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deletedApr 13, 2023·edited Apr 14, 2023
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Apr 13, 2023·edited Apr 13, 2023

From what I read in Michele's newsletter, it was just the Missouri House that passed that bill. Does it have support in the (Republican) Senate and from the Gov too? Maybe it's just grandstanding to gain political support from their base safely knowing it will never actually come to pass.

In trying to research the answer to that question, I came across this disturbing quote from another state:

Late last month, Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., tweeted: “Over time, American communities will build beautiful, church owned public-access libraries. I’m going to help these churches get funding. We will change the whole public library paradigm. The libraries regular Americans recall are gone. They’ve become liberal grooming centers.”

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To whom are you referring as a “privileged white male?”

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Dylan Mulvaney?

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Congratulations. You bought yourself a ban. Your subscription money will be refunded. Thank you for your contributions but you’re no longer welcome here.

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Whoa, a ban? Anyone we know all too well or someone else? All it says is “deleted.”

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This is a weird space for me, in my day to day mundane existence I’m basically AOC among people I know and interact with, here I’m probably among the 25% most conservative posters around—-which is very new to me.

Bottom line, when I’ve disagreed with our host and others, I have tried to take time to explain my position/thoughts that conflict with the ‘party line’ with varying levels of success. I hopefully have also been respectful of those I disagree with.

The recent troll has done none of that. He childishly throws idiot grenades into conversations and walks away.

If a person can’t reasonably discuss a given topic, then they require no serious attention from others. Anybody can have a bad day and not live up to expectations, but dingdong Jay has had a bad few months.

Bravo, craig.

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Thanks for bringing the banhammer, Craig.

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Either you’re up early, or I’m up late. ;)

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I'm up way too early. Have to hop an early flight, set my alarm for a pretty early time and, because I'm me, I woke up over a half hour before it would've gone off. Figured what the hell, post the damn newsletter.

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Safe travels!

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Apr 13, 2023·edited Apr 13, 2023

I hope you are better at getting up early than I am. Got up yesterday at 5:30 to have plenty of time to get ready for golf at 8:30 (we live on the 2nd hole). Screwed around doing all sorts of things "because I have extra time." Ended up rushing to the course at 8:15, hit only 4 balls on the range, forgot my sunglasses, didn’t get my coffee, and didn’t have enough balls or tees. And played horribly. Regular day I get up at 7:30 and get there 15 mins later.

Have a good trip and thanks for all the time and effort you put in!

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My niece and her husband tease one another about the tendency to leave lots of time to do something and then wasting that time so much that you end up being late anyway. They refer to it as "over-dicking"; I learned this when they showed up late to my house for something and she said "it's his fault because he over-dicked me again" ... I guess my face went white so she quickly explained it.

So yeah - don't be an over-dicker.

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Apr 13, 2023·edited Apr 13, 2023

Same JR. I always have plenty of time when I make it a point to get up early. Then have to bust ass to get there because of (newly learned term thanks to DM)...over-dicking.

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Apr 13, 2023Liked by Craig Calcaterra

Fuck, I was going to comment for once and still got beat to it

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Sheer dumb luck. We just had a minor earthquake that woke me up.

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Apr 13, 2023Liked by Craig Calcaterra

I’m just winding down. Thought it would be fun to participate for once early rather than my 9pm pacific-everyone gone for the day- hour comment seen by no one

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If it helps, I see those late comments. But like everyone else, I'm way too tired by that point to participate, haha.

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See it, yet not respond or react. Mike’s nighttime posts or another mass shooting?

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Real talk: I’m always up early and I usually look at yesterday’s comments while I wait for today’s edition to post. I’ll make sure to react more so you don’t feel betrayed by time zones.

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I often read late comments! You are not shouting into the void.

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If I get a notification of a comment on a comment I posted, I generally go back and see what else has been posted.

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I go back to find out what I posted....

