Baseball 101

"Real nostalgia requires a totality of memories, impressions, and objects, all of which Dodger Stadium still delivers. The ceremonial first-pitch stunt might have felt cheesy in another ballpark, but at Dodger Stadium, the past actually does coexist with the present in a way that allows those sorts of moments to be genuinely touching rather than contrived. We love old ballparks because they allow us to share in the collective nostalgia of a city — even if you've come to Dodger Stadium from the other side of the country or another country altogether, you still feel that slight tingle in your chest and the lump in your throat when you hear Vin Scully, who has been with the team since its days in Brooklyn, and who is, without any doubt, the greatest announcer to ever sit behind a microphone, yell out, "It's time for Dodger baseball!"

That's a feeling that has to be earned. Sincere thanks are due to the new Dodgers ownership group for understanding that the ballpark itself is the relic, and for not letting however hundreds of millions of dollars get in the way."

- Jay Caspian King, "Blue in Green", grantland.com

Slika: Robert Birkenes

Dolgočasen na povsem prijeten način, večno ujet v idealih petdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja pa hude cote ima... Baseball pooseblja najlepše lastnosti življenja v ZDA.

Addendum: V oddaji sem še nameraval govoriti o dveh posebnih dosežkih v baseballu, a mi ni uspelo. To sta "no hitter" in "perfect game". Upoštevajoč primerjavo s tarokom, ki sem jo naredil na začetku svojega prikaza osnovnih pravil baseballa, sta "no hitter" in "perfect game" kot valat in solo brez valat. Skratka, sta tako redki, da ju, ko se zgodita, feni slavijo do zgodnjih jutranjih ur, podobno kot če bi ekipa osvojila naslov. "No hitter" pomeni, da metalec tako dovršeno meče žogo, da je noben odbijalec ne odbija tako, da iz odboja nastane "hit" in odbijalec pride na eno izmed baz. Lahko pa pride na bazo na drug način: s štirimi "balls", denimo, ali če ga metalec zadene z žogo. "No hitter" se zgodi približno 1–5 krat na sezono; od leta 1875 je v MLB bilo 279 "no hitters".

"Perfect game" je znatno bolj redka. V zgodovini MLB, torej od leta 1867, jih je bilo samo 23 (!). V sezonah med 1922 in 1956, 1956 in 1964, in 1968 in 1981, sploh ni bilo nobenega "perfect game"! Sicer se ta fenomen zgodi približno enkrat na 4 sezone, s tem da sta sezoni 2010 in 2012 anomaliji, saj sta bila v vsaki kar dva "perfect games", kar priče o tehnološkem napredku šport. 

To je pomembno za razumevanje odličnega filmčka, ki ga je v komentsih postal poslušalec Legenda Pravi... Sem mu zelo hvaležen, kajti tovrstni miti so pomemben del samega športa, in o njih nisem imel priložnosti govoriti v oddaji.