WestEddy

Fangraphs shows Houser as the scheduled pitcher for tonight. He's had more downs than ups since joining the Rays, but he's coming off of a nice 7-inning, 1 run outing against the Mariners. He's not announced, yet.

Before I forget.

And nobody changed any variables. I don't like the practice of people running from all over the section to grab a baseball away from a lady (anyone, really) who was bent over, trying to pick it up from in front of her. That all happened. I think the backlash is misogynist. No variables changed there, either. I compared her backlash to another viral incident from last week, which seems to confuse and anger you. One lasted about an hour, the other is going on for another day, now. Still nothing being "changed". 3rd, I'm uncomfortable with social pressure to "give a kid the ball". Still, nobody pretending something different happened. You're the only one changing variables, pretending she was a man. I'll accept your apology in 20's.

It did. Eagle jersey guy was still looking around her legs after dad of the year ran away with the ball.

And if 4 drooling goons ran up on my wife and started reaching around her legs, they'd be picking up teeth, not a baseball.

You're screaming about me widening the parameters of a conversation, which happens in pretty much every conversation, but you want to surmise how the internet would react to her, IF SHE WAS A MAN. You just broke your own rule.

What if something happened....like if she was a man? Lol.

I see the difference and said pretty clearly that she should have just dropped the matter. I also said it was too bad she ruined a hugging moment between a father and son to unleash on the guy. I don't like people running from 20 seats away to grab a ball at someone's feet they're bending over to get, themselves. I understand the dynamics of "going for a ball" at a game. Maybe some people, like an older woman, gets startled and angered by strangers reaching between their legs to grab a baseball. And while I have given away baseballs, souvenirs thrown into the stands and a baseball bat to other people, mostly kids, I don't like the cultural brow-beating to "give a kid a ball". It's a stupid and performative guilt trip. Shriffen was going on about this during the Sunday game, and I really wonder why he doesn't spend a couple of innings handing out baseballs to children if it's so important to a child's experience to go home with a free baseball. I don't know why nobody sees this dichotomy.

And it's not just getting a guy 44th over 54th in the 2nd round. It's also draft pool. You get so much more money to spend at 1:3 than you do at 1:23. It makes a difference throughout all 20 rounds.

If you're losing your first rounder every year, you lose one good shot at a major league player. That would be a devastating loss for most teams. Here's greg's original question: "How the heck do fellow low market teams KC, Cleveland, Minnie Detroit do it? It ain't the tank/rebuild method." I contend that Detroit's core is pretty much built out of the draft and a few trades through a rebuild. They have a couple guys on the 26-man who were international signings back in 2016. They could have gotten draft pics at 20 every year they developed, but they had a better shot with the better players of the class. Look at the average WAR of each draft slot over the years. 1-5 ends up with much higher WARs than 20-30. Because you're picking better players in the top 5-10 than in the 20s.

Exactly!! Why are they denying us all the key to happiness? Free baseballs!!

The Tigers seem to have had deep drafts. in 2018, they drafted Casey Mise (1), Parker Meadows (2), Kody Clemens (3), Tarik and Skubal (9). 2019 brought Riley Greene (1) and Kerry Carpenter (19). Torkelson (1), Dingler (2) and Colt Keith (5) came in 2020. They also gathered some prospects from trading Verlander and Flaherty. So, the team is built mostly from tanking. Then they signed some free agents. Detroit doesn't seem to have an overwhelming international footprint. But yeah, the Tigers aren't headed into the playoffs looking like a favorite. I'm surprised at their pitching depth, or lack thereof. That's a pretty mediocre offense. It's a nice group of ...above average players, but no stars. That's probably the Sox's ceiling without an international pipeline. Getting lucky and turning a few years' drafts and a couple of trades into a slightly above average lineup.

