FILE PHOTO: Rob Manfred, commissioner of Major League Baseball, takes part in the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in New York, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson July 2, 2020 While attempting to clarify comments he made a day earlier that caused a bit of a stir, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday admitted the league will “be lucky” to play a full 60-game abbreviated season.
During an interview on the “Dan Patrick Show” on Wednesday, Manfred said, “The reality is, we weren’t going to play more than 60 games no matter how the negotiations with the players went or any other factor.”
Many saw that comment as potentially something the MLB Players Association could use against MLB should the union file a grievance alleging owners did not negotiate in good faith.
Speaking with USA Today on Thursday, however, Manfred tried to qualify those comments.
“If we had started an 82-game season (beginning July 1), we would have had people in Arizona and Florida the time the second spike hit,” Manfred told the outlet.
“My point was that no matter what happened with the union, the way things unfolded with the second spike, we would have ended up with only time for 60 games, anyway,” Manfred added. “As time went on, it became clearer and clearer that the course of the virus was going to dictate how many games we could play.”
“We just weren’t going to be able to play more than 60 games at that point with everything being shut down,” Manfred continued, before admitting that even now, “the reality is that we’re going to be lucky if we get 60 games now given the course of the virus.”
Opening Day was scheduled for March 26 before the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports.
The league has yet to confirm the official 2020 schedule of 60 games, but Opening Day is expected to be July 23 or July 24.
Players proposed a longer season, but Manfred said owners were never going to sign off on more than 60 games for health reasons.
Baseball is back in Toronto – the training camp version, anyway. The Blue Jays finally received federal government clearance to fly north this weekend where they will use the Rogers Centre to prepare or the 2020 Major League Baseball season. Players and staff were completing intake screening in Dunedin, Fla. on Thursday and are scheduled […]
Baseball is back in Toronto – the training camp version, anyway.
The Blue Jays finally received federal government clearance to fly north this weekend where they will use the Rogers Centre to prepare or the 2020 Major League Baseball season.
Players and staff were completing intake screening in Dunedin, Fla. on Thursday and are scheduled to board a pair of charter flights to Toronto over the next couple of days. The Jays, who have had at least four players test positive for COVID-19, have stressed that those players won’t travel until testing negative.
The Jays have yet to receive clearance to play their 30 home games at the downtown Toronto stadium, but club officials are confident they can finalize a safe plan to gain approval from government and health authorities, both provincially and federallly.
As reported by the Toronto Sun earlier this week, the Jays had backing from provincial and municipal authorities and were awaiting the final clearance from Ottawa.
That came on Thursday which set the wheels in motion to get camp underway.
As many as 60 players are expected to be at the Rogers Centre for initial workouts this weekend. Players will be housed and quarantined in the Marriott Hotel which is attached to the Rogers Centre.
“The plan for hosting summer training camp in Toronto required government and public health approval at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels,” the Jays said in a statement. “At its core, the plan necessitates players and club personnel to enter a closed environment at Rogers Centre, which is isolated from the general public.
“In collaboration with public health agencies, the Blue Jays have established comprehensive protocols to ensure the highest standards of health and safety are met prior to and during travel, and to create a cohort quarantine environment at Rogers Centre and the adjoining hotel.
“These protocols will be in place in addition to those outlined in the 2020 MLB Operations Manual.”
The Jays emphasized that the Rogers Centre remains as the preferred destination for home games and now they have three weeks to cement that permission. TD Ballpark in Dunedin, the team’s spring training home, remains the backup plan.
The 22 NBA teams set to participate in the resumed regular season will relocate to Disney World in Orlando next week to enter the NBA’s bubble and begin training camp – and players will begin training camp on July 9th playing on the same surfaces they used back home.
According to ESPN‘s Rachel Nichols, the NBA had teams ship their own courts to Orlando, where they are being installed. The teams will also be in relatively close proximity – a photo of a gigantic open ballroom shows the Indiana Pacers’ court is adjacent to the Miami Heat’s court, and there’s still room for a couple more in the building.
