I am actually a bit concerned about Shatner. Last week about 20 women who worked for Blue Origin signed off on blog post by one of their number detailing how awful that company is. Much of the post was about the toxic work environment and the sexism, unsurprisingly, but it also said that Blue Origin's claims of making its space capsule safe are a lot of crap and that it's only marginally safer than the Space Shuttle (which was a lot less safe than any other NASA man-rated spacecraft). Blue Origin probably should be shut down by the FAA after such an accusation. And self-aggrandizing 90 year old men should not be flying on their ships. (I love Trek and I love Kirk, but Shatner is not really someone I have much fondness for these days.)
But enough of that. Let's talk about the happiest day of the year, the day the Yankees are eliminated from the playoffs! Yes, it's pure Mets fan spite. But sometimes spite is all we have. And we can still say that the Mets are the last NYC baseball team to make the World Series. (In fact, the Mets are the last NYC team in any sport to be in a championship series. Lean times in NYC to be sure.)
And I would argue that the travails of the Cubs and Red Sox were just as self-inflicted as those of the Mets. Certainly the Sox being the last team to have a Black player hurt them for a long time. If Epstein made them winners, it was by overcoming decades of bad decisions and not by overcoming curses and jinxes. He could do the same for the Mets, but I suspect he doesn't want to fight with Steve Cohen after leaving the Rickettses and John Henry.
The real problem with Nevin's send call is that it came super late, as Judge was pulling up into 3rd. If it was go the whole way, we could have seen a different outcome.
Organ Transplant correspondent reporting for duty.
I know nothing about Dorland that isn't in the blurb our host posted, but white savior complex or not, major major kudos for donating a kidney. Having received a kidney transplant eight years ago, I can say that it has extended and materially changed my life. Donation, whether post mortem or living, to a friend / family member, via a chain, or to a random person is an unmitigated good.
Tell your friends and family of your intent and register with your local DMV or via www.donatelife.net, the national organ donation list. You can't use 'em where you're going and they can save the lives of folks left behind.
I didn't see the Stanton single in the first, only the one in the sixth, but like Craig I'm of the opinion that it would've been a home run in all 29 other stadiums.
Oddly, ESPN's broadcast team claimed that the 6th inning shot would've only been a homer in 11 parks, not 29.
I'm not buying it. Ball hit high on the wall not too far left of the 379 mark; maybe it stays in play in Denver, but I can't see any other park holding it.
The quality of that multi-person relay was a really undersold part of last night's game. Yes, Phil Nevin's brain exploded. He shouldn't have sent the guy. But if the Sox don't pull off a perfect 3-person relay, the run scores and Nevin is forgotten. Just like the Sox third-base coach's stop-and-go brainlock an inning or two later is forgotten because that runner just beat the throw.
That play was, as you say, the turning point of the game. The Red Sox defense should be celebrated for causing it.
I object to Mr. Calcaterra's conclusion that the Yankees would have been better served playing any team other than the Red Sox to advance in the playoffs. He assumes facts not in evidence. There is nothing to support that any other team would not have crushed the Yankees any less than the Red Sox did, your honor.
I don't understand how umpire assignments work, but short of drawing names or throwing darts, how on earth is Joe West the home plate umpire tonight? There has to be someone less controversial and less willing to insert himself into a game that him.
At least Angel Hernandez is in a series (again why?) so he can only ruin one game instead of the only game.
Craig, the first inning ball would likely not have gone out of most other parks. 94 MPH exit velocity, very high parabola. Stanton pimped it like hell but it would have been a long flyout elsewhere. The one in the 5th inning, though....yeah, that's gone everywhere else.
Stanton admiring the ball for the world's longest single made me confident as a Sox fan that the game was gonna go our way. What a stupid thing for him to have done.
The Columbus Alive piece is probably going to be applicable everywhere. I live in Somerville, MA, and we had our preliminary elections in September. There were 4 candidates for mayor, and though there were no party affiliations next to the candidates, it wasn't hard to spot the Republican. He was crushed (came in 4th with about a quarter of what the two who advanced to the general election got), but the next day was sending out emails about fraud. If these guys are going to act like they legitimately were held down there, I can just imagine what they're like in places where it might be close.
Anyway, that means I'm a happy baseball fan after last night; even if the Red Sox get crushed by the Rays as everyone expects (although I've been joking with friends that we don't know how well the Rays do when they can't shuttle people to and from the minor leagues after every game where the starter goes four innings by design), it's been an unexpectedly good year and likely the start of a stretch where the AL Beast is going to be insanely competitive.
An hour before game time last night I decided the experiment in not having cable had run its course. I'm a Red Sox fan and there is a one game elimination game at Fenway. My father would be spinning in his grave if I passed on watching. So that worked out well. Gotta love Hulu Live though, no waiting two weeks for the cable guy. Just a couple of clicks to upgrade the account and instant ESPN. I'll probably keep it through college basketball season and then turn it off after March Madness next year.
No one is going to argue about Epstein's bona fides, but I'm not sure if bringing in the architect of the modern Frat Boy Front Office culture will cure what ails the Mets.
MLB can moan all it wants about TV viewership. I'm sorry/not sorry, but my violin is in the shop. I subscribe to MLB.TV. Since I live in Iowa, 20% of the teams are blacked out.
I am actually a bit concerned about Shatner. Last week about 20 women who worked for Blue Origin signed off on blog post by one of their number detailing how awful that company is. Much of the post was about the toxic work environment and the sexism, unsurprisingly, but it also said that Blue Origin's claims of making its space capsule safe are a lot of crap and that it's only marginally safer than the Space Shuttle (which was a lot less safe than any other NASA man-rated spacecraft). Blue Origin probably should be shut down by the FAA after such an accusation. And self-aggrandizing 90 year old men should not be flying on their ships. (I love Trek and I love Kirk, but Shatner is not really someone I have much fondness for these days.)
