It's not the same but the Series still matters, doesn't it?

A quick question:

Does the World Series still hold some allure?

I mean like it did back in the day, when (and I know there are Irregulars Of A Certain Vintage who are with me on this) you might sneak a tiny transistor radio into the classroom or you’d race home at the end of the school day hoping to catch the lat couple of innings?

Probably not.

I think interleague play, while giving some juice to the middle of a long season, has taken away a lot of the mystique, I think the number of playoff rounds and games has diminished it somewhat; the whole designated hitter/no designated hitter thing sucks.

But, still …

It’s still got it, I think.

There’s still something about my league vs. your league that gets me excited; since I seldom pay attention to mundane matters of the regular season, even if the teams had played each other in June or July, I wouldn’t care.

The Series is still The Series.

Maybe it’s our, well, my, upbringing, where it was far more a baseball house than, say, a hockey house. It was “who’s playing third for the Yankees this year?” and “hey, I’m going over to the park with the guys to play for hours” and it was the game we grew up on.

And the World Series was always special. Cold weather, mostly good games, the end of a long season reduced to seven games at the most.

I may not be quite up to speed on the intricacies of these two teams – it seems Tony LaRussa (smartest man in the room, just ask him) manages his bullpen like he’s got a zillion relievers; Josh Hamilton is one of the most compelling stories in all of sports – but that doesn’t matter, does it?

The game’s the thing, it’s the World Series and it’s destination viewing for me. Of course, that means I’ll have to stay up way past my bedtime for a week or so but you gotta do what you gotta do.

You folks still get jazzed for the Series?

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Now, look, I know we’re pretty parochial around here – we do love all of our things Toronto and Canada, and I’m one of you on a lot of things – but hear me out for a second.

Was watching one of the Top 10 Moments In The World Series things last night, it was on a Canadian network, and sure enough No. 1 was the Joe Carter homer in 1993.

Is it?

It was big, no doubt about. Won a World Series. Second of its kind ever after Bill Mazeroski.

Dramatic? Yes.

But for pure drama and excitement and the unexpected nature of it, I still say the No. 1 highlight in World Series history – at least my history – is Kirk Gibson’s homer for the Dodgers off Dennis Eckersley back in 1988.

Yes, better than Carter’s.

Yes, better than Mazeroski’s.

Yes, better than Larson’s perfect game.

Better than them all.

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List time?

Was sitting around sipping the quad vente latte yesterday morning (hi, Starbucks, Lundy’s Lane) and I remember an Irregular once asking about who the best TV reporters were.

No, not the Huntley/Brinkley, Mansbridge kind of reporters, these kinds of reporters.

So, a Top Five?

(In no particular order)

Lou Grant

He was hilarious on Mary Tyler Moore but he was really good on Lou Grant. And when I was watching that intro/trailer/whatever, it all came back to me. Great show, no?

Murphy Brown

I wanted to be her secretary for a day, just like Kramer.

Oscar Madison

If you don’t think he was my idol a long, long time ago, I’ve failed.

Rory Gilmore

I’ve told you, guilty pleasure, right? The kid had spunk.

Les Nessman

Another classic.

Now, they weren’t the most realistic, of course, but as reporters go, they’d make my list.

Now, I am going to tell you who won’t.

That’d be Ray Barone.

Dude’s a sports writer, big shot columnist and he’s never on deadline, always home and never stressed about what he’s going to write in his morning blog?

Yeah, right.

At least Oscar Madison went to ball games. And the track.

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Could I have some mail, please?

It’s the time of week, I see.

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You saw the Andrea story about joining Roma in an insurance/sponsorship deal with ashleymadison.com, right?

Any number of jokes about rebounds and commitment were flying around last night but, thankfully, no one took any exception to a discreet dating sight for married folk getting its name out there in some big deal.

Why wouldn’t they?

And why wouldn’t a franchise that could use the money take it?

I don’t imagine that some guy or gal is going to go out and have some extramarital fling simply because they saw the name of a company on a sports jersey.

I know it’s not UNICEF or one of the other big sponsors of European teams that may be more, um, mainstream but money’s money, if a company wants to hand some out to help a sports franchise along, who cares.

And as Noel Biderman, who runs the thing told me, there’s a lot of benefits to his company, too:

“To get naming rights for a major city franchise plus the guaranteed TV spots on their own would make marketing sense. Add a homegrown NBA talent in to the mix and I think this could be the best idea since starting a dating website for married people.”

That’s a money quote right there.

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Oh yeah, take the Rangers in five, you’ll be glad you did.

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Comments

[ET]

Good Morning Doug,
I am still rubbing the cobwebs out of my eyes and only skimmed the blog this morning but why no mention of the lengthy negotiation session that took place yesterday? It seemed significant even in your other piece on the site. I know you are bored with the whole thing but isn't that (hoops) the bond that keeps things together here?

Blogger's note: Considering they'll meet again before most people read this, what really was there to say? They talked for a long time, news blackout and they'll talk again this morning.

