Approaching Equilibrium


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First Visit to Turner Field

One of my life goals is to go to every Major League Baseball ballpark and yesterday, despite being a Braves fan for almost two decades, I made my first trip to Turner Field in Atlanta. I saw the Los Angeles Dodgers come to town and the Braves complete their sweep of them. It was a rainy day, the game was supposed to start at 1:35 but was delayed until 3:15, then was delayed by 30 minutes more in the bottom of the 6th with more rain. Thankfully, the game was completed and I was able to witness an awesome comeback in the bottom of the 8th and a save by Craig Kimbrel. I attempted to keep score but the rain prevented me from doing so.

The World Series Trophy from 1995 in the Braves Museum

The World Series Trophy from 1995 in the Braves Museum

As for the park itself I thought it was a nice one, not the best but I will get to my ranking in a second. Our seats were in left field and from what I could tell there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. I had an up close view of Justin Upton do his job and while there were a view balls hit by him he made a couple of good plays as well. The main attraction that I really liked is the Braves museum, it houses a couple of really nice displays on the history of the Braves franchise from their beginnings in Boston to their move to Milwaukee and finally their move to Atlanta. One interesting thing I learned is that Milwaukee set the horrible precedent of building the first completely publicly funded baseball stadium, it seems fitting that the Braves moved away on them. The only major thing I didn’t like about the stadium is that once you leave your seat it is impossible to see the field. The main concourse circling the field is completely closed off in almost every way, you can’t leave your seat and try to see things from the line at the concession stand.

My visit to Turner Field makes the list of ballparks I’ve visited grow to 5. My ranking of those 5 is:

  1. Coor’s Field in Denver, Colorado, why? You can’t really beat views of the snowcapped Rocky Mountains when you look out beyond the outfield.
  2. Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, why? Great downtown location with views of the skycrapers around you, the main concourse is mostly open and statues of Tigers greats are right behind right center field and prominently featured, unlike at Turner field.
  3. Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, why? The first major league game I saw was there and the small dimensions of the park make the game more intimate as you sit right on top of the action.
  4. Turner Field in Atlanta Georgia, why? The main concourse being completely closed and statues of Braves greats being relegated to outside the park really knocks it down a peg or two. Still, it is a good park to watch a game.
  5. Nationals Park in Washington D.C., why? Of the five stadiums I’ve been to this is the most nondescript and it is hard for me to even remember anything notable about it.

The view from my seat in left field, a panorama shot…


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Goodbye to The Office

When I say that I have been watching The Office since the very beginning I am not kidding you. It was in 2005 and I was in the core of my business classes at UNC-Wilmington and happened to be watching the first season of The Apprentice (yes, I will own up to that and don’t judge me) when the pilot episode of The Office came on. I remember hearing my mom talk up this show and hearing from others that it was a British import. You have to understand that my mom doesn’t watch much tv nor is devoted to watching every episode of any show so that kind of got my attention. I decided to put off some homework and gave the next 30 minutes to what turned out to be a hilarious first episode.

I was hooked. The hilarious cluelessness of Michael Scott and the other odd characters was consistently funny in those early days. The best episodes for me remain some of the early ones like “Diversity Day” (second episode of the first season), “The Dundies” (second season premiere), and “Sexual Harassment” (second episode of the second season) and there are plenty of more excellent episodes. Of course the Jim and Pam relationship came to define the show and was the heart and soul of it through those middle years. Once they got married the show noticeably declined but it was still funny. It made a minor comeback as Michael found love in Holly and I enjoyed that storyline but it should have ended with Michael leaving. However, the demands of network TV gave us 2 unneeded seasons. I gave season 8 a chance but gave up rather quickly and really haven’t watched an episode since.

The 80′s had Cheers, the 90′s Seinfeld, and 00′s had The Office. Each defined an era and tonight marks the end as it airs its last episode. I watched a few episodes of Seinfeld but was really too young to be in on that show from the very beginning and appreciate its long arc from cult hit to mainstream hit to decline and final goodbye. The Office was the first show in which I became a real fan and have been able to enjoy its long and full run as it aired. I will be tuning in to say my goodbyes and hope that it can go out on a high note.

