No Baseball Tonight

Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been consumed with baseball. While I’ve gotten older and my priorities have changed, I’m still consumed with baseball, specifically the Mets. The Mets off days drive me crazy because it means I have to find something to do. 

Tonight is one of those nights. Now, I have plenty of things to do in its place. I’m married to an amazing woman. I have a perfect little boy. Like every night, we’re going to have dinner. I’m going to play with my son. This involves a number of games and puzzles. It always involves me breaking out his baseball stuff. 

When he starts getting tired, it’s bath time.  After that, my son asks to watch the Mets. He gets next to me in the bed, looks over, and he crosses his legs exactly the way I have my legs crossed. It may not tell me if I’m doing a good job as a parent, but it lets me know that I’m making an impact. 

On Sunday, I had a dilemma. He wanted to watch baseball. The problem is the Mets had a day game. Fortunately, there was Sunday Night Baseball. It was good enough. There’s no Mets game tonight. Not that I would put it on, but there’s no Yankee game tonight. That limits me to the MLB Network.  I’m sure I’ll throw on the game they are televising. 

My issue is their choices tonight are terrible for the East Coast. It’s either Tigers-Royals or Rockies-Giants. The Royals have a 12 game lead in the AL Central and the Tigers are 10 games under .500. The Giants, like the Nationals, are 6.5 games back in the division. Like the Nationals, they have no real shot at the Wild Card. 

Personally, I’d like to see the Braves-Nationals game. It has an impact on the Mets and their divisional race. The other games don’t. In fact, the Royals game has no impact on anything. I realize the MLB Network exists for ratings. I’ve been to a game in San Francisco. They’re terrific fans, and I’m sure they’ll drive ratings. 

However, I can’t imagine the Rockies-Giants game will remotely register in New York, the largest media market in the world. There’s Giants and Jets preseason games. There’s the U.S. Open. The MLB Network punted probably presuming there will be no eyes in New York. 

I know my son and I won’t be watching.  That’s hard to accept because I’d love to have an important game to watch tonight. It’s just one night. My son and I will be tuning in tomorrow.