My ESPN content from the past week:
* Scouting reports on prep RHP Tyler Kolek and JC righty Heath Fillmyer.
* My report on this week’s Sally League matchup between Hunter Harvey (Baltimore) and Lucas Giolito (Washington).
* Scouting notes from my Georgia trip last week, including a rant on NC State overusing Carlos Rodon.
There was no Klawchat this week because my flight to Houston didn’t have wifi, and the “Top 25 under 25” ranking has been pushed back to April 24th. Also, as I mentioned here last week, if you want new Behind the Dish episodes any time soon, let ESPN know.
* If you missed my review of Thinking, Fast and Slow, it’s worth checking it out – the book is popular among the more analytically-minded front offices in MLB.
* The wonderful Agricola iOS app is on sale right now, $4 (down from $7), and the two IAPs are on sale as well. I own the whole set, and it’s the best complex boardgame app available.
And now, to the Saturday links….
- An epic NY Times piece on the Jameis Winston “investigation.” In reality, false rape claims appear to be pretty rare, so why is there still so much comfort in letting a star athlete skate without properly vetting the charges?
- That incredibly detailed (and very long) LA Magazine piece on Yasiel Puig’s journey from Cuba to MLB.
- A Birmingham pastor was forbidden to share food with the homeless … because his church vehicle doesn’t have a food-truck permit.
- A little scary: A Johns Hopkins study of 966 mother-child pairs found a link between prenatal SSRI use by the mother and autism-spectrum disorders in the baby … but only for boys. I don’t pretend to know if that sample size is sufficiently large.
- A Japanese company says it won’t charge the US fees to use its maglev technology, hoping we’ll use it for a high-speed rail line from Washington to Baltimore. We lag behind the rest of the developed world in consumer rail transportation, although our urban centers are more spread out than those of Europe or east Asia.
Here’s hoping Behind the Dish comes back, Keith. Contacted ESPN immediately. It baffles the mind that you’ve been relegated from podcasting several times a week (Baseball Today) to once a week and now none.
Do we forget the Duke Lacrosse case? Massive case, massive fallout and false. Lesson seems to be to go slow and be sure when a rapecase with athletes happens.
@sid: I’m not condoning prosecutorial misconduct; I am saying 1) failure to thoroughly investigate a rape claim is unacceptable and 2) the base-rate reference for a sexual assault claim would be that the accusation is legitimate – and assuming the athlete is innocent requires all sorts of bias.
While all rape claims should be fully investigated, a lot are not. Not just ones involving athletes or other celebrities(http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/24/untested-rape-kits-backlog-us-legislators), it should be national shame, but costs, lack of political will, and, well, where we are as a country means this shame will continue.
As for your 2nd point, well its a dangerous one to leave your hat on. Shouldn’t every case be taken as is, without pre-judgment? Or should we arrest and then build the case?
Well said. We might not “assume” innocence, but to “presume” innocence does not require all sorts of bias. Rather, it is the fundamental presumption of common law justice!
After previously getting the run-around (pushed towards the Baseball Tonight podcast), I was just advised by ESPN’s Customer Care that Behind the Dish has been cancelled for the 2014 season “due to scheduling conflicts”. If there is a more disingenuous excuse, I’m not sure what it could be. (Whose schedule are they concerned about?) I can only presume that someone at ESPN wrongheadedly thinks that eliminating another baseball podcast will drive more listeners to the Baseball Tonight podcast. Methinks they prioritze the wrong show.
I hope the podcast returns soon. Until then, at least there’s still klaw chat.
My letter to ESPN:
I’m quite dismayed that you have not scheduled the Behind The Dish podcast yet and am hoping you will correct this error. Keith Law is the only reason left that I am an ESPN insider and BTD is my favorite podcast produced by ESPN.
If there were a way to further express my dismay, I would but hopefully this letter will be one of many asking for a return of the best baseball podcast on ESPN.
I sent a message to ESPN and got a very curt message back that Behind the Dish has been cancelled for the 2014 season because of “scheduling conflicts” , which, given ESPNs size, makes bs outlet no sense. Tried to placate me that he will be a guest on Baseball tonight and occasionally guest host. Keith, if/when you renew your contract you should get Podcast written in.
Hi Keith
I emailed ESPN asking about Behind The Dish, and this was their reply:
We apologize for any inconvenience. Due to scheduling conflicts, Keith Law’s Behind The Dish podcast has been cancelled for the 2014 season. However, Keith will appear weekly with Buster Olney on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight podcast and serve as a guest host when called upon.
Sorry to hear that, hope your’e back on soon
Love the blog
Mick
All I will say about those customer service replies is that the “scheduling conflicts” did not include my schedule.