Wander Franco is in hotter water, the Yankees and Mets are calling up well-known prospects, hiking, Oliver North, America's gerontocracy, and how not to defend yourself
The most common argument I've heard against term limits is that it gives more power to lobbyists. In any organization, it takes a little time to really get used to how things run and learn the job well. Politics isn't any different, and if elected representatives are always comparatively new, then they are more likely to defer to those with more experience in how the system runs - and unfortunately in the US influence peddling is legal and called lobbying, so if a lobbyist has been around for 20 years they will have an influence on a representative who has been there for five.
There are some other arguments but that's the one that I've seen most often from people who know things.
Yes. Something as complex as government with its committee structure and semi-independent fiefdoms like the military and USDA really requires experience.
The argument is that term limits enshrine power in unelected people like lobbyists and other special interests, who control the ability to get elected in the first place, and stay elected until the end of term limits. It also denies voters the right to choose to continue sending their preferred candidates to represent them. I don’t necessarily buy those arguments, but the courts have.
Here the term-limited politicians outsource the writing of legislation out to lobbyists wholesale. We have had instances in which bills are introduced but someone forgot to change a watermark or fill in a blank revealing that the thing was written by non-legislative people entirely. Which is necessary when (a) you have no expertise; (b) you are constantly on the make for your next job and office; and (c) the lobbyists are the ones with the money and are the ones on whom you depend to finance your run for the next office.
We have a lot of states with term limits for the legislature and a lot without. What does the data show when comparing groups? Population migration, job growth, GDP, education median, anything. Step back from the theory and show data before asking for a change from the status quo. See also how baseball tested pitch clocks in the minors for years.
My argument is simply that the right to choose who get to serve should be in the hands of the voters. If the voters want to send someone to Congress for 50 years, it should be their right. Yes, I get that incumbency can be a break on democracy, but so are many other things. At the end of the day, I think it should be our say and not that of a law.
But also, term limits don't really work. My current city councilmember served his eight years, went to a job in Albany, and when his successor quit early, he ran for his old job and won easily. We went backwards. Yes, the people chose him, but it seems to violate the idea of term limits if he could go away and come back. (Note: this is the clown who's endorsed RFK Jr. so I have a very low opinion of him anyway.)
Same thing has happened here since instituting term limits; our former mayor who had to step down after two terms is now on council and apparently eligible to run for mayor again.
In addition to the issue with lobbyists as mentioned, a term limit does two things with the politicians themselves:
- It takes competent politicians away from offices where they can be effective.
- It takes incompetent politicians and encourages them to focus on advancement.
There's a difference between putting a cap on the presidency, which is both the most powerful single office and one for which there is nothing beyond, and limiting terms in Congress, where you can have a legitimate career doing good work without truly wanting to go higher.
Really the bigger issue is that we need to repair the party/election system to encourage competitiveness so a senator doesn't have a 95% reelection chance just by being able to fog a mirror.
I thought the Battle of Wakefield was fought between the River Pirates of Pittsburgh and the Boston Pilgrims. Live and learn.
...
ATL and LAD face off this weekend in Los Angeles. Not, quite obviously, a must win for either, but a fun matchup between two very very good teams that have met twice in the playoffs recently. If only this were pre 94 when they would be fighting for a single playoff spot from the geographically challenged NL West.
Basically forgot the Nats had a day game yesterday until it was more than half over… Looks like I should have waited longer to remember.
PS I saw a tweet from FiveThirtyEight yesterday that says the median age of the 118th Congress is 59. That means exactly HALF of Congress is older than me. That’s not good, people.
PPS This blue Supermoon is nothing short of spectacular. If you are awake and can go outside, please do so, and look up.
Too bad... it won’t be 100% full tonight but it’s supposed to be beautiful again. I also can’t really get a good picture of it with my phone so I’m just sitting here on my deck, drinking coffee and ogling it.
Darius Vines really shoved it last night in his debut. He doesn’t throw gas but his placement seemed really good and he’s got a pretty nasty change up. The Braves have now auditioned pretty much the entire Gwinnett pitching staff - Smith-Shawver, Soroka, Shuster, Dodd, Winans, and now Vines. It’ll be interesting to see which one(s), if any, get on the postseason roster.
Vines has hardly pitched this year. 9 games and 43 good but not great innings across three leagues. He isn’t a top prospect. I’m guessing he’s unlikely to fill an October role.
AJSS has electric stuff. If he can develop merely average control, he’s a star in the making.
