S01.E09: Scratched

[Nanrad]

2 hours ago, JZL said:

Yeah, I see it's not doing so great in the 18-49 demo but it's overall viewership isn't too bad.  I wonder if it isn't catching on with females in that demo as well as they expected.  My stepdaughter is in her early 30's and is into sports and loves baseball, but she hasn't been watching.  My wife is about my age and also loves baseball, but she only recently binge-watched most of the season on DVR, and was sort of lukewarm about it.

http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/pitch-season-one-ratings/

Idk, I feel like the promo for the show hasn't been great and the timeslot is terrible.

Is your daughter just not interested in the show? 

And lukewarm? *appalled gasp*

[Clanstarling]

On 12/1/2016 at 11:39 PM, Irlandesa said:

I really wish this weren't the story they were telling with Ginny's brother.  I feel like having him be misguided, and someone who supported Ginny and whose dreams she wants to support, would be a more interesting tale than having him be outright shady.

Yes. I would have preferred that he was a dreamer who wasn't particularly skilled. I'm sure it will be interesting, this shady business, but I don't like the idea of it.

On 12/2/2016 at 6:14 AM, attica said:

I was quite literally screaming NOOOOOOO at my tv during the beard-nuzzling. I don't care how hot their chem is (....and yeah, it's hot), I do not approve this plotline.

The mister was laughing out loud when I yelled that each time they got closer to a kiss.

I choked up for the first time on this show when Mike was tipping his hat to the cheering crowd. I also thought (pardon the pun) that he knocked it out of the park in that scene. Who knew anyone could emote that much behind that massive beard?

[JZL]

2 hours ago, Nanrad said:

Idk, I feel like the promo for the show hasn't been great and the timeslot is terrible.

Is your daughter just not interested in the show? 

And lukewarm? *appalled gasp*

Daughter is really busy, what with a job, two kids, and also being the asst. volleyball coach at the local JuCo.  She just responded to my text about it and told me she hoped it would be on Netflix soon. 

My wife has now watched all but the last two eps and says she really likes it, that she thought it got better as it went along.

2 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Yes. I would have preferred that he was a dreamer who wasn't particularly skilled. I'm sure it will be interesting, this shady business, but I don't like the idea of it.

It's probably the nature of the show but there isn't much in the way of clear-cut "bad guys."  The new owner is a bit of a dink but not horrible.  Duarte is an egotistical jerk but he might come around.  So I can see the brother being a bit of a foil. 

Edited December 4, 2016 by JZL

[possibilities]

The argument that Mike is a richer character than any of the others and is therefore the obvious choice for a love interest doesn't work for me. He's only a more developed character than the others because the show has chosen to develop him and not the others. If they wanted to spend time on any of the others, they could-- and it would be a better show if it wasn't basically turning into a romance between the Ginny and Mike, but instead was what they sold it to us as being, which was a story about the experience of being the first woman to pitch in the majors. There are lots and lots of other possible stories they could tell about that. And even if they wanted to inject romance into the story, it didn't have to be Mike. It could be anyone else, if they wanted to write it. Love it or hate it, it's far from the only option.

[Nanrad]

@possibilities I don't think some are arguing that Mike is the obvious love choice because he's a richer character. What happened is that someone said he was a richer character overall and another person said that in shows they tend to go with the established, more developed characters (I could be wrong). You're right, it doesn't have to be Mike, but I think the creators/writers went down this path because of KB and MPG's chemistry. 

TBH, I don't think the show is turning into a romance about Mike and Ginny. I just noticed last night how vested I'm in in EVERY storyline and interaction. Like with Al and Oscar, Evelyn and Blip, Evelyn and Will, Ginny navigating the criticism and proving herself, Ginny's relationship with her agent, brother, teammates, coach, and organization. Ginny's relationship with Mike whether it be the catcher/pitcher dynamic, friends, or something more. 

