TheIrrelevantWriter

in all fairness, it probably should be..

"Who likes to Strikeout?" Hoskins likes to Strikeout!

DUDE DUDE DUDE it's happening!

Don't feel too bad, I used to call 3 feet closer to the bag my "sweet spot" as my reasoning for making the shortstop miss.

The name of the game is get them to their bullpen.

rolled over on one..

he's in his head now, he knows it's been going on for away now.

That guy's fast. like so fast he makes fast guys look not so fast.

like how I allowed my spell check to correct Rock to Brock and I had to edit it like a nube? yeah I get it... 😂

10 in a row for Freddy!! love to see it.

"everyone likes the strikeouts but you don't need them"-Rock. back to saying this over and over again in my head for the next month lol

I think it's because they are curious about Collins' defense. He's hot with the bat so give him the bat and they will slow his way to a rotational spot. Just a thought though.

call a spade a spade, the vets need to be vets. Hoskins' 8 pitch walk is something good to see.

I'm not going to lie; it was on my mind yesterday watching Haase.

Is it just me, or is anyone else wondering how William is calling games this year?

Chourio!!!! Collins!! the young guys are stepping up!

Fastball Freddy: Over/Under 5.5 Ks/2.5 ERs this outing? Personally, I'm going over on Ks, under ERs. I think we get to see some real potential today.

On top of that they probably aren't going to risk playing him the full home stand without a break. I look for him to be in the lineup the rest of the week.

In past years, it has felt like the Brewers odds at making the playoffs were similar to hitting on 16 in Blackjack, dangerous. This is probably that most comfortable I have felt as a fan in August in a while. One slip up from LA or Philly, we could have a nice cruise into the NLDS. I feel this is already a win, we just need to get greedy.

I'm so sorry for the late reply. This piece was for an academic setting (College Comp I) and luckily, I got 95/100 on it. I can only imagine the 5 points may have been for only glossing over one of the most infamous gambling scandals in history. Thank you for pointing that out. I can see how I could have been more impactful in the numerous times I decided to bring up that scandal. The project was a lot of fun, but I learned my lesson and I will stick to sports as leisure writing and far away from my academics. I was unpleasant to say the least while I was doing the research for it.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read it and respond! It means the world to me. I was actually very frustrated at the end of the project to not find an actual, feasible, solution. That being said, I felt my findings were still of value to bring light to this situation and maybe answer a question or two that the average fan may have by their exposure to the gambling industry. To me, the bright bold line would be allowing players to profit by way of sponsorships and/or a CBA agreement that clearly allocates profits the MLB has made from legal gambling to the players even if indirectly like league funded addiction counselling. I personally believe the bright bold line is physically placing money on bets within their own sport.

Thank you very much for pointing that out to me. I tend to write that a lot, so I'll have to go over that again to see if I added it anywhere else.

