Author: thependulumswings staff

Down to Three Approaching Fourscore

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s Super Tuesday.  It’s a super big day for Bernie Sanders, running for his party’s presidential nomination.  And, it’s a super big day for Joe Biden, too, even though he thought it was Super Thursday.

And it’s a big day for the Democratic National Committee(DNC).  Assuming the vote tally process works better in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia than it did in Iowa the DNC will have a much better idea of what else they need to throw at Bernie Sanders to halt the assault from the far left.

Crazy Bernie has no chance in the general election of even coming close to Donald Trump.  You know it.  Your dog knows it. And, the DNC knows it.

And, apparently, that is very bad as it sounds like our time here on terra firma is running short.   Ask Beto O’Rourke.  Last evening while endorsing Biden, Beto shrieked, “The man in the White House today poses an existential threat to this country. To our democracy. To free and fair elections. And we need somebody who can beat him. And in Joe Biden, we have that man.”   Biden embraced far-left anti-gun extremist O’Rourke during a rally on Monday night in Texas.  He declared that the failed Senate and presidential candidate was going to lead Biden’s anti-Second Amendment efforts.   At least the unemployment figures will drop by one.

Most nominee hopefuls call climate change the biggest existential threat.  Tom Steyer was a loud one of those, but no more.  He dropped out over the weekend.  If a tree falls in the forest but no one hears it, is it still climate change?  If he endorses Biden and no one hears it, is it still an endorsement?

No word yet on if Steyer will endorse Biden.  But, the others are lining up and doing their party’s work.  Pete Buttigieg dropped out just in time to try to swing his votes to Uncle Joe.  Mayor Pete endorsed Biden last night.  Biden said that he was surprised that he did that.  Maybe he was as it’s 50/50 that he knows who Pete is.  The DNC wasn’t surprised.  Pete is young and dutiful.   Promises made?

Amy Klobuchar dropped out yesterday.  Whew.  Just in time for Super Thursd, er, Tuesday as well.  She also is expected to endorse Biden today.  Amy isn’t as young as Pete but is as dutiful.

After tonight the DNC will have a better feel for how many more ducks they have to get in a row to prevent that pesky Bernie Sanders from quacking too much in mid-July in Milwaukee.

The party (after Elizabeth Warren realizes it’s over today) of inclusion and diversity will be down to 77-year-old white male Joe Biden, 78-year-old white male Bernie Sanders, and 78-year-old white male Michael Bloomberg.  All would be fourscore and more after one term.

Sanders stayed along for the ride all of the way to the convention four years ago.  It drove Hillary harder and further than the then 69-year-old wanted.  As crazy as it seems he’s riding shotgun again.  No Beto, it’s not that kind of shotgun.  The DNC is trying desperately to play traffic cop.

Meanwhile, get some more endorsements, Joe.  There’s a guy named Obama.  He might stand behind you as you did with him especially if the DNC asks with a “pretty please.”

And, get some rest.

 

Elmira?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As the calendar flips from February to March the madness of March Madness is nearly upon us.  Two weeks from now, or just 13 weeks removed from the college football bowl season, you’ll tune in to watch a college team you’ve barely heard of taking on another that you know no players on.  And, goodness knows you watched a lot of college football.

But, what about college baseball?  Similarly, 13 weeks from now the college baseball World Series will begin.  Prior to that thousands of games will be played.  Will you tune in now? Then?

It’s hard to tune in now because on traditional network TV none are on.  ESPNU carries a few along the way.  Conference channels carry a few more if you pay a few more bucks for your favorite one.

We wonder.  Why the huge interest in college football, the great interest in basketball, and the indifference in baseball?

Is it because as the weather heats up we choose to head outdoors for fun?  Is it acutely because the north does so? The north’s viewership is an important percentage of the potential TV viewership. And is that because the north doesn’t really play baseball nearly as much as year-round climates like California, Texas, and Florida?  It’s hockey season you know?  Eh?

Is it because the game is too slow?  That theory, which applies to MLB as well, has been advanced for years and years.

Or, is it that college baseball doesn’t allow us to establish a viewer relationship with its players?  What does that mean?  It means that very good and/or very likable baseball players, unlike football and basketball, head to the minors not directly to the NFL or NBA.

