I understand there was a big game in town last night. That's about all I understand.
38 thoughts on “April 9, 2019: The Big Game”
A (Not So) Hot Take: I like the way the DH rules are right now (AL has DH, NL has no DH). I'd much rather get rid of regular season interleague play.
nibbish for Commish!
I’d much rather ditch the NL/AL and go with a travel-minimizing structure. West coast teams could really use more games in their time zone. It’s not something I’m super passionate about, but I think it’d be nice.
Also, I think it’d be fun to add more teams to the league. In no particular order, my expansion targets would be Montreal, Vancouver, Portland, Monterrey, Guadelajara, Mexico City, and Havana. My goal with expansion, more than anything, would be to broaden MLB’s fan base. A regional schedule would make it more feasible to expand the league’s borders. (I know, I know, complete non-starter politically and financially.)
It would also be fun—though technically infeasible—to make the trade deadline more meaningful competitively. Say you split the league in four regions—have everyone play their regional games through the trade deadline, and then look at the standings. Take, say, the top half of the league and move them into a sort of pre-playoffs so the best teams get scheduled against each other for the next two months to fight out the playoffs spots, slowly expanding beyond regional match-ups. Also, use the standings at the trade deadline to determine draft ordering—that way bottom-dwellers can play the string out trying to win and not worrying about their tank status. Realistically, by the trade deadline many teams can’t really win the league and wave the white flag through trades—having the worst teams play each other more often should lead to more competitive games and less chance of teams losing 100+ games in a year. Following a baseball team which is that bad is really soul-crushing, so I think it’d be it the league’s best interest to keep that from happening as often.
I'd add San Juan to the expansion cities list.
That is a good shout out.
I would co-sign on realignment of divisions based on geography rather than historical league. Once the A.L passed its hundredth birthday, I think the "junior circuit" thing kinda was played out.
But how much of that is because it's that status quo and what we know? Brewers and Astros fans have adopt the right religion quickly enough.
I have never been a fan of a team whose pitchers batted. I just like pitchers batting, but also enjoy that there's a definite difference between the leagues. For as much smoke gets blown around about the NL being a "totally different ballgame!!1!1!!!" than the AL, there ARE fundamental differences, and I like that.
There are differences, but I wouldn’t call them fundamental. It’s like the difference between Coors Field and Fenway Park—it matters, but it’s still 95% the same thing. Now if they allowed unlimited subs, or something more extreme like that, I’d be more inclined to say it was a fundamental change to the game.
Overall I think there is something interesting about having the contrasting rules, but as you mention, rarely are mountains made out of such little molehills. The way that some NL true believers talk about it, making a double switch is roughly as complicated as sending a man to the moon. It’s so obnoxious and I’m glad that interleagye play has shown quite conclusively that anyone who can manage in the AL can manage just fine without a DH.
I will say, I think pitchers hitting was a lot more interesting before anyone had a DH. I’m not so interested in watching pitchers hit if they haven’t had a competitive AB since high school. I think I would really enjoy that aspect of the game if the DH had not gained such widespread acceptance.
The NBA is able to maintain conference distinctions (slightly different styles of play) just fine, working from a (mostly) geographic division of teams. I like the split tournament style rather than re-seeding all 16 playing teams. Something like that could work.
I really don't mind interleague play, or the adjustments that teams from the AL/NL have to make to accommodate playing in the other league. I think it's part of the fun, and is minimal enough so as to not impair balance.
My proposal would be to have a compromise. Get rid of the DH but allow onetime reentry of players in the starting lineup like a lot of high schools do. Any starting player, including the pitcher, can be subbed for and then reenter the game later at the same spot in the lineup. Any player that comes off the bench (or out of the bullpen), once he's taken out of the game, he can't reenter. Also, a starting pitcher cannot return to pitching after a reliever has thrown a pitch. This would allow for pinch hitters one time for the starting pitcher so if the pitcher spot came up in a bases loaded situation early in a game, a manager can decide to pinch hit.
Besides, The Beths and The National, Courtney Barnett, and X at RTG. Bad Bad Hats too. Full line announced soon.
The Milkmaid and I knew we were going after the announcement. I’d go for The National and Heart Bones alone.
There were a lot of people downtown last night. Many of them were wearing red and randomly shouting and cheering. That's about all I understand.
It turns out the injury is much worse than had initially been expected. Clevinger is going to be sidelined for six to eight weeks before he’s able to resume a throwing progression
Cleveland's rotation is the only thing keeping them in contention and one-fifth of it is out for an extended period of time.