**I spent almost 3 months working on this research paper and figuring out how to explain baseball to non-baseball people. I'm looking for feedback if anyone is willing to help me out while I rant. If not allowed, I will remove** Sports gambling is a big part of American culture in the 21st century. Rather it’s on the side of a bus, billboard, or is sponsoring the event you’re watching, odds are, you’ve probably seen advertisements for companies such as Fan Duel, DraftKings and MGM. Since a Supreme Court ruling known as Murphy v. The NCAA in 2018, sports gambling legalization has been a state decision with little to no federal regulation on sponsorships and advertisements (Shannon). Professional sports leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB) have taken notice of economic gains presented by the vice and have gone from not wanting anything to do with it, to making $1.1 Billion in legal gambling revenue (American Gambling Association). You would think by the acceptance of the economic gains from gambling, that the leagues would be more generous to athletes in regard to the sports gambling industry. Unfortunately, you would be mistaken. According to The MLB Rulebook Rule: 21, gaining any form of profit from a(n) legal or illegal betting agency, competing team or league officiant (umpire) stemmed from their duties of playing baseball is labeled as Misconduct and could have penalties up to permanent ineligibility. This has created an economic gap between what the league is allowed to profit from and what the athlete is allowed to profit from. The topic itself, is such a taboo that it is very difficult to have as much as a conversation with someone involved with baseball about gambling revenue. Players need to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness in the sports gambling industry if their parent league is able to profit from it. Analyzing the economics of sports gambling is an in-depth and complex process. To understand how an athlete, worth multi-million dollars can be taken advantage of, we have to understand the origins of gambling. From Roman guards using Jesus’ crucifixion clothes as a lottery jack-pot, to supplementing the American income during The Revolutionary War, gambling or “casting of lots” has been a focal point in human history since the dawn of competition (East). The blurred lines between competitor and beneficiary create a possible integrity gap that has been made famous by people looking to cheat the system. In 1919, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and the Chicago White Sox made it to baseball’s championship series known as the “World Series”, a best of nine (now seven) game series, against the Cincinnati Reds. Jackson, along with 7 other players, were approached by gamblers and were offered money to lose on purpose or “throw the game”. The gang allegedly accepted, went on to lose the series in 8 games, were tried in 1920 and acquitted of their crimes. The Commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB) at the time, Kennesaw Mountain Landis, believed he had more information from the guilt of the players and decided to ban the 8 players for life in what is now known as the “Black Sox Scandal” (Mueller). How Commissioner Landis handled the situation has been the model for handling gambling in sports to this day. Legislation has changed since then, however there has been no change to how professional sport leagues address and discipline gambling violations while being able to profit from its own prohibition. In 1992, there was a bipartisan effort to enforce a nationwide sports gambling ban known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). One of the biggest supporters of this bill was, then Senator, Joe Biden, who has always represented the belief that gambling could cause integrity issues within the sport and “harm to children”. The bill grandfathered Las Vegas (and later Atlantic City) to allow sports betting only within city limits (Bell). Governor Chris Christie of NJ brought up the poorly written wording of the bill in the 2010’s to lower Federal Courts. Governor Murphy, who followed Gov. Christie in office, continued the case. It reached the Supreme Court in 2018 with lower courts favoring the bill. On May, 14th, 2018, the court’s decision favored Murphy by a count of 7-2 paving the path to the end of the gambling prohibition and leaving the discussion to the states. What this also meant was there was no federal regulation to the gambling industry (Shannon). The days of professional sports leagues shunning the gambling world like in the days of Shoeless Joe, Pete Rose, and Phil Donohue would be numbered, well, kind of. Using MLB’s model as an example, the leagues overall revenue for this past Fiscal Year is $11 Billion, the check they are receiving from Draft Kings is worth $1.1 Billion (10%) (American Gambling Association). While still prohibiting anyone in connection with a Major League team from receiving any compensation from the gambling industry within connection to their duties as a Major League baseball player (MLB Rulebook Rule: 21). There is also 0 compensation from the leagues to the players from that revenue. Stake holders (front office, coaches, players) have little liberty to discuss the matter due to the strict rules put in place by MLB. A General Manager of a Minor League Baseball team, who is currently not associated with Minor League Baseball at the time for this writing, said “The best part about [rule 21] is there is no ambiguity about it.” (7/3/2024) When asked if players or coaches have brought up concerns to management and front office staff about gambling rules in baseball. While also stating “The league puts a lot of resources in everything from seminars to bathroom reading material on Rule 21.” A Minor League player from a different team (who consented to have a conversation about gambling in baseball on the condition of anonymity) no longer wished to be a part of the conversation once the interviewer brought up an effort to