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Beige baseball

Wednesday 5/29/24

The Red Sox beat the Orioles 8-3 last night. That's good--I feel like the Red Sox are frequently overmatched against the Orioles.


The Red Sox struck out 11 times, though, the Orioles 13 times. So that means that in a game where 54 outs were recorded, 24 of those outs came via strikeouts.


It's not very entertaining, is it, watching people strike out?


When is it? When a pitcher really has it going on and they're dominating. They get on a roll. But that's not what happened last night, and what happened last night is typical.


I know this makes for a wild theory now, but maybe baseball would be better if something like batting average mattered again?


Someone could well win the AL batting title this year hitting .310. But it's not like it's the year of the pitcher and all off these starters are having great years. The starting pitcher position barely exists at present.


Tanner Houck with his 4-5 record is a legit Cy Young contender right now. I know--wins don't mean anything. They shouldn't even count them in the standings.


In both leagues--and we're still in May--there are a dozen players with a .300 or higher batting average.


What I see in the game, both offensively and in terms of pitching, is a lot of blah-ness. Beige. Baseball has gone beige.


A game proceeds from one batter to the next, and the players in the field take a piece of paper out of their pockets, read something that it says, and then move somewhere on the field in accordance with what they read.


Seems like you shouldn't be able to take a study aid with you out onto the playing surface of the game you're playing. Why not a phone with some video clips? Shouldn't you just be out there playing? If you have to write it down and put it in your pocket and consult it during the game, then that's not a thing that should be part of the game because that's not a game thing.


It's all so inert and bloodless. Baseball doesn't feel baseball-y.


Also: Is there anything less agreeable to the non-gambling degenerate in a baseball pregame show than when some slimy, scum-ball "gambling expert" comes on and gives you tips on what to bet--like whether the lead-off batter will get score a run or if you should take the over or the under on the starting pitcher having five strikeouts--before the game?


That's where society is at. This kind of shit has replaced any intelligent writing about sports. There's no intelligent conversation about sports. It's all become this low class scum-ball shit.


Who is out there thinking, "Yeah, got to make my bets for tonight's Sox game, bro"?


Apparently quite a few people. Insofar as they're interested in the game, that likely makes for a lot of their interest.



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