Urban renewal, minor signings, my ongoing school board vendetta, a MAJOR lack of sports perspective, Justice Breyer, Wordle, and the poetry of our own demise
Kansas City is working on about their 15th '10-year plan'. And it always comes down to the questioin of money. KC has no intention of building it itself, this is just an enticement to get someone else to come in and invest money. I didn't read it, but I'm sure they mentioned the Free Trade Zone that has existed in KC for 50 years.
2 major problems with the newest '10-year plan'.
1) KC did not grow north towards the airport like everyone thought. They built it, but not everyone came. They could make a movie out of that.
2) the road system. Nothing is going to happen until the highways are rerouted, redone, and relocated.
Also, people in KC don't want the ballpark downtown. The roads suck, there won't be any parking, and no one wants to get rid of Royals Stadium. The idea of a new stadium downtown failed in the 70's with Kemper Arena. It will never happen. It's just the politicians begging for money.
I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that Kauffman is the 4th oldest park in use in the majors. My only trip to KC as an adult was during the off season so I haven’t seen a game in person but it still looks fine on TV.
Its a great place to watch a game. I always forget it's that old, then remember I was at opening night before the fountains and the grass were in place.
I've only been to Kauffman once but I came away pleasantly surprised. It's an easily accessible location with plenty of parking, and the stadium experience was outstanding. (And I was there BEFORE the most recent renovations, so I'm sure it's even better now.)
I remember the first time that I was in Kansas City, I assumed that the line from the song "Standing on the corner of 12th Street & Vine" meant that intersection would be vibrant and teeming with life. That was very much not the case
Well, back when Buck O'Neil was playing, it was the place to be for that part of the community. I think they though putting the Negro Leauge Museum and Jazz Museum in the area would revitalize it, but it's failed. Nothing but the museums, and not much else to do or places to eat.
Do the Royals owners even want a new ballpark? I mean I'm sure if they can sucker the taxpayers into paying for it they'd take one. But this doesn't seem like an Oakland or Tampa situation where there's an explicit or implicit threat to leave.
I think they pushed the idea to get the upgrades done at the current park, but it was never serious. It was just a poke to get the country to do something. And it's Johnson Country that owns the complex, not the city. The only people who want a new stadium downtown are the ones who own property downtown.
If I want to not be able to sleep at night, I think about "what if there is no afterlife." The idea that we just die (separate from any thoughts about what an afterlife might be) fills with existential dread. I happen to believe that there is an afterlife, but I know that I can't know that. And for the most part, I spend very little time thinking about such things. I have a life to live now and don't have time to worry about the afterlife.
And speaking of school boards and the Holocaust, a school board in Tennessee banned Maus for having foul language (such horrible words as "goddamn") and nudity (which I seem to recall is a naked woman in the camps or something similarly unsexual and tragic and true). Art Spiegelman is baffled, of course. I have to wonder if this is merely reactionary thinking about "foul language" and "nudity" or out and out anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. PS: Today is the internationally recognized day for remembering the Holocaust.
ETA: Brother, Can You Spare a Podcast has landed on Apple Podcasts. And on my iPhone! Already loving the music.
I think the other thing about being immortal is that it seems inherent that not everyone would be immortal. Setting aside the vagaries of aging and how your body doesn't work the way it used to [insert boner-pill joke here], living forever would mean that everyone you ever care for would die... we're not supposed to outlive our kids, and when that happens it's tragic. Now imagine outliving your grandchildren. Your great-grandchildren.
And I think immortality wouldn't necessarily make you kinder... it could even make you meaner. Imagine knowing for certain you'll be able to dance on someone's grave (maybe not literally; see 2nd sentence of 1st graf). I'm not convinced that certain people wouldn't take a sick pleasure in that knowledge.
PS -- Virtual standing O for that mic drop on your PS. Bravo.
I find it interesting how immortality is treated in fictional characters because the outcomes are so varied. Some become more kind because even though they live forever, they can't help but lose friends along the way and gain from watching how those with such short lives enjoy the wonderful moments because they are so fleeting, and somebecome mean and indifferent because if everyone is going to die anyway then why worry about anything to extend one particular life? It's in their mind like saving a bug so it is squashed tomorrow instead of today, pointless.
