{"id":5149,"date":"2016-10-01T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-01T12:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=5149"},"modified":"2016-10-01T10:33:14","modified_gmt":"2016-10-01T14:33:14","slug":"stick-to-baseball-10116","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/01\/stick-to-baseball-10116\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 10\/1\/16."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My annual look at <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2dclqIt\" target=\"_blank\">players I got wrong<\/a> went up for Insiders on Thursday, and the list starts with the amazing season Kyle Hendricks has had. Earlier this week I wrote about <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2dptp6X\" target=\"_blank\">the increasing production coming from MLB&#8217;s youngest position players<\/a>, although I admit I don&#8217;t have a great explanation for the trend. I held my regular <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2d9MzhF\" target=\"_blank\">Klawchat<\/a> here on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Over at <em>Paste<\/em>, I <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2dxumKD \" target=\"_blank\">reviewed 7 Ronin<\/a>, a fantastic two-player game with a Seven Samurai theme that plays in under a half hour. It&#8217;s ninjas versus samurai for control of a small village, and even though the rules are asymmetrical the game is extremely balanced.<\/p>\n<p>You can also <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2dtXS3S\" target=\"_blank\">preorder my upcoming book, <em>Smart Baseball<\/em><\/a>, on amazon. Also, please sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyletter.com\/keithlaw\" target=\"_blank\">my more-or-less weekly email newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And now, the links&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>USA Today<\/em>, which had never endorsed or disendorsed a candidate before this week, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/2016\/09\/29\/dont-vote-for-donald-trump-editorial-board-editorials-debates\/91295020\/\" target=\"_blank\">declared Trump &#8220;unfit&#8221; for the Presidency<\/a>. So did the <em>Arizona Republic<\/em>, endorsing a Democrat for the first time in its 126-year history, after which <a href=\"http:\/\/www.12news.com\/mb\/news\/local\/arizona\/arizona-republic-receives-death-threats-after-endorsing-hillary-clinton\/327443263\" target=\"_blank\">the paper received death threats from brownshirts<\/a>. The <em>New York Times<\/em> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/09\/25\/opinion\/sunday\/hillary-clinton-for-president.html?smid=tw-bna&#038;_r=0\" target=\"_blank\">endorsed Clinton<\/a>, as did <em>The Cincinnati Enquirer<\/em>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cincinnati.com\/story\/opinion\/editorials\/2016\/09\/23\/enquirer-endorses-hillary-clinton-donald-trump\/90728344\/\" target=\"_blank\">its first endorsement of a Democrat in over a century<\/a>. The <em>Detroit News<\/em> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/opinion\/editorials\/2016\/09\/28\/endorse-johnson-president\/91254412\/\" target=\"_blank\">endorsed Libertarian Gary Johnson<\/a>, the first time in its 143-year history that it has endorsed someone other than the Republican candidate for President. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elpasotimes.com\/story\/opinion\/2016\/09\/30\/editorial-hillary-clinton-clear-choice-president\/91322782\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>El Paso Times<\/em> did too, saying that &#8220;Trump\u2019s shortcomings are in a different galaxy than Clinton\u2019s.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>The <em>LA Times<\/em> says <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/la-na-pol-trump-false-statements-20160925-snap-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">the scope of Trump&#8217;s lies is unprecedented<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><em>Scientific American<\/em> asked the four remaining candidates 20 questions on major topics in science policy, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/grading-the-presidential-candidates-on-science\/?wt.mc=SA_Twitter-Share\" target=\"_blank\">graded their results<\/a>. Clinton got the highest score, and Trump received the lowest score by a substantial margin, as the editors said &#8220;Trump says &#8216;science is science and facts are facts,&#8217; and yet his campaign has repeatedly demonstrated an utter disregard for facts.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>This <em>New York<\/em> piece on <a href=\"http:\/\/nymag.com\/thecut\/2016\/09\/what-its-like-to-be-a-female-reporter-covering-donald-trump.html\" target=\"_blank\">what it&#8217;s like for women covering the Trump campaign<\/a> is more about the awful people supporting him and attending his rallies than the candidate himself, although he has some responsibility for this.<\/li>\n<li>This <a href=\"http:\/\/nyti.ms\/2cAUH9m\" target=\"_blank\">Michiko Kakutani review of a new biography of Hitler<\/a> is the greatest subtweet of all time.