{"id":5599,"date":"2017-03-26T23:16:29","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T03:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=5599"},"modified":"2017-03-26T23:16:29","modified_gmt":"2017-03-27T03:16:29","slug":"stick-to-baseball-32617","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/26\/stick-to-baseball-32617\/","title":{"rendered":"Stick to baseball, 3\/26\/17."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My annual column <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2naL17u\" target=\"_blank\">of breakout player picks<\/a> went up on Thursday for Insiders, and I <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2naBbCw\" target=\"_blank\">held a Klawchat<\/a> that same day. I had one other Insider post since the last roundup, on <a href=\"http:\/\/klaw.me\/2n98HL4\" target=\"_blank\">four prospects I saw in Arizona<\/a>, one Cub, one Royal, and two Padres.<\/p>\n<p>You can <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2dtXS3S\" target=\"_blank\">preorder my upcoming book, <em>Smart Baseball<\/em><\/a>, on amazon, or from other sites <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harpercollins.com\/9780062490223\/?utm_source=Keith+Law&#038;utm_medium=athremail&#038;utm_campaign=Smart+Baseball\" target=\"_blank\">via the Harper-Collins page for the book<\/a>. The book now has two positive reviews out, one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kirkusreviews.com\/book-reviews\/keith-law\/smart-baseball\/\" target=\"_blank\">from <em>Kirkus Reviews<\/em><\/a> and one from <em><A href=\"http:\/\/www.publishersweekly.com\/978-0-06-249022-3\" target=\"_blank\">Publishers Weekly<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>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>Call your Representatives ASAP <a href=\"https:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/23\/technology\/congress-moves-to-strike-internet-privacy-rules-from-obama-era.html\" target=\"_blank\">if you oppose the stripping of online privacy rights<\/a>, not that I think anything&#8217;s going to stop the Republicans from helping the ISPs here.<\/li>\n<li>Why don&#8217;t we have a Lyme disease vaccine for humans, even though there&#8217;s one for dogs? <a href=\"http:\/\/www.skepticalraptor.com\/skepticalraptorblog.php\/lyme-disease-vaccine-good-dogs-no-humans\/\" target=\"_blank\">Blame the anti-vaxxers<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>You can also blame them <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/articles\/2017\/03\/26\/the-anti-vaxxer-illness-plaguing-elementary-schools.html?via=desktop&#038;source=twitter\" target=\"_blank\">if rubella, which <em>causes autism<\/em>, makes a comeback<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>Venezuelan&#8217;s spiraling economic crisis means <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/indepth\/features\/2017\/03\/venezuela-spiralling-mental-healthcare-crisis-170307070622370.html\" target=\"_blank\">there&#8217;s a severe shortage of critical drugs for the mentally ill<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Thank goodness the Administration is trying to save us from such dangerous people as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.saveur.com\/peace-by-chocolate-syrian-refugee-chocolate-company-canada\" target=\"_blank\">the Syrian refugees who&#8217;ve started a booming chocolate company in Canada<\/a>. I feel so much safer already.<\/li>\n<li>Is the Admin&#8217;s ban on the use of laptops and tablets on certain Middle Eastern airlines <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/monkey-cage\/wp\/2017\/03\/21\/trump-wont-allow-you-to-use-ipads-or-laptops-on-certain-airlines-heres-the-underlying-story\/?tid=pm_politics_pop&#038;utm_term=.df7983f991d4\" target=\"_blank\">actually just retaliation in an ongoing trade war<\/a>?<\/li>\n<li>I don&#8217;t complain about the amount I pay in federal income taxes, but I do think it&#8217;s ridiculous how difficult and complicated it is. (I have used an accountant for the last five years, since my work contracts became more involved.) Why is filing still so difficult? