They had the worst record in baseball last year, so this year's efforts are quite an accomplishment. Also, the paper's book section interviewed Rays outfielder Fernando Perez about what he was reading, and he mentioned two poets that I will check out -- Robert Creeley and John Ashbery.
But I'm very bothered about one aspect of this year's World Series. The weather was awful in Philadelphia, and it delayed one game to a 10 p.m. start, and suspended another game so that part of the game had to be played two days later.
This is an outrageous turn of events, due mostly to an extended schedule that now has the World Series played in Northern climes at the end of October. Baseball is supposed to end in crisp autumnal air, not in the onset of winter, as is what happened in Philly last week -- rain and cold temps.
It used to be, the World Series was played at the beginning of October (in the afternoon, no less) and that's really the way it should be. There are lots of reasons the season has been extended, which I won't go into here. But baseball management needs to find some way to shorten the season up. And they also need to start the games earlier in the evening; these 8:37 p.m. ET times are too late. It's not fun to have to stay up until 1 a.m. on a work night.
But really, I'm most bothered by the idea that human beings can or should be playing the championship game of what is essentially a summer sport at the tail end of October. It's fine in Florida, but in the more established baseball cities with their outdoor stadiums-- New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis -- it's insane. It's man foolishly saying he can overcome the turn of the seasons. It's just wrong and it makes me worry.
PS The spouse says he agrees but basically says, get in line. It's an old complaint and nothing seems to come of it.
3 comments:
It rains every month of the year in Pennsylvania. The all-time "drought" record for days without precipitation in the Philadelphia region is 21 days.
I personally would have no problem with a few more double-headers to end the season maybe a week earlier, but the play-offs are what have made it a later year sport.
Claiming it should not be played in the north after October 1 is like arguing that you should not have baseball in Florida after April 1, or that all indoor stadia should be banned.
But you guys have a good young team and a superb manager, so the Rays should not be one-year wonders.
I was sad to see the Rays lose, although thanks to the late starting times I did not actually "see" them. Maybe earlier start times would draw in more of us working stiffs, and more of us working moms (stiff moms).
Thanks for the kind words, Ron. It's the cold that bothers me more than the rain ... Even a week's earlier end to the reg season would help, in my book.
L.K., the late start times drive us craaazy .. We have to work too! And poor school kids who probably aren't even allowed to stay up that late.
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