Post by along on Jul 30, 2014 9:57:10 GMT -5
NEW YORK, New York (AP) --
They're all the rage, and even your grandmother is familiar with the talking box dual-color spectrometastic television sets invading American homes everywhere. But will the new fancy tubes replace the time-tested tradition of hearkening the radio or a-headin' to the ball game?
Don't bet your bottom dollar on it, Annette. The televisions, while fancy and fun, are a fad far too foreign to weather this country's baseball bedrock.
The problem with television is that it won't captivate the way a live game will. Nothing can replicate the audience at a playoff game, not even fancy magnets. The television is far more suited to serious contemplative pursuits, like politics, than it is to entertaining media. Why, I'll bet the next election will be run on the television. You heard it here first - whoever looks better will win that thing, just look at how FDR used the radio, or how Caesar used coins. The smart politician will always use the new form of communication.
But that doesn't mean it will work on baseball. Sporting is a whole different animal. You can't catch a Flanigan fast-ball on that 17-inch upside-down excuse of an etch-a-sketch. And good luck seeing Roger Maris swing - the young phenom's bat is simply too fast to register as movement for most mainstream televisions. Don't get me wrong - ours is a truly advanced society, and I am no enemy of progress. But some things are sacred, and polluting the baseball field with television waves is as unpatriotic as apple strudel. If we can't even keep machines off the baseball diamond, what's next - the diamond in the sky? It's crazy-talk to think of man making machines to move us to the moon, and it is equally crazy to think of man making machines to move us from the best view of the mound - in the stadium, or in your couch next to a radio relaying the smooth thoughts of a professional who does have that best view. Static can't describe a Simmons splitter - that noble task should be left to the Gene Kellys of the world.
The reason TV will never affect baseball comes down to the simple truth that you can barely tell human from bat. Yes, every good Gothamite loves a good Batman, but Mickey Mantle's pinstripes just don't look the same in black and white. There's something to be said for being able to see the game away from the game, but for my money: take me out to the ballgame - TVs don't sell crackerjacks.
They're all the rage, and even your grandmother is familiar with the talking box dual-color spectrometastic television sets invading American homes everywhere. But will the new fancy tubes replace the time-tested tradition of hearkening the radio or a-headin' to the ball game?
Don't bet your bottom dollar on it, Annette. The televisions, while fancy and fun, are a fad far too foreign to weather this country's baseball bedrock.
The problem with television is that it won't captivate the way a live game will. Nothing can replicate the audience at a playoff game, not even fancy magnets. The television is far more suited to serious contemplative pursuits, like politics, than it is to entertaining media. Why, I'll bet the next election will be run on the television. You heard it here first - whoever looks better will win that thing, just look at how FDR used the radio, or how Caesar used coins. The smart politician will always use the new form of communication.
But that doesn't mean it will work on baseball. Sporting is a whole different animal. You can't catch a Flanigan fast-ball on that 17-inch upside-down excuse of an etch-a-sketch. And good luck seeing Roger Maris swing - the young phenom's bat is simply too fast to register as movement for most mainstream televisions. Don't get me wrong - ours is a truly advanced society, and I am no enemy of progress. But some things are sacred, and polluting the baseball field with television waves is as unpatriotic as apple strudel. If we can't even keep machines off the baseball diamond, what's next - the diamond in the sky? It's crazy-talk to think of man making machines to move us to the moon, and it is equally crazy to think of man making machines to move us from the best view of the mound - in the stadium, or in your couch next to a radio relaying the smooth thoughts of a professional who does have that best view. Static can't describe a Simmons splitter - that noble task should be left to the Gene Kellys of the world.
The reason TV will never affect baseball comes down to the simple truth that you can barely tell human from bat. Yes, every good Gothamite loves a good Batman, but Mickey Mantle's pinstripes just don't look the same in black and white. There's something to be said for being able to see the game away from the game, but for my money: take me out to the ballgame - TVs don't sell crackerjacks.
