Terms Which Have Disappeared

[Fading Fast]

I am not one of those who thinks there is too much baseball being played. Probably another reason I will also be rounded up and shot under Lizzie the Great's reign.

I'm fine with the 162 game season, I just think the playoffs should return a very focused four teams because it imbues the season with much more meaning, prevents the playoffs from becoming just a mini season of revenue generation and hype and because it hews to tradition.

 

[Fading Fast]

Not to get semantic, but "postseason play" is not "The Postseason." The former is a designation of chronological placement, the latter is Boys From Marketing NFL/NBA speak. Oh, and Ortiz nonwithstanding, Dump The DH. The one thing I like about interleague play is getting to see pitchers hit.....

The Boys love getting paid for effectively taking something away from or shortening something.

I worked for Bank of Boston - really its Wall Street broker dealer subdivision - in the mid '90s when the bank paid - I kid you not - a marketing firm one million dollars to come up with the "improved" name "BankBoston." They got paid a million bucks to take out an "of" and smash to words together. Then they got paid a ton more in "execution -" designing new logos and running a huge "rollout" campaign.

And this is even better - that was the second time TBFM got paid money to shorten the bank's name as it originally was "The First National Bank of Boston." Hence, they made a bunch of money taking away "The First National," only to make more money, years later, by taking away the "of."

...The use of the MLB acronym as the trade name for major-league ball a la the NFL is also annoying. As late as the 1970s, if you got a letter from the Commissioner's office in response to the one you had written criticizing the DH or suggesting that Bowie Kuhn's head must be full of Play-Doh, the letterhead simply said BASEBALL......

Only a complete idiot would give us something as good as letterhead reading "BASEBALL" for, well, anything else.

...Not that I would know this personally, you understand...

⇧ The best part of your post.

Edit add: I, too, think pitchers should bat - they are playing baseball.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Not to get semantic, but "postseason play" is not "The Postseason." The former is a designation of chronological placement, the latter is Boys From Marketing NFL/NBA speak.

One hair...split.

My rap sheet is getting longer by the hour.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I'm fine with the 162 game season, I just think the playoffs should return a very focused four teams because it imbues the season with much more meaning, prevents the playoffs from becoming just a mini season of revenue generation and hype and because it hews to tradition.

Playoffs? Playoffs?

As for expanding...back when your team was competing for a spot against seven other teams, I get it. But now you're competing for a spot against 14 other teams. I have no problems with expanding the number of teams in the POSTSEASON as well. I still think there's meaning to the 162-game season. But like it or not, professional baseball is 100% about entertainment and drawing fans. Having 90% of the teams out of the running two-thirds of the way through the season simply doesn't drum up the same amount of interest. And I'm ok with that tradeoff. Plus again, I think the more baseball the better.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I wouldn't mind going back to a 154 game regular season if only to avoid pushing the World Series into November. It just seems unnecessarily cruel to have baseball coming to an end just as you can hear Old Man Wintah rapping his bony knuckles on the windows outside.

I'm also annoyed with how quick everyone seems to be to jump on the football bandwagon when there's still two months of baseball left. There used to be a nice, easy transition between seasons, and now it's like they're trying to clear the food off the table before you're done eating it. The Sox are in a ferocious race right now, but I have to dig in the Globe to find the game story under all the Patriots OMG TOM BRADY crap. That's not how it's supposed to be.

 

[HudsonHawk]

The use of the MLB acronym as the trade name for major-league ball a la the NFL is also annoying. As late as the 1970s, if you got a letter from the Commissioner's office in response to the one you had written criticizing the DH or suggesting that Bowie Kuhn's head must be full of Play-Doh, the letterhead simply said BASEBALL. Not that I would know this personally, you understand...

Back to "Major League Baseball" as a trade name...the term "Major Leagues" was established in the National Agreement of 1903. The Commissioners office was established with the "Major League Agreement" in 1921 (now known as the "Major League Constitution"). I believe the establishment of "Major League Baseball" goes back to a power grab by Peter Ueberroth in the 80s. Until then, the Commissioner operated semi-independently from the two leagues, which is why Curt Flood had to sue both leagues and the Commissioner's office. They were all separate legal entities. Ueberroth really pushed for consolidation of his powers and to have the then distinct league presidential administrative authority placed under him. As a result, we got "The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, dba Major League Baseball". It also eventually resulted in new baseball's being used...but that's another story.

