I am extremely fortunate that The Wife has great insurance through her school. We wound up becoming a very medically needy family, so I am very grateful. I am also reminded, though, how challenging the system can be, even when you have great insurance: I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I’ve been having a tough time managing my anxiety and depression, and my doctor thought it was time to try a different medication. Cool. Fine. He knows me well, and I’m on board. It’s a new medication, there’s no generic for it yet, and so it’s expensive. Insurance said nah, try something else. But it’s the one the doctor decided was appropriate for me, so I’m not inclined to mess with that. Been tussling about it now for over a week. It is … bothersome.
The morning after Game 7 – three years ago today – was just as touching for its own reasons:
The Hall of Fame announced its eight finalists for the 2020 Ford C. Frick Award, an honor presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting, and the Cubs’ own Pat Hughes is on the list. He’s been the radio voice of the Cubs now for 24 years, and he’s a Hall of Famer in my book.
The problem for the Nationals? Once tomorrow arrives, Strasburg can start negotiating with other teams, too.
One of the broader sales I’ve seen at the Cubs store, so you will want to check this out:
I don't want to say that EVERYTHING at the official Cubs shop is on sale this weekend, but it is almost everything I'm scrolling on, including a bunch of stuff that usually isn't. Free shipping, too. Go here and peruse: https://t.co/g1k9Fjnxzjpic.twitter.com/2RSHKj53gS
There was some electronic strike zone experimentation this year in the Arizona Fall League, and although it mostly worked, there were still some bugs at the tops and bottoms of the strike zone – at least according to the players. It definitely does seem like that’s where the most challenging aspects will be, as the zone has to adjust dynamically for the batter (whereas the width of the plate is static for all batters), but mostly it sounds like batters just had a beef with the actual strike zone being called correctly when any tiny part of the ball clipped any tiny part of the zone (no wonder offense was way down in the AFL this year, eh?). And if that’s the primary beef, then adjust the zone. Don’t complain about the tech.
Carlos Beltran is the new manager of the New York Mets – good pick, as he (like David Ross) just seems like a manager. There’s risk in any selection, and especially so for a guy without any coaching/managerial experience, but if you set a guy up for success by surrounding him with great support, and just let his natural leadership talents shine, it can be a win. It’ll be interesting to see how Ross and Beltran are received/supported in that regard next year.
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
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