I was laid off from
@YahooSports
on Friday.
This job changed my life. Opening Day 2019 was my first time credentialed to cover a real MLB game. Since then, I've been at every World Series that wasn't in a bubble (and one Olympics that was). I loved it even when I hated it.
the purest energy is Adam Eaton waiting eagerly but not impatiently for his friend to be done playing with his other friends so they can do their secret friend dance
Skip Bayless dismissing Dak Prescott's depression as weakness is ignorant and inflammatory and dangerous. To do so in the wake of Dak's brother's death from suicide is breathtakingly cruel. Unequivocally, this should cost him his career.
the Blue Jays broadcast pointed out that Aaron Judge seemed to be looking, well, not at the pitcher...and then they noticed it again just before he homered
Apparently I missed some Discourse but: The problem with Barstool isn’t just that it’s a cesspool of racism and misogyny, it’s that popular people/brands promote it, proving that talking about sports is still one of the best ways to launder bigotry into the mainstream culture.
Tonight I'll help broadcast the Mets-Nationals game on Apple TV+, the first time I've ever done anything at all like that. Which is, frankly, surreally cool.
When I told my parents about it, my mother — diehard Mets fan — said: "Oh, I hate when it's not Gary, Keith, and Ron."
Sandy Alderson said they got all glowing reviews of character in interview process with Jared Porter. So I asked if they consulted any women. He said no.
Asked Rob Manfred if his owners don’t pay minor leaguers a living wage because they can’t afford to or because they aren’t interested in doing so.
“I reject the premise that they're not paying a living wage,” Manfred said.
a statement from the Tampa Bay Rays:
“During today’s game, we were made aware of the social media posts that are circulating regarding Wander Franco. We take the situation seriously and are in close contact with Major League Baseball as it conducts its due diligence.”
I've grown increasingly adamant about this take and I think I would fight someone over it:
Albert Pujols has 717 home runs, because postseason counting stats should *absolutely* count towards career totals.
News out of seattle: a mariners employee just noted the press box ice cream machine is empty and told a colleague that we ate four days worth of ice cream in two days. I’m proud of everyone who contributed to this effort.
YOU GUYS there are two cute short-haired brunette women wearing beanies sitting at neighboring tables in this cafe and a man on a date with one of them just got up, got his coffee, and then RETURNED TO THE WRONG TABLE. I will be living off his delayed mortification for weeks.
During the Astros’ ALCS celebration, assistant GM Brandon Taubman yelled, half a dozen times, to three female reporters, “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f——— glad we got Osuna!” On a systemic problem, in Houston and across the league:
There was big news in the family chat earlier today…
Phillies fans, you’re welcome for what was evidentially a really motivating pep talk from my father.
Theo Epstein said he was interested in a baseball job that allows him to help address some of more existential threats to the game. So I asked him what he thinks those are:
this is a good time to remind people who are inclined to speculate that, if a pitcher is tipping his pitches, *for instance*, it would not be illegal to decipher that.
also I regret contributing to this discourse. never tweet.
Nats GM Mike Rizzo on beating baseball’s villains: “I think it was telling that when we won a national league championship and we knew we were playing the Houston Astros, we got a lot of volunteer phone calls on how to beat them and how to play them and that type of thing.”
MLB is threatening to play zero games unless the MLBPA promises to not sue them for not playing as many games as they could.
Which is one way to telegraph that the league was not planning to play as many games as they could!
The reason sports culture often still feels oppressively and exclusively straight white male is because for a lot of people, that’s the appeal of sports. Of course there’s a business model that caters to that, but you don’t have to lend it credence.
Since we will inevitably soon be debating the merits of a man getting “canceled” for his “indiscretion” might I suggest thinking less about him and more about women who work for/around the Mets who shouldn’t have to worry about getting harassed if they reply to a text from the GM
What I can't get over is that this is the point he was TRYING to make. He didn't slip up, he wasn't caught on a hot mic.
@RealSkipBayless
intentionally planned to use his vast platform to encourage people who are suffering from real and understandable depression to remain silent.
