"Tell him, Wash." "It's incredibly hard." (MLB 2020)

[andrewvb]

Hell yeah

[venom]

i know it's been a joke for a while that manfred doesn't even like baseball, but it's easier to actually believe that after hearing his press conference today.

[Deleted]

The Athletic ranked the craft beer offerings at ballparks.

theathletic.com/1600725/2020/02/19/a-beer-nerds-guide-to-baseball-ranking-every-stadium-by-craft-beer-offerings/

Notable ones if you don't have access:

4. Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago
Top beer: 9
Average beer: 9
Accessibility: 9

In what might prove to be an innovation that eventually will spread to most ballparks around the league, the White Sox put in a Craft Kave in 2017 — a beer bar with plenty of taps, but an even more impressive beer cooler. One of the difficulties of stocking smaller craft breweries is the peril of a kicked keg without a replacement. A useless tap can cost the ballpark a ton of money. So instead enter a cooler full of cans that can spread to the rarer parts of Chicago’s beer scene, without the same danger if a certain can runs out.

As a result, the list of available beers on the South Side is impressive, maybe one of the longest in the league. And, even if you might notice that a large percentage of those beers is only available in the Kave, there’s good news. There’s now a second (express) Kave in the 200 level. Add that to the Revolution Brewing Bar and the two Midwest Craft stands and a few assorted craft beer carts, and you have top-shelf accessibility.

Look again at the list, and you’ll see that Revolution’s beers are the easiest to find outside the main craft beer areas. Would you rather have a Revolution in the hand or a chalkboard craft beer bar in the bush? The tug between the highest-end options and accessibility to good craft beer options begins.

5. Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
Top beer: 8
Average beer: 8
Accessibility: 9

Brand Ambassador Jeremy Danner once worked for Boulevard Brewing and now works for 4 Hands Brewing, so he’s a little biased, but his description of the beer scene where the Royals play ball pretty much sums it up (and, frankly, he goes to a ton of games there, so it’s not surprising):

“If you’re looking for craft beer during a Royals game, nearly every stand that pours beer will have an offering. Seriously. The two spots where you’ll find the widest selections are the Boulevard Pub (behind home plate, just outside the Diamond Club) and Craft & Draft. The latter is like walking into a full-on craft beer bar at a baseball stadium. With 20ish taps pouring primarily local offerings and another 50ish in cans in bottles, you can find beers from Missouri favorites Boulevard, 4 Hands, Martin City and Mother’s alongside selections from regional and national breweries. The food is super solid and beer-friendly as well.”

Though Craft & Draft is amazing — a section for beer lovers, with its own field-facing seats and food menus — it’s really the fact that there’s a craft beer on tap at most stands that makes this a great ballpark for beer.

22. Coors Field, Denver
Top beer: 5
Average beer: 5
Accessibility: 6

At Coors, there’s OK beer everywhere. Fat Tire, Colorado Native, Breckenridge, Upslope and Oskar Blues are there, and that provides a high replacement level. There’s a history of beer here, too. There’s SandLot Brewery, the actual birthplace of Blue Moon. And all the MillerCoors craft you could want, with Hop Valley leading the way.

There wasn’t a consensus among those consulted for these rankings — beer writer Timothy Malcolm, who is working on a ballpark beer project himself, thought this ranking was too low. Because getting a Dale’s Pale Ale from Oskar Blues at the game is decent, and because there are Colorado beers here, and it’s not too hard to find them around the park, and they aren’t even that expensive. But for me, the problem is the stark contrast between what’s available at the park and what’s available across the street (literally) at Falling Rock Tap House. Go to that bar and you see how awesome Colorado beer is. Go to the park, and it looks … you know, fine.

23. Wrigley Field, Chicago
Top beer: 7
Average beer: 5
Accessibility: 4

Just get an Old Style, really. Sure, they added Bell’s Oberon in the bleachers, and some Revolution Brewing here and there, and it’s super sweet if you can find the 3 Floyds Zombie Dust (Section 132 most likely). The list supposedly says there’s Half Acre in there; I think I’ve seen it once, tucked away. All of the locations are on the first level, and most are by Gate D, or at least the locations you can get to without a special ticket.

They’re trying to improve the offerings, but there are some limitations due to the age and dimensions of the park, so if you’re looking for a local craft beer in Wrigley, you’re going to be looking for a while.

[Pale Hose]

[dij22]

Great move. I saw that it's the largest extension ever for a pre-arb reliever who isn't a closer

[Xamnam]

Picked up tickets to opening day and Lou Whitaker's number retirement ceremony, excited to finally have some concrete plans for baseball again.

[Xamnam]

[Pale Hose]

[Deleted]

The Athletic write-up on Rickey Henderson from earlier this week is wild - one of my favorite parts:

There are so many stories of him not cashing checks. And you might know, he never spent a penny of his per diem meal money. He would instead stuff the cash in shoeboxes and whenever one of his daughters got good grades in school, he would let her go up and choose a shoebox, like an educational version of “Let’s Make A Deal.”

[venom]

every year my dad and i go for a baseball road trip. every winter i put together about 10 possible plans for us and let him choose which he wants to do. other than the 3 times i've scheduled a weekend full of his favorite team or their minor league affiliates, he always opts for driving. but as he gets older, his preferred driving distance radius gets smaller and smaller. i'm holding onto a few ballparks close to his home for when he's really old. but we've already hit at least 90% of the mlb + milb parks within an 8-hour drive of where he lives. it's getting hard to make new itineraries. so this year he chose a weekend of columbus, akron and erie. anyone been to those ballparks?

[Deleted]

White Sox extended Moncada.

[Deleted]

[teekoh]

Woo!

[Deleted]

That's a huge bargain over what he'd get on the open market.

Surprised Madrigal hasn't received an extension yet at this point.

[clouddead]

Somehow, that’s the largest contract in team history.

[Pale Hose]

If those numbers are accurate Grandal is still slightly larger at $73M.

[clouddead]

Correct. Assuming the option though.

[Deleted]

Kopech making 101mph look effortless in his first start back.

[Xamnam]

[Xamnam]

[Deleted]

If they start earlier than mid-May, I'd be shocked.

[Deleted]

This is a good read:

blogs.fangraphs.com/more-questions-than-answers-as-covid-19-forces-mlb-into-holding-pattern/

[facts]

www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28901976/reds-trevor-bauer-david-carpenter-organizing-sandlot-game-arizona

[fancypants]

First case in MLB. A Yankees minor leaguer who came down with fever on Friday.

[Xamnam]

[facts]

Chris Sale TJS



Relevant only if they actually play baseball this year but who knows

[dij22]

That sucks. Glad he got paid first

[Tweet]

I know nothing about this other than the following web-page but I am in on that alone:

www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/eric-nusbaum/stealing-home/9781541742192/

[monasterymonochrome]

Mar 24, 2020 9:27:13 GMT -6 Tweet said:

I know nothing about this other than the following web-page but I am in on that alone:

www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/eric-nusbaum/stealing-home/9781541742192/

Yea this sounds interesting.  Also, fuck Walter O'Malley

[fancypants]

Syndergaard is getting Tommy John surgery