Archive for the ‘I Watched This On Purpose’ Category

Every Thursday, the Getting Blanked crew makes a prop bet of sorts with one another having something to do with baseball games over the weekend. Of the three competitors, whoever wins the prop bet is able to dole out a punishment on the colleague of their choice. This week’s punishment was watching and recapping Monday night’s Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks game. We call this #PropHate.

The Narrative

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies are teams in Major League Baseball, or at the very least the National League, who go through the motions of playing Major League Baseball games against each other in spite of the fact that they’re the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies. One of them even has a chance at making the playoffs this year, and they’re the ones who’ve let it be known throughout the sport that they’re looking to trade their most talented player. WTF?

Could any of this be possible? Can Mark Grace keep it in his pants long enough to provide the analysis on Fox Sports Arizona? Is Aaron Hill actually not only still in existence, but actually having a good year? Could Mr. T possibly have aged that well? Did Ian Kennedy hit a triple? And Willie Bloomquist a double?? If the whole world is watching Ichiro making his Yankee debut in Seattle is this game even happening???

The answer to all these questions–except one, I think– is, unfortunately, yes.

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Every Thursday, the Getting Blanked crew makes a prop bet of sorts with one another having something to do with baseball games over the weekend. Of the three competitors, whoever wins the prop bet is able to dole out a punishment on the colleague of their choice. Typically, that punishment is watching and recapping what we would imagine to be an unappealing baseball game for the neutral observer. We call it: I Watched This On Purpose.

Earlier this week, I wrote a rebuke aimed at those who complain about Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game. I chastised the punk rock baseball fans who criticize the Mid-Summer Classic for being too commercial, too gimmicky and too meaningless. It was a giant finger wagging exercise meant to snap those who imagine the All-Star Game to be something meant for their enjoyment out of their delusion.

It’s not for us, I suggested. It’s a marketing vehicle for the game of baseball, for the league, the brand, for everything that Bud Selig spends time and energy promoting. It’s explicitly for the benefit of those who don’t read baseball blogs, don’t understand fielding independent pitching numbers and certainly don’t think about the game’s next exploitable market inefficiency. It’s for kids. It’s for casual fans.

I even went so far as to suggest that if you read Getting Blanked regularly, the MLB All-Star Game probably isn’t for you.

After viewing last night’s game, I wish to amend this previously stated opinion and offer a new one: The All-Star Game, in its current format, isn’t suitable for any living thing. It’s not for baseball nerds, not for casual fans, not for the baseball equivalents of twice a year church goers.

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Every Thursday, the Getting Blanked crew makes a prop bet of sorts with one another having something to do with baseball games over the weekend. Of the three competitors, whoever wins the prop bet is able to dole out a punishment on the colleague of their choice. This week’s punishment was watching and recapping Monday night’s San Diego Padres and Houston Astros game. We call this #PropHate.

The Narrative

I imagine a late June game between the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres to be something like an off Broadway play that everyone is aware of, but still wouldn’t bother going to see. It’s not wholly or completely unbelievable to learn that the production was entertaining, but it’s an entertainment that you’re willing to pass up given the likelihood that it stars no one you’ve heard of and will take longer to complete than you’d prefer.

As such, let’s look at last night’s game as though it was a play.

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Every Thursday, the Getting Blanked crew makes a prop bet of sorts with one another having something to do with baseball games over the weekend. Of the three competitors, whoever wins the prop bet is able to dole out a punishment on the colleague of their choice. This week’s punishment was watching and recapping Monday night’s Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros game. We call this #PropHate.

The Narrative

I can’t even pretend. In fact, never before in the history of baseball has a series opened with fewer people able to convince anyone else that they were interested in it. The Kansas City Royals share no history with the Houston Astros. There’s no rivalry. There is absolutely no link between the two teams other than an arbitrary geographic proximity that might be interesting if the two teams were in the same division, but alas they are not. Yay, interleague.

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