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/filing-taxes-could-be-free-simple-hr-block-intuit-lobbying-against-it\" target=\"_blank\">Because Intuit and H&#038;R Block spend millions in lobbying to keep it that way<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>An independent group that monitors civilian deaths from airstrikes (including those by drones) says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/checkpoint\/wp\/2017\/03\/24\/airstrike-monitoring-group-overwhelmed-by-claims-of-u-s-caused-civilian-casualties\/?tid=ss_tw&#038;utm_term=.d48fb46be6d6\" target=\"_blank\">they are overwhelmed by the uptick in such claims since the new Administration took office<\/a>. The drone program was one of the worst of Obama&#8217;s policies, but it appears it&#8217;s been cranked up since the regime change. This is a very good way to make a whole new generation of terrorists who hate the United States.<\/li>\n<li>You should be horrified by the &#8220;advice&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/theslot.jezebel.com\/a-homeland-security-official-came-to-warn-us-about-work-1793575235\" target=\"_blank\">a Homeland Security official gave Gizmodo staffers<\/a> on workplace violence. <\/li>\n<li>The <em>New England Journal of Medicine<\/em> has an op ed <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.jwatch.org\/hiv-id-observations\/index.php\/what-hhs-secretary-tom-price-should-be-saying-about-required-immunizations8334\/2017\/03\/19\/\" target=\"_blank\">suggesting some better answers for HHS Secretary Tom Price on mandatory immunizations<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>If you live in Florida, call your state reps to tell them <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nbc-2.com\/story\/34847476\/creationism-evolution-optional-in-florida-classrooms-with-new-bill\" target=\"_blank\">you oppose the new bill to allow the teaching of creationism in public schools<\/a>. It&#8217;s a violation of the separation of church and state anyway, but still, let&#8217;s not go down that particular toilet.<\/li>\n<li>The gluten-free craze <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/articles\/2017\/03\/18\/war-on-science-gluten-free-madness-needs-to-end.html\" target=\"_blank\">is driven by anti-science and opportunism<\/a>. A lot of pseudo-doctors (like &#8220;naturopaths&#8221; or chiropractors) sell a bunch of tests and treatments to people who don&#8217;t need any of this, using consumer misperceptions about things like gluten.<\/li>\n<li>Chiropractors <a href=\"http:\/\/fox40.com\/2017\/03\/14\/chiropractor-accused-of-practicing-medicine-without-license-former-patient-speaks-out\/\" target=\"_blank\">like this one<\/a>, accused of practicing medicine without a license. If your chiropractor starts claiming s\/he can cure or treat various diseases, call your state licensing board.<\/li>\n<li>A company that takes advantage of consumer ignorance about science <a href=\"http:\/\/kron4.com\/2017\/03\/18\/nutiva-voluntarily-recalls-protein-shake-for-containing-peanuts\/\" target=\"_blank\">had to recall one of its products because it contained peanuts<\/a>. So much of organic\/non-GM marketing is about the claim that consumers of other products don&#8217;t know what&#8217;s in their food. The irony is thick here.<\/li>\n<li>Julie DiCaro asks Indiana basketball <a href=\"http:\/\/chicago.cbslocal.com\/2017\/03\/22\/dicaro-an-open-letter-to-indiana-ad-fred-glass-regarding-steve-alford\/\" target=\"_blank\">to reconsider considering Steve Alford for its  open head coaching position<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>I particularly enjoyed Will Leitch&#8217;s look at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sportsonearth.com\/article\/220697696\/so-close-brigade-sports-torture\" target=\"_blank\">the biggest droughts in various pro and college sports<\/a> because I&#8217;m pretty team-agnostic in any sport, so my rooting interest is often determined by who&#8217;s gone the longest without a title\/playoff appearance\/whatever, or who&#8217;s never had one in franchise or school history. <\/li>\n<li>There&#8217;s supposed to be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/03\/21\/us\/roman-polanski-court-hearing\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">a ruling in the Roman Polanski rape case<\/a> due within the next 90 days. He&#8217;s 83, and spent 40 years outside the U.S., fighting extradition and avoiding jail time for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. Why the fuck would we let this creep back into the country? <\/li>\n<li><em>New York Times<\/em> food critic Pete Wells <a href=\"https:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/14\/dining\/franklin-barbecue-review.