oblong

The only way to fix it is to not allow them in. Anybody can beat anybody in a 3 game series and to a lesser extent 5 and 7 game. In the AL it’s the 3-4 seed. That isn’t horrible. In the NL it’s the 4-6 seed. But AZ as the 6 didn’t block anyone like MN did for Toronto and Seattle in the AL. They and Miami and the sixth best record in the NL and I don’t know the tiebreaker. So mathematically it stands if you let in 6 per league, regardless of division, you very well might get an 84 win team.

I hate when one series plays two games before the other plays one. I’m sure it’s due to TV considerations. and haven’t we seen enough of ARod and Jeter and Papi? Papi calling Jeter Cap? Come on.

I don’t think primary challenge problem exists outside of Trump. The rules for him don’t apply to anyone else.

That’s the same for me. I feel so bloated even after one. Any beer with berries does that. Citrus is fine.

Nothing worse than “I know I saw one in there rolling around the bottom a few days ago…”. I’ve cleared the fridge many times searching. Throwing out expired dressings, cream cheese, God knows what”. a close second is seeing a can and assuming it’s one of mine then I grab it and it’s a cider or something.

Reading the social media comments would be fun, depressing, and predictable at the same time. I love when people get triggered.

I can understand dealilng with things said on a case by case basis. If it's of a personal or private nature, fine. I don't care about gossip. If it's about the game or something between the lines, then it's fair game and a reporter is under no obgligation, especially if it's said in front of a lot of other reporters too. Nobody's going to give you credit for holding back a scoop because some 20 year old minor leaguer asked you to.

Players too.

wow. I watched him a lot as a kid. My dad would watch the WGN news for the weather because his theory was whatever their weather was today is what we'd get tomorrow. He also theorized that WGN News "Showed more killigs" than our Detroit news did because Coleman Young made them stop talking about it. So yeah... I know who he is really well.

those solutions rely on patience and time and that's something leagues with TV pressure and collective bargaining agreements don't have. You'd have to study each format change for a number of years to get quality data. Home teams were 6-8 in the LDS this, with the higher "seeded" team going 1-3 in series matchups. Does that mean anything? I don't think so.

so based on that theory then any playoff series is random so it doesn't really matter what we do with the format. I never looked at the modern era of playoffs as determining who the best team was that year. The Tigers weren't, and aren't, considered the second or third best team in 2012. Were the Giants the best team in 2012? Probably not. But I don't thinks that that way either. what they do think is "The Giants won 3 WS titles in 6 years, they were a pretty good team during that time". Occassionally you do get the team that is great all year and then wins the title and they get recognized as such. But nobody says "Man, the Nationals owned 2019, didn't they?" I think the "controvesy" is all an Abbot and Costello routine where there's answers being given to questions not being asked.

quite a few hard left people have entered QAnon territory with this.... along with the arab/muslims. I see it locally in my city on local pages and media goups. For example an apple orchard changes their profile pic to show they stand with israel, suddenly the 50% of my city says they are boycotting. It's a running theme of all local area busineses showing support and who not to patronize. And it's largely based on misinformation of the Jan 6 level. No matter what evidence is presented they simply will not believe what happened actually happened. They think it's all lies. I notice twitter no longer has the "mute" option. I guess you have to pay for it?

She looks like every horrible teacher I have ever encountered.

The fascination with "leagues" is what holds baseball back because they won't ever go to an East/West format like the NHL and NBA. And I don't know I'd want them to either since history is so important. Moving teams like Houston and Milwaukee, which had little tradition wasn't a big deal.

They call me "good enough Rob" because that is something I would never once ever consider looking at if I visted you. I have zero insight into home decor. I wish I did to some degree. If I lived alone I'd have nothing on the walls. No side tables or whatever.

I've heard it said growing up from some preachers in the Evangelical world that Jews are given an exception as The Chose Ones. There's also this weird connection now between the hard right and Muslims/Arabs. There's a bond over Ukraine (the Muslims don't like the aid because it's money not sent to Palestine and Ukraine's led by a jew) and over anti gay/book banning. Nationally not much of an electoral change but in places like Michigan with narrow margins it could matter. There was a pro palestinian rally here in my city on Tuesday night at the civic center where all the D office holders were booed mercilessly.

I just looked it up. They knocked it down to 2, Contemporoary (1980-Present) and Classic (Prior). Contemproary had their ballot in Dec 2022 and the cadence is every 3 years now. So maybe in just over 2 years Lou will get his induction.

I wonder how much the bankruptcy proceedings will play into a decision?

I just took mine off and looked.... you are right. It also includes manager stints in the years for Harris and Trammell. One of my rules for shirts is they can't be something that will be outdated and I now realize this one should be in about 5 years.

The Tigers of the modern era never had home field advantage except for 2006 and that was b/c of the ASG. In the 2012 WS, The Giants had home field because Verlander got smoked at the ASG, but also won 94 games against the Tigers 88. Those Tiger teams were the ones are the kind that people now are claiming we need to fix the playoffs against. That it's somehow not fair that they win. The 100 win teams need more help.

I still can't get past the idea that some hold that playoff formats need to be fixed because some teams end up beating other teams. The playoffs aren't meant to be a formality. That goes against the essence of being a fan of sports. Otherwise it's just pro wrestling.

My "Good" Tiger hat was left hanging in the downstairs bathroom and I guess humidity messes them up as it's now pretty flat. So I wanted a new one. Went to Cooperstown and every other storefront in the town is some kind of apparal/memorabilia/collectable outfit. I would have accepted classic styles for either the Tigers, Expos, Brooklyn Dodgers ,or a Negro league. Couldn't find a match. I did get a Tigers HOF T shirt listing all of them on the back, not just those listed on the wall at Comerica Park, for ex: Whitey Herzog and Eddie Mathews.

Having just been to the HOF last week I can say that the "controversy" over the plaque logo is overblown. That doesn't signify "going in as...". Many of the plaques, the earlier ones, had the player looking sideways or with no logo. Not that I will be back anytime soon since it's like a 9 hour drive, but if I were to be back there in a year or so I could see myself not even going into the gallery room. There's 3 floors to the HOF. We got there at 9:15, watched a movie from 9:40 to 10, finished floors 2 and 3 in about 3 hours, and the plaque hall is on the first floor and it litereally took me about 10 minutes to see all the plaques, and that's with having to wait for people to move. I looked at every single plaque too.

It's like a pro wrestling journalist who covered it from 1960 onwards and having to deal with the attitude era in the mid 2000s.

yeah that's a good point. I view it as stories about 100 of the most prominent players, not necessarily the best. I almost didn't buy it because I figured "I am not interested in an encyclopedia version" but it's not that at all. I've always enjoyed reading him and for some reason he fell off my radar over time. His section on Schillling was very very good. Another tidbit that stood out was on Neikro. When the scout finally came to sign Phil he said something like "We'd like to sign your son for a $500 signing bonus". HIs dad says "I'm sorry sir but I'm a coal miner, we don't have that kind of money".