This game sometimes leaves me in left field
By Beth Teitell
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Some people consider the infield-fly rule baseball's most confusing. But it's the instant replays that baffle me.
``He hit another one!'' I'll call out, as David Ortiz smacks a second homer, and then a third - and a fourth!!!!!
On some level I know that no player gets consecutive at-bats, but that's hard to remember in the heat of the moment.
Sometimes my bewilderment runs deeper, and I erupt with joy over footage showing runs the Sox scored in games that happened yesterday. Or maybe last year. ``Nomar's rounding third!'' I'll yell, pumping my fist into the air. (Fun fact: He's no longer on the team.)
Or I become upset that Manny is making the same - the exact same! - error he did just a moment ago. ``Again????'' I shout at the TV.
I know I'm supposed to look at the top of the screen for clues. If the little baseball diamond's on the left, the action's taking place now. Or maybe that means it's in the past. Why can't Fox just use sepia tones?
Endless puzzlement of this sort - it's almost like I'm on instant replay - has caused me to doubt my judgment. I no longer believe my own eyes, or ears. I was in the kitchen during a Yankees game when the radio reported Johnny Damon's grandslam.
``I think Damon just homered,'' I called out to my husband, who was watching in the living room. ``No he didn't,'' he said.
Certain I'd heard an old clip on the radio, I returned to the preparing the frozen pizza, when my husband started cheering. ``Damon just hit a grandslam.''
Am I clairvoyant? Do we have different time zones in our home? Nah. It's TiVo's fault. We'd paused the game during our older son's bedtime-stalling maneuver, and forgot we were 90 seconds behind real life.
Here's another thing I don't understand: sports radio. You turn it on in the morning, and they're talking about Alex Rodriguez slapping the ball out of whoever's hand. Fine. But then, five hours later, you tune in again, and they're still rehashing it.
The normal stations cover the world in half an hour, and on WEEI, that's barely enough time for half an inning. And I thought my friends and I were bad about going over the same stuff repeatedly.
As a rookie fan I have so many questions: Why so much spitting? Why so many paunches? If investment bankers and lawyers can stay in shape, why not professional athletes? Why are the batting helmets dirty? How come Theo's never shown on TV?
And of course, is it live, or is it Memorex?