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My offer to Craig to serve as editor of Cup of Coffee stands. The terms are simple:

1. Paid lodging and expenses in Hawaii

2. Rigid enforcement of the Oxford Comma.

I'll get home from the beach at like 12:30am or so, just in time to take a run at the newsletter, or maybe even slightly late - didn't today's come out at like 3:30am EDT?

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Jeeze. I usually finish at least two cups before Cup but the old drip was dribbling when this one hit.

Spencer Strider has been throwing about 2mph slower than in 2022. Working 96-98 is still fast but not quite the same. It would make sense if he were trying to stretch out for more IP but by going so deep into the count (about 70 pitches thrown in the first 3 innings) his five IP is near max.

...

In the early 80s I had a really difficult time keeping the SNL actor and BAL first baseman straight. Learning that there was a player with Gumby’s name would have killed me.

...

Congrats to Carlo!

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I still call him Aragorn son of Arathorn.

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As long as we are talking Rings Triology ... I do like the fact that Legolas' horse was named Arod. But I thought that it had been properly substantiated that Arod was a centaur, not a horse.

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NY Mayor Adams is absolutely obsessed with rats, has been for years, so I'm surprised it took this long for him to get his rat czar. He used to say he was vegan, but he's changed that to being a person who follows a plant based diet, because vegans don't get down with the killin' like this :) https://www.curbed.com/2021/10/eric-adams-mayor-rat-bucket.html

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All of this pomp and circumstance when they are steadfastly reusing to “put trash in trash cans”

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I can't really fault Adams for this. I'm not a New Yorker but from this outsider's view, it looks like NYC gets away with a lot of neglecting public infrastructure because the appeal of NEW YORK CITY means people will still want to live there no matter how expensive or mismanaged it gets. So good for him for doing something about disease carrying vermin.

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Junkrat reminded me of the first 15 seconds of Motorhead: Motorhead live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1TgdZCACqE

So that means I liked it a LOT. Three listens so far...

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I don't get the Jo Adell joke.

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He’s been a quad-A player for the Angels for a few years now. Struggles in the bigs but rakes in Salt Lake City. A lotta of the time people call players like that “the mayor of (triple-a city)”.

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Salt Lake is also almost as high in elevation as Denver, and the PCL has a bunch of other high elevation clubs. He has struggled in the majors with breaking stuff, so he's getting fucked from a development perspective. He would probably thrive at home in Denver a la Carlos Gonzalez (who had similar approach issues and ended up with a career split of .319/.379/.581(home) and .250/.306/.418 (away)).

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I am a 40-year Angels fan and I am very familiar with Adell's ups and downs. And if you had given me a whole week to ponder it, I would not have gotten the bit.

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It’s awesome that the Nats are so lame that Craig needs a Logan O’Hoppe bit to fill out the recap. Sigh.

PS I’m up especially early because someone drove by this morning with no muffler and the dogs went NUTS. I’d rather be on a flight. Safe travels!

PPS Carlo’s video is the best part of the song. RIP Godzilla.

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I enjoy seeing the artistic work of our weird little community. Thanks for sharing Lorenzo’s song!

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Apr 13, 2023·edited Apr 13, 2023

My issue with Jackie Robinson Day is how short shrift is given to Larry Doby, Hank Thompson, and Willard Brown, the three Black players who integrated the American League ballparks. Robinson as a ballplayer, person, and symbol deserves the attention MLB pays to him (I mean, obviously...it feels silly to even type that out), but in terms of the physical act of taking the field for the first time in front of a potentially hostile crowd, the very act that Jackie Robinson Day celebrates, the three Black AL players faced the same experience. I don't think they're celebrated commensurate with their contributions in these annual observances. For the record:

7/5/47 -- Doby integrates Comiskey Park in Chicago

7/11 -- Doby integrates Cleveland Stadium

7/17 -- Thompson integrates Sportsman Park in St. Louis

7/22 -- Doby integrates Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Thompson and Brown integrate Yankee Stadium

7/26 -- Brown integrates Fenway Park (he starts in RF, Thompson pinch-hits in the 8th inning)

7/30 -- Doby integrates Griffith Stadium in D.C.

