caulfield12

The cardinal rule for broadcasters and umpires is never make yourself a part of the story. Scully or Harwell would never make such a call just to get back at critics or "send a message." Hawk Harrelson's one of the few classic broadcasters I could imagine...like when he joined the fight with Jay Mariotti back in the heart of the Ozzie regime.

Robbie Grossman was that Sox attempt at a patient hitter...but his defense almost automatically makes him a negative fWAR player before his first at-bat.

Meanwhile...teams like MIL have these dudes like Brice Perkins or Tyler Black just magically show up and produce to keep their teams competitive. Or the Cubs with Canario, Tauchman, Busch and Crow-Armstrong. White Sox (still) have pretty much zero (young) quality depth capable of producing on offense. Unless you're a huge believer in Brooks Baldwin...

Bonus points for working in such an assertive adjective as "pedantic"?

See Jerry Seinfeld, for example...well, critics are already having their revenge on his "Unfrosted" movie debuting this weekend. "Jerry Seinfeld has joined the anti-woke comedy cries as It’s Always Sunny creator Rob McElhenney immediately proved him wrong. In recent years, a growing number of anti-woke comedians have denounced the shift away from ‘punching down’ comedy tactics in favour of more inclusive punchlines. Now, Seinfeld, 70, is making his agreement loud and clear..." Usually, being one of the richest comedians in the world doesn't exactly improve your style and/or routine. When you lose touch with your audience, it's easier to cast aspersions on them...but it's arguably more indicative of you yourself changing (or unwillingness to change as well) with the times.

This is what happens when 36 year old Tommy Pham is the most story-worthy player on your entire team.

No, there really isn't...but we will probably push them back into the NL Central race next.

Really quite simple. He let all the snide and demeaning/mocking comments from the Twins' radio and t.v. guys up in Minnesota get to him...he personalized it.

Pretty much the only hitter everyone is talking about tonight, Colson Montgomery.

Hard to imagine who will be in demand, beyond MAYBE Fedde. Wilson, I suppose. Kopech, if he can get on a run of any type of extended success and another team really believes they can get something positive out of him. Pham's just not a solid enough fielder...he realistically belongs on at LF/DH on a legit playoff contender. Maybe Mendick for a team needing someone off the bench that can play nearly every position and will be content with whatever role he's assigned. Crochet...no business trading him until he's made it through an entire season as a starter. Then, you have to decide whether to go for the 'ol "team friendly" extension terms or deal him. And JR's certainly not going to authorize an extension based on just 3-4 starts this season. He's going to need 2-3 months of repeated success before he is ultimately shut down.

Those big breaking 12 to 6 curve balls are pretty rare to see these days...looks like an athlete out there, like his poise (not forcing a ball to 1B that could have compounded the situation by having it go down the line.)

The trick is going to be keeping his offspeed motion seamless (for example, that very first pitch) as much as possible like he's going to throw a fastball...seems he slowed down perceptibly, even though he got the strikeout.

,220/.729 At least he's over .700, there's that.

The Oakland A's situation with that lengthy history of animosity towards Fisher from the fanbase would be one solid example where organized fan revolts count for something...especially after ownership basically doubled season ticket prices in the midst of the perpetual rebuilding around 3 seasons ago. Those fans are MUCH more organized in terms of collective action and "going viral" with various boycotts and attacks on ownership. For example, sending a message by "attending a game" in much larger numbers than usual in order to get attention to the plight of the fans last year.

He's going to get too close to the players like Benetti did and start taking criticism too personally. You have to be careful to maintain absence of distance and objectivity as a broadcaster. Also, the more time spent around the players...the more of an anti front office position you're naturally going to take, whether you realize it or not. But he's never going to be one of them without that MLB background...just like Benetti was always going to be an awkward outsider.