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The Spectacle Blog
Opening Night in MLB has come and gone. I was talking over the phone with my Dad as the Miami Marlins unveiled their new ballpark by hosting the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. Redbirds starter Kyle Lohse tossed six innings of no-hit ball. As the game entered the bottom of the seventh, I told Dad, “I wonder when the announcers will mention that Bob Feller threw a no-hitter on Opening Day in 1940.”
Moments later, right on cue. there was the graphic indicating Feller did indeed throw an Opening Day no-hitter on April 16, 1940 against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. A couple of moments, also on cue, Lohse surrendered a single to Jose Reyes. Rapid Robert still stands alone. Nevertheless, Lohse got the W as the Cards beat the Marlins 4-1.
Baseball is back. I couldn’t be happier.
View all comments (19) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/04/04/reason-5714-why-i-love-basebal
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Bill| 4.5.12 @ 12:10AM
Rays or Marlins, or nada!
Bob| 4.5.12 @ 1:31AM
Man I loved that game, even if the Marlins lost. I can't get enough of Marlins Park.
Luckily I'll get my regularly scheduled broadcasters tomorrow. ESPN just sucks for watching baseball games.
BartonSmith| 4.5.12 @ 2:02AM
I want to go to a baseball game with Aaron Goldstein as my guest.
And I'd like Tim McCarver sitting on my other side, but I'll let him pay for his own ticket because I think he has plenty of money.
That would be heaven.
Will| 4.5.12 @ 8:47AM
I managed to catch opening night from the Miami Fruitbowl. Psych-ward paint and the Chucky Cheese monument in centerfield aside, it was a good game. Great to see Matheny get his first win as a rookie skipper. Missed Bobby V's commentary on the astonishingly lackluster effort by the ultra high-priced infield. Francona drooling over the wretched Selig, very bad form. Townies and Tigers at 1pm, set the DVAH.
Bob Grant| 4.5.12 @ 8:59AM
It's all well and good that baseball's starting back up (I prefer it when the weather begins to cool, not the opposite), you sports fans are keeping the eye off the real ball:
Soccer. Specifically, UEFA Champions League Semi Finals, which begin this month!
Bayern Munich VS. Real Madrid
Chelsea VS. Barcelona
The Battle of the European leagues. La Liga VS. English Premier League VS. Bundesliga.
Who will prevail? You guys will never know because you will be watching baseball games which will have little or no impact on the post season.
If your cable company doesn't have FOX Soccer/Fox Soccer Plus, I suggest you tell them to offer it NOW!!
Steve A| 4.5.12 @ 11:29AM
Hey Bob, Gee let me think...... Should I tune in to La Liga vs. English Premier or watch Verlander pump 100mph heaters on the black to Adrian Gonzalez in Detroit on opening day with Bobby V. at the helm & Prince Fielder launching 475' homeruns??? Tough call
Bob Grant| 4.5.12 @ 2:45PM
You're right. That IS exciting. No question. The problem is you have to sit through an hour plus of excruciating boredom (plus, up close shots of guys "adjusting themselves" and spitting...in HD!!) to get to that 5 seconds of enjoyment.
Le Cracquere| 4.5.12 @ 9:18AM
Best of all, nobody hit one out. I was dreading a performance from Miami's new "outfield feature."
Bob Grant| 4.5.12 @ 9:31AM
Speaking of Marlin's Park, the funding for it stinks to high heaven. A circuit judge decided funding would not be determined by a voter referendum but by a small group of county commissioners. THEY decided the county would take on an additional 350 million dollars of additional debt in horrible economic conditions. This brilliant decision was made in early 2009, at the height of the financial meltdown.
Corporate welfare, crony crapitalism, incompetence by a small group of local "leaders".
This kind of "brilliant" decision making was what got Greece and California in trouble in the first place.
Unbelievable!
Casey Abell| 4.5.12 @ 12:03PM
Bob, we get the idea. You love soccer, hate baseball. Of course, a lot of soccer stadiums have been built with public financing throughout the world. If the folks in Miami figure they got a raw deal, they can vote the county commissioners out of office.
Anyhoo, the game was pretty routine. The park looks like another pitcher's park, which is probably the last thing baseball needs right now. I get the feeling that the big decline in baseball offense - five straight years and counting- will continue in 2012.
Bob| 4.6.12 @ 1:38AM
That's no problem for the Marlins with someone like Stanton.
Steve A| 4.5.12 @ 12:44PM
I think you are right on, Casey. It looks like you need a cannon to jack one out of there. Take away the roids & now, suddenly, every team has 5 guys thrownig 95 mph plus & you get an offensive decline. I actually think it is a plus.
Casey Abell| 4.5.12 @ 1:48PM
"Take away the roids & now, suddenly, every team has 5 guys thrownig 95 mph plus & you get an offensive decline. I actually think it is a plus."
I think it's definitely a minus, as the attendance figures and TV ratings indicate, but that's a matter of opinion.
But I really don't think steroid testing explains the huge drop in offense. After all, lots of pitchers used steroids, too. As late as 2007 offense was at a robust 9.6 runs per game, several years after steroid testing started.
It's the strike zone, IMO. The strikeout/walk ratio hit an all-time high last year, an almost ridiculous 2.33 K's for every BB. The hitters haven't gotten swing-happy all of a sudden. The zone has enlarged significantly, especially on the (alleged) outside corner.
Bob Grant| 4.5.12 @ 2:35PM
Casey,
I never said I "hate" baseball. My interest has, however, dwindled down to fair weather status. If my team - The Rangers - is in contention for a post season slot in September, then I'll follow them. Otherwise, I couldn't care less.
And the reason why is I don't respect the league anymore because of the player strike in '94, juiced bats and balls, and RAMPANT STEROID USE. The home run derby in the late 90's was a steroid-driven, made-for-tv production. Never again, I said.
I've come back only to the extent of how my home team is performing in late season.
With HD television enhancing the viewing enjoyment for most sports on television, I've discovered soccer fills the urge to watch a game. I don't have 3+ hours to invest watching a baseball game anyway.
A soccer match is: commercial free; over in two hours; non-stop action; drama free; skills based; and better officiated.
So no, I don't hate baseball. The thrill is simply not there like it used to be.
Now, as far as the new Marlin's stadium, the economic conditions of South Florida in '09 was abysmal! To have a handful of bureaucrats decide over tax paying citizens to take on new 350 million dollars in debt is irresponsible, to say the least.
Sure, you could vote them out but the damage is done and THEIR personal situation is not effected one iota, more than likely it's improved. If you know what I mean.
MyGirlFriday| 4.5.12 @ 2:14PM
Hubby in heaven.
PCP Smoker| 4.5.12 @ 3:19PM
What was the reason, you telling your dad about an obvious stat?
Scott Snowden| 4.5.12 @ 3:56PM
Just for the record, the A's and Mariners opened the season in Japan last week... And they say there is n o east Coast bias in sports reporting (sarc. off)
Bob| 4.6.12 @ 1:39AM
More like a New England bias.
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