Maxbialystock

I can remember, not that long ago, Erod trying to get through the first inning with nothing but fastballs.

The new ERod. First the fastball, then two changeups, a fastball, and back to the changeup for the ground out.

3 up, 3 down top of the 1st. Come on, ERod, keep us in it.

Hang in there.

Hernandez CF Verdugo LF Bogaerts SS Devers DH Renfroe RF Gonzalez 3B Vazquez C Santana 1B Chavis 2B Interesting.

Gotta believe Richards, who is a real stand-up guy--except when he whines, whines, whines.

No, no, no. The whole point about robo-umps is to emasculate umpires because, well, they're human and can make mistakes. MLB is all about perfection. Thus the computer-generated defenses, the computer-generated data on pitcher and hitter tendencies, the computer-generated "rules" about when a pitcher, no matter how well he is pitching, must be pulled from the game, etc.

About it.

Pleasant weather expected in Oakland--high of 71, no rain. All 3 days in LA: high of 81/83, sunny. Next Thursday off, and Friday back at Fenway for 3 with the Phillies before the ASG break.

I have been to different places in Florida repeatedly and even lived there, 1943-45, but just can't stand the flatness. More recently, the heat as well.

Been there, done that. Once. First day of golf season at a small place next to the Hudson River.

If they are not left to the umpire, MLB incurs a massive expense in order to be able to test gloves with the same reliability and custody procedures the police use.

Two things always amaze me about the Japanese. To me they are culturally very, very different from us--vastly different traditions, far more homogenous, etc. Yet somehow baseball caught on in Japan, not because of World War II, but because it was introduced way back in 1872. I'm pretty sure that happened in no other country in the world. The second is their remarkable ability to adapt to American society and politics. We are lucky to have you as a citizen but I'm not so sure we are deserving. We claim to be the world's oldest democracy (going back to 1787), but I recently read we are really one of the newer democracies because of withholding the franchise--being allowed and even encouraged to vote--from too many of our citizens until roughly 1960. Newer means more fragile. Thus Jan 6, 2021.

Testing the glove might not be as simple as you say. If it was done after he finished pitching, then time was not an issue, but of course then you also get into following chain of custody procedures just like the police have to. The umpire would have to hand the glove over to a trusted agent, almost certainly one paid by MLB, who would have to provide one for every single MLB game. If the handover and subsequent testing are not done to the most exacting police standards, any decent lawyer--almost certainly paid for by the MLBPA--could easily get the charge thrown out.

Worth remembering are some parallels with our Sox. Both teams, the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Athletics, helped found the AL in 1901 and both had early success. The A's won 6 pennants and 3 WS by 1914 under the leadership of Connie Mack--and later WS in 1929 and 1930 despite the NYY. Ultimately, however, a 30 year decline leading almost to bankruptcy drove the A's move to KC in 1955 and on to Oakland in 1968, where they quickly won three straight WS (1972-74) under owner Finley and another, their most recent, in 1989 under Hass, whose A's had the highest payroll in MLB and went to three straight WS (1988-90). New owners in 1995 slashed payroll, however, because of low attendance and also began looking at sabermetrics to get more value from players. Beane began as an A's scout in 1990 and by 1997 had become the new GM and continued to pursue low cost, but useful players using sabermetrics. In 2002 he turned down new Sox owner John Henry's 2002 offer of a $12.5M salary to move to Boston, which by then had endured an 84 year WS drought. As we all know, John Henry has used a two-pronged approach--both sabermetrics and high salaries--to enable the Sox to break the drought in 2004 and win 3 more WS in 2007, 2013, and 2018, making the Sox the most successful MLB team since 2003. Two years ago John Henry hired the newest version of Billy Beane away from the also-competitive-while-paying-low-salaries Tampa Bay Rays--Chaim Bloom. He did this because that last WS win in 2018, while exhilarating, was also costly because DD's forte is buying talent, especially pitchers. So this year both teams are winning because of astute acquisitions and skilled on field management. To a degree. The Sox are still paying a lot more for players, the residue of Dombrowski's free rein on spending, which was somewhat ameliorated in 2019-2020 by the departures of 2018 players Mookie Betts, David Price, Rick Porcello, JBJ, Beni, Hanley Ramirez, Sandoval, Pedroia, Kimbrel, Pomeranz, Moreland, Nunez, Kelly, and Holt. The Sox are still paying some or all of Price, Beni, and of course Pedey--a total of $31M, over half of all the A's salaries ($58M) this year. The A's highest paid player is Andrus at $8.3M. The Sox are paying Sale (yet to pitch) $20M, Bogey $20M, JDM $19M, Eovaldi $17M, Richards $8.5M(!!), ERod $8.3M (!!), and Ottavino $8.1M. In that context Devers is a humoungous bargain at $4.8M

Amen. He has stayed with bare bones OP's, leaving the extravagant commentary to others.

Well done, SS.

Persuasive.

Seven game winning streak is fantastic, and it would beyond that is the Sox could sweep the A's.

Then we disagree about the platoon idea, but not about Bloom and Cora and the need to let Santana go, even after today's game.

Too true. A's are 48-34.

We don't know that Wong wouldn't improve other Sox pitchers.

Wong very graciously ends the Royals misery.

First time I can remember a single dropping in--in front of the secondbaseman.

Probably so, but players seem to favor it on close plays. In this case it was a force out and therefore not a good idea.