Althouse: When we sat down to watch the World Series last night, I said I wanted it to end in a specific way...

October 29, 2018

When we sat down to watch the World Series last night, I said I wanted it to end in a specific way...

... and that's exactly what happened:

Love that he fell down on his knee in that dramatic last strikeout.

Background on my loathing of Manny Machado: "Fraternizing with the enemy" (October 16), "'Anne, you are funny. The things that rile you. That's why we love you. But 'dirty?'" (October 17).

41 comments:

hawkeyedjb said...: Repeating my comment from an earlier post, because I am cranky:

Baseball, a wonderful game in person, is unwatchable on television. At every moment the ball is not actually in play, a camera is shoved in the face of someone. You can count the nose hairs on the pitcher, batter, manager. It is awful. There is never a wide shot of the field so you can see the defensive positions and shifts. There is only the camera up-the-nose. Who thought this would add to the enjoyment of a televised baseball game? Does anyone, at a live baseball game, bring binoculars in order to look up the nostrils of players, managers, coaches?; 10/29/18, 8:58 AM
Henry said...: From a Red Sox POV, it was a perfect game. David Price gets redemption. Chris Sale gets a moment.; 10/29/18, 9:01 AM
Original Mike said...: ”Love that he fell down on his knee in that dramatic last strikeout.”

Better if he had fallen down on the ass that he is.; 10/29/18, 9:02 AM
Kevin said...: Baseball, a wonderful game in person, is unwatchable on television.

Major League baseball in person has many wonderful qualities. What it does not have is any kind of view of the strike zone.; 10/29/18, 9:07 AM
Curious George said...: I switched from the basseball game after the first to SNF. Watched the Vikes lose (along with the Packers and Lions earlier) so now we have the first place Bears!; 10/29/18, 9:07 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/29/18, 9:10 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: No joy in Mudville, the mighty dirty Machado struck out. And then there was the poetic justice of Steve Pearce, the guy he spiked in Game 4, being named MVP.; 10/29/18, 9:12 AM
Kevin said...: The baseball Gods seemed to let the Dodgers keep winning so Machado could continue embarrassing himself:

Machado also drove in three runs in the 8-4 loss during Game 1 of the World Series. He later received the wrong kind of attention when Red Sox pitching coach Dana LeVangie told Bleacher Report that Machado was relaying signs from second to his teammates with David Price on the mound in Game 2 at Fenway Park. In Game 3 of the World Series, Machado admired a drive to left thinking it was a home run, only to have it hit off the wall. He was held to a single and later referred to it as embarrassing and "very, very, very, very poor baserunning by me."

"Everyone is going to have their own opinions on everything, and the only thing that matters is these 25 guys in [the clubhouse]," Machado said.

Let's check in with one of those people:

"Manny is a super talent and we all know that," teammate Chase Utley said. "Getting to know him, he's a good baseball player, and he knows what he is doing on a baseball field. I think everyone enjoyed being around him, and he made us a better team when he came over here. I imagine he's going to have a lot of options this winter."

That's some damning with faint praise right there. Those 25 guys are going to be glad to have Corey Seager back next year.; 10/29/18, 9:19 AM
Clyde said...: Machado is going to get a lot of money this offseason, but to be truthful, I'm not sure I'd want him on my team. There were a couple of times during the Series that he dogged it coming out of the box, like the ball that he hit to the wall and only got a long single out of it. Baseball players only come to the plate a few times a game. It's not too much to ask them to give full effort running to first base if they put the ball in play. Machado said that he's not a hustle kind of player. That's a flaw, and over the course of a season, it can cost you chances to score runs and win games. If I'm an owner paying a guy tens of millions of dollars per season, he damn sure better run on every play!; 10/29/18, 9:21 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Sliding into second in such a way as to try to break up a double play is an accepted part of baseball. I don't know the rules well enough about what is allowed and what is not, although Machado is certainly pushing the limits.

Spiking the heal of the first baseman, when you've already been thrown out, is not.

Machado spikes Pearce at 1st. Note that Pearce's foot was all the way on the infield edge of the bag. Machado went out of his way to do this.; 10/29/18, 9:23 AM
glenn said...: After watching the series you have to assume that the Dodger organization approves of the way Manny plays the game.; 10/29/18, 9:30 AM
Kevin said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/29/18, 9:41 AM
Kevin said...: Sliding into second in such a way as to try to break up a double play is an accepted part of baseball.

