Ok so let’s talk “copycat league” for a minute. I see so many people saying that their baseball teams should just “play like the Brewers”. My question is this. Where are you getting these players to do that? If they’ve been trained to look at hitting a certain way, how do you all of a sudden “untrain” them? Multiple scouts have been dismissed in favor of drafting Showcase players. Is a small guy like, say, Sal Frelick even on their radar? Where are all of these players coming from who all of a sudden “play the game the right way”? And are MLB teams supposed to tell their players to forget what they already are trained to do? I get the whole pendulum swinging back and forth thing, but there’s no way in hell that that’s going to show immediate dividends by forcing the pendulum in the other direction. I get the Brewers are fun to watch. They are. And I’m pulling for them. But let’s not pretend that all of MLB can change how players play with the snap of a finger. Fine, it was multiple questions. And insert the obligatory TED Talk line, blah blah blah. Would love to hear some answers beyond the inevitable “You don’t know ball” nonsense.

(1/3) Really sad to learn of Fred Claire’s passing, another fascinating baseball man. Did you know Fred is the guy who coined the phrase, “Dodger Blue?” He also was the one responsible for “Rick Monday, you made a great play” being on the scoreboard after Monday saved the flag.