Where did the Boiled Hot Dog Go?
July 13, 2013 12:53 PM Subscribe
Scorekeeping at baseball games is becoming a lost art. Many other traditions are vanishing from professional baseball as well. "Other traditions lost from our list included boiled hot dogs taken from tepid water and slathered with mustard by vendors, and dugout agitators formerly known as “bench jockeys,’’ and bad-breathed managers such as Billy Martin and Earl Weaver kicking dirt on umpires, while league officials look at it as entertainment."
The best part about scorekeeping is when you and the people around you see a particularly bizarre play and start to discuss exactly how to score that.
posted by eriko at 1:08 PM on July 13, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by eriko at 1:08 PM on July 13, 2013 [9 favorites]
I was at a AAA game last night and I was struck by how many people were keeping score: 6 different people by my count. So there's that anecdatum.
posted by Bromius at 1:15 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Bromius at 1:15 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Spitting, on the other hand, is alive and well.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 1:18 PM on July 13, 2013
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 1:18 PM on July 13, 2013
Ahem. The food hackers and molecular gastronomists of the world would like you to know that the the tepid hot dog water served an important purpose.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:18 PM on July 13, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:18 PM on July 13, 2013 [8 favorites]
Score this play
Braun is out at second for overtaking the leading runner (Segura).
Segura is out at second because he was tagged while off the base, or if you want to be pedantic, because a runner can't return to a previous base after the pitcher has thrown a pitch.
Weeks? Just put a big bold K in the box, and go get a beer.
posted by clearly at 1:21 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
Braun is out at second for overtaking the leading runner (Segura).
Segura is out at second because he was tagged while off the base, or if you want to be pedantic, because a runner can't return to a previous base after the pitcher has thrown a pitch.
Weeks? Just put a big bold K in the box, and go get a beer.
posted by clearly at 1:21 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
Yeah I go to AAA games all the time and always see tons of people scorekeeping.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 1:22 PM on July 13, 2013
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 1:22 PM on July 13, 2013
The Los Angeles Dodgers (my local team) have an offical moscato. My girlfriend is from Philly, and has scornfully stated that anyone who suggested something like that in her hometown would get a knife between the ribs.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 1:31 PM on July 13, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 1:31 PM on July 13, 2013 [5 favorites]
I'm not sure if this is still a baseball tradition?
posted by Xurando at 1:36 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Xurando at 1:36 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Official Moscato? Robotic Ty Cobb is very angry
posted by Teakettle at 1:36 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Teakettle at 1:36 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
The best part about scorekeeping is when you and the people around you see a particularly bizarre play and start to discuss exactly how to score that.
I don't follow baseball; what is the scoring notation for "Well, that happened"?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:54 PM on July 13, 2013
I don't follow baseball; what is the scoring notation for "Well, that happened"?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:54 PM on July 13, 2013
I'm not sure if this is still a baseball tradition?
They've sung that at every Pirates game that I've been to in the last twenty years. Do they not sing it at other ballparks?
posted by octothorpe at 1:57 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
They've sung that at every Pirates game that I've been to in the last twenty years. Do they not sing it at other ballparks?
posted by octothorpe at 1:57 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
I worked at Fenway Park the spring and part of the summer I graduated from high school. It was actually a decent job, but oh the hot dog water. The vat of hot dog water was right below the counter where we took people's money and handed them food, so you were always nervous that someone would leave the sliding top open and you'd drop something in there. Because, of course, the water was actually scalding hot.
And don't even get me started on how gross that water would get by the end of the game. Someone always dropped a bun in there, and then it would gradually, over the course of a few innings, get soggier and soggier, falling apart and filling the water with soggy bits of white bread. But you couldn't give someone a hot dog with soggy bits of white bread on it, so you'd have to fish around with the tongs for one that was somehow clean. Probably steam-boiling your hand in the process.
Needless to say, I will never again buy a hot dog from any kind of stand.
Fun thing I just remembered: we of course were not supposed to eat the food. But we were allowed to drink as much fountain soda as we wanted, and there were little plastic cups for that purpose. So of course people would fill those cups with french fries, pretzels, and, at the Legal Seafoods carts, clam chowder. So that you could reasonably play dumb if you got caught by one of the senior managers on their rounds.
There were all sorts of other ways people would bend the rules, which was pretty enlightening for me as a kid entering the workforce. A few of my other favorites: we weren't supposed to take tips, but this was a new rule (the concessions had recently been bought by Aramark) and most of the people who'd been there for at least a few seasons didn't feel any need to follow it. So we'd put down paper napkins with a few coins on the counter to encourage tipping. This was supposed to be a fireable offense, but everyone did it and, AFAIK, no one ever got fired.
