Other Baseball

We all have seen the data on how baseball is trending in terms of viewership especially as we trend younger by demographics. One of the biggest problems baseball faces is the perception that in an 162 game season... an individual game in the middle of June or July doesn't matter. The excitement of each game doesn't compare to the excitement down the stretch or in the playoffs when every out matters and managers and teams maximize every pitch and every scenario to win now and figure the rest out later. In baseball, it goes so far that there are throwaway lineups on Sundays and managers in most regular season games a lot of the time will manage for the 160 game season.…

Eat, sleep, pay rent, eliminate, watch news, repeat. Baseball can help break up that deadly pattern. One of the secret links is this one: https://www.mlb.com/video/topic/condensed-games Coolest part is that you can watch an entire day's worth of condensed games, and they'll auto load as they go. Funny how MLB teams have been simulating fans and game noise. Twins need to step up their noise game!

I'm sure this isn't the spot I should be posting this, but apparently my brain is broken because I can't think of this phrase and it's driving me CRAZY. I'll accept any wrist slap deemed necessary if it gets me an answer. So... when one team figures out a "secret" that most of the others haven't opened their eyes to yet. Like how the A's were all in on OBP instead of average. Or maybe some teams figured out exit velocity and how to make use of that info before other teams. Every time there's a new thing like that they say.... "Exit Velocity is the new ________" It's something like "inequity" or "inbalance" but that's not it. Please help!

....And now this:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-get-work-toronto-summer-camp-safety-measures-place/ Here we are, theoretically two weeks away from Opening Day. The Blue Jays aren’t yet certain where they will play their home games. For now, they have been granted a special exemption from the Canadian government to work out at Rogers Centre. It is not yet certain if the Canadian government will let their opponents in the country. Let me repeat that: The Canadian government has not yet approved MLB teams to travel into Canada to play games at Rogers Centre. The Jays are working on a few back up options. Choice one is Dunedin, their spring training headquarters. Howev…

https://www.wbsc.org/news/taiwan-cpbl-gets-green-light-to-fill-stadiums-up-to-70-capacity?fbclid=IwAR0VUoRrhM2UzsrNoph7hg4blnUnNTKJaRW42z4bYPaq8yeIdS2mEGPcMfM It sure would be nice to see a baseball game in person. It sure would be nice if America was a lot smarter about scientific advice.

While we think about if a season happens or not. I started thinking about the opt out clauses by players, and what they will do. I tried to do the research, but did not find much to get exact numbers, but believe most players will typically opt out of deals. So many over the past decade would sign the big seven plus year deal with a three or four year opt out. Many would opt out giving up money betting on fact they can earn more over that same period or at least get deeper into thirties and secure money. However, with so many questions of what future looks for not just this season but seasons to come for full ballparks. This will vastly affect the budgets for teams…

Barry Larkin, former MVP, has been calling for removing the Kenesaw Mountain Landis name from MVP awards. Personally, until I read the article about this, I did not know the name was on there, actually larger than the person who won the award. For those who do not know, Landis was first commissioner of baseball, and a well known racist that helped keep baseball white. It was not until after his death that baseball was integrated. Yes, he is historical in baseball, for both good, cleaning up the gambling that was going on, and bad the segregation of it. However, his name does not need to be on, and especially larger than the person who won the award, trophy. It is…

Baseball is coming back to ESPN. Tonight. Come tomorrow, there will be Twins baseball. Live and on the air. Since we are all, by some transitive property, defaulted, if not destined to cherish and embrace the LG Twins as our own, let’s get out there and get that Korean Series Championship!

