MLB 2025

[WestwayKid]

My son's high school marching band is marching in the Rose Bowl this January and one way we're raising money is volunteering at American Family Field. Around 60% of the concession stands are operated by volunteer groups. The company in charge of concessions gives each group a list of available games and then you sign up in groups of 8 to work the games you want. We get a portion of the total stand receipts, as well as all of the tips. I worked my first two this past weekend. It's eye opening and I don't think I'll ever look at concession stand food the same way again. We were assigned a sausage stand both games: brats, hot dogs, Italians, and so on. The quality of food is suspect, especially when you think about what you pay for it. They want something like $8 for a bratwurst. I've probably been deluding myself, but I guess I just thought/hoped was better than it really is. It just made me feel gross.

So, not only should we not know how the sausage is made, we shouldn't know how it's cooked and sold, too?

Pretty much.

[Dr. Medulla]

My son's high school marching band is marching in the Rose Bowl this January and one way we're raising money is volunteering at American Family Field. Around 60% of the concession stands are operated by volunteer groups. The company in charge of concessions gives each group a list of available games and then you sign up in groups of 8 to work the games you want. We get a portion of the total stand receipts, as well as all of the tips. I worked my first two this past weekend. It's eye opening and I don't think I'll ever look at concession stand food the same way again. We were assigned a sausage stand both games: brats, hot dogs, Italians, and so on. The quality of food is suspect, especially when you think about what you pay for it. They want something like $8 for a bratwurst. I've probably been deluding myself, but I guess I just thought/hoped was better than it really is. It just made me feel gross.

So, not only should we not know how the sausage is made, we shouldn't know how it's cooked and sold, too?

Pretty much.

Baseball food: Journey into mystery!

[Dr. Medulla]

Blue Jays manager looks like a warehouse foreman who has hounded out every non-white employee with an endless barrage of racist nicknames and jokes.

[revbob]

Blue Jays manager looks like a warehouse foreman who has hounded out every non-white employee with an endless barrage of racist nicknames and jokes.

Who was somehow a washout in the police academy.

[Dr. Medulla]

Blue Jays manager looks like a warehouse foreman who has hounded out every non-white employee with an endless barrage of racist nicknames and jokes.

Who was somehow a washout in the police academy.

Perfect. The one D student who didn’t make the cut.

[Dr. Medulla]

Downloaded and watched the first episode of The Clubhouse, about last year's Red Sox team (the docuseries where we eventually find out about Duran's suicide attempt). First episode is … okay. It confirms, tho, that Casas is equal parts flake and thoughtful, neither quality normally applicable to a slugging first baseman. Potentially another Bill Lee or Eck. It remains to be seen how the whole thing plays out, but it has the potential of being a Boys of Summer of our times, showing professional athletes as, first and foremost, human beings doing a demanding job, where we fans normally only see the surface.

[Dr. Medulla]

Watched the Duran episode this morning. It's … affecting. As someone with confidence issues, a whole lot of what he says could have come out of my mouth (and certainly swims around in my head). It's also a really valuable cautionary piece for any sports parent. His dad really did a number on his kid. Real shithead there.

[Mimi]

Am I the only person who feels there is a certain humiliation to having the bases loaded and then walking a run in? I don't know why that gets to me.

[Mimi]

Watched the Duran episode this morning. It's … affecting. As someone with confidence issues, a whole lot of what he says could have come out of my mouth (and certainly swims around in my head). It's also a really valuable cautionary piece for any sports parent. His dad really did a number on his kid. Real shithead there.

I've been debating if I want to watch this, but this caught my attention.

[Dr. Medulla]

Watched the Duran episode this morning. It's … affecting. As someone with confidence issues, a whole lot of what he says could have come out of my mouth (and certainly swims around in my head). It's also a really valuable cautionary piece for any sports parent. His dad really did a number on his kid. Real shithead there.

I've been debating if I want to watch this, but this caught my attention.

I honestly don't know if the entire series has any appeal to non-Red Sox fans, but the fourth one, about Duran, I think, can stand alone as an illustration that these athletes are very human and are prey to the same psychological afflictions we all are. One of things it did for me as a fan is bring home the expected performance I demand for these guys when they don't come thru. They need to demonstrate suitable anger, disappointment, and/or contrition or I think they don't care. I know shit is more complicated than that and these guys have to be absurdly competitive to reach that level, but I still expect the pantomime of dealing with failure. Something I really need to let go of.

