Fifty years ago -- fifty! (Mushnick's still alive?) -- we hated Mushnick, then a Pittsburgh sports columnist, for his lazy, cliched,
cheap-shot knock-pieces on opposing cities and their fans. We've ignored him ever since... but, dammit, he was right --
"With The Game in horrible, fundamental decay due to home-run-or-strikeout “strategies” and managers who pull
effective pitchers in search of arsonists, the simplistic cry has been renewed: Ban the shift!
"In other words, MLB should continue to legislate changes to artificially treat badly eroded skills while sustaining
or worsening the abandonment of smart, winning baseball. "
... "Also in the seventh, when Aaron Hicks, batting .200, hit a home run that just cleared the right-field wall,
he had the modern, no-upside audacity not to run, choosing to stand and marvel at his achievement — even if
he risked blasting a self-impressed single.
"If Hicks thought he looked cool, he was wrong. He looked like a fool.
"But again, this is how The Game is played. In the series, mild infield grounders were cause for defensive confusion
and panic while two games were decided by wild pitches. The replay rule was applied to make second guesses at
very close calls that were never intended for replay review."
... "Then there was more YES drivel about how hard Gary Sanchez is hitting the ball, even if as of Thursday morning
he had raised his batting average to .130 with 42 strikeouts in 91 at-bats.
"Of course he hits it hard! It stands to reason that anyone who indiscriminately swings at everything as hard as he can
will occasionally hit the ball hard."
So call us crotchety geezers. We despise every single one of the "new rules."
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