I would recommend giving Andy Greenwald’s eulogy a read…

From the End (link to the full piece):

It’s ironic, though, that a show so resistant to change should end up responsible for so much of it. It was The Office that popularized the mockumentary format on TV — though it would be Modern Family that would truly take it to the bank — and The Office that made single-camera the preferred visual style for smart sitcoms on every channel. The Office made big stars out of its performers and its writers, and it was the first sitcom to take big advantage of new media to boost its chances and its audience. (It was the earliest NBC series available on iTunes, and the number of downloads factored into its surprise early renewal.) In an era — and on a network — that privileged concept over character, it made intimacy feel expansive and made smallness feel larger-than-life. I have a feeling tomorrow’s 75-minute finale will change the conversation yet again because, despite everything, I fully expect it to be great.

Yet as Stanley or any of the other Dunder Mifflin lifers would surely agree, change is not always good. When the fax machines, ringing telephones, and constantly jamming copiers power down for a final time, a tradition more proud than the Dundies or the breaking of a pig rib at Amish Christmas goes with them. For 30 years, NBC has maintained an unprecedented streak of comedy excellence in the 9 p.m. hour on Thursdays. From Cheersto Seinfeld and The Office, these shows weren’t just the best sitcoms of their eras, they helped define them. That The Office overstayed its welcome may hurt its reputation in the short term but won’t matter a bit in the long run; Friends wheezed its way to the finish line, and no one has ever forgiven Larry David for the way Seinfeld ended. But this week, NBC announced that it’s replacing The Office in September with Sean Saves the World, a broadly mawkish, backward-looking half-hour starring Will & Grace‘s Sean Hayes as a zinger-spouting single dad. With its studio audience and canned laughter, it’s a deadening reminder of corporate groupthink, how safety and stability are always favored over creativity and how, in the real world, risk is very rarely its own reward.

Maybe The Office really was a documentary after all.


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When Players Thank God

There is an excellent post by Will Leitch over at Sports on Earth which talks about what players mean when they thank God. Specifically it uses Josh Hamilton, outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels, as an example. It is a very good piece and I highly recommend giving it a full read. It tries to explain exactly what Hamilton is saying when he thanks God and why non-religious fans mis-interpret it. I am definitely not in a position to judge any person’s faith but I think the explanation Leitch gives is spot on and applies to most cases.

 

From the Middle (link to the full piece):

What Hamilton is saying when he thanks God is not that God somehow chose him over others. He is in fact saying the opposite: It is a humble acknowledgment that nothing any person does can ever be attributable to themselves. It’s a guard against pride.

Christianity isn’t some peripheral notion of Hamilton’s life; itis his life. When you live a Christian life, everything you do, from showing up to church on Sunday, to going to the grocery store, to pumping gas, to hitting a home run, to striking out, is done for the glory of Christ. Hamilton isn’t thanking Jesus for helping him hit a homer; he is thanking Jesus for everything. From the homers to the strikeouts to the millions of dollars to all the boos.

A hat tip to Keith Law, baseball writer for ESPN, for the lead to this post.

 


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Why Do We Keep Putting Up With Bad Umpiring?

Umpires should never be the story in a baseball game. Yet, over the last week they have been for all the wrong reasons. Let me recap the number of bad calls in the last week.

