I started to watch the World Series tonight (What hubris we have as Americans! There is probably a team in Cuba that could clean the clocks of any team in the major leagues.) I could not believe it.

I watched all of one inning. The Red Sox looked somewhat like the teams I remember. (You see, I stopped caring about baseball when there were no more stars playing, like Curt Flood, Bob Gibson, Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal, Sandy Koufax, and Willie Mays.)

When there were only 16 major league teams, the quality of play was better across the board. Actually, I think the last real player I  watched was Pete Rose. Charlie Hustle was a baseball player you could brag about.

The news has just told me that the score was 13-1 tonight, and that is no surprise. The Colorado pitcher had a regular season ERA of over 5. Back when real baseball players played the game, this guy would have not even made it to the AA team, much less starting the 1st game of the World Series. Even in the first inning, it looked like the Boston team was playing some talented high schoolers - perhaps junior varsity.

I know this makes me sound like a cranky old guy, and I sometimes feel like one - but man…  baseball was never this bad when the players beginning wage was 10K per year. (And those guys would not have had the money for ‘juice’.)

No wonder when movies like ‘61′ are made, everyone who even has the beginning of a clue wants to watch. Mantle and Maris - yes, those were the Yankees to get excited about!

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Tags: baseball, when it was a game, the business of baseball, hall of fame, era, aa baseball