Apparently I missed some Discourse but: The problem with Barstool isn’t just that it’s a cesspool of racism and misogyny, it’s that popular people/brands promote it, proving that talking about sports is still one of the best ways to launder bigotry into the mainstream culture.
nobody on this jeopardy episode knew that “spring training” is the term for baseball’s preseason and I went from smug to full of existential dread on behalf of the sport so fast
It’s a bad take, a conflict of interest, a sign of where Mendoza’s allegiances lie between her role in the media and as a Mets employee. It’s also just a blatant lie to say that teams weren’t suspicious until Fiers went public. It took public pressure to get MLB to investigate.
Apple TV+'s announcers for its Mets game are officially Melanie Newman, Chris Young and Hannah Keyser in the booth. With Brooke Fletcher as the reporter.
A cool thing about Mark Canha is he spent the pandemic shutdown taking a public health class at UC Berkley.
“I learned a lot about racial disparities and how there are gaps in healthcare coverage across the country, particularly in low-income communities"
If hotels are going to provide any toiletries, toothpaste should be among them. How did we, as a society, end up in a place where moisturizer is standard, shower caps are common, and you’ll even see a sewing kit occasionally, but there’s no toothpaste in hotel rooms?
what is your most benign unpopular opinion? i don’t mean like “the earth is flat” type of unpopular opinion, i mean like “I think golden retrievers are annoying” unpopular opinion
Hearing that MLB and the MLBPA could have the health and safety protocols finalized as early as tonight and expect it to include seven-inning double headers and the runner on second in extra innings, DH not expected to be included.
I don’t think I’m overstating the issue when I say that the most maddeningly unreasonable aspect of modern life is that hotels give you moisturizer but not toothpaste.
requiring players to adhere to incredibly strict protocols for the sake of completing a season and then allowing a known positive case to flout those protocols and wantonly endanger people as soon as the World Series is complete means the priority was never safety.
From MLB's memo to teams last week:
"Please note that a manager will be subject to discipline if he makes the request in bad faith (e.g., a request intended to disrupt the pitcher in a critical game situation, a routine request that is not based on observable evidence, etc.)"
Sometimes celebrations of women in sports can make it seem like our value is tied to scarcity but actually it’s so much better to have other people who make you comfortable in the space.
despite all of the gender progress that has been made in the broad world of sports media, it remains novel and thrilling to see a visibly pregnant woman talking about baseball at a high level on national television (LFG
@HannahRKeyser
!!!!!!!)
hey real quick: fuck you if you feel this way. the idea that any worker needs to shut up and take it and can't want better for themselves or their workplace is oppressive bullshit. also maybe you've heard it's tough to find other work right now?
@HannahRKeyser
These employees chose to work in Baseball. If they don't like who they work for, maybe they should find a place where they would be happy.
Starling Marté finished the regular season with the most games played in baseball this year: 61 in a 60-game season after getting traded from the Pirates to the Marlins—who had a handful of games to make up—at the trade deadline.
His hat from Game 61 will go to the Hall of Fame.
Sports stopped so there was time and space to figure out how to contain coronavirus. But the country failed at doing that. I’m not confident that sports should come back precisely because we weren’t capable of sufficiently abiding by precautionary measures without them.
The Texas Rangers are MLB’s only team without a Pride Night. The Athletic spoke to current and recent employees, along with others in the area, about what it means now and in advance of MLB’s biggest in-season event:
Logan O'Hoppe is a 20-year-old lifelong Yankees fan who is getting to play at Yankee Stadium for the first time as part of this exhibition game. He's also trying his hardest not to break into song and dance at the plate.
Yankees RHP Domingo Germán suspended 81 games under MLB domestic violence policy, retroactive to September, will miss first 63 games of 2020, sources tell
@YahooSports
Heading to the Hall of Fame: a ball thrown by Cristian Javier, signed by all four pitchers (that’s Javier’s signature under the World Series logo) and catcher Christian Vázquez.
Here's Bryce Harper after his home run in the first, calling Alec Bohm over to, presumably, tell him something to look for.
Whatever it was, it worked.
please consume this gif responsibly! It is something the Blue Jays broadcast noticed but it's also literally just a split second of someone's eyes. (and even if there is some kind of "tell," it's not necessarily whatever the most sinister interpretation is that you're thinking)
Kim Ng on the advice she would give to women starting out in baseball is so good: "Tell people what you think. I don't think that I was ever hired to just nod and play along. You're hired to give your opinion. You're hired for your opinions."
Never been so excited to visit a Staten Island CVS or to experience mild to moderate aches and chills!
Sincerely in awe that this kind of science exists! Vaccines are amazing!