July 17, 2002

25 things wrong with baseball, : according to CNNSI's John Donovan. Put on your rally cap and come up with others. What's your pet peeve that's not previously mentioned?

posted by msacheson to baseball at 11:40 AM - 5 comments

The music played - check that, BLARED - before every batter and between innings. How about a return to the organ player?

posted by msacheson at 11:41 AM on July 17, 2002

It's not cricket.

posted by Fat Buddha at 11:41 AM on July 17, 2002

Oh yeah, I got a few...but a quick comment on a few from the article: Cup adjusting. My wife's making me put this one in. If your cup needs to be adjusted in order to sit just right, then it should be adjusted. As frequently as is necessary. Fans. Man, can we be stupid. And gluttons for punishment Mound meetings. Not all of them. Just the ones where 1) The manager stalls as his guy in the bullpen gets warmed up, and then 2) The umpire has to approach the mound to get things going, and then 3) Everybody scurries away like a bunch of roaches at dawn. In some circles, this is known as "strategy." Yeah, in some circles. Like BASEBALL circles. Mine to add: Ballplayers who don't hustle. I'm not talking about running to first on a base-on-balls, like Pete Rose used to do. I'm talking about not running out ground balls. For what you make, you can run out a goddamned ground ball. Besides, it might get you five extra hits a year, and one of those might lead to a run. I once bitched at Tim Naehring in Fenway after he didn't run out a ground ball and was thrown out at first even though the shortstop bobbled the transfer. He had just signed a big deal in the off-season ($2M plus if I recall) and when I chastised him as he stepped into the dugout he not only heard me but identified me and gave me a dirty lok. Lots of oohs and ahs from my section mates. Next time up he slaps a single to right, doesn't even hesitate as he rounds first and is called safe in a cloud of dust at second base. We wildly applauded as he got up, dusted himself off, and gave me a thumbs-up. Apparently he knew I was right. Fellow "fans" who bitch at you for heckling Let me state categorically that I'm talking about clean heckling, no four letter words at all. Usually its fans with kids who mind, but for $30 a seat I ought to be able to tell a guy he's a bum for not running out ground balls. Umpires who won't give you the high strike OR the low strike 'Nuff said.

posted by vito90 at 02:32 PM on July 17, 2002

vito, I totally agree on the hustle to the plate. The least they could do is run it out. The ones I can think of now are mostly fan related... That guy sitting behind homeplate that spends the entire game on the cellphone waving to someone watching TV at home. - You can almost hear that phone conversation."Hey, it's me. Put on Fox, I'm at ball park sitting behind the plate. I waved, did you see me?! Let me wave 632 more times. Wait... I'll stand up and wave now. See me now?" You know that guy barely watched the game at all. He had terrific, expensive seats and he wasted them on the phone waving. I hate this guy. Those fans who lean over trying to pull an in-play ball off the field as a 'souvenir' - They lean over, touch the ball and then recoil like it was hot to the touch. Thank you jerkass, that's fan interference and an automatic double. I've seen Trot Nixon glare and mutter at people for doing this. This is specific to Fenway I think. Fans who chant Yankees Suck when we aren't playing the Yankees - Even when we are playing the Yankees, the chant is getting old.

posted by jerseygirl at 03:10 PM on July 17, 2002

Interminable games. My inbox will be free of spam before anyone shortens the game by any noticeable length. Fix everything else and this issue becomes fades into the background.

posted by justgary at 01:19 AM on July 18, 2002

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