It used to be. Like all sports baseball is taking the violence out of the game. We are slowly turning every game into soccer, and it won't be long before flopping becomes a part of every professional sport.

Note how Kinsler goes around the catcher who is standing in the base path to get thrown out at home.

Neither Ray Fosse nor Pete Rose could be reached for comment...; 10/29/18, 9:43 AM
Henry said...: Watching that clip, I realized that Christian Vazquez did a Yogi Berra hug on Chris Sale.

Iconic hug here; 10/29/18, 9:52 AM
Jaq said...: The defeated look in his eye as he stepped to the plate was great too. Sorry Dodgers fans.; 10/29/18, 9:53 AM
Henry said...: Yogi Berra

Christian Vazquez; 10/29/18, 9:57 AM
Sebastian said...: "What it does not have is any kind of view of the strike zone."

Right. Is baseball the only sport where most spectators cannot see the most important part of the action?; 10/29/18, 10:06 AM
stonethrower said...: I'm still a dope.; 10/29/18, 10:10 AM
Henry said...: Right. Is baseball the only sport where most spectators cannot see the most important part of the action?

Uh, dudes. The television network draws a white box for the strike zone that you are shown on every pitch via the center field camera.

I do agree that more wide-angle shots of the field would be a good idea. It would also be good idea in football where formations play a big role.

Soccer is one of the only televised sports that widely uses wide angle views, for understandable reasons.

But for most sports most broadcasters are still locked into a pre-flatscreen idea of the screen, the intimate CRT. The emoting head closeup was always a standard for soap operas. With today's giant screens, it's time for a rethinking.; 10/29/18, 10:12 AM
CWJ said...: "Major League baseball in person has many wonderful qualities. What it does not have is any kind of view of the strike zone."

So true, except for a very very few seats. For me, the CG strike zone and pitch locator are the only pluses to watching on TV. Our seats at Kauffman are up a ways in the lower deck in a direct sight line from first base through third base. Wonderful angle from which to watch a game. Can watch the entire diamond with minimal eye and head movement.; 10/29/18, 10:19 AM
Henry said...: I stand corrected hawkeye & Sebastian. You were talking about in-person.

OTOH, in person, you do have the wide angle view.

And I would argue that in football, in stadium, almost no one can see anything.; 10/29/18, 10:22 AM
SeanF said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/29/18, 10:24 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Whoever gets Machado, I hate that team.

If it's the Brewers, I give up.; 10/29/18, 10:27 AM
JAORE said...: I was one of those kids that snuck a transistor radio into class, ran the earpiece cord down my sleeve and listened to the WS while in 6th grade class. (Yes, kiddies, the WS wasn't always scheduled around prime time TV).

I remember sitting in the old KC Athletic's stadium with Dad learning how to score the game.

I remember seeing Mantle and Maris in the outfield in that magic year of the home run race. Fantastic.

I don't even watch the WS on the tube now. Lord it takes forever with each and every batter going through a ritual.

And, yeah both the narrative and the camera work seems to ignore the game itself.

Two of our kids played high school baseball. That (can be) is still fun. Minor league baseball can be fun. The majors? No thanks.

Our youngest son was a fairly good player the couple of years he played. But he switched to basketball and soccer because baseball is SOOOOOO boring.

I suspect baseball has fallen mightily in terms of most viewed.; 10/29/18, 10:28 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "I do agree that more wide-angle shots of the field would be a good idea. It would also be good idea in football where formations play a big role."

Someone needs to invent a computerized way of taking the view of the whole field and shrinking the spaces between the players so that you have a good sized view of everything at once without everything being tiny.; 10/29/18, 10:29 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Please invent that and pay me royalties.; 10/29/18, 10:30 AM
Henry said...: Someone needs to invent a computerized way of taking the view of the whole field and shrinking the spaces between the players so that you have a good sized view of everything at once without everything being tiny.

