White Sox Name Venable New Manager to Bring Them From Rock Bottom

(via The Associated Press)

The Chicago White Sox have named Will Venable to be their new manager. 

The Chisox, of course, set a modern MLB record with 121 losses in 2024. The season was split between Pedro Grifol (28-89) and Grady Sizemore (13-32). 

It is curious that the team wasn't prepared to give Sizemore more of a chance given that he was popular with the players. Despite their woeful record, the team did go 8-6 over the past two weeks of the season including wins in 5 of their last 6 games. 

In some ways, Sizemore and Venable are very similar. Both men are 42 with Venable's birthday taking place two days ago. Sizemore played in MLB for 10 seasons while Venable played in MLB for 9 seasons primarily with the San Diego Padres. Sizemore ended his playing career after the 2015 season while Venable finished his in 2016. 

The difference is that Sizemore never expected to be a big-league manager. It was only a year ago, Sizemore was a $15 an hour intern with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Whereas Venable has been groomed to a be a big-league manager. After spending part of the 2017 season in the Chicago Cubs front office, he would join the coaching staff the following year spending two seasons in the dugout followed by two seasons as a coach in the Boston Red Sox dugout before becoming associate manager of the Texas Rangers last year earning a World Series ring under Bruce Bochy's wing. It was only a matter of time before Venable was going to be hired to manage a ballclub.

It would be an understatement to say that Venable has a very tall order in front of him. It remains to be seen if the roster will warm to him as they did Sizemore. Of course, one can be a great communicator, but a manager's words go out the window after the losses start piling up. As such, what are the front office's expectations for Venable to turn the team into a contender in the AL Central? Venable has a multiyear contract, but that could mean two seasons. White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is nothing if not fickle.

Then again, Will Venable is already a baseball lifer. His father, Max Venable, played in MLB for 12 seasons as well as in Japan, South Korea and in the Dominican Republic and his son went with him everywhere he went. In a sense, Will Venable has been preparing to be a big-league manager his whole life.

Dodgers Best Yankees to Win 8th World Series Title

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers who defeated the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5 of the World Series to win their 8th championship in franchise history. 

The Dodgers were down 5-0 in the fifth inning when Yankees miscues by Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe as well as a miscommunication between Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rizzo on a Mookie Betts groundball sparked a five-run rally. The Yankees would regain the lead on a sac fly by Giancarlo Stanton, but the Dodgers would answer with sac flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts to give the Dodgers the lead for good. 

To the surprise of no one, Freddie Freeman earned World Series MVP tying a World Series record with 12 RBI which was originally set by New York Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson in the 1960 World Series when the Bronx Bombers fell short to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Freeman hit HR in the first four games of the World Series including a walk-off grand slam in Game 1. He actually homered in six consecutive World Series games going back to 2021 when he was a member of the Atlanta Braves. 

Even diehard Yankees fans were hard pressed to root against Freeman, who aside from being among the most beloved players in MLB, had to leave the team during the summer to address his 3-year-old son Max's ordeal with Guillain-Barre syndrome.

The Dodgers won the first three games of the series. Although they were blown out last night 11-4, the lone Yankees victory was marred by a couple of lame fans who tried to rob Mookie Betts of his glove. 

All 8 of the Dodgers' World Series have come in the past 70 years. The Dodgers won their first World Series title in 1955 against the Yankees while they were still based in Brooklyn. Their remaining titles have been in L.A. - 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988, 2020 and now 2024. Of course, the championship in 2020 came during the COVID shortened season in which no fans were permitted during the regular season with limited seating capacity in Globe Life Park in Texas and no celebration to boot. So, actually this will be the first time L.A. gets a World Series parade in 36 years. 

And if the Dodgers look to the sky during the parade they might see Fernando Valenzuela smiling upon them as they sing Randy Newman's "I Love L.A.".

Terri Garr Brightened Both the Big and Small Screen

(YouTube screenshot)

This afternoon, I learned of the passing of actress Terri Garr. She had been afflicted with MS for more than two decades, a condition which would eventually force her retirement. Garr would have turned 80 next month. 

Despite being away from acting in the last decade plus of her life, Terri Garr's performances on the big and small screen endure because her presence brightened not only the proceedings but the medium in which they were presented. She made already great films like Young Frankenstein, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Tootsie even better with her warmth and wit. Her frequent appearances on both The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and especially Late Night with David Letterman were always showcases for her droll wit. Garr kept both hosts on their toes, and they liked her for it.

I remember when Garr appeared on Letterman some years after her MS diagnosis. It was difficult for her to move around, and one could not help but feel for her under the circumstances. But her mind remained razor sharp. There was no pitying her. Terri Garr lived a good life and her talents shall live on. R.I.P.