Speaking of the Big Game, does anybody know who won the bracket? Wink, wink, say no more...
By a single point! Nicely done, Rows.
The New York Times has an interesting article about new Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson. (It's from April 6, but I, um, don't read the sports section every day.)
Or the wgom, for shame!
So I turn out to be one of the lucky 5-10% who gets enough fluid in the chest to partially collapse a lung after bypass surgery. I get to go back to the hospital for a couple of days to have a drainage tube inserted so my lung can re-expand. I’m pretty ecstatic about the whole thing.
Dude, that's not lucky!
Get better, man
You remain in our prayers.
Some people have all the luck. Hang in there.
Jiminy. Get better soon, brother.
My dad passed away yesterday afternoon. It's a hard thing, of course. You're never really ready for it, no matter how much you try to be. But it was time, and he passed very easily. Mrs. A and I were there with Mom when he passed, and we were all able to say our goodbyes. The funeral will be Monday. It would've been nice to have it sooner, but with a monster lizard headed this way (Armour, where Mom lives, is predicted to get as much as two feet of snow), we thought it better to wait.
Mom is the one I'm worried about. They've been married for seventy-two years, and when you have people married that long, you really understand what the Bible means when it says, "the two become one". When one goes, the other never really feels complete. We'll do what we can for Mom, but we live two hundred miles away so what we can is somewhat limited. If you could say some prayers for her, it would be appreciated.
You and your mother are on my mind and in my prayers.
I'm sorry Jeff. I'm glad they had so many years together and good family. Please watch for that lizard, though.
Sorry for your loss Padre - glad to know it wasn’t a harsh passage.
What these fellas said, padre.
Jeff - I'm very sorry for your loss. Glad you were able to be with him at the end, it helps with your own sense of closure.
I'm sorry to hear that. You and your family are in our prayers.
Sorry to hear, Jeff. Hope you get the chance to spend a lot of time with mom.
Very sorry, Jeff. Will keep you and your family in my thoughts.
Sorry for your loss. You and yours are in our prayers.
So sorry, Padre. May his memory be a blessing.
I wanted to add my condolences, Chaps. You & your mother will be in my prayers. May your dad’s memory be eternal.
Jeff, I am so sorry for your loss. I wish you and your mother well in the weeks and months to come.
A (Not So) Hot Take: I like the way the DH rules are right now (AL has DH, NL has no DH). I'd much rather get rid of regular season interleague play.
nibbish for Commish!
I’d much rather ditch the NL/AL and go with a travel-minimizing structure. West coast teams could really use more games in their time zone. It’s not something I’m super passionate about, but I think it’d be nice.
Also, I think it’d be fun to add more teams to the league. In no particular order, my expansion targets would be Montreal, Vancouver, Portland, Monterrey, Guadelajara, Mexico City, and Havana. My goal with expansion, more than anything, would be to broaden MLB’s fan base. A regional schedule would make it more feasible to expand the league’s borders. (I know, I know, complete non-starter politically and financially.)
It would also be fun—though technically infeasible—to make the trade deadline more meaningful competitively. Say you split the league in four regions—have everyone play their regional games through the trade deadline, and then look at the standings. Take, say, the top half of the league and move them into a sort of pre-playoffs so the best teams get scheduled against each other for the next two months to fight out the playoffs spots, slowly expanding beyond regional match-ups. Also, use the standings at the trade deadline to determine draft ordering—that way bottom-dwellers can play the string out trying to win and not worrying about their tank status. Realistically, by the trade deadline many teams can’t really win the league and wave the white flag through trades—having the worst teams play each other more often should lead to more competitive games and less chance of teams losing 100+ games in a year. Following a baseball team which is that bad is really soul-crushing, so I think it’d be it the league’s best interest to keep that from happening as often.
I'd add San Juan to the expansion cities list.
That is a good shout out.
I would co-sign on realignment of divisions based on geography rather than historical league. Once the A.L passed its hundredth birthday, I think the "junior circuit" thing kinda was played out.
But how much of that is because it's that status quo and what we know? Brewers and Astros fans have adopt the right religion quickly enough.
I have never been a fan of a team whose pitchers batted. I just like pitchers batting, but also enjoy that there's a definite difference between the leagues. For as much smoke gets blown around about the NL being a "totally different ballgame!!1!1!!!" than the AL, there ARE fundamental differences, and I like that.
