Is Buster Posey Bound for Cooperstown?

Reports broke this afternoon that longtime San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey will announce his retirement tomorrow after 12 MLB seasons. 

During those 12 seasons, Posey, 34, won the NL Rookie of the Year in 2010, the NL MVP in 2012, won a batting title that same year, got a Gold Glove, earned three World Series rings, was named to 7 NL All-Star teams, received four Silver Sluggers and may very well earn a fifth after his stellar performance in 2021. 

The Georgia native opted to sit out during the COVID shortened season after adopting twin girls with his wife Kristen. After not playing since 2019, Posey didn't miss a beat hitting .304 with 18 HR and 56 RBI in 113 games as the Giants won a franchise record 107 games. Overall, Posey collected exactly 1500 hits for a lifetime batting average of .302 with 158 HR and 729 RBIs in 1371 games played.

Normally those stats wouldn't be enough to get one into Cooperstown, but Posey put up these numbers as a catcher and did so with a single team with three World Series rings to show for it. Those numbers might have been better if not for a gruesome broken leg he sustained in a home plate collision in 2011 which eventually compelled MLB to change its rules about baserunners knocking over catchers. 

Posey would be eligible to get into Cooperstown on the 2027 ballot. He might not be a first ballot Hall of Famer but I could see him sharing the stage with St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina in the Class of 2028 as he will retire at the end of next season. Posey might share the spotlight with Yadi but tomorrow will be his own special day.

Will Youngkin Do Trump's Bidding in The 2024 Election?

With 95% of the vote in Virginia's gubernatorial race in CNN has projected that Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin has defeated former Democratic Governor and DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe by a margin of 51% to 48.3%.

So this country gets another awful Republican Governor. The question is how awful. I mean Brian Kemp of Georgia is an awful Governor, but he drew the line at Donald Trump's election fraud claims and Trump is seeing to it that he doesn't serve another term even suggesting he would prefer Stacey Abrams to win in 2022.

With this in mind what happens if Biden and Trump go head to head in 2024 and Biden wins Virginia. Does Youngkin certify the election and incur Trump's wrath? Or does he do Trump's bidding and overrides the will of the people? After all, Youngkin only acknowledged that Biden had indeed been elected President after securing the GOP gubernatorial nomination but is quite happy to indulge election conspiracy theories and deploy surrogates who claim Trump won the election.

Unlike Kemp in Georgia, Youngkin cannot run for re-election in 2025 as Virginia's Constitution does not allow for Governors to serve for consecutive terms. So this might keep Youngkin in line. But then again if Youngkin wants to get elected to the Senate he can ill-afford to alienate the Orange Lizard King. 

I Doubt Michelle Wu Will Bring Rent Control & a Free MBTA to Boston

Bostonians have decisively elected Michelle Wu to be their new Mayor as she easily defeated fellow city councillor Annisa Essaibi George by 25 points. 

Wu is the first woman to be elected to the post (Kim Janey served in the post in an acting capacity), is the first Asian American to win the office (and the first to become the mayor of large American city). At 36, Wu is also among the youngest to ever be elected Hub Mayor. Wu will be sworn into office on November 16th.

I remain skeptical that Wu will be able to bring about rent control to Boston much less a free MBTA. Both of these would be nice things, but these things are up to the state legislature and she knows it. Oh, she can advocate for these things but it is not the same as being in a position to implement such policies.

Still, the odds are in her favor. Unless she alienates the progressive community in a significant way, Wu will be Mayor of Boston for as long as she wants the job. Wu might very well have other political ambitions down the line which may affect that consideration. In the meantime, we'll see what else she can do at City Hall.

Braves Win 1st World Series Since 1995

The Atlanta Braves defeated the Houston Astros 7-0 in Game 6 of the 2021 World Series to win their first championship since 1995.

Max Fried, Tyler Matzek and Will Smith combined on a 6-hit shutout. Jorge Soler hit a monstrous 3-run HR over the Crawford Boxes in Minute Maid Park to give the Braves a 3-0 lead in the 3rd. Shortstop Dansby Swanson slammed a 2-run HR in the 5th to give the Braves a 5-0 lead. Freddie Freeman added a double in the 5th to make it 6-0 and then followed with a solo HR in the 7th. Soler would earn 2021 World Series MVP honors going 6 for 20 with 3 HR and 6 RBIs. Not only did Soler homer tonight, but he homered on the third pitch of the Series in Game 1 and hit the game winning HR in Game 4. Not bad for a guy who hit .192 for the Kansas City Royals this season.

It is a remarkable reversal of fortune for a team which 3 months ago today had a 52-55 record and were in third place in the NL East five games back of the New York Mets. Their front office led by GM Alex Anthopoulos added key players like Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario, Adam Duvall and Joc Pederson which softened the absence of Ronald Acuna, Jr. due to injury and Marcell Ozuna's legal troubles. It also didn't hurt they had the unflappable Brian Snitker in the dugout. The Braves went 36-18 the rest of the way and overcame the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers and now the Astros. 

