Category: Family Good Stuff

MLB in South Korea Brings Pandemic Flashbacks

On Monday morning, I was watching an exhibition game between the Los Angels Dodgers and the South Korean national team. Professional baseball at 7 AM in South Korea? I and millions of other fans saw this movie four years earlier. While viewing Max Muncy hit a run scoring double, my mind flashed back and I couldn’t help but remember that it was at this very spot on the couch that we were introduced to pandemic baseball.

Daniel Palka played KBO baseball in 2020. Photo from si.com

Back in that May of 2020, my kids and I would have the same routine as began our new lives. We would eat breakfast in the living room and watch live baseball from South Korea. During those early days of the pandemic, this was was the only live sporting event to watch. Not only did we see the best of South Korea in a nearly empty stadium, but we saw some familiar faces playing in the KBO. Aaron Altherr, whom we watched at Citi field hit his first New York Mets’ home run, became one of the best power hitters in the KBO with 31 home runs. There was former Arizona Diamondbacks’ prospect turned Chicago White Sox first baseman Daniel Palka trying to work his way back to the Major Leagues. On the mound, former Philadelphia Phillie David Buchanan posted a stellar 2.54 ERA in 31 starts.

Back then, it didn’t matter if there were MLB players in Korea or not. We were just excited to watch professional baseball. Seeing names we recognized was the cherry on top. It was a new world with a lot of confusion and sadness. Being able to watch three innings of baseball before departing to our respective areas for work and school made this new reality a little bit more bearable. It allowed us to bond a little bit more over our love for baseball. Four years later, we will be watching professional baseball under much better circumstances: Opening Day!

Chasing Perfection With Immaculate Grid

Have you ever heard of Immaculate Grid? It’s a game played online along the lines of Wordle. Most of the game consists of finding one player that has played with two different teams located in a specific spot. The possible combinations to describe are endless so the best thing to for an idea is to look at the picture below. To play the game, simply click here.

The Immaculate Grid. Photo from The New York Times

The object, of course is to fill up the entire table with correct answers. One wrong answer doesn’t end the game but you will not be considered “immaculate”. The name of the game is a nod to an immaculate inning, which is nine pitches and three strikeouts. At the end of each game, whether you are perfect or not, you receive a score. The lower the score the better as it indicates an answer has not been used by many game players. For instance, in looking at the grid above, choosing Robin Ventura as your Yankee and Met would result in a higher percentage of a guess than say, Ray Burris. My personal lowest rarity score is a 27.

Immaculate Grid is a game my family plays faithfully each night. The toughest category is first round pick because the draft in baseball has only recently been given more coverage. The easiest for me would be All-Stars thanks to my vast 1970’s and 1980’s baseball card collection. Certain editions of Topps during that time period would indicate who was an All Star. That assists me in getting a low rarity score. I suggest playing Immaculate Grid immediately to test your baseball IQ. It’s a fun activity playing solo or with a group.