On Saturday, I wrote about being that sucker who was going to watch his first Major League Baseball game in about three years. After all, it was game seven of the World Series and the most talented baseball player ever was going to be on the mound and batting leadoff.
Although Ohtani did not have the legendary game I was hoping for (he gave up 3 runs in 2 1/3 innings but did have two hits and a walk over 6 plate appearances) I was incredibly happy that I watched the game.
For the first time in many years, it felt like I was watching the game that I grew up loving. It reminded me of watching This week in Baseball and then turning on Joe Garagiola and Vin Scully to watch the game of the week on NBC. It reminded me of Kirk Gibson, Reggie Jackson and a very unlikely home run by Ozzie Smith.
Yes six of the nine runs were scored on home runs, but there were also two sacrifice flies and a guy scoring on a double. You know... REAL baseball. There were not ridiculously easy steals and a majority of outs made via the strikeout. It was simply was of teh best baseball games I have ever seen... and I didn't even have a rooting interest. I was just hoping for real baseball and I got it.
Although I watched the game by myself at home, I was texting back and forth with my brother all night. I am going to keep those texts forever as a reminder of this game. when I was a kid, I used to buy a scorecard and keep score of every game I went to (yes I am that old). But these texts are a better reminder.
Our first text was of course about the three run homer Bo Bichette hit to center field... or as my brother put it "that was a bomb!" I brought up that two batters earlier, I felt the Dodgers' left fielder, Enrique Hernandez ,should have dove to catch a sinking liner. If he had, perhaps Bichette would not have been up to hit that bomb.
One of my only complaints of the entire game were about announcer John Smoltz who clearly despises Shoei Ohtani. I could not believe how much time he spent complaining that he was taking extra time to take warm up pitches. Ummmm... it's game seven and the most incredible player ever is pitching and batting leadoff. Stop being jealous and sell your product you idiot!
The other complaint I had was the ridiculous decision to interview the manager DURING THE GAME! Umm it is the World Series. I think they might be busy. I nearly lost my mind when they wasted the Blue Jays manager's time by asking "Ummm are you happy the guy who just hit a three run bomb is on your team and playing"? Did you really need to ask that? was he going to say "no"?
Anyway everything else was simply amazing. There was pretty much edge of my seat excitement every inning. The most amazing thing to me was that so much of the excitement was generated by defense. I simply could not believe the three incredibly plays Vlad Guerrero Jr. made at first base. He may have only been responsible for generating 1 offensive run, but he saved another three with his glove. And these plays kept happening all night. I mean in extra innings, there were two force outs at the plate on a drawn in infield. now THAT is baseball! And this isn't even counting Pages saving the game for the Dodgers while running over his left fielder. It was incredible.
OMG! I almost forgot! There were actually two bunts as well! I got to see actual strategy.
Man I wish they could make this the norm again in baseball instead of the exception. But oh well. at least for one night I got to feel like a baseball fan again.
I'm honestly not a fan of commentators anyway. I typically watch games with the sound down really low so I don't have to listen to their crap. It's pretty clear they bring personal biases in to the picture and I don't feel like that should stand. Especially with a national game like this. You want to do that on a hometown station, that's another thing. I think a lot of it has to do because they talk to fill space versus talking because they have something important to say. Are you going to watch the World Baseball Classic next year? That's always a good time.
Yeah I'm with you on the announcers. i probably should have turned it down. Maybe I will check out the classic a bit. this game did rekindle a little baseball fire. Let's see how long it lasts.
Sport can indeed bring back memories. I am also that old that pen and paper where are keyboard and monitor and the memory was the computer 😁
I do feel that I am losing the passion for sports. Maybe that is also caused by the flood of broadcast. When I was game we only had short clips of games, now everything is aired, can be watched on demand, …..
Both my sons play football (that probably is soccer to you) and being present at those games brings back a lot of memories.
!BEER
Reading this article of mine, I feel like you've experienced the real baseball of the old days while enjoying the game. And in today's baseball, where statistics and power hitting are the main thing, strategy, defense, intelligent running, and teamwork all combine to create a different kind of emotion in a match.
Unless I am actually at the game or really a big fan of the team (its been awhile), I find it so hard to get into watching baseball. This is of course not the case during the playoffs, and especially the World Series. There is so much tension and suspense during the game, they really can keep you on the edge of your seat. An annoying announcer can be a turnoff, but usually I can tune them out if I am really focused on what's going on. I still think the greatest game of baseball I have ever seen was game 7 of the 2016 World Series, where the cubs seemed to be about to lose to the Indians, only to have a rain delay come in and change the momentum before the 10th inning.
Game Sevens always bring that extra excitement, and it’s nice to see how it helped you reconnect with baseball again. Nothing beats the thrill of a real, strategic game like that.
Whether it's the players of the past or your players, all the players of the past had a lot of experience and their way of playing was also quite different. If we look at cricket today, the way of playing cricket has also changed. So when the players work harder, people's interest also increases and they like to watch more matches, just as you have mentioned.
It brought back the true spirit of baseball — the tension, strategy, and those special moments that make the game so great. Watching it with your brother must’ve made it even better.
View or trade
BEER.Hey @hanshotfirst, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @fullcoverbetting for you. Enjoy it!Do you want to win SOME BEER together with your friends and draw the
BEERKING.View or trade
BEER.Hey @hanshotfirst, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @fullcoverbetting for you. Enjoy it!We love your support by voting @detlev.witness on HIVE .
That's great, my friend, that you had fun and enjoyed baseball again. Of course, it was an emotional game, being the 7th and decisive game.
That game was incredible! Both teams gave it their all to win, and like you said, they played old-school baseball, trying to manufacture runs to win the championship. So congratulations to the Dodgers, and Yamamoto's performance was impressive; he won three games in the series, if I remember correctly. It was simply historic. It reminded me of when Randy and Curt gave Arizona the victory.