ashbury

No one did any such thing.

No one asked Kepler for a stance, until he put on a non-standard colored (I'm being charitable) American flag. I mean, I couldn't tell you from memory that the German flag is black, red, and gold. But I do think if I was handed a covid-19 facemask that kind of looked like their flag, I'd inquire of the person giving it to me what it meant, before posting a photo of myself in it. And I'm not even a public figure. Also, an American flag's design is more distinctive than the mass of tri-color flags out there, so the oddity of that mask should have tripped a warning alarm for Max. He's not in middle school, and indeed was raised by an American mother, in a way that allowed him to play baseball at a pretty good level of competition before ever coming over here. He's not some blank slate who arrived here without context. Again, the most charitable interpretation of that photo was Max did something dumb. It happens to all of us. He should be allowed to explain himself, when it was pointed out. And he was, and did. That's not being "forced to have a stance on every single issue."

It's incredibly easy to click "Next Unread Topic" if a given article isn't to one's taste. I don't care much for ice hockey, but if Nick had written an article about Kent Hrbek's experience playing Bloomington Athletic Association hockey, I don't think I'd start threatening to take my reading time elsewhere. Speaking as only one of the moderators, we keep "politics" (broadly construed) out of the normal baseball comment threads because there is no quicker way to drown out the topic than for someone to inject an irrelevant but explosive tangent. Here, the article itself concerns something that normally would be a tangent. Putting aside my moderator role... I'm glad Nick said what he said. "Not into politics" is way too often the way someone says "I will not listen to anyone's grievances." The crocodile tears over the street violence rings hollow* when one pauses to recall that the nation's vice president made a trip to an NFL game for the express purpose of walking back out because some players chose to peacefully take a knee. And anyone who has kept their thoughts to themselves about George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Christian Cooper, Ahmaud Arbery, but then feels it necessary to speak up about the injustice of property damage, needs to rethink their priorities in this world. Finally, "Antifa, Antifa, Antifa," is starting to sound like a giant red herring to me - there are people on the other side from them who stand to gain more from fires being set. * I run a side business called "Weak Tea To Hang Your Hat On". Metaphors custom-mixed to your specification!

Then find a couple of corner outfielders who can move him to DH, and we'll really have something!

Good Old What's His Name Wait, Wait, It's Right On The Tip Of My Tongue Whatchamahoozy Those are the three players who come to mind right now. One of them played center, didn't he? Unless it was short.

No for Torii. While I like WAR for quick and dirty validation, for Hall of Fame I prefer Wins Above Average, and on that measure Hunter comes in with a career total that puts him in company of Dwayne Murphy, Vada Pinson, Curt Flood, Eric Davis. Putting aside analytics, these players seem like qualitatively decent comps for our guy, and as such, this would put him in the apocryphal Hall Of Very Good. Josh Donaldson, just too soon to say, or even really start the discussion. He hasn't passed the so-called Bus Test ("what if he got hit by a bus tomorrow?") for me at least. Eventual WAA comparables at the moment might be Ron Cey or Jeff Kent, which wouldn't bode well, but he's still got time to pile on some glory, after a relatively late start to his major league career.

I think he should be such a shoo-in that I'm hardly even interested in constructing the case for his election, until he doesn't make it on first ballot and then some work on his behalf becomes needed. But yes, in answer to the question, the batting titles as a catcher would be central to making such a case.

No. Keep the supply low, and the market cornered.

Gonna stick my neck out and guess that American Civil War alternate histories don't interest you either.

Tough one. I prefer to start from the real outcomes in the WS, and see where a contribution could have made a difference. The Twins won 3 games, none of them particularly close, so I'll put them in the bank and then hope that whatever change I make doesn't harm them. In their 4 losses, they got shut out 3 times, and lost 7-2 in the other game. Let me emphasize that - goose eggs in 3 out of the 4 games we need to reverse. The number of hits in the four losses were 5, 5, 4, and 3 - or by baserunners it's 7, 7, 5, 6 - so it's not like they were "one hit away" a bunch of times. The closest game was 2-0, the clincher pitched by Koufax - two runs seems like a mountain to climb, in that scenario. It really seems close to hopeless, to cherry-pick a way to win. My best hope is a couple of home runs with someone on base - an additional single here or there by Arraez doesn't move the needle. So I think I bring in Sano to play third base, moving Harmon back to first, and sitting Mincher who had a bad Series. Second choice would be Berrios to replace a starter, but all 3 starters were already good, and that LA offense was very underrated due to their home park stats, so holding them to the output that actually occurred was a good result. Maybe you get a classic 0-0 duel in game 7 with Berrios plus relievers, and some kind of walk-off magic happens in the 22nd inning after Koufax finally sits his butt down. Most other times I'd love Buxton roaming CF, but as the games played out, it's not clear to me how he would have been the difference maker that happened to be needed. Nelson Cruz as the crafty hitter who might have a chance to take Koufax deep is another possibility, if we thought he wouldn't give away runs at first base. Sano, and pray. That's my strategy, heavy on the second part.

"Alright, which one of you let THIS guy know about the party?"

There was a certain point in that season when they looked as if they might vie for best in franchise history.

He's still tinkering with his knuckleball, before attempting that.

Taking the Under on #10 there.

2015 called, they want their "X Weird Tricks" trope back.

"The number you have dialed is currently not being monitored. Please call again when we issue a press release announcing that we are back in our offices," the Twins public relations department said in a prepared statement, when asked for an official response concerning the pennant race.

I've never been an autograph hound, but this article with its illustrative examples was a pleasure, as it gives insight about the fundamental appeal of the hobby rather than the profit-making angle.

We commenters run into similar challenges.

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. I can't quibble with your approach, but I somehow think that either Josh Donaldson, Sergio Romo, or Jorge Polanco would survive and take top honors. I don't know enough about Homer Bailey to rule him out, on these subjective grounds, though.

Prrrrrrrrretty sure that would have been the trade in the first place, if the Dodgers were willing.

Richard. Hill. Baseball is just that simple. (Team mate Brock Holt is credited with the coinage.)

I'm so desperate, I've even started reading the comments.

'Fraid I take the Under on all except #1, and that one is due to sheer blind optimism on my part. As I understand an over-under bet to be approximately equal odds for money, these lines are all set entertainingly high.

Tell us again why keeping this car is the hill worth dying on? Nah, Eddie's a lot better than the car you described. But he plays at a position of reputed organizational strength and is worth thinking about trading for an area that isn't.