  • A week ago yesterday on May 5 Bryce Harper was thrown out of the game in the first inning when John Hirschbeck, the third base umpire and crew chief, felt Harper was showing him up by staring at him and throwing his helmet down while walking away when Hirschbeck ruled against Harper on a check swing call. It must be added that Hirschbeck escalated the argument by walking toward Harper and yelling at him.
  • On May 8 Adam Rosales of the A’s hit a long fly ball which hit the hand railings above the fence in left center field during the A’s versus Indians game. The ball bounced back into play, was fielded like normal, and Rosales ended up at second. It was the top of the 9th inning and the A’s were down by a run so to get this call wrong would have huge consequences. The manager of the A’s, Bob Melvin, challenged the call and the umpires went to review it using video replay. Against all reason and evidence which made it clear that it was a home run Angel Hernandez, the crew chief, upheld the call and Rosales stayed at second base. I honestly don’t know how Hernandez managed to blow that call but everyone in the stadium knew it was wrong and I’m sure fair-minded Indians fans would say as much.
  • The next day on May 9 Bo Porter, rookie manager of the Houston Astros, called in left handed reliever Wesley Wright in the top of the 7th. Mike Scioscia responded by using a right-handed pinch hitter. Bo Porter noticed this after Wright finished up his warm-up pitches and proceeds to immediately call in a right-handed reliever. This is a direct violation of rule 3.05(b) which states that barring injury once a reliever has been called into a game he must face at least one batter. The umpires do not prevent Porter from calling in another reliever and Mike Sciocsia immediately challenges the ruling of the umpires. In total the umpires convene for 3 separate meetings on the field and still decide that Porter is allowed to call in another reliever. Scioscia officially protested the call and the game continued under protest. The Angels won so the protest was withdrawn but as I saw in my Twitter feed the other day Bo Porter has a future in politics if he can convince 4 umpires that a rule which is pretty straightforward doesn’t apply in that situation.
  • Yesterday in the Braves game Marco Scutaro of the Giants hit a long fly ball to left where Justin Upton tried to make a play on it at the fence when a fan with a glove reached over the wall, caught it, but dropped it just as Upton reached up for it. It was ruled a double but Fredi Gonzalez, manager of the Braves, challenged the call by arguing that there was fan interference and Scutaro should be out. The umpires go back to look at video replay and again despite all evidence to the contrary showing the fan clearly reaching over the fence the umpires uphold the original ruling. Thankfully, Scutaro never managed to score.

Of these calls I have the most sympathy with John Hirschbeck but not a lot. It really annoys me when players act like petulant children so I can see how Hirschbeck would get upset when Harper starts acting like one. At the same time Hirschbeck is a professional umpire and should not be engaging in arguments with players. It was his responsibility to walk away and act like a professional when Harper did not, instead he egged Harper on by walking toward him and yelling at him. There are absolutely no excuses for the other bad calls.

The umpires have a union just like the players do and it must be an extremely powerful union because no matter how many bad calls get made nothing ever seems to be done about it. When Jim Joyce missed the call that cost Armando Gallaraga his perfect game we at least got an apology from Joyce, with these calls recently we have gotten nothing but the opposite. Joe Torre, legendary manager, and now Executive Vice-President of Baseball Operations for Major League Baseball has only backed up the umpires on these calls. Granted, he stated the call in the A’s game was a bad call but he also stated it was a call that is in the sole discretion of the crew chief of the umpires on the field. You can’t have it both ways, either the call was right and nothing should be done or the call was wrong and the umpire should face some form of punishment.

When we combine these calls with the infield fly call in last year’s National League wild card game between the Braves and Cardinals it is clear that there is very little hope of any accountability coming anytime soon. There are no excuses for these calls and we as fans deserve better. In a meme that I think ESPN Insider Keith Law created we don’t go to baseball games to see Umpshows, we go to see the players.


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Christianity and Libertarianism: Fusion With or Break From Conservatism?

I’ve previously written about the good work being done at Cato Unbound and with the beginning of a new month I can always look forward to a new topic being discussed. There are some months where the topic doesn’t really engage me but then there are months I’m all in from the beginning. This month I’m all in on the topic of the fusion between conservatism and libertarianism. I want to briefly quote from the two essays out so far and then add some thoughts of my own.

From the lead essay by Jacqueline Otto (link to the full piece):

However, the differences between libertarians and conservatives are already well defined, and redefining them is not the purpose of this discussion. Instead, what I propose is that the way forward for fusionism is to celebrate the moral superiority of free markets and limited government and do a better job of making those moral arguments to religious conservatives.

From the first response essay by Jeremy Kolassa (link to the full piece):

If we’re going to save the free market and establish a truly limited government in America, libertarians need to come out from the conservatives’ shadow. We need to end the unequal treaty and emerge as a fully independent brand, on an equal footing. We need to make a case for liberty without caveats. Liberty for all, even those people I might not like so much. Such a consistent stance will win over Americans that the inconsistent conservative one hasn’t. We should no longer tolerate just being patted on the head by conservatives and told to be quiet. We’ve done that for years, and it has not gotten us any more liberty.

Now my thoughts.

As a recovering conservative who is now more of a libertarian Christian I welcome this series of essays because discussions of whether to continue the alliance with the GOP or break-away have been on-going for some time in Christian circles. There is clear dissatisfaction within my generation of Christians with the way we have been sold out to the Republican party since the 80′s. You can easily see this with the number of young Christians who were willing to vote for President Obama in 2008 and 2012. I am glad this same discussion is being had within libertarian circles.

