One explanation for the increase in exit velocity (what some might call the Way-Too-Early-I-Told-You-So reasoning) could be that since players don't have to worry about hitting into a shift (or at least much less worry) they don't have to try and go the other way as much and so are selling out on swings more.
On his website, Bill varies at random with anywhere from 1 to 6 spaces after a sentence--it's his way of thumbing his nose at the One Space-Two Space holy wars.
It’s funny, I wasn’t offended by those Manfred comments in the least, and I believe he’s spot-on in his desire to right a bad situation in Oakland. A new ballpark wasn’t getting built here. The one with the possum in the walls was twenty years past its tear-down date. Fans don’t go to games even when the team is somewhat good; sure there are outlier years when the A’s drew exceptionally well and won World Series, but that was in the 80’s! The ballpark was forty years younger; the entertainment landscape was much different and the team was truly amazing. It was all over when the A’s weren’t allowed to move to San Jose
I’m sorry, the reverse boycott was supposed to make everyone’s eyes water and the politically correct thing to do is obviously wail and gnash our teeth at the greedy owner and the evil commissioner, but anyone who lives here (as I do) knows that the Oakland A’s have been an afterthought for years, both to their government and the people of their city.
The Vegas deal is a huge stink bomb. Why the owners would approve it is beyond me. One of the big points of getting the A's a new stadium is to get them off the dole (revenue sharing). This would not only keep them on it, but double the amount they get. I'm sure John Fisher loves that, but the other 29 owners shouldn't. Of Fisher really wants a leased stadium on leased land, he can build at the Coliseum.
Manfred just exudes arrogance and ignorance every time he opens his mouth. If there is any doubt about Manfred possessing those traits, read Baseball Cop: The Dark Side of America's National Pastime by Eddie Dominguez. Manfred is the same gutless puppet that Selig was.
Fun to hear that you will do the audiobook. Can't wait. And anyone who might be daunted by the length should know that the Baseball 100 was a wonderful audiobook experience. One or 2 of the essays at a time were a great accompaniment to a daily walk (for me, though perhaps a run for those so inclined).
MLB commissioners are like Republican presidents in my lifetime. Just when you think you couldn’t hate the latest one more, a new one comes along that’s even worse.
He’s not. He’s actually EXCELLENT at his job. Which is to absorb all the negative attention and energy which would otherwise be directed the owners’ way, but-for this highly-compensated stooge who sucks up all that derision and rancor.
Just as Goodell and Bettman are universally despised, so is Manfred. Yet they’ve both been “so bad” they’ve lasted what, 20 and 30 years, respectively? And made how many tens, if not hundreds, of millions?
Manfred’s bosses are the owners. He’s doing exactly what they want and what they think they need.
Sooner we all embrace this reality, sooner we won’t constantly feel betrayed when MLB constantly betrays us.
The difference between Goodell and Manfred (or any two trained monkeys) is that Goodell is presiding over the perfect cartel where revenue and broadcast rights are more or less evenly shared and there is a salary cap with teeth. Manfred is not.
The owners aren’t better people.
In fact they are the SAME people in many cases.
Do a Freaky Friday switcheroo and suddenly Goodell will look like Biggus Dickus and Manfred will seem impotent but reasonable.
This is a really stupid, childish argument. It comes out every time Goodell or Manfred make some obvious smooth brained blunder because they are in over their heads. Some contrarian like the guy above will see Rob Manfred slam his dick in a car door and say ACTUALLY it was a masterful gambit!!!
I wouldn't be eager to do it, but I think there are a bunch of people who would, especially the type of dime-a-dozen man who runs for political office as a garden-variety fiscal conservative. This position pays $17.5 million. They can find people to do it.
I'm with you that this is part of the job, and Manfred is doing it. I question whether one has to inspire this much vitriol in order to do it well. You can run interference for franchise owners without undercutting the importance of the championship trophy ("piece of metal") or insulting a team's fan base. It's not that hard.
I've never really bought into the "Manfred hates baseball" argument that I've seen and heard all over the place. But he clearly doesn't love baseball. Say what you will about Bud Selig (and there's plenty to say), but he genuinely loved the sport. Manfred is just a lawyer who politicked his way to the top.
And I double-space after periods, too. It's a cleaner look!
The question is, HOW did he get up there. My first though about Manfred when he first started is that the guy had zero filter, and just said everything he thought like a 3 year old. When you meet someone like that you find them annoying and think are a dumbass.
How did he continue moving up like that? It is even worse now. I don't think there has ever been another commissioner more tone deaf, and worse in every single public setting than Manfred, in any sport.
You can talk about other commissioners, and the things they did you don't like, but most of them at least came off as sort of knowing what they were doing, if you look past that.
Manfred just oozes incompetence. Not just in one situation, all the time. But when you wonder how he got there, you have to look at 30 tone deaf owners running their 30 little fiefs and not pulling together to grow their sport like the other sports.
As long as Manfred kisses up to them, and does what they want, (Yessir, Yessir, three bags full sir!) they honestly do not care how he comes off.
