[jingram058]

Yes, everything changes. I am not that far gone. Yet. But there was a time in my youth when the ballplayers lived in the same neighborhoods as the fans. Even just a couple of years ago I bought bleacher seats at both Petco Park in San Diego and Yankee Stadium in New York for something like $15. I enjoyed both. But that's it. I can't and won't watch on TV. My wife does, and I go hide in my man cave bedroom. It's just obscene to me what ballplayers make. I don't care what the owners make; they either have the wherewithal to put a team on field, like the Dodgers Steinbrenner-like approach, or they don't, like the Pirates, who haven't won anything in decades. One wonders how teams like that survive. But I just can't rationalize watching multi-millionaires prance around in cricket pants, going through the motions of what was once a fantastic national pastime. And of course, with all the money comes the worry over getting a hangnail and having to miss the season. Read about Lou Gehrig and what he put up with before ALS finally stopped him. Sure, pitchers throw 100+ mph. Big effing deal. Even now I could time my swing to that. But if it breaks at that speed, well... But throwing that fast inevitably leads to breakdown, sooner rather than later. But like Leon, I have washed my hands of all the idiotic rule changes that had to be put into place.