8/5 -- Doby integrates Briggs Stadium in Detroit

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Yes, but.

History is the process of simplifying and condensing. There is literally no way to present the full picture. Very different context ... I suspect that everyone here knows who Neil Armstrong was and many know Buzz Aldrin but how many people know Pete Conrad or Alan Bean?

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Or, as W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman put it in the introduction to their classic "1066 and All That" (I paraphrase from memory):

History isn't a record of what happened, it is what we *remember* to have happened.

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Not sure I understand. MLB is not a third party historian here -- this is the entity observing and celebrating itself, and so has full latitude to do so however it sees fit. The fact that it twists itself into knots every year figuring out "new" ways of commemorating Robinson when it has these additional stories to tell strikes me as a missed opportunity at the very least.

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MLB isn't an independent party, but they are selecting what history to present. Narrowing it to bite sized chunks is inevitable.

The entire history of segregation in baseball and subsequent desegregation is sufficient for many, many, many books. We can, and perhaps should, talk about William White, Fleet Walker and Bud Fowler, early minorities playing organized (and arguably major) league baseball. We can, and perhaps should, talk about anti-heroes Cap Anson and KM Landis. We can, and perhaps should, talk about Rube Foster and Charles Taylor, founders of the early organized Negro Leagues. We can, and perhaps should, talk about Robinson, Doby, Thompson through Ozzie Virgil and Pumpsie Green, players who integrated each team. We can, and perhaps should, talk about Bill Lucas, the first black GM or Gito Gaston, the first black World Series winning manager. We can talk about integrating the National League, American League, American Association, Southern League, and every other level of play. We can put it in context via the 3/5th compromise, Abraham Lincoln, Jim Crow, Brown v Board, and the Clotilda.

IMHO, celebrating Jackie Robinson is good. And using it as a jumping off point for further study and celebration is also good. But trying to tell the entire story is necessarily going to collapse nearly infinite detail and miss a lot of important facts and actors.

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Well, like I said, it's my issue and this isn't the first time I've failed to make headway with it. Hope I've added to someone's knowledge today.

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Certainly!

I do think that Larry Doby was destined to be not quite famous. Second African-American to play in 20th Century major leagues. Second best AL CF in his era. Second A-A to manage in the majors. Remembering him and his contributions is always worthwhile.

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There’s so much information here that this entire thread is banned in the state of Florida.

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That makes me wonder if Jackie Robinson Day is even legal in Florida these days. Maybe the schedule makers will need to make sure the Rays and Marlins are on the road at this time each year.

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Of course it's fine. Didn't you know Jackie Robinson was a Republican? Wait five minutes and one of them will tell you!

I mean, they'll leave out every single last ounce of context from that fact, but in their mind they'll have owned yet another lib, so success.

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I agree. A fuller picture can easily be told. And to put everything into Robinson's story also glosses over the racism that hundreds and thousands of players who never made the MLB experienced. JRD is important, but by now I think they could get more expansive in their story telling. Also, the more time passes there is a greater disconnect between MLB's history of complicity that necessitated a barrier being broken. We can't sanitize these details.

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Doby gets celebrated in Cleveland and Brown and Thompson only played a short time for a defunct team. I can see why it should be a group, but we like the lone David vs Goliath stories.

Fun fact, it almost wasn't Robinson by himself who integrated the Dodgers. At one point it was going to be him, Campanella, and Sam Jethroe. Maybe another guy. John Thorn wrote about it.

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I'm glad that someone else is annoyed by Jackie Robinson Day. It just makes me want to punch those rich white owners in the throat while they are distracted by patting themselves on the back.

Also I'm sure some of the very politicians whining like man babies with colic about how woke Bud Light is got money from the company so they should sht up extra hard than bigots should normally shut up.

(Apparently waking up with a splitting headache makes me crankier than normal! Yay wild weather swings ugh.)

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Not sure "were" is the right verb tense.

