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Go ahead and giggle. Daniel Nava leads the entire team so far this Spring in Batting Average (.517), AND On Base Percentage (.641), AND Slugging Percentage (.759), AND OPS (1.400). Sure, this might not last much longer. But for right now, it sure the hell is damned fun!
Have some Fairy-Tale -Links:
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Everywhere In Baseball
The Kids Aren't Alright: Ok, let's get this Adam LaRoche stuff out of the way so we can shut it down once and for all. Right? RIGHT??? For starters, kids in the clubhouse do happen.......It REALLY got out of hand when ChisSox players let their emotions run away with them and started calling a 14-year old kid one of the "team leaders"......And Chris Sale draws up the battle lines by hanging the jerseys of a retired journeyman ballplayer and a 14-year old boy in his locker......Well, it turns out that multiple players actually DID consider having a kid running around their workplace all the time was a shit show......And commentary starts to show up from random quarters showing that kids in clubhouses is not something that ballplayers and their families are universally in favor of........Then LaRoche himself issues a lengthy statement that, now that we heave learned that the players were NOT in full support of Drake's attendance as Laroche believes, seems slightly uninformed......White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf had to step in and issue orders to shut it all down......And we circle back to Chris Sale, what with his teammates not being fully on board with him AND now realizing that the executive he was screaming at was actually taking those arrows on behalf of his teammates, AND having his owner instructing everybody to shut it, is just pissy that he was lied to, and he has decided to get his ass back to baseball......and, finally, no. This really isn't going to stop. For most of us it will tail off because we will have real news to share. But in the south side of Chicago, every little utterance coming out of the clubhouse will get spun with this shit all season long......Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Joe Maddon shows how to manage a workplace in a slightly more rational manner............
Catch This: Maybe it's Disneyland. Maybe they suck all the imagination out of all other businesses in Anaheim. Because you sure don't hear about this level of cleverness coming from the halls of LAA: Oakland A's season ticket holders (all 24 of them) are receiving their tickets in a package shaped like a chest protector..........
Bombs Away: Mark Trumbo has joined an offense that is primed to generate massive amounts of runs.......And for himself, Trumbo is starting to clobber the ball all too damned well. Baltimore might be interesting.............
Impactful: Last week we got Johnny Cueto being smacked upside the noggin with a liner back to the mound. Cueto was taken to the hospital and checked, and cleared. He was back on the mound yesterday and looked pretty good......On the same day, in a different ST game between the Dodgers and Brewers, Milwaukee prospect Rymer Liriano was batting and took a fastball to the face. It was not pretty. Liriano suffered multiple facial fractures and remains hospitalized...........
Sliders: Here it is, the first instance of the new slide rule having a big impact in a ball game in 2016. Sure, it's a ST game, but this one was the final out. I doubt that all parties would accept in such an amenable manner when the regular season begins..........
The Big Switch: What happens when a switch-pitcher faces down a switch-hitter? Who fools with whom? Let's watch the dance. And, no, this wouldn't happen in a real game. The pitcher has to declare which hand will be throwing before the at-bat, AND the batter has to stay in the box during the at-bat.............
Roll the Die: Goose Gossage decided to bark at modern baseball, and modern baseball players. And he did not stop. Those particular clouds that Gossage was shaking his fist at decided to simply drop some piss on his head and sail on. But that doesn't have to be the end of the show down. Let's go old-school, whip out our Strat-O-Matic Baseball, and load up on some vintage Gossage versus Bryce Harper, Jose Bautista and Yeonis Cespedes. Sure, pitchers win 2/3'rds of the time, but this trio does rake in 12 jacks and harper enjoys a .400 OBP............
Pappi Popping Off: And David Ortiz has a fairly succinct response to the Gossage's of the world. Shut up...........
Unclear on the Concept: When a catcher makes an attempt to throw out a runner trying to advance by stealing second base, it is customary to consider hitting the bag at second base. Not your own pitcher 50% of the way there..........
Sports Biz: Here we go. ESPN, the root cause of cable package bundling and the resulting charges for content that many consumers do NOT want is finally deciding to take a serious response to the very problem they have had a major hand in creating. The latest step to fend off cord-cutting among consumers altogether is for providers to reduce their channel packaging, allowing consumers to get a more focused selection at lower costs. In theory, many consumers might be able to secure a content package that more closely approximates their viewing habits and be willing to still pay some fees - although significantly lower - in exchange for continued convenience. So customers are expected to be moving to these "skinny bundles" in droves. Soon. So how is ESPN planning to deal with consumers fleeing the mega bundles that ESPN makes so expensive in the first place? Get the carriers to make sure and add ESPN to the skinny bundles. In other words, pollute the solution with the very thing you are trying to solve...........
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