eaterfan

1. I think that it is an explanation in search of a reason. It's like when people point to Hollywood and point out the lack of African American representation too. Just saying, acting/writing/producing isn't part of AA culture doesn't really address the issue of why that is. There are plenty of African Americans who would love those jobs if given the chance (maybe this is development at an early age). Why aren't there more women in Congress? It's not part of female culture. 2. I think it ignores the history of AA participation in baseball. Maybe now it's not a part of the culture. But at some points, not that far removed, it was the number one sport for African Americans, just like it was for the rest of America. There is a reason, or reasons, for that decline. And reasons why more efforts haven't been made to reverse that. I don't see any reason why baseball couldn't be popular and have remained popular in the black communities if some effort had been made and if more effort is made in the future. I just think saying it isn't popular without examining the reasons, especially when it used to be popular, is giving MLB a pass.

1. You think there are a lot of stories out there interviewing 8 year old inner-city kids about their choice of sports. You think they can comprehend the financial choices or lack thereof of their parents. If they don't even know it's an option, how do they know what they are missing. 2. I'm not suggesting white kids can't be poor. I'm just suggesting there is a huge gap in wealth. Black kids can make the majors. I'm not suggesting all white kids can. I'm not suggesting that on average it's much harder for one group than another. And there weren't a lot of laws and regulations designed to keep white people poor for the first 200 years of existence which still have not been overcome. You saying that's my argument is like me saying if you think this isn't about race then you don't believe slavery was racist. 3. There's a huge difference between the rookie wage in the NFL and NBA and what minor leaguers get. There's also a huge difference in how they treat their athletes with training, equipment, and food, as well. I'm not suggesting that you have to compete with the NFL and NBA rookie contracts. But be more than non-athletic alternatives. Go from paying kids $14k in AAA to $50,000. Heck, if you paid every minor leaguer $50,000 that's about $10 million a year on the whole minor leagues. That's the price of a good reliever (not even a closer) right now. If kids know they can play minor league ball and not be destitute when they are done, it would encourage people to try give it a shot. I'm not sure why you're pro fascism, but I don't think being anti-fascism is the insult you seem to think it is.

1. Baseball is much more a game of skill than football or baseball. It requires more coaching and practice and the equipment is fairly expensive. Also, the major showcases for baseball are all private travel teams. Having more wealth allows parents to transport kids to games and practice, hire private coaches, buy the equipment, and pay for the showcases. It also allows kids to take the risk of failing. If a kid gets a partial scholarship to a university and the parents can afford half a scholarship, then that was worth something. If a kid gets a half scholarship and the parents can't afford to pay anything, the scholarship means nothing. Well off kids can spend more time working on their studies and playing ball instead of watching their siblings, cooking, or whatever when their parents work. There are just tons of little advantages that wealth creates. It's not the owner's fault, but they could increase participation by sponsoring travel teams, buying equipment, diversifying where they scout, etc. Instead they are cutting their scouting departments. 2. WTF? Black people used to like baseball. I think this is a lazy analysis and lets anyone off the hook for anything. Maybe baseball isn't big in black culture anymore because baseball turned its back on the black community. Even if true, shouldn't baseball try to change that? Not reaching out to the black community seems defeatist at best. 3. White people were able to afford cars, move to the suburbs, spread out and have parks and room for baseball. Zoning laws have made building new houses much harder and more expensive. Housing prices have increased much faster than wages have for the working class. This is even before we look at discrimination in home loans. Black people don't have access to the same space that many white people do. Once again, not necessarily the owners' fault. But they can invest more in opening up little league facilities, sponsoring travel teams, supporting more park space.

It's not just equipment, it's expensive travel teams and showcases. Baseball is incredibly more expensive than basketball and football. Plus you are acting like "it's a quicker path to money" is something that can't be changed. If baseball wanted to increase how quickly people made money they could increase minor league pay to a living wage and increase the amount players are paid while under club control. It's like when companies offer unpaid internships, only well off kids can do it. Additionally, colleges often don't give full scholarships for baseball like they do for basketball and football. Is it the owners' fault that white people in this county have built up a huge wealth advantage through racist laws during the first 200 years of this country's existence? No. But could they do things to increase black participation in baseball if they wanted. This is what structural racism is. No one has to be racist for negative outcomes to effect one group more than another because when the system was set up, it was racist. Yeah, Latin American players can do it, but that's because the cost of living there is so damn cheap. And if you don't think the system is bad for Latin American players, then please read about what goes on with the amateur talent over there.

Anyone here try Pliny for President yet? I enjoyed it. Very piney like the original, but I think it's an even cleaner flavor and a little less sweet.

Yup. And just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. Could be a ton of underground parking, too.

The ETFE is 99% installed. Only a few panels are missing. The roof looks largely how it's going to, and it doesn't look much like the drawings. The same is true with any number of stadiums they've built using ETFE. I will say it looks much nicer from the inside. I also think it is a beautiful stadium, but the roof looks basically like it will when it's finished.

Interesting - I think HKS does a really good job at making their ETFE (the roofing material that lets in light) look good in drawings but it looks like crap in real life. It looks transparent or like glass in the drawings, but it looks like metal or cheap plastic in real life. It looks like the Tustin hangars.

Construction is supposed to go from 2025-2050. Will they be finished before Noble opens their renovated tasting room?

I just don't think anything resembling a season can take place. If a player tests positive you can't just let them continue to be around the other players and team personnel. I also think that so many players will be infected that rosters may be 1/4 minor leaguers at any given point if they continue to play. There may be stops and starts. I just am not sure how much I really want to see that kind of baseball. I haven't watched one KBO game this season. I want to watch MLB, but I'm not sure any product they put on the field will really resemble MLB.