Soroka is clearly outmatching the International League inning by inning. But they are being very cautious. Having him in the pen in October where he could have to pitch back-to-back games would be a big step up. I’m hoping that he’s in the rotation next year with no more setbacks. Tiny sample size of course but I have seen him only twice this season in Striper green and he’s been capital B Bad both times. Perhaps it’s me, not him!
Speaking of Gwinnett ... only two more home series left this season. Time flies.
Is DJ Stewart real? Probably not. In fact, I think he's a mass hallucination. But I am enjoying the show while it lasts.
Not sure Mauricio should be called up since his natural position was SS - which is Lindor's for the foreseeable future - and the Mets were stupidly slow to start teaching him other slots, none of which he's good at yet. Meaning either he will be learning defense on the job, or just another DH. Plus, the Mets haven't really done well with prospects at the major league level so far, minus a single month Alvarez looked good. I would rather see them bring back Baty first. But maybe being in the Show is what Mauricio needs.
Bring Baty back to what end? Only one out of him or Vientos can play third base, and Vientos is getting his chance now. And not doing anything more with that chance than Baty did with his so far, but I think you need to give him fair time to try too.
Unless you want to bench Vogelbach and let one of them DH, which is unlikely now that Vogelbach is hitting, having both Baty and Vientos up at the same time means one of them will mostly ride the bench.
Fair point, but Baty was the third baseman most of the season and I thought that he was targeted as the third baseman of the future. Plus, I don't think they have a plan for what to do with Vientos if Baty stays at third. Maybe Vientos should be sent back down to learn first (assuming that the "Alonso is being traded" stuff is actually true).
Will admit that right now I am starting to worry that the longstanding issues the Mets have had turning prospects into everyday players live on. I know some players take longer to catch on than others, but that not one of the Mets' prospects looks good now seems like a bad sign.
Mauricio should be the 2B to finish out 2023, and although I agree the Mets didn't start that process early enough it's the most logical fit for him. Baty will get another chance to play Golden Boy again in the Spring and be our opening day 3B. In 2024 Vientos will be either a DH (if he shows he can hit) and 3B/1B sub or trade bait, unless they stick him in LF, which I'm sure he can learn. I truly love Jeff McNeil, but there is no place for him except as a super-sub in LF/RF/2B, and that can get him in the lineup 4-5 days a week. I'm on Team DJ - he can be in the starting outfield next year. What do we have to lose?
I am very excited for the pitching we have on the farm. Most are a year away.
What McNeil do you want to turn into a sub? This year's 91 OPS+ version? Yeah, that makes sense. Or his career 120 OPS+ version? Or even better, his 2022 140 OPS+? Those McNeil's have to play every day.
As a dude who doesn't strike out, but also doesn't hit the ball hard, McNeil is at the whim of the BABIP gods. At age 31, I think the BABIP gods will taketh away more than giveth.
Better versions of Jeff McNeil like Carew, Gwynn, and Boggs aged OK and they didn't hit the ball hard either. Maybe he can hang on being pretty good for a while longer.
There's no business reason to trade Alonso, other than the haul of prospects. But Pete puts butts in seats, people come to see him play and that should be worth something to the Mets. Vientos sounds like a great kid but he looks lost out there most of the time and it doesn't seem like Buck has his back.
Also, Pete is 28 and in his prime as a slugger. You don't trade away players at that age unless you are in complete rebuild mode, which doesn't seem like the Mets right now.
DJ Stewart is real, but perhaps not in the way you’re asking.
He goes through a cycle of home run binges, which can be fun and make one wonder about what could be.
Somewhere along the way he will try to shag fly balls off his noggin. That’s the signal that the cycle is complete and you just have to wait for it to begin anew.
Mitch McConnell: While McConnell may have had a transient ischemic attack, instead he may have had transient global amnesia. They don’t know exactly what causes transient global amnesia, but in the majority of cases the person, while not remembering the event, has no lasting consequences. That is different from a transient ischemic attack, which is considered a mini-stroke.
I noticed each time that his eyes both began to roll back into his head until he could speak again. But he’s still able to stay upright and grip a lectern. I would like to understand more here, even while I hope MM steps down one way or another.
I just sent Weismann an encouraging note regarding his Slayed by Voices substack. Dude’s out there getting better jobs that require more writing, and I’m thinking he has writers block or something.
