BIG BASEBALL
Whoa, thanks for turning me on to the World Classic, which I avoided because I thought it would hurt my head.
I'm streaming last night's very exciting game between USA and Korea. After that, I may watch the USA/Japan game, or switch to one of the games playing tonight. Japan and Mexico, mayhaps?
One thing is very clear to me while watching this unusual series: Korea's mix of pitching, defense, and hitting is astonishing. I've seen more cool plays in just 4 innings than I usually see in ten whole regular season games.
I just watched Korea trot out Hee-Seop Choi to pinch hit. Damned if he didn't homer by a hair, putting Korea ahead 6-1 in the 5th. Boing.
Early in the game, my hands-down player has been Korea's Seung Yeop Lee. Wow, what an amazing hitter. I look at guys like that and am grateful that I get to witness tomorrow's superstars long before they become fair game for scandal. Apparently, he's called the Lion King in Korea. After watching him, today, I'm totally down with that title. The ESPN2 dudes keep saying that he won't make it out of the ball park without a handful of MLB offers. That's cool. I hope they pay him, like, a meeeellion dollars to come over and play for the, um, Nationals. Ok, ok, he's Yankees material waiting to happen. Let's face it...somebody that good doesn't escape George Steinbrenner's notice.
[interlude] Ha, ha, ha, A-Rod just struck out for the second time tonight.[end interlude]
I also learned today something that changes my entire perspective on the home-run race. Some announcer or another mentioned Sadaharu Oh as the all-time home-run king, with 868. I almost fell out of my chair. I had no idea. And then I discovered Josh Gibson, whose HR achievements are not verifiable, who may have hit nearly 800 homers in the Negro Leagues. What broke my heart is that he died three months before Jackie Robinson became the first black in the majors. Destiny is harsh.
All this really puts some perspective on the Barry Bonds saga. America-centric MLB can't recognize that there are great players everywhere, and that if you want to institutionalize bragging rights, the historically accurate thing to do is recognize it everywhere.
In other words, Barry Bonds has about three seasons of top-form at-bats ahead of him if he wants to challenge Sadaharu Oh. Too bad that won't happen.
One final note. I'm fascinated by the composure that the Japanese and Korean managers exhibit. American managers try to adhere to their media coaches' general guidelines, which boil down to this: don't look like an ass on TV unless it helps you win a game. The result is usually a look of constipation substituting for a rebel yell. Hemorrhoids and burst blood vessels come to mind.
I'm streaming last night's very exciting game between USA and Korea. After that, I may watch the USA/Japan game, or switch to one of the games playing tonight. Japan and Mexico, mayhaps?
One thing is very clear to me while watching this unusual series: Korea's mix of pitching, defense, and hitting is astonishing. I've seen more cool plays in just 4 innings than I usually see in ten whole regular season games.
I just watched Korea trot out Hee-Seop Choi to pinch hit. Damned if he didn't homer by a hair, putting Korea ahead 6-1 in the 5th. Boing.
Early in the game, my hands-down player has been Korea's Seung Yeop Lee. Wow, what an amazing hitter. I look at guys like that and am grateful that I get to witness tomorrow's superstars long before they become fair game for scandal. Apparently, he's called the Lion King in Korea. After watching him, today, I'm totally down with that title. The ESPN2 dudes keep saying that he won't make it out of the ball park without a handful of MLB offers. That's cool. I hope they pay him, like, a meeeellion dollars to come over and play for the, um, Nationals. Ok, ok, he's Yankees material waiting to happen. Let's face it...somebody that good doesn't escape George Steinbrenner's notice.
[interlude] Ha, ha, ha, A-Rod just struck out for the second time tonight.[end interlude]
I also learned today something that changes my entire perspective on the home-run race. Some announcer or another mentioned Sadaharu Oh as the all-time home-run king, with 868. I almost fell out of my chair. I had no idea. And then I discovered Josh Gibson, whose HR achievements are not verifiable, who may have hit nearly 800 homers in the Negro Leagues. What broke my heart is that he died three months before Jackie Robinson became the first black in the majors. Destiny is harsh.
All this really puts some perspective on the Barry Bonds saga. America-centric MLB can't recognize that there are great players everywhere, and that if you want to institutionalize bragging rights, the historically accurate thing to do is recognize it everywhere.
In other words, Barry Bonds has about three seasons of top-form at-bats ahead of him if he wants to challenge Sadaharu Oh. Too bad that won't happen.
One final note. I'm fascinated by the composure that the Japanese and Korean managers exhibit. American managers try to adhere to their media coaches' general guidelines, which boil down to this: don't look like an ass on TV unless it helps you win a game. The result is usually a look of constipation substituting for a rebel yell. Hemorrhoids and burst blood vessels come to mind.
posted by Andrew at
6:09 PM
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