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Rough week for former Tribe players... Cody Allen lost his closer's job and Erik Gonzalez... I especially felt for him, given that while he is no Lindor, he was certainly functional out there -- the type of SS who two generations would have had a real career, and now... well, he is certainly a viable starting option for a mid-tier team.  But, getting an opportunity to play, and... ouch.  Also Sterling Marte got hurt, which limits our ability to trade for him.  Alas.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/f

eatures/the-man-who-solved-jeopardy/

 On the one hand, this is pretty cool; on the other, I have no life, and at no point have I ever thought about a full sabrmetric approach to Jeopardy!.  To be sure, I don't think I am surprised by this, and it is interesting to see how the game has evolved.

https://lithub.com/the-dark-ages-werent-as-dark-as-we-thought/

I liked this -- interesting and thought provoking!

https://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2019/4/24/18513213/trump-evangelicals-gop

 This was also interesting, but... isn't that what people are supposed to do? If you want to get politicans who represent your views in office... well, the best way to do it in a lot of places is to... run the party?  Most political party types, I suspect, would love to have a bunch of new and eager volunteers, and by the time people figure out why they are actually there... well, it beats not winning races, doesn't it?

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-04-24/when-will-the-yankees-disown-casey-stengel?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=190424&utm_campaign=sharetheview

 Snicker, snicker...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaabk/twist-in-fbi-hoops-case-could-put-sean-miller-back-in-hot-water/ar-BBWg3Hq?li=BBnba9I

This is...hilarious?  I mean, I think we all realize this is a pile of crap.  On the other hand...  I don't know; I realize the NCAA will pop him for failure to control, but to me... isn't this evidence against this?  It's one thing to say "Do Anything You Can to Get the Guy," but I would argue that this is something different; it certainly implies going around the boss's back.  I guess my main objection -- like a Western of old -- is that of the wrongly convicted criminal complaining about being hanged for the crime he didn't commit instead of the ones he did...

Perception

Well...that was...impressive?  This could be me, but putting Neil Ramirez out there to start -- given his HR tendencies -- well, that was the game right there.  I guess I would use Otero or Wittgren in games where you want it to be close and you need innings, reserving Ramirez for the mop-up man...  yet another one of those interesting reliever decisions.  In the meantime.. well, I had told my coworkers that the Tribe should offer Keuchel 1/$15 in March, and they thought I was crazy... like a fox.

https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/sayonara-ohio-the-democrats-buckeye-blues/
One can hope, though I think not...

So, in the meantime, I had another one of my favorite "Roll up the map of Europe" moments yesterday; to be sure, it was extremely nascent, but I thought it was going well... nope.  Oi. I should be used to it now, like so many other things...

Another amusing thing... one of my coworkers is a Reds fan, and I guess they are putting Votto in the leadoff spot to put runs on the board.  My coworker is a dozen years younger than I am, humorously... anyways, he offered the usual bromides about him being too good a hitter to leadoff, and then offered that he didn't remember Ichiro! or Pete Rose hitting leadoff.  I immediately pointed out that both of them did so, and extensively... Ichiro!, if you think about it, was the ideal one, with speed and some power and good pitch-taking skills (learned in Japan); I think we all tend to forget that Rose was a decent OBP guy, had good "bat control" skills, and, well, there really wasn't -- aside from Morgan, maybe -- a true "leadoff" hitter there, and I am sure Pete wanted to pile up ABs.  Anyways, aside from schooling the younging...I like the move?  I think the main objection is optics, in that we still see leadoff hitters as guys like Billy Hamilton, but they also don't get on base, and nowadays, of course, people realize the value of getting on base, whereas a generation or two ago, they did not....

Easter

Happy Easter to all my readers!  It was a fairly nice one; Mass was fine, the church was beautiful, and a nice brunch with the family.  In the meantime, the Tribe is laying an egg on national TV... it happens, but to me, yesterday's loss...how do you not go to your closer in that second game?  I mean, it was not wise to use him to protect a 4-run lead in game one -- Wittgren could have gone another -- and then you use a game becuase you don't use your closer?  Oi.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/obstruction-of-nothing-11555630233?mod=hp_opin_pos1
I think this is....largely correct?  I am trying  to get through the Mueller Report --it is not exactly easy reading -- - and I am not to the good parts yet, but...

