Guts and Glue...Glitz and Glamor...Geez!

Eyes on Design: As I was sayin' (see 5/24 for what I truly said, what was worth hearin') "It used to be...in the good old days...when I was growing up watching the game of baseball, we were often treated to players "spewing their guts, coming unglued!" Often through a face-off with the ump...a "you blink first!" kind of game within the game...accompanied by more sensory sensations as in "rotten breath" -- the latter in part due to so many out on the diamond featuring a "wad" of chewing tobacky ("just a pinch between the cheek and gum and you'll be good for the whole day!") which, given the lack of polished spittoons found in the saloons, and the dirt floors in the dugouts "back then" saw the players spitting. All of which, of course, partly due to good taste: YUK! and other-wise through lots of media studies, the bad "Influencers" all this had on aspirants...future bawlers..."this is NOT your grandfather's ball-game guys!" Replaced, at a glance, by golden chains, locks (as in expensive hair-do's)....gobs of glitz...collectively, simply "bring the bling!" And, of course, "Double Bubble" -- which now have many players in the now well-appointed "visitors" dugouts stuck, to their seats, given the perennial practical joker...the ABC's (already-been-chewed😝), some of which come naturally, others have to be taught, catch on, after hanging around the ball park, bawlers long enough -- after all, one has to find something to occupy their time, attention, given all the down time...

Double Trouble: When a so-called "tailor made" double play comes undone...perhaps due to difficulty handling the ball itself, transferring it from the glove to what's for the fielder, their preferred throwing hand. Occasionally, whether out of necessity or just for show, "glitz!", what's called a "soft grounder" which in turn may have come off a bat that's deliberately placed at an odd angle in order to "bunt"...sometimes even in what in b-ball calls for a "sacrifice"...ends up with the fielder "bare-handing" it...rarely, at least not preferred method for handling (literally) a "hot" grounder or even more so, a "hard liner". OR, a double play combo, a shortstop and second base bawler who normally can anticipate where the other will be even without a second thought, toss the ball where the other presumably will be...ends up pulling them just a bit off base (the official scorer then has to decide how to attribute the blame...called "error!") All in the span of just a few seconds in a game where time seems to stand still...OR, who end up, so it appears, almost deliberately set up to fail, as in placed in a vulnerable position by their throwing partner, when a runner, coming from first, comes "barreling" into second...it's as if they did it deliberately-- which becomes a cause for great deliberation these daze, via not-so-instant replay...which, for those in the replay booth (more like going under a mega-hoodie just off the field, of play), has been hard enough to unravel whose legs are whose, but now have to untangle all those gold/silver chain links...Geez...

Ground rules: No, not the ones about how to best take care of this sacred ground, especially after it's been naturally watered down...but yet another basis for confusion and grumbling 😠 by fans, especially if they are visiting this particular ball park for the very first time, or perhaps at the beginning of a new season, after the so-called "rules committee" changed them up a bit. Which includes specific rules and pro-visions for such a condition where, despite a batter giving the ball a sufficient whack, wallop, whatever...and goes off in a gallop, is told in no uncertain terms (assuming they understand hand signals of the field judge who other-wise serves as the umpire)...to stop! abruptly as second base...as the ball, while still appearing live, or otherwise being juggled now, eagerly sought after in the stands...is declared "dead". What in b-ball, is deemed, a "ground rule double" either due to leaving the field of play, all on its own, or due to "fan interference"...and related, attached "curses!" (a topic I'll give its due, cover when things get really slow around here)...

Mean-time:  Either before an event happens, or in between, slowing down an already slow game...But experienced early and often, when we, growing up, literally, changed yards, where we would play out even a (casual) game of "whiffle ball" - parenthetically speaking, as nothing was deemed casual once the rules were laid down. Including the ones pertaining to this particular yard, such as "you break it (window)...you pay..." Ready to play? 

Grounded: A condition where one or more bawler was not available, leaving what's in sports referred to as a "short bench" ouch! Which is altogether different in intent but yet another condition which could get us penalized, pausing the game..."an intentional grounding" -- which took place when we played out the game of football in the schoolyard, and the "QB" either did not like the defensive alignment they faced or, more likely, when they. them-selves, had to "GO"...