And seriously, if it's so important that a child get a baseball so that they cherish the memory of going to baseball game and become regular fans, then maybe the baseball team should make tickets free for all children, give them free food all game and make sure they all leave with a gift bag that contains a baseball, cap, some baseball cards, and candy. Lots of it. All for free.

Kyle, I don't think I can be much clearer than what I wrote: What I'm arguing is that the online backlash seems a bit misogynistic. Buy all the kids around you a hot dog at the next game and keep the foul ball. They won't remember any of it in a month. In my life of being at baseball games, the one ball I got I gave to the lady with us who got us all the tickets, I got a bat at a minor league game that I gave to the nephew who was with me, I caught a nerf softball at a minor league game and handed it to the child next to me, and I cleared out to let a girl with a mitt catch a foul pop into my row, so I think I probably meet everyone's definition of an awesome human being. You're welcome for my service. I just don't like the manufactured guilt trip of wanting everyone to give caught baseballs to children. Sure, if I am with a kid that I know, I'd probably give them the ball, so I don't have to hold it for the whole game. But the romance of catching a ball and giving it to a child is performative. Sign your car title over to some random child. I hear they'll cherish the memory.

Of course I'm being facetious about the child in a wheelchair, but there was an incident this week that went "sorta" viral, of some dude ripping a foul ball out of an old dude's hand, like the next pitch happened, and he got booed, but Barstool sports sure wasn't posting multiple times encouraging people to dox him so his life became hell. She should have just let it drop. It seems a little sus that we don't think twice about throwing elbows, people running up and knocking somebody out of their row to catch a ball, but scolding the dude is so much worse.

The Nats picked #1, and the Rockies picked #4 in 2025, so since they're both larger market teams, they can't pick 6th or higher in 2 consecutive years. Now, both cannot pick before #10. I'm gonna guess the Rockies pick 10, and the Nats 11. We've all had this convo a few times, and I don't remember the outcome. I want to remember that the Rockies and Nats are still in the overall lottery. If one of them is picked #1, and another #3, they are then moved down to 10 and 11 based on their records, and everybody else moves up one or two. As far as records go, I think it's possible, but an uphill climb for the Sox to win 63, @CaliSoxFanViaSWside's guarantees notwithstanding. If they win 63, the Sox would win all tie-breakers based on last year's record. The Twins, Braves and Pirates are already at or beyond that number.

If the Sox don't get swept for the rest of the year (6 series), they only have to win 2 of 6 series to avoid 100 losses. That's still a tall order with the Padres and Yankees looming in the last week. I only expected one win out of Detroit, but if they keep playing at this level, I don't think it's out of the question.

First of all, I'm pretty sure that was his own kid. It would be extremely weird if he ran over got the ball, then didn't give it to his own kid. 2nd, it is too bad that she had to go over and give him what for. That looked like a very authentic moment of the guy hugging his kid and just sharing that moment with him. She did ruin that. We all tend to excuse a lot of physically aggressive behavior when it comes to "going for a ball", but weaker people aren't allowed to use their own strengths? And as far as your counterargument? Mine and my wife's credo is "you never know what someone else is going through". So yeah, when somebody drives like an idiot, maybe they are trying to get someone to a hospital. That helps me not simmer in a rage on the road and forget about it quickly after it no longer is part of my driving experience. And even if he isn't being an a-hole, I don't need to be the guy who pulls him out of his car and beats him up. I don't know how this "give the ball to a child" notion ever got to be a thing. That's great. You catch a ball, give it to your kid. That's parenting. If I catch the first baseball I ever caught in my life at a game, why can't I hold onto it for a while? Why can't I give it to my nephew's kid? Seems to me that the whole act of giving the ball to a kid on camera is performative, and now that reporters and announcers are declaring that all balls that go into the stands should wind up in a child's hands, I call BS. Why don't they let everyone's kids up to the press box so they can call an inning? I'm sure that would make them happy. Then Shriffen and Stone could sign their paychecks over to some random children. Children like money, too, and it helps solidify their interest in the game.

Oh yeah.