batmagadanleadoff

Every sport has a coronavirus plan. MLB's lasted four days. By Thomas Boswell Columnist July 27, 2020 at 4:44 p.m. EDT The title of this piece reminds me of the line Mike Tyson, in his prime, had about his opponents: "Every one of my opponents has a plan. Until they get punched in the face". Excerpt: Cancel the MLB year, maybe by the end of this week. Forget about the NFL season; it's never going to happen. The idea of attempting a college football season — putting amateur athletes at risk — is obscenely unthinkable. Within days or a couple of weeks, we also may find out just how feasible it is for the NBA, in its Florida bubble, or the NHL, playing in two hub cities in Canada, to finish truncated seasons and crown champions. Sure, none of that is certain, but Monday morning's news that at least 14 members of the Miami Marlins and their staff have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in recent days was a Category 5 covid-19 hurricane alert. You couldn't have a worse MLB start or a grimmer predictor for other games. With lots of inherent social distancing, baseball was supposed to be the easiest major American team sport to resume, just as leagues in Japan and South Korea have functioned smoothly for months. But MLB couldn't go even a week without the serious prospect that its 60-game season should be canceled. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/07/27/every-sport-has-coronavirus-plan-mlbs-lasted-four-days/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/07/27/every-sport-has-coronavirus-plan-mlbs-lasted-four-days/

Oh, the fucking hypocrisy. The Yankees paint a BLM logo on their mound --likely against their will as that was an MLB thing-- but then invite Donald "KKK" Trump to throw out a ceremonial first pitch.

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Lefty Specialist wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: And now the Yanx game in Philly is off tonight. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Mets season ends after this series in Boston. Maybe even before that. The dominoes are starting to fall. I didn't think they'd finish the season, but I didn't think it'd all come apart so fast. I gave it three weeks, tops. What I saw during an exhibition game was, I thought, a horror show. Plus, from what I've been reading, I'm skeptical that the players are strictly social distancing in the lockers and off the fields. They cant help themselves. The players are young and in top health. They've been superstars their whole lives, with their .750 high school batting averages and being bigger than their peers since grade school. They probably think they're Superman. Did youse see the way the Mets mobbed each other after Cespedes's HR?

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: But hey, we kept Paul Sewald. When was the last time that guy had a halfway decent outing? Probably 2017, the same year youse voted him (as undeserving) Schaefer Mets Reliever of the Year.

Edgy MD wrote: Oh the Hindu and the Muslim and the Hebrew in the streets! Where do they go?! TO MEET THE METS! Oh, they're sneering and they're jeering at those frankfurter pork treats! Where do they go?! TO MEET THE METS!

From The Athletic: Mets lean on their standbys in another Opening Day win Excerpt: Baseball returned to Queens on Friday, 299 days after it departed for the winter. Just having a baseball game that counted in the standings was stabilizing enough, but the Mets were kind enough to bring along some fundamental truths of their existence. No, they are not the most reliable of franchises. But damn if you don't know when you put on the game that Jacob deGrom will shove but not get the win, and Yoenis Céspedes will mash as long as he's healthy. And oh, the most important one: The Mets will win on Opening Day. Céspedes' seventh-inning solo homer, in his first major-league game in more than two years, was the difference in New York's 1-0 victory over the Braves on Friday afternoon. The Mets are 39-12 on Opening Day since 1969 — a stat that grows more unfathomable by the year. New York has won four straight on Opening Day, three of them shutouts. https://theathletic.com/1950728/2020/07/24/mets-lean-on-their-standbys-in-another-opening-day-win/https://theathletic.com/1950728/2020/07/24/mets-lean-on-their-standbys-in-another-opening-day-win/

I dunno. KC's the one that turned this kneeling discussion into something personal. I thought the pre-game ceremonies at Shea-Citi this afternoon were rather tasteful. Zero scumbag stuff detected here. But some people see what they want/need to see. Good lord, that's what set your Doctor Denton's on fire? hahaha... #lgm #ygb #ymdyf Oh. Excuse me. So who the hell were you talking about with your "some people" and "[z]ero scumbag stuff detected here"? Not only are you fine with not a single Met kneeling but then you take it out on me for noticing that no Met kneeled. You're so full of shit like all the time.

