This cover image is the handle of Mike Trout’s smart bat from five years ago. How time flies! Photo credit: Rex Fregosi.
With the World Series well underway, we will soon roll out the CTPG awards (for MVP etc.). For now, here is last year’s awards post. Tune in in early November. Same smart bat time. Same smart bat channel.
The motion to transfer venue in Carli Skaggs versus the Angels (L.A. Case Number 21STCV24121) will be heard this morning at 9:30 A.M. in Department 72 of the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Stanley Mosk Courthouse. Regrettably, Department 72 does not post online tentative rulings, so who knows what will happen? The matter has been very extensively briefed. It doesn’t appear that either side is prepared to roll over on this one.
Links From Around Baseball
Nelson Cruz won the Roberto Clemente Award this year. He gives back to his home town by bringing in dentists and optometrists annually.
Another day, another guy withdraws his name from the Mets front office search. And another one. It’s getting monotonous, isn’t it?
Ozzie Guillen interviewed for the Padres Manager job last week. The news stories all keep mentioning Brad Ausmus as a candidate, but I haven’t yet seen a report that he actually got an interview.
The Rockies promoted Darryl Scott to be their pitching coach.
Rob Manfred claims that Major League Baseball tries to be apolitical. He apparently said it with a straight face. I think he was trying to explain why he won’t do anything about the tomahawk chop.
It was pretty much inevitable. The Cleveland Guardians roller derby team is suing the Cleveland Guardians Baseball team on trademark infringement related theories.
Dominican Winter League games are available on MLB TV.
I don’t know, man, but somebody should have been awarded a base somewhere on this one! Probably not happening under the rules, but damn!
More New Crew from The Brew.
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1453868628768559105
I’ve actually heard of him. Still, I don’t see his name here all the time, he’s not named Freidman or Zahdi. Who did he draft that the Angels didn’t draft? This doesn’t move the needle. I demand more. More of what? I don’t know. All I know is I’m mad at Arte about this and Perry is a puppet. Also, I need headshots of Brewers players he will be using a time machine to bring us. Robin Yount looked like an Irish bard. 🍆 🍆 🍩
😂😂😂😂
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/10/albert-pujols-planning-to-play-in-2022.html
I’m sure he’s banking on the universal DH next year, because there’s such a huge demand for super slow platoon singles hitters who think they deserve millions of dollars a year.
So what happens with Albert’s personal services contract with Arte that’s supposed to go into effect this year?
I guess it doesn’t start until after he retires . The question is whether Pujols would accept $1 million dollars a year to sit on the bench in hopes of reaching 700 hrs ( or 500 GIDP)
The Yankees may waive Voit this month. But this pile of dump thinks he deserves a job?
Well the A’s just let the Padres sign Bob Melvin as their new manager because Melvin makes 4M a year. Doesn’t bode well for keeping Chapman/Olson etc etc. Now THAT’s a cheap owner.
Good for us. Bad for the Doyers . Melvin owned us
That’s good for us!
I hope they do trade Olson and Chapman.
my exciting take on “political correctness”
first of all, consider that if I’m not the most left-leaning person here I’m pretty close to it.
ok….
I think the kerfuffle about Sean Connery’s James Bond sums up the whole problem. Hey, I’ll get to “braves” soon enough. Be patient.
There are those who condemn the 60s Bond because “he was a rapist”. He wasn’t. (Neither was Pepe Le Pew). Anyone claiming such a thing is sadly ignorant of cultural norms of those days. Girls, women, were taught to say “no, I shouldn’t”. That’s different from “absolutely not!” It’s like that song, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. There’s another case where misguided people are just ignorant. Which saddens me.
But the weird thing about the Bond discussion is how the Daniel Craig Bond is ok because he’s on a more even standing with women. It’s like people are choosing to not see that the Craig Bond is a psychopathic assassin. But I guess it’s ok to be a psychopathic killer if you’re fine with women being psychopathic killers, too. Someone wrote the Craig Bond is our “hero for the post 9/11 world”…where I guess deeply disturbed killers are cool.
Connery Bond: I know you’re attracted to me = rapist! Egad!
Craig Bond: let’s kill = really cool
Pepe Le Pew…..don’t get me started.
My point is that a lot of stuff from the old days is not even misinterpreted, it’s just not looked on at all. There’s no attempt to understand what life was like, why things were done. And similarly, there’s no attempt to look at what life is like now and to consider how it might be perceived in the future.
Can’t see the forest for the trees. But it’s more like can’t see the forest because of this tree here, the one I’m looking at. And what do you mean there are other trees?
As for “Braves”…I have no problem with it, even in 2021 terms but I’m not an Indian, I mean a Native American, I mean an Indigenous Person. Actually I don’t have a problem with “Indians”. For me the problem isn’t the name, it’s the way Native Americans have been treated and continue to be treated. Standing Rock wasn’t 150 years ago. Fixing the name of a sports team doesn’t begin to address the real issue.
