You are the first person I have ever heard claim that MLB sought PA input on a solution. Source, please? Because right now the players are screaming that MLB should have talked to them before doing this, and players in the past have explicitly discussed the differences between what is acceptable and what goes to far. Considering we've had this conversation more than once and you've chosen not to.respond to counter-arguments to your claims, please provide any sort of evidence for this new one.
Because who the hell changes rules in the middle of a season? Manfred knows that the right thing to have done was to float it this season, come up with clear rules / enforcement plan with MLBPA involved and make it effective for the 22-23 season so players have time to adjust. But Manfred is like a toddler insisting he gets what he wants right.now. It was a a reasonable assumption that a rule wouldn't change midyear. I think the players are reacting exactly as they should be.
You are correct, there was no change in the rules, but there was significant change in the enforcement of the rules which is, in practical terms, a change in the rules. When MLB has looked the other way for decades, to change on a dime is not operating in good faith. Again, I think that had this been a change announced and explained during the off season and not midway through a season I would support MLB's efforts. I agree that MLB gave an inch and pitchers took a mile. But MLB has been complicit in all of this. To act as if they are the good guys and pitchers are the bad guys is oversimplifying a long-standing problem.
MLB has spent years and years and years ignoring this problem, so I'm not willing to say it's 100% on the players. Pitchers have been effectively told "yeah, do whatever you want" for years now because there's been absolutely no attempt to enforce this.
And now, all of a sudden they've decided to ramp up enforcement mid-season? That's horrible planning.
Hill seems to be unhappy with both the MLBPA and MLB, I'm not sure how he'd assign the blame percentage-wise but it sounds like he's unhappy with both sides here.
Yeah, and I seem to recall the reaction to Rich Hill’s comments being “what the hell are you talking about?” Regardless, if MLB had attempted even the slightest outreach to the players on this, they’d be beating everybody over the heads about how unreasonable the PA was (just like their half-hearted efforts on steroids pre-2005). Instead, it’s just about how they were monitoring spin rates and decided they had to act.
From what I've seen, the umps are doing the spot checks the best way they can, too - get the pitchers when they are coming off the field at the end of an inning. No disruptions to the game in process. It all happens during the commercial breaks.
It's getting to be the part of the season where run differential can start to tell ya how good a team is. Marlins have a +17 as of today, just saying. Two teams ahead of them in the NL East are in the red. Don't sleep on the Feesh - but I suppose sleeping *with* them and Luca Brasi would be worse...
Texas had a tenant's rights law when I lived there that said security deposit must be returned within 30 days with itemized debits, or double the entire deposit + $100 was due. Every apartment I lived in interpreted this as '30 business days' and a nice form letter quoting the law to their business office got me the deposit and the bonus money. Shared that letter with everyone I knew who rented.
I once worked at a property management company that tried to evict a resident because he had a bobcat. Yes, a bobcat. They failed because the poorly worded Pet Addendum said "no cats or dogs over 50 pounds."
I never did get a whiff of it, but from what my manager told me, the walls were lined with fish tanks, for the perch he kept to feed the cat. Needless to say, the hardwood floors were water damaged and the walls were just a gross yellow.
He ended up owing the company WAY more than his deposit.
The local bar association should agree to represent this guy's tenants for free and take out a billboard or similar advertising device to that effect near some of his properties. I'm sure Legal Aid would appreciate the help.
Best and most frustrating Red Sox game of the season so far last night. Errors, inconsistent pitching from Rodriguez (again) and too many guys left in scoring position. Yarborough taking like 6354 seconds between pitches in the 3rd was painful. I was fully expecting Franco to win it in the bottom of the 9th, but in the end they won. So far a pretty good “rebuilding” season they are putting together.
I was watching Yarborough's third inning and it was indeed a triumph of slow and terrible pitching. As much as the Bosox announcers were being homers in getting on Yarborough's case, I agreed with everything they said about that inning.
2nd and 3rd and nobody out in the 10th, and they didn't score, and I wasn't even surprised. Probably should have logged on somewhere and made a prop bet on that. I was pleasantly surprised they didn't immediately lose in the bottom of the 10th. 4 World Series this century, but the scars of the 70s - 90s will never go away.
I’m thinking there will be a pretty good market for tenant’s rights lawyers in the next few years with investment firms like Blackrock buying tons of rental properties and I just saw they spent $6B to acquire Home Partners of America that buys and rents single family homes.
- God willing and the creek don't rise, we are going to Mets-ATL tonight. Starting for Braves in place of Max Fried is Kyle Wright, who did well in the playoffs last year but has been in the minors for most of 2021. Starting for the Mets in place of pretty much everyone is Tylor Megill, making his MLB debut. I would expect this one to be heavy on the hits, but the Mets aren't hitting and the Barves managed one home run last night off a tired bullpen.
