I'm guessing that the Cubs' dugout was calling games, and that's much harder to do now with the pitch clock. Though as you pointed out yesterday, his catcher ERA sucked with the Cubs, so game calling was probably an issue still and perhaps kept secret because they were hoping to trade him last summer.
That's my guess as well. I still find it incredible that Contreras didn't do his homework. He had ample time during the offseason. This screams...."I don't give a shit."
Wow. This doesn't seem...possible? Is that the right word? I mean, even if he somehow was so overwhelmed through Spring Training that he started the season not knowing who threw what, you'd have to think that by now--80+ games into the season--he'd have it figured out through simple exposure if nothing else. It's one thing to not do the due diligence to learn what the pitchers throw, but after half a season to STILL not know? FFS, is he the stupidest player in the league?
Threads is not set up to federate "yet". Something I don't expect them to add, and even if they do, if the instance I'm on chooses to federate, I'll migrate to an instance that won't and import all *checks status* 117 followers! That'll show 'em!
Davey Martinez was apparently unhappy after the game with Elly’s HR celebration. Too bad, Davey - play stupid games, win stupid prizes. (Reds fans - it was a dick move and I won’t defend him; have at it.)
PS Asking my financially-savvy colleagues: will the Barves split make it easy(er) to hide the team’s finances, which are currently reported with Liberty?
PPS How long until Lazarus’ book is made into a movie - and who plays Williams?
Enron is a horrible example. Their efforts to hide and lie about finances caused the collapse in very short order. And Trump doesn’t operate any publicly traded companies - or at least didn’t prior to the current SPAC that is already floundering and under investigation but is only nominally ‘his’ entity - so isn’t relevant to the issue.
A bunch of Enron execs ended up in prison, so it's also not a good example of rich people getting away with everything. (Rich people apparently can't get away with ripping off other rich people).
The linked article surprisingly says that the plan is for the Braves to spin-off to be a separate public company. I wouldn’t have thought that would be their best financing option but apparently they know otherwise. As a public company, they’re not going to be able to hide the team’s finances but depending on what else is lumped in (other teams have had things like concessions (Yankees/Cowboys) or related real estate investment combined with the franchise business results and depending on what that looks like it may or may not need to be reported as a separate business segment, if not then it could partially obscure aspects of the team’s financial performance as a stand alone business). If they end up purchased by a private investor through the spinoff process then the team’s financial performance will be obscure like most baseball franchises and Manfred and others will be free to lie about it as suits them.
As a publicly traded company, they will have reporting requirements. That doesn’t mean that they will be 100% transparent to a lay audience but they will be available. At a 30,000’ level, this splits off the Braves and Battery Park (annual revenue of about $500m, net income of about $60m) from the much MUCH larger Formula One ($2.1B revenue) and SiriusXM ($9B revenue)
If someone wants to really understand the spinoff, they should read about John Malone, the Chairman and founder of Liberty. He took over TCI when it was a small regional cable company in Denver and through extreme cost cutting, rapid expansion via acquisitions using bleeding edge financing and tax mitigation turned it into a massive enterprise. “Cable Cowboy” and the Malone chapter of “The Outsiders” are a bit dry but interesting business reads.
I don’t have his ability to turn a venomous phrase, but I do know that the tl;dr version would be “Bad. And capitalist propaganda.” Or is that redundant for him?
I didn't have any particular problem with Davey doing the check, the only annoying thing was that it took so long. But like you alluded to, you can't get pissy about a homerun celebration that calls back to your bat check if you insist on said bat check.
Surprisingly, Chelsea have just said that they won't carry ads for an online casino. This follows complaints from supporters' organisations. I would not have expected the moral ground to slope that way in West London.
Of course, Chelsea will probably end up with a sponsor from crypto or something. Apart from mainstream financial services and cars, most sports sponsorship seems to involve some kind of washing. They're one step ahead of the legislators, until they're not.
I wonder how much of that also has to do with MLS taking over as the top soccer league in the world over the last decade or so. It's likely that the major, legit sponsors are following where the talent like Lionel Messi, Gareth Wales, Wayne Rooney, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thierry Henry, etc. are going while teams in lesser leagues like the EPL are left fighting for ethically-questionable advertising scraps like these weird betting companies and the Saudis.
Gleeman and others note that the Twins went 1909 days between complete game shutouts, and then two in 13 days. The current brain trust was brought in because they had luck developing pitching in Cleveland. Here, absolutely no development whatsoever, but they covered their butts with smart purchases.