Also, if you were at one of the Legal Seafoods stands, you were supposed to close after the 7th inning stretch - I have no idea why. So that was definitely the best stand to get assigned to, plus free award-winning chowder. But gradually, people at the other "specialty" (ie, free-standing) stands started closing after the 7th inning too. And again, we weren't supposed to do that, but for some reason, no one ever seemed to get in trouble for it.
So then you'd get to go out into the actual stands, and watch the end of the game (as long as you took off your uniform first). I guess these days there wouldn't even be seats, but the Red Sox were still cursed then (this was in the 90s) so you could always find a seat. I was never a huge baseball fan, but there's nothing better when you're 18 than feeling like you're getting one over on the bosses while you watch something for free on a summer day.
posted by lunasol at 1:59 PM on July 13, 2013 [29 favorites]
And don't even get me started on how gross that water would get by the end of the game. Someone always dropped a bun in there, and then it would gradually, over the course of a few innings, get soggier and soggier, falling apart and filling the water with soggy bits of white bread. But you couldn't give someone a hot dog with soggy bits of white bread on it, so you'd have to fish around with the tongs for one that was somehow clean. Probably steam-boiling your hand in the process.
Needless to say, I will never again buy a hot dog from any kind of stand.
Fun thing I just remembered: we of course were not supposed to eat the food. But we were allowed to drink as much fountain soda as we wanted, and there were little plastic cups for that purpose. So of course people would fill those cups with french fries, pretzels, and, at the Legal Seafoods carts, clam chowder. So that you could reasonably play dumb if you got caught by one of the senior managers on their rounds.
There were all sorts of other ways people would bend the rules, which was pretty enlightening for me as a kid entering the workforce. A few of my other favorites: we weren't supposed to take tips, but this was a new rule (the concessions had recently been bought by Aramark) and most of the people who'd been there for at least a few seasons didn't feel any need to follow it. So we'd put down paper napkins with a few coins on the counter to encourage tipping. This was supposed to be a fireable offense, but everyone did it and, AFAIK, no one ever got fired.
Also, if you were at one of the Legal Seafoods stands, you were supposed to close after the 7th inning stretch - I have no idea why. So that was definitely the best stand to get assigned to, plus free award-winning chowder. But gradually, people at the other "specialty" (ie, free-standing) stands started closing after the 7th inning too. And again, we weren't supposed to do that, but for some reason, no one ever seemed to get in trouble for it.
So then you'd get to go out into the actual stands, and watch the end of the game (as long as you took off your uniform first). I guess these days there wouldn't even be seats, but the Red Sox were still cursed then (this was in the 90s) so you could always find a seat. I was never a huge baseball fan, but there's nothing better when you're 18 than feeling like you're getting one over on the bosses while you watch something for free on a summer day.
posted by lunasol at 1:59 PM on July 13, 2013 [29 favorites]
The same thing is happening in bowling. Used to be knowing how to score multiple strikes and spares set you apart from others. Now machines do it all for you.
posted by tommasz at 2:02 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 2:02 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
Braun is out at second for overtaking the leading runner (Segura).
No, he's out by tag. He never overtook Segura until after he'd be tagged out off his base. Since Segura didn't reach third, he still owned second (7.01) so when Braun showed up and they were both tagged, Segura was safe and Braun was out. (7.03a, which clearly states that when two are on one base, the following runner is out *when tagged*, and the 7.03b exception doesn't apply here.) If Braun could have made it back to 1st before he was tagged, he wouldn't have been out.
But that's not how you *score* the play. That's the correct ruling of the play. The umps ruled him safe (incorrectly) and thus he ended up on 1st.
See, the normal scoring system has no way to handle runners retreating once they've taken a base.
posted by eriko at 2:08 PM on July 13, 2013 [5 favorites]
No, he's out by tag. He never overtook Segura until after he'd be tagged out off his base. Since Segura didn't reach third, he still owned second (7.01) so when Braun showed up and they were both tagged, Segura was safe and Braun was out. (7.03a, which clearly states that when two are on one base, the following runner is out *when tagged*, and the 7.03b exception doesn't apply here.) If Braun could have made it back to 1st before he was tagged, he wouldn't have been out.
But that's not how you *score* the play. That's the correct ruling of the play. The umps ruled him safe (incorrectly) and thus he ended up on 1st.
