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That and more! We got to Detroit earlier than expected after a seven hour drive. We checked into our hotel and took a walk to get something to eat at the Sweet Water Tavern. Then we took a walk to the Stadium since none of us had ever been there. The game was about to start and I was talking to the Security Supervisor Supervisor about what we should do to ensure that Porter got a bobble head. He provided the information. We decided to go to that game too and got to witness an exciting game with the rookie Parker Meadows hitting a walk off home run. Saturday we followed the Security advice to a tee. When the gates were supposed to open at 4:30 another security guard came to the gate and told us that the decision had been made not to open that gate and we would have to go to another gate. Porter was Hugely disappointed, then the guy handed Porter a brand new MLB baseball we went through the other gate and all four of us got bobble heads. We got to our seats in the front row on the third base line and Parker Meadows apparently noticed Porter with his Tiger's jersey, ball and glove and came over after warmups and signed Porter's ball. Except for the two losses we had a fabulous Tiger's weekend!!!

For the A's Cy? I got Bob Welch and in turn a low rarity score only because he graduated with my Mom and they went to either homecoming or a Prom together. After he won the Cy my Dad would joke with us about how she dumped a future Cy Young winner for him and things of that nature.

Guns don’t kill people. Unshielded stadiums kill people.

Final AB between JV and Miggy

And yet he is the best in the game at scoops by a country mile.

How will we ever recover?

That is fantastic. Such great memories. Fridays game was so good.

They could still pickup someone who was cut elsewhere. It’s what they did with Sudfeld last year when neither Blough or Boyle impressed them.

Yeah, on Saturday I took my seven year old grand son to the game and it cost me $26.55 for one beer, one lemonade and one hot dog. Then I bought one Oberon after the fifth inning and that cost me $15.73. I recommend that you eat and drink before you enter the stadium.

Kelly Stafford says Stafford is having a hard time "jelling" with all the young Rams. She says that Matt says it's cause they don't interact like the players used to, saying things like most of his career guys would bond by playing cards, ping pong etc. after practices but now all the young players do is keep to themselves and "go straight to their phone". Yep Stafford has officially become the old "get off my lawn" man.

That’s the point. Make you get your beer inside. And eat.

On the radio this morning Scott Harris said they were bringing someone in today, but it was NOT a call up from the Minors.

I think they REALLY like Charles Harris. But the price for Houston has to be enormous. You don’t just trade away someone coming off rookie production like that for pennies.

'Competitive losing.'

Good overview, and makes a lot of sense. Family Video was sort of the downscale/small-town pre-Redbox version of Blockbuster. I interviewed for the digital marketing director job at their HQ here. They told me during the interview that they did not see themselves as an entertainment delivery vehicle. Their core business model was real estate acquisition and management. They would buy the land to build the store on and use the revenue from renting videos to pay the mortgage and get free and clear on it. Then, were the rental business to go upside down somehow, they would still be sitting on nine figures worth of land and buildings they could rent out to other chains like pizza and fast food and still be a going concern. I didn't end up working for them. Three reasons: (1) the idea of the video business going upside down suggested to me I wouldn't be there long even if i wanted to be, since that's what they wanted me to manage the digital marketing for; (2) they told me they run their business "like a family", complete with paternalistic aspects like funding college educations for some employees' children. Sounds good, right? I see that as a huge red flag—I wouldn't want to work for a family where such paternalism obligates me to them beyond my job, and where work culture is malleable and subject to owner fiat, and where I'm expected to let things slide as you are expected to with family members; and (3) I got an offer for a better job for more money with a major company before I could get the offer from FV, anyway.

They are preparing for an epic party.

