then coronavirus happened, 2020 baseball

I'm told that Jesus Luzardo did test positive for the coronavirus. He will have to self-isolate for 14 days as per the MLB safety protocol.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) July 7, 2020

Update on Bruce Maxwell (2017 regular-season game chatter) from Howard Bryant:

When Maxwell looks at an America in reckoning after the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police, he sees that America, the America of 2017, and it informs his cynical view and justifiable rage. He sees GMs in a game that has ruined countless careers of players who were outspoken then -- GMs who did not sign him after his protest now holding up Black Lives Matter signs at the 2020 draft. He sees players who did not support him then now being lauded for their courage facing racism. This week, Cincinnati Reds All-Star first baseman Joey Votto took batting practice wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt. On June 26, The Wall Street Journal profiled several Black executives, silent for years, who now want to talk. Black players who weren't there for Maxwell then are now seeing their outspokenness carrying more reward than risk -- the same people who did not speak with him then are being listened to now -- all because today's tipping-point moment has made it safe for them to speak. He does not see courage. They risked nothing.

"The season's gonna resume. They're going to get more fame because it's going to look like they're standing up for what's right," Maxwell says. "They're making T-shirts and they're showing they care, but they don't go back to the original sacrificed person. Where was all of this then? It's easy to talk because everyone's talking. I was out there by myself. I'm bitter as f---, and I'm not hiding it."

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29414410/the-exile-oakland-bruce-maxwell-birth-mlb-black-player-movement

(Incredible article.)

it is very good

Who wore it better? #CampColiseum pic.twitter.com/eMmUPeLso5

— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 8, 2020

love it

At the start of summer training, Martinez took a few sips of water, went to spit it out, then realized he had a mask on. Scherzer, the Nationals’ 35-year-old ace, had started to lick his fingers more in the past few seasons. He liked to rub spit into the bottom of his right palm. He used the bit of moisture to improve his grip on pitches.

Now, though, Scherzer has to replace spit with sweat from the back of his hair. Turner is learning not to spit or crave seeds. Octavio Martinez, one of the Nationals’ bullpen catchers, is considered non-playing personnel and will have to wear a mask while working with pitchers. After Wednesday’s workout, he ran stadium steps and stretched with a mask on, getting used to his new normal.

we're gonna get through this guys

The Rockies are planning on having up to 10k fans in the stands.

that will end well

how many for the Cubs?

How taxi squad works .. 1) 18$ a day and you have to pay 8$ dues”plus tip cause the Clobby is a nice guy . “They provide you 2 meals “ , apartment with out a TV, “you need to get your own tv, sheets for bed, pillows,bathroom stuff, cleaning stuff, kitchen supplies..

— Adbert Alzolay (@adbert29) July 9, 2020

ingrates

wau

Here is what’s going to keep #BlueJays players in their stadium/hotel bubble this summer:

Per multiple sources, players have been told penalty if seen outside ballpark is $750,000 fine and potential jail time.

— Scott Mitchell (@ScottyMitchTSN) July 10, 2020

Ambient 5

Eno details a fascinating development in baseball 2020, and baseball people see another advantage to pre-recorded crowd noise: Teams will be less able to hear sniping from the opposing dugout, defusing potential confrontations. “It may prevent some ugliness,” one coach says. https://t.co/2X4AD6Qy4W

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 10, 2020

(I know, I know.)

Eno is a fan of Eno, I asked him once in a Fangraphs chat and he confirmed

btw I hate this idea, why take away the one potentially interesting thing about this situation

iirc eno is named after eno

although i always think of him as enos arris

i assume that any younger person named eno is named after brian eno, which tells me that at least their parents are cool, so they are probably kind of cool too

so far i know of two other enos (eno sarris and a twitter artist person) and they confirm this theory

haha, I know this dude IRL because he is a "beer nerd"* and he frequently drives down from his cowboy town and of all the "big city" places to go, he chooses my rundown neighborhood dive. As you can imagine he just rants & rants incessantly until people have cleared a large swath of space around him.