See, the normal scoring system has no way to handle runners retreating once they've taken a base.
posted by eriko at 2:08 PM on July 13, 2013 [5 favorites]
I bowl (or attempt to bowl) at these ancient bowling lanes on the second floor of the Elk's Club in my neighborhood that have no scoring so everyone had to relearn how to score a game with the cards and little pencil. It's a buck fifty a game and beers are about the same price so you can't complain.
posted by octothorpe at 2:09 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 2:09 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
This non-wine person had to google moscato because in context I thought you were saying they had an official paper/pencil scorekeeper. Which would also be weird but not as weird as an official wine at a ballpark. Minor league and beer for me please.
posted by headnsouth at 2:13 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by headnsouth at 2:13 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
See, the normal scoring system has no way to handle runners retreating once they've taken a base.
cs ↚ ↔ □ ↑posted by clearly at 2:23 PM on July 13, 2013
They've sung that at every Pirates game that I've been to in the last twenty years. Do they not sing it at other ballparks?
After 9/11 they started singing God Bless America. It didn't take over the seventh inning stretch right away. I remember it happening like at the bottom of the 3rd at a Red Sox game in early 2002. Eventually they (by they I mean Boston and New York, at least) started bringing out pink-faced tenors and other melisma-addicted vocalists at the bottom of the 7th to showboat-slaughter yet another patriotic American favorite, because apparently taking five minutes to drag out "Aaaaand the rocket's uh-red glaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRREEEEEEEEEEE" was NOT ENOUGH.
I went to a home game at Fenway in May, my first in several years. I was SO HAPPY to see the seventh inning stretch has returned to its peanuts and Cracker Jack glory. Patriotism was still well-represented by a ballpark ovation for a returning veteran, who got bigger applause than any of Boston's pitching staff that night.
Some traditions should never be compromised. Peanuts, Cracker Jack, giving up a five-run lead in the ninth, those kinds of things.
posted by Spatch at 2:44 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
After 9/11 they started singing God Bless America. It didn't take over the seventh inning stretch right away. I remember it happening like at the bottom of the 3rd at a Red Sox game in early 2002. Eventually they (by they I mean Boston and New York, at least) started bringing out pink-faced tenors and other melisma-addicted vocalists at the bottom of the 7th to showboat-slaughter yet another patriotic American favorite, because apparently taking five minutes to drag out "Aaaaand the rocket's uh-red glaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRREEEEEEEEEEE" was NOT ENOUGH.
I went to a home game at Fenway in May, my first in several years. I was SO HAPPY to see the seventh inning stretch has returned to its peanuts and Cracker Jack glory. Patriotism was still well-represented by a ballpark ovation for a returning veteran, who got bigger applause than any of Boston's pitching staff that night.
Some traditions should never be compromised. Peanuts, Cracker Jack, giving up a five-run lead in the ninth, those kinds of things.
posted by Spatch at 2:44 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
My girlfriend is from Philly, and has scornfully stated that anyone who suggested something like that in her hometown would get a knife between the ribs.
I know, right? Moscato is disgusting.
I'd be much more worried if the Dodgers had an official malbec or sauvignon blanc.
Seriously I think the move toward serving things like moscato at baseball games says more about the changing tastes of the middle class more than it says about any one city being more "fancy" than another or dying traditions or anything like that.
I mean, my corner bodega sells moscato. It's not exactly an exclusive beverage.
posted by Sara C. at 2:53 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
I know, right? Moscato is disgusting.
I'd be much more worried if the Dodgers had an official malbec or sauvignon blanc.
Seriously I think the move toward serving things like moscato at baseball games says more about the changing tastes of the middle class more than it says about any one city being more "fancy" than another or dying traditions or anything like that.
I mean, my corner bodega sells moscato. It's not exactly an exclusive beverage.
posted by Sara C. at 2:53 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
In the famous "Baseball" documentary by Ken Burns, IIRC, people were complaining that "baseball wasn't what it used to be" in the 1890s. Change is nothing new.
"Nobody ran in from the bullpen. I don’t think we could’ve made it. We all smoked."
Wow. How times change.
posted by Melismata at 3:05 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
"Nobody ran in from the bullpen. I don’t think we could’ve made it. We all smoked."
Wow. How times change.
posted by Melismata at 3:05 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
The God Bless America trend is especially weird at Blue Jays games. They normally don't play it during the seventh inning stretch (instead we get this monstrosity and then Take Me Out to the Ballgame).
But one year MLB decided every team was going to play God Bless America on opening day. And the Jays had a home game that day. They had to bring out a beloved former Lieutenant-Governor first to convince the crowd not to boo.
posted by thecjm at 3:07 PM on July 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
But one year MLB decided every team was going to play God Bless America on opening day. And the Jays had a home game that day. They had to bring out a beloved former Lieutenant-Governor first to convince the crowd not to boo.
posted by thecjm at 3:07 PM on July 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
eriko: "Example. Score this play."
