MLB 2021

[Kimmelweck]

I watched a few Jays games last season. It looked like a nice intimate park, especially compared to Rogers Centre. The novelty of it all might generate more fans than if they played in TO this year.

Yeah they really made some cool changes to Sahlen Field to accommodate major league ball.

[Dr. Medulla]

Looks quite possible the Blue Jays might play in Buffalo again this year. Hoping they allow some fans in this time. I've never seen a major league game in person and would be stoked to catch a Jays game here.

Said nobody ever...well maybe Inder.

I watched a few Jays games last season. It looked like a nice intimate park, especially compared to Rogers Centre. The novelty of it all might generate more fans than if they played in TO this year.

The closest I came to an MLB game was in the early 80s when the Pirates played an exhibition game against their (at the time) double-A farm club the Buffalo Bisons. The game was at the long-gone War Memorial Stadium (aka The Old Rockpile) in downtown Buffalo, the same place they filmed much of The Natural. It existed from 1937-1989. I sat with my Little League team about 10 rows back from the Pirates bench, which was along the first base line just beyond first base. I was about 10, and my favorite player was Willie Stargell. The team also included Dave Parker, Kent Tekulve, Bill Madlock, Dale Berra, John Candelaria, Grant Jackson, Tony Pena, etc. All my favorites from my Topps baseball cards.

In the center of the bench, about 30 feet away from me, sat Willie Stargell, with a 3-gallon bucket of Buffalo wings between his legs. He was devouring them mid-game. An older fan, to my right and slightly behind me, cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled “Hey Willie! How are they?” Stargell never turned around, but with his mouth full, raised a half-eaten chicken drumstick, a hunk of skin flapping in the breeze, over his right shoulder and gave it a mighty, triumphant shake. The crowd in my section erupted spontaneously, like the crowd of Texans in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure when Pee Wee says “I remember…..the Alamo?”

I have mixed feelings about the late 70s Pirates. On the one hand, the 79 WS was the first one I watched start to finish and actually caring (I couldn't comprehend now a team could come back down 3-1 to win), so there's warm feelings there. But they were the first of many teams to break my heart as a young Expos fan (fucking Phillies in 1980 and the burn-in-hell Dodgers in 1981), so there's some bile, too.

[revbob]

Looks quite possible the Blue Jays might play in Buffalo again this year. Hoping they allow some fans in this time. I've never seen a major league game in person and would be stoked to catch a Jays game here.

Said nobody ever...well maybe Inder.

I watched a few Jays games last season. It looked like a nice intimate park, especially compared to Rogers Centre. The novelty of it all might generate more fans than if they played in TO this year.

The closest I came to an MLB game was in the early 80s when the Pirates played an exhibition game against their (at the time) double-A farm club the Buffalo Bisons. The game was at the long-gone War Memorial Stadium (aka The Old Rockpile) in downtown Buffalo, the same place they filmed much of The Natural. It existed from 1937-1989. I sat with my Little League team about 10 rows back from the Pirates bench, which was along the first base line just beyond first base. I was about 10, and my favorite player was Willie Stargell. The team also included Dave Parker, Kent Tekulve, Bill Madlock, Dale Berra, John Candelaria, Grant Jackson, Tony Pena, etc. All my favorites from my Topps baseball cards.

In the center of the bench, about 30 feet away from me, sat Willie Stargell, with a 3-gallon bucket of Buffalo wings between his legs. He was devouring them mid-game. An older fan, to my right and slightly behind me, cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled “Hey Willie! How are they?” Stargell never turned around, but with his mouth full, raised a half-eaten chicken drumstick, a hunk of skin flapping in the breeze, over his right shoulder and gave it a mighty, triumphant shake. The crowd in my section erupted spontaneously, like the crowd of Texans in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure when Pee Wee says “I remember…..the Alamo?”

I have mixed feelings about the late 70s Pirates. On the one hand, the 79 WS was the first one I watched start to finish and actually caring (I couldn't comprehend now a team could come back down 3-1 to win), so there's warm feelings there. But they were the first of many teams to break my heart as a young Expos fan (fucking Phillies in 1980 and the burn-in-hell Dodgers in 1981), so there's some bile, too.

That was one hell of a team. One of the best cole fueled teams ever. Right up with the 86 Mets anyway.

[Dr. Medulla]

Funny thing is that I can now appreciate Earl Weaver as a foul-mouthed genius, and in retrospect wish the O's had won.

[Kimmelweck]

I have mixed feelings about the late 70s Pirates. On the one hand, the 79 WS was the first one I watched start to finish and actually caring (I couldn't comprehend now a team could come back down 3-1 to win), so there's warm feelings there. But they were the first of many teams to break my heart as a young Expos fan (fucking Phillies in 1980 and the burn-in-hell Dodgers in 1981), so there's some bile, too.

My earliest baseball interest around 1980 centered around Little League and baseball cards. It had nothing to do with following actual MLB seasons as they played out, so I have no real memory of watching 70s or very early 80s MLB games on tv other than that my dad had them on. Baseball for me was a game to be played and not watched, and I was way more interested in watching hockey and football on tv at that time. Probably a Buffalo thing. But my dad had been a Yanks fan, and the Bisons uniforms were basically Pirates uniforms with a B instead of a P, so those were my teams. Pulling a Reggie or a Willie out of a pack of cards in 1980 was like winning the lottery. My earliest specific memory of actually watching a MLB game on tv was the pine tar incident in 1983.