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&#038;smprod=nytcore-ipad&#038;_r=0&#038;referer=https:\/\/t.co\/BgbbZzhMyN\" target=\"_blank\">visited Austin&#8217;s Franklin BBQ<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Tacos Chiwas, one of the hottest new restaurants in Phoenix from 2016, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/entertainment\/dining\/2017\/03\/20\/go-fund-me-campaign-help-tacos-chiwas-phoenix-burglary\/99420780\/\" target=\"_blank\">was burglarized earlier this month<\/a>. I ate there in October and was a big fan of their Chihuahuan-style tacos, which were an absolute bargain too. There&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/tacos-chiwas\" target=\"_blank\">a GoFundMe page<\/a> to try to help the restaurant&#8217;s owners recover some of what they lost.<\/li>\n<li>I gave Leitch a link, so now I have to give one to Grierson. Here&#8217;s Tim&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pastemagazine.com\/articles\/2017\/03\/take-care-of-each-other-paste-at-the-2017-truefals.html\" target=\"_blank\">rundown of the documentaries at the annual True\/False film festival<\/a>, held in Columbia, Missouri.<\/li>\n<li>I was unfamiliar with the annual Disability Day of Mourning until reading <a href=\"https:\/\/psmag.com\/disabled-americans-stop-murdering-us-b8c658853b80#.p698ll237\" target=\"_blank\">this editorial on the unnoticed crimes of caregivers killing their disabled charges<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>The Texas state alcohol licensing board <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2017\/03\/24\/liquor-regulators-partying-taxpayers-tab\/\" target=\"_blank\">spent tends of thousands of public dollars partying<\/a>, traveling to expensive resorts to drink with industry lobbyists. The state government of Texas is a septic tank.<\/li>\n<li>White supremacists have created a &#8220;guide&#8221; to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/codeswitch\/2017\/03\/21\/520522240\/the-emergence-of-the-white-troll-behind-a-black-face\" target=\"_blank\">posing as black people while operating troll accounts on social media<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>High Street on Market is one of my favorite restaurants in Philly, maybe my favorite, period. I didn&#8217;t realize that chef-owner Eli Kulp <a href=\"http:\/\/people.com\/human-interest\/chef-eli-kulp-paralyzed-in-deadly-amtrak-derailment\/\" target=\"_blank\">was left paralyzed by the May 2015 Amtrak derailment<\/a> until I saw this week about a <a href=\"https:\/\/billypenn.com\/2017\/03\/25\/chef-eli-kulp-gets-rehab-help-from-a-new-philly-wine\/\" target=\"_blank\">new wine from his restaurant group<\/a>. They&#8217;ll donate $25 from every bottle to spinal cord research. <\/li>\n<li>I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ve seen one or both of these, but in the Schadenfreude Department, we have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2017\/03\/25\/she-thought-trump-would-deport-bad-hombres-instead-hes-deporting-her-law-abiding-husband\/?utm_term=.a192c4432149&#038;wpisrc=nl_&#038;wpmm=1\" target=\"_blank\">the idiot woman who voted for Trump, only to see her husband arrested and likely deported<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/trumps-budget-targets-rural-development-programs-that-provide-a-quiet-lifeline\/2017\/03\/21\/0899fe5e-0df1-11e7-9b0d-d27c98455440_story.html?utm_term=.a8391582a26a\" target=\"_blank\">rural Trump voters about to lose their development programs if his proposed budget passes<\/a>. I want to feel bad, but these people each bear some tiny sliver of responsibility for this mess we&#8217;re in. Voting matters, and voting incorrectly has consequences. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My annual column of breakout player picks went up on Thursday for Insiders, and I held a Klawchat that same day. I had one other Insider post since the last roundup, on four prospects I saw in Arizona, one Cub, one Royal, and two Padres. You can preorder my upcoming book, Smart Baseball, on amazon, [&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":[50,612,800,131,190,883,870,807],"class_list":["post-5599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bbq","tag-documentaries","tag-evolution","tag-food-safety","tag-links","tag-rape-culture","tag-stick-to-baseball","tag-vaccines","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5599","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=5599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5600,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5599\/revisions\/5600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}