MLB - 2007 Season

[lord of the mark]

Im just kinda down on MLB these days.

Too much expansion.

Too many playoffs (I can remember when only basketball and hockey suffered the "curse of the endless playoff")

Too little player loyalty to teams, or team loyalty to cities.

Interleague play, another tradition breaking gimmick to get more $.

All this drug *****. Whats worse, maybe, the defense of the drug *****. When Bouton wrote his book it was an obvious scandal. Not an trigger for learned discussions of the ethics of cyborgs, what it is to be natural, etc.

These arent only MLB problems, obviously, but impact all sports.

But baseball, more than any other professional sport, doesnt live purely from its raw entertainment value, from the adrenaline and controlled violence of football, from the aesthitics and adrenaline of basketball, from the adrenaline and raw violence of hockey.

To a very considerable extent its appeal is to tradition, to Americana. To the "church of baseball". Its more vulnerable than other pro sports are to this stuff.

I havent been to a major league game in 14 years, and to only 2 minor league games in that period, despite having attended one to two Os games a year in earlier years. I only follow it closely when the Os or Nats are in contention, or the Mets are in the Series, which means hardly at all. I'll probably go to a Nats game when the new park is done, but with more enthusiasm for the renovation of DC than for the "church of baseball".

SOmething related : I saw a clip the other day from Chariots of Fire. I know the cult of amateurism was elitist, arbitrary, classist, snobbish, etc. But I cant help feeling that something was lost when the Olympics first became hypocritical about amateurism, than dropped it entirely. I dont know which was worse. The Olympics has tried to substitute the ethic of "international cooperation and peace" for the ethic of amateurism. Welcome to China.

These days, Id rather follow the console wars or the MP3 player wars than sports. The strategies are just as intricate, and theres no pretense its about anything other than money. The church of sports is as much a failure as a redeemer of the secularized world, as the church of art.

sorry for the ramble.

[Arrian]

Im just kinda down on MLB these days.

Too much expansion.

Too many playoffs (I can remember when only basketball and hockey suffered the "curse of the endless playoff")

Too little player loyalty to teams, or team loyalty to cities.

Interleague play, another tradition breaking gimmick to get more $.

All this drug *****. Whats worse, maybe, the defense of the drug *****. When Bouton wrote his book it was an obvious scandal. Not an trigger for learned discussions of the ethics of cyborgs, what it is to be natural, etc.

Expansion: eh, yeah, I hear you on that, but I think there are close to the proper # of teams. Maybe 2 too many, but that's about it. The talent pool has grown too.

Extra playoff rounds: the natural result of the expansion, and a valid reason for not liking said expansion. But it's still better than hockey & BB, no?

Player loyalty to teams: heh. Little reason for it. Back in the "good old days" players had no choice. And teams traded players all the time, even local heroes. The idea that players spent their whole careers for one team back in the past but now don't is a myth - roster turnover is roughly the same, but now it's driven by both trades and free agency.

Granted, I'm a fan of a team that has been able to keep its players, so I'm spoiled in that area.

Team loyalty to cities: absolutely agreed, considering how much they rip those cities off.

Interleague play: agreed.

Drugs: yeah, it's a stain on the game.

Defense of drug use: there really isn't much of this. Mostly, it's people trying to explain that it's a more complicated issue than many casual fans (as you said yourself you were) think. Basically, in the end, what this means is that it is (or was) worse than you think. Downer, I know. Football's even worse, and more tolerant.

But in the end, for reasons I'm not sure I can fully explain, I just love the game. Despite its warts.

-Arrian

[lord of the mark]

Arrian, sorry for being unclear.

I didnt have you or Imran in mind in terms of defense of drugs. I see you defending Bonds (maybe not the right word, Im sure youd dispute it) by putting him in context, but ive never seen you defend PEDs.


I have seen some writers make the case that the distinction between PEDs, and say, diet, or scientific exercise routines, etc is somewhat artificial. And the impact of "justified" surgeries, etc. It may well be, but that only emphasizes to me the hollowness of the "worship of athletic excellence"

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Arrian

But in the end, for reasons I'm not sure I can fully explain, I just love the game. Despite its warts.

