biggentleben

I hope Huascar gets to make a positive contribution to the series as well at some point...

Whitey Ford I hate to get on the board with The Chairman of the Board.

He's definitely going to be part of the NLDS roster. If not, it would be an absoltue shame as he and Wilson paired together was an excellent fourth starter...and he alone would work as a very good opener for the fifth starter, if needed.

Braves do have Huascar Ynoa in the bullpen.

Seriously, man. The "hapless" Braves are over .500 as a franchise and have a World Series title in three different cities. Extended runs of excellence in the mid-1940s through 1960 and 1990s through mid-2000s also had NLCS runs scattered in between in the 1970s and even the 1980s. The team has won the last three division titles and went to the playoffs three of four years from 2010-2013. I also notice that you happen to bring in the rankings "since 1920" when the Cardinals went from a perennial also-ran to a contender. Fairly convenient. Interesting that the org that nearly became the Milwaukee Cardinals holds such a strong pull and causes such comments toward Cubs fans when even while Gibson was on the team, it was nearly sold away from the city.

I do hate replays of Livan '97.

For those who missed the news today, Pat O'Conner, the President and CEO of Minor League Baseball, announced his retirement. He had been leading things with the minors for nearly three decades and done some amazing work in growing the minor league game. Sadly, as the contract between minor league baseball and major league baseball is up this offseason, I think this is simply a sign that we're about to see a hostile takeover of the minors by Major League Baseball, essentially designating the minor leagues as another one of its entries on the ledger, rather than the humanity that it truly deserves. Former Minnesota Twins GM Bill Smith has been working as O'Conner's second-in-command, but rumors abound that the St. Petersburg offices of MiLB will be shuttered, moving everything under the MLB umbrella in NYC and likely costing dozens of jobs. It's really a sad day for the health of the game that will likely go very, very underreported. ------ (Figured with the impact to the entirety of baseball, this was the best fit rather than purely in minor leagues)

It is pretty cool. Heavily weighted to the last few years, but that's to be expected. For instance, if you wanted Greg Maddux videos when I searched, I got 7 results.

Jackie Robinson died on Jackie Robinson day...

I'd be incredibly amazed to hear the numbers that high. A LOT of work-a-day folks make up the work force and have to go in to their jobs every single day in manufacturing, healthcare, retail, and in many places, multiple other businesses are open to some level now, even if they aren't open to the public. Locally, our county courthouse just opened up limited public access, but those employed by the offices in the courthouse have been coming in to work every day since March.

I did find it interesting that when Nick Markakis, who had initially opted out of the season but became the most notable player to opt back in, hit a walk-off home run to win the game for the Braves tonight in his first game back, the team stormed the field....then they proceeded to distance themselves and lift their hands in the air in a large, spaced-out group around home plate and do high jazz hands in group celebration. That said, when Freddie Freeman homered earlier in the game, he got slaps on the back and such in the dugout as had been the case previously, so it's not all jelly beans and rainbows.

They tried, but the owners were very heavy handed with it and wanted major financial concessions to do so, so the players were quick to say no.

PBS had a tremendously timely Frontline piece this week on conspiracy theories. It's amazing how in a press briefing with a Republican Senator on Thursday, he was asked about the idea of moving the election and flat-out laughed. When asked about the President's tweet to that effect, he said that no one truly believed that, and if the President ever truly believed it, he'd already moved off that thought. It was less than two hours after he had sent the tweet. Polarization of the media landscape right now is intentionally played by many figures that are not media. It is nothing to do with the virus. I can tell you that many want to report straight numbers and straight information, understanding this is a novel virus and that details on the treatment and protection for the virus will change as more is found out about it. When those changes become fodder for attacks on the scientific community or used as ammunition as a "lack of holding science to the fire" by one political bend, it makes media attempting to report straight information look biased. I've been accused of being a mouthpiece for both parties as a reporter, which tells me that I'm reporting exactly what's happening rather than putting a spin on any of what's going on because many will read something with a predetermined lean to how they interpret what you write...that, and looking up at social workers and teachers on the pay scale is the joy of reporting.

While not on a lot of "top baseball movies" one of my favorites has always been "For Love of the Game". Actress Kelly Preston, who plays Kevin Costner's love interest in the movie, passed away yesterday at the age of 57.

