By Blaidd Drwg
The box score is almost as old as the game of baseball. Every morning, millions of people get up and hop onto any number of sites and look at one to see how their favorite team, favorite player or fantasy baseball team did.
I happened to be scanning ESPN.com this morning and came across this article by Tim Kurkjian. I am not a big fan of Kurkjian, but I have to appreciate the uber-geekyness of clipping box scores for 20 years. I think you would be hard pressed to find a baseball fan over the age of 30 who did not do this at some point in their lives. This article brought back some memories for me. I remember vividly scanning the box scores during mornings in the summer in the 1980’s looking to see the results of my beloved Cubbies and Red Sox, wondering if Leon Durham jacked a homer or Wade Boggs went 3 for 4 the previous night. I also remember the frustration of finding that there was no score available for games on the west coast (I was living in NJ at the time) and having to wait for the NEXT DAY to find out the results of a game. Boy, have we come a long way – I can now watch every game that is taking place, live from the comfort of my living room and I can check a box score instantaneously. A couple of weeks ago, I actually looked at a box score in a paper – it was the first time I had done that since I can’t remember.
I am also guilty of clipping box scores myself. Somewhere there exists a notebook with just about every box score for the Cubs and Red Sox from 1985 – 1988. I still remember the frustration of the Cubs every 5 days trucking out a lanky 21 year old right-hander in 1987 because he kept getting pounded every time he pitched. He ended up 6-14 with an ERA of 5.61 that season which, considering how much less offense there was in 1987 than today, and despite rumors of a juiced ball, was terrible. That pitcher – Greg Maddux.
FlatbreadGarden 