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The Daily Dose/August 2, 2008
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
The photo department took the day off. They will return.
Notes from around the Human Experience...
WELL, IT'S BETTER THAN NOTHING: Bowing to relentless Writer's Shack pressure, the Commies in the Chinese government have lifted some, and probably most of their Internet blockade. Sites having to do with Tibet and certain outlawed religious groups are still off limits, but reporters in Beijing can now accent their coverage of the Games by visiting such sites as Amnesty International's site, the BBC's Chinese service, and, presumably, the Writer's Shack.
One More Thing: Bird's Nest Stadium is still the ugliest athletic facility mankind has ever built. It's even uglier than the new Soldier Field.
IT'S THESE DAMN OUTDATED CHARTS: Henry Hudson and his crew sail into what is now known as Hudson Bay on this date in 1610. The bay is so large Hudson actually thought he had found a passage to the Pacific Ocean. The following June, after it became clear he hadn't, his crew would tire of Hudson not knowing where they were and mutiny. Hudson, his son and a handful of malingerers were put in a boat and set adrift.
Put Your John Hancock Right There: A little less than a month after approving it, members of the Second Continental Congress begin signing the Declaration of Independence, on this date in 1776.
You Never Forget Your First Time: The first census of the United States is held on this date in 1790. The population of the US is 3,929,214 and the largest cities were New York (33,131), Philadelphia (28,522) and Boston (18,320
We're Thinking #1 Is Better Than #5: The first census form classified five types of people: 1) free white males 16 and older, 2) free white males under 16, 3) free white females, 4) all other free persons and 5) slaves.
FunFact: The first census, conducted by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, cost $44,377, about, slightly more than $1 million in today's dollars.
Lions, Tigers And Bears, Oh My: The first census faced more than primitive roads, towns that were little more than outposts scatted at the edge of the wilderness and transportation that consisted solely of their own two feet or something involving a horse. They also faced a citizenry that didn't know what a census was, and who tended to think it was some sort of method to increase taxation.
What About Our 1908 Cubs? They had a day off. They begin a four game series in Philadelphia tomorrow.
Well, How About Other National League Action Then: There wasn't any, smarty pants. The entire league had the day off, so the goddamn Pirates remain in first place, a game-and-a-half up on the Cubs and two up on the Giants.
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME, AND MAKE IT SNAPPY: Changes are coming to the Olympic baseball tournament, a sport which will be leaving the Olympics after these Games, probably because of silly rules like this.
Leading Off: The international Baseball Federation farted around with how they decide games that are tied after nine innings: they will play a tenth inning like they normally would, however, if the game is still tied, the eleventh and all subsequent innings will begin with runners on first and second. To make it even more sacrilegious, before the eleventh inning both teams will tell the plate umpire where they want to begin in the batting order, regardless of who the last batter in the tenth inning was.
For example, if Team A wants to start with their #3 hitter leading off the eleventh inning, they will put their #1 hitter on second and their #2 hitter on first, even if, say, the #7 hitter was the last hitter to complete an at-bat in the tenth inning. Team B will be allowed to make a similar choice. The theory is to give both teams an equal chance to have their best hitters bat in the eleventh.
Dry, Technical Matter: The eleventh inning is the only inning where teams will have this option. The first batter of all subsequent innings will be the hitter who follows the batter who last completed an at-bat in the previous inning.
What The Hell's Going On Here? Did anybody think this out? One, if you must put two runners on base to start an inning, why put them at first and second, where a routine ground ball means a double play? Put them at second and third where 1) the double play is not in order, and, 2) the runner from third can score on a fly ball.
Also, what happens if somebody has a perfect game through ten innings? Or what if something else that is dependent on the batting order being followed that would interest the record books or History might happen in the eleventh inning?
Now You're Stretching: Yes, we are. We admit it. Outside of a perfect game we are hard pressed to think of a situation that might be affected by placing runners on first and second and giving teams the option of where to bat in the batting order. And, the purpose of international baseball is to produce winners of tournaments; their record books are not as sacred as the Major League record book, which us history buffs at the Writer's Shack revere as scripture.
Write This Down: And we're not stodgy old baseball purists here, either. We approve of the designated hitter, and we don't really have a problem with indoor baseball or even that new field turf, though, honestly, we don't really see the point to interleague play. That doesn't mean we don't like it; we just don't see the point to it.
FunFact: This is part of the attempt by the International Baseball Federation to get their sport back into the Olympics. The IOC 86'd it after the Beijing Games, and, the earliest it can get back on the Olympic program is 2016.
Good Riddance: It might be time for baseball to bow out of the Olympic stage for good. For the past generation or so, the Olympics has worked awfully hard to insure the very best athletes in a sport (re: professionals) compete every four years. This is good. It's fun to watch the best in the world compete in a setting like the Olympics.
Which is the problem. The very best baseball players in the world play major league baseball during the summer, and, as the World Baseball Classic showed, they aren't too keen on playing at any other time. So if baseball can't send its best players to the Olympics, screw it, baseball really doesn't need the Olympics.
Something Else: Plus, honestly, does anyone really think that if every country really did send their best players that anyone other than the US of A would win? With all deference due Cuba,. The Dominican and Japan, if we sent our 25 best players it wouldn't even be close. The competition would be for the other two places on the medal stand.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: The Philadelphia Phillies have been in Philadelphia since 1883, the second longest amount of time a National League team has been in one city.
Today's Stumper: Baseball and softball were voted out of the Olympics in 2004. Prior to that, what was the last sport voted out of the Olympics? - Answer next time!
Threats? Recipes? Trivia question answers? Email The Writer's Shack Here!
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