I completely agree with your comments about Senators Mitch McConnell and Diane Feinstein. The Fates are testing the boundaries of my self-control in this particular instance. I have written both my senators about this issue “staying too long at the fair” but at this point I think I will follow the advice of counsel and tend to my own path while letting “the fates do what the fates are going to do”...
Good plan on moving up your walk; hope all goes well there.
Thank you for this good stuff.
I am extremely nervous about the Twins visit to Cleveland next week. Fingers crossed at this end.
It's wild to me that now some younger people are finally getting into politics, there is a whole generation that has been skipped entirely. They were dismissed as too young and inexperienced until they were older and experienced, then the oldsters refused to move out of the way, and now that they are dying off the youngsters have their chance.
My representative often talks about herself as "one of the few people in congress of reproductive age" (I'm paraphrasing, I can't recall exactly how she terms it) and it's still weird to consider that yeah, there aren't a lot of women (to begin with) there, much less who would be young enough to still have kids.
There was race in NYC last year between two long time Representatives whose districts were essentially merged by redistricting. Both are over 70, and neither was willing to step aside in favor of the other. The race was cut-throat, their seeming friendship gone, two people who clearly could not bear to given up their power. And sadly, the third candidate, who was in his 40s and offered a fresh face and more progressive ideas, came in dead last.
My favorite part of the American Experiment is the part where the general public:
A - says it supports term limits* by a considerable margin, and
B - keeps re-electing the same goddamn people to the same goddamn offices over and over again.
Like, NPR's Up First podcast this morning spoke to a couple voters in Kentucky, all of whom thought it was time for Mitch to step down, and none of whom were asked the simple question, "did you vote for Senator McConnell when he ran for his SEVENTH TERM in the Senate three years ago?"
(*Term limits are a bad idea, but so is an octogenarian legislature.)
Term limits may be a bad idea in a vacuum, but if that's what it takes for the two permanent parties to develop and maintain a bench of future candidates I'm all for them.
What would also force both parties to develop a bench is tripling (or more) the size of the House. Added bonus, it’d make it easier for third parties to campaign and actually win seats.
The same year that my town voted YES to term limits for municipal government (mayor and village council), every incumbent on the ballot was re-elected.
A quick trip down the Brandon Fellows rabbithole reveals the January 6th fund, sadly, only reached $1070 out of the $50K goal to hire his representation.
Some of the best and most dedicated lawyers I know are public defenders. I don’t know or care about Fellows’ personal financial situation, but lack of funds is no excuse for self-representation.
Oh, I agree! For the most part, I was just marveling at the Legal Defense Fund and the seemingly waning lack of support for individuals like him, despite the glowing biography. They really worked hard to sell him as a victim, and some sucker(s) were moved to donate.
Much as I appreciate Craig’s legal take as well as the thankless work public defenders do, my moralistic view is anyone dumb enough to defend themselves (he must have friends and family telling him not to do this) deserves what they get. In this case 5 months in prison as an appetizer and probably several years for the actual crimes.
My priors are that criminal punishment shouldn't be meted out based on the quality of representation, including the stupidity of self-representation. Yeah, this guy seems like a peach but the more morally reprehensible someone is, the more I feel that I need to hew closely to my principles rather than emphasizing emotion in the decision matrix. "We skipped these steps, but its okay 'cause we know he really deserves it" is dangerous.
FWIW the linked story indicates that the jury deliberated but didn't return a verdict on the underlying charges yesterday. Jail for contempt is pretty limited. As baseball fans, we saw some of that with Barry Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson.
Imagine how his life would be different if he had just taken a public defender. Maybe could have avoided the contempt and possibly come of easy on the charges.
It's almost like it's on brand with the Jan 6th crowd to continuously make poor decisions and then cry unfair treatment.
Baseball Related: Trey Mancini was released by the Reds. As SI puts it: "His released (sic) gives him a chance to hook up with a playoff-bound organization that might be able to use him before the Sept. 1 deadline."
Ouch. Not just for Mancini, but for the Cincinnati Reds, whose playoff hopes were just shot dead in the street by SI.
That’s weird because he just had a 2 HR game and some Cubs fans were even bemoaning that the team had released him. Guessing he must have gone 4 for 40 and the organization decided he didn’t have anything left.
Related, much as I and everyone else loved Sports Illustrated as a kid, si.com seems to be clickbait trash. I get tons of “this former all star was just released” headlines in my Google app linking to SI stories that bury the lead. Wonder if they’re using AI or bots to write some of these.
Nope, Mancini hit .300 and slugged .700 in only 5 games. Might be the Reds still weren’t going to call him up and released him to give him a chance, though don’t see what contending team would give him at bats.
