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November 2, 2023: Get’r Done, Billy!

42 Comments

Congrats to the Rangers, and especially to Will Smith, who has now won three consecutive World Series with three different teams. Could use an arm like that in the bullpen...

42 thoughts on “November 2, 2023: Get’r Done, Billy!”

  1. Apparently the Rangers were the oldest franchinse in major American men's sports to not win it all.

    That distinction now belongs to... the Vikes.

    1. I'm skeptical about that. Looking around only the NFL there are the Bills (began in the AFL in 1960), the Browns (NFL in 1950, but also complicated), Chargers (AFL in 1960), Lions (1930 in the NFL), and Titans (AFL in 1960). All of these teams have won a championship before the Super Bowl era, just like the Vikings. For the Vikings to count, which is fair, then all of these teams have to count as well. Especially the Lions who have been in the NFL the entire time with their last NFL championship in 1957.

      1. This works if you consider the AFL and NFL championships as valid through 1966 or '67 and then only Super Bowls after that. It might be a while until this moves to another team.

        1. the Vikings won the last pre-AFL merger NFL Championship in '69 (But lost to Kansas City in the Super Bowl)

          1. I wonder if that gets counted by some as a conference title now, not a championship, even though that's not a 1:1 comparison.

    2. Front page of the Star Trib today has a testimonial to Bobby Knight. Nothing at all about baseball.

      1. This is how it appears on the Strib's site. Not even a mention under the Sports section a bit further down.

  2. My sister's wedding is tomorrow night, rehersal tonight. We have to drive 3 hours to get there.

    Naturally, our youngest came home sick yesterday.

    1. Tomorrow is 16th anniversary, so it's a lovely date for a wedding. My brother showed up with an mangled ankle injured on November 1 in his final college soccer game (they lost in their regional final).

  3. Glendale defeated the Surprise Saguaros 11-2 yesterday. Aaron Sabato was 0-for-2. Andrew Cossetti was 0-for-3. Kala'i Rosario was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs. Zach Veen pitched a perfect inning. Ben Ethridge pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

  4. The annual rowing challenge I do with a couple of buddies started yesterday. We’re rowing 248km this month, which works out to a 5k session every 12 hours with four rest days.

    The the distance increasing annually would be less of a problem if my age wasn’t also increasing. But it would be a bigger problem to not have my age increasing anymore, so I guess I’ll celebrate feeling a little more decrepit each November.

  5. Now that the baseball season is over, I think we can all agree that the pitch clock was a big success. Not only was the pace of play improved, I don't think any game was materially impacted by a called ball or strike due to a pitcher or batter dilly-dallying. Next, Robo-umps or at least a way to challenge a ball or strike call?

    1. Midway through the World Series I was like…wait, it's 10pm and the game is over and I can go to bed? What is this?! Wild.

    2. I think the challenge system will be the best method for the zone. It keeps the human element, which is important for the zone growing or shrinking to favor the player that is behind in the count, but still gives the batter and pitcher the option to appeal the egregious calls. Framing will still matter and I'm not thrilled about it, but I do appreciate the aesthetics of a catcher framing. They have to look "good" to sell the strike.

      1. Yeah, I know there are a lot of people (especially statheads) that love catcher framing and will miss it, but I just can't see myself missing a skill that relies on fooling (intentionally or not) the umpire. It does deemphasize catcher defense a bit, but hopefully with the running game back in baseball, catcher's arm will be more important than it has been in a while.

        2. Catcher framing is similar to dives in soccer, hockey and basketball. Sometimes the catcher moves his glove 12 inches trying to "frame a pitch". It gets ridiculous.

      3. Also with a challenge system, hopefully Umpires will improve as well. I'm thinking even Angel Hernandez doesn't want to be on the negative side of challenges overturning called balls and strikes.

    3. I'm all for an automated strike zone. I don't like challenge systems (in any sport) because the players and coaches should be focused on playing the game, not officiating the game. Give the officials the tools to do the job better, tools like an automated strike zone.

      We wouldn't want to remove the painted foul lines from the field of play to introduce a "human element" on calling fair or foul balls. Sure there may be some initial technical details to work out in the minors or spring training or whatever, but they are solvable problems given the overall amount of money in the game.

      1. Good point. Coaches almost never call for challenges on their own anyway. They just use the guy with replay video fire brigade before doing so. It's quite silly.

      2. It's not like the ump then becomes superfluous, either. Still need to adjudicate HBP, foul tips, catcher interference, stepping out of the box early, and all the other assorted activity that happens within the box.

  6. Nelson Cruz officially retired.

      2. Cueto, Carlos Santana, Corey Kluber and Chris Martin are all a month or two older than me, so those are the ones I gotta watch out for

        1. I missed this when it happened, but evidently Fernando Rodney was the last major leaguer older than me. Unsurprisingly, there are no NFL, NBA, football or NHL players older than me, either.

          I’m not sure how I feel about that, even acknowledging that the passage of time is inevitable and thus far undefeated,

      3. Beau - same, and Hill’s only older than me by a couple of weeks. Next oldest current player is Verlander (born Feb. 20, 1983) .

    2. I'm glad we had him before he fell off the cliff. It was so fun to watch him take batting practice, the dude held court in the cage.

  7. Dancing Queen endorsed by Jeff Tweedy (gift link)

    Also ftr Neil Young:

    Other “exiled” artists were later re-evaluated and accepted — Neil Young comes to mind. Believe it or not, my friends and I once rejected his entire catalog as hippie drivel. But Mr. Young picked the lock on the cage we’d put him in with the single most irresistible force in our young male minds: an electric guitar played at an irresponsible volume. Abba’s status as “other,” though, felt safely and permanently decided.

    1. Jeff Tweedy has gotten to the point in his life where he's a better essay writer than songwriter. He should just write.

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