Why can't pitchers hit even a little better? Who knows more about pitching?
Why don't catchers facing a pitcher they used to catch hit .750 against that pitcher? Who knows more about that pitcher's thinking?
Why are so many pitchers so nuts about not allowing anyone to talk to them on the days they start? Will they forget it's one for fastball, two for a curve?
Why are ballplayers always shown departing for a road trip in a jacket and tie? In what other business are you required to dress one way for your travel and another for your actual job?
Why is there a lingering obsession about how players wear their pants, their socks and their stirrups? “They're too high!” “They're too low!” “They're old school!” They're just pants, socks and stirrups.
Why are older-style uniforms considered traditional and somehow unimpeachable? Maybe the genuine tradition is just starting now and everything before now was all wrong.
Why do retired or veteran ballplayers perpetuate this myth that it's just not like it used to be when I came up, we'd stay and talk baseball with the older guys, now everybody rushes out of the clubhouse? I've heard at least two generations of ballplayers who have been assailed by their elders for not caring nearly as much about the game insist they, in fact, were the last of that dying breed that cared about the game. Can we assume just about everybody who plays the game cares about the game in his own way?
Why does almost every batter stand and watch his deepest fly balls sail toward the fence? Don't they know what a home run looks like? Have they been clued in that not every ball hit well leaves the park? That it's better to run so you can be on third instead of second or second instead of first should the ball not be gone or not be caught? Is it common knowledge among the players that all the games are televised and usually recorded by the clubs themselves?
Why do pitchers who discover magical arm angles that save their careers forget to employ that arm angle eventually?
Why doesn't Willie Randolph “challenge” every player the way he “challenged” Cliff Floyd two years ago? Remember that? Floyd had been injured and a little lethargic in '03 and '04 and then has that Monsta year in '05 and the line all season from Willie was “I challenged Cliff and he responded.” Great work. Do it again.
Why does a pitching coach wear a uniform while a trainer wears slacks and a golf shirt? Each man sits in the dugout most of the time and only runs onto the field in an emergency. They may as well wear the same getups.
Why do stadium A/V squads play songs like Billy Joel's “Pressure” to taunt the visiting team's young, often Latino relief pitchers who probably have no idea about the message being conveyed and that they're supposed to become unnerved by such a clever jukebox selection?
Why after all the bad publicity attached to chewing tobacco about a decade ago have I noticed what seems like a plethora of Skoal cans in players' back pockets this year?
Why does Shawn Green lean against his bat in the on-deck circle like a man waiting for a bus?
Why does Shea sell blue cotton candy? When did cotton candy start coming in a color that isn't pink? If they're gonna sell cotton candy in blue, why not sell half of it in orange?
Why do I look at the out-of-town scoreboard at least six times per half-inning even when I know damn well no other game besides the one in front of me has begun?
Why does almost every announcer tell us the potential tying run will be coming to the plate “in the person of” Johnny Estrada? What are the odds Johnny Estrada will come to bat reincarnated as a dining room table?
Why, if nobody likes it, is the volume turned up so loud on every bit of pregame and between-innings business? I've yet to hear anybody tell me “it's great the way they've got the decibels goin' tonight!” In fact, I've yet to hear anybody tell me anything without me begging pardon and asking it be repeated.
Why don't the Mets hand out more bobbleheads and hand them to adult fans who pay the freight and seriously collect that kind of stuff?
Why are we told who is sponsoring this call to the bullpen but often have to wait until after the commercial to be told who the call was for?
Why do people who know you're going to a game say they'll look for you on TV? They won't, and even if they do, the chances are remote they'll find you unless you're Christine Glavine or some gesticulating idiot with primo seats behind the plate?
Why doesn't somebody clean up all those mysterious puddles that materialize every few sections in every concourse? It's a wonder more fans don't slip and more lawsuits aren't filed.
Why do regular people get days off while baseball teams get off days?
It is what it is. We can't know the unknowable. These are all known unknowns. Could we ever come to know them? Maybe. Do we want to know them? Sure. Will we ever know them? You tell me.
Why do managers make all but the best batters take all the way on a 3-1 count, even though, unless the pitcher has completely lost the zone, everybody in the stadium knows it will be a fastball down Broadway?
When there are runners at the corners with less than two out, and the guy on first attempts to steal second, why doesn't the guy on third ever take off for home when the catcher releases the ball, even though there is no way in the world the ball will get all the way to second and then all the way back to the catcher again in time to get him?
Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?
Another spit take…you're on a roll, you muffinhead!
Why does a pitching coach wear a uniform while a trainer wears slacks and a golf shirt?
I would have loved to see Bill Parcells on the sidelines in a helmet and pads, urging his team to victory. Better yet, Tom Landry.
Just to take it a step further, why do managers wear uniforms? Love the Landry image.
We all know the complete game and four man rotation are relics of a bygone era.
But why is this a bad development?
Hi Greg,
You asked…..
“Why do people who know you're going to a game say they'll look for you on TV? They won't, and even if they do, the chances are remote they'll find you unless you're Christine Glavine or some gesticulating idiot with primo seats behind the plate? ”
It's really simple. Because they know where to look, have a big screen HD-TV, an HD-DVR to wind back to the point the camera scanned the area and zoom modes to zero in more closely.
Why don't catchers facing a pitcher they used to catch hit .750 against that pitcher? Who knows more about that pitcher's thinking?
Because hitting is much more physical than mental.
