Second Thoughts: Baseball isn’t speed dating, so sit back and relax

We ate lunch Friday at a place north of Columbus called Average Joe’s Taphouse. Unfortunately, the food was, well, average. More disappointing was the fact that the place didn’t offer dodge ball. I was looking forward to reliving my elementary school P.E. glory days.

I don't understand the hand-wringing over the length of baseball games. It seems like everyone is hell-bent on speeding up MLB contests, which generally last as long as NFL games. There's just a lot more baseball games. Also, they are much shorter than college football marathons, which sometimes require a nap at halftime to make it to the finish line.

You can tinker with the rules and shave off 30 seconds here and there. It won’t matter. Batters love to take pitchers deep into counts, adjusting every piece of equipment after every pitch. There’s only one way to shorten games: make them seven innings, like high school games. That never will happen, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to cut the season from 162 games to 154.

Speaking of long baseball games, how about that All-Star pitching duel? You could feel the tension through the TV as the 1-1 game dragged into extra innings. Luckily, Robinson Cano hit a home run in the 10th before what was left of the fair-weather corporate crowd in Miami dispersed. Cano's clutch homer gave the American League its fifth straight win, and more importantly quelled any possibility of a 1-1 final score.

Anyone else uneasy about the news that UD basketball player Kostas Antetokounmpo suffered something called a non-displaced tibia fracture while training with a Greek national team? I guess he has a few months to recover. He missed last season because he was a "non-qualifier" in the eyes of the NCAA. UD has invested a lot in this kid, so hopefully he's done with the setbacks.

Good to see Darran Powell get his job back as Dunbar football coach. He seems like a great role model for his players. Hopefully the Wolverines haven't lost too many talented transfers over the fallout from last season's forfeits and on-field nonsense. Dunbar has good players, but they had no idea how to throw a game. And they shouldn't.

Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor need to pace themselves. At this rate, these two idiots won't have the energy to climb into the ring for their "boxing match" next month. This publicity tour resembles a pro wrestling match. When does Hulk Hogan get to talk? Wouldn't it be great if nobody showed up for this "fight," and nobody bought it on pay-per-view? Wonder what they'd say about that.

Trending up: Brewers, Bryce Harper, Garbine Muguruza. Milwaukee is in first place in the NL Central, defying all logic and raining on the Cubs' parade. I always cheer for small-market teams, so I hope the Brew Crew keeps this up. Among the players powering the Brewers is Washington Court House native Travis Shaw, who is batting .296 with 19 home runs and 65 RBIs. Their best pitcher is a guy named Chase Anderson., and they have the best mascot in baseball, Bernie Brewer.

Trending down: Jon Lester, Michael Floyd, Aroldis Chapman. Lester didn't get out of the first inning against the Pirates last Sunday, giving up 10 runs. Must've been daydreaming about his All-Star break vacation. Lester's record dropped to 5-6 and his ERA jumped to 4.25. The Cubs' pitching is so shaky that they had to turn to their pals on the South Side to shore up their rotation, trading for Jose Quintana, whose stats with the White Sox are almost identical to Lester's numbers.


Knucklehead of the Week

Former Buckeyes star Adolphus Washington was cut by the Buffalo Bills after he was charged with improper handling of a firearm. Washington was spotted by police last week at Splash City north of Cincinnati with a gun in his lap. Police were dispersing a large crowd when they spotted the firearm, which Washington is licensed to carry. Of course, the cops didn’t know that and drew down on the big defensive lineman. One cop commented later that he was close to firing. It’s never a good idea to be holding a gun when cops are in a stressful situation.

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