2020 Hot Stove

Playing baseball as a kid. The good 'ole days!

I became a switch hitter (no wisecracks please) because when we had a shortage of enough guys for two teams we played without a left fielder and third baseman, no shortstop if necessary and everyone had to hit left handed, and keep the hit ball south of the pitcher. No excuses. If you dribbled one north of the mound it was a foul ball; if it made the outfield grass you were out. Fun game, and more than a few guys learned they could hit left handed.

Today, kids create themselves on video games and play each other online while communicating on headsets.

Did we miss out? 

JMHO 

I completely agree Key. I was being a bit sarcastic with the "did we miss out" comment. Today's kids are missing out.

I was the youngest of the 4 kids in the neighborhood for which we played whiffle ball and basketball every single day.  And almost every day I was the one running home crying since I got the snot beat out of me.  Today, I’m way tougher because of it.  Kids that stay inside and can’t take a beating or let alone criticism are the little sensitive pricks that are gonna be CEOs one day or worse.  Lord help us.  

Or the one's who don't know how to handle online bullying, cause frankly there is no real way to handle it.

When we got bullied in the playground it sucked. But eventually you get the courage to give that prick a swift kick to the nuts or just go toe to toe. After that, it was over.

I am surprised sac that Key did not mention only a POLLACK would play fast pitch with no catchers mask,also we. pitch half speed and catcher was first taken out -now KEY I find it funny or based on the field we used but we would get rid of right fielder first,extend center field to right-center,we had a high fence in left field and the fence ended in left so you had to reach the dirt for Home run.

During summer we had pick up games couple times a week plus 2 league games a week,we had lots of kids available to put 2 teams together to have a pick up game.                                                                                                              

Jeg, I heard that in California you guys wore tampons under your jock straps to soften the pressure of the surely over sized cups.

JEG occasionally I see some idiot thing from sac that I pass up because I get the feeling it is so easy to pick on a Pollock (not pollack) that maybe it gets redundant. You know, some things just speak for themselves. Basically I like the guy because Pollocks were not part of the problem in my neighborhood. Neither were guineas for that matter. And, he occasionally gets off a zinger about Califruity weirdos and perverts. I had not heard about the tampon thing but was well aware it was Califruity guys that came up with the idea of dropping a potato in the jock to make the girls think there was SOMETHING there. Covers is not an intellectually stimulating site, but occasionally there is something to be learned. By the way, be sure to thoroughly boil the potato before using it for food.    

I wonder who forgot to clean and cook the Potatoes today,CLEAN BEFORE,tampons I never hear those being used but I did grow up in a town with many more Blacks than whites,having those cups passed down was sad for some of my Friends but I was in good company,how does a Pollock spell it,POLLACK,get with the times Key.

You probably needed a bowling ball to take up the excess space. At least there was no need to boil it before eating.

Pollock-Pollack, six of one, half a dozen of the other. Doesn't raise the I.Q. level one iota.

According to Ken Rosenthal and a few others….

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/report-hope-is-dwindling-as-mlb-season-now-appears-delayed-until-august/ar-BB158io0

You can probably kiss any significant MLB season good-bye.

That is my opinion anyway. Negotiations are so strained the sides are actually getting further apart, not closer together. The players are standing strong on salary demands and owners (claim) they can not see a way to minimize losses, much less break even. As time elapses the owners insist the season must get shorter, but players are still striving for more games and a higher pro-rata scale than the owners can see fit to guarantee. Very soon July will be out of the question and an August start simply presents new problems and a lesser product. The NBA is preparing for mid-summer playoffs and in August the attention will turn to NCAA and NFL football, with the possible promise of a full and complete season.

The timing is unfortunate for MLB, but no one can schedule a pandemic conveniently. It happened when it did and disrupted far more important activities worldwide than an American baseball season. It tore at the root of the game, Spring Training and Opening Day. Both are dear to the American heart. Spring, flowers, warm weather, outdoor activity; just so many things associated with baseball and the national love of it. Opening Day in the heat of July or August, with empty stadiums or extremely limited crowds just does not pluck at the heartstrings. A quick run to expanded NBA-type playoffs with a cold weather World Series will not excite the adrenaline of many fans.

The expanded playoffs will not fool anyone. They do not in either the NFL or NBA. Too many teams just means fans have to buy tickets and products to put games on the air between teams that did not competitively earn a playoff spot. MLB has been unique in the eight and ten team playoff structures with .500 and sub .500 teams having no shot, which they did not deserve. So much for that. With a fourteen team playoff format it is entirely possible to see one or two teams in the playoffs that had a losing regular season record. Yippee. Just as exciting as the sixty fifth and lower picks for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. WOW.  

I, personally, am very close to just writing off the season and ignoring whatever they come up with. It will never be regarded as a true “Championship” season in any way. It will be criticized and joked about for years, and God help them if an undeserving team sneaks out of the lower brackets and takes home a trophy. It is truly saddening that billionaires and millionaires can not come up with an equitable revenue sharing plan for one lousy season.

Just my thoughts on this day in history.   

It looks rather ominous Key 

All we can do is sit and wait

Log COTTAGE; I responded to your P.M. of 6/1. Sorry it took so long. 

looking like our Fantasy League is getting scraped for this year.....let me know if any of the baseball faithful would be interested in starting a league even if it is for only 50 games or less    if not, whatever.   just throwing it out  

It is truly saddening that billionaires and millionaires can not come up with an equitable revenue sharing plan for one lousy season.

Just my thoughts on this day in history.

This is it in a nutshell,they do not play for THE LOVE OF THE GAME,they have made their money and a high % of people working and playing in baseball can lose this season and not even notice,

Like log cottage has mention how a guy hitting 200 is even on a roster,but that guy might be a 8 year bench player and most those guys had a few years that they made some money and then with the salary an 8 year bench player can make,well over a million,and you would assume they are not living over their means.This player is the one that plays on a decent team and comes in for utility reason's last couple innings,gets a few pitch hits and even makes the 10 years for a pension,his name we do not even know.

I had given up on baseball month ago when I read that they were still passing offers back and forth,SEE YOU NEXT MARCH HOPEFULLY.

sac do you guys have restaurants open now or have been opened for awhile?

What about Bars that serve food or just bars,what is open?

You work in Chicago?

Carry out only. Places with outdoor patios were good to operate outside only on June 3rd. But barely any did once the looting started. Chicago is a war zone.

Most store fronts are boarded up