The 2023 Running Baseball Thread

I know my interest in that Series matchup is just about nil.

 

Nolan Ryan got most of hits with the Rangers.

 

I don't recall such angst over team's markets when it was Denver-Milwaukee in the NBA Finals. And just think if we ever get an all-Canadian Stanley Cup final (just a hypothetical, folks!). But baseball became a target for this years ago.

 

I get wanting what’s best for the sport, but we’re talking one World Series. Baseball is like a family-owned business that turns a profit every year that Wall Street wants to buy and strip mine for parts because it doesn’t grow 25 percent every year.

The NFL is not normal. It is its own weird monstrosity. Comparing it to anything else is dumb. Baseball is not what it was, but it is not boxing or horse racing. People still come out in droves to watch it. As a regional sport, it is very healthy.

But the mentality that everything must grow exponentially, like business, has taken over everything.

 

Likewise 'box office' as a metric for the movies.

 

Small sample size, but Josh Hamilton had some great years there.

 

And it happened again. Throw in the 1981 strike-shortened playoffs (Yankees) as well, each team that has eliminated the Brewers has made the World Series.

All but the 2018 Dodgers won it all.

 

Baseball is more of a local sport than the NBA (which is more star driven) and the NFL (which is truly national). Despite the fact that there is access to so many games, much of the joy in baseball is the day to day following of your team. It’s hard to do that with more than one team.

The playoffs have definitely robbed some of that charm because baseball playoff results are far more random than the NBA or NFL.

 

I deliberately left out the NFL, since the marketing folks don't care if it's Giants-Jets or Packers-Jags, it's all about selling beer, etc.

 

Ball stopped Going Boom.
Kimbrel went Kimbrel.
Nola showed how hot and cold he can be.
Every flaw this team has was unfortunately on display.
The one thing that hasn't been brought up might be the most important. They could have used one more bat in the lineup, which they would have had if Rhys Hoskins didn't get injured.
Oh well, still a fun October.

 

I completely understand Rojas’ value, and he was magnificent defensively.

But, goddamn, watching him at the plate in the playoffs was painful.

 

Michael Young?