I think you're onto something with the AI produced content there. In particular, I just found that particular sentence humorous.
In reality, Mancini could be a decent bench piece if he produced off the bench (he really doesn't). His DH stats are even worse. Is there a playoff bound team that needs a 1B part-time starter? Maybe Astros?
Checking some other sources, feels like that sentence is just weirdly written.
Mancini has a contract so gets paid for September and next year no matter what. We can assume if he’s playing and not on his couch he wants to get back to the majors. It wasn’t going to happen with the Reds so he asked for his release in hopes a contending team would sign him. I think he (or the author) gets that a team out of it isn’t going to give him playing time. But I think he’s in denial of how horrible he was the first half of the year and a good week in AAA doesn’t change that.
I think he’s be better showcasing himself at AAA in hopes of a non-roster invite next year.
One of my grandfathers thought that politicians should have a retirement age of 65 for elected office (he lived to be 96 and was sharp as a tack until the day he died in his favorite chair at home), because it's a hard job mentally and everyone deserved time off from working. He was okay with positions as advisors and such after that, so their expertise and experience was still used, but favored people who were younger making the actual decisions.
Not only do they cling to power until it's pried from their cold, dead, hands, but they are some combination of workaholics and tools for power-hungry associates and spouses. Very healthy combination. I don't think any organization should have so many people working in it until they literally die on the job.
Grandpa was pretty smart. Whenever my dad tells someone "don't be so stupid" I can hear his own dad's voice lol.
While if my mom says "you're smarter than that, use your brains" I can hear her mom's voice. It's funny how phrases are passed down through families like that.
I agree with your grandfather; that's the kind of term limits I would support. Few companies have CEOs older than retirement age, and most law firms and other professional services firms also require partners to step down from full-time, client-facing roles sometime in their 60s for a host of good reasons.
Wow, that Desantis tree collapsed worse than his support in the polls!
As a kid, I loved the Mark Russell specials on PBS (and I’m Canadian, which makes it even weirder - I know). It had slipped past me that he’d passed away earlier this year, until you said “exhume” and I went to look it up. That’s too bad. Since the start of the Trump era, I’ve been saying it’s a damn shame that he and especially Molly Ivins weren’t around to weigh in.
There are some who say Michael McDonald ruined The Doobie Brothers, or at best turned them into his backup band, and while I don't think those people are wrong, I'll always turn up the volume on What A Fool Believes and Takin' It To The Streets.
I’m couldn’t get the Rays in n the radio due to hurricane energy programming for a storm that passed about 12 before 1st pitch. Watched the Guardians game for afternoon fun and can’t believe it went extras. But hey baseball. I have a feeling we will not be seeing Wander again. If there is one victim, there is more, is it is now three, there will be four. Dude needs to go away for a long time if these allegations prove true.
The law is the law, and it sounds bad. I don't know the details, but he's only 22 now and if some of these incidents happened when he was, say, 19 and the girl was, say, 17, that doesn't sound overly creepy to me, if still illegal. But at 22 he should know better, and if the victim was 15 or under, that's really bad.
So, basically...Florida.
The most common argument I've heard against term limits is that it gives more power to lobbyists. In any organization, it takes a little time to really get used to how things run and learn the job well. Politics isn't any different, and if elected representatives are always comparatively new, then they are more likely to defer to those with more experience in how the system runs - and unfortunately in the US influence peddling is legal and called lobbying, so if a lobbyist has been around for 20 years they will have an influence on a representative who has been there for five.
There are some other arguments but that's the one that I've seen most often from people who know things.
Jinx. You owe me a Coke.
Haha. Great minds think alike, clearly!
Yes. Something as complex as government with its committee structure and semi-independent fiefdoms like the military and USDA really requires experience.
The argument is that term limits enshrine power in unelected people like lobbyists and other special interests, who control the ability to get elected in the first place, and stay elected until the end of term limits. It also denies voters the right to choose to continue sending their preferred candidates to represent them. I don’t necessarily buy those arguments, but the courts have.
About as well as Texas. Which does not have term limits.
Here the term-limited politicians outsource the writing of legislation out to lobbyists wholesale. We have had instances in which bills are introduced but someone forgot to change a watermark or fill in a blank revealing that the thing was written by non-legislative people entirely. Which is necessary when (a) you have no expertise; (b) you are constantly on the make for your next job and office; and (c) the lobbyists are the ones with the money and are the ones on whom you depend to finance your run for the next office.
