Giants infielder J.D. Davis stepped into the batter’s box in the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium on Thursday and suddenly transported us all the way back to the Dark Ages of baseball, which is to say seven months ago.
The first thing Davis did after stepping in was to step out with his left foot. Then he cradled his bat under his left arm, unhinged the Velcro strap on his left batting glove and refastened it. Remember, Davis had yet to take a swing. Then with his right hand he grabbed some pine tar off the midpoint of his bat. Then he did the same with his left hand, all the while studying his bat like the Sunday crossword.
Home plate umpire Laz Díaz suddenly did what the rest of us have been doing for years watching these mindless Velcro rituals and pantomimes of nothingness drag baseball into a snoozefest that caused 15 million paying customers to quit going to games over the past 15 years: He threw up his hands and essentially announced, “Enough!”
