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5 MLB Storylines We Gotta Talk About This Week: What Makes a Game “Meaningful”?

mlb storylines

Welcome to MLB storylines we gotta talk about this week which will be a weekly deep dive into the random baseball-related stories that I want to talk to you guys about. This week we have the World Baseball Classic and next week is opening day.

 

Here are 5 MLB storylines we gotta talk about this week:

 

1. Edwin Diaz

world baseball classic

Last week, Team Puerto Rico beat the Dominican Republic 5-2 thanks to a huge save by Mets closer, Edwin Diaz. Naturally, PR celebrated their asses off after eliminating their rival and arguably the best team in the tournament.

The celebration went left quick..

Mets fans lined up to give the absolute worst takes about how meaningless the World Baseball Classic is and how it’s less important than a World Series despite the fact that the WBC games have higher ratings than the World Series and the players are clearly putting their entire heart and soul into winning these games.

These players get paid millions of dollars to play for Major League Baseball. Sure, that makes sense. But are we expecting anyone to care more about their day job than winning the fucking Olympics? Doesn’t matter if you’re a millionaire or earn minimum wage, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that athletes sacrifice for.

Also, Mets fans are cops. So laugh out loud at the Mets.

2. Dunking on KFC Barstool

Kevin Clancy from Barstool Sports elected to become the face of the annoying fan who cannot stop tweeting about how unimportant the World Baseball Classic is. Unfortunately for that alcoholic swollen-faced loser, everyone and their mothers joined forces to dunk on him.

KFC’s entire brand is being a miserable baby who complains about everything while being not-so-subtly racist. That’s the whole Barstool lane. But what makes KFC stand out above his coworkers is how frequently he is wrong and how loud about it.

But also because he had an extremely embarrassing affair on his pregnant wife that was reported on by legit news outlets so every time he says something stupid, people line up to remind him of his adultery.

I think people enjoy rushing to flood his mentions with screenshots of the articles detailing his cheating because it feels good to know you are an objectively better person than the person you disagree with online.

3. New pitch clock dropped

Here are the new rules hitting Major League Baseball this year:

  • Pitch timer: 15 seconds with the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on base
  • Limit on extreme shifts: Two infielders on each side of second base with both feet on the dirt or infield grass.
  • Larger bases: 18 inches by 18 inches instead of 15 inches by 15 inches.

MLB had to make changes to the sport. Analytics have taken over and you’re essentially just watching a computer simulation where human errors have been erased from the game. Removing the shift is crucial because left-handed batters were basically neutralized. Mark Teixeira’s career ended because every time he pulled the ball, there were like, 15 guys standing in right field ready to glove it.

But after the World Baseball Classic, I can understand why old school fans have a problem with the baseball clock. No one watched any of these WBC games thinking about how long they were. If you like baseball then you like baseball. You don’t mind how long the games are or how much down time there is because again, you’re already a fan of it and you understand that’s part of the game.

However, these games are long as fuck and we don’t need these excruciatingly long at-bats in the middle of August.

Here is an example of the pitch clock in Spring Training:

A lot of people watched that clip and were upset saying shit like ‘what if this happened in the playoffs???!”. I saw that clip and thought to myself “Cal Conley should’ve got his ass in the batter’s box in time”.

I have never watched an NBA game without a shot clock but I imagine it’s borderline unwatchable compared to how fast-paced the game is today. MLB simply lacks action and real ‘moments’. A pitch clock is the perfect way to bring back more events and more human errors. More mistakes. If hitters and batters have to immediately be ready for the next pitch then guys no longer have full minutes to clear their minds after a foul ball. You’re making the sport more about instant human reactions and that will only lead to a better viewing product.

4. Shohei Ohtani is the GOAT

shohei ohtani

I’ve been reluctant to give Shohei Ohtani the flowers he deserves mainly because I am an extremely biased Yankees fan and I will never forgive Ohtani for stealing the Rookie of the Year award from Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar. It’s 2023 and Ohtani is the hero for Team Japan while the Yankees are quietly trying to phase Gleyber out and Andujar struggles to make the Pittsburgh Pirates roster.

As the season goes on, I will talk more about Ohtani’s greatness as I’m sure I’ll get plenty of opportunities to do so.

5. Does the media even like baseball?

Here’s Chris Russo on First Take yelling about the World Baseball classic.

Mad Dog watched the final at-bat of the WBC between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout—two of the greatest baseball players ever and two teammates that’ll have to fly into Anaheim together the next day—and rolled his eyes about its significance because Mike Trout ‘strikes out all the time’ despite Trout being one of the few power hitters who don’t strikeout constantly.

First Take has some of the most views of any sports program on television these days and the one frequent guest—who is supposed to be an advocate for a sport that is clearly been dropped to the bottom of ESPN’s list of priorities—is shouting about how irrelevant it is when two of the most talented players ever face off in an Olympics style match.

Here is the host of a New York sports talk radio show losing his shit about the WBC:

He is absolutely livid at the idea that the World Baseball Classic is actually good. Completely disregarding the fact that kids outside of America watching baseball is literally the only thing that is going to keep MLB in business because American kids don’t care which means they don’t play.

The best player in the sport is from another country. If you removed all of the foreign-born players from the league then the game would be unwatchable. Look at the NBA. Team USA dominating for a couple decades is directly responsible for Giannis, Jokic and Luka being the stars they are today. Any chance to grow the sport is a positive.

I will never understand why people who built their platforms and paid bills off the back of Major League Baseball are getting their brain fried over the existence of a fucking international baseball tournament.

Actually, I do understand and I think a fan at Fenway park made it clear to us a couple years back…

KFC, Mad Dog, Sal and (white) people like them are pissed at the WBC because they cannot fathom the idea of brown people and Asians demonstrating pride in their countries because they believe those cultures are less than and have nothing to be so proud about. Just so we’re all clear about what’s going on here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Written by thelesterlee

Creator of Deadseriousness. Diehard Knicks, Yankees and Giants fan who wants to create a sports and pop culture space that isn't the same copy and pasted AI content you see everywhere else.

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