You can't predict baseball, Suzyn.
But here's a cold thought from the drifts of upstate NY: Right up until the moment he invaded, Vladimir Putin looked like a master of strategy. The nations of the West were lining up to negotiate his demands. He had leverage. He had the world's ear.
Then he pushed the button and - as the historian Michael Gerard Tyson would say - he and his plans got punched in the mouth.
Back in the school yard, they told us: "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt." I have a feeling that Putin just managed to inscribe his name and butt-ugly face onto history's shit list. He's going to end up in a bunker, facing the destiny of history's other great assholes... aw, but whaddo I know? The driveway needs shoveling.
Which brings me back to the once-proud reason for this blog: The ever-dimming memory of the New York Yankees, champions of 2009! Today, the impasse that has locked down Major League Baseball since December 2 will either end, or games in the 2022 season will start disappearing. And it will be because a few men thought themselves to be strategic geniuses.
Don't get me wrong: Rob Manfred is not Putin, and baseball's "crisis" pales in comparison to a madman's war. But it's the same damn bullshit.
You can't predict baseball... but hubris? Oh, Suzyn, that's another story. Hubris always gets them in the end, am I wrong?
Somehow, MLB made too much money for its own good. Both the owners and players have socked away enough cash to stretch this out for months - they both can certainly outlast us fans. Apparently, they believe everything will return to normal after this fourth-grade staring contest ends.
It's a fine game - Chicken, our new national pastime.
If nothing happens today, if we don't see a special report announcing that MLB has settled its dispute, and camps are opening - well - MLB is about to get punched in the face.
It's all fun and games, Suzyn, until someone gets hurt. Sad to think, but look around this crazy world, and when you clear away this drifting snow, you find yourself back in the schoolyard.
"You can't predict baseball... but hubris? Oh, Suzyn, that's another story. Hubris always gets them in the end, am I wrong?"
ReplyDelete100% right!
Read that the owners basically scoffed at some major compromises proposed by the union.
Just cancelled my auto renew on MLB.TV.
Like Putin's Russia, I really hope this all leads to the collapse of MLB as we know it. Fans should simply boycott, even when they come back. Pack minor league parks, esp independent leagues. Let MLB wither and die.
ReplyDeleteLet them them all wither and die.
ReplyDeleteLet these players get real jobs .
Let the owners lose thier ego-driven playthings.
We will eat cake
and prepare for the NFL Combine and Draft and March Madness.
Yes, Virginia, there are other pastimes.
I can add only three words: "Let's Go Rangers!"
ReplyDeleteAnd three more: "Fuck You Hal." Deeper...where the gerbils roam.
If they cancel the season, I will not miss baseball. I've spent multiple seasons in timezones where it takes a college student's ability to stay up late and arise early. I'll adjust to no games at all.
ReplyDeleteI will miss the commentary on this site, though. Fucking MLB
We will still have plenty to talk about here...
ReplyDeleteThere is one side that has openly blocked any agreement. One side that vanished for 43 days after locking the players out. One side that doesn't want to get it done until the other side is broken.
ReplyDeleteMost players are not millionaires, and they have very few earning years.
We excoriate Hal for loving money more than winning, more than history, more than the fans who give him the money he loves. But he is not a unicorn.
Fuck it, I hope the players sit
ReplyDeleteHome till they get what they want. It’s not like the owners won’t raise ticket prices either way
Platoni, the commentary WILL GO ON! Even if the games do now.
ReplyDeleteThe sticking point seems to be that the owners want 14 teams in the playoffs, and the players are holding out for 12.
ReplyDeleteWTF?
10 is bad enough. 8 was even pretty bad. 14???? Are you fucking kidding?
Haven't heard many of the other "issues." But I'm pretty sure they DON'T include, "How we can make tickets affordable for the average American," "How can we get more games on free TV," and "How can we make the game less damned boring."