Tag: baseball

I am basically the Oakland A’s

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I’m going to attempt to do an exercise of writing something that gets to the point in a short window of time before it’s time to wake up my child from her nap.

Despite the fact that I am always perpetually tired from chasing around an infant child as well as balancing working from home for demanding tyrants who lack a lot of basic human traits, you’d think the weekend would be the perfect time to steal and extra 60-90 minutes of extra sleep once I put my daughter down for the first nap of the day. 

Most of the time, I do, but then there are days like today in which I think that I could be so much more productive in this 90-110 minute window in which my child is sleeping and I don’t have to be working, so I forego the nap, and I do one of numerous things that I know that I’ll have to do at some point in the day, but with the mentality of getting it done now so I don’t have to worry about it later, so that I can relax and enjoy my free time once my child is down for the night.

Like for example, today, I decided to go for my every-other-day treadmill jog session, which is basically the furthest opposite from a nap there could possibly be, but among the few things that I am completely staunchly opposed to deviating from, it’s my every-other-day jogs, because I need to do them in order to maintain a modicum of physical well-being seeing as how I haven’t been to a gym since like March 10, 2020.

I finish my jog, and I’m thinking, hey, I could probably still steal like an hour or so of a nap before my daughter is up, but then my mind is racing, and I’m thinking of other things to do instead to make better use of the time, and promising to myself that tomorrow will be the extra sleep day.  So I do a few chores, make a grocery list, and plan out things that will make later possibly easier, at the cost of now, and I realize that this is often times a self-repeating cycle of foregoing the present for the sake of the future, but often times losing sake of the present because when the future comes it’ll be the present and then everything repeats all over again and I never actually relax or wind down.

I’m basically the Oakland A’s of . . . well, I’m basically the Oakland A’s.  A baseball organization that so often times gets fixated on the potential of the future, that they’re always sacrificing the present and seemingly losing sight of the things in front of them, in their present possession. But then the future arrives, and they’re still in this mindset that they’re still not ready to go for it, so they do more tinkering, more trading, more holding over, and then they never actually contend beyond these stop-gap seasons of marginal success and have never threatened true World Series contention.

I know that this is an inherent flaw in how I operate, but at the same time I think I take great enjoyment when I’m being efficient with my time, even if it’s coming at the cost of resting my body and mind.  I guess I don’t hold as much priority into well-being, or at least I seem to think that the rewards of high efficiency and time management outweigh the rewards of resting.  But I know that our bodies are machines that do need the occasional rest, and if I don’t figure out how to break the cycle of being the Oakland A’s every now and then and actually capitalize on my opportunities to gain some rest, then it could be detrimental to my general well-being.

Am I done?  Did I get to the point?  It appears so.  Very verbose me, keeping it short(ish) and with no mention of recent political bullshit.  Hooray me!

The year-end post, circa 2020

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

This video by Carters encapsulates how I feel extremely succinctly.  I know 2020 has been a historically catastrophic year by any number of measures, and I’m not going to even try and change anyone’s mind who’ve already decided that there’s absolutely nothing at all redeemable about it.  It’s a fair judgment, and there’s tons of justification to where I just have to shrug and agree that such X and other Y really are terrible things, and leave people alone to continue believing that 2020 was the worst year in human existence.

Frankly, if not for the one obvious event in my life this year, I’d probably be right there with them.  But because of said event, there’s absolutely nothing else that could really occur that can make me possibly think that 2020 was anything other than among the greatest years of my life.  Like many, I too know my share of people whom coronavirus has dually affected throughout the year, or had some very unfortunate events or news take place, and my heart genuinely, sincerely goes out to them, and I wish for nothing but the best for them and their loved ones.

But nothing is going to change my perspective on 2020 being a magnificent year, because nothing has been a greater event in my life than the birth of my daughter, right before all the shit really began to hit the fan.  And throughout the remainder of the year, for every piece of horrible, shitty news, note about someone dying, bad day at work, or any other reason for stress and unhappiness, I was always mere steps away from being able to go pick up my daughter and hold her in my arms and will away the negativity.

As ironic as it may seem, and I’ve said it as much, as much as coronavirus and the global pandemic have been devastating to the world throughout the year, it’s inadvertently put me in the most optimal position in the sense that I’ve gotten to work from home since the shit hit the fan, and I’ve gotten to spend a tremendous amount of time more raising my daughter than if the world wasn’t in lockdown and I had to go back to work in the office while my child would be in a daycare, in the hands and responsibility of people I don’t know. 

I don’t fucking want that, even if there were no coronavirus in play.  I’ve been fortunate and I treasure all the time I’ve had and will continue to have being close to my kid, and it’s ironic that I have to thank the selfish stupidity of ‘Muricans for being so stupid and greedy that they can’t or refuse to comply to the behaviors that would’ve eradicated all of this if we just had some collective cooperation.

