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Ninety-one games into the season, the Tigers have five qualified batters. Miguel Cabrera is the wRC+ leader with 93. Surprisingly(?), Javy Baez is second with 78, followed by Robbie Grossman (74), Spencer Torkelson (70), and Jonathan Schoop (60). Of the 2,793 teams that have played big league baseball since 1885, only 11 of them ended the season without even one qualified player achieving as high as 100 wRC+. And that's after I expanded the definition of qualified player to include anyone with 400 or more plate appearances. The last time this happened was the 1982 Mets, when Dave Kingman led six such qualified hitters with a 97 wRC+. Before that, the horrific 1976 Expos were "led" by Larry Parrish's execrable 80. You'd have to go back to the original 16-team majors to find the next most recent team to end up without a single league-average 400-PA-qualified batter. Here's the entire list—at least so far: Highest Year Team wRC+ Record 1982 NYM 97 65-97 1976 MON 80 55-107 1951 SLB 84 52-102 1935 CIN 98 68-85 1910 CHW 98 68-85 1910 BSN 99 53-100 1909 BSN 90 45-108 1903 WAS 96 43-94 1899 CLE 85 20-134 1894 LOU 92 36-94 1886 BAL 88 48-83

I don't know about other countries experiencing high inflation, but here, consumer spending is still strong. In most eras of high inflation, reduced consumer spending due to higher prices helps moderate those prices as more businesses have to cut prices to attract sales. But this time around, consumer sentiment is still strong even as inflation races upward, and I wonder whether that is related to all the pent-up demand to spend and experience things in the newly "post-COVID" world. (I know COVID isn't gone, but consumers are spending like it is.) So until that pent-up demand recedes for whatever reason, I gotta believe we will continue to see monthly reports pointing to more or less 10% inflation. 1 big thing: The powerhouse consumer Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios For all the talk about a recession, the consumer — the bedrock of the economy — appears to be holding strong. Such is the great weirdness of the U.S. economy right now: Americans' spending behavior, as spelled out in today's solid retail sales report, screams, "No recession here!" Meanwhile, consumer sentiment has actually ticked up so far this month, according to a preliminary reading from the University of Michigan, though it remains low by historical standards. Why it matters: High gas prices might be making people miserable, but consumer demand is holding up even as the Federal Reserve acts to bring down inflation. Details: The retail sales data shows a broad advance in spending, rising 1% in June, more than the 0.8% analysts had expected. The figure reflects higher prices — but even excluding gas stations, sales were up 0.7%. Through the first six months of the year, electronics and appliances is the only category that's seen a decline in spending from 2021. But that's mostly a function of Americans pulling back on goods that they already stocked up on early in the pandemic. The new number is consistent with overall consumption spending continuing to rise in the second quarter, which would lower the odds of a second straight quarter of shrinking GDP. What they're saying: "Spending was broad based and not just boosted by more money spent on gasoline," said Jeffery Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, in a note. "Given this report, the U.S. may actually post positive growth figures for Q2 and avoid two consecutive quarters of negative growth." Between the lines: Normally, this would be stellar news in an economy where consumer spending makes up two-thirds of activity. But in this topsy-turvy environment, the Fed wants to see consumer demand slow enough to temper inflation. The report shows solid demand, yet it might not be strong enough to tip the committee in favor of an ultra-big full-percentage point interest rate hike, particularly given another reading out this morning that we discuss below. The bottom line: There are plenty of risks ahead, but American consumers are chugging along for now, which could keep overall growth in positive territory.

Given that fascism isn't the sort of thing that merely peters out from ennui, I guess there will be nothing to avoid the worst of outcomes and turn things around except a TBD number of people being killed and the ensuing reckoning after the worst of everything happens. That's all probably going to take years and years to live through. I believe some uprising of some degree of seriousness is going to happen whether or not Justice indicts—either this year because of Trump World indictments, or early next year because of this election, or in two to three years because of that election—but I also believe it will go down worse if Justice does nothing, because that means the system would be openly giving up. At least if Justice indicts, there is a chance to still show the system is strong and willing to fight the fascists, which may dissuade those only marginally interested in rising up, which may make it easier to fight and put the whole thing down. That won't be easy, either, not by any stretch, and perhaps even people some of us personally know may die as a result. But at least we'd still have a chance.

On the one hand one would think that, given how fast the denial was followed by the arrest, red hats would question how Yost and their media could justify such a 180 so fast on the story without addressing the error itself. On the other hand, maybe they understand that the point of their media is to generate lib tears, not to vet news accounts, so their media is not held to that standard.

All we can hope is that they are releasing only a sliver of what they have in evidence, maybe even as a way to stoke the kind of overreaction from MAGA that will further incriminate them. Who knows. But as far as taking time—how much time is there left? If the Republicans sweep the elections before indictments come down, is there any way for them to just prevent that, whether directly or politically?

Swift and certain punishment for their actions in 2020 and leading up to Jan 6 is the only way I can think of that might prevent this, and even that might not be enough to stop at least the attempt.