Per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Pirates scout Jessie Nava came down with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Venezuela. He is currently hospitalized and there is a GoFundMe to raise money for his treatment with a $5,000 goal. As of this writing, the goal is a little over halfway towards being met, at $2,710.
We’re going to be seeing more and more of this as the months go on and the MLB season progresses. Inevitably, people working within baseball, however tangentially, will be afflicted by the virus. For many of them, they will also need GoFundMe or similar drives — or the benevolence of their employers — to pay for medical treatment.
Hopefully, in Nava’s case, the Pirates get involved directly and help cover his medical costs. Pirates owner Bob Nutting (pictured) and his family have a net worth of $1.1 billion, per CNBC. According to Forbes, the Pirates are valued at $1.26 billion. (Update: The Pirates have made a “sizable” contribution towards Nava’s medical expenses, per Rosenthal.)
Nava, 32, pitched in the Mariners’ minor league system from 2006-11, making it as high up as Single-A Clinton in ’11.
With players arriving in Cincinnati on Tuesday to prepare for workouts to get ready for the upcoming season, Reds players and staff underwent testing for COVID-19 as a part of the health and safety plan. Some players underwent testing before arriving. Two of those players have had their tests come back positive. Bobby Nightengale of…
With players arriving in Cincinnati on Tuesday to prepare for workouts to get ready for the upcoming season, Reds players and staff underwent testing for COVID-19 as a part of the health and safety plan. Some players underwent testing before arriving. Two of those players have had their tests come back positive. Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer had the quickest fingers this morning, beating the other beat writers to the report by a matter of seconds, reporting the news that neither of the two players live in, or were in Cincinnati.
#Reds had 2 players in the organization test positive for COVID-19. They were tested outside of Cincinnati and are not in Cincinnati now.
Major League Baseball and the 30 teams are not allowed to report who the players are that test positive for COVID-19 as it’s considered a “non-baseball” injury, which makes it different from a team announcing that a player has a sprained ankle or some other physical injury suffered while playing. Essentially, the media and fans will have to play “guess who it is” unless the player chooses to announce it themselves. We know that it wasn’t Tucker Barnhart, who announced on twitter yesterday that he tested negative. And if you really want to, you can browse the social media of other players and see that some of them are in Cincinnati and eliminate them as possibilities, too.
Players have the choice to opt out of the 2020 season if they would like to. They don’t get paid, nor do they get the service time – but they can choose to sit out if they do not feel comfortable playing for any given (or ungiven) reason. So far the number of players to opt out is small, but includes former Reds pitcher Mike Leake. Manager David Bell told the media on Wednesday morning, as first reported by C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic, that no Cincinnati players had opted out as of now.
#Reds David Bell says as of now, nobody has opted out
The first workouts at Great American Ballpark and Prasco Park – the teams second training site in Mason, Ohio – will begin on Friday. There are currently 57 players on the Reds 60-man player pool roster – though with the two positive tests, only 55 players will be present.
With ‘summer camp’ about to get under way, MLB.com’s transactions log is back up and running. As of this writing, two teams have placed players on the injured list: the Phillies and Blue Jays. For the Phillies, Héctor Neris, Tommy Hunter, Ranger Suárez, and Scott Kingery are on the 10-day IL. The Blue Jays have Brandon Drury, Jonathan Davis, Hector Perez, and Elvis Luciano DL’ed. None of the players have reasons listed for their appearance, so speculation about which players might have the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has ensued.
On Tuesday, I discussed the tricky spot MLB teams are in regarding disclosure of players affected by COVID-19. Due to the Basic Agreement, teams aren’t allowed to disclose their players’ medical issues if they aren’t employment-related (consider a cancer diagnosis versus a torn UCL). The lack of transparency — whether for nefarious reasons or not — for COVID-IL players will simply invite rampant speculation, and that is what we have seen early on. Fans and members of the media alike are wondering which players, if not all of them, are suffering from the virus. Since a player’s placement on the IL typically comes with a reason for said placement, it won’t be difficult to parse which players are there for COVID-19 and which are not.
