Paulie4Pres

How far is that right field wall? 200 feet?

His curve has been disgusting. No doubt.

Grandal swinging at crap not even close....

95 pitches. I'm fine with taking him out here. Save that arm for the playoffs. ?

Absolutely.

Rodon is throwing pure filth. His slider is unhittable.

This.

Montgomery is pitching well. Pitcher's duel.

Let's not talk about Rodon and next season right now. Enjoy what he's doing, folks.

Not sure. His defense has come such a long way the last couple seasons. He's been absolutely phenomenal this season.

If Abreu keeps this up, he's gonna be in the gold glove conversation, right?

Madrigal. ?

For how big a mistake the Sox made hiring TLR, they seem to have struck gold with their hitting and pitching coaches.

Carlos Rodon.....?

Baby Boomers are such an absolutely intriguing species.

This has to be satire, right? People are actually fans of.....MLB managers? Wtf?

Is TLR the only guy not in the picture? lol

So the unwritten rule is just nonsensical bullshit. Because there's absolutely no difference between 3-0 and 3-1 in the context of this game. TLR came out and said "he wishes he could have sent 3 pitchers up to bat". So what he really wanted was for his players to stop trying, and get themselves out. You play until the last out is recorded. Period.

The point is that people want emotional investment when they're watching sports. When Yermin goes yard swinging at garbage thrown up from a position player, in a blowout game, it's fun. And if it pisses the other team off? More fun. And if it pisses the other team off so much that they're willing to throw a ball at him the next game, and risk putting a guy on base in a two run game?? Now we're talking! This is the shit rivalries are built off of. Sports are also WAY more fun to play when you have true animosity towards the guys on the other team. I also didn't see much reaction from the Twins players after he hit the home run. So was the reaction from them truly being pissed about it, or was it just more nonsense because of "unwritten rules"?

And now you're starting to see the point.

The entire concept of not swinging at a 3-0 pitch in a game where you're up big, is about not showing up the other team. It's been mentioned several times. It's what almost every single poster in here that is backing La Russa, is referencing. These are professional athletes being paid to play a game. FOR ENTERTAINMENT. They SHOULD be showing each other up when they beat them. Because that is fuel for the animosity and rivalry. It adds emotion to the game. If you don't like it, stop me from doing things I can show you up with. Or come back and show me up right afterwards yourself. Respect? lol The Twins showed a lot of respect for the Sox by putting a position player in to pitch, didn't they? Respect is for afterwards. During the game? Fuck you. I'm here to compete as hard as I can, for the entirety of the game, and beat you. And I expect the same in return. We can shake hands and have a beer when we're done.

Sportsmanship certainly does change. Because sportsmanship is not a written set of rules. It is an arbitrary set of situational guidelines, entirely based on the perception of the players that are playing the game.... And that perception changes, as the players change. I play a lot of beer league hockey. Some guys get pissed off when you are still going hard at the end of a blowout game. Other guys get pissed off when you DON'T go hard at the end of a blowout game. Or when you just look to run the clock out. It all depends who you're playing against, and the context of the game matters, even when the opponent is the same.... Players in the past took offense to guys flipping their bats or being flamboyant when they hit a home run, the same way people used to be offended and felt disrespected if you "cussed" around them.

Mindsets like this drive me nuts. Saying something can be better....doesn't necessarily mean the thing you're trying to improve...was bad. You know what's bad? Not improving things that can be improved because "that's the way it's always been". Especially when the overwhelming majority of the people involved in it, think it SHOULD be changed(and they're right). "Not showing people up" is one of the most snowflake things I've ever heard when it comes to professional sports. And what's ironic is, that argument is coming almost entirely from the generations that refer to the younger generations are snowflakes... But, it's almost always about projection. After all, the decision to hand out participation trophies wasn't made by Gen X, Millennial, or Gen Z parents...

Everybody here loves Mercedes because it's exciting to watch him hit, he's fun, and it's a great story. Nobody gives a fuck about TLR, because people don't buy tickets or change the channel to see a senile old man sitting in the dugout napping. (while his starting pitcher is gassed and needs to be pulled...) The attitude of "fuck antiquated thinking that provides nothing of value" is the correct attitude to have. Not just when it comes to sports, but everything in life. The majority of these "unwritten rules" are about protecting people's fragile egos, and sucking fun out of the game. Baseball with plenty of emotion, energy, conflict, and animosity sells WAY better than "the gentleman's game". People want to see players whose entire approach is "Fuck you. If you don't like me showing you up, then stop me from doing it." Too many people that refuse to let go of the past on this planet.

It's called exaggeration, and hyperbole. The point is that the majority of players would not approve. Not sure why you think I need to "settle down". I don't really let idiots on the internet bother me.