Adjust or Be Left Behind

 

Ah, the tale as old as time.

The world changes. People moan, complain, and so on.

In my case, it's the Tappan Zee Bridge. The new bridge has been named for the former governor of the state of New York. I admit that despite him being a big baseball (and Yankees) fan I was never a supporter of him.

But, like it or not, the bridge is named for him. Until it's changed it will still legally be known as the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

Even if I still call it the Tappan Zee.

Well, in baseball, several major changes have into play. Of particular note is the implementation of a pitch clock.

Now, the thing about baseball has always been that it had no clock. Twenty-seven outs were the nature of the beast, no matter how long it took the get them.

In reality, there had always been a clock but umpires rarely -- if ever -- enforced it.

But now, a clock stands there as plain as day.

The rule is simple: get in the box and hit.

It's part of the plan of those in charge to shorten the length of games and put a little more excitement back in "The Pastime."

Now, let me be clear: I don't love seeing a clock. I wish it had been enforced by the umpires so that it didn't get to this point but I'm not pointing fingers. Simply put: this is where we are.

Let me also add that it was in use in the minor leagues last year so I saw it firsthand. I will tell you this: it worked.

But I'm reading a lot of moaning.

In particular, a member of the broadcasting community opined on how it would have impacted the storytelling of Vin Scully.

"Foul!" he cried. "Vinny's mastery at weaving the word narrative between pitches. Now, lost due to the intrusive pitch clock. Stick to football and basketball for rapid fire action. Baseball's singular allure is in its ebb and flow. Scully mastered it like no other."

And he decided to lecture us "east coasters" because we didn't see Vinny day after day. But, thanks to technology, we did see and hear him thanks to SiriusXM and the MLB tv package. You all know that just from reading these words alone.

So, while I appreciate the education, I can assure you I know as much about Vin as a lot of people do.

And he would have adapted.

What my compadre seems to not be getting is that Vin first called the Dodgers in 1950 when the average time of an MLB game was 2:20. When he retired in 2016,  the average time was 3:04.

For whatever reason, when I argued that he called Don Larsen's perfect game, which was played in 2:06, he chided me and instead noted that I should listen to Vin's call of Sandy Koufax's perfect game.

I sent that screenshot to a few friends and I think they're still laughing. Listen to it? I teach about it.

But here's the flaw in our friends' narrative: Koufax's perfect game took one hour and forty-three minutes. For the love of Red Barber, where was Vin able to "weave stories."

He says it is we who disagree with him who aren't getting it but, with each word, he is the definitive "old man yelling at a cloud."

Which is very much what I try not to be. Yes, I dig in on certain things and admit those are the moments that I'm guilty of appreciating things "back in the day" but I refuse to be like that. I simply pick my fights and acknowledge when I do.

I suppose my biggest concern is that this debate makes it more about a broadcaster -- even the greatest of them all -- and not about the game.

That makes me nuts.

The game is the thing.

Vin, Mel Allen, Joe Buck, or even schlubs like me would (or will) figure it out. 

I mean, I love telling a story and it's the reason I love baseball broadcasting most. It's the (radio) broadcaster's game, allowing for stories. But the game shouldn't be four hours long so that we can spin yarns. The game should be the game.

Now, granted, baseball broadcasting has changed for sure. There aren't as many storytellers anymore with newer broadcasters electing to rely on stats and other things. It's a different approach from how I do it, for instance. Most of my broadcasts don't feature any stats because I don't have access to them.

Incidentally, the fellow broadcaster in question just posted about this topic again. Well, this "east coaster" responded by simply saying that everyone will adjust.

Or be left behind.

Like him.