casimir

I don't remember that about Rodman. I kind of have a hard time believing it because he never seemed to be short on energy, but aside from that I have no reason to not believe it.

I think pitching has devolved more into max effort throwing rather than actual pitching. So I am not surprised to see innings, ie stamina, reduced over the years.

Not sure about routinely. But I think deadening the ball would keep the ball in the field of play more and offenses would need to relearn how to scratch hits together in order to score runs. The ball stays in the yard, and there's a bit more of a premium placed on defense and base running. Things like actual movement of players which keep eyeballs on the action.

I don't like the minimization of starting pitchers. Maybe I'm wrong about it, and, sure, pitching wins can be overrated. But it doesn't seem like the above should be occurring.

One play in particular I wish he would have launched. It was late in the shot clock, he got the ball (pass from ?) beyond the foul line and decided to drive to the basket. He was called for a charge. The refs reviewed the play to see if the clock expired before that, which it did not. Anyway, that's one where I was he'd have shot from deep 2, and I think he was actually open.

I was wondering why Cunningham wasn't in the game.

I would guess Greene or Canha to start the season. And it might be a day to day thing with those two. Greene, Canha, Torkelson, Carpenter, Keith (in no exact order) are among the top part of the lineup. Meadows, Baez, 3B du jour, Rogers/Kelly (in no exact order) are probably the bottom of the order. Then there are the days off for the aforementioned "everday" players which could throw a wrench into an "everyday" lineup. Or injury could affect it, too.

An Opening Day type of lineup on the road for spring training?

The two early fouls didn’t help. Specifically the charge on Olynik. That really was a dumb move.

Ok, how about trying Javy Baez for Gunnar Henderson whilst your making guys move?

Nice work. Anything else up your sleeve?

Sure, you can celebrate the opposition when you're up 30some. Also know that Jackson and I are not athletic dopplegangers. You may have guessed that from my post above.

The sad thing of it is, when Wembanyama fell down and his leg kicked up, his foot probably would have blocked my shot.

Blue jays can be loud jerks, but they are pretty well feathered birds.

I don’t know. I think the rotation is fine to start out the season. And for all of the warts surrounding Malloy’s defense and injury possibilities with any random pitcher (on either side of this theoretical deal), I kind of want to see how Malloy and Olson perform as Tigers.

Then you throw in the inferior defense….

Not even the obligatory "we know something happened, we're 'investigating' it" statement?

That low BABIP is in no doubt thanks to Deivi Cruz locking down SS all season.

I didn't know Rivera was in the Tiger sights. I do recall some sort of Higginson for Williams chatter, but I don't know if it was one for one or if other players were involved.

Sometimes I just enjoy watching the game because they look halfway decent and it results in a win. That was this game. It was an oasis in this craptacular season. Now onto a 7 game losing streak.....

Zaun higher than Gonzalez? That'd win a few pops at the bar.

At the Pistons' usual hotel in Charlotte.

The 28 game losing streak and the questionable roster moves throughout this long lasting rebuild give enough reason for Weaver to be fired. Now there is this altercation. OK, fine. But do we think Gores is smart enough to hire the right leader to turn this franchise around?

I'm not arguing that Weaver was justified. He should be suspended at the very least unless he was actually preventing the fan from a physical altercation, which seems kind of doubtful.

Didn't he end up with the highest WAR after that trade was made? Or maybe it was Francisco Cordero? Ugh, good times....