Wagner: Baseball’s pace of play perfect for at least one group: knitters

From James Wagner at the New York Times on September 26, 2019, with mention of SABR member Meredith Wills:

Victoria Pojrazov pulled her gaze away from the action on the field only once, and that was to show her progress on the tunic sweater she was knitting for a friend. As she sat in her usual spot behind the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen in left field — Section 137 at the Rogers Centre — during a recent game, Pojrazov’s fingers twirled through green yarn as if independent from the rest of her body.

“Some people eat peanuts,” she said. “I knit.”

Part of baseball’s beauty is its lack of a clock. Over the years, certain spectators have taken advantage of the slow pace in many ways: reading a book or the newspaper, doing homework, sunbathing, napping.

The inaction, though, is also baseball’s curse. Along with rising ticket costs, the increasing length of games has helped lead to seven straight years of declining attendance at M.L.B. games over all.

But one group of fans hasn’t moaned about the plodding state of the modern game: knitters.

Read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/sports/baseball/baseball-knitting.html



Originally published: October 2, 2019. Last Updated: October 2, 2019.