{"id":11284,"date":"2026-07-18T13:46:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T17:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=11284"},"modified":"2026-07-18T16:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T20:30:32","slug":"stick-to-baseball-7-18-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/18\/stick-to-baseball-7-18-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 7\/18\/26."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The draft is over, which means my team-by-team recaps are up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7443639\/2026\/07\/15\/al-east-draft-grades-picks-mlb-2026\/\">AL East<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7443823\/2026\/07\/15\/al-central-draft-grades-picks-mlb-2026\/\">AL Central<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7444530\/2026\/07\/15\/al-westdraft-grades-picks-mlb-2026\/\">AL West<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7446285\/2026\/07\/16\/nl-east-draft-grades-picks-mlb-2026\/\">NL East<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7447629\/2026\/07\/16\/nl-central-draft-grades-picks-mlb-2026\/\">NL Central<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7447990\/2026\/07\/16\/nl-west-draft-grades-picks-mlb-2026\/\">NL West<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re more interested in just the top names regardless of teams, here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7439435\/2026\/07\/11\/mlb-draft-2026-day-1-best-picks-top-remaining\/\">my day one recap<\/a>. Plus I <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7450071\/2026\/07\/17\/mlb-draft-prospects-live-chat-keith-law-july-17\/\">held a Q&amp;A<\/a> on Friday to talk draft &amp; prospects. I also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7441179\/2026\/07\/12\/mlb-futures-game-scouting-seth-hernandez\/\">recapped the Futures Game<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I sent out a new edition of <a href=\"https:\/\/keithlaw.kit.com\/\">my free email newsletter<\/a> today. You can find me primarily on <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/keithlaw.bsky.social\">Bluesky<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/mrkeithlaw\">Instagram<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@keith_law\">TikTok<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I appeared on KJR with Chris Crawford to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/podcast\/59-the-ian-furness-show-25723929\/episode\/furness-show-7-17-mariners-trade-ideas-keith-law-339079369\/?cmp=android_share&amp;sc=android_social_share&amp;autoplay=true&amp;pr=false\">talk about the Mariners\u2019 draft and prospects<\/a>, on HB with Soren Petro to <a href=\"https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/the-program\/h4-n2k-keith-law-the-kicker-1\">talk Royals draft<\/a>, on 101 ESPN in St. Louis to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.101espn.com\/episode\/keith-law-mlb-writer-for-the-athletic-2\/\">talk Cardinals draft &amp; deadline<\/a>, and on 92.3 the Fan in Cleveland to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.audacy.com\/923thefan\/sports\/mlb\/travis-bazzana\">talk about the Guardians\u2019 draft, prospects, and young hitters<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And now, the links\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This Reuters special report looks at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/inside-rfk-jrs-push-dismantle-decades-us-vaccine-policy-2026-07-14\/\">RFK Jr.\u2019s ongoing effort to dismantle decades of U.S. vaccine policy<\/a> that helped make this country free of many highly contagious and often deadly diseases. Now measles is back and other diseases are sure to follow, all because a fringe movement clinging to the fiction that vaccines cause autism (they do not because they can not) gained access to power.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Texas Observer investigates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texasobserver.org\/texas-school-arrests-crisis-kids-as-young-as-10\/\">the rise in arrests at Texas schools<\/a>, with children as young as 10 taken into custody for incidents of misbehavior that shouldn\u2019t rise to the level of criminal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Madison Square Garden is suing <em>WIRED<\/em> for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/madison-square-garden-jim-dolan-surveillance-machine\/\">this report on MSG\u2019s surveillance apparatus<\/a>, which Knicks owner James Dolan allegedly used to harass fans and compile a list of LGBTQ+ attendees. Dolan is a close Trump ally and was buddies with Harvey Weinstein, according to the story.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Senate candidate Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jul\/16\/senate-trump-mike-collins-white-nationalism\">extremely close ties to a Hitler-loving white nationalist influencer<\/a>: his son-in-law.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>California transplant Ken Paxton, running for Senate in Texas, purchased three condos in Utah in February for $1.6 million, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/07\/16\/us\/paxton-vacation-condos-wealth.html?unlocked_article_code=1.yFA.oNGz.JoLNnCSfUoT4&amp;smid=url-share\">adding to a real estate portfolio worth over $9 million<\/a> that seems unusual given his salary of $153,000 to be the state\u2019s attorney general.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Radley Balko writes in <em>The New York Times <\/em>that there is a simple solution to stopping ICE\u2019s violence against American citizens: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/07\/16\/opinion\/ice-killing-maine-houston-guerrero-araujo.html\">Allow us to sue ICE\u2019s leaders and the policymakers enabling the rogue agency<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Democratic consultant who recruited Graham Platner to run for Senate without doing proper due diligence on the guy <a href=\"https:\/\/paydayreport.com\/platners-daniel-moraff-barred-from-summer-lees-campaign-over-sexual-misconduct-complaints\/\">was dismissed from Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA)\u2019s campaign for sexually harassment and verbal abuse<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In <em>The Nation<\/em>, Jeet Heer writes about the late Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/politics\/lindsey-graham-obituary-trump\/\">choosing evil over truth or country<\/a>, becoming \u201cthe president\u2019s most obsequious lackey.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Amnesty International <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepinknews.com\/2026\/07\/13\/amnesty-international-uk-jk-rowling-beiras-place\/\">caved to pressure from billionaire transphobe J.K. Rowling<\/a>, removing the page that designated her sexual abuse crisis center \u201canti-rights.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Also in the <em>Times<\/em>, a report on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/07\/16\/us\/politics\/white-house-federal-grants-political-review.html\">massive pushback to the Administration\u2019s attempt<\/a> to make all science grants and programs subject to review by politicians who can cancel funding for entirely subjective, political reasons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Board Game Wire profiled a new publisher, Valor Mountain, <a href=\"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/valor-mountain-challenges-hobby-game-publishings-safe-bet-mentality-as-it-ramps-up-ambitions\/\">that\u2019s hoping to bring some overlooked European games to the U.S.<\/a>, as founder Christopher High thinks major publishers have become too conservative. I agree that bigger publishers are leaning hard on things like sequel games or IP games, but the market seems saturated with smaller publishers fighting for floor space, many of which do import cool games at all complexity levels from around the world.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The draft is over, which means my team-by-team recaps are up: If you\u2019re more interested in just the top names regardless of teams, here\u2019s my day one recap. Plus I held a Q&amp;A on Friday to talk draft &amp; prospects. I also recapped the Futures Game on Sunday. I sent out a new edition of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1083,146,1456,190,961,1020,870,477,807,1113],"class_list":["post-11284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-board-game-news","tag-georgia","tag-immigration","tag-links","tag-longreads","tag-maine","tag-stick-to-baseball","tag-texas","tag-vaccines","tag-white-nationalism","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11284"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11286,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11284\/revisions\/11286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}