I liked everything you said up until the last sentence...I'm hoping for an all-time game!!!

WOW!!   Great post Italyprof.  I agree with Frazzman, may that last line NOT happen tonight!  In a post FULL of great verbiage I quote just one paragraph so that I can add a name or two:

"And we will read Whitman and watch and play baseball - our daughters alongside our sons - and they will all know they come from somewhere and do not just live in something called "the marketplace". "

and we also read truth-tellers (a bit more recent) like Edward Abbey, Charles Bowden (recently passed at our great loss), Mark Twain (not so recent), and Pete Dexter (still very much with us), and all the other brave writers willing to write truth and speak up about what few really want to hear or acknowledge.

As to the point at hand. WS and baseball.  We must clamor long and loud against this "tinkering" with the rules of "God's game" such as is being experimented with in the Arizona Fall league. Time (a "shot clock" or "pitch clock") has no business being anywhere near a baseball diamond!!  The game needs NOT corporate tinkering to speed it up and make it more palpable for the ignorant or the doofus-tube we call TV.  These corporate owned entities (and the wealthiest among us) who own the major league ballclubs, must NOT be allowed to change the rules of our beloved game!!  Baseball is the one game where an arbitrary ending decided by somebody's idea of how long the game should last, is NOT involved. It should definitely stay that way-----even if morons with low attention spans get bored and turn the channel.  It's time we stopped being dictated to by the least intelligent among us!!  IF they don't like baseball because the game MIGHT last longer than their attention span........ then I say so what and good riddance.  We don't need television.  Baseball was a great game LONG before it was broadcast on the idiot box.  maybe real baseball fans will have to return to the stadiums if it wasn't delivered to their living rooms in High Def.  Would that really be so bad??

Dads (and Moms) attending ballgames (including minor league games) with their sons and daughters!!  A reunification of family through wholesome events! (like Baseball)  We could only hope!!  Stop the tinkering with rules (like pitch clocks!!)  NOW!!!   The DH was bad enough.  Leave the damn game alone!!!

LB

hey, laramiebob....speaking of the DH - how long do the Giants stay with Bumgarner last night if there were no DH in effect? Things may have been very different....

That's a very valid question. And yes, while I am a critic of tampering with the game's rules, and in general opposed to the DH. I can handle the DH.  It changes the strategy of the game, BUT doesn't eliminate strategy. In fact as you point out well, in some instances adds strategy. AND it did increase offensive production which (it seems) many fans need(ed).  I can live with the DH and LIKE the way things are now with one league using DH and one not. Makes for interesting world series where some games have it and some don't.  BTW, GREAT series IMO.  Congrats to the Giants. Very gritty team that just seems to excel in crunch time. I'd take Hunter Pence on my team anytime. He just seems to do all the little things so well. Those "little things" are what wins baseball games!!  And Bochy............one of the best managers (if not the best!!) in baseball.  Just keep the damn CLOCK out of baseball!!!!   PLEASE!!

Just enforce the rule already on the books.

8.04
When the bases are unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball. Each time the pitcher delays the game by violating this rule, the umpire shall call ?Ball.? The 12-second timing starts when the pitcher is in possession of the ball and the batter is in the box, alert to the pitcher. The timing stops when the pitcher releases the ball.
The intent of this rule is to avoid unnecessary delays. The umpire shall insist that the catcher return the ball promptly to the pitcher, and that the pitcher take his position on the rubber promptly. Obvious delay by the pitcher should instantly be penalized by the umpire.

As for game 7, it was a great game with intrigue up until the last strike, especially with a runner 90 feet from extra innings.

Speaking of the rules, the official scorekeeper had leeway to give the win to the most effective relief pitcher. During the game, the TV announcer said the scorer had told the press box that he would give the win to Bumgarner. But that apparently did not happen. I wonder why...

Never mind. Here's the answer, from ESPN: Under rule 10.17, the only way a pitcher does not get the win when he is in the game when the winning run scores is if he is a starter and did not go five innings or was "ineffective in a brief appearance." Affeldt pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Tim Hudson and therefore earned the win.

Panik's play in the third was spectacular, and may have saved the game for the Giants.  Also can't help but think the Royals needed to be much more patient with Bumgarner, waaay too much reaching for those high fastballs.