In the NFL we soon see which team drafts last season’s success stories.  We watch train wrecks like Johnny Manziel (Heisman to who’s man) in a nearly real continuous-time attempt to take their games to the next level.  We hope for and watch intently 36-month transition, great success stories like the build from Texas Tech to a Super Bowl MVP for Patrick Mahomes.

In the NBA the best ‘one and done” college players hit the hardwood for the NBA fame and fortune a mere six months after they cut down the nets in the NCAA tourney.

In baseball, if you even watched to begin with, the best of the best head to places called Round Rock, Appleton, and Elmira for a year, two, three, or more.  Many never dig their cleats in the major league batter’s box dirt.  Never is a long time.

In baseball we hardly knew you, then you left us.  So it’s harder to make the commitment.

When will I see you again?

Elmira?

 

 

Nibbles, Not Nuggets

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s going to be 70 degrees with no clouds nor humidity here at the world headquarters of BBR.  Hence, there is no time for Ten Piece Nuggets, plus it’s soon to be swimsuit season.  Here are six nibbles served from the NFL Scouting Combine.

  1.  At least seven WR’s that worked out for the NFL at this week’s combine will receive a first-round grade.  The position is deep.  If you want to zig when others zag you could grab a highly rated “in the trenches guy” in the first and get first-round WR talent in the second.
  2. One WR Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III flashed rare speed Thursday night, but he didn’t quite get the record he had hoped for at Lucas Oil Stadium.  His 4.27 second forty was .05 behind John Ross, currently with the Cincinnati Bengals, who ran a 4.22-second 40-yard dash in 2017. That is considered the record in the combine’s electronic timing format that began in 1999.
  3. Bo Jackson’s hand-timed 4.12 in 1986 has long been considered the best combine 40 time.  Can you imagine tackling that combo of size, strength, and speed?
  4. Joe Burrow will be a Bengal.  Stop the nonsense.  The media has to drum up drama where there is none to sell beer and testosterone ads.   He’ll sell a lot of tickets for the Bengals himself.  Word is that he blew the management team from Cincy out of the combine water in his sit down.
  5. The big uglies hit the field tonight.   Why the make them run a forty is puzzling.  When is the last time you’ve seen a right guard forty yards down the field?  30?  20?
  6. Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden joined general manager Mike Mayock in giving quarterback Derek Carr a vote of confidence Thursday.  “I really think Derek is a heck of a player and I got a lot of respect for what he has done with some tough circumstances,” Gruden told a group of Raiders beat reporters at the NFL combine in Indianapolis.  Ah, the old head fake.  Sounds like the Raiders will be pursuing Tom Brady, doesn’t it?

Drink some water with a wedge of lemon in it if you are still hungry.  Fore!

 

Politicians and Coaches Make Strange Bedfellows

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Raise your hand, as the candidates did repeatedly, if you watched the tenth of fourteen Democratic Presidential Debates last evening.   While the candidates have their philosophical differences, they unanimously tell us that this country needs new leadership.  Each of them also believes that they are just the one to bring it to the White House.

Leadership.  What is leadership?  There are many iterations of definitions.  One definition is the ability to clearly communicate a vision, show a path for that vision, and get people to join the journey to help see to its fulfillment.

It’s what coaches have to do to get a group of players, regardless of the sport, to believe in what they are doing and come together as one to achieve their goals.

Good candidates should project as good coaches.  So, this made us wonder.  Who in the sports coaching world past or present reminds us most of the individuals on stage last evening.  In the scouting world it’s called comps.  Our best guesses at the comps follow.

Bernie Sanders sports an unkempt gray hairdo that he “hand combs” frequently.  Strong-willed and unrelenting, Bernie has a vision.  If challenged, he reddens in the face and raises his voice to accentuate a point.  It’s his way or the highway.  We get the feeling that when he dies he wants to be buried face down so that everyone can kiss his buttocks.  He hasn’t thrown a chair yet, but our comp is Bobby Knight.

Michael Bloomberg reminds us most of Hank Stram.  Bloom stands barely above the podium at about five feet and seven inches.  Stram needed 1970’s platform shoes to get to that rarefied air.  Both are/were smug and speak with squeaky voices.  Full disclosure- Stram was known to wear a trench coat on the sidelines, weather permitting, back in the day.  Flashy for fashionable reasons.   Nondisclosure- Bloomberg was known to wear a trench coat in the office, regardless of weather, back in the day.  Flashy for all of the wrong reasons.

