TransMonk

Yeah...baseball is around #47 on my priority list right now. If they do play, it'll be a mangled, you-rah-rah mess that will always have an asterisk next to it. They can play if they want, but I don't believe I'll pay attention. I'm watching the world burning down around us.

Man, I tried to start putting a lineup together and it's tough. I haven't read the article. What is the determination for pitchers? Or is he only looking at batters?

I'm with Lefty.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/sports/mlb/mets/2020/05/01/gary-cohen-announcer-ny-mets-seton-hall-basketball-waiting-call/3061220001/Gary Cohen's call: 'Baseball and play-by-play will be back when it's back' I am perfectly willing to do whatever it is and I do not hold myself out as an expert on which would be the best plan,” Cohen said. “But what I do know is that, in this country right now, we are not even scratching the surface of the testing that would be needed to be able to make any plan a viable one. Until enough testing is in place to ensure the safety of everybody involved in whatever endeavor they try to establish, then it's really a moot point.

Henderson 1999

Harold Reynolds never played for the Mets, but I think he spent abut 6 days as an analyst on SNY.

Bautista

Two years ago when I was worrying about Trump's effect on American life, I remember thinking, "well, things can't be too bad because they are still playing baseball". I know this isn't all his fault, but, fuck.

Chad ochoseis wrote: This isn't even a close call. Baseball is a game. Yup.

One of the best parts of baseball is that we can have such passionate debates about it! I respect your opinions, but disagree. Agreed...and that's OK. I don't think baseball needs to be blown up. You can always improve things here or there, but I think the sport is thriving. "Blown up" was maybe the wrong term...I mostly meant changing some of the nagging things that could be improved. I think the NL/AL distinctions are historic. And while the differences between the leagues are certainly diminished from the days when there were separate league offices, I think it's important to respect that history. I still think the Astros are in the NL half the time. Yabbut, if the DH is added to the NL, then there is no more need to have the distinction. It becomes historical, which is fine with me. As an NL purist, I think it would make the transition more palatable. When I tell my grandkids about the "good old days", I can talk about the differences and nuance that made the NL special. Once the DH becomes universal, that is gone. I think MLB would have a better time selling abolishing the differences in the leagues than adding the DH to the NL. I think MLB is more likely to add two teams to deal with the forced inter-league games rather than realign. And I like the inter-league games. More opportunities to see the Mets. I'm sure they will, too. But I don't like adding more teams. I'd contract if anything. I feel the talent pool is diluted and better competition would be forced by fewer teams. I don't know if there is a huge need to reduce travel -- it's not like they are flying economy on Southwest -- and I like seeing more teams, rather than the sames ones over and over. Poll the players and owners and see what they say. It is an expense and it also creates wear and tear on players. Realigning so that the Mets play the Yankees 18-24 times per year rather than the Marlins or Braves saves thousands of air miles and reduces road trips. Players would be fresher and, theoretically, would perform better and last longer. And I'm not saying they would never play other teams. Ideally, I would advocate for 8 four team divisions where teams play their division rivals 24 times and then one series against every other team in the league (alternating home/away each year). That would be 156 games and the schedule would be set. You would know that the Mets are coming to Detroit every other year rather than the random scheduling that happens now. *On edit - I guess my premise here does mean there would be expansion of two teams. I don't see a benefit in shortening the season. It's been 162 going on 60 years. And if they are going to have more doubleheaders, it would be of the day/night variety and those suck. Again, ask the players. Travel and scheduling in baseball is worse than ever. I have a feeling that players are going to negotiate mandatory off days after road trips and playing no more than something like 10 days in a row. Reducing the number of games while keeping the April through October timeframe allows schedule makers to put in more off days. Doubleheaders would help with that as well...and I would hope that they would be true twin-bills and I'm talking like no more than two or three a season. More off days means that players again would be fresher and last longer.

Universal DH coming...I'm surprised it took so long. I'd like it more if it was part of radical change to the game. Geographically realign, get rid of the NL/AL, unbalance the schedules to reduce travel by playing bulk of games in division, shorten the season to 156 games with regularly scheduled off days and double headers. I think someone here (FK?) linked to an article last year that talked about blowing up the league in order to start fresh now that everyone would be playing by the same rules, but I can't find it now.

https://twitter.com/Pete_Alonso20/status/1220062128071237639 If's the ROY is happy...

In Episode 3 of The Outsider on HBO, savant-character Holly Gibney recalls facts and stats from the Mets 3-0 win over the Cubs on September 26, 1985.

I hope that the Mets would consider Meulens, too.

I'm on the bring-back-Collins-back boat.

Lupita Nyong'o wuz robbed.

Edgy MD wrote: Tim Tebow spent the whole offseason trying to re-work his whole marketing strategy without the number 15. BOC

Wow. And there it is. He's the only player mentioned in the report. Approximately two months into the 2017 season, a group of players, including Carlos Beltrán, discussed that the team could improve on decoding opposing teams' signs and communicating the signs to the batter. Cora arranged for a video room technician to install a monitor displaying the center field camera feed immediately outside of the Astros' dugout. Now, take the time to read the actual comment: a group of players, including Carlos Beltrán, discussed that the team could improve on decoding opposing teams' signs and communicating the signs to the batter. Reading comprehension test: 1. Does this say that Beltran set up the system? 2. Does this say he suggested setting up the system? 3. Does this say he had anything to do with operating it? 4. Did he suggest using a camera? 5. Is setting up a camera the only possible way to "improve on decoding opposing teams' signs"? 6. Does this say that Beltran was the only one who brought this up? Or was is "a group of players"? Beltran (among others) made a comment; Cora carried it out. Beltran certainly benefited from the system, but so did everyone on the roster. The only issue here was Beltran's name was mentioned (and he takes second fiddle to "a group of players"). He may have been a catalyst, but the report did not say he was involved in setting up the cheating. All the more reason to hear from Beltran tout de suite. The longer he and the Mets wait to get his story out there, then the longer the perception that he is one of the lynch pins will be burning in the media/interwebs.

Yeah...this is a pretty horrible look for Beltran and the team's decision to hire him.

Word from Sox fans is that the White Sox reportedly offered Zack Wheeler more money than the Phillies and he turned it down. Wheeler's wife is from New Jersey, so they wanted to stay closer to family. I have zero linkable evidence for this, but as our president says, "people are saying", "I hear", etc.

I think Lunchbucket is right on. The Sox fans I know really want him.

My main problem with the black jerseys are the black hats. Still, if they ended up doing it a handful of times a year, I won't get bent out of shape about it.

While Mets players tweet about being back in black, the Twinkies are going back to baby blue as an alternate.

The White Sox are looking like they could be really good to me. They needed a couple veteran pieces to round out the roster and adding Grandal is a sign that they are ready to go for it.

My Twitter feed is mostly DC based journalists and politicos. There are a lot of Nats fans among them and my biggest takeaway is that they are really bad at rooting for playoff baseball. I had to mute "Nats" and "Nationals" for 30 days.