How anyone can take baseball seriously is beyond my understanding.
And I can still name the starting eight for each year of the Big Red Machine of the 70’s.
I stopped going to games when they went on strike back in the early 1980’s, and haven’t attended a baseball game since.
This is just another example of why.
Way to go Selig, you destroyed your own customer base and the GAME itself.
Basebore...who cares? I quit caring as a kid when they went on strike in the 70s. I have no idea who even wins the series and really don’t care.
“And I can still name the starting eight for each year of the Big Red Machine of the 70’s.”
Pete Rose, Bobby Tolan, Tony Perez, Johnny Bench, Lee May, Tommy Helms, Woody Woodward, Bernie Carbo ....
I was a Big Red Machine fan also, haven’t watched a baseball game since the early 80’s either. A pity that America’s sport has become what it has become!
And Selig, well that bozo move, not that I watched, but heard about it the next day, calling the All Star game a tie.
Agree ........a mile is still a mile if your running for the record time. But more games per season, better gear, sports nutrition and ummmmmmm suspected prescription “enhancements / additives” etc ..........not a record to compare to Babe or Hank’s accomplishments.
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>>And I can still name the starting eight for each year of the Big Red Machine of the 70’s.
You guys were awesome! The Big Red Machine was one of the great all time teams. I grew up in Pittsburgh in the 60’s/70’s and was a huge Pirate fan. I had lots of cousins in Cincy and we always had a baseball feud going on. :) Mom used to stick me on a Greyhound to Cincy to spend a couple of weeks each summer there. It meant that Mom had one less kid in her hair for a week or two, and my Cincy cousins had someone to badger about baseball. :)
My all time favorite was Willie Stargell and 2nd was Roberto Clemente. Many’s the time I sat in the left field bleachers at Forbes Field to watch them play the Reds. And even more in Three Rivers Stadium.
I do miss those days...
I agree with a lot of what you say, including the Big Red Machine! Morgan, Foster, Griffey (Sr.) and sometimes even Geronimo didn’t need roids to hit homers.
I also don’t attend games anymore, but not because of the strike. It’s the cost. (I wouldn’t say no to a free ticket, and I’ll admit I WOULD go if I lived near Cincy.) 90% of the games are on TV in some fashion; and the cheapest seats are $10-15, which almost always are terrible. The half-decent seats I’d otherwise bother going to sit in, are at least $30-50 nowadays.
And steroids really hurt the legitimacy of the game. I don’t directly blame Selig; I blame the darn cheaters. But Selig was too cowed by the “Players” “Union” to do much of anything about it. I’m afraid it’s going to take a Lyle-Alzado-type tragedy before anything serious is done.
Meanwhile, Bonds cheats.
As much as I detest what Bonds and others are doing to the game, I detest Selig more.
Historically, at least since the Black Sox World Series scandal of a century ago, the commissioner of a professional sport is hired by the owners, but is to be impartial between owners and players. A commissioner's duty is to the sport. When Selig forced Vincent out, it was agreed that he would be the "acting" commissioner of baseball; however, sometime in the future the "acting" part of the title was dropped. I don't care what anyone says, Selig is still the de facto owner of the Brewers and the only reason that the Brewers have never been considered for elimination when downsizing talks start.
And ultimately it is Selig's fault that baseball hitting records have become a joke. Steriods have long been a problem and Selig knows this, but does nothing because it increases ticket sales.
Rose, Concepcion, Morgan, Perez, Bench, Foster, Geronimo, and Griffey. What a team!
Amen.
When people talk about the Aaron vs. Bonds, they forget that Aaron didn’t have to face potentially juiced up pitchers.
What was the speed of a fast-ball then, vs. now? Honest question - I’m truly curious. I honestly don’t know if pitchers have advanced in their delivery or not, but I’m sure some baseball geek can give provide data to the 72nd decimal place.
Also, roids were available since the 30’s and they weren’t outlawed until the late eighties / early 90’s. Would we even know if Aaron or any of the other “greats” used them?
Most of the “asterisk” crowd exposes their ignorance and bias whenever they discuss this stupid stuff.
It is a game afterall. Make them all take roids in my opinion. Make theme keep playing as their liver falls apart and their joints seize up. Make them play with no pants too, so we can laugh at their tiny pee pees. This would be more fun, and funny, to watch. They should earn their millions.