I was reading an interview with Stephen Hawking once and he said that before he got sick, he was a bit bored with life and didn't see much point. But after he was diagnosed, and the future left to him shrunk dramatically (he outlived his doctor's initial predictions by A LOT) life suddenly seemed more precious to him because it was now in potentially short supply, and he enjoyed every moment he could.
I suspect he found being able to journey mentally to the distant spaces of the universe a source of interest and wonder until the end of his life.
Two weeks ago, I finally picked up the copy of the George Saunders novel Lincoln In The Bardo which someone had gifted me a year or two ago, and began to read it. I didn't want to put it down and finished it within 48 hours. It's a fantastic semi-historical narrative and it REALLY caused me to consider... well, to consider the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. The term "bardo" is a Tibetan term that translates as some combination of limbo and purgatory. And the "Lincoln" in the title is William, not Abraham - Willie died of a terrible fever in the early part of the Civil War. Abe has a big role too. It's an absolutely stunning book, gushing with imagination and spirit, equal parts Saunders-style hilarious and utterly devastating emotionally, and on target for this thread. Highest recommendation.
I want so badly for there to be an afterlife. Failing that, immortality. It would be sad watching my loved ones die but I don’t think I can live enough in the one life I get.
However you spell it, it's annoying. I haven't complained about because that's useless, big it's annoying. I don't care if people play games, but I don't want to see your fucking scores all over my Twitter feed. It's taken me years to get my feed to look how I want it to look. I hover at around a hundred followers and probably only follow about a hundred or so accounts. I have a friend who has thousands of followers because he runs a popular Phillies account. Seems exhausting to me.
All I want from Twitter is a quick news update and some funny shit.
I've seen this comment plenty of times in recent weeks regarding Wordle. As I said, I have not complained about it on Twitter. I thought I could do that here but the morality police are everywhere.
Have you considered muting the word Wordle on Twitter? Twitter allows you to mute certain phrases, and I’m pretty sure when people post their scores, Wordle shows up in those posts. Could be an easy fix to your dilemma.
Eligibility for the Hall is defined as five full years after his last game [2019], not by reference to when he announces his retirement. So he will be entering the Hall in 2025, all being well, but Buster Posey will have to wait two more years after that.
Unlike Craig, I don't have a lot of time on my hands, but I am in a remarkably uninteresting meeting.
I do Wordle with three other people, including my wife, in an ongoing text thread that originally was created to gloat about our NYTimes daily mini crossword exploits. Adding Wordle to the discourse was seamless. I also do it with about ten other Twitter friends in a group DM. I really enjoy having it those settings and not sharing my results with Twitter or Facebook at large. But it still makes me happy when others do. It just seems lonelier and I hope they have somebody else for smack talking, but also praise.
I don't get why people are irritated by others posting Wordle results on Twitter.
I started to find it annoying, so muted "Wordle" - it took 30 seconds and totally solved the problem, with the added bonus of me not getting in the way of anyone else's enjoyment.
Then you likely don't know that one of my kids "got it" in 2 yesterday!! Which infuriates me which is totally normal (we do a thread, as Harris does). Based on a twitter joke dating back to when I was briefly banned from twitter for calling Frank Luntz a "whore in a suit," I had been using "whore" to start Worlde (I prefer THAT version) and yesterday, I did not do that, or I, too, could have had a 2!!
[If you want, Mike, I can update you daily. But thanks for the tip, I will mute it on twitter as well. While the family thread is fun, we prob don't need to know what our twitter friends are doing with Worlde.]
I tried it a few times but I'm not much of a word game person so haven't done it since. But if other people have fun why should I care, it doesn't have anything to do with me.
I do think that because it's just one word each day that has a lot of appeal. A person can fuss with it during their lunch break or over morning coffee, solve it or not, and then forget about it entirely for the next 24 hours. No constant pings of notifications, no ads, no in-app nags to upgrade to Premium Wordle. Simplicity is nice.