That's called Rugby.; 10/29/18, 10:47 AM
Earnest Prole said...: Nothing says “pussy” like a grown man named “Manny.”; 10/29/18, 10:51 AM
Shane said...: The worst thing that could happen to the Phillies organization is to bring a Manny Machado into that clubhouse. They have a young, dynamic team getting some experience under their belt. Everytime I saw JD Martinez at the plate my thought was that is the kind of player, leader-by quiet example a young team of decent talent needs. But "Forget it, Jake. This is Philadelphia..."

I expect an announcement on the Phils acquisition of Machado shortly after the window can open. I expect Machado to either: 1.) be arrested; 2.) despite a new contract, hold out at spring training for more; or 3.) show up at spring training so grossly unprepared that his off-the-wall single lack of hustle will be a best case scenario throughout mid-season.; 10/29/18, 10:55 AM
mockturtle said...: The ending could not have been better scripted.; 10/29/18, 11:19 AM
Comanche Voter said...: Play hard or go away--far away. Adios to Machado. Let some other team far from Los Angeles deal with that jerk.; 10/29/18, 11:25 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Ann Althouse said...

Someone needs to invent a computerized way of taking the view of the whole field and shrinking the spaces between the players so that you have a good sized view of everything at once without everything being tiny.

The problem with that is that the spaces are every bit as important as the individual players. The decisions made by running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks would make no sense if we couldn't see the size of the open spaces.

Plus, people would probably get motion sickness watching a pass on the screen, as it sped up and slowed down when it passed between compressed and expanded portions of the screen.

Anyone who does not invent this should pay me royalties on the money they didn't waste.; 10/29/18, 11:53 AM
Jaq said...: " Lord it takes forever with each and every batter going through a ritual."

Baseball, well playoff baseball, is the most exciting sport to me, but I understand that it requires a lot of knowledge to appreciate, and people don't want to put in the time.; 10/29/18, 11:58 AM
mockturtle said...: " Lord it takes forever with each and every batter going through a ritual."

They shut be put on the clock for ritual time. Remember Nomar Garciaparra? Probably the most extreme case but Arod had his double velcro routine. Someone should compile [maybe they have] a video collection of pre-pitch batting rituals.; 10/29/18, 12:01 PM
Kevin said...: For me, the CG strike zone and pitch locator are the only pluses to watching on TV.

Ability to continue drinking beer when the game goes into extra innings, also a plus.; 10/29/18, 12:12 PM
Kevin said...: Whoever gets Machado, I hate that team.

I'm hoping it's the Yankees. Already hate them, can just crank up the intensity.

If George were still running the team, it would be a done deal.; 10/29/18, 12:15 PM
Static Ping said...: I am a Yankees fan. Please send Machado somewhere else.; 10/29/18, 1:10 PM
stonethrower said...: Ann Althouse said...

Someone needs to invent a computerized way of taking the view of the whole field and shrinking the spaces between the players so that you have a good sized view of everything at once without everything being tiny.

The solution: Transmit an image that covers the entire field of play. Don't shrink or massage anything. Instead, provide the viewer's device the capability to zoom in/out or to focus on a specific part of the larger image. Would love to rewind a football play to see the entire defensive pass coverage.; 10/29/18, 1:44 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Static Ping said...
I am a Yankees fan. Please send Machado somewhere else.

10/29/18, 1:10 PM

+1; 10/29/18, 3:06 PM
John said...: You, my wife, and probably about 1 million other people are in complete agreement on the way the last out was recorded. Maybe it is all in the name Manny... I remember Manny Ramirez had a love/hate relationship with the fans at Boston for his lack of hustle and Manny Machado has certainly not endeared himself to the fans for his spikes first slides to take out the 2nd baseman, or his lack of hustle when he is convinced his hit will be caught.

I think you can take some comfort in the probability there will be an effect on his fiscal value as he enters the free agent market.; 10/29/18, 7:08 PM
Jeff Brokaw said...: Machado is an even bigger tool than I had realized, and I cannot stand players like him.

I watched the video linked above where he purposely steps on Pearce’s foot which was not anywhere close to being in his path; trying to hurt people who are just trying to play the game is a douche move, Manny. Try to be less of a douche.

His agent is going to have a lot of awkward conversations with GMs, I suspect. But then most agents are douches too, so ...; 10/30/18, 6:25 AM