Republican State Legislatures Assume Leadership of Insurrection.

[NiftyNiblick]

The Tampa Bay Rays are knocked out after having won 100 games in the regular season.

Speaking not just as a Red Sox fan but also as a baseball fan, it's good that the Rays got knocked because the Rays are ruining baseball.

Their using analytics to contend with nickel and dime payrolls is destroying the very nature of the game.
but what I'm about to say is going to piss the Players' Association off.

We've no need for small market teams. We've no need for teams like the Rays to win 100 games while playing in front of empty chairs at home all season long.

MLB is supposed to be a PREMIER league showcasing the elite players of baseball.
There are not enough elite players walking the earth at the same time to fill thirty MLB rosters

Teams that are not in rabid markets supported by lucrative local cable TV deals
and capable of fielding 150,000,000 dollar payroll teams
comprised of genuinely elite players
don't belong in MLB.

It means fewer jobs for the players association, and for that, I'm sorry.
But baseball is not an essential industry. It's sports entertainment. Teams like the Tampa Bay Rays are NOT entertaining.
That's why they can win 100 games and still not draw flies at home.

If Tampa/St. Pete can't support a real major league roster, it isn't supposed to have an MLB team.
Florida baseball is great...in March. That's when you play baseball in Florida. Spring training.

Now my Red Sox, a real MLB market team, get to play the Houston Astros, a team that we've been unable to beat all year.
But at least we knocked out the Rays. We'll see what happens.

[RB 60]

Ouch! Hope your hand heals painlessly.

[leaningright]

The Tampa Bay Rays are knocked out after having won 100 games in the regular season.

Speaking not just as a Red Sox fan but also as a baseball fan, it's good that the Rays got knocked because the Rays are ruining baseball.

Their using analytics to contend with nickel and dime payrolls is destroying the very nature of the game.
but what I'm about to say is going to piss the Players' Association off.

We've no need for small market teams. We've no need for teams like the Rays to win 100 games while playing in front of empty chairs at home all season long.

MLB is supposed to be a PREMIER league showcasing the elite players of baseball.
There are not enough elite players walking the earth at the same time to fill thirty MLB rosters

Teams that are not in rabid markets supported by lucrative local cable TV deals
and capable of fielding 150,000,000 dollar payroll teams
comprised of genuinely elite players
don't belong in MLB.

It means fewer jobs for the players association, and for that, I'm sorry.
But baseball is not an essential industry. It's sports entertainment. Teams like the Tampa Bay Rays are NOT entertaining.
That's why they can win 100 games and still not draw flies at home.

If Tampa/St. Pete can't support a real major league roster, it isn't supposed to have an MLB team.
Florida baseball is great...in March. That's when you play baseball in Florida. Spring training.

Now my Red Sox, a real MLB market team, get to play the Houston Astros, a team that we've been unable to beat all year.
But at least we knocked out the Rays. We'll see what happens.

Loved the game last night. Especially loved the bunt. My son calls me "old" because I like things like sacrifice bunts in crucial situations better than I like home runs. I'll be old then.

Looking forward to the next series.

Our kids smoked the other schools in the academic meet yesterday evening. I don't know whether to be happy or sad. Those other kids, supposedly the cream of the crop from those schools, didn't seem to know much. It's scary. I am happy for our kids though...and our staff here at the school. Achieving in sports is one things, and we do like to do that, but achieving in Academic competitions is what it is really all about when you are a core subject teacher.

[NiftyNiblick]

Loved the game last night. Especially loved the bunt. My son calls me "old" because I like things like sacrifice bunts in crucial situations better than I like home runs. I'll be old then.

Looking forward to the next series.

Our kids smoked the other schools in the academic meet yesterday evening. I don't know whether to be happy or sad. Those other kids, supposedly the cream of the crop from those schools, didn't seem to know much. It's scary. I am happy for our kids though...and our staff here at the school. Achieving in sports is one things, and we do like to do that, but achieving in Academic competitions is what it is really all about when you are a core subject teacher.

I'm not a huge bunt fan when three outs end a half-inning.
You have to play for crooked numbers in the modern game.
BUT, in the bottom on the ninth, with none out, a player on base, and one run wins the game,
if you have a guy who can do it, that's the time to do it.

That's no different now than in 1901.

Congrats to your kids and teachers for doing a great job.

[leaningright]

It’s the National League fan coming out in me. Pitchers getting down a bunt in the game is exciting for me. Probably has to do with me coaching high school. This year is the best hitting team we’ve had, top to bottom. Not a whole lot of hunting needed. In years past you can count on some weaker hitters in our lineups so bunting is crucial to putting some pressure on the other team’s defense.

[leaningright]

It’s pouring here … but we need it.

I gave semester mid terms today. My kids were aghast that I would make them take a comprehensive test. I don’t like to question the younger folks in my profession but it makes me wonder what they’re doing in their classes.

I couldn’t stay with the Giants/Dodgers game last night. Went to bed at 5-1. Got up and checked the score this morning and it doesn’t look like I missed much.

I triggered an alphanumeric character with what I thought was a reasonable post in response to his/her/its question in one of the other forums here.

Today was my last day of work this week. We’ll now enjoy a two day Fall break. It’s youth deer season this weekend. It will be the first youth season to come and go that I haven’t taken my son hunting since he was in 4th grade. He didn’t get a shot at a deer that year but got one in the 5th grade and every year since then. Once one turns 18 he is no longer a “youth” … at least when it comes to this weekend. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to miss it a bit.

[Matt Dillon]

The Tampa Bay Rays are knocked out after having won 100 games in the regular season.

Speaking not just as a Red Sox fan but also as a baseball fan, it's good that the Rays got knocked because the Rays are ruining baseball.

