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Kevin has good field vision, too, because he went when he saw the shortstop abandon second and also saw the second baseman was nowhere near the base.

They used to use what were called red-dot balls, which were flight restricted balls that you could tell had a bit of give when you held it. Nowadays, softballs are as hard as hard balls. Plus, I know some guys are using BSER bats even tough they’ve been outlawed for over a decade, but most umpires are as clueless about that as they are about the throw-out-of-bounds rule. I don’t like it, but what am I gonna do? Quit? As if.

I play left field at Brands Park where there is a tennis court maybe about 275 feet away from the plate. In the mid 2000s, I never once saw a ball get hit into the courts. Nowadays, there’s at least one a game. It’s beyond ridiculous. But CSSC encourages it because it keeps teams signing up and paying their $1,400 team fee to keep playing. What can you say? It’s a business.

For about six seconds.

I will tell you this about playing softball now: the guys are a lot bigger, the girls are a lot better, and the ball is a lot livelier. At least here in Big Shoulders, it is. Personally, I don’t think a softball should be allowed to travel 350 feet in the air. But everyone digs the long ball now, and sport and social clubs need to stay in business, so … 🤷🏻

So, where does the United States rank on the list of Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index among 180 countries measured? We're almost in the top third. So are Botswana, Panama, and Mauritania.

The media need access to the regime, so they'll keep the story contained to the nether regions of the media ecosphere.

That's what dump trucks filled with money does to people.

Trump's campaign of the destruction of America both here and abroad continues apace. Many benefactors very happy.

Besides Zack Short, another old friend is back for tonight's game—an old friend named Pitching Chaos.

Also, Dodgers and Ohtani.

Oh, that's got to be the one and only job held by dozens of people in that regime.

Frank was the one I rued letting go, although it's well known that Francisco Cordero was certainly the best piece we let go. But what's little noted nor long remembered from that trade—the biggest swing and miss by the Tigers on it—was that the best subsequent career anyone in the trade ended up having was Gregg Zaun, whom we shipped off to the Royals before he ever stepped on the field for us, and who had five solid years with the Jays during the mid-2000s. Lemondae out of lemons, though: had we kept Zaun through all those years, we may never have signed Pudge Rodriguez befpore the 2004 season. Here's Claude's overview of the trade: The Trade — November 2, 1999 Detroit sent to Texas: Francisco Cordero, Bill Haselman, Gabe Kapler, Justin Thompson, Frank Catalanotto, Alan Webb (minors) Texas sent to Detroit: Juan González, Danny Patterson, Gregg Zaun WAR Delivered Directly to Each Trade Partner Detroit received (WAR accrued while on DET): Player DET WAR Seasons Juan González 1.7 2000 only Danny Patterson 1.3 2000–2004 Gregg Zaun 0.0 Never played for DET Total 3.0 Texas received (WAR accrued while on TEX): Player TEX WAR Seasons Francisco Cordero 7.9 2000–2006 Frank Catalanotto 5.5 2000–2002, 2007–2008 Gabe Kapler 1.5 2000–2002 Bill Haselman 1.2 2000–2002 Justin Thompson -0.2 2005 only Total 16.0 Texas won the direct exchange by more than 5-to-1 (16.0 WAR vs. 3.0). Zaun — arguably Detroit's best return — never wore a Tigers uniform; he went straight to Kansas City. Total Post-Trade Career WAR by Player (All Teams) Detroit's haul: Player Total WAR Teams Gregg Zaun 14.0 KCR, HOU, COL, TOR, BAL, TBR, MIL Juan González 8.0 DET, CLE, TEX, KCR Danny Patterson 1.3 DET Total 23.2 Texas's haul: Player Total WAR Teams Francisco Cordero 12.3 TEX, MIL, CIN, TOR, HOU Frank Catalanotto 11.4 TEX, TOR, MIL, NYM Gabe Kapler 3.7 TEX, COL, BOS, MIL, TBR Bill Haselman 1.1 TEX, BOS Justin Thompson -0.2 TEX Total 28.4 WAR That Flowed to Third Parties From Detroit's players: Player Team WAR Gregg Zaun KCR 1.9 Gregg Zaun HOU -1.1 Gregg Zaun COL 0.1 Gregg Zaun TOR 8.1 Gregg Zaun BAL 2.4 Gregg Zaun TBR 1.2 Gregg Zaun MIL 1.3 Juan González CLE 4.3 Juan González TEX 2.4 Juan González KCR -0.5 From Texas's players: Player Team WAR Frank Catalanotto TOR 6.1 Frank Catalanotto MIL 0.1 Frank Catalanotto NYM -0.3 Francisco Cordero MIL 2.8 Francisco Cordero CIN 2.4 Francisco Cordero TOR -0.5 Francisco Cordero HOU -0.4 Gabe Kapler COL -0.5 Gabe Kapler BOS 0.7 Gabe Kapler MIL 1.7 Gabe Kapler TBR 0.3 Bill Haselman BOS -0.1 The single biggest beneficiary of this entire trade was Toronto, which collected 8.1 WAR from Zaun (2004–2008) and 6.1 WAR from Catalanotto (2003–2006) — 14.2 WAR total, more than either trade partner received directly. Cleveland's haul of González (4.3 WAR in 2001 alone) was more than Detroit ever got from him.

The innate hotness that epitomized Marisa Tomei c. 1992 can hardly be denied, but it would be hard for the New York Times to come up with a more unflattering picture of her from this movie. I mean, yikes.

You're 70% right.

From the moment this guy came up, you could tell from the way he torqued his body during his delivery that he was an injury away from ending his career. That said, he did get a couple really good years out of his body.

He’s fine as emergency depth, and we are definitely in an emergency at short. I would guess he mostly stays at AAA until absolutely necessary, since he is such a sinkhole at the plate.

Or they’re going to settle down and be either good or bad. One or the other or the other. In any event …

Yes, that’s great to experience. Also, when the Cubbies win, it’s easier to get out of there faster because as soon as the last out is made, you take off and make good progress toward the exit while everyone is standing around singing. I froze my toes off at the game yesterday. March/April/May at Wrigley can suck really bad. But when the weather is good, brother, it’s the best.

Down by 24, win by 14. That’s the kind of game seen as a watershed by championship teams.

Ah phooey

Do red hats really believe passing a cognitive test apparently designed to diagnose senility is a major flex?