Elizabeth Sanders has no direct identifiable comp, though George O’Leary and his falsified resume’ come to mind.  Undeterred, it’s obvious that she still wants skin in the game regardless of the sport.  As a kindred spirit, it’s well known that she covets coaching positions with the Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, and Florida State Seminoles.  But. she’s no George Allen nor Bobby Bowden.  Of course, their contracts were never taken from them due to pregnancy either.

Tom Steyer, we hardly know you.  Stoic, simple, and possibly a bit boring, Steyer is a marginal match with former Minnesota Viking Head Coach Bud Grant.  Grant was four times a bridesmaid and never a bride in Super Bowls.  Steyer could run three more times himself and we doubt highly that America would propose to him as well.  Grant won 283 NFL games, good for third all-time but we hardly knew him.

Joe Biden is a dead ringer for Les Miles.  Both have been in the game for a long time.  Yesterday Biden asked for your vote during a presentation.  It’s must-see Gaffe TV, again.  One is bad at debate clock management.  The other is bad at game clock management.  Biden prefers plugs to dye.  Miles prefers dye to plugs.  Both were relevant decades ago.  Both are still in the game, but we wonder why.

Amy Klobuchar projects more as an on-field leader than a sideline coach.  She’s a throwback 10-year plug and play three-down middle linebacker if there ever was a guy named Dick Butkus.  She even referred to her Uncle Dick (no relation to Butkus) in the deer stand last evening when discussing gun control.   Back in the day slick, tight-fitting helmets were made of leather.  Amy’s helmet hair hairdo looks and likely feels much the same, while Butkus sported a crew do.

Pete Buttigieg has an uncanny ability to inflect his voice like, parse his words, and use the same words as Barrak Obama.  It’s so uncanny that many openly wonder if it’s admiration or plagiarism.  Mayor Pete talks a big game but hasn’t coached in one yet.  Houston Texan Head Coach Bill O’Brien learned from Bill Belichick in a similar fashion and borrows attitude, mood, and words from Belichick similar to Pete’s wordsmith feats.  Both aspire to get to the big stage.  Not yet.

Ronald Reagan wanted to win one for the Gipper.  The seven left standing on stage want to win one as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The Blessed Virgin Mary of Solitude weighed in yesterday.  She tweeted her thoughts on how tawdry the members of the Miracle on Ice 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team accessorized their wardrobe for the 40-year anniversary celebration of their defeat of the Russians.  Say what?

María de la Soledad Teresa O’Brien translated from Spanish means “The Blessed Virgin Mary of Solitude.”   Shortened, she goes by Soledad O’Brien.    Soledad was an NBC, MSNBC, and CNN anchor from 1991 till 2013 winning a Peabody and an Emmy Award along the way.

Since 2016, O’Brien has been the host for Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, a nationally syndicated weekly talk show.   She is also a member of the Peabody Awards board of directors, which is presented by the University of Georgia’s Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Solitude means “the state or situation of being alone.”  Except Soledad is anything but alone.

Sunday she tweeted “Ugh….so disappointed by the @1980MiracleTeam.  I loved watching that game as a kid with my dad.  To see them on a stage, in MAGA hats-kinda crushing I have to say.”

And so America was “lit” as the young uns like to say, or used to like to say.   Tweets on both sides of the aisle set the virtual world on fire.

One side @SJUA08 provided “The USA Hockey team UNITED a nation in 1980.  The same team DIVIDED this nation more by participating in a MAGA rally.  The Miracle Team now is part of our national nightmare.”

The other side @BroodingManatee countered, “If I took other people’s political opinions this seriously, I’d have to disavow all my favorite bands and stop watching movies entirely.”

All of the above freedom of speech is guaranteed by the First Amendment.  The faithful First also guarantees freedom of the press.  And, we submit, that is where the worst of all blurred lines have been crossed.    We’re pretty sure Walter Cronkite would look down his nose and over his reader glasses at old solitude Soledad.

The press used to stay out of shaming people for expressing their thoughts through freedom of speech.  In fact, they used to vigorously defend it.  Burn the flag.  Wear a MAGA hat.  It’s all the same.   But, today it isn’t.  Today, you are entitled to your opinion and right to express it only if it aligns with others’ thoughts.