Inspired: decking over the acres of parking lots and building housing, offices, retail, and transit to bring downtown to the ballpark. Hell, it'd probably be cheaper.
I have had many conversations with my therapist about the whole fear of death/oblivion topic, and I hope I get to your mindset on it soon, Craig. I'm scared to life about death.
Ah, see I’m old enough to remember when the Royals renovated the stadium and seemingly touted it as game-changing and much-needed. I think all those went into effect for the 2009 season. And the Rays are STILL looking for a legitimate place to play baseball in.*
* A major part of what drew me to baseball as a kid was how different and unique so many stadiums were. Yankee Stadium obviously had the short porch and Death Valley. AT&T has the giant RF wall and McCovey Cove. Fenway has the Green Monster and the triangle. Joe Robbie’s Hard Rock Land Shark had the giant LF wall. But at least there’s some type of potential competitive advantage and, theoretically, it allows for building lineups to take advantage. But the Trop is a shit hole. It and the Rays should be sent to Siberia. I’d rather watch the Yankees play in a freezing bunker than I would the Trop and its catwalks.
Craig, hopefully I get to where you are about death. But at less than five months before my 25th birthday, I at least know the Jets are NEVER winning a Super Bowl in my lifetime.
I think we all know that the Baseball Gods will respond to the Orioles' decision to move the fences back by having them lose several games with their own players' long fly balls falling harmlessly into opposition outfielders' gloves at the wall in the 9th inning.
I lived in the television area of three teams before I was in college, the Twins of the 1970s and the Braves and Padres of the 1980s. I loved my time in those parks, but wow were they bland.
Off topic but I need help from the Cup of Coffee community. Last week the Hang Up and Listen podcast asked listeners to send in goofy sports ideas. I sent one in to improve baseball called The Scramble (description below). They’re now running a poll asking people to pick their favorite and The Scramble is currently in second place. Rumors are that if The Scramble wins, we will have labor peace and the season will start on time. To vote- https://twitter.com/stefanfatsis/status/1486028771983511554?s=21
The Scramble- If a runner tags up when the third out of an inning occurs, he can attempt to score a run. To prevent the run from scoring, all the defensive players need to be off the playing field before the runner crosses the plate. In order to be considered off the playing field, they need to cross the foul line, between home and third or home and first, on the side of the field their dugout is on. For example, runner on second, fly ball to center. If the runner is standing on second base when the center fielder catches the ball, he can run home. If he makes it before all the defensive players have crossed the foul line in front of their dugout, the run counts.
Some of the interesting scenarios The Scramble would create:
- Do you put a fast guy in the outfield even if he isn't a great fielder? Do you play your slow corner outfielder in left or right depending on where your dugout is?
- If there's a runner on first and the ball is hit to the gap, does he run on contact? If the ball drops he'll score. But if it's caught he won't be able to get back to first in time so he can tag up. Does he stay near the base so he can tag up and try to score?
- On a ball hit between center and right a slow right fielder would be worried that he couldn’t get off the field if the ball is caught. But, he's not sure his center fielder will get to the ball. Does the right fielder try to run the ball down or does he say screw it and book it towards the dugout?
- Runner on third, two outs, 0-2 count. Do the outfielders come into the infield so they can get over the foul line if the batter strikes out?
On the subject of arguing over the wrong things: I took a class in law school that ended up with a long and cumbersome name. Something like “Torts 2, advanced Torts, Advanced questions in Tort Law”
And the professor, upon introduction tried explaining the long title, which none of us cared about. But in so doing said something that has stuck with me. I don’t, sadly, remember the exact quote, which was succinct.
He said it came down to an argument with “management” they wanted “torts 2” he wanted “advanced questions in tort law” and they both conceded that it “didn’t really matter” (torts 2 isn’t a thing like algebra 2). But neither could understand that if it didn’t matter why the other wouldn’t just let them have it their way. So they smashed the two names together because it didn’t matter but the professor was obviously irked by the whole deal.