But outside of my child and coronavirus, 2020 has been somewhat of an eventful year.  Yes, most of it was bad, but not everything was completely putrid.  And as I tend to do every year, I take some notes on a daily basis of the things that happen that are remotely interesting to me, so I guess behind the jump, we’ll take a look back through the year that everyone loves to hate and can’t wait to see end:

Continue reading “The year-end post, circa 2020” →

Advent Beer #18: Jubiläums-Sud by Herrnbräu

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

When I pulled this bier out of the fridge, my first thought was “Herrnbräu?  Wasn’t there already a Herrnbräu beer already?”  To which the answer was yes, as bier #10 was also a Herrnbräu product, Tradition.  It did not rank well on my rankings, and it was kind of like the Miller High Life of Germany; as in the cheap, easily drinkable beer that you drink after you’ve got your buzz going and you want to keep it going.  It wasn’t terrible, but at the same time, it was entirely forgettable.  If I didn’t write about it, I wouldn’t have been remotely close to recalling anything about it.

Regardless, I do not waste beer if I can help it, and perhaps this Jubiläums-Sud which looks like it says “Jubilation Suds” could redeem Herrnbräu and make me not feel critical that a box full of beers from a country that’s known for its beer production would dare to double dip to one company when there are probably hundreds to have chosen from.

I thought the can design was boring and the green and gold in the logo make me think of O’Douls, the shitty non-alcoholic beer, and the types of middle-aged white men who want to look like they’re partying but don’t have the cojones to actually drink.  But that’s really where the criticisms end.

Cracking open the can, I’m met by an aroma that’s subtle but pleasant.  Pouring it into my pint glass, I’m pleasantly surprised at the dark, caramel color that’s coming out, and my mind is immediately wondering, is this a dunkel?  I don’t see the word dunkel or any variant of dunkel anywhere on the can, so I’m left wondering.

Intrigued, I bring the pint up to my lips and take a first taste, and I’m immediately greeted by a toasty flavor with not too much bitterness, and I’m fairly certain that this has to be a dunkel.  BeerAdvocate says it is a dunkel, and I’m satisfied that I’m able to identify that on my own.  Immediately my mind is placing this high on my rankings, and the real question is, is this the new #1?  Bearjew Weisse just took the #1 spot two days ago, and already a strong competitor has come out of locker room and is threatening.

It’s kind of like when Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs in 1998 to set the all-time single-season record* and everyone’s all like this is a record that will never ever be broken, and then just three years later, a juiced out of his testicles Barry Bonds cranks out 73 home runs and McGwire’s place in history is kicked to the curb just like that.

Well, in spite of the poor showing by Herrnbräu a week ago with Tradition, they’ve not just redeemed themselves with Jubiliation Suds, but it’s also Barry Bonds and it’s the new #1 beer in my list, with six days to go.  Bearjew McgWeisse can go lie to congress about being all-natural and get comfortable at the #2 spot now.

It’s got that almost sweet toasted caramel-ly flavor, it’s not too bitter, it goes down smooth, and it’s everything that I grew to love in dunkels while traversing through München and Wein.  When I first embarked on this bier journey, I was really hoping that there would be some dunkels in the mix, and this is proof that they most certainly are worth the waiting out for.

Current Rankings:

  1. Jubilation Suds (#18)
  2. Bearjew Weisse (#16)
  3. First Coral (#2)
  4. Kirta (#5)
  5. Turbo Prop (#6)
  6. Schwarze Tinte (#13)
  7. Perlenzauber (#9)
  8. Loncium Vienna Style Lager (#12)
  9. Jubiläumsbier 333 (#7)
  10. Zwönitzer Steinbier (#4)
  11. Alpen Stoff (#17)
  12. Grandl (#11)
  13. Altbairisch Hell (#15)
  14. Hell (#1)
  15. Tannen Hell (#8)
  16. Tradition (#10)
  17. Hallertauer Hopfen-Cuvee (#14)
  18. Käuzle (#3)

The only good thing to come out of a season that shouldn’t have been

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Inevitable: Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman wins National League Most Valuable Player

Not bad for a guy who went into the season recovering from coronavirus.  But then again, professional athletes with professional athlete money typically can afford to get the best treatment possible, on the dime of their organizations who see them as working assets to begin with.

But I’m going off track here, shocker.  Freddie Freeman has quietly been one of the better players in all of baseball, almost since the day he arrived, and it’s about time that he was recognized as the MVP all Braves fans knew he was going to receive one day.  Sure, there will be many naysayers, myself included if it had gone to anyone not on the Braves, citing shit like partial season and asterisk season and other bullshit, but because it was awarded to one of the guys I’ve been a fan of since the days of seeing him in the minor leagues as a Myrtle Beach Pelican, I cast all the snark aside and can just be happy for Freddie Freeman.