Edgy MD wrote: It's black and white with Ceets. If you don't agree with him, he'll tell you what you actually believe. And it ain't gonna be pretty. Please don't presume to have a nuanced thought for yourself. That's just a waste of mental energy. Ceets sees all. Ceets knows all. He knows you far better than you do. It's an incredible burden he bears and we're lucky to have him among us. I dunno. KC's the one that turned this kneeling discussion into something personal. =kcmets post_id=41576 time=1595643821 user_id=53] I thought the pre-game ceremonies at Shea-Citi this afternoon were rather tasteful. Zero scumbag stuff detected here. But some people see what they want/need to see.

Yes. That's why I wrote "so inclined". Didn't Robles have a perpetual mean streak?

Frayed Knot wrote: The bottom half of the 10th saw Hansel Robles on the mound to face the A's. So he plunks the first hitter.... Wouldn't this "magic double" rule encourage or provide incentive for a visiting team pitcher in extra innings in a tied game, if so inclined, to plunk the first batter he faces in the inning? The plunked runner on first is meaningless with the winning run already magically doubled to second base. And tactically, the beaning sets up force plays on all the baserunners.

What a sap. The national anthem is a moronic way to start a baseball game. You know what's uplifting? Colin Kaepernick, that's what. What uplifing and inspiring?!? You were taking a shot at me for preferring the kneelers over the stander-uppers. Your post had nothing to do with the players or the opening ceremonies other than as pretext.

=kcmets post_id=41576 time=1595643821 user_id=53] I thought the pre-game ceremonies at Shea-Citi this afternoon were rather tasteful. Zero scumbag stuff detected here. But some people see what they want/need to see.

'The first step': Yankees, Nationals players all kneel before national anthem in MLB opener Excerpt: In a coordinated gesture between the reigning World Series champion Washington Nationals and New York Yankees before the first major league game played this year Thursday night, players clutched a black cloth that winded from the Nationals' first base line around to the Yankees on the third-base line. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2020/07/23/mlb-opening-day-yankees-nationals-players-kneel-before-national-anthem/5498230002/https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2020/07/23/mlb-opening-day-yankees-nationals-players-kneel-before-national-anthem/5498230002/ ________________ All Mets, Braves stand for national anthem on Opening Day at Citi Field Excerpt: Every player on the Mets and Braves stood for the national anthem on Friday.... https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-mets-anthem-kneeling-opening-day-20200724-afonkfs24vey5ho4dvxnshbhsi-story.htmlhttps://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-mets-anthem-kneeling-opening-day-20200724-afonkfs24vey5ho4dvxnshbhsi-story.html _____________ I'm beginning to think that the Mets are, for the most part, made up of scumbag redneck Republicans. If I was a major leaguer, I'd kneel for the whole national anthem. If I was later asked why, I'd say that I'd knelt in support of the BLM movement, but mostly to defy and irritate our scumbag vile president, who's against athletes kneeling.

Edgy MD wrote: Why does Keith suddenly have a beef with horizontal stripes on the stirrups? https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/2/keith-hernandez-st-louis-cardinals-st-louis-cardinals-llc.jpg> Because they (rightfully so) clash with the Mets' vertical pinstripes.

Disgusting!

I don't get this. What am I missing? It seems as if you already gave us the answers, except for the catcher, who I'd guess is Molina. OK. Nevermind. Active streaks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjYoNL4g5Vghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjYoNL4g5Vg

I don't get this. What am I missing? It seems as if you already gave us the answers, except for the catcher, who I'd guess is Molina.

