MLB 2014 season thread

One of the Giants' best advance scouts, the man who will sift through the info and write the reports on how to exploit the Royals, is none other than Steve Balboni.

http://blog.sfgate.com/johnshea/2014/10/18/steve-bye-bye-balboni-the-link-to-2014-sf-giants-and-1985-royals/

 

Does it make sense that baseball can't start the World Series two days after the last LCS is over? Why wait five days between the Giants winning and Game 1?

 

MLB has always insisted that a set start date to the World Series is necessary to accomodate all the hotels for media and such.

 

Yeah that isn't a new thing at all, but those needs have grown. I think it's about 10,000 tickets per game that are reserved for MLB use (corporate sponsors etc.).

It's a real thing. Plus, add in considerations for TV, which isn't exactly in the habit of throwing in prime-time programming at the last minute.

 

Phil Rizzuto hyped minor leaguer Steve Balboni for a number of years on the radio before he made his major league debut. The guy was a heck of minor leaguer.

I remember him as going prematurely bald, and scrambling to grab his cap after it flew off chasing a foul pop as a Royal.

I have almost no recollection of him as a member of the 1989-1990 Yankees.

 

An update on Game 2 of the World Series...

My father will be joining us.

Found a flight from the Florida Panhandle, one connection and we will be picking him up at KCI at 1 pm on Wednesday. Enough time to eat, let him see the new downtown before we head to stadium.

We found him a single ticket in the same section, two rows from us. Pretty good seats - 200 level, behind the Royals dugout.

He's pretty thrilled.

I'm not letting the irony of this slip past me.

In 1980, he took me to the ALCS against the Yankees. Game 1. Hot day at Royals Stadium.

My dad and I never really had any chemistry (and still really don't) but Kauffman Stadium was the one place where, as a child, I actually liked being around him. By 1985, our family had been destroyed, with us all living in different time zones and Kansas City was just a memory.

Now I get to take HIM to a Royals game -- a World Series game.

 

Very cool story.

Baseball really is about fathers and sons, isn't it?

 

Agreed, Ex. Don't have a dog in the fight, but I'll be rooting hard for the Royals in game 2.

 

Remember every last second of it.

A three-generation World Series trip. That's incredible. My dad didn't make it until my son was old enough to start going to games. But his presence is so heavy every time my little guy, all of 5, lovingly scores a White Sox home run on his scorecard that there have been times I have to take a deep breath to collect myself.

Fathers and sons is right. We played in the yard tonight until it was too dark to see the damned ball. And then we read about Babe Ruth before bed.

You're going to have a great night.

 

A great story gets even better. Take some pictures, and even though the history isn't great, don't be afraid to give Dad a hug. It's never too late to work on a relationship.

 

Have fun, Ex. It will be a night you all will remember forever.

 

Idea: arrange to have peanuts and Cracker Jack sent to your dad's seat in the first or second inning. Little things.