In a massively shortened, 60 game season, Freeman put up gaudy numbers, hitting 13 home runs as well as slashing .341/.462/.640, which is extremely good.  The Braves themselves went 35-25, and actually didn’t choke in the minus round or the first round of the playoffs, making it all the way to the NLCS, where they gave all Braves fans hope going up 3-1 on the Dodgers before Atlanta-ing away three straight losses and getting eliminated.  But as is often the conciliatory remark, they wouldn’t have gotten to that point in the first place, without the contributions of outstanding performances like Freddie Freeman.

What means the most to me though, is that major awards are given with no care or concern to the people themselves, just solely based on numbers and production.  Freddie Freeman is one of those baseball players that has a squeaky-clean image, is seemingly nice to everyone, and his earliest reputation was built on the fact that he was a massive hugger, who hugged all his teammates, all his coaches and all his peers.  He came out to Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe for two years on his own volition, and was one of those guys that clearly played the game of baseball like it was fun, the way it was originally meant to be for children.

There have been loads of grumpy, standoffish tryhards in history that are phenomenal baseball players, but are just kind of dicks as people, who go on to win MVPs and have tremendous individual success.  Sure, those MVPs pave the way for financial success and gain, but it’s always like the bad guys win whenever one of those types takes home an MVP award.

Such is hardly the case for Freddie Freeman winning the MVP award all Braves fans knew he was capable of winning.  It’s like a case of the nice guy actually winning, and the world needs more instances of good people getting great results.  I mean seriously, look at the reaction of this guy when he found out he was the winner; hugs all around first and foremost, and it’s just a guy surrounded by his family, soaking in the elation of baseball’s most prestigious individual award.

There’s really not much else to say about this; this was a season that I personally didn’t think should have taken place from the start, but as the Braves neared the World Series, the obvious hypocrisy of my tone changed, that is until the sore loser emerged from another shortfall from an Atlanta team.  But if there were ever such a thing as an acceptable consolation price to come out of a polarizing season, Freddie Freeman winning the NL MVP was definitely it.  I’m genuinely happy for him, and glad the blowhards in the BBWAA actually got something right for a change.

It’s always gratifying to be right about sports

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

This is what I said last year when then-Astros manager AJ Hinch was fired for his role in the notorious trash can banging cheating scandal:

They’re firings of nothing but symbolic scapegoating, and when the day is over, both (former GM Jeff Luhnow) of these guys will be hired by some other MLB team approximately 365 days from now.

And just like that, with his suspension lifted, AJ Hinch has immediately been picked up by the Detroit Tigers to become their next manager.  One of the other guys involved in the scandal, Alex Cora, fired by the Boston Red Sox shortly after Hinch’s dismissal, is already back in talks with the Red Sox to come back and help cheat manage.  I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to hear news of someone reaching out to Carlos Beltran in the near future either.

Because like many things in the world these days, Major League Baseball lacks a moral compass.  If there were one, both guys would be blacklisted for life for compromising the integrity of the game.  But since baseball is a dog-eat-dog business where wins equals profits, teams are more than willing to turn the other cheek when it comes to indiscretions as long as someone can help contribute to more wins, and this is where we stand.

Ultimately, when the day is over, I couldn’t possibly give any shits fathomable about these developments.  It’s just amusing to me how predictable Major League Baseball can be sometimes, and in spite of the high and mighty act they pulled in dropping the weakest hammer down on the Astros and all involved parties, barely anything was punished, a bunch of rich baseball people got year-long vacations, and most will have jobs waiting for them.  The Astros were a win away from making it to the World Series, and frankly it would’ve been a gigantic middle finger to MLB had the Astros won it all when they were supposed to be being punished.

Most importantly though, I get to boast about how I’m right about something, because lord knows that shit doesn’t happen too very often.

The precise moment where the Braves fulfilled their destiny

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Top 4th, runners on second and third, nobody out.  The Braves had just taken a 3-2 lead on the Dodgers on a single by third baseman Austin Riley, and were in a prime position to bust the game open and put the Dodgers into a precarious hole.  Instead, in only a way that the bumbling Braves are capable of doing, they turn a scenario that has a high probability to score some runs into one where they commit three outs in mere minutes in a game where every single one of the first four innings felt like Star Wars trilogies in themselves, they took that long.

