Bitching about Pitching

It's Tuesday morning as I write this. And while the rest of America sits on the edge of their seats tonight to see who wins the governor's race in Virginia, I'll be tippling my Bulleit Whiskey and watching the World Series Game 6.

I'll also be grumbling to myself about how things, almost everything, like baseball, politics, advertising, movies, were all better "back in my day."

My gripe about baseball, and in this World Series in particular, are many. For one thing, I don't really care who wins this series. I rarely have a dog in this fight. It's only when the Dodgers or a team from NYC gets in, does it really matter. And this year, let's face it, it's not the Astros vs. the Braves, it's the Cheaters vs. the Racists.

My other peeve is the Pitcher situation. I have no idea who the Astros are sending to the mound tonight. And I only know the Braves starter because he's MOT -- Member of the Tribe. In fact, we have three Jews playing tonight -- Max Fried, Alex Bregman and the pearl-donning Joc Pederson.

As a lifelong fan of the game, I miss when teams had starting pitchers who were household names. It defined the World Series in a different way. 

McNally vs. Drysdale 

Billingham vs. Blue Moon Odom (great name)

Morris vs. Smoltz

Even if there were just one guy on the mound, guys like:

Seaver

Ryan

Valenzuela

Herschiser

Gibson

Clemens

Guidry

Petit

Glavine

Maddux

Johnson

I don't know anyone who stands out now. Mostly because they're never in the game long enough to establish themselves as stars. Now you have managers sending out relievers to start a game. It's wrong in the same way it was wrong for ad agencies to make people sit at the Long Tables of Mediocrity™. 

OK, that metaphor is a bit strained. The point is I don't like it.

Nor do I understand it. The other night, one of the cheaters or racists had a No-Hitter going into the 5th inning. A no hitter in the World Series! That's rating's gold. I would tell you the name of the pitcher, but to my earlier point, I simply forgot. Or more accurately, never knew.

When the 6th inning came around the pitcher got pulled. 

SFX--Record Scratch.

In the ad world that would be the equivalent of creating, developing, casting, and shooting a mammoth Super Bowl spot and then handing it off to a pair of juniors to do the edit and finish. It's wrong and I'm not ashamed to say it's wrong.

Know what else I miss? 

Managers running from the dugout to swear/spit on the umpire and kick dirt on home plate.

OK, I'll step off my old timey soapbox now.