The Mets were done to their last strike when Francisco Alvarez homered to tie it up, followed by hits by Baty and Canha. Alvarez continues to impress. He won't be rookie of the year - De La Cruz and Carroll are clearly the front runners - but he might be a keeper. As is Senga, who might get a few down ballot votes as well.
Will look for that bio. I feel like I am fine not having more about Williams's baseball career, having read Ben Bradlee Jr.'s book.
I am curious how MLB learned about whatever it was Cordero did without it going public first. I wonder how much of an obligation there is to be transparent about this., especially since he wasn't charged with a crime. Well, as noted, the truth will probably emerge.
The bag of coke is going to turn into some sort of anti-Biden nonsense and will be used to remind us all about Hunter Biden. Part of me wants to suggest that someone somehow planted it there for such a purpose, but Occam's Razor suggests Craig is right.
Well, if the reader picked it up due to an interest in John Glenn rather than baseball, I wouldn't assume that person had read Bradlee's book. Heck, I'm a baseball fan and haven't read The Kid. I suppose I should get on that.
That's true -- I was thinking about it in terms of Old Gator saying Lazarus was possibly conscious of not rewriting The Right Stuff. He might have had a similar attitude towards The Kid (which I'd rank as my favorite baseball book since Crazy '08 by Cait Murphy).
I imagine the Fangraphs win probability chart for that game is something to see. Likewise for the Cubs/Brewers game. The Cards/Marlins chart must have had some wild late swings too.
I think Elly is one of the most exciting players in baseball right now, but I gotta pump the breaks on the ROY talk. Corbin Carroll is second in the NL in fWAR right now, and has been a better hitter than Elly in 3 times the number of plate appearances (wRC+ of 147 vs. 131). Elly also looks like a possible regression candidate as he's one of the league leaders in outperforming his peripherals. ROY is Carroll's to lose (like MVP for Acuna).
My wife: “Just watch... Braves won Monday and lost last night when we went to the game. Watch them go off for like 4 runs in the 1st inning tonight and then cruise.”
The news report I saw about the cocaine mentioned that it was found in an area that tour groups have access to. I immediately imagined how stupid the tourist who left that behind might feel. I mean it's not like he could go to the lost and found to ask if anyone turned in a baggie of white powder.
Eh. I wouldn't put it past someone to do just that. You'd be surprised at the stupid stuff people who have been in possession of illegal drugs will do to convict themselves.
In all seriousness, I can't imagine the imbecile who would place a dime bag size of cocaine laying around while on a tour. They stated it was in or near the cubbies where tourists put their belongings. Otherwise, it fell out of his/her pocket. Who lets that happen? Either way...Moron.
Oh, I know. Most likely they didn't notice until they were out after the tour and then they'd have had to make a separate trip. If they noticed right after before they left the building with their group I wouldn't be surprised if they checked lost and found on the way out.
Today comes word that former Nats relievers Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard have gone into business together. They’re making bourbon, using the corn from that iconic field in Iowa made famous in a movie starring Kevin Costner. It’s even called “Field of Dreams Bourbon”:
I honestly thought I was going to die that night - no hyperbole; my heart was pounding hard and flopping around and I felt really sick. Once I calmed down, I promised myself (and Mary, who was simultaneously irritated and afraid) I would never be that over-invested again. I know I come across as a passionate Nats fan (and I am) but that game taught me to keep it in perspective.
From Steph Curry to Peyton Manning, plenty of stars put their names behind the booze others make. I doubt any become the next Ryan Reynolds or George Clooney selling their label for $$$$$$. If Craig is not drinking the Bob Dylan booze ...
There is a better history with players actually getting involved in wine making rather than just lending their name and marketing. Tom Seaver, for example, walked the vines daily before dementia got him.
Heaven's Door is really nice. So is Angel's Envy. I jokingly asked a store owner if they were related. He went to the back and brought out a bottle of Blantons, saying he liked my attention to what I drank. Only time a joke ever paid off for me...
I was at the Nats-Reds game last night. It was very hot.
I preface this by saying that (1) Josiah Gray clearly didn't have it (2) the Nats bullpen is heinous (3) this was the second game in a row the Nats loaded the bases with no outs and didn't score a run (4) Davey's gamesmanship is dumb and (5) his bitching about Elly's HR celebration is also dumb but the Reds offense is scary and the real deal. Every single ball they hit last night in their 52 (!!!!!!) plate appearances was a rocket. They were all missiles.