If not, let the condemnation and name-calling begin and never end.   A few that come to mind are bigot, misogynist, racist, homophobe, elitist, and one-percenter.  There’s white privilege.  The war on women has now lasted longer than the 100-years war.  It’s must be all bad.  Don’t believe me?  Ask any member of the press that disagrees with you.

Reporters used to cover protesters yelling in the streets.  Now they are the protesters yelling into the microphone.

It’s their right even though it used to be wrong.  It will take a miracle to reverse this course.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Smorgasboard

Posted on by thependulumswings staff
smor·gas·bord
/ˈsmôrɡəsˌbôrd/
noun
a buffet offering a variety of hot and cold meats, salads, hors d’oeuvres, etc.
  • a wide range of something; a variety.
    “the album is a smorgasbord of different musical style”
    1.   Go to the head of the class if you thought Baylor, Gonzaga, San Diego St., and Dayton would occupy four of the top five spots in the AP basketball poll with less than a week to go in February.  It could be March Madness indeed.  In fact, it will be.
    2.  Where are the blue bloods?  Well, Kansas likely will ascend to number one this week thanks to their big Saturday win over previous number one Baylor.  Duke was six and might break into the top 5.  Kentucky and Louisville are 10 and 11.  The blue bloods are there, but so are the upstarts.
    3.   Along with Duke are Maryland, Florida St., and Louisville repping the ACC in or very near the top 10.  West Virginia will check in at roughly 15 as well.
    4.  Where is North Carolina?  Losers of seven in a row the Tar Heels are 10-17 overall.  This might be Roy Williams first losing college basketball coaching season EVER.  Is Roy done?  Hardly.  Seeded number one just a year ago, this blip reverts back to the norm next year.  Williams has four McDonald’s All Americans headed in.
    5.  Auburn joins Kentucky in the top 25 from the SEC.  The SEC is weak in roundball this year.  At least it is perceived to be.  Mississippi St. and South Carolina are bubble type teams.  Florida, baring a big collapse will get in as will LSU.  Four tourney teams, if that is all that gets in, is indeed weak.

    6.  In a recent episode of the No Laying Up podcast longtime CBS on-course announcer(but no more) Peter Kostis said, “I’ve seen Patrick Reed improve his lie, up close and personal, four times now.”  Reed must have felt like he took a sand wedge to the cranium.

    7.  Speaking of sand, in a town hall interview this week on SiriusXM PGA Tour radio, Brooks Koepka was asked about Kostas’ comments and Reed’s penalty for improving his lie in a bunker last year in the Bahamas. “Yeah. I don’t know what he was doing, building sandcastles in the sand,” he said. “But you know where your club is.”  Ouch again.

    8. After his opening round at the WGC-Mexico Championship, Reed was asked to respond to criticism from world No. 2 Brooks Koepka and former CBS analyst Peter Kostis.  “I said what I have to say about what happened in the Bahamas, and at the end of the day, all I’m trying to do is go out and play good golf and trying to win a golf championship,” Reed said following a first-round 69 that left him tied for eighth place in Mexico.  And win it he did.

    9.  What would sports be without villains (er, umm, cheaters) like Reed?  The Red Sox don’t like the Yankees very much and vice versa.  Outside of Houston everyone now has the Astros.  Reed calls Houston home if you need another reason to boo the Astros when they come to your town this spring.

    10.  Reed won $1.8 million for the four days of work in Mexico.  It was his ninth win on tour including the 2018 Masters.  He has an uncanny ability to shut out the naysayers in big moments.   Reed credited a hot putter down the stretch with three straight birdies to chase down Bryson DeChambeau.  His putter was hot.  But it wasn’t as hot as 84-year-old Mary Ann Wakefield’s putter.  Take a 30-second look.

    You’ve been served.

What’s Old is Old

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Do you remember the Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker Show back in the eighties?  His relentless pursuit of money through the guise of religion was so tiresome.  Claims made by him and his minions of miracles answered for contributors to his church were endless and far fetched at best.  But, it was a narrative that kept his lovely wife Tammy Faye in mascara.  Jim eventually served hard time in jail for his sins.

Undeterred, he’s been at it again.  Contacts have replaced thick glasses.  Thin white coiffed hair has replaced thick brown coiffed hair.  Tammy Faye passed away.  He has a new female Fatale beside him as he continues to spread the good word.  Recently he brought on an “expert” who stated that for a small contribution she could send you some medicine that would destroy the coronavirus in just 12 hours.  It’s a miracle!