I knew exactly which play this was going to be bnefore I clicked the link. I thought of the same thing myself.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:23 PM on July 13, 2013
I knew exactly which play this was going to be bnefore I clicked the link. I thought of the same thing myself.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:23 PM on July 13, 2013
Festival seating in the bleachers with a wild dash when the gate opened for $2. Only $1 if you bought your ticket at the local grocery store. Roaming beyond the left field wall at exhibition stadium with a glove hoping to catch a homer but never getting one. When we sat down we did scoring. That was baseball.
The dome still feels like cheating to me.
posted by srboisvert at 3:26 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
The dome still feels like cheating to me.
posted by srboisvert at 3:26 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
I would be a fan of any baseball team whose official moscato was Judah Moscato
posted by vorpal bunny at 3:35 PM on July 13, 2013
posted by vorpal bunny at 3:35 PM on July 13, 2013
When the company I worked for released version 6.4.3, I wanted them to call it the "Double Play" edition. Unfortunately no one got it.
posted by tservo at 3:37 PM on July 13, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by tservo at 3:37 PM on July 13, 2013 [9 favorites]
Official Moscato? Robotic Ty Cobb is very angry
So...it didn't affect him one way or the other, then?
posted by yoink at 3:38 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
So...it didn't affect him one way or the other, then?
posted by yoink at 3:38 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
When I was a kid I would keep score for about two innings before starting in on my imaginary games. Often by the fifth I'd be well into extras, which more than once caused great distress among my neighbors. One of my most vivid memories of the ballpark from that age—there aren't too many for someone whose first Pirates game was in 1994—was the day I sat by an old woman who had come in her Sunday clothes, complete with blue hat. She would look over at my scorecard every inning break and give a pronounced "oh my." The entire game became an exercise in seeing how much weight I could get her to give those words. It culminated in what looked to be a routine 5-4-3 triple play ball hit by pinch hitter Midre Cummings—this kind of thing had, by the eleventh at least, become routine—end in a Cummings run after four successive throwing errors on the play. That got a particularly good "oh my." It was quite an occasion.
Unlike the game, in all likelihood.
posted by mcoo at 3:46 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
Unlike the game, in all likelihood.
posted by mcoo at 3:46 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
Scoring still happens.
Last Mariners game I went to last year, I sat by a couple of little old ladies. They were both pals, and also Season Ticket holders. They had their matching iPads with them, with baseball scoring statistician software loaded up that looked so complex that I'm sure it could be used by insurance companies to set their actuarial tables.
They had a grand old time at the game, whereas I seriously missed the frenzied, kinetic energy of soccer.
posted by spinifex23 at 3:55 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Last Mariners game I went to last year, I sat by a couple of little old ladies. They were both pals, and also Season Ticket holders. They had their matching iPads with them, with baseball scoring statistician software loaded up that looked so complex that I'm sure it could be used by insurance companies to set their actuarial tables.
They had a grand old time at the game, whereas I seriously missed the frenzied, kinetic energy of soccer.
posted by spinifex23 at 3:55 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Los Angeles Dodgers (my local team) have an offical moscato.
As the first team to integrate African-American players, the Dodgers get a pass. In fact, this (among other factors, but integration outweighing almost everything else) means the Dodgers are the greatest team in the sport.
The Red Sox (first Black player signed more than a decade later) are therefore the worst team, and if they ever get an official Moscato, they shall be mocked mercilessly. By the way, your girlfriend's team may have fans with knives, but they were third-to-last in integration, 10 years after the Dodgers.
posted by cell divide at 3:57 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
As the first team to integrate African-American players, the Dodgers get a pass. In fact, this (among other factors, but integration outweighing almost everything else) means the Dodgers are the greatest team in the sport.
The Red Sox (first Black player signed more than a decade later) are therefore the worst team, and if they ever get an official Moscato, they shall be mocked mercilessly. By the way, your girlfriend's team may have fans with knives, but they were third-to-last in integration, 10 years after the Dodgers.
posted by cell divide at 3:57 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
I keep thinking about keeping score at games. Definitely would go with paper and pencil over the phone though. I spend enough time fiddling with electronics as it is.
Xurando: "I'm not sure if this is still a baseball tradition ?"
Still a 7th inning stretch tradition at Mariners games, followed by Louie Louie. Iirc, they break out GBA for holidays like the 4th of July and Memorial day.
posted by calamari kid at 3:58 PM on July 13, 2013
Xurando: "I'm not sure if this is still a baseball tradition ?"
