The National League East leading Atlanta Braves were at Denver today to play the Colorado Rockies. I’m a Rockies fan so I turned on the game around 2 o’clock.
And it was 10-1 Atlanta in the 3rd. [If it was soccer they’d have sent the Rockies back to France by then.]
But I left the game on anyway. Ken Burns came along to talk up his new documentary and he was more interesting than usual. And the Rockies scored a few runs — one in the fourth, three in the fifth.
10-5 after five.
Three more in the sixth. 10-8.
But none in the seventh. Still 10-8.
Then, four runs in the eighth. Rockies ahead 12-10.
And, to end the game in the ninth an incredible sliding catch by Carlos Gonzalez. What a great, great ballgame.
Well not so much for Atlanta.
Some trivia and stuff along the way. Atlanta’s nine starters each had an extra base (in just the first four innings) — seven doubles, a triple and a home run. That’s happened just five times in 58 years. (And they lost.)
Burns and the broadcasters were, of course, talking about baseball being the only game without a clock; it’s never over until it’s over kind of stuff.
But Burns noted as well that baseball (and softball) are the only game where the defense has the ball. The only game where the player scores and not the ball. The only game where you only get to use your best offensive player just one-ninth of the time (no going to Kobe or LeBron or Adrian Peterson every important play).
So…there’s a clock in volleyball now? Tennis anyone?
OK then, how about only game not played in a rectangle.
Golf?
Wow – great game. We watched the end of the Reds/Giants game where the Reds had blown a 10-1 lead. Thankfully, they pulled it out in the 12th. There’s just something right about a great, great baseball game.
I was following the Giants-Reds game and was thinking there might be two nine-run comebacks in one day.