Like, I care about it all. And even if there wasn't a romance/slow burn/or whatever between Mike and Ginny, I'd still be vested this show--equally vested. IMO, the storyline doesn't strengthen or weaken the show because it's a well written show regardless with some great characters.

[possibilities]

On 12/3/2016 at 6:57 PM, rippleintime17 said:

IMO, it makes more sense for the writers to put two characters that the viewers are invested in together than to put Ginny with one o the other players that have barely made an impact in nine episodes of the show.

I was referring to this comment.

[cynic]

6 hours ago, Nanrad said:

....

TBH, I don't think the show is turning into a romance about Mike and Ginny. I just noticed last night how vested I'm in in EVERY storyline and interaction. Like with Al and Oscar, Evelyn and Blip, Evelyn and Will, Ginny navigating the criticism and proving herself, Ginny's relationship with her agent, brother, teammates, coach, and organization. Ginny's relationship with Mike whether it be the catcher/pitcher dynamic, friends, or something more. 

Like, I care about it all. And even if there wasn't a romance/slow burn/or whatever between Mike and Ginny, I'd still be vested this show--equally vested. IMO, the storyline doesn't strengthen or weaken the show because it's a well written show regardless with some great characters.

ITA. This show has managed to make me care about almost all these characters and storylines. (I just can't seem to get into the brother's deal.). I even enjoy Oscar and I didn't think that would happen watching the pilot. I would enjoy this show with or without the romance SL, but I love the Mike/Ginny chemistry, so I'm all in for that.

As for male/female friendships, I think the show has done a good job with the close and platonic friendship between Ginny and Blip. I do wish we could see Ginny interact with the other pitchers though and wish Tommy was still around for this reason.  

[biakbiak]

I have decided between this episode and the Blip trade episode that Ginny is annoying brat and completely unrealistically naive about her friends leaving the team.

[Victura]

http://www.tvinsider.com/article/104417/pitch-kylie-bunbury-on-ginny-and-mikes-big-moment/

In this interview, Kylie Bunbury highlighted the fact that after Mike took the call, they both backed away from each other because they realized they couldn't be romantically involved if they're still teammates. This makes me think that the show probably won't have them progress further romantically anytime soon, but have more of a complicated and possibly awkward relationship as teammates and (slightly more than) friends.

I'm sort of surprised by how much I care for some of the other characters too and really hope this show continues so that we can find out more about them (like Eliot, for example). Quite liked the scene between Amelia and Mike - Amelia showing how perceptive she is, and the two of them displaying a certain familiarity and fondness for each other that shows their short relationship wasn't purely a physical one.

[Raja]

On 12/2/2016 at 2:03 PM, Snarkette said:

Agreed. I would have been happy to see the entire series move to Chicago with Mike. I also preferred his flashbacks, so it can't just be the beard or the actor. Ginny shines best around him because her best character trait is that she's a baseball geek and obsessed with the game, just like he is. The problem with her character is that she's too new, too rookie. I thought the whole thing with the camera man was awesome but it just didn't fit her on-show experience. It's something she'd learn from a pro, not give to an end-of-career guy as a rookie.

I think Ginny has had a very concentrated pro experience. She is not just a prized rookie, she is the gender equivalent of Jackie Robinson having her every move watched and commented on and should know more about media manipulation than a 10 year utility infielder.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

Pitch Takes It Out In Trade

Is Lawson headed for Chicago? Is Evelyn's money headed for the drain? And how Pitch-y is 'Scratched'?

[In2You]

On 12/4/2016 at 3:10 PM, Nanrad said:

Idk, I feel like the promo for the show hasn't been great and the timeslot is terrible.

Is your daughter just not interested in the show? 

And lukewarm? *appalled gasp*

I don't think promo is the problem. The commercials were on damn near every channel leading up to the pilot and they promoted it during some of the baseball games including the Padres opener.

On 12/4/2016 at 5:57 PM, Nanrad said:

@possibilities I don't think some are arguing that Mike is the obvious love choice because he's a richer character. What happened is that someone said he was a richer character overall and another person said that in shows they tend to go with the established, more developed characters (I could be wrong). You're right, it doesn't have to be Mike, but I think the creators/writers went down this path because of KB and MPG's chemistry. 

