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Post by Terra Incognita on Jun 4, 2021 23:25:55 GMT
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Post by Mare on Jun 6, 2021 21:02:10 GMT
Hey, Terra! I read the article. I read and re-read many parts of it, and attempted to digest the words and concepts as fairly as I could. I would love to have a conversation about this Baseball Is Broken piece, maybe even with the author. I love baseball. I agree, baseball is supposed to be fun, but it also needs to be fair and sometimes include drama. A pitching duel is a very fine thing, and scores on both sides in the game are low. But when batting averages and ERAs are in the same neighborhood, that is some boring baseball. Granted, I have not been a daily game baseball fan for a few decades, but that doesn't mean I am a current baseball void. Many sports have unwritten rules/laws. Any journalist or sports writer should know that oral tradition means people down the line in a sport that's been around for over a century can take liberties with what those traditions actually are. Just like in politics, wording can be changed to bend the meanings of the unwritten rules. The baseball I knew and loved valued good sportsmanship, which would have been behind the "Don't swing on the Ball Three pitch" concept. I don't think it would have been behind the "Fuck It" logic of putting a catcher in to pitch the last inning where your team is being routed, nor would it have been part of the "Clobber and Destroy" attitude of the batter. NASCAR went through a period in the past ten-12 years where a bunch of new very young drivers started at the highest level of the sport. My favorite driver, now retired and a team co-owner, had a really big problem with youngsters that didn't follow the unspoken rules-they blocked all the time when leading, were really reckless and forgot that the sport even had unwritten rules. There was a total disregard of the history of the sport and traditions. It was new generation time and the governing body had to start stepping in and modifying the rules. But you can't make everybody happy and safe at the same time. I remember something of a strike (goodness knows why) in the early-mid 80s that ended in resolutions and changes to the game that made me disappointed in Major League Baseball. Too much interleague play. Three divisions, BS stuff like that. Hard to watch for me. DH, I could handle, because both teams played by each league winning team's rules at their own parks. (I really admired good pitchers who could bat.) There's another side to this, too...Tony La Russa's wanting to be let slide on his substance abuse issues because he excelled in the past as a MLB manager is just plain all around demanding favoritism for breaking the law. If I was a team owner, I would find that grounds for termination of his contract-what kind of example is he for young ball players? Or experienced ball players and other team members who wrestle with substance abuse issues? Dude, you would so be on probation. Ever heard of integrity or are you still in that A's steroid Never did it in front of me era or I didn't hear anything about it excuse? Humans need to learn from their mistakes as they go through life. Otherwise, there is chaos. Otherwise, the lowest common denominator becomes a "me first, fuck you" mentality. That totally makes baseball zero fun. And it makes reality a very dangerous place. Now, pitchers do throw at batters and when you have a multi game stand against a team where there has been a controversial play, you can almost expect some show of aggression in the next game. Pitching behind the homer smashing batter of the night before doesn't really necessitate a two game suspension for pitcher and manager. The manager's cavalier attitude about the night before three ball zero strike count HR, well, maybe that does need an apology to both teams. I think a lack of leadership by good sportsmanship is wrecking baseball. Don't get me wrong, a good bench clearing brawl is part of baseball. I think having a sports management agent affects players young and old, alike-better stats, more cash. My number one question: why, after eleven years in the minors is this guy even still in professional baseball? How did he even get to Spring Training? Dear Dog, let there not be another freaking baseball scandal upon us. Who is working on a casting couch expose in baseball writing? Tangent: I am appalled that betting odds in sports is now a part of FoxSports1 programming. I think a lot of things, but I forget what they all are. I think mostly that being a good sport is important and not being a total asshole goes right along with that.
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Post by donavan on Jun 6, 2021 21:07:31 GMT
Has anyone hit or sliced a ball yet?
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Post by bluedemon25 on Jun 6, 2021 21:17:09 GMT
Humans need to learn from their mistakes as they go through life. Otherwise, there is chaos. Otherwise, the lowest common denominator becomes a "me first, fuck you" mentality.
I think a lot of things, but I forget what they all are. I think mostly that being a good sport is important and not being a total asshole goes right along with that. +1/thumbs up
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Post by bluedemon25 on Jun 6, 2021 21:20:24 GMT
I went on a hike yesterday and saw some very pretty flowers. Wils yellow irises along the river bank and some purple flower bracy with large yellow pollen bits I couldnt identify and many blooming mountain laurel in white and pink along a climbing path up to a high up vista. I dont know how to shrink the photo size to under 1 mb requirements to be able to post here. I also saw a super pretty blue butterfly.
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Post by Mare on Jun 6, 2021 21:24:52 GMT
Has anyone hit or sliced a ball yet? Probably...PGA is finishing up a Tournament in Ohio...I hope Scheffie wins!
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Post by Mare on Jun 6, 2021 21:27:22 GMT
I went on a hike yesterday and saw some very pretty flowers. Wils yellow irises along the river bank and some purple flower bracy with large yellow pollen bits I couldnt identify and many blooming mountain laurel in white and pink along a climbing path up to a high up vista. I dont know how to shrink the photo size to under 1 mb requirements to be able to post here. I also saw a super pretty blue butterfly. Beautiful to imagine, Blue! Spring, which was short again this year, is finishing up. I won't be choosing a new favorite season, though. Spring it will always be.
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Post by miles on Jun 7, 2021 0:46:19 GMT
After hot weather for the holiday we are pleasantly back to cloudy cool days and even smigins of rain.
There were 5 deer in my backyard this afternoon, chilling. It is a sort of sanctuary, not fenced, no dogs, and we gave up trying to grow a garden, so it's all good. Deer are kind of like cows, they spend lots of time chewing what they already ate. I don't know if it tastes better the second time. The saddest thing I ever saw was a deer with a broken leg. It hobbled about in obvious pain, and was doomed to infection and death. Something about deer makes me ruminate.
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Post by donavan on Jun 7, 2021 6:41:28 GMT
Deer God
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Post by bluedemon25 on Jun 11, 2021 19:24:36 GMT
Did anyone else see the solar eclipse yesterday?
For me here in New England it was not visible as an annular eclipse but a partial eclipse. Clouds made photography challenging but it was still doable a bit. Unfortunately they blocked the start of what would have been the "horns" appearing first on the horizon, but I was able to see the horns shape after it rose a bit above the lower obscuring clouds and then watch it precede u till the end with some cloud interference occasionally. I only have very simple camera equipment, but I was happy to get some workable images enough to show the progression even if image sharpness was a bit limited.
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Post by Finntrovertigo on Jun 11, 2021 20:02:55 GMT
I didn't know there was an eclipse yesterday--I was completely in the dark.
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Post by donavan on Jun 12, 2021 6:02:24 GMT
Some people seem over the moon about it.
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Post by Mare on Jun 14, 2021 17:07:25 GMT
Missed it. It seems over my head.
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Post by donavan on Jun 14, 2021 17:55:40 GMT
Over my shoulder it goes and where it lands, you don't want to know.
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Post by bluedemon25 on Jun 14, 2021 18:26:03 GMT
Where the sun doesn't shine?
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