২৩ মার্চ, ২০২৪

"For decades, bench jockeys — also known as 'holler guys' — were a standard feature of professional baseball."

"The best and most effective bench jockeys, who may have owed their success to a fierce wit, a piercing voice or a penchant for creative slurs, could even cling to a roster spot after their actual baseball skills had so degraded that they were as useful to a team as an empty tin of chewing tobacco.... At the most basic level, talking trash raises the stakes of a competitive confrontation. It puts more on the line — like pride and possible humiliation — and that makes the outcome of the contest matter more than it otherwise would. It puts more pressure on the performances of all involved, both the talker and the target, and demands to know whether they can handle that added stress and expectation...."

Writes Rafi Kohan, in "Hey, Losers! Here’s How to Bring Baseball’s Very Boring Era to an End" (NYT). Kohan wrote a book about this: “Trash Talk: The Only Book About Destroying Your Rivals That Isn’t Total Garbage.”

Kohan never talks about politics in this column, only baseball, so I did a search for Trump and "trash talk," and I enjoyed finding "'He’s Like a Coach in a Locker Room Talking S__t': How Donald Trump Uses Trash Talk for Political Gain/Author Rafi Kohan on the role of smack talk in American political history—and where Trump fits in" (Washingtonian). Here, Kohan says:
Trump is in some ways like a professional wrestler. He’s cutting promos, he’s generating heat, he’s the carnival barker taking people into the arena to come see the show—and he’s getting voters who never turn out to show up. At one of his rallies, he’s also like a coach in a locker room talking s__t before a game. Can you believe what those guys are doing over there? Can you believe what they’re saying about us?...

When Trump talks down not just to his opponents but whole groups of American citizens, that plays into his hands. When Hillary Clinton talked about baskets of deplorables, that played into his hands, too. Politically, Trump’s trash talk tactics built up a very strong sense among his followers of this is who we are. And when people so strongly identify that way, when they so strongly identify with their leader, it becomes really hard to enforce any ideas of shame and more likely that you’ll reinforce shamelessness—because if you cast Trump out, it’s like casting yourself out....

২৬টি মন্তব্য:

rehajm বলেছেন...

Chirps

mccullough বলেছেন...

MLB has players from Korea, Japan, Germany, and various Latino countries.

Whose going to talk trash to Shohei? Many teams don’t even have a Japanese player.

Are MLB teams supposed to have translators for bench jockeys?

SteveWe বলেছেন...

Brilliant search prompt, Ann.

Bill Clinton used triangulation. Obama used (and uses) division. Hillary used shaming. Trump uses identification -- Are you the Home team?.

Deevs বলেছেন...

It's kind of funny that he uses a vague accusation of Trump talking down to whole groups of American citizens (couldn't provide one e.g. there?) followed by a specific example of Hillary Clinton denigrating an entire group of American citizens.

Joe Smith বলেছেন...

Your mother wears army boots.

That is all...

Original Mike বলেছেন...

"Your mother wears army boots."

In my neighborhood, it was combat boots.

Earnest Prole বলেছেন...

Trash talking in baseball is ill-advised due to the unwritten code that governs play, but basketball is another thing entirely. If you have an evening to kill and want it to pass mirthfully, type “Larry Bird trash talk” into YouTube.

Yancey Ward বলেছেন...

"Whose going to talk trash to Shohei? Many teams don’t even have a Japanese player."

"Your father wears a hakama, and your mom is Chinese, Ohtani!"

But do it in haiku.

Yancey Ward বলেছেন...

Trash talking doesn't really benefit you- you feel more pressure to back it up in a contest than the target does in trying to get even. It is, at best, a sideshow of entertainment. It fell out of favor in professional sports when political correctness took over television and public performances. No doubt still practiced on the playground before the boys are drugged up and gagged, but a dying art still.

robother বলেছেন...

Hillary represents the Puritan/Progressive elite ascendant since the Civil War: centralized economic power of the industrial revolution coupled with higher education institutions, which became hegemonic through broadcast media in the 20th Century. Shame is their first choice, backed by the threat of economic punishment. Trump is the only national political leader to stand up to both (so far), suggesting that average people don't have to be cowed into submission; hence the extreme measures against him.

Sebastian বলেছেন...