 

No they announced when the announced the casting they were going down this path. So regardless of who got cast they would've been going down this path

[jhlipton]

On December 2, 2016 at 10:09 AM, In2You said:

I liked the scenes with the tech guy better than her angsty good bye with Mike

Me too. I hope Tech Guy [a] doesn't become a bad guy and [2] sticks around for a while.

==============

I don't think anyone answered why the deal fell through.  Al didn't want Mike to go and in the end, Mike didn't want Mike to go, so Oscar used the $4 million of Mike's salary that the Padres would have to pay for someone no longer on their team to convince the new owner to let the deal slide.

Edited December 6, 2016 by jhlipton
Deal fall-through

[Nanrad]

On December 5, 2016 at 0:34 AM, biakbiak said:

I have decided between this episode and the Blip trade episode that Ginny is annoying brat and completely unrealistically naive about her friends leaving the team.

Ginny can be self centered, but I honestly don't think she's a brat. She was very sheltered and craves stability via friendships. Like, even when you take away her behavior surrounding Blip possibility being traded, she convinced Mike to make a speech to comfort the team about the possibility of them being traded as well after Mike said that she wouldn't be trade and neither would he. She wasn't all about Blip until it could've been a very real possibility. Even then, she realized her selfishness, which is why she handled the Mike situation differently. Should she be more aware of how these things work, yes--it's something I blame on the writing staff because Ginny shouldn't  be the vehicle of how basic things work or knowledge that she should already know.

There is also the fact that she is 23 and, again, sheltered. Besides the naivety thing, most of Ginny's life was encompassed by baseball and, ironically, after becoming a MLB player, her co-workers are forcing her to actually have a life beyond it. 

20 hours ago, jhlipton said:

I don't think anyone answered why the deal fell through.  Al didn't want Mike to go and in the end, Mike didn't want Mike to go, so Oscar used the $4 million of Mike's salary that the Padres would have to pay for someone no longer on their team to convince the new owner to let the deal slide.

It fell through because Oscar said he was willing to bet on an aging catcher with two bum knees. Charlie finally acknowledged all of Oscar's push back and went along with it.

23 hours ago, In2You said:

I don't think promo is the problem. The commercials were on damn near every channel leading up to the pilot and they promoted it during some of the baseball games including the Padres opener.

No they announced when the announced the casting they were going down this path. So regardless of who got cast they would've been going down this path

TBH, I don't watch a lot of live TV, I just know others I know never heard of the show.

Hmm....interesting. I wonder why they choose this path.

[jhlipton]

15 hours ago, Nanrad said:

[The deal] fell through because Oscar said he was willing to bet on an aging catcher with two bum knees. Charlie finally acknowledged all of Oscar's push back and went along with it.

You're right but the $4 million he would have had to eat made it a lot easier for Charlie to go along.

[TobinAlbers]

Man, I have fallen for Ginny and Mike hard and fast. But at the same time I'm totally okay with them not getting together until the very end for each of them, especially Ginny to have other relationships or if they find chem with someone else keeping them as friends.

But Hoo boy. Nice job on the beard nuzzling scene. The way Mike's face lit up when Ginny came to the bar. When he called her Ginny and stood there awkwardly trying to think of how to get her to stay and just blurted out the nailing of the cleats. And then the hug and body contact they both had craved allowing them to get into position to kiss? They were totally gonna demolish a bed that night until that call came through. And I'm sure there was relief mixed in with a lot of disappointment when they backed away from each other knowing that they couldn't go there anymore since they were still teammates. They were lucky no paps were around to catch that moment!