Sameness

I am not exactly feeling better today -- still down -- but now other things have taken prominence in my life, or at least the usual things, and at least I can put my compartmentalization skills to use.  Indeed, in some cases, I have already moved on to the worst-case scenario -- evidence or not -- and I wouldn't say it helps, but...

That was a good Tribe game today; admittedly, I am a fan of pitching duels and low-scoring affairs (funny given my shitting on of soccer) but this was good.  Carlos was dealing -- I suspect the last outing was just a bad day at the office, like it or not -- and Jake Bauers showed off some power, which was nice. Wittgren looked effective -- quite so -- which is good, as the Tribe seems to be... well, arms, like OFs, are welcome.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/15/what-do-the-churchs-victims-deserve

This was an interesting take... all I have to say.

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/15/712249664/the-end-of-empathy?utm_source=pocket-newtab

I was joking at work that I never have this problem, and while that is true... I just wonder if the problem is that for all that people wish to believe (I am looking at you, libtards) that people aren't responsible for their own shit -- booze, drugs, etc., -- the fact of the matter is that we are hard-wired (perhaps) or subconsciously revolting against this, because it isn't quite true, at least not 100%; people can and do make their own decisions, sometimes bad ones, and they should be held accountable.  But, as we declare some areas to be off-limits... well, like water on a precipice, it finds a way...

Mattie Agonistes

https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-taxes-us-too-low-20190415-story.html

I always get a kick out of these things, mainly they never suggest who else should pay the taxes... ok, there is always the wealthy and corporations (preferably big ones) but of course you still wouldn't have enough, so that would leave... well, it's like the underwear gnomes, I guess.

Sort of down tonight -- despite a whole seven hours of sleep.  :)  One, a friend of mine discovered their special someone was cheating, and they are now single, and I feel bad for them... two, a person I know, sort of liked...well, they are off the market, not that I cannot hang out with them, of course, but... well, it's not quite the same, you know...  and that made me sad, not for them, but for me, because, well, in the back of your mind... anyways, I think I have resigned myself to my fate -- and it is my own damn fault -- but as with so many other things, we don't have to like it.

This of course is tied to some other things going on, which are... well, much as I like to think otherwise, I suspect it will be another round of false and forlorn hopes.  That doesn't help my mood, either.

On the other...it is Holy Week, so it more than shitbaggy of me to be complaining about anything, given, you know, the reason for Holy Week. I am a shitbag to begin with, so maybe I will learn something week and try to be less of one...though I think we all know how that will turn out.

Bemusements...

I haven't really been sleeping well lately, for a bunch of reasons, so I am going to try and get to bed soon but I have been amused by all sorts of things.

First of all, I got a kick out of Brad Miller's comments... I mean, I think he has a point, and no one really believes that this isn't about the money.  But, let's face it, Brad Miller is... not that good?  He had one good year, but that was a while ago, and he is not much defensively, to put it charitably.  And that is just at second; I can only imagine the carnage at SS.  Moroff looked bad out there Saturday, and Stamets... I would argue that his play is the crux of Miller's defense; Stamets can't hit -- God bless him, and he has a great story -- but Tribe fans will be longing for Michael Martinez at this point.  Plus, Stamets has looked like Mark Lewis with the glove, which he cannot do if he is going to hit like a blind pitcher.  Moroff isn't hitting either, and the argument could be that with Kip back now and Lindor back soon, you can live with Miller who at least is hitting, for now...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/boys-stormed-a-girls-bathroom-to-protest-a-girl-got-expelled-for-fighting-back-family-says/ar-BBVX84d?li=BBnb7Kz
This amused the hell out of me, mainly because I think all of this transgenderism is a bit ridiculous, and the way to fight this is to be more ridiculous.  It is a shame the boys didn't have the cameras rolling, since I bet they were probably just there en masse and thus some chick whaled on a boy.  Maybe if they tried sitting in -- pardon the pun -- or adopting Gahndi poses in there?  I always say that men should just do what men do in bathrooms, and after a few weeks of paint-peeling and what not...well, you get the drift.

Sad news about Notre Dame -- having been there, I can assure you it IS a treasure.  I can only hope that it is NOT terrorism and indeed a horrible accident, because the shit could hit the fan, even in France...

Back to amusement, namely, President Trump threatening to move refugees into sanctuary cities.  I think it is brilliant and he really needs to just go out there and say "if these people are so wonderful and inoffensive, you will gladly take them all."  Hell, if he had the true guts he would fly out to Nancy Pelosi's front yard and make the speech there.  This is all political theater but it is the one thing the man is good at (ok, others too!) and I think secretly, sort of, that this is what his true supporters love about the guy; he speaks certain truths that traditionally could not be said, and goes and says them anyways.

