Pitcher’s duels don’t appeal to all baseball fans

To follow up on a topic from last week, I took the opportunity to drive by the DMV Registry office on Pond Street in Woonsocket. What I saw could be encouraging, but only to a point. I did not see the line waiting for the triage booth coming out the front doors and down the path to the parking lot as I had in the past. I did see what appeared to be long lines inside, though. I hope the apparent improvement is lessening the suffering of those who try to comply with the laws of our state.

• I just have to say this, even though as I type I can hear certain people disagreeing with me. I’ve had it with so-called “pitcher’s duels” in baseball this year. I don’t get it and I’ve never got what some people see in these lowscoring affairs. I say there is a reason there are nine players on each team. I said NINE, not TWO. You may well say to me, Dave, who cares what you think? To that I reply, “I’m a spectator. Baseball is a ‘spectator sport.’ I’m the customer. What I think had darned better matter.”

There have always been pitcher’s duels. I get that. But I’m seeing duel after duel after duel this season, and I don’t like it at all. Give me some offense, I say! There’s got to be a reason all those trees have died to give the other eight players something to hold in their hands, and it ain’t to swat flies. Those trees died so players can hit baseballs with the bats, so the players should start doing it.

• Congratulations are in order, I think, for state Rep. Bob Phillips (D-Dist. 51, Woonsocket, Cumberland) and state Sen. Roger Picard (D-Dist. 20, Woonsocket, Cumberland), who joined together and engaged the support of the members of their respective houses to see a new law signed by Gov. Gina Raimondo last week. Without going into too much detail, Rhode Island school districts will now be able to elect to make up for school days lost to weather or building issues with approved school work sent home with students, rather than having no choice but to add the lost days to the end of the school calendar. Each community will have the option to adopt this policy or to not.

Personally, I don’t see why any school district would not elect to enable this new option. I admire the simple logic of this measure. After all, it’s all about imparting knowledge to our young people, isn’t it? It seems to me a reasonable compromise to exchange time at home for time in a class room when the class room time is lost through no fault of the student.

• From our “Time Marches On” Department: I usually drive a small car. It’s thrifty and very easy to park, which is important to me. This, I suppose, comes from lessons learned in the 1970s when OPEC engineered an embargo which raised the price of gas and oil dramatically.

However, the social cycle we are now in demands luxury and status in automobiles. Luxury pickup trucks and SUVs make up the majority of U.S. auto sales. So, it will surprise no one that General Motors is considering discontinuing six models which are neither trucks nor SUVs.

The Chevy Volt Hybrid, Buick Lacrosse, Cadillac XGS, the affordable Sonic, and even the venerable Chevy Impala may soon go the way of the Oldsmobile, relegated to history. Hey, you can’t expect them to keep making them if they’re not selling, right?

• Finally, I found it interesting that just days after my comments on what a lousy job being White House Press Secretary for President Trump must be, that the current occupant of that office resigned. It does make some sense that an executive like Mr. Trump would feel more comfortable with a financial professional on his team even if the financial professional knows nothing of how to handle the press. As I review what I just wrote I realize how little it makes sense until you frame the thought with the understanding that Mr. Trump knows little to nothing of how to govern a nation, as evidenced by his decision to refuse an invitation to the NAACP convention in nearby Baltimore.

A leader who is adept at the special skills needed to engage and govern a nation of dissimilar peoples would do what former President George W. Bush did. Mr. Bush attended the convention. He was gracious and polite and listened attentively to what people there told him. Even though neither side believed for a moment that his policies would be changed by the information he gained, who is to say that his decisions weren’t “moderated” in some way by an understanding of the different points of view?

Regardless, even though they didn’t agree, Mr. Bush at least showed the NAACP the respect of attendance and civility. What more could you ask of a leader? We are not getting even that from Mr. Trump. I hope this doesn’t come back to bite him in the future. Remember, Donald Trump’s success as president is the success of all of us. Frustrating, sometimes, isn’t it?