change Rule 21 to generate compensation to the athletes (7/5/2024). The baseball player was young and skittish, almost to the point of being unpleasant. The young athlete was careful with his word selection and went as far as to ask the interviewer to remove his headphone. The behaviors witnessed only leads to further assumptions on the amount of pressure being applied by MLB in regard to how baseball employees view gambling. There are solutions through legislation. However, since MLB conducts business in every state in the country, the federal government would need to legalize gambling before they could regulate how organizations receive revenue from gambling companies. To stay within the current gray legality margins, MLB can have different advertisements on different networks, streaming to different regions (Hernandez). In theory, if the national prohibition on gambling was lifted, it would pave the way for congress to view athletes as employees of gambling companies that allow patrons to place bets on events that the athlete is performing in. This would be considered a tax law that would require finance committees of the US legislative branch’s approval. This would also benefit MLB’s position due to states gambling laws prohibiting casino employees from gambling at the casino that they work for. To say this would be an uphill battle is an understatement. While the legalization of sports gambling is popular with the public, there are moral reasons, such as addiction and religion, that appear to make more sense to leave in the hands of state governments to decide (similar to gun rights, and marijuana prohibition). On top of that, congress working to make more money for multi-million-dollar athletes would be viewed as wasted resources from the general public’s view. It is safe to say, compensation to the players won’t come from possible legislation. There are simply too many hurdles to overcome. That being said, it not out of the realm of possibilities. Major League’s top stars have seen the inside of capitol hill before. On March 17th, 2005, 10 baseball employees, headlined by Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Rafeal Palmeiro, went in front of congress in an 11-hour congressional hearing in an attempt to pressure MLB into taking Performance Enhancing Drugs more seriously in the “best interest of the American public” (Calcaterra). We are pretty far away from being able to say players profiting from gambling is in the best interest of the American public. If this is the eventual solution, it could take decades for this to be on Capitol Hill’s agenda. What options does that leave us with? Well, it is possible for the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) to step in. The MLBPA is the players’ union that stands up for the legal rights of the athletes in binding agreements with the MLB known as Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA). The current CBA covers from 2022-2026, and while it addresses matters like team revenue sharing to make sure lesser wealthy teams benefit when a team is very successful, there no mention in the current CBA about gambling revenue sharing. This would be the most likely source of change. In theory, when this is next discussed in December of 2025, the two sides might not be able to come to an agreement. In this case, we would see a player’s strike or a “lockout”. In lockouts, players refuse to engage in any baseball related business until a deal is made between the MLBPA and MLB. Baseball has made lockouts famous. The MLBPA has closed their doors on MLB 9 times since 1966. The 1994 strike was arguably the worst when the players went on strike on Aug. 11 and the sport halted, mid-season. This was the first time in American sports history that a champion was not crowned (Fagan). Congratulations to the Montreal Expos who had a record of 74-40 at the time of the lockout (first in the league). Sadly, the Expos would leave Montreal in favor of Washington D.C. in 2005 having never won a championship for the French-Canadien capital. The franchises’ only World Series title came in 2019 as the Washington Nationals (Hybl). The reason for the 1994 strike: revenue sharing. If the path to player compensation comes from a CBA, it could resemble the 1994 strike in theory and having fans crown another team the “1994 Expos”. If there is one thing we can learn from the ghosts of strikes past, it is that if there is a solution by way of CBA, it will be chaotic for lack of better terms. Many athletes may have these thoughts about the gambling industry but do not have the standing to do anything about it without the help of the MLBPA or the US Government. That does not mean that they are hopeless from getting in on the gambling revenue in unique and creative ways to say the least. Lebron James is one of the most well-known basketball players on earth. Playing over 21 years in the NBA, James has enjoyed a net worth of $1.2 Billion (Forbes). That has not stopped him from pursuing more. Recently, James agreed to an employment contract with the sports gambling company, DraftKings. Upon first glance, it may seem like James is participating in a violation of the NBA’s prohibition on gambling by profiting from a sports gambling company, but through a loophole, James, again, became a pioneer of the sports world by being the first active professional athlete to be employed in sports gambling as a Talent Ambassador, consulting on football related activities. By avoiding basketball in his moonlighting, James’ employment is seemingly legal (Choi). For now, this is a win for all athletes, but only the top 0.001% of athletes will find it fruitful. No one has a way of knowing if this will ever be challenged by the NBA, but at least it paves a path to shrink the economic gap between the professional sports leagues, and the athletes that are responsible for their financial success in gambling. The parent leagues’ (NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, NCAA) reservations about players and