Links and an anniversary

I guess this is my 800th post here, and for all of the thoughts that it should be more exciting... well, my life really isn't right now, for better or worse.  Hell, I finally finished 1491 yesterday, which has been an achivement in and of itself...

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-tale-of-two-suburbs/
I thought this was interesting, but... but then again, I am a West Sider, so I think of Shaker, I think of the Square, and yes, it is in Cleveland, but not that far, and sometimes it is not a nice place. As the Fun Run Bunch said... no one gets mugged in Parma.  Not that that is completely true, but...you get the drift.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/democrats-dont-want-to-restore-norms-they-want-to-destroy-different-ones-than-trump
Yesnomaybe?  I mean, if we had President HRC, this wouldn't be an issue, but it also wouldn't be an issue if the President was acting a bit more...Presidential?  Hell, I would even take Repubican at this stage...  I do think these things tend to solve themselves, but maybe not in this case.

https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2019/03/trevor-bauers-new-tee-is-a-tribute-to-cleveland-chief-wahoo.html
This is hilarious!  I sort of want one, of course!

Hooping it up

First of all, let me say that the Women's Final Four games were...well, I like to say that at their best, the women's games are as good as the men's in terms of excitement, but the problem is there aren't as many of them...  but tonight, they were as good as can be.  Mind you, the women's game has been exciting for other reasons...

For one...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaabk/geno-auriemma-rips-into-media-over-approach-to-womens-basketball/ar-BBVCTpk?li=BBnba9I
Funny; the day before, Geno got ripped for saying that players were soft and couldn't take being yelled at.  I don't necessarily think he is wrong, but he also took crap -- fairly, I think -- in that in most cases, people do NOT get screamed at and face loss of scholarships, etc., for petty crap.  Anyways, I think he is exactly right with his comments above...  But it would be funny as hell if someone asked Tom Izzo that question.

Then, there is the scandal at UNC -- which involves a coach almost as famous as those above -- and Vandy hiring Jerry Stackhouse as head coach.  I for one think it is...good?  I mean, why trot out any of a dozen other candidates, when you can get someone who is...fresh?

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/04/right-wing-groups-are-training-young-conservatives-to-win-the-next-meme-war/
On the one hand....yes; on the other hand, though, I would think that conservatives, by definition, should win these battles all the time, or at least most of them.  For one thing, it's reactive, which conservatives by definition are...two, we have better senses of humor.  Three, it's easier to play defense and poke holes -- which is what this is -- than to go and create.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaabk/coach-k-failed-zion-williamson-in-4-major-ways/ar-BBVuR53?li=BBnba9It

 I don't know; some of these may be true in part, but... I am not sure you want Zion shooting threes all the time, as it takes away his dominant presence inside.  Similarly, other guys on the team had talent, too; it's not unfair to ask them to win games as well, is it?

An end and a beginning....

On the one hand, it was depressing to see Duke lose... on the other, when you look at the turnovers, the FT shooting, the shitty three-point shooting... well, I am not surprised.  Alas.  We survive.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/03/2020-loss-to-trump-would-be-existential-crisis-for-democrats.html
I don't know; it's not 2016 was an existential crisis for them, either.  I guess I am just glad that there are some people out there who think Trump can win in 2020...

So, it was the home opener today, and we won... I found it amusing that once both teams went to the bullpen, the implosions occurred.  I mean, yes, you can't run the starters into the ground, especially now, but Clevinger was throwing pretty well, got into trouble once... I just in some cases -- like when the relief corps is evolving, to put it mildly - you can get another batter or two out of these guys, right?

The other that amused me was the now contretemps about Joe Biden; namely, people finally noticed he is sort of a creep.  Now, I do believe him that he never intended this to happen; it does seem that he wears his heart on his sleeve, if you will, and also, he didn't get the rep as being the Dumbest Guy in DC for nothing.  (One of the more amusing parts of Cramer's Whatever It Takes  is when it discusses Joe Biden confronting this issue.  It's quite good!)  On the other hand...I mean, this has been a thing for years, and the press is just noticing this now.  Next you'll tell me that the President is thinking that Pulitzers needed to be rescinded, or something ridiculous like that.