wouldn't be the same.

And if the pitcher got reckless and should hit the gorilla with his fast ball,.. Well, that would be the end of that pitchers career.  Because you need arms in order to pitch. 

It would be funny though to watch that fucker round the bases.  And if he gets it into his mind to steal second, the only way your going to be able to keep that monkey on first would be to hold out an orange, or a banana. 

Other than that, there would be no stopping him.

But if it were my team, I'd put the monkey third in the line up.  Let a couple of guys get on base first, and then let the monkey take a swing at it.    And boy if he connects, it would be like trying to catch a mortar shell in mid air!  You'd be a fool to try.

And even after a few ground balls, there wouldn't be much that you could do with the turf after that except maybe plant corn in it. 

[KarenKraft]

My goodness, you have posted a very nice post here. It is also a concept, and though it's about a sport, it's pretty interesting for other people, meaning those who do not know anything about baseball, can easily learn to understand.

Start here:

1) Yes, it's a team sport, but it's not a team sport. It's not like futbol (soccer), football, volleyball, or basketball. It's about an individual human trying to beat difficult odds.

2) You can root for a batter to do well, even if that player is on the opposing team.

3) You can root for a pitcher to do well, even if that pitcher is on the opposing team.

4) Baseball is about singular individuals doing exceptionally well. It's an Ancient Greek concept, but it pervades modern American baseball. Baseball is a transcendent sport. And, despite baseball's occasional marketing woes, it staggers a fan's mind when a player tries to hit a small ball hurled toward them at 90 mph (144.84 kph).

5) You will not find any boy who has ever watched this sport who did not day-dream about hitting that last home run to win the World Series.

1) People note when Kobi Bryant (U.S. professional basketball player) has some spectacular numbers, lifetime, for a season, for a game.  The win-loss numbers, shooting percentages are all well and good also.  But basketball is, indeed, a short-staff team sport where the numbers are merely reportage.  In baseball, it's 40% events and 60% numbers.  And that's an understatement.  You rarely hear a basketball play-by-play announcer invoke the names of Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Bill Walton, Wilt Chamberlain, John Havlicek,  Bill Russel or Larry Bird during a game.  But the names Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig and even the always-annoying Jackie Robinson at least once a week (one of the above, not all of them) during a broadcast.  Babe Ruth not so much because his numbers are mostly untouchable.  But it's the super-importance of the numbers that keep both the tradition and the players' histories alive.

2) + 3) For sure.  But you can also root against those same players if their success might impede the success of a past or present favorite.

4) You are never alone in most other team sports.  In baseball, when you are standing at the plate and the defenders have the ball (strange, that), you are very very alone.  Your teammates can do little but yell some usually-unwanted encouragement to you.

5) ... Or little girl for that matter.  We are allowed to play in U.S. Little League, but by the time we reach high school ball, we are encouraged to "go try out for the softball team!"  Now, softball is one of the most stupid sports of all time.  For those who aren't familiar with the two sports but are familiar with racket sports, baseball is like racquetball; softball is like squash: dead ball, a whole lot of effort for much less adrenal blast.  But that's just how I see it.  One day, MLB (that's the name of the professional sport --  Major League Baseball -- will allow girls/women to play.  :: sobs ::

 

[KarenKraft]

I was a strange kid. I hated sports. My parents made me participate. When the ball was thrown or hit my way, I'd look away and watch it go by. It was the only way I knew to get thrown out.

In school, I skipped P.E. class. They made us wear these filthy clothes that sat in a stinking locker for a week, shower with a bunch of other guys. In wrestling these wannabe homos would climb all over you. I hated anyone's sweaty skin touching mine. It was simply gross.

I was very happy sitting alone in my room with my piano or in a church with a beautiful pipe organ making music that made me tingle all over.

But yet I would lay on my back in a puddle of oil and grease and pull a transmission. Go figure.

Not that I minded being approached by other girls in the showers or elsewhere, but that was actually quite rare -- and if another girl wanted to hit on you it would not be in the showers.  It would be at a party or something off campus.  No, the people you had to watch out for at school were the dykish P.E. coaches.  Yikes.