We already have term limits for Congress. Only they're called "elections".
(Hashtag Votefortheotherguyonceinawhile)
We have a lot of states with term limits for the legislature and a lot without. What does the data show when comparing groups? Population migration, job growth, GDP, education median, anything. Step back from the theory and show data before asking for a change from the status quo. See also how baseball tested pitch clocks in the minors for years.
My argument is simply that the right to choose who get to serve should be in the hands of the voters. If the voters want to send someone to Congress for 50 years, it should be their right. Yes, I get that incumbency can be a break on democracy, but so are many other things. At the end of the day, I think it should be our say and not that of a law.
But also, term limits don't really work. My current city councilmember served his eight years, went to a job in Albany, and when his successor quit early, he ran for his old job and won easily. We went backwards. Yes, the people chose him, but it seems to violate the idea of term limits if he could go away and come back. (Note: this is the clown who's endorsed RFK Jr. so I have a very low opinion of him anyway.)
Same thing has happened here since instituting term limits; our former mayor who had to step down after two terms is now on council and apparently eligible to run for mayor again.
In addition to the issue with lobbyists as mentioned, a term limit does two things with the politicians themselves:
- It takes competent politicians away from offices where they can be effective.
- It takes incompetent politicians and encourages them to focus on advancement.
There's a difference between putting a cap on the presidency, which is both the most powerful single office and one for which there is nothing beyond, and limiting terms in Congress, where you can have a legitimate career doing good work without truly wanting to go higher.
Really the bigger issue is that we need to repair the party/election system to encourage competitiveness so a senator doesn't have a 95% reelection chance just by being able to fog a mirror.
The old saw is that we already have term limits and that they are called elections.
My main argument against term limits is that they are undemocratic.
We have term limits in Ohio. They have been disastrous. I'll write some more on it for tomorrow.
I thought the Battle of Wakefield was fought between the River Pirates of Pittsburgh and the Boston Pilgrims. Live and learn.
...
ATL and LAD face off this weekend in Los Angeles. Not, quite obviously, a must win for either, but a fun matchup between two very very good teams that have met twice in the playoffs recently. If only this were pre 94 when they would be fighting for a single playoff spot from the geographically challenged NL West.
The race for home field advantage is gonna be a tight one, especially if the Dodgers manage to win 3 this weekend.
Basically forgot the Nats had a day game yesterday until it was more than half over… Looks like I should have waited longer to remember.
PS I saw a tweet from FiveThirtyEight yesterday that says the median age of the 118th Congress is 59. That means exactly HALF of Congress is older than me. That’s not good, people.
PPS This blue Supermoon is nothing short of spectacular. If you are awake and can go outside, please do so, and look up.
I tried but it was cloudy enough that all I saw was a halo.
Too bad... it won’t be 100% full tonight but it’s supposed to be beautiful again. I also can’t really get a good picture of it with my phone so I’m just sitting here on my deck, drinking coffee and ogling it.
It's always worth taking the time to gaze at the moon a bit.
Anyone else remember this Doonesbury? Still one of my favorites ...
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pvZsLAWTvh4/W9IghFs-EcI/AAAAAAAAd3Y/9UR2rgst8yAyn11hqzqdhyKe-XfxH6cOQCLcBGAs/s1600/mellow.png
Absolutely. Great pull.
It's one of my top 5 favorites ... says the nerd who has a Top 5 list of Doonesburys.
Ok, I’ll ask: What’s #1?
Probably Ron Nessen: "I shave."
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AAOd8MxQHreYhw8L8_cJXuA3-eTX-nY-o9TpBfhoTAUMgEpxqtmDP-i4l0DAnW2iZ_fNoN4F2W8k1nGUv340luLZNdS3Hz8Nc4GsbhO1bH6OvfokthFzxDmzt5asplt8MALwUcI=w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu
Crash: “Whaddaya mean, William Blake!?”
Annie: “I mean William Blake!”
Saw the moon on my walk this morning, it really was spectacular.
Darius Vines really shoved it last night in his debut. He doesn’t throw gas but his placement seemed really good and he’s got a pretty nasty change up. The Braves have now auditioned pretty much the entire Gwinnett pitching staff - Smith-Shawver, Soroka, Shuster, Dodd, Winans, and now Vines. It’ll be interesting to see which one(s), if any, get on the postseason roster.