If the Reds get some pitching they're going to be very very good.
I feel like I learn something new everyday here. For example, today I learned that the line between what links I'll click on and what links I wont exists somewhere between 'bumfights' and 'horrifically botched surgeries.'
Really unexpected that Michael Kay actually contributed something to the discourse. He's not awful, but I don't look to him for cogent analysis.
My like is actually a "wow" face.
Flabbergasted at reading about Contreras. How did he keep his job that long?
I just noticed...back-to-back flabbergastedness!
Aw, jeez, first day in months I've not had a caffeine blast before reading/commenting.
Guilty as charged.
What Paper said. This just recently came out. I'm flabbergasted. I mean...dude. Do your fucking homework.
I'm guessing that the Cubs' dugout was calling games, and that's much harder to do now with the pitch clock. Though as you pointed out yesterday, his catcher ERA sucked with the Cubs, so game calling was probably an issue still and perhaps kept secret because they were hoping to trade him last summer.
If you can't trade Contreras you can always use good old fashioned Athenian Ostracism.
Yup, the level of dysfunction on all sides is so unbelievable that you can only hope it's completely overblown.
That's my guess as well. I still find it incredible that Contreras didn't do his homework. He had ample time during the offseason. This screams...."I don't give a shit."
There's also the possibility that he's just a giant dumasse. Sometimes it's lack of ability instead of lack of effort.
I suppose that is a possibility. Separately...wouldn't this have reared it's head in ST?
Wow. This doesn't seem...possible? Is that the right word? I mean, even if he somehow was so overwhelmed through Spring Training that he started the season not knowing who threw what, you'd have to think that by now--80+ games into the season--he'd have it figured out through simple exposure if nothing else. It's one thing to not do the due diligence to learn what the pitchers throw, but after half a season to STILL not know? FFS, is he the stupidest player in the league?
Threads is not set up to federate "yet". Something I don't expect them to add, and even if they do, if the instance I'm on chooses to federate, I'll migrate to an instance that won't and import all *checks status* 117 followers! That'll show 'em!
Davey Martinez was apparently unhappy after the game with Elly’s HR celebration. Too bad, Davey - play stupid games, win stupid prizes. (Reds fans - it was a dick move and I won’t defend him; have at it.)
PS Asking my financially-savvy colleagues: will the Barves split make it easy(er) to hide the team’s finances, which are currently reported with Liberty?
PPS How long until Lazarus’ book is made into a movie - and who plays Williams?
1) Yes, dick move; 2) Rich people can hide anything, e.g., Enron and Trump; 3) Harrison Williams if he wants to.
Enron is a horrible example. Their efforts to hide and lie about finances caused the collapse in very short order. And Trump doesn’t operate any publicly traded companies - or at least didn’t prior to the current SPAC that is already floundering and under investigation but is only nominally ‘his’ entity - so isn’t relevant to the issue.
A bunch of Enron execs ended up in prison, so it's also not a good example of rich people getting away with everything. (Rich people apparently can't get away with ripping off other rich people).
The linked article surprisingly says that the plan is for the Braves to spin-off to be a separate public company. I wouldn’t have thought that would be their best financing option but apparently they know otherwise. As a public company, they’re not going to be able to hide the team’s finances but depending on what else is lumped in (other teams have had things like concessions (Yankees/Cowboys) or related real estate investment combined with the franchise business results and depending on what that looks like it may or may not need to be reported as a separate business segment, if not then it could partially obscure aspects of the team’s financial performance as a stand alone business). If they end up purchased by a private investor through the spinoff process then the team’s financial performance will be obscure like most baseball franchises and Manfred and others will be free to lie about it as suits them.
Miles Teller could do it, he looks just like Williams and he's fairly tall for an actor (and he'd be essentially reprising the Maverick role...).
As a publicly traded company, they will have reporting requirements. That doesn’t mean that they will be 100% transparent to a lay audience but they will be available. At a 30,000’ level, this splits off the Braves and Battery Park (annual revenue of about $500m, net income of about $60m) from the much MUCH larger Formula One ($2.1B revenue) and SiriusXM ($9B revenue)
If someone wants to really understand the spinoff, they should read about John Malone, the Chairman and founder of Liberty. He took over TCI when it was a small regional cable company in Denver and through extreme cost cutting, rapid expansion via acquisitions using bleeding edge financing and tax mitigation turned it into a massive enterprise. “Cable Cowboy” and the Malone chapter of “The Outsiders” are a bit dry but interesting business reads.