As for the Astros, the only one in that dugout I feel sorry for is Dusty Baker. That first World Series title still eludes him and it very much remains to be seen if the Astros will bring him back next year. 

I would be remiss that under a different set of circumstances I might have been celebrating this World Series title in person. But truth be told I couldn't get into the Braves when I was down there and, if I had, I would have been a Johnny Come Lately. Besides, Truist Park isn't Fenway Park. Cobb County was far enough from Midtown Atlanta. Truist Park might as well have been in Tennessee. 

Still, I'm glad Atlanta will be getting a World Series parade and will have something to celebrate.

Black Flags Raise Red Flags

My Twitter friend Melissa Quinn Amour drew my attention to this article from the Bucks County Courier Times which covers a number of small towns north of Philadelphia:

They’ve been popping up across the country for months, and now they’ve been spotted in Bucks County in places such as Perkasie, Plumstead, Buckingham, and Jamison.

The all-black American flags being flown by so-called local patriots apparently means “no quarter given” and may even imply a willingness to use (lethal) violence against perceived enemies, essentially any non-Trumper who threatens their washed out, retrograde vision of what the U.S. is supposed to look like, how they believe democracy is supposed to function, or what they think freedom is.

The article goes on to caution that the people who raise such flags won't necessarily engage in violence themselves. But I would have to suspect that anyone who raises such a flag has no trouble with Kyle Rittenhouse crossing state lines with an AR-15 style rifle, killing two people and calling it self-defense. These black flags raise red flags.

If Rittenhouse is acquitted and others are inspired to act in the same manner we will see more tolerance of such behavior and thus more black flags. And for what? Because Joe Biden won the election? Because vaccines save lives? Because they think JFK, Jr. will rise from the dead?

In a way I'm glad that people are raising black flags. Because they are telling us who they are and where they stand. In which case, those who of us who believe in reason must raise our voices and say without equivocation that will we not stand for violence and murder because our beliefs and opinions are contrary to what former President Trump tells them to accept at face value. 

Biden Must Read Manchin The Riot Act

I hope President Biden is seething at Senator Joe Manchin after he called a press conference today to sandbag the now $1.75 trillion reconciliation spending bill. Mind you, this is is the same reconciliation bill that was once $3.5 trillion and was cut in half essentially to mollify Manchin. Conveniently (or not so conveniently for the White House) Manchin did this while Biden was out of the country at the G20 Summit in Rome. 

For her part, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement indicating that the President's aides "remain confident that the plan will gain Senator Manchin’s support." But she made no mention of what Biden himself thought. I hope it's because Biden is planning to read Manchin the Riot Act. After all, Biden was elected in no small part because of his competence, his ability to govern and get back life back in working order. Instead, we have this putz from West Virginia and someone from Arizona who looks like she walked out of a Scooby-Doo cartoon doing everything they can to make sure Donald Trump returns to the White House. 

It's time for Biden to get pissed off and lay down the law to Manchin. After Biden hits Manchin with some sticks then he can get Chuck Schumer to give West Virginia a few carrots to soften the blow. But Biden had better act fast because not only his presidency on the line but our present livelihood and our democracy's very existence. If Biden doesn't get Manchin in line not only will he not build back better, he won't be able to build back anything at all.

Over 5 Million Have Died of COVID Worldwide With U.S. Cases Topping 46M

COVID-19 has now claimed the lives of more than 5 million people worldwide. According to Johns Hopkins University, as of this writing, COVID has killed 5,005,344 out of nearly a quarter billion cases (247,118,535) representing a mortality rate of just over 2%. 

There is some good news in that deaths have slowed significantly. It took 82 days for the global COVID death toll go from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 deaths. Whereas it has taken 117 days to get from 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 deaths - exactly five weeks longer. 

It is well worth noting there are six countries in the world that have death tolls exceeding 200,000 - the U.S., Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia and Peru. Together they account for more than half the COVID deaths globally. I get these other countries being at the top of the list with their combined legacy of corruption and life being nasty, brutish and short under the best of circumstances. 

But there's no reason for the U.S. on this list at all with our cutting edge health care and access to vaccines. And yet the U.S. remains worse of all as it nears 750,000 deaths (746,977). While it's claim of the global share has dropped to just under 15% (14.9%) and the Biden White House have endeavored to get the country vaccinated a great many Americans still refuse to get vaccinated and are willing to lose their livelihoods if not their very lives including healthcare workers. We are our own worst enemy.

Today, the United States also topped 46 million cases (46,089,316) and continues to have a mortality rate of 1.6%. It did take a full two weeks to add 1 million cases, a modest improvement on the 12 days it took to go from 44 to 45 million cases. But can we sustain even this modest improvement through Thanksgiving, Christmas and the accompanying winter weather? Too many among us would rather say Let's Go Brandon than let's get better.