Rob Manfred should fall into a hole. And he should sprain his ankle so that he's unable to climb out of the hole. When people walk by, he will cry out "Help! Help me get out of this hole!" but nobody will help him. Oh, sure, people will hear him and see him, but they won't help him, not out of malice or out of inability to do so, but because his plight will elicit absolutely zero feeling whatsoever. He will stay in that hole for a long, long time, his cries for help growing weaker and weaker. Yet nobody will help him out. Ever. The end.
I almost wrote a comment in yesterday’s blog that Joe should write a blog about Hazle, but figured it’s too late in the day. And now voila, Joe is going to do it without me even asking! What a guy!
I can’t wait. I love to read about guys I never heard of. Not on the level of Arky Vaughn, but what a story about one year.
Manfred is probably secure in the knowledge that given the Commissioners who have come before him, there is almost no way he can go down in history as the worst Commissioner of all time. In fact, even if he works as hard as he can to be as bad as he can be over the next twenty years, he's unlikely to crack the "worst five."
Another cool challenge -- though I wouldn't put Joe through this -- would be to find the best 12-month spans. For example, Jake Arrieta, as phenomenal as he was in 2015, was good-maybe-not-great the first two months of the year before really turning it on. Then he picked up right where he left off at the beginning of 2016 before returning to, if not Earth, then low Earth-orbit. But his record from (roughly) June 1, 2015 through May 31, 2016 stands as one of the greatest pitching "years" ever.
One explanation for the increase in exit velocity (what some might call the Way-Too-Early-I-Told-You-So reasoning) could be that since players don't have to worry about hitting into a shift (or at least much less worry) they don't have to try and go the other way as much and so are selling out on swings more.
On his website, Bill varies at random with anywhere from 1 to 6 spaces after a sentence--it's his way of thumbing his nose at the One Space-Two Space holy wars.
It’s funny, I wasn’t offended by those Manfred comments in the least, and I believe he’s spot-on in his desire to right a bad situation in Oakland. A new ballpark wasn’t getting built here. The one with the possum in the walls was twenty years past its tear-down date. Fans don’t go to games even when the team is somewhat good; sure there are outlier years when the A’s drew exceptionally well and won World Series, but that was in the 80’s! The ballpark was forty years younger; the entertainment landscape was much different and the team was truly amazing. It was all over when the A’s weren’t allowed to move to San Jose
I’m sorry, the reverse boycott was supposed to make everyone’s eyes water and the politically correct thing to do is obviously wail and gnash our teeth at the greedy owner and the evil commissioner, but anyone who lives here (as I do) knows that the Oakland A’s have been an afterthought for years, both to their government and the people of their city.
Interesting point about green apple slices by Offerman. I'm inclined to trust him but you never know when Big Apple might claim its next victim.
The Vegas deal is a huge stink bomb. Why the owners would approve it is beyond me. One of the big points of getting the A's a new stadium is to get them off the dole (revenue sharing). This would not only keep them on it, but double the amount they get. I'm sure John Fisher loves that, but the other 29 owners shouldn't. Of Fisher really wants a leased stadium on leased land, he can build at the Coliseum.
Manfred just exudes arrogance and ignorance every time he opens his mouth. If there is any doubt about Manfred possessing those traits, read Baseball Cop: The Dark Side of America's National Pastime by Eddie Dominguez. Manfred is the same gutless puppet that Selig was.
Fun to hear that you will do the audiobook. Can't wait. And anyone who might be daunted by the length should know that the Baseball 100 was a wonderful audiobook experience. One or 2 of the essays at a time were a great accompaniment to a daily walk (for me, though perhaps a run for those so inclined).
MLB commissioners are like Republican presidents in my lifetime. Just when you think you couldn’t hate the latest one more, a new one comes along that’s even worse.
“Why Is Rob Manfred So Bad at This?”
He’s not. He’s actually EXCELLENT at his job. Which is to absorb all the negative attention and energy which would otherwise be directed the owners’ way, but-for this highly-compensated stooge who sucks up all that derision and rancor.
Just as Goodell and Bettman are universally despised, so is Manfred. Yet they’ve both been “so bad” they’ve lasted what, 20 and 30 years, respectively? And made how many tens, if not hundreds, of millions?
Manfred’s bosses are the owners. He’s doing exactly what they want and what they think they need.
Sooner we all embrace this reality, sooner we won’t constantly feel betrayed when MLB constantly betrays us.
(Spoiler alert - it ain’t stopping otherwise.)
The difference between Goodell and Manfred (or any two trained monkeys) is that Goodell is presiding over the perfect cartel where revenue and broadcast rights are more or less evenly shared and there is a salary cap with teeth. Manfred is not.
The owners aren’t better people.
In fact they are the SAME people in many cases.
Do a Freaky Friday switcheroo and suddenly Goodell will look like Biggus Dickus and Manfred will seem impotent but reasonable.
This is a really stupid, childish argument. It comes out every time Goodell or Manfred make some obvious smooth brained blunder because they are in over their heads. Some contrarian like the guy above will see Rob Manfred slam his dick in a car door and say ACTUALLY it was a masterful gambit!!!
