She is more charismatic and brilliant than any generation of baseball players I can remember, but none of the bright young people in Major League Baseball will become a transcendental cultural figure in the way they become the best player in the NBA.
This is lower for gamers than in the game and extends our shattered and waning attention. I don’t know how or if baseball brings it back, unless its stuck and shocked nature, the night schedule allows the brave new world of in-game betting to push it to the fore once again.
But for that to happen, here’s what can’t happen:
Rob Manfred and Tony Clark – nah, he’s 99% on commissioner and property – they can’t let the game stop in 2022. Does that somehow mean extending the existing deal to give themselves a wider path after the pandemic? At least talk about it.
I have to admit that at best I am very skeptical when it comes to working in baseball. The tense atmosphere of the past two seasons has made me feel more uncertain than ever about baseball’s ability to avoid a layoff, whether it’s a strike or an arrest. I haven’t heard this doubt since the 1994 strike.
The doping crisis in baseball has created a sense of shared death on the part of ownership and players. You’d think a pandemic would do the trick too, but instead of uniting behind a common cause, the two sides conducted an improper public spat at a time when people were dying.
I know it is ultimately a struggle for money and control, and everything else turns out to be background noise… but it doesn’t bode well.
And look what’s at stake: For the first time in decades, baseball has a generation of 20 players not affected by steroids or past job crises. Indeed, if the All-Star Game is any indication, it is as if the sport has been given a clean and fresh slate.
Fernando Tates Jr .; Vladimir Guerrero, Jr .; Ronald Acuna Jr… I think you’ve got to the point. Shohei Ohtani. Bo Bechet. Juan Soto. They look like our larger community. They speak like our larger community. The game, frankly, doesn’t just have one star to suit your taste – it has more stars from more countries with more sensitivity. None of them hit. It all came to light in the era of the PED test, which at least indicates less unfitness.
Barry Bonds has been out of action since 2007. Roger Clemens since 2007. Alex Rodriguez? He’s been gone since the 2016 season. The only time anyone talks about Bonds and Clemens is in the month before the Hall of Fame vote, and it’s about to expire. Evading the A-Rod is much harder thanks to the TV, but at least it feels like it’s less harmful and toxic than it is. Other surviving players also went to the fringes of the PED, who managed to get rid of Dodge by planning or marching over time. Guys, we might have suspected it, but we lost interest in the chase because it stopped being at the top of our minds. Too much morality is cumbersome. that’s boring.
Baseball has finally eliminated most of its unwanted guests and the problems it faces within the game, despite all the controversy surrounding them, are less present than doping. Some sports-related things are unbeatable and have been a factor both before and after steroids. Baseball is a regional sport that relies on regional television payouts and field presence, meaning West Coast stars will play at least half of their games from a television window in the early hours of the east and the stars will play. in the east during dinner or the night jump in LA. Its schedule is based on the series and not one-time, which means that the Los Angeles Angels may come to your city for four games but you may not be able to see the Ohtani Stadium. Other stuff – Using Spidertack, shift effect, pace of play and moves to increase attack? It requires a great deal of thought, negotiation and experimentation, but unlike steroids, it is doubtful that there will be hearings in Congress on these issues.
And so we go to the “second part” of the regular season with one eye on the pitch and the other on the pitch. The cancellation of Thursday’s New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox match due to positive COVID-19 tests emerging from that free-to-all during All-Star ceremonies is a reminder of what still is. out there; A reminder of the last wild card that could go into effect in August and the fall months.
The Atlanta Braves struck a deal before opening their first stadium after the All-Star Game, acquiring Jock Pederson of the Chicago Cubs – which along with teams like the Cleveland, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals and Arizona Diamondbacks may be ready to unload. players before the game. The trade deadline is July 30th. Every competing team except the San Diego Padres is in dire need, and even the reigning Los Angeles Dodgers might face an invisible obstacle if the Sexual Assault Allegations Against Trevor Power he keeps him out for the rest of the season.
Here in the American Eastern League we get to work right away. Aside from Covid, the league’s leading Red Sox play 17 games against the Yankees, the third being the Toronto Blue Jays and the second being the Tampa Bay Rays. It looks like they are ready to pass the deadline, call the first 3 potential Garen Doran and prepare to welcome Chris Seale back into the fold. The Yankees are on high alert … but they could bring Luis Severino back if they stop. The Rays are the Rays: they have something up their sleeve. You know they do.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays could get some much-needed inner depth with a potential return for Ryan Borucki and Thomas Hatch to go with an electric lineup. They will be buyers until the last minute; Get creative by adding launchers with manageable service time even if they’re not close enough to play in the rental market. I think they should go home for a warm hug from their fans. And that means we’ll finally be able to see for ourselves what all this hype is about, while hopefully we haven’t been ripped off again by a strike or a layoff. They can’t do this to us, can they?
Jeff Blair hosts Baseball Central with Kevin Parker from 11 p.m. ET on Sportsnet 590 / The Fan