After Austin Riley got tagged out for the second out of a bang-bang botched run down, and then the Braves completed the colossal fuck up by harmlessly grounding out to end the inning, this is where I knew that the game was effectively over.  I’ve watched enough baseball in my life to recognize that when you give away opportunities to score runs that don’t cross the plate, Murphy’s Law dictates that the opposition will definitively, cash them in instead.  What probably should have been a 5-2 or a 4-2 score to end the 4th inning instead remained at a paltry one-run 3-2 score, which the Dodgers would easily grind away and overcome, while the Braves literally went three-and-out in every single inning except one throughout the remainder of the game.

The fuckup on the basepaths undoubtedly sucked all the wind out of the sails of the Braves, ruined all of their swagger and confidence, and most importantly, planted the undefeatable seeds of impending defeat into their minuscule brains.  The remainder of the game after that tragic sequence was all but a formality, and a contest of when, the Dodgers would eventually take the lead.

Frankly, the only reason why I watched the entire game was that I was hoping that the Dodgers would go to Kenley Jansen to close the game since he’s been pretty awful throughout the season and he would be the best chance for the Braves to maybe make some late-inning heroics as they’ve done numerous times throughout the year, but it turned out that the Dodgers didn’t trust Jansen in this critical game, and instead rode the hot hand of Julio Urias instead to close out the game himself.

Naturally, I’m sure anyone of my zero readers can see through the façade I put forth of being the world’s worst baseball fan when it comes to the Braves, and I spare a lot of words and drivel bemoaning them and deriding them, as if I had the mutant power to tempt fate to prove me wrong with writing, but in reality, there’s nothing more I would’ve wanted than to see the Braves actually not fuck up for a change, defeat the Dodgers and actually go to the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays of all teams.

Continue reading “The precise moment where the Braves fulfilled their destiny” →

This is what wheels coming off a vehicle looks and sounds like

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Well, at least the Braves aren’t going to go down having gotten swept.  Instead, they’ll have gone down flubbing a 3-1 series lead, which in baseball isn’t that terribly uncommon, but it’s still poor optics, since the statistics of teams coming back from 3-1 deficits are still minuscule in comparison to how long Major League Baseball has been played.

Honestly, I’m more surprised that the series is going to seven games now, which is the ultimate agony for sports fans to endure, watching the slow bleed of defeat, watching their teams bring them to the brink of hope and jubilation, only for them to crash into agonizing finality.  But when the Braves got blown out and allowed 15 runs in game three, I figured that it was a foregone conclusion that the Dodgers were beginning their mighty comeback and were going to win four straight, like the way the Braves blew the 1996 World Series against the Yankees after winning the first two games.

Instead, the Braves gave false hope to all Braves fans by winning game 4 in commanding fashion and sitting on a pretty 3-1 series lead.  Naturally, since they have no starting pitching, they lost game 5, which was probably to be expected, but fans would find solace in the fact that Max Fried, arguably the best pitcher on the team would get the ball for game 6, but that brings us to now, where Fried pitched well, it’s just that the Braves offense appeared to have cashed in all of its available runs in the previous five games, and could barely scrap together a single run, losing to the Dodgers and sending the NLCS to game 7, where they will undoubtedly lose in embarrassing fashion, by like a score of like 11-1, bringing closure to a season that really shouldn’t have happened in the first place, and back to another cold offseason of pessimism and increasing nihilism in professional sports.

Much like Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, I can’t bring myself to watch games of teams that I actually care about, because it gives me anxiety and stress that I really don’t need, and I superstitiously believe that I am a master of the universe that undoubtedly jinxes whatever team I care about when I watch them, and if I do want the Braves to win, I most absolutely should not be watching them.

Seriously though, check out this Mookie Betts catch.  This is the kind of highlight that preserves no-hitters or turns the tides of playoff series.  If he doesn’t make that catch then Ozuna doubles for sure, and Freddie Freeman probably scores.  A single run doesn’t change the 3-0 deficit that the Braves were in, but at the same time, it could very well have been the start of a rally.  The thing is, a catch like Betts’ is what keeps the mythical momentum on the side of the Dodgers while sucking the life out of the hope of the Braves.  The jubilation of Mookie Betts after making the catch is precisely the opposite of a metaphor of what the Braves’ chances of winning the series sounds like.  Although his lips appear to be mouthing something probably like let’s fucking goooo it could very well be emanating the sound of a flushing toilet, because that’s precisely what happened when he makes that.

Welp, Baby Magic and partial-year champions theories were cute while they lasted.  I would undoubtedly put legitimate money on the Dodgers to win game 7, because it’s a foregone conclusion that the only thing well that the Braves are going to do, is what they’ve historically been known to do: fall short.

The real question is will they get blown out in the first inning like they did in game 3 a few nights ago and in game 5 against the Cardinals last year, or will they be competitive and hard-fought the entire way and then lose in agonizing and soul-wrenching manner late in the game like they did against the Dodgers back in like 2012?  Who knows, but as long as it ends up with the Braves going home yet again, does it really matter?