"Trump’s trash talk tactics built up a very strong sense among his followers of this is who we are."

Unfortunately, this coach's trashtalk, or at least the very filtered reports of it, also motivates the opposing team. He offends nice women and RINO self-regard. He is uncouth and mean. Mittens and Mike Pence disapprove.

In the end, of course, it's just a matter of numbers. In the last few cycles, Trump turned off more people than he turned out.

JAORE বলেছেন...

Is there NO topic that does not lead to Orange Man Bad? How sad.

Anyway:
Those bench jockeys must have been from a pretty long time ago.

The current MINIMUM salary in MLB is $3/4 million.

Even when MLB salaries were more rational teams had limited numbers allowed on the team. So to think a player "could even cling to a roster spot after their actual baseball skills had so degraded that they were as useful to a team as an empty tin of chewing tobacco", is a bit far etched.

Combined with they usual "everyone knows" poke at Trump, well...NYT.

Skeptical Voter বলেছেন...

Sounds like Rafi is one sandwich shy of a picnic lunch--logic wise. A guy like James Carville might lead Rafi astray if Carville walked past him dragging a hundred dollar bill. But Rafi writes for the WaPoo so he's already bought and paid for as a Dim supporter.

Rory বলেছেন...

Oddly, this NYT article from 1983 doesn't seem to mention anyone who held a roster spot only because he was a skilled bench jockey:

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/15/sports/bench-jockeying-lost-art-in-baseball.html

Rory বলেছেন...
এই মন্তব্যটি লেখক দ্বারা সরানো হয়েছে।
NorthOfTheOneOhOne বলেছেন...

Trump is in some ways like a professional wrestler. He’s cutting promos, he’s generating heat, he’s the carnival barker taking people into the arena to come see the show—and he’s getting voters who never turn out to show up.

This is true. Trump vs. Hillary went off just like a pro wrestling angle. I expect Trump learned a lot hanging around Vince McMahon and the WWE.

Leland বলেছেন...

Students at Texas A&M have this down to an art as Olsen Field.

Big Mike বলেছেন...

Just some more “gorillas in the mist” sort of reporting on Trump and his voters. They don’t understand his voters so they don’t understand what Trump is doing.

Nihimon বলেছেন...

I stopped watching the NFL years ago because of all the focus on who's kneeling and who's not. I started watching LCS (League of Legends E-Sports).

Now, LCS is focusing heavily on trash-talk - encouraging these young men to engage in it, and spending a significant amount of broadcast time reading examples from Social Media.

I'm sick of it. Maybe I'm just old, but I remember when sports were intended to develop character, not degrade it.

Butkus51 বলেছেন...

The Bidens. Joe and Mom, the floozy Doctor, son Hunter and The dog.

I can hear Biden yelling at no one in particular right now. Next weeks episode: Joe finds a new friend.

Mint pistachio.

Hunter doesnt go to court.

Joe's crazy brother stops by.

Kenny dies again. I mean Beau. (Sorry Beau RIP)

Xmas বলেছেন...

Rehajm,

I'm so sad Letterkenny ended.

Shoresy just ain't the same show.

Lance বলেছেন...

Want to make pro sports fun again? Break up the monopolies. Increase the number of teams. Stop concentrating all the talent. Allow multiple leagues that experiment with rules.

To put it another way: make moneyball impossible. Make it a game again.

Mason G বলেছেন...

"To put it another way: make moneyball impossible."

"Moneyball" is about finding a way to be competitive without having an unlimited budget available. Why is that a bad thing?

loudogblog বলেছেন...

mccullough said...
"MLB has players from Korea, Japan, Germany, and various Latino countries.
Whose going to talk trash to Shohei?"

Since he had a full time translator, it would have to be in Japanese. (Although, from what I see in the news, Shohei has gotten himself in a bit of trouble regarding his translator and illegal gambling on sports.)

Jim at বলেছেন...

In the last few cycles, Trump turned off more people than he turned out.

Trump 2016 62,984,828
Trump 2020 74,223,975

Lance বলেছেন...

And when every team employs moneyball, including those with unlimited budgets?

And that's the thing: I'd like to make the unlimited budgets rare as well. For example, let's have eight MLB teams in NYC.