RU Rah Rah

Apologies if this has been dissected earlier, but I'm struggling to follow some basic stuff in Braun's statement. To take him at face value: He had somehow convinced/deluded himself that he hadn't used a banned substance up until his meeting with MLB in June 2013. Then, even though he was "never presented with baseball's evidence," he realized that it was time to stop conning himself, tell the truth, etc. Why that moment to give up? (Within the interior logic of his explanation, I mean.)

You're correct to point out that, in the criminal justice context, innocent people cut deals all the time because they fear the worst-case scenario -- conviction, imprisonment, death penalty, etc. But these are often indigent racial and ethnic minorities who are poorly represented and facing long odds in court. (See the incredible story of Chris Ochoa, who was freed thanks to the Wisconsin Innocence Project.) We're not dealing with anything like those circumstances here. We have a wealthy individual operating outside the criminal justice system who is represented/advised by the best and the brightest. I hate to use absolute terms, but it's completely inconceivable that an innocent person would cut this kind of deal.

For me, it's not just that he cheated and then lied to wriggle his way out of punishment. Every human being does that (me included). It's more the sanctimonious way in which he defended himself when he knew that he was misleading everyone. That = uncool. If he had just said, "The testing process was flawed, and now it's time to move on," I'd feel slightly better about him now.

I feel weird in delighting in their overall collapse in the past year. I've always been a Yankee-hater and moderate BoSox fan (spent a half-dozen summers in western Mass., lived in southern NH for three years). But the whole franchise just seems to have become semi-loathsome, starting with the first WS title.

I think the Red Sox are actually getting more than fair value. Nick Punto is just a backup infielder, he doesn't have a ton of value. Beckett and Crawford are bad contracts and you could make the argument Gonzalez is too. Getting two really good prospects plus some filler is a good deal for the Red Sox. Oh, I agree that this is a net good for the BoSox, long-term. I guess I'm trying to say (in a convoluted way) that Selig -- being Selig -- might act on the misapprehension that too much talent is headed to LA with not enough returning to Boston, especially since we're approaching September. (And LA is just 3 games behind SF in the division and 1.5 back in Wild Card.)

Is there a chance that Selig could veto? It's obviously just a mega salary dump for the Red Sox; they aren't even pretending to get equal value in return. Can he invoke "the best interests of baseball" to stop it? (My surmise is that he probably thinks it is in the best interests of baseball to have three overpaid stars going to LA.)

I tend to be a cynic about accusations of PED's, doping, and the like. So part of me always has been skeptical of Armstrong's repeated claims of innocence. But his defense (he never failed a drug test) isn't exactly the worst I've ever heard. Now, of course, Armstrong has given up fighting the doping charges -- without admitting guilt. This is a weird one for me. I find it hard to believe that there is a massive ongoing conspiracy to frame him for something he didn't do, but I'm bothered by the process here. I guess my official position is: maybe he doped, but it's absurd to pursue him now, given the passage of time and his success in mastering (either legitimately or not) the testing process that was supposed to regulate this stuff. (Admittedly, that's not much of an argument.) Any thoughts?

Reminds me a little bit of a recent conversation I had about Vlad Guerrero. My gut tells me that he's destined for the Hall of the Very Good, but his numbers are on par with people like Jim Rice, Willie Stargell, and Billy Williams. (Of course, one might argue that those guys shouldn't be in.) Numbers aside, I loved Vlad's complete lack of plate discipline. Dude swung at everything (including, possibly, one-hoppers). I was less happy about how murdered the Crew (1.033 career OPS).

It's really amazing (and kind of sad) to see how cards have come to be viewed primarily as an investment. My son is 7, and is somewhat into collecting -- a good thing, in my book. But he's constantly asking me things like, "How much do you think this Chad Billingsley card is going to be worth?" It's a struggle to get him to think about just enjoying the cards for the sake of enjoying them -- it's like an alien concept today. Everything is about PSA grading, etc. I was looking at my old cards (mainly 1976-82) the other day and realized that I possess a bunch of hockey cards. One of them is a 1979 Wayne Gretzky rookie card -- the Topps version, not the rare O-Pee-Chee. I was appalled to see what people are paying for the O-Pee-Chee card -- in the ballpark of $100,000, in one case. It's completely bizarre. My favorite card is still my first: 1973 Richie Scheinblum. http://www.vintagecardprices.com/pics/1860/145970.jpg

I collected a colossal number of baseball cards from 1975-1982. I then basically set them aside in my parents' basement for 30 years. When my folks moved into a retirement home, they made me reassume custody -- a long-overdue step! I'm in the process of sorting/organizing these cards. It's actually quite a lot of fun: my kids are helping, and it's sparking my son's interest in baseball and cards. I'm organizing numerically by year, and then seeing what kind of gaps I have (about 6-7 cards in my best years, 20-40 in some others). I'll look online and buy individual cards to complete the sets. Everything is going into acid-free sleeves, etc. The real problem? My doubles. And triples. And quintuples. In 1978 and 1979 especially, I have up to 8 (!) of some guys. Seeing the face of Rangers SS Jim Mason again and again is giving me horrible flashbacks. I don't have any interest in selling my core collection. But I'm wondering about these superfluous cards. Is there a market for them? I can't imagine that there are many people who want to buy the 1978 Bill Fahey card (of which I have 6). And, if there is, how do you going about entering it? It almost seems like it would take a lot of effort and I'd probably not make very much money. I figure that some of my BF.net brethren have had similar experiences. Any advice would be welcome.

Having the "charge" song, etc., between pitches seems ok to me. But I agree -- loud random pop music between pitches amounts to too much of a bombardment. At a certain point, I do just want to watch the game.

Boy, that is a lot to give up. I don't think that any of the pieces going to KC are can't-miss (Escobar left me underwhelmed last year), but the total haul for them seems significant. But, having said that, the return for the Brewers is a legit #1 starter who gives the team a fighting chance in the Central for the next two years. (With the revamped rotation and the existing offense, I think that's a reasonable hope.) I think you swallow hard and pay that price -- steep though it might be.

Having grown up in Balto. as an O's fan, the family name has fond associations for me. I hope the next couple of years do nothing to change that....

I have been looking for a signature for five years. This might have to be it....

Would this be at all like John Henry buying the Red Sox while he still owned the Marlins? IIRC, he wound up selling to Jeffrey Loria, who at the time owned the Expos.