No, this is not a deep essay on how wonderful baseball is. I will leave those to George Will and Bob Costas (although I agree with everything they write on the subject). Instead, here are a few thoughts — mostly pet peeves — that came to me while watching the Atlanta Braves vs. the Washington Nationals on Sunday and the Milwaukee Brewers vs. the Chicago Cubs on Monday, and while following the Tampa Bay Rays vs. the Baltimore Orioles through MLB’s gameday on-line that gives pitch-by-pitch updates.

  • The Orioles are horrible again this year. The only thing that allows me to keep going as a Baltimore fan is my love for the city and the practice I have had waiting for Jesus to return.
  • People all over Nationals Park were taking pictures with their digital cameras to catch the first pitch, the first home run, the first player to score, etc. Flashes were going off all over the place. Don’t people realize that the flashes on most cameras are only powerful enough to light things within 15–20 feet? Every flash going off in the park was absolutely useless. Now, if it was only a question of wasting batteries, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. But when the flash goes off, a digital camera expects thing to be lit fairly brightly and reduces its sensitivity normally. When the flash distance is too large, all this does is make the picture dimmer. If the people took the time to read their manuals (or perhaps a good book on digital photography) they would learn that turning the flash off would cause the camera to adjust to the actual light down on the field, thereby resulting in better pictures. Some people don’t deserve technology.
  • Eric Gagne really, really needs to shave.
  • The only thing that keeps the Tampa Bay Rays’s name change from being the stupidest ever is the fact that the Angles became the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last year. And do they really think abandoning teal for blue will turn them into a winning team? Or is this just a cynical marketing ploy?
  • Teams that began more recently than the 1970s should not be allowed to wear pinstripes.
  • Players who wear baggy uniforms look really stupid. You make millions of dollars a year; you shouldn’t dress like a fourteen-year-old.
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