Marc Normandin is creating baseball coverage, featuring leftism

On the Tomahawk Chop and the confusion of symbolism with action

This article is free for anyone to read, but please consider becoming a Patreon subscriber to gain access to the rest of my work and allow me to keep writing posts like this one.

The Braves’ use of the Tomahawk Chop during games came under additional scrutiny this week, thanks to a Cardinals’ rookie pitcher. Ryan Helsley, said Cardinals’ rookie and member of the Cherokee Nation, spoke up after Game 1 of the Braves-Cardinals National League Division Series:

“I think it’s a misrepresentation of the Cherokee people or Native Americans in general,” Helsley said. “Just depicts them in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren’t intellectual. They are a lot more than that. It’s not me being offended by the whole mascot thing. It’s not. It’s about the misconception of us, the Native Americans, and how we’re perceived in that way, or used as mascots. The Redskins and stuff like that.”

The Braves, to their credit, listened to Helsley’s remarks, and did not distribute the customary foam tomahawks to each seat in the stadium prior to Game 5. They didn’t listen that much, though, and therefore don’t deserve that much credit, as the real promise here was just to not perform the chop — or the music that goes along with it that prompts everyone in attendance to start chopping — whenever Helsley was in the game:

Continue reading “On the Tomahawk Chop and the confusion of symbolism with action”

Randy Dobnak, Uber driver, is a symptom of a larger MLB problem

This article is free for anyone to read, but please consider becoming a Patreon subscriber to allow me to keep writing posts like this one. Sign up to receive articles like this one in your inbox here.

The Twins were swept out of the postseason by the Yankees, but not before pitcher Randy Dobnak could make an appearance. Dobnak, a rookie right-hander, appeared in nine regular season games, including five starts, and pitched brilliantly in the process. The 24-year-old wasn’t a top prospect in the organization entering the year, but thrived across three levels in 2019, anyway, and then there he was, starting an American League Division Series game against the Yankees. You’re not a true Twin until you lose to the Yankees in the postseason, you know: it’s a huge honor.

For Dobnak, it was the end of a long journey, one which saw him sign with the Twins as an undrafted free agent in 2017 after pitching in independent ball. Dobnak received a $2,000 bonus, and… that was it. After that, he was fully subject to the poverty-level wages of Minor League Baseball, wages which caused him to drive an Uber around this past spring in Fort Myers, spring training home of the Twins. Dobnak was actually working as an Uber driver in between games in the spring: someone had to pay him, and minor-league players don’t get paid during spring training, even if they’re taking part in it.

Continue reading “Randy Dobnak, Uber driver, is a symptom of a larger MLB problem”

The Nationals, Astros, and luxury tax aversions

It’s not even the offseason yet, but the Flexibility Wanters are everywhere

This article is free for anyone to read, but please consider becoming a Patreon subscriber to allow me to keep writing posts like this one.

If you’ve been following along with MLB’s front office buzzwords the last few years, you know that “flexibility” is one of the more popular ones. It doesn’t mean what it’s supposed to mean here: no, within an MLB context, coming from an owner or general manager, “flexibility” is more about the potential to spend money should an opportunity arise in a vague future that will likely never come. The 2019-2020 offseason is apparently not going to be any different, as, before any postseason games had even been played, multiple team leaders went out of their way to bemoan a lack of flexibility or promise their team won’t do anything with the flexibility they do have.

The Colorado Rockies gave a two-part performance in this regard, with team owner Dick Monfort telling assembled reporters that “[the Rockies] don’t have a lot of flexibility next year.” The Rockies spent $145 million in 2019, or, $61 million below the $206 million luxury tax threshold. A year ago, they pulled in $291 million in revenue — this before their cut of revenue-sharing — and this season, though they were terrible, they still drew just under 3 million fans, the sixth-most in the league. And the kicker: the day before Monfort said there wasn’t much flexibility, he announced the signing of a new television deal for the team, one with a “sizable jump” in money for the franchise. The Rockies can afford to spend more than they do, but they don’t want to, so here we are, having to read about all of this as if can’t is the same as won’t.

Continue reading “It’s not even the offseason yet, but the Flexibility Wanters are everywhere”

September call-ups, MLB pensions, rule changes, and MiLB exploitation

Rob Manfred finally admitted the ball needs fixing

Mike Moustakas is going to be screwed either way, again

Winning 100 games is easy when most MLB teams aren’t trying

Winning 100 games is an accomplishment, one worth admiring. It’s been pretty common the last few years, though, and in a historic sense. With the Dodgers securing their 100th victory on Sunday, 2017-2019 became the first-ever three-year period where three teams per season won at least 100 games.

The reasons for all of those 100-win teams are less worthy of your admiration. The problem is the flip side of those dominant teams: for the first time since 1912-1913, there have been seven 100-loss teams between 2018-2019, with the newest of those the Royals following a defeat on Sunday. Today’s MLB isn’t just full of dominating 100-win teams that beat up on everyone: the competition itself is lesser, due to the tanking, the lack of trying, and so on, and it has created an environment that spawns teams at the extremes at historic rates.

Continue reading “Winning 100 games is easy when most MLB teams aren’t trying”

The Mookie Betts Question has little to do with “worth”

The Phillies are frozen by fear, and that should terrify fans

There’s been an implied (and occasionally leaked) feeling to the decisions of too many MLB teams in the past couple of years regarding the wild card. Why try by making trades or going big in the offseason in a division with a clear leader in order to maybe enter into a one-game playoff, in which your season could end in mere hours? Playing the odds that severely isn’t the right attitude, but it’s at least an understandable one that should make MLB consider that maybe Baseball Thunderdome, despite its exciting setup, is not enticing to the teams that need to be trying to make it there and beyond.

The Phillies have decided to take things one depressing step further: they’re not afraid of making it to the Wild Card Game so much as they are afraid of winning it. Ken Rosenthal reported as much last week:

Yet, once the Phillies began to slump, their front office’s thinking was, “We don’t want to go all-out for the chance to play in the wild-card game and then face the Dodgers in the Division Series.” An honest assessment, perhaps. But also defeatist, sending the wrong message to players and fans.

Continue reading “The Phillies are frozen by fear, and that should terrify fans”