There is a lot we pretend we don’t care about that we do care about. It’s like we all live our lives pretending our lives don’t matter, but instinctively live our lives like they matter a lot, but can’t get too emotionally invested in our own Important Wants because we don’t know how to handle the failure of “not getting what we want” because we aren’t sure we even wanted anything to begin with.
Funny stuff, life is. Horribly, tragically, hilarious
“All of our choices and acts, by definition, matter precisely because one day there will be no choices to make or things to do.” That is poetry. Or poetry that resonates with me.
I think about mortality more now than ever (though I also had those times when I worried about my kid if my demise came early - but he’s done with college and he’s going to be fine without me. On his own journey). I think it hits you in a different way when you have a parent die. That happened two years ago. Something about being the next generation nearing the finish line.
Anyway I see friends leave public service in search of more things and money, also now on the side of helping people keep more money than they can ever take with them. I on the other hand am content with trying to make things better for more people in my small way. And when I think about, it really is small. But I’m good with that, and good with the notion that when history is written I will likely be one little person added to the side of promoting democracy and its hope to put more of the decision-making power in the hands of more people for their short, probably anonymous, time here. Boy oh boy, is it short.
Time is tight. Listen to music. Make music. Make art. Try to find beauty and to create it.
I'm pretty sure the fact that you can only play once a day - a rarity in the age of ad-laden apps - is what made people excited about it. Humans are drawn to things that are limited in supply.
I'm certain you're right about what happens when we die, however as a kid I had this really fun thought about it that's sort of congealed over time into something I think about pretty often. Once death is upon us, we get to see the consequences of our actions. Not in a "The Good Place" way, but just "you did this, and here's what you didn't see after that." I feel there are only a handful of times in our lives when we were THAT consequential, and even then it's at a very small scale for the widest swath of us, but I hold tight to the hope I can enter my eternal rest with the knowledge of my impact on this blue marble.
Kansas City is working on about their 15th '10-year plan'. And it always comes down to the questioin of money. KC has no intention of building it itself, this is just an enticement to get someone else to come in and invest money. I didn't read it, but I'm sure they mentioned the Free Trade Zone that has existed in KC for 50 years.
2 major problems with the newest '10-year plan'.
1) KC did not grow north towards the airport like everyone thought. They built it, but not everyone came. They could make a movie out of that.
2) the road system. Nothing is going to happen until the highways are rerouted, redone, and relocated.
Also, people in KC don't want the ballpark downtown. The roads suck, there won't be any parking, and no one wants to get rid of Royals Stadium. The idea of a new stadium downtown failed in the 70's with Kemper Arena. It will never happen. It's just the politicians begging for money.
Did they try a supertrain... you know, with great music and great coffee?
They tried the train, but with BBQ and jazz. Out of towners didn't get it.
I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that Kauffman is the 4th oldest park in use in the majors. My only trip to KC as an adult was during the off season so I haven’t seen a game in person but it still looks fine on TV.
Its a great place to watch a game. I always forget it's that old, then remember I was at opening night before the fountains and the grass were in place.
I've been to Kaufman twice and I quite like it. Despite not having any ties to it via fandom, I'd be a bit sad to see it go.
Did you mean 4th in the AL?
Fenway
Wrigley
Dodger Stadium
Angels Stadium
OACC
Are all before Kauffman.
Nah. I meant MLB … but I was wrong. Oops. Forgot about CAL and OAK.
I've only been to Kauffman once but I came away pleasantly surprised. It's an easily accessible location with plenty of parking, and the stadium experience was outstanding. (And I was there BEFORE the most recent renovations, so I'm sure it's even better now.)
I remember the first time that I was in Kansas City, I assumed that the line from the song "Standing on the corner of 12th Street & Vine" meant that intersection would be vibrant and teeming with life. That was very much not the case
Well, back when Buck O'Neil was playing, it was the place to be for that part of the community. I think they though putting the Negro Leauge Museum and Jazz Museum in the area would revitalize it, but it's failed. Nothing but the museums, and not much else to do or places to eat.
