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The advice to be ready when you get a pitch you like and swing at it seems like solid advice for anyone that has ever tried hitting a baseball

C.a.v.e.a.t E.m.p.t.o.r

They say average hitters aren't good enough to get much advice from great hitters, but FWIW, Cabrera also swung at a lot of 1st pitches.

I do think the RWM is the linchpin of this whole thing, and if that ecosystem could be somehow decimated, that would go a long way toward breaking the spell.

At least in its current form, and we can no longer simply vote our way back to whatever we nostalgically regard as normal. At this point it’s probably going to take something very dramatic (or drastic, take your pick) to change things for the better on a permanent basis, and it’s well within the range of outcomes that a frightening number of us—both old and young—may not be alive to see it.

It gets worse. The article says some of this is probably not legal and will certainly be challenged in court. Three pension funds have already sent letters to SpaceX protesting some of these rules. Probably an attempt to fix things without expensive litigation. SpaceX IPO: Musk Controls 85.1% Voting Power, Shareholders Waive Jury Trials and Class Actions

They’re counting on people being too distracted by endless entertainment options to notice.

Another thing I wonder about is how the introduction of grizzled veterans like Kenley and Framber and even Justin into the clubhouse mix may have affected the bonhomie the team has enjoyed the past couple years. Justin especially has been known to have clubhouse tangles here and there. There’s also looming free agency for key players and the dark cloud of doom that kind of thing might cast as a pall over a clubhouse. Players are people, and off-field drama can definitely affect focus, concentration, and ultimately performance of people’s jobs, and left insufficiently checked, can snowball into a crisis situation. I have seen that kind of thing in my own workplaces during my time running the hamster wheel. This is mere speculation, not a diagnosis.

Crazy stat. Will Clark homered in his first at bat in A ball, AA, AAA, and the Majors.

Barry Bonds said you only get one pitch per ar bat that you like. And if the first one is the pitch, you make the pitcher pay. I'll take Bonds advice over AJ Hinch and Scott Harris.

Yeah, a couple ticks down, spin was way down, and his misses were all over the place, specially up. Wouldn’t be surprised to hear he’s hurt again and has to go back on the list.

Gotta start a winning streak at some point. Might as well be today.

exactly. Search for the perfect being the enemy of the good etc? I think taking too many strikes early has been Tork's weakness ever since he got the the majors. It can lead to walks, but the walks aren't worth the cost to the rest of his production. I've always thought that in general you want to be aggressive early in the count because that is when pitchers are most motivated to throw strikes to get ahead. Maybe it's because there is still an offensive push to try to drive pitch counts. Maybe that was a good idea once, but the way pitching has changed in recent years, there are too many teams with bullpens so good it doesn't help you enough to chase a starter early any more.Not to mention that getting on base and running more batters to the plate is also a nice way to drive a pitch count!

Yeah, why can’t they just collude to stop it?? I mean, come on, it’s been 40 years, no one will remember, right? And in all seriousness now, this particular government would probably be sympathetic toward remaking precedent and law to restrain the free exercise of labor agency, especially for a federally-protected monopoly.

I can handle losses with injuries as a culprit. Losses with bad baseball basics is another thing.

That’s why I think it’s fair to question A.J.’s effectiveness at managing the team during this stretch. I’m not talking about ready blame fire, because it might be that no one could effectively stop this kind of stretch dead in its tracks on a moment’s notice, but I would bet A.J. Is learning on the fly about managing this particular group of people.

Yeah, it seems as though the goose is way too golden to kill. I can see losing a big chunk of spring training and maybe—maybe—first half of April, which would be bad enough since they’d be ceding a lot of the landscape to basketball (and, in some areas, hockey). But to exit the stage entirely for month at a time and forfeit a maybe a couple billion dollars or so each month is business suicide. It took maybe a couple of decades to recover from 1994-95. I can’t see them having the appetite to go through that next year. Forced to predict, I’d say they settle in late March, have a two week ST, open the season April 10 to 15, and play a 154-game season.

I think McKinstry is one of the worst base runners I have ever seen. He routinely gets thrown out at third to make the final out...probably the dumbest thing to do in the game of baseball. Dude thinks he's in little league where players can't make accurate throws or pick people off first

Anyone get their DOGE check or their tarrif refunds yet? Apparently 2 more weeks

I was painting some planters in the garage and listening to Dan and Dan. First time I've listened extensively to them this year. Right before McKinstry got picked off Dickerson was saying how he's able to get a big lead right now..

So it's overdue. Both sides seem pretty dug in and prepared for a long battle. We'll see if it's all just bluster soon enough.

I feel Torkelson certainly doesn't fit their approach. He is what he is: a .220-.230 hitter who can knock out 30+ homers. The approach that is preached hurts him. He needs to get up there and look for that first pitch fastball to try to hit it hard. I watch him take the first pitch right down the middle. There really is no purpose to doing that. He's in a 0-1 hole to start with. It's like a boxer who has the strategy of taking the first punch directly to the face without defending himself.

I miss the upward trajectory

There is also a scene from the R. Lee Ermy vehicle "Siege of Firebase Gloria" that is similar -- but too gross to show here. He's got the severed heads of two guys in his hands and he's lecturing the defensive perimeter that Corporal Miller (whose severed head is in his right hand being held by his hair) allowed the gun pit to be captured and that he no longer has any respect for Corporal Miller. Its a movie of course and for Vietnam era fodder a pretty decent B movie.