But enough of that. Let's talk about the happiest day of the year, the day the Yankees are eliminated from the playoffs! Yes, it's pure Mets fan spite. But sometimes spite is all we have. And we can still say that the Mets are the last NYC baseball team to make the World Series. (In fact, the Mets are the last NYC team in any sport to be in a championship series. Lean times in NYC to be sure.)
And I would argue that the travails of the Cubs and Red Sox were just as self-inflicted as those of the Mets. Certainly the Sox being the last team to have a Black player hurt them for a long time. If Epstein made them winners, it was by overcoming decades of bad decisions and not by overcoming curses and jinxes. He could do the same for the Mets, but I suspect he doesn't want to fight with Steve Cohen after leaving the Rickettses and John Henry.
The real problem with Nevin's send call is that it came super late, as Judge was pulling up into 3rd. If it was go the whole way, we could have seen a different outcome.
Organ Transplant correspondent reporting for duty.
I know nothing about Dorland that isn't in the blurb our host posted, but white savior complex or not, major major kudos for donating a kidney. Having received a kidney transplant eight years ago, I can say that it has extended and materially changed my life. Donation, whether post mortem or living, to a friend / family member, via a chain, or to a random person is an unmitigated good.
Tell your friends and family of your intent and register with your local DMV or via www.donatelife.net, the national organ donation list. You can't use 'em where you're going and they can save the lives of folks left behind.
This just in: Trevor Bauer, still a dick. Back to you, Craig.
(Don’t know if omitting him this morning was an oversight or deliberate - saving him for tomorrow? - but either way I’m here for it.)
For what it’s worth, the Would it Dong? account on Twitter rates Stanton’s sixth inning double as a homer in only two MLB parks.
https://twitter.com/would_it_dong/status/1445571308608131082?s=21
His first inning single didn’t rate at all. Take that however you will. Although it’s more fun to imagine those shots being homers everywhere else.
I didn't see the Stanton single in the first, only the one in the sixth, but like Craig I'm of the opinion that it would've been a home run in all 29 other stadiums.
Oddly, ESPN's broadcast team claimed that the 6th inning shot would've only been a homer in 11 parks, not 29.
I'm not buying it. Ball hit high on the wall not too far left of the 379 mark; maybe it stays in play in Denver, but I can't see any other park holding it.
The quality of that multi-person relay was a really undersold part of last night's game. Yes, Phil Nevin's brain exploded. He shouldn't have sent the guy. But if the Sox don't pull off a perfect 3-person relay, the run scores and Nevin is forgotten. Just like the Sox third-base coach's stop-and-go brainlock an inning or two later is forgotten because that runner just beat the throw.
That play was, as you say, the turning point of the game. The Red Sox defense should be celebrated for causing it.
I object to Mr. Calcaterra's conclusion that the Yankees would have been better served playing any team other than the Red Sox to advance in the playoffs. He assumes facts not in evidence. There is nothing to support that any other team would not have crushed the Yankees any less than the Red Sox did, your honor.
I don't understand how umpire assignments work, but short of drawing names or throwing darts, how on earth is Joe West the home plate umpire tonight? There has to be someone less controversial and less willing to insert himself into a game that him.
At least Angel Hernandez is in a series (again why?) so he can only ruin one game instead of the only game.
Craig, the first inning ball would likely not have gone out of most other parks. 94 MPH exit velocity, very high parabola. Stanton pimped it like hell but it would have been a long flyout elsewhere. The one in the 5th inning, though....yeah, that's gone everywhere else.
Stanton admiring the ball for the world's longest single made me confident as a Sox fan that the game was gonna go our way. What a stupid thing for him to have done.
The Columbus Alive piece is probably going to be applicable everywhere. I live in Somerville, MA, and we had our preliminary elections in September. There were 4 candidates for mayor, and though there were no party affiliations next to the candidates, it wasn't hard to spot the Republican. He was crushed (came in 4th with about a quarter of what the two who advanced to the general election got), but the next day was sending out emails about fraud. If these guys are going to act like they legitimately were held down there, I can just imagine what they're like in places where it might be close.
Anyway, that means I'm a happy baseball fan after last night; even if the Red Sox get crushed by the Rays as everyone expects (although I've been joking with friends that we don't know how well the Rays do when they can't shuttle people to and from the minor leagues after every game where the starter goes four innings by design), it's been an unexpectedly good year and likely the start of a stretch where the AL Beast is going to be insanely competitive.
An hour before game time last night I decided the experiment in not having cable had run its course. I'm a Red Sox fan and there is a one game elimination game at Fenway. My father would be spinning in his grave if I passed on watching. So that worked out well. Gotta love Hulu Live though, no waiting two weeks for the cable guy. Just a couple of clicks to upgrade the account and instant ESPN. I'll probably keep it through college basketball season and then turn it off after March Madness next year.
No one is going to argue about Epstein's bona fides, but I'm not sure if bringing in the architect of the modern Frat Boy Front Office culture will cure what ails the Mets.
OTOH - who would be a BETTER "Freelance gambling Editor" for Fox than you... Also - pls. post tomorrow - we can handle the tooth.
MLB can moan all it wants about TV viewership. I'm sorry/not sorry, but my violin is in the shop. I subscribe to MLB.TV. Since I live in Iowa, 20% of the teams are blacked out.