In his fourth career game, on June 27, 1933, Milt Galatzer hit a home run. It was the only home run of his career, a 251-game ledger that spanned five seasons. By the end of his Cleveland tenure in 1936, Galatzer was a light-hitting utility player, and on Aug. 26 of that year, he took the hill in a lopsided loss against the Washington Senators. When Denny Galehouse and George Blaeholder couldn’t rise to the occasion, manager Steve O’Neill turned to Galatzer for six innings of mop-up duty.
First, there was Galatzer. And 87 years later, there was David Fry.
...
Fry, who had played one inning of first base since returning from a three-week stint on the injured list, was deployed to the center of the diamond to fling 56 mph flutterballs to eager Twins hitters.
“It was pretty good hitting speed,” Fry said.
His four-inning effort — which, all jokes aside, did Cleveland’s bullpen an immeasurable favor — is the longest by any position player in the league in 35 years.
I think it’s clear why MLB cut September rosters from 40 to 28, but I think that number is too low and rules for active rosters need to be adjusted. Nobody wants to see a player suffer a season-ending injury at any point, but injuries of that severity late in a season can often cause players to miss time the next season, which is bad for everyone (even mega-rich owners). Fatigue being a significant contributor to injuries, it makes sense to expand rosters for the final month, and adding just two players seems to hardly make a difference.
But what about playing the game in the last month the way you play it the five months preceding it? I see the argument that teams shouldn’t get to fatten their records against teams that have checked out and are playing a bunch of AAAA guys. I agree, though I think that’s mitigated somewhat by two things: obviously postseason-bound teams wanting to rest their best players, and the scramble by mid-pack teams to avoid a road-only “playoff” series in the Wild Card round. (This postseason format is so impossibly dumb.)
So what I propose is a blend of regular season & postseason rules: expand active rosters to 30, but maintain the limit on pitchers at 14. “But don’t you want to rest pitchers’ arms?” Yes, so here’s the second part: require teams to set their active roster ahead of a series, but permit them to put starters who won’t make a start during the series on an “active reserve” roster that accrues service time at the same rate. For each starter placed on active reserve, allow addition of an additional swingman/follower/reliever to soak up some of the series’ innings. If a starter goes down because they iron their shirt while wearing it, allow IL substitutions from either the active reserves or the minors. If a position player is injured, permit the team to fill that spot with a position player from its minor league system.
I think this would appeal to both groups of players, as position players pick up a few extra guaranteed roster spots, while starters benefit from guaranteed rest, relievers benefit from reinforcements and potential rest opportunities, and the AAAA arms get a chance to get some time to make their case for a minor league contract with a guaranteed major league salary (if they’re headed to free agency) or for addition to the postseason roster (if they’re prospects getting an audition).
Something of a hybrid on the doubleheader 26th man
By far a personal best - all of my videos are scheduled a full week in advance
dude!
During the series in Texas, I remarked to my brother that — no slight to Buxton* intended — this is fast becoming Royce Lewis’ team.
I think that happened yesterday. Lewis is the Captain now.
* Correa, 06 April 2002: “This is not my team. This is Byron’s team.”
I hate to put the Captain title on a rookie (or anyone, really). I think he's doing just "grand" without having to shoulder that as well. That's just getting too Yankee-ish for my tastes.
* Correa, 06 April 2002: “This is not my team. This is Byron’s team.”
Cut Correa some slack, he wasn't even 8 years old when he made that statement.
Last first day of school for us after 17 years of first days of school.
I'm trying to wrap my head around this, knowing full well that this day will be here for us way sooner than I'm ready for. How are you not a complete wreck?
Eyes on the prize, Phil...
Especially since I'm a homebody anyway, I have no desire for my kids to ever leave. Our house will just be a vacuum of empty rooms and I don't know how well I could take it. I can't think of much I want to do in my life that requires them to be out of the house. The exception would be is if they had kids. I'll be a very involved grandpa, just not overnight 🙂
The Poissonnière has stated her intent to live at home in a multi-generational situation, and frankly I welcome that.
For a lot of people it's the only financially vuable option, even with a 40 hr week job
Very true.
We have a family up the street that is multi-generational. My sense is that it’s more cultural mores (they are Hmong) than economic necessity. I’m glad the Poissonnière gets to see that example in her neighborhood. It was much more common in this country than our nuclear-family-occupied-single-family-home post-WWII social conventions let on.
