In The Grip Of Baseball Fever - 2013 Version
It's been a while since any of our writers used this blog space. Personally, I haven't been extraordinarily inspired to put my thoughts down on paper (or screen bits) during the past year. But if there's one thing that can shake me from my malaise, it's Major League Baseball.
So, if you've read this far, stay a moment and share a few observations I've had.
Watching Baltimore Manager Buck Showalter in the dugout during Red Sox/Orioles games is better than reading Moby Dick. Showalter plays Captain Ahab to the Sox' white whale. If the manager's expressions could generate iron-tipped spears, there'd be many beards hanging as trophies on his mantle at home.
Buck hates the Sox (and Yankees, so we give him credit for that) and as relayed by the Bergen (NJ) Record Newspaper told an interviewer from Men's Journal in 2011 that he likes "whipping their butt."
Showalter says it's a payroll thing, but I suspect the ubiquitous "Let's Go Red Sox" cheers that eminate from the large numbers of Boston fans who visit Baltimore's Camden Yards infuriate him just as much.
After last night's 3-2 Baltimore win, the Red Sox have five more games with the O's this season. While the Sox could clinch the American League's Eastern division by the end of the week, Baltimore may need the remainder of the season to claw their way into the playoffs. These two teams should generate quite a bit of excitement over the next 2 weeks.
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I'm not trying to give the Sox a "kinehora" (Yiddish for the evil eye) but I can't stop thinking about them in the World Series. Who would I like to see them play? The money match-up seems to be Boston vs. LA. But I'd rather see the Pirates than the Dodgers. What a storyline: "worst to best Sox face off against first Pittsburgh team in 21 years to have winning season." In the past two years the movie version of these teams could have been called "From Here to Futility." Now it's more like "Great Expectations."
- - - - -
The Sox have won games in dramatic fashion all season: from clutch last-at-bat doubles to walk-off home runs. From a fan's perspective, it's been a highly enjoyable 6 months so far. But the conversation often turns on the question of why more people aren't excited about the team - evidenced in part by non-sellouts at Fenway Park. Well, I wouldn't cry over the team's financial bottom-line just yet; think of all those hot dogs and beers that get sold through the later innings because no one wants to leave the park - even when the Sox are down more than a few runs. And the radio and television revenue potential when a three hour game means people actually are listening and watching for the entire three hours!
So, if you've read this far, stay a moment and share a few observations I've had.
Watching Baltimore Manager Buck Showalter in the dugout during Red Sox/Orioles games is better than reading Moby Dick. Showalter plays Captain Ahab to the Sox' white whale. If the manager's expressions could generate iron-tipped spears, there'd be many beards hanging as trophies on his mantle at home.
Buck hates the Sox (and Yankees, so we give him credit for that) and as relayed by the Bergen (NJ) Record Newspaper told an interviewer from Men's Journal in 2011 that he likes "whipping their butt."
Showalter says it's a payroll thing, but I suspect the ubiquitous "Let's Go Red Sox" cheers that eminate from the large numbers of Boston fans who visit Baltimore's Camden Yards infuriate him just as much.
After last night's 3-2 Baltimore win, the Red Sox have five more games with the O's this season. While the Sox could clinch the American League's Eastern division by the end of the week, Baltimore may need the remainder of the season to claw their way into the playoffs. These two teams should generate quite a bit of excitement over the next 2 weeks.
- - - - -
I'm not trying to give the Sox a "kinehora" (Yiddish for the evil eye) but I can't stop thinking about them in the World Series. Who would I like to see them play? The money match-up seems to be Boston vs. LA. But I'd rather see the Pirates than the Dodgers. What a storyline: "worst to best Sox face off against first Pittsburgh team in 21 years to have winning season." In the past two years the movie version of these teams could have been called "From Here to Futility." Now it's more like "Great Expectations."
- - - - -
The Sox have won games in dramatic fashion all season: from clutch last-at-bat doubles to walk-off home runs. From a fan's perspective, it's been a highly enjoyable 6 months so far. But the conversation often turns on the question of why more people aren't excited about the team - evidenced in part by non-sellouts at Fenway Park. Well, I wouldn't cry over the team's financial bottom-line just yet; think of all those hot dogs and beers that get sold through the later innings because no one wants to leave the park - even when the Sox are down more than a few runs. And the radio and television revenue potential when a three hour game means people actually are listening and watching for the entire three hours!
posted by I.B.I.S. Radio at
2:33 PM
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