Still a 7th inning stretch tradition at Mariners games, followed by Louie Louie. Iirc, they break out GBA for holidays like the 4th of July and Memorial day.
posted by calamari kid at 3:58 PM on July 13, 2013
Hot dogs and beer: See what $20 buys at the ball park
3 14 oz. beers and 5 hot dogs in Arizona.
1 12 oz. beer and 2 hot dogs in Boston.
posted by notmtwain at 4:09 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
3 14 oz. beers and 5 hot dogs in Arizona.
1 12 oz. beer and 2 hot dogs in Boston.
posted by notmtwain at 4:09 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Score that play? Easy 1-5 put out on Braun. You're over thinking it. Pitcher threw to 3rd baseman. 3rd baseman tagged him out.
Segura does cause a small issue. But since it's not something that should be allowed to happen I'd do something like (| with the curve being a return to 1st and a footnote, or (|) with a footnote if he got to 2nd again.
As far as scoring goes, the exact rule is pretty much irrelevant. Especially since you're allowed to have 2 people on the same base until the defence does something about it. For example, pop up or fly ball high enough that the batter can reach 1st with a runner on. That runner doesn't have to go for 2nd while the ball is in the air. Until it's caught or not caught both runners can be on 1st. But with that you're also in a situation where if it's caught the batter is out (so it doesn't matter) and if it's not the runner on first then has to go for 2nd (forced advancement with no empty bases behind you and a batter that's now a baserunner and all that fun stuff).
posted by theichibun at 4:09 PM on July 13, 2013
Segura does cause a small issue. But since it's not something that should be allowed to happen I'd do something like (| with the curve being a return to 1st and a footnote, or (|) with a footnote if he got to 2nd again.
As far as scoring goes, the exact rule is pretty much irrelevant. Especially since you're allowed to have 2 people on the same base until the defence does something about it. For example, pop up or fly ball high enough that the batter can reach 1st with a runner on. That runner doesn't have to go for 2nd while the ball is in the air. Until it's caught or not caught both runners can be on 1st. But with that you're also in a situation where if it's caught the batter is out (so it doesn't matter) and if it's not the runner on first then has to go for 2nd (forced advancement with no empty bases behind you and a batter that's now a baserunner and all that fun stuff).
posted by theichibun at 4:09 PM on July 13, 2013
I'm not sure if this is still a baseball tradition ?
posted by Xurando
I'm not sure if you're joking or not, but if not, yes. Here at Nationals games, they play Take Me Out to the Ballgame followed by Take on Me in honor of Mike Morse (who is now a Mariner.) At least it's our own tradition, unlike the Sweet Caroline stage we went through early on.
posted by bijou243 at 4:10 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Xurando
I'm not sure if you're joking or not, but if not, yes. Here at Nationals games, they play Take Me Out to the Ballgame followed by Take on Me in honor of Mike Morse (who is now a Mariner.) At least it's our own tradition, unlike the Sweet Caroline stage we went through early on.
posted by bijou243 at 4:10 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Actually I think in Philly they've graduated from shanking to puking all over your kids.
posted by Brocktoon at 4:15 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Brocktoon at 4:15 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
Quoth spinifex23: "...the frenzied, kinetic energy of soccer."
I've heard rumours of such a thing, but never seen any evidence to support them.
posted by HillbillyInBC at 4:21 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
I've heard rumours of such a thing, but never seen any evidence to support them.
posted by HillbillyInBC at 4:21 PM on July 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
The thing in the Segura play that made the scoring weird wasn't that play, but the play before it (Segura stealing second) and the play after it (Segura caught attempted to steal second). Somebody looking at that in a scorebook, without any rules-legitimate explanation to be found, is going to be quite confused.
I wonder how prevalent scoring at a game ever really was. When I was a kid I used to do it (lackadaisically), which was helped by the fact that we bought a program that had a scorecard in it. As an adult, even pre-smartphone, I never did. But TV and radio announcers (at least for the Brewers, who account for most of what I see and hear) still talk about scoring a lot, and seem to make a point of providing the official score for any play that's even a little bit complicated or ambiguous.
posted by aaronetc at 4:48 PM on July 13, 2013
I wonder how prevalent scoring at a game ever really was. When I was a kid I used to do it (lackadaisically), which was helped by the fact that we bought a program that had a scorecard in it. As an adult, even pre-smartphone, I never did. But TV and radio announcers (at least for the Brewers, who account for most of what I see and hear) still talk about scoring a lot, and seem to make a point of providing the official score for any play that's even a little bit complicated or ambiguous.
