chasfh

Well done, Ob. Nice explanation by his camp, too. If it comes directly from him, even more impressive.

Mississippi, so awful in so many ways, comes up 50th on that map, too.

Is it because she’s from the islands, mon? 🇯🇲😁

I might use African American as an adjective, but almost never as an noun. For what that’s worth.

Is Putin willing to accept the ultimate loss just to follow through on a whim?

A lot of SABR people, and even official publications, are already using the term “Black Ball” to describe those leagues, so a formal change along those lines wouldn’t be a problem for any of us. We don’t get so hung up on traditions attended to nomenclature. We’re not conservative like that. I don’t think there’s so much brand equity in the term “Negro Leagues” that renders it impervious to such a change. The word “Negro” itself as used to describe people, like the term “colored”, is considered at least socially unacceptable, if not downright offensive. I don’t think anything would be lost if they made that change.

It occurs to me that people afraid of Russia starting a nuclear war or something over Ukraine going into NATO may be completely underestimating just how much autocrats love the situation Putin is in. If he were to try to start one, it would be the end of his gravy train in a couple of ways. First of all, autocrats need the peace and stability of the global economy to maintain the level of comfort their ill-gotten billions affords them. If he nukes anyone, the money would stop flowing in because the entire world’s economic system would go into crisis and maybe even collapse, and then they wouldn’t be able to import all those Western luxury items they love so much, and no way Putin would be happy living out his days on local vodka and borscht. Also, the interconnectedness of the world’s money is such that they could never create a robust replacement economic system consisting of just them and the few sponsor states in their orbit. And China wouldn’t rush to join them because they too depend on a strong Western economy to maintain their own economic position in the world. For that reason, I think it’s more likely that China nukes Russia than Russia nukes the West. Which is to say, neither will happen. Secondly, Putin’s domestic political power depends on a strong, propped-up West to act as the enemy that constantly threatens them and their cherished way of life, whatever that is. For that to continue, Putin needs to maintain an ongoing staring contest that functions as a sort of de facto detente on an indefinite basis. That’s the gift that keeps giving because then they can go back to that enemies well over and over in order to keep the peasants in an optimized state of fear of invasion, which serves as their motivation to support the one guy who is keeping everything from falling apart and landing on their heads. It’s Autocracy 101: create the crisis, then provide the solution. That may be why he started the war in Ukraine in the first place. Sure, he’d like the land eventually, but he loves the crisis now, so as long as he can keep the war going 1984-style, it’s a great situation for him. It’s the same reason Kim Jong Un will never do anything, either. He might be a madman, but he’s not stupid and he’s not irrational, so he’s not going to do anything that will jeopardize his control of an entire country and of everything and everyone within it. Same with Putin. In that way, Putin would like to become Kim, and he is constantly working toward that. And if he wants to achieve it, he’s going to have to do everything he can to keep the West at arm’s length, while still maintaining the veneer of perceived crisis at home. This is why I believe NATO should admit Ukraine as soon as possible. Ukraine is the crisis Putin wants to maintain, and with Ukraine officially under the protection of its explicit allies, Putin would be substantially weakened, maybe even mortally wounded, and he still ain’t gonna do **** in return, because if he did, that would be the literal end of him. He knows that. Maybe it’s time the rest of us internalize that as well.

FWIW, we are also outperforming our Pythag during our post 2-9 run.

Since the word “negro” is too close for comfort to what is now considered to be the most profane word in America, maybe they should consider rechristening the whole thing from its current name to the Black Baseball Leagues, or something along those lines, regardless of what it was called “back in the day”. Of course, it will spur a short and strong backlash among those who have never given those leagues even a single thought, but really, **** anybody who does that. Besides, they’re already raising the predictable backlash over this already.

Yeah, Schoop is cooked. He should basically be relegated to ninth-inning defensive replacement and garbage-time pinch-hitter at this point. Sure, he’s going to have to start some games some time, and actually yesterday would have been as good a time as any (getaway game against a flailing team), but he probably shouldn’t start more than once a week.

I’ll be OK with one if he’s a four-year college guy can step into at least the middle of the rotation within a year. No more Turners or Mannings or Jobes.

Just make sure you get at least three miles inland so an AR-15 bullet from America can’t reach you anymore.

OK, let’s score eight and bring them back out for the bottom of the inning.

TORK! lack of range hurting, too. And now Maton with yet another error?!

Remember, too, that Mason Englert is still essentially a minor leaguer.

Even if the Cardinals end up winning, that organization is still a hot mess.

Wow, this is first-eleven-game **** we’re seeing now.

Oh, OK, it’s gonna be one of those games …

Maybe that’s it—also, throwing to first? Don’t have to move and set your feet as much? I suppose it’s a high percentage-enough play, but oh, does it ever look bad when you botch it.

I will never understand why major league infielders choose to backhand ground balls hit basically directly right at them instead of crouching and scooping it up. Is it a matter of looking cool or something?

GRAND SLAM BY JAKE ROGERS! TAKE THAT, JUSTIN VERLANDER!

Four-pitch walk. Baseball’s Best Fans freaking out …

At least one of the black holes is filling in. And now McKinstry is pinch hitting for Schoop. That’s the right move.