employees profiting from gambling do not go without merit. Pete Rose has more hits than anyone in baseball history with 4,256. To put that in perspective, second on the all-time hits record board is Ty Cobb (4,189) who last played in 1928 (Baseball Reference). Even after eclipsing this tremendous feat, Rose is not enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame. This is because Pete Rose is banned for life from baseball for, allegedly, betting on games that he was managing as coach of the Cincinnati Reds. It is estimated that during a three-month span in 1987, Pete Rose lost over $450,000 in gambling dues. This was only discovered after bet slips with his name on them were found in an Ohio restaurant (Sutelan). From the leagues position, he could have made calls during the game for the best interest of his bets and not his team. After years of investigations, Rose and Commissioner Bart Giamatti agreed terms to end the legal battle in trade of Pete Rose accepting to be put on baseball’s ineligible list on August 23rd, 1989 (Baseball Almanac). Commissioner Giamatti died suddenly of a heart attack on September 1st, 1989. Every commissioner since has had the opportunity to reinstate Pete Rose. Most recently with Commissioner Robert Manfred in 2015, each has denied reinstatement on grounds that he tarnished the integrity of the game (Axisa). Commissioner Manfred, coincidently, is the commissioner that has gladly accepted Billions of dollars from DraftKings. In theory, is it not true that Commissioner Manfred could profit off of the outcomes of games that he could advertise using the platform DraftKings provides to him? The MLB and DraftKings recently agreed on the ability to stream games from within the DraftKings app (DraftKings Press Release). If integrity is what we are going to protect, it should start with the commissioner recusing himself and the MLB from all legal gambling deals until the players are able to receive gambling profit from the same deals. There is no black and white solution to avoid athletes at all levels from being exploited by their parent leagues, who have repeatedly shunned the gambling world since the days of the Black Sox Scandal. Leagues will continue to profit from the sweat of these athletes while standing at a podium, with a backdrop of DraftKings and MLB logos behind them, at the MGM Grand Plaza in Vegas, stating the league has an epidemic on their hands with athletes gambling. This is not the example we want to set for our young athletes. We do not want to show them that it is okay to be bullied into working hard to help line someone else’s pockets while the league exploits their name, image, and likeness in an industry that they are forbidden from making a dime from. Prior to the 2018 Supreme Court Case of Murphy v. NCAA, MLB signed a deal with DraftKings. At that time, DraftKings was known as a platform for daily fantasy sports which have been legal in most states since 2013. Current Commissioner Rob Manfred was asked about the future of baseball’s relationship with the gambling industry after the deal was signed in 2015 with Manfred responding, “I think there is a clear legal line, and quite frankly, we’ve spent some considerable effort and money to make sure we knew where DraftKings was in relation to that line,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “We’re very comfortable with the idea that it’s fantasy.” (Fisher) Commissioner Manfred, it is no longer fantasy, it is a hypocrisy, and you’ve crossed the line. -Irrelevant Axisa, Mike. CBS Sports. “Everything You Need to Know About Why Manfred Didn’t Reinstate Rose.” CBS Sports, 1. Accessed 31 Jul. 2024. Baseball Almanac Baseball Almanac, 1. Accessed 31 Jul. 2024. Baseball-Reference.com. “Career Leaders & Records for Hits.” Baseball-Reference.com, 1. Accessed 31 Jul. 2024. Calcaterra, Craig. “Today in Baseball History: McGwire, Sosa, and Palmeiro testify before Congress.” NBC Sports, 17 Mar. 2005 Choi, Annette. "The Rise in Sports Betting and Gambling Violations by Pro Athletes, in 4 Charts." CNN, 15 June 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/06/15/sport/sports-betting-gambling-professional-athletes-dg/index.html. DraftKings. “DraftKings Expands Exclusive Partnership with Major League Baseball.” DraftKings, 1. Accessed 31 Jul. 2024. East Econ J. An Overview of the Economics of Sports Gambling and an Introduction to the Symposium 2021; 47(1): 1–8. Published online 2021 Jan 4. doi: 10.1057/s41302-020-00182-4 Edward “Max” Bell, Betting On Gambling: How Professional Sports Leagues Could Increase Revenues Following Murphy v. NCAA, 14 J. Bus. Entrepreneurship & L. 215 (2022) Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/jbel/vol14/iss1/7 Eric Fisher, A look into DraftKings’ MLB deal, 4/20/2015, A look into DraftKings’ MLB deal (sportsbusinessjournal.com) Fagan, Ryan. “Baseball Strikes and Lockouts: A History of MLB Work Stoppages.” Sporting News, 2 May 2018 Forbes. “LeBron James.” Forbes, 23 July 2024, Hernandez, Joe. “Sports Betting Ads Are Everywhere. Some Worry Gamblers Will Pay a Steep Price.” NPR, 18 June 2022 “How Much Do Leagues Stand to Gain from Legal Sports Betting?” American Gaming Association, 18 Oct. 2018 How Much Do Leagues Stand to Gain from Legal Sports Betting? - American Gaming Association Hybl, Dean. “What Might Have Been: Remembering the 1994 Montreal Expos.” Bleacher Report, 3 Sept. 2009, Mueller, Chris. “7 of the Most Memorable World Series in Baseball History.” HISTORY, 31 May 2023 7 of the Most Memorable World Series in Baseball History | HISTORY Shannon, Erik (2020) "The Federalism Jackpot in Murphy v. NCAA: Going All In On Anti-Commandeering Fails to Protect the Vulnerable," Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice: Vol. 41 : Iss. 1 , Article 1. Available at: https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/policypractice/vol41/iss1/1 Sutelan, Edward. Sporting News. “Pete Rose’s Gambling Scandal, MLB Hits Record, and Banned Betting.” Sporting News, 1. Accessed 31 Jul. 2024.