As much as I'm a sucker for the ship, I'm with a lot of other posters that I'm invested in the other characters and the team's fate as a whole. Blip has come along nicely as an interesting heart of the team, family man, and confidant for both Mike and Ginny.  I'm even interested in Livan because as arrogant as he is, he has his moments with both Ginny and Mike where you can see he does get it and hear what's being said about learning and taking it slow and steady. But you can also believe that due to all he's been through, he's afraid to take it slow and believe that he's got time because he knows how life can change on a dime; he's struggled and wants to enjoy success and his capabilities now but Mike and Oscar are chipping at him and making him think. Eventually he'll get it. It'll be nice to see more of Mike mentoring him as well.

Tech guy seems nice. If we do get a S2 I hope they get a bit more time to have some fun.

[Nanrad]

8 hours ago, jhlipton said:

You're right but the $4 million he would have had to eat made it a lot easier for Charlie to go along.

Charlie didn't want to eat 7 million, but he was willing to eat more than 3. Like, maybe his limit was 5. So, it was easier for Charlie to go along with stopping the trade, but if he hadn't had any pushback, Mike would've been gone. lol

[cynic]

This recap "Everyone is on the #Bawson train, except for Ginny" made me really think about the Ginny/Mike dynamic, especially this part:

Quote

And this is how I know for sure that Ginny is oblivious. Mike sits next to her at the bar and does everything EXCEPT tell Ginny that he's in love with her, and she doesn't even bite. He asks her why she told him she was going out with her brother, and Ginny responds with some B.S. about not wanting Mike to feel guilty interrupting a date if the guys went out for drinks. Mike even calls her on it! He says "OK, we'll go with that."

The real moment came, however, when Ginny said "Part of me wants you to leave for the same reason you want to leave." Mike looked at her expecting some confession of feelings, but Ginny never delivered. Instead, she spewed about the team not wanting her to be distracted, or whatever.

 I don't think Ginny was so much oblivious, but rather suppressing her feelings and avoiding the situation. I thought her "part of me" answer indicated that. She didn't say it, but Mike is a distraction to her. I actually really loved this entire scene. I thought KB and especially MPG were great in it. Lawson had clearly accepted his feelings and was ready to be open to Ginny about them if she gave the nod. At first, this made me root for them to get together.

When I rewatched it though, the imbalance between them actually started to bother me a bit. MPG feels so much older, more mature here. The way he was speaking to her was even still very mentor-ish. Plus, he's more ready. He has more experience. He's been through all this before and he has realized that having someone in his life is a priority for him. He's also in a different part of his career. He's thinking post-baseball and he ,frankly, has less to lose. Ginny doesn't have a lot of room to make an error here. Her dreams could be lost very easily. And she doesn't seem to have the experience to feel confident in her feelings. It's got to be confusing to have feelings for someone that you look up to so much. 

I wish that we could be certain of renewal. Then, I'd love this to be much more a slow burn. I'd like to see Ginny learn better how to navigate both her personal life and her professional life. A relationship with a good guy (like Noah seems to be) would be a great start. On Mike's side, I'd like to be more confident that he has such strong feelings for Ginny because of her and not because he feels so uncertain about everything else in his life. Perhaps the writers will do that anyway. It seems likely that they will have this pair pull apart now that Mike's not being traded. Ultimately, I do root for them though and I will be sad if this show gets cancelled before we see the end of the Mike/Ginny journey. 

[Popples]

I'm torn on the Ginny/Mike thing. On one hand, I'd love to keep it as a mentor relationship. On the other hand, I'm projecting my feelings about MPG on to Ginny and wouldn't mind seeing them go further. I just hope the show lasts that long.

On 12/5/2016 at 7:31 PM, Tara Ariano said:

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

I really, really hope that Voorhies is a shout-out to Lark!

[cynic]

2 hours ago, Popples said:

I'm torn on the Ginny/Mike thing. On one hand, I'd love to keep it as a mentor relationship. On the other hand, I'm projecting my feelings about MPG on to Ginny and wouldn't mind seeing them go further. I just hope the show lasts that long....

