Try Again

We all know what has happened over the past five months.  Pandemic.  The Covid-19 virus has changed our lives forever.  There is no two ways about it.  One of the main constants in my life is sports, in particular baseball.  The season was just about to get underway when the country went into lock down and it is finally resuming.  I know that on a personal level I would get along just fine without watching any sports for a year, but it is nice to have.  It's a bit of an escape for me.  Some people have video games or working out or personal groups.  I have sports, in particular baseball.  I just always have.  And for the first three weeks when it was suppose to be being played, it felt like something was missing.  As it became more and more clear that the pandemic was never really going away and sport seasons were getting postponed or canceled, all I could really think about was watching baseball in 2021.  That would have been okay.  By the time whispers and murmurs were starting that the season might well indeed take place, I just thought 'cool.  weird but cool.'  The day are finally here!  Tomorrow the 2020 season will begin!


With the season going from 162 games down to 60, I need to re-imagine my fun hot takes for the season.  For a quick recap of what I thought back in May, follow this link.  This season is going to be more fun than the typical year but also more stressful.  Not for us Tigers fans though, they'll still end the season way outside the playoffs.  Or will they? 

• C.J. Cron will lead the A.L. in home runs with 15.
• Austin Romine will throw out 25% of potential base stealers 
• Casey Mize will make three starts with the MLB team.
• Riley Greene will make his MLB debut this season.
• Spencer Turnbll will be traded.
• No Tiger will steal more than 5 bases.
• Michael Fulmer and Daniel Norris will become the Opener/Mid option at the back end of the rotation.
• Ron Gardenhire will be ejected 3 times
•  The Tigers will not have a top five draft pick in 2021.
• I think the Pirates, Marlins, Royals, Orioels, and Mariners will all have worse seasons
•  After the season, Cron and Matthew Boyd will both receive contract extensions

Delayed Hot Takes

As with everything else, the MLB season has been delayed because of the COVID pandemic.  We were so close to getting into the regular season too.  At the very least, we got to see some live current baseball.  One of the few positives to come out of this pandemic, from a sports perspective, is that classic games are being broadcasted on television in lieu live current games.  I was able to watch three games from the 1984 World Series.  I've seen Gibson's home run in game five so many times it feels like I watched it live, but I have never seen any of the other games.  I mean, I was two years old at the time.  Two games of the 1968 World Series have even been shown.  So that's cool I guess.

Typically, I have taken some time right before the season started to have a little fun making a list of hot takes but everything went sideways.  As we get closer and closer to the season happening (maybe June?  Maybe July?) I can't help but think of making a list again.  It's fun and the Tigers really aren't right now.  The light at the end of the tunnel isn't getting closer unfortunately in this rebuild, but when it is done we might have something resembling a decent major league baseball team to cheer for.  It'll be tough to throw out some numbers because they'll play about half of a season, but lets give it a whirl.  Anyway, here's a fun list of hot takes for the Detroit Tigers 2020 shortened season:

• Niko Goodrum will finish in the top 5 in Gold Glove voting at the shortstop position
• C.J. Cron, Jonathan Schoop, and Miguel Cabrera will combine to hit 55 home runs
• JaCoby Jones will be traded during the season (is there going to be a trade deadline?) and Victor Reyes will be the everyday center fielder
• Dawel Lugo is going to surpass Jeimer Candelario in the depth chart at third base
• Cron and Austin Romine will get contract extensions at the end of the year 
• Goodrum, Reyes, and Cameron Maybin will combine for 40 stolen bases

And now for the pitching side of things:

• Jordan Zimmermann gets DFAd at some point in the season
• Buck Farmer will finish the season with more saves than Joe Jimenez
• At least four different pitchers will record a save for the team
• Casey Mize makes at least one start at the major league level 
• Matthew Boyd will be traded (this makes me sad)
• Matt Manning will get a cup of coffee with the team
• Michael Fulmer will return this year not as a starter, but in the bullpen
• Daniel Norris and Tyler Alexander will combine for 12 wins

Just some random stuff:

• Riley Greene and Kody Clemens will end the year in Toledo
• The Tigers will end the year ahead of four other teams (Baltimore, Miami, Pittsburgh, and Seattle)
• The Tigers will draft batters with their first two picks in the draft
• Ron Gardenhire will sign a new contract after the season

A New World

Life undoubtedly has changed.  A global pandemic will do that.  I haven't worked in a little over a month.  My employer did what was right and paid everyone for the first two weeks of this whole shutdown, and I've used some vacation time I had saved up.  Just this week I filed for unemployment for the first time ever.  That felt weird.  There are some changes that have hit harder than others and some aspects which have had little to no personal impact.

The big impact that most people are dealing with is just being home all the time.  Even when I left my previous job, I didn't take any time off.  I just went to a new place of work the next day.  This is the first time since 2005 that I haven't been working.  I know that this is only temporary and eventually I will be back at it, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy not working every once in a while.  Don't get me wrong, there are days where I just aimlessly wander around the house looking for something to do.  It helps to get up and walk around for a bit just to get the blood flowing.

We all knew that our screen times were going to skyrocket and I have tried (with some success) to keep my time down.  On a typical work day, I'd average around two and a half to three hours on my phone.  On a good day now it's up to around four hours but most days hovering around five hours.  I mean, you can only watch so much HGTV and Netflix right?  We don't have sports to waste the day away right now (christ I miss baseball).  To combat the screen time villain, I've been spending time putting puzzles together for an hour here and an hour there.  Just for something different to look at.  Last week I dug out my records and just sat and listened to Led Zeppelin I.  I've started re-reading The Walking Dead.  All of these things little things can add up to staying away from the phone.  I highly recommend it.     

At the moment, my wife is also off of work.  She worked for about a week longer than I did, but she had the opportunity to work from home.  We have taken on some small projects around the house.  We've painted our main floor bathroom and replaced some fixtures.  I cleaned up and reorganized the basement.  The garage has been swept.  A permanent rod has been installed in the laundry room.  We blocked off some space in the backyard for growing wildflowers.  All these things would have eventually gotten done, yes, but now we're needing things to do to pass the time.

The largest impact on our lives has been not going out when we feel like it.  Over the past month we have left the house once maybe twice a week.  I'd say in a normal month we'd go out to eat five or six times.  That doesn't seem like much, but when that option is off the table it makes you miss it that much more.  And yes, if we really wanted to we could order for take out we just haven't done that.  We should to support all the local restaurants, but we're also watching what we spend.  

Luckily, we are child free.  We do not have to schedule time to do home schooling.  Good on all you parents out there that are having to put that on your plates.  This seems to be one of the largest hurdles the general public has had to overcome.  Not only are we all staying home, but most are having to juggle work and life all day every day.  Good on all you parents out there rolling with the punches and drinking heavily to get through your kids' school day. 

Just remember to take care of yourselves.  And if I hear 'now more than ever' even ONCE after this has passed, I will lose my shit.