Ebby Calvin Laloosh

Miggy tied Babe Ruth with that hit. I think that's why they wanted the ball, not because he broke a big oh-fer.

I don't quite get this. All the statistical analysis to determine that Rogers has "bad luck." What's the difference between being bad at baseball and being unlucky? To my eyes, they both look like losing. I understand that the advanced statistics can show potential, but my eyes watched Rogers last year and recognized the potential. I just don't get taking solace in the fact that we are losing games because of "luck" rather than being bad, they both look the same in December. I'm not against advanced stats, at all. It's how I discuss the game with friends. I just find it odd that we point out all these numbers as a way to disprove what we think we are seeing. Then chalk it all up to a nebulous thing called luck.

Do teams only look at stats put up in close games to decide contracts? I'm pretty sure Tatis gets paid to hit dingers. The more he hits the more he gets paid. To channel Sprewell, Tatis has got a family to feed. Just because Texas is so bad he has to lose money on his next contract? Makes no sense...

Was that an Astro's drone?

Garver's eye at the plate has always impressed me. Seems like he only swings at strikes (pure eye test, I haven't looked at the numbers). This year so far he seems to take a lot of meaty strikes. The backwards K's are what concerns me, just a little bit. Seems like it might just be a major league hitter taking some time to get his eye at the plate dialed in. I have faith that he'll rake after building up a few more PAs.

I don't think a 60 game season will bring in more, young fans. I don't think the random tweaks in the rules will do it either. I'd suggest the MLB invests heavily in Little League, Babe Ruth, and donate some money so every public elementary school in the state has a team and a place to play. I'm a baseball fan because I played on three or four different teams every summer growing up, not because OPS is particularly interesting. Not every fan needs to digest all the new stats and metrics. Just get kids playing baseball. Was there every anything better than when your whole Little League team went to the Dome to catch a Twins game? That's how you make life long fans, hook 'em early.

Smalley is brutal. It's not that he doesn't know what he's talking about, it's that he can't vocalize it. He's just not good at speaking, which is kind of important for an announcer. I'd sit and talk baseball with him any day, he just doesn't have the knack for getting what's in his head out to the viewer with any semblance of coherence. Also try making it through a broadcast, or inning, or at bat without saying "big end of the bat."

This team is exactly as good as itself.

Tie! This team is exactly as good as itself.

The ESPN crew doing KBO from home has been rough. The first 4 innings are reserved to discuss the fact that its early in the morning and how much coffee is being consumed. The rest of the game is full of interviews. No discussion of the game or what's going on on the field. I don't get why they feel the need to interview 5 people during a baseball game. I see that the KBO reporter, Daniel Kim is useful to speak with but if I wanted to listen to awful interviewers interview people poorly I'd watch the rest of ESPN programming. I think the hard thing to do is to judge the play remotely. It's taken me three years to realize that a double to the gap is actually an out when Buxton's playing. You see the trajectory of the ball off the bat and for my entire life balls hit like that are doubles. What you don't see over the TV feed (which is following the ball) is that Buxton is moving at Mach 2 after two steps and is going to coast under it. Gonna be an adjustment calling games while not at the park. Not sure Dick and Bert are going to be able to adapt well, but the announcers are the least of my concerns going forward this year.

I don't know if all the statue toppling we see these days is the right thing to do or not. I'm ok with it and for sure some of them have to go. Griffith was pretty abhorrent but I wonder if there is a better way. Tell the story..."Here's the racist owner who moved the team to MN. Let's let this statue remind us to keep ever vigilant to let no more racists be part of this team." Make it not a statue of pride, but of precaution, a lesson learned...I don't know, maybe that's too simple and the imagery is just too charged to change the perception. I know some will feel it doesn't go far enough and maybe it doesn't, but just disapearing the statue doesn't make the issue go away, just makes it a bit easier not to think about. But just to be clear, I am against statues for racists.

The two things I'll remember from this season are that minor league Buxton collision (scary) and Hughes declining the bonus (classy). The rest I choose to forget. Corey Koskie stole 20+ bases?

I remember seeing Rene Tosoni playing for the St. Paul Saints years later. I recognized the name but couldn't place him. His name sounds a little French-Canadian so I thought he was a hockey player that maybe I saw in the Wild's minor leagues. I was very impressed that he made the change to baseball so effectively. Less impressed when I finally figured out why I knew the name. 2011...WOOF!

That Kubel grand slam may be the most excited I've ever heard Dick...

Lewwwwwwwwwwwww Ford