It's not, they are both just incompetent.
“Stupid” AND “childish”? Wow.
Interesting word choices from the guy who uses the example of Manfred “slam[ing] his dick in a car door.”
That’s rich. Not as rich as Manfred, Goodell, and Bettman. But still pretty rich.
I hear you, but if that's the case, it's a pretty low bar, no?
Publicly make an ass out of yourself and piss people off when given a huge platform by default?
There are a lot of people who could do that, especially for millions of dollars. It's not exactly an elite, rare skill set.
Maybe. But ask yourself, could you (i) live in the spotlight, (ii) need to speak on unpleasant topics all the time, and (iii) know everyone hates you?
I couldn’t.
To be clear, I’m not defending this indefensible toady. Screw him sideways with a Louisville Slugger. Just saying I don’t understand the surprise.
I wouldn't be eager to do it, but I think there are a bunch of people who would, especially the type of dime-a-dozen man who runs for political office as a garden-variety fiscal conservative. This position pays $17.5 million. They can find people to do it.
I'm with you that this is part of the job, and Manfred is doing it. I question whether one has to inspire this much vitriol in order to do it well. You can run interference for franchise owners without undercutting the importance of the championship trophy ("piece of metal") or insulting a team's fan base. It's not that hard.
“It's not that hard”
Exactly. And precisely why it seems pretty obvious that what he does is intentional.
Look, are we all spending three days talking about what a tool Fisher is? No.
We’re talking about Manfred. We’ll-executed misdirection.
"Look, are we all spending three days talking about what a tool Fisher is?"
Yes? I'm still talking about what a tool Fisher is. A lot of people are. There are a ton of articles and tweets about it.
Right. This whole inane "Manfred is GOOD actually" falls down because anyone that cares knows what garbage Fisher is. They know him by name.
And Manfred kept this in the news with subsequent moronic, out of touch comments. He's doing such a great job!!!
I've never really bought into the "Manfred hates baseball" argument that I've seen and heard all over the place. But he clearly doesn't love baseball. Say what you will about Bud Selig (and there's plenty to say), but he genuinely loved the sport. Manfred is just a lawyer who politicked his way to the top.
And I double-space after periods, too. It's a cleaner look!
The question is, HOW did he get up there. My first though about Manfred when he first started is that the guy had zero filter, and just said everything he thought like a 3 year old. When you meet someone like that you find them annoying and think are a dumbass.
How did he continue moving up like that? It is even worse now. I don't think there has ever been another commissioner more tone deaf, and worse in every single public setting than Manfred, in any sport.
You can talk about other commissioners, and the things they did you don't like, but most of them at least came off as sort of knowing what they were doing, if you look past that.
Manfred just oozes incompetence. Not just in one situation, all the time. But when you wonder how he got there, you have to look at 30 tone deaf owners running their 30 little fiefs and not pulling together to grow their sport like the other sports.
As long as Manfred kisses up to them, and does what they want, (Yessir, Yessir, three bags full sir!) they honestly do not care how he comes off.
Rob Manfred should fall into a hole. And he should sprain his ankle so that he's unable to climb out of the hole. When people walk by, he will cry out "Help! Help me get out of this hole!" but nobody will help him. Oh, sure, people will hear him and see him, but they won't help him, not out of malice or out of inability to do so, but because his plight will elicit absolutely zero feeling whatsoever. He will stay in that hole for a long, long time, his cries for help growing weaker and weaker. Yet nobody will help him out. Ever. The end.
I almost wrote a comment in yesterday’s blog that Joe should write a blog about Hazle, but figured it’s too late in the day. And now voila, Joe is going to do it without me even asking! What a guy!
I can’t wait. I love to read about guys I never heard of. Not on the level of Arky Vaughn, but what a story about one year.
Manfred said, “… almost an average Major League Baseball crowd in the facility for one night.” The A’s drew 27,759 to that game.
Based on your data above, though, average attendance is 26,889. So “almost” isn’t even true, assuming the data and math are correct.
The game was also a Tuesday night game so I’m guessing the comparison to average attendance for Tuesday night games is even more favorable…
There should be a law that says you can move a team but you don’t get the name and history.
(I know the Athletics have moved twice already. But this is a new law so the name belongs to Oakland and it’s fans.)
Manfred is probably secure in the knowledge that given the Commissioners who have come before him, there is almost no way he can go down in history as the worst Commissioner of all time. In fact, even if he works as hard as he can to be as bad as he can be over the next twenty years, he's unlikely to crack the "worst five."
Another cool challenge -- though I wouldn't put Joe through this -- would be to find the best 12-month spans. For example, Jake Arrieta, as phenomenal as he was in 2015, was good-maybe-not-great the first two months of the year before really turning it on. Then he picked up right where he left off at the beginning of 2016 before returning to, if not Earth, then low Earth-orbit. But his record from (roughly) June 1, 2015 through May 31, 2016 stands as one of the greatest pitching "years" ever.