Stick to baseball, 7/6/19.

My one ESPN+ post this week looked at a few of the top names in the July 2nd market, including Jasson Dominguez (Yankees) and Robert Puason (A’s). I also co-hosted the Baseball Tonight podcast twice this week, on Monday with guests Eric Karabell and Eric Longenhagen, and on Tuesday with guests Dr. Meredith Wills and Sarah Langs.

My latest board game review for Paste covers Bosk, a beautiful game that unfortunately is very slow to play, with needlessly complicated scoring.

You can get more of my rants and raves – mostly rants – if you sign up for my free email newsletter, which appears two to four times a month, or whenever my spirit guide tells me what to say.

I’ll be appearing in Hudson, Ohio, at the Hudson Library and Historical Society this Monday evening, July 8th, at 7 pm, talking about baseball and other topics, then signing copies of Smart Baseball. I’ll also be at the Futures Game at Jacobs Field (yes, I know, I’m still calling it the Jake) on Sunday evening, and will tweet about a meetup with fans before first pitch.

And now, the links…

Comments

  1. Thanks for linking to Love Has No Labels, Keith. Very inspiring, and very much needed in today’s society. I’d like it shown in American classrooms–before some of our kids are taught to hate “others” by their parents.

  2. And the racist, pussy-grabbing pathological liar just called the concentration camps “incredible.”

  3. Brian in ahwatukee

    The cherry on the Doug Ducey sundae is that he was seen at an event two days letter wearing a pair of Nikes.

    I’m also surprised you liked a truth-out Chomsky article.

  4. “News coverage of a spate of “suspicious” deaths of U.S. tourists in the Dominican Republic is a textbook case of base-rate neglect”

    One possible, if not likely, flaw to the base-rate neglect narrative: the Maryland couple. It would seem extremely unlikely – as in, infinitesimally small odds – for both a 63- and 49-year old to pass away concurrently from the same “natural causes.” That, to me, is a textbook case of “suspicious.”

    The article makes a fair point that more data is needed, but in the absence of that (didn’t the author effectively admit that historical data is a blind spot at present, so we can’t conclude either way if this is a trend or not?), I can see why it might be prudent to throw up a caution flag on a truly “life-and-death” matter.

    I’d be inclined to give the news media the benefit of the doubt that they’re not just “manufacturing” a story. It’s entirely possible what’s happened recently is “newsworthy” and coverage on deaths in the DR previously was non-existent because they truly were occurring at a lower rate and/or were more easily explained (i.e. not suspicious).

  5. Jason Babcock

    Wow, what a change. For once, an athlete I root for has opinions I want to hear. Bravo, Mr. Giolito!

  6. I am honestly confused by the Nike commentary. While pulling support for Nike that could cost his state jobs isn’t smart, the rest of Ducey’s comments make sense. The Smokies could have had more tact, but it’s minor league baseball, teams try to be bold and edgy to get publicity, and will continue to do so.

    Apparently a tiny minority of people have adopted it as a white supremacist symbol. Instead of taking control of the narrative by responding to any negative commentary by saying that they supported Betsy Ross, and the white supremacists were worthless and irrelevant, Nike caved immediately. Nike only helped to legitimize the white supremacists and their use of that flag. Nike had a chance to stand up to hatred and probably sell more shoes than they would have in the first place. Instead, they appear weak, and helped (apparently) make our country’s first flag a racist symbol. Yes, they deserve any derision sent their way.

    • Nate in Seattle

      I am also confused. Historically, this was the beginning era of abolition in the northern states (all by 1804). Shouldn’t that be the narrative?