Why do pitchers who discover magical arm angles that save their careers forget to employ that arm angle eventually?
Because pitching is much more physical than mental.
Why do people who know you're going to a game say they'll look for you on TV? They won't, and even if they do, the chances are remote they'll find you unless you're Christine Glavine or some gesticulating idiot with primo seats behind the plate?
I don't really have an answer but I was at RFK two years ago in my Piazza jersey, and the ESPN camera came over my back as a bumper to commercials. Cue about a 15-second delay, and boom, seven phone calls in 30 seconds, all of the “OMG DUDE I JUST SAW YOU ON THE TEAVEY” variety. People were pumped. I was kind of excited to have been on TV, but they were actually a whole lot happier about having seen someone they know.
I want to know why the homerun apple isn't going to citifield.
What an outrage!
Why is Greg thinking about all this stuff at 4:30 in the morning?
Why can't they get any two of the sinks in the Mezz ladies' rooms at Shea working at the same time? Will they solve this engineering feat at Citifield?
Why do I have such high hopes for Citi Field when I know they'll just move over all the brain-dead mouth breathers and surly zombies who work at Shea?
Why did Chad Bradford come into games to the song Cable Car (Over My Head)? What reliever acknowledges even before his first pitch that he's in over his head?
Well, sometimes the guy on 3rd does take off, by design, like Beltran and Wright did back in '05. A steal of home and second. Wright broke first for second, stopped, and then Beltran flew home, beat the return throw and Wright was safe at second. Beautiful.
And I don't know which managers you're watching, but unless the situation desperately requires patience, I think the vast majority of players, if they have any pop at all, have the green light on 3-1. Often it gets fouled off, but still, they're swingin'.
If the Shea-bound 6:24 train from Port Washington leaves without fail at 6:32, why is it still called the 6:24?
For a while, Heilmann was coming in to a song telling batters, “Don't Fear the Reaper.” What reliever wants batters not to fear him?
Why do broadcasters repeat the same things over and over, yet act like it's the first time it's been said. “José Reyes might very well be the most exciting player in the National League.” Really. I don't know if I'm willing to go that far, but I'll salute your bravery for offering your opinion (and everyone else's).
Why do people get kicked out the stadium for getting pushed over the little wall into the field when everyone is flailing and jostleing for a foul ball? Why do the announcers always seem horribly disgusted at the person when he gets kicked out?
Why do pitchers and catchers need signs from the dugout to throw over to the base, pitch out, or step off the rubber? Are they too dumb to figure it out on their own? Are managers and coaches so smart that they know exactly when to do it?
Why, when a batter grounds out to the right side with a runner on second, does everyone act like the hitter has just done something irreproachable and selfless? Why couldn't it have been a weak ground out to the right side; a mistake?
Why don't we see more of those 20-40 feral cats that are estimated to live “somewhere” in the bowels of Shea Stadium? Why doesn't one of them tangle up Kelly Johnson's legs while he's fielding a pop-up tonight? (No injury, of course. The possibility of a cat-related play happening is really intriguing to me.)
Why do Major Leaguers need “No Pepper” reminder signs?
Who posted this, Donald Rumsfeld?
He certainly has the time.
Why doesn't anybody throw a screwball or a knuckleball any more? (Well, hardly anybody.)
6:24 is 'door-closing time' not departure time. duh. ;)
Along those lines: Guy bats with runners on first and third in the ninth, one out, team down by three, and hits a sac fly. Why does he get high-fives?
Here's one. May 14th, Cubs-Mets. Bases loaded, two out, Delgado up. Why is David Wright on deck? There's no way he can bat. I'm proud to say Wright asked that question himself.
Some questions are unanswerable. I mean, Gerald Williams?
That is a good question, what ever happened to the screwball? There are lots of circle-changes out there, that act a lot like screwballs, but almost no screws. Why?
And of course, why do reporters ask questions beginning with “How [blank] is it to finally [blank]?” or “have [blank]?” What can you say? “Oh, it's very [blank].”
Officially, we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of said time and whether or not former Def. Sec. Rumsfeld has it in his possession.
the rules say there has to be a batter in the on-deck circle
In that case…
Why do the rules require a batter in the on-deck circle in a situation in which there is no possibility that an on-deck batter will come to the plate? And what would be the punishment if none materialized? With the bases loaded and the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, would the other team's manager even notice what was going on in the on-deck circle? At what point, if a uniform-clad coach pointed it out to him, would that manager go to the umpire to complain? Would the umpire issue a warning to the club that was hitting? Would there be a forfeit? A called strike? Would the hitting-team manager refuse to place a batter in the on-deck circle after a warning on the grounds that, no, this is stupid, he can't bat.
I stand by the spirit of the original question.
To clarify: with the bases loaded, the score tied and two out in the bottom of the ninth…
And why can't we seem to beat the Braves?
Jacobs – Amen, brother. And Wednesday night, they answered that question while raising another: why did Wags have to load the bases before shutting the Tomahawks down? I've lost enough hair as it is this year.
And what's with only ONE home run out of Moises Alou tonight? To quote Woody Allen in Sleeper (or was it Bananas?), in reference to a giant brassiere being used to capture giant runaway breasts, “Be careful – they usually travel in pairs.”
don't ask me, that's just what the rules say haha
And why can't I meet a gal like Julie Donaldson ,of SNY- a babe who's also a Mets fan!!
Or at least plays one on TV.