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While Dickerson and Jim Price return on the radio side, Matt Shepard begins his fourth full season calling play-by-play for the Tigers on television. Dickerson and Shepard will team up for the first internet-only broadcast on March 23 against the Pirates. Dickerson and Price will handle the call on the other webcast March 26 against the Phillies. Bally Sports Detroit will pair Shepard with a rotation of analysts, including Dan Petry, Craig Monroe, Jack Morris and Kirk Gibson. Here’s the full broadcast list for Spring Training (all beginning at 1 p.m. ET): March 18 vs. Phillies -- AM 1270, Bally Sports Detroit March 20 at Yankees -- 97.1 FM March 21 vs. Blue Jays -- AM 1270, Bally Sports Detroit March 23 vs. Pirates -- Tigers.com March 24 vs. Yankees -- AM 1270, Bally Sports Detroit March 25 at Blue Jays -- AM 1270 March 26 vs. Phillies -- AM 1270, Tigers.com March 27 at Orioles -- 97.1 FM March 28 vs. Yankees -- AM 1270, Bally Sports Detroit April 1 vs. Yankees -- AM 1270 April 2 vs. Orioles -- 97.1 FM or AM 1270 April 4 vs. Blue Jays -- AM 1270, Bally Sports Detroit

Daniel Norris appears to be headed to the Cubs.

Buck Farmer signs with the Little Red Machine in Cincy.

Russia imposed sanctions on President Biden and other top U.S. officials, in a move aimed at restricting travel to Russia in response to “unprecedented sanctions” preventing Russian officials from entering the U.S. Russia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it also sanctioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, CIA Director William Burns and White House press secretary Jen Psaki. The list also includes former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. The Kremlin’s latest round of travel restrictions includes 13 people, and the foreign ministry said the measures could be expanded. “In the near future, new announcements will follow to expand the sanctions list by including top U.S. officials, military, lawmakers, businessmen, experts and media people who are Russophobic or who contribute to inciting hatred against Russia and the introduction of restrictive measures,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. -WSJ

President Biden enters this year’s midterm elections with roughly half of Americans doubting he will seek re-election in 2024, with some citing the toll of the office on the country’s oldest president as the nation is facing a pandemic, high inflation and Russia’s war with Ukraine. A new Wall Street Journal poll found that 52% of Americans don’t think Mr. Biden will run for re-election in two years, while 29% do expect him to pursue a second term. Nineteen percent are undecided about his future. Among Democrats, 41% said they think Mr. Biden will run again, while 32% said they didn’t think he would. The poll found 26% of those Democrats unsure. Mr. Biden and the White House have said he intends to run for re-election. People close to the president have suggested he will make a final decision after November’s midterm elections. WSJ

For the past two or three years I have wondered if Jim Price is going to be in the booth another year. I haven’t heard otherwise so I’m guessing he’ll be back.

Maybe he can hot dog it in front of the mirror until he gets back. Go SF!

WASHINGTON—President Biden and his fellow Democrats have lost ground to Republicans on several of the issues most important to voters, a new Wall Street Journal poll finds, a troubling sign for the party seeking to extend its controlling majority of Congress for another two years. The new survey showed that 57% of voters remained unhappy with Mr. Biden’s job performance, despite favorable marks for the president’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a recent State of the Union speech, which provided him an opportunity to directly speak to millions of Americans. Just 42% said they approved of Mr. Biden’s performance in office, which was virtually unchanged from the previous Journal poll in mid-November. Meanwhile, Democratic advantages narrowed over Republicans on issues related to improving education and the Covid-19 response. A 16-percentage-point Democratic edge on which party would best handle the pandemic was down to 11 points, while a 9-percentage-point lead on education issues was down to 5 points. When asked about which party was best able to protect middle-class families, the 5-point advantage for Democrats four months ago evaporated and left the parties essentially tied on the question. WSJ

One had to see this coming when interleague play was initially introduced. It was the the beginning of the end of traditional baseball at the major league level. Interleague play created an opening for this 💩. I figured then that MLB would trend toward the NFL and other major sports where the distinctions and traditions between the leagues and divisions eventually disappear. The DH, which I hate in either league, was bound to end up in both leagues once it was permanent in the AL. I realize expansion plays a part in this but not to the point it is now.