I think you understand I’m not demanding immediate indictments. I’m just saying if all this stuff gets revealed, and they don’t even try going after Trump World, we’re basically done.

He’s still a ballplayer in his own mind, and ballplayers are relentlessly positive and upbeat when speaking about game in public. For ballplayers still in the game, I think it might be a defense mechanism against the idea that your career can end with any cold spell. If you talk only about good things, good things will happen to you. You don’t wanna jinx yourself. For ballplayers out of the game, I guess it’s a way to maintain their central identity as a ballplayer. Some guys devote their entire young lives to the idea and just can’t let it go. Maybe there’s some fear of aging there. I don’t know. In my opinion, as a broadcaster, putting on the ballplayer act is unprofessional. I don’t believe you can be a broadcasting professional if you’re openly rooting for “the guys” and referring to them by their cutesy-poo clubhouse nicknames. It feels unseemly.

After all this, including this, are they still not going to bring the indictments? Trump World is going to get away with it all, in the past and the future? So, what … so we can say our long national nightmare is over? We will be truly good and fucked if it goes down like that.

Yeah, we're done ...

Riley overran that just a touch and it could've gone wrong, but he hauls it into the palm for the out.

Just flipped on the radio for the game with Dan and Jim. But Jim is out, and oh no-o-o-o-o-o, it's C-Mo-o-o-o-o-o-o!

Remember this guy? 😐

I'm merely giving the crowd what they want. 😁 Bold prediction: for whatever reason, I don't think Biden gets the nomination for 2024.

Also, the tweeter sucks.

The cloud doesn't have to be at the security camera company's data center. The cloud can be storage you manage yourself that you rent from a company like Google. You can lease 2TB of storage from $10/month from Google, for instance, and store your home security videos there. That said, I don't trust Google with my sensitive data, either.

From the Department of No Shit, Sherlock, What Did You Think Was Gonna Happen? 4. Ring secretly shares data with cops Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios Amazon's video doorbell platform Ring shared footage with law enforcement multiple times this year without users' consent, the company said in a letter made public Wednesday, Axios' Margaret Harding McGill reports. Why it matters: The proliferation of video doorbells has raised questions surrounding privacy and law enforcement access to footage. Driving the news: In response to an inquiry by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Amazon said it has given law enforcement footage without user consent 11 times so far this year in response to emergency requests. Each time Amazon said Ring determined "there was an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury" that required disclosure of the information without delay. Law enforcement can obtain Ring footage through voluntary requests to the owner or via a warrant, but Amazon notes it generally informs users before disclosing information. The other side: Ring made more than 100 changes while it underwent an audit by New York University's Policing Project. That included requiring police agencies to identify a specific offense under investigation when seeking video. The audit found that most requests from law enforcement were connected to "relatively serious property crimes and some violent crimes," with 16% related to shootings or homicides. What they're saying: "We will continue to prioritize privacy, security, and user control as we pursue and improve technologies to help achieve our mission of making neighborhoods safer," Amazon's vice president for public policy Brian Huseman wrote to Markey. Read the rest. Bonus: How do you like the bullshit "privacy prioritization" statement at the bottom?

Pursuant to this post from the SCOTUS thread a couple of months ago: 3. Abortion bans are shaping living preferences Data: Axios/Generation Lab; Chart: Nicki Camberg/Axios Many young Americans say state abortion laws will influence where they choose to live, according to a new Generation Lab/Axios poll, Axios' Oriana Gonzalez reports. Why it matters: Several states are banning or heavily restricting abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The survey's findings suggest the ruling may significantly influence where Americans ages 18-29 are willing to attend college, move for work or build families. By the numbers: 62% of young women and 53% of young men said a state's abortion laws would at least "somewhat" affect their decision on where to live. Democrats (67%) were nearly twice as likely as Republicans (36%) to say so. Read on.

I like how Swalwell posed the question to the other witness about whether the procedure was considered an abortion. That way he doesn't have to take the heat for browbeating the first witness into submission. That first witness is nothing but a disingenuous political hack.

lol a guy named "Whit" from small-town South Carolina doing his own research on an infectious disease.

Orioles have five in the top sixty.

Given how it's generally accepted now that Hinch has a five-year contract, I can't see Ilitch firing him in year two and eating the remaining three years.

Seems like I hear the phrase “you can’t have too much pitching” most often when a team stockpiles pitching at the expense of hitting. That’s been the Tigers’ MO, and that phrase has been used in their defense repeatedly during this process.

Miggy got a bit lucky with a bad throw. If a good throw had nailed him we might be talking about what a dumbass he is. I also wonder whether Miggy feels freer to do something like this because the cost of failure is low for him. If he gets caught at third, it’s a shrug and a grin. If Willi or Harold or Baddoo get caught on something like that, that could hasten the end of their careers.

As good as it might feel in the moment, shit-canning AJ fixes no organizational problem.