There is a standing offer out to the Poissonnière’s grandmother, who is in her mid-seventies, to consolidate households. I understand she enjoys having her own space, and she’s entitled to that. But there’s also a distinct generational resistance in evidence to the notion of a multi-generational household.
There's a new development a few miles away (Prince's land) that offered one model that basically had a mother in law apartment attached. I thought that would be a really good option for my age.
Kid moving home, song parents visiting our moving in, etc.
Long term, I could see it reversing and we'd move into the smaller side.
Surprisingly, no one built that model.
My grandmother built on an apartment to her farmhome, and my uncle (who is in his 40's) took over the main home. THey'd been living in a shared household before that, but hit a point where the extra space/door was needed. I've heard no complaints since that happened.
Seems like it could be the best of both worlds.
And now I've realized that if I ever do it, I'll name it the Hannah Montana house.
My wife's grand design on our barn is to turn it into an apartment for her parents.
How realistic that is - I'm very doubtful
I asked my mother in law to move in with us. She was single and it was getting hard to manage an entire house. So glad we did. Shortly after she moved in she got some early symptoms of cancer and we talked her into going in. Saved her life.
Plus with 3 incomes we are all living in a nicer house than we all used to.
Is your wife an only child? If not, what do her siblings think?
I always wonder about that dynamic.
I don't want the future to come any faster than it already is, but most scenarios where they stay with us forever are bad scenarios.
True.
We had someone ask if we were sad when our daughter went back to college this fall. Sad isn't really a description of how I feel. Maybe a little melancholy, but overall just happy and proud for the kids as they all seem to be doing really well.
I may feel differently next year at this time when the house is nearly empty.
Somewhat oddly, this has really been in my head lately. My parents are in their 2nd year as empty nesters (after like 35 years of having kids in school), and they seem like they're hitting a bit of a stride. But they did the school thing for a lot longer than I'll be doing it... so they seemed more ready. I just don't think I will be.
so they seemed more ready. I just don't think I will be.
I bet you will be. Remember, when they leave they aren't kids, they are young adults. Also kids ease you into it as those last couple of years they aren't really home a lot anyway as they have jobs, gf/bf, sports/clubs, other friends and interests, etc. Also it's kinda cool watching them grow up and be their own adult and on their own path. Oh they will have successes and failure, and will come to you all the time for advice too.
Finally don't sleep on the freedom you will gain once an empty nester. I'm single + empty nester so I can do what I want, when I want. That's cool! But I've seen married couple rekindle their relationship now that parenting is a secondary job. And frankly some relationships end because the kids were the only thing holding it together.
Embrace the change, it's coming whether you're ready or not!
Regarding empty nesting... I will just leave this here.
Fun to look back at it five years later.
It took 31 years between when I was born and when one of my siblings finally moved out of my parents' house for good (I'm the only one of four who never moved back in for a year or two after college). My parents have been loving life as empty-nesters and near-by grandparents. They became really good friends with Sheenie's first-cousin once removed, and now travel quite frequently with their group (cruises on the Baltic, the eastern Mediterranean, Greenland, the southern Caribbean in the past few years). They're definitely making up for lost time.
Yah. We love our kids, and when they went away to college and then "moved out" for real, we had the feels.
But they are supposed to live their own lives. It was happy/proud/sad.
Plus, teenagers, man. They wear you out.
Empty nesting is awesome.
Man, Smalley is such a frickin downgrade.
I missed it since I was watching the broadcast, but my brother said Atteberry noted that Polanco’s homer yesterday tied him with Smalley for the Twins-era record for switch hitters, and that Smalley had realized it was coming and remarked, “They shouldn’t have traded me to New York. I’d have more.” On the one hand, that trade brought Ron Davis to Minnesota. On the other hand, it also brought Greg Gagne.
Smalley doesn’t offer much beyond catering to the Mauch era of diehards in the fanbase. Despite playing 69% of his career games for the Twins, he’s not a franchise icon like other guys from the ‘87 Twins. He’s got all the personality of Melba toast in the booth, and he doesn’t have any modern analyst chops. Smalley might have 4x the career rWAR and a World Series ring over Trevor Plouffe, but my goodness is Plouffe an upgrade that needs to happen.
I've only heard Plouffe a couple times but it sounds like he's making good use of that Jomboy media training.
Once walked past Smalley on the plaza a while after a game. He nicely said hello. That’s nice at least!
