#rob manfred

Baseball is not meant to be played fast. Its a summer sport. "The Boys of Summer" It sucks to watch on TV sometimes, frankly, its better on the radio anyways.

Baseball, for me, exists where the heat and time mix to make it oppressive at times. Sure, it has its moments of action forever, but baseball as a game should always be a carefully wound spring waiting to be let loose. There's amazing tension in baseball.

I think back to the typical imagery in baseball movies. It's always slow motion. A hand punching the glove, giving you time to watch the little bits of dust and dirt dance in the air. Its no other sounds than an deep exhale and the soft crushing sound of leather squeezing into the wood of a bat. It's cleats dragging through the dirt, readying, waiting for the pitch.

It's baseball and nostalgia and a want to wax romantic about the sport; however all sports, not just baseball, teach us lessons. They tell us stories. It takes time to tell the story.

The story's been the same for millennia, ever since the first games of chance and skill were every played, the first race run. It is a ritual deeply set within the human mind on a primal level. Sport's teach us defeat and victory, unlikely heroes and old favorites. The tell us of surprising upsets and outright domination. They show us collapse and retaliation, grit, pain, exhilaration, teamwork and selfishness alike. But ultimately, the story and lesson sports teach us is hope.

Alden Gonzalez at ESPN: 

Major League Baseball announced Friday that it is moving the 2021 All-Star Game and 2021 draft out of Atlanta in protest of a new Georgia law that has raised concerns about its potential to disproportionately disenfranchise minority voters.

In a statement, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the league is "finalizing a new host city and details about these events will be announced shortly."

A source told ESPN that the All-Star Game is still planned for Los Angeles in 2022 and won't be moved up to fill the void this summer.

"Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views," Manfred said as part of his statement. "I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year's All-Star Game and MLB Draft.

"Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box. In 2020, MLB became the first professional sports league to join the non-partisan Civic Alliance to help build a future in which everyone participates in shaping the United States. We proudly used our platform to encourage baseball fans and communities throughout our country to perform their civic duty and actively participate in the voting process. Fair access to voting continues to have our game's unwavering support."

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law last week a sweeping, Republican-sponsored bill that includes new restrictions on voting by mail and greater legislative control over how elections are run. The bill, which also famously prohibits the distribution of food and water for voters waiting in line, was signed into law on March 25, with protestors outside the Capitol calling it "Jim Crow 2.0."

https://www.mlb.com/news/american-league-wild-card-tiebreakers-explained

RIDICULOUS! The idea of adding more teams to the postseason (which of course the greedy owners & lame AF Rob Manfred want to maybe even next year under a new CBA - & there are SO MANY reasons that it's a VERY BAD idea I literally can only SMH).