[KarenKraft]

Vin Scully

https://youtu.be/jjv0AYYOLKM  PART ONE

https://youtu.be/XsB7Su9Y_J8  PART TWO

[rubberball50]

Now... back to baseball. 

I'm not young and remember baseball when there were 3 teams in New York City.  To me, the men who played the game back then relied on exceptional natural physical skills.  Now, with supplements (both legal and illegal) and year round conditioning programs, the men who play are bigger, stronger and faster. 

Is the game better now than it was?

No,.. Because if it were just about brute strength, then it would only be a matter of time when some scout or some owner would draft a trained gorilla into his team, and it just wouldn't be the same.

And if the pitcher got reckless and should hit the gorilla with his fast ball,.. Well, that would be the end of that pitchers career.  Because you need arms in order to pitch. 

It would be funny though to watch that fucker round the bases.  And if he gets it into his mind to steal second, the only way your going to be able to keep that monkey on first would be to hold out an orange, or a banana. 

Other than that, there would be no stopping him.

But if it were my team, I'd put the monkey third in the line up.  Let a couple of guys get on base first, and then let the monkey take a swing at it.    And boy if he connects, it would be like trying to catch a mortar shell in mid air!  You'd be a fool to try.

And even after a few ground balls, there wouldn't be much that you could do with the turf after that except maybe plant corn in it.

We agree that the game is not better now than it was.  :)

As for the gorilla... sounds like something Bill Veeck would try.  He loved publicity stunts.  ;D

[TBG 150]

To this day I don't go to theme parks and the like, simply because I don't want to be rubbed up against by people that may bathe once a week or less. Or their snotty nosed kids. I hate kids. A public pool? Surely you jest. A disease infested cesspool just waiting to attack someone. 

[rubberball50]

5) ... Or little girl for that matter.  We are allowed to play in U.S. Little League, but by the time we reach high school ball, we are encouraged to "go try out for the softball team!"  Now, softball is one of the most stupid sports of all time.  For those who aren't familiar with the two sports but are familiar with racket sports, baseball is like racquetball; softball is like squash: dead ball, a whole lot of effort for much less adrenal blast.  But that's just how I see it.  One day, MLB (that's the name of the professional sport --  Major League Baseball -- will allow girls/women to play.  :: sobs ::

I would agree with you about girls softball being less admirable than baseball... except that my granddaughter now plays softball.  I enjoy seeing her enthusiasm and joy playing it, so I can't call it stupid... until she stops playing.  :D

[rubberball50]

I wish there was a "like a lot" button for karenkraft's Vin Scully post.  He is the absolute best at what he does.  :)

[KarenKraft]

To this day I don't go to theme parks and the like, simply because I don't want to be rubbed up against by people that may bathe once a week or less. Or their snotty nosed kids. I hate kids. A public pool? Surely you jest. A disease infested cesspool just waiting to attack someone.

That's why there is something called The Stadium Club.  That's where you go to watch the ball game if a pleasant setting is important to you (or if guests are visiting from out of town). You dress nicely, arrive a bit early, use valet parking, and enjoy excellent food while you watch the game. 

[TBG 150]

I for one agree with the snooty venue, but you have to want to be there to begin with. I don't care for organized sporting events. I'd rather go to Mortons.

[KarenKraft]

I for one agree with the snooty venue, but you have to want to be there to begin with. I don't care for organized sporting events. I'd rather go to Mortons.

Mortons is for polo spectators.

Texas Roadhouse is for baseball fans.

Question:  Did Robinson actually steal home in the 1955 World Series?  Or did Berra tag him out, blocking home plate with the ball and his glove?  Even a few Dodgers fans have to admit that the umpire got that one wrong.  But you be the judge:

[StnCld316]

I for one agree with the snooty venue, but you have to want to be there to begin with. I don't care for organized sporting events. I'd rather go to Mortons.

Mortons is for polo spectators.

Texas Roadhouse is for baseball fans.

Question:  Did Robinson actually steal home in the 1955 World Series?  Or did Berra tag him out, blocking home plate with the ball and his glove?  Even a few Dodgers fans have to admit that the umpire got that one wrong.  But you be the judge:

I can put it through GOM and get it frame by frame then be able to tell if he was tagged off or safe.