Interesting column by ESPN's Jayson Stark here.
How would you divide baseball's eras?
Cheers.
R. Sherman
How would you divide baseball's eras?
Cheers.
R. Sherman
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Reflections on the grand ol' game from fans across the country. As a wise forty-something sage once said, "Baseball is proof that God exists."
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3 comments:
Good column, but a classic case of baseball fans overanalyzing. I don't know that there's a need to break it up into eras, formally, that is.
For the amusement that we get from the Oracle of baseball - there is something about the linkage of players from one generation to the next, that each one is linked in a chain of A who played with B who played with C and who played with D. It's the same game, regardless of when the mound was raised or lowered, whether a pitch was allowed or outlawed.
Games were played. Runs were scored. Teams won and lost as a result, and those teams won pennants or finished elsewhere in the standings. The purpose of "eras" is really to decide what lens in which to view personal and individual statistics, not wins and losses (which ultimately are the most important stat of all).
Ultimately, it does not matter.
The article makes several good points, but ultimately who cares? Though I probably would have guessed 1893, I had no idea when the "Modern" era began, nor did I care, until I read this article. Yes, at times, you look at the stat book and say no way will anyone ever win 511 games. Cy Young will own that record into perpetuity... and no way will anyone ever break Babe Ruth's Home Run Record and Lou Gherig's consecutive games and... I think you get the idea. The game changes, but it also changes back. And some day, we'll all be thrilled to see pitchers win 35 to 40 games a season. Of course, I'm sure astericks will be involved ;)
As a Yankees fan there was:
1. The era of Gehrig and Ruth.
2. Mantle and Maris.
3. ARod and Jeter.
But seriously, I think you have to look at technology and training when you think about the eras. At first, ballplayers were right off the farm and were simply talented by God given ability. Today, it still takes a lot of talent but our society has become a sports crazed world of started your kid down the road to athletic stardom as soon as they are born.
I spent several years with no contact with any sport at all (except golf) from 1993 to 1998. When I got back into sports, I was amazed by the technology that has come about over the past ten years! I am going to stop right there and create a post about whats in my head right now regarding technology and get you guys to comment.
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