Neat story here, about how baseball has returned to a town devastated by Superstorm Sandy. $15,000 worth of baseball gear floated away in the flood, and with all the other devastation, they knew they could not ask the town for money for baseball.
A charity called Pitch In For Baseball stepped in. They accept donations of used gear and uniforms, and give them to kids who need it.
That seems like a really great idea. The way kids outgrow stuff and find new interests, there must be a lot of baseball equipment gathering dust in people's garages and attics.
And...is this a golden age of baseball? Yes, says Michael Brendan Dougherty. We have just enough parity to give every team hope, while still allowing dynasties. New ballparks make for a much better fan experience, as does new technology like watching online. Stats have opened up a new view into the game (but can be ignored, if you're not into that).
Ross Douthat disagrees. He thinks we've lost the innocence of the true golden age. He's leery of the effects of sabermetrics. ("Do we really want a sport that’s all strikeout pitchers battling walk-takers, with less room for stolen bases and no patience for the inefficiencies of sacrifice bunts?") And he doesn't like the new wildcard format, which makes the postseason even more of a crapshoot.
I can kind of see his point about the wild card. The postseason is such a crapshoot already. Not sure there's anything that can be done about it, but making it even more random is probably not a great idea.
Aside from that, though...I do think it's possible that baseball has never been better.