If memory serves Mark Warner did something similar with cellular licenses back in the day and parlayed it into a small fortune and a Senate seat.
Can we get Gator to review that book, too?
I don’t have his ability to turn a venomous phrase, but I do know that the tl;dr version would be “Bad. And capitalist propaganda.” Or is that redundant for him?
😉
I didn't have any particular problem with Davey doing the check, the only annoying thing was that it took so long. But like you alluded to, you can't get pissy about a homerun celebration that calls back to your bat check if you insist on said bat check.
Davey craps on all young players about everything - even his own - he can't help it. I just wish he'd do it from somewhere other than the Nats dugout.
Careful what you wish for. He could wind up in the MASN booth.
Fine by me. I'll just listen to Charlie and Dave on the radio.
Surprisingly, Chelsea have just said that they won't carry ads for an online casino. This follows complaints from supporters' organisations. I would not have expected the moral ground to slope that way in West London.
Of course, Chelsea will probably end up with a sponsor from crypto or something. Apart from mainstream financial services and cars, most sports sponsorship seems to involve some kind of washing. They're one step ahead of the legislators, until they're not.
I wonder how much of that also has to do with MLS taking over as the top soccer league in the world over the last decade or so. It's likely that the major, legit sponsors are following where the talent like Lionel Messi, Gareth Wales, Wayne Rooney, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thierry Henry, etc. are going while teams in lesser leagues like the EPL are left fighting for ethically-questionable advertising scraps like these weird betting companies and the Saudis.
Are we doing this bit again?
It would appear so.
Gareth Wales always makes me chuckle.
Gleeman and others note that the Twins went 1909 days between complete game shutouts, and then two in 13 days. The current brain trust was brought in because they had luck developing pitching in Cleveland. Here, absolutely no development whatsoever, but they covered their butts with smart purchases.
Lopez threw exactly 100 pitches. Is this a Maddux?
I'm gonna say no.
The Mets were done to their last strike when Francisco Alvarez homered to tie it up, followed by hits by Baty and Canha. Alvarez continues to impress. He won't be rookie of the year - De La Cruz and Carroll are clearly the front runners - but he might be a keeper. As is Senga, who might get a few down ballot votes as well.
Will look for that bio. I feel like I am fine not having more about Williams's baseball career, having read Ben Bradlee Jr.'s book.
I am curious how MLB learned about whatever it was Cordero did without it going public first. I wonder how much of an obligation there is to be transparent about this., especially since he wasn't charged with a crime. Well, as noted, the truth will probably emerge.
The bag of coke is going to turn into some sort of anti-Biden nonsense and will be used to remind us all about Hunter Biden. Part of me wants to suggest that someone somehow planted it there for such a purpose, but Occam's Razor suggests Craig is right.
I wonder if a teammate noticed what Cordero did and reported it. Although more likely perhaps a relative or close friend of his victim.
One would assume that such a thing would be less fraught than going to the authorities.
Yeah, no need to go back over Williams' baseball career so soon after what must be considered the definitive biography,
Well, if the reader picked it up due to an interest in John Glenn rather than baseball, I wouldn't assume that person had read Bradlee's book. Heck, I'm a baseball fan and haven't read The Kid. I suppose I should get on that.
That's true -- I was thinking about it in terms of Old Gator saying Lazarus was possibly conscious of not rewriting The Right Stuff. He might have had a similar attitude towards The Kid (which I'd rank as my favorite baseball book since Crazy '08 by Cait Murphy).
De La Cruz isn't even the best ROTY candidate on his own team, IMO.
Not yet, anyway. But there’s still half a season to go.
McLain has better expected stats than Elly. I bet that he ends up having a better season overall.
I imagine the Fangraphs win probability chart for that game is something to see. Likewise for the Cubs/Brewers game. The Cards/Marlins chart must have had some wild late swings too.
I think Elly is one of the most exciting players in baseball right now, but I gotta pump the breaks on the ROY talk. Corbin Carroll is second in the NL in fWAR right now, and has been a better hitter than Elly in 3 times the number of plate appearances (wRC+ of 147 vs. 131). Elly also looks like a possible regression candidate as he's one of the league leaders in outperforming his peripherals. ROY is Carroll's to lose (like MVP for Acuna).
Don't forget Russ Nixon.
Why must you hurt me like that?
My wife: “Just watch... Braves won Monday and lost last night when we went to the game. Watch them go off for like 4 runs in the 1st inning tonight and then cruise.”
