"the cadence of games"

Emma Baccellieri on the unexpected joys of late season "meaningless baseball":

"The Tigers won, 5-2. It mattered as much as a game between baseball’s two worst teams can matter in September—which is to say, not at all, in any technical sense, unless you’re particularly concerned about the potential draft order for next year. But this technical sense is the objective, macro, big-picture sense. This technical sense may be why professional baseball exists as an enormously profitable business, but it is not why baseball exists. And, of course, there is no one clear answer to that second question—but whatever there is, it’s probably closer to the texture of a game between two terrible teams on September 16 than it is to anything else.

When I miss baseball in the winter, I do not miss the postseason. I do not miss the highlights, I do not miss the debates over who will deserve the Cy Young, I do not miss anything that seems as if it is meant to be remembered. I miss the cadence of games. I miss MLB’s copyright disclaimer on broadcasts. I miss background noise. I miss the Orioles versus the Tigers on September 16."

The Orioles have been terrible for about two decades now, but I still follow them somewhat closely.  If it was possible to listen to them on a Korean radio, as dreadful as they are, I would.

So when I moved to Daegu ten years ago (!) I was excited to have a local team, the Samsung Lions, who were actually quite good.   (They won four consecutive championships between 2011 and 2014).

Of course, they've fallen into mediocrity right on cue.  (Currently in eighth place out of ten squads.)

Still, I love that expression "cadence of games."  Walking home at night through the streets and alleys of Daegu, the fried chicken joints will be playing the Samsung game if it's on.  I check the scores in the morning.  I go to about three or four games a season, but it's those late season "meaningless" ones that somehow charm me much more than they should.  Honestly, I think it has a lot to do with weather -- fall has always been my favorite season, and there is something about days growing shorter rather than longer that makes me want to check out at least one more home game before the season ends.