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I like the idea. I wonder what the psychology major and the business major would think of it. With Flaherty likely gone, Manning and Mize with question marks, why not.

The Southern League, Carolina League, South Atlantic League and International League are already into their second half. If you look at the MiLB schedules, teams are splitting the week with their opponents. We’re going to see Myrtle Beach play Charleston at Myrtle Beach on Wednesday night and the next night we’ll see the same two teams in Charleston. Monday-Wednesday at one park and Thursday-Saturday at the alternate team’s park for MiLB this week. This is the case across MiLB this week. My guess is that this has something to do with the 4th of July fireworks and the gate that the 4th of July brings for MiLB teams. It’s usually the biggest revenue night of the year.

The Tigers finished six games under last year. That looks like a pipe dream for 2024. Sad.

From the article: “If Holliday made an All-Star team for the Tigers in 2027, would it assuage the regret of watching Skubal win a World Series and Cy Young for someone else in 2024? That’s a difficult question to answer, which is why this is a difficult trade to make.” My guess is that trading Skubal near term would alienate a lot of fans… a LOT of fans, many permanently. Eight year rebuilds don’t create much goodwill capital to draw from.

https://diamondbaseballholdings.com The above link is worth a look. DBH now owns 35 MiLB franchises. That constitutes 29% of MiLB teams. DBH owns four of the 10 franchises here in North Carolina. Anyone that is interested in the minor leagues may find this link interesting.

Cody Stavenhagen with a good piece on the gaps between the AAA and the majors. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5605564/2024/07/01/mlb-minors-player-reset-torkelson/

Not so. Signed, 2017 Houston Astros

I believe Craig’s future with the team is null and void at this point, whatever the outcome. He’d be a distraction going forward and there would always be lingering questions and speculation.

We enjoy minor league ball more so than MLB. We traversed to Alabama less than two weeks ago to see the minor league game at Rickwood Field as well as a game in Montgomery. We’re headed for Myrtle Beach and Charleston, SC for games this week. Seeing different minor league parks & teams is enjoyable.

He was suspended for a bit a couple of years back as I recall for making some stupid comment about an Asian player by being disrespectful to the pronunciation of the dialect. I also read some comments he made post employment that I thought were in poor taste regarding his employer.

If she has evidence that is credible and convincing, wouldn’t you think she could find an attorney to take the case and pursue it on the credible and convincing evidence with the agreement that he has to win the case to be paid? I know there are attorneys that do this but I don’t know that this would be one these cases. Craig Monroe is fairly high profile.

Can’t help but think of the Wander Franco saga.

Better yet, if Tigeraholic can bring this season to a close sooner by advancing the dates, I’m good with that.

Vacation hangover. Totally understand.

For some time now Tork has given me the Chris Shelton vibes.

I can’t understand how anybody can sit through one of these so called “debates.” Joe Biden has been in Washington for more than 50 years. Trump has been as high a profile figure in politics as anyone for eight years now. Other than dodging questions and blaming one another, what is there to it? There is nothing new. The public records speak louder than their prepared rhetoric.

Speaking of the old days… we walk frequently on the greenways near our house. About a year ago we were walking and a gentleman riding a bike went by us going in the opposite direction. As on most days, I was wearing a Detroit Tigers hat. A few minutes later he comes up beside us and asks if we’re from Michigan. I explained that we’re not but are just Tiger fans. He says, “I was up there for a while.” Long story short, it was Phil Mankowski who played in Detroit 1976-1979. We had a really good conversation that day and he had lots of good stories, really nice guy. Coincidentally, we crossed paths on the greenway again yesterday and it tuned into another great conversation. I told him I had just finished Lance Parrish’s new book and he took it from there reminiscing about Parrish and other good stories.

Thank you for posting this. I wish I had known this in advance. I would absolutely have been there for the ceremonial opening of the park. It is a sham that Whitaker isn’t in the HOF.

The Cleveland Guardians agreed to terms with lefty starter Matthew Boyd, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Thursday. Boyd has been a free agent since the offseason, as he recovered from Tommy John surgery that he underwent last June.

There were too many Mexicans on the team.

Not really sure where to put this: Related to Minor Leagues ‘Now, every single game, no matter which day of the week it’s scheduled, will have balls and strikes called by the home plate umpire. Teams are still allowed to challenge calls, however, instead of being able to do so three times, it’s been decreased to only two.’ I like this. Going fully with the challenge system but reducing the challenges by one. I listened to the Durham Bulls game last night and it is obvious that the reduction in challenges is going to force the challenger to think twice before challenging a call. Durham lost both challenges by the middle of the game. Not good.

Very confident in saying Greenberg was instructed to use those exact words by Scott Harris. Harris probably made Greenberg rehearse the comments in his office prior to giving the green light. ‘Slow burn’ would be more accurate.

I think the point is, he got an eight year deal while having zero ML experience is somewhat surprising. That he is struggling right now is not surprising at all.

My take as well with one minor tweak. I don’t believe he’s actually grasped how bad he’s really been. I believe he was very over confident in his ability to maintain his HR numbers last year. My impression was that he thought he had it all figured out…but didn’t. That’s why, of my two preseason Bold Predictions, his regression was an easy one. I would think having a residence in Toledo opened his eyes.

Enjoy your vacation 👍