Do the Royals owners even want a new ballpark? I mean I'm sure if they can sucker the taxpayers into paying for it they'd take one. But this doesn't seem like an Oakland or Tampa situation where there's an explicit or implicit threat to leave.
I think they pushed the idea to get the upgrades done at the current park, but it was never serious. It was just a poke to get the country to do something. And it's Johnson Country that owns the complex, not the city. The only people who want a new stadium downtown are the ones who own property downtown.
Jackson County, but yeah.
Yep, dumb on my part. Idon't know why I did that. Those people from Kansas would never slum in KC
If I want to not be able to sleep at night, I think about "what if there is no afterlife." The idea that we just die (separate from any thoughts about what an afterlife might be) fills with existential dread. I happen to believe that there is an afterlife, but I know that I can't know that. And for the most part, I spend very little time thinking about such things. I have a life to live now and don't have time to worry about the afterlife.
And speaking of school boards and the Holocaust, a school board in Tennessee banned Maus for having foul language (such horrible words as "goddamn") and nudity (which I seem to recall is a naked woman in the camps or something similarly unsexual and tragic and true). Art Spiegelman is baffled, of course. I have to wonder if this is merely reactionary thinking about "foul language" and "nudity" or out and out anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. PS: Today is the internationally recognized day for remembering the Holocaust.
ETA: Brother, Can You Spare a Podcast has landed on Apple Podcasts. And on my iPhone! Already loving the music.
I think the other thing about being immortal is that it seems inherent that not everyone would be immortal. Setting aside the vagaries of aging and how your body doesn't work the way it used to [insert boner-pill joke here], living forever would mean that everyone you ever care for would die... we're not supposed to outlive our kids, and when that happens it's tragic. Now imagine outliving your grandchildren. Your great-grandchildren.
And I think immortality wouldn't necessarily make you kinder... it could even make you meaner. Imagine knowing for certain you'll be able to dance on someone's grave (maybe not literally; see 2nd sentence of 1st graf). I'm not convinced that certain people wouldn't take a sick pleasure in that knowledge.
PS -- Virtual standing O for that mic drop on your PS. Bravo.
I find it interesting how immortality is treated in fictional characters because the outcomes are so varied. Some become more kind because even though they live forever, they can't help but lose friends along the way and gain from watching how those with such short lives enjoy the wonderful moments because they are so fleeting, and somebecome mean and indifferent because if everyone is going to die anyway then why worry about anything to extend one particular life? It's in their mind like saving a bug so it is squashed tomorrow instead of today, pointless.
I was reading an interview with Stephen Hawking once and he said that before he got sick, he was a bit bored with life and didn't see much point. But after he was diagnosed, and the future left to him shrunk dramatically (he outlived his doctor's initial predictions by A LOT) life suddenly seemed more precious to him because it was now in potentially short supply, and he enjoyed every moment he could.
I suspect he found being able to journey mentally to the distant spaces of the universe a source of interest and wonder until the end of his life.
Two weeks ago, I finally picked up the copy of the George Saunders novel Lincoln In The Bardo which someone had gifted me a year or two ago, and began to read it. I didn't want to put it down and finished it within 48 hours. It's a fantastic semi-historical narrative and it REALLY caused me to consider... well, to consider the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. The term "bardo" is a Tibetan term that translates as some combination of limbo and purgatory. And the "Lincoln" in the title is William, not Abraham - Willie died of a terrible fever in the early part of the Civil War. Abe has a big role too. It's an absolutely stunning book, gushing with imagination and spirit, equal parts Saunders-style hilarious and utterly devastating emotionally, and on target for this thread. Highest recommendation.
Implicit in the desire for eternal life is either eternal youth, or being an incorporeal spirit.
I just saw a tweet that said, "Oh I heard your son happened to read the word "damn" in the break between active shooter drills. Is he okay?"
I said it was poignant enough to hurt.
I want so badly for there to be an afterlife. Failing that, immortality. It would be sad watching my loved ones die but I don’t think I can live enough in the one life I get.
Pretty cool bit misspelling Wordle repeatedly and then mentioning an author being aware of irony
I could NOT, for the life of me, figure out what "Worlde" was. Maybe a new album I'd never heard of from Lorde?
