Baseball is Entertainment

                             Baseball is a game played for the entertainment of its fans. Unfortunately, there are times when it is not all that entertaining, or enjoyable. Myself, I have been known to turn the game off and watch something more entertaining and enjoyable when the team gives up a ton of runs early. Trying to comeback from a seven-run deficit is just not fun in my eyes and rarely accomplished. I do remember a game years ago where LA jumped out to an 8-0 lead over the Giants and lost the game 9-8 in regulation. Embarrassing. 

                           The other day the Dodgers lost a 16-0 contest, well it was really no contest, to the Cubs. As happens these days in blowout games, a position player, this time Miggy Ro, was sent out to pitch. Miggy had some fun with it, imitating Roki and mimicking his windup. He ended up giving up 5 runs adding to the 16 total. Some fans on X blasted the organization and said Miggy should be released immediately and was an embarrassment to the team. 

                          What an absolutely idiotic knee-jerk reaction. What was embarrassing was the fact that the vaunted and high-priced Dodger offense was shut down completely by a pitcher with an ERA above 7. They did not lose the game because of the 5 runs Miggy allowed. They lost the game because they could not hit a mediocre MLB pitcher who they made look like a Cy Young winner. Games like that have happened before. 

                          The game they lost on Sunday to the Cubs, 4-2, same thing. Collin Rea, the former Brewer, basically had the power hitting Dodgers flummoxed from the get-go. Yes, they scratched out two runs, but got beat on the strength of three solo shots by the Cubs. Rea had an ERA above 4 at the time. But he used to be a starter for the Brewers. He was pitching because the Cubs lost Justin Steele to elbow surgery. I shudder to think how a good pitcher like Steele might have made these bats look. 

                          The only entertaining part of the last two games was Miggy Ro, having a little fun and amusing the fans who were left and his teammates if only for a few minutes. In 2022, their go to guy in blowout games was utility man, Hanser Alberto. Alberto, who played in 70 games that season, actually set a record for appearances by the position player in a season as a pitcher, 10. He had a better ERA, 4.09, than Bickford, May, Grove, Reyes Montoya, Humbree and Garrett Clevinger.  He was infinitely more fun to watch. 

                         When I was younger, much younger, baseball was more than just entertainment. It was an essential part of my life. I lived and breathed baseball. From the first time I picked up a bat and made solid contact with a pitched ball. I collected the cards, scanned the box scores, and read every springtime publication I could get my hands on. I read the entire Sporting News every week. I just could not get my fill of the game. 

                       It was that way all through my teens until I joined the Army. I lived and died with each year’s Dodger team. What I learned in those years was that the game is as unpredictable as life in every way shape and form. I had the euphoric highs of their championships in 59, 63 and 65. And the low of the playoff loss to the Giants, who at age 14 I already hated immensely in 1962. Once I entered the military, my focus shifted to way more important things. 

                         Not being able to focus on the game as much, I did come to realize it was, like the movies, something to take my mind off of everyday life when things got a little testy. As life responsibilities grew, I was less focused on baseball and the Dodgers. It became solely a form of entertainment for me and my family. We went to minor league games in El Paso, and when I would take the family home to California on leave, we would always take in a game or two at Dodger Stadium. 

                         My girls loved going there, sitting out in the pavilion and cheering the team on. It was very affordable back then. Pavilion seats were just 1.50. Parking was 2.00. The kids were not big into Dodger dogs like dad was, but even with buying them souvenirs, their favorite ballpark treat, the frozen chocolate malts, the entire day usually cost about 25.00. You can’t even park there for that now. And it did not matter if they won or not, we had a good time. We even went to a game at old Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego on our way back to El Paso. Saw the Cubs absolutely pound the Padres there. I got six baseballs out of it since there were less than 6,000 in attendance, and no one was in the left field seats except me and a couple kids chasing batting practice homers. 

                      Now almost 77, I have seen enough games to not get too excited over wins, unless they come during the post season, and not too down when they lose. I follow the game more than I have in years simply because I have plenty of time to do so and I still enjoy it. I also read more about the game and pay a little more attention to the stats that are posted online than I did to the stats on the back of a baseball card, which by the way, are a lot harder to read now. 

                       As most who read this blog know, I am definitely an Old School fan. But I am also a realist. I know the players are in better shape, bigger and faster than ever. But there are a few old school type players, ballers as we have long called them, still in the game. Guys who don’t pile up the gaudy numbers, but who play the game like it was played many years ago. The Dodgers are lucky to have a couple of those type players on the team. Guys who play with a passion and a desire to win as much as possible. And guys who just like to get dirty when playing. 

                      Tommy Edman is one of those players. He will probably never win a batting title or steal 30 bases. But he plays the game right, and he plays it well. Freddie Freeman to me, is the best hitter on a team with a couple of very good hitters. He and Edman are the two hitters more into making contact and hitting the ball where it is pitched. Others on the team are more into the theory’s expounded on by the hitting instructors on this team. 

                      It is little surprise to me that the three hitters with the highest career BA and OPS on this team are Ohtani, Freeman and Betts in that order. Freddie has the highest BA, .300, and Ohtani the highest OPS, .944. The other players with an OPS above .800? Smith, Conforto, Teo and Muncy. Power is this teams forte. When they don’t get it, they founder. Homers are entertaining. They get the fan base going. The ooh’s and Ah’s are heard all around the field when one of the Dodgers launches a homer. 

                     Is this team entertaining? Most of the time, it is. Then there are the games you just cannot watch beyond a certain point. The difference is, now, watching them on TV, I can turn the game off and watch re-runs of NCIS. When you go to a game like that, your only option is leave or stay. I can honestly say, I never left a game I went to early. I stayed until the end win or lose. Now, if they have little chance of coming back, I change the channel. 

                   For the next three days, I hope they do well on the field because of the blackout laws, I am forced to watch the game on the Rockies network here in Colorado. I will probably watch with the sound turned off and the radio feed of the Dodgers coming through my computer. The Rockies announcers are to me, the worst. Drew Goodman is the biggest homer in the league, and he gets so many details totally wrong. 

                I watch the game a lot differently now than I did in years past. As I am getting to the age where life interrupts the baseball season at least once, if not more.  Friends pass on more frequently than when we were younger. Life intervenes. Your own health and wellbeing are not as much of a sure thing as they were years ago. I got that gut check myself in December. I have no desire to ever spend that much time in a hospital again. The worst part? There was no baseball being played. The best entertainment I could want was unavailable to me. 

             Baseball is a boy’s game played by men who are the best in the world at what they do. Their skills with a bat and a glove, are there for all of us to see and enjoy. A great catch, or a ball smashed 450 feet can bring us out of our chairs, when we are physically able to do so! So, enjoy the game for its ups and downs, that is why it is played. We Dodger fans have been blessed with several seasons in row where our team has been in contention for the pennant. It was not always so.