posted by aaronetc at 4:48 PM on July 13, 2013
According to my dad, getting rid of Nickel Beer Night was probably a good idea at the old Texas Ranger stadium. Too many fights.
posted by emjaybee at 4:58 PM on July 13, 2013
posted by emjaybee at 4:58 PM on July 13, 2013
I see scorers all the time at Safeco. Once this year I sat by a nineteen year old girl who out-baseballed every single person in our section while carefully running her score. It was awesome, she knew all kinds of crazy stuff, the kind of things you normally expect to learn about from Joe Random-Grizzledvet.
posted by mwhybark at 5:23 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mwhybark at 5:23 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
I've heard rumours of such a thing, but never seen any evidence to support them.
She's referring to the fans.
posted by mwhybark at 5:25 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
She's referring to the fans.
posted by mwhybark at 5:25 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
The God Bless America trend is especially weird at Blue Jays games. They normally don't play it during the seventh inning stretch (instead we get this monstrosity and then Take Me Out to the Ballgame).
I have been doing aerobics to OK Blue Jays at game for more than 25 years so I'll thank you not to besmirch my dated 80s traditions.
And as I always point out in baseball threads on the blue, the one tradition that is still going strong is Vin Scully calling baseball games. I stayed up late last night in the east coast to watch the Dodgers game solely because of him. He told a story about a line-up card snafu from a game at freakin' Ebbets Field in his first season!!
The man has covered Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Hank Aaron's 715th home run, Reggie Jackson, Fernando Valenzuela, the ball going through Bill Buckner's legs, Kirk Gibson hitting a home run on no legs, Manny Ramirez, Bryce Harper (his first big league game was in LA), and Yasiel Puig. When he retires, they might as well retire the word "tradition" with him.
posted by dry white toast at 5:29 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
I have been doing aerobics to OK Blue Jays at game for more than 25 years so I'll thank you not to besmirch my dated 80s traditions.
And as I always point out in baseball threads on the blue, the one tradition that is still going strong is Vin Scully calling baseball games. I stayed up late last night in the east coast to watch the Dodgers game solely because of him. He told a story about a line-up card snafu from a game at freakin' Ebbets Field in his first season!!
The man has covered Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Hank Aaron's 715th home run, Reggie Jackson, Fernando Valenzuela, the ball going through Bill Buckner's legs, Kirk Gibson hitting a home run on no legs, Manny Ramirez, Bryce Harper (his first big league game was in LA), and Yasiel Puig. When he retires, they might as well retire the word "tradition" with him.
posted by dry white toast at 5:29 PM on July 13, 2013 [3 favorites]
Actually I think in Philly they've graduated from shanking to puking all over your kids.
posted by Brocktoon at 7:15 PM
AY OH! I'll have you know that jerkoff was from Jersey!
posted by orme at 6:04 PM on July 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Brocktoon at 7:15 PM
AY OH! I'll have you know that jerkoff was from Jersey!
posted by orme at 6:04 PM on July 13, 2013 [4 favorites]
I wonder how prevalent scoring at a game ever really was. When I was a kid I used to do it (lackadaisically), which was helped by the fact that we bought a program that had a scorecard in it. As an adult, even pre-smartphone, I never did. But TV and radio announcers (at least for the Brewers, who account for most of what I see and hear) still talk about scoring a lot, and seem to make a point of providing the official score for any play that's even a little bit complicated or ambiguous.
I think it depends where you are. You can't buy a scorecard at an A's game (or at least you couldn't 2006ish), though I think there's one in the program. You can't in Atlanta, either. You can at the Cubs game. (In fact, I think they did away with Cubs Quarterly, which was the program. You can buy the media guide (which I think has been renamed), Vine Line (a magazine you can actually subscribe to) or a scorecard (which has been dressed up as a little program--it's like four pages with a scorecard in the middle). There aren't many people keeping score at Cubs games, but I'm usually able to at least spot a few other people, which wasn't the case in Oakland (though I went to some pretty sparsely-attended games) or Atlanta (where I've been once).
posted by hoyland at 6:07 PM on July 13, 2013
I think it depends where you are. You can't buy a scorecard at an A's game (or at least you couldn't 2006ish), though I think there's one in the program. You can't in Atlanta, either. You can at the Cubs game. (In fact, I think they did away with Cubs Quarterly, which was the program. You can buy the media guide (which I think has been renamed), Vine Line (a magazine you can actually subscribe to) or a scorecard (which has been dressed up as a little program--it's like four pages with a scorecard in the middle). There aren't many people keeping score at Cubs games, but I'm usually able to at least spot a few other people, which wasn't the case in Oakland (though I went to some pretty sparsely-attended games) or Atlanta (where I've been once).
posted by hoyland at 6:07 PM on July 13, 2013
I've heard rumours of such a thing, but never seen any evidence to support them.
