A Baseball Record Worth Caring About
Sunday evening I was fortunate to see the end of the Cubs-Mets game in which Tom Glavine won his 300th Major League Baseball game.
Glavine became the 23rd pitcher in baseball history to accomplish the feat.
It's hard to believe that Glavine is still pitching...my husband and I had a Rotisserie Baseball team for a couple years in the late '80s, and he was on our team. And here he is two decades later, winning No. 300.
Glavine said, "I got a voicemail from Sandy Koufax. It doesn't get much cooler than that."
Indeed. :)
As for That Other Record set tonight, my memories are of Vin Scully, Al Downing, and Hank Aaron hitting No. 715 into the bullpen. And in my heart, that's where the home run record will stay.
posted by Laura @ 10:18 PM
2 Comments:
The REAL baseball story for your concern is that Orange County health inspectors have determined that Angel Stadium is a cesspool of vermin infestation.
In over 400 inspections since 2005, filthy rats and vermin were observed around food vending stations 25% of the time in very explicit violations of health codes. These findings are quite shocking.
Apparently the price-gouging at major league games doesn't lend itself to tying up trash bags and protecting the health of fans. Putting it another way, the owners don't give a rat's behind about the fans except for picking their pockets.
Granted, the problem at Angel Stadium is apparently more severe than Dodger Stadium and other Southern California baseball venues.
But you know that 25% code violation rate is proably closer to 50% and the problem is widespread. Like carnival workers who view the customers as "lot lice," pro sports has a general contempt for the average fan is that pretty well-known by insiders.
PROTEST BASEBALL!!! Until the owners clean up their act, spend your entertainment dollar elsewhere. You've seen idiots run after a ball a million times; how about going to Radio Shack and buying a science kit for your amusement?
Well, I think we can have more than one baseball story of concern at a time, rather than one "real" story (grin). I do agree that the vermin problems at the Big A are shocking, though I don't think I'd go so far as to boycott the games -- I'd just boycott the food, LOL.
Infestations at Dodger Stadium and Petco Park in San Diego are negligible compared to Anaheim Stadium; those two stadiums had a combined total of 9 infestations compared to 118 for the Big A in the same time frame.
Apparently the biggest reason for the problem in Anaheim is that they have been waiting until the next morning to clean up after games, rather than starting immediately; it seems like a no-brainer that if you leave food sitting out in the stands all night long, you're going to attract trouble. I suspect Anaheim management was trying to avoid paying the higher hourly rates of a graveyard shift, which was obviously a poor decision, and it's confounding that they haven't acted more quickly as the problem became apparent over the last couple years, especially given what they are likely now paying in terms of trying to rein in the problem and the loss of customer goodwill.
Another issue, though, is on the fan side: I've never understood the longstanding practice of leaving food under seats in either sports stadiums or movie theaters. Peanut shells left on the ground at the ballpark are one thing, but why leave all the other trash sitting there? Between innings, someone in our family takes our food trash to a trash can when we're at the ballpark. It may be "tradition" to deposit food trash under seats, and also the stadiums may need to do more to provide promptly emptied trash receptacles, but maybe fans could do their part to help solve the problem by not showing such "contempt" for the venue where they are a guest?
Best wishes,
Laura
Post a Comment
<< Home