[Kimmelweck]

Was just looking for the date of the pine tar incident and found this:

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/07/five-t ... r-incident

Before he was the “pine tar guy,” Brett was something way worse:

In the 1980 World Series, Brett left a game because of hemorrhoid pain.

“After the World Series in 1980, every city I went to, I was ‘The Hemorrhoids Guy,’ ” he said. “And you get these people sitting near the on-deck circle, and they have their pops. The first two or three at-bats, they don’t say anything. And then they get a few pops in them and they start making hemorrhoids jokes.

“Well, I heard every hemorrhoid joke in the world –- my best response is, ‘My troubles are all behind me.’ … From October of 1980 to July 24, 1983, that’s what I heard. And from that July 24 to 2013, now I’m the pine tar guy. So it’s really the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Thank you, Billy Martin. I went from having an embarrassing thing that people remembered me for to something positive."

[Dr. Medulla]

Was just looking for the date of the pine tar incident and found this:

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/07/five-t ... r-incident

Before he was the “pine tar guy,” Brett was something way worse:

In the 1980 World Series, Brett left a game because of hemorrhoid pain.

“After the World Series in 1980, every city I went to, I was ‘The Hemorrhoids Guy,’ ” he said. “And you get these people sitting near the on-deck circle, and they have their pops. The first two or three at-bats, they don’t say anything. And then they get a few pops in them and they start making hemorrhoids jokes.

“Well, I heard every hemorrhoid joke in the world –- my best response is, ‘My troubles are all behind me.’ … From October of 1980 to July 24, 1983, that’s what I heard. And from that July 24 to 2013, now I’m the pine tar guy. So it’s really the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Thank you, Billy Martin. I went from having an embarrassing thing that people remembered me for to something positive."

My brother in law still associates Brett with playing with hemorrhoids in the WS. Funny how one of the greatest hitters of the past fifty years is remembered for either having an inflamed ass or acting like an inflamed ass.

[revbob]

As a Yankees fan I had grudging respect for Brett. He was a great player. Martin could be a great tactician. I was just reading and apparently not the only time this rule was called.

[Dr. Medulla]

As a Yankees fan I had grudging respect for Brett. He was a great player. Martin could be a great tactician. I was just reading and apparently not the only time this rule was called.

I've got serious respect for Billy Martin as a manager. The general rule is that the best a manager can do is not fuck things up for his team, but the guy was really good at finding little advantages. That same skill, tho, burned thru any goodwill and unity in his clubhouse.

[revbob]

As a Yankees fan I had grudging respect for Brett. He was a great player. Martin could be a great tactician. I was just reading and apparently not the only time this rule was called.

I've got serious respect for Billy Martin as a manager. The general rule is that the best a manager can do is not fuck things up for his team, but the guy was really good at finding little advantages. That same skill, tho, burned thru any goodwill and unity in his clubhouse.

Yeah there was that too especially as he got older and players became bigger stars some who ultimately had more power there was a generational change that he had a hard time accepting.

[Dr. Medulla]

As a Yankees fan I had grudging respect for Brett. He was a great player. Martin could be a great tactician. I was just reading and apparently not the only time this rule was called.

I've got serious respect for Billy Martin as a manager. The general rule is that the best a manager can do is not fuck things up for his team, but the guy was really good at finding little advantages. That same skill, tho, burned thru any goodwill and unity in his clubhouse.

Yeah there was that too especially as he got older and players became bigger stars some who ultimately had more power there was a generational change that he had a hard time accepting.

He was among the last of the old-school SOB managers whom he learned from, a style that benefited/derived from the reserve clause and players having no option but to quit and go sell suits. The conflict between him and Reggie was symbolic of that emerging shift in power toward labour. The successful managers since have largely been the nurturing guys who learn how to pull the best from their guys (Torre was exceptional at this).

[Kimmelweck]

My brother in law still associates Brett with playing with hemorrhoids in the WS. Funny how one of the greatest hitters of the past fifty years is remembered for either having an inflamed ass or acting like an inflamed ass.

Ha! Perfectly stated.

[Inder]

Last week of Feb is usually around when I start Ken Burns' Baseball. Maybe this'll be the year I finally finish the whole thing.

Kw — a bunch of my friends went to Sahlen when Vladdy/Bo/Biggio etc were coming up and loved it. Never managed to make the trip myself, unfortunately, but I'd love to do a cross-country thing of minor league baseball through the States one day.

[revbob]

Last week of Feb is usually around when I start Ken Burns' Baseball. Maybe this'll be the year I finally finish the whole thing.

Kw — a bunch of my friends went to Sahlen when Vladdy/Bo/Biggio etc were coming up and loved it. Never managed to make the trip myself, unfortunately, but I'd love to do a cross-country thing of minor league baseball through the States one day.

We've lost our team

https://vtdigger.org/2021/02/12/sanders ... ball-club/

[Dr. Medulla]

Last week of Feb is usually around when I start Ken Burns' Baseball. Maybe this'll be the year I finally finish the whole thing.

I'll bet I've watched it all at least ten times. I love it for the grand narrative sweep, tho I don't agree with Burns' framing that places Jackie Robinson and the colour line as the key dividing line. I lean towards the role of Curt Flood, Andy Messersmith, and Dave McNally as more significant. Robinson was the symbol of integrating baseball racially, but Flood, Messersmith, and McNally symbolized the importance of all ballplayers to better control their own labour. That's not to diminish Robinson, only to suggest that the end of the reserve clause affected more ballplayers positively. Owners are still seeking to roll back the power of baseball's labour rather than re-segregate. They know what's more significant. But Ken Burns is a liberal, not a socialist, so I get why he emphasizes race over labour.