NDP Hangs on in B.C. While Falling Short in Saskatchewan

More than a week after the people of British Columbia voted, the governing NDP has narrowly prevailed yesterday although it remains unclear if they will have a one seat majority or form a minority government with the Green Party. Either way NDP Premier David Eby has a little margin for error.

I will give B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad and his party for one thing. They reject election denialism. I just hope this view continues to prevail among right-wing political parties in Canada should Donald Trump be re-elected next week. Authoritarianism and authoritarian sentiments have a way of spreading. 

Meanwhile, more than 1,100 miles east in Saskatchewan, the NDP fell short as the conservative Saskatchewan Party won its fifth consecutive majority government last night and second straight for Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe. However, the NDP acquitted itself well. While the Saskatchewan is leading and elected in 35 seats, the NDP is leading and elected in 26 seats under new leader Carla Beck. The Saskatchewan Party dominated in rural ridings while the NDP's strength came almost exclusively in Saskatchewan's two largest cities - Regina and Saskatoon. 

Canadian political junkies not satiated with three provincial elections in Saskatchewan, B.C. and in New Brunswick will get a fourth when voters in Nova Scotia go to the polls on November 26th. In a shocking move on Sunday, Nova Scotia's Tory Premier Tim Houston called a snap election only three years into his mandate amid promises of a fixed election next year. It will be interesting to see if Nova Scotia voters punish Houston for his gambit or if he is counting on the opposition vote between the Liberals, NDP and Green Party to be sufficiently divided to give the Tories another term in office. 

Watching election returns in Canada's provinces is, at least for the time being, infinitely more relaxing than watching our own elections.

Today I Voted For Kamala Harris & Tim Walz

 

Today, I voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

I had originally planned to wait until after work on Election Day to vote as my precinct is a very short distance from my home. But I decided I want to get this over and done with now. So, I went down the Main Branch of the Cambridge Public Library this afternoon and cast my ballot. 

This wasn't a tough call.

A Harris Administration will govern America in a way which improves the lives of people while preserving American democracy.

A second Trump Administration is not interested in improving the lives of people nor preserving American democracy. It is about seeking retribution against enemies mostly imagined. In the course of seeking this retribution, a second Trump Administration would, among other things, suspend the Constitution giving it the ability to arrest, try and execute their political opponents, shut down the free press, restrict free assembly and speech and otherwise make the lives of Americans as miserable as possible.

Again, not a tough call.

It isn't to say I would agree with every measure implemented by the Harris Administration. I am not without concern regarding how a Harris Administration will approach Israel. However, I am prepared to support the candidate in favor of preserving American democracy. Indeed, if I am dissatisfied with a Harris Administration then I am under no obligation to support it in 2028. Should we choose Trump there is a very reasonable chance there will be no election in 2028. Or if we do have an election in 2028 it will more closely resemble the sort of elections held in Russia. 

This is not a chance I am prepared to take. So, I voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

What the rest of the country will do 9 days from now remains to be seen. 

But, for the moment, there is a chance the country will make the right decision.

The Washington Post & L.A. Times Won't Endorse Harris Because They Fear Trump's Retribution

Within days of each other The Washington Post and the L.A. Times declared they would not be making an endorsement in the 2024 presidential election under the guise of independence and neutrality.

The reality is that the editorial boards of both papers intended to endorse Kamala Harris, and their owners or publishers quashed them. 

Both Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and WaPo owner Jeff Bezos believe Trump will prevail and do not want to incur his wrath. After all, Trump has declared a second term will be about retribution and surely the press, an entity he has repeatedly referred to as "an enemy of the people", will bear the brunt of this campaign.

Had the editorial boards of either paper intended to endorse Trump do you think either Dr. Soon-Shiong or Bezos would have stopped such an endorsement?

Should Trump's election come to pass, I think he will smell blood in the water. Independence and neutrality will not be enough for Trump. He will demand (and receive) the endorsements of The Washington Post and The L.A. Times come 2028. (Yes, I believe a re-elected Trump would suspend the Constitution and effectively become President for Life. But those thoughts will be for another dispatch.) 

While The Washington Post and The L.A. Times might not endorse Kamala Harris; it doesn't the American people have to follow their lead. The story of the American voter in 2024 has yet to be written.

The Yankees-Dodgers World Series Will Be Good for Baseball

 

At this hour, Game 1 of the 2024 World Series is underway between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A Yankees-Dodgers World Series will be good for baseball.

While the two teams have faced off in the World Series 11 times, it is the first time this matchup has come to pass since 1981.

This will serve as nostalgia for the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers albeit one tinged with sadness with the deaths of both Fernando Valenzuela and Rudy May earlier this week. 

The Yankees-Dodgers rivalry can now be introduced to a generation of Millennials and Gen Zers. 

It doesn't hurt that the game's two greatest players are on the field - Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Dodgers powerhouse Shohei Ohtani. 

There's a chance it won't be the last time these two titans face off in October. 

Let the rivalry begin anew.