All Star Game/Festivities Interest

[bobmc]

13 minutes ago, LA2 said:

Hi, sorry to take a while to reply. I opted to be driven at break-neck speed through late-night midtown Manhattan and river-leaping Brooklyn traffic by a very uninhibited, drunk Russian blonde in her new black Dodge Charger. It was a rare chance to mimic Bill Murray's role in St. Vincent and I went for it. It was a thrill, we all sang "Light My Fire" at the end, but I'm lucky to be alive. I still wonder why she had no fear of the cops pulling her over. We even had black-tinted windows and she stopped twice and pulled open both the front and back doors so that, shielded between them, she could relieve herself on the curb. Karolina: "When you have to go you have to go. And it's impossible to find a rest room in NY!" Marsha (sp?): "It's how we do it in Russia. Who cares!" Feeling around the carpet upon which I fell asleep, I've confirmed I'm still part of the physical world. Good. Thank you COVID for making my return to Asia impossible these last few years.

I definitely prefer to leave open the possibility of an occasional super-long game. A truly responsible answer would be long and nuanced and I don't have the brain for It now and probably won't for the next 18 hours. So the rough answer is that some of my most memorable baseball spectator experiences have been extra-inning games. I was at both the 12 and 13-inning games against the Yankees in the 2012 playoffs and they were great and, as alluded to by the GIF posted above by OsFanSincethe80s, the 17-inning battle against the Red Sox in Fenway, also in 2012, with Crush pitching two shutout innings at the end, K'ing A-Gon, and Adam hitting the game-winning Weaver Special is one of my all-time favorites. I remember that it always felt like a wonderful treat to get a few "free" innings when I went to Memorial Stadium as a teenager, although the midnight curfew was a drag and the accompanying adult never seemed delighted.

I'm not against all the new rules meant to speed up the game a bit. I like the minimum three-batters-faced rule and how it's liberated us from the LOOGY and long boring minutes watching managers trudge slowly back and forth to the mound to replace minutely matched-up, otherwise inadequate pitchers. The Oriole bullpen seems actually to have done very well constructing itself around the new late-innings game with relievers who can go more than one inning and survive vs. both left- and right-handed hitters. It's a new rule but in a way has returned us to more traditional bullpens.

Indeed, I'm OK with the compromise that I've seen mentioned now and then: holding off the runner-on-second starts until, say, the 12th or 13th inning. There'd be a real motivation to win before activating that. Who wants to pitch or try to defend against a runner with second and none out? But actually, I would make it begin with the runner on first instead. Make it less reliant on the now-common winning scenario of a sacrifice bunt followed by a sac fly--Do people really prefer to watch that? Make the batter get a base hit or the runner risk taking the extra base, including trying to score from second, maybe against a late-installed defensive outfielder with a strong arm, and creating a close play at the plate.

I'm 66 and down 4-3 in the top of the 8th. I'm hopeful of tying the score at the end of regulation, but also have the distinct sense that I'm going to need all the innings in Creation to push the one after that over. As in baseball, so in life. I don't want to open the door and find the gun already pointed at me, the hands already around my neck. To modify a line from Laura Nyro's sublime "New York Tendaberry":

You look like a game

But feel like religion,

To me.

 

Thank you Marsha for the thundering flight across the dark river. It seems to have helped me come to my senses and figure out the next pitch to throw.

I’m glad you asked @Frobby and wonderfully scripted @LA2 !  Ahhh, youth!

[Frobby]

56 minutes ago, bobmc said:

I’m glad you asked @Frobby and wonderfully scripted @LA2 !  Ahhh, youth!

After that first paragraph, I didn’t even care about the answer to my question!

[LA2]

2 hours ago, bobmc said:

I’m glad you asked @Frobby and wonderfully scripted @LA2 !  Ahhh, youth!

Good to hear from you, bobmc! Youth is subjective: keep learning and growing!

[Chelsea_Phil]

I bet her name is Maria, and Masha is a well known nickname Russkies use for Maria, just like Sasha is for Alexander (eg Alexander Zverev the tennis player is called Sasha Zverev).

[LA2]

Just now, Chelsea_Phil said:

I bet her name is Maria, and Masha is a well known nickname Russkies use for Maria, just like Sasha is for Alexander (eg Alexander Zverev the tennis player is called Sasha Zverev).

You're right. She tried to explain it to me but there was too much going on in the crowded cabaret. (I'll change it from Marsha now.) She drove the Charger like it was the Batmobile in Gotham City. Do you happen to know whether drivers in Russia tend to be more reckless in general? There are such countries.

Karolina is Polish and tends bar at Sharlene's in Prospect Heights. A guaranteed open-late beacon on Flatbush Ave. after long treks back from Manhattan. There's also Alex the novelist tending bar at Super Power till 4:00 am in Crown Heights, but neither one has a TV and so I'll go elsewhere this weekend to catch the YES telecasts with my O's helmet on. The Irish bars are best for that--the generic Irish bartender usually being a civil and forgiving soul who remembers your name and team.

