Just Watching Baseball

 

I know. 

Nobody is going to click on this post.

Baseball. Boring.

The ratings are tanking. The game is slow. It's currently 15-1 Dodgers over the Braves as I watch in the FOURTH INNING.

The Yankees aren't in it.

And yet I'm still watching. And I'll switch over and watch the Rays/Astros soon.

I love talking about the history. The minutiae. The uniforms. The baseball cards.

While I hate the passing of all of these great players in 2020 (Kaline, Brock, Seaver, Gibson, Ford, Morgan), what I appreciate is that it gives us pause to remember how great they were.

And these games allow us to appreciate these current players.

I know. "Get off my lawn!" They make too much money and they're too political and the rules are getting dumb and so on.

And, in truth, I agree with some of it. Yet, here I sit.

Dodgers 15, Braves 1.

I know plenty of people who are watching none of it. No pro sports, in fact. Good for them. That's their call, and I hope there's a mutual respect. It makes me sad in some cases but so be it.

People stop watching when their teams are out and I suppose that's where I'm different. I watch it. I watch most of it.

I've watched every World Series since 1975. Because I'm not just a fan of a team. I'm a fan of the sport.

And I love it. I love being able to pass on stories.

Stories. Isn't that part of why I love calling play-by-play?

I find it funny when someone tries to educate me on these things. Especially baseball history or sports media history.

I love talking about Ted Husing and Bill Stern and Roone Arledge and Curt Gowdy and Mel and Red and Vin and Scooter and Messer and White.

What was the "lesson" I was getting recently? Some item about sports media that just made me laugh out loud.

I say it all the time: "Don't try to be the smartest person in the room."

But they'll never learn. It just gets pacified.

Anyway, it's 15-1 and the underappreciated Joe Buck and John Smoltz are calling the action.

I'll head back to that.