Trevor Bauer is the embodiment of weirdo character and he still thrives in it. Outside of him, the closest thing I could imagine was the collective whole of the ‘21 Padres when they introduced the swag chain. Locally it was a hit and provided an additional piece of entertainment and character to a team about to come into its own. Outside of San Diego they were lambasted for tarnishing tradition and class, as if they had spat on the annals of baseball themselves. Now, every team has a gimmick: tridents, hats, whatever weird phallic thing the Dodgers do… but the Padres went with a different intimate route and take a Polaroid. The character aspect may be a thing of the past but at the same time the game feels a little more fun than it did before. And don’t worry, there’s still Tommy Pham out to fight the world with his Kung Fu and Muay Thai skills :)
This is why I cheered for the '93 Phillies. They just looked like they'd be fun to play for.
But for me there is a fine line between character and trying to grab attention for the sake of getting more clicks. I'm okay with letting the game speak for itself, too.
After all, it's a *game*. (Alas, everything gets its corners rounded off when it's mass marketed. No strong flavors that might offend potential spenders.)
Trevor Bauer is the embodiment of weirdo character and he still thrives in it. Outside of him, the closest thing I could imagine was the collective whole of the ‘21 Padres when they introduced the swag chain. Locally it was a hit and provided an additional piece of entertainment and character to a team about to come into its own. Outside of San Diego they were lambasted for tarnishing tradition and class, as if they had spat on the annals of baseball themselves. Now, every team has a gimmick: tridents, hats, whatever weird phallic thing the Dodgers do… but the Padres went with a different intimate route and take a Polaroid. The character aspect may be a thing of the past but at the same time the game feels a little more fun than it did before. And don’t worry, there’s still Tommy Pham out to fight the world with his Kung Fu and Muay Thai skills :)
Love this insight!
This is why I cheered for the '93 Phillies. They just looked like they'd be fun to play for.
But for me there is a fine line between character and trying to grab attention for the sake of getting more clicks. I'm okay with letting the game speak for itself, too.
After all, it's a *game*. (Alas, everything gets its corners rounded off when it's mass marketed. No strong flavors that might offend potential spenders.)
Spot on. My younger brother and sister (knowing how much I liked sports books) got me Ball Four for my 12th birthday. Little did they (or I) know
A few years later, I read Bo Belinsky’s and Joe Pepitone’s bio’s Good lord! A different time indeed
Yeah, for a 12 year old it might have been a little confusing, lol, literally reread it the last couple of days, also thank you for subscribing!
I agree wholeheartedly.