[bobmc]

1 hour ago, LA2 said:

Good to hear from you, bobmc! Youth is subjective: keep learning and growing!

Lol!  I am now the old feller John Prine was talking about (“hollow ancient-eyed” ) but all good.  I sure hope that this escapade winds up in one of my melatonin-induced dreams!  Btw I was born in Bay Ridge many moons ago.  My fam are all buried in Evergreen, on Bushwick Ave.

[bobmc]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

After that first paragraph, I didn’t even care about the answer to my question!

It does beat meeting SVP at the local lemonade stand!

[LA2]

55 minutes ago, bobmc said:

Lol!  I am now the old feller John Prine was talking about (“hollow ancient-eyed” ) but all good.  I sure hope that this escapade winds up in one of my melatonin-induced dreams!  Btw I was born in Bay Ridge many moons ago.  My fam are all buried in Evergreen, on Bushwick Ave.

A South Brooklyn boy! Maybe long enough ago to see the Dodgers there still? At the beginning of the season I met a young Chicana from LA who was in the neighborhood to visit and pay homage to the former site of Ebbets Field--firstly because she's a Dodgers fan, but also because she intends to visit every major league stadium, even the demolished ones.

As you may know, Bay Ridge and Sunset Park have been undergoing a rebirth the last decade, especially with the new "City of Industry" complex and a bigger Chinatown than on the Lower East Side. I live on the border between Flatbush and Midwood. I don't know the Evergreen, but will have my eye out for it now. Thank you. During the pandemic, the lushly landscaped Greenwood Cemetery, near your home neighborhood, became tremendously popular for people desperate to take a break from their apartments.

[foxfield]

5 hours ago, LA2 said:

Hi, sorry to take a while to reply. I opted to be driven at breakneck speed through late-night midtown Manhattan and river-leaping Brooklyn traffic by a very uninhibited, drunk Russian blonde in her new black Dodge Charger. It was a rare chance to reprise Bill Murray's role in St. Vincent and I went for it. It was a thrill, we all sang "Light My Fire" at the end, but I'm lucky to be alive. I still wonder why she had no fear of the cops pulling her over. We even had black-tinted windows and she stopped twice and pulled open both the front and back doors so that, shielded between them, she could relieve herself on the curb. Karolina: "When you have to go you have to go. And it's impossible to find a rest room in NY!" Masha: "It's how we do it in Russia. Who cares!" Feeling around the carpet upon which I fell asleep, I've confirmed I'm still part of the physical world. Good. Thank you COVID for making my return to Asia impossible these last few years.

I definitely prefer to leave open the possibility of an occasional super-long game. A truly responsible answer would be long and nuanced and I don't have the brain for It now and probably won't for the next 18 hours. So the rough answer is that some of my most memorable baseball spectator experiences have been extra-inning games. I was at both the 12 and 13-inning games against the Yankees in the 2012 playoffs and they were great and, as alluded to by the GIF posted above by OsFanSincethe80s, the 17-inning battle against the Red Sox in Fenway the same year with Crush pitching two shutout innings at the end, K'ing A-Gon, and Adam hitting the game-winning Weaver Special is one of my all-time favorites.

I also remember that it always felt like a wonderful treat to get a few "free" innings when I went to Memorial Stadium as a teenager, although the midnight curfew was a drag and the accompanying adult never seemed as delighted.

I'm not against all the new rules meant to speed up the game a bit. I like the minimum three-batters-faced rule and how it's liberated us from the LOOGY and the boredom of watching managers trudge slowly back and forth to the mound to replace minutely matched-up, otherwise inadequate pitchers. The Oriole bullpen seems actually to have done very well constructing itself around the new late-innings game with relievers who can go more than one inning and survive against both left- and right-handed hitters. It's a new rule but in a way has returned us to more traditional bullpens.

In fact, I'm OK with the compromise that I've seen mentioned now and then: holding off the runner-on-second starts until, say, the 12th or 13th inning. There'd be a real motivation to win before activating that. Who wants to pitch or try to defend against a runner with second and none out? But actually, I would make it begin with the runner on first instead. Make it less reliant on the now-common winning scenario of a sacrifice bunt followed by a sac fly--Do people really prefer to watch that? Make the batter get a base hit or the runner risk taking the extra base, including trying to score from second, maybe against a late-installed defensive outfielder with a strong arm, creating a close play at the plate.

I'm 66 yrs old and down 4-3 in the top of the 8th. I'm hopeful of tying the score at the end of regulation, but also have the distinct sense that I'm going to need all the innings in Creation to push the one after that over. As in baseball, so in life. I don't want to open the door and find the gun already pointed at me, the hands already around my neck. To modify a line from Laura Nyro's sublime "New York Tendaberry":

You look like a game

But feel like religion,

To me.

 

Thank you Masha for the thundering flight across the dark river. It's helped to bring me to my senses and figure out the next pitch to throw.

Am traveling myself this week...outside Atlanta watching baseball games for minors.  Anyway, this post made me pop a top and reread it a few times.  @Frobby, thanks for asking a great question.  And @LA2...Thanks for a great story.  Cheers everyone.