I'm reading a book about Blockbuster. Really eye opening. The main thesis is that it wasn't Netflix that did them in and if what this guy says is true he's right. Written by an executive from a former competitor that beat them in every market they competed in, he later went on to run some franchises who did things their own way. All Blockbuster cared about was opening more stores. Management was not interested in learning about customer habits, what sold well, etc. They had all of this consumer data and it was never curated. By opening more stores it created the cash flow that wall st loved. That was the only goal. Hollywood Video, and their forerunner company, would simply open up a store near an existing Blockbuster, then beat them. One thing stood out. Rentals are divided into two categories. New Releases and Catalog. Blockbuster would rent all their moves for $3 and you got it 2 nights. Tapes cost around $65 so obviously you knew how many times you needed to rent for it to pay for itself. By far the busiest night was Friday. In Blockbuster they'd rent a new release for $3 and it's not back until Sunday. The other places would rent it for $2 for one night, and get it back Saturday. So that tape brings in $4 for a weekend, and two happy customers. Other places would also rent the catalog movies for $1. Not at blockbuster. And their lack of interest in customer habits meant they bungled the transition to DVD. They couldn't even tell you what movies rented best in certain locations. Franchisees would build their own systems from .csv files and do it themselves. This isn't in 1985 either, it's 1997. So when the time came that DVD was king, Blockbuster was stuck with a bunch of VHS tapes. Their CEO figured customers would just take whatever was on the shelf. DVD was a gift to retail. Smaller to ship, cheaper to produce... it was a no brainer. It's common knowledge that Netflix offered to sell to them, with the idea being those guys would run mail order (Streaming wasn't a thing yet) and Blockbuster would take over the physical side. Blockbuster not only declined, but the CEO gave them an eye roll. That just ticked them off and motivated them. They were almost religious in their data and algorithms so off they went. Just an interesting business book. It rambles on a bit and probably could have fit into a 20 page term paper but whatever.

Toledo W 6-1 Perez 1/5 2B K Malloy 1/4 BB K Keith 3/4 2RBI BB HR Leonard 1/5 2K Dingler 2/4 2RBI O'Loughlin 5IP 3H ER K BB Erie W 5-4 Cruz 0/4 BB Bigbie 2/3 RBI BB K Serretti 2/4 RBI K Madden 5IP 2ER 2BB 9K WM L 5-4 Stephenson 0/4 BB K SB OF Assist Gold 1/3 2B Workman 0/5 RBI 2K Allen 3/4 RBI HR BB K Pacheco 2/4 BB K Lakeland W 2-1 Clark 1/3 BB 2B Santana 0/3 BB 3K Jarvis 1/3 RBI K 2B Anderson 0/3 BB K McGonigle 1/3 RBI 2K SF CS Campbell 1/3 2K Hamm 3IP 2K Kohlhepp 1IP 2H BB 3K

I feel the same way with Silicon Valley on HBO. I have a whole playlist of closing credits songs.

Entering 2022, Keith Law had Eddys Leonard as the 98th rakned prospect in MLB. Szymborski had him at #48 according to ZIPS. That system is all about stats, so it doesn't work for projecting prospects. Regardless, he seems to have some offensive potential. When I first saw his numbers I thought he looked pretty good for a cash considerations acquisition, so I assumed he wasn't much of a fielder. I am not reading anything definitive about him defensively, but he seems pretty intriguing for an under the radar pickup.

Not really. Just getting Ausmus vibes from Hinch.

I don't pay attention to all of baseball like I used to, and didn't realize how well Seattle's played the last couple of months. Assuming the Tigers don't make the playoffs, I would love to see the Mariners finally get to a World Series. Only current franchise that hasn't been there.

I find the call Slump made to the Sec of State Raffsenberger in GA to be particularly disturbing.... It makes me wonder..... do we really think that's the only election official to which he made calls like that?

weird mine has how much I can bench but some of the zeroes at the end got cut off

I tried using the microphone feature to reply before, and when I said “mozzarella”, in my accent, you would not believe the word it tried to come up with. 🙂

Speaking of bike riding. This was taken today in the parking lot at the F1 race in the Netherlands. The Dutch take their bike riding seriously.

Many thanks to casimir and oblong for their valuable advice. Saturday will be a special day for my grandson and I.

Faust was the subject of an early episode of the Lost Ballparks podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nancy-faust-white-sox/id1602158620?i=1000552677238 From 1970-2010 Nancy Faust was the organist for the Chicago White Sox. She was a trailblazer who made music an integral part of the ballpark experience. When Harry Caray first sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" at Comiskey Park, Nancy was playing the organ for him. She was the first to play "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" as an opposing pitcher walked off the field or after a White Sox home run. She is a Chicago treasure!

Nancy Faust, the brilliant retired white Sox organist, has an opinion about it. .

The Who. Went to see a Who tribute band from the Detroit area called "Live The Who" and they were absolutely 100% the best tribute band I've ever seen/heard. I was blown away by how good they are and it really made me reappreciate the catalog of music and the musicianship of the band. Townsend is such a raw emotional player and this dude captured it perfectly.

Genuinely sad.