Cup of Coffee: March 24, 2022
Why is this man smiling?
Good morning! And welcome to Free Thursday!
Today we talk about New York caving to the Sports Industrial Complex, the White Sox unnecessarily messing with their ace, the Guardians being cheap as hell, a Rays infielder who, somehow, suddenly, seems to care an awful lot about women’s college swimming, Frank McCourt still being a pain in the ass, Tyler Skaggs being urged to pitch through pain, the REAL reason Carlos Correa chose Minnesota, and a couple of signings.
In Other Stuff I left my house, Ted Cruz searches his name, and a person familiar to many of us is, quite deservedly, going to jail for a good while.
The Daily Briefing
New York is backing down on the vaccine mandate for the Yankees, Mets, and Kyrie Irving
Earlier this week I speculated that, given pushback and/or palm-greasing from the New York Yankees and Mets, the City of New York was likely to lift the COVID vaccine mandate sometime soon. I didn’t think it’d be this soon, however. From ESPN:
New York Mayor Eric Adams is expected to lift the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate on athletes Thursday, paving the way for Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to play at the Barclays Center on Sunday and for unvaccinated New York Yankees and Mets players to play in their April home openers, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN on Wednesday.
It’ll only be lifted with respect to athletes and entertainers, so you know this is totally serious, driven by science, and is not just a matter of the mayor bending over for Randy Levine, the Steinbrenners, and Steve Cohen in the most obviously brazen and obsequious manner possible, right?
Aaron Judge is one of the Yankees players widely suspected to still be unvaccinated. What does he have to say about all of this?
Unreal.
As it stands, unvaccinated Mets and Yankees players will still be unable to play games in Toronto. The Yankees play ten games there this year and, if I had to guess, the Yankees and Blue Jays will be separated by fewer than ten games in the standings one way or the other for most of the season, so good luck without your big slugger in some critical contests, guys.
The White Sox are screwing with Lucas Giolito over $50,000
I mentioned yesterday that the White Sox are going to arbitration with Lucas Giolito despite the fact that their respective submissions were only $200,000 apart, with Giolito asking for $7.5 million and the Sox submitting at $7.3 million. But it’s even worse than that, Giolito told the press yesterday. The sides were only $50,000 apart in negotiations before the bell rang.
Here’s Giolito speaking about it yesterday:
“Very frustrating. I love White Sox fans and I appreciated all the love from those guys [on social media] last night. It’s just very unfortunate, disheartening. Honestly, I love this team — you guys how I know how I feel about this team and for it to come down to a 50K difference prior to the filing, it’s like, ‘Come on.’ It’s an upsetting part of the process. It’s why a lot of us don’t enjoy the business side of the process.”
Why a team would spend however many thousands of dollars it takes to prep and conduct an arbitration hearing and put the player through that process as well over $50,000 on what will, either way, be a $7 million+ deal is beyond me. It’s just pointless nickeling and diming. It’s positively embarrassing.
The Guardians owners’ priorities are amazing
Early yesterday morning Giants outfielder Joc Pederson tweeted out the top three and bottom three MLB payrolls and added his commentary about those bottom three, which are the Guardians ($35.6 million), Pirates ($35.25 million), and Orioles ($31,366,666). Pederson:
Embarrassed for your fan base…be better. If you can’t, sell ur team to somebody that wants to show the fan base and baseball they’re at least trying to compete. Sorry unacceptable
He’s right, but as the always-sharp Marc Normandin observed, selling the franchises wouldn’t make a difference because this is how MLB wants it. The league may have let Steve Cohen and Mark Walter purchase a couple of big market teams, but on the whole, they are not likely to let someone into the ownership club if they’re likely to jack up payrolls. Indeed, the fact that this league will allow an owner to trot out an entire roster that is making less money than some individual players on other teams is attractive to the sorts of men who want to make easy money via franchise appreciation and real estate plays and stuff.
My favorite comment following on Pederson’s thing came from Andy Downing, who is my editor at Columbus Alive. He noted that Matt Dolan, one of the Republicans running for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat and son/brother of Larry and Paul Dolan, who own the Guardians, has plunked $10 million of his own money down on his campaign. Which is to say that he values his likely fourth-place finish in a crappy GOP primary at about one third the amount he values the family’s baseball team.
Which, in turn, led to the best tweet I saw all yesterday morning:
Big day for cheapskates in the AL Central.
Rays infielder endorses Ron DeSantis’ transphobic crap
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — the human embodiment of a nasty skidmark in a pair of hastily discarded underpants — has a long and rich history of supporting anti-LGBT+ legislation and being an all-around bigoted jackwagon. On Monday he added to his resume in this regard by making a meaningless proclamation — some might call it a participation trophy — saying that a resident of his state was the “rightful” holder of the NCAA 500m freestyle swimming title won by trans swimmer Lia Thomas last week.