My wife is wise.
We need to get you two season tickets then.
Fantastic book review, Old Gator. It was much better than 98% of reviews these days. The review held my interest even though the book never would.
The news report I saw about the cocaine mentioned that it was found in an area that tour groups have access to. I immediately imagined how stupid the tourist who left that behind might feel. I mean it's not like he could go to the lost and found to ask if anyone turned in a baggie of white powder.
Eh. I wouldn't put it past someone to do just that. You'd be surprised at the stupid stuff people who have been in possession of illegal drugs will do to convict themselves.
I wouldn't be surprised if some Trumper left it on the fantasy that he'd be the guy to take down the Biden administration.
Doubtful. Only because if it was a Trumper they would have written "HUNTER'S COKE" on the baggie. To really get the message across.
How do we know it wasn't Hunter's blow?
In all seriousness, I can't imagine the imbecile who would place a dime bag size of cocaine laying around while on a tour. They stated it was in or near the cubbies where tourists put their belongings. Otherwise, it fell out of his/her pocket. Who lets that happen? Either way...Moron.
Oh, I know. Most likely they didn't notice until they were out after the tour and then they'd have had to make a separate trip. If they noticed right after before they left the building with their group I wouldn't be surprised if they checked lost and found on the way out.
Devin Williams has now played 190 games in his career. If we measure each game by WPA, his worst two career games have both been in the last 11.
But yeah, it does happen to the best. Kenley Jansen has been having games like that for years.
Great. Now I need to keep Corbin Carroll and Colton Cowser straight in my mind.
Today comes word that former Nats relievers Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard have gone into business together. They’re making bourbon, using the corn from that iconic field in Iowa made famous in a movie starring Kevin Costner. It’s even called “Field of Dreams Bourbon”:
https://wapo.st/3D4wceF
Craig, I know you’re a bourbon fan, but wondering if you’d think this a bridge too far?
I’ve already drunk enough bourbon because of Drew Storen. No thanks.
I get the hate Nats fan have for the guy because of That Night(tm).
I still don’t understand why Gio Gonzalez, who was the starter and was gifted a 6-0 lead, gets a pass though.
Gio was a lovable goof who had an amazing year otherwise. He left with a 6-3 lead!
They also have a canned cocktail called "Southpaw" that I've heard is pretty good.
That evening was likely my first experience with doom scrolling on the bird site. https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/10/13/Sports/Images/jm021350105491.jpg
I honestly thought I was going to die that night - no hyperbole; my heart was pounding hard and flopping around and I felt really sick. Once I calmed down, I promised myself (and Mary, who was simultaneously irritated and afraid) I would never be that over-invested again. I know I come across as a passionate Nats fan (and I am) but that game taught me to keep it in perspective.
Quitest Metro ride home from the ballpark, ever. Whole cars full of people with that Drew Storen face from the photo.
From Steph Curry to Peyton Manning, plenty of stars put their names behind the booze others make. I doubt any become the next Ryan Reynolds or George Clooney selling their label for $$$$$$. If Craig is not drinking the Bob Dylan booze ...
There is a better history with players actually getting involved in wine making rather than just lending their name and marketing. Tom Seaver, for example, walked the vines daily before dementia got him.
Heaven's Door is really nice. So is Angel's Envy. I jokingly asked a store owner if they were related. He went to the back and brought out a bottle of Blantons, saying he liked my attention to what I drank. Only time a joke ever paid off for me...
I was at the Nats-Reds game last night. It was very hot.
I preface this by saying that (1) Josiah Gray clearly didn't have it (2) the Nats bullpen is heinous (3) this was the second game in a row the Nats loaded the bases with no outs and didn't score a run (4) Davey's gamesmanship is dumb and (5) his bitching about Elly's HR celebration is also dumb but the Reds offense is scary and the real deal. Every single ball they hit last night in their 52 (!!!!!!) plate appearances was a rocket. They were all missiles.
If the Reds get some pitching they're going to be very very good.
Patrick Qorbin would look good in Cincy. He already has lots of red hats.
Too much of a low hanging fruit to pick. Have to deduct a style point or two, sorry.
I feel like I learn something new everyday here. For example, today I learned that the line between what links I'll click on and what links I wont exists somewhere between 'bumfights' and 'horrifically botched surgeries.'
The interesting thing would be seeing which side of that line you’re on. Could go either way!
Nice choice on the music video today!