Archive for the ‘baseball’ Category

The #Unexpectedly Chronicles: You Never Hear This Discussed When Sportwriters Decry the Oakland A’s Pending Move

Posted: July 29, 2023 by datechguy in baseball, crime, Sports
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The subject of the Oakland A’s pending move to Las Vegas has been the subject of an awful lot of chest thumping by sportwriters all over the place who loudly denounce the very thought of the 29-76 A’s abandoning the City of Oakland, as they abandoned the city of Kansas City in 1968 and the City of Philadelphia in 1955.

The is all kind of talk about “loyalty” and the legacy of the great A’s teams of the 70’s and the Bash Brothers of the 80’s but there is a subject concerning the preference of Las Vegas over Oakland that has not come up in the context of the move by any sportswriter I’ve read nor any sportscaster I’ve seen or heard.

However it’s a subject that any resident of Oakland knows is one of the top concerns of the city, in fact it’s such a concern that the NAACP of Oakland has decided to state it publicly:

Some key quotes:

Oddly enough what the local chapter of the NAACP decry and the residents of the city know the national media which decries the inability of the A’s to draw fans doesn’t have a word to say, blaming the owner instead.

The subject of crime in the city, crime so bad that it’s expedient to pull a major league team, albeit one of the worst teams you will ever see, and move to a city so renowned for it’s criminal past that it hosts the mob museum is an odd omission, until you remember that there is a national election coming up and the issue of crime, particularly in cities run by the left (The last Republican mayor of Oakland was elected in 1961) and when it comes to media, no media is more consistently left than sports media, particularly on the national level.

So while the discussion of the move of the A’s continues over the next couple of years, you can bet your bottom dollar that the subject of crime in the city will continue to be ignored by those in media, at least until after the election.

Unexpectedly of course.

Elly De La Cruz and Playing Baseball Right

Posted: July 9, 2023 by datechguy in baseball
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One of the great young stars of Baseball is Elly De La Cruz. Not only has he already hit for the cycle in his rookie year he has helped raise a team that lost 100 games last season to first place.

Yesterday he did something that screamed Jackie Robinson, stealing 2nd, 3rd and home but most amazingly he did it on only two pitches.

I’ve watched that video a few times and while I noticed that he seems to have long legs and an athletic gait, what really struck me was the baseball sense. Let’s look at the video:

now the steal of 2nd wasn’t anything special other than the good jump but take a look at the 47 second mark of the video and check out where the 3rd baseman is when the catcher is getting up to throw.

There is nobody covering third. de La Cruz noticed this and immediately took off. Yeah the 3rd baseman right have broken for the bag if he had been ready and saw de la Cruz break. With a shorter distance he might have gotten there first and perhaps could have set himself to get a throw, but he wasn’t ready and de la Cruz saw this and took the base.

Remember this is a one run game at the time, you would think a team would be careful about these things but the Milwaukee infield was not and de la Cruz was ready to strike.

Now look at what he does once he’s there. The 3rd baseman is still nowhere near the bag and he starts down the line. at the 2:14 mark the catcher throws the ball back to the pitcher who turns his back and heads back to the mound casually. The moment de la Cruz notices the pitcher isn’t watching he breaks for the plate. The pitcher turns at the 2:19 mark and rushes a throw that doesn’t have a chance.

That’s some of the most intelligent baseball I’ve seen in years. Elly de la Cruz is only 21 years old but he’s clearly one of the smartest players on that field and more importantly he’s paying attention to the game and making wise decisions.

This is exactly how this game should be played and the fans of Cincy are lucky to have that kind of player on the field. Will he develop into a Larkin or a Rose, it’s way too early to tell but for now let’s just take joy in it all.

Quick Bits of Advice Under the Fedora, Picking a Lawyer, Why Coaches Exist, Killing Golden Geese, Al Capone Gangster and Legacies

Posted: July 1, 2023 by datechguy in baseball, culture, the courts, under the fedora
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Some Advice:

If hiring a lawyer, make sure that none of them had to get therapy from their law school as a student over SCOTUS rulings they didn’t like.

There is a reason why third base coaches exist to let you know if it’s a good idea to take that extra base. If he puts up a stop sign with two outs in the last of the 9th when you represent the tying run listen to him.

If you are counting on $1000+ from a relative as a wedding gift, it’s a bad idea to inform them that they are not welcome at your wedding because you would be frightened by their presence because they vote conservative and not invite them on those grounds.

Not only will for forfeit that thousand dollar payday, but you will forfeit any future paydays that might have come up.

Reality doesn’t care if something is proven in court or not. Reality IS. If you base reality on court decisions or the lack thereof you will find yourself played for a fool.

Finally if your business or organization relies heavily on recommendations from current customers or users to family members for new bodies, don’t mistreat said existing customers. They’ll advise people to stay away.

The Best Response to the Dodgers: Eucharistic Processions and Hostile Work Environments. Update: No @LOSDodgers posting?

Posted: May 23, 2023 by datechguy in baseball, catholic, catholic devotions, culture
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The LA Dodgers had scheduled a pride night and had invited the anti-Catholic “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” a drag group that attacks the Catholic Church. After a letter from Marco Rubio noting the offence to Catholics the “sisters” were disinvited.

Gay groups whose hatred of faithful Catholics is only slightly eclipsed by the sisters threatened to pull out and the Dodgers caved like a wet blanket.

It goes without saying that if this had been a drag group that made fun of Islam the Dodgers would have run from these guys and denounced them publicly as bigots, but as it’s the Catholic Church the Dodgers are all in on hate.

What remains is what the response should be, I think it should be two fold, one spiritual and one secular.

The spiritual response that I would suggest is a Eucharistic Procession to and around Dodger Stadium, much like the one that took place in DC last week:

Over the weekend, the nation’s capitol saw a Eucharistic procession, the first of its kind organized by the Catholic Information Center (CIC), to bring “Christ’s Real Presence onto the streets of our downtown D.C. neighborhood.” 

Fr. Charles Trullols, director of the CIC, said that he was inspired by the Eucharistic processions of Pope St. John Paul II, who led processions through Rome’s streets for seven years. He continued to say that the U.S. needs God to be put back into Americans’ lives, hoping the procession would help the country, including those in the White House. 

“The CIC houses the closest tabernacle to the White House, and I have absolute faith in the many graces God will bestow onto our country when Christ’s real presence is carried through the streets of D.C. The procession will express our belief that Jesus is passing by and bestowing his love and help on all of us,” Fr. Charles Trullols said

I’m sure the Hispanic community of LA would really get into such an event, perhaps even bearing a banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe the Patron of the Americas. But the real advantage is that whenever you have the Eucharist you have the body blood soul and divinity of Christ and whenever you Christ to a situation you are working toward the good.

Of course a secular response might be appropriate too and there is a very simple one that might stop this in it’s tracks.

I’m sure California has laws concerning creating a hostile work environment and I’m also sure that there are more than a few devout Catholics who work for or play for the Dodgers.

Imagine if one or more of them filed a complaint with the appropriate agencies noting that inviting a group openly hostile to their faith as official guest constitutes a hostile work environment. Imagine the lawsuit that could follow. Imagine if this is promulgated in the largely Catholic countries that the dodgers recruit from.

The Dodgers have sown, let them reap.

In fairness all of this is consistent with the warming of Christ at the last supper:

“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.

Remember the word I spoke to you,  ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin.

Whoever hates me also hates my Father.

John 15:18-23

We’ll see much worse before it gets better.

Update: I just noticed that while the Dodgers put out their announcement on the twitter feed it’s not included in their spanish language twitter feed @losdodgers

I wonder why?

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