Since it is the All-Star Break, I thought it would be fun to look back at first half of the year’s Good, Bad, and Ugly of the Brewers season. Going into the break with a 55-42 record and a steady hold on 1st place in the division is probably the best that any of us could have hoped for. My overall feeling of this team is through the roof. That doesn’t mean the team doesn’t have opportunities for improvements. As we’ve seen the past couple of series, the bottoms of the leagues like to go on runs against us (Hey there, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Washington,). Too many series like that back-to-back will have STL on our doorstep (4.5 games back to date). The Brewers have an amazing opportunity to go from their “Franchise Manager” to the next without skipping a beat. Let’s take a look at what has gone right for the Brew Crew. The Good Bullpen According to Baseball Reference, The Brewers are no stranger to relying on reserve arms to get through day-to-day operations during the grueling 162. This year is something out of the ordinary. 33-17 in games decided in relief is the highest in the NL. 74% in save opportunities (miss you DWill) is 2nd highest while having 9 different pitchers complete a save. The relief pitching doesn’t get too many “short” outings either. 3.8 Outs per relief appearance also leads the NL. Pitchers have come into the game while trailing 110 times. Being able to turn that into 33 wins (more than half of our wins have come in relief) is pretty remarkable considering our IL (don’t worry, it won’t be the last time I bring up the IL). Defense Defense has always been the heart and soul of Milwaukee. One thing that is new this year than in years past? The Brewers could possibly see 2 or 3 Gold Gloves out of this year. Some would say Jackson Chourio has struggled in his first year in the blue and gold (if you haven’t watched baseball the past month). The kid has yet to commit an Error. He leads the NL Outfielders in Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Average (RTOT on Baseball Reference) with 12 (basically, he makes 12 good plays before he makes a bad one). Ironman Willy has been a treat, even with a handful of errors (8). The fact that he’s out there with a 2.2 WAR while already playing 97 games is above reproach for any player, much less someone without a contract for next year. There is another Brewer on top of the entire NL in RTOT: Brice Turang. He also leads in Defensive Runs Saved with 15 while MKE leads NL in team Defensive Runs Saved with 38. Christian Yelich The rejuvenescence of Yeli is my favorite part of the 2024 Brewers today. Basically, if you need someone to get to first base from the batter’s box, you want Christian up to bat. He leads the NL in BAbip (balls in play) with .379, BA with .326, and OBP with .412. The last time Yelich had numbers like this in the middle of July, he was an MVP. The fact that he missed time with his back makes his comeback that much sweeter. Congrats on the ASG appearance Yeli, you’ve earned it. The Bad Injuries Where to begin. 3 starters are out for the season. None of them really got off to a start. DL Hall, who didn’t seem too comfortable when he was healthy, keeps getting delayed on his return and his rehab starts have been hard to watch at best. Devin Williams hasn’t thrown a pitch this year. Joe Ross has shown some life but not enough to cement him as a starter that we would be better with than without (in my opinion, @ me). Paredes looks solid but going down with an elbow is not a good sign this early in his career. Lastly, our most efficient starter: Jared Koenig is on the shelf. Silver Lining: everyone but the 3 out for the season should be back by middle August. The West The Brewers are 55-42 so it’s not like there’s a ton of opportunity across the board. That being said, they are 13-13 against teams in the AL/NL West. Against everyone else, their run differential is 345-273. Against the West its 121-114. I like that they fought in LA for 3 good games. I enjoyed Sal Frelick’s play of the first half against the Angels. The struggles against Colorado and San Diego are not good. There is a world where they play SD in the Wild Card and the Dodgers in the NLDS (where it seems like we have to play every year) and those aren’t good match ups for the Brewers. The Colorado series gave me heart burn. Refer back to my instant reaction on 7/1 here. Struggling Additions I am trying to love Rhys Hoskins and Gary Sanchez. Both have delivered veteran appearances with their bat with “signature Brewer’s moments”. Both are still underperforming by their career numbers. Gary Sanchez (career) is batting BA .218 (.224), OBP .293(.308), and SLG .401 (.466). Eerily similar is Hoskins, BA .215(.240), OBP .308(.349) and SLG .414 (.485). The optics are just as gross. Reminiscing on that terrible game on 7/1, Hoskins looks like a veteran that is doing all that he can to get production past his prime. That is not what he came to the Brewer’s to do. He knows that and I believe he has a chance to be a better player the rest of the year. Gary on the other hand.. I really like Eric Haase.. I could see Sanchez getting traded for DFA’d if he comes back after the deadline. The Ugly FG.FTC. -Irrelevant If you enjoy this blog and want more. Follow my X @IrrelevantRiter. As always, your feedback is how I improve. My intention is to bring quality content with a hint of first-person humor. Please share your thoughts (and this blog).

This is so awesome. It's a pleasure to meet you, Chris. Obviously, your position at Beyond the Box Score is a bit of a dream for me. I enjoy your writing structures. After reading your last entry on Sal, I can feel your sense of flow in your writing. As someone who does this as a hobby, I respect your art, sir. MLB.tv (and T-Mobile I guess, iykyk) saved my fandom as well. I love that I can watch the broadcast and have Uecker on at the same time. Watching the farm is pretty cool too.