Vines has hardly pitched this year. 9 games and 43 good but not great innings across three leagues. He isn’t a top prospect. I’m guessing he’s unlikely to fill an October role.
I would love to see Smith-Shawver in the pen in October. And if they can get Soroka right, that’s a weapon too.
AJSS has electric stuff. If he can develop merely average control, he’s a star in the making.
Soroka is clearly outmatching the International League inning by inning. But they are being very cautious. Having him in the pen in October where he could have to pitch back-to-back games would be a big step up. I’m hoping that he’s in the rotation next year with no more setbacks. Tiny sample size of course but I have seen him only twice this season in Striper green and he’s been capital B Bad both times. Perhaps it’s me, not him!
Speaking of Gwinnett ... only two more home series left this season. Time flies.
Is DJ Stewart real? Probably not. In fact, I think he's a mass hallucination. But I am enjoying the show while it lasts.
Not sure Mauricio should be called up since his natural position was SS - which is Lindor's for the foreseeable future - and the Mets were stupidly slow to start teaching him other slots, none of which he's good at yet. Meaning either he will be learning defense on the job, or just another DH. Plus, the Mets haven't really done well with prospects at the major league level so far, minus a single month Alvarez looked good. I would rather see them bring back Baty first. But maybe being in the Show is what Mauricio needs.
Bring Baty back to what end? Only one out of him or Vientos can play third base, and Vientos is getting his chance now. And not doing anything more with that chance than Baty did with his so far, but I think you need to give him fair time to try too.
Unless you want to bench Vogelbach and let one of them DH, which is unlikely now that Vogelbach is hitting, having both Baty and Vientos up at the same time means one of them will mostly ride the bench.
Fair point, but Baty was the third baseman most of the season and I thought that he was targeted as the third baseman of the future. Plus, I don't think they have a plan for what to do with Vientos if Baty stays at third. Maybe Vientos should be sent back down to learn first (assuming that the "Alonso is being traded" stuff is actually true).
Will admit that right now I am starting to worry that the longstanding issues the Mets have had turning prospects into everyday players live on. I know some players take longer to catch on than others, but that not one of the Mets' prospects looks good now seems like a bad sign.
Mauricio should be the 2B to finish out 2023, and although I agree the Mets didn't start that process early enough it's the most logical fit for him. Baty will get another chance to play Golden Boy again in the Spring and be our opening day 3B. In 2024 Vientos will be either a DH (if he shows he can hit) and 3B/1B sub or trade bait, unless they stick him in LF, which I'm sure he can learn. I truly love Jeff McNeil, but there is no place for him except as a super-sub in LF/RF/2B, and that can get him in the lineup 4-5 days a week. I'm on Team DJ - he can be in the starting outfield next year. What do we have to lose?
I am very excited for the pitching we have on the farm. Most are a year away.
And Jonathan Arauz - maybe Vientos can DH for him, and let the pitchers hit. I think Ted Williams' head would show more plate discipline.
It's a shame too, because Arauz looks really good with the glove.
I am optimistic but not excited yet. For every Harvey-deGrom-Thor combo, there are two Generation Ks.
What McNeil do you want to turn into a sub? This year's 91 OPS+ version? Yeah, that makes sense. Or his career 120 OPS+ version? Or even better, his 2022 140 OPS+? Those McNeil's have to play every day.
I'm not sure what we've got with him anymore.
As a dude who doesn't strike out, but also doesn't hit the ball hard, McNeil is at the whim of the BABIP gods. At age 31, I think the BABIP gods will taketh away more than giveth.
Better versions of Jeff McNeil like Carew, Gwynn, and Boggs aged OK and they didn't hit the ball hard either. Maybe he can hang on being pretty good for a while longer.
I think it would have been much easier to trade Alonso had Vientos looked more like he could handle major league pitching.
There's no business reason to trade Alonso, other than the haul of prospects. But Pete puts butts in seats, people come to see him play and that should be worth something to the Mets. Vientos sounds like a great kid but he looks lost out there most of the time and it doesn't seem like Buck has his back.
Also, Pete is 28 and in his prime as a slugger. You don't trade away players at that age unless you are in complete rebuild mode, which doesn't seem like the Mets right now.
DJ Stewart is real, but perhaps not in the way you’re asking.
He goes through a cycle of home run binges, which can be fun and make one wonder about what could be.
Somewhere along the way he will try to shag fly balls off his noggin. That’s the signal that the cycle is complete and you just have to wait for it to begin anew.