I watched about 10 minutes of baseball last night -- the DBacks @ Dodgers game. It was the first live baseball I'd watched this year. (And even then it, technically, wasn't live. I was watching a two in the morning replay.) The only player I saw wearing a mask was the DBack first baseman. All but one of the batters I happened to see were maskless during their at-bats -- and the one batter I did see wearing a mask during his at-bat had the mask around his neck instead of over his mouth, like a fucking ascot. I saw a runner steal second base. During the play at the base, the runner's face came within inches of the middle infielder's face --(the infielder covering the bag on the tag play). And the runner was, presuambly, breathing heavily, due to the exertion he produced from running full speed to second base. Neither of those two players had masks on, either. The catchers were also maskless. The catchers, ferchrissakes. If this is how the players are going to go about, I give this whole experiment three weeks, tops, before it's shut down. On the bright side, I saw a cardboard cutout of Tommy Lasorda behind home plate. The Dodgers, I think, don't charge fans $$ for cutout placement. Instead, they select not so random subjects for the cardboard cutout treatment. Unless it's a mixed bag kinda deal, with fans who paid for placement mixed in with celebrities.

Edgy MD wrote: ... but it just occurs to me that this is much less about the Blue Jays hosting games at the Steve J. Rogers Center than it is about letting players go from the miserable and plague-stricken United States back and forth across the Canadian border. Yes. Because under Trump, the US is now the shithole country that our shitbag president characterizes other countries as being.

Lefty Specialist wrote: Just looking at how that game was played, there's no way baseball's going to complete this season. Yankee players were high-fiving. Virtually no one was wearing masks or social distancing. I don't see how they're getting through this season without multiple outbreaks, especially with two teams in Florida and two in Texas. Hope I' m wrong, but...... I think that if just three or four players on the same team test positive at the same time, the whole team's gonna have to be shut down. The incubation period for covid-19 could be as long as two weeks, so who knows how many other teammates are infected in addition to the three or four medically confirmed cases? California, with five teams, is not so hot either. That's three of the four most populous states. And Arizona's got a team. That's another covid disaster zone.

Just learned that Jerzy Kosinsky's novel The Painted Bird was released as a Czech movie last year. There must be an immediate American release pending because the interwebs are full of very recent takes. Am totally psyched. I read the book about 30 years ago and absolutely loved it. I read it two more times since then. Nothing to review yet, but here's the trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRDuc3IdOn8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRDuc3IdOn8 https://www.salon.com/2020/07/17/the-painted-bird-review/https://www.salon.com/2020/07/17/the-painted-bird-review/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/movies/the-painted-bird-review.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/movies/the-painted-bird-review.html

ESPN Announces Multi-Part 30 for 30 on '86 Mets ESPN Films announced an upcoming multi-part 30 for 30 documentary on the legendary 1986 Mets team. Highlighting their iconic season, which featured a franchise record 108-54 record and one of the greatest World Series comebacks, the series will be executive produced by Jimmy Kimmel, Sal “Cousin Sal” Iacono, ITV's Jordana Hochman, Kimmelot's Scott Lonker and MLB's Nick Trotta. Nick Davis, who was the writer and director of the PBS documentary “Ted Williams: ‘The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived,'” will direct the multi-part series on the team. The series will show moments on and off of the field. https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/07/09/espn-multi-part-30-for-30-documentary-1986-new-york-metshttps://www.si.com/mlb/2020/07/09/espn-multi-part-30-for-30-documentary-1986-new-york-mets __________________________________________ The project, which will air never before seen behind-the-scenes footage of the team, will be executive produced by Jimmy Kimmel, Sal “Cousin Sal” Iacono, Kimmelot's Scott Lonker, ITV's Jordana Hochman and MLB's Nick Trotta. Nick Davis, who directed “Ted Williams: ‘The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived'," will direct the project. https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/1986-mets-espn-30-for-30-1.46559037https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/1986-mets-espn-30-for-30-1.46559037 __________________________________

Benjamin Grimm wrote: As I recall, the Twins' new stadium in Minneapolis isn't retro either, and I don't recall thinking it was ugly at all. Marlins Stadium isn't retro, either. [FIMG=555]https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/04/02/sports/YKEPNER/YKEPNER-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale [/FIMG]

I like how free cutouts are offered only to season tickets holders who re-up for 2021. The next BLM-like revolution is gonna be a financial one and it's gonna be uglier and more violent by orders of magnitude because it'll affect just about everybody instead of 15 percent of the population.