I think I'm probably doing that too. I've always thought MPG was attractive, but the extra bulk, the beard, and the character are really doing it for me. I don't know why. I don't normally go for beards or athletes, but I'm seriously crushing on Mike Lawson to the point that I'm starting to think I might have a fetish for shin guards. I can totally see why Ginny would like him, especially since he's been her guide and comfort during this scary time. On the other hand, it would be refreshing to have both characters realize that pursuing a relationship wouldn't be in either of their interests right now and maturely agree to be just friends for the time being. They both have some work to do on themselves. But I for sure want to see some hot Ginny/Mike action before this show goes away, because their chemistry is on fire.

Edited December 8, 2016 by cynic

[jhlipton]

17 hours ago, Nanrad said:

Charlie didn't want to eat 7 million, but he was willing to eat more than 3. Like, maybe his limit was 5. So, it was easier for Charlie to go along with stopping the trade, but if he hadn't had any pushback, Mike would've been gone. lol

I think we agree.  The $4 million wasn't the deciding factor -- the push-back was; it just made the decision easier.

[marina to]

@cynic Thanks for that ESPNW article. She wrote in a great way about why #Bawson bothers me. And I really appreciated reading a queer perspective on the show.

[Eolivet]

Just caught up on this episode, and I'm not as bothered by the development between Ginny and Mike -- mainly because I don't see it as anything more than an acknowledgment they're attracted to each other. I didn't get a lot of "longing" from either of them this episode -- I mean, there was more "angst" between Oscar and the Mike trade than I saw between Mike and Ginny. There could be some avoidance, sure -- but I didn't see a lot of awkwardness (which I expected). I saw two people who really like each other, are now confirmed to be attracted to each other, and might eventually like each other, if they got to know each other better outside of baseball (not even romantically). That ESPNW column was great, but I don't feel confident saying Mike is in love with Ginny, because....how? Because he knows she hums Katy Perry songs off-key and hates cilantro? He knows her quirks from spending time with her in a professional environment. He pretty much knows nothing about her outside baseball. Would he have recognized the Ginny from a few episodes ago who played video games and jumped in a pool and danced like crazy at a house party? I feel like Ginny is his confidant, but he's not really her confidant. We always see him calling her...correct me if I'm wrong, but we've rarely seen her call him (only ignore or accept his calls).

This is why the almost-kiss doesn't bother me, and why I think it won't be this massive barrier in their future relationship. It's an attraction, nothing more. It can't be anything more, because they're pretty much just know each other from work. I'm sure there will be awkwardness, but I just don't get a Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name vibe yet.

If the show wants me to buy that Mike and Ginny have a chance at "love," I'm going to need to see outside work scenes, scenes of emotional vulnerability on both of their sides (in person, not just on the phone). Sprinkle those throughout the show, and I'll start buying into it. But confine the Ginny/Mike relationship to what we see on the field, the bullpen, the clubhouse? The almost-kiss is not an insurmountable obstacle to a beautiful friendship.

[Nanrad]

On 12/7/2016 at 11:51 PM, cynic said:

This recap "Everyone is on the #Bawson train, except for Ginny" made me really think about the Ginny/Mike dynamic, especially this part:

 I don't think Ginny was so much oblivious, but rather suppressing her feelings and avoiding the situation. I thought her "part of me" answer indicated that. She didn't say it, but Mike is a distraction to her. I actually really loved this entire scene. I thought KB and especially MPG were great in it. Lawson had clearly accepted his feelings and was ready to be open to Ginny about them if she gave the nod. At first, this made me root for them to get together.

When I rewatched it though, the imbalance between them actually started to bother me a bit. MPG feels so much older, more mature here. The way he was speaking to her was even still very mentor-ish. Plus, he's more ready. He has more experience. He's been through all this before and he has realized that having someone in his life is a priority for him. He's also in a different part of his career. He's thinking post-baseball and he ,frankly, has less to lose. Ginny doesn't have a lot of room to make an error here. Her dreams could be lost very easily. And she doesn't seem to have the experience to feel confident in her feelings. It's got to be confusing to have feelings for someone that you look up to so much. 