Find a narrative, swear to God by it, and collect money.

Which brings us to MSNBC.  Lawrence O’Donnell reminds us of the Rev. Jim Bakker.  Find a narrative, swear to God by it, and collect ad money.

Ole Larry made the Putin and Trump connection again.  O’Donnell said, “The president is a Russian operative. That sounds like the description of a bad Hollywood screenplay, but it is real. It is Vladimir Putin’s greatest achievement, decades after America’s victory in the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union, the president of the United States is now helping the president of Russia help the president of the United States to get re-elected. So that the president of Russia will have four more years of the president of the United States who he wants in the Oval Office, this is one of those shocking news days if you retain the capacity to be shocked in the Trump era by the Trump regime, which might be better labeled the Trump-Putin regime.”

You know.  Russia bad.  Trump bad.  We’ll be back after these revenue-generating messages.

So what if Putin prefers Trump over, say, a socialist that Bloomberg called a communist?  What would O’Donnell screech if Putin, as crazy as it sounds, came out in support of Crazy Bernie?

What would Lawrence say then?  Would he blame Trump for contacting Putin to get him to do it?  After all, who would want Putin’s endorsement?  Remember Russia bad.  Trump bad.

The narrative is beyond tired.  The collusion and all of its Mueller investigating (and striking out) is as old and tired as Jim Baker and snake oil.

Trumps’s approval numbers have improved over his time in office to a new high this past month.

How much is due to Putin? Not much.   The real question is how much is due to America growing more tired of a tired narrative.  Much.

 

Winners? Losers?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Our society always yearns for clarity.  There are always good guys and bad guys in movies.  In debates, we want to know who won or lost.  One debate does not an election season make.  Regardless, we’ll play along.  To the Nevada Democratic Debate scoreboard we go.

Winner– Donald J. Trump.   There were no “wow” moments from any Democrat that would cause anyone to look at this race for 2020 any differently.  When capitalism v. socialism is being debated you’ve got a problem with the narrative in the bigger picture.

Loser- Michael Bloomberg.  He paid to get on the stage and halfway through he likely wanted to pay to get off of the stage no matter the cost.  Elizabeth Warren stood next to him.  Mini Mike, as Trump calls him, looked small in stature and when Warren traded punches with him on his confidentially settled lawsuits brought by former female employees he looked even smaller.  He was attacked by everyone on stage and had few counter punches of note.  He looked like he could use a standing eight count at one point.

Winner– Mayor Pete.  It is obvious that the moderates (we use that term loosely with this crowd of Mayor Pete, Amy Klobuchar, and Bloomberg) will consolidate down to one at some point.  Mayor Pete has poise and stage presence.  He speaks eloquently but says little.  That actually works in this crowd.  His few but pointed attacks had a plan.  He had Klobuchar rattled more than once.  He has no national record so few attack him.  Others are falling around him.  Is his inexperience his biggest foe?

Loser- Joe Biden.  Joe stood in the middle of the ring and came out of the debate unscathed.  That sounds like a winner, but it’s not.  Why?  Its because no one even bothered to throw a punch at him.  This also makes him a loser as his competition has moved on to fight other fighters.  Long on experience and relationships around the globe, he constantly reminds us, is no longer the winning ticket to get on the nomination train.

Winner– NBC.  The moderators had control for the most part and the questions aimed at most candidates were pointed and debate worthy.  The bar for moderators is very low when CNN is your competition, however.  Bonus points to them for keeping the far-left MSNBC talking heads at home.

Loser– Elizabeth Warren.  Her demeanor was better than her norm.  Her aforementioned exchange with Bloomberg was strong.  Her fingernails on a chalkboard voice was an octave lower than usual.   Sounds like a winner doesn’t it?  The problem is Bernie Sanders is the front runner and he is in her lane taking up all of the oxygen.  It’s too late for her.

Winner– Bernie Sanders.  He admitted that he is a “Democratic Socialist.”  He was called out for a 25 trillion dollar gap in his health care plan costs.  Yet he lost no ground last evening and remains the front runner.  Now he should loudly focus on fixing the Democratic Super Delegate problem that is right in front of him.  Bloomberg has money to burn.  Bernie should burn down the crooked process.

