Stuff....



Dickey pitched well. They scored 9 runs in the 6th inning.

And this


“Everybody’s contributing … Everything is clicking together right now at the right time,” Melky Cabrera said, as third-base coach Luis Rivera translated from Spanish.

And well, today happened.


Holy mother....

I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted.  14-1 wins over Boston (although big up to the fans who stuck around to sing "Sweet Caroline". I hate that song, but it was a nice touch) and trades for Danny Valencia are good times.

And then Dirk Hayhurst writes something about "manhood" in the minor leagues. Go search for it, as I'm not in the mood for linking. The article has the absolute worst title "50 Shades of Emerald" referencing, of course, a terribly silly book. Just FYI, titling an article about the complete disregard for women (and sometimes the rape of women) in the culture of baseball in reference to a very silly book about consensual BDSM that was insanely popular with women is just strange. The attempt to titillate in this context is weird. Don't do that.

It was a pretty gross read (if it was a person, it would smell like stale BO and have all the STDs) and not entirely surprising. The procurement of sex that is described sounds exhausting, but I hate the phone and making appointments. Hot college intern Jane, who Hayhurst had a crush on, gets filmed without her knowledge and the video of her and Hayhurst's roommate gets passed around. Hayhurst wanted to vomit. Women are categorized based on sexual willingness and physical attributes.Dudes run trains on girls without their knowledge/consent (which, in case you are wondering, is not maybe rape. That's actual rape.) Managers gave talks about what happens with players stays among players (aka "Lie to your wives, cause those bitches tell other wives and I get yelled at.")

People had some mixed feelings about this article. Some called Hayhurst brave for exposing this. Some called him cowardly for using pseudonyms. Some called it bullshit click bait. Some called him out for waiting this long.

I'm not as angry about the existence of this piece in the way some people are. Hayhurst has a right to write what he saw. And you have a right to not read it. You can be angry about it, too. It is indeed self-serving that he writes this now. No, he is not brave. He was just there. Yes, Hayhurst should've said something at the time, but I do get why he didn't. Hayhurst was a 21 years old, in a culture that places a huge premium on keeping secrets. He wanted this pitching job and a carrot like that is often an enticing enough one. It's gross and terrible, but it happens.

Hayhurst is a best selling author now, with a forum- more people are going to think about this issue now than they would've had he said it in 2003-2004. Which doesn't make it right, but it is, in my mind, a reality. He isn't brave- brave would be to stand up at the time and say something, at the risk of losing his career.

If we should take anything from this article, which left many of us horrified but not surprised, is that we stand up when witness something that de-values this sport we love.

What Hayhurst tweeted above is so dumb. Baseball is not "dudes running trains on unwitting girls". A girl can appreciate and love baseball and not be one of the girls these idiots categorize, objectify and violate. The two things shouldn't be intrinsically linked. The solution is not removing women.

I think if sport culture is actually interested in de-objectifying women, they need to open up the old boys club. There needs to be more female journalists and broadcasters. There needs to be more women in executive positions. Bring women into the situation where they are not just the cheerleaders or the "road beef", but rather their bosses or their access to the public.

The Score made a major change today and it's really the end of an era. They pulled the plug on the features department. Writers Dustin Parkes, Drew Fairservice, Jack Moore, Richard Whittall, Scott Lewis and Sean Tomlinson as well as multimedia producer Ryan Eligh were shown the door. And contrary to some of the chit chat on Twitter, there are still actual journalists there. Good journalists trying to make a go of it.

These writers produced some great content over the last few years, and those I've met are decent people. The Score is recently closed a $17.25 million closing round, so this isn't so much a funding issue (unless these guys make way more than I assumed they did) but rather "restructuring".

It's tough out there for content makers.