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Bochy is going back to the World Series. He’ll have a chance to join Sparky and LaRussa in the record books if he can win one more series.

I believe the current war involving Israel and Hamas is something that could really go bad. The initial shock of seeing the innocents being slaughtered as Hamas entered Israel drew immediate sympathy from a lot of observers of the Middle East. From a political perspective, the graphic pictures/videos, etc., moved a lot of people to side with Israel’s response to the attacks. For the most part, MSM has been neutral to supportive of the IDF’s actions. There are always outliers. Based on past history, I fear the longer this war lasts, the more likely it is that Israel will be labeled the bad guy. Defeating Hamas can’t happen without civilians deaths in Gaza. Hamas knows this and has proven it is part of their story, nothing new. Given time, I expect the media will make ongoing civilian deaths in Gaza front and center and the initial outrage over the slaughter of the Jews will be yesterdays news. How will long will surrounding Arab countries, currently neutral toward the the Jews, remain quiet? Probably not terribly long. Support for Israel will erode if this war drags on. I have no doubt Iran hand a hand in this attack. They know Israel’s support is thin in a lot of governments that are in a ‘wait and see’ mode right now.

I may have commented earlier on Morningstar’s projection for future Fed actions, which is the Fed will cut in March 2024. M* has a pretty good track record on economic projections. We’ll see if they call this one correctly.

Who wants to project the top of the 10 year benchmark climb? It topped 5% earlier this morning. I’ve seen commentary suggesting 8% is possible?

In that I’m pulling for Texas and Arizona, you can go ahead and book a Houston-Philly World Series. I’ve been really consistent throughout the playoffs in pulling for the losing teams.

Bob Melvin to interview for the SF manager’s gig. He’s a Palo Alto native and bay area guy. I’m thinking he’s the next SF manager.

Riley Pint unretired in 2022 and is currently on the Rockies 40 man roster. He has been THE definition of a blown draft pick. We saw him start a game for the Asheville Tourists during their first series of the year in 2018 at Delmarva, MD. He didn’t get out of the first inning as I recall due to an arm injury, one of many in his career. I think he missed that entire year as a result.

https://www.wral.com/story/a-detroit-synagogue-president-was-fatally-stabbed-outside-her-home-police-dont-have-a-motive/21108343/ No motive? I’ll bet I’d have a pretty good guess what the motive was. We’ll see where this one goes.

https://www.wsj.com/video/video-analysis-shows-gaza-hospital-hit-by-failed-rocket-meant-for-israel/120A1C22-BA32-418E-8837-BC4141FEFB00.html?mod=mhp Hamas is guilty of the hospital deaths and injuries. Hamas lies. Sad, but the media, for the most part, is willing to parrot what an avowed terrorist organization says.

The U.S. has collected “high confidence” signals intelligence showing that the explosion at a Gaza hospital compound on Tuesday was caused by the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, U.S. officials said, buttressing Israel’s contention that it wasn’t responsible for the blast.

In my humble opinion, Patrick McHenry is the most logical solution to this circus. But what do I know.

The international community "must protect innocent civilians and punish Hamas," Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Wednesday, commenting on the Gaza hospital strike in which hundreds of people died. -Finally, a statement from a politico that isn’t garbled mush.

The IDF confirmed late Tuesday night that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad failed rocket attack damaged a Gaza hospital, leading to a still unclear number of deaths. The army spokesperson gave a press conference declaring that "an analysis of IDF operational systems indicates a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity, to the hospital at the time it was hit. Intelligence from a few sources that we have in our hands indicates that the Islamic Jihad is responsible."

Jordan has canceled a summit it was to host in Amman on Wednesday with US President Joe Biden and the Egyptian and Palestinian leaders to discuss the situation in Gaza, the country's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has canceled a planned meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, following an Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital on Tuesday that killed hundreds, a senior Palestinian official said.

Why has this trip been so publicized? Doesn’t make sense.

I don’t know that Biden’s trip to the ME is the smartest move. I hope something positive comes of it but I’ve got my doubts.

In a shocking turn of events, the Marlins announced on Monday that general manager Kim Ng will not be returning in 2024. "Although the club exercised its team option for her to return for the 2024 season, Kim has declined her mutual option," Marlins chairman and principal owner Bruce Sherman said in a statement. "We thank Kim for her contributions during her time with our organization and wish her and her family well.

It is early yet in this war. However, one thing is different from past wars around the State of Israel. I don’t ever remember the US government ever giving Israel as much leeway to act as they see fit. In past wars/conflicts the US has supported Israel in a more muted response. As in some version of Israels right to defend itself, generally followed by some language stressing moderation or the like. As it stands now, the White House has a huge GO FOR IT message out there. The, “We’ve got your back’” from the Biden administration clearly gives BiBi and the IDF what they’re looking for, but may not have expected it to the degree it was given.

Morningstar is projecting that the Fed will begin cutting at its March confab, fwiw. They do have a pretty good batting average on the economic projections.

It’s official, the SS COLA is 3.2% for ‘24. You can go ahead and book that cruise you’ve been putting off for awhile.

I don’t have the answer but I totally agree with your point here.

I personally believe Verlander would choose Houston over Detroit. Going back to the days surrounding his trade, I believe the deal was handled poorly by Avila and company. No doubt, Verlander still loves the fans in Detroit but remembering the trade day as I do, I believe he was more or less pushed out.

So there will be an Old School AL finale. The Baker vs Bochy matchup should be a good one.

ERod will appreciate the deeper left field fence in Camden next year with his new team?