This morning I noticed on my newsfeed that The Hardball Times, one of the best baseball sites out there, is closing up for the duration. Along with that, the related baseball stats site Fangraphs has asked for additional subscribers to help compensate for lost ad revenue due to decreased traffic so it can keep running. With no baseball going on, visits to the sites have decreased sharply. Each day, it seems, brings a further diminution of what we once called reality.
Fangraphs did offer one terrific suggestion, which may be worth the price of a subscription. MLB has released through its At Bat app the entire 2018 and 2019 seasons for viewing. Fangraphs’ suggestion was to choose a team that is not one you’d normally watch, and follow its 2019 season as if it were happening in real time. It also offered some suggestions as to which teams to follow based on their 2019 stats. After looking all the possibilities over, I have decided to take in the 2019 Minnesota Twins. As a backup for when the Twins aren’t playing, I am going with the Oakland Athletics.
Update 4/4/20 – I have decided to switch teams and follow Oakland more regularly than the Twins. Why? The Oakland TV broadcast team is far better and more entertaining than the Minnesota team. Sorry, Justin Morneau, but you’re just very tough to listen to. Dallas Braden is way more fun!
I decided to follow the Twins for a number of reasons. The first is that they were a playoff team in 2019, losing to the Yankees in the ALDS. They hit the shit out of the ball all season, leading the major leagues in total home runs. They were a very balanced team all year, with decent pitching to go along with a powerful offense. They play in Minneapolis, a city I would love to live in if it weren’t so cold in the winter. Target Field seems to be a very cozy and attractive ballpark. And I have always admired the kind of players and type of teams and managers Minnesota has had throughout its history. Players like Kirby Puckett and Joe Mauer, along with managers like Tom Kelly, Ron Gardenhire and Rocco Baldelli, have made Minnesota, in my mind, one of the classiest organizations in MLB.
Oakland became the backup because their current team is a scrappy bunch of guys who, as a team, play slightly over their heads. They are always underdogs, and that makes them so much more interesting as a team. They have so many interesting and talented players, from Matt Chapman at 3B to Fernando Rodney (of all people) in their bullpen. Billy Beane continues to do so many interesting things with that team, and they are always in the mix for the post-season. While they have had little success in getting there, they always make other teams nervous. Nobody really ever wants to face the As because they can be so dangerous. And their fans are so interesting! I don’t know of any other fan base in MLB that is so colorful, loud, devoted, and loyal. I have got to get to a game at the Coliseum just to be able to sit near those fans and absorb their complete fan-ness.
This allows me to watch one baseball game a day. The beauty of this setup is that, because I did not watch either team much at all last season other than when they played the Yankees, it feels as if I am watching everything live. While I know what is going to happen with the Twins, I believe I will enjoy watching it unfold day to day as if it were in real time. Oakland will fill in the days off. And because the games are recorded, I can even buzz through commercials to make the games shorter to watch.
And yes, there is still some cricket to fill in any other spare time. The international cricket scene is just as delayed as MLB, so there have been no additional matches to watch for the past three weeks. I have taken in the 3 ODIs played between South Africa and Australia (very disappointed in the Aussies), and am cruising Willow to see what else might be next. Unfortunately the Ashes tournament from 2019 is no longer available, and there are relatively few test matches available for viewing. But there’s still some worthwhile matches to watch as I continue to learn the players and teams. Sri Lanka v. Bangladesh, and I believe West Indies v. Pakistan are still on tap.
This is the plan to get me through the stay-at-home mandates we are all living with. I think the most difficult aspect of this whole situation is finding things to keep you busy while at the same time realizing that things on the outside are a mess. While it’s not much, doing my part by staying indoors, not traveling anywhere, and staying healthy so as not to clog the health system is what I – and many others – need to do right now. Having a plan to make the baseball season feel as real and alive as possible is a good way for me to pass the time and enjoy the National Pastime. My thanks to Fangraphs for the tip! -twl