Why Sports Are Good Essay
The day was November 2nd. The year was 2019. This was the beginning of the end for America’s pastime. The New York Mets were playing the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series. The stage was set for an epic clash of the games two best pitchers that year. The starters were to be Padraig Harrington of the Mets squaring off against JT Brown of the Blue Jays. Both pitchers won the Cy Young award as the best pitchers in their respective leagues. The entire city of New York was a sea of orange and blue.
This was the Mets first chance to finally outshine the Yankees as the best team in New York. Patrick Kane, the Mets GM, had spent 4 years assembling this team and the owner Zach Parise had poured millions into this team. The night was abuzz when the first pitch was thrown for a strike by Brown. As expected it was a pitching duel. Batter by batter came up and each failed to get a hit. Late in the 9th inning the game was 0-0 still. Both pitchers had a perfect game on the line, and the entire stadium was dead quiet.
Never before had this happened in the history of baseball.With two outs left in the top of the ninth Anze Kopitar came up to the plate. A lifetime . 200 hitter and known mostly for his defense, he was the most unlikely of people to gather a hit. On the 2-1 pitch he drove the ball deep down the left-center gap. As Kopitar made contact a stray bulldog ran onto the field.
Pekka Rinne did not see the dog, but rather the ball in the air. The moment the centerfielder started his journey to catch the ball he was bitten by the stray bulldog. Consequently the ball rolled past Rinne, and Kopitar was making a run to score.The relay throw to the plate was on time and Kopitar was caught in a pickle. After five throws the catcher, Joe Sakic, made a crucial throwing error that allowed Kopitar to score.
Harrington quickly struck out the next batter and the inning was over. JT Brown came out and struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth. The Mets were devastated by this bizarre play and the Mets managaer was furious with the umpire’s decision regarding the bulldog on the field. It was ruled a normal play and the entire city of New York rioted for the subsequent three days.Never before had the city seen such violence. The police force could not contain the rioting and it soon spread as across the entire state.
A state of emergency was declared by President John Scott. For the following two weeks recovery efforts were made to quell the violence that swept the state. Many lives were lost in the fray.
The states professional teams had to be relocated because their stadiums were destroyed amongst the chaos. The Jets and the Giants were moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and the Rangers and Islanders were moved to Anchorage, Alaska.To this day the effects of that game are felt in New York. A monument has been erected to honor those who died in the riots and the countless other who were injured. The governor of New York was impeached and settled back into a life of goat farming in Wyoming.
President Scott and his team received much praise for his handling of the situation and his vice president Raffi Torres was unanimously elected to the next presidency. The MLB lost most of its viewership and eventually folded as a whole 4 short years later.