Their using analytics to contend with nickel and dime payrolls is destroying the very nature of the game.
but what I'm about to say is going to piss the Players' Association off.

We've no need for small market teams. We've no need for teams like the Rays to win 100 games while playing in front of empty chairs at home all season long.

MLB is supposed to be a PREMIER league showcasing the elite players of baseball.
There are not enough elite players walking the earth at the same time to fill thirty MLB rosters

Teams that are not in rabid markets supported by lucrative local cable TV deals
and capable of fielding 150,000,000 dollar payroll teams
comprised of genuinely elite players
don't belong in MLB.

It means fewer jobs for the players association, and for that, I'm sorry.
But baseball is not an essential industry. It's sports entertainment. Teams like the Tampa Bay Rays are NOT entertaining.
That's why they can win 100 games and still not draw flies at home.

If Tampa/St. Pete can't support a real major league roster, it isn't supposed to have an MLB team.
Florida baseball is great...in March. That's when you play baseball in Florida. Spring training.

Now my Red Sox, a real MLB market team, get to play the Houston Astros, a team that we've been unable to beat all year.
But at least we knocked out the Rays. We'll see what happens.

The Red Sox will be here next spring too, faggot.

[NiftyNiblick]

It’s the National League fan coming out in me. Pitchers getting down a bunt in the game is exciting for me. Probably has to do with me coaching high school. This year is the best hitting team we’ve had, top to bottom. Not a whole lot of hunting needed. In years past you can count on some weaker hitters in our lineups so bunting is crucial to putting some pressure on the other team’s defense.

My son was a laser show with an aluminum bat in his hands.
He memorized the Ted Williams Science of Hitting book word for word, but he was too little as a boy--he grew big late--to be a power hitter.
He just hit one rope after another, foul pole to foul pole, game after game.

Alas, his fielding took after mine. He had the range of a mailbox. And also, his strong Little League arm didn't grown into the full sized field in equal proportion.
But I loved to watch him hit. He could go into the cage right now and put on a show at age 47. Just a hitting savant.

[leaningright]

I’ve seen a lot of really good players from my playing days through now in my coaching days…over 40 years worth. During that time I’ve only seen a handful of Major Leaguers on all the teams on which I’ve played, played against, coached or coached against. Just shows how elite they really are.

[leaningright]

Spent several hours with my dad today going through my grandfather’s old foot locker. Everything from old letters and Christmas cards to old tools to old shaving equipment and an ancient set of large animal vaccination syringes. Then there was the set of letters from a 28 year old son he had who had never seen him contacting him from Manila at the end of WWII. I always knew Uncle Manuel was a half sibling but never knew the whole story. It was a very interesting afternoon.

Fixing to take the missus out for supper. Sitting here waiting in her to get ready I read where my Cards fired their manager. Wow! Didn’t see that coming.

[NiftyNiblick]

Carlos Pena was my good friend's daughter's lab partner at Haverhill (MA) High School.
He must have played ten years hopping around the bigs, Really nice kid when I met him. You would have liked him.
I think he works on the MLB Cable Network now.

Hope you enjoy dinner. You're till young. Treat it like a date!

[Nordberg]

I hate bunting. It is statistically a toss-up with swinging away. But it gives an out away that could have resulted in extending a rally.

[leaningright]

We treated it like a date. Good food and good company.

It’s cool to look back and see the guys one has encountered in baseball when they “make it.” My senior year of high school my record was 12-1 with an ERA of 0.96. The guy who had the bulk of the rest of our wins (we finished 28-13) was 12-1 with an ERA of 0.92. The difference is by the time he was a senior in high school he had a legit, potential big league fastball. He bounced around the minors for several years before finally getting called up with the Blue Jays…a few weeks before the big strike. He never made it again.

I played against a guy at a nearby school (30 miles) who played around 10 years in the bigs. He was drafted by the Rangers but played in the late 90’s for Boston. Kid was the best high school player I ever played against. Name was Jeff Frye.

We’ve had a few from schools around here make it. It’s cool to see them on the TV. Got to watch one in post season for the Braves (Lane Adams) a few years back.

Fall weather has moved in here. Gonna be in the low 40’s tonight. I grilled burgers for supper when I should have made a pot of chili.

[NiftyNiblick]

Frye was a utility player for us in the late 90s and in fact started a lot of games in 1996 and 1997.
Not a very big guy as I remember. Played a little with the Rangers before us and the Rockies and Blue Jays after us.
Got ten seasons in which is pretty legit.

I sparred up in the Catskills with former world middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti [from Trieste, Italy] in one of his training camps.
He lost his title back to Emile Griffith, from whom he had won it, and then won it back from Griffith the next year.

It was shortly before I graduated from college and was drafted into the army.
I was cuffing around club fighters in the Boston area, but Mr. Benvenuti was a horse of a different color.
I would have had to progress a lot to compete at his level but that was never meant to be.

[leaningright]

It’s been a wonderful 4 day weekend. Fall weather, deer hunting, baseball, football…a great time with the wife.

Leaves are finally,changing, the mountains are prettier than I figured they’d be. I figured the drought we’ve been experiencing would keep the colors drab. They’re not as vibrant as usual but it’s pretty nonetheless.

I killed no deer but got to spend quality time in the woods. Technology is cool. I got to watch the Red Sox put a whipping on the Astros while keeping track of the Kentucky vs Georgia football game on my phone while I was in my tree stand. I also worked up a power point for my morning sermon at the same time. No deer interrupted my entertainment or my work.

OU won. OSU won. Tulsa won. Dallas won. It was as good of a football weekend as I can have.

Watching an entertaining Seahawk/Steelers game right now. A couple of bad teams (Seattle w/o Wilson) making for entertaining TV football.