1994 Strike 25 Yrs Later: Declining MLB Attendance Leads to Shrinking Stadiums

Breitbart ^ | August 20, 2019 | Warner Todd Huston

[Vigilanteman]

It will be one the hottest tickets in the sports world, possibly bigger than even the Stupor Bowl.

Thanks for posting the full James Earl Ray quote.

When I was a pup, we played baseball constantly, often until dark and that was 10:30 pm or so in North Dakota.

We didn't need adults to organize games for us. The batting team would furnish the catcher who would also double as umpire to call balls and strikes. It worked well because any unfair calls were paid back in the next inning and we all knew it.

If we thought we needed uniforms, we made our own with a t-shirt and an oil based marker. The hats were plain colors with an emblem cut from iron-on tape.

All of us got more at bats in an afternoon that kids nowadays get in an entire season of adult organized baseball.

[Vigilanteman]

I was mostly a pitcher when I was a pup, though sometimes played every position except first base and catcher. Those required bigger kids and I was a skinny runt.

In those days, you had to throw accurately. If you were accurate, then you learned how to throw hard. Now, it is just the opposite; learn to throw hard first.

We spent 14 years in Japan when my family was young and they STILL teach the kids to throw accurately. They even have a training device the size of a typical strike zone with 9 spots. You get a dozen pitches (sometimes only 10) to knock out all nine spots.

They had one set up in a shopping mall one day and my daughters begged me to try. Other than the occasional company game for fun, I hadn't pitched in years. But I took my turn to entertain our girls. Got eight of the nine. No prize for that. You had to get all nine.

[TBP]

I actually had catcher’s gear, so I was always allowed to play, even though I was really bad.

[Vigilanteman]

That's another great thing about sandlot baseball. Not only could you find a place to play if you were a skinny little runt as I was, but if you were a crappy player as well.

You owned the equipment; you owned the position. That's why I would spend my allowance money to buy marked down baseballs in the hardware store around Halloween. You probably got better at catching by playing the position a lot just as I got better at pitching by pitching a lot. So eventually, you graduated from being a crappy player to just mediocre.

A friend of mine (even taller and skinnier) was so bad, I coached him how to crouch to reduce the strike zone and crowd the plate because the only way he could get on base was with a hit by pitch. He never got better than being a really bad player whereas I eventually achieved mediocrity. Funny thing is that he was a math whiz, didn't get married until he was 39 and did great in real estate and stock market investments. We still joke about how baseball showed him that even bad players could become a success.

[Starcitizen]

Only American company that gave me an opportunity as a Software Engineer. The development teams are all Americans, and the only Indians are from Cleveland. At least at headquarters, they put Americans first. And no kneeling and disrespecting the American Flag at games by the players. That has to count for at least something...