Not suggesting MLB would like to de-integrate but there's still a fairly overt view of the white way to play the game that treats the energy of Hispanic players (in particular) as offense and unwelcome.

My problem with JRD and wearing pink for Mother's Day and whatever is they're publicity stunts followed by 364 days of ignorance or discrimination against the groups they intend to honor. The essentially permanent ban of Trevor Bauer is a good step in the right direction; the owners and GMs who were kicking the tires is not. Nor is putting Roger Clemens on the air.

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JRD could be great if MLB accompanied it with $100M commitment to a Diversity Initiative that impacted from inner cities (hope this is an OK term) to major league clubhouses and front offices. But it's just show and marketing to extract money from fans.

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Wild weather swings are no joke! It stormed all day Monday this week and i was down with a migraine, but I like how you express yourself crankily.

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Haha. It's been unseasonably warm the last couple days (high today is near 80 F) and then this weekend it's supposed to rain and the temperature will drop like 40 degrees. Plus it's been damp. So my sinuses and head overall have been extremely unhappy.

My dog, on the other hand, just like a kid wants to stay outside until after the streetlights come on, even if I need to fold laundry and get ready for work the next morning. Zero conception of time lol.

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I think Wild Weather Swings name was too long for them ever to become famous enough to open at Wembley.

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How about punching rich Hispanic owner Arte Moreno too while you are at it? And in the NBA / NFL, we can add Vivek Ranadive, Shahid Khan and Marc Lasry. Happy to have each one punched just on general principles. :)

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Definitely something in the air. I went to bed with a headache struggling to burst forth, and woke up (too early) with the same headache still struggling to burst forth. In between, I slept fitfully because it was too warm in the bedroom, then, too cold, after I'd kicked off blankets.

Morning coffee is definitely helping, but it's going to be another stinker of a day.

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Somebody needs to ask one of those politicians who has received InBev money and is "boycotting" if they will refuse any future donations from the company. Then keep checking and reporting on the receipts.

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You're going to visit his advisor when you're over for the coast to coast walk aren't you.

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Apr 13, 2023Liked by Craig Calcaterra

Also, big congratulations to Carlo! Using found objects to improvise musical instruments has a very long history, and it's fun to see him exercise his creative muscles that way.

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Agreed. Making the instruments is as impressive as the song. The people grading his project damn well have better given the young man high marks - he earned them.

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Junkrat has 41 subscribers on YouTube so he's probably going places.

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Apr 13, 2023·edited Apr 13, 2023

Carlo’s project is so awesome! My wife is still asleep next to me in bed so I will play the song later.

PS this is very Einstürzende Neubauten of him!!! As Blixa Bargeld once said: sei schlau, klau vom Bau / be smart, steal from a construction site

PPS will also listen to Lorenzo later

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You're allowed coffee in bed?

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Black Coffee in Bed, of course! At least for you and your Squeeze.

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Just in case anyone finds their way to this part of the thread, I highly recommend Squeeze's 2010 "Spot the Difference" where they went back and re-recorded old hits with as close to the original arrangements as possible. You can definitely hear some older voices but overall it's a fun listen - even if it was just an excuse for an oldies tour ;)

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Rather than awarding the win to the pitcher who was most effective, why don't we just stop the outdated notion of awarding pitchers wins?

Granted, if a starter has a good W-L record, you can safely assume he was at least pretty good. But it's not telling enough to compare with other guys with good records. There are far better metrics now than the old time win. And for relievers W-L hardly means anything at all. The only reason they keep awarding wins now is tradition.

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Agreed. When pitchers tending to go 7-8 innings, W-L was at least some indicator of if they got the job done. When 6 innings is a long outing, it just doesn't matter and in a close game you reward some reliever who happened to pitch the right inning.

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Even knowing that wins, saves, and ribbies are crappy metrics, I still like them as baseball card numbers. And I get a perverse pleasure thinking about who had the best season ever with a losing record, or who had the worst 100 ribbie season.

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