Racing

This blog post will inevitably only serve as a doorway to another blog post that I read recently. But I personally found it entertaining enough that I don't care if I'm not offering any personal commentary this week and acting only as a conduit.

It's always fun to see what kind of mid-inning entertainment acts you will be distracted with when you go to a baseball game. Minor league games have historically done a better job at putting on a good show when the players are switching on and off the field, but I think that's in large part due to the fact that they have a smaller crowd. If they grab someone to do a sing-along or participate in a trivia contest, there's a 1-in-10,000 chance that it will be you, and if you came with some people, probably a 1-in-2,000 chance that it will be someone you know. Even if you're not personally vested in the exercise, you usually have a pretty good view of what's going on from your seat, and don't have to resort to watching the scoreboard.

At major league ballparks that seat 40,000 fans and are about 3 times bigger than a minor league park, these are difficult obstacles to overcome. But they do try. And no phenomenon is more symptomatic of their efforts than the Race. You might think that the cute animated feature on the scoreboard, in which hot dogs or donuts race each other while the fans cheer, is limited only to the baseball stadium that you frequent. But it's not!

Turns out that just about every major league team, and most minor league teams, use some form of Race for mid-inning entertainment. And just for fun, one of my favorite sports blogs, Deadspin, compiled a list of every one of them. If you have time to check it out, you might find the commentary for the New York Yankees (American League) and the Washington Nationals (National League) the most funny to read.

And by the way, I agree with their assessment of the Tigers' race... that friggin donut wins every time and it really pisses me off.

Link: Deadspin Scoreboard Races