Getting back into a post-playoffs rhythm is tough, especially given how long and PRODUCTIVE! the postseason was this year.
Hoping to find my footing within the next week or so, both in terms of the work around here, but also in terms of family time, personal time, eating habits, exercise habits, and all that stuff. It’s easy to let so much go when you have a great excuse, but all you’re really doing is setting yourself up for a rough transition period like this.
I guess what I’m really saying is that I blame the Cubs for being good.
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It can’t and shouldn’t be ignored, especially given the strong reactions it produced around the baseball world, so here is something Jake Arrieta tweeted yesterday:
I have several thoughts on this: (1) probably not a great idea to send an aggressive-sounding tweet the morning after an election that left many people feeling so passionately divided; (2) however, athletes are people (with large platforms), and if they want to express their political beliefs, I have no issue with that; (3) like it or lump it, if you believe passionately in something, it is arguably most important to voice your belief at a time when it is unpopular; (4) I also have no issue with anyone disagreeing publicly with those political beliefs, though I always hope it’s done in a respectful way the recognizes the humanity of other people and the context of the discussion; (5) I read the tweet as Arrieta taking a shot at the often very-vocal celebrities who say they’ll leave the country if this or that happens, and not a shot at anything else; and (6) a personal lesson I’m taking away from this election is that I have to work even harder to listen to and understand the perspective of people outside my own experience and worldview. I don’t think it helps anyone on any side of the rift in our country to cling to us-and-them villain-creation, even when it seems very difficult to understand – let alone respect – what “them” believes. I know that I am a complex person, full of a myriad of motivations and inputs, and it would be difficult for anyone who is not inside my head to truly know fully why I do and think the things I do. So, then, I have to remember that everyone else feels that way about themselves, too, and, indeed, is that way. The whole of a person cannot be summed up in a sound byte, even a person you do not like.
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Theo Epstein spoke to Paul Sullivan about the tweet, and it’s a good read. Not an easy spot for Epstein, knowing the passion on all sides of this thing, knowing that players have a right to speak their beliefs, and also knowing that serving fans is part of this business.
Good notes here at the Tribune, including thoughts from Epstein and Jed Hoyer about recruiting players without the “be a part of history” sales pitch, about replacing a veteran leader like David Ross, and much more.
This is very interesting:
I hope that gets filled out more robustly soon, but the takeaway, as I read it, is that umpires have been calling a larger strike zone in recent years because technological advancements allowed them to see they weren’t quite calling the rule book zone (something we’ve known about for a few years now), so it might be time to change the rule book zone. Which sure sounds like a backwards way of arriving at a different strike zone, but I do see the logic *IF* you believe that pitchers have received too much of an advantage in recent years. Sure seems like offense has bounced back in the last couple years though, doesn’t it?
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I would probably not do this, but I admire the coconuts:
Super cool, but very expensive (because they only made 150 of them):
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