- Speaking as someone who has probably read more superheroes comics than anyone else here, I have to say I really, really don't have any interest in Batman's sex life. Or any other superhero's. I am a prude, as I have said often, and find sex scenes both painful and dull. And while I agree that the MCU is even by superhero comics standards utterly sexless, I am glad that for the most part I am not told anything about what Batman does behind closed doors. (I also subscribe to 90s Batman writer Chuck Dixon's attitude that Batman is basically a warrior monk and he is too busy being Batman to have a sex life. No other writer treats him this way, but it works for me.)
Jomboy Media has a whole five minute video breakdown of the Girardi/Scherzer silliness last night, and he makes a convincing case that it was Nationals hitting coach Kevin Long that Girardi called out, not Scherzer:
In other news, Lars Nootbaar sounds like some kind of healthy nut-based snack advertised on the sideboards of a Dutch soccer stadium: "Lars Nootbaar - goed en goed voor jou!"
Weldon’s comments on Batman and sex reminded me of my comic book collecting days as a kid. “New Teen Titans #1” (1984) had a few panels of two members of the heroic team startled out of the bed they shared as a demonic terror attacked. No big deal to 11 y/o me, but a month or so later, there were all these “letter to the editor” missives printed in the back of a subsequent issue from angry, repressed…parents? Pre-teens? Stating that Dick Grayson (formerly ROBIN for f ck’s sake!) would NEVER have (barely implied) premarital sex with his longtime alien girlfriend. Morals, goddammit! Anyways, have a great day, everyone. This comment is pretty much my peak for today.
TextsFromSuperheroes.com has a few thoughts on the matter. Can't link directly to them right now, but they were posted this week and should still be on the front page.
You are the first person I have ever heard claim that MLB sought PA input on a solution. Source, please? Because right now the players are screaming that MLB should have talked to them before doing this, and players in the past have explicitly discussed the differences between what is acceptable and what goes to far. Considering we've had this conversation more than once and you've chosen not to.respond to counter-arguments to your claims, please provide any sort of evidence for this new one.
Because who the hell changes rules in the middle of a season? Manfred knows that the right thing to have done was to float it this season, come up with clear rules / enforcement plan with MLBPA involved and make it effective for the 22-23 season so players have time to adjust. But Manfred is like a toddler insisting he gets what he wants right.now. It was a a reasonable assumption that a rule wouldn't change midyear. I think the players are reacting exactly as they should be.
You are correct, there was no change in the rules, but there was significant change in the enforcement of the rules which is, in practical terms, a change in the rules. When MLB has looked the other way for decades, to change on a dime is not operating in good faith. Again, I think that had this been a change announced and explained during the off season and not midway through a season I would support MLB's efforts. I agree that MLB gave an inch and pitchers took a mile. But MLB has been complicit in all of this. To act as if they are the good guys and pitchers are the bad guys is oversimplifying a long-standing problem.
Historically low league batting average and another record-breaking strikeout rate probably gave MLB urgency to do something drastic.
And people getting hurt, badly. That always increases the pressure to fix broken stuff.
“Many articles.”
Got it.
MLB has spent years and years and years ignoring this problem, so I'm not willing to say it's 100% on the players. Pitchers have been effectively told "yeah, do whatever you want" for years now because there's been absolutely no attempt to enforce this.
And now, all of a sudden they've decided to ramp up enforcement mid-season? That's horrible planning.
I think this is the Rich Hill quote:
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31646613/tampa-bay-rays-rich-hill-says-mlbpa-dropped-ball-grip-enhancers
Hill seems to be unhappy with both the MLBPA and MLB, I'm not sure how he'd assign the blame percentage-wise but it sounds like he's unhappy with both sides here.
Yeah, and I seem to recall the reaction to Rich Hill’s comments being “what the hell are you talking about?” Regardless, if MLB had attempted even the slightest outreach to the players on this, they’d be beating everybody over the heads about how unreasonable the PA was (just like their half-hearted efforts on steroids pre-2005). Instead, it’s just about how they were monitoring spin rates and decided they had to act.
Yes, MLB has done a horrible job here, as is tradition for them.
From what I've seen, the umps are doing the spot checks the best way they can, too - get the pitchers when they are coming off the field at the end of an inning. No disruptions to the game in process. It all happens during the commercial breaks.
Lars didn't suck but Larry did because Lars is a superhero and Larry isn't. Larry got to where he is by sucking.
It's getting to be the part of the season where run differential can start to tell ya how good a team is. Marlins have a +17 as of today, just saying. Two teams ahead of them in the NL East are in the red. Don't sleep on the Feesh - but I suppose sleeping *with* them and Luca Brasi would be worse...
Texas had a tenant's rights law when I lived there that said security deposit must be returned within 30 days with itemized debits, or double the entire deposit + $100 was due. Every apartment I lived in interpreted this as '30 business days' and a nice form letter quoting the law to their business office got me the deposit and the bonus money. Shared that letter with everyone I knew who rented.
I once worked at a property management company that tried to evict a resident because he had a bobcat. Yes, a bobcat. They failed because the poorly worded Pet Addendum said "no cats or dogs over 50 pounds."
Oops.
I never did get a whiff of it, but from what my manager told me, the walls were lined with fish tanks, for the perch he kept to feed the cat. Needless to say, the hardwood floors were water damaged and the walls were just a gross yellow.
He ended up owing the company WAY more than his deposit.
and combine that with the fish smell? Ewww.
Tonight’s Nats game left me with this burning question: what DOES rosin taste like, anyway?
(NL East dumpster status: catching fire. Let’s do this.)
That $3.50 will hardly by you a latte (Cup of Coffee) at Starbucks. Enjoy!
But it would buy a cup of joe at a diner counter, which is more Craig’s speed anyway.
The local bar association should agree to represent this guy's tenants for free and take out a billboard or similar advertising device to that effect near some of his properties. I'm sure Legal Aid would appreciate the help.
Best and most frustrating Red Sox game of the season so far last night. Errors, inconsistent pitching from Rodriguez (again) and too many guys left in scoring position. Yarborough taking like 6354 seconds between pitches in the 3rd was painful. I was fully expecting Franco to win it in the bottom of the 9th, but in the end they won. So far a pretty good “rebuilding” season they are putting together.
I was watching Yarborough's third inning and it was indeed a triumph of slow and terrible pitching. As much as the Bosox announcers were being homers in getting on Yarborough's case, I agreed with everything they said about that inning.
2nd and 3rd and nobody out in the 10th, and they didn't score, and I wasn't even surprised. Probably should have logged on somewhere and made a prop bet on that. I was pleasantly surprised they didn't immediately lose in the bottom of the 10th. 4 World Series this century, but the scars of the 70s - 90s will never go away.
I’m thinking there will be a pretty good market for tenant’s rights lawyers in the next few years with investment firms like Blackrock buying tons of rental properties and I just saw they spent $6B to acquire Home Partners of America that buys and rents single family homes.
- God willing and the creek don't rise, we are going to Mets-ATL tonight. Starting for Braves in place of Max Fried is Kyle Wright, who did well in the playoffs last year but has been in the minors for most of 2021. Starting for the Mets in place of pretty much everyone is Tylor Megill, making his MLB debut. I would expect this one to be heavy on the hits, but the Mets aren't hitting and the Barves managed one home run last night off a tired bullpen.
- Speaking as someone who has probably read more superheroes comics than anyone else here, I have to say I really, really don't have any interest in Batman's sex life. Or any other superhero's. I am a prude, as I have said often, and find sex scenes both painful and dull. And while I agree that the MCU is even by superhero comics standards utterly sexless, I am glad that for the most part I am not told anything about what Batman does behind closed doors. (I also subscribe to 90s Batman writer Chuck Dixon's attitude that Batman is basically a warrior monk and he is too busy being Batman to have a sex life. No other writer treats him this way, but it works for me.)
Batman is obsessed with stopping criminals, due to childhood trauma. Carnal desires are a distraction.
Jomboy Media has a whole five minute video breakdown of the Girardi/Scherzer silliness last night, and he makes a convincing case that it was Nationals hitting coach Kevin Long that Girardi called out, not Scherzer:
https://twitter.com/Jomboy_/status/1407563996694261761?s=19
"That does, indeed, seem like a problem some mere animators aren’t gonna be able to lick."
-Nice
I’d put that $3.50 into Bitcoin, just so you can brag about it.
In other news, Lars Nootbaar sounds like some kind of healthy nut-based snack advertised on the sideboards of a Dutch soccer stadium: "Lars Nootbaar - goed en goed voor jou!"
Coming soon to a konbini near you - Nootbaar-flavored Kit Kats!
"It burns carbs. It just burns up all your carbs."
Robert Eenhoorn says hello.
"Eenhoorn nasal spray - make your sinuses Amsterdam-canal clear!"
Ryan O'Hearn
Weldon’s comments on Batman and sex reminded me of my comic book collecting days as a kid. “New Teen Titans #1” (1984) had a few panels of two members of the heroic team startled out of the bed they shared as a demonic terror attacked. No big deal to 11 y/o me, but a month or so later, there were all these “letter to the editor” missives printed in the back of a subsequent issue from angry, repressed…parents? Pre-teens? Stating that Dick Grayson (formerly ROBIN for f ck’s sake!) would NEVER have (barely implied) premarital sex with his longtime alien girlfriend. Morals, goddammit! Anyways, have a great day, everyone. This comment is pretty much my peak for today.
TextsFromSuperheroes.com has a few thoughts on the matter. Can't link directly to them right now, but they were posted this week and should still be on the front page.
On one hand, Batman is a hero. And heroes absolutely consider the needs of others and always place those needs above their own.
On the other hand, Bruce Wayne is a billionaire, and billionaires... don't do that.
Bruce Wayne is his public persona -- Batman reflects the real person. If he's getting down with Selina Kyle, that is Batman doing it.