The most important thing is that players have privacy and control over their medical information. That being said, the highly public and competitive nature of their jobs has resulted in transparency regarding their medical information. One wonders if the headaches caused by the speculation might result in the current policy being amended. Players could have generic reasons listed for their placement, or teams could simply reveal which players have COVID-19. There isn’t an easy fix, but the current system doesn’t appear to be the solution.
[ad_1] The Denver Nuggets expect to have All-Star center Nikola Jokic at their disposal for the NBA’s restart, head coach Michael Malone said. Jokic remains in his native Serbia having reportedly tested positive for coronavirus as the NBA plans to resume after the 2019-20 season was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The […]
The Denver Nuggets expect to have All-Star center Nikola Jokic at their disposal for the NBA’s restart, head coach Michael Malone said.
Jokic remains in his native Serbia having reportedly tested positive for coronavirus as the NBA plans to resume after the 2019-20 season was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The league is set to return via a 22-team format at the Disney World complex in Orlando, Fla., on July 30, with the New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers in action on the first day back.
Denver is scheduled to resume its campaign against the Miami Heat in the Orlando bubble on August 1, and the Nuggets expect Jokic to return to the United States in time.
“Nikola feels great,” Malone told reporters via a Zoom call on Wednesday. “We are working on getting him back here.
“Next Tuesday we depart for Orlando; the hope and expectation is that Nikola Jokic will be with us on that plane.
“From everything that I have heard and talked to him, he feels great, he feels fine and is excited to get back.”
Prior to the coronavirus crisis, Jokic was averaging 20.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets were third in the Western Conference with a 43-22 record, behind leaders the Lakers (49-14) and the Clippers (44-20).
Denver, meanwhile, opted to close down their practice facility following COVID-19 cases.
“We have closed down the facility,” Malone confirmed. “We felt it was the right thing to do. Today was supposed to be the first day of Phase 3 where all our players were required to be back in the gym and we are allowed to work with them albeit just 1-on-0.
“We have put the safety of our team ahead of this Phase 3. There is a chance we can open the gym up before we leave, depending upon results in the coming days. I am not going to get into who tested but we have had multiple people in our travel party test positive.”
Amid the unprecedented situation, Malone feels this season’s NBA championship will be the toughest ever contested.
“There has been this ongoing dialogue and conversation that whoever wins it this year, there will be an asterisk by their name and I don’t buy that at all,” Malone later added.
“If you are able to go into a bubble and be isolated from your friends and family, to have no home-court advantage, to have a league interruption of four months and you are able to spend 90 days and come out of there a champion, I think this will be the toughest championship ever won. There is no asterisk.”
COVID-19 is spiking in several states just as sports are gearing up to resume play, forcing leagues to take special precautions to protect players and staff. Those age 60 and older, of course, are believed to be more susceptible to severe illness should they catch the coronavirus. Coaches in several leagues fall under this category,…
Chicago Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy was on the Mully & Haugh Show on 670 The Score in Chicago this morning and talked about his recent battle with COVID-19.
Hottovy, who is only 38 years-old and who had no underlying health conditions, says that he and his family took every precaution they could think of. They socially distanced. They cleaned and disinfected. They wore masks. You name it. But he still got seriously, seriously sick and took a very long time to recover.
From the interview:
Hottovy called the first five to six days of his battle with the coronavirus typical with fevers and the usual symptoms. Then it got much worse.
“The problem with is on day eight through 14, it crushed me,” Hottovy said. “It got into my lungs. I got the full what they call the COVID pneumonia, a viral pneumonia, shortness of breath, really trouble breathing, constant fevers.”
Hottovy had a fever of more than 100 degrees for six straight days. He had breathing treatment upon checking into the hospital, he said. Hottovy was treated and released from the hospital on the same day, he added.
It took Hottovy 30 days before he tested negative for the coronavirus, he said. He went through what he called a stretch of depression.
There are many who have downplayed the threat of COVID-19 with respect to younger people like Hottovy or who have cited evidence of slowed death rates from the virus. As Hottovy’s example illustrates, however, even if you’re young and healthy, you can get it, it can be serious, and it can have long-term effects even after the worst of it is over.
