Thoughts from the Dugout: AwardsWatch 2014

Image of Clayton Kershaw

Well, that was a fun 2014 baseball season. Time to move on to the next phase of baseball magic: the offseason.

During baseball’s offseason, many interesting things happen. Unusual contracts are signed, granting mediocre players obscene amounts of money that cripple your franchise’s pitching staff for years (sorry, I’m still bitter about Homer Bailey). Odd choices are awarded for fielding awards, using subjective rather than objective criteria (fortunately, nobody awarded anything to Brandon Philips this year). And random-ass Hall of Fame elections happen, resulting in as much head-scratching as they do in triumphant celebration (seriously, who the fuck voted for Jacque Jones??).

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the Fifth Line: Shooting the Percentages

The boys of summer have finally given way to the boys on the ice, and “the Fifth Line” takes over for “Thoughts from the Dugout.” It’s been a month since the NHL season started, so let’s check on how things are going, shall we?

State of the ‘Hawks

A month into the 2014-15 season, and the Blackhawks are… okay? [Read more…]

Thoughts from the Dugout: World Series Preview

Image of 2014 World Series

It starts tonight. The World Series is afoot. By now, you’ve all heard about the magical #Yostseason of the Royals, and about the perils of facing the Giants with their #EvenYear sorcery. (Yes, Twitter has compartmentalized the sum of all postseasons for us, now TWEET IT.) So, what should we expect?

In summary, many things. In a more drawn out fashion… [Read more…]