Same here, I was about to stop reading that section. I was like WTF is ‘Worlde’
5AM typing autopilot and a word that you know spellcheck doesn't catch so you ignore it is a bad combination.
I had to Google it. I’m like, am I Supposed to know what the hell Worlde is? Google told me Craig probably meant Wordle.
It was misspelled enough times that I actually thought he was talking about something other than Wordle, until he included that excerpt.
However you spell it, it's annoying. I haven't complained about because that's useless, big it's annoying. I don't care if people play games, but I don't want to see your fucking scores all over my Twitter feed. It's taken me years to get my feed to look how I want it to look. I hover at around a hundred followers and probably only follow about a hundred or so accounts. I have a friend who has thousands of followers because he runs a popular Phillies account. Seems exhausting to me.
All I want from Twitter is a quick news update and some funny shit.
Great point. It must be exhausting seeing people engage in an activity that they enjoy doing together.
I've seen this comment plenty of times in recent weeks regarding Wordle. As I said, I have not complained about it on Twitter. I thought I could do that here but the morality police are everywhere.
Have you considered muting the word Wordle on Twitter? Twitter allows you to mute certain phrases, and I’m pretty sure when people post their scores, Wordle shows up in those posts. Could be an easy fix to your dilemma.
So mute the word.
I play it but ignore the posts about it. Still, it’s fun. And easy to ignore the second order clickbait about the clickbait.
"writing nasty lawyers to opposing counsel" has a confusing lyricism to it.
And this is the same autopilot/5am problem.
And the copy/paste the mistake. Haha
And THEN copy…
I'm an editor in my day job and I'm LOVING this!
Gordon Beckham is talking absolute nonsense.
Eligibility for the Hall is defined as five full years after his last game [2019], not by reference to when he announces his retirement. So he will be entering the Hall in 2025, all being well, but Buster Posey will have to wait two more years after that.
Unlike Craig, I don't have a lot of time on my hands, but I am in a remarkably uninteresting meeting.
I mean, it's going to take him at least a couple years to build up the necessary support.
I still want to see him on the ballot.
Beckham was a Tiger 3 years ago and I have zero recollection of that. There wasn't much point in watching the 2019 Tigers, but still.
I do Wordle with three other people, including my wife, in an ongoing text thread that originally was created to gloat about our NYTimes daily mini crossword exploits. Adding Wordle to the discourse was seamless. I also do it with about ten other Twitter friends in a group DM. I really enjoy having it those settings and not sharing my results with Twitter or Facebook at large. But it still makes me happy when others do. It just seems lonelier and I hope they have somebody else for smack talking, but also praise.
I don't get why people are irritated by others posting Wordle results on Twitter.
I started to find it annoying, so muted "Wordle" - it took 30 seconds and totally solved the problem, with the added bonus of me not getting in the way of anyone else's enjoyment.
Then you likely don't know that one of my kids "got it" in 2 yesterday!! Which infuriates me which is totally normal (we do a thread, as Harris does). Based on a twitter joke dating back to when I was briefly banned from twitter for calling Frank Luntz a "whore in a suit," I had been using "whore" to start Worlde (I prefer THAT version) and yesterday, I did not do that, or I, too, could have had a 2!!
[If you want, Mike, I can update you daily. But thanks for the tip, I will mute it on twitter as well. While the family thread is fun, we prob don't need to know what our twitter friends are doing with Worlde.]
Well, this is the type of story I'm missing out on. Maybe I need to refine my Twitter mute phrase. :-)
Wordle 222 3/6
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
this is what we refer to on the family thread as the "3 Club" CONGRATS!!
This one was tailor made for scientists:
Wordle 222 2/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
That was my exact results too! I wonder if we use the same starting word.
I tried it a few times but I'm not much of a word game person so haven't done it since. But if other people have fun why should I care, it doesn't have anything to do with me.