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise around the country, especially in states like Florida—home to two NBA franchises, and most crucially the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex that is slated to host the restart of the 2019-2020 NBA season—NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a TIME100 Talks discussion that there’s no guarantee the 22 […]
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise around the country, especially in states like Florida—home to two NBA franchises, and most crucially the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex that is slated to host the restart of the 2019-2020 NBA season—NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a TIME100 Talks discussion that there’s no guarantee the 22 NBA teams who qualified for the relaunched season will even travel to Central Florida. Teams are tentatively scheduled to arrive in Orlando between July 7-9.
“[It’s] never ‘full steam no matter what,’” says Silver in a Talk that aired Tuesday. “One thing we’re learning about this virus is that much is unpredictable.”
Even if the teams make it to Orlando, Silver recently said that a “significant spread” of COVID-19 at the Disney World complex could cause a cancellation of the 2019-2020 campaign, even if it relaunches as expected in late July. The season initially came to a halt on March 11 after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
But what would constitute a “significant spread?”
“Honestly … I’m not sure,” Silver says. “We have a panel of scientists, doctors, experts that are working with us. We’re going to see as we go.” The NBA, he says, will be constantly monitoring the data. “Certainly, if we have a lot of cases, we’re going to stop,” he says. “You cannot run from this virus. I am absolutely convinced that it will be safer on this campus than off this campus, because there aren’t many other situations I’m aware of where there’s mass testing of asymptomatic employees. So in some ways this is maybe a model for how other industries ultimately open.”
The NBA recently tested 302 players for COVID-19; 16 of those players were positive. “It’s not alarming based on what we’re seeing in the broader population,” says Silver. “In many ways, it was somewhat predictable. Where I’m most relieved … is that among those 16 positive tests, there are no severe cases.” On June 29, two Brooklyn Nets players, center DeAndre Jordan and guard Spencer Dinwiddie, tested positive; Jordan said he won’t be in Orlando, and Dinwoodie’s status is uncertain.
Health risks alone, players like Kyrie Irving have argued, shouldn’t cause the NBA to rethink its plans. A scrapped season could have afforded players more time to engage in social activism, a cause more pressing than ever following the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent national reckoning on racial justice. Silver, however, believes that with so many eyes attuned to the NBA during the restart, the players can use their platforms to do good. ESPN has reported that the NBA and its players union are planning to paint “Black Lives Matter” on the sidelines of the three arenas on the Orlando campus. The league is considering a change that would give players the option to replace the names on the back of their jerseys with social justice slogans.
Since the 1980s, the NBA has had a rule on its books calling for players to stand at attention during the national anthem. Given that so many athletes worldwide have knelt in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement before games as sports have returned from pandemic stoppages, expect NBA players to follow suit. “I don’t disagree with this notion that people come together in a unified way to stand for the national anthem,” says Silver. “I also recognize there are appropriate times for protest. And I also understand that when that line-drawing comes into play, invariably you’re going to upset some faction out there. And at the end of the day, we just sort of have to be true to ourselves, and the values that underly this league. And try to make values-based decisions rather than political ones.”
Silver has said he supports the efforts of NBA players to speak out. “These athletes want to be heard on these issues, understandably,” says Silver. “And we also, at least in the case of the NBA, have a league where roughly 75% of our players are Black. They are probably some of the most prominent Black people in the entire world. They don’t just park their skin color, or who they are, when they play basketball. They have their life experiences, and they want to bring those to bear.”
The NBA released its schedule for Orlando on Friday: Teams will play eight regular season, or “seeding” games, to determine which of the 22 teams will make the 16-team playoffs; their pre-shutdown win-loss records carry over. If the ninth-seeded team in a conference finishes within four-games of the eighth-seeded team, those two teams will participate in a play-in: the ninth seeded team will need to beat the eighth-seeded team in two straight games to qualify for the full playoffs.
Many fans and pundits picked up on the fact that the New Orleans Pelicans, who are currently 3.5 games behind the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference standings, have the easiest schedule, as measured by opponents’ winning percentage. Fans are clamoring for a tantalizing first-round playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers, the current top seed in the West and a team featuring LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and the Pelicans, who have a shot at the eighth-seed and feature rookie sensation Zion Williamson. The NBA would seem to have an interest in a LeBron-Zion tilt too: many observers, understandably, are convinced that the Pelicans’ easy schedule is no accident.