-Arrian

I understand. I would never ask someone to justify his way of life, its something you live, not prove. Ive been trying to explain that for a while

[Arrian]

Yes, I would dispute that I am "defending Bonds." I am, however, spreading some blame, and in that sense perhaps that is defending Bonds. It's not really my intent. My real intent is to not let others off the hook by focusing on Bonds. It's too easy to spend your outrage on Bonds, and ignore the complicity of so many others.

I have seen some writers make the case that the distinction between PEDs, and say, diet, or scientific exercise routines, etc is somewhat artificial. And the impact of "justified" surgeries, etc. It may well be, but that only emphasizes to me the hollowness of the "worship of athletic excellence"

I have to admit, there are times when I've wondered how bright the line between "natural" and "unnatural" really is. But I think steroids and HGH are clearly on the unnatural side. I've seen some of those articles, and I wasn't convinced.

As to your last post, likewise, I'm not trying to convince you to stop worrying and learn to love the injection.

-Arrian

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Arrian
As to your last post, likewise, I'm not trying to convince you to stop worrying and learn to love the injection.

-Arrian

Actually when a side "ive been trying to show that for awhile" i didnt mean this thread, but many of the religion threads in OT.

[Arrian]

I understood that comment, LotM.

Hey Imran:

Chipper Jones of the Braves, when asked about Barry Bonds on Wednesday, said any accomplished player would face questions about steroids use because of the era in which they play. That includes Alex Rodriguez.

“I think it will follow him,” Jones said. “There’s going to be the questions because his name’s been brought up. If I had to pose a guess on A-Rod, I would say no. But I don’t know. He’s going to have to answer the questions.”

That seems like a reasonable thing to say. Any athlete is any sport is not above suspicion in this era of performance enhancement.

But somehow it became “A’ROID SHOCKER” on the back of one paper and “CHIPPER’S A-BOMB” in the other. I’m sure it’ll be a story again tomorrow.

Am I missing something? Jones didn’t accuse Rodriguez of taking steroids. He said only that he will have to answer questions because of what Bonds did. Of course he will. So will Jones and any other player. That’s shocking and a bomb?

From Pete Abraham's "LoHud" Blog.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

See .

[snoopy369]

I think that the papers referenced are not ones who are well known for their focus on silly things like "facts" and "accuracy".

[Arrian]

Most likely the NY Post. To call it a rag is to overstate its quality.

-Arrian

[snoopy369]

Ankiel homers twice more today... don't know what Wheaties this guy has been eating but, wow. This story keeps getting better...

[Imran Siddiqui]

Ankiel

[Arrian]

Holy ****, I missed that! Talk about storybook. I smell a TV movie.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Johan Santana is like good and stuff. 8IP, 17ks, 0BB... and a 1-0 win. Nasty. The bidding war on him is gonna be crazy.

Incidently, Brandon Webb is pretty nuts over there in the JV NL. Three consecutive complete game shutouts. Damn.

The Yanks have been playing well, and what's more, they're getting production from the newbies. Joba Chamberlain is unhittable in relief (granted, in all of 7 innings), Edwar Ramirez is nearly as good (if you are willing to overlook the nightmare game when he was brought in after 12 days off, walked the bases loaded & served up the grand salami), and Mo is fine. The 'pen was perfect in the past three games with the Tigers.

And then there is Wilson Betemit, who has some really big hits for the Yanks already. Betemit >> Cairo. And the Molina brother we picked up is a good backup catcher. Certainly better than Wil Nieves, but then there are dead people better than Wil Nieves.

The bullpen and bench have both been seriously upgraded. Now the only weakness is starting pitching, which obviously isn't top-notch. It's decent, mind you, but it's a level below some of the other playoff contenders.

I hate west coast games. I also hate the Angels. Douple-plus ungood.

-Arrian

[EPW]

A's