This is an AP article I lifted from the StarTribune web site. https://www.startribune.com/cleveland-indians-look-into-changing-name-amid-pressure/571623572/

So I just picked up OOTP 21 on the Steam Summer Sale, and I played my first game. It was a 21 inning game. I played it pitch by pitch. I used 11 pitchers, with Berrios starting, followed by Romo, Duffey, May, Rogers, Littell, Wisler, Stashak, Clippard, Dobnak, and finally Maeda. The only position player that didn't play was Alex Avila. I think Garver will rest the next game... Max Kepler, Nelson Cruz, and Josh Donaldson (2) has HR's. Luis Arraez went 0-8, and was the only Twin to not get a hit (asides from Cave, who only had on AB). There was a total of 150 AB's, 30 Hits, 17 BB's, 47 K's, and 66 LOB. 66! Crazy Moments of the game include: The Twins scor…

I've started a YouTube channel! I launched things on Father's Day for the "Baseball Dad" YouTube channel. I'll be covering various ways to pass on the game of baseball in 5-10 minute videos each week. The first video was raw, with just me on camera, but there will be more appearances of my children in the future to add more desirable visuals to the channel. Also, it's not JUST for dads - moms, uncles, grandpas, great grandmas, whomever that wants to pass the love of baseball on to the next generation, this is a channel geared for you!

Technically it was voted on by fans and was supposed to only take into effect collegiate accomplishments: RHP- Big Ben McDonald LSU LHP- Greg Swindell Texas Closer- Huston Street Texas 1B- Will Clark Mississippi St 2B- Todd Walker LSU SS- Alex Bregman LSU 3B- Robin Ventura Oklahoma St LF- Barry Bonds Arizona St CF- J.D. Drew Florida St RF- Joe Carter Wichita St C- Buster Posey Florida St 2-way Player- John Olerud Washington St I think Bregman benefited from currently being in the spotlight but the only positions I had a huge beef with was LF. Bonds is obviously incredible but PETE INCAVIGLIA IN COLLEGE... my God, he was incredible. The only guy to hit 100 home runs in…

For the 2020 season only, I can live with putting an automatic baserunner on 2nd base for each inning after the 9th. But I think MLB should iron out some qualifying rules to the scoring plays if that runner scores, picked off, runs into a double play, or steals a base. First, if any batter drives in the ghost runner, said batter should not get credit for an RBI since the runner didn't earn his way on base via hit, walk or error. He's just a free duck on the pond sent out there to speed up the game. By not awarding an RBI to the batter for driving in the ghost runner, career RBI stats would still be legit when comparing across the decades. All other scoring plays aft…

This is an AP article posted on the StarTrib web site. And we haven't even started real full-time training yet. I have a LOT of trouble visualizing a feasible path toward full-time nationwide baseball if this is happening at this stage. https://www.startribune.com/phillies-5-players-test-positive-for-virus-at-florida-camp/571371162/

Two expansion teams have been rumored for a few years now but some experts are predicting the virus could increase the probability of that as it would bring economic relief. If two teams join MLB and each league has an even 16 teams then the everyday inter-league play would no longer be necessary. My question is do you prefer the current system where there is always an interleague series going and each division plays another division from the other league or do you prefer the week long event that we used to have before the Astros were realigned to the AL? I liked the event aspect of inter-league week but I feel the current setup is more balanced. Plus the week long …

Since they are proposing starting an extra inning with a guy on 2nd I thought let us add some more rule changes. The first rule is satire. But, I like the other 3. 1. Cardboard figures in the OF. If you hit one you get a HR. 2. Any ball hit over 450 feet counts as a 2 run HR. Therefore you could drive in 5 runs on one swing. 3. Have one guy in CF bleachers mostly grass at least in my ballpark who can catch a HR ball for an out. This might make things interesting and fun. No OF bleachers well in your OF bullpen. 4. If you hit an inside ballpark home run, the run counts, but, you can, also, try to go to 1st base to see if you can get a 5 base hit. I actually…

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/10/sports/how-racial-bias-can-seep-into-baseball-scouting-reports/?et_rid=24053367 This is a good read - I don't know whether folks will find a paywall (Boston Globe) in the way. A couple of snippets from the intro: “The scouting community has its vocabulary. It has its jargon that it uses to paint the picture. If you’re African-American, if you’re attuned to language, you can read a report and nine times out of 10 you can tell if the player is African-American, a minority, or not." "Disclaimers apply. Plenty of scouts work hard to avoid lapsing into stereotypes, and individual reports may not show bias. But concern exists that at…

