It’s the ciggy in his right hand, right? Oh wait, the bulging muscles! He was built like Puig. A brick.

Sitting in my 87-year-old Mother’s garage are some the surviving Wiffle balls (and a bat or two), just in case my childhood buddies and I show up at her place, ready to restart our rivalry from 1982 or something.

That’s great. They’ve been a mystery to me, for certain

The shared excitement over NASA’s recent mission compared to the general indifference to SpaceX missions speaks to the power of something seen as the product of communal human effort rather than just the ego and avarice of one obnoxious dork.

I’m looking forward to this chapter. I don’t know much about the brothers, but have been chasing down their fragmentary stats for years.

He started the ShysterBullet blog, right?

Comedian George Wallace dropping some wisdom here. Only thing he omitted was “follow baseball and whatnot”

You’re the Jose Ramirez of Craig Calcaterra’s. Congrats!

This is the most surprising early season tidbit I’ve encountered thus far. Good for JR, I know he’s a beloved figure in Cleveland. Fun guy to watch

I’ve never seen this! Gary’s the best!

“Uh…Hello?”
“Hi Doc? It’s me, Luke, the writer.”
“Oh, ok, hiya Luke, how ya doin man?”
“Been better. Some rando read my book and now he needs me to get you to sign a bunch of his memorabilia.”
“Listen, no worries. I just booked a flight. Go buy some sharpies. I’ll start signing soon as I get there.”

And by the way, Gilbert’s book looks fascinating too. Lots to read this spring!

Thanks Michael!

Michael: congrats on the book! I’m Czech-descent and I’ve ordered a copy. The KC Cougars are our local minor league team. Do you have a link to the standings of the tournament?

Pete Rose. (I know, I know) I was a Cubs fan, but my favorite non-Cub was Rose. The 44-game hit streak in ‘78 first captured my attention as a kid. The chase for Ty Cobb’s record kept it going. He was different. And yes, I know. Not a great guy. (Nolan Ryan a CLOSE second, and a much better dude)

The OG (along with Ichiro Suzuki) of a growing interest in cumulative, international statistical leaderboards. A fun new(-ish) twist on counting stats.

Are we finally going to see Mike Trout’s “Comeback Player of the Year” season? That might be a fun story this summer.

Karaoke?! Worth the risk.

Congratulations Todd, I’m looking forward this one!

He’s preparing the documents right now, probably.

Roughly 75 days after the US military captured Venezuelan President Maduro, the Venezuelan baseball team defeats Team USA in the WBC? This is all a Shakespearean tragicomedy-simulation, right? Villains at the top. Rooting for the common people, the underdogs, is the only correct option.

The introduction here is giving me that embarrassed feeling.

Here’s a dumb baseball prediction: in 20 years MLB will have franchises on at least 3 different continents. There will be more teams. The regular seasons will be shorter (65-85 games), but there will be all sorts of specialty events, tournaments and the WBC will be bigger than the World Series.

How to make the modern NBA game more interesting? Move the games outdoors. Dribbling through puddles, hoisting 3-balls in gale force winds, Euro-stepping on an ice patch? Yes, please.

Starting MLB from scratch? I think 80 game seasons work. Lots of little regional “divisions” that don’t play one another until the postseason tournaments. Japan, Hawaii, Australia and California, etc, in one or two divisions. The WBC has shown us the value of scarcity. Less games, more intensity.

Baseball season is supposed to begin around April 12th to 15th. Historically, this was the norm. Over time, the schedule increased from 154 games to 162. Regularly scheduled Sunday double headers disappeared. And now we have the Cubs, opening their season… IN CHICAGO… on March 26.

I’m a big fan of Gary’s! Bravo!

Old enough to remember watching Berra play. Dale Berra.

NBA to MLB historical timeline translator:
The 2020s are what the 1950s were to baseball. LeBron, Curry, Jokic are Ted Williams, Stan Musial, etc.
The 1990s are what the 1920s were to baseball. Jordan=Ruth, Pippen=Gehrig, Barkley=Hornsby.
The 1980s are baseball’s 1910s: Magic, Bird= Cobb, Cy, etc.