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I’m not a public employee on the public dime, and it’s not as though we’re talking about DMV employees being harassed in the office. Police carry immense power in the public space with lethal weapons at their disposal, and I think that specifically because of that, they should be held to a much, much, much higher standard of conduct than just about any other public employee. Despite what you appear to think, we are not engaged in a shooting war in this country, so they shouldn’t be acting as though they are soldiers deployed to Iraq.

With the Chargers and Clippers no longer there, the Padres have become more of a civic duty.

Shep—may I call him “Shep”?—was a weird detour in the history of Tigers broadcasting. Remember, Shep was not a baseball guy coming in. He’d done some replacement work on the Tigers’ broadcasts before 2019, but the sum total of his baseball experience was less than 25 games when he’d been handed the job. Shep was kind of the Xavier Nady of big league broadcasters. I would probably like Bennett better if I didn’t have Dan available via audio overlay, because I’d be comparing Benetti to Shep and not to Dan. I would be more open to the non-baseball wisecracking—or more exactly, the whole truckload of it—during the broadcast were he my one and only choice to listen to. A few scales have fallen from my eyes about Dan and I do recognize the egregious errors he makes in the moment—that sunshine “homer” last night being merely the latest—but man, does that guy know the analytical side of the game, and he is really good at translating it to layman terms for the broadcast. Plus, he is all business, and maybe you don’t care for that, but that’s perfect for me, and I’m gonna enjoy that as long as he can manage to stay on the air.

I don’t like the team out of San Diego so much, either, so as much as I like seeing the Gucci Dodgers lose, I don’t mind that they swept the Gucci-wannabe Padres this past weekend, either.

Come on, just enjoy it! 😂

I don’t have much faith in Lange. I think it’s 50/50 he makes it to the end of the season, and 20/80 he makes the postseason roster.

This post did not age well. 😉

I think I should be entitled to have law enforcement officers identify themselves and the agency they work for. How do you like that? You don’t want that? You prefer a police state? Then move to Russia, comrade.

You'd have to go pretty deep on the market list—past Vegas, past Jacksonville, past Birmingham Alabama and Oklahoma City and Norfolk, and past Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek—to get to Albuquerque. If Baseball believes they have a market-size and -capitalization minimum, then there really aren't a cornucopia of candidates for an expansion team. I think the long list is Orlando, Sacramento, Charlotte, Raleigh, Portland, Indianapolis, Nashville, Salt Lake, San Antonio, Hartford, Austin, Columbus, Greenville, West Palm, and Vegas, and that's that. Vegas is a #40 market, so no way they go below that. Only the last two on that list are smaller than Cincinnati and Milwaukee; and I don't see Orlando, Sacramento, the other of Charlotte/Raleigh, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Hartford, Austin, Columbus, Greenville, or West Palm getting teams, mainly because their populations are either too geographically-diffused, or they are so close to a current big league city that a new team there would eat into their TV markets or even attendances. So I think the entire list, the short list, for new big league teams are Sacramento; one of Charlotte/Raleigh; Portland; Nashville; Salt Lake; and Vegas. Even with two new franchises awarded, that would still leave four viable markets to threaten current big league municipalities with to beat them out of publicly-funded stadiums.

I am not saying any of these "nonsense" things. You're the one saying them, I assume as straw men statements. If somehow who purports to be a sworn officer of the law refuses to identify themselves or whom they work for when asked by citizens, that means they are trying to hide their identities and whom they work for, and they're doing it on the citizens' dime. Maybe that's fine for you. It's not for me.

Wearing a sash that says simply POLICE is not identification. If they are wearing masks and nothing that reveals their names while rounding up a million people in year, and they refuse to identify themselves when asked by citizens, then the masked men are unidentified and thus unidentifiable, which allows them to act in a way which absolves them of accountability, which, not for nothing, is how police states operate.

