Everyone who knows me, knows how old school I am. I played Little League. But was too slow to play HS. Played 2B and was a very good hitter - Especially fastballs. I took the hits at 2B, seldom if ever tried to show up a pitcher unless I got a hit that won a game and then I celebrated with my teammates while shaking hands with the opposing pitcher and telling him "Nice game." Of course he threw at me the next time and I ducked and smiled.
It was just part of the game. My generation(Baby Boomers) were just very tough and very competitive. In HS(Catholic School) our players hated the players on the other teams in the city. And we would fight on the field and in the stands. It was worse at Basketball games, because Bridgeport, CT had 4 very rough ghettos 1 on each side off town. I grew up in the middle - Near Central HS. The biggest in the city - which had 2500 students. There would be fights on the court and in the stands. I'd attend a lot of games alone and would duck out of road games if we had a big lead before anyone else got out.
So when Bob Gibson(My favorite SP ever) or Don Drysdale(A hated Dodger) would brushback or hit you with a pitch, you'd get mad and hope your SP retaliated. It was a part of the game and a part of life to expect comeuppance if you showed somebody up. Part of it was that MLB Players played for glory and nobody made a lot of money(Even Pro Football Players only made about 3-4x what an average working stiff made.) Unless they were the 2 or 3 best players in the game. In the 70's, Willie Mays was the 1st player to make $100K. And that was considered a ton of money back then.
In the early 80's after Free Agency tookoff - Pete Rose was lured away from the Reds by the Phillies and became the highest paid player in baseball at around 3.5M per year. That's only about 35yrs ago. What do you think Mays would be worth nowadays?
Now players are huge corporate entities unto themselves and massive investments of their respective Franchises. Think Max Scherzer or Giancarlo Stanton 2 years ago. Baseball used to be a game for the working class. Now it could cost 4-500 to take your family of 4 to a game and sit in the cheap seats. Parking, $10+ beers, $6 Hot dogs etc. And thats just in Phoenix - The cheapest place to see a ballgame in the US.
And players don't hustle like they did back then. I witness such sloppy play watching games on TV that it embarrasses me. So when fans boo you because you dog it and when fans in the good seats razz the opposing teams players - Sometimes even mentioning your mother, you better believe that its because of how much money you make.
But if you want to celebrate, be my guest. But if you show up my pitcher and you walk around the bases blowing kisses to the crowd and showboating against my team, nobody is taking away your choice. Just expect to get a fastball in your ear or in the back the next time you come to the plate. Thats baseball. When all the Baby Boomers and GenXers are dead and gone, you can play all the PUSSY BALL,( no sliding hard into 2B, no pitching inside, no diving in the OF or climbing the wall, no running into the catcher or even glaring at a batter etc) all you want. Keep your sabermetrics on your smartphones and consult each other about how modern players compare to guys who played with HEART, for the love, honor and respect for the game. It's like comparing QB's pass completion pct to players from the 50's 60's and 70's when a forward pass was at least 30-40 yards. And defenses could hit the QBs all they wanted.
Same principle as throwing at hitters. There won't be anything resembling Sport anymore to me. But I will go to my grave sometime soon knowing that I witnessed the greatest competition in US Sports EVER - In the 50's, 60's and 70's. And I will have a smile on my face because I know it was a great honor and gift to have been there to witness it.
Mon Mar 21, 2016 12:32 am