Loser– The Democratic Party.  Having an avowed Socialist leading your process as the capitalistic driven economy rolls along in 2020 is no way to win an election.  For the party that prides itself on inclusiveness, last night was a divisive two hour attack on one another.

See you in South Carolina.

 

Will Hoffa Weigh In?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The court of public opinion continued to pour in yesterday on the crime and the punishment of the Houston Astros and their 2017 and 2018 cheating ways.  Even basketball superstar LeBron James, @KingJames, held court via a tweet.

He started with “Listen I know I don’t play baseball but I am in Sports and I know if someone cheated me out of winning the title and I found out about it I would be F*^king irate! I mean like uncontrollable about what I would/could do! Listen here baseball commissioner listen to your…..”

He continued with  “…..players speaking today about how disgusted, mad, hurt, broken, etc etc about this. Literally the ball(⚾️) is in your court(or should I say field) and you need to fix this for the sake of Sports! 

LeBron has every right to speak his mind.  It’s guaranteed in the first amendment.  Just ask Daryl Morey and all of the folks Daryl empathized with over in Hong Kong.  LeBron said as much back in October.  He also cautioned about speaking before thinking.

Maybe he should also caution about writing without spellcheck or a grammar check app.  Evidently King James is no fan of the King’s English.  But we digress.

Also yesterday Yankee Aaron Judge,

he of the same sport as the Astros, went judge and jury on his opponents.  He says the Astros should be stripped of their 2017 World Series title: “It doesn’t hold any value, it wasn’t earned.”

BBR wondered who hasn’t yet offered their two cents.  So, the staff comprised a list of the very few folks who have not weighed in yet on the circus and hit the phone lines, emails, and streets well into the evening.  Several eye-opening comments follow.

We caught up to Kanye West striding through LAX with his MAGA hat in place and daughter hand in hand.  “MAGA, Make (the) Astros Great Again,” he said.  “It looks like the organization is directionless to me.”  Daughter North West smiled in agreement.

Joe Biden campaigning in South Carolina for the upcoming Nevada primary frowned and commented, “I’ve been there.  I feel for the entire San Antonio Astros organization man!  They all need to support each other through difficult times.”  He concluded with, “Remember the Alamo!”

Elizabeth Warren, she of a campaign fading into the sunset, was asked what a team should do in such difficult times.  “Circle the wagons.”  We asked if she was referring to her campaign staff or the Astros.  “Both!” came the terse retort.

We asked Bernie Sanders if he thought it was crazy to ask the team to give the World Series trophy back.  “Of course it is.  Rather than give it back MLB should give one to every major, and minor league, and Little League team for 2017 and 2018.  Free trophies for all!” He shouted.

Prayerful Nancy Pelosi seemed torn on the subject.  But, she gritted her teeth and lamented, “Commissioner Manfred needs to get a (poly) grip on this 2017 stealing fiasco as we did with Russia in 2016.”

Adam Schiff declined our interview request saying “You just want to out the whistleblower, Mike Fiers.  But we are going to protect his identity at all costs.”

We reached out to Jeffery Epstein but got no answer.  We aren’t sure what the hang-up is there.

We spoke to big baseball fan Stormy Daniels as well.  Daniels has season tickets right behind the foul pole.  She thought that the Astros should be stripped of their crown just as Yankee Judge did.  Her lawyer Michael Avenatti is caught in some bad weather himself.  He thought “the punishment didn’t fit the crime.  Too harsh.  Everyone deserves a second chance, don’t they?” he queried.

He better hope that his judge agrees with him and not with Aaron Judge.

If Jimmy Hoffa weighs in today, BBR will dig up his quotes and dish the dirt tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take out the Trash

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Let us dispell two myths this AM.  One, cheaters never win.  Two, any press is good press.  Both are false.

The Astros won the 2017 World Series and cheated using a player-driven electronic sign-stealing scheme throughout the regular season and straight through the World Series.  MLB warned all 30 clubs early that September that electronic sign stealing was against the rules and that GM’s and managers would be held responsible for any violations.

The press, after the MLB report finding the Astros guilty was released in early January, unleashed their vitriol towards the Astros organization and it has been anything but good for them.  The team has compounded the negative sentiment with one PR blunder after another.  Owner Jim Crane tripped all over himself attempting to set the record straight from the Florida spring training site last week.  Players from multiple teams have taken turns talking, complaining, and even whining about it as well.

