As I realized yesterday morning, if I couldn't be motivated to watch an historic game 7 between the Sox and the Yankees for the AL Pennant, I couldn't be motivated for much of anything. Come to think of it, I didn't watch any of the Twins games in the playoffs this year. I sort of told myself I was too busy with studying & family time & so on, but the reality is that if I really cared I would have found a way to watch the games.
This is really pretty monumentous for me. Baseball is DEEPLY entrenched in the history of the males in my family, with my granddad being a lifetime manager (& bookie--a Pete Rose ahead of his time, you might say), and my dad playing all those years. A couple memories of my baseball fanataciscm as a kid:
1) While other kids were choosing "Albert Einstein," "Crazy Horse," and "George Washington" in the Hoover Intermediate "Images of Greatness" event, I chose Pedro Gurrerro.
2) With the picture tube dying in the old 27" console, desparately watching a meaningless mid-season game between the Braves and the Dodgers on (then) WTBS through the remaining 2" strip of viewable screen late at night. I was probably about 11 at the time.
What has caught up to me is that major league baseball is the absolute most crappy sport in terms of a screwed up salary system that ruins the chance for any true parity amongst the teams. There's a lot of other things wrong with all professional sports, but ridiculous lack of salary cap makes baseball stand alone. Second, I have discovered that baseball is just boring to watch. Weird, since I actually have such a history with the game and I actually know a lot about it--nuances, strategies, tradition, etc. In fact, the kind of wild thing is that I actually still don't mind checking out results/standings/etc. in the paper. As bad as baseball is in those earlier respects, the intricacies of baseball statistics are amazing.
So where does that leave me? Baseball is screwed up and unwatchable, but box scores still rule.
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3 comments:
I love the history of baseball, but I find no joy in box scores.
I have found myself watching some of the recent Red Sox games, although more often then not I watch other things and turn back occasionally to see what the score is, who's pitching etc. It can be exceedingly boring, though I found myself riveted to the last two innings of game 6 as it came down to the wire.
The salaries are out of control, and the lack of parity is criminal but it seems to me that only the fans can demand that this be fixed. It's no longer an economical evening's entertainment to go to the games - it's more like going to a one-off rock concert, except that there's 162 of them every year. It's crazy.
I've gone to a few games at Fenway. I will never go again. The nostalgia of the old park and the fact that you are very close to the action in no way make up for the fact that the seats were designed for people in 1905, almost none of whom were more than 6ft tall. It is insane how uncomfortable the seats are. And maybe even worse than the seats, the slow pace of the game leaves me looking through the crowd for entertainment, usually resulting in missing significant plays. Unlike other sports, baseball doesn't have whistles or constant action to keep you focused. It goes on whether you watch or not.
I also find the rest of pro sports (and college more and more) uninteresting. Pro football wastes more time than any sport with absolutely NOTHING going on, and pro basketball is such a twisted version of the sport I love that I find it disheartening.
And your memories of your visit with me consist of tearing off hanfulls of loose-fill insulation in a 105 degree attic.
I think the whole "the fans deman" concept you floated is easier said than done. Somehow, these owners have managed to do a very GOP-like propaganda job on sports fans that somehow have people believing that somehow these millionares really do deserve to be publicly subsidized. It's nuts, if you think about it.
Dude, that 100+ attic work was a blast! Truly I had a great time helping you and it too sandblasted lifelong memories in my brain. I treasure all activities that we do together. This summer will be a hoot, and be prepared to open a lot of brain space for those memories! XXXOOOO
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