It’s Free Friday, and I’m about a week away from my book deadline*, and there are three new Baseball Hall of Famers, and I’m super-excited about the championship games coming up this weekend, and I’m super-excited about Embiid vs.
Re: Lions vs Browns. Twenty-some years ago, I had a similar debate with a friend over which of our respective baseball teams had the more cursed history: his Red Sox or my Cubs. (This was before 2003, which broke both of our hearts about equally.) From the end of World War II to the start of the new millennium, the Sox made the World Series 4 times, losing each in 7 games. They made the playoffs an additional 5 times, lost one-game play-ins in '48 & '78, and suffered the the oh-so-close campaign of '72. The Cubs? No World Series appearances, only 3 playoff series, and, while the collapse of '69 looms large in our legend, were never very close any other year. I think I convinced him that having one's hopes crushed year after year is better than having no hope at all.
Reds question - it appears that the Reds front office does not know how to construct a roster. With their refusal to trade any of their infielders to improve literally any other area of the team, how the hell do they find at bats for everyone? And this doesn’t include former all-world prospect Jose Barrero and current all-world prospect Edwin Arroyo.
Orioles: They are the first team to ever have the Baseball America #1 prospect three years running, so... how depressing is this going to be when the O's fail to even make the World Series and all these prospects end up playing for the Dodgers or something?
Cubs: They have a lot of really good prospects and more coming. Too many actually, and beyond Horton and MAYBE Shaw and PCA, none of them seem QUITE top-flight no-doubters (like the Orioles', for example)(Acknowledging that no prospects are truly no-doubters). What do they do with them all? Trade them, like when they traded Single-Aers Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope for Michael Busch?
Yankees question: Is Brian Cashman simply trying to prove he can win without spending silly money, only occasionally breaking down and begging Hal for a little extra money? And if it all comes together, will Yankee fans finally cut the poor guy some slack?
Cubs: why does nobody know the Merkle's Boner story?
Bonus: Is Hack Wilson's RBI record the most unbreakable record in baseball?
Blue Jays question: what the heck are they doing?
Expos question : where have you gone ?
Re: Lions vs Browns. Twenty-some years ago, I had a similar debate with a friend over which of our respective baseball teams had the more cursed history: his Red Sox or my Cubs. (This was before 2003, which broke both of our hearts about equally.) From the end of World War II to the start of the new millennium, the Sox made the World Series 4 times, losing each in 7 games. They made the playoffs an additional 5 times, lost one-game play-ins in '48 & '78, and suffered the the oh-so-close campaign of '72. The Cubs? No World Series appearances, only 3 playoff series, and, while the collapse of '69 looms large in our legend, were never very close any other year. I think I convinced him that having one's hopes crushed year after year is better than having no hope at all.
Reds question - it appears that the Reds front office does not know how to construct a roster. With their refusal to trade any of their infielders to improve literally any other area of the team, how the hell do they find at bats for everyone? And this doesn’t include former all-world prospect Jose Barrero and current all-world prospect Edwin Arroyo.
Brewers: why do projections over the last several years seem to consistently underrate this team?
Hi, Joe -
I would like 2-3K words answering the following question: are the ASTROS the Kansas City Chiefs of MLB?
Astros, '17-'23: 7 ALCS, 4 World Series, 2 titles
Chiefs, '19-'24: 6 AFC championships, 4 super bowls, 2 (possibly 3) titles
Kind of uncanny, isn't it? And do either of these qualify as a dynasty? (And if not, how many titles equal a dynasty?)
Thanks!
Orioles: They are the first team to ever have the Baseball America #1 prospect three years running, so... how depressing is this going to be when the O's fail to even make the World Series and all these prospects end up playing for the Dodgers or something?
Giants: Does a veterans committee someday put Tim Lincecum into the hall of fame?
Pirates: How can you tell when a rebuild (excuse me, a “build”) is working vs. not?
White Sox: Does emulating the Royals organization-- of all possible other franchises-- make any good sense?
Cubs: They have a lot of really good prospects and more coming. Too many actually, and beyond Horton and MAYBE Shaw and PCA, none of them seem QUITE top-flight no-doubters (like the Orioles', for example)(Acknowledging that no prospects are truly no-doubters). What do they do with them all? Trade them, like when they traded Single-Aers Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope for Michael Busch?
Nationals Question: Having done almost nothing this offseason, is there any plan for building a decent pitching staff?
Yankees question: Is Brian Cashman simply trying to prove he can win without spending silly money, only occasionally breaking down and begging Hal for a little extra money? And if it all comes together, will Yankee fans finally cut the poor guy some slack?
Nellie Fox-another reason I hate the HOF.
To me it's irrelevant. Let Bill James pick the players. Oh, and until Bill James is in the HOF it's just another warehouse for "stuff".....
Right on point as usual. The 1985 vote was a snub of Nellie supporters and not Nellie himself.
The Mets got a new owner. So why do they still keep Metsing so hard?