 

[Bushman]

I wouldn't mind going back to a 154 game regular season if only to avoid pushing the World Series into November. It just seems unnecessarily cruel to have baseball coming to an end just as you can hear Old Man Wintah rapping his bony knuckles on the windows outside.

I'm also annoyed with how quick everyone seems to be to jump on the football bandwagon when there's still two months of baseball left. There used to be a nice, easy transition between seasons, and now it's like they're trying to clear the food off the table before you're done eating it. The Sox are in a ferocious race right now, but I have to dig in the Globe to find the game story under all the Patriots OMG TOM BRADY crap. That's not how it's supposed to be.

Agreed. I can't stand it. Baseball sincerely needs to be shorter. It used to be a summer sport. Now it goes on for 3 seasons.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Agreed. I can't stand it. Baseball sincerely needs to be shorter. It used to be a summer sport. Now it goes on for 3 seasons.

Opening Day has always been early April. "Back in the day", the World Series typically ended in mid-October. We've had five World Series that have lasted to early November. In effect, the extended schedule and extra postseason rounds have extended the season 2-3 weeks. I don't find that particularly annoying nor offensive. But everyone's mileage varies.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I could do with a shorter football season, too, but that's a whole nother story. September to February is a bit excessive, August to February if you count the pre-season stuff.

 

[skydog757]

I wouldn't mind going back to a 154 game regular season if only to avoid pushing the World Series into November. It just seems unnecessarily cruel to have baseball coming to an end just as you can hear Old Man Wintah rapping his bony knuckles on the windows outside.

Remember watching the Colorado Rockies play during a snowstorm? And Joe Madden wearing a Rays ball cap with earflaps? And all of the players who wear balaclava hoods when the temps drop to . . .; well, I was going to say unseasonable lows but they are pretty much what you would expect for November in the Northern climes. It just ain't right.

 

[Bushman]

I could do with a shorter football season, too, but that's a whole nother story. September to February is a bit excessive, August to February if you count the pre-season stuff.

My father and I agree, whenever the subject comes up, that football season should be pushed back, so that preseason starts in September, and the official season ends with Super Bowl being the first Sunday of March. That way, it runs through the snows of February and ends while it's winter, but not in the middle of it.

 

[HudsonHawk]

My father and I agree, whenever the subject comes up, that football season should be pushed back, so that preseason starts in September, and the official season ends with Super Bowl being the first Sunday of March. That way, it runs through the snows of February and ends while it's winter, but not in the middle of it.

Spring Training starts late February. Can't have football still going on. Although I must say, I'd embrace the idea of not having football in August in Texas.

 

[Zombie_61]

I am not one of those who thinks there is too much baseball being played. Probably another reason I will also be rounded up and shot under Lizzie the Great's reign.

I'll probably be at least a few places ahead of you in that line, because I couldn't care less about baseball. Or football. Or any other "organized" sport.

That being said, if given a choice I'd watch a baseball game before any of the other sporting events; I really can't say why though.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I'll probably be at least a few places ahead of you in that line, because I couldn't care less about baseball. Or football. Or any other "organized" sport.

My opinion as well. Too many overweight people in the US wasting entire weekends in front of a television watching other guys engaging in physical activity when they ought to be out exerting themselves. Or at least enjoying a day out with their families.

 

[Trenchfriend]

"Support bandage".
A long long outdated thing.

 

[HudsonHawk]

My opinion as well. Too many overweight people in the US wasting entire weekends in front of a television watching other guys engaging in physical activity when they ought to be out exerting themselves. Or at least enjoying a day out with their families.

Watching sports and playing them are not mutually exclusive. I still play around 80-100 baseball games a year.

 

[Bushman]

Spring Training starts late February. Can't have football still going on. Although I must say, I'd embrace the idea of not having football in August in Texas.

Well, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt anybody for Spring training to start a little closer to, erm, Spring.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The approach of the first day of pitchers and catchers is quite literally the only thing that keeps us going thru the long New England winters. The day the equipment truck leaves Fenway Park for Florida in early February is actually a celebrated holiday.

Truck Day is the only day in the year when everybody in New England is in a good mood.

 

[Bushman]

Not hockey? Blasphemy!

 

[Trenchfriend]

The approach of the first day of pitchers and catchers is quite literally the only thing that keeps us going thru the long New England winters. The day the equipment truck leaves Fenway Park for Florida in early February is actually a celebrated holiday.


Truck Day is the only day in the year when everybody in New England is in a good mood.

Haha, The North Face-jacket in the middle, of course...