He seems personable and is clearly attached to the franchise and its fans, He has a business background in his post-playing career. I don’t think the booth is the best showcase of his talents, but there must e a role with the team that would fit them. But he might like broadcasting better than other duties, and that’d be the rub.
I know he's not a franchise icon but he was the bright spot on some terrible teams. He was my first favorite player. I dressed up as Smalley for Halloween. I was really upset when he was traded
Just as an aside, Altuve is one of my least likeable ballplayers
I was most curious about Fry's pitching performance last night. The The Athletic's joint writeup of yesterday's game delivered.
I think it’s clear why MLB cut September rosters from 40 to 28, but I think that number is too low and rules for active rosters need to be adjusted. Nobody wants to see a player suffer a season-ending injury at any point, but injuries of that severity late in a season can often cause players to miss time the next season, which is bad for everyone (even mega-rich owners). Fatigue being a significant contributor to injuries, it makes sense to expand rosters for the final month, and adding just two players seems to hardly make a difference.
But what about playing the game in the last month the way you play it the five months preceding it? I see the argument that teams shouldn’t get to fatten their records against teams that have checked out and are playing a bunch of AAAA guys. I agree, though I think that’s mitigated somewhat by two things: obviously postseason-bound teams wanting to rest their best players, and the scramble by mid-pack teams to avoid a road-only “playoff” series in the Wild Card round. (This postseason format is so impossibly dumb.)
So what I propose is a blend of regular season & postseason rules: expand active rosters to 30, but maintain the limit on pitchers at 14. “But don’t you want to rest pitchers’ arms?” Yes, so here’s the second part: require teams to set their active roster ahead of a series, but permit them to put starters who won’t make a start during the series on an “active reserve” roster that accrues service time at the same rate. For each starter placed on active reserve, allow addition of an additional swingman/follower/reliever to soak up some of the series’ innings. If a starter goes down because they iron their shirt while wearing it, allow IL substitutions from either the active reserves or the minors. If a position player is injured, permit the team to fill that spot with a position player from its minor league system.
I think this would appeal to both groups of players, as position players pick up a few extra guaranteed roster spots, while starters benefit from guaranteed rest, relievers benefit from reinforcements and potential rest opportunities, and the AAAA arms get a chance to get some time to make their case for a minor league contract with a guaranteed major league salary (if they’re headed to free agency) or for addition to the postseason roster (if they’re prospects getting an audition).
Something of a hybrid on the doubleheader 26th man
By far a personal best - all of my videos are scheduled a full week in advance
dude!
During the series in Texas, I remarked to my brother that — no slight to Buxton* intended — this is fast becoming Royce Lewis’ team.
I think that happened yesterday. Lewis is the Captain now.
* Correa, 06 April 2002: “This is not my team. This is Byron’s team.”
I hate to put the Captain title on a rookie (or anyone, really). I think he's doing just "grand" without having to shoulder that as well. That's just getting too Yankee-ish for my tastes.
* Correa, 06 April 2002: “This is not my team. This is Byron’s team.”
Cut Correa some slack, he wasn't even 8 years old when he made that statement.
Last first day of school for us after 17 years of first days of school.
I'm trying to wrap my head around this, knowing full well that this day will be here for us way sooner than I'm ready for. How are you not a complete wreck?
Eyes on the prize, Phil...
Especially since I'm a homebody anyway, I have no desire for my kids to ever leave. Our house will just be a vacuum of empty rooms and I don't know how well I could take it. I can't think of much I want to do in my life that requires them to be out of the house. The exception would be is if they had kids. I'll be a very involved grandpa, just not overnight 🙂
The Poissonnière has stated her intent to live at home in a multi-generational situation, and frankly I welcome that.
For a lot of people it's the only financially vuable option, even with a 40 hr week job
Very true.
We have a family up the street that is multi-generational. My sense is that it’s more cultural mores (they are Hmong) than economic necessity. I’m glad the Poissonnière gets to see that example in her neighborhood. It was much more common in this country than our nuclear-family-occupied-single-family-home post-WWII social conventions let on.
There is a standing offer out to the Poissonnière’s grandmother, who is in her mid-seventies, to consolidate households. I understand she enjoys having her own space, and she’s entitled to that. But there’s also a distinct generational resistance in evidence to the notion of a multi-generational household.
There's a new development a few miles away (Prince's land) that offered one model that basically had a mother in law apartment attached. I thought that would be a really good option for my age.
Kid moving home, song parents visiting our moving in, etc.
