“Sports Are the Reward of a Functioning Society”
Instead, we have the sh*#show that is an MLB testing protocol that could not factor in the 4th of July holiday. The Minor League Baseball season was cancelled, leaving hundreds of young players high and dry. Betsy Haugh, GM of the Pulaski Yankees, returns to the show to talk about what that means for local communities. The Cleveland Baseball Team announces it is considering a name change, and Terry Francona demonstrates how to respectfully and publicly admit that a long-held opinion has changed with the times and more information.
Instead, we have the sh*#show that is an MLB testing protocol that could not factor in the 4th of July holiday. The As, Cards, Nats, and others cancelled workouts because test results had not arrived. In the case of the As, the tests themselves were still sitting at the outgoing airport. Angels and Yankees players had to administer their own swab tests as the testing staff were no-shows. Sean Doolittle, patron saint of the show, provides the quote of the season as well as the news that PPE promised to teams has not arrived, at least in the case of the Nationals. Patti recommends the Jayson Stark piece in The Athletic (behind paywall) that asks the right questions about how and when teams and the season get shut down.
MLB promises to keep the names of players testing positive confidential, unless the players give permission, but as soon as a name is added to the IL without a reason disclosed, assumptions are made and discussed. Freddie Freeman’s wife performed a public service by sharing the seriousness of his condition as someone with the disease (who tested negative only days before). This led to teammate Nick Markakis joining other high-profile players already choosing to opt out of the season. Nick, David Price, and others who are not high-risk but choose to opt out are losing salary and service time for the year. Pottymouth points out that focusing instead on the $5.7million that Price sitting out saves the Red Sox is just a bad take and there’s no place for that.
The Minor League Baseball season was cancelled, leaving hundreds of young players high and dry. Betsy Haugh, GM of the Pulaski Yankees, returns to the show to talk about what that means for local communities that depend on their MiLB teams for summer entertainment and also employment. Her elevator speech on the importance of these teams should be the closing argument in any discussion about contraction. There is also a brief discussion of pig jerseys, which Patti and the Pottymouth absolutely require.
The Cleveland Baseball Team announces it is considering a name change, and Terry Francona demonstrates how to respectfully and publicly admit that a long-held opinion has changed with the times and more information. Patti respectfully and publicly reiterates her vote for “Cleveland Rocks” but admits the “Spiders” allows for great mascot possibilities. The Atlanta Baseball Team does worse than remaining silent, but actually states it is not considering a name change at this time.
The CPBL salutes America on July 4th, but leaves the exchange student mascot out of the Mascot Race. Jose Quintana sliced a nerve in his thumb while washing dishes and can be identified as such on the IL. Normalcy! The As may be the coolest team in baseball right now as they allow fans to pay for cardboard cutouts of themselves to be in the fan-free Coliseum, proceeds to charity, and also consider drive-in movie style baseball in their parking lot.
The CPBL salutes America on July 4th, but leaves the exchange student mascot out of the Mascot Race. Jose Quintana sliced a nerve in his thumb while washing dishes and can be identified as such on the IL. Normalcy! The As may be the coolest team in baseball right now as they allow fans to pay for cardboard cutouts of themselves to be in the fan-free Coliseum, proceeds to charity, and also consider drive-in movie style baseball in their parking lot.
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