1 hour ago 1

Game 65: Royals at Twins

Time: 7:15 Central

Weather: Some chance of rain, 79°

Opponent’s SB site: Royals Review

TV: “Only in Cupertino.” Radio: What say we bring back Mientkiewicz as a color guy

Today’s Royals starter, Michael “Wacha Wacha” Wacha, has been basically Mr. Consistency the last four years; count on him to give you an ERA of about 3.50 and a bWAR of about 3.0. He’s hittable — he got tagged for six earned runs on Sunday, and “only” throws in the low 90s — but when he’s on, his changeup’s dang good, and he’s got like four other pitches to mix with those two. I’d bet him over Zebby Matthews, but I don’t advocate betting, unless it’s with a Mafia bookie. They’re less bloodthirsty than the online betting companies are.

What’s up in Kansas City? Stadium boondoggles, to be sure. You see, in Missouri, when voters say “no” or “we demand you protect this right,” the politicians say “nah, not gonna do that” and do the opposite. Currently, nothing about a new stadium’s set in stone, although the team really really wants a billion and a half for a downtown location. Given how eager the local Corrupticons in city/state government are to dole out public money to anything except people who actually need it, I think we can take it for granted that there’ll be some new cookie-cutter stadium on the public dime eventually. Where, exactly, is yet to be determined. The gummint of Kansas City, KS wants to have its say, too.

One letter writer to the Kansas City Star also takes it for granted that there will be a new building, and seems excited about it, sigh. However, the writer has a long memory, and provides some information about what happened when the Kansas City Athletics left for Oakland in 1967; the old downtown stadium site fell into disrepair, as had much of downtown in general. The writer hope that doesn’t happen to the East Side area where Kauffman Stadium (and the NFL one) now stand. As she puts it, the East Side is “a working-class neighborhood where people keep up their lawns.”

Yup, you read that right. “Where people keep up their lawns.” That’s straight-up racial coding, if you didn’t know. (For the record, I’m a honky, and I don’t give A S**T about what my lawn looks like.) Why, exactly, were downtowns having trouble in 1967 (and in the 50s-70s overall, and not just in Kansas City)? White flight. Whose motivating spirit is apparently quite alive and well in KC today.

In happier news, here’s a nice story from Twins mlb.com beatwriter Matthew Leach. Antoine Jenkins, a young local artist/entrepreneur, got an opportunity to do murals for the Target Field concourse celebrating great Black baseball players. Appropriately for the location, it highlights Twins players the most:

This one also has Willie Mays, who was a Minnesota player! For basically, a month at Nicollet Park before the Giants called him up; I mean, the dude had an OPS of 1.323, you can’t leave somebody like that in the minors. (They didn’t mess around with “service time” back before free agency.)

Anyways, if/when I get to Target Field again, I’ll be sure to check these out

I do have tickets for August. Some rich person who walks her dog at the same time Mrs. James walks with a neighbor’s dog gave us the tickets. They will be out of town that day.

So last week I got this email:

Hi James,

As one of our valued Thrivent Club guests in years past, I wanted to personally reach out with some exciting news. You can now access those seats with one of our new Choice Memberships this summer!

Our new $3,000 Choice Membership gives you the flexibility to choose your games, your seats, and your schedule, all while saving 25% on tickets. Want to elevate your experience even further? Our $7,500 Choice Membership unlocks access to our newly renovated, Champions Club!

Would you be open to a quick conversation to explore if our Choice Membership would be a fit for you this summer?

Warm regards,

Warm regards to you, too, CJ! And… nah, not gonna do that.

Worth remembering that when teams demand new buildings on the taxpayer dime, it’s not because the old one is “outdated” or because a new one will “allow the team to stay competitive,” or any other lies the teams tell. It is, always and forever, to charge more money for seats. Especially the fancy seats. They don’t give a crap if the rest of you follow the team or not… which is why tonight’s game is on Crapple TV.

Finally, in “teams want money” news, here’s one that Stadium Boondoggle Expert Neil deMause recently shared about a team moving out of downtown, or trying to. The team, which plays hockey downtown, wants a brand new building about 20 miles away (and 30 minutes freeway driving time, so a heavily-congested route). They want $700 million in public money, which seems like a lot for a hockey arena. (The team also shares its hockey arena with a basketball team, which presumably will want a new stadium of its own.) And, they want it to be paid for by any increase in property tax revenue for the next gazillion years. You mean, any increase in property tax values across the street from the arena? In the same block? Try within the surrounding 900 acres.

Which team? The Dallas Stars. Who, as you’ll recall, left Minnesota to get their new building in Dallas. Where they still sell out 100% of games, 11th in the league, so they’re not hurting for money. But, as one boondoggle expert put it half-jokingly in 2001, “I don’t see anything wrong, from an owner’s perspective, with the idea of a new stadium every year.”

Teams sure don’t!

Read Entire Article