Nine of twelve

I agree with what others have posted, that Lewis seems to get it about team sports. It's said that baseball is a team sport played by individuals because there is much less teamwork involved in the play of the game in baseball compared to football, basketball, hockey, or soccer. But it's still important to work to lift up and support your teammates as much as you can, not just on the field but in the form of praise and advice and maintaining a positive attitude and everything else. I guess I'm more jaded when it comes to players saying how much fans contribute to a team's performance. It's true that in some outlying circumstances home fans can make a difference, for example in 1987, but in baseball playing at home is only a very small advantage. And IMHO most of that advantage is due to not having to deal with the rigors of travel: flying on planes, living in hotels (not sleeping in your own bed), eating in restaurants, using hired transportation to get around, and the like. We just witnessed the Rangers winning a World Championship with a 2-4 home record and an 11-0 road record. The largest and most important contribution fans make--largest and most important by far--is money. Players and everyone else in the game all understand that fans are the ultimate source of every dollar and it's in their best self-interest to keep the revenue stream flowing as well as possible. So I view the comments players make in praise of fans as mostly pandering with a modicum of gratitude.

Like buying a Porsche and then using a team of horses to pull it.

The video of his unusual curveball release was very interesting. I worry about whether MLB hitters will be able to pick that up. It would be a significant problem if he consistently tips that pitch. I'm not a pitching coach but I doubt that he could get the same action with a different grip and release. The other thing I wonder about is whether this release stresses his arm. It seems to be an unnatural delivery but again I'm not an expert.

Why isn't this is the Transactions Rumors and Proposals forum?

Those who came close to Herb Carneal are few and far between. So it's not really fair to have expected Gordon to match that but there was something about his delivery--contrived voice is a good way to say it--that I just never really liked.

There are numerous players whose careers tanked immediately after being forced to give up the juice. By still playing well after discontinuing PED use a player shows that it was talent that made him a good player, not the drugs.

I guess I can understand the shenanigans aspect. My rationale is it seems inequitable to me that if a team signs a similar free agent player to a similar contract the team would retain the compensatory pick. If a player declines the QO and the team that made the QO loses the compensatory pick for signing that player on the open market that puts the team at a significant disadvantage in negotiating with that player. I haven't looked into the rules that apply to this scenario so maybe that's covered somehow.

Question: If he rejects the QO but then signs here as a free agent do we still get the compensatory draft pick? My assumption is that we do.

It's not really mythical. That's what the HOF is evolving into.

Correlation ≠ causation.

Of course, now come the comments advocating him being hired as the hitting coach. Maybe he'd be good; I don't know. And nobody else knows either. It would be a risk hiring someone with no coaching experience to be on the staff of a major league team expected to contend. He'd have to give a hell of an interview to be seriously considered.

The stats show how baseball has less of a difference between the best teams and mediocre teams than the other 3 major sports. The fact that a 5 seed and a 6 seed played for the World Championship shows that in this day and age a team's regular season performance has become not very important. Just do well enough to qualify for the postseason and go from there. Playing more games at home in the postseason is of little value. Yes, I know players and team officials always say they couldn't have done it without their fans but that's just pandering. The World Series winds up being won by the team that gets hot, or at least warm, at the right time. I'll refrain from commenting about whether or not that's a good thing.

Actually 3: Garver, Grossman, and Perez.

There are two separate things here, the means of accessing the broadcast and who announces the games. Both are certainly important issues, and I may be wrong about this, but I don't think that one influences the other very much.

Certainly viewership numbers need to be good, and as you say advertisers pay attention to viewer demographics. But that doesn't mean a change in approach has to be unpleasant for "us older folks". (And I am in that demographic.) As long as the announcers make the game the focus of the broadcast and provide useful and interesting information I feel confident in my ability to adapt to any changes. I just hope that as coverage evolves gratuitous gimmickry is kept to a minimum.

His name was Mel Jass, and I do remember his postgame bit.

Congrats to Dick on his retirement and on the career that preceded it! He was very good at his job. He was skilled at walking the fine line between being a fan announcing the game and being an insufferable homer. Occasionally a critic, never an apologist, always a fan, which I have come to realize is what I want in an announcer for my favorite team. It will be interesting to see who replaces him, if anybody 😬. With broadcast rights currently held by nobody it's anyone's guess what TV coverage will look like come March. Cory is great, and from a selfish standpoint I'd rather have him on TV because I listen to radio coverage only rarely. I like Atteberry but I certainly understand how others may not. Gladden is good at telling stories and providing a player's insight on the game but he simply doesn't have the talent for doing play-by-play. He's like the player who is a skilled fielder but can't hit a curve ball to save his life.

I didn't think Escobar would ever develop the power that Escobar did. And Castro has hit a handful of long home runs.

I'm reminded of the career path of Eduardo Escobar. It's OK to dream, isn't it?

There's only so much that can be done with any letter, and it's nigh on impossible to find something that hasn't already been trademarked or strongly associated with something else. The U of M's iconic logo is a very long-standing example of unique and identifiable and I can't think of any other letter M that fits that description. (I guess maybe the McDonald's golden arches.) And things can get ridiculous. Within the last few years Ohio State University tried to get a monetary settlement or a cease-and-desist order when some entity was using a block-style font of the letter O. (That attempt was not allowed by a judge.) I don't look favorably or unfavorably on the Twins' M logo. I guess it's fine for the team to make money from it on merch and so forth but beyond that I just don't see the need. I think the TC logo is one of the best in sports and I wish that were the one and only logo to appear on caps and sleeves. It's simple but unique, it's very well established, and it's as readily identifiable as the Yankee NY is.

No data to support this thought, but my guess would be that a baseball player's peak age is about 30. Physical skills may be starting to drop a little, but baseball has so many nuances that experience is a bigger factor than in other sports.

It goes back to the old saying: it's not just who you play, it's when (and where, I suppose) you play them. To win the World Series a team has to win 11 of 19 games or 13 of 22 games, depending on seeding. It would not raise an eyebrow for any team, including even Oakland or Kansas City, to do this at some point during the course of a regular season. But do it at the right time and you're World Champions.

I think it's a good idea to see how he does as a starter in 2024. But there are many pitchers who find that they have much better success as a reliever than as a starter. Jax is a good recent example. It wouldn't surprise me to see Varland turn out the same way.

Jake Cave might be available after tonight's game.

I think Ryan is positioned to improve next year. He's my early pick to click for 2024.