Come with me to a Sounders match, and stand in the Supporter's Section, and I'm sure you'll change your tune. Even if the play on the pitch is dull, the action in the stands certainly isn't.
posted by spinifex23 at 6:33 PM on July 13, 2013
Come with me to a Sounders match, and stand in the Supporter's Section, and I'm sure you'll change your tune. Even if the play on the pitch is dull, the action in the stands certainly isn't.
posted by spinifex23 at 6:33 PM on July 13, 2013
dry white toast: the one tradition that is still going strong is Vin Scully calling baseball games. I stayed up late last night in the east coast to watch the Dodgers game solely because of him. He told a story about a line-up card snafu from a game at freakin' Ebbets Field in his first season!!
Just finished watching the Dodger game tonight (Dodgers beat Rockies 1-0) and Scully is sorely missing when they're shown on Fox. It's just not the same.
posted by fishmasta at 6:43 PM on July 13, 2013
Just finished watching the Dodger game tonight (Dodgers beat Rockies 1-0) and Scully is sorely missing when they're shown on Fox. It's just not the same.
posted by fishmasta at 6:43 PM on July 13, 2013
> Come with me to a Sounders match, and stand in the Supporter's Section
In Portland, the north section's GA area is where our supporters stand and chant during the entire match. This is serious business and a wall of sound if you are sitting across from them.
posted by mrzarquon at 6:43 PM on July 13, 2013
In Portland, the north section's GA area is where our supporters stand and chant during the entire match. This is serious business and a wall of sound if you are sitting across from them.
posted by mrzarquon at 6:43 PM on July 13, 2013
I kept score at the Cubs-Mets game at Citi Field a couple weeks ago, and noticed several people around me also keeping score. They (we) were all Cubs fans. :-)
posted by ariel_caliban at 7:01 PM on July 13, 2013
posted by ariel_caliban at 7:01 PM on July 13, 2013
Well, to be fair, they are pretty unhealthy and people seem to catch on. Really, they are really unhealthy.
posted by foodnstuff at 7:22 PM on July 13, 2013
posted by foodnstuff at 7:22 PM on July 13, 2013
They sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" here in Chicago, at both parks. Cubs still have the guest conductors, Sox just have an organ. They sing "God Bless America" followed by "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" during the stretch on Sundays and national holidays.
Scorekeeping is one of those things I want to learn, but haven't yet.
posted by SisterHavana at 7:39 PM on July 13, 2013
Scorekeeping is one of those things I want to learn, but haven't yet.
posted by SisterHavana at 7:39 PM on July 13, 2013
I was at a AAA game last night and I was struck by how many people were keeping score: 6 different people by my count.
One of many reasons minor league games are always better in person than big league games.
Also, - as a radio play-by-play lover of Red Sox games (bring back Troop!), I'd like it if they could have a web simulcast where they could show us how they scored a play, and we could click on it to hear the play call.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:01 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
One of many reasons minor league games are always better in person than big league games.
Also, - as a radio play-by-play lover of Red Sox games (bring back Troop!), I'd like it if they could have a web simulcast where they could show us how they scored a play, and we could click on it to hear the play call.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:01 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
FWIW, as someone who adored baseball as a kid, whenever I read something like the reviews of that new Yankees stadium with all the zillion dollar Food Network garbage in it...it just makes me even less interested in the MLB. You know what? A few years ago we lived in Pittsburgh, and we went to PNC Park all the time. The Pirates don't win, but it's a nice clean modern park with good facilities but no silly extra garbage, and a ticket generally costs you the same price as a ticket to a chain movie theater. Oh yeah and they have good old fashioned hot dogs, which with a soda will cost you less than that ticket.
posted by trackofalljades at 8:25 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by trackofalljades at 8:25 PM on July 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
a ticket generally costs you the same price as a ticket to a chain movie theater.
