On July 18, the museum hosted “Play Ball!” which featured discussions with former San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker and a slew of other Major League players and scouts. In addition to Baker, Leon Lee, Leron Lee, Matt Walbeck, Greg Orr, and Paul Cogan shared stories and anecdotes from their careers in baseball.
The manager sets the tone. Boone’s carefree approach is reflected in the team’s performance on the field. He has mastered the art of looking unbothered while his team invents new ways to blow games.
Read moreMLB may have finally evolved the All-Star Game to the point where it no longer knows what it is for. The ceremony is lavish, the staging immaculate, the production values high enough to make an emperor blush. But beneath the glitter, the game itself can feel like an afterthought, a moving backdrop for the spectacle that surrounds it. P.T. Barnum would have admired the scale. I’m not sure he would have loved the baseball.
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No announcers or brightly-colored anythings or disgraced former ballplayers intruded on that, which was nice. But, the fact they were really close to being able to should be taken into account by Netflix. This is the first year of a three-year contract to broadcast the event.
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I remember racing home to see the 1968 game and watching Don Drysdale pitch three innings of one-hit baseball. The Great Juan Marichal followed that up with two innings of high-leg-kick mastery. And 1976, during his unforgettable Cinderella season, Mark “The Bird” Fidrych earned the start for the American League All-Stars—a moment that captured the rise of a pitcher unlike anything baseball had seen before or since. It felt real. It was real.
Read moreSome of the voting was on point. Some was a Canadian conspiracy. A couple of the finalists do not have the stats to be there. Several of the second place finishers also did not deserve the votes they received.
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We can’t have lollipops on the field. Baseball has always been known as the dental-care sport. That’s why players have always been given copious amounts of chewing tobacco so that plaque doesn’t build up on players’ teeth during a game. That’s one reason why DJ LeMahieu always had a dip in under Boone’s watch.
You see, that’s smart.
Even when it behaves, the DirtCam is hardly essential viewing. Its grand contribution might have been today and will likely wind up on late-night TV. But the thing typically offers only a shaky, dirt-level angle that adds little insight and occasionally gets coated in a face full of infield spray.
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Andrew: National League looks stronger. Bob: Agreed.
Check back with us in a couple of weeks to see how your ballot measured up. Then, it’s Round 2of voting!
The impact would extend beyond the draft itself, affecting the quality of play, weakening baseball communities, and reducing the chances for American kids to play for a Major League franchise.
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