[sam]

The World Series matters if you have a story angle I suppose.....
The Cards have a few former Jays that are worth following - Chris Carpenter, being the most prominent - Mark R being the most recent. . . .

World Series moments: Kirk Gibsons home run was dramatic - but so was Joe Carters....Vin Scully's call of the homer is on par with Tom Cheeks touch em all Joe... call. I may be a bit of a homer though.

[LeeZ]

I hear you about the transistor radio thing. My brother and I would huddle over our tiny radio (we were supposed to be sleeping) and tune in Schenectady, NY, to get the Yankee broadcast (back in the early 70's, when the Yankees were lovably lamentable). Most nights the reception would be all staticky, so during commercial breaks, we would lower the volume to "conserve power" (hey, we were, like, 7 and 9, cut us some slack). Listening to the Scooter getting all excited as he did play by play was WAY more fun than the current tv experience, imho. Course, try telling that to kids today and they won't believe you (apologies to Python).

[Cluck Kent]

You think Ashley Madison wants publicity so more married people won't use and spend money on their services? I'm not sure what you're thinking here. You can't advertise smokes, but you can advertise immoral acts and that's okay. It's alright for kids to know that cheating on your spouse is endorsed by their sports heros?

The same for gambling. Sports wouldn't be nearly as popular without the gambling aspect and even though it negatively impacts thousands of families a year it's still okay. In fact encouraged. By the government.

[TLI]

The only problem with Kirk's '88 Series homer is that he wasn't wearing a Tigers uniform. Other than that -- pretty good call.

[Nick]

Good afternoon Doug, I have an idea for a list that pertains to the World Series...who are you're top 5 favourite losers in the World Series..you know those teams you just want to see win so bad but they fall short? Being a Sox fan and all you should remove the bias and have the Rockies in that 5. I mean what a team! They came out of no where to win the wild card and then have a run to the finals only to fall short.

[Brad W]

Agree with LeeZ; it's called selling your soul.

[LeeZ]

Ever since a supposedly injured Gibson hit that homer off Steve Rogers (pitching in relief), I spit on the ground whenever his name is mentioned. Bastard.

[Nick M]

@Cluck Kent
Let's not jump to conclusions... The Government does NOT encourage gambling, they merely advertise the FUN that can be had at their Casinos(???)... And, they DO have a disclaimer at the end of each of those commercials to gamble 'responsibly', never you mind that it is somewhat akin to the speed talker that outlines the 'side effects' in the drug adds.

[doug]

now I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but the 2 sides met yesterday for 16 hours and then again today, it shows 2 things to me, one the issues are far more diverse then just the BRI...and 2 they are either close to a deal or if they aren't after this, it will be a long,long,long lockout....something else that bugged me about Everybody Loves Raymond is they had kids, where were they??...in any house I have been in with young kids they are front and center, some shows popularity just confounds me and that was one of them....I am baseball fan, World Series fan, these 2 teams just don't turn my crank, I am not a LaRussa fan at all, so i will be going with the Rangers but also there aren't any classic pitching match-ups, oh plus McCarver speaking...so in baseball parlance 3 strikes your out as far as i am concerned...

[doug]

@LeeZ...Steve Rogers gave up his relief home run to Rick Monday...believe me I remember it oh so well.....

[doug]

I can remember that home run like it was yesterday...i don't know why but I couldn't be at home to watch the game, so I was in the car and listening to it on the radio, finally I couldn't take it anymore, I pulled into Argyle Mall in London, and back then there were Woolco's before WalMart bought them out....so I parked dashed in before the inning started and found the electronics department, back then the biggest TV was like 25 inches and there was no wall of them, so there we were, I say "we" as there were 3,4 other guys there, watching....well Rogers gave up the home run I can remember where exactly it went out of the Big O, and it was heartbreaking...but being a true fan, the rest of the Woolco "fans" had left, it was at home so to me the Spos still had a chance...they did get Raines on, and advanced him to scoring position....the rest is history....I was crushed, I loved those Expos, and to even talk about it gives me a sinking feeling in my stomach, seeing that home run fly out of the park....the same feeling I had, watching in person at the Big O Mike Schmidt do what he did best, crush Expo fans hearts...2 devastating home runs....those were the days, that's why I love/loved sports, just not slimy owners like Jeffrey Loria, and why Stern galls me, as he did the same thing to Sonic fans, Grizzly fans etc....give me sports and game memories, but owners can go pound salt...

[LeeZ]

@Doug (poster): Whoops! Of course, you're right. I still hate Gibson, though. Kind of like a guy who's convicted of killing a family member of yours, then gets exonerated. Well, you've hated the "killer" all these years, so it's hard to let go, even though it turns out he's not guilty. And if you think Monday hitting that home run isn't analagous to murder, then clearly you were never an Expo fan!!! Still, I will try to stop spitting on the ground every time Gibson's name is mentioned.

[Cluck Kent]

@NIck M

And don't forget - they actually own and operate a large portion of it.