I do think that because it's just one word each day that has a lot of appeal. A person can fuss with it during their lunch break or over morning coffee, solve it or not, and then forget about it entirely for the next 24 hours. No constant pings of notifications, no ads, no in-app nags to upgrade to Premium Wordle. Simplicity is nice.
agree. if it was 5X a day I'd be out.
My current favorite Wordle story comes from the comment section on one of the Hall of Fame articles over at The Athletic yesterday.
It went like this:
Commenter #1: Farce
Commenter #2: Sir, this isn't Wordle.
Tired: downtown ballpark
Inspired: decking over the acres of parking lots and building housing, offices, retail, and transit to bring downtown to the ballpark. Hell, it'd probably be cheaper.
I have had many conversations with my therapist about the whole fear of death/oblivion topic, and I hope I get to your mindset on it soon, Craig. I'm scared to life about death.
Ah, see I’m old enough to remember when the Royals renovated the stadium and seemingly touted it as game-changing and much-needed. I think all those went into effect for the 2009 season. And the Rays are STILL looking for a legitimate place to play baseball in.*
* A major part of what drew me to baseball as a kid was how different and unique so many stadiums were. Yankee Stadium obviously had the short porch and Death Valley. AT&T has the giant RF wall and McCovey Cove. Fenway has the Green Monster and the triangle. Joe Robbie’s Hard Rock Land Shark had the giant LF wall. But at least there’s some type of potential competitive advantage and, theoretically, it allows for building lineups to take advantage. But the Trop is a shit hole. It and the Rays should be sent to Siberia. I’d rather watch the Yankees play in a freezing bunker than I would the Trop and its catwalks.
Craig, hopefully I get to where you are about death. But at less than five months before my 25th birthday, I at least know the Jets are NEVER winning a Super Bowl in my lifetime.
Growing up in Massachusetts, I used to call the old Kaufmann Stadium the Royal Graveyard because the Sox would always get crushed there.
I think we all know that the Baseball Gods will respond to the Orioles' decision to move the fences back by having them lose several games with their own players' long fly balls falling harmlessly into opposition outfielders' gloves at the wall in the 9th inning.
Gary Roenicke like to hit there. In 1979, he hit 7 homer off of the Royals. 4 off of Paul Splitorff.
I align more with Quisenberry's take on the Metrodome. "I don't think there are any good uses for nuclear weapons, but then, this may be one."
Whenever I see footage of the collapse, on a show about engineering disasters or the like, I smile. Good riddance.
You are lucky to be young enough to have missed the golden age of cookie cutter stadia. Veterans is Three Rivers is Busch is Riverfront!
How dare you not include Fulton County!
I lived in the television area of three teams before I was in college, the Twins of the 1970s and the Braves and Padres of the 1980s. I loved my time in those parks, but wow were they bland.
Isn’t this newsletter restricted to age 40+? How’d you sneak in here?
The door was open!
Off topic but I need help from the Cup of Coffee community. Last week the Hang Up and Listen podcast asked listeners to send in goofy sports ideas. I sent one in to improve baseball called The Scramble (description below). They’re now running a poll asking people to pick their favorite and The Scramble is currently in second place. Rumors are that if The Scramble wins, we will have labor peace and the season will start on time. To vote- https://twitter.com/stefanfatsis/status/1486028771983511554?s=21
The Scramble- If a runner tags up when the third out of an inning occurs, he can attempt to score a run. To prevent the run from scoring, all the defensive players need to be off the playing field before the runner crosses the plate. In order to be considered off the playing field, they need to cross the foul line, between home and third or home and first, on the side of the field their dugout is on. For example, runner on second, fly ball to center. If the runner is standing on second base when the center fielder catches the ball, he can run home. If he makes it before all the defensive players have crossed the foul line in front of their dugout, the run counts.
Some of the interesting scenarios The Scramble would create:
- Do you put a fast guy in the outfield even if he isn't a great fielder? Do you play your slow corner outfielder in left or right depending on where your dugout is?
- If there's a runner on first and the ball is hit to the gap, does he run on contact? If the ball drops he'll score. But if it's caught he won't be able to get back to first in time so he can tag up. Does he stay near the base so he can tag up and try to score?
