By now you all know that I am hopelessly committed to the beloved, and have been my entire life. What many of you don't know is that for many years now I have had an ongoing love affair with the Dodgers of Los Angeles.
It started out in the 1960's when they used to come into Wrigley Field in their perfect baseball uniforms, perfectly coiffed hair, and another yearly rookie of the year candidate ready to help them to another World Series trip. It continued into the late 1980's when we lived in Redondo Beach and I had season tickets, to today where I still hope they do well, if the Cubs are out of it.
Their uniforms are classic, tasteful, and simple in their beauty. They have not changed at all in their long history, except to switch from "Brooklyn" to "Los Angeles" for their road greys. I would watch them in awe as a young baseball player and dream of one day playing for them, if the Cubs wouldn't sign me first.
They were all cut from the same Hollywood cloth. Short hair, no beards, good looking, the perfect ballplayer in my eyes. It just seemed like they were proud to be a Dodger, and were proud to wear their uniform.
Compare the three above to the old timers and the first thing you notice is they are a complete mess. Long hair, beards, and seemingly unfazed by the destruction of the Dodger image. I know it is a different generation and that players today move to a different beat, but jeez, could you make an effort at least?
Somewhere Walter O'Malley, Branch Rickey, and Walt Alston are rolling in their graves.
World Series prediction - The series goes seven games, and 15 innings in game seven, when the Dodgers hit a walk-off homerun to win it all.
I know MLB is fixated on speeding up the game because everyone under 40 has the attention span of a fly and they, Just. Can't. Sit. And. Enjoy. Baseball. So I have two suggestions.
First, eliminate the use of batting gloves. This will end the practice of every batter stepping out of the box to readjust them after each pitch, even when they don't swing the bat. Baseball went about 135 years without them, and some of the greatest hitters of all time never used them, so why are they so needed now?
Second, and this one has always made me wonder why, eliminate throwing the ball around after every out. I used to stand in centerfield and wonder why the infield needed to do this constantly? We outfielders never tossed it around after outs, so why the infield? A stupid custom and one that needs to end in 2021.
Whether you are a big fan of baseball, or just a casual fan, of the greatest game ever invented, you should find the time to watch this world series between the Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays. These are the two best teams in the game, this year, and it should be an epic series.
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