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MLB Pseudo-Season 2020: Roger, Dodgers

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I am old and I am a traditionalist. Baseball has long been played a certain way and I like it. Nothing pisses me off more than seeing a guy pop out or ground out on a first pitch after the pitcher has just walked a couple batters. Like I said - I don't care that Tatis hit a home run - I care that he overcelebrated as though he just hit an important homer, not just padding a seven run lead. Just circle the bases and go sit down. If he had hit that homer off Bob Gibson, the next three hitters would have been plunked and he would have gotten drilled the next time up, regardless of who was pitching and regardless of how many days later. And if a hitter bunts to try to break up a no hitter, unless the score is very close late in the game, he and the rest of the lineup better not dig in.
 
These unwritten rules feel like more of a newer thing that goes hand in hand with the overpaid babies that play the game now.
 
These unwritten rules feel like more of a newer thing that goes hand in hand with the overpaid babies that play the game now.
They are ancient. Even older than me. My first memory of an MLB game is my dad taking me to Briggs Stadium to see Mickey Mantle and the Yankees play the Tigers in 1956. The only thing I remember is the guy next to us catching a foul ball and the smell of cigars. I had to keep secret from my dad that I was a Mickey Mantle fan. I always looked at the boxscores to see what he and Al Kaline did the day before. A year or so later I also started following Stan Musial - my first Little League team was the Cardinals. When I was eight, my folks got me a subscription to The Sporting News - I was sure I had gone to heaven.
 
They are not new, they are from the beginning.

Go back in history and study.

They are ancient. Even older than me. My first memory of an MLB game is my dad taking me to Briggs Stadium to see Mickey Mantle and the Yankees play the Tigers in 1956. The only thing I remember is the guy next to us catching a foul ball and the smell of cigars. I had to keep secret from my dad that I was a Mickey Mantle fan. I always looked at the boxscores to see what he and Al Kaline did the day before. A year or so later I also started following Stan Musial - my first Little League team was the Cardinals. When I was eight, my folks got me a subscription to The Sporting News - I was sure I had gone to heaven.

I stand corrected. But some of the rules seem more suited to today's mindset.
 
Mainly the recent one, Rangers whining about the Padres running up the score.
Actually, the only real faux-pas was Tatis stealing third with a 6-0 lead. To me the homerun was okay if he'd just trotted and sat down. I think the celebration and the jumping forearm bash at home plate was what pissed folks off.
 
Those stupid "unwritten" rules of baseball are part of the continuity of the game for us old fogies who are lifelong fans. You don't pop out on the first pitch after the pitcher just walked two guys; you don't lay down a bunt in an attempt to break up a no-hitter; if you do hit a grand slam on a 3-0 pitch with your team seven runs ahead, put your head down and run the bases - don't celebrate like you just hit a go-ahead homer; you don't steal third base with your team ahead 6-0 just to pad your stats or embarras a pitcher. It's not infantile bullshit - it is 150 years of baseball etiquette. Those silly rules of behavior are part of the reason baseball has lasted so long. I've got nothing against hotdogs in baseball - there have been some great ones - Reggie, Rickey, Eck . . . etc. There are even times when it's not just okay but great to go for individual stats. I just think the team comes first and padding stats better be for a record or a career magic number. Fernando Tatis is a star already and trending toward mega-star. He doesn't need to do this stuff.

The 2001 Seattle Mariners didn't set the single-season wins record outright because they blew a 14-1 lead to Cleveland in an 11-inning game. It's baseball, no lead is safe. There is fuck-all wrong with what Tatis did.
 
The "unwritten rules" are part of what's holding MLB back. We should be celebrating when a young, exciting talent like Tatis does something great, not shaming him.
 
Why? The game wasn't over. I thought the whole point was to play the game for nine (or more) innings?
Other than padding stats, what's the point of stealing 3rd base with two outs? I can see doing it with one out because you add the possibility of a squeeze or sacrifice fly. Nothing is gained with two outs. The next guy, Hosmer I think, struck out and the only thing Tatis got was another stolen base on his stats.
 
Other than padding stats, what's the point of stealing 3rd base with two outs? I can see doing it with one out because you add the possibility of a squeeze or sacrifice fly. Nothing is gained with two outs. The next guy, Hosmer I think, struck out and the only thing Tatis got was another stolen base on his stats.

Because it's easier to score from third than second if Hosmer puts the ball in play? This isn't rocket surgery.
 
The "unwritten rules" are part of what's holding MLB back. We should be celebrating when a young, exciting talent like Tatis does something great, not shaming him.
Baseball is older than dirt and these unwritten rules were in force when baseball was easily the most popular sport. What's holding baseball back is competition and gambling. During a normal year, every other sport overlaps with part of the baseball season. Even more important may be gambling - basketball and football are much better to gamble on than baseball. Also holding baseball back is ESPN and other such networks that are little more than shills for the NFL and NBA. There is an NFL related show on ESPN every day of the year. There are no baseball shows except on the few nights they carry a live game.
 
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