<\/li>\n<li>Kurt Eichenwald has been doing outstanding work investigating the misdeeds of Trump the businessman, including this new piece <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/2016\/10\/14\/donald-trump-cuban-embargo-castro-violated-florida-504059.html\" target=\"_blank\">on how Trump&#8217;s companies violated the U.S. embargo on doing business with Cuba<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>When Trump tweeted about Jose Fernandez&#8217;s death, I pointed out that Fernandez was an immigrant, after which a bunch of people well-actually&#8217;d me by saying Fernandez came here legally. (I never said he came illegally; the word &#8220;immigrant&#8221; doesn&#8217;t imply legal status.) One, Fernandez was a refugee, and two, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2016\/09\/trumps-proposal-for-legal-immigration\/499061\/\" target=\"_blank\">Trump has proposed a huge reduction in immigrants allowed into the U.S.<\/a>, and that&#8217;s after he backed off earlier proposals of a moratorium.<\/li>\n<li>Trump has apparently chosen <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/trump-picks-top-climate-skeptic-to-lead-epa-transition\/\" target=\"_blank\">open climate-change denier Myron Bell to lead the EPA transition<\/a> if he&#8217;s elected, a clear sign he intends to roll back regulations designed to reduce our impact on climate change and ocean acidification.<\/li>\n<li>Speaking of climate change, if you live in Florida and care about this issue, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailykos.com\/story\/2016\/9\/29\/1575927\/-Koch-brothers-and-fossil-fuel-utilities-poised-to-destroy-roof-top-solar-in-Florida\" target=\"_blank\">please vote no on Amendment 1<\/a>, which the Koch Brothers have placed on the ballot to protect their fossil-fuel utility investments by making solar panels a terrible deal for consumers.<\/li>\n<li>A piano-store owner from New Jersey <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/posteverything\/wp\/2016\/09\/28\/i-sold-trump-100000-worth-of-pianos-then-he-stiffed-me\/?postshare=8911475086134079&#038;tid=ss_tw&#038;utm_term=.d6987e91ea75\" target=\"_blank\">explains how Trump stiffed him for $30,000<\/a> using the same story we keep hearing over and over again \u2013 he tells vendors it&#8217;ll be more expensive to sue him than to take their reduced payment.<\/li>\n<li>Trump is fond of saying that Rust Belt states have lost manufacturing jobs due to badly negotiated trade deals, but <a href=\"http:\/\/www.igmchicago.org\/igm-economic-experts-panel\/poll-results?SurveyID=SV_25byqjBle85jqy9\" target=\"_blank\">economists strongly disagree with those claims<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>When <em>Esquire<\/em>&#8216;s Charles Pierce isn&#8217;t spitting hot fire over the &#8220;vulgar talking yam,&#8221; he&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.esquire.com\/news-politics\/politics\/news\/a48910\/kenneth-starr-baylor-sexual-assault\/\" target=\"_blank\">doing the same about Baylor&#8217;s intense coverup of sexual assault by its football players<\/a>, notably Ken Starr&#8217;s claims that my employer did Art Briles a disservice by, well, stating the facts.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Health\/anti-vaxxer-mom-mind-kids-fall-ill\/story?id=42351543\" target=\"_blank\">Anti-vaxxer mom comes to her senses after her whole family gets sick<\/a>. Thank goodness it was only rotavirus, which can kill infants but usually just makes older kids sick, instead of something worse like pertussis.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/news\/archive\/2016\/09\/measel-free-americas\/501887\/?utm_source=atltw\" target=\"_blank\">Or measles, now no longer endemic in the Americas<\/a>, thanks to widespread vaccination. All existing cases have come into the U.S. from overseas.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>New York Times<\/em> looks at Rep. Jim Himes, the Connecticut Democrat <a href=\"http:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2016\/09\/28\/sports\/olympics\/american-athlete-tax-break-vote.html?smid=tw-nytimes&#038;smtyp=cur&#038;_r=0&#038;referer=\" target=\"_blank\">who was the lone &#8216;no&#8217; vote on a bill that gave Olympic medalists a tax break on their bonuses<\/a>. He&#8217;s right, though \u2013 why do they get special treatment that other working Americans don&#8217;t? If you&#8217;re concerned Olympians are undercompensated, then talk to the IOC, which pockets billions off the players&#8217; efforts.<\/li>\n<li>The BBC looks at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-37443649\" target=\"_blank\">the trend of small coffeeshops turning off or limiting wifi<\/a>. They&#8217;re talking about London shops, but I&#8217;ve seen the same in Blue Bottle and Four Barrel shops in California and NYC. <\/li>\n<li>Fans \u2013 er, &#8220;fans&#8221; \u2013 told Nebraska football players <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/ncaa-football\/news\/nebraska-football-national-anthem-kneel-michael-rose-ivey\/ua6ko8bva7ko1ku16hfpgciuu\" target=\"_blank\">they deserved to be lynched for kneeling during the anthem<\/a>. The player who led the quiet protest, Michael Rose-Ivey, will <a href=\"http:\/\/www.omaha.com\/huskers\/football\/ricketts-will-meet-with-husker-linebacker-michael-rose-ivey-who\/article_074f3a22-84f4-11e6-b72f-3730d0366e5c.html\" target=\"_blank\">meet with Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts (R)<\/a>, who criticized the players in a manner unbecoming of his office \u2026 and yes, the Cubs&#8217; owners are his brothers and sister.