I was too young to really remember the 94 strike. I barely followed baseball and just remember hearing there was a strike. I know it nearly killed baseball at the time. This time could be even worse, for many different reasons. Unlike in 94 when there was no social media and instant player reactions this time around we hear the bickering going on. I have posted many comments that both sides are to blame, and that is because neither side is willing to budge. However, both sides are trying to win the fan support. Owners by leaking offers of all different packages and calling poor us billionaires we are not as rich as you think we are, which for some is actually true…

As the back and forth has gone on between owners and players recently, it made me think of a topic I had thought about a lot the years leading up to the Machodo and Harper free agent years. I thought about how there was going to be a work stoppage because the free agent classes were weak and teams were not willing to pay top dollar for not top talent just because it was best available. Think about it, if you were knew next week the best steak was going to be on the market, would you pay similar price for ground beef this week, simply because the steak was not available yet? No, you would pay the market price for the ground beef, not above market, and wait for the steak…

Interesting article on the hard ball times, but this might lead to some additional labor unrest... I really hope this isn't the case, but it's looking more and more like we're in for a major labor stoppage at some point in the near future. https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2020/05/08/an-owner-player-salary-fight-could-be-looming/

http://rockrivertimes.com/2020/05/08/last-remaining-member-of-original-rockford-peaches-dies-at-101 "Mary Pratt, the last known remaining member of the original Rockford Peaches, has died at the age of 101." http://rockrivertimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/pratt-mary-aapbl-rockford-peaches-2020-750x430.png

According to a report I just read on CBS Sports...(I don't have the link handy)...former Astros scout David Brito was intending to auction off his 2017 Astros World Championship ring for charities in New Jersey suffering from the covid-19 virus. Proceeds were to go to a hospital and to purchase personal protective equipment for additional care facilities. Apparently, there is an agreement that any ring to be auctioned off must first be offered back to the Astros for $1. That's right, a single GW bill. Needless to say, the charity auctioning of the ring is now cancelled. To be fair, it was also reported a former Cubs employee attempted to auction off a similar 2016 ri…

This piece is from the Strib website. Source is Baseball America. https://www.startribune.com/st-paul-saints-season-postponed-until-at-least-early-july/569821132/

This is the AP article on the matter, copied from the Strib website. https://www.startribune.com/fans-sue-mlb-teams-over-ticket-money-ask-for-class-action/569808942/

Why not? Afterall, they will get their guaranteed money and millions where millions of other Americans will not. https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/2020/ Above is a list of the salaries due to players from their respective teams. Without crunching the numbers, that looks to me to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 billion dollars due to players this year before taxes. Why can't the union find it inside themselves to donate 1% of that helping first responders and their families (or something in relief of this crisis)?

My first prediction is that WA signs their two big possible FAs to extensions. My next is that Cole goes to LAA. The White Sox sign two good/medium staring pitchers fast in FA.

The Twins least favorite agent strikes again. Could be chilly at Target Field, since Twins look likely to make Scott's December playoffs. Or maybe the Twins and other northern teams don't make the playoffs, by intentionally tanking to avoid playing those miserable games. I would suggest starting the season, whenever that can be done, with the All-Star Game. Then schedule regular season games during the usual All-Star Break to balance the schedules of teams.

The trades that you did not make http://www.startribune.com/mets-star-noah-syndergaard-to-have-tommy-john-surgery/569067112/

Twitter has seen many of these recently, but one that caught my eye that could generate good conversation here is this... Create a team - 26-man roster, DH or non-DH lineup/roster by your own choice (though we'll get into something with that later), full rotation The team should consist of your personal favorite players that you have seen in your lifetime (TV or in-person is fine). They can play any position, but it must be a position that the player played for a majority of at least one season. Not required as part of this - but something that could be a fun addition - is to list your favorite season of that favorite player! I'll start with mine C - Ivan Rodrigue…