I'm Still A Sucker For Baseball

Remember when P.T. Barnum said "There's a sucker born every minute"? Well I don't know the exact minute I was born but I definitely have that minute covered. You're welcome all the other babies who were born the same minute as me, I took that one for the team.

Even though I have repeatedly and very publicly sworn off baseball, I'm still going to watch game 7 of the World Series tonight. I have not watched a single baseball game in about three years. I don't think I have watched more than 4 innings of games all year long (and a couple of those innings were the extra innings of game 3... but I still went to sleep without watching the dramatic conclusion).

But this is game 7! People are going to be talking about it all next week so I feel I kind of have to watch if I don't want to be left out. Even that might not be enough to push me over the edge but Shoei freaking Ohtani is going to be the starting picture for the Dodgers. Ohtani is by far the most talented baseball player who has ever played the game. He's more talented that Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Randy Johnson, or Pedro Martinez. Now notice I did not say he was better than any of those guys. Whether he is better will depend on how long he can keep up this insane pace. But as of right now, I don't even think there is a close second when it comes to talent. He is currently one of the best pitchers and the best hitter in baseball. Let that sink in. The only other player people can even mention doing both was Babe Ruth and his pitching career was very short lived.

I can list a ton of evidence but let's just look at game 3 of this world series. In 18 innings, he hit two homers, had two other hits, scored 3 of the Dodgers 3 runs and knocked in 3 runs... oh and he walked the other five times on his way to reaching base a record nine times in the 18 inning game. This was after he played what many consider the greatest game in the history of baseball. Back in game four of the NLCS, Ohtani hit 3 home runs, pitched six scoreless innings, gave up 2 hits and struck out 10 batters. I rest my case.

so if I am going to lift my self imposed baseball ban, it is only because I want to see what Ohtani can do. Many are looking at this game as a referendum on baseball salaries. They look at the Dodgers as the evil giant who is simply going to spend their way to the World Series. Only the little David-like underdogs of the Toronto Bluejays can stop this evil display of the same capitalism every successful business employs. But there is one huge problem with that narrative. Although it is true the Dodgers have the highest payroll with $350 million in salaries plus a luxury tax payment that brings their payroll to $416 million, it's not like the Toronto Bluejays are the Little Engine that Could. They have the fifth highest payroll in baseball at $255 million plus a tax payment bringing their total payroll to $279 million. Yes the Dodgers spent more, but the aren't exactly playing against St. Mary's of the Poor. They both have huge payrolls and it is working. that is typically what happens when a good business invests in itself. So for me that is a complete non-factor.

Back in my day, our Vlad Guerrero's didn't use batting gloves... and we liked it!

Aside from Ohtani, the only other names in either lineup I recognize are Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. And the only reason I even know the last two are because I had their dads on my fantasy team way back when you had to check the USA today, with calculator in hand, everyday to see how they did so you could compile the stats by hand.

As I looked at the lineups to find any familiar names, I was once again struck by how low the batting averages are. I cannot remember ever watching a World Series game where literally half of the players are batting below .260. I'd expect to see those numbers in 1908 not 2025. And even with the obvious over-reliance on home runs, each team still only has 1 guy each with more than 30 home runs (Ohtani has 55 by the way while still hitting .282). And there is only 1 guy who has over 100 RBI... yep that is Ohtani as well. As an old man, its honestly bizarre how weak the lineups look according to the old school statistics (which I love!).

Oh well. Hopefully at least for one night, I can pretend like it is the good old days and I can enjoy the game I used to love so much. Maybe I'll watch it on an old black and white TV to really set the mood.