Irony

[HokieUmp]

Maybe this is ironic only in the way the Alanis song used irony....

But it IS interesting that on the very "Back to the Future" day that every media outlet has been going on and on about, the Cubs - World Series winners in the movie - were eliminated from the playoffs, a round early.  (Closest they've been for a while, but still.)

And it's adorable how the World Series champs were supposedly still being decided in October.....

[MooseLoop]

Well, yes, in this timeline.  Obviously someone from Biff Tannen's family went back to the future and altered history, apparently by finding out what pitches the Cubs were going to throw and tipping off Daniel Murphy.

[Umpire in Chief]

It's all string theory and infinite infinities of parallel universes. It did happen, just not on this string that we are all occupying at this time.

[kylehutson]

You do have to feel at least a little sorry for Cubs fans. The last time they won a World Series, the Ottoman Empire was still in existence.

...and Go Royals!

[maven]

Ooh, a parlor game!

The last time the Cubs won the world series....

...Teddy Roosevelt was U.S. President.

Your turn.

[kylehutson]

The cast time the Cubs won the world series, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were still on the loose.

[maven]

... China still had an emperor (Guangxu).

[Richvee]

...they were still minting Indian head pennies.

[Kevin_K]

Ronald Reagan had not yet been born, the flag had 46 stars, and women did not have the right to universal suffrage.

[kylehutson]

The average working man made $200 to $400 per year.

[MadMax]

... the Titanic was still on paper, in the form of blueprints presented to J. Bruce Ismay and White Star Lines in July. She hadn't been named or designated anything beyond Hull No. 401... which is what Daniel Murphy likely batted against the Cubs in 4 games.

... the Nimrod Expedition, led by Ernest Shackleton, had arrived in Antarctica in January, and then scouted around and prepared for their expedition to the South Pole over the ensuing 9 months, finally striking out at the end of October. Lack of experience, hurried preparations, limited provisions and financial problems haunted the entire undertaking (sounds like many baseball teams).

... the Eiffel Tower had just started broadcasted radio messages.

... a moratorium was placed on Japanese immigration to the USA. The Detroit Tigers were unable to sign and utilize a Japanese pitching prospect they had their eyes on.

... oil was just discovered in commercially lucrative amounts in the Middle East.

... the Tunguska Event occurred, a real shot heard "round the world", 43 years before Bobby Thomson stepped to bat.

... the first passenger airline flight took place... with one passenger aboard. 

... Henry Ford was just cranking out his first Model T.

... "Merkle's Boner" occurs, one of the most controversial plays in baseball history. This actually went in the Cubs' favor, instead of working against them.

... the World Series introduced a 4-man crew to the Umpiring world, albeit in alternating 2-man crews.

[umpstu]

Keith Richards formed his first band.

[kylehutson]

There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and 144 miles of paved roads

[dookiexman]

...WWI and WWII were just figments of our imagination.

....and of course the "wireless telephone" had just been promoted as an alternative to the old technology of wired phones.

http://earlyradiohistory.us/1908uwwt.htm

 

 

[kylehutson]

...but only about 8% of all homes had a telephone at all

[lawump]

...80% of MLB games were umpired by two umpires (and 20% were umpired by one umpire)

 

http://www.hardballtimes.com/dividing-the-umpires/

[kylehutson]

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores.

[umpstu]

Keith Richards formed his first band.

Glad some other old guys got this.

[MadMax]

...80% of MLB games were umpired by two umpires (and 20% were umpired by one umpire)

 

http://www.hardballtimes.com/dividing-the-umpires/

I wonder if U-E had an ancestor, in the form of a big chalkboard somewhere in a mid-Atlantic state, probably on a rail line. I'm sure one or two cranky buggers griped and complained about umpiring solo. History is cyclical. 

[umpstu]

I wonder if U-E had an ancestor, in the form of a big chalkboard somewhere in a mid-Atlantic state, probably on a rail line. I'm sure one or two cranky buggers griped and complained about umpiring solo. History is cyclical. 

The telegram.