Summary:
Score: Detroit 17 Baltimore 2
Temperature: 65 o
Attendance: 38,261
Winner of the Dunkin' Donuts Race: Cuppie Coffee
The Tigers scorecard has a section called "This Day in Tigers History" that informed me that on September 15, 1901 Detroit defeated Cleveland 21-0 at home in the most lopsided victory in Tigers history. Last night around the 7th inning, I was wondering whether the Tigers might break that record. They didn't but they did beat the Orioles 17 to 2. To quote Blur's haiku-like simplicity: "Woo HOO!" Today Dale's been keeping me updated the other games and reporting on the various wins and losses that could have an impact on the Tigers' playoff hopes. It's seeming like an inning by inning kind of thing. Despite last night's 17-2 win, I'm still pretty nervous and, even though I'm enjoying this new novel I picked up, I keep getting distracted by checking into the score. As I type this, I have the live scoreboard for tonight's game on in another browser.
Despite the remarkable technological advances that makes this all possible, I am reminded of those old time baseball scoreboards where the game was re-enacted for fans on a large gameboard (if you've seen Eight Men Out, you know what I'm talking about) via telegram. I found a photo of one such scoreboards-- a "Play-O-Graph" set up for the World Series for Chicago fans in 1929 and I'm intrigued by the whole scene. I love that all of these people are standing and watching an abstract re-enactment of the game and I love that they're keeping the road clear. I also love that the men are wearing suits and hats. It all seems so polite. Seeing that crowd of people (men, mostly, if not exclusively) in this photo is a reminder that baseball is often personal but more often than not, it's a very social game. In the past few games, I've been intrigued by the fact that, almost instantly, Dale has a group of friends as soon as we sit down. Last night, the minute we sat down, the two guys in front of us started talking to him like they'd known each other for years. Then another guy sat down and the four of them were sharing thoughts on first basemen, dugout politics and pitching prospects. Last night, the guy in front said to Dale, "You got the wife keeping a scorecard. Cool." I think I get a bit of "guy-cred" because of my scorecard but generally I am politely ignored and I'm perfectly ok with that. I learn a lot about the game by listening each night and I am able to take my nerdy photos and quietly cheer for my beloved centerfielder. I think I've mentioned that baseball allows you time for quiet contemplation but I'm realizing that it also allows people to have conversations with people they would never meet, let alone talk to for 3 hours, in any other context. I'm wondering, looking at the picture from 1929, whether it would be that much different from today. I see from my little web-based Play-o-graph that the Tigers won 2-0. To quote Blur once more, "Woo HOO!"
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