Tag Archives: baseball season

January 30, 2015 · 8:41 pm

Is It Baseball Season Yet?

We are in the midst of an epidemic right now. We are smack dab in the middle of baseball’s offseason. Spring training is only a few weeks away and we are all eagerly awaiting. There isn’t much going on right now. Football is practically over. You can either root for the Patriots or the Seahawks. That’s boring. Basketball just reached its halfway point. Kobe is injured and Michael Jordan retired a long time ago. Hockey is… well, I don’t pay attention to the NHL so I’ll just assume it’s still there not being relevant. That leaves baseball, or the lack there of. Right now there are countless Americans meeting at bars and water coolers across the country asking each other “Is it baseball season yet?” It will be soon. And I can’t wait.

Critically Rated at 14/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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March 21, 2014 · 9:29 am

Scooter Wiley

One of the best ways to get psyched up for baseball season is to start playing baseball video games, and the best baseball video game out right now is MLB The Show. I don’t have the newest one, but my roommate has last season’s so I had to settle for playing that. I decided to create my own character, a shortstop with dreams of making it to the big leagues. Choosing his position and deciding on his physical attributes was easy, but coming up with his name was a challenge. His first name had to a casual and fun nickname. His last name had to be two simple syllables. I tossed around a few potential names before deciding to call him Scooter Wiley. Scooter Wiley seems like the ultimate baseball name, up there with Buster Posey and Homer Bailey. Scooter Wiley seems believable. If I told you that the Chicago Cubs drafted an unknown prospect named Scooter Wiley, you wouldn’t doubt it for a second. In fact, I’m surprised that there’s not already a minor leaguer out there with that moniker. Or maybe there is and he sucks so much that he’s not even Googleable.

Critically Rated at 14/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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May 8, 2013 · 9:53 am

Watching the Game at Work

The game is on but you’re stuck at work. You can turn on the TV or radio and have it tuned in, but you can’t just stay in one spot and watch it because there’s shit to be done. That’s when watching the game at work becomes a group effort. You have to identify your gamer co-workers and work out an amateur system of notification. At any given point, one or two people should be following the game. Then if someone gets a run or makes a great play, they disperse and spread the word to everyone else, “Posey just hit a solo shot, it’s 5-4 now.” You might be missing most of the action, but you’re not missing out. Sports have a way of bringing people together. I have nothing in common with my manager except for a mutual passion for baseball. We can talk about the Giants for hours but all other small talk is nonexistent. Baseball season has a way of unifying people. I work in a restaurant, and it’s pretty awesome when the managers, servers, cooks, and bussers all have something to cheer about and celebrate together. Watching the game at work is essential for staff bonding. I’d still rather be at the game though.

Critically Rated at 13/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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April 24, 2013 · 10:17 am

Bringing a Glove to the Game

It’s baseball season and I love every minute of it, so I’m warning you now that I’ll be writing a bunch of shit about baseball for the next few months. Today’s baseball topic is bringing a glove to the game. Bringing a glove to the game means that you are either really optimistic or six-years-old. I’ve been to over two hundred baseball games in my life and have never caught a ball. I’ve had three major chances, and I would have caught them if I had my glove. I’ve only brought my glove to a few games. One time I was sitting in premium foul ball territory right along the third baseline, so I made sure to bring it. Not a single foul ball came anywhere in the vicinity of me and I almost left my glove at the bar after the game. Wearing a glove is only acceptable at the game, you look like a tool anywhere outside of the stadium. It’s a Catch-22, you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t. I might never catch a foul ball, but one time I saw a guy get smashed in the face with a loose bat. That almost makes up for it. I just want to catch one ball in my life. I don’t even want to keep the ball. I want to catch it, have my five seconds of glory, and then give it to a little kid nearby. He’ll treasure it more than I would. Unless he throws it back.

Critically Rated at 12/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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April 1, 2013 · 10:51 am

Opening Day 2013

Today is Opening Day for Major League Baseball, one of the best holidays of the year. You’ve been jonesing for the season to start all winter, you get a little bit of a fix from Spring Training, but there’s nothing like the real thing. Baseball is a drug and Opening Day is the needle. Opening Day also represents possibilities. It’s a clean slate, a fresh start for your team. Anything can happen and everyone looks forward to it. It’s better than Christmas. You look forward to Christmas for a few weeks, then it finally arrives, you do Christmassy things for a few hours, and then it’s over. But with baseball you’re waiting for a few months for Opening Day, then it finally arrives and you do Opening Day festivities and watch your team play a game, and when it’s over you realize that it was just the first of 162 games and you’ll have baseball in your life for the next six months. Christmas abandons you, baseball crashes on your couch and never leaves. Play Ball!

Critically Rated at 16/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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October 26, 2012 · 10:18 am

Bandwagon Fans

The baseball season is long. 162 games from April to September and it’s even longer with the preseason and postseason. So if you suddenly declare your passion for the Giants in the middle of October, most people will assume you are full of shit. Because you are. Fans are supposed to be loyal to a team. Look at Cubs fans. They follow a team that has been cursed to lose forever. It doesn’t matter if your team is good or bad. They are your team. You cherish the wins and great plays and you grumble about losses and stupid errors. You enjoy the cast of characters that take the field; you hear their stories and feel like you know them. They are your team, they represent you, and you represent them.

            It’s exciting to get to the postseason. Teams compete to win and getting to the postseason is a huge accomplishment. But then the bandwagon fans see the excitement and try to get in on the fun. Bandwagon fans are parasites that smell the glory of a World Series and latch on to loyal fans. They rely on camouflage to blend in. It might be hard to distinguish a loyal fan from a bandwagon fan at a glance. Both will be wearing team colors and cheering loudly. But the bandwagon fan has a brand new hat and the receipt for it in his pocket. The real fan’s hat is slightly faded from the many seasons that he’s worn it.  A real fan starts cheering when something good happens. A bandwagon fan starts cheering when everyone else starts cheering, usually with a slight delay and without knowing why.

Critically Rated at 3/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

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