There are differences, but I wouldn’t call them fundamental. It’s like the difference between Coors Field and Fenway Park—it matters, but it’s still 95% the same thing. Now if they allowed unlimited subs, or something more extreme like that, I’d be more inclined to say it was a fundamental change to the game.
Overall I think there is something interesting about having the contrasting rules, but as you mention, rarely are mountains made out of such little molehills. The way that some NL true believers talk about it, making a double switch is roughly as complicated as sending a man to the moon. It’s so obnoxious and I’m glad that interleagye play has shown quite conclusively that anyone who can manage in the AL can manage just fine without a DH.
I will say, I think pitchers hitting was a lot more interesting before anyone had a DH. I’m not so interested in watching pitchers hit if they haven’t had a competitive AB since high school. I think I would really enjoy that aspect of the game if the DH had not gained such widespread acceptance.
The NBA is able to maintain conference distinctions (slightly different styles of play) just fine, working from a (mostly) geographic division of teams. I like the split tournament style rather than re-seeding all 16 playing teams. Something like that could work.
I really don't mind interleague play, or the adjustments that teams from the AL/NL have to make to accommodate playing in the other league. I think it's part of the fun, and is minimal enough so as to not impair balance.
My proposal would be to have a compromise. Get rid of the DH but allow onetime reentry of players in the starting lineup like a lot of high schools do. Any starting player, including the pitcher, can be subbed for and then reenter the game later at the same spot in the lineup. Any player that comes off the bench (or out of the bullpen), once he's taken out of the game, he can't reenter. Also, a starting pitcher cannot return to pitching after a reliever has thrown a pitch. This would allow for pinch hitters one time for the starting pitcher so if the pitcher spot came up in a bases loaded situation early in a game, a manager can decide to pinch hit.
Besides, The Beths and The National, Courtney Barnett, and X at RTG. Bad Bad Hats too. Full line announced soon.
The Milkmaid and I knew we were going after the announcement. I’d go for The National and Heart Bones alone.
There were a lot of people downtown last night. Many of them were wearing red and randomly shouting and cheering. That's about all I understand.
Clevinger shut down for two months. He can't even throw for the six to eight weeks.
Cleveland's rotation is the only thing keeping them in contention and one-fifth of it is out for an extended period of time.
Speaking of the Big Game, does anybody know who won the bracket? Wink, wink, say no more...
By a single point! Nicely done, Rows.
The New York Times has an interesting article about new Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson. (It's from April 6, but I, um, don't read the sports section every day.)
Or the wgom, for shame!
So I turn out to be one of the lucky 5-10% who gets enough fluid in the chest to partially collapse a lung after bypass surgery. I get to go back to the hospital for a couple of days to have a drainage tube inserted so my lung can re-expand. I’m pretty ecstatic about the whole thing.
Dude, that's not lucky!
Get better, man
You remain in our prayers.
Some people have all the luck. Hang in there.
Jiminy. Get better soon, brother.
My dad passed away yesterday afternoon. It's a hard thing, of course. You're never really ready for it, no matter how much you try to be. But it was time, and he passed very easily. Mrs. A and I were there with Mom when he passed, and we were all able to say our goodbyes. The funeral will be Monday. It would've been nice to have it sooner, but with a monster lizard headed this way (Armour, where Mom lives, is predicted to get as much as two feet of snow), we thought it better to wait.
Mom is the one I'm worried about. They've been married for seventy-two years, and when you have people married that long, you really understand what the Bible means when it says, "the two become one". When one goes, the other never really feels complete. We'll do what we can for Mom, but we live two hundred miles away so what we can is somewhat limited. If you could say some prayers for her, it would be appreciated.
You and your mother are on my mind and in my prayers.
I'm sorry Jeff. I'm glad they had so many years together and good family. Please watch for that lizard, though.
Sorry for your loss Padre - glad to know it wasn’t a harsh passage.
What these fellas said, padre.
Jeff - I'm very sorry for your loss. Glad you were able to be with him at the end, it helps with your own sense of closure.
I'm sorry to hear that. You and your family are in our prayers.
Sorry to hear, Jeff. Hope you get the chance to spend a lot of time with mom.
Very sorry, Jeff. Will keep you and your family in my thoughts.
Sorry for your loss. You and yours are in our prayers.
So sorry, Padre. May his memory be a blessing.
I wanted to add my condolences, Chaps. You & your mother will be in my prayers. May your dad’s memory be eternal.
Jeff, I am so sorry for your loss. I wish you and your mother well in the weeks and months to come.