*I think I posted his (wait for it) "data driven beer blog" on ILX right when it started and most of you dudes clowned on it (rightfully so).

Also, if you can point me towards a deindexed thread, I used to work with the founder of The Athl3t1c and man I have some good stories for you, surprised he hasn't been canceled yet tbqh.

buster posey is opting out

Also, if you can point me towards a deindexed thread,

do you have 77 access?

more details on posey:

Buster Posey and his wife are adopting identical twin girls. That is why he has missed time in camp. The twins were born prematurely and stable but will be in NICU for some time. He is opting out of the season.

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) July 10, 2020

congrats to the olsen twins and the growing posey family

i hadn't heard about this ... pitchers can't use saliva on their fingers and then touch the ball, so they're allowed to carry a "wet rag" for the purposes of moistening their fingers. of course everyone expects they'll use it to gunk up balls:

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2020/7/10/21175567/banned-substances-pitchers-spin-rate-four-seam

i won't hear a word against eno i miss him every day (even though i have an athletic membership)

no spitting, no hi-fives, no butt slaps

surely a butt to butt slap would be fine

baseball, but with the requiem for a dream soundtrack pumped in through the speakers

Blade Runner soundtrack

aroldis chapman gets covid19

i mean, this is just a shitshow

baseball without butt slaps is like ice hockey without skating

seeing this thought expressed with increasing frequency; it is both true and disturbing as hell

Brewers catcher Omar Narvaez: "Everybody knows the healthiest team is going to win, and we're all trying to stay healthy."

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) July 14, 2020

wonder how many players are gonna end up permanently fucked up from getting it

puig your barve

Dunno if this is the right or good place to post this, but as many of you are likely aware, Red Sox organist Josh Kantor has been doing a daily livestream, and takes requests:

https://www.facebook.com/7thinningstretch2020/

Today's broadcast (starting around 51:00 into the stream) features a fascinating interview with Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

tonight's cardinals intrasquad game is the first to be broadcast. just dan mclaughlin, i think (who i find much more tolerable when he's by himself).

have any of you watched a game yet?

is that on mlb.tv?

i only know this:

Updated streaming information for tonight's intrasquad game:

The game will now be streamed only on https://t.co/5VUsLLPWKx.

The stream will begin at 6:55 p.m. CT. pic.twitter.com/jAsYE7PtFr

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 14, 2020

cardinals.com redirects to mlb.com/cardinals, so i'm hoping my mlb.tv subscription will cover it. if not, i'll be searching for a link to the stream elsewhere and can share it here if you need one

the way that's worded suggests to me that it will be free for everyone on the cardinals site (but not necessarily shown through mlb.tv)

i'm currently watching Astros vs Astros

no need for banging the can

seemingly no audio, cuz the broadcasters have standards?

👀 @ynscspds pic.twitter.com/xYc91xfz0T

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 14, 2020

jfc the long-ass interview going on with the cardinals front office mozeliak

https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/video/cardinals-intrasquad-live-stream-1440

hey there are like ten free “spring training” games on mlb.tv today! watching the brewers blue v. golf game.

can't find the 'playing baseball' thread but yeah, hitting is hard.

Time to practice your español! I've known Miguel Sanó for a long time and I've always admired his candor. When I asked him about testing positive for COVID-19 and what was the hardest part, he said ‘crying myself to sleep in the basement, away from my family.’ Incredible honesty. https://t.co/gU3v19i5cY

— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) July 16, 2020

VHS i’ve found that doing it right usually doesn’t feel “natural”, at least if you’re not manny ramirez. it’s often about little adjustments that seem fucked up at the time, like “swing an inch lower than you think you should” etc

New info on the fake crowd noise:

* Every team is using it

* MLB is giving clubs the sounds (but teams can have their own) & a touchpad device to use it

* There are 75 effects/reactions

* MLB-provided sound is derived from audio recorded for "MLB The Show" at real MLB games https://t.co/Nl501rjSWt

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) July 16, 2020

Will the fake stadium ambient noise have trash can banging?