Canada Day will dawn with two of its cities favoured as the NHL’s playoff tournament hubs – in a league clouded by contract and CBA uncertainty.
July 1, the traditional start of free agent shopping and the league’s new fiscal year, arrives with the cloud of COVID-19 over an unfinished 2019-20.
Late Tuesday, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported the expectation that signing bonuses due Wednesday would be paid by teams as scheduled, costing more than $300 million US. That still leaves unsettled the handling of players with expiring contracts and a slew of other collective bargaining matters were still being negotiated in an unprecedented long season the league still hopes to end with a 24-team tournament sometime this summer. Participating clubs were to report for July 10 training camps, despite 26 positive tests reported since June 8.
Speaking of the tourney, the prevailing belief Tuesday night was that Las Vegas was losing steam to be a hub. With COVID-19 cases on the rise in Clark County, despite its handy hotel situation, and Chicago the only other city even mentioned as a U.S. locale, the league might have no choice but make its Canadian contenders, Toronto and Edmonton, the hosts. And even if the NHL wanted at least one American stop, the health-conscious players have a say in this, too.
“Canada has been an outstanding model,” hockey analyst Craig Button said Tuesday night on TSN 1050 radio. “When you’re trying to create a bubble environment that minimizes risk to the greatest extent possible, the players want to be in those spots.
“I love the fact the NHL waited and didn’t lock into a city. They said they’d continue to evaluate. Alberta has done a really good job, Ontario has just opened up and you hope they stay on the same lines.”
Button conceded that plans to telecast games via NBC would be strained by current travel restrictions between the countries.
“But the virus doesn’t operate under ideal circumstances, it has a mind of its own.”
Fans won’t be allowed into the rinks anyway and the two cities being two hours apart would allow for multiple games to be broadcast through the day and night.
SBA A BRUINS DEN?
With his team’s record of 5-4 in playoff games at Scotiabank Arena since 2013, Boston coach Bruce Cassidy figures Toronto would nb okay as a hub and wonders if the teams might even meet in later rounds.
“We’ve played well in that rink in the playoffs for the most part, so that’s a positive,” Cassidy told the Boston media this week. “There’s 12 teams from the East so the chances you bump into them? Who knows, right? That would be speculation.
“But I think (SBA) is an advantage (for the Leafs). If someone told me we could play at the Garden, I’d happily do it first and foremost than travel somewhere else. There is not a home crowd advantage, but there is some advantage to being in your own city, your own building, your own locker room. That’s the part I’d disagree with the league, but I don’t think it’s an easy decision to find the right spot.”
ICE CHIPS
Les Jackson is retiring after 33 years with the Stars. Their last link to the Minnesota North Stars and holder of seven different hockey office positions in 33 years, including general manager, Tuesday was his last day in Dallas … It was also Dave Andrews final day as American Hockey League president after 26 years. He’s also retiring, with ex-Columbus Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson taking over … Fans in Buffalo have perked up with news that Rick Dudley is leaving the Carolina Hurricanes after two years as VP of hockey operations. Though many front office positions were eliminated when Kevyn Adams was brought in as Buffalo GM, ex-Sabre player/coach Dudley would be a popular fit somewhere … With no one sure when ‘20-21 will start, the Red Wings have shelved their annual prospects tournament in Traverse City, Mich. The Leafs, who had just begun involvement in Traverse, might stick to a small Eastern Canadian event with the Senators and Canadiens if a rookie event is attempted before next season … TSN’s Rick Westhead reports the NHL has requested author Ken Dryden turn over interviews, notes and records related to his book on the late Steve Montador. After his 2015 death, researchers with the Canadian Sports Concussion Project said the former defenceman had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Paul Montador, his father, sued the league alleging it promoted violence and profited off of it while not making players fully aware of the effects of repeated long-term brain injuries. In its request for a Canadian court to obtain the material from Dryden, the league said there was information, including aspects of Montador’s life away from the rink, important to its defence.
