"Crash" may be the protagonist, but the Minor Leagues are the spotlight character of the film. If you follow the background dialogue, you get to hear about many of the unique events and promotions that happen in the minors. Taco nights, Little League Nights, "Clowns of Baseball," hot dog eating contests, and a lot of other classic small town activities abound in their mentions. Add to that baseball that is played at a level much better than most of us ever played the game, but clumsy in comparison to the play in "the show" and you have a perfect demonstration of why baseball continues to capture the American imagination. Yes, home runs in the Majors and phenoms like Mike Trout are awe inspiring to watch, but games played by the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes which open with FUNTAINMENT are Americana at its best. They are filled with hope, inspiration, and the delusion that if we'd only listened to our High School coaches a little more often, that we too might have a fun career. As Willie Stargell said, "It's supposed to be fun, the man says 'Play Ball' not 'Work Ball' you know.
And fun is what it looks like the players of the Dunedin Blue Jays are having. They recently qualified for the playoffs, and have taken this as an opportunity to create a unique season highlight video. They have created a fictional Nintendo Entertainment System baseball game that depicts their recent accomplishment. The video is a good deal of fun, and shows once more why I love Minor League Baseball.
It brings back memories of the 8-Bit version of the infamous Bill Buckner World Series moment.
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