So. Today the San Francisco Giants announced that they hired former major league player and Phillies ex-manager Gabe Kapler as the new Giants manager. I am a less than pleased about this announcement, and not just because his reviews as a Phillies manager were . . . lukewarm. No, my real objection is this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/told-of-girls-assault-at-spring-training-hotel-gabe-kapler-dodgers-didnt-alert-police/2019/02/01/45da0208-2624-11e9-81fd-b7b05d5bed90_story.html?noredirect=on …
Author: baseballjulia
Language and the 2017-18 Offseason
Recently, I was inspired (read: annoyed) enough to send an email to MLB Radio about the stupidity of one of the conversations I heard there, and I've ranted about it to several friends since (hi, E!), so now you lovely folks get to hear all about it. Here's the deal: Bill Baer, a respected baseball …
On Chief Wahoo
If you've been following baseball news at all recently, you will have heard that the Cleveland Indians have decided to remove the Chief Wahoo logo from the official team uniforms as of the 2019 baseball season. The logo has been the subject of controversy for literally decades (because it's racist af) and MLB Commissioner Rob …
Put Up or Shut Up: Why I Love the One Game Wild Card Format
I know, I know. The one game playoff is an abomination that isn't a True Measure of a Baseball Team, yadda yadda yadda. There are a dozen [1] articles out there about how baseball should do away with this latest incarnation of the wild card race and change it to something else, but I like …
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When Umpires Get It Wrong
Any umpire who is any good will admit that s/he makes mistakes. If going to umpire school taught me anything, it's that sometimes the umpire is going to fuck something up, and the best you can hope for is that it's a minor fuck up, like a missed ball or strike in a low stakes …
What Do You Do When Your Team Sucks
So my beloved Giants are stinking it up this year. There are a lot of reasons for that, but long story short, it doesn't look like they're going to be getting significantly better any time soon, so I've had to develop some coping strategies for what looks like it's going to be a long season.(1) …
Rule Spotlight: What’s a foul tip?
Recently, in a couple of online discussions, I've seen people get a fundamental baseball rule wrong, and it is MADDENING. The rule is this: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "FOUL TIP" THAT ISN'T CAUGHT. Let me say that again: A foul tip MUST BE CAUGHT. If a ball that's hit not in fair …
So let’s talk scoring: Part 1
As I've mentioned before, I score the games that I watch, almost all of them that I see live (unless I'm at a corporate event or something) and select games that I watch on television. And, like all fans that "keep book," I have taken the standard way of keeping score and tweaked it until …
Happy Opening Day!
Since I started watching baseball, Opening Day has always been one of my favorite days of the year. Even in years when I'm not going to Opening Day games (most years, as I live in Chicago, and most years April weather is to be endured more than enjoyed), I love watching the games on television …
Changing the Intentional Walk Rule is Dumb and Here’s Why
It's spring and that means with spring training comes the release of the new rules for the coming season. I'm not a hoary old traditionalist(2), so some of the more recent rules I like (increased use of replay is a net positive, I think) and some I don't (the 30 seconds for coaching visits seems …
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Baseball Julia 