Nope. Slapping a bill on it doesn’t make it a duck, and the Anaheim Angels of Orange County, American League do not represent LA! So let it be written. So let it be done.
If I can remember that whole thing, I am so using it every time I talk about the Angels from now on.
As to the first point, I really don’t understand how the World Series is “Cheapened” by having faced that team before. I don’t give a shit if the Blue Jays have played some NL teams, I just want to get them back into the World Series. In 1992 and 1993 nobody was saying “Gosh, this World Serires is great, and what makes it even greater is that we’ve never played the Braves/Phillies in the regular season!”
Sunday doubleheaders would cost them money so of course they’ll never do that. That said, I also don’t understand why it matters what week the postseason starts.
I do agree that I’m not seeing some league rivals as much as I’d like. But to be honest, it’s a lot of fun to see NL teams too. I get a change to see players like Albert Pujols and Barry Bonds play meaningful games in Toronto, which might never happen otherwise. It has its benefits.
I’m just saying that although the Subway Series was great, it would have been a lot more special if it wasn’t just one of many Yankee-Met World Series.
I agree that we’ll never see a doubleheader again except for makeup games, and most of those will be the day-night-charge-them-twice variety. The weather in the north gets too chancy once you pass mid-October. Sure, you’ve got your dome in Toronto as well as Seattle, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. But cities like Detroit, New York, Boston, and Chicago definitely are liable for some pretty chilly October nights. I’d rather see the Series start a week later so that they aren’t so reluctant to postpone a game. Pulling for your team all year and then watching them lose in the postseason because of weather conditions that would never be tolerated in the regular season isn’t any fun.
Has anybody here tried the “All-You-Can-Eat” section at Dodger Stadium? How much can you wolf down in 7 innings, and did you come out ahead on the deal?
I’m going to disagree, in part. Some of the fun of baseball, for a lot of fans, is in the hypothetical matchups. There are so many statistics going back so many years that one can argue about what might happen if the Big Red Machine were to face the Late 20’s Yankees, for example. You’ll obviously never really know, but it’s an entertaining debate, testing the participants’ mastery of all the measurable facets of the game and how they compare between the two teams. Prior to interleague, the World Series offered another brief opportunity for same; in the run-up to the 1992 series, there were lots of plotlines to consider, like, “How’s Glavine gonna do in this postseason, especially against a bunch of hitters he’s never seen?” Once you actually get into the series, they’re just games; the entertainment comes in the argumentative prologue, which, prior to interleague, was entirely hypothetical, in the best baseball tradition. 
Here’s my list:
- The games are too damned long. (Used to average around 2.5 hours; now more like 3.)
- The postseason games are way too damned long. (Typically run 4 hours.)
- The postseason games start too late, on top of being too long. (I can count on the fingers of one hand the WS games I’ve stayed up to the end of, in years beginning with 2.)
- There are too many games to watch in the first round - often 3-4 games on a single day. (Can’t they take a lesson from the NFL, which has figured out that two postseason games on a single day is a good maximum?)
- Too many rounds of playoffs cheapens the regular season outcome. (Having the best record in baseball over 162 games ought to get you something more than being one of four teams fighting for one WS slot.)
- The wildcard cheapens the regular season outcome. (And having one of those other teams be one that was 10 GB in your division.)
- The end of October (or occasionally the beginning of November) is a really crappy time of year to play outdoor baseball at night in most of the U.S.A. Especially when those games decide who’s your World Champion. (Baseball’s the freakin’ summer game, by Gawd. Angell said it, I believe it, that settles it. :D)
- All the noise they throw at you between innings if you go to the ballpark. (I’d like to be able to talk to the people I’m with at some point, and I’d rather not have to ignore the game to do so. But if it’s the only time I can hear what they’re saying…)
- Steroids messing up the record books.
- MLB’s refusal to let cities own teams directly. (If the taxpayer-funded ballpark is gonna cost more than the owner paid for the team, it seems like the taxpayers ought to own the damned team.) (I realize this one’s old as the hills, but now that D.C.'s back in the bigs, the extortion stings afresh.)
- Too many relievers in each game and on each roster. (Although being a LOOGY (Lefty One-Out GuY) must be a terrific job.)
- Bud Selig. It’s great that MLB doesn’t discriminate against the undead.
Moving thread from IMHO to The BBQ Pit.
Oh, you’re no fun.
California Angels.
And get off my lawn.
ETA: “Slapping a bill on it doesn’t make it a mighty duck…”
[ul]
[li]The widespread shaving off of mustachios.[/li][li]The wearing of full-legnth pantaloons instead of knickerbockers.[/li][li]On-field riots between nativist gangs and Irishmen.[/li][li]The popular contraction of “Base Ball” (the proper spelling) into the vulgar “Baseball.”[/li][/ul]
I could go on and on.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Thank you sir for actually taking part in the thread that was suggested. I think i may just move to freedonia myself and get away from these dickless hijackers. Thanks to whomever moved this to the pit so I can accurately express my feelings here.
What Mets fan wouldn’t love the opportunity to lose a few more games every year compared to, say, divisional rival Florida (which has its big rivalry with Tampa Bay)?
Interest in the All-Star game continues to decline, helped by interleague play making it a ho-hum to see stars from the other league.
By the way, Bud Selig needs to be higher on the OP’s list. And we need better ballpark food, such as a Legal Seafood franchise in more parks.
I didn’t put them in any particular order and I could have put down at least another 20. I was just musing after reading some other threads. Apparently baseball is a big success and I am one of the few who has a problem with it.
Oh, and speaking of shaving off mustachios - another defect in modern baseball is the widespread practice of having nasty little underfed goatees.
Be real men, grow a real beard.*
*Lack of same is the real reason Johnny Damon is hitting .245.
Assuming that one enjoys baseball in the first place, I have never, never understood this complaint. “Ooh, hey, an activity I enjoy! Let’s get it over with as soon as possible!” When I go to a baseball game, or watch one on TV, I mean - I like it. I have fun. I want it to last as long as possible. Particularly when I’m actually in attendance - why on Earth should I root for the fun part (the game) to end, so that I can get to the drudgery of driving home? I’d be happy if the games were even longer. Because I enjoy them.
I really don’t get the “too long” complaint.
Well, the NFL can manage that because each matchup consists of only one game. If you tried to stretch out the baseball playoffs that way, and if each series happened to run long, you’d be playing the last game of the World Series around Thanksgiving. Look at basketball - it’s incredibly hard to muster up any enthusiasm for the playoffs in that sport, in spite of the games being more exciting than in the regular season, because every series is draaaaaaaaawn out into eternity.
This is another one I don’t get. It just seems random. Why does it matter? You never hear people complain about this in, say, football. “Too many linebackers in the NFL these days, dammit, there need to be fewer linebackers!”
I find the entertainment value of watching the pitcher shake off the catcher twenty-seven times or the batter scratching his nuts for five minutes to be minimal.
ETA: And it detracts from the rythm of the game; breaks it up. Games and players are better when the game is played crisply.
Complaining about the pace of the game is a valid complaint, and one I understand. As I Mets fan I watched Rick Reed piddle, twiddle, and recite the Declaration of Independence in between shaking off signs. A poorly paced game is a dull game.
But complaining about pace is different from complaining about length. There are those who complain about a baseball game lasting three hours as if that, in and of itself, is a bad thing. I submit that it is perfectly possible for a three hour game - or even a four hour game - to be crisply played and well paced.
OK, then, turns out we agree.