Mitch McConnell: While McConnell may have had a transient ischemic attack, instead he may have had transient global amnesia. They don’t know exactly what causes transient global amnesia, but in the majority of cases the person, while not remembering the event, has no lasting consequences. That is different from a transient ischemic attack, which is considered a mini-stroke.
I noticed each time that his eyes both began to roll back into his head until he could speak again. But he’s still able to stay upright and grip a lectern. I would like to understand more here, even while I hope MM steps down one way or another.
I just sent Weismann an encouraging note regarding his Slayed by Voices substack. Dude’s out there getting better jobs that require more writing, and I’m thinking he has writers block or something.
Good luck Jon.
I completely agree with your comments about Senators Mitch McConnell and Diane Feinstein. The Fates are testing the boundaries of my self-control in this particular instance. I have written both my senators about this issue “staying too long at the fair” but at this point I think I will follow the advice of counsel and tend to my own path while letting “the fates do what the fates are going to do”...
Good plan on moving up your walk; hope all goes well there.
Thank you for this good stuff.
I am extremely nervous about the Twins visit to Cleveland next week. Fingers crossed at this end.
It's wild to me that now some younger people are finally getting into politics, there is a whole generation that has been skipped entirely. They were dismissed as too young and inexperienced until they were older and experienced, then the oldsters refused to move out of the way, and now that they are dying off the youngsters have their chance.
Yep. My election choices are usually as old as my parents and young enough to be my own kid.
My representative often talks about herself as "one of the few people in congress of reproductive age" (I'm paraphrasing, I can't recall exactly how she terms it) and it's still weird to consider that yeah, there aren't a lot of women (to begin with) there, much less who would be young enough to still have kids.
There was race in NYC last year between two long time Representatives whose districts were essentially merged by redistricting. Both are over 70, and neither was willing to step aside in favor of the other. The race was cut-throat, their seeming friendship gone, two people who clearly could not bear to given up their power. And sadly, the third candidate, who was in his 40s and offered a fresh face and more progressive ideas, came in dead last.
My favorite part of the American Experiment is the part where the general public:
A - says it supports term limits* by a considerable margin, and
B - keeps re-electing the same goddamn people to the same goddamn offices over and over again.
Like, NPR's Up First podcast this morning spoke to a couple voters in Kentucky, all of whom thought it was time for Mitch to step down, and none of whom were asked the simple question, "did you vote for Senator McConnell when he ran for his SEVENTH TERM in the Senate three years ago?"
(*Term limits are a bad idea, but so is an octogenarian legislature.)
Term limits may be a bad idea in a vacuum, but if that's what it takes for the two permanent parties to develop and maintain a bench of future candidates I'm all for them.
What would also force both parties to develop a bench is tripling (or more) the size of the House. Added bonus, it’d make it easier for third parties to campaign and actually win seats.
^So much this!
The same year that my town voted YES to term limits for municipal government (mayor and village council), every incumbent on the ballot was re-elected.
A quick trip down the Brandon Fellows rabbithole reveals the January 6th fund, sadly, only reached $1070 out of the $50K goal to hire his representation.
Some of the best and most dedicated lawyers I know are public defenders. I don’t know or care about Fellows’ personal financial situation, but lack of funds is no excuse for self-representation.
Oh, I agree! For the most part, I was just marveling at the Legal Defense Fund and the seemingly waning lack of support for individuals like him, despite the glowing biography. They really worked hard to sell him as a victim, and some sucker(s) were moved to donate.
Much as I appreciate Craig’s legal take as well as the thankless work public defenders do, my moralistic view is anyone dumb enough to defend themselves (he must have friends and family telling him not to do this) deserves what they get. In this case 5 months in prison as an appetizer and probably several years for the actual crimes.
My priors are that criminal punishment shouldn't be meted out based on the quality of representation, including the stupidity of self-representation. Yeah, this guy seems like a peach but the more morally reprehensible someone is, the more I feel that I need to hew closely to my principles rather than emphasizing emotion in the decision matrix. "We skipped these steps, but its okay 'cause we know he really deserves it" is dangerous.
FWIW the linked story indicates that the jury deliberated but didn't return a verdict on the underlying charges yesterday. Jail for contempt is pretty limited. As baseball fans, we saw some of that with Barry Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson.
Imagine how his life would be different if he had just taken a public defender. Maybe could have avoided the contempt and possibly come of easy on the charges.
It's almost like it's on brand with the Jan 6th crowd to continuously make poor decisions and then cry unfair treatment.