But, let’s get some facts straight, offer some opinions, and even make some predictions about the circus that is the Astros organization right now.

  1.  They were guilty and are paying a steep price.  The GM and manager were held accountable, suspended by MLB, and fired by Crane.  MLB fined the team 5 million bucks, the most allowed by the franchise/league agreement.  Additionally, the team forfeits its first and second round amateur draft picks in 2020 and 2021.  If you want more blood you can scream that the team should “give back” its 2017 World Series trophy and renounce its title.  Good luck.  MLB declined to do so.  You can’t undo what is done.  Take the trophy back?  Sure.  It’s a symbol, not an outcome.
  2. A.J. Hinch was suspended for half a year and fired by Crane.  Hinch was against the scheme, busted two monitors to show his displeasure, but never stood up and said: “stop this.”  His reputation, sterling throughout the game otherwise, took a hard hit up the middle.  It says here that he’ll take the year away from the game, rehab his rep through another chance, perhaps as an assistant for another team for a year or two, and will be back managing before 2024.  He’s too good for all 30 owners to pass him by for too long.
  3. GM Jeff Luhnow might be done in MLB.  He’s ahead of the game analytically. He’s tough to work with.  He’s not too popular league-wide.  He might get another chance as a paid employee, but a better guess might be as a third-party consultant in personnel matters.
  4. The scheme stopped very early in 2018 and ceased to exist beyond that per the investigation.  The Astros success (lost 2018 playoffs and 2019 World Series) after 2017 is legit.  Players actually interviewed asked for the process to halt because they “found it to be a distraction while batting, not a help.”  Anyone can rail all they wish about 2017, but the team won over 100 games a year since.  It’s just such a bad look.
  5. Seven of the nine primary position players in the 2017 batting order had better-hitting stats on the road than at home.  The five best players’ regular season splits are below. Maybe they would have hit even worse at home if no one banged on a garbage can.  That we will never know.  It is true that the postseason splits favor the home Astros greatly over the road.  But, the sample size is so much smaller than the regular season.  Postseason pitching in a short series factors greatly in that as well.  Your ace and deuce might pitch all four home games in a seven-game series.
  6. The Yankees lost to the Astros in seven in the 2017 ALCS.  The home team won all seven games.  In Minute Maid the Yankees scored 1,1,1, and 0 in four losses.  In the Bronx they scored 8,6, and 5 in three wins.  The Yanks weren’t banging a trash can at home, they just hit a lot better.  They didn’t hit a lick at Minute Maid regardless of the Astros playing outside of the chalk lines.
  7.  The Boston Red Sox lost to the Astros in the 2017 ALDS.  They worked the Astros in the ALCS while on their way to the 2018 World Series championship.  They are under investigation themselves for the same reasons during their 2018 season.   Pot.  Kettle.  Not good.
  8.   The only thing worse than “did Jose Altuve wear a device to get signals about pitches?” is that Carlos Correa painstakingly defended him.  If Altuve did, is it worse than listening for the beat of the drum anyway?  Maybe he did, and maybe he didn’t.  Audio only uncovers 23 discernable trash can bangs all year for Altuve batting at home.  It’s been said by a few teammates that Altuve asked that it stop while he batted.  Maybe so, maybe not.  He hit .338 in 2016 with no accusations and .346 in 2017 with accusations.  He’s a lifetime .315 hitter and has nearly 1600 hits in 9 MLB seasons.
  9.  The popular theory for 2020 is that Astros batters will get plunked repeatedly for their wayward ways and arrogance since.  Maybe so.  Several sites have even put a betting over/under line on it.  It’s 83.5 four-seamers to the hip on the year.  Last year they were hit 66 times.  Take the under.  MLB has already warned teams that fines and suspensions are available for any intentional beanballs.
  10. The damage to the game and to the Astros organization is done and it’s significant.  They should have apologized profusely from the owner down to the bat boy and moved on.  They didn’t.  Now would be a great time to fire the whole PR team and hire a new one, and have the players shut up and play ball.

Is this scandal the worst in baseball history?  Maybe.  Shoeless Joe Jackson and his White Sox teammates supposedly threw WS games 100 years ago.  Pete Rose bet on baseball while actively managing the Reds.  A host of players took steroids and hit it further and threw it faster than ever before.  Time will sort it all out.

Right now the Astros organization smells bad.  At least they finally took the trash cans out.