I wish that we could be certain of renewal. Then, I'd love this to be much more a slow burn. I'd like to see Ginny learn better how to navigate both her personal life and her professional life. A relationship with a good guy (like Noah seems to be) would be a great start. On Mike's side, I'd like to be more confident that he has such strong feelings for Ginny because of her and not because he feels so uncertain about everything else in his life. Perhaps the writers will do that anyway. It seems likely that they will have this pair pull apart now that Mike's not being traded. Ultimately, I do root for them though and I will be sad if this show gets cancelled before we see the end of the Mike/Ginny journey. 

Right. Ginny's behavior comes off more as suppressing her feelings rather than being completely unaware to Mike's. Because the tone of her "part of me" answer implicitly acknowledges she knows about Mike's feelings and that her mirrors his about the distraction factor among other things. I generally agree with Katie, but we're just not on the same page with this one. Furthermore, she touches on the homophobic atmosphere of pro sports, which is totally valid. But, I don't think that just because this very real issue exists in sports means that Ginny can't develop feelings for a player and this somehow undermines her character, which I was kinda of picking up. Katie mentions the unfairness of this situation and double standard, which is totally true, but it just unrealistic for Ginny not to develop any feelings for a ballplayer (Mike or not, teammate or not). Because I don't think her real issue is with Ginny developing feelings, but rather, that she may get to pursue them, which is the plan. 

The other part is that even tho Mike comes off as mentor-ish, he is clearly willing to follow her lead, which is incredibly important. Mike realizes that Ginny has a shit ton on her plate, is young, among many other things.

Lastly, as someone who has an ick about age differences myself, I'm perfectly fine with this ship because 1. Mike follows Ginny's lead, as mentioned 2. although she has a lot more life to experience, she is very mature (not 36 mature, but mature nevertheless) 3. Mike isn't interested in Ginny because of her age and I think that it's something that actually bothers him, which shows that he cares about a potential relationship between them being equal 4. although a part of Ginny will always be a fan of Mike's, she sees him as a person and not an idol anymore--on a personal level, they're equals.  5. I wonder if 13 years is a thing for some in general or would it change if Ginny was 30 and Mike was 43--like that changes shit A LOT. 

Regarding the imbalance of power, that's why I appreciate that Mike is the first one to step back. Because she does have a lot to lose and Mike is hyper aware of that. It's different when they thought they were going to be two players on different teams, but it would be a shit storm to pursue something while playing on the same team. 

IMO, his feelings have everything to do with her, but he's unsure because he's uncertain about the other aspects of his life and his strong lingering feelings for Rachel. 

On 12/8/2016 at 1:45 PM, cynic said:

I think I'm probably doing that too. I've always thought MPG was attractive, but the extra bulk, the beard, and the character are really doing it for me. I don't know why. I don't normally go for beards or athletes, but I'm seriously crushing on Mike Lawson to the point that I'm starting to think I might have a fetish for shin guards. I can totally see why Ginny would like him, especially since he's been her guide and comfort during this scary time. On the other hand, it would be refreshing to have both characters realize that pursuing a relationship wouldn't be in either of their interests right now and maturely agree to be just friends for the time being. They both have some work to do on themselves. But I for sure want to see some hot Ginny/Mike action before this show goes away, because their chemistry is on fire.

Look, we're on the same page here--and there a many, many others who agree. I don't know what it is about MPG in this role with the beard and bulk, but I'm in constant swoon mode here and I can't control it. 

For other part, I think that's where their heads are about not pursuing a relationship. 

Edited December 11, 2016 by Nanrad
their not there, are not is

[wendyg]

Re the cancellation discussion: there's an interesting interview with the showrunner, Kevin Falls, about the show and its prospects here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/pitch-finale-explained-season-two-plans-954181. WARNING: contains spoilers for episode 10.

I had not realized that Major League Baseball was involved with the show. That explains the (to me) mysterious and unrealistic lack of any discussion of steroids and other contentious issues.