Baseball Related: Trey Mancini was released by the Reds. As SI puts it: "His released (sic) gives him a chance to hook up with a playoff-bound organization that might be able to use him before the Sept. 1 deadline."
Ouch. Not just for Mancini, but for the Cincinnati Reds, whose playoff hopes were just shot dead in the street by SI.
That’s weird because he just had a 2 HR game and some Cubs fans were even bemoaning that the team had released him. Guessing he must have gone 4 for 40 and the organization decided he didn’t have anything left.
Related, much as I and everyone else loved Sports Illustrated as a kid, si.com seems to be clickbait trash. I get tons of “this former all star was just released” headlines in my Google app linking to SI stories that bury the lead. Wonder if they’re using AI or bots to write some of these.
Nope, Mancini hit .300 and slugged .700 in only 5 games. Might be the Reds still weren’t going to call him up and released him to give him a chance, though don’t see what contending team would give him at bats.
I think you're onto something with the AI produced content there. In particular, I just found that particular sentence humorous.
In reality, Mancini could be a decent bench piece if he produced off the bench (he really doesn't). His DH stats are even worse. Is there a playoff bound team that needs a 1B part-time starter? Maybe Astros?
Checking some other sources, feels like that sentence is just weirdly written.
Mancini has a contract so gets paid for September and next year no matter what. We can assume if he’s playing and not on his couch he wants to get back to the majors. It wasn’t going to happen with the Reds so he asked for his release in hopes a contending team would sign him. I think he (or the author) gets that a team out of it isn’t going to give him playing time. But I think he’s in denial of how horrible he was the first half of the year and a good week in AAA doesn’t change that.
I think he’s be better showcasing himself at AAA in hopes of a non-roster invite next year.
Astros have a logjam of bat-first, LF/1B/DH types, i don’t think they’ll reunite with Trey for the playoffs.
One of my grandfathers thought that politicians should have a retirement age of 65 for elected office (he lived to be 96 and was sharp as a tack until the day he died in his favorite chair at home), because it's a hard job mentally and everyone deserved time off from working. He was okay with positions as advisors and such after that, so their expertise and experience was still used, but favored people who were younger making the actual decisions.
Not only do they cling to power until it's pried from their cold, dead, hands, but they are some combination of workaholics and tools for power-hungry associates and spouses. Very healthy combination. I don't think any organization should have so many people working in it until they literally die on the job.
Grandpa was pretty smart. Whenever my dad tells someone "don't be so stupid" I can hear his own dad's voice lol.
While if my mom says "you're smarter than that, use your brains" I can hear her mom's voice. It's funny how phrases are passed down through families like that.
I'm convinced. And would have a lot less of the downsides that term limits have.
I agree with your grandfather; that's the kind of term limits I would support. Few companies have CEOs older than retirement age, and most law firms and other professional services firms also require partners to step down from full-time, client-facing roles sometime in their 60s for a host of good reasons.
Wow, that Desantis tree collapsed worse than his support in the polls!
As a kid, I loved the Mark Russell specials on PBS (and I’m Canadian, which makes it even weirder - I know). It had slipped past me that he’d passed away earlier this year, until you said “exhume” and I went to look it up. That’s too bad. Since the start of the Trump era, I’ve been saying it’s a damn shame that he and especially Molly Ivins weren’t around to weigh in.
"I have 535 writers. One hundred in the Senate, and 435 in the House of Representatives." - Mark Russell
Phil Ochs voice: 🎶 the Yankees have purchased the contract / of Jasson Dominguez 🎶
if it doesn't come to you immediately:
https://youtu.be/CB4xpqNSYpk?si=VS_UP28hA8bk-oLq
There are some who say Michael McDonald ruined The Doobie Brothers, or at best turned them into his backup band, and while I don't think those people are wrong, I'll always turn up the volume on What A Fool Believes and Takin' It To The Streets.
I’m couldn’t get the Rays in n the radio due to hurricane energy programming for a storm that passed about 12 before 1st pitch. Watched the Guardians game for afternoon fun and can’t believe it went extras. But hey baseball. I have a feeling we will not be seeing Wander again. If there is one victim, there is more, is it is now three, there will be four. Dude needs to go away for a long time if these allegations prove true.
The law is the law, and it sounds bad. I don't know the details, but he's only 22 now and if some of these incidents happened when he was, say, 19 and the girl was, say, 17, that doesn't sound overly creepy to me, if still illegal. But at 22 he should know better, and if the victim was 15 or under, that's really bad.