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Yep.

WASHINGTON—President Biden is facing calls from some Democrats to push for the suspension of the federal gasoline tax as the next move to counter soaring prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Democratic governors from states including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania this week pushed Congress to suspend the tax, which amounts to 18 cents a gallon, for the rest of the year. Some Senate Democrats who are facing difficult re-election fights in November also renewed their call for legislation that would halt the tax and are urging Mr. Biden to back the bill. Source-WSJ ———————— I’d like to hear opinions on this. Personally, I believe this is a bad idea. I know gas is higher and will likely go higher but again, I think this is a bad idea. Who knows where this situation will be in 60 or 90 days! And they’re wanting to pull the trigger on this as soon as possible in March! Each state has their own gas tax which weighs very heavy on persons in those states. I don’t see how Californians do it. But this has nothing to do with the federal tax. Why doesn’t California lower/suspend their gas tax? Suspending the federal tax for the remainder of the year-not good. One minute it’s about spending on infrastructure and the next it’s about cutting federal revenue on highway maintenance. If this goes beyond “transitory,” maybe we revisit this. Vouchers for gas is a bad idea as well…at this point. Opinions? Ideas?

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-cba-negotiations-update If they can still pull something out of the hat I’m all for it but…

Opening Day moved back to at least April 14th. No agreement.

“The Norwich team was based in Oneonta, New York, and was affiliated with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees before the Detroit Tigers.” Confusing. Back in 2005, or thereabouts, we saw the Oneonta Tigers play in Oneonta. They relocated out of Oneonta but the quote above says they were based in Oneonta? As I recall the owner at the time sold the team to someone else with the understanding the team would stay in Oneonta. Then, after the sale, the team was moved against his wishes. I also recall there were no alcohol sales at the game. My friend and I bought a 12 pack of Blue Moon and left it in his vehicle in the parking lot. The place was very casual and you go in and out of the park as long as you showed your ticket upon re-entering. Between innings we’d go out and have a beer and come back as play was resuming. Beautiful country there.

I will hate this. The current Nike logo is already too big compared to the letter D on the chest.

There was an excellent opinion piece in the WSJ this past weekend. The opinion was provided by Robert Service, a leading historian of Russia. Service says, “The Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted from two immense strategic blunders. The first came on November 10, when the U.S. and Ukraine signed a Charter on Strategic Partnership, which asserted asserted America’s support for Kyiv’s right to pursue membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.” Mr. Service called it “the last straw.” Mr. Service cites Putin’s underestimation of the West’s ability to respond as urgently and cohesively as it has as the second strategic blunder. He says that Putin had come to believe, “ that the West was a shambles, both politically and culturally.” He also stated that Putin saw saw Western leaders as of, “poor quality, and inexperienced in comparison to himself.” —————— His points make it very clear why and when Putin decided to move…He points out as well that Putin also saw the West more vulnerable without Merkel. I guess Chancellor Scholz was the biggest surprise.

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I wonder if Jerome Powell is sleeping well at night. The perfect storm has arrived at the FOMC.

Excellent, all for it. Oil is trading @ $128 a barrel now. This will be interesting to follow although I’m sure some of this is already priced in to some degree.

MLB has told the Players Association it expects to cancel another week of games without a deal reached tomorrow, sources tell me and @KenRosenthal. Evan Drellich .

Coming to a baseball park near you… The National Football League suspended Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley for betting on games this past season, the league said, as the country’s most popular sport grapples with the proliferation of legal sports betting and its own embrace of it. The NFL said Ridley, a second-team All-Pro in 2020, bet on NFL games during a five-day period in November of 2021. Ridley was away from the team and on the non-football illness list at the time. Ridley wrote on Twitter in October that he was taking time away for his mental health. Ridley’s suspension is indefinite, but runs at least through the conclusion of the 2022 season. Afterward, he may petition for reinstatement. The Falcons said in a statement they first became aware of the NFL’s investigation in February and have cooperated fully and “support the league’s findings and actions.” WSJ

Que Lee Greenwood

As per my “back of the envelope” calculations after today’s market close, the MASDAQ has officially entered bear market territory.