Today was baseball day at the Fan's house. After watching Baseball Tonight on Sunday morning (Why don't they change the name for the day time?), it was time for watching the Yankees embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Red Sox. After watching the series, it's hard to tell if the Red Sox are that good or if the Yankees are that bad. There is definitely trouble in the Bronx and that team doesn't look like it's going anywhere. After a day of baseball which finished with the Braves beating the Marlins, the Fan couldn't help notice things that have changed in the Major Leagues during a lifetime of watching the games. Here is an unofficial and incomplete list of things that have changed in this Fan's lifetime:

- The umpires ignore batters who call time when digging into the batters box.

- The players use all kinds of armor and equipment when batting and running the bases. Old ball players never wore batting gloves.

- The bats are different. Each player uses different bats. There are red ones, white ones, black ones and bats with all kinds of writing and markings. Back in the old days, all the bats looked the same.

- If a pitcher bounces a pitch in the dirt, the umpire immediately throws that ball out of the game. That never happened five years ago and longer.

- In that same category, the fielder catching the last out always throws the ball in the stands. It used to be a game in a game to see which player could roll the ball to the mound and get it to stay there.

- The gloves all look different. Pedro used a red one. Jorge had a multi-colored catcher's mitt. What's with that?

- Catchers now wear what looks like hockey masks. The name of the MLB catcher who invented them is beyond memory.

- Umpires no longer have those bubble chest protectors behind the plate. And then never stand directly behind the catcher.

- Shortstops hit homers. Mark Belanger hit 20 homers in his career and had a lifetime slugging average of .280. Yet he started for 17 years. Tejada and A-Rod hit that many in two months.

- Catchers hit for average. Piazza and Posada are weapons. Rick Dempsey was never a weapon. Ray Fosse made the All Stars as a .256 hitter.

- Middle of the road pitchers used to have records like 16-15. Phil Niekro had a two year stretch where his records were 19-18 and 21-20. Now a middle of the road pitcher has a 10-10 record.

- Starters were expected to finish. Now managers are scolded for ruining young pitching careers if two games in a row involve 110 pitches. Mike Cuellar had 172 complete games out of 379 starts. Mel Stottlemyre completed 180 in ten years. Jim Kaat completed 180. Bartolo Colon is considered a "horse" and has completed 28 games in seven years. At that pace, he'll catch Stottlemyre in 45 years.

- Leo Durocher would never intentionally walk Willie Mays three times in a game. What is going on with Bonds should lead to a rule change of one intentional walk a game. It's disgraceful.

- Catchers never gave third-base-coach-like signals to the pitcher to call pitches with runners on second base. That is brand new in the last few years.

- And finally, for tonight at least, players used to shake teammate hands after a homer or a job well done. The high five, fist pump, wrist slam, low five, and jumping chest bumps were unknown 30 years ago.

Things change but it's still the best game there is.