Baseball fans are in the midst of a dramatic, entertaining, gut wrenching World Series. I’ve been enjoying it immensely. But then, I always enjoy the World Series. Which is why this headline and story from FiveThirtyEight drives me nuts:
This Astros-Dodgers World Series Is Already One Of The Best Ever
It’s not even over yet. And besides, how do you pretend to make subjective judgments objective? And why?
Bill Mazeroski brings home the winning run in game 7 of the 1960 World Series.
I think I know why. It’s playing to our vanity. What we are watching now is the best ever! What we are doing right now is more important than ever!
A few years ago, the term future-hall-of-famer was coined. And it won’t go away, and it never ceases to annoy the hell out of me. We’re watching a good player. Maybe a great player. Right now. And we’re talking about whether, five years after the player’s retirement, the player will be considered worthy of the MLB Hall of Fame.
Why? Isn’t watching the player perform enough? We have to borrow from the future to make ourselves feel even better?
Last year, when the first of two autumn tragedies occurred as the Cubs beat the Indians in the World Series, we were treated to statements like, “The best game 7 ever.”
It actually was a messy, badly managed baseball game. I’m 60 years old. It wasn’t even the best game 7 I’ve watched on live TV. That would be 1991, Twins-Braves, Jack Morris. You can look it up.
Or how about 1960. Pittsburgh Pirates vs. NY Yankees. Bill Mazeroski hit a walk off home run to give the Bucs the championship. This, despite the Pirates being outscored for the Series by more than 2-1.
So yeah. This 2017 World Series is wildly entertaining. On its own merits.
Just enjoy it.
Yes to all of this. And you know what else? Baseball is the most wonderful game ever, for more reasons that I can count. For instance, I love that it takes however long it takes. As bleary-eyed as I was this morning after a 5+ hour game, I love that it’s not run on a clock.
Right on, Mike!! Totally agree. Really enjoying the series this year! It’s been extremely entertaining…
Right on!
Mike,
It’s not clear if you read the fivethirtyeight.com column or just glanced at the headlines. It’s set out why they are making that claim, how they are “pretending” to make this objective. I’m not defending their WPA statistic but these guys are apparently sabermetric stats freaks (unlike myself). That is their mission and and they are living by their creed.
As for the 1960 game 7, it’s on their list; however 1991 didn’t make the top 20. I attempted to find the complete list but ended up at another list where the 1991 game 7 was #2 (and the Cubs 2016 game 7 was #18). But that was based on aCLI not WPA. Yes, it might be ridiculous but it is a quantitative method and not “playing to our vanity”.
With some self-restraint, I’ll let your “first of two autumn tragedies” comment go by without judgement.
Has been quite entertaining with surprises every minute. And I am wondering if I am also finding it so entertaining because I really don’t care about the outcome, so I can just enjoy it for what it is. In any event, I hope it goes to game 7 for pure entertainment value.
That 1960 game makes me nostalgic. I bet my dad $1 that the Pirates would win. I don’t watch baseball, but I’ve always remembered that Mazeroski hit the homer. And that I won that $1. Well, Idid watch last year’s series, in memory of my mom who was a cubs fan for decades.
Excellent observation, Mike. When I lived in Chicago, I recall vividly wondering when Cooperstown would start building the Kerry Wood Wing, judging from the hyperbole in the sports pages. Talk/writing like that makes it nearly impossible to be in the moment.
Excellent observation, Mike. I recall vividly, during my Chicago tenure, wondering when the Cooperstown folks were going to break ground for the Kerry Wood Wing. The hyperbole in the press was that bad. Makes it very hard to live in the moment, as you point out.
Couldn’t resist “two autumn tragedies,” could you? 🙂
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