There, I’m done.
I knew this was just a matter of time. Nothing is safe!
https://www.tmz.com/2021/10/28/peta-bullpen-arm-barn-world-series-baseball-mlb-astros-braves/
PETA are a bunch of dickheads.
My favorite idiots to screw with in person.
And its not a parody!
I hate everyone.
For F’s sake. I didn’t realize that society was so out of problems that this needed to be addressed.
Case in point, none of the teams that were named Braves, Warriors, Indians etc back in the day were named that as mockery or an insult. They were named as such because they wanted a moniker that entailed toughness and fighting spirit. I’m sure I’m way younger than you and am more acclimatized to rampant liberalism, being from the “birthplace of the environmentalist movement” etc. If a majority of people are bummed out by a teams name I don’t see the harm in changing it, the more people enjoying the merrier. On the other hand, most of the stuff everyone’s getting up in arms about reminds me of when I was a kid and I just looked for things to be pissed off about.
We all just need some real shit to worry about. I actually bet that, after a bunch of people die from initial squabbles and panic, the vast majority of Americans are probably more capable of coming together in truly dire circumstances than most of us realize right now. But for now we’re all fat and happy enough to squabble over whether or not jokes can kill and if youtube videos or government mandates turn normal people into Nazis.
The good thing is that the team in Atlanta is not budging on their name. Nor should they. There is nothing objectionable about it.
In fact, it honors Native Americans as courageous warriors.
Interestingly, Manfred seems to be backing them as well. It looks like (and I hope) the Braves will remain the Braves.
With or without the chop?
I’m surprised they didn’t ban the World Series from Atlanta as well.
Slow day for Baseball today is.
Best of five, both running low on starting pitching, then how did these teams get here? Hitting, hitting and some more hitting. Let’s go Braves!
So by today’s standards the team name’s Indians and Redskins is not politically correct does that mean in 50 years from now Native Americans want the names returned to teams in sports, that will be OK? As Curly would say “Why certainly.”
Are you suggesting a pendulum will swing in such a way that people will chose to be identified by racial slurs in future?
“Reportedly” a very high number of American Indians polled say they view the nicknames as a sign of respect……does that mean anything?
I agree the Indians needed to change the Cartoonish Indian logo, but not the name.
Agree that going forward no new teams should use these types of mascots/names, for a 1000 reasons.
Nah, it won’t make any economic sense. We are on the 2nd or 3rd generation that doesn’t play “Cowboys and Indians” and doesn’t sit “Indian-Style.” Unless they watch old Westerns with grampa, they just simply won’t associate the word “Indian” with Pre-Colonial Americans.
In 50 years nobody is going to be nostalgic about the word we used to use because some white guy mistook the Americas for Asia.
In 50 years we’ll only use bats as weapons in the Thunderdome and no one will be worried about all the harm words can cause because we’ll all be fighting over cat meat and water that doesn’t make us poop to death. Most of the people worried about this stuff on the internet now will wind up strapped to the front of an armored dune buggy.
Fricassee of reptile.
And…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UPDUpjkHg0
I hear the taste varies from person to person.
The chances are the Skaggs case is going to Orange County.
So Arte wanted it to be the Los Angeles Angels until such time as the Los Angeles jurisdiction was perceived by the defense as being unfavorable for the lawsuit. Will the defense argue that the court should focus on the ‘of Anaheim’ part of the name. 😃
Good morning to all, Mets should do what Arte does, pick out a list of assistants and then interview for one that says it will work with Arte sharing the load of work. Geez Mets you’re aiming way to high.
Reminds me of when we thought we could hire Andrew Friedman, someone who would want 101% control over everything to build it right. In retrospect, very silly to even think we had a chance.
Good point.
Have The Mets reached out to Billy Eppler? He does have a Yankees pedigree.
They (Mets) should really hire Billy as he knows how to handle Owner’s Interference. Only newbies will take the President of or GM jobs in Angels front office or the Mets FO. Silly Owner’s, think that just because they invest 3 Billion Dollars on a sports franchise that they should have a say on everything!…lol
They of all people should know better of his shortcomings..
He probably already turned them down.
The Mets look extra stupid because they keep asking to interview guys who are obviously not going to be allowed to leave their teams (or won’t want to).
Albert’s Available. Maybe he can do the job around his weekly pinch hitting duties against Lefties.
Any team who’s really serious about winning ( particularly when they’re a ugly step child team like us and the Mets and are in the giant shadow of the other team in town ) should consider him unless he’s adamant of staying out of MLB.
💪 💪 💪 👈
I Don’t know. The Wizard’s pretty darn smart. Just ask him.
He’s Even smarter than you 2002
I’d actually consider Luhnow. But I’m one of those heartless bastards who thinks that people who constantly whine about someone who cheated in the past are just about as annoying as the cheaters themselves. If he built us into a perennial power I’d be happy to be the fanbase that tells the rest of baseball to suck our gold plated trophies.