BASEBALL CRAZINESS

A FIGHT NOT WORTH FIGHTING In the eighth inning of Monday’s Giants-Nationals game, with the Nats ahead 3-0, Hunter Strickland decided to seek revenge.  For what, you ask?  For an overly-aggressive slide into Brandon Crawford at second base?  For a little chin music too close to Joe Panik’s baby face?  How about a bat flip…

A DAMN SHAME Many people remember Tuesday’s AL Wild Card game for the six first inning runs (including three homers); or the fact that the starters recorded a combined seven outs.  For me, I will remember a little-noted play in the bottom of the 7th inning.  Aaron Judge led off with a walk, and took…

COARSENING OF CULTURE A few weeks ago, I gave a talk at my daughters’ school entitled Parenting in the Time of Trump.  The upshot of the conversation was: How do you relate to and/or protect your kids from the coarsening of our culture.  What do you do when “grab them by the pussy” is the…

WHEN REPUTATIONS PROCEED YOU Good reputations are earned.  Through hard work, dedication, and good public relations. They are earned over the course of years, decades, an entire career.  But the one sure way to earn a good reputation, to cement your stature into people’s hearts and minds, is by winning. And once a winning reputation…

OPENING DAY Is there anything more majestic, more momentous, more magnificent, than Opening Day? I am old enough to remember when Opening Day was always the first Monday in April, with the first pitch being thrown by the Cincinnati Reds.  That tradition went away in 1994 when ESPN began airing a Sunday Night Baseball game…

MY GREAT WHITE WHALE For years I have wondered, and have done a decent amount of research.  I have checked the newspapers and the interwebs.  I watched interviews and read everything I could during the 25-year anniversary.  And yet, the answer to my question – my great white whale – remains elusive. Who was driving this…

SEASON TICKETS When I was a kid, there was nothing I wanted more than Dodger season tickets.  The idea of going to Dodger Stadium eighty-one times, watching that many games, eating that may hot dogs, and that many pennants (does anyone remember when they sold felt pennants at the ballpark?) was nothing short of bringing…

A Tale of Two Free Agents     Last year I wrote about two players who had made difficult contract decisions.  While it seemed relatively easy to assess those decisions at the time, now, with the benefit of hindsight, we can look at those decisions with a little more clarity and see which player made the right…

Competitive Balance Tax Complicates Teams’ Decisions Last season, Clayton Kershaw earned approximately $34.5 million.  On June 30th, the Dodgers placed him on the 15-day disabled list, and on August 3rd, Kershaw was moved to the 60-day DL (retroactive to June 30th).  Nonetheless, Kershaw received a check of approximately $2.65 million every two weeks (MLB players…

New MLB CBA Over-Complicates Qualifying Offers Last year I wrote about the Qualifying Offer (“QO”) rule, and how it affected player mobility.  And just when you thought you had a handle on how it worked, the owners and players went ahead and renegotiated the CBA.  In the process, they bolloxed up the QO in a…