Alexander Dimm 5 hours 59 minutes ago (view)

Wait!  Why are the Cubs trying to sneak him through waivers now?  They need roster space?  Planning for a big week?

Also, if the Pirates trade Bryan Reynolds, how would he look in a Cubs uniform?  

crunch 1 day ago (view)

rylan bannon didn't make it through waivers...astros claim him.  cubs picked him up a couple weeks ago from ATL.

George Altman 1 day ago (view)

Man, if that's market value for 7th/8th inning RPs, then I hope the Estrada/Uelman/Leeper/auto renewal crowd is ready to put their big boy pants on in 2023.

DavidP 1 day ago (view)

I also appreciate your thoughts.  I would add a couple of my own.

First, it is one thing to refuse to support someone you disagree with, for whatever reason.  That is something we all should do.  But it is another thing to try to attack someone for mere association with someone you disagree with, and to actively try to destroy them.

The Cosby issue is a great example.  From all reports, he was a scumbag.  And for that reason, I do not watch reruns of his show, which was one of the best ever on television.  But I think it is wrong, for instance, to actively work to punish any TV station that wishes to have it in their programming.  If for no other reason that every actor that ever was in the series gets residual payments that, to many of them, are important to keep themselves fed.  None are responsible for what Cosby may have done, and should not be punished in a vain attempt to punish Cosby, who will never notice the lack of residual payments.

No one should ever been punished merely for associating with someone else.  Punishing the musician for what you consider his misdeeds also punishes every person who works for him, listens to his music, or works in association with him, none of whom is necessarily racist.

crunch 1 day ago (view)

the chris martin that was traded for zach mckinstry signs with BOS for 2/17.5m

that was a very profitable 2 months in LA for him.

JoePepitone 1 day 4 hours ago (view)

I appreciate your thoughts on this, First.Pitch!

First.Pitch.120 1 day 5 hours ago (view)

Not directed at DavidP individually, but offered as some free floating thoughts...

 

I think it's a classic "both/and" or "know it when I see it" type situation. 

 

It's absolutely appropriate & effective to hold orgs, venues, etc. accountable for the business associations they have.  It's also appropriate to wonder about how asking orgs to break those ties impacts free-speech, discourse, and/or opportunities for performers that are marginalized for other reasons (race, gender, etc.).

 

It's absolutely appropriate to find some art/entertainment a non-starter for you b/c of the artists actions.  We all have them...  And it's also appropriate to make individual choices about what we put into historical / situational context  and about how we separate art from artists.  I certainly don't endorse every view of every comedian in my collection of albums... so I must be able to separate art/artist sometimes. But it's also true that I straight up deleted Bill Cosby's albums b/c I just couldn't... but I still really like some Michael Jackson songs & don't know how I feel about that.

 

It's absolutely appropriate & necessary to hold people to account for comments they make in the past. And it's also absolutely appropriate & necessary to allow space for people to make mistakes and then grow, learn, change, apologize, & perhaps make amends.

 

For me, I think that the important process is understanding that these are all ill-structured problems where multiple things can be true at the same time.  Sitting in that tension is the key.  We seek certainty & clarity about should/shouldn't but the reality is there is only a hugely messy & slippery process of meaning-making that happens every minute of every day for every person.  

 

Does this mean we throw up our hands & anything goes? No.  For me, I still get angry (even furious) about some things & will fight so hard against them. But it centers that energy in a way that has compassion for others b/c I realize that at the end of the day everybody is trudging through the same meaning-making mud. 

DavidP 1 day 8 hours ago (view)

That will teach me to actually read a post before commenting on it.  Never having heard of the guy, I assumed that he was a free agent that should not be signed because of past comments.  I apologize for the mistake.

 

But this is even more egregious.  To hold a baseball team accountable for the past comments of a musical performer because of alleged racist comments he made years ago, is just ludicrous.  One of the most popular music groups of my day was the Mamas and the Pappas, who performed some of the best music of their day.  And individually and as a group, they were among the most disgusting humans of their time, among other things, giving their 10 year old daughter drugs at their parties, causing her a lifetime of drug addiction.  Should I hold every concert venue that rented them concert space (including the Dodgers), every television station that gave them a platform (including NPR) and every fan that til this day hums along with "california Dreaming", (including myself)?

 

I hope that the Cubs are more sensible than to pay attention to complaintss such as this.

crunch 1 day 8 hours ago (view)

he's a country music singer.

this is about hosting an in-season concert at Wrigley field.

this is a totally needless move and it's not like they need to beg for someone to play Wrigley field in their concert tour for the extra cash.

this isn't like the pros/cons of adding Brandon Nimmo in CF because he decided to donate money to Trump to throw democracy out the window to own the libs...or whatever Trump fans want him to do so he can be dictator.

DavidP 1 day 8 hours ago (view)

By the way, I have been trying to fill in the blanks in the words, but not having much luck.  In what way was this a racist comment?