I mean, they're right. It's fairly ridiculous to ask players to play like this AND also demand they do it for less money.

I am definitely not demanding they do it for less money

Well my issue was more that the national/ESPN baseball media people all have this weird consternating word vomit way of expressing themselves.

I'm definitely not on board with making the players the bad guys with the money (owners are the ones trying to renegotiate the March deal). I don't think the protocol is some sort of overwhelming crazy thing though. I assume it's pretty similar to what other leagues around the country/world are thinking about/already implementing.

Perhaps the video quality is so bad that the ball pops out and you don't see it, but if not the umpire's call on Dykstra's catch might be the worst I've ever seen 2:22:00 or so
https://youtu.be/EF4T_vRIgVA

i dunno, even without visibility it's suspect. the ball is in his glove when it hits the ground and he brings it up in this throwing hand. that's not usually a circumstance where you make an instant transfer.

and let me introduce you to jim joyce

Eem wrote:This is bothering me: https://twitter.com/Alden_Gonzalez/stat ... 2113457152

Everybody is screaming about how baseball needs to make sure it's safe if it's going to return. So baseball likely goes into complete overkill mode on its policy -- making sure it's safe and probably even multiple degrees beyond that -- and because it is so detailed, there's an argument that it's not safe to return.

It's kind of like how doing more tests reveals more cases.

I agree with you in principle, I think the baseball plan is essentially an ultra-strict version of what the product will actually look like. If you're testing regularly, I don't know that you have to enforce some of these stricter policies, particularly when other sports are likely going to come back that are literal contact sports.

There's a very fine line between taking out the "that's the way things have always been done in baseball" things that are probably dumb to do in this environment (spitting seeds, clubhouse buffet spreads, high fives) and some of the more impactful changes (everyone has to sit in the stands away from each other, fielders should stay away from on-base players) that actively impact the way the game is played.

But I do think that if you do too much to cross that line and you feel that some of those more impactful changes to the sport are necessary to play, it is worth asking the question. I do think baseball just put forward the most health-conscious version of their plan that's possible (cynically, because they have to be extra health-conscious to justify screwing over players on salary), but some of the distancing changes are pretty dramatic for a plan that involves regular testing and other measures, and they're going to be extremely difficult to truly implement on a day-to-day basis, if not impossible.

Starling Marte's wife broke her ankle. While waiting for surgery at the hospital, she had a heart attack and died

"Brobdingnagian" is not a word I would have expected to see in a piece about baseball.

phatj wrote:"Brobdingnagian" is not a word I would have expected to see in a piece about baseball.

He did drive in 100 runs for the Phils a couple years in a row.

BigEd76 wrote:Starling Marte's wife broke her ankle. While waiting for surgery at the hospital, she had a heart attack and died

sounds like a blood clot. That really sucks

Monkeyboy wrote:

BigEd76 wrote:Starling Marte's wife broke her ankle. While waiting for surgery at the hospital, she had a heart attack and died

sounds like a blood clot. That really sucks

That does. Happened to a friend of mine several years ago.

I assume if baseball is played this season that we have seen the last of non-DH baseball.

That being the case, I discovered, by total random accident, a record that now, it seems we can say safely, will never be broken, and it is held by a Phillies.

Schoolboy Rowe, while pitching for the Phillies in 1947, became the first and only pitcher in ML history be intentionally walked in a game - twice.

Wolfgang622 wrote:I assume if baseball is played this season that we have seen the last of non-DH baseball.

That being the case, I discovered, by total random accident, a record that now, it seems we can say safely, will never be broken, and it is held by a Phillies.

Schoolboy Rowe, while pitching for the Phillies in 1947, became the first and only pitcher in ML history be intentionally walked in a game - twice.

Will Ohtani hit on the days he pitches? If so, he'd be the one guy that would have a shot.

I'm usually a default to the owners kind of a guy. But the owners need to stick with the March agreement with the players. If they play 81 games this year, they get half of the contract annual salary. And so on and so forth. If they truly will lose more money by playing games than by not, then they need to suck it up and decide whether there will be a season or not. Even if they do lose more money by playing games than not, it seems to me there's an argument to be made for playing anyway. Good will towards phans and all.

SCPhillyPhan wrote:I'm usually a default to the owners kind of a guy. But the owners need to stick with the March agreement with the players. If they play 81 games this year, they get half of the contract annual salary. And so on and so forth. If they truly will lose more money by playing games than by not, then they need to suck it up and decide whether there will be a season or not. Even if they do lose more money by playing games than not, it seems to me there's an argument to be made for playing anyway. Good will towards phans and all.

Totally agree.

The owners trying to use "well we thought fans would still be attending games when we made that deal" excuse is complete bullshit. They have access to some of the top analytical minds on the commercial market for every element of their business, there's no way they can throw their hands up and just say "well who saw this coming?"

If they're truly that uninformed when making these decisions, it's on them and them alone to take on any financial consequences.

You may be giving them too much credit. The Phillies signed a 25 year exclusive television package with a cable company that didn’t even kick in just as people were starting to move to streaming services.

Nationals broadcaster FP Santangelo rather annoys me, but I did not know much about his career. He clearly would be a Phillies target is he were an active player today.

This is the longest argument with umpires I have ever seen on a baseball field.

Side fun: seeing John Vukovich and Larry Bowa in Cubs uniforms.

15:50 genuine LOL



EDIT: I mean holy WOW this thing. Remember how Don Zimmer cried when he got into that barn burner with Pedro and acted like it was inconceivable that he, gentle Don, could ever have lowered himself to get involved in such a tussle? Well...

Meanwhile, this is surely Wolfgang622 click bait if there ever was such a thing, but I did find it a genuinely fun read. Then again, I love: baseball, history, baseball history, expansion, relocation, lost teams, and the butterfly effect.

This reminds me: I need to get me a St. Louis Browns hat.

Wolfgang622 wrote:This is the longest argument with umpires I have ever seen on a baseball field.

Side fun: seeing John Vukovich and Larry Bowa in Cubs uniforms.

15:50 genuine LOL



EDIT: I mean holy WOW this thing. Remember how Don Zimmer cried when he got into that barn burner with Pedro and acted like it was inconceivable that he, gentle Don, could ever have lowered himself to get involved in such a tussle? Well...

That was crazy. The umps' inability to make a decision ended up causing a fight. Buried at the end around the 32 minute mark is Eckersley first AB since coming to the NL after the long stint in the AL. Bob Dernier sighting at the end.