Having run his troops through mostly individual workouts the past week at Florida Gulf Coast University, Nick Nurse says he is pleasantly surprised by both their approach and their conditioning. The Raptors head coach admitted he wasn’t sure what to expect from his team after a near four-month layoff. “I think I would say I […]
Having run his troops through mostly individual workouts the past week at Florida Gulf Coast University, Nick Nurse says he is pleasantly surprised by both their approach and their conditioning.
The Raptors head coach admitted he wasn’t sure what to expect from his team after a near four-month layoff.
“I think I would say I kind of came in here open-minded,” Nurse told reporters on a conference call from the team hotel in Naples, Florida where the team convened and will remain until the NBA campus opens in Walt Disney World just over a week from now.
“I didn’t know if we were going to be not really in the right frame of mind or whatever and whatever it was I was going to kind of deal with it, but I would say I am pleasantly surprised with the frame of mind, I am pleasantly surprised with the conditioning and I just think you have a bunch of guys who have a high care factor,” Nurse said. “They love to play, they are guys that are concerned about getting better individually, about their own careers, and it just seems like they are doing a really professional job. I just think there is a strong love of the game there for a lot of these guys.”
And in a season that was going along rather nicely for the Raptors before the world was stopped in its tracks by the Coronavirus pandemic, that should bode well for the team going forward.
In fact Nurse sounded very much like a guy still waiting to see the best from his team, and for obvious reasons.
“We went into this last season obviously missing a couple of really key pieces to our team (Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green), so you were kind of selling an opportunity to a few guys, there’s some opportunities for some growth and even usage and chances and stuff like that, but you’re not sure how that’s going to turn out,” Nurse said. “Could this guy go to there and this guy go to there? Fortunately Pascal (Siakam) took a jump, Fred (VanVleet), Norm (Powell), Serge (Ibaka) is playing amazing, OG (Anunoby) has been fabulous, so that opportunity there in the middle, the 3-4 spot, there’s a lot of guys that have taken it. I expect to kind of come back into this and see what we are going to look like coming back here but we have a little cheat sheet to know there is a place we’ve been with this group. So I think if it isn’t all holding hands and skipping rope at the beginning we just have to stick with it and see if we can get back to that level. I think there’s another level this group can go.”
Health will certainly be a factor and that’s before anyone even begins to consider the possibility of the Coronavirus overcoming all the precautionary steps the league has taken inside the Disney bubble.
For starters the Raptors were on pace for 60 wins this season pre-pandemic and that was with just about every regular missing a month or more save for Anunoby.
The near four month break has brought everyone back fully healthy, including Marc Gasol, who looks like he went back to Spain and lived in his gym eating nothing but the healthiest of foods.
Powell confirmed on Tuesday during his call that Gasol, in fact, is the envy of all his teammates these days.
“He looks great, man, he’s moving great. He’s feeling great, in talking to him,” Powell said. “I’m supposed to be playing tennis with him either tomorrow or the next day, so hopefully I’ll still be able to give him a run for his money.”
Now granted these are still early days in the re-start. The Raptors haven’t had and won’t have a full team workout until they get to Disney but all indications point to the defending champs having weathered this pandemic rather well and sit in a nice position to make a real run at repeating.
It’s only been a week but Nurse doesn’t sense or feel any angst within the team that could be at the beginning of a four and a half month road trip, albeit one minus any real travel.
“The days go by pretty quickly,” Nurse said of his initial assessment of this elongated road trip. “We’re trying to mix in some days off. We’re trying to mix in a lot of different activities, as much as we can do under the conditions. We had a barbecue the other day. It was kind of nice. It takes an evening. It was good. There’s ping-pong. There’s pool. There are a few other things we’re trying to mix in, too. I don’t really sense much anxiety or people worrying about, ‘Man, this is going to be a long time. The language has been positive.”
It all has to sound almost too good to the Raptors fan at home anxiously awaiting that first game on Aug. 1. But then who among us doesn’t deserve a little good news given how these past four months have unfolded?
The view from left field 