To view most of it, it is true, you do have to pay and join. It's $8 a month or thereabouts. I paid, and I have found it to be well worth it.
My only gripe is that GameChanger has the hubris to generate a narrative--a recap--for each game logged. Using the data entered while Coach Greene sits on a bucket in the dugout and taps on his iPad, the GameChanger software employs a vast database of baseball words and phrases and attempts to tell the story of the game the way a real human sportswriter might. What's remarkable is that it almost works. I am more impressed than disappointed. But there remain at least a few things that humans can do better than computers. One of those things, apparently, is tell a story.
Below, I have posted the GameChanger recap from Thursday's game for those who would like to save $8. You will see that it does present the facts of the game accurately. But, in my opinion, it fails to capture the character of the game. It fails to select the most noteworthy plays and give them their due emphasis and drama. And, as the headline will demonstrate right off the bat, its grammar stinks. From here on out, I will write the recaps using the data collected by GameChanger, if for no other reason than to protect our young and impressionable readers from the horrors of computer-generated literature.
Incidentally, before you read on, I would like to point out that while it will seem like GameChanger has a particular affinity for my son Tom--why else would a sac fly that produced one run garner any attention in a game during which we produced 28?--I swear that I have not tampered with any of the settings. Only Coach Greene has that kind of power. Oddly, Matthew, who earned MVP honors for his performance in the game, gets relatively little mention. Computers can organize and analyze baseball data, but they have yet to learn how to appreciate the game played well.
Rockets fights back,
defeats the Easton Nationals, 28-5
Rockets trailed by five
in the second, but Rockets recovered thanks
to a key sacrifice fly in the third inning from Tom Berkley to pull out a
28-5 win in five innings over the Easton Nationals at Jaycee/Lyon on Thursday. With the score tied at
five in the third inning, hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Eric Gage.
Rockets blew out the
Easton Nationals thanks to 26 hits, including seven extra base hits. Rockets scored 14 runs
in the fifth on an RBI single by Jack Morgan, a passed ball, an
RBI single by Will Dorian, an RBI single
by Drew Siegenthaler, an error, a two-run
single by Jeffrey Hohler, an RBI single
by Matt Dougherty, an error, an RBI
single by Sean Greene, an RBI double
by Morgan, an RBI single byAidan McGaugh, an RBI single
by Dorian, and a passed ball.
Siegenthaler got a hit in
each of his four at bats.
Greene recorded the win
for Rockets. He tossed two
innings of shutout ball. He struck out three, walked none and surrendered no
hits.
Rockets pounded the
Easton Nationals pitching, as 11 hitters combined for 25 hits, 21 RBIs and 27
runs scored.
The Easton Nationals
jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first. A single by Levine, bringing home Webster started the
inning off. The Easton Nationals pushed more runs across when Levine scored on
a passed ball, Gramer scored on an RBI single by Deveau, and Deveau
scored on an RBI single by Friel.
The third spelled
defeat for the Easton Nationals, as Rockets grabbed the lead
for good. More runners rounded the bases on three doubles, three singles, and a
wild pitch.
Rockets built upon its
lead with four runs in the fourth. A wild pitch scored Steven Donovan for the inning's
first run. That was followed up by Hohler's double, scoring Siegenthaler.
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