12/21/24
April 24, 2017
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Another of Babe Ruth's records has fallen. It's probably one that most (including myself) did not know existed, yet there it was, lurking under the dust in the record books, just waiting to be broken. Andrew Benitendi went 5 for 5 against Baltimore yesterday, becoming at the age of 22 years and 291 days the youngest Red Sox player ever to have a 5-hit game. The previous record holder was Babe Ruth who was 23 years and 91 days when he set the standard. This is one of those things that make sports such a fascinating pastime. Records endure, and when they are matched or broken, the career and life of the previous record holder are recalled and, in a way, honored. The continuity and traditions are thus maintained.
posted by Howard_T at 12:15 PM on April 24, 2017
Records endure, and when they are matched or broken, the career and life of the previous record holder are recalled and, in a way, honored. The continuity and traditions are thus maintained.
I was talking about this the other day with a friend, funnily enough, and we agreed that because baseball (compared with other major American sports) has remained largely unchanged for so long, baseball records have a certain mystic that, say, an NBA record doesn't. The timelessness of some of these records, the almost religious way the game is tracked and the level of detail given to preserving the history and data of the game is something uniquely baseball.
That's one of the reasons why I believe the Steriod Era hurt so much -- the statistical history of baseball, which is such an important part of the game, was sullied.
posted by Goyoucolts at 01:04 PM on April 24, 2017
That's one of the reasons why I believe the Steriod Era hurt so much -- the statistical history of baseball, which is such an important part of the game, was sullied.
As opposed to the "Greenie Era", or the even better "Segregated Era" of baseball. Those statistics are pristine and holy, like the "Re-used Dead Ball Era', and the "50' Pitching Distance Era".
posted by grum@work at 08:35 PM on April 24, 2017
Sheffield Wednesday's radio commentators are closer to the fans than anywhere else I've seen. No booth for them.
That's Rob O'Neill on play by play and John Pearson on color commentary. Pearson is a former Owl whose body language at the end of this weekend's 2-1 Derby win shows he's out of his mind with worry.