>when the Red Sox were playing the Yankees last year in the qualifiers >for the World Series, Pedro was doing great for a good number of >innings (8?), and the coach came out and was seen asking him, "are you >good to keep goin?".

>Even with my dismal knowledge of the game, I knew this was key - the >coach was letting a tired player make *his* judgement call on the game. >I got a bad feeling, and it panned out as I expected - Pedro sucks >armadillo balls for the rest of the game, the Red Sox go back dejected >to Haahvahhd Yahhhd and NY go home happy.

Grady Little knew Pedro was done, but he was scared. Boston's bullpen had been the source of so much controversy and derision throughout the season from the psychotic Boston media and fans. Grady figured no one would second-guess him for leaving the legendary Pedro in the game, but that if he went to the bullpen and they blew it, he'd never hear the end of it.

Of course, the opposite scenario played out, and he lost his job because he made a decision he thought would not be questioned. Basically, he was screwed either way.

FMajcinek wrote:Didn't mean to diminish Thomas' endless at-bat as "insignificant" or "non-plays." To the contrary, I meant to illustrate that everything that occurs within the confines of the batter's box is meaningful, and should be treated as such.

No! No offense taken! I just wanted to complete the description of that beautiful at-bat. The beauty of that at-bat was that it was non-plays and ultimately a failure -- nothing actually happened -- yet it was almost entirely responsible for determining the outcome of the game.

FMajcinek wrote:Thanks for correcting me as to what actually happened. I just couldn't believe that an at-bat against Pedro Martinez could last 15 pitches.

Actually, it was eleven pitches (3 balls plus 7 fouls plus 1 called strike). An incredible at-bat in that respect alone.

FMajcinek wrote:Go you Cubbies.

"Cubbies." So very hand-peeingly gae!

By the way, I loved Stewie's reference to the baseball "qualifiers". That made my day.

Baseball, for sure.


I have been a casual fan of the game since I was a kid. I enjoy the pure tension it provokes.

These days, I honestly enjoy it more than ever.

I had a ladyfriend who was, like any Red Sox fan, absolutely obsessed with that specific team. She would curse the Yankees in her sleep. She would randomly emote fantasies of Nomar Garciaparra ramming her in the bullpen. I wouldn't become jealous, because I knew that in a matter of weeks, the Red Sox would slump over like a lame horse, and Garciaparra would quickly become an impotent, broken man in her eyes.


I was living in NYC during the Subway Series, and even though I wasn't particularly a fan of either team, it was fucking incredible to live there during that. The town was figuratively/literally split in two, everywhere you went. The best was that I was living in Queens, and my TV went kaput, so I went to a local dive. It was brimming was Mets fans, with a couple of Yankees in the corner. I still dont know what they were doing there. But everytime the Yankess did something worthwhile, these two guys would go "woo!" and the entire bar would do the double-take, needle-off-the-record thing. It was a hoot.

FMajcinek wrote:"]Go you Cubbies.

"Cubbies." So very hand-peeingly gae!



Gae or not, baseball, like no other sport I know, provides us with such opportunities for blind faith and unflagging enthusiasm that even I may be compelled to ejaculate "Go you Cubbies!" at horribly inopportune moments.

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:By the way, I loved Stewie's reference to the baseball "qualifiers". That made my day.

So bring the ignorant European up to speed - what is the socially acceptable term? "Play-off"?

And while we're talking about terminology, can someone please explain the origin of the name, "World Series"? Are other countries invited?

OK, serious question - do you guys (Brad, tmidgett, etc...the baseball fans) believe that all the meat-head jocks that watch this game in bars and shout like apes at screens really know what's going on, or are they just in yeah-let's-drink-and-shout-support-the-local-team jock mode?

I've heard a lot of decent praise for the nuances of the game from you guys that I've yet to hear from any 250-pound lump at a sports bar, and I've talked to quite a few of them about the game, believe it or not. All I hear usually sounds like, "Nomahhhhh is on form tonight, YEEAHH!".

Baseball is great, but chess is probably the most perfect game invented.

no game where one mistake makes you lose is near perfect. i used to like chess, but then i started to hate it. fuck strategy. do you get to steal moves in chess? NO. do you get to bunt goals in soccer? NOPE. and double plays? jesus shit. pitching is the single coolest defensive position ever invented. it totally beats the shit out of the move with the rook and the king switching places. whoever does that sucks shit.

OK, serious question - do you guys (Brad, tmidgett, etc...the baseball fans) believe that all the meat-head jocks that watch this game in bars and shout like apes at screens really know what's going on, or are they just in yeah-let's-drink-and-shout-support-the-local-team jock mode?

most probably the latter

but i am not one of these people

it doesn't matter to me why most other people watch the game, same as it doesn't matter to me why most other people listen to the rolling stones. i know why i do these things, and i know i am profoundly not alone in doing them for the reasons i do them, and that is enough.

besides, the meathead jocks aren't generally watching the game. they are celebrating home runs with shots of tequila and whatnot.

stewie wrote:OK, serious question - do you guys (Brad, tmidgett, etc...the baseball fans) believe that all the meat-head jocks that watch this game in bars and shout like apes at screens really know what's going on, or are they just in yeah-let's-drink-and-shout-support-the-local-team jock mode?

I've heard a lot of decent praise for the nuances of the game from you guys that I've yet to hear from any 250-pound lump at a sports bar, and I've talked to quite a few of them about the game, believe it or not. All I hear usually sounds like, "Nomahhhhh is on form tonight, YEEAHH!".

There is room at the baseball party for everyone -- for you, me, my mom, my grandmother, the 250-pound lump, George Will, Billy Crystal and everybody in between. Well, maybe not George Will. Or Billy Crystal. Fuck those twits.

Here's my point: pretty much all of the different responses that people have to the game of baseball are totally valid. If your crudely sketched fat drunk guy is at a Boston bar screaming for NO-MAH (who, by the way, hasn't played this year), and this guy is genuinely into his Red Sox, then that's fine by me. He has connected with something in the game, and that's cool to me.

The only time that he would become a problem to me is if he directly imposes himself upon me or exposes himself as a poseur (i.e., the two traits that make Cubs fans uniformly obnoxious to me). If he derives genuine joy from the game (as opposed to focusing on those things that surround the game), I'll be damned if I'd ever say that my baseball experience was superior to that of your composite fat drunk guy. We don't see the same game, but I'm not going to discount his experience or challenge his unique enjoyment of this great game.

the most exciting baseball game: the one in 'one flew over the cuckoos nest' when they are watching the tv but its not actually on.