Baseball: Re-play it again, Bud
MLB has announced major changes to instant replay and reviews for the coming season.
Best of all, they say there will be more replays shown on the video boards at the ballparks. That was one of my biggest knocks on Target Field, especially the first couple years. The routine pop-up would be shown again, but any play with even a hint of controversy was even’t acknowledged, videographically speaking.
For the most part, there aren’t that many plays in baseball that need to be reviewed. But because it is such a sequential game – every minor action changes the situation for the next play – it is important to get the calls correct so the game can proceed as it should.
The downside of replay is that it deflates the dramatic moment. In the NFL, if there’s a crucial play that’s close, it doesn’t pay to get excited about it, because you know it will be reviewed and you won’t know for three minutes yet if the result is what you want it to be.
Baseball will now have the same challenge. But baseball is already a slow enough pace that pausing to get a call correct might not be nearly as noticeable an interruption as in football.
We’ll see . . . and then we’ll see it again.
Mouth-watering Omaha Steaks
Showing posts with label Target Field. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Target Field. Show all posts
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Football: watching a stadium instead of a game
For the first time this year, I intentionally watched the Vikings Sunday. The reason, of course, was simply because it was the last game played in the Metrodome, a “souvenir game” so to speak.
It turned out to be reasonably entertaining for a late-season game between two teams who had no playoff hopes on the line. It even had some unusual quirks, such as the Vikings playing a solid first half, and most of all, not blowing the lead in the fourth quarter.
Outside of the stadium during the final game, it was below zero temperature before even calculating the windchill. I would like to go back to the ‘70s and read some of the material from when the community leaders at the time would have been touting the benefits of building a domed stadium in Minnesota.
At least the new billion-dollar baby will have a roof as well. Pro sports are for the upscale crowd these days. Why would rich people want to sit outside in terrible weather for three hours plus? How many $12 beers can you drink when it’s below zero?
The Metrodome was state-of-the-art at the time it was built, and it’s sad to see it be tossed away like an old car that would cost more to repair than it’s worth. It served us well – mostly because we always knew there would be a game and it would be comfortable.
That’s where the Twins still missed the boat with Target Field. Milwaukee’s Miller Field has the modern appeal like a Target Field, but also has a retractable roof for those awful-weather days you know will occur. The retractable feature, despite the high price tag, gives everyone the best of both worlds – open sunshine when it’s nice, and protection when it’s not.
I won’t be bidding on any Metrodome memorabilia, but definitely hanging on to memories of a stadium that wasn’t perfect but still was ours!
It turned out to be reasonably entertaining for a late-season game between two teams who had no playoff hopes on the line. It even had some unusual quirks, such as the Vikings playing a solid first half, and most of all, not blowing the lead in the fourth quarter.
Outside of the stadium during the final game, it was below zero temperature before even calculating the windchill. I would like to go back to the ‘70s and read some of the material from when the community leaders at the time would have been touting the benefits of building a domed stadium in Minnesota.
At least the new billion-dollar baby will have a roof as well. Pro sports are for the upscale crowd these days. Why would rich people want to sit outside in terrible weather for three hours plus? How many $12 beers can you drink when it’s below zero?
The Metrodome was state-of-the-art at the time it was built, and it’s sad to see it be tossed away like an old car that would cost more to repair than it’s worth. It served us well – mostly because we always knew there would be a game and it would be comfortable.
That’s where the Twins still missed the boat with Target Field. Milwaukee’s Miller Field has the modern appeal like a Target Field, but also has a retractable roof for those awful-weather days you know will occur. The retractable feature, despite the high price tag, gives everyone the best of both worlds – open sunshine when it’s nice, and protection when it’s not.
I won’t be bidding on any Metrodome memorabilia, but definitely hanging on to memories of a stadium that wasn’t perfect but still was ours!
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Sports: Target (Out)Field
I’ve been to Target Field quite a few times but fortunate to have seats around the infield. This time, scored free tickets in auto dealer promotion which were in the “Home Run Porch View.” As expected, he definition of view is upper deck, left field.
Got there early enough to snag the free ear buds (thanks T-mobile) and used the time to wander around the park to places we’ve never seen before, a self-guided tour without getting in trouble.
The outfield view at TF is amazingly good, other than that you can’t see the outfielder below you if he gets close to the wall.
This we’d discovered before, but made another visit: there’s a small area behind center field where you can get a nice close look into the bullpens. It has a real zoo-like quality about it as you watch the caged subjects in their native habitat.
Oh, yeah, there was a game, sort of. Toronto scored 5 in the top of the first, and when the Twins left bases loaded a couple times that could have at least made it interesting, it wasn’t.
This is rookie time. There’s a youthful photo in the Legends Club of Hrbek, Puckett, Brunansky, Gaetti, and one other player when they were first called up to the big leagues. Hope we can look back on this starting lineup with Presley, Mastroianni, Arcia, Colabello, Pinto, and Florimon someday after they’ve won a couple championships.
Got there early enough to snag the free ear buds (thanks T-mobile) and used the time to wander around the park to places we’ve never seen before, a self-guided tour without getting in trouble.
The outfield view at TF is amazingly good, other than that you can’t see the outfielder below you if he gets close to the wall.
This we’d discovered before, but made another visit: there’s a small area behind center field where you can get a nice close look into the bullpens. It has a real zoo-like quality about it as you watch the caged subjects in their native habitat.
Oh, yeah, there was a game, sort of. Toronto scored 5 in the top of the first, and when the Twins left bases loaded a couple times that could have at least made it interesting, it wasn’t.
This is rookie time. There’s a youthful photo in the Legends Club of Hrbek, Puckett, Brunansky, Gaetti, and one other player when they were first called up to the big leagues. Hope we can look back on this starting lineup with Presley, Mastroianni, Arcia, Colabello, Pinto, and Florimon someday after they’ve won a couple championships.
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