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/have-you-ever-wondered-how-much-energy-you-put-in-to-avoid-being-assaulted-it-may-shock-you-65372\" target=\"_blank\">Women put a lot of energy into avoiding unwanted attention<\/a>, from catcalls to outright assault. This column came in response to some manbaby who advised men on how to get the attention of a woman wearing headphones so you can hit on her. This response is more articulate, but I might have gone with &#8220;Die in a fire, pal.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s a little bit behind the curve, but the <em>Guardian<\/em> wrote about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2016\/sep\/25\/board-games-back-tabletop-gaming-boom-pandemic-flash-point\" target=\"_blank\">the rise of tabletop boardgaming<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>A CTV News investigation found that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ctvnews.ca\/health\/health-headlines\/offshore-firm-accused-of-publishing-junk-science-takes-over-canadian-journals-1.3093472?hootPostID=00bc7834da5380548a8b2d58e40c8b29\" target=\"_blank\">an offshore firm has taken over Canadian research journals to publish junk studies<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>Krebs on Security was <a href=\"http:\/\/arstechnica.com\/security\/2016\/09\/why-the-silencing-of-krebsonsecurity-opens-a-troubling-chapter-for-the-net\/\" target=\"_blank\">taken down in a massive DDoS attack last week<\/a> in apparent retaliation for some recent articles he&#8217;d written. This is the new censorship: silence someone via a torrent of lawsuits or via a torrent of data. Google is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/news\/google-project-shield-botnet-distributed-denial-of-service-attack-ddos-brian-krebs\/\" target=\"_blank\">developing a tool to try to fight it<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Why telling people to <a href=\"https:\/\/thelogicofscience.com\/2016\/09\/27\/dont-tell-people-to-google-it-thats-your-job-not-theirs\/\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;just Google it yourself&#8221;<\/a> is a bad argument (it invokes the burden of proof fallacy) and no way to convince anyone of anything. Of course, vaccine denialists use this all the time.<\/li>\n<li>Skeptical Raptor answers <a href=\"http:\/\/www.skepticalraptor.com\/skepticalraptorblog.php\/nine-vaccine-questions-anti-vaccine-activist\/\" target=\"_blank\">nine (ignorant) questions from a self-styled &#8220;anti-vaccine activist,&#8221;<\/a> although I&#8217;m not sure how you can be an &#8220;activist&#8221; for something that is proven false. I guess it&#8217;s an ethos.<\/li>\n<li>An American chess champion <a href=\"http:\/\/heatst.com\/world\/us-chess-champion-id-rather-sacrifice-my-career-than-be-forced-to-wear-a-hijab\/\" target=\"_blank\">is boycotting an event in Iran rather than wear a hijab<\/a>, since in Iran women cannot appear in public without covering their hair. (The group sponsoring the tournament <a href=\"https:\/\/chessdailynews.com\/345635-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">has responded<\/a>.) This seems to me like the IOC&#8217;s decision to give the 2014 Olympics to Russia after that country passed anti-gay laws: Don&#8217;t send the damn events there and you won&#8217;t have these problems.<\/li>\n<li>Hey, a nice story for a change! A white cop who pulled over a black man for speeding ended up <a href=\"http:\/\/fox8.com\/2016\/09\/27\/pulled-over-for-speeding-grieving-man-stunned-when-officer-drives-him-100-miles-to-be-with-family\/\" target=\"_blank\">driving the man 100 miles to get to his sister&#8217;s funeral<\/a>. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My annual look at players I got wrong went up for Insiders on Thursday, and the list starts with the amazing season Kyle Hendricks has had. Earlier this week I wrote about the increasing production coming from MLB&#8217;s youngest position players, although I admit I don&#8217;t have a great explanation for the trend. I held [&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":[60,828,870,295,807,902],"class_list":["post-5149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-boardgames","tag-climate-change","tag-stick-to-baseball","tag-taxes","tag-vaccines","tag-vulgar-talking-yam","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5149","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=5149"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5154,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5149\/revisions\/5154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}