[Mimi]

Watched the Duran episode this morning. It's … affecting. As someone with confidence issues, a whole lot of what he says could have come out of my mouth (and certainly swims around in my head). It's also a really valuable cautionary piece for any sports parent. His dad really did a number on his kid. Real shithead there.

I've been debating if I want to watch this, but this caught my attention.

I honestly don't know if the entire series has any appeal to non-Red Sox fans, but the fourth one, about Duran, I think, can stand alone as an illustration that these athletes are very human and are prey to the same psychological afflictions we all are. One of things it did for me as a fan is bring home the expected performance I demand for these guys when they don't come thru. They need to demonstrate suitable anger, disappointment, and/or contrition or I think they don't care. I know shit is more complicated than that and these guys have to be absurdly competitive to reach that level, but I still expect the pantomime of dealing with failure. Something I really need to let go of.

My guess is these guys are very good at masking. Maybe they have to be?

[Dr. Medulla]

Watched the Duran episode this morning. It's … affecting. As someone with confidence issues, a whole lot of what he says could have come out of my mouth (and certainly swims around in my head). It's also a really valuable cautionary piece for any sports parent. His dad really did a number on his kid. Real shithead there.

I've been debating if I want to watch this, but this caught my attention.

I honestly don't know if the entire series has any appeal to non-Red Sox fans, but the fourth one, about Duran, I think, can stand alone as an illustration that these athletes are very human and are prey to the same psychological afflictions we all are. One of things it did for me as a fan is bring home the expected performance I demand for these guys when they don't come thru. They need to demonstrate suitable anger, disappointment, and/or contrition or I think they don't care. I know shit is more complicated than that and these guys have to be absurdly competitive to reach that level, but I still expect the pantomime of dealing with failure. Something I really need to let go of.

My guess is these guys are very good at masking. Maybe they have to be?

Part of it is a code they buy into—guyz r tuff—but also the nature of sports is that failure is more common than success, so you need to compartmentalize things to give yourself the best chance of succeeding. It's the cliché that a batter who fails to get a hit 7 out of 10 tries is pretty damn good. But you need to be able to shut out all those failures, to stop them from becoming a pattern in your mind, to get those 3 successes. For someone like Duran, the walls of that compartmentalization are a lot thinner than, say, Aaron Judge. So, yeah, there is masking going on to give them a chance to succeed when the odds of success are always against you.

[Flex]

Downloaded and watched the first episode of The Clubhouse, about last year's Red Sox team (the docuseries where we eventually find out about Duran's suicide attempt). First episode is … okay. It confirms, tho, that Casas is equal parts flake and thoughtful, neither quality normally applicable to a slugging first baseman. Potentially another Bill Lee or Eck. It remains to be seen how the whole thing plays out, but it has the potential of being a Boys of Summer of our times, showing professional athletes as, first and foremost, human beings doing a demanding job, where we fans normally only see the surface.

I've developed a lot of emptahy for Duran in this now. Like... a surprising amount. Which leads me to one conclusion for how to heal our broken country: every maga person should try to kill themselves.

[Dr. Medulla]

Downloaded and watched the first episode of The Clubhouse, about last year's Red Sox team (the docuseries where we eventually find out about Duran's suicide attempt). First episode is … okay. It confirms, tho, that Casas is equal parts flake and thoughtful, neither quality normally applicable to a slugging first baseman. Potentially another Bill Lee or Eck. It remains to be seen how the whole thing plays out, but it has the potential of being a Boys of Summer of our times, showing professional athletes as, first and foremost, human beings doing a demanding job, where we fans normally only see the surface.

I've developed a lot of emptahy for Duran in this now. Like... a surprising amount. Which leads me to one conclusion for how to heal our broken country: every maga person should try to kill themselves.

Your Logic Society Conclusion of the Year Award is in the mail.

[Flex]

A Sox Thought: Despite the W-L record not being eye popping, I'm enjoying this team pretty well. Maybe it's because my expectations were sub-basement, but it's mostly a pretty likeable bunch. Some guys I'd been sour on (Durran) obviously have made me reassess them and the new and young guys are mostly enjoyable. Nice to have guys like Story back in the fold with some decent performances adn puff pieces of mentoring the kids and whatnot.

All of which is to say, I'm also getting some sick pleasure in seeing Tanner Houck - whomst I still loathe - getting his shit rocked this season. Shoulda sold high on him when they had the chance. Luckily, it's not making me hate the overall team. If anything, it's a useful contrast in how much he feels like a man apart in how I view him.