just watch baseball. this is what baseball is and why it exists
This idea of “second-screen content” is totally gross yet seemingly inevitable

Apr 10, 2024 · 10:40 PM UTC

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Replying to @jon_bois
“I missed episodes 2-147 is there anything I need to know to watch the end of the season” “Bullpen stinks” “Thanks”
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There is no greater mood stabilizer than half watching a west coast baseball game at 11:00 pm
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Replying to @jon_bois
Half watching baseball while reading the paper; our grandparents really had that one figured out
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Replying to @jon_bois
and golf
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See also test cricket and snooker.
This tweet is unavailable
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Replying to @jon_bois
Should I switch over to baseball? Because this is what watching basketball is like now
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Replying to @jon_bois
Jon how could a distracted viewer fully appreciate a home run ball hitting Jose Canseco in the head?
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You don't go to a baseball game to watch the game. You go to talk to your friends over a few beers while enjoying nice weather.
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Replying to @jon_bois
Baseball was made for the audio. Video is great, but baseball is a sport of dreams. There's hope or desperation in the radio calls. It's a game of carefully, persistently winding a spring, and then sometimes all hell lets loose. Those are the moments that make it baseball.
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Replying to @jon_bois
watching baseball [I have no video clip to forward to you because I wasn't paying attention]
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Someone should do the Baseball Channel. It's just streaming a baseball game, all the time. Is it a recent game? Unlikely. Is it a good game? Watch and see. Whatever is on, it's always Baseball.
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Replying to @jon_bois
There also used to just be entire networks dedicated to this concept, it's very hard to be consistently good at being background TV.
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Replying to @jon_bois
Honestly, that’s why I was a little letdown when they implemented the pitch clock. 😂
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Replying to @jon_bois
This is why tightening the speed and adding timers was a huge mistake for baseball. Things happen before you're done looking away now
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Replying to @jon_bois
i got back into baseball because i always had it on in the background when i was working on my senior thesis collection for fashion school 😅
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Replying to @jon_bois
Get all my reading in during Rays games on TV. Buy books in the off-season just eyeing those 162 days of bliss. Nothing better
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Replying to @jon_bois
There's probably two thousand hours of professional billiards on Youtube for anyone looking for something you can second-screen in the offseason
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Replying to @jon_bois
jon can you please make the mariners less bad this season. i don’t like it when the tv makes me depressed when i’m trying to ignore it
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The best part is this isn't at all a knock against Baseball.
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Replying to @jon_bois
I genuinely rewatch Secret Base content like this regularly. I’ve watched the entire History of the Mariners series while playing Civ 6 about 100 times.
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Replying to @jon_bois
And with T-Mobile, you can get the full season of MLB.tv for FREE, so you can stream 4 games at once AND scroll on your phone!! (Please help, this is what my afternoons look like now)
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Replying to @jon_bois
Watching my nationals lose every day but it’s okay because I’m high and playing helldivers at the same time
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Replying to @jon_bois
You know what, I might try this. Not a sports fan but seems like a good idea and I have rudimentary knowledge of it.
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Replying to @jon_bois
One time in high school I started and finished a long essay while half watching a Felix Hernandez start vs Angels
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Replying to @jon_bois
baseball exists to provide background noise for more spiritually fulfilling pursuits (eating peanuts)
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Replying to @jon_bois
wait i literally just saw this tweet and had the same take before I saw your tweet. yep, baseball is the answer
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The PGA also functions well as a second-screen.
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Replying to @jon_bois
whatever the sport, and perhaps other live TV, I often surf the net during slow parts or outright breaks in the action but I have to be careful to not lose focus when it does come back on
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I need quality B material to have in the background when I’m working my second job. Good enough to watch, bad enough not to command attention. Sports is usually great for this! Just not the playoffs.
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Replying to @jon_bois
Isn’t this why reality tv and cooking competition shows were created too? I’m sure cell phones have made this worse but networks have known about passive viewing forever. It’s part of the reason procedurals are the way they are.
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I use airport live streams for this, and will either be watching another video on YouTube, playing a game, or watching a different airport live stream on the big screen. And have the local classical station playing on the Nest speaker behind me.
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Replying to @jon_bois
Golf is on like every weekend
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Replying to @jon_bois
See also: Test cricket.