"I remember going to games in the late 60s, which were not so painful because expectations were so low. Jake Gibbs at the plate with a man on was cause for excitement. Tickets were pretty cheap. I think a box seat behind the dugout was under five bucks (memory plays tricks, though).
"But the best thing about it was, you could wander to a game without tickets and pick up a few of those boxies from one of the ticket windows just before game time. And the other best thing was, there were so few people in the stands sometimes that you could hear everything--the players' chatter, the umps' conversations, the sounds of ball hitting glove and bat with amazing clarity. And instead of being pounded with crap music and idiotic scoreboard videos and games, all you got was Eddie Layton pumping out an often tuneless but bouncy tune on the organ, with the sound drifting in and out and around the ballpark depending on which ways the breeze was blowing. If we could only reach those depths again.
"Not that I don't want to win a ring, but the past 17 years or so have been excruciating (2009 excepted). It's interesting when a team is incredibly good or incredibly bad. Everything in the middle, even if it's near but not at the top, is a study in frustration and mediocrity of various levels, kind of like what Utz must feel when faced with Wise original chips. Extremes are fun, and we can't seem to reach either end of the stick.
"What I wouldn't give for a team that had the sense of humor to throw a Folly Floater now and then. Lousy or great are, for me, the best seasons there can be. If it wasn't for Showalter's scowling Puritan visage this year, I coulda rooted for the Orioles, but they took all of the fun out of sucking wind. Too bad. After all, the Babe was from Baltimore, and the Highlanders came to New York when William Devery and Frank Farrell bought the (real) Baltimore Orioles and brought them to Hilltop Park.
"Ah, the good old days."
Great post, John M.!
ReplyDeleteAnd it will only get worse. The only championships Cooperstown ever won were with teams that had their core built by the Holy Trinity of Michael/Showalter/Watson, and we are now going on ten years past the last one of those.
The Steinbrenner family already gave us our longest run of ringless, post-1920 seasons, 1979-1995. Sure, 2025 seems a long way away, but I have every confidence that this current management team can get us there!
(Incidentally, the REAL real Baltimore Orioles were the old American Association and National League version, which the NL unceremoniously deep-sixed after the 1899 season. The AL version was put together by Ban Johnson, but always with the idea of moving it to New York at some point.
It is the incessant noise that does me in.
ReplyDeleteI related to the sounds of baseball. The crack of the bat on ball; the smack of the pitch into the catcher's glove ( Gary Sanchez excepted ); the buzz and chatter of the fans........
Somewhere along the line, some marketing failure decided that ticket prices could be raised, but only if " more entertainment"
was provided. Hence the noise...the endless, ear-piercing decibels, that prevents all conversation.
Probably from the same guy who went into the restaurants and said, " if we put on music which stifles all conversation, people will eat and leave. We can turn tables faster."
More money, Hal. More noise.
The thing is, you don't eat baseball.
Now you can't enjoy it, either.
Brought to you , by Jeep.
ReplyDeleteI really want the world to know about this great man who brought back happiness into my life again after my husband left me and the kids 3 years ago for another women online when i contacted Dr Believe he cast a love spell for me within 48 hours my ex husband start calling me and begging for forgiveness for everything that have happened between us. I was so happy to have my family back together with love again here is the email of Dr Believe via believelovespelltemple@gmail.com a man with the great powers you can also call him or add him on Whats-app: +2348156148821
God bless you
I am very grateful for your help in my marriage.