TV booth rankings over at Awful Announcing. Tigers rank 8th this year, up from 10th—but there is a bit of polarization in the rankings, which we have discussed here plenty. 8. Detroit Tigers (Jason Benetti, Andy Dirks; also Dan Dickerson on play-by-play and Dan Petry, Carlos Peña, and Todd Jones on analysis): 2.74 Most common grade: A (45.6%) Percentage of A/B/C grades: 79.2% The Tigers saw one of the most significant year-over-year changes from 2023 to 2024, going from dead last with a 1.55 to 10th with a 2.71. A large part of that was about bringing in Benetti from the White Sox. Dirks started with the team on the radio side in a substitute role in 2023, worked more games there last year, and then shifted to TV ahead of this season, splitting duty with Petry as the main analyst. The overall response here saw the Tigers move even higher in the Top 10. However, that came with some intense polarization. They received the fourth-most As (620 of 1,362), but also the fourth-most Fs (230). That polarization was reflected in the comments as well, especially when it came to the discussion of the broadcast’s increased tangents away from the field in the Benetti era. That included “Not sure when a baseball broadcast became a standup comedy act, but that’s what we have every night,” “Wish more people would see through the Benetti schtick,” “Too many jokes, not enough baseball,” and “Ugh, I wish they would just talk about the game.”But there was a huge amount of praise for Benetti and this approach too, such as “Benetti is one of the top PxP commentators in the sport,” “Benetti is a treasure,” and “Jason and Andy are the ultimate duo, providing humor and insight to each broadcast.” On the analyst side, Dirks drew particular praise. That included “Benetti and Dirks work really well together. This is a top-of-the-line broadcast,” and “Benetti and Dirks have incredible chemistry.” Another viewer said, “Dirks is one of the most beloved glue guys the team has seen in years and is an absolute joy to listen to as a color guy.” And Dickerson (who mostly works on the radio side, but fills in for Benetti during Benetti’s breaks for nationals work) drew significant plaudits too, including “a breath of fresh air” and “the best in the business.”

This whole episode reminds me that there was someone who used to habituate these parts a few years ago who claimed they did not vote for Trump, they voted for Biden, and yet they spouted every MAGA talking point known to us at the time. Anyone remember who that was? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that Archie fella, and I know for sure it wasn’t that StanPapi guy.

False choice.

I am not suggesting anything about the website at all. It’s abolsutely real—after all, I saw it for myself online. I just don’t who’s behind it, and also, that it exists doesn’t mean anyone is using it, unless there is independent reporting that the website is being successfully used for doxxing federal officers. But I would settle for any independent reporting suggesting that federal officials are being doxxed at all, by whatever source. Also—I am pretty confident that is not why you don’t post proof.

Hey, glad to see you're replying to me now! I like the way you gratuitously insult me when providing that link. Nice touch. Very modern. But despite that this website exists—the provenance of which I am unclear—I still have not seen any independent source reporting that there is doxxing of ICE agents happening. If you happen to know of any links to such independent reporting and could share that, that would be swell. And while you're at it, can you share any links that would provide evidence to this claim? Thank you for your attention to this matter!

That's what they have been saying all these years, anyway. Now I think they might be waiting for this particular government to deputize them.

I'm pretty sure the only people who have claimed that federal agents are being doxxed are ICE officials, and seeing as they are a party in interest in the matter, I'd like to see corroboration of their claim from an independent source. I am not asking for links or evidence in this case, just saying I have never seen any claim of this that did not come directly from ICE.

It's not our homework. It is your responsibility as the claimant to provide evidence of your claim. We don't need you to drop your squirrels and do provide us your link right away, but you do have to do it if you want us to believe your claim. take your time, we'll still be here. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

As the person making the claim, you are responsible for providing evidence for it. Will you be providing evidence for your claim?

Yes, you went straight to the Trump playbook: no links. No evidence of any kind. Just allegations. So are you copping to that? Or will you be providing a link after all to back up your claim?

If Montreal is considered too poor for a big league franchise, then no way is Mexico City coming in, The travel would be at least as difficult as it is for Seattle, and with an elevation way higher than even Denver, either there would either be a 70-home-run hitter there every year, or the entire team would bat .320. Just try getting any free agent pitcher to sign up to play there. And players would get nose bleeds all game long. Besides, that's a soccer town, not a baseball town. If you really want a Mexican city to have a big league, go with Monterrey, which is still too poor for an MLB franchise, but at least is richer than Mexico City, the elevation is tolerable, and it's a baseball town to boot.

Until you provide links, we can only conclude you're just making this all up

The whole idea is to create paper fraud and prevent electronic accountability.