Long term, I could see it reversing and we'd move into the smaller side.
Surprisingly, no one built that model.
My grandmother built on an apartment to her farmhome, and my uncle (who is in his 40's) took over the main home. THey'd been living in a shared household before that, but hit a point where the extra space/door was needed. I've heard no complaints since that happened.
Seems like it could be the best of both worlds.
And now I've realized that if I ever do it, I'll name it the Hannah Montana house.
My wife's grand design on our barn is to turn it into an apartment for her parents.
How realistic that is - I'm very doubtful
I asked my mother in law to move in with us. She was single and it was getting hard to manage an entire house. So glad we did. Shortly after she moved in she got some early symptoms of cancer and we talked her into going in. Saved her life.
Plus with 3 incomes we are all living in a nicer house than we all used to.
Is your wife an only child? If not, what do her siblings think?
I always wonder about that dynamic.
I don't want the future to come any faster than it already is, but most scenarios where they stay with us forever are bad scenarios.
True.
We had someone ask if we were sad when our daughter went back to college this fall. Sad isn't really a description of how I feel. Maybe a little melancholy, but overall just happy and proud for the kids as they all seem to be doing really well.
I may feel differently next year at this time when the house is nearly empty.
Somewhat oddly, this has really been in my head lately. My parents are in their 2nd year as empty nesters (after like 35 years of having kids in school), and they seem like they're hitting a bit of a stride. But they did the school thing for a lot longer than I'll be doing it... so they seemed more ready. I just don't think I will be.
so they seemed more ready. I just don't think I will be.
I bet you will be. Remember, when they leave they aren't kids, they are young adults. Also kids ease you into it as those last couple of years they aren't really home a lot anyway as they have jobs, gf/bf, sports/clubs, other friends and interests, etc. Also it's kinda cool watching them grow up and be their own adult and on their own path. Oh they will have successes and failure, and will come to you all the time for advice too.
Finally don't sleep on the freedom you will gain once an empty nester. I'm single + empty nester so I can do what I want, when I want. That's cool! But I've seen married couple rekindle their relationship now that parenting is a secondary job. And frankly some relationships end because the kids were the only thing holding it together.
Embrace the change, it's coming whether you're ready or not!
Regarding empty nesting... I will just leave this here.
Fun to look back at it five years later.
It took 31 years between when I was born and when one of my siblings finally moved out of my parents' house for good (I'm the only one of four who never moved back in for a year or two after college). My parents have been loving life as empty-nesters and near-by grandparents. They became really good friends with Sheenie's first-cousin once removed, and now travel quite frequently with their group (cruises on the Baltic, the eastern Mediterranean, Greenland, the southern Caribbean in the past few years). They're definitely making up for lost time.
Yah. We love our kids, and when they went away to college and then "moved out" for real, we had the feels.
But they are supposed to live their own lives. It was happy/proud/sad.
Plus, teenagers, man. They wear you out.
Empty nesting is awesome.
Man, Smalley is such a frickin downgrade.
I missed it since I was watching the broadcast, but my brother said Atteberry noted that Polanco’s homer yesterday tied him with Smalley for the Twins-era record for switch hitters, and that Smalley had realized it was coming and remarked, “They shouldn’t have traded me to New York. I’d have more.” On the one hand, that trade brought Ron Davis to Minnesota. On the other hand, it also brought Greg Gagne.
Smalley doesn’t offer much beyond catering to the Mauch era of diehards in the fanbase. Despite playing 69% of his career games for the Twins, he’s not a franchise icon like other guys from the ‘87 Twins. He’s got all the personality of Melba toast in the booth, and he doesn’t have any modern analyst chops. Smalley might have 4x the career rWAR and a World Series ring over Trevor Plouffe, but my goodness is Plouffe an upgrade that needs to happen.
I've only heard Plouffe a couple times but it sounds like he's making good use of that Jomboy media training.
Once walked past Smalley on the plaza a while after a game. He nicely said hello. That’s nice at least!
He seems personable and is clearly attached to the franchise and its fans, He has a business background in his post-playing career. I don’t think the booth is the best showcase of his talents, but there must e a role with the team that would fit them. But he might like broadcasting better than other duties, and that’d be the rub.
I know he's not a franchise icon but he was the bright spot on some terrible teams. He was my first favorite player. I dressed up as Smalley for Halloween. I was really upset when he was traded
Just as an aside, Altuve is one of my least likeable ballplayers