That's far from what I'm saying, but I'm also not going to glorify him for saving baseball either. He didn't take steps to "save" the game. He took an easy answer instead of actually addressing the problem. Essentially, he chopped off the weed rather than pull out the root. As far as players taking money...that's not what I said either. Gambling has never lost its influence on the game. It's just finding different angles to get that influence. It's been investigated, sometimes things have been done, but no one goes scorched earth in the way Landis did with players because it would mean burning potential advertisers and sponsors.

Except the side money was always there. It just came in different ways than gambling. He rooted out the players, not the problem. That's always been the Landis legacy with the Black Sox, one that subsequent commissioners have seemingly defaulted to - when stuff hits the fan, blame the players, when that doesn't work, punish the players, when that doesn't work, remove the players, and if that doesn't work, then it's probably the players' fault for that as well. Cocaine, PEDs, free agency, all of it has been publicly labeled against players by owners, yet we only hear about one major collusion period in the sport because it ended up in court. There have been many such periods where players were not signed or not signed to equitable contracts on a collective agreement among owners. Landis never solved gambling in the game. Just like PEDs have been in the game since the early 1900s, the gambling has always been there. It simply moved to different angles is all. The true root of the problem still has never been addressed.

I am confused how this response was brought from my comment. I quite literally stated that Natives should have a say, but that the solution that you proposed would exclude indigenous people who happen not to live in that particular region, which to me excludes those who should have a voice on a name. I don't believe my voice is imperative, but the voices of those who have directly felt the impact of what has been done to Native persons in this country absolutely deserve a voice, whether they are next door or across the country.

An issue with that...while it's often incorrect imagery, many of the images portrayed into popular folklore about indigenous people comes from states where there is no local professional team or where they wouldn't have say in a professional team using their likeness. For instance, artist renditions of the Wounded Knee massacre and of many Sioux chiefs and warriors inspired logos and images that are still used today in some places by teams, yet Sioux tribes wouldn't be privy to a discussion with the Indians, Braves, or Chiefs as they're not a local tribe in your proposed agreement with local tribes solution.

Felix is incredibly influential in the Latin baseball community. His choice could lead to a number of players choosing to follow suit.

I put together an article for the opinion page of the paper just a week ago from a national opinion writer that stated his home team in Texas should remove the team name of the Rangers due to a brutal and terrible history of that organization.

The "simple man" passed on today as Charlie Daniels passed away at 83.

I've said this in a few different places, and I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself on this for anyone. My wife and I adopted four children that each has some level of Sioux blood in their veins. As part of that, and because I've always had a fondness for the Sioux culture, my wife and I reached out to connections through foster care and previous employment to discuss ways to assist our children in understanding and knowing their culture. Already, they've each faced comments in school (my children are ages 5-8) that I never knew existed, which absolutely breaks my heart. One particular tribal chief knew of my baseball writing and got onto the topic of sports teams with me once. I asked him about changing names, including the names of teams like the Braves and Chiefs, which aren't considered inherently "racist" by "woke" non-Native people. While I'm quoting this, it's generally paraphrased, but his response was this: "The Sioux and all other tribes in these lands have seen treaties broken, their women raped, their children brutally murdered, sacred lands stolen and desecrated, and all of this brushed off as 'manifest destiny.' Then, when naming a sports franchise came along, in order to sell ball caps and t-shirts, they put a picture of the most grotesque version of an Indian that they can think of and use some nomenclature they use to describe our people in order to sell all those things." "Changing those names is like an ice cube off the side of the peak of the Titanic of the glacial iceberg of things that have been done wrong to my people. There are much more important things for me to fight for, but if someone else puts in the time and the effort to get that ice cube chipped away, I will support it." I have been a fan of changing the Braves' name ever since that conversation...and I've been a Braves fan my entire life. Let's just say that I'm not popular among Braves fans for that take.

I still like the idea of renaming the MVP award after Frank Robinson, a major innovator in the sport and still the only one to win MVP in both leagues.

Most who have researched the Black Sox scandal have widely agreed that Landis made things much worse rather than better. Rather than truly getting to the bottom of what was going on and removing the bad apples in the game, he attacked a group of accused that had varying levels of actual evidence against them with no ability for appeal, essentially removing all ability for true justice. That cloud still hangs over the game as many still hold gambling as a "no questions asked" lifetime ban, and some have attempted to toss other issues (PEDs, for one) into that bucket. What saved the game was the offensive explosion of the 1920s, not Landis.

Dale Murphy suggested that the Braves change to the Hammers in honor of Hank Aaron. I'd be all in favor of that.