We’re almost there. The MLB preseason is just about over. Opening Day is Monday, though as usual, we’ve got Scheduled For TV games on Sunday–three of ’em this year.
As we all know, the beginning of the season means two things: cats are making predictions and this year’s baseball video games hit the shelves.
Let’s start with the bad news.
Check out this commercial for MLB The Show 17.
Assuming you haven’t fled, screaming in horror, let’s talk about what’s wrong with this.
For starters, did you notice that every single person in the commercial is “this guy” and “he”? I’m not sure whether Sony thinks that women don’t play video games or that there aren’t female baseball fans, but either way it’s a damned offensive assumption.
Then there’s the celebration of Manfred’s Kool-Aid. “Quick three inning games”? Are you kidding me?
And speaking of that guy–four jobs and twelve kids? Come on! As Groucho Marx once didn’t say, “I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while!” Maybe if the dude hadn’t dropped $300 on a PS4 and $60 on the game, he could afford to quit one of those jobs.
I don’t play video games–not even baseball games–but I’m tempted to buy a PS4 just so I can boycott MLB The Show 17. The only thing stopping me is that Sony makes the console too.
Moving on.
Of course we’ve begun indoctrinating Rufus into the household traditions. He’s seen some baseball on TV (about ten seconds worth of highlights), so we figured he was qualified to make predictions for the 2017 season.
On the other hand, he is new to the concept, so we decided to start him off with something straightforward: predicting the final standings for the American League West. We’ll keep working with him during the season, and if his predictions pan out, we’ll give him a shot at the playoffs.
He used a treat-based methodology to make his selections.
The final prediction:
- Texas Rangers
- Houston Astros
- Seattle Mariners
- Oakland Athletics
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
It’s not the order I’d have liked to see, but it’s not completely unreasonable, based on the preseason predictions. For comparison, FiveThirtyEight has Houston, Seattle, Texas, LA, and Oakland.
Rufus definitely enjoyed making his picks.
He was, however, rather less enthusiastic about the obligatory Wearing of the Cap that followed.
Koi Scribblings 
There seems to be some confusion about “Opening Day” (aka: the beginning of life), this year. The first regular season games, as I understand it, are being played on Saturday, April 1st, so that should be called Opening Day, as far as I’m concerned. As a Giants fan, the regular season starts on Sunday, when the Gints meat the D-backs. By Monday, the season will be in full swing, baseball gods willing. Your actual mileage, of course, may vary.
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The official “Opening Day” is Monday, per MLB. But, as in years past, there are regular season games the day before.
This started with a single game scheduled on Sunday evening for the sake of TV. We’re now up to three games, including that SF/Arizona game. (For those of you outside the Bay Area and Arizona, the other two are Yankees/Rays and Cubs/Cardinals.)
But all of those Saturday games are preseason.
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