- On a ball hit between center and right a slow right fielder would be worried that he couldn’t get off the field if the ball is caught. But, he's not sure his center fielder will get to the ball. Does the right fielder try to run the ball down or does he say screw it and book it towards the dugout?
- Runner on third, two outs, 0-2 count. Do the outfielders come into the infield so they can get over the foul line if the batter strikes out?
On the subject of arguing over the wrong things: I took a class in law school that ended up with a long and cumbersome name. Something like “Torts 2, advanced Torts, Advanced questions in Tort Law”
And the professor, upon introduction tried explaining the long title, which none of us cared about. But in so doing said something that has stuck with me. I don’t, sadly, remember the exact quote, which was succinct.
He said it came down to an argument with “management” they wanted “torts 2” he wanted “advanced questions in tort law” and they both conceded that it “didn’t really matter” (torts 2 isn’t a thing like algebra 2). But neither could understand that if it didn’t matter why the other wouldn’t just let them have it their way. So they smashed the two names together because it didn’t matter but the professor was obviously irked by the whole deal.
There is a lot we pretend we don’t care about that we do care about. It’s like we all live our lives pretending our lives don’t matter, but instinctively live our lives like they matter a lot, but can’t get too emotionally invested in our own Important Wants because we don’t know how to handle the failure of “not getting what we want” because we aren’t sure we even wanted anything to begin with.
Funny stuff, life is. Horribly, tragically, hilarious
I've run in to the same sort of thing, where someone will start telling me a "secret" but then stop and say, "Oh, I shouldn't mention this."
What they really are saying is, "PLEASE ASK ME TO TELL YOU MY SECRET, I WANT TO TELL YOU MY SECRET."
So all you have to do is say, "OK," and then drop it. Before long they'll go ahead and tell you anyway. (60% of the time, it works every time.)
“All of our choices and acts, by definition, matter precisely because one day there will be no choices to make or things to do.” That is poetry. Or poetry that resonates with me.
I think about mortality more now than ever (though I also had those times when I worried about my kid if my demise came early - but he’s done with college and he’s going to be fine without me. On his own journey). I think it hits you in a different way when you have a parent die. That happened two years ago. Something about being the next generation nearing the finish line.
Anyway I see friends leave public service in search of more things and money, also now on the side of helping people keep more money than they can ever take with them. I on the other hand am content with trying to make things better for more people in my small way. And when I think about, it really is small. But I’m good with that, and good with the notion that when history is written I will likely be one little person added to the side of promoting democracy and its hope to put more of the decision-making power in the hands of more people for their short, probably anonymous, time here. Boy oh boy, is it short.
Time is tight. Listen to music. Make music. Make art. Try to find beauty and to create it.
What I will most most with Gordon Beckham’s retirement? His walk up song, “Your Love,” by The Outfield.
That's a good walkup song for a ballplayer, even if Beckham played mostly infield positions.
I started Wordling a few weeks ago. It’s okay, but I don’t get the mania surrounding it.
I'm pretty sure the fact that you can only play once a day - a rarity in the age of ad-laden apps - is what made people excited about it. Humans are drawn to things that are limited in supply.
it's "WORLDE"!! smdh
It's "Mastermind", but with words instead of colors or numbers.
Stellar newsletter. It helps a lot.
I'm certain you're right about what happens when we die, however as a kid I had this really fun thought about it that's sort of congealed over time into something I think about pretty often. Once death is upon us, we get to see the consequences of our actions. Not in a "The Good Place" way, but just "you did this, and here's what you didn't see after that." I feel there are only a handful of times in our lives when we were THAT consequential, and even then it's at a very small scale for the widest swath of us, but I hold tight to the hope I can enter my eternal rest with the knowledge of my impact on this blue marble.
FIFA President's Comment makes me sick. Just when you thought they couldn't be more of a disgrace.
NCAA on line 3
They're in the next tier of awful organizations - not quite the level of FIFA.
The IOC and its cold embrace of the Xi regime has them not far behind FIFA as a whole.
Very true! But we *should* give them credit because they aspire to be the worst.