There are very few places where this is true, I think. Certainly not Wrigley Field. I'm about 95% sure it's not true in Minneapolis either, but I haven't checked ticket prices that recently. They might get down as far as $15, but that's still more than a movie.
posted by hoyland at 8:37 PM on July 13, 2013
There are very few places where this is true, I think. Certainly not Wrigley Field. I'm about 95% sure it's not true in Minneapolis either, but I haven't checked ticket prices that recently. They might get down as far as $15, but that's still more than a movie.
posted by hoyland at 8:37 PM on July 13, 2013
God knows how the Twins price their tickets. They've got some "demand-based pricing" system that probably just boils down to breaking the games into price tiers, but I didn't find an actual price chart. $13 tickets exist Tuesday night this week against KC.
posted by hoyland at 8:43 PM on July 13, 2013
posted by hoyland at 8:43 PM on July 13, 2013
Some more digging reveals that the Twins have given themselves a mechanism to jack up ticket prices mid-season if they're any good.
posted by hoyland at 8:46 PM on July 13, 2013
posted by hoyland at 8:46 PM on July 13, 2013
Come with me to a Sounders match, and stand in the Supporter's Section, and I'm sure you'll change your tune.
I wrote a long "Emperor's New Clothes" joke but it fell apart on me. Anyhow, the ending...
"The yankee is right! Soccer's boring! It's true!"
posted by codswallop at 9:25 PM on July 13, 2013
On the topic of the wretched new tradition of playing God Bless America before the 7th inning stretch (which seems to happen at about a third or so of the games I attend), here is a nice essay.
posted by exogenous at 9:48 PM on July 13, 2013
posted by exogenous at 9:48 PM on July 13, 2013
Some more digging reveals that the Twins have given themselves a mechanism to jack up ticket prices mid-season if they're any good.
If ticket prices were based on performance we should be walking into that Twins stadium for free right now.
posted by Xurando at 4:02 AM on July 14, 2013
If ticket prices were based on performance we should be walking into that Twins stadium for free right now.
posted by Xurando at 4:02 AM on July 14, 2013
Currently the upper grandstand tickets for a Pirates game are $12 for adults and $7 for kids.
posted by octothorpe at 6:06 AM on July 14, 2013
posted by octothorpe at 6:06 AM on July 14, 2013
PNC Park is a great place to see a game -- if you like baseball at all and are in Pittsburgh for a game, you should totally go. The cheap tickets still get you an excellent view. Coors Field's also pretty good in ticket value.
On the whole, though, if you're in a city with a minor league team, you're probably going to have better experiences all around.
posted by asperity at 9:58 PM on July 14, 2013
On the whole, though, if you're in a city with a minor league team, you're probably going to have better experiences all around.
posted by asperity at 9:58 PM on July 14, 2013
Fenway Park now adds scoring to the batter's info on the big screen. They use a pretty standard method, 6-3 for out at first by a throw from the SS. A single on a line drive to center would be marked by a line to first and the notation L8, which of course if it were a line drive out would just be scored L8.
Where I always mess up is what happens after a runner is on base. He advances to 2nd...was that a steal, a hit, a balk...
posted by Gungho at 1:57 PM on July 15, 2013
Where I always mess up is what happens after a runner is on base. He advances to 2nd...was that a steal, a hit, a balk...
posted by Gungho at 1:57 PM on July 15, 2013
Gungho, if I understand you correctly, that sounds like a fielder's choice.
posted by exogenous at 4:16 PM on July 15, 2013
posted by exogenous at 4:16 PM on July 15, 2013
Ah, that's another option. What I meant was after a batter reaches first, and you make the notation how do you amend that to indicate how he got advanced?
posted by Gungho at 7:15 AM on July 16, 2013
posted by Gungho at 7:15 AM on July 16, 2013
My girlfriend is from Philly, and has scornfully stated that anyone who suggested something like that in her hometown would get a knife between the ribs
You know, I'm proud of my Philly surliness, and particularly when we take our show on the road, but Dodgers fans do have some history of escalating their bad stadium behavior way beyond throwing batteries and related lulz. Well, there was that one time...
Really, though. There are violent shitheads lurking within every team's fanbase, and Philly is mostly just picked on by lazy writers for worthless magazines looking to fill some space between their vapid advertorials.
posted by snottydick at 9:01 AM on July 16, 2013
You know, I'm proud of my Philly surliness, and particularly when we take our show on the road, but Dodgers fans do have some history of escalating their bad stadium behavior way beyond throwing batteries and related lulz. Well, there was that one time...
Really, though. There are violent shitheads lurking within every team's fanbase, and Philly is mostly just picked on by lazy writers for worthless magazines looking to fill some space between their vapid advertorials.
posted by snottydick at 9:01 AM on July 16, 2013
trackofalljades: "The Pirates don't win"
Check the standings.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:43 AM on July 30, 2013 [2 favorites]
Check the standings.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:43 AM on July 30, 2013 [2 favorites]
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