The Daily Dose/September 2, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
News from around our human experience…
Take Me Out To The Ballgame: There’s been a lot written about how America’s once national game, baseball, has changed and, for some, not for the better. We had the opportunity to investigate for ourselves this week when we were in Denver for a conference and we went to consecutive Colorado Rockies games.
Dry, Technical Matter: And you do see the difference on the field: in the two games we were at there were a combined nine home runs and 31 strikeouts, both rather common for today but totals that would have been considered high in other eras. Equally telling, the two games produced one bunt and one stolen base attempt.
You know what though? The average fan didn’t seem to care because fans have changed right along with the game. Most were there for their night’s entertainment and tonight it happened to be a Rockies game. Tomorrow it would be something else. Fans came late, had their fun, and left early.
Fly In The Ointment: But not as many fans are going to the stadium. Attendance is down throughout the big leagues and I don’t think anything on the field is the reason why. The fact is that it is very expensive to go to a single major league baseball game now. Baseball is a game that is played, and enjoyed, on a daily basis and baseball is no longer particularly affordable for working people to attend every day.
Take Wednesday night…Someone at the conference I am at scored some primo, club level seats, at no cost to us…Yay, because the ticket had cost someone $110…Not only that, the club level is exclusive meaning the mouthbreathers in the grandstand can’t bother you, meaning concession lines are shorter, a nice benefit…It was a first-class experience…It would also be an expensive one for a family of four, easily a $600 night because parking is $23 (though that includes ground transportation to the stadium) and how many families can afford that more than once or twice a season?
Strong Finishing Kick: Now, there are cheaper seats, of course, but sitting someplace besides Pikes Peak is now very expensive. Baseball has priced out the fan who in another era would have otherwise gone to a couple-three games a homestand. Instead of going to a dozen games a season they’re going to two.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow has his usual problems assembling a box. Today’s Diary.
The top I can usually figure out without drawing blood, but the box itself, good gravy, it makes me feel like an oaf…The instructions, at first, appear to be easy enuff but actually following them is another matter and I could probably assemble it quicker if I closed my eyes and put on mittens…I am generally able to get Side A folded over, but B and D always end up getting folded in directions not originally specified.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
More drivel!
Click on the button to read all of The Diary of a Nobody.
$5.99 includes all entries, past, present, and future.
On This Date
In 31 BC – The Battle of Actium, a naval battle off the western coast of Greece between Agustus – then known as Octavian – and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra is fought. It resulted in a victory for Octavian, allowing him to consolidate power and was the decisive battle in the Final War of the Roman Republic. Antony and Cleopatra fled to Alexandria, where they would eventually commit suicide. The victory is regarded by some as the beginning of the Roman Empire.
In 1962 – Ken Hubbs of the Chicago Cubs establishes a new major league record for second basemen playing in his 74th consecutive errorless game in a 3-1 loss to the Houston Colt .45s, now the Astros. Hubbs broke the record that had been established by Bobby Doerr in 1948. The record was broken in 1989 by Ryne Sandberg (123) and the record is now 141, shared by Placido Polanco (Detroit, 2007) and Darwin Barney (Chicago Cubs, 2012). Hubbs died in a plane crash in February 1964.
In 2019- After a record 20 weeks at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – now known as the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart – Old Town Road by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus falls to #2, replaced at the top by Truth Hurts by Lizzo. Earlier, the song had spent a record 19 weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, where this week it fell to #4.
Quotebook
Personally, I do not think the human mind has any limits but those we impose ourselves. Louis L’Amour
Education of a Wandering Man
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
There wasn’t a Trivia feature last time, you goofs.
Today’s Stumper
When did the Houston Colt .45s become the Astros? – Answer next time!
