IdahoBert

When I was in New Mexico sometime in the 1970s I purposely hiked up a mountain side because it was covered in clouds, and I remember being somewhat disappointed when I entered the cloud bank because it was nothing more than fog. It’s not like I thought it would be the texture of cotton candy or anything, but it had never occurred to me before that clouds are nothing more than fog.

Blue Ice! Magnets! Pluribus!

When I was a kid, there were certain players I’d check the box scores for and for Earl Wilson it was to see if he’d hit any home runs. I would also check the box scores to see how many guys Ferguson Jenkins had struck out, and in NFL football it was to see how many yards the Bears’ Bobby Douglas had scrambled for and sometimes it was more yards than he had passed for.

I remember perusing the Sporting News Baseball Register when I was a kid and seeing that D*ck Stewart had hit 66 home runs for the Lincoln Chiefs in the Western League in 1956 and I was absolutely dazzled by that.

Did you make this all up, Mark? If you did, I’m impressed. If you cut and pasted it from somewhere else, thank you nonetheless it is kind of interesting.

Thank you for including me. I will sleep better tonight knowing this.

This is one of those rare games I can watch because it’s on NBC Peacock instead of Fox, which only lets me watch games in the West locally. It’s nice on occasion to be included in what is important to all the rest of you. I hope the Lions don’t screw the pooch and disappoint me.

Wow. If we still lived in an era where players were property on the plantation or at least clubs had more continuity, it’s interesting to conjecture what the team‘s overall record would’ve been.

Two Cy Youngs in a row. Snore… This was yesterday‘s news before it became today’s news. This was inevitable. Not a lot of speculation about who would trip up his chance this year either. Last year it was Clase. Ha!

I’ve always wondered about this. From what I can tell, during the season, these guys don’t have a bushel load of free time that makes living in the city you play for that big of a deal. If you have a wife and a family and you want to have some semblance of normalcy and be a good husband and a father, does the family live in the city you play for? At least when school is out for the summer? I’m not sure if this is the norm or not. And after a night home game, a player might have to psychologically unwind in some manner or other, then get the sleep they need then get the ballpark, from what I’ve read, four or five hours before the game begins. That doesn’t seem conducive to the city you play in being that big of a deal. And your home city doesn’t mean anything when you’re on the road half the time. It doesn’t sound like a congenial lifestyle unless you’re a young single man.

Wondered about that. Clase was doing pretty well contract wise. Why would you need more unless there was some sort of experimental rat hitting the pleasure button thrill to being involved in it?

This is a cruel time of year to be a fan. During the regular season, you can share in the superstitious group mind fantasy of fandom that somehow you have an effect upon events. But it’s hard to support that fantasy when it comes to the arcane machinations of wheeling and dealing in the off-season.

Last night I tried to watch the TV series “Invasion“ on Apple TV about an alien attack on Earth. And initially I thought the low ratings from critics claiming the series’ great flaw was its “slow burn“ pacing was due to their impatience. But I now think they’re right. The series methodically follows a series of unfolding events within several clusters of individuals and situations, and the repetition and the not knowing becomes tedious. What I learn about the human condition and human motivations from Invasion - allegedly one of its goals - seems unworthy of the time spent. And it is so slow that it even undermines its capacity to entertain. I ended up watching a 25 minute summary of the first two seasons of Invasion on YouTube and that was more entertaining than any of the individual episodes I ended up watching. Now that I know what’s going on, even though some of the “suspense“ will be undermined, I might try to go back and watch it and perhaps I’ll find it less annoying.

Or not….

And apparently Vince Gilligan, who did Breaking Bad and Saul, etc. really likes Albuquerque because a big part of this story is taking place there.

Apple TV+ series Pluribus is pretty cool and I’m watching the first two episodes that dropped simultaneously. The “hive mind” thing is pretty salient and gripping.

Thanks. So people are merely being playfully talkative so that’s cool.

People keep talking about Bichette coming to Detroit as a live possibility. I haven’t thought of Detroit as a free agent destination city in a long time. Has he in someway indicated that Detroit is on his map as a prospective destination?

Skubal would have to be an incredibly sweet guy to stay with the Tigers when he could go to the Dodgers and live the dream there. He’s a pugnacious fighter and he’s ambitious. It would be out of character for him not to be all that he could be. And there’s a good chance it’s not only about money. Being on a perennial World Series contender is pretty attractive in and of itself. We should enjoy our ice cream before it melts and enjoy his last season as a Detroit Tiger. Full stop.

I hesitate to generalize about this tragedy. You think that there are people who should be on top of the world then it turns out they are not. I read somewhere that before the chase police were summoned to his address for a “welfare check“ because someone felt he was in danger of harming himself, but he wasn’t there when police arrived.

Revisiting Tucson, Arizona this week where I lived for 13 years for the first time in almost 40 years and drove by the home I inhabited from May 1977 to May 1978, which is colloquially known as “the Dillinger house” where the famous gangster John Dillinger was arrested on January 25, 1934. It is now immaculately restored with every conceivable gleaming modern upgrade. My pal Milt and I and a cast of colorful revolving third roommates spent a fruitful year within these walls and it was really quite a time.

“Former Orioles’ coaching staff Asche (asst. hitting coach), Sanders (first base) among Tigers' coaching hires.” Onward and upward! As the hippie girls I hung out with in the early 1970s used to say “the coming together is coming together, man.“

Twenty million dollars And they put you on the day shift Look out kid They keep it all hid Better jump down a manhole Light yourself a candle Don’t wear sandals Try to avoid the scandals Don’t wanna be a bum You better chew gum The pump don’t work ’Cause the vandals took the handles

I feel like the GEICO caveman around here when I see the level of the posts people are composing, but I do agree with all the shmart people. Keep Skubal and add as much genuine hitting and pitching fire power as possible that doesn’t block the pathway of our can’t miss future stars. Work whatever magic it takes to ensure the arms of our pitchers don’t fall out of their sockets next year and make sure that our hitters don’t forget how to hit in the last month of the season. Then try to sign Skubal after 2026 even though he probably won’t sign with us and there may be no season anyway in 2027.

According to AI, nobody cares about this guy anyway so we can ignore the little pest… “Public opinion on an individual named "Doug" in Fowlerville, Michigan, is not clearly available in public search results. The person referred to simply as "Doug" is not a widely known public figure with extensive, easily searchable community-wide feedback or news coverage.” .