I am no more likely to sit here debate the merits of DeSantis’ actions in this regard than I am to debate with any other bigoted asshole’s acts or beliefs, but I did notice that Tampa Bay Rays infielder Taylor Walls took to Twitter to endorse DeSantis' transphobic bullshit, saying “couldn’t agree more.”
I don’t know what’s in Walls’ heart or mind about this or any other thing, but I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t more about him applauding the act of a governor changing sports results by fiat as it is bigotry. Like, maybe Walls thinks that if he cheerleads DeSantis enough he’ll get him to issue a proclamation that Walls didn’t hit .211 and slug .296 last year. Worth asking, I suppose.
All of that aside, I continue to be amazing at how great an interest so many people are taking in the results of this year’s NCAA 500m freestyle despite never once weighing in on the event in the past. It’s almost as if they care about something other than the sporting event they claim has been sullied and are using it to grind axes about some other thing rather than just come out and say what they really feel.
Frank McCourt is still being a pain in the ass at Dodger Stadium
Shady deadbeat Frank McCourt sold the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2011, but he retained a big interest in the 130 acres of parking around Dodger Stadium. Given that the guy made the fortune that allowed him to buy the Dodgers via a Boston parking lot, it was kind of appropriate that he’d hang on to the parking piece in Los Angeles for exploitation somewhere down the road.
The most obvious means of exploitation for a while seemed like it’d be as a location to build a football stadium for a team relocating to Los Angeles. The Rams and Chargers passed that by, however, and have a home now, so there had to be something else. The something else? A freaking gondola that McCourt is trying to build that would ferry Dodgers fans from Union Station to the ballpark. Not surprisingly, it’s a poorly thought out plan that is pissing people off. From the L.A. Times:
With their Chinatown home boxed in by a freeway entrance, apartment buildings, a high school and a major boulevard to downtown Los Angeles, Phyllis and Tany Ling get the full cacophony of urban life from every direction but up.
Never could the sisters have imagined a project proposed directly above their home.
Metro is helping to plan an aerial gondola system to whisk baseball fans and concertgoers from Union Station to Dodger Stadium in what it says would be a mere seven-minute trip. Funded by former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, the project would run about 40 feet above the Lings’ century-old Victorian cottage — meaning that every 30 seconds on game days, some 40 people packed in a tram would pass outside their living room window.
“It’s just another way that we can’t own our neighborhood and feel safe and quiet here because literally you have something flying over your house all day long, forever, I guess,” said Tany Ling, a singer who offers private lessons at the home she and her sister bought in 2012.
The argument against McCourt and against L.A’s public transit system, Metro, which is helping him is that this is not really a transit project. It’s a profit center for Frank McCourt. A complaint has been filed against Metro and McCourt’s company trying to stop the gondola on that basis.
The response from McCourt’s people, which says “Frank McCourt has a long history of being solutions oriented,” is kind of hilarious. The dude bankrupted the moneymaking machine that is the Los Angeles Dodgers due to his own personal greed and ineptitude in the only industry in America that is immune from antitrust laws. The only thing that kept him out of the poorhouse was that he did so when a broadcasting bubble floated by, bailing his ass out, and making him an accidental billionaire. That’s not a solution. That’s pure dumb friggin’ luck.
Whatever the case, the Times story makes it pretty clear that the gondola project is going to disproportionally impact poor and marginalized people and make their lives harder, all to schlep some wealthy baseball fans to the stadium in seven minutes when there’s already shuttles and things that, while not quite as quick, are far less intrusive. I’d expect nothing less from Frank McCourt. The dude is absolute slime.
Tyler Skaggs’ agent urged him to pitch through pain
The Washington Post ran a story this week about text messages between the late Tyler Skaggs and his agent, Ryan Hamill of CAA, in which Hamill is seen urging him to pitch through pain. The texts were admitted as evidence in the Eric Kay trial but were never presented in open court or reported on before now.
One of the texts came in 2016 when Skaggs was trying to return to the majors after Tommy John surgery. As he was rehabbing he felt discomfort in his groin and wanted to tell the team about it. Hamill disagreed, advising Skaggs that he needed to be reactivated so he could get enough service time to reach arbitration, saying “We can aleeve and Advil the f--- out of it.” Too years later, when Skaggs had hamstring issues, he told Hamill that the Angels wanted to put him on the injured list. Hamill texted, “Why no dose pack . . . Flush this shit out,” which the Post characterizes as Hamill suggesting Skaggs take an anti-inflammatory steroid and ride out the pain.