It's not just players, who might be low risk, it's coaches and team personnel who are older and higher risk. It's the people cleaning the facilities, the cooks, TV camera operators, and more. Many of these people (players included) may have preexisting conditions that they are unaware of. Get any group of people that big together there are going to be people like that who will experience serious illness or death. How much is that risk increased because of playing baseball may be debatable. But I don't think acting like it doesn't exist is prudent. Just say I care more about baseball than I do those people and the added risk is acceptable to me.

Agreed. The owners are using covid as an excuse to screw the players. If the players really cared about the fans they would just take it and play.

15: Angels Dodgers A's Mariners Diamondbacks Rockies Twins Brewers Cubs White Sox Red Sox Old Yankees Phillies Orioles Nationals (RFK) Top 3: Camden Yards, Safeco, Coors Bottom 3: Oakland (by a mile), RFK, and Diamondbacks (I just don't like indoor baseball).

Maybe this guy will develop into that, but maybe he won't. The minors is also littered with guys who don't have the velo but are control guys but can't make the jump to the bigs. If you can't strike guys out you start to nibble and then you can't work deep into games. If the stuff doesn't strike out the best of the best you're going to have trouble working deep into games. There are guys who can do it without sitting in the mid 90's, but they are a lot more rare than guys in the majors who hit the mid 90's pretty consistently.

This team needs a 3-4 starter? I seem to remember over the last few off seasons everyone saying this team needed a legit ace. I'm one of those people who think there are 3-4 starters available all the time on the market. Finding a legit 1-2 starter is what you need to get in the draft. I also happen to think there is no such thing as a sure pick. I have never seen this guy pitch. So I have no opinion on it vs. anything else. But based on what the experts seem to know, I don't like the pick. Maybe the experts are wrong and he develops a little more velocity like Canning did. Then he has 1-2 upside. It's possible. But it's also possible that the scouts are wrong and he can't get guys out in the bigs because of his lack of velocity. There are plenty of guys who are very successful in AAA even who bust out in the bigs. There's just no such thing as a sure thing so I'd prefer to go with upside. One of the things I really like about Eppler compared to DiPotto is that he's restocked the system with high upside guys. I am probably reading too much into it, but it seems like maybe Arte is getting cheap. Rather than spending $15 million a year on a mid rotation FA pitcher he'd rather burn our shot at a 1-2 pitcher to save that money. Combined with his furloughing of the scouting staff and holding off on the development plan there may be a pattern developing. It's also possible that the Angels see a higher upside in the pick than the scouts. I've just always been a draft for realistic upside and BPA compared to safe and need picks. It's why I didn't really like DiPoto's drafts and have like Eppler's past drafts a lot better (excepting Will Wilson).

You're forgetting the owner's family each make $1 million a year as VP of do nothing.

Also, we're told they deserve to make huge profits when times are good because they take the risk of the losses.

If you don't have enough money to pay your current employees a rounding error on these development costs it's probably not a great sign for the quality of the development being built. Let's just assume the total cost of the employees saved is $10 million and the development costs $1 billion. I think I'm being very generous to Arte on both counts as Keith Law estimates the Orioles would save $4,000,000 for doing the same thing as the Angels. The development for the Rams new stadium is at $5 billion (just the stadium, not the surrounding area). The Angels stadium and development won't be close to that, but $2 billion combined seems reasonable. Even going with the kindest possible figure to Arte, he saved 1% of the development costs. He should be able to afford to do both things. If he can't it's bad because it might never get done if there are any cost overruns or it will be poorly done. If he can afford to do both and chooses not to it makes him look cheap and greedy. It's not paying your house cleaner for the rest of the year claiming you can't afford it and buying a $5 million house a month later. Not only that, if you want to argue it's better for the employees because they can collect social welfare so furloughing the employees isn't that bad, then Arte, a man with a net worth of $3.1 billion, is using the taxpayers to help subsidize this development which will further add to his net worth rather than spend 1/3 of a percent of his net worth. This in addition to the sweet deal he got on the land from the taxpayers of Anaheim. It's totally within his rights to do all these things. But it's within my rights to think he's cheap and greedy. It also makes me not believe him when he says he's doing whatever he can to win. He's taking resources that are used to make the team on the field better and devoting them to adding to his bottom line. It also makes me not believe him when he says he can't afford to take a loss this season and needs to cut the players salaries. Either cash is super tight or it's not. (It's not).

This is a post from someone who hasn't actually looked at a lost of Hall of Famers. Do the players you mentioned deserve to get in? I don't think so. But to act like this is a new phenomenon seems weird. The average WAR for Hall of Famers has risen significantly over the past two decades. We've just all forgotten the past equivalents of the Lee Smith's who got voted into the Hall in 1941.

I finished Never have I ever on Netflix. If you are looking for something light and funny then it's a pretty good show. John McEnroe narrates it. It's random but pretty funny.

Russian River website store has them available.

Yeah, or split it with friends. It's not even really a good deal. $7.67 a bottle before tax and shipping. That's what it goes for retail (or even cheaper) and you don't have to get 12. There is some stuff going on sale that is not normally available for distribution, so maybe I'll get some of that.

I think Russian River is shipping to homes now, too. You have to get a case, but it's an easy way to get it.

It's definitely way better and very quick and easy to make. Easily worth it. But if you are willing to try that, you should try making mozzarella. The difference is night and day to what you can get in a store. Even the fancy expensive "fresh" stuff.

I made a lasagna from scratch last weekend. Didn't make the Parmesan cheese, Italian sausage or grind the beef, but made literally every other ingredient. Made the tomato sauce, made the noodles, and made ricotta and mozzerella cheese. Used the leftover ricotta in a cheesecake. It was a good dinner.