The title of this post asks a questions but I do not think the answer is simple. Jacqueline Otto makes an effective case why libertarians and conservatives (especially Christian conservatives) can and should work together on economic issues, but she does not touch on the myriad social and domestic policy issues where they cannot and likely will not work together. Jeremy Kolassa rightly calls her out on this and I agree. Christians, libertarians, and conservatives can work together on selected issues and they should, but each group need not be afraid to reach out to Democrats or atheists where they agree on other issues, a holistic approach to being pro-life that account for war and the death penalty being one example.

I welcome the next two reaction essays and the ensuing discussion. I hope you enjoy the initial essays and upcoming essays as much as I do.

 


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Being a Partner Instead of an Employee

My first full time job after undergrad was as a driver for my Dad, a contractor for a package delivery service which shall not be named because of other things that I will not go into. Maybe it was because he was my Dad, maybe it was because I was young, and it was probably both but I often challenged and disagreed with him on some things that I probably would not have done so if I had been in a different situation. I know for a fact he didn’t always appreciate it but I felt like I was listened to enough that I kept doing it. At the same time the job itself was rather lonely, in that it was just me in a truck hitting the road day after day delivering packages, it was ultimately up to me how to determine what the most efficient way to get the work done was. I learned in a rather safe environment both the right way and wrong way to propose a new idea, how to test something out and learn from the results (do I go up highway 101 and then go out highway 70 or do I do the opposite and hit the highway 101 deliveries on the way back), and when the best times to experiment and propose new ideas were. Even though I have moved on from that work I’m still learning how to do that and likely always will be.

I often bring my lunch to work and use up my lunch hour by eating and catching up on RSS feeds. Today I was doing more of the same when I came across this good article over at the League of Ordinary Gentlemen. I will say that the title of the post is somewhat misleading as the author, Todd Kelly, spends too much time defending/explaining it but it did get me to save it for later reading. The core concept of the post is that we should stop being heads down about our work, become partners in the work instead of employees, and be willing to step up, take risks where appropriate, and be willing to take responsibility for failures as well as the successes. Since I have been learning how to do that since my first full-time job I am in full agreement and recommend you give the full post a read.

From the End (Link to the Full Post):

What I have learned about employment is this: At its most fundamental level, it is an equal partnership.  The power we think our employers have over us (and too often, they think they have over us)  is largely in our own minds.  Employment is a trade of goods and services, like any other.  As such it should be viewed as a partnership.  It is true that your employer can fire you – but it’s also true that you can quit.  There are times when your employer can afford to be without your services and you can’t afford to be without their paycheck; but there are also times when the opposite is the case.  I did not start to look at myself as an owner and partner because I thought myself better than my peers; I did so because I began to see that all of us were equally as important to the organization as our “superiors.”


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Corruption in Charlotte!

I’ve previously written about the stadium deal recently struck between the city of Charlotte and the Carolina Panthers but today some new details were broken about how the deal went down. WFAE, the public radio news source for Charlotte, released a report that Jerry Richardson, owner of the Panthers, was invited to city council closed sessions. I’m not in favor of closed sessions as a general concept, the public has a right to know what is going on, but if you’re going to have one where you’re hashing out the details of an incentives deal to a counter-party YOU DON’T INVITE THE COUNTER-PARTY TO THOSE DISCUSSIONS!

This is quite literally insane and ought to be an impeachable offense if such power is retained by the citizens of Charlotte. We no longer have the pleasure of voting out Anthony Foxx, mayor of Charlotte, since he has been nominated by President Obama to be the U.S. Transportation Secretary, but we will still have the power to vote out the current city council and I will do my part for that cause with pleasure.

From the middle (link to the full piece):

But generally “closed” means “closed,” because the council needs privacy to work out its negotiating strategy and terms, says City Attorney Bob Hagemann, because “you do not want to have those kinds of conversations in front of the other party to the negotiation.”

You certainly wouldn’t want to have them in front of the company’s CEO. . . right?

But that’s exactly what the city did with Panthers owner Jerry Richardson.  He sat in on two of the four closed sessions council held to discuss using tax dollars for Panthers’ stadium renovations.  Minutes from those meetings show council members were fine with the arrangement. They still are.

 

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