While there’s no evidence that Hamill ever knew about Skaggs’ opioid abuse — and while two texts separated by two years does not come close to telling the full story of a relationship between a player and an agent — the whole thing does give a glimpse into the kind of pressure athletes are under to pay through pain. Maybe, such as here, it’s a suggestion or brainstorming of ways to avoid being sidelined. Maybe in other contexts it’s more direct pressure from teams or teammates. In other cases the athlete may independently choose to take risks he shouldn’t due to pressure he’s putting on himself.
No matter where it comes from, though, it’s always there. It’ll always be there when there are big stakes involved. And as time goes on, and there’s more and more money and more and more competition in sports, those stakes get bigger and bigger.
The REAL reason Carlos Correa chose the Twins
Carlos Correa had his introductory press conference with the Twins yesterday. He was, not surprisingly, asked about why he chose Minnesota. He cited the field — he loves the Target Field’s batter eye and infield grass — and the usual sorts of things new signees say when they’re trying not to say “well, they gave me the most money.” He did, however, offer one very Minnesota specific reason for joining the Twins:
“I love Jucy Luycs . . . When I go to Minnesota, I diet for a week before going there so I can just crush Jucy Lucys every day.”
A Jucy Lucy, for those unfamiliar, is a cheeseburger that has the cheese cooked inside the meat patty. It’s a big point of pride in the Twin Cities. A couple of places lay claim to inventing it, but when I traveled to Minnesota for the 2014 All-Star Game locals told me that I needed to get it either at Matt’s Bar in South Minneapolis or The Blue Door Pub in St. Paul. I ended up getting one at Matt’s Bar, but not before I had a fun little odyssey around town, which I wrote about at length at the time.
That writeup, by the way, includes reference to the bizarro Craig Calcaterra. Yes, there is another one of me. He lives in Minneapolis and, yes, we have interacted. I have been hesitant to reach out to him lately, however, because I’m worried that we could have either a Will/Thomas Riker thing going on or, even scarier, it could lead to a whole “The Prestige” situaish, and I don’t wanna end up on the wrong side of the water tank. If you know, you know.
Anyway, good answer on the Jucy Lucy, Carlos. The number one thing every agent should tell his player is to pander heartily to sports fans about their local customs and ways. Telling the press that Philly fans are “tough, but passionate” complimenting Reds fans for their taste in chili, or saying nice things about Jucy Lucys is the easiest thing to do in order to get good press and lots of huzzahs.
Mariners sign Sergio Romo
The Seattle Mariners have agreed to a deal with Sergio Romo. It's a one-year, $2 million contract with a potential $250,000 in performance-based bonuses.
Romo, who is somehow 39, posted a 4.67 ERA and a 60/21 K/BB ratio in 61.2 innings last season for Oakland.
Reds sign Tommy Pham
The Cincinnati Reds actually signed someone! Outfielder Tommy Pham, who has agreed to a one-year, $6 million contract. There’s a mutual option for the 2023 season, but I can’t remember the last time one of those actually got mutually picked up. The buyout on the option is $1.5 million so he’s guaranteed $7.5 million and as much as $12 million.
Pham, 34, posted a line of .229/.340/.383 with 15 homers with the Padres last year. Given how hitter friendly Great American Ballpark is, expect a better line this year.
Other Stuff
Get me, I left my house
Yesterday I had the privilege of taking part in Otterbein University’s International Sports Film Festival, which is put on by Otterbein’s Sports Management students and supervised by Sports Management Professor Megan Chawansky. I do not have a film, but I do have a book, and they asked me in for a lunch-and-learn Q&A session about it, hosted by English Professor Paul Eisenstein.
It’s been a long time since I had an English professor ask me questions about a book. For a few minutes I had the same sorts of nerves about it that I had in 1993 back at Ohio State when Professor Sebastian Knowles asked me questions about “Jacob’s Room,” which I TOTALLY did not read. Given that I actually wrote “Rethinking Fandom” I was better able to fake my way through it than I was with Woolf, but there were still a few nervous moments. Like I said a few weeks ago, it’s been like a year since I finished it, so a passing grade was not necessarily guaranteed. In the end, though, a good time was had by all, I got asked a lot of great questions by students, and I don’t think I completely whiffed on any of ‘em.
I was not the only person to appear at the Film Festival yesterday, however:
Being on the bill in front of a genuine superstar like Rapinoe puts me in mind of those stories you read about how, back in the 70s, some obscure magician or Tiny Tim or someone opened for Led Zeppelin. Or, as subscriber Jason Snell suggested:
Anyway, if you want me to come talk to your group about my book I will as long as the headliner is bigger than me. And as long as it’s not a “Misery” situaish. Again: if you know, you know.
Jonah Keri sentenced to 21 months in prison
Content warning: this item includes graphic descriptions of domestic violence
Last August former baseball writer Jonah Keri pleaded guilty in a Montreal courtroom to to five counts of assault, threats of death or bodily harm, and criminal harassment against his wife and their child. Yesterday he was sentenced to 21 months in prison on those charges.
Keri was first arrested in the summer of 2019 and, while out on bail, was arrested again for violating a restraining order to stay out of contact with his wife. After that additional charges were added for two incidents of domestic violence which occurred before the summer of 2019.
The details of his violence, which were first publicly revealed at the time of his guilty plea, are shocking. As stated by the judge at the time of sentencing yesterday:
“During these incidents the offender punched the victim in the knees, hit her on the head and on her ears, pushed her, dragged her on the ground, slapped her, bit her, spat in her face, head-butted her, shook her, pulled her hair and grabbed her by the shoulders while threatening to throw her off a balcony. During one incident he threw various objects at her. During another, he took a knife and threatened to remove the baby she was carrying in her womb.”
Keri also admitted to telling his wife he would kill her brother and father if she ever told them about the violence. On two occasions, he threatened to crash the car in which they were driving.
At the time of his plea Keri’s lawyer claimed that his behavior was a function of mental health issues. Such post-hoc invocations were highly dubious, however. Keri was, publicly, someone who was capable of considerable charm, humor, and even kindness which he could, apparently, turn on and turn off at will. The judge, considering letters Keri offered from friends and colleagues in support of leniency, correctly honed in on exactly how that facade aided him in his crimes:
“Several describe how they were shocked when they found out about the charges because they did not believe the offender was capable of such violent behaviour towards a spouse. That statement leads to three troubling observations. First, it shows how the offender is able to construct an image of himself that is very different from reality,” the judge said while reading from his 20-page decision. “Next, one wonders who would have believed the victim if she had not carefully documented the violent incidents. Finally, (the letters) are also a perfect illustration of the insidious nature of conjugal violence; it is a tragedy experienced in private by women from all walks of life that is unfortunately all too infrequently reported.”
It should be noted that, since Keri’s arrest, it has been reported that he was known by many in the sports media world as someone who engaged in disturbing behavior towards women and acting toward them in an unwanted, sexually suggestive and even aggressive manner, though no one had accused him of violence prior to his arrest.
As I wrote last year when he pleaded guilty, I knew Jonah Keri professionally. I met and hung out with him on a few occasions, typically at the baseball Winter Meetings. We were friendly in the way that a lot of internet baseball writers who came to prominence around the same time Jonah and I did are friendly. For a couple of years our families even exchanged holiday cards.
To the extent one can form a personal impression from a few face-to-face meetings and that sort of professional-related online interaction, I found Jonah to be a generally affable guy, though a bit intense at times. He was clearly the sort of guy who was always looking around for his next opportunity, and I’ve never warmed to that type easily. Before his arrest I had heard some people make vague allusions to him not being a pleasant person, but never anything in detail and nothing which suggested that he was capable of violence.
Anyone, however, can be an abuser. Anyone can be a predator. Even those who are thought to be “nice guys.” Indeed, that “nice guy” thing is often a cover for some pretty dark stuff and allows putative nice guys to get away with that dark stuff for a long time. Shallow, interpersonal pleasantness and generally positive professional interactions is no basis for judging a person’s character, even if it’s super common for people to claim that people whom they know on such a basis are “good people.” In reality, we don’t know people as well as we pretend we do and, often, we ignore the signs we do see which suggest that someone is a bad person because it doesn’t fit in with our superficial conception of them.
Our deeds are what define us. Our deeds are all that can define us. They have defined Jonah Keri and he’s now in prison until almost 2024.
Ted Cruz: name searcher
Earlier this week Senator Ted Cruz made a scene at an airport, going so far as to play the “do you KNOW who I AM?!” card at some poor gate agent. Yesterday he took center stage at the Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation hearings and asked a bunch of idiotic questions in service of his and his Republican colleagues’ culture war interests as opposed to the judge’s qualifications. So he’s 2-for-2 on not surprising anyone at all.
When Cruz was done, this happened:
In case you wondered if these guys act like asses in the way they do in order to get social media clout and pump up their supporters as opposed to advise and consent on presidential nominees.
Have a great day, everyone.
Today, we all hate the Yankees.
Sitting here in my Twin Cities area home, when I saw that Correa had plugged Jucy Lucys, I thought, "someone got himself local counsel."