Day games and night games;
Segregated and desegregated play;
Bigger gloves and sunglasses;
Better bats and conditioning;
Raw talent and improved coaching;
Memory versus video review;
Challenges and instant playback;
Instinct versus sabermetrics;
Better cared-for fields;
Averages and home runs on the record
Despite performance enhancers;
162 games versus 154;
Watered down talent because of
Expansion and more frequent
Injuries; bigger and better
Minor leagues; Tommy John
Prolonging careers; starting pitchers
Throwing 100 for five or six; the near-
Extinction of 20-game winners and
Completed games and closers
Going three innings; dead ball
Versus modern ball . . . with a touch
Of an ultra-lively; larger bases and
More sticky stuff, but no more
Spitters or hesitation pitches.
Ghost runners and designated
Batters; better dugouts and bullpens;
Players resting and not getting winter
Jobs because of higher salaries
Because of TV network contracts,
Media licensing, players in commercials;
Free agency and stocked teams.
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s
Day?” Comparison is fruitless, or the
Fruit of a poisoned tree. That’s your
Choice. The bottom line (ironic in a
Time when players still can’t gamble
But gambling is all around them and
Odds are televised during games and
Betting is touted